From: John Strauss (strauss@hopper.itc.virginia.edu)
Date: Fri 12 Aug 1994 - 22:42:24 EEST
Bob Luckin sez:
>On a related topic : does the Wild Healer of the Rockwoods go
>round impregnating things ? Presumably being a CA it would want
>to avoid causing distress to living creatures in this way, but it
>could still mate with inanimate objects; it is still a child of
>Thed, after all.
I, too, would be interested to hear what people have done with the Wild Healer. The CA cult is remarkable in so many ways, not the least of which are its unusual entrance requirements. This is a lightbringer cult that will accept chaos beings as members! There are no skill requirements, just sincerity and acceptance of the cult strictures, which are quite extreme for a world as violent as Glorantha. (There is a *good* reason why Storm Bulls tend to respect CAs for their extreme bravery.)
Phil did a lot with the Wild Healer while I played Bargahz. It was startling how much an ex-Thed and an ex-Storm Bull, each turned CA, had in common. I won't say they were *friends*; but they had a lot to teach each other.
Obviously, those are serious problems if you want to be a Chalanna Arroy. I would argue that it would be physically impossible for a broo to keep cult vows without some sort of special help. Other interpretations of what it means, physically, to be a broo might make things simpler. I never learned what Phil had worked out for the Wild Healer regarding his Thed background. He may have done something with Zola Fel re chaos taint. Bargahz no longer had his SB chaos sense, as One Ear ripped it out of him, so I don't know if Phil's Wild Healer was chaotic. I know that he and a Hornsgate CA priestess were unconsummated lovers and planned a horrifically dangerous heroquest together to resolve some very nasty obstacles in their way. Phil and I never got the chance to explore that, tho.
Alison sez:
>I have noticed this dearth of women in gaming for years, but then,
>who hasn't? Now that I'm married to a GM, I am also noticing the
>distinct category of GM's wife, as in, "She just plays because the
>GM's her husband. You know, not a real gamer." Out of mild
>curiosity, is there any idea how many women do subscribe or write
>to the daily? I've seen Michelle Ringo, and Janet Anderson, and
>I think that that's all. Are females really so tremendously
>scarce as that in Runequest?
That being said, there really does seem to be a special category of gamer called "the GM's Girl". I played in a game, for 2 years, in which the group leader was played by the GM's wife. She (the player, not the character) was a for reals and for trues bimbo, the kind they make up blonde jokes about, and was also rather petty. She remained the group leader, in spite of incredible reasons why not, only because she was the GM's wife. If she had not been happy with the game, the GM could not have run it for us. So, we coped. I have heard other people relate horror stories of this negative stereotype, as well. I have also been in games where this did not happen.
As to the idea that you are not a "real gamer": I think you should make a point of eating quiche each game and just ignore them. And don't let them pin that "GM's Girl" label on you, either. The simple fact is, no matter how fair your spouse tries to be, your greater access to him during non-game hours will enable you to react advantageously to things that happen during the game. It can't be helped. The same thing would happen in a case of "GM's Roommate" but no one says anything about it in that instance.
Alison sez:
>Disease spirits
>I have wondered for years about the genesis and spread of
>diseases. Is Mallia the source for all diseases? Are all
>diseases caused by spirits? Is there any way to create either a
>spirit of disease or of healing? I know the RQ3 rules for the
>things, and as a biologist always found them dissatisfying, since
>contagion is allowed, but not explained. Has anyone come up with
>anything?
Well, I agree with you. The RQ3 writeup is ambiguous and I don't care for it. I have decided that ALL disease is based on spirit possession. No germs in my Glorantha.
Disease is essentially a spiritual "protection racket". The victim sacrifices a point of POW to Mallia, becoming an initiate, via the possessing spirit in exchange for having their life spared. From that point, they are cooerced by the possessing spirit into doing more and more to help the spread of disease. Disease spirits all have the spell of Summon Disease Spirit, which they can cast periodically. I use that instead of germ contagion for a disease vector. You can't get a disease without being possessed and every actively diseased person has a disease spirit in them.
PCs tend not to give in to that kind of coercion; but it is important that they experience that spirit yammering at them and forcing them to join or die. Helps them understand it when they see it in others who HAVE made the agreement to save their own skins.
My Gloranthans all present Mallia as chaos, pure and simple. But I personally think of her as Chalanna Arroy's evil twin, a CA that went bad. I like the double aspects of the twin sisters of Healing and Disease, which I stole from a Zelazny novel. I give both cults access to healing spirits and the CA spirit of reprisal is a very tough disease spirit, which I think gives the goddess a sharp edge outside the scope of what you hear from her priesthood. You can extrapolate my Deezola cultists from that.
John Strauss
strauss@hopper.itc.virginia.edu
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