Mossmac

"Oh Blessed one, the pain is unbearable, I lie awake at night, I get no rest, I am going mad with the lack of peace!..." "Rest oh child, lie back and let the blessings of the white healer bring calm to your spirit..." but then that would be role play.....😉

You realise you have written your own extra rule above here?! 😂 Which is cool, whatever your play group works with best. 😉

Spirit Magic Sleep 3 Points Ranged, Temporal If the caster overcomes the target’s POW, the target falls into a deep sleep for the duration of the spell. The target only awakens if injured or if a hostile spell is targeted on them. A standing target effected by the sleep spell will immediately collapse in a ‘faint’ dropping any hand held objects. The character suffer 1d4-1 damage to a random location rolled on 1d8 +12. Armour does not save from this damage although magical protection will. Characters next to the target can attempt to ‘catch’ a fainting target by rolling DEX x 5 followed by a STR vs SIZ test to lay the target down without risk of injury and therefore not waking them.

Thanks for the feedback. All very helpfu😀

Grazelanders are a culture I am only starting to familiarise myself with. Any great resources out their detailing their daily community life? One idea was they lived in Yurt like tents (Mongolian round tents) Any views would be helpful.

On reflection you are right gaining an auto critical worship roll with a kill is too much as you said they are just doing what they should. I do want to draw players into the worship aspect of the gameworld so I like the route of critical success on worship rolls gives certain rewards. I particularly like the mechanism as the chance can be improved with in world interaction of sacrifices etc depending upon what the players choose to do

Sea Season, Season Holyday, Waterday, Death Week Central Myth: Humakt was a child of Umath and was defiant and aggressive, like his father and his brothers, and constantly moving and fighting. Their uncles, who were afraid of the new gods, performed their initiations. Humakt was tested by Combat, but he defeated all his enemies and made a pile of their skulls and a shrine of their weapons. The gods returned to the feasting hall. The uncles greeted them as Gods and equals, and a huge feast was held the young gods had found their powers. Location Any sight that honours the fallen in battle may be used. More closely linked to Humakt the holier the sight will be as will the scale of the deaths caused through battle and/or a location where a great warrior died and if the battle occured in the Season the worship is being carried out in. A Battlefield that the Humakti have fought upon is considered very sacred. This site might be very ancient or quite recent. An actual Battle on the Holyday is often sought out to be fought and is preferred not least for the Rune, skill and spell benefits the Humakti may receive both during and after the battle. Many of Humakti enemies are wary of this and will often wisely refuse to engage until after the day or strike early the day before. Likewise, if it can be justified, Humakti may arrange their battle plan to engage specifically on the Holyday. Length and Action: If a Battle that the Humakti took part has occurred since the last Holy Day then the Humakti may offer Worship to Humakt in reflection of this battle. This may occur in addition to any worship roll made after the battle. A worship roll is made as normal. (See the Humakti in a Battle special rule above.) If the battle occurs on the Holyday only one Worship roll is taken. Otherwise the battlefield chosen will dictate the rite. The ceremony will be closely linked to the battle site legend and will look to incorporate as much of the Central Myth of the season into the Ceremony. The rite will be from Dawn until Dusk if the site was a day battle or from Dusk until Dawn if the Battle was a Night Battle. Martial Prowess is demonstrated in a series of worship combat rites. Some Rites are parade and war songs or Sagas of Humakt as well as weapon and armour preparation rites where fresh enchantments are made. One rite in the ceremony all Humakti who have not taken part in a battle that season must participate in is a Humakti Ritual Duel. (See Humakt Ritual Duel Special Rules above. A lone Humakti who has not taken part in a battle that season is still expected to honour the Holy day with a show of martial prowess and may challenge any willing non-Humakti warrior of equal worth to a Humakti Ritual Duel if they cannot find a fellow Humakti opponent. The challenge can be refused. Wild animals are not permitted to be opponents as consent is needed for the duel. This can be a risky business as a non Humakti may choose to use magic and other trickery while the Humakti is not allowed to do so. Note that sacrifices to enhance the worship must not be of living things or things that give life such as animals or crops or drink or food (Humakt is sterile).(There is an exception to this but it is not spoken of here….) Combat Equipment and weapons are the most acceptable offerings. Those taken from the battle fallen, both Humakti and Enemy, that the worshiper took part in are worth twice the normal bonuses at least (GM discretion). The day ends with a great feast. Special Outcomes Death and Truth Rune Magic has a +10% success if cast during the ceremony. A Critical success Worship roll will double this to +20% With a successful Worship roll on a Seasonal Holy Day, Initiates get 2D6 Rune points restored, and Rune Lords get all Rune points replenished. With a failure, an initiate gets 1D3 Rune points replenished; Rune Lords get 1D6 Rune points replenished. A critical success worship roll grants an immediate Humakti Gift that lasts until the next season’s holyday. (This does of course mean the character may pick up many such gifts in one season if they are particularly successful in battle.) A Humakti who has not successfully completed a Worship roll at either a Holyday or after a battle will suffer a random Gease that will last until a successful Worship roll on the next Holyday. If this worship roll is failed the Gease becomes permanent and the character will likely receive another Gease that will last until the next Holyday as before.

