Table of Contents

1. Background
2. The Campaign
3. Character Generation
   Religion
   Names
   Campaign Generating Questionnaire
4. Notes and House Rules
   Feats, Divine Interventions, Followers and Rules You Never Knew About
5. The Amberi and their mother clan the Urlanging
6. Campaign History
7. The Region
8. Calendar

1. Background

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Before committing fully to Hero Wars some friends and I have decided to run a new mini campaign in order to try the system out better.  This campaign will be a combination of sit down roleplaying and PBEM.  (Sorry, but it's by invitation only).  I'm going to handle the face to face stuff and they're going to play via remote access and run the PBEM portion.

You are all members of a Heortland Orlanthi tribe, the Urlanging.  The year is 1344 and you face a tough decision.  Should you stay and fight the Pharaoh or should you take the chance of heading north into unfamiliar and until fairly recently deadly to humans territory?

2. The Campaign

This campaign has proven to be far more active than any I've been involved in previously.  The e-mail component, which has proven to be quite successful so far, is the main reason.  While the face to face campaign only has four players, the e-mail campaign is run by two guys in Singapore and Edmonton and has players in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Tokyo, and Hanover, NH.  It's proven to be quite lively and fun so far (July 10 2001). 

I've added the rules the main PBEM narrator has developed in case anyone is interested.  There are rules for the campaign as a whole and for an extended individual encounter.

3. Character Generation

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All the characters are Heortling Orlanthi and you can either use the Heortling Keywords (see the Glorantha website for more information) or the 100 word essay method.  All characters are generated in the normal fashion.

When using the narrative methods you get 100 words to describe your capabilities. In a second paragraph you may use any amount of words to describe your flaws (the idea of this is to encourage flaws which otherwise replace capabilities in the narrative method). Finally, you can write whatever story you want in a third paragraph that helps link you to the campaign, explain your character, etc..

NB : Instead of Dragon Pass Geography you all have Heortland Geography as a cultural skill.  See also Languages under Notes and House Rules.

NB : The excerpt from the Thunder Rebels book gives a very interesting look at Orlanthi life.

See Wesley Quadros' website for a sample HW Orlanthi character with an explanation on how the character was generated.

Religion

You can follow any of the deities mentioned on the Hero Wars site as well as :

Urox (who the Praxians call Storm Bull).

Elmal the Orlanthi Sun God.

There's a new write-up of the Heortling Deities on the Glorantha website.

Names

Names can be taken from your favourite Norse saga or from the list from King of Dragon Pass.

Some other good sources for names are :

Norse Names - Boys

Norse Names - Girls

A Simple Guide to Creating Old Norse Names

For a bit of fun, try the Orlanthi Naminator and The Orlanthi Epithetizer.

Clan Generating Questionnaire

I've added the list of clan generating questions from KODP to this site as well.  (Of course this has now been pretty much superceded by the new clan generation program on the Glorantha site).

Changes from Hero Wars to Thunder Rebels

You can see an overview of the abilities changes from Hero Wars to Thunder Rebels here.  This doesn't include changes made to magical keywords, just the cultural and a few occupational keywords.

4. Notes and House Rules

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Note that there is a separate page grouping all these house rules so you don't have to print this whole page off.

Languages

We will be using separate language skills.  Speak Heortling is one of your cultural keyword skills.  Lawspeakers, Priests, Traders and Chieftains get it as an occupational skill as well.  Speak Tradetalk is another skill everyone gets at 13.  Traders get it at 17 as an occupational skill.

PBEM Rules

a) Rules for the campaign as a whole

b) Extended individual encounter

Shamans

Shamans start with five integrated spirits with a Might of 17.   These are all 1/day though you may trade in two 1/day for one totally integrated spirit.  Optionally you can roll a Simple Contest combat versus the spirit using your Spirit Combat versus their Might and see what result you achieve.  On any sort of defeat I would allow you to just take the spirit as a 1/day.  You can of course choose not to and suffer some sort of penalty from being defeated by the spirit.

Starting Skill Levels

The skill levels for the various keywords are :

Note of course that if a skill is repeated in another keyword at a higher level you would use the higher level (unless you don't want to that is).

You should end up with all the skills listed under your three keywords PLUS another ten or so based on your description, maximum of 15.  You should count magical items, special mounts, patrons and followers (2 count as one) as additional skills.  These all start at 13.

Weapon Skills

The way weapon skills works is that there are two categories, Close Combat and Ranged Combat.  You have a skill level in these two skills.  Any abilities listed under that category, e.g. Sword and Shield Fighting, can be used without penalty.  Using weapons or weapon combinations NOT listed under these categories results in a penalty.  Heortlings normally incure penalties for fighting while mounted.  Each of these weapon combinations does count as a separate skill to acquire though they do not go up individually.

