Adventures for shaman

[goldenwheeldancer]

Hi. My Shaman player is frustrated that the Humakti is getting all the fun. Can you guys recommend any published scenarios, old or new, that will bring the shaman's role and abilities to the foreground? Thanks!

GWD

[Kloster]

Bring in spirits. Even 2 or 3 are sufficiently dangerous, and the shaman is THE spirit specialist.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Kloster
typing mistake

[David Scott]

Snakepipe Hollow:

https://www.chaosium.com/snake-pipe-hollow-pdf/

[David Scott]

4 hours ago, goldenwheeldancer said:

My Shaman player is frustrated that the Humakti is getting all the fun

As an aside, run non-conflict games of investigation, subterfuge, urban politics and skulduggery. Humakti then have to develop their other skills and the game moves away from a procedural combat focus to any other kind of game. I'm fortunate though, no one ever wants to be a humakti. Have a look at some of the adventures in Pavis GTA for HeroQuest (easily converted).

[goldenwheeldancer]

13 minutes ago, David Scott said:

Snakepipe Hollow:

https://www.chaosium.com/snake-pipe-hollow-pdf/

I can't remember the shaman relevant parts. Are there a load of disease spirits? I remember it being good for Stormbull worshippers to show their worth!

[Akhôrahil]

3 hours ago, Kloster said:

Bring in spirits. Even 2 or 3 are sufficiently dangerous, and the shaman is THE spirit specialist.

Unfortunately, this is part of the problem - the Humakti will shred spirits way faster than the shaman can. The shaman does add flexibility, though.

[Psullie]

My scenario from last years conventions, Remembering Caroman, benefits a lot from having a shaman - its available in the Cult of Chaos sub forum: link

 

[goldenwheeldancer]

41 minutes ago, Psullie said:

My scenario from last years conventions, Remembering Caroman, benefits a lot from having a shaman - its available in the Cult of Chaos sub forum: link

 

Thanks!

[Runeblogger]

Prepare an adventure where some NPCs with important information get possessed by evil spirits and the shaman needs to exorcize them.

Or there is a spirit with important information that the shaman needs to cajole, appease or control.

[French Desperate WindChild]

"shaman, you save humakti"

 

a large band of broos must be destroyed, a job for the humakti

organize the "hunt" with several fights. Enough to burn all the humakti rune pool / mp

and then they discover the big boss is a shaman of malia, with some spiritual friends

or just, one / all / a part of the humakti discovered some good weapons on broo's bodies. Do they remember they could be infected ?

====

"shaman, you lead humakti"

a village is cursed and hires your shaman to clean the situation. Of course only the shaman know what to do, where to go, when to fight, when to let live, when and what to sing etc. Of course she need warriors help before obtain the xxx needed to help the village.

Happy are the humakti to fight, less happy are the humakti players to let the shaman player decide anything

 

[Kloster]

23 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

Unfortunately, this is part of the problem - the Humakti will shred spirits way faster than the shaman can. The shaman does add flexibility, though.

Spirits can be negociated with. An Humakti can shred them, but can not do much except fighting them.

[Akhôrahil]

28 minutes ago, Kloster said:

Spirits can be negociated with. An Humakti can shred them, but can not do much except fighting them.

Yes, exactly. Humakti for spirit violence, but not much else regarding them.

[g33k]

Also, Humakti typically can only "shred" a spirit that they can bodily approach, that is in melee range of their sword.

All the typical anti-Humakti tactics apply... sometimes with unique spirit-twists.

Stand off and pepper with spells?  Yup.

Fly up out of reach?  Yup. 

Maneuver invisibly, then materialize & attack from behind, from straight overhead, from a corner that was empty (when the Humakti set his back against it)?  Yup, Yup, Yup!

Edited April 12, 2020 by g33k

[Gamesmeister]

How is the Humakti going to "shred" the spirit anyway? Using TrueSword? No problem, I'll pop back in 15 minutes when you're done.

