cts: RQ Daily
Sandy Petersen here.
COMMENTS ON JOERG'S DP SUGGESTIONS
re: Magic fortresses. Having the TotRM give you an infinite magic
factor seems a big much. How about just doubling it? Ditto for other
magic sites.
re: Telmori. Though the Wolfrunners are generally unfriendly to the
other Sartarite tribes, they would NOT ally with the Lunars against a
Prince of Sartar. They are, in fact, fanatically loyal to the House
of Sartar. If there were a rebellion against the Lunars in which the
rebel leader was not a Prince or Princess, all bets are off, and
they'd probably join with the Lunars because of the moon connection.
The ducks are also fanatically loyal to the House of Sartar. This
dates back to ancient secret treaties made between these two groups
and Sartar himself.
Joerg sez:
>All subjected to random factors, as the Empire is chaotic.
I really hate random factors in wargames, myself, and would vote
against this random factor business. Incidentally, the Empire's PR is
that they can control chaos, and in addition the Empire is NOT
chaotic -- it combines chaos with the real world. Perhaps the Empire
should have, to make up for its shortcomings in diplomacy, a bunch of
points they can spend to "buy" units from their exotic pile, (the
Vampire Legion, Moon Boats, Arrolians)
re: Trolls. IMO, the trollkin have been rated too high. Argan Argar
troll spearmen might possibly be worth a 3-2-3-X, but untrained
trollkin can hardly be better than 1-1-3-X. Maybe 1*-1-3-X.
> The Pharaoh would be a hero at least, with the power to return from
> the dead on 2 to 6 on d6.
Given my dislike for random factors ("I'd have won that fight if I
hadn't rolled a '1' when you killed the Pharaoh.") I suggest that the
Pharaoh always return from the dead unless he is killed in a fight by
a Superhero or Hero or Dragon.
re: Fazzur Wideread. Fazzur is no hero, and should not have the stats
of Ethilrist. At best he's the equivalent to one of the nomad Khans
from Nomad Gods.
IMPORTANT GLORANTHAN INFORMATION ABOUT MAGIC USE
Apparently this information hasn't been disseminated widely, and I
think it is interesting and useful for would-be gamers of Glorantha.
The great Lunar innovation in combat was that they were the first
people ever to organize magicians into military units. The Lunar
Colleges of Magic, as portrayed in DP, were a first. The standard way
that everyone fought in Glorantha was to disseminate their lesser
priests, sorcerers, and shamans among their military units to provide
them with "magic support". The Lunars, instead, grouped their
magicians together.
Argrath was the first guy ever to respond to this by emulating it,
with his Magical Union. This is why Argrath was able to face the
Lunars on a more equal basis than previous enemies. He used their own
tactic against them.
So, you ask, what is a "normal" Gloranthan army like in wargame
terms? It is composed of ordinary troop counters, with the only
magic-using troops being Exotics. Special temple units that happened
to fight together, like the Earth Shakers, might show up as a magic
unit. Also, of course, Heroes and special magicians like the Nomad
God Shamans strengthen you magically.
The advantage of the old-fashioned way of doing things is that all
your units had a slightly stronger magic factor. A few units, with a
really high complement of magic-types, might even have a magic range
of 0.
The advantage of the Lunar way is obvious, Imagine a Sartarite army
with +1 added to all of its magic factors (well, maybe not to the
Sartar City Militia), but without the bulk of the Magic Union -- only
exceptional magic units that fight together like the Stormwalkers,
Wind Children, etc. would be present as separate units. The Lunars
would, of course, kick butt.
Now, in Joerg's plans for Kethaela's army, this truth should be
applied.
Shadow Plateau is unlikely to have two units of shamans, and one
sorcerer. Instead, they'd have the Dehori and Shades, as mentioned,
plus probably one Castle of Lead unit with lots o magic ability
(representing the Mistress Race and their guards). I'd give them at
least one Zorak Zoran gang with the power to go berserk and double
their combat power at the cost of being disrupted after the battle.
Caladraland might have one separate magic unit of Volcano Priests for
each major Volcano. But that's probably all, as far as magic support.
God Forgot would actually have a few magician-like units with exotic
abilities. There's the Flying Machine unit, for instance, composed of
insane inventors with bicycle-like or flapping-winged devices (I
actually saw this unit in the old game for this region).
Rightarm Island -- probably no magicians. Maybe provide the exotic
magic ability for the Pharaoh to control the tides or something.
Wenelian mercenaries -- not like the Pol Joni, since more of them are
on foot and they're wilder/less sophisticated than the Sartar City
Militia. Maybe modeling them after the Sartar tribal units is best.
Graymane needs to be there, too, of course. If Graymane is killed,
probably all of them would leave, possibly pillaging as they went.
Esrolia has plenty of crappy militia (I think the right mix here is
15 3-3-2-X, 25 2-2-2-X, and 20 1-1-2-X units -- mostly only good for
garrison duty.) For specialty troops, I suggest one each of the six
Earth cults. Voria would provide a magician unit 1-4-4-(4) with the
exotic power that it could not harm enemy troops, but could add its
magic strength to that of one guy within range. Babeester Gor would
be a strong military unit, Ernalda & Maran Gor would each be a
regular magic unit, Maran Gor with the exotic power of the Shakers in
DP, then Ernalda getting the power to turn troops into a fort (not a
Wall, give me a break). Asrelia and Ty Kora Tek would be two more
special units; Asrelia represented as a pile of wealth that could be
used to buy off enemy troops, with Ty Kora Tek having the ability
that units killed by Ty Kora Tek's stack cannot be used as
replacements. Just suggestions here. But the Esrolits should'nt
possess a bunch of earth magicians. I repeats -- instead many of the
troops have a slightly boosted MF. The few suggested here are about
it. Oh yes, and they should have the Serpent Guardians as represented
in Nomad Gods.
The Pharaoh makes a fine hero, with his bridges and Lottery-sword
Humakti. He probably has a magic attack like the Lunar Emperor (not
as strong, tho).
Wolf Pirates probably make a bad ally for the Holy Country, seeing as
they sacked the City of Wonders at one point.
Sandy
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: Fri 10 Oct 2003 - 01:32:15 EEST