Squaredeal Sten

Go for it. My own opinion is that rubber is one of the inexplicable goods thst Mostali trade for, which seems almost useless to humans.

Are you thinking of this as a player or as a GM?

Made Copper Best Seller.

If a pie cookbook is to be made, I have a couple of recipes for it.

I am for it. In my game many of these including Chiles are imports from Pamaltela through Nochet. I agree with you. Others must come from the East Islands. And I'd say ginger from Teshnos. unless you have a different reference. Spices and silk are some of the " royal goods" which make very long distance trade profitable. (IMG spider silk comes from the Uz, but real caterpillar silk is from Kralorela.)

Do you mean PoWvs. POW rolls? It is my impression that the active party does the rolling. And as far as I know he who rolls augments the roll. That is different from opposed rolls where both parties roll.

The things that g33k says you can ignore are part of the charm of playing in Glorabtha. You discover them little by ittle as you explore this world.

Of course. Ir's a group product. See attached PDF. Advice for newbie Asst shamans.pdf

The classic intros (for Prax) are Cultrs of Prax (read Biturian's story, not just the cults) and the Chaosium Classics adventure modules Borderlands and Pavis & Big Rubble. Those are how most players originally got into Prax.

I don't know how many others are taking notes on this thread, but I am and I'm saving a digest to give to players who want to run an assistant shaman.

Since the RW Librzry of Alexandria was in a seaport, humidity must not be a deal breaker for scrolls. If you want to mimic an air conditioner could you have your Air Elemental alternately compress itself into a bottle (radiating heat) and then release itself Into a box thus cooling itself and condensing the water? You periodically drain the box it is in and vent the cooled Elemental to a room? Problem is, that is invoking RW physics in Glorantha so I'm not sure that would work. You would have to make up a mythical explanation.

I was thinking that a desire to make the shaman who trained you (to whom you have Loyalty) proud, might be such an augment. Same for love of family in the case of a Daka Fal initiate.

In your opinion can the new shaman Augment, say with a Loyalty or a Love passion, to affect these events?

That reminds me: Recently someone playing an assistant shaman expressed the preference for taking the Ordeal for full shaman as early as possible. That struck me as a strategy likely to produce future frustration, because (1) low skills will both increase the chance of starting with a low POW, low CHA fetch and also (2) lower chances of getting extra shamanic abilities and higher chance of getting more taboos from the ordeal vs. The Bad Man. I know it's a trade off, more immediate gratification vs. a longer term future. And that is an individual preference. But what would your advice be to the player running an assistant shaman?

It seems to me that the seasonal occupational and cult skill improvement chances will be important for building to full shaman, since many adventures won't have opportunities to build such skills as spirit speech or spirit travel or spirit dance. And a caution about using these in a purposeful manner is appropriate advice for a new player who opts for the assistant shaman. With a reminder that the goal is not just buffing yourself for the next adventure, (with its temptation to get distracted building non shamanic skills) but also preparing to do well in the ordeal vs. The Bad Man , and to improve your chance of starting with a good fetch.

So if someone competent (not me!😄) were to volunteer (out of pure fandom and without expectation of significant profit, or with a profit-sharing deal) to scan the old copies and set them up for re-publication as PDFs, would you be likely to authorize that? Subject to approval of the final version based on quality, of course. Who knows, you might have a volunteer out there. 😀 Or if you don't then that might quiet the recurring questions, since silence indicates agreement that the action would be a money loser..

We evidently have different interpretations of the control (entity) spell. Control spirit is one of those variations, in my interpretation. The heavier combat orientation doesn't help the assistant shaman's professional development. It's a matter of taste; my own preference is for heavier anti-spirit capability, better positioning for the next POW gain and the next spirit spell gain, and lighter on combat vs. bodies. Befuddle would be a spell I'd pick up with experience or passage of time: my goal would be to survive the first adventure, then use Summon Ancestor plus Summon Spirit Teacher and get my next spell.. Which might be Befuddle. Discorporate at this stage would be used locally, for instance to question the spirit of someone newly dead in the seven days it stays around the corpse. There seem to be many adventures in which that would be useful. As for solo spirit travel, after building spirit combat skill and Spirit Dance skill beyond the beginner level, it will be time to fly solo for some distance. You've got to get a handle on the spirit world some time.

So you would drop the spirit binding and take Heal 2? If you take Demoralize, what other spirit magic do you not take? Remember developing as a shaman implies spirit combat oriented magic. Summon Spirit Teacher,,, so instead of Free Ghost, take Summon Ancestor?

Actually the Bestiary description of making a vampire does not include a burial. Vivamort ritual, then " lie in state", then arise as a vampire.

