davecake

Crystals are easy, you can just pick them up. And then you can use them as a magic point matrix. Using a crystal as a spirit binding enchantment is more complicated. Spirit binding still requires you to bind a spirit, which requires both learning a spell (such as Spirit Binding or Command Cult Spirit), and either summoning the spirit or travelling to the spirit plane or similar, usually involving the help of a shaman or a priest. And the spirit goes away when you die. Using a crystal for magic point storage requires no such effort, and is still pretty useful.

The nature of the Rune Lord benefits are such that the Rune Lord can, when things go well, and if they have invested and kept available enough magical resources, DI without risk of permanent loss, which is a huge benefit. The nature of the Rune Lord role is such that they can seldom count on things going well for long enough to make that something they can rely on.

Well speaking of kaiju, there is a Waertagi facility just off Loral.

I make the opposite assumption for Rune Lords, especially with the CHA requirement (I wouldn't be surprised if there are quite a few Humakti for home that is the hardest requirement). It is hard to qualify, and cults are usually thrilled to have one. If the cult has more candidates than the expect, usually that just means they equip them less well, but living expenses are not a big problem.

How often does it happen in your games that someone has 5 skills above 90%, and a CHA of 18? So often that you think the temples can afford to pick and choose? And remember - the amounts of Rune Points you see for PCs are not assumed to be representative of the whole population. Most have less. A Rune Lord with a limited number of Rune Points is probably just a normal beginning Rune Lord. Sure, many will have a lot more - up to their CHA - but that is because most Rune Lords expect to keep adventuring after that point for many years. Many may, rather than pushing the POW down, pushing it up to 18 POW and become Rune Lord-Priests for that sweet +20% (not the highest possible, but decent), and keep that POW up just in case they need to DI and it declines precipitoiusly. It is so much easier to get an extra few Rune Points than it is to master 5 skills. They aren't expendable - they are a precious resource that you try to keep alive!

I like the character history, it's great for giving characters some history at the start of the game. I also appreciate extra resources available on the JC like the Early Family History supplement, or the excellent version for Sun Country in the Sandheart updates, for those running different games than the norm. I also like the Clan history questionnaires from HeroQuest. But you don't need to do this for NPCs, and a short and simple version skipping the long family history is already there on pg 29.

I've never heard of a crystal changing its nature, other than rarely DI being used to remove some taint. Unpowered crystals seem more common than binding enchantments, but many people just use them for magic point storage.

Or relatively free agents with their own reasons for coming along, or part of the same community, etc. But yes, this is why parties that are either part of the same community (usually a Heortling clan in current games) or are in associated cults (like all Lightbringers/associates of Orlanth or Ernalda) work well, and make for an easy campaign frame. But making some other sort of campaign frame that makes them all part of an appropriate community can also work (for example, everyone is part of the same regiment or mercenary band). Some campaign frames may work for a while and then require you to develop reasons to stay together as the campaign goes on - eg you are all travelling together in the same merchant caravan/boat.

You'd be a beginning Rune Lord who has just qualified, I'm sure everyone expects you to get better from there. But being a master of 5 skills is nothing to sneeze at, and most are also CHA 18, and so good effective leaders too. Rune Lords are the temporal leaders, not the magical leaders, in the usual case - or for cults where Rune Lords are also the main magical leaders, the cult is usually one where practical leadership is more important than magical. The chances a cult will turn down someone with the skills to be a Rune Lord because they aren't way above the minimum for magic in addition are quite small (well, except for those weirdoes in the Seven Mothers and those like them, who require a potential Rune Lord to pass the Test Of Holiness, but that implies they want their Rune Lords to have a high POW, not high Rune Points, anyway).

And those are the standard requirements, which not all cults require. A few cults ignore the CHA requirement, for example, or have different requirements for skills. Some add extra requirements.

Or that one last dragonship/fleet, as it is driven into the shore to be wrecked, decides to take as many God Learners with them as they can. Or it was hiding out on the shore somewhere until one carefully planned wild ride.

Them appearing first in the far North seems to fit. To get from the Underworld to the surface, going to the Sky seems a long way out of your way. Some Waertagi are part of the Boat Planet heroquest, but it seems more a few heroquesters rather than an entire dragonship or more. The Sog City Waertagi (quite a separate, though allied, bunch to the Sog City Brithini) are consistently referred to as green skinned. But in any case I'm not convinced the skin/tribal distinction is as different as all that - they've been living together and intermarrying for centuries. And also that the Waertagi did so, to their regret. The Deri, like the most effective traitors, put on an effective show of loyalty and usefulness before finding the most effective opportunity for betrayal. Still seems a bit of a reach, though there could be something about the power Brastalos or something. This seems far too prosaic for such a world changing event.

