Darius West

I can see a Humakti being able to act as a bandit. The crucial thing is not to be dishonorable. They will likely not rob the poor unless they are poorer than the poor person they accost. They will be threatening, but polite. They may not even take all the possessions of the traveler. They will not lie or ambush them. They may decide to ransom the traveler. They are unlikely to hold up members of their own clan, unless they have been exiled and are no longer part of it. Orlanth Adventurous can make good thieves, and could turn to banditry, but are bound by a measure of honor like Humakti. I note that Zorak Zoran hasn't been mentioned much, and neither has Stormbull as potential bandits. They are bruisers and bullies who are very intimidating. Stormbulls can always "legitimize" their banditry by claiming that they "smelled chaos" on the victim. Who is going to waste a divination to prove them wrong? Black Fang only operate around Pavis. When acting as bandits, they are prone to murder those they accost. Lanbril isn't about banditry, but about robbery via break-ins and stealth. Potentially anyone who has not disavowed violence can become a bandit in hard times. Gagarth is the quintessential bandit god. Contemptible scum who are the opposite of honorable. Waha isn't a bandit god, but is prepared to turn a blind eye for cases of expediency and advantage. The worst followers of Waha to be bandits will be morokanths, who are also likely to be slavers. Tricksters are wastrels and good-for-nothings who have all the makings of great bandits, but they F up at banditry like they do at everything else. They just can't hold down meaningful employment, even as criminals. Why, there was one trickster I met... It is possible for chaos cults to take payment rather than attacking. That is a form of banditry. It would be interesting to see Yelmalios with kuschile archery and horse skills acting as bandits. Obviously phalanx tactics won't lend themselves to banditry. There is no reason why members of the Seven Mothers can't be bandits. Jakaleel the Witch would be a good bandit. Danfive Xaron would not, as they have quit their life of crime. Valind cultists would be nearly as nasty to meet as bandits as Gagarthi. Troll cults could be nasty bandits, with the most terrifying being Gorakiki worshippers and their big poisonous bugs.

I think there are several types of Nobles in Sartar, but Richard S. has a good take on it. A noble in Sartar is someone groomed for leadership, but there is also a measure of inheritance about it, though Sartar is pretty meritocratic and inclined to offer nobility to anyone who is a proven leader or a wise enough counsellor to warrant the attention of the local Ring. Clearly anybody with a lineage that can be traced to the Royal House of Sartar is a capital "N" Noble, and has likely been chased by Lunar assassins their entire life by 1625. Post 1625 they may be running from Argrath's assassins too, after his coronation. A Hero is likely considered a noble regardless of birthright or lack thereof. Any child of a Tribal King would be classed as a noble. Any member of the Clan Ring of a Tribal King is a noble. A Clan Chief is a noble. Members of a clan ring are also nobles, but of a lesser variety. Rune Lords and sometimes Rune Priests are lesser nobility. Clan weaponthanes, thanes in general, and godspeakers are the lowest rung of nobility. It seems fair that you can choose a spouse of noble status to have a measure of that status conferred upon oneself too, but that doesn't count for much if you are proven incompetent, foolish, intemperate, or profligate.

It is interesting to see the direction the rules are going in.

I am presently looking over the rules related to Shamanic Self-Resurrection, and I think I'd like a little clarification about them if people have the time. Obviously some of these questions are very much up to the GM, but I'd like to hear what other GMs think, and what our resident Rules Lawyers think. (1) If a shaman self-resurrects within an hour (a listed cost of 4 POW) does that imply that they have spent 4 POW to get themselves back to 1hp or is the cost actually 4 POW for each point of Spirit Magic Healing they perform from their deceased condition? (2) It seems that the longer you wait, the easier self- resurrection becomes. At what point does it become free? A year? A century? Can you actually GAIN POW if you remain dead long enough (I'm thinking about Jaldon Toothmaker and his long death-sleep absences, and the Pendragon "sleep" rules for magic). (3) It seems apparent that Shamans can completely refuse to enter the cycle of death and rebirth, choosing instead to hide out in or near their bodies. Can they spend POW to cast disruption on scavengers who want to eat their remains? (4) What condition do Shaman bodies have to be in to be capable of self-resurrection anyhow? Is cremation final for an Oakfed Shaman, or can they be fanned back from the embers of their pyre? (5) If a shaman dies, what happens to their fetch if it is embodied in an animal? Does the animal die? (6) Do crystals and items attuned to a shaman become immediately de-attuned at the moment of death, or is the connection a little more resilient than that? (7) As a related topic, if a Rune Lord or Rune Priest dies, and they have an allied spirit in an animal, does the animal die immediately? I ask because some Shamans are also associated with cults that offer Allied Spirits. (8) Is a shaman who dies able to summon back the spirits they previously had bound in crystals and matrices, a la the RQ3 "shamans learn the names of spirits once they defeat them, and can use those names to re-summon them" rules?