I have a player character who wants to worship Humakt I thought the rules for the worship of the God of Death should be pretty severe so I came up with the following worshiping requirements. Love to hear some feedback and suggestions of what you think. Humakt Cult Special Rules Humakt Ritual Duel A Humakti Duel Ritual is fought during a Worship ritual usually when the martial prowess of the combatant needs to be displayed for worship obligations. A Humakt Ritual Duel will be performed by Humakti Initiates and Rune Lord combatants of equal status within the cult, often in the case of one vs one duals, although teams versing each other, or a combination or both is not unheard of. Initiates fight Initiate and Rune Lords fight Rune Lords. Humakti members who take part in the Ritual Dual considered eligible to take part in the Worship Ritual of the Holyday. Duels are rarely end in the death of the combatant although this sometimes does occur. The losing party are expecting to concede and surrender after the first wounding hit or if their sword breaks. If either combatant drops their sword or falls to the ground their opponent must step back and allow them to retrieve the sword and get to their feet without attacking them. The winner honours the bravery of the losing party and the loser declares the martial prowess of the winner. These ritual duals are fought between Humakti for honour and demonstration of martial prowess and consequently any form of Rune or Spirit magic, slight of hand or trickery is forbidden. This includes enchanted objects (such as armour and weapons) or allied spirits. In game terms this means characters may not use skills to augment their combat rolls. They may, however, use either the Death Rune or the Truth Rune as well as any suitable passions to augment themselves with. The Ritual Duel is fought in any plain armour and shield the combatant may have to hand. The combatant must fight the Ritual with a sword. It would be typical for both combatants to be identically armed and armoured. Healers are usually present to heal the combatants of duels and a victorious warrior is expected to look after and heal any warrior they injure in a duel or pay for the funeral arrangements and take care of the dependents of a Humakti they kill in a Ritual Duel. Resurrection is of course forbidden. Humakti in Battles, Hero Rites and Burial Rites Humakti Initiates and Rune Lords who successfully rolled a suitable loyalty passion at the start of a battle, may treat the battle as a minor Holyday, unless the battle is actually taking place on a Seasonal Holyday. After the battle the Survivors are honoured in a Hero Rite and the Dead are honoured in a Burial Rite. Only those who inflicted an injuring blow on an enemy combatant may roll their Worship skill for the Hero rite. A killing blow that caused the death of another combatant gives an automatic critical success for the Worship roll. If neither of these happened then the Humakti may challenge another Humakti of equal status who both took part in the battle and who also did not cause any injury to an enemy, to a Humakt Ritual Duel after the battle. This challenge cannot be refused without the Humakt character suffering a permanent Gease. After the Duel ends both combatants may attempt a Worship roll. If they pass a Worship roll after the battle they gain the following benefits. Ritual Death and Truth Magic has a +5% success if cast during the remainder of the day. A Critical success Worship roll will double this to +10% Initiates get 1D6 Rune points restored and Rune Lords get 1D6+1 Rune points replenished at the end of the battle. With a failure, no Rune points are restored. A critical success worship roll grants an immediate Humakti Gift that lasts until the next season’s Holyday. (This does of course mean the character may pick up many such gifts in one season if they are particularly successful in battles.) A fumble Worship results in a Humakt Gease that lasts until the next Seasonal Holy day where a successful Worship role will remove this Gease otherwise it becomes permanent. Normal bonuses may be applied by the GM to the Worship roll with the exception of anything living or had been alive may not be used in a sacrifice to Humakt. (There is an exception to this that is not spoken of here….) See the individual Holyday’s Special Outcomes.

