Dragon

Voted.

On 11/5/2023 at 11:40 AM, soltakss said:

A HeroQuest to be able to talk a Trickster into doing something would be useful.

Or a Heroquest to be able to talk a Trickster into doing something useful for a change. LOL.

On 10/13/2023 at 1:27 PM, Steve said:

p.9, Lunar Time, 4th para, last sentence, "goddess' lifetime" -> "goddess's lifetime".

Darn, I was thinking "...goddess'..." was correct. I checked grammargoddess.com (pun not intended) which stated it is correct in modern usage. At least it does not need to be changed.

Great work on the rest.

p.10 last sentence in 1st column. "The deities are more influenced to receive worship on Godsday." This sentence sounds confusing to me. Are deities receiving influence from some entity to receive worship on Godsday? Are deities providing influence to get more worshippers to worship on Godsday? Are deities happier with worship on Godsday and provide more in return to their worshippers on Godsday? Should it be "The deities are more influenced by worship received on Godsday"? 

8 hours ago, Nozbat said:

Thanks everyone for the input.. interesting discussion.

I like the idea of Awakening an Animal being a rare Ritual Enchantment with costs in permanent sacrifice of POW per point of SIZ. Maybe even very rare or else there would be much more awakened animals around. Farmers would want wakened oxen, cavalry would want wakened mounts, etc. .. although the POW sacrifice might be astronomical for either of those beasts given their SIZ.

Integrated Spirits are out then being a HQ era concept.. will have to consider other ways to make it work. 

Farmers and Cavalry would run afoul of the 'Most larger creatures cannot leave their temple complexes or sacred places, or their intelligence begins to fade away.' (W&E page 44) After putting in over 25 POW, it would be a real shame to have your horse go back to normal because you took it to the next town, or took the oxen to plow your field. 🙂

Very useful reference. The artwork is great.

7 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

He's not supposed to be an actual vampire - just a powerful sorcerer who is 'immortal', and a Vivamort hero (-priest).

"Delecti the Necromancer: Delecti was a powerful sorcerer of the Empire of the Wyrms Friends who broke the barriers between life and death. By his arts, Delecti has achieved a gruesome sort of immortality: he can transfer his spirit into a freshly slain corpse and live through it until the rotting flesh can no longer sustain him, at which time he seeks out another corpse." (GtG p 170)

However, just to complicate things: " he “lives” there still, an immortal and powerful vampire." is on p. 190...

Yep. The canon is semi-contradictory. Hence why I said he should remain a mysterious figure who doesn't fit into any particular category.

Lots of other 'powerful sorcerer's are immortal and follow Vivamort (but aren't heroes) and are specifically allowed by the old Vivamort cult rules - as vampires. Delecti isn't exactly. He is special and defies categorization.

But, I apologize for sending us down this rabbit hole of violent agreement re Delecti. 🙂

1 hour ago, Akhôrahil said:

Does it keep its improved HP from being en enchanted iron weapon?

In my mind, yes. The spell states "This replaces the normal damage done by the weapon." It does not state it replaces the HP of the weapon. Would we allow the players to cast Fireblade on a bronze sword with one remaining HP and say it now has 12 HP for the duration? Of course not.

44 minutes ago, Crel said:

Jajagappa's advice is really good. Also want to note that I love your players' creativity, this sounds hilarious and you damn well better tell us how it plays out!

If you want an additional complication, I'd suggest that eating hazia won't do anything (or won't do much), because the drug is usually inhaled (by smoking), not ingested. That doesn't mean it won't work! It just means they need to find some way to drug Redeye with the smoke. I can see the Increase/Decrease Wind spell, the Wind Warp spell (keeping the smoke all in one place), or Summon Air Elemental being useful here. Build a big fire, chuck a bunch of hazia in, and blow the wind the right way.

Of course, smoke increases the likelihood that other entities are gonna get drugged (including the players)...

Everyone must get stoned. Bid free for all on the Spirit Plane!

Yeah, Redeye doesn't have the digestion of a troll - who are stated as eating it for the effect.

The fun part may be that Redeye eats all this Hazia. That sounds like the Potency gets really high, e.g. up to 40d10 'the POT effect is cumulative' (bestiary p 199). That should have a pretty good chance to overcome Redeye's CON. Hence, Redeye becomes addicted. And wants more, lots more. So Redeye goes on a rampage towards wherever. And boars have a legendary ability to sniff out plants. So the local Hazia black market(s) get attacked. "Hey, adventurers you caused this problem!"

I like it.

8 hours ago, metcalph said:

RQ3 was written to be non-gloranthan, therefore arguing from its rules in many cases will lead you astray.  We never got an RQ3 Vivamort cult and so really have no clear idea how it would have worked.  In any case, Vampires are chaotic because they have no souls rather than what they do.  There are suggestions of non-Vivamort vampires but again there's been no clear idea of how they work.

