Premise in Hero Wars?

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

King of Sartar, of course. Typing too fast again.

I think you and I completely agree about Premise in Hero Wars, and all the possible angles and nuances it can take while still coming off the single foundation.

Best,
Ron

[Alai]

Since this is my first post here, perhaps a mini-intro is in order:  Hi all, I'm Alex Ferguson, long-time Glorantha-head, and GNS agnostic, which likely accounts for my present writing this message that's longish on Gloranthan factoids, and very short indeed on artistic theory type stuff. Sheepish apologies in advance if I muck up this dinky web-interface thingie, or am otherwise Doing This All Wrong.

Content first. There's a book, not exactly a novel, nor really a sourcebook. Greg Stafford wrote it a long time ago, before most of you li'l puckers were born (not before I was born, but not long after, either). It's called King of [Sartar] and is currently available from Issaries.

Hrm...  So Ron is 12ish, and the rest of you are average age 9?  I feel very, very old... ;-)  (OK, it's true to say there's stuff in there that probably has been rattling around Greg's cranium since '66...)

I'd agree with the analyses of the "UeberPremise" of HW:  to wit, the recurringly stated theme of the Hero Wars (hrm) themselves.  As to the in-world _reason_ for why the world is ending...  Gloranthans themselves would disagree on the detail, but agree in general terms:  The World Turns.  It's an "end of Age event"; it's the latest episode in the Devil's Cycle ("every 600 years you have come..."); it's time for the latest Dragon Emperor to Pass Onward (well, if Can Sha has anything to do with it it is...); the latest incarnation of the eternal moon goddess is coming into being.  Mind you, I suppose it would be fair to say that this sort of Cosmic Inevitability isn't exactly hammered home in the game material to date, beyond the bare "The old world is ending..." quotes.

How evident should this be in a HW series?  I dunno, de gustibus, etc. My own personal bias would be, get 'em jolly fond of the Old World, before you start to intimate that you're about to destroy it.  Show them the delights either of Gay Paris or of Staying Home on the Farm, as appropriate, then at a suitable moment have the Farm occupied by the Beryl Phalanx, or Paris burnt down by wild-eyed Pentan maniacs. To mix a metaphor or two.  This perhaps biases things towards a "The old world is over, and we must save it" type of response, but not necessarily, as the focus of the game expands out from the purely personal or local, to the "bigger picture".

Cheers,
Alex.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello Alex,

It's nice to have you here. I'd very much like to see more folks with Hero Wars and Glorantha backgrounds involved at the Forge.

As for the present discussion, I'm concerned that this thread is basically several guys who continue to agree with one another. You, me, and Jonas have all said the same thing, in some cases several times. The questions raised by Christopher and others have all been answered, and not in any contradictory ways.

So, I don't see any reason for continuing this thread. Alex and Jonas, please feel free to start up new threads, or browse some of the old ones to see if something strikes your fancy (and if it does, start a new thread about it; old threads are usually left to rest in peace at the Forge).

Best,
Ron