Shiningbrow

Bruce Dickinson... modern day hero! (Top 10 UK fencing champion, commercial pilot, singer in one of the most successful bands in the world, owns a football team... Somebody Blessed his mother's Pregnancy!)

"Scream for me, passengers! Scream for me....." I'm sitting in my cockpit as the revs begin to climb retracting the wheel chocks and we don't have much time Cos at 5 O'clock we taxi to the tarmac road The fuel gauge in front is running low... Running low Yeah!

Well, to be... fair??... there were assassination attempts made. And when the former High Priestess to Samastina (sp?) aligned with the Lunars, after she was brought down there were lots of killings.... Mothers are nasty types when their kids are threatened!

I have a question - can a Discorporate person go to the higher spirits and get Shamanic Abilities? And, could a Discorporate person have their Fetch awakened? (what about on a HQ?)

I'm confused... Bruce has been a licensed commercial pilot for decades (iirc... I know it's been many years). What makes you think his flying would be 'heavy and impossible... lacking grace" etc?

Your (or your Ernaldan priestesses) is/are evil!

Command Fertility (Life) Stasis (unchanging) Man... Or Separate Death (from) Spirit ? Or, Command Combine Fertility Spirit Man Stasis (forever) 5 point minimum for Immortality... at the very least! Resurrection - Summon and Command Fertility (Life) Spirit (of) Man... yep, lots of Runes. Should be for a Reusable, MP only Resurrection spell!

Agreed! But then - what's the point of the spell then? Also, when one clan is saying "let's go to war", and another is saying "Nope, too risky".... it's a situation in which I can see the priestesses trying to convince the council one way or the other. After all, the ramifications of this would be huge! (and, like in my previous post, DI would be smart!) (I know I'm being really specific, but I think in general the discussion about how visible magic is still works)

I didn't have in my head that it was a public debate... Unless they're throwing DIs (which, to be fair, they probably are!), they may well debate who should be the next High Priestess. Certainly, Clan Taraling may well be arguing with Clan Enaldoring for whether they should go save the Hill of Orlanth Victorious... Let's talk about blue planet people... Blue Planet has lots of peoples who believe in lots of pantheons (in the general sense of "deity" - singular or otherwise). Some of those beliefs have separated (like the clans have on Green Lozenge). Now, the different 'clans' won't disbelieve the powers shown by one of the Godspeakers.... but they won't automatically accept wha they say either... (while I do have in mind US televangelists, it's also appropriate to other religions across the planet). So, many people do choose to believe that the High Priest Roberts is in God's favour, they won't all throw money his way, because they're seeing that he's using their god's name for his own personal motives... And that's how I'm seeing what can happen in Glorantha - and even more so, because such magic is so common!

Sorry, but unfortunately not. I'm actually a lazy, and not-often-practicing pagan, with some real world shamanic experience. And, that experience tells me that those spirits and deities aren't all-knowing! And they have different agendas... and so do their earthly representatives. Consider this example then... Two Ernaldans are in an argument (perhaps who's the best champion to Bless, perhaps whether to go to war, whoe's the next High Priestess... or maybe just what to have for lunch). One, decides to get her own way and casts Charisma (she really wants tacos! - which may or may not be the name of the champion or priestess 😛 ) Will the other priestess(es) say "OMG(dess) - you're right, Our Great Mother has spoken - Tacos it is!" Or, will they go "Oi! Don't you try that on us, we know what you're doing!!!" And, go and cast their own Charisma (cos Sandwiches is better... again, champion or otherwise) (I'm bamboozled that the Trickster Lie spell doesn't have a resistance roll!)

Q: is there an awesome reason why "Mundane armour does not protect against this damage, although magical armour does"? RE: the dimensions - yeah, for some reason it's expressed as a 2D object, not a 3D... Maybe it's a wall that's infinitely thin 😛

So, Steal Breath "converts 3 cubic metres of air into magic points" (paraphrased) Presumably, that means a temporary vacuum is created, but extra air rushes in to fill the 'void' (although, @Joerg has suggested otherwise in a thread from about a year ago, IIRC - compelling argument!) So, what I want to know is - what about the other Runic equivalent spells? Steal Moonbeam, Steal Darkness/Cold (would they be separate spells??)? Steal Fire/Light? etc. Would Steal Moonbeam reduce the local areas Lunar Influence to that of Black Moon? Would Steal Light make the area darker? Would Steal Darkness made a cave lighter and brighter? Or Steal Cold warm up the air? @Joerg suggests that Steal Earth would make rocks crumble - but doesn't imply creating holes...