 

Good points. I believe the suggestion of a non-Vivamort vampire is personified in Delecti. He is a different topic by himself. And IMHO should remain a mysterious figure that doesn't fit into any particular category. So I definitely agree "there's been no clear idea of how they work".

I would be interested to see any magics that let them take over the brain functions of insects. Sorry Gorakiki.

I can think of real world examples where animals 'parry'. Take a cat vs dog. The dog's bite is getting close, and the cat pops it on the head with its paw. Parry! That isn't going to work well against an axe or sword though. Maybe a spear.

Or consider horned/antlered animals in mating displays. That bighorn sheep ram is going to be in a world of hurt if it doesn't parry that other ram's horns with its own. Same with elk. If you watch enough nature videos, you will see horns/antlers used against predators too.

A triceratops is going to put its horns in the way of every incoming attack if it can. And of course the Bestiary specifically says Unicorns can parry - quite well.

That should give some idea of when it is appropriate for beasts to parry rather than dodge. But mostly, dodge.

2 hours ago, Scotty said:

It's the passion that your player take that defines their group, at the lowest amongst them. Everyone could take Loyalty (Cool skirmish band name) or use their Loyalty (clan) etc. It defines the cohesiveness of the group. If the group isn't cohesive enough, they can't do daring things. My players all had Loyalty (Thane of Apple Lane) as that's who they all work for at 60%, so their Guiding Passion was 60%. By the end of the battle, it was at 85%

Oh, that makes a bunch of sense for minimum guiding passion. So glad I read that. And I see your roll for Intensity ended with 90 Intensity. But 'Guiding Passion Loss' I don't get. Meaning they all start at 60 in Round 1, and it looks like they engage the Silver Shields. Which should have a Passion Loss of (1d6+2)x5, 15 to 40 points. Yet the result is +5, not a loss of the guiding passion. I am confused by that, maybe because I never read the Pendragon rules.

3 minutes ago, SDLeary said:

Imagine that it creates a link that is constant. Once "attuned" not only does it accept MP stored in it... but it siphons one more point each period of time (hour, day, week) depending upon the severity of the flaw; regardless of its overall "capacity". This continues to build to, say, 2x or 3x capacity; then when the player tries to use it, it pops! Releasing all its MP at once, causing some additional issues.  😈

Creative flawed crystals! Anything the GM can imagine.

In my view they might give an obvious or unobtrusive Chaos Feature. They could just drain 1d4 POW and then give the attuned one of the other powers (e.g. +1 magical defense). Not all of them give a Chaos Feature. The effects are so random.

And therefore, they would not necessarily give a percentage in the Chaos Rune. But IMHO any that give a Chaos Feature (obvious or obscure) are almost definitely going to give a percentage in Chaos Rune. As always, YGMV. So if you want a character to get +1d6 STR as a Chaos Feature, only appear more 'ripped', and no points in Chaos Rune, go for it. If you want the character to never be able to attune another crystal because they remain attuned to this useless one forever, and also want to give the character 60 Chaos Rune, go for that too. Whatever allows Maximum Game Fun.

11 minutes ago, metcalph said:

Seriously?  I was offering my opinion (the posts starts "I think...") and did not say 100%.  This isn't the place for hostile nitpicks as the following post makes clear:

I apologize if you thought I was nitpicking your Glorantha. I stated multiple times that your Glorantha may vary (in various forms).

2 hours ago, dumuzid said:

In many places once ruled by the First Council, but especially in Esrolia, some humans even have trollish ancestry and could claim those frightful KL shaman-priestess-sorceresses as their ancestresses!

One of the interesting points that I recall from Trollpak was that many Uzuz had a much more limited set of 'ancestors' and that meant that when they summoned a random ancestor, they were likely to get extremely powerful ones. Because they were over 1600 years old and only a few generations from KL, ZZ, XU, and others. Note: I did not check my old physical books to find that reference. I can if someone requires.

Which, if it is still canon, would imply that  'ancestors' are really those from whom the shaman was descended and not the entire set of Uz ghosts.

Which would mean a certain DF shaman in a published Chaosium scenario who summons someone much younger than he, and recently dead, did not use Summon Specific Ancestor, but instead e.g. a spirit magic version of Summon Ghost. My group is going through that adventure right now.

17 hours ago, metcalph said:

Can, not will.  

Got you. You stated your world's reasoning that 100% of sorcerers could not be summoned. I pointed out the 100% prohibition contradicted Well of Daliath. Then you agreed that it was somewhat possible by stating 'can, not will'. 

