Conans, Gray Mousers, and Rustums?

[tavis]

When the RQ rules (2nd edition, p.5, under Sociological Base) say that Glorantha's heroes are Conans, Gray Mousers, and Rustums, who the heck is a Rustum?

Both my Appendix N book-learning and Google-fu are letting me down here.

[uncruliar]

I've just googled him and it would appear that he is a character from Persian Mythology. He is also sometimes spelled as Rostam

The paragraph below comes from Myth Encyclopedia

The legend of Rustum shows the part human heroes play in the great drama of good and evil. Rustum was so strong and brave that the king made him head of the army. Then the White Demon seized the king, and Rustum set out to rescue him. In the course of his travels, Rustum encountered a lion, a desert, a dragon, a demoness, and a demon army. He overcame all these obstacles with the help of his faithful horse Ruksh and a warrior named Aulad, whom he defeated in combat and who then became an ally. Rustum's adventure ended in a cave, the lair of the White Demon, where Rustum tore out the demon's heart.
I have to admit that I have never noticed the mention of Rustum in that section of the rulebook, much less wondered who he is, so thanks for sparking my curiosity.

[stevemitchell]

The Shahnameh, or Book of Kings, is the national epic of Persia. It contains the adventures of Rustam, as well as a number of other heroes, in a semi-mythical past. There are several on-line English translations (Google or Wiki search).

[tavis]

Interesting. The Introduction to Cults of Prax also says it "will provide plenty of hints for someone running a game based on Ancient Greece, or on Arthur's Britain, Selucid Persia, Lankhmar, or Hyboria" (emphasis mine).

[stevemitchell]

Ancient Greece, and the Bronze Age in general, yes.

Arthur's Britain, sorry, I don't see that at all (but maybe I've been conditioned by Pendragon).

Selucid Persia seems a bit odd. This is Persia after it was overrun by Alexander and his Successors; I don't think that Prax-like cults would fit very well here. But see Warlords of Alexander for a different approach.

It's been too long since I've read the Lankhmar stories.

Hyboria; yes, in some areas, but not all.

[uncruliar]

Jun 1, 2010 14:33:09 GMT -6 stevemitchell said:

Arthur's Britain, sorry, I don't see that at all (but maybe I've been conditioned by Pendragon).

Selucid Persia seems a bit odd. This is Persia after it was overrun by Alexander and his Successors; I don't think that Prax-like cults would fit very well here.

Well, I have to agree that Prax-like cults might not fit in Arthurian Britain or Selucid Persia. But I'm not sure that is what is meant in the Cults of prax Introduction. I should think that what is meant is that the details given indicate the level of detail and inter-relatedness that might be developed in a set of cults for another setting.

However this is just what occurs to me at the moment. To be honest I had never really noticed that paragraph. It's interesting because I have always seen RQ and Glorantha as being intrinsically linked. I hated the move away from Glorantha that came with RQ3. This paragraph though suggests that non-Gloranthan setting for RQ were always in the minds of the developers.

[ffilz]

Even with RQ2, they tried some non-Glorantha with the Questworld boxed set. Unfortunately, it wasn't very well developed and didn't provide enough cults to really play with.

I have also always connected RQ with Glorantha. I could see using a different setting, however, one would need to develop a set of cults. One difficulty I have is the RQ magic system doesn't fit well with "standard" fantasy. In the end, I have a feeling an alternate setting wouldn't end up feeling all that different from Glorantha unless one put a LOT of work into it.

Frank

[Baron]

I link RQ2 and Glorantha. For using RQ mechanics in other locations, BRP is a great tool.