Shiningbrow

Lack of evidence is not evidence against... Ie, just because they weren't mentioned, doesn't mean they didn't exist. Their presence merely wasn't relevant to the topics being discussed/written about. (Oh gods.... I'm arguing in favour of Rings of Power..... )

This should lend itself to increasing the likelihood of hitting that weapon arm...

If you think a shield is going to cover 80% of someone passively, then you should also expect that they won't be able to attack very well with their weapon as well! Basically only a simple thrust or basic overhead chop. This should greatly reduce the attack %.

I know this is OT, strictly speaking, but was there any clarification as to the Iron Dwarf's armour stats? And, what's the ENC for that Iron "heavy chainmail"?

I wouldn't. Even a well-experienced smith wouldn't have the same range of motions a warrior with a hammer would have.. Smiths are basically a simple overhead strike (or much lesser taps). A warrior would be swinging from all manner of directions. And then there's the parrying.... And the feints...

That's a negative, Houston! I've run the soloquest a few times, both for myself alone, and as a GM for others. So, maybe about 7 or 8 times. In a few of those, someone's weapon was completely destroyed. In all of them weapons have taken damage. p199 - Attacker rolls Crit, Defender normal parry - Attacker rolls special damage. Defender’s parrying weapon HP reduced by the damage rolled. Most larger melee weapons only have 10-12HP. A Med shield has 12, large shield 16. Which would you rather lose in the middle of a combat? Sure, you could have a good couple of Repair spells, but do you want to be doing that in the middle of combat also?

No no, I wasn't suggesting it would. Just pointing out that even without the Manipulation bonus, you can get the shield up to a high percentage!

Base 15% + Culture 15% + Occupation (warrior) 25% + Cult (Humakt - "other weapon") +10% + (cult again) 20% + Free Skill Points 25% = 105%... no Manipulation bonus yet. Sure, a Humakti is unlikely to choose that way, but you never know. Also, one might argue that the Humakti "other weapon" shouldn't be there, in which case, lose 30% (bringing it down to 75%, then add Manipulation bonus (only need 15% to get to 90%).

yes, but they're the same spirits - aren't they? What happens to the animal when the spirit discorporates? This is something that's been discussed, but I don't think there's been an official position taken on it. It's been said that for bound spirits, the new binding enchantment takes over from the locale "binding", but that's just here in the forums. Would it not be possible for something similar to happen to an AS? There's obviously some sort of mystical thing happening such that an AS has some sort of connection to its new body... While not a 'binding' per se, it doesn't appear too different (other than the spirit has the ability to leave it of its own volition).

So, according to the relevant books, allied spirits are cult spirits (no surprise there), but are (typically) restricted to only POW & CHA. However, there's nothing to stop a hero-type of getting a more powerful - and different - allied spirit, such as an intelligent elemental, or even a guardian spirit (or even a naiad, given that river cults can summon them as cult spirits). So, if such a spirit is 'bound' as an allied spirit, can it come out of its binding at will, and take on its normal form? (this presumes that it doesn't stay in its normal form generally)

Does that include a Berserker spell cast by an SB on someone else who is not an SB initiate?

Absolutely! That's usually what happens. Be it Shield or Truesword...

I don't think anyone is missing the point of your original post. I think people aren't as convinced of its significance - and that's a significance largely along the lines of min-maxsing. As a fairly simple analogy - why don't most people in the military carry around M60s (or their more modern equivalent)? Or even higher calibre? After all (going by your logic), they are the more powerful weapon compared to most others. Or, why don't most melee fighters all go for a greatsword (or greataxe) if they've got the STR to use them? For the dwarf/hammer thing, there's a very clear and obvious reason why - because they are smiths, and they have a LOT more experience in using a hammer than an axe. Besides which, (or along with this), they are also masons. Axes are decidedly of narrow use to a subterranean species. And same with swords - only useful for combat. Sure, that's largely what the Iron Dwarves were made for, but their makers wouldn't have had a lot of skill with those, so how would they have imparted that to their creations? ANS: they couldn't. Going back to my first point - just because something is much better than another, doesn't mean everyone should be doing/using it. How incredibly boring that would be!

So, they should be either green and leafy, or long-ish pale green tendrils with little leaves at one end, and the roots at the other.

Given there's a place called Arkat's Rest, w9ith a huge Arkat rune on it, in the west side of Nochet, it's not really all that secret ...

