Roleplaying and GM notes mostly in Gloranthan context
Author: hkokko
Name
Hannu Kokko
In private life
I enjoy roleplaying games, photography and seeing new places and cultures. Retired from working life.
In working life
While there worked with large scale agile software development and architecture close to my heart and practiced daily. Large scale here is anything involving up to dozens of teams working for the same release.
Continuous integration as a cornerstone of making agile development feasible and to help keep the rhythm has been in my focus for quite a bit My latest job before retiring was working as a software development leader, at Elisa as CTO, Smart Energy Solutions. As a secondary occupation a Principal Consultant at Kohilleen Consulting - RD leadership consultancy business.
In private life
I enjoy roleplaying games, photography and seeing new places and cultures.
Autotomy: Creature can shed limbs to escape or stop wounds, with minimal mobility loss.
Decentralised Nervous System: Ignores pain effects; can function with major injuries or even without a head.
Eversible Pharynx: Vomits digestive tract to entangle and swallow prey over three turns; cannot be parried.
Extendible: Has long-reaching, high-impact attacks; may grab and pull smaller foes instantly.
Mutable Body: Can squeeze through tight spaces and burrow fast; ignores size limits for certain abilities.
Traumatic Evisceration: Sacrifices body parts to damage or entangle nearby foes; often includes toxic effects.
The content of these are licensed according to the following:
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.1
Here we continue to delve on Core Codex (encounter generated with a Pyramid method). Meaning of the core codex is to provide a generic but hopefully colorful template for a member of the profession in a culture – all of them designed in the same fashion (what would be the useful skills, spells and combat styles for a regular member of the profession. They are usually highly skilled or veteran, some even master in their main skill.
Here is a set of opponents for Mythras Encounter Generator crafted using the Pyramid method from Mythras Companion. The idea is that on this tag (Core Codex) the opponents use exactly the culture and career skills from RAW when generating an encounter for the specific culture and career using Pyramid method. The skills that are enhanced as follows
50 (30+4d10)
two skills 20+4d10
three skills 10+4d10
four skills 4d10
five skills 2d10
The skills are the once that would be most “suitable” to enhance for a career in this culture (this is of course always a judgment issue).
After this each of the skills the opponent has are enhanced first with 2d10 to reflect generic NPC history development.
The combat styles are given that would be suitable for this combo if any. The combo might have multiple that are selected randomly, might even have two combat styles. This should give a varied examples of combat style traits into your campaign.
The weapon choices are given that would be suitable for this profession in generic fantasy campaign.
The passions are then given that would be suitable for this culture/career combo. After that the description for a flavour is added.
Each of the Core Codex members are given folk magic and a random selection of spells suitable for the profession.
There will be more of these Core Codex members later – eventually all the profession pairs might be gathered.
This set could be used to clone a campaign specific civilized rogue instead of this generic civilized rogue.
With this method – some of the opponents reach master level and most reach veteran level. If you need lesser opponents adjust the skills by minus 20% to reach entry level opponents.
You can find these from the home page by writing tag name Core codex into search line.
At end of January 2025 we have more than 4500 encounters in MeG. How would I find what are the official encounter templates in the MeG. The creatures in MeG are crowdsourced and they might have been created way long in the past. To help searcher find all the ones which create a similar level of encounter than in the RAW creatures chapter – I went thru all my creations.
Now all of those you find with tag: “Raw official” and creator is hkokko should be the ones most closely creating one from the Core rules.
At the same time I fine-tuned the encounter to provide a bit more variety and added a few missing features and creatures.
Here are the new ones:
Alligator, Young Adult
Chaos Hybrid
Cyclops
Deinosuchus
Dwarf
All elementals size 3
Elf
Goblin
Orc
Lizardman/Ophidian
Here is the full list. You can get it by taping Raw official on the home page search field.
Over the holidays I noticed that the author of Classic Fantasy and Unearthed Companion, Rodney Leary is fighting against cancer. Please support him. Below is the direct support link.
