metcalph

Although it's not explicitly stated in the text, Call on Stars seems to be only intended to cast ONE spirit magic spell. This is inferred from the caster not needing magic points to cast the spirit magic, which would be a bit unbalanced if it conferred general knowledge of spirit magics. I apologize for the false hopes.

Incorrect.

Which is what I said. The bound spirit can cast any spells that they know. But the magician cannot cast any spells that the bound spirit knows.

Since ye ancient Gods of Glorantha described Open Seas as a sorcery spell in the Dormal shortform, it was never not going to be anything else.

Unfortunately the description of them in RQG versa) "Allied spirits are limited in number, and only the most stalwart and loyal priests can obtain these divine companions" (RQG p227) and following rules suggests they are rarer than they were in previous editions.

Bound spirits cannot know the spells for the magician that binds them in RQG. They may cast any magic that they know but there is no mindlink and so the magician cannot cast their magic.

A simple way for a Pelorian Sorceror to max out his free INT and still be useful in combat might be to worship Buserian (I think) and learn Call On Stars (RBoM p23), extend it a few times and hence no more need keeping spirit magic in memory. I imagine the Arkati and other heterodox schools have a similar trick.

Caster's choice of what foot is affected.

False Healing should be listed as a special cult spirit magic for Basko on page 107. Hotfoot should (might?) be likewise listed for Eurmal.

Interesting spells throughout. Call upon Stars makes a pretty versatile magician. Surprised to see Basko's spells in the Red Book. Suggests he's found west of Kralorela. The Golden Fleece spell has an interesting description "If the sheep is not sheared, it will shed the golden fleece over the subsequent year". RW domesticated sheep do not shed. While their wild counterparts do, humans breed their sheep so that they retain their wool so that it has to be sheared every spring. Clearly gloranthan sheep are not so cursed. Meteor Swarm for the Win!

Know Lineage is duplicated twice on p62. The first should be marked (Kero Fin Variant) and the second (Pamalt Variant).

On the basis of the RQ Bestiary, I daresay the Dwarves have little to do with magic as much as possible and that includes sorcery. Their magic is this-world technology (i.e, alchemy, gunpwoder etc etc).for the phyical world is their god. On the basis of the silver mostali, you could call them a pure sorcery culture but the others are not. Even Jeff were to unviel sorcery rules that made sorcerors even more powerful, sorcery will still be next to useless for the non-sorcerors. A neutralize damage spell, for example, is weaker than Heal Wound or Heal 6 and is limited by the level of read/write. Thus the Brithini and Vadeli will be far more cautious of wordly battles than other societies - they will dislike sudden encounters with heavily armed strangers were things can go south in less than a minute. If the two sides were equal in strangth then they might consider surrender whereas a Loskalmi or Orlanthi might just duke it out. Those aren't really pure sorcery societies that the OP was talking about.

Something I wrote about the Abiding Book some time back.

There are only two magical societies that do so - the Vadeli and the Brithini. Neither of who are particularly powerful/ Every other Malkioni (Loskalmi, Seshnegi, Carmanians etc) has reached a philosophical compromise between ideals and reality. I have a feeling that the Flamesword is our old friend, the Fireblade spirit magic, rather than a sorcery spell or Saintly magic. The Red Book of Magic may reveal more. But here, you are inferring that the average Malkioni is much like the heroes of old. Meriatan is a sorcerous user and quite a good one but I doubt that same is true for Ethilrist and Gerlant. That's true and they don't IMO. They cast buffs on the Hrestoli before they enter the HeroQuests so the latter become little gods on the battlefield when they come out.

HeroQuest and Hero Wars simplify the magic rather than create a crunchy RQ-style of grittiness. Saying that Black Horse County is a functioning sorcerous society because it was one in Hero Wars isn't that compelling. More to the point, Greg's thinking that only sorcerors/wizards actually cast sorcery and everybody else used lesser magic. Everybody else then (me included) was a bit too wedded to sorcery being a parallel magic system in its own right (ie even the commoners used sorcery) and keep muddying the waters to make that work.

Another idea I had involved Seseine. In giving her a highly treasured thing of value (a head of an enemy, a magic tome etc), she can confer a spell or ability of the caster's desire. In RQG, I would handle this as a gift/geas situation,(along the lines of Yelmalio or Humakt) with the geas being required sacrifices every holy day. She has greater versitility in providing such gifts because they're powered by chaos and the supplicant's own desires. Thus if one wanted to be good at swords or have access to a love spell, Seseine will provide in return for suitable sacrifices.

