[Glorantha] Stories, numbers etc

[tim at timellis.demon.co.uk]

First of all, I do have a certain amount of symapthy with people who want/expect to see numbers in npc descriptions.  However I can also appreciate why it might be preferable to avoid giving them.*  

Jane sort of explains it when she says 

>Glorantha is an
>internally self-consistent universe, even if the
>details vary from game to game.

The last line being the important one.  If, in this example, a detatchment of the Lunar College of Magic are supposed to be a difficult opponent for the "average clan troubleshooters" that our PC's might be assumed to be then it could well be that to be internally self-consistant the numbers that represent this will need to vary from game to game to deal with the inconsistancy in approach between different GM's/groups.  

(If you just treat the numbers purely as guidelines, of course, then the numbers can help you gauge the relative power levels of NPC's given in the book(s) -but knowing (from HQ:RiG page 19) that it's 1W for a journeyman, 1W2 for a master, 1W3 for a master's master and 1W4 for Heroes sort of lets us do this anyway...

Mikko says
>And having the numbers for the Field College is important and helpful. If
>I have an idea involving them, the player characters involved will be such
>that make sense in the context. I'm not going to nerf the field college,
>because I'm running a campaign for Sartarite Farmers. I'm also not going
>to give them an extra mastery if I happen to be runnin a campaign where
>the PC:s are epic Sartarite heroquesters.

This sounds fair enough, but it seems you have a good idea of what their power level is from this, even without numbers

>Scaling the opposition to fit the heroes smacks terribly of D&D, and makes
>skill levels pretty meaningless. 

But isnt that exactly what you are doing when you say "the player characters involved will be such that make sense in the context."

>What is the difference between the plucky clansman of 5w skill level, and the 
>Hero with 5w3 skill level if the world changes and scales so that the >challenge is always the same.

the relative skill levels may remain the same, but the challenges don't - which is entirely the point.  The plucky 5W clansman might be taking on a bunch of Lunar conscripts, or a lone Broo, or a young Dark Troll.  The 5W3 Hero is taking on a squad of professional soldiers, or a Lunar Hero, or a nest of Scorpion Men, or a Mistress Race Troll.  The potential consequences of defeat, or rewards if successful are different.  If he stuck to the opponents he faced as a starting character he would not be challenged, and if he faced the "hero level" opponents as a starting character he would not survive.

>The field college is a magical and military force of a given strength. It
>is utterly overwhelming to many characters (and their entire clans), and a
>realistic foe for a powerful character who has the backing of a tribal
>warband.

So if you know what the strength of "many characters and their entire clans)" and "a powerful character who has the backing of a tribal warband" is in your campaign then you know the power level of the field college.  And you don't have to complain that the printed stats are weong either! 

*Which, I guess means I agree with Trotsky when he says 

>Not every book has to support this 
>approach, but I'd like to see some that do.

and 

>I believe that HQ should support both approaches 
>where it can - as it has in the past.