Clan Profiling

[rylen dreskin]

I'm starting a Dragon Pass settlement game, so I've tweaked the "Orlanth is Dead" clan profile, creating my own ending.  Play starts anywhere from 1 to 5 years after the migration, depending on players.  I'd appreciate comments on what I've written, especially on richer descriptions of where they can settle.  Also, tell me if theres anything jucy I'm missing.

Rylen

The Migration
Your clan was not the only one to flee.  Many were also making the same journey.
How did you travel.

•   We kept our own company, so they could not hinder us.
•   We traveled with other clans and helped them when we could.
•   We traveled with other clans and benefited from their aid.

Settlement
Your people had left Dragon Pass during the EWF.  You choose to settle near where your clan once lived.  Where is that?

•   In the NW in the fertile hills near the Upland Marsh.
•   In the N, a long journey and with few neighbors.
•   In the NE, among the excellent hunting of Stagland.
•   In the W, in the shadow of the aggressive Malani
•   In the center, surrounded by many neighbors
•   In the E  on the slopes of the Quinvin Mountain.
•   In the SE, in the rich and holy Duran Hills.
•   In the S, a short journey perhaps too close to Pharaoh.
•   In the SW, near the savage lands of Prax.

Other Clans
You were neither the first nor the last clan to arrive.  Your neighbors the Black Oaks, who came earlier, stole from you when you were weak and you bear a grudge.   How did you treat others?
•   We helped where we could, asking nothing.
•   We helped where we could, asking for future promises.
•   We helped where we could, asking for what we needed.
•   We traded, and always tried to profit.
•   We took what we needed.
•   We tended our own land.

Your Clan
Orlanth recognizes 12 great virtues.  Order the 3 your clan most values.  Choose one it least values.
•   Acceptance: "Whatever the current situation, we can deal with it. It is easier to adapt than to change things."
•   Authority: "Someone strong should be in charge and run things. If we are strong, we should be that authority. If we are weak, we don't deserve to be."
•   Caution: "It's better to be safe than sorry. Risk is bad."
•   Courage: "It is better to die as a hero than live as a coward."
•   Generosity: "An Orlanthi measures his greatness by what he can give away."
•   Honor: "A good name is more important than anything, and must be earned through righteous action."
•   Loyalty: "When you pledge an oath to support someone, you must do so, no matter what the cost."
•   Novelty: "New things are good. All the famous leaders of history are remembered for their new innovations."
•   Piety: "We are a people of the gods. We must behave as the gods decree."
•   Shrewdness: "You can win more with a silver tongue than a bronze sword. Think before you act."
•   Tradition: "The old ways are best. If it was good enough for our ancestors, it's good enough for us."
•   Vengeance: "If someone wrongs you, make them pay. Take personal action; do not let the lawspeakers deprive you of retribution."

[Moah]

You could check "King of Dragon Pass" that has a quizz like that to create your clan. It also plays just after migration, so you should be right at home. You can find a demo at: http://www.a-sharp.com/kodp

I thought Orlanth valued seven virtues, not twelve?
Brave, Generous, Honorable, Just, Proud, Wise (from the HQ main book, I think Freedom or Piety would be the seventh).

[rylen dreskin]

Thanks.  I have the KoDP quiz and used it to spice up the marrige question (not given).  The virtues are taken from one of the Issaries pages:  http://www.glorantha.com/tools/clan_notes.html

Though I can see the Heortlings arguing about this, as they do everything else.

Rylen

[Valamir]

That's really great.

For me, my choices would be for Courage, Generosity, and Tradition as the strong virtues and Acceptance as the weak.

This would be a clan pretty much destined to be destroyed as the Lunar advances as their unwillingness to accept change combine with their strong adherance to Tradition to make them the pebble in the way of the avalanche.  But their Courage and Generosity would make their name revered and the clan would be remembered for generations in the songs and sagas of the clans they'd helped.

That's a saga I could get behind.

[Moah]

I bow to your sources, Rylen. I was especially surprised to see "authority" as a virtue, since the first law of Umath (and therefore Orlanth) is "Noone can make you do anything."

But your profiling sounds great otherwise.

And, Valamir, if Rylen is playing after the settling of DP, the lunar invasion is hundreds of years away.

[jrichard]

David Dunham and I did a pretty big resettlement of Dragon Pass campaign some years back.  His website is worth a peek:

http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha/todp/

I think there is a fair amount of information about Dragon Pass circa 1350.

Jeff

[Alai]

Thanks.  I have the KoDP quiz and used it to spice up the marrige question (not given).  The virtues are taken from one of the Issaries pages:  http://www.glorantha.com/tools/clan_notes.html

Though I can see the Heortlings arguing about this, as they do everything else.

Indeed, that's exactly the point.  The context of these notes is (an earlier, online) version of the Clan Generator. It rates your clan's prioritisation of these virtues in terms of how you answer the various questions: you'll see this in the output page if you run the applet.

The Orlanth is Dead version doesn't produce these numbers, priobablu because firstly, there was a certain amount of number-crunching involved in producing them, and secondly, as there was never anything very much defined as to what one might *do* with the various numbers.

It was a very nifty idea though; rather than the players simply deciding "yeah, obviously we're Brave and Honourable", it frames this in terms of historical actions.  Some of these will have on-going consequences, and pretty much all of them your ancestors will give you grief over...


On "Authority", specifically; it's pretty clear that the Heortlings do have a notion of authority: it's simply distinctly differerent from the Yelmic one. Clans and tribes still have to be governed, and there are a range of views as to how this ought to be done. Observe that according to said Notes, it's framed very much in "Might makes Right" terms -- sound like any Malani tribe in particular, say? (None of your Inherent Divine Right type guff...)

Cheers,
Alex.