Shiningbrow

I know many people don't like ducks because of how they were originally brought into RQ - as comic relief. However, I got past that and treat them as any other species... especially as RQ has made attempts to redefine other species that were brought in, such as Aldryami and Mostali (not longer just D&D or Tolkien variants). And, we have anthropomorphic other creatures (newtlings, morocanth), so ducks should be seen as no different.

I'd just like to point out that the Uz allow for learning (using, casting) any form of magic, and I can therefore certainly see a troll with Rune Magic from KL or DF or similar, with obviously Spirit magic spells - and sorcery! And that also means a priestess who then goes on to talk to their version of the First Shaman, and then face their version of the Bad Man.... And, therefore, anyone with Summon Ancestor should also be able to summon one who has sorcery, and would, by extension, be able to teach it!

I bought the ducks from the Kickstarter by MadKnight (along with others). My painter would like to know what should go on the banner (and what the 3 round balls atop the banner are). So, does anyone have any good - original *- ideas for it? (not original ideas would be a Death Rune, or an Air/Storm Rune... or a combination of them).

Given that inscriptions are personal, and only useable by the sorcerer themselves, I'd suggest that only the sorcerer's POW would do for an inscription. (but that's just me)

So, today... The 3 annoying boys (all warrior characters) are no longer with us! Certainly makes the game easier to run without the distractions. And today, I was down my other boy who was playing Vishi (that's what happens when you don't do your homework!!!) So, Vasana was chosen by the tag-team girls, so that's handy. But that means we're down a Stormbull and Babeester Gor... two warriors most definitely needed soon! As far as the game is concerned, they found the girl, and Sorala managed to get her to come with her back to the other 3 (who failed a search roll to notice anything out of place). In an unbelievable twist, the Chalana Arroy initiate wanted to hit the girl over the head to knock her out, so she'd stop being scared... Shortly after, when they went to the house with the victims (both Sartarite & Lunar), Vasana wanted to slit the throats of the Lunars, and no-one wanted to help the poor, injured (poisoned) farmers... I don't think they're getting into character!!! They're worse than the boys!

Part of your answer here will depend on how you see the gods in Glorantha - are they individual entities who have or control the Runes? Or, are they effectively the Rune itself? The embodiment itself. If the first, then only Orlanth's & Ernalda's Rune spells would be affected (and probably any Associated Cults which have their spells - e.g., Stormbull probably can't use Shield). And that's about it! However, if you decide that the gods are the rune, then that changes everything - including affecting sorcery (well, depending on how YGV).

I didn't mean to imply that I was ruling that out... Yes, but as above. RQG p287 - "A wyter may receive sacrifices of characteristic POW from its members up to an upper limit based on the size and age of the community (see Wyter Size table)". (my emphasis) The table starts at 4D6+6, so max of 35 for the lowest.

Interesting. Is that bug a giant version of something? Or is it a very small trollkin? 😛 More seriously, is there an agreement with anyone (like MadKnight) to get miniatures made of them? (for that matter, what about some of the other pre-gens that weren't made (AFAIK))?

I challenge this view. Everyone is going to get a POW gain roll at least twice a year (HHD & GT) - and with most people being around the 10-11 POW mark, and a successful roll gaining on average 1POW, that really means that most people are going to get +1POW per year (with diminishing returns, but possibly increased opportunities if they go to more Holy Day ceremonies). The question then becomes - what do they do with that POW? It's been suggested that it will power the local wyters... but how many of them will do that every year? Given there's a maximum power it can take, and there's going to be far more worshippers with available (newly gained extra) POW, I suggest that a lot more spells/RPs will be sacrificed for! Off the top of my head, I'd suggest everyone in the clan would add 1 Rune Point every 3-5 years - minimum. (I presume there's been a thread or something about this somewhere... anyone?? Ummm, I'm fairly certain that is actually the canonical view... And it's why different "aspects" of gods give different powers. The Elmal/Yelmalio thing is a really good example here - if one doesn't worship that aspect, one doesn't get access to those spells. And if this is done over a long period of time, they effectively become unavailable (until someone brings it back again). It is essential that the heroquests continue to keep on reinforcing the myths (aka, powers) of the gods in GodTime. By not doing so, the god is diminished (yes, not having access to a particular Rune Spell is a form of diminution). Is this all that much different to taking geasa? If you're the regimental commander (or higher), wouldn't the "distrust all X" be really frustrating to your troops when they're thinking they desperately need that alliance (or even just ceasefire or negotiation)?? (yes, I do think that if the commanding officer had that geas, they'd expect it to apply to the whole army... cos they're the ones who make those decisions - to trust/negotiate or not. I also doubt that a commanding officer would allow anyone in their command to assassinate anyone, nor to set an ambush - if they had the relevant geas).

I would always make some hassle p Even if it's "oh, you want this Rune spell? Well, I'm rather busy at the moment, so if you come back later.... And, BTW, there's this thing that I really need (doing), any chance you'd be able to help out with it?" (or "someone else at the associated cult/temple/ring needs..."). I don't take the sacrificing of the POW for the Rune Point and the getting of the Rune Spell as being at the same time. For me, it takes time and training to cast the spells - you need to learn how to channel your god's power to do that. So, yes, you are entitled to that spell, but you may not get it at the same time. Also, you need to keep up the commitment, and keep on doing what your god would do! (I've just had a thought as writing this... what if a player/person doesn't use a spell for quite a while... would any of you be nasty enough to remove it?? Because it's not emulating the god enough??)