There may have been more than one Pavic Grimoire. The Pavic cult of Iffinbix (associated with the Office of the City Sorcerer) also had an associated Grimoire. Iffinbix was an Earth Cult which taught and used Sorcery. They have squat square windowless temples with slanting slate roofs that can only be safely entered by someone who has consumed the root of an agipith plant. It is quite possible that the many Iffinbix temples were linked by teleportation circles that allowed them to be used as a communication network by the human communities of Rubble Survivors during the time the Rubble was closed, before the Dragonewts' Dream.

I'm sure they will try.

Remember that Pendragon is set in a period when the population is rural in a way that modern demography doesn't handle well. There will be people living in forests, hills, plains, and mountains in far greater profusion than the urban centers will suggest. This is the age of the Manorial Economy, when things were extremely decentralized and your manor house could provide almost everything a knight needed, and the main thing that designated a town or a city was how many days a week the local market was open for. Urban centers likely held under 10% of the population during this time and even a village of 400 people was a pretty big concentration of capital, with most people living close to a hamlet at best. But... for all that, rural population density was a lot higher than today.

I suppose the possibilities would largely depend on the deities where the enchantment is taking place. Still, there are logical limitations on what is possible. Say, that gives me of an idea for another topic... Lottery Swords.

This is great! A very detailed plan, and a good abuse of the rules as written. I am a little surprised that you didn't opt to abuse the possibility of a knowledge religion due to the training and earning advantages they provide. Nevertheless, a 100POW Fetch is pretty indomitable, and this puts you in the lead for the Great Meataxe imo.

You raise a good point, but a definable material object can be made the subject of a lie and then div blocked. For example: This ratty old yurt is actually Yada's (son of Tada) underpants, and it grants great herd fertility, so why not trade one of your tribal treasures for it?

Now imagine stacking that with Divination Block from Lanbril.

THAT'S the spirit !

Yes. He's illuminated. Illumination is indeed cheating. This was Arkat's fundamental point, and it broke Nysalor/Gbaji.

Tumors are growths, after all.

That entirely depends on how overt your Thanatari is. Heads are large, and hard to explain in public. It is far less risky to just bookworm your way through scrolls and books in a library, especially when there are multiple copies and one might not be missed. Consume Mind is far more high risk, but the rewards are great too.

Unequivocally. The BKP is a big site, and may well go deep underground.

They are called plants actually. They are one of the earliest manifestations of the Primal Plasma that is polluted by the Unholy Trio and becomes the Chaosium.

I am eager to hear what you plan to do with the Blind King's Palace, Ian. I am pretty sure that the worst monster in the place is a vampiric centaur with a colossal strength that would scare a Great Troll.

I am surprised that nobody is suggesting Lanbril and Thanatar in combination. I mean, (consume book) "Who ate my library?" (casts divination only to discover it is Divination blocked).

Yeah, right, because Stormbulls/Uroxi routinely slaughter Lhankor Mhys... That's sarcasm btw. And who says that you can't have a Stormbull Philosopher who still hates chaos and illuminates? I would suggest that it is better to have a properly informed opinion about why such things are dangerous and evil, because they unequivocally are.

Would you care to discuss which Rune Magics from Eurmal and Irripi Ontor you think would synergize the best?

Fair enough, so the player should start their character at age 21 with 1 cult but then gets illuminated up to steps 6 and 7 by age 28 then? Assuming one illumination power per year?

Yes I absolutely DO think that Arkat looked back on what he had done, with the benefit of hindsight, and was sufficiently self reflective to think he had done things he regretted. I would go so far as to suggest that Arkat set himself up as the counter-argument in the flesh to everything that Nysalor taught; showing exactly what was wrong with Nysalor's teachings and philosophy. It was likely the only way he could have defeated Nysalor, as Nysalor could only look at Arkat and despair that everything Nysalor had said was wrong, and horribly abusable. As a result, I think Arkat realized that the what he had done should not be repeated, and that is why he set up the Arkati in the form they exist. This may seem hypocritical, but consider. Is it hypocritical for a drunken uncle who "seems so cool" to advise youngsters not to copy his life choices? Is it hypocritical for a daredevil stuntman who has broken every bone in his body over his career and is in constant pain but "seems so cool" to advise youngsters against copying his life choices? Sometimes the voice of experience does seem hypocritical, but it doesn't mean that it is, or that its advice shouldn't be heeded.

Yes I absolutely DO think that Arkat looked back on what he had done, with the benefit of hindsight, and was sufficiently self reflective to think he had done things he regretted. I would go so far as to suggest that Arkat set himself up as the counter-argument in the flesh to everything that Nysalor taught; showing exactly what was wrong with Nysalor's teachings and philosophy. It was likely the only way he could have defeated Nysalor, as Nysalor could only look at Arkat and despair that everything Nysalor had said was wrong, and horribly abusable. As a result, I think Arkat realized that the what he had done should not be repeated, and that is why he set up the Arkati in the form they exist.

That is actually good to hear. If you don't mind me asking, how do you obtain the powers after illumination? I would imagine that 6 and 7 would be extremely coveted for any potential spy (and I like running intrigue scenarios).