I know this will divide players but I often think of Humakti as cut apart from the community - almost an Outcast or 'Other' as his myth describes. This is perhaps balanced by the Powerful Sever Spirit spell and Truesword, Sword Trance etc they can cast. I see his followers as Stoic and grim. The cult is dominant in where you find larger bodies of troops as well such as city regiments where unity of large numbers can compensate for individuals who are runniing low on RP's. Humakti are not supposed to be optimised in small groups of adventure parties or going solo. This means that having no minor holy days and no associated cults kind of fits for me. I think the obvious alternative rule would be for the Humakti actually fighting in a battle (Not a skirmish but a battle (GM's Discretion). At the end of the battle the surviving Humakti may complete some worship rites that have similar outcomes to a minor holyday modified by the individual's success in the battle.

The GM can introduce minor holy days that occur weekly giving players a chance to replenish RPs. Only some deities are listed as having these but I see no reason why the major deities like orlanth on Windsday and Yelmalio on Fireday wouldn’t have a weekly minor holyday. For less well known they may have a weekly minor holyday in a particular season that their High Holy Day occurs in making it the primary time of year that they adventure in. Players should also familiarise themselves with associated cult Holydays and where and when they would be available to regain some RPs. This can be a great hook in developing the environment they are in and meeting new NPCs characters.

