Darius West

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).

Well, that God's opinion is supported by an awful lot more information and power than a human can possibly comprehend. Socrates was charged with a lot more than that. He was an outspoken anti-Democrat. He was a supporter of the Thirty Tyrants, the ruthless oligarchic clique who ruled Athens as a puppet state on behalf of deeply fascist Sparta. Socrates was not only charged with corrupting the youth of Athens, but with failing to acknowledge the gods of the city and with introducing new gods. Socrates was also the lover of Alcybiades who was famously impious and led Athens in their disastrous Sicilian adventure, who was held up as an Athenian youth corrupted by Socrates. In short, Socrates was far from a saint.

The Aim: Create the most game breaking RQ character possible. The Rules: Your character starts as an illuminate. They can join any cult, provided they meet the requirements for initiation. They have 15 in every stat, 3 RP, and can be of any RQG background. The year is 1625 of the 3rd Age, so only cults from the 3rd Age apply. They can learn 50% in any skill they can gain access to each year. They gain 2 POW every year. If they can gain access to powers that increase their power gain or their access to skills, then they may use them as well. The Question: What cults do you join in what order to make the most heinously OP character? What Rune Spells, Sorcery or Shamanism do you exploit and how? The Titles to be Awarded : Biggest Meataxe (for the most egregious combat wombat build in the fewest steps). Disruptor (for the most egregiously ridiculous reality breaking effect in the fewest steps). City Killer (for the worst Area of Effect spell abuse). God Learner (for the most brilliantly devious abuse of the rules as they stand). The Purpose: Some people don't think Illumination is over powered. Given that illumination lets you join any cult, and ignore every cult restriction (assuming you don't get caught doing so by pesky fellow cultists who out you as an illuminate), including spirits of retribution, let's see exactly how much damage we can do, and how quickly we can do it?

Consider if you will, the egregious munchkinery that you can achieve if you have access to the spell rosters of multiple deities. At very least, imagine a Stormbull berserker with chaos features. This is what illumination allows.

Right action is determined by the deity. The worshipper is certainly well appraised about what is expected of them prior to initiation. Spirits of Retribution are sent by the deity, not the mortal head of the cult. Deities know what their worshippers are doing because that is what initiation is all about. You get power, the deity gets to see what you are up to, and you become their agent within Time. I can't see what is difficult about this? Why do you think characters spent 1 POW to form a connection with their deity upon initiation? If Socrates is an initiate of Zeus, the most infamous sex criminal of Mount Olympus, then corrupting they youth of Athens is nothing Zeus will object to. If Socrates is an initiate of the Judeo-Christian God, who mainly frowns on such things (unless God needs humans to populate a planet via incest), then Socrates has a problem. Either way the god will know what the worshipper is up to, or else they couldn't answer Divination questions of a personal nature about the initiate, but we know they can.

That assumes the illuminate is caught doing so. And how do you propose to discipline someone who has just hijacked all your cult's magic?

The RuneQuest Sight of the God Learners was access to the Sharp Abiding Book, otherwise known as the Core Rules and Rules Supplements of RQ.

The point is, if you join a cult you are subject to the strictures of that cult. If you break the strictures you face the spirit of retribution. Illuminates don't face any spirit of retribution ever, and can break every cult stricture without suffering what they deserve. THIS is what the Arkati object to. Illuminates can infiltrate and abuse cults and hero quests with impunity, even chaos cults.

I think we can agree that Arjuna is pretty downcast on that hillside, and is very receptive to Krishna's advice.