[g33k]

1 hour ago, Gamesmeister said:

How is the Humakti going to "shred" the spirit anyway? Using TrueSword? No problem, I'll pop back in 15 minutes when you're done.

Humakti shred most everything they reach with their swords... Including spirits.  The enchanted iron swords (common to many Humakti) are fully effective against spirits.

Truesword and Sword Trance can be dire threats to a spirit.  

[dumuzid]

What about a Humakti with a mundane iron sword?  Can they 'shred' spirits with just their cult magic and a blade?

[Sir_Godspeed]

How common are iron swords anyway?

[Dissolv]

Literally any adventure that has desirable outcomes for dealing with spirits, or communities of people somehow bothered by spirits (or lack thereof) the shaman dominates over a Humakti.  Now if you need something dead, especially something that really ought to be in the underworld in the first place, that's his wheelhouse.   But the ability of a Humakti to deal with spirits extends only as far as his sword reach, and with really just one outcome. 

You *might* want the spirits of your bountiful garden slain and removed from the face of Glorantha, but more likely you want to have someone talk to them and find out why they are withholding their blessings.  

[g33k]

1 hour ago, dumuzid said:

What about a Humakti with a mundane iron sword?  Can they 'shred' spirits with just their cult magic and a blade?

The magic still has full effect; so, yes.

Sword Trance themselves up to around 200% attack/parry, Truesword for some damage, and it's just a minor delay for the unenchanted iron doing no weapon-damage?

 

But I'll keep saying it:  Humakti are melee-supreme, but they CAN be handled.  Arguably, they can be handled even BETTER by spirits.

 

[g33k]

1 hour ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

How common are iron swords anyway?

uhhh.....  "YGWV" ?  I think that's the "canonical" answer.

In my Glorantha -- it's anywhere/everywhere the Mostali want it.

It's pretty darned common as arms & armor amongst the Humakti Rune-Levels -- it's their Rune Metal, after all!

There's a few other cults who also know some or all of the secrets of Iron (I think the upcoming Cults book makes special note of this; I don't recall the list at the moment).  Any deity with the Death Rune probably has some access to it.

Add it all up.... and that's how common it is.

IMG -- YGWV, of course.

[Psullie]

Also Spirit Combat uses its own skill, a Humakti who drops 10 MPs into a Sword Trance may attack at 200% but defends with their regular Spirit Combat Skill at the end of each round and with 10 less MP's. A handful of spirts could make short work of a humakti with only 5-8 MPs remaining.

[Akhôrahil]

On 4/13/2020 at 8:18 PM, dumuzid said:

What about a Humakti with a mundane iron sword?  Can they 'shred' spirits with just their cult magic and a blade?

Oh, easily. Sword Trance + Truesword.

Honestly, just high weapon skill and a big Bladesharp goes a long way. 

[Akhôrahil]

On 4/13/2020 at 11:01 PM, g33k said:

uhhh.....  "YGWV" ?  I think that's the "canonical" answer.

The "canonical" answer - or the closest thing to it - would be to see how much they show up in printed material, and in what contexts. This is how we know that average Orlanthi have 3 Rune Points and that magic Point crystals are pretty common.

[Darius West]

On 4/16/2020 at 12:49 AM, Akhôrahil said:

Oh, easily. Sword Trance + Truesword.  Honestly, just high weapon skill and a big Bladesharp goes a long way. 

I don't think that either sword trance or truesword can actually hit a disembodied spirit in a fight for dominant possession as material swords don't affect ghosts.   Yes, they affect werewolves, but not ghosts. You actually have to use the Spirit Combat rules unless I am somehow every much mistaken.  RQG is not like HQ in that respect.  One of many reasons why I never liked HQ; one answer fits all.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Darius West

[Psullie]

P369 of RQG explicitly states that you can hit spirit with enchanted material weapons using the relevant skill. But the attack is not parried or dodged but an opposed roll v's the attacking spirits Spirit Combat (yes this is a contradiction of the bolded statement on P143). The spirit then fights back on SR12 with a Spirit Combat v's Spirit Combat opposed roll.