And, just to add to the above... 5 points of Spirit Magic... Most will want Heal 2. You need to stop and concentrate to cast, so you're not doing that in the middle of a skirmish. Bladesharp? 2 points gets you an amazing 10% skill increase and a whopping 2 points extra damage! Wow! And for 2 minutes!!! Protection - similar to Bladesharp (probably the better choice though) - but, 2 points of armour isn't going to turn your PCs into superheroes... Farsee? Countermagic? Speedart? Lots of good spells out there - and you only get 5 points worth. And, your 12-15 (average) Magic Points aren't going to let you cast non-stop the whole day! Especially if they're going into enemy territory. A mere 2 skirmishes a day is going to be taxing (especially in the Heal spells, if they're taking damage). The first fight will be ok.. the second a worry.... is there a third just around the corner they need to worry about? And, 1 spirit is going to (probably) seriously deplete the Magic Points of most characters pretty quickly! Imagine if they've blown of 7 MPs in the first battle (starting with, say, 15) - 2 Bladesharp, 2 Protection, and the need to Heal a couple of wounds. That means the next battle will leave them with only about 8-9 (assuming it's a few hours later, and they've gotten a couple of MPs back). Once again, Bladesharp 2, Protection 2 (now down to 4-5 MPs). One round of Spirit Combat, and they're unconscious! If they take a bit of damage, they're in trouble (because the Heals will take more MPs... 1/point of damage). So, in all likelihood, your PCs will be going from one battle to the next with open wounds because they won't be able to heal them all.. and be prepared for the next fight!

I think you've misinterpreted the rules (or, I've misinterpreted your interpretation...) Players in a Rune Cult (ie, deity/spirit cult) have only sacrificed 3 POW to get 3 Rune Points - total! What's available to cast with those 3 Rune Points are all those Common Spells (if their cults have access to them all), and 3 choices of the Cult Special Rune Magic. For some cults, those 3 RPs are going to have to last a season (or more). And, some spells cost all 3 points to cast. The 5 points of Spirit Magic isn't that powerful, especially when it's over in 2 minutes max. Burning those 3 RPs early in the game is usually not a wise idea, unless you've started your campaign close to a Holy Day

20L per Rune Point... Depends if your GM allows that the starting wealth you had was similar to the wealth they had when you were born, and that you can spend those heirlooms etc prior to your birth. (and, rules lawyering... I think I saw only 1 roll for extra money prior to your birth in the Family History, and that's only if you're not a Satarite). Your kids though.....

"Great Sage Equal to Heaven"... the title given to the Monkey King because his ego and impatience etc was destroying the place.

Or listened to? Agreed with? Blindly followed? (Q: why does Monkey King have a cat for an avatar?)

Or... Matrix Creation, which won't have a CHA limit, and you can just get the whole clan to drop in a point of POW. So, you can retire with an everlasting, ever-replenishing matrix than the clan can call upon every year (one child - unless the Blessing can be divided). According to p 406, that would be 20L per Rune Point... Such Matrices can be added to over time, so it'd be in the clan's best interests to have this happen (in secret, obviously!). I read the descriptions as the caster gets to decide... "of the caster's choosing". So, X number of Rune Points/Characteristics, whoever/wherever you want them.

What I was thinking ... for both parts! Also, Prot/Counter 12 isn't as strong as @RHW was suggesting... not for powerful persons. Especially when you start adding in POW Enhancing crystals... (not saying it's sloppy, but not the heights of unbelievability)

Yes, I had presumed that... the green glow would be rather obvious. But, I'm also suggesting the sudden vibrancy, strength, compulsion etc would also be a bit obvious to those who are used to it. When the Orlanthi Priest calls upon Orlanth, he knows that he's invoking Orlanth's blessing for his own personal reasons. And thus, he also knows the same about others. So, knowing this, being stronger, more vibrant and compelling wouldn't make them more right... I'll take that CHA vs POW roll thanks!