Here is Rodney’s post from Mythras Discord – Please Support Rodney
Hello everyone, I have been struggling with if I should post this or not. I’m Rodney Leary. the author and line manager of Classic Fantasy. At the end of September, I was diagnosed with cancer when a little bump under my skin turned out to be Merkel cell carcinoma, a fast-moving, aggressive form of cancer. When the tests came back, it had already progressed to stage 3, having spread into my lymph nodes. For the next month and a half, I will be having daily radiation treatments and weekly immunotherapy sessions in Boston. I am looking to raise money through GoFundMe to help me with daily transportation from New Hampshire and/or lodging when I’m there, as well as mounting medical bills. I’m not one that is typically comfortable asking for help, but I am doing so at the behest of my daughter and grandchildren, who mean more to me than my pride. The link to my GoFundMe is… https://www.gofundme.com/f/daily-cancer-treatments-in-boston-need-help?utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&attribution_id=sl%3Ab883179e-fd40-4481-89fb-38d351554a09 Please don’t feel obligated, I know this can be a tough time of the year for people. Thanks in advance
End of Rodney’s post
These are among the publications Rodney has made for the tribe – Unearthed Companion and Classic Fantasy. They are a treasure trove for GMs and the stats for monsters (92 pages worth of Monsters in Unearthed Companion alone) can be used for RAW as well.
Here are the RAW stats I made for very old red dragon in MeG from Unearthed Companion
Here is an unofficial version of Gark the Calm cult for Mythras. There are now also new or revivified versions of its servants in MeG.
““Why suffer, when peace awaits? Why toil in agony when there is labor without pain, service without burden? Gark the Calm offers you eternal rest—where the body finds purpose and the soul finds serenity. Join us, and see that death is not an end, but a tool of harmony. Gark’s path is calm. Gark’s peace is eternal.”
Gark’s priests travel the world in many guises, promising the seemingly impossible to the impoverished people of all civilizations: peace and solace from the miserable world. Gark’s worshipers call him by many names, but every crowd of hopeful pilgrims disappears into ancient ruins or forbidden places. No one knows the fate of these souls, though a terrible odor rises from the zombie populations of those places.
Gark is depicted in whatever form is most pleasant to potential worshipers. Source: Prosopedia
An extreme offshoot of Fonritian religion comes from the philosophical belief that the physical body must be maintained at all costs. The members of the popular cult of Gark the Calm donate their corpses to the temple of the god. For a period of time, anyone can visit the corpses as they do labor for the temple. After that period expires, the corpse is packed away, supposedly to holy temples high in the mountains. The cult gives out amulets that will let the corpse’s descendants know if their ancestor has slipped away, despite the tender ministrations of that silent god.
Source: Guide to Glorantha
The Cult of Gark the Calm thrives in the shadowy corners of Hombori Tondo, exploiting the city’s disparities of wealth and power to recruit desperate followers. In a city teeming with intrigue and unrest, the cult offers a seductive promise: eternal peace, freedom from life’s burdens, and the utility of uncomplaining, undead servitude. Gark’s followers—known as Garkists—are practical necromancers who use corpses as tools of labor and societal function, particularly as tireless workers for the city’s ambitious building projects, trade enterprises, and even menial labor.
The cult has a hidden, sacred place known only as “The Island”, an eerie shrine reached by raft across an underground lake or one of the remote swampy waterways around delta near Hombori Tondo . Rafts, rowed silently by zombie servants, carry pilgrims and the corpses of the newly dead to the Island, where the dead are consecrated into the service of Gark. The Island serves as a central hub of the cult’s operations and a place of pilgrimage for its faithful.
Though the cult claims to promote harmony through the elimination of suffering, their practices are deeply unsettling to most. The streets of Hombori Tondo whisper of pilgrims disappearing into hidden crypts or ancient ruins, only for their bodies to reappear as tireless, unfeeling laborers. The cult’s power lies in secrecy and a chilling pragmatism that belies their outwardly peaceful doctrine.
Runes
Harmony: The cult seeks to bring “peace” by turning death into utility, masking chaos with order.
Magic: Gark grants mastery over the mystical processes of necromancy and zombification, his followers wielding potent spells to bend the dead to their will.
Mythos and History
The myths of Gark trace back to the God Time, where he is said to have emerged from the Black River of Stillness, a cursed waterway that lies hidden in the depths of the world. According to legend, Gark brought peace to a land torn apart by war and famine, not through battle or negotiation, but through the gift of Eternal Rest. He visited a great city suffering from plague and starvation, where rulers struggled to maintain order among the living. As death swept through the streets, Gark appeared, calm and serene, offering to “ease the burden” of their dead.