Twin Weapon Use

2) Magical feats to second weapon have to be applied separately.

Obviously edges or bonuses that affect the character physically, like strength or speed affect both weapons normally.

Basically your character gets a bit of an advantage in their second attack in a round at the cost of losing that +1 armour edge a shield gives.

New Abilities

When acquiring new abilities you cannot take quasi-magical abilities like Night Vision, Mocking Laugh, Stroke Beard, etc. without some sort of magical cause.

Feats, Divine Interventions, Followers and Rules You Never Knew About

Feats

1) The limits on the number of feats you can have active at one time are 'indicated' by the feats listed in your affinities. Thus Orlanth Adventurous can have 2 offensive feats and 1 defensive feat, Humakti can have 4 offensive feats (+1 more against undead), and so on.  This of course can differ if you learn new feats.

2) Generally spells cannot be cast on one another (exceptions like healing exist).

3) Given enough time you can prepare many feats, given less time you can prepare fewer.

4) The more time you spend on an individual feat the longer it will last (you re-enact it better). You want something to last a whole day it takes a while. You want some to last for one swing that's pretty easy.

5) Initiates and Devotees can always improvise something but this is likely to be one-off feats for one-off situations and they will be taken on a case-by-case basis. The only 'game' limit on Initiate would be the improv modifier (and the fact that the modifier increases for 'lesser known' feats).

6) Initiates use their affinity however at a -3, though when asking for specific help, i.e. a named feat. If they want to use a feat they don't know they're at -5.

Feats can be added to your knowledge at the standard price (1 during play, 2 outside play). This allows them to use those feats at -3 until they become devotees when they are no longer at the improv mod.

Devotees roll feats they know at base affinity value and feats they don't know at -3.

7) Animals as followers - Independent companion animals act as followers (e.g. alynxes), dependent animals can sometimes  augment (e.g. combat trained horses can augment lance attacks).  In some situations your horse could be considered a dependent one time and independent the next [eg. charging vs forcing a way through a mob].  This would be settled case-by case.

Divine Interventions

1) Anyone within a pantheon can ask for aid (without specifying what kind of aid) from one of deities within the pantheon by rolling his/her Worship Storm Tribe ability vs. 14 (or worse depending on the situation).

2) Anyone within a pantheon can ask for specific aid from one of deities within the pantheon by rolling his/her Worship Storm Tribe ability vs. 14 with an improv modifier of at least -5.

3) Initiates to a god can ask for general aid from their god using their relationship as the base.

4) Devotees can ask for specific help from their own god without improv modifiers as long as the request is within their deities realm (i.e. area of specialization).

Followers

1) Beginning followers start with their two abilities as stated in Hero Wars.  One or both of these can be a keyword.

2) Followers have the approriate Heortling keyword for their gender.  This starts at -12 the person followed's best skill.  These skills do not go up.

2) Followers also begin as initiates if the same deity as the person followed.   Their ability in their affinities starts at -12 and goes up one point for every six points of increase in the character's best skill.

Rules You Never Knew About

1) Initiates and devotees can always use their affinities to augment related skills even if they aren't currently using feats.

5. The Amberi

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History of the Urlanging

Important Amberi (NPCs and PCs)

Make-up of the Clan, Bloodlines, Original Clan, etc.

Clan ring

Answers to clan generating questionnaire

Skeli's Record

What the Average Amberi Knows

The Characters

Ashart Bolison Humakti Warrior

Bjarni Bare-Skin Kolating Shaman

Cat Boy Yinkin Hunter

Cedric the Fox Orlanthi Warrior

Dagbjartr Haukson Issaries Trader

Per Rasmusson Odaylan Hunter

Salinar Mannison Elamli Warrior

Skerri Brightspear Vingan Warrior

Snorri Horse-Thief Odaylan Hunter

The NPCs

Blunt Ash-bjorn Orlanthi Warrior

Orlev Ice-eyes Humakt Warrior/Lhankor Mhy Lawspeaker

Skeli Redbeard Lhankor Mhy Lawspeaker

Stories and Myths About the Urlanging and Amberi

The Saga of Skerri Brightspear

Skerri and the Sun Lover

6. Campaign History

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Follow this link to read about the campaign.

This page also includes a more detailed clan chronology.

7. The Region

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This maps shows the vale, where the human neighbours are and Blunt's stead.  See The Vale for more information.

This page last modified July 18, 2001

Email me at oliver_bernuetz@hotmail.com.