Griffin Mountain email game opening! From: balazar@calsci.UUCP (Al Petterson) Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1991 00:41:53 +0000 [This is being crossposted to rec.games.frp and rec.games.pbm. My postnews software does not support crossposts directly.] I'm starting a "RuneQuest II 1/2" email rpg based on the Griffin Mountain sourcebook published several years ago and now, alas, long out of print. This game is intended both for those familiar and unfamiliar with most of Glorantha. No experience with Runequest is required. I think the reason there aren't more email RuneQuest games is that it's a difficult game to get started on the net, primarily because the prospective GM can't just post "send me characters" and expect to get sensible replies. So I'm going to spend the first week helping interested people create characters. See the end of this post for how to join. Since I'm going to use the Griffin Mountain sourcebook, this unfortunately means that any player who has been in a campaign in Griffin Mountain (RQII) or Griffin Island (RQIII), or who has read either sourcebook, is ineligible for the game -- but are eligible to play NPC's; if you've been in, or read, Griffin Mountain, and want to play an NPC, mail me and tell me so. I might later start a campaign, intended for experienced Gloranthan players and moderately experienced characters, situated in Sartar. It depends on how much of my time this game takes up. (I'd rather see someone else run an "experienced characters" campaign that I could be in!) So if you aren't eligible here, don't despair and don't try to fake your way in as a PC, just be patient. ----- Background: The land of Balazar ----- If you're familiar with GURPS, Balazar has a Tech Level of between zero and one. Balazarings (that's you) wear little beyond loincloths (and furs when it gets cold). They make leather and cuirbouilli armor, and make weapons out of flint, wood and leather -- axes, spears, small bows, slings, snares. The only animals that have been domesticated in Balazar are pigs and dogs -- pigs as herd animals, dogs as hunting companions. The closest Earth analogue to Balazarings are Amerinds, except that Balazarings are caucasian (the Wareran race of Glorantha). You belong to one of the clans of central Balazar. Clans are nomadic groups, wandering the lands of Balazar in groups called "hearths". A hearth is usually about two or three families, or a small band of young adults. Your loyalty as a Balazaring is first to your hearth, then to your clan. I'll have more information on hearths later -- the PC's are going to be a group of young adults forming a hearth. Balazar isn't all wilderness; there are three cities (actually called citadels). Balazar, the first king, built all three citadels with the help of giants and gave one to each of his sons. The one nearest you is called Trilus, and its king is Yalaring Monsterslayer. The whole place is made of stone, and there are citadel guards who not only have metal spearheads, but metal caps and shields as well. You don't much care for citadel people; they're not good hunters (they keep pig herds around the citadel to feed themselves). But they do have more metal than you do, and their life (especially citadel warriors) is interesting and different. Many people in your tribe hope one day to be chosen to be citadel warriors. There are two other citadels: one several days' journey to the southwest, and one many days away to the east. The citadel to the southwest (Elkoi) has a big celebration every Fire season (Summer) to Yelm, the sun god. You would have gone to the celebration a few times in your life. Elkoi was taken over by the big empire (the Lunar Empire) before you were born; the Lunars worship very strange gods, but at least allow the Yelm ceremonies to go on outside of the citadel. Most of you have never been to the eastern citadel (Dykene). All you know about it is that it has traffic with dwarfs. (Dwarfs live under the world and mine not only bronze but also iron, a mysterious and magical metal. The only person you know who has anything made of iron is Torath Manover, an outsider living in Trilus. He has a whole suit of it. He'll tell you his god, Orlanth, gave it to him.) Balazar is obviously the best place in the world to live. To the south and the east are mountains, where no one lives but dwarves and trolls; to the north is the Elder Wilds, a no-mans-land where there are forests and elves and even stranger things; and to the west is the Lunar Empire, which you've heard awful things about. Your tribe lives in the woods to the north of Trilus. You are all from a few hearths (families) which live close to one another. The tradition is for younger sons and daughters (which all or most of you are) to leave the hearth to form new hearths, or to make your way in the world, once you reach maturity. (20 Gloranthan years old, equivalent to 16 Earth years. The Gloranthan year is 294 days.) You all belong to the Foundchild cult. Foundchild was the first hunter who taught your people how to track, how to set traps for animals, how to cast magic on your feet to be silent and on your arrows and spears so they'll fly true, the way to appease animal spirits when you slaughter them, and who your friends and enemies should be. Every year there is a big Foundchild celebration in Trilus, called the Great Hunt, where everyone goes out into the wilderness for two weeks and tries to bring back the biggest game. The winner, declared at a great feast (since everyone's bringing home big game, there's a feast) becomes the Great Hunter of all Balazar for the next year and lives in a house near Trilus. It's time for the Great Hunt, and all you twenty-year-olds can now participate. (This is the starting point of the campaign.) ----- Where the campaign is likely to go ----- Other than doubting that your characters will settle down to a quiet life of hunting and gathering, I'm leaving it up to you -- I only discourage people from leaving the Balazar/Elder Wilds area completely. I'll spread rumors of the many interesting things going on in the area, but I'm not going to channel the party in a specific direction. You might become citadel warriors, or hire out to a merchant, or just wander around on your own, or different people might do different things. I will introduce characters whose temperament seems appropriate to ----- Your characters: what I do and don't want ----- You're playing simple tribesfolk. This does not imply that you're stupid, just uneducated. Balazarings are more inquisitive and open-minded than is typical for Earth tribespeople. I will allow no "experienced" -- well-traveled or expert -- characters, nor characters imported from other worlds, nor will I allow elves, dwarves, trolls, ogres, centaurs, minotaurs, broos, hobbits, half-elves, half-orcs, half-trolls, gnomes, kender, demigods, giants, leprechauns, or whatever. I prefer that just about everyone be the equivalent of sixteen Earth years old -- if you want to run an older character, give me a plausible reason why s/he'd decide to wander around with these adolescents. It will probably be most interesting if the characters are split more or less 50/50 on gender -- remember, the idea of wandering off and making a hearth eventually involves making families. I'm shooting for around eight to ten players (this seems like the canonical size for an email rpg.) ----- Boring but important mechanical stuff ----- How to join: simply tell me you're interested. In the next week or two, I'll help people create characters. Tell me whether you have any RQII or RQIII experience. Your experience will not bear on whether you are accepted; I just want to know whether I'm dealing with mostly novices or mostly experienced players. Mail me at the address below. My mail site is somewhat remote, and access is restricted (I can't use TALK from this site), so I unfortunately have to give preferential consideration to people with a fairly quick mail turnaround. Also, I have a job and a real life, so I only get to check mail a few times during the day; most of the game will be run during weekends or evenings (I'm in California, which is -0700 from GMT). The game will begin RSN (Real Soon Now). ---------------------------- Al Petterson, the neural network mechanic balazar%calsci@gvgpsa.gvg.tek.com or calsci!balazar@gvgpsa.gvg.tek.com P.S. Also looking for face-to-face rpgamers! If you live within an hour of Grass Valley, CA (NE of Sacramento, roughly within the quadrilateral of Sacramento - Yuba City - Downieville - Truckee) and are interested in Hero, RQ, Gurps, or virtually anything else, write me and let me k Up