Example: Ernalda Cult (sub cults of Ernalda, Ernalda Allmother (social aspect), Ernalda the Healer (healing aspect), Ernalda the Queen (leadership aspect), Esrola the Mother (fertility aspect) May place emphasis on certain parts of the myth) Sea Season – Once the seas covered all. But the world grew and Ga, Earth, emerged from the depths. Mountain peaks, plains, ridges, and hollows rose above the waves. Gata was born. Empress Earth joined the Cosmic Court. Earth birthed twin daughters, Asrelia and Ty Kora Tek, who came out from the deepest earth. Asrelia’s daughters were Marangor and Ernalda, whose beauty and bounty brought life to the land. Asrelia ruled the Earth Tribe and was the first Goddess to live outside the Great Mountain. She had many children but only a few are important to us here. From all the goddesses came Life. In that prehistoric Green Age, Flamal’s spores and seeds spread everywhere and everything was good. No drought or famine visited the land. Everyone lived in peace and plenty for all their lives that went on forever. It was the Golden Age. The Flower of Life The first Flower Day was at the start of the Golden Age when the Bright Emperor commanded that members of all the gods’ tribes live in the Golden City at the center of the world. This need for change distressed many, whose tranquility had been undisturbed during the Green Age. “How can we possibly survive somewhere new? We will die,” they said. “There is always another way,” said Ernalda. “Let me show you the Flower of Life.” Then she showed to the goddesses of her tribe the secret of the commanded change. She turned herself from the tight bud of life to the open blossom, an explosion of life like the effusion of a sweet scent. The others were not just comforted by this, but excited to flower too. Ernalda told them to wait. She gathered all those who were going to the Emperor’s place, and together they planted the beautiful flower gardens that pleased the Emperor and his court. The first Flower Day celebration among humans was at the Dawn. Ernalda gathered together the forces of life that had been freed by Orlanth and brought them back to the world. First came young Voria, the Flower Girl, who gave the signal for the surviving humans to rejoice. When her footprints bloomed the waiting people came out from their hiding places. She taught them the dance of new life, and promised the dancers that she would come again every time they danced when her flowers bloomed. This celebrataion is also called the Shearing Feast. In the blessed and wonderful Storm Age, Ernalda first sheared the sheep of Heler to relieve them of their uncomfortable wool. When she came forth from the Underworld at the Dawn she again sheared Heler of his wool. This caused the overcast sky to clear, so that the stars and sky became visible for the first time in ages. Sea Season Holyday Clayday of Fertility Week – Central Myth: Birth of twin daughters, Asrelia and Ty Kora Tek. Green age with Flamyl to the golden age. Location Water source in a wooded area at Dawn process through the cropped fields and pasture herds blessing them Length and Action: Day long celebration beginning just before dawn and ending at sunset. Ernalda and all women are honored on this day with songs and gifts. While the women conduct the inner ceremonies, the men of the community prepare a great feast. The priestesses and devotees perform ceremonies, cast auguries, and make plans for the coming season. These rites involve the entire community, which comes together to revere Ernalda through her various aspects. Special Outcomes Any Child born during this ritual will be especially blessed by Ernalda. +10% Earth/Harmony and Fertility Rune Affiliation. If the Child is one of a twin also receive +10% Sea Rune Affiliation Earth/Fertility/Harmony Rune Magic has a +10% success if cast during the ceremony. A Critical success Worship roll will double this to +20% With a successful Worship roll on a seasonal holy day, initiates get 2D6 Rune points restored, and Rune Priests, God-talkers, and Rune Lords get all Rune points replenished. With a failure, an initiate gets 1D3 Rune points replenished; God-talkers, Rune Priests, and Rune Lords get 1D6 Rune points replenished. Sub cults of Ernalda, Ernalda the Queen (leadership aspect), Esrola the Mother (fertility aspect) may attempt an experience roll for either their Earth, Fertility or Harmony rune. Special Sea Season Holyday Waterday of Harmony week – Flower Day - Central Myth: Ga emerges from the sea depths. Gata is born.Empress earth joins the Cosmic Court Ernalda Allmother awakens Voria the Spring Maiden, the Newborn who bears the energy of life forward at the new year. Length and Action At Dawn Ga Emerges from a water source. Empress earth joins the Cosmic Court at Midday. Feasting until sunset. The women perform sacred sheep shearing, saving the wool to weave holy vestments. Girls gather many bunches of flowers, unmarried women gather the first fruits of spring- time, and married women bake bread in the shape of flowers and lambs. The women prepare a feast for the entire community from these gifts. The priestesses and devotees perform ceremonies, cast auguries, and make plans for the coming season. These rites involve the entire community, which comes together to revere Ernalda through her various aspects. Location Living Water Source (Usually the main Local River) ending at a central community gathering location. Special Outcomes Children born at the ceremony are blessed by Earth, Fertility, Harmony and Sea +10% Rune affinity. Earth/Fertility/Harmony/Sea Rune Magic has a +10% success if cast during the ceremony. A Critical success Worship roll will double this to +20% With a successful Worship roll on a seasonal holy day, initiates get 2D6 Rune points restored, and Rune Priests, God-talkers, and Rune Lords get all Rune points replenished. With a failure, an initiate gets 1D3 Rune points replenished; God-talkers, Rune Priests, and Rune Lords get 1D6 Rune points replenished. Sub cults of Ernalda, Esrola the Mother (fertility aspect), may attempt an experience roll for either their Earth, Fertility or Harmony rune. Every other Clayday is a minor holy day Central Myth Songs and stories of the season’s myths Length and Actions 30 minutes All initiates attend these rites, but only the devotees and priestesses spend the entire day in sacrifice and other rituals. Location Hearth of the Home Special Outcomes Children born on clayday are blessed by Earth/Fertility/Harmony +5% Rune affinity. Ritual Earth/Fertility/Harmony Rune Magic has a +5% success if cast during the ceremony. A Critical success Worship roll will double this to +10% With a successful Worship roll on a minor holy day, initiates get 1D6 Rune points restored and God-talkers, Rune Priests, and Rune Lords get 1D6+1 Rune points replenished. With a failure, no Rune points are restored.