So - what happens when 2 Ernaldan priestesses (or even just an Initate and a Priestess) both bring down their goddess through (for example) a Charisma spell, and they're arguing against each other? My point from above isn't that they don't believe the god/dessess exist - it's that they're so prominent in daily life, and so is their magics amongst the religious hierarchy, that using such invocations becomes 'normal', and therefore the motives of the caster more suspect. (especially obvious when an Eurmali is Lie-ing to you... or suddenly sounds really logical (at the time). "Dudes, we should totally go raid Glamour right now - the place has been abandoned!".. "oh, really, who told you that?" - "The Eurmali... come on, let's go!!" ) At the very least, I'd expect extra Resistance rolls to be made. Especially when your 'dude' friend points out the obvious.... I do think that at the time, the listeners would be impressed. 15 minutes later, though... They do. They also know that those gods intervene in the world when the initiate calls on them to do so. And in the example being used, it's when the priestess wants to win an argument (in the case I'm thinking of, when the council is deciding to defend The Hill of Orlanth Victorious from a Lunar attack). They're fully aware that the goddess probably doesn't have a stake in this, but do know that the priestess does. I would accept that at the time the debate is on, and the spell is in force, the listeners will be fully "taken in" by the majesty and awe of the Goddess made manifest. Later though... (how would a Malkioni react to the manifestation of a deity???) In a world full of magic, everything is suspected of being magical.

I didn't mean 'trick' in that meaning/context. I meant in that people would be aware that there is magic which allows for that power (in game terms, Ernaldans have access to a Rune Spell called Charisma, and it's used to get people to agree with the caster). They would also be quite aware that, although casting Rune spells does "bring down the deity", it doesn't mean that it's actually the deity's will or opinion that is being expressed. It's not too far off from "If you don't do what I say, I'll get my big brother to beat you up". Doesn't make your argument any more logical (or even rational)... it's just got a power behind it. And, yes, I'm quite sure that Ernaldan priestess will hold that grudge 😛 (I've just been reading about the council deciding whether to go to attack the Lunar Occupation of Hill of Orlanth's Victorious ... and imagining a possible scenario play out). I'm going to say... I'm sure there will be many who will disagree with that! And, we already have evidence that following Trickster actually does let Chaos in! The Trick (haha) is figuring out which will and which won't....

The answer to your question is - anyone who knows that such magic exists in the world, and using said magic to 'prove' a point doesn't actually make the argument stronger (which should actually be... everyone!) (now, Divination, OTOH, would be a different matter... I'm also using a bit of an extreme example. I'd like to think that most Ernaldan initiates aren't using said invocations so much. But then, what else would you use them for?) To an extent... It would mean you're now an open target to all the trollkin standing behind using missile fire... (but, I did also assume the light as well as the buzz... Buzz Lightblade 😛 ) I think... that in a world where magic is so prevalent, and the gods are so often talking with you, that in that situation if you're hell bent on one course of action, and you're getting Ernalda "literally speaking through her", then you'd be thinking, "yeah, I know that trick... doesn't mean you're right though!" That does presume that said Eurmali isn't psychotically insane... "Yes they can do this... and given any possible opportunity, yes they will!" Agreed, it can be dangerous to foil a trickster... can also be dangerous to go along with him/her (just ask Orlanth).

Last paragraph of Countermagic, p259... "This spell is incompatible with Protection, Shimmer, and Spirit Screen." Last paragraph of Protection, p263... "This spell is incompatible with Countermagic, Shimmer, and Spirit Screen."

I haven't yet gotten around to reading Harrek's story, but what I want to know is - can all of that be justified? Or, are all of those stats just made up because - why not? I notice that your Harrek has a Protection 12... and usually also a Countermagic 12 - which RAW, you can't have... So, is there a reason for this rule breakage? Or, is it another "why not?"