Let's list the most desirable spells for a full shaman's normal spirit work, and the desirable sklls too, with an eye toward the Test- Then list the most desirable spells for a new assustant shaman, with the limits "new" imposes plus the desire to be effective in a fight. And I realize cult makes these limits vary, so let's say Daka Fal. (Though I think Waha is actually an attractive choice.) I think we will all see that the player creating a new assistant shaman has to make some hard choices. And what are your opinions about the optimum choices? Key for a full shaman: Rune spells: Axis Mundi, Free Ghost, Incarnate ancestor, Resurrect, Spirit guardian, Spirit melding, summon ancestor, Summon specific ancestor, Summon spirit teacher, Binding Enchantment, Matrix Creation, Spirit Armor Enchantment.. Doesn't need discorporation because he has it ex officio, Spirit spells; Binding enchantment (1pt), control spirit (1pt), Detect spirit(1pt), Distraction(1pt), Dispel magic(V), Glamour(2pt), Heal (V),magic point enchantment (1), second sight (3pts), spell matrix enchantment (1), Spirit binding(1), Spirit screen (v), Summon (spirit? ancestor?) (v), visibility(1): [and that doesn't include combat spells like Befuddle] Skills needed for the Test: Spirit combat. Additional skills needed for work: Speak spiritspeech, Spirit Dance, spirit lore, spirit travel My own opinions about what's best for the new assistant who is adventuring away from his shaman master: 3 Rune spells: Discorporation, Summon Spirit Teacher, Free Ghost. Spirit spells: Begins with Second sight ( a free 3 pt spell for Assistants !) plus 2 points, plus the usual 5 points= 7 other points of spirit magic: IMHO that 7 points would be good as Disruption(1), Healiing (1), Control spirit (1) Detect spirit(1), , Spirit screen(2), Spirit binding(1). Commentary: Summon spirit teacher is because I assume he's going to be away from his shaman. Disruption and healing are for power gain and adventuring. The new assistant shaman should attempt to buy or trade an item enchanted with binding enchantment, but IMHO cannot afford to take that magic at start instead of Disruption or Healing. He can plan to be taught other needed and enhanced spirit magic. And i haven't even started to estimate the sequence of the path forward. Your thoughts?

A question about vampires in RuneQuest in Glorantha: See the Bestiary pages 105-106; and for good measure the Dancers in Darkness section, page97: In your opinion, If a vampire turns into smoke, whether or not as a result of taking damage, what happens to its physical possessions such as jewelry, a sword, etc? Are these left behind, or do they turn to smoke along with the vampire's body? How about clothing - is it just part of the vampire's appearance, to reappear if it condenses from the smoke? Or does it fall to the ground?

I will want it, not because I am under sone illusion that it will have all new content for, say, Orlanth, But because It will have the adaptations and updates from RQ2 to RQiG; It will have many minor cults that were not in the original material; And it will all be in one place, not in fanzines that are out of print.

In another thread I recently posted my own similar observatins of this' Basically that players struggle with an assustant shaman. A full shaman will probably have bound spirits and access to all spirit magic, plus formidable POW (his own plus his fetch's) which would make him good to stand back and be a combat spellcaster, and maybe put his controlled spirits into spirit combat. They might even possess an enemy! Plus when the party runs into ghosts etc. he actually turns them into assets. None of this requires an hour long discorporation. He is at least equivalent to a rune lord. But the assistant shaman just starts with a very little more magic than his fellow starting characters. And the starting player doesn't know which spells are optimum choices, nor really know the magic system, so the GM has to tell him "no that spelll doesn't do what you want.". No fetch. No previous combat job experience and less armor, so the character is as you describe.. The GM can help a little by presenting adventures in which the assistant shaman can be useful and develop, a spirit combat rather than just a sword fight. IMHO asst. shaman is not a recommended choice for a first time Runequester. BUT an experienced player can make it work if he has thought about the issues. Some guidance or experience would help. Maybe an on line tutorial? An assistant shaman soloquest? I believe there are optimum starting spell choices and an optimum path of spell and skill acquisition, but even if I had that written out, just handing that list to the new player might take away the character development fun.

I completely agree about Backford. Also in general about trade over tbe Mirrors each/ Choralinthor Bay. A unified Holy Country with efficient water transportation in its center could easily become a common market with all the prosperity that implies. And the Holy Country fragmenting because of Belintar's death plus Lunar invasion, implies an economic recession. Throw in piracy and you get hard times. Nevertheless the trade patterns should persist despite variations in volume.

I would go with your thought of giant planks. If not one per deck then just a few. Make it look as though Gonn Orta had whittled it with his pocket knife.