Runic Inspiration

Runes are everywhere in Glorantha. They can also help an idea emerge quickly when the Situation calls for something no one has yet established.

The number of Runes to draw depends on what is still missing.

One Rune, two Runes, or more?

To bring a Situation into being, generally draw two Power Runes using 2D8, eight cards, or any equivalent method. A Situation rarely appears as an isolated element: it emerges more easily from a relationship or tension between two principles.

Look for that relationship freely: cause and consequence, two people, before and after, place and problem, desire and obstacle, or simply two independent elements that must both enter the Situation.

To manifest something whose place in the fiction is already strongly constrained, start instead with a single Rune. This is notably the case after a resolution: the comparison has already established what reality answered, but several fictional manifestations may still be compatible with that answer. One Rune may be enough to orient the Illusion — the concrete form taken by what has just been decided.

If that first Rune is not enough to make an answer appear, draw a second and look for the relationship between them. A third, and then possibly more, can be added in the same way as long as they genuinely open the imagination rather than replacing it.

A runic draw is never a new test: it changes neither the outcome already obtained, nor established facts, nor the Frame Factors. It only helps choose one form among those the Situation still leaves open.

The eight Power Runes

D8	Rune	Theme	Question	Direction
1	Movement	Discovery	Where?	Below
2	Death	Threat	Who?	Right
3	Harmony	Relations	What?	Left
4	Stasis	Law	How?	Ahead
5	Life	Resources	How much?	Behind
6	Disorder	Revelation	When?	Above
7	Truth	Knowledge	Why?	Within
8	Illusion	Mystery	Unless?	Nowhere / everywhere

These correspondences are not imposed answers. They provide a constraint strong enough to set the imagination to work without deciding in its place.

1 — Movement: Discovery

• Body: legs;
• moment: transit, urgency, time passing;
• distance: approach, journey, distance being crossed;
• relationship: passer-by, stranger, scout, nomadic contact;
• objects: map, compass, spyglass, boots, vehicle;
• places: vestibule, corridor, observatory, balcony;
• personalities: curious, explorer, restless, unstable;
• war: scouting, patrol, flanking;
• music: D, Dorian mode;
• possible taboos: never stay two nights in the same place; never refuse a journey; never sit on a throne.

2 — Death: Threat

• Body: arms;
• moment: deadline, countdown, abrupt ending;
• distance: abyss, separation, impassable border;
• relationship: sworn enemy, outcast, broken relationship;
• objects: weapon, poison, trap, warning;
• places: armoury, dungeon, pit, perimeter wall;
• personalities: aggressive, cruel, paranoid, protective;
• war: frontal assault, intimidation, destructive raid;
• music: B, Locrian mode;
• possible taboos: never flee; never refuse a challenge; never strike an enemy who cannot see you.

3 — Harmony: Relations

• Body: heart;
• moment: synchronicity, right moment, shared time;
• distance: proximity, shared space, network;
• relationship: intimate ally, clan member, mutual aid;
• objects: contract, alliance, gift, instrument;
• places: sitting room, dining room, common space;
• personalities: empathetic, diplomatic, charming, dependent;
• war: truce, mutual support, coalition;
• music: F, Lydian mode;
• possible taboos: never lie; never refuse hospitality; never break a promise made to an ally.

4 — Stasis: Law

• Body: torso;
• moment: routine, immutable cycle, suspended time;
• distance: anchor, fixed point, here;
• relationship: institution, hierarchy, family duty;
• objects: torque, fetish, ceremonial garment, scales, sceptre;
• places: central courtyard, agora, consultation room;
• personalities: rigid, traditionalist, authoritarian, inflexible;
• war: strict formation, siege, garrison;
• music: C, Ionian mode;
• possible taboos: obey ancestral Law; never change your name; never leave the sacred place.

5 — Life: Resources

• Body: reproductive organs;
• moment: growth, maturation, seasons;
• distance: expansion, radiance from a centre, domain;
• relationship: provider, extended family, creditor or debtor;
• objects: purse, provisions, harvesting tools;
• places: kitchen, cellar, granary, store-room;
• personalities: pragmatic, hard-working, generous, materialistic;
• war: logistics, supply, plunder, war of attrition;
• music: G, Mixolydian mode;
• possible taboos: never eat flesh; chastity; never let a creature die without permission.

6 — Disorder: Revelation

• Body: senses;
• moment: interruption, unexpected event, brutal break;
• distance: labyrinth, disorientation, broken path;
• relationship: traitor, disruptor, unpredictable rival;
• objects: broken object, rare object, displaced thing;
• places: unexpected room, destroyed or disaster-struck area;
• personalities: unpredictable, visionary, mad, rebellious;
• war: shock, surprise, rupture;
• music: E, Phrygian mode;
• possible taboos: always answer a challenge; never plan ahead; say the first thing that comes to mind.

7 — Truth: Knowledge

• Body: head;
• moment: clarity, historical fact, decisive moment;
• distance: straight line, measured trajectory;
• relationship: guarantor, reliable witness, transparent relationship;
• objects: book, parchment, measuring instrument, relic;
• places: library, scriptorium, office, altar;
• personalities: scholar, rational, observant, pedantic;
• war: intelligence, cryptography, calculated strategy;
• music: A, Aeolian mode;
• possible taboos: never lie, even by omission; reveal the secret you are asked for; never steal.

8 — Illusion: Mystery

• Body: internal organs;
• moment: mistiming, false memory, lost time;
• distance: mirage, dead end, deceptive proximity;
• relationship: mask, unknown person, manipulator, unspoken thing;
• objects: mask, false bottom, counterfeit money, cloak;
• places: hidden passage, labyrinth, concealed room;
• personalities: secretive, enigmatic, manipulative, lying;
• war: camouflage, feint, diversion, psychological warfare;
• music: unison;
• possible taboos: never reveal your name; never appear twice in the same guise; always wear a mask.

When to draw the Runes?

Some natural moments:

• at the beginning of a season;
• when a new Situation needs an element external to the Protagonists;
• when a Force or Pressure must manifest but its form is not yet known;
• after a resolution, when the result is already established but its fictional manifestation remains open;
• when a question remains open and no one wants to decide it directly;
• when an unexpected image would help return attention to Glorantha.

The draw does not replace what is already true. It helps discover how the world can continue to answer when several answers remain possible.

Temporal bearings through the Elemental Runes

To quickly obtain a distance in time, use a D6:

D6	Rune	Bearing	Stricter reading
1	Darkness	Long before	distant past
2	Water	Not long ago	recent past
3	Earth	Now	present
4	Fire/Sky	Past–present–future	present, continuity
5	Air	Tomorrow	near future
6	Moon	Future	distant future, cycle

This association follows the mythical order in which the elements appeared in the world, followed by the Moon's arrival in the Middle Air.

Spatial bearings through the Elemental Runes

The same principle can provide a distance:

D6	Rune	Bearing	Stricter reading
1	Darkness	Here	here
2	Earth	Near	here
3	Water	Separated	near
4	Air	Around	near
5	Moon	Far	far
6	Fire/Sky	Very far	far

For a Triolini, naturally reverse Water and Earth: Water is the nearby environment in which they live, Earth the environment that separates.