Genres
Icelandic Sagas
The first genre The Coming Storm emulates is that of the Icelandic Sagas such as Njal’s Saga and Laxdaela Saga where heroism happens in the ordinary toil of daily life, feuds last for generations, and life is short and uncertain.
In the sagas, honor and reputation are everything: any slight to honor has to be avenged by blood or money; someone whose honor is disparaged goads their kin into seeking restitution, through violence if necessary. People have a store of luck, life eats it away, and when that luck runs out, doom follows. Life is unfair and difficult. What matters is how you confront such adversity.
The sagas revel in strong women, doughty warriors, and learned chieftains. Action reveals the hero’s personality, not introspection.
Modern examples: Tim Severin’s Viking series or Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories. If you prefer TV, look no further than the fictionalized Ragnar Lothbrok of Vikings.
Sword & Sorcery
The second genre The Coming Storm emulates is Sword and Sorcery. This is a tale of swashbuckling PCs risking all in the face of danger. There are proud barbarians and a decadent and decaying empire. There are primitive savages and sinister remnants of fallen civilizations. There are dark ruins and fabulous treasures to be won by the bold. Magic is common, but often individual. However, the stakes in the stories are personal triumph or loss, not the world-spanning threats of epic fantasy. If the PCs fail, their families, kin, and loved ones may suffer, but the failure will not change the world.
This differs from epic fantasy where the events are world spanning in impact.
Setting
This game is set among the Red Cow clan between 1618 and 1625.
The Red Cow clan is a part of the Cinsina tribe; the Cinsina tribe is in turn part of the Jonstown Confederation, an alliance of tribes centered on the city of that name, and the Cinsina are one of the tribes of the kingdom of Sartar. The Lunar Empire rules Sartar, through a puppet Prince, Temertain. The Seven Mothers missionaries preach the stories of the Red Moon Goddess and have banned the worship of Orlanth, the Storm King.
The chief enemy of the Confederation is the Telmori, a tribe of savage werewolves.
Mode
The most appropriate mode for this game is as a chronicle: the characters manage the economic and political affairs of a community, often over a large span of time. Players may play multiple characters, perhaps over several generations.
The mode suggests elements to build into your character.
Chronicle play reflects the saga genre and follows the PCs as members of the clan as they try to survive the Hero Wars. The focus remains on hearth and home. When the great events of the Hero Wars impact the Red Cow clan, the focus is on how the clan deals with the fallout of those events, not on the Hero Wars themselves.
Premise
This is the Third Age of Glorantha since Time began. The end of an age has always brought conflict and death.
The Hero Wars mark the end of Glorantha, the end of the world, as we know it. Monstrous dangers have risen, great causes have been born, and the gods are waking. Cataclysms like this have occurred before. Everyone knows it. The only real question is, “What will you do about it?”
Many prophecies say the Hero Wars will begin in Dragon Pass, with the conflict between the Orlanthi and the Lunar Empire. Who can doubt that when the conflicts that have ended other ages began here?
In Sartar, a generation has grown up only knowing Lunar rule. Some have only known poverty, hunger, and death resisting the Red Moon; others have known prosperity, new opportunities, and joy by welcoming the Empire. Some have fought in a long rebellion; others have collaborated with the Empire. Which side will you choose?
The priests of Orlanth tell that the Red Moon is evil. The Goddess has embraced Chaos. The tyrannical Lunar Empire has stolen traditional freedoms. Will you form part of that rebellion?
The Lunar missionaries bring a message of co-operation and unity “We are all us.” The Seven Mothers missionaries help mothers with childbirth, heal the sick and injured, and help to feed the poor. The Empire’s soldiers drive bandits from the road. Will you co-operate with the Lunar Empire for a peaceful, prosperous life?
The Empire has ruled Sartar for sixteen long years. Rebel chieftains, such as Orstalor Spearlord and Venharl Stormbrow, violently resist the Empire, ambushing Lunar caravans, killing Lunar officials, and holding worship of Orlanth at sacred hilltops. The clans that aid them risk Lunar reprisals. Kallyr Starbrow, the rebel leader, fights against the Empire; she has failed once before and many suffered for joining her. Will you join Kallyr’s rebels fighting against the Empire?
Queen Ivartha the Skinner of the Cinsina does not trust Kallyr Starbrow, accusing her of collaboration with the Telmori wolfmen. A Lunar, Jomes Hostralos, has kept the Telmori at bay since the Wolf Hunt. He is a ‘wall of spears’ against the Telmori and his settlers carve land from the forests that grew up after the destruction of the Maboder. He is an ally of the Cinsina. Yet, the surviving Maboder tribesfolk live in servitude on Jomes’ lands and their kin cry out for their freedom. Will you follow Queen Ivartha, who does not trust Kallyr Starbrow? Will you join Queen Ivartha in allying with the Lunar general Jomes to fight your greatest enemy the Telmori? Will you see your old enemies the Maboder returned to their ancestral lands?
Narrative Hooks
We recommend that the players come up with a Narrative Hook — an idea that will put pressure on the character to become involved in game events. The mode for The Coming Storm is chronicle, so the hook should describe the contribution the character makes to the community. The motivation is implicit; the character has to manage this resource, increasing its productivity and protecting it from outside threats. In addition, we recommend that the character’s narrative hook implies how they will respond to the premise — and help the clan survive the Hero Wars.
Try to imply heroic action to save the clan, instead of everyday commitments.
- Barntarling tends to the herds and guards the animals. When the Hero Wars come, he will work to bring back the promised Aurochs to Dragon Pass, and hunt them with the prophesized liberator.
- Fintar is one of the chieftain’s housecarls. When the Hero Wars come, he will takes to the vanguard in the fight to defend the people of the clan from their enemies.
- Hedbrast is a thane of the Red Cow clan; he manages a large farm that feeds many. When the Hero Wars come, he will help the tribe by using powers and secrets he has stolen from foreigners.
A good narrative hook tells the Game Master what kind of adventures the player is interested in having.