Here are some of my initial ideas about how to make worship more interesting for players to partake in. There is a general framework on splitting the Deity’s Mythological Story over the five seasons and each holyday focusing on a particular aspect of the mythological story I would love to have some feedback on what people think about this idea and ways to improve on it. The Worship Ritual The Worship Ritual is usually enacted with a combination of meditation, prayer chant, singing, dance and music all acting out a drama of a particular myth of the deity. Symbolism also plays a key part with symbols and runes central to the myth represented in a variety of ways. Tattoos are often inscribed during worship for greater significance. GM’s can embellish the ritual story as the Middle Plane is Touched by the God Plane during the ceremony. Player’s may see and experience different things during the same worship depending on their worship result. A Critical roll will result in a far more intense experience than a simple pass for example. Player’s may use associated skills and runes to attempt to enhance their Worship role, as well as the usual bonuse for location, type of holyday, sacrifices etc, increasing the chance for a critical result and possible associated gifts. Fumbles often result in a negative effect for the worshipper at the GMks discretion. The Deity’s Mythological Story The complete Deity’s Mythological Story is split across the five seasons with each season associated with one part of the story. Worship during that season focuses on those particular aspects of the diety’s myth story. A Heroquest that is directly associated with that part of the Myth are more likely to be successful when performed in the related season and more likely give greater rewards. Season Name Detailed description of the Diety’s Myth associated with the Sea Season Name of Season, type of holyday, day of the week, Week name – Central Myth: A Brief description of the main aspect of the Myth acted on this holyday. This may vary from sub cult to sub cult and from culture to culture and even on circumstances. It will always be drawn from the Season Myth section. Location Description of a location that would be beneficial to the worship rite, in particular locations that enhance the myth. This is never mandatory but will significantly improve the chances of a successful worship. Length and Action: Description of the typical time of day and /or night that is needed to reform the worship rite, as well as any specific actions carried out by the worshipers usually associated with the mythological story telling. Special Outcomes A description of bonuses or outcomes that result in a successful worship rite of the Myth. Many of these outcomes will be to do with cult runes, skills, spirits and spells as well as the usual restoring of Rune Magic Points. The extra bonus outcomes should be closely related to the Myth Story being told. Critical Worship results may be rewarded here at the GM’s discretion. Examples include: Critical result (automatic 1D6 reputation) a cult taught skill +D4% A cult related passion +D4% Immediately learn a cult known spirit magic spell that lasts until the next season holy day. An item the player owns is now enchanted Succeed at one divine intervention until the end of the season Succeed at divination once until the end of the season Use a rune spell once without expanding rune points. Lasts until the next Holiday Learn a Rune Spell from an associated cult that can be cast once following normal rules. Lasts until the next season holy day of the associated clan Miraculous phenomenon: at GM’S discretion example Cult spirit appears to aid the player Visions of the past present future A new marking/tattoo appears on the adventurer A broken weapon is repaired Etc Heroquesting a Myth related to the season should in general be easier to complete by the quester and give greater rewards than if the quest was attempted in a different season to when the Myth is associated with.

Some Ideas below. Please critique and add to Ceremonial Special And Critical Worship roll blessings Either the GM chooses or the player rolls for the category of blessing whichever benefits the play style. Special result (which would be quite common so not too buffs) allowing an advancement test on a cult taught skill, a small advancement on a cult related passion (1D3-1), one use for zero MP cult taught spirit spell the player already knows. Lasts until the next season Holyday. Critical result A bit rarer allows an advancement in a cult taught skill +D4% A cult related passion +D4% Immediately learn a cult known spirit magic spell that lasts until the next season holy day. An item the player owns is now enchanted Succeed at one divine intervention until the end of the season Succeed at divination once until the end of the season Use a rune spell once without expanding rune points. Lasts until the next Holiday Learn a Rune Spell from an associated cult that can be cast once following normal rules. Lasts until the next season holy day of the associated clan Miraculous phenomenon: at GM’S discretion example Cult spirit appears to aid the player Visions of the past present future A new marking/tattoo appears on the adventurer A broken weapon is repaired Etc

Definitely more role play involved getting to the correct location, performing song and dance, acquiring a suitable sacrifice etc. MP spending just seems like meta game number crunching to me. I could understand a permanent sacrifice of Power points giving 10% bonus but not something as benign as MP. In any game if there are many varied and different options to achieve a common goal and the players always opt for just the same option it’s a pretty big clue that the option probably needs nerfing or the others need buffing or a bit of both. I wasn’t aware the Worship roll was meant to be easy? What made you think that? If proper role play preparation is done most people are going to get close to the 95% chance anyway in normal circumstances? MP spending seems like a cheap shortcut. Now I understand GM’S and player groups who really aren’t interested in exploring the whole religious role play part of the game and treat holy days as a needed ‘filling up RP from the gas station’ action. I am interested in ideas from GM’S and players who have gone deep into the religious observance roleplay aspect Runequest offers and seems to be one of the key unique aspects of the game that sets it apart from other games. I am particularly interested in ideas for rewarding players who make special and critical rolls on the worship roll, which I can see happening quite a bit. Things like gaining a one use guardian ancestral spirit, spirit spell, one off rune spell, weapon becomes enchanted, healing herbs are found growing in a abundance in the sacred grove etc maybe with a time limit such as until the end of the week or until the next Holyday etc. Any ideas on this?

thanks for the replies I like this idea the best any ideas on extra rewards when players make a special or critical worship roll?