He raised the fallen with a wave of his hand—not as vengeful, mindless creatures but as silent, tireless workers who could toil endlessly for the benefit of the living. The city flourished under Gark’s guidance, its fields tended by the dead, its walls repaired by uncomplaining hands. Gark taught the living that peace could be found by accepting death’s utility, unburdening both the soul and the society from the weight of suffering.
But the myth takes a darker turn: as the city’s prosperity grew, so did its reliance on the dead. Soon, they began offering their own sick and weak to Gark in return for his blessings. The living were outnumbered by the dead, and the city fell into eerie silence. When outsiders came, they found no living souls—only a city of perfect order, populated entirely by zombies who continued their work in grim, lifeless perpetuity.
In the myths, Gark is depicted as neither good nor evil. He is the embodiment of peace and purpose through the relinquishment of life. His followers interpret this as an eternal gift, though others see it as a chilling curse.
Nature of the Cult
The cult justifies its use of the dead through a twisted form of utilitarian logic:
The Body as a Tool: The body is a lifeless shell once the soul departs, and its purpose can be repurposed to benefit the living.
Harmony through Labor: Garkists see zombies as perfect slaves, uncomplaining and tireless, useful for tasks deemed beneath the living. This aligns with Fonritian traditions of slavery, though the undead serve even more efficiently.
Avoidance of Waste: Corpses are seen as a wasted resource unless utilized. The cult often resorts to grave-robbing or quietly collecting the bodies of the poor, promising families that their loved ones are being “honored” through service to the city.
Organization
The cult operates in congregations, each led by a Priest of Gark, who oversees the rituals and manages the supply of corpses. In Hombori Tondo, the cult has deep connections with several key institutions:
Builders and Merchants: Garkists offer cheap zombie labor for construction projects, caravans, and dock work.
Graveyards and Funeral Rites: They clandestinely acquire bodies through agreements with corrupt officials or outright theft.
The Island: A hidden shrine accessible only by raft. Zombie rowers ferry pilgrims and corpses to this eerie sanctuary, where the dead are consecrated and new followers undergo initiation rites. The Island is rumored to house ancient relics and forbidden knowledge, protected by both magical wards and undead guardians.
The cult maintains a strict hierarchy:
Initiates learn basic magic and serve as labor organizers or corpse collectors.
Acolytes master zombification spells and oversee small-scale projects.
Priests lead major rituals, manage sacred sites, and ensure the cult’s secrecy.
Membership
Initiation Requirements: Candidates must donate a corpse (preferably fresh) or their own body upon death. Many members join out of desperation, lured by promises of peace or economic opportunity.
Social Role:
The cult provides a tireless workforce to the city through its zombie labor, filling roles that others avoid, such as construction, heavy lifting, and menial tasks. This has made the cult indispensable to certain merchants and builders.
Lay members are drawn in by the cult’s promises of eternal peace, freedom from suffering, and the promotion of social stability, which appeals to the desperate poor.
Folk Magic
Befuddle Calm Might Shove Slow Vigour Voice Used to command the zombies
Rune Magic
Initiate Level
Cancel Light Chill Labor’s Accord (Modified City Harmony): A spell that inspires cooperation and suppresses resistance among laborers, including zombies and living workers, for a short period. Doleful Chime Draw Human Reflection Spirit Block Synchronize
Acolyte Level
Create Zombie Sacred Band
Priest Level
Ageing Turn Blow
Gifts and Compulsions
Gifts: Horde
Compulsions:
Members develop an obsessive fascination with corpses and the undead.
Higher-ranking members (Acolytes and Priests) often seek to have their own bodies animated upon death, sometimes taking extreme risks to achieve this sooner.
Cult Skills
Brawn Craft (Masonry or Construction) Endurance Lore (Cult) Lore (Human) Perception (to locate fresh corpses or assess structural weaknesses) Stealth (to acquire bodies and evade authorities)
Allies and Enemies
Allies:
Corrupt merchants and builders who benefit from cheap zombie labor [[Into the Heart of Darkness/Factions/Cults and Brotherhoods/Orange Guild|Orange Guild]]
Desperate poor families who see the cult as a means of survival.
