Shiningbrow

I like it! But it opens a whole can of worms (not the plough, but I suppose it could do that as well). It would mean a whole stack of spirits could add a whole stack of bonuses to a whole stack of items.... and players being what they are...

Use your imagination!!! Snake... Pipe.... Hollow........ 😜

The descriptions of the initiation rites alone are worth it. The sort of thing that really evokes what RQ is about, and how players get attached to the setting. If I GMed it, I'd probably want to do quite a bit of party splitting, just so each player's experience is different and "unique".

Ooops, I confused myself.. You're right! Unless.... Your deity isn't directly associated with an element, and so for the purposes of clarity, non-elemental cults can't simply use SCS to get an elemental... ??? Maybe resurrect the Ask Jeff design question thread?

Maybe add FDWC's bit... Summon Elemental gets you an unintelligent bit of air/fire etc. Simple, easy. Simmon Cult Spirit gets you a sentient spirit of a certain type requested. I.take Lore to just be knowing about the cult, God, myths, and appropriate ways to act. Worship Or Devotion to the deity is about the connection between the supplicant and the actual god... If you're on good terms with them, you get mate's rates 😛 (ETA - it also makes getting that skill up worth something)😛

I'd have thought that during the "ask deity to send a spirit", the type of spirit is specifically requested, and that's what you'd normally get. Maybe toss in a Worship (Or Devotion deity) roll to fully determine... Success = you get what you ask for; fail = you get something different: special and crit for higher stats; and fumble gets a spirit of reprisal (but non-violent).

That's what happens when you constantly question the value of life...

I find that odd.... Especially given what's required to cast... time, effort, concentration... I thought sorcery to be the most obvious... (well, ok, not as obvious as invoking the gods, although - Lie is very much a subtle spell...)

Wee bit too close to the library though... And the Merchant's quarters.... And, well, the city in general.... 😛

Very nice! Can't wait!!! (metaphorically, of course) I had always imagined the Jonstown Library to be, well.... greater...

Disease or Passion (lethargy) spirit. Do, basically already done. I agree that binding a spirit shouldn't automatically give access to its mind (CHA), but being able to take MPs sort of makes sense... Particularly if there's to be a rule about donating MPs during spell-casting (e.g., rituals)

Yes, I recall. I found it interesting to see RQ:G did away with POW spirits (although, I suppose not entirely)

Yeah... I recall having read that, but couldn't find it again! 100 pages apart isn't good.... (and not in the Bestiary either.

Adding to @Joergand @jajagappa, it's also the season to determine how much you can reasonably sacrifice during Sacred Time rites, especially if there's a Heroquest to be performed. And how much cash etc you're pulling in from tithes.

I find it a bit interesting that you refer to the 2nd (and maybe 1st) as an ability. I thought, spirits either had or didn't have, spells. But whether they're castable or not from the binding was inherent in the binding, not the spirit. Similarly, I saw spirits as giving MPs as part of the power of the binding (Or crystal). I do like the idea that spirits have knowledge. Say, sentient plant or animal spirits could have INTx5% in their appropriate lore, but specific to their species or location. Similarly, ancestors should also have such skills... All of which would count as a teacher for the purposes of learning from. (I'd also include location spirits - so that Sartar has spirits that would have Sartar lore and Customs... The land is magical! And sentient!!)

Lhankor Mhy or Issaries and Clever Tongue... .

But Cure Poison is only available to CA ... It's not even offered to associated cults... So, nice if you can get to them in time. Sorcery 🙂

Until @David Scott mentioned them, I hadn't seen any "pantheon" per se, as pantheon implies not only grouping, but also hierarchy amongst a range of gods. Is KL the chief deity of darkness gods for darkness shamans? (Presumably for troll shamans, but then how do the other gods fit in - if at all?) I had thought that shamans had the ability to go to any greater entity to bargain, although obviously some much easier than others, and cultural leanings would be strongly in place. I also presume that not all greater entities have the ability to grant all available gifts/abilities, much less any additional ones made up. Given a huge part of the job is to defend against "enemy spirits", it seems obvious to me that having a Spirit Affinity for those enemy spirits makes sense... Where do you get that, other than from (probably) "enemy" greater entities? Anyway, slightly away from my point/query... How similar is accepting Gifts/abilities to an actual initiation? Any reason a Golden Bow shaman couldn't travel to Hell and pick up some Rune Spells/gifts/abilities from Kygor Litor (as an extreme example)? The above is an extreme example, but what about the shamans in the Lunar College of Magic, or the Sartar Magical Union?? (I'd also presume there are lesser entities that are also capable of giving shamanic abilities, though perhaps not as powerful... Would KL be ok with a shaman accepting abilities from a lesser Fire entity?)

That was my first thought ... A man who's only ever heard about women.

Oh..Kay... Cultural reference that I don't get...

Because I can't see KL being happy with an initiate (or Gift recipient) also being an initiate or Gift recipient of a Fire spirit. If you want to keep the blessings said spirit gives, don't insult it by also taking gifts from the enemy. Yeah, I read that when you first posted it.... That's my championship trophy awarded to you for it...

POW spirits, maybe no point. But Intellect spirits allow you to choose what spells are stored (and, easily changed) - rather than hoping the spirit you summon has the combination of spells you want. TBH, I'm surprised the Spell Storing crystal is only 1D4 CHA worth... (actually, I'm surprised most crystals are XDY, and not XDY+Z, to give a better minimum)

If the images of women in RQ:G are representative of Glorantha, and Glorantha draws heavily upon depictions of women in various cultures throughout Earth's history, I'd say it's still the same topic.

That makes it more interesting.... If it's more like an initiation, rather than a bargaining commodity, then it would limit the number and type of gifts and powers available. As in, I presume that a shaman couldn't have gifts from both a sun/light entity as well as a darkness entity, or any other diametrically opposed grouping... (personally, I had thought that the Greater Entities contacted were about a step below that of god - or at least, not the major gods). Does that mean that Golden Bow shamans do directly get gifts from Yelm? And not just subordinates of Yelm (or other fire/sky spirits)? ETA: does that actually mean that getting a gift from, say, KL, means the shaman is actually initiated into the cult of KL? Etc etc...???

True, marble is a nice stone to work with for getting that smoothness. But notwithstanding that, as @svensson mentioned, there's some amazing sculpture in Asia that easily rivals the Greco-Roman shown in the video. And for the purposes of this thread, really should be seen to be believed (and accepted, and admired!) Unfortunately not 😞 Just the marble...