Item - you get to access the spirit's spells and magic points. This is automatic while you are holding onto the item. You can also get it to cast its spells, either on you while the item is held (eg, Heal, Protection), or on the binding object itself (eg, Bladesharp on a sword). (It has virtually zero perception of the outside world, so casting on other targets is questionable.) Additionally, you can give one command to the spirit to leave the binding enchantment to do something outside of it (eg, attack someone in spirit combat). However, if you can control the spirit through a spell, you can keep giving it commands until the spell expires. (this can include forcing it back into the binding enchantment). Animal - you can get it to cast spells, but now it can use the animal's senses to target their spells. You lose the ability to use their spells or MPs. but the animal is (generally) more intelligent, and can now understand more complex commands, and can be used as a scout and report back to you. (however, I have to ask - what's to keep a random spirit from just running away :p) Allied spirits are usually put into animals. because of their attachment to the PC. As @Squaredeal Sten said, it can be autonomous. Magic items - yes, not much in the core rulebook about this (other than spell matrices). The Weapons & Equipment book has a few examples of what you're referring to - items with permanent abilities (not spells). E.g, permanent +10% to a certain skill while held/worn. There's also the Plunder book on DrivethruRPG.

I can't agree with this, because the gods can have many different faces and aspects. And many different roles in community. Your suggestion implies that everyone should join every aspect sub-cult of a particular god. I think looking at Ernalda here might be a good example... her base special spell list has a variety of different roles - queen, healer, earth mother, grain goddess, midwife. So, someone could (very likely to) specialise as a midwife (Bless pregnancy & Reproduce) wouldn't need to take the queen or grain spells (ie, Charisma, Bless Champion, or Bless Crops, etc respectively). Similarly, a Grain Goddess/farmer type only needs Bless Crops, Command Swine, maybe the summoning of Earth elementals (to help in the the field), and maybe a Reproduce for the fields or a fruit tree., but not the Bless Champion, Inviolable, etc spells. It also suggests that a good cultist will only take the Cult/god specific spells before taking any of the Associated cults spells... I don't disagree that someone isn't going to be the full Ernalda by those limitations, but I don't think it's necessary to.

Yes!!! It makes me wonder if there are (or should be) people with quite large Rune Pools, but few spells (even though many would be available) purely because they think like this. But it's only the PCs who crave the magic they get from their cults.

So, this week's episode sees the last of the three Y6 boys... as I' getting them booted! I was already warned about two of them and they did as expected. So, down to 5 players, and I'll re-allocate one of them to one of the girls who was supposed to not be there all the time (although, that hasn't been much of a problem). I gave them more information about their Rune spells, and good to see that they were happy in having something quite powerful and different. Scenario-wise, it wasn't as awesome as I'd hoped it would go, but they finally got to Menyr's Landing... And, of course, they split the party, with everyone wanting to go a different direction.... naturally! And the Stormbull failed his Sense Chaos roll.... bwahahahahahhaaaaaa

That's how I'd run it.

Well, true. And I've seen lots of trees get moved as well.... If the Circle hasn't been cut through on the house, I think it would remain intact.

Not in the new rules.

Actually, even though I've been a fan of RQ for decades, and have all editions, some things are still new (to me). RBoM lists 14 such spells, but also says that there are more (it's a "partial list"), which is probably to give GMs some ways to introduce their own spells. However, only a couple of those 14 appear in the RQG spell list (Lantern & Sleep). So, you're fine with making everything else available, more or less. Also remember, shamans can still find spirits and force them to teach even the cult secret spells.

No. It's still a cult secret. The above quote refers to the idea in the general, not the specific. And, unfortunately, such secrets weren't part of the thinking for newcomers when it was published. However, RBoM clarifies this on p107.

It's also a lot more profitable to take prisoners and ransom them. Also, it needs to be remembered that most 'soldiers' were actually just farmers who were roped into going on a raid (often every summer). So were the enemy. So, not wanting to kill someone who just wants to go home to the wife and kids makes a lot of sense. (as well as the strong desire just to not kill another human being who is up close and personal, and likely to be just as hesitant/scared)

Not really. Slumping is a fairly natural occurrence, well within the body's motions. The other situations are not. It also goes with the idea that she could control the body's motions, but not be cognizant of the situation in which it occurs. So, the target would slump into the harmful substance, and slump off the cliff (perhaps to their death).

Why not just presume that Chalana Arroy's magic and power are sufficient to be able to ensure a standing target merely slumps to the ground, and not falls to take damage? I mean, we don't always presume real world physics for other situations, do we? So, this is idea perfectly consistent within the game world.

Agreed! Although, unless a HUUUUGGGEEEE redact of past and present canon occurs, it's going to happen anyway. I, for one, really dislike the Chinese names on most of Kralorela, along with the stereotypes in place. And I really doubt that's likely to change...

Precisely! Speaking of precision, if the spell was supposed to be mobile for something smaller, then the example would be much clearer in what it be cast on to move. Using the ship's deck clearly indicates a large, (relatively) flat surface - not on a helmet or a person. After all, other than a building or wall or tree, what isn't mobile?? (such that it would need to be mentioned in the spell). This needs to be Q&A'd/WoD'd... especially as to whether the entire Circle needs to fit on one continuous flat surface (eg, floor, carpet, ground, etc), or whether only most of it needs to be on the surface (ship's deck or wagon). Does the Circle even need to be cast on a flat surface?? Or, are we taking 'Circle' too literally?

Firstly, you know it's radius, not diameter - right? So, it'd be a 1m radius, so 2m diameter - much larger than a shield. But, the bigger issue is having something big enough to move that's actually useful (ie, not merely for only 1-3 people). I don't disagree that there is some movement allowed, but other than on a ship (or maybe a wagon), it's not going to be significantly effective the way the immobile version is.