A possible Archidomides timeline. 908 ST - Archidomides leads the Kareeshtuan City-States to revolt and chases off a Middle Sea Empire Fleet in doing so Guide p553 955 ST- Closing smites Kareeshtu. 956 ST - The Pillars of Water arise. Archidomides flees. Where does he flee to? It just so happens that there's a God Learner fleet in Koraru Bay active around this time (Guide p565) which gets into a pissing contest with Dumanaba. Where was it based? Goan has extensive middle sea fortifications but seems a bit out of Koraru Bay to me. Then again there is an Ikdaz Priesthood that rules the city providing a possible link with Archidomides. Another possibility is Yarbur. 1077 ST - Invisible Fleet sinks God Learner Fleet. Archidomides sent to Hell. 1319 ST - Yranian Leapers take power in Fonrit. Unknown Date: Yranian Leapers resurrect Archidomides at Tondiji to help them build their fleet. 1331 ST - Yranian Leapers disappear. Archidomides left in power in Kareeshtu. Empire building begins.

I don't think you can mix the magics freely. Fonrit does have sorcerors but to be any good they have to be rather aloof from other forms of magic like sorcerors every where else. If you want a street level magician who curses others for a fee, then they would have a mixture of spirit magic (disrupt, befuddle), chaotic magics (probably Primal Chaos for the ability to control unintelligent chaotic creatures) and secret spirit cults (like Black Fang or the Sunset Society). That said, the Fonritans probably have adapted Worship Invisible God into a source of cheap magic points for the rulers and their magicians. Funnily enough I don't see Thanatar in Fonrit as he is a mixture of a Kralori (possibly Eastern Isles) and Orlanthi cults. If you want the severed heads motif, then there's Seseine. Fonrit would be fertile ground for Thanatari if they reached there but I don't see them doing so in the Imperial Age and there isn't much opportunity during the Closing. I think of the spell as having two forms. The cast version which functions like a temporal rune spell and the ritual version which creates a lifelong enchantment.

I think Archidomides' immortality stems from his city being in the Gods World rather than any undead magics as such. If he was the Middle Sea Empire governor, then he probably was driven from power by the Invasion of Water and took control once again in the aftermath of the collapse of the Yranian Empire. I'm not sure Delecti is comparable (I've a sneaking suspicion that he is in fact Surnestor (an Archduke of Slontos who was caught by the EWF and converted) in that Archidomides has a vast empire bowing to his will while Delecti has an undead filled swamp with ducks for neighbours.

One could always reason "If Chaos is a necessary part of the Cosmos then my hatred of Chaos is also necessary".

Some indication of how to handle Vampire Magic may come with the Red Book of Magic's impending release. Currently I figure it's something along the lines of using victim's blood to replenish runepoints. The RQ3 vampire that you mention was actually created using the cult writeup in RQ2. The situation for vampires in RQ3 was at the time of writing unsettled (and continued to remain so). The main cult of vampires in and around Dragon Pass is Nontraya, who basically commands the uliving army (zombies, skeletons et). Other vampiric traditions may be destruction of the soul (based on some cryptic hints about Pelanda) and so forth. Given RQG's sorcery rules, I don't think sorcery is viable as a drop-in replacement for the lost spirit and rune magics. A vampire might still know sorcery but he would only cast big spells to protect himself, boost weapons, gain magic points etc and not as a versatile source of combat magic.

Kinda in speculation here but my interpretation of the Unholy Trio letting chaos into Glorantha, the unholy trio is not Thed, Ragnaglar and Malia as gods but the plants creating a conjunction that dangerously destabilises the Sky Dome "once every six hundred years". In Pelorian sources those plants are the Blue Moon, Wagon and Black Dendara. This conjection happened with some regularity in the Storm Age leading to frequent musterings against Chaos until one pretty bad defeat at Storm fall. That also explains why there is a confusion about when Vingkot was killed. The world does not seem Chaotic in th aftermath of his death as opposed to Stormfall where eveything turns to hell.

http://www.geocities.ws/rqsummaries/rules/humaktheart.html

No, it isn't. Seven Mothers is explicitly a cult of the borderlands. The description of the Seven Mothers cult as a superficiality is quite a burn.

Just because the Hrestoli use rune magics for the most part does not make them weaker or magically powerful. If you want to snarl and rant, go elsewhere. The Hrestoli aren't a church but a philosophical school. There's nothing morally wrong on cheating on other people's heroquests.