Enemies
Humakt Cultists: The cult of true death sees Garkists as a blasphemy against the natural order.
Leopard Secret Police: Their grave-robbing and hidden activities have drawn the attention of Hombori Tondo’s secret enforcers.
Brotherhood of Behemoth: The Behemoth Guild, which dominates beast-handling and work animals, fiercely opposes the cult. They see zombie labor as a direct threat to their livelihood and traditions, often leading to violent clashes.
The Cult of Gark the Calm has deep roots in the shadowy corners of Hombori Tondo, with its eerie rafts crossing to The Island and its relentless pursuit of death as utility. Its chilling practices place it in direct conflict with those who see life—and death—as sacred, making it both feared and sought after by those desperate enough to embrace its morbid promises.
The bestiaries usable with Mythras got an update, more than 100 creatures – most of them coming from Unearthed Companion.
MeG Update
MeG has now more than 4500 public entries contributed by the users and a new server with all new infra software updates – which should increase stability and little bit of speed.
New Encounters
I created a few new encounters. Black Guard and Orange Guild encounters for a veteran encounters:
Combat Style Encyclopaedia gets Book of Schemes update (phase 1).
Now all special effects from Book of Schemes are available in the Combat Style Card pages
There are also 26 new Combat Styles from various campaigns and Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass included In addition there are 11 new Combat Style Traits – mostly from Book of Schemes.
Overall count is now 742 Combat Styles and 132 Combat Style Traits.
Scribbling the combat results on pieces of paper has been the tradition of my game since the start. Sometimes it can be messy to remember when the stun location ends for npc #4. Here is a more structured approach that might help.
Add your player characters to the sheet one row at a time if you expect them to live for multiple fights. Now you have your own template.
Example of the template
Either print out the template in multiple copies for you to scribble the turn results. For the current fight use one of the copies.
Add the NPCs. Mark their initiative and action points.
Round and turn
For each round and turn mark the actions as they happen. Mark the current round turn combination with X so you know.
Hit points
Mark the remaining hit points on locations that have been hit (or print out enemy from MeG). Abbreviations: LL Left Leg, RL Right Leg, A Abdomen, C Chest, H Head, LA Left Arm, RA Right Arm…
Status
Status
Turn
Bleeding (location)
Mark once per round until healed
Blinded
Mark to each turn that is affected
Charging
Takes a full round, mark to each turn in the full round
Dead
–
Difficulty Grade (number)
Mark DG-1 for Difficulty Grade 1 if needed for each round affected, or just use -1
Disarmed
Mark each turn one at a time until armed again
Disengaged
Entangled(location)
Mark each turn one at a time until free
Flee
Gripped(location)
Mark each turn one at a time until free
Major Wound Must Heal
Mark up to 2xHealing rate rounds for abdomen,Chest, Head
No attack
Mark each turn affected
Overextended
Mark the next turn
Pinned Weapon
Mark each turn one at a time until free
Pressed
Mark the next turn
Prone
Mark each turn one at a time until free
Shocked(location)
Mark to each turn that is affected
Stunned(Location)
Mark to each turn that is affected
Surrendered
Unconscious
Mark to each turn that is affected
…
Example
For example if npc #1 gets hit on left leg and right arm so that left leg has only 2 hit points left and RA is on -5 hit points and gains No Attack for 3 turns.
For example: LL 2, RA -5
Mark the No Attack to the status field and mark abbreviation N to each of the turns NPC # 1 is not able to attack
When the NPC #1 is hit with spell “Shock” add or modify the status to Shock and mark the turns affected.
If you prefer digital version – save a new version for the current fight.
The excel version has tooltips for several of the fields.
I added to the Combat Style Trait selection 80+ Combat Style Traits bring the whole number of selectable Combat Style Traits to be 135+ when you create or update your enemy. This should now contain pretty much all the Combat Style Traits published and a few campaign specific ones. You can select the combat style trait to be used like in the below picture
UPDATE: Divided the Combat Traits into subcategories:
Combat Style Traits – Close Combat
Combat Style Traits – Formation
Combat Style Traits – Mounted
Combat Style Traits – Ranged
Combat Style Traits – Unarmed
to make it easier to select from the long list of traits.
Notes From Pavis 