Lunar Influence
The Red Moon is not a Worldview.
A Lunar may continue to inhabit the world as a Theist, Animist, or Logician. But when their relationship with the Moon genuinely matters in the Situation, she can modify the way their Worldview reads reality's answer.
Lunar influence therefore does not apply simply because the Moon is visible in the sky. It must be relevant to the Protagonist and to the resolution: Lunar cult, Lunar magic, religious allegiance, or another relationship established in the fiction.
The cycle beyond the Glowline
Beyond the Glowline, the Red Moon moves through her cycle.
For Glorantha Perspectives, the seven phases are grouped into three resolution states.
Full Moon — looking toward the One
At the Full Moon, the Red Goddess' influence draws the affected Worldviews toward the 1: unity, inclusion, and the possibility of transcending ordinary separations.
- Theism:
1s may be rerolled. - Animism: two
1s forming a Spiritual Pact exceptionally produce 2 Successes instead of one. - Logic: add 1 to the value of every die before calculating the sum.
This is not a Heroic state. The Worldview remains the same; the Moon passes through it for a time.
Half Moons and Crescents — the ordinary world
Worldviews are read normally.
This is a deliberate Glorantha Perspectives simplification that groups several degrees of the Lunar cycle rather than reproducing every separate variation in the strength of Lunar glamours.
Dying Moon and Black Moon — the Moon's withdrawal
Affected Worldviews enter their Weakened state.
The Black Moon retains a particular importance in Lunar traditions associated with Illumination; this weakening describes the Lunar power available in an ordinary resolution, not the initiatory meaning of that phase.
Within the Glowline
Within the Glowline, Lunar magic is maintained as under a Half Moon.
Whenever Lunar influence is relevant to the resolution, therefore use the ordinary reading of the affected Worldview regardless of the Red Moon's visible phase.
The Glowline stabilizes the cycle; it does not continuously produce the exceptional Full Moon effect.
Mysticism and Draconic Thought
Mysticism and Draconic Thought are not modified by the lunar cycle in Glorantha Perspectives: their accomplishments aim precisely at transcending the cycles and oppositions of ordinary reality.
An Illuminated character who remains a Theist, Animist, or Logician still retains that underlying Worldview, however; Lunar influence may therefore continue to pass through it.
DESIGN — Why the
1?The Full Moon does not give every Lunar a mystical mechanic. It nevertheless directs their attention toward the same symbol: the
1, unity, and inclusion.The Theist recovers what seemed lost, the Animist discovers exceptional resonance among the smallest presences, and the Logician sees the whole measure shift.
This presence of the
1can prepare the fictional ground for Illumination without causing it automatically.