Proteus / Meld Form Rune Spell Questions

[Rodney Dangerduck]

 1) If a PC turns into an animal, then back to their original form, what happens to their clothing and equipment?  Some spells, like Guided Teleport and Bears Skin are more specific, but this one (and Teleport) aren't.

2) If you captured, say, Vasana, and Meld Form with her, would your spell form always look just like her (as for a T1000 terminator), or is your form more generic, like "red haired warrior woman".

Edited September 15, 2023 by Rodney Dangerduck

[Scotty]

6 hours ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

 1) If a PC turns into an animal, then back to their original form, what happens to their clothing and equipment?  Some spells, like Guided Teleport and Bears Skin are more specific, but this one (and Teleport) aren't.

As these spells about changing form, you can decide what happens to their clothing and equipment. In my games i'd say it ends up in a pile under them.

Treat Teleportation as Guided Teleportation.

6 hours ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

2) If you captured, say, Vasana, and Meld Form with her, would your spell form always look just like her

Yes:

The user’s INT, CHA, and POW do not change, but all other characteristics become identical to those of the creature used in the Meld Form ritual.

6 hours ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

(as for a T1000 terminator), or is your form more generic, like "red haired warrior woman".

No.

Note that as you will be killing Vasana, you will have to overcome her POW for the Ritual and spell to succeed, along with the other problems this will create.

(I will add this to the Q&A)

[Rodney Dangerduck]

3 hours ago, Scotty said:

you will have to overcome her POW for the Ritual and spell to succeed

I agree that this should be true.  This addition should be added to any clarifications.

Using the ritual on intelligent beings is morally challenged.

[French Desperate WindChild]

44 minutes ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

Using the ritual on intelligent beings is morally challenged.

a good question

Is it even a chaotic action ? I mean what is the difference with cannibalism (human on human at least) ?

[PhilHibbs]

On 9/15/2023 at 6:17 PM, French Desperate WindChild said:

a good question

Is it even a chaotic action ? I mean what is the difference with cannibalism (human on human at least) ?

Not sure that it is chaotic. They just die, and go to their regular death-place.

However: it's a cult special spell, and the Meld Form has to be done when the initiate sacrifices for the Proteus spell. Hard to imagine a Mastakos priest sanctioning that at a holy day ceremony.

The wording is something of a hold-over from when individual spells were gained rather than learned and cast with Rune Points. In RQG, you only learn the spell once, so you could interpret that as only ever learning one form. That is clearly not the intention. I'm not sure if this needs a Q&A clarification or not, but there is the possibility that someone might come away with the wrong idea.

Actually, I'd forgotten this but @Scotty's Q&A response to my first question implies that Meld Form can be traded (or stolen) and used on non-cult-members. The first line of the spell seems to rule this out.

Quote

This ritual must be undergone whenever a cultist sacrifices for the spell of Proteus.

That implies that it can only be done during a Mastakos worship ceremony, on a full member of the Mastakos cult.

I'd say that MGF dictates that it is possible. If you go to the effort of acquiring the spells, and let yourself in for the hassle of trying to regain/recharge the Proteus spell when you've used it, then a hard-nope from the GM is no fun. Also, if the GM wants a bad guy to have this, then that's cool as well. Killing a PC and impersonating them, that's less cool, but who am I to dictate what kind of fun people are allowed to have? I've certainly played a trickster who would have cheerfully done this if he could, although "Become (Rodney's Character)" is easier.

Also, add this to the list of ways to prevent someone from being resurrected.

Edited September 18, 2023 by PhilHibbs

[g33k]

On 9/18/2023 at 3:13 AM, PhilHibbs said:

... Killing a PC and impersonating them, that's less cool, but who am I to dictate what kind of fun people are allowed to have? I've certainly played a trickster who would have cheerfully done this if he could, although "Become (Rodney's Character)" is easier...

I can see this as an option for the GM to lay on the table if/when a player says, "I'm thinking of retiring this character..."

[Luca Cherstich]

Sorry if I resurrect an old thread, but it made sense to keep this doubt of mine in the