Then you state a new reason why your Glorantha varies:

17 hours ago, metcalph said:

IMO the Shaman blame Zzabur for not being able to summon Zzaburi Ancestors.  Nothing to do with Malkion at all

Got it. In your Glorantha, you will not allow shaman to summon sorcerers using Summon Specific Ancestor, ever. You have defended your particular Glorantha quite well. I was merely pointing out to others who read this thread that there are reasonably canon reasons that it is possible. In my Glorantha, some shamans may well be able to summon one, but not without using Summon Specific Ancestor combined with a name.

8 hours ago, metcalph said:

I think those who master sorcery have an intense sense of individuality that prevents them from entering Solace and being re-incarnated.  (Yes, there's a huge tension here within Malkionism).  Others who have learned some find themselves confined to the Citadel of Thought until their knowledge decays and they are finally able to be free to await reincarnation.  That is why Malkioni ancestors that can be contacted have no sorcery or Rightness.

But The Well of Daliath states under Malkion: "The essence of his teaching is that the universe is not soulless for those who practice sorcery, and that they can enter the realm of Solace after death." So that sense of individuality does not prevent them from entering Solace in Malkionism.

Random ancestors would be wildly unlikely to have been Zzaburi. But Malkion's statement wouldn't explain why Malkioni Zzaburi ancestors contacted by Summon Specific Ancestor would not have sorcery if the shaman knew one's name. Unless of course in your Glorantha, Malkion was lying about Solace. That said, the shaman should be completely unable to learn a sorcery spell from said ancestor. Because of the shaman's nature, not whether that Zzaburi achieved Solace. Whether another person near the shaman could learn from said ancestor is up to your Glorantha.

Also from KODP: Making the Storm Tribe or was it called Orlanth Makes a Ring

Ernalda Feeds the Tribe.

Lhankor Mhy Finds the Truth (which has a different path for Issaries and/or Storm Bull).

4 minutes ago, David Scott said:

I would also suggest that if you bind a spirit into matrix, that too is permanent as the spirit is part of the matrix. You don't benefit from it's magic points (although you may benefit from its effects).

That would contradict the following RQ:RiG page 366:

"Spirits may be bound into a magic crystal, or into a specially prepared object or animal as described in the Binding Enchantment section (page 249). The binder of a spirit
can use any spirit magic the spirit possesses and the magic points of the spirit to fuel spells."

You specifically DO benefit from it's magic points (and spells).

My suggestion is that there are different types of binding enchantments that are all covered by the enchantment spell. Note this is not canon. Just my suggestion.

One is the usual one where one person binds a spirit into a matrix (this also works with unpowered crystals). That type of binding releases on the death of the binder. One person got the benefit. One person loses that benefit when they die, because it was very personal.

Another is the enchantment where you enchant an area of a temple. The temple priest is the primary, but not only person who can direct the bound entities, which are going to be cult spirits in most cases. There is a very different negotiation with these spirits. This type of enchantment will continue indefinitely as one priest replaces another. And each priest could benefit from the bound spirit.

Third, an enchanter should be able to make another type of enchantment specifically to bind a spirit without any powers derived from that spirit. Just to trap a spirit so it cannot do whatever nuisance it was doing. Because there is no personal use of the spirit, the spirit is not freed from the binding upon death of the person who bound it. e.g. trap Krampus or a succubus. This allows the epic story of something bound long ago by the ancestors and someone broke the enchantment.

YGMV

We used something like: Limited to members of the Culbrea tribe who are any of these three; the original enchanters, the rightful current ruler of the Culbrea, or who have gained possession of the item in a matter consider fair trade by Issaries from someone who was a valid user of this item.

That way someone who stole it, looted it from our bodies, or otherwise was coercive (e.g. Dominate Humanoid, Intimidate) could not use it, but one of the original enchanters or the ruler of the Culbrea could restore it to usable condition and pass it on to other Culbrea tribe members.

2 hours ago, David Scott said:

Anyone within the previous restrictions. The restrictions can't be expanded. Although there's likely some sorcerous techniques that could "dismantle" enchantments.

Agreed

On 2/2/2023 at 8:00 AM, Akhôrahil said:

I don't think the rules actually support the outnumbered penalty in Spirit Combat, but I also think it makes sense as ruling that it applies.

That may be in my mind (and my game) because an answer I heard on this overall forum mentioned it.

On 2/2/2023 at 8:03 AM, Akhôrahil said:

It's enough if they can attack it through spellcasting or (in the case of allied spirits in animate bodies) attack it using natural weapons that could damage a spirit (through whatever magic supports that, if they have access to it), though? The spirit has to be manifested to initiate spirit combat, after all. So an OA allied spirit could probably cast Lightning at the spirit (brutally effective when it works), if either it or the PC has that spell.

Indeed they could - though I was limiting my scope specifically to 'Spirit Combat' as in the skill. In addition to the weapon skills that I mentioned which are opposed rolls vs Spirit Combat, you could cast Disrupt, Lightning, or Fireblast. It is just that those use the normal spell overcoming rules instead.