Jonstown Jottings #68: How Humakt Learned to Grieve

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

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What is it?
How Humakt Learned to Grieve is an anthology of scenarios for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is a forty-two eleven page, full colour, 4.09 MB PDF.

The layout is clean and tidy. The cover is appropriate, the artwork okay, and the writing decent.

Where is it set?
How Humakt Learned to Grieve is nominally set in Sartar, but can be set anywhere where Ernalda, Humakt, and Orlanth and/or Vinga are worshipped, as well as their cohorts.

Who do you play?
Player Characters of all types could play the scenarios or HeroQuests in this anthology, but they are specifically aimed at worshippers of Ernalda, Humakt, and Orlanth and/or Vinga.

What do you need?
How Humakt Learned to Grieve requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha only. However, Secrets of HeroQuesting from the Jonstown Compendium will be very useful, as will the forthcoming Cults of Glorantha slipcase supplement. In lieu of that, The Six Paths might also be useful.

How Humakt Learned to Grieve is technically systemless, so the anthology can be adapted to 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds).

What do you get?

How Humakt Learned to Grieve presents three heroquests which the Game Master can bring to her campaign and involve three or more Player Characters, depending on the cults they belong to. In the titular ‘How Humakt Learned to Grieve’, the Humakti honour and remember the dead that have fallen to his blade and fallen alongside him, essentially coming to terms with the grief inherent in his cult and god’s purview. In ‘Why Ernalda Is A Killer’, praise is paid to Ernalda as a warrior by each of the gods at the feast, and in ‘How Orlanth became a Woman’ either proves to the other gods how Orlanth can do anything, including changing gender, or that he is actually Vinga or Vinga is him or Vinga is his daughter. All three are presented in detail, deconstructed and explained stage by stage—or heroquest station-by-station—and given alternative approaches too. All three, plus their alternates, fall into the category of ‘Your Glorantha May Vary’, but the Game Master can adapt them as she needs or pull them apart to use as she needs.

Each of the three presents its myth in total before identifying their key attributes—name, Runic description, action, spells and powers involved, people met, gifts gained, and game effects, and then detailing their stations. These are divided into Event, Action, Invocation, and Reward/Benefit. These are built by taking the myth apart into ‘Mythlets’ and exploring them in detail. For example, in ‘How Humakt Learned to Grieve’, Humakt is advised to discuss his problem with Ty Kora Tek, but when he comes to the cave where she lives, he faces a challenge. The Event is ‘Passing the Guardian’, which involves the Action of ‘Persuading Babeester Gor to let you into Ty Kora Tek’s Hall’, the Invocation is ‘Pass Babeester Gor’, and the Reward/Benefit is ‘Learn the secret of Grief, learn the Prepare Corpse skill’. With each myth and at every Mythlet and associated Station, the authors provide commentary and analysis. This adds depth and detail and explores their thinking in designing and adapting the myth.

‘How Humakt Learned to Grieve’ is primarily written from the point of view of Humakt, but as with many other Heroquests, it involves other gods, so the alternate ‘How Humakt Learned to Grieve’ focuses upon them, expanding the utility of the heroquest. So one possibility might be for the Player Characters to take up the stations that a Humakti NPC would move from one to the next as part of the quest. One aspect that some might take issue with and would full under ‘Your Glorantha May Vary’ is the issue of a god of death having to deal with grief and the consequences of their purview, the Humakti gaining the Passion of Death Pain, which is something which he has to address and does so as part of the heroquest. There are fewer such issues with ‘Why Ernalda Is A Killer’, which is much shorter and designed to build up a Ernalda worshipper in preparation for a further heroquest or perhaps a big battle, but like ‘How Humakt Learned to Grieve’ before it, there are opportunities for the other gods—or rather their worshippers—to roleplay and participate, but to a limited extent.

The third heroquest, ‘How Orlanth became a Woman’ is in its own way problematic. It explores how Vinga comes to be and proves herself worthy of first standing in Orlanth’s place and then alongside him, but since Vinga is an aspect of Orlanth, it is prove that Orlanth can himself change gender and prove himself as a woman. Mythically, it represents and reinforces the Orlanthi cultural move away from binary thinking about gender and sex (also addressed more recently in The Six Paths), freeing the individual from rigid thinking and the individual to be themselves. It can be the path to individualism, to another role, and even another identity, specifically one of another gender, but the treatment in this heroquest could be controversial because the authors are both male. There is no reason for it to be controversial, however. How Humakt Learned to Grieve has been given a sensitivity check by members of the transgendered community and the authors all but make themselves placeholders until such times as someone better qualified steps in and writes a better myth. They invite that someone to do so and state that they would buy such a book containing such myths were it available. Lastly, ‘How Orlanth became a Woman’ is written with no little sensitivity and care, so hopefully should cause offence to no one.

One possible downside to How Humakt Learned to Grieve is the degree of repetition throughout the supplement. This is in main due to the surgical like precision with which the authors dissect each myth into individual mythlets and analyse each one, but due to the alternate, but still similar interpretations of each myth. This is also necessary though. Another downside is the specific circumstances under which they can be used—Humakt has to begin to grieve, Ernalda has to need to prepare for a big battle or heroquest, and Orlanth has to want to break free and prove himself… If the circumstances for any of the three do come about, then these three are detailed, dissected, and diagnosed.

One aspect that the publication of How Humakt Learned to Grieve does highlight is how more heroquests would be useful—and not just for Humakt and Orlanth. On the plus side, each of the heroquests in How Humakt Learned to Grieve is not only a full example (and more of ) a heroquest, but each is accompanied by their working out. So the Game Master is shown how to write one over and over, and can take both inspiration and guidance at each step of her own.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—How Humakt Learned to Grieve is an excellent anthology of example heroquests which the Game Master can run for her Player Characters and learn from to create her own.

No—How Humakt Learned to Grieve presents heroquests which are too specific to be of immediate use and in stepping into controversial subject matters strays too far into ‘Your Glorantha May Vary’ territory. They are also not official heroquests and do not use the official rules for heroquests.

Maybe—How Humakt Learned to Grieve is an excellent anthology of example heroquests, but they are limited in their use and do deal with controversial subject matters within Glorantha. As examples of how heroquests can be written, the supplement is not without merit.