New Rune Spell

[Manu]

It should be in the book... But I looked many times and got lost..

How much should an initiate give to get a new rune spell?

And can they get it anytime? Or only during holy days?

[Kloster]

No money. An initiate gets a new rune spell each time he spends a POW point to get a new Rune point. I haven't seen anything that restricts that, except you need a temple.

[Jeff]

11 minutes ago, Kloster said:

No money. An initiate gets a new rune spell each time he spends a POW point to get a new Rune point. I haven't seen anything that restricts that, except you need a temple.

Generally the cult wants you to have performed some useful deed for the temple before it teaches you a new spell. Or donate 5 cows (100L).

[Marc]

Interesting Jeff.  But the rules state( pp. 313-314 ) :

An adventurer gains access to cult special or associated cult
Rune spells at the same time they sacrifice POW for Rune
points. For each point of POW sacrificed, the adventurer
acquires the right to cast an additional cult special Rune
magic spell.

So, I'm somewhat confused.  I can see the rationale for the donation, but, unless there's something else somewhere else in the book, I don't see that the rules require it. Am I missing something?

[Kloster]

I've just checked before answering, but saw nothing. Marc answer is what I found. I can understand Jeff's answer, or at least the rationale behind, but it is not in the rules.

Apart to that, I think the rules as written are right: the spell is not provided by the cult, but by the god in exchange of your POW. In the case of a spirit magic spell, the cult is doing the teaching, and it is right to request something in exchange, be it silver or cows, but in the case of rune magic, the god is providing the spell, not the cult.

[Jeff]

18 minutes ago, Marc said:

Interesting Jeff.  But the rules state( pp. 313-314 ) :

An adventurer gains access to cult special or associated cult
Rune spells at the same time they sacrifice POW for Rune
points. For each point of POW sacrificed, the adventurer
acquires the right to cast an additional cult special Rune
magic spell.

So, I'm somewhat confused.  I can see the rationale for the donation, but, unless there's something else somewhere else in the book, I don't see that the rules require it. Am I missing something?

It is the cults book.

[PhilHibbs]

I think it very much depends on the cult, the culture, and the adventurer. There's no one rule for all Gloranthan rune cults.

[Manu]

6 minutes ago, PhilHibbs said:

I think it very much depends on the cult, the culture, and the adventurer. There's no one rule for all Gloranthan rune cults.

But at least we have a general value of the spell teaching.

Thanks for the info

[g33k]

3 hours ago, Jeff said:

It is the cults book.

This is a revision you're making to the RQG core rulebook?   I had understood Rune magic was a direct  God:Worshipper  thing, not "learned" or "taught" mortal-to-mortal.

Spirit Magic is taught by mortals (or spirits, of course), and often on a paid or done-for-favors basis.

[PhilHibbs]

1 hour ago, g33k said:

This is a revision you're making to the RQG core rulebook?   I had understood Rune magic was a direct  God:Worshipper  thing, not "learned" or "taught" mortal-to-mortal.

I don't think anything is changing. You "learn" a spell by taking part in a worship ceremony and sacrificing a point of POW, that's the simple version. The way I imagine it is, the worship ceremony has a variety of participatory roles, some of which can result in the opportunity to learn a spell. Different ceremonies will involve different opportunities. The priest might say "Next Windsday we will be performing the Arming of Orlanth", and some of the participants will have the chance to learn Shield or Lightning. Another time he will say "We will fly to Kero Fin", and you can learn Flight. In practice I would not generally impose restrictions on who can learn what, this is all just background flavour. But it could be used as a constraint, with favours to the cult, some of which might involve monetary or bovine donations, resulting in the opportunity to learn spells. And rather than spell access being restricted to those participating in certain roles, I would flip it around and say the role goes to the person who wants to learn the spell.

Edited August 31, 2019 by PhilHibbs

[jajagappa]

2 hours ago, g33k said:

I had understood Rune magic was a direct  God:Worshipper  thing, not "learned" or "taught" mortal-to-mortal.

Yes, correct, but what god likes a stingy mortal who doesn't offer them sacrifices and offerings??? Of course your energy (POW) is important to them and helps keep that channel open between you and the deity, but the deities are "hungry", so-to-speak. That's why such things as votive offerings increase your chance of success, etc.

(Of course, you can play it very mechanistically - sacrifice POW, get Rune points/spell knowledge - but there's obviously more to the story including the priests teaching you how to effectively invoke the power of the god/understand the story behind it and truly cast the Rune spell.)

[Joerg]

There is also the priest's productivity to the temple to be taken into account. The temple has economic needs as well in order to be able to serve the community, and spell teaching provides some of the necessary wealth to perform the right rituals. Plenty of the sacrifices don't just demand a bullock, but specify the color of the sacrificial animals. That's some extra effort the breeders have to put in, increasing the economic value of these sacrificial beasts to match their increased magical value.

[Brootse]

20 hours ago, Manu said:

It should be in the book... But I looked many times and got lost..

How much should an initiate give to get a new rune spell?

And can they get it anytime? Or only during holy days?

Page 275 in the rules book:

At the gamemaster’s discretion, an initiate can gain access
to the cult’s special Rune spells in return for exceptional
service to the cult, by donating the equivalent of 100 L per
point of the spell, or for other reasons that further the cult’s
goals and standing.

The rules don't specify how long it takes to sacrifice the needed POW to the worshipper's god, only that it must be done in a large enough temple. And they also don't specify when you can sacrifice the POW.

In the earlier edition the sacrificing could be done whenever, and it took a week per point, but the latter part doesn't seem to be the rule anymore.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Brootse

[Manu]

Thanks a lot. I'll put that in my notes

[PhilHibbs]

On 9/1/2019 at 12:30 AM, PhilHibbs said:

The priest might say "Next Windsday we will be performing the Arming of Orlanth", and some of the participants will have the chance to learn Shield or Lightning. Another time he will say "We will fly to Kero Fin", and you can learn Flight.

Of course another way it might go is this. The priest says "Some of our people have asked for the opportunity to learn more of the mysteries of Orlanth. Since Vasana was so brave in her defence of Apple Lane against the Tusk Riders, I have granted her request to learn the secrets of flight, and so we will all fly to Kero Fin next Windsday. Anyone wishing to learn how to fly come and see me, and I will instruct you on how to perform the ritual correctly. There will also be the opportunity to whisper over great distances and to control the direction in which the wind blows."