Masters of Luck and Death

Leicester - July 1998

Gloranthan Folk Tales

Gloranthan Songbook

Moonie Madness

Carmanian Sources

Malkioni Scriptures

Belintar, immortal Pharaoh of the Holy Country, is dead. Now the Champions from the six peoples he rules over - trolls of the Shadow Plateau, fishers of the Rightarm Islands, women of Esrolia, jungle folk of Caladraland, freemen of Heortland, and atheists of God Forgot - find themselves on a mythic quest to prove their worthiness to become the next incarnation of the Pharaoh! For the lucky winner, an eternity of angelic bliss in a mythic otherworld. And for the losers... who knows?

The colour of this flyer tells you which team you're in:

When the briefing ends, find your team leaders, head off to your assigned room, and start preparing for Godhood! There's an hour's break at 7:00 pm for the Lore Auction, and then the game's afoot! Cheer for your Champion, join in other teams' activities, and may the best Man-God win!

Team Leaders' Briefing

Team Members

Every con member has received a coloured flyer in their registration pack, assigning them to a team. You can turn a blind eye to some hopping around between teams, if anyone insists (e.g. to stay with their friends, to support their favourite nation), unless this gets silly, or arrange mutually agreeable swaps with other teams. But you must have a team left when the event starts, or you'll look daft.

Team Roles

Your team must perform four scenes, in order. All the briefing material is below: you must explain the requirements to your team members, and assign roles and responsibilities to them. Feel free to deviate from our suggestions, if you come up with something more amusing that "fits." Team members must play the parts of the Champion, his Spirit Guide, the Gods, and sundry other roles that may come to mind. While you're rehearsing, try to take no more than five minutes per scene, or this could go on all night! (There are six groups, times four scenes: work it out for yourself).

Audience Participation

Most scenes have been written to require some degree of audience participation. You can help us with this in two ways. First, do whatever you can to make your own scenes entertaining for other teams to participate in. Secondly, you should not do anything to interfere with other teams' performances when they are presenting their own scenes. Co-operate fully in the audience-participation sessions: the alternative would be chaos, in every sense!

1. The Champion awakens in a magical version of your homeland. The scenery is beautiful, and the land is inhabited by fabulous beings. He is greeted by his Spirit Guide, who takes him to the Holy Place and introduces him to the Gods of your people. The sounds of worship and songs of praise fill the air.

• Your team must coach the audience to create an impression of your Mythic Landscape, using appropriate sounds and gestures.
  
  
• Our protagonists enter: the Champion and the Spirit Guide, who introduce themselves to one another.
  
  
• The Spirit Guide can identify audience members as Fabulous Beings, if desired, for humorous effect, and require them to cavort and caper in an appropriate manner, as schooled by the Spirit Guide.
  
  
• The Champion and Spirit Guide enter your Holy Place. Everyone marvels. Special effects are at your discretion.
  
  
• The Spirit Guide introduces the Gods. You can assign named roles to individual team members (thinking ahead to the next stage), and have generic spirits, servitors, courtiers, or whatever.
  
  
• The Gods teach the audience (and the Champion) to worship them and sing their Song of Praise.

2. The Gods re-enact the Quest they accomplished in the Great Darkness, wielding their awesome Magics. The Spirit Guide explains what they are doing, and the Champion learns of their deeds and power.

• We suggest a Great Quest, though you may want to change this.
  
  
• The Gods are the protagonists, and they must construct or improvise their Awesome Magics.
  
  
• The audience must be coaxed to provide opposition, atmosphere, participation, etc.
  
  
• The Spirit Guide narrates, while the Champion can relax and ask sensible questions.

3. The Champion now undertakes the Quest against your contemporary opponents, with the help of the Gods. He brings victory to your people - but in a surprising and different way.

• This time, the Champion is the protagonist, aided by the Gods when he invokes them. He can use the same Awesome Magics, if you like; credit will be given for amusing new uses for old props.
  
  
• The audience now provides your team's contemporary opposition. We suggest opponents, though you are welcome to come up with something different.

4. The Champion has proved his worth to your Gods. They honour his greatness, and purify him so he may commune with the Elder Powers - the Gods behind the Gods. From these, he learns one of the Great Secrets of Glorantha. He is now fit to become the Pharaoh, Divine Ruler of the Holy Country!

• The Gods will doubtless want to purify the Champion before he meets the Elder Powers. They should probably sing a song in his praise, with a chorus the whole audience can join in.
  
  
• Your Elder Power could be the one we suggest, or it might be something completely different: this is part of the myth that most worshippers never learn.
  
  
• We wouldn't dream of suggesting what your people's Great Secret might be!

Suggested Quests (etc.)