Fair point!

But - clearly a very small cost to pay! Besides - disrupt Lunar ceremony... or wipe out most of the advanced forces and decimate the Lunars in the area, especially all those magicians and priests.... I don't think there'd be too many who wouldn't want that! If summoning a dragon was something she knew about, and then exiling him, would have been part of the plan (and he was fine with this 'exile'). I doubt this would be so, though. And, how would you 'accidentally' summon a dragon? At this point, it would really mean that Orlanit and co had planned for this (regardless of what Kallyr was going to do). mad for some unknown reason chose not to tell her about it. Granted, I don't know how good their relationship was, but if they were in on this together, then it makes sense he'd suggest it. Sp. No. For me, the exile is coming from someone who didn't expect this in any way. Exiling someone who had the power to summon a dragon, but didn't tell you or invite you into their plan - that I can understand might be an exile (remove the potential threat of a possible unknown player). Presumably.... I don't think the friends being killed is that big of an issue though. It completely broke the Lunar stranglehold over Sartar after years. A couple more deaths wouldn't really mean much. As above... wiping out that Lunar base isn't something you need a scapegoat for. Removing a potential threat to your leadership is. That would make sense then.....

Simple examples - Orlanth and Barntar? Orlanth and Yinkin? Maybe even Orlanth and Ernalda... I don't see where you get the idea that it would be necessary...

I might disagree, because it'd be in the spirit of things..... 😁

p44 of the Sourcebook, where it describes Argrath's companions, says: Orlaront Dragonfriend: This dragon magician was a key participant in the Dragonrise, but was exiled from Sartar soon after that momentous event by Prince Kallyr and joined Argrath Whitebull in Pavis. So, a) he's involved directly, and b) probably not with Argrath, because he joins him in Pavis after being exiled (which I take to mean, Argrath wasn't there). Argrath was, apparently, in Pavis at the time of the Dragonrise. This doesn't exclude him, but since there's no other mention in direct connection to the DR, and that he'd need good intelligence (and a good number of participants), suggest it wasn't his doing. I had always thought that it was Kallyr's doing, but the Sourcebook also says: Kallyr Starbrow also acted quickly. She exiled Orlaront Dragonfriend, seeking to contain what had been awakened. Again, this implies to me that she wasn't involved (or, at least, the DR wasn't her intention), and somehow she blames Orlaront for it. We do know Minaryth Purple was involved, cos he died there. So... who started it? (obviously, the PCs, but who else? Let's presume the PCs didn't actually think up this plan, but did go along with it.)

Ok, it's obviously an initiate of the cult you got it from... But, would you allow said cult spirit to initiate into another cult? And, would you normally have the AS choose an associate cult special Rune spell? (especially as its first..??)

One point I'd like to make here is that we need to remember that people have a tendency to not actually learn from those experiences. How many texts do we have written by such expeditionaries across the various parts of the world who got things woefully wrong??

Ohhh... I thought you were talking about the sci-fi RPG called Traveller.... the one where your character can die in chargen... 😛

But, wouldn't they look really excited, because something has finally happened???

It's a good question... especially in light of the Argrath thread! i suspect the answer will be: the priest should send Tom out on various missions (of importance, of course) which may get him killed.... er, I meant "prove his loyalty to clan and Orlanth".... ummm..... Help benefit the clan and raise his standards and ranking in the cult like a very good Orlanthi... If he succeeds, then he's a good Orlanthi and clan member, and may be on the way to being a hero (or Hero). If he fails, then obviously not! (hence my post on that other thread). As mentioned by @Eff, a) talk to the local Kolati shaman, and make sure that he's dealing with the right type of spirits. (for the PC, this may allow the opportunity to become a shaman, or at least learn a few tricks/skills, and maybe even spells). b) be very very suspicious! We all know that Lunars are those chaos-worshipping "Illooominattted" types, and so probably is Tom! Explain how this is worrying, and also explain how the Lunars murdered hundreds and thousands of your kinfolk, and can never ever be trusted! And that it would be best for that Lunar to not be seen around too often. Unless, of course, that Lunar is passing on vital information that could be useful. If the Lunar is willing to give up their ways, and join the worship of Orlanth, then maybe... c) Let's build a nice hut for you somewhere, ohhh, how about waaaaaayyyy over there..... but, feel free to drop in anytime now!