Jose Luis

Sorry, another question concerning combat: if a PC is being attacked by an enemy, and they have already engaged, and another PC wants to get in the middle to avoid his friend getting attacked, I guess that the PC originally being attacked needs to disengage first (page 195 of the rules), or the only effect of his friend getting in the middle would be suporting the original PC in combat but without freeing the PC from the attacks, correct?

Hello there, I have some questions about what I believe is the very best RPG of all time, RQ Roleplaying in Glorantha. 1) Page 358, about spirit pacts: I undestand from the text that if you close such a pact, you get some benefits,but I have several doubts: - The text says: "To find spirits to control, the shaman uses their fetch to inhabit their body while the shaman journeys into the Spirit World. As with Discorporation, the ritual to enter the Spirit World is complex, requiring an hour to complete". I am not clear about the meaning of this; is this a different process than the usual Discorporation (which is also to travel to the Spirit World) and astral travel? When it says "their body", does it mean that the fetch inhabits the body of the shaman while the shaman travels in spiritual form (same as Discorporation)? And also, In my group I have a case where the shaman already knows the spirit and wishes to negotiate with him for this pact, so I guess in this case this process (and thus the use of the table of page 359) is not required, correct? - Concerning the benefits, it says that "the spirit serves the shaman as an extra set of eyes in the Spirit World", but my question (even if it is silly) is: how do you know what a spirit can actually see? Just the specific area where it was originally found? Or can the spirit be instructed to travel further in search of things, thus avoiding the shaman the need to travel himself to the Spirit World (an exploit the player may try to use). - Also, it says that the spirit can be used as a resevoir of magic points for casting spells. Is this in all circumstances, i.e. the spirit works in the same way as the fetch, providing the shaman with its magic points at any time the shaman wishes when he casts a spell? - It also says that he can be used in spirit combat. What does this mean: that the spirit can initiate spirit combat against any entity when the shaman orders it? If so, is this valid at any moment and place, regardless of the location of the spirit at that moment? Has the entity (the foe) to be together with the shaman for such an order to work? Or is it enough its location is known? - These are the benefits listed in the rules, but is there another benefit that could apply? (I mean, can the GM create new ones)? - Concerning the price, the rules state that "If contact is made with a non-hostile spirit, the shaman must bargain with it. The normal deal is for the shaman to give to the spirit 1 point of POW per 10 points of POW the spirit possesses". But I guess another price can be closed if the circumstances allow for it (for example, an extremely good relation with the spirit due to past history), correct? 2) If the stats of the shaman as POW and CHAR are temporarily increased by a spell, does this affect the spell limits or spirit control limits, or those things are only affected by the original stats of the shaman? 3) Concerning rune magic, the rules state that rune spells are cast in MR 1. Can this be delayed voluntarily by the caster if it benefits him to cast it in a later MR? Or can he do something else in MR 1 and if he has enough MR in the round, cast a rune spell after MR 1? 4) In combat, my players are always trying to take advantage of positioning (side or back attacks bonuses) every time they outnumber the enemy, and just because of their superior numbers, even if it is by a minimal margin; so they claim that just their superior numbers allow them to get the bonuses, even without a previous stealth approach. This is a tricky judgement call, as in reality this would not be that straightforward. What can I do? I resist to concede that they get the bonuses just because the enemy is outnumbered, without further tactical efforts. What do you think? Many thanks for you assistance!

Hello, I have some doubts concerning the correct use of shamans in the game: 1) One of my characters, a shaman, started as a shaman apprentice as the background profession (which is logical). The first question is: at what age did he become a shaman apprentice? The rules do not seem to say when a character starts with the backgorund profession. This is very relevant in this case, because in the rules it is stated that a shaman apprentice gains POW every year (and also when he becomes a shaman). So when he starts adventuring after character's creation, has he gained this additional POW (that in this case needs to be added to his starting POW)? For example, if he was a shaman apprentice at 15, and he starts adventuring at 21, does this mean that he gains the additional POW for six years to be added to his already starting POW? This seems very overpowered, but I cannot find and alternative... 2) In one instance, the player had a shaman that wanted to talk to a spirit that was bound to a physical place in the "real" world. This physical place was extremely far from the shaman's location. So what the player wanted to do was to initiate an astral trip and reach this spirit travelling through the spiritual plane, arguing that this should be quick and easy, as he kew where the spirit was located. Is this possible? The player seemed to be resembling the physical world with the spiritual world, as if each location in one place had an equivalent in the other, so for one spirit to go from Sartar to Esrolia (for example), it would simply do and equivalent trip in the spiritual plane but just much faster. Is that so? How does it really work? Can he avoid the hazards of the astral trip just because he knows the physical location where the other spirit is bound? Obviusly this question only applies to trips where bound spirits are located (as I suppose free spirit have no equivalent location in the pysical world). 3) Maybe this is in the rules, but I am not sure: how does a shaman looks for (and finds) a very specific spirit? For example, the shaman wishes to capture a unique individual, not just a spirit of a defined type. Thanks for your support! Regards, Jose

Hello, I have a doubt concerning the rules of "Runequest roleplaying in Glorantha". It is about confronting skills; the rules state that the skill roll that gets the higher success wins, so a special roll wins over a normal one, for example. The rules say that in case of a tie, nobody wins and the situation does not change, somehow. But in at least one example in the book, a situation where both rolls are normal successes, the example shows a winner (I believe it was the one with the higher skill); is that a mistake? Also, some situations do not really allow for a tie; it must have a winner, so what can it be done in these cases when a tie is obtained? Thanks and regards.

Hello, I have a doubt concerning a sorcery spell. One of my players has a sorcerer with "steal breath", and unless I am understanding the spell wrong, this spell seems completely broken and overpowered. Basically, my player activates it, with no enemies around, just obtaining lots of magic points in the process. He keeps the spell activated for a whole day, which he can do easily by spending 8 additional MP (he knows the runes and techniques for not paying double), and he gets a ton of MP. Then, for any other spell thrown in the same day he has an extensive amount of MP so he becomes a powerhouse with his other spells, because he can intensify them immensely, almost with no limit. For example, by doing this he uses "enhanced INT" to raise several points the INT of the whole team for a huge amount of time. This is greatly unbalancing the games, so I do not know if he is using the spell "legally" and if he is correct, how can I compensate this situation. Or maybe it is intended to be like this, so in this case I shall try to adapt. Also, in the description of "steal breath" it is stated that it can be used as an attack against a PERSON. The player wants to use it against much bigger oponents (as a dream dragon, for instance). Would it work the same? How would it go? Also, if the opponent simply moves away form the area where the vacuum has beed created, wouldn't that easily cancel any damage? Thanks and regards.

Hello, In my campaign, one of the characters has a giant wolf under his command. They adventure together in all adventures, and the wolf obviously has its own set of skills and stats. May the animal have skill progress as a PC has? Especially skill checks that come from successful use of the skill. Many thanks.

Hello, I have a couple of doubts concerning the latest edition, Roleplaying in Glorantha. 1) The new rules state that the experience rolls for the skills (to check for a possible raise) happen by the end of each season. This has surprised me, as in the old rules this roll takes place at the end of each game week! This means that the PCs now grow 8 times slower than in the old rules. Why this massive change? Does it get compensated with something? Is it acceptable to use the old rule in the new ruleset? 2) Do all the new characters start with some Honor? The rules do not seem to say so, but the character sheet includes it by default, thus my doubt.