From: David Dunham (ddunham@radiomail.net)
Date: Sat 02 Jul 1994 - 04:58:55 EEST
Several people seem to think that Chalana Arroy will cast spells on
children. I'm not so sure; this seems to reflect our cultural values. If
their were Chalana Arroys in China, they'd no doubt put priority on healing
their parents. And I can see many Gloranthan cultures not treating children
as true people until they're 12 or so.
Pam Carlson's been discussing her Riskland Campaign, where we're actually trying to play typical Orlanthi: farmers first, adventurers second. Why? Adventuring doesn't put food on the table. Stead Leader Agharl, the wise, generous, valorous former member of the Turoini clan of Aggar [played by me], constantly has to remind people that chasing spiders or exploring Dokat may be fun, but if we don't have crops in Earth Season, we're all going to starve. Even if we somehow manage to get lots of money, it doesn't seem likely we could buy enough food to last a year. Where would we buy it? Sure, there are dozens of farms in Riskland, but lots of them are like us, on the edge. Importing grain by wagon is possible, but even more expensive. And this assumes there's even money -- luckily Riskland is under Lunar domination and there are coins, but there are parts of Glorantha (Prax, East Ralios) where barter is the norm; it would seem harder to barter for sufficient food.
I've been a little troubled by the frenetic activity in some campaigns (such as mine), where people adventure one day, heal themselves up, and go right back and adventure some more the next day. I'm sure this sometimes happens, but it's a bit too on-the-edge for the sort of fantasy campaign I want to run. I've been moving towards the one interesting adventure per year model of Pendragon (of course, I'm also using Pendragon rules).
So what happens when adventurers aren't adventuring? They're making a living and helping support their clan, just like everyone else. I abstract this to a single skill roll. The player chooses whether he's making a living with Animal Lore, Bargaining, Devise, Hunting, Industry, Mineral Lore, Plant Lore, Stewardship, and makes the skill roll. This is modified based on the state of the land (e.g. a drought), and relevant spells (e.g. Bless Crops). Success gives a check, 10 Status, and a surplus of 60 pennies worth of goods (e.g. obsidian for Mineral Lore). A critical gives 25 Status, and a surplus of 120 pennies worth of goods (e.g. beef jerky for Animal Lore). A failed roll indicates a hard winter; treat as Poor for Pendragon's Stable and Family rolls (which means your stock and offspring have a higher chance of dying). A fumble indicates a disastrous winter, treat as Impoverished for Stable and Family rolls.
In one campaign, there's a character who literally has no means of support. He has no training in any skill that has any economic utility. He's essentially living off his wife's family.
Just because your characters aren't going out adventuring doesn't mean adventure doesn't come to them. If you're a herder, someone probably wants to raid your animals. If you're a farmer, you might have to worry about someone marching over your fields, or the demonic crow from White Dwarf magazine. Maybe the Ernalda acolyte doesn't have enough Bless Crops spells to go round, and you have to persuade her somehow. Your Animal Lore skills might be insufficient, and you need to replenish your herds from someone else's. Your supply of bronze ore has been cut off, and you need to find out why or secure new ore. And there's more stuff that can happen that players in my campaign will find out :-)
If you're making a living, you're likely with or near your clan. This means your characters can actually interact as members of society, instead of being scruffy adventurers. You can come to the defense of your neighbors (who are kinsmen), or help them with a retaliatory raid. They might need you to testify in court on their behalf. Being engaged in mutual support is more plausible than a steady stream of patrons who need to hire adventurers.
And even as a farmer, there should be time for one outing per year.
Joerg said
>>>the Lunar Empeire, the allegedly
>>>most liberal society on the lozenge with GeStaPo/Stasi-like controlling
>>>organs.
>
>Gimgim the Grim, Halcyon Var Enkorth and several other Lunars have
>successfully taken the role of Nazi bad guys in Indiana Jones movies,
>so I'd say that we have some source evidence. What we know about
>Dafive Xaron from official sources corroborates as well. I think
>this is a Gloranthan hard fact.
The fact that Lunars have spies like Gimgim doesn't imply a controlling secret police. Halcyon var Enkorth is described [in Griffin Mountain] as frequently exceeding his authority and taking covert action to weaken border communities with unrest. He seems to me more of CIA (which has jurisdiction outside the USA) than internal police. Gimgim too is on the border, not maintaining control over the Heartlands.
While I'm sure the Lunars have some sort of secret police, I see no evidence that it's pervasive and controlling.
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