Basically, if you really want to keep doing adventures for personal gain, try to fit it into 10% of your time. That can still be enough for an adventure a season if you plan it. But if your adventures are not at least mostly related to the goals of your cult or tribe as well as your own, something might be wrong - and maybe you should not have sought that higher office. But mostly, what do those statuses mean? A Wind Lord of Orlanth needs to fight the enemies of Orlanth, fight Chaos when he hears of it (and can ask other Lightbringers to help him), fights Darkness if it bothers the Earth temple - sounds plenty of adventures to me. A Sword of Humakt must face enemies of Humakt in battle, slay undead, maybe lead his regiment or temple forces in battle - sound plenty of adventures to me. A Storm Bull Khan must seek out Chaos and destroy it - sounds adventurous to me. A tribal shaman of Waha or a shaman of Daka Fall must investigate magical threats to his tribe/family - sounds plenty of adventures to me. And so on. Plus, the cult can always give the character some big adventurous responsibility, and say that that counts as cult service - yes, the prophecies say that it is important you find the long lost temple of the Bee Maiden, and free the spirit of the hero trapped there.

I generally just assume this means those that have to spend 90% of their time devoted to their cult etc means the cult is now their employer, and the cult status their profession The adventures they go on will be motivated not by personal wealth, but for the good of the cult. This may change the sort of adventures they go on - or it might not change things that much. If your PC was an Orlanthi rebel making a living by raiding or farming before, and going on some adventures to help Orlanth and fight the Lunars in their free time, before, then after they become a priest/Wind Lord they get to do that stuff full time and not worry about income. As a priest or lord, of course a lot of their cash goes straight to the cult. But they are also one of the people who decides what the cult does with that money. Of course they can't just buy themselves indulgences with it, but they can try to convince the other cult leaders that it is good to build a shrine/equip an expedition/invest in cult equipment or magic. It changes the game, and makes it less about self-empowerment, but it also embeds the character in the community more, and means they need to think a bit more about why they are doing the things they do. Less murder-hobos, more murder-middle-management! Well, except for cults like Storm Bull where wandering around looking for things to kill IS considered cult service.

Where does this come from? It is not part of the standard requirements (pg 280), or added by any cults I can see.

And if you are trying to become a Rune Lord, having that extra +5% in multiple skill categories can really help - getting that last 5% from 85% to 90% is really difficult! David

Which seems a bit odd, as that implies the Waertagi return before the Boat Planet and the lifting of the Closing, which would change the previously understood chain of causality - the return of the Boat Planet and end of the Closing would have to be because the Waertagi had returned and re-opened contact with Brithos, rather than the other way around as I previously thought. Exactly. That does all sound pretty reasonable that these events are linked to the return of the Waertagi. I don't think the Waertagi have any particular interest in Nolos and Pasos, beyond aiding their allies and destroying rivals for control of the seas. The Waertagi may or may not remain around Nolos and Pasos (which have no dragonship faciliities), but probably do continue to visit Arolanit, Brithos, and presumably Sog, at least. Whether or not they do continue further East along the coast is a good one - they might not, at least for a while, if Wolf Pirate opposition is enough to give them pause. Exactly who he is betrayed by and when is unclear, but it does seem a likely outcome - certainly Guilmarn is unlikely to want a deal with sees him return to power. And the Sog Waertagi and Brithini descended citizenry certainly seem keep to see the Waertagi using the Sog drydock again, which may be the only such facility in Genertela. Yes, though it seems that this probably occurs earlier, before the rising of the Boat Planet, but after Dormals voyages and the Vadeli gaining access to the Open Seas ritiual. An interesting question is whether such Waertagi surface remnants can use their Deri slaves to communicate with the ships in the Underworld. And if the Waertagi do return before the Boat planet returns, what is it that allows them return to the surface now?

Yes. And the Dormal cult are just now realising they are no longer necessary, and if the cult is to continue to exist they need to find another reason to be - like being the focus of resistance to the Waertagi desire to contol the seas, for example. It may also be possible that the Open Seas ritual still provides some protection against hostile Water magic, such as that used by the Waertagi. Well, unless the Waertagi do want to wipe out all non-Waertagi shipping (or at least, all that doesn't make an arrangement with the Waertagi). It's hard to tell - all shipping is Dormal or Waertagi in 1624-1625 or so. I think rather the opposite is implied by 'crusade against the cult of Dormal'. Without the Closing, Dormal is just an upstart, spreading Waertagi derived magic secrets.

That is effectively saying 'the city sized ship can just summon an undine and float it over land'. I mean, not impossible, but seems something an order of magnitude or more above previous Waertagi magical capability. Yes, but the Creek/Stream river at that point is navigable by coracles maybe. Not floating cities. Again, not something Waertagi dragonships (which are sea dragons) are known to do usually, and Waertagi able to take their cities across land would raise a LARGE number of questions. Including why they waited to do until after the Closing was over, and didn't just walk their way across land and spend the Cosing in inland lakes. Again, if they could do it, why wait until now, the point at which this so far unknown capacity was no longer necessary? Yes, true, but she would more likely deal with it by sinking it, I would expect. Indeed, but that is just changing the who, rather than answering the much more difficult question of how. I'd think it more likely that we end up with the Waertagi ending up having to leave their ship there (possibly sinking it), and we end up with a situation like Castle Blue, blue people and their monsters living in their magical citadel in/under the lake.

And Carmanian lions (in the Western Reaches) are a different sub-species, they have dark manes. The ones in Tanisor will be connected to the ancient Pendali probably. I think this means they will basically be the same as the Basmoli lions.

Yeah, that seems to be clear if they are actively ferrying Brithini about later in 1624. I just want to boggle at the implied ‘dragonship falls from the sky’ here! That sounds impressive for the dragonship to even survive with breaking in to pieces, and what is it going to do from there? It won’t be able to leave the lake.

The Guide seems to only have explicit information about their return in starting in Seshnela, but it seems of much wider importance “The Waertagi fleets are fated to return in strength, combing the Sea of Fog to find the remnants of Brithos. Many volunteer to aid them and, when successful, are betrayed and sacrificed in bloody rites. The Waertagi ally with the Brithini and they ferry a Brithini army to Arolanit. The Waertagi aid King Guilmarn in the downfall of Nolos and Pasos. They then declare a crusade against the cult of Dormal and begin wiping the sea clean of opposing ships. The Wolf Pirates, supported by Harrek the Berserk, are their main initial opposition. “ This sounds like it will bring war to the Wolf pirates, but it’s not quite clear when and how - and wiping out the cult of Dormal (and by implication all non-Waertagi shipping) certainly sounds serious! So what time frame sounds like an important question! note that the Guide time frame is 1621, I think some of this has already happened by 1625, including at least the beginnings of the downfall of Nolos and Pasos.

We know the Waertagi return, but do we have more details? My understanding is it can be any time after the rising of the Boat Planet in 1624, but does it start immediately and are they back on the seas by 1625? I gather the return in the far north and far south, so where do they first make contact and when? Sog City? Elamle? Arolanit? Kralorela? When do the make contact with Kethaela/Nochet? I assume there will be several dragon ships quite happy to be able to use dry dock facilities for the first time in several centuries, and it will be a notable part of the Fronela timeline. But it’s also very interesting to know when they make contact with Nochet, and how their relationships develop with the Ingareens, and the Choralinthor Ludoch. They might resent the Ingareens as God Learner allies. I know the Waertagi, surprisingly, interbreed with the Piscoi mermen but not the Cetoi like the Ludoch, and they are usually hostile (not least because the Piscoi think cetaceans are food), but the history of the Holy Country says the Triolini in the first age end up allied with the Waertagi rather subjects of the Only Old One (though they are allies with the OOO, in return for trading ports etc). Jeff’s recent posts more or less repeat this - and it would be a big change to the Kethaela politics if this happened again, which seems plausible now Belintar is not there to unify the Holy Country. And of course sea trade is a huge economic factor in Esroliain particular. Sandy said that while they might be expected to be seeking vengeance on Zzabur for the Closing, that no, they are trying to revive the alliance with the Brithini. Anyone know if that is still the basic story?

My general feeling is that community support may be dealt with in a more interesting, and less abstract, way by having the wyter explicitly represent community support. That gives you a lot of options for consequences that are immediately applicable - wyter gets a new ability, or loses an ability that the community relies on, gains or loses POW, becomes more powerful in itself, etc. and seems to go with existing examples of how community support works. The wyter can also involve the community directly - eg the community might sacrifice to it to keep it going, you could certainly make mechanics that allow the wyter to intervene by aiding skill rolls as described - but it could intervene other ways too. and, of course, if the wyter is destroyed, so is the community - not generally literally, but it falls apart as its members no longer are loyal to each other and cease to behave as a unified group.

And I think the rules are vague enough that is a possible interpretation, but I don’t think the spell list is supposed to be read as ‘a list of effects you can produce using any runes you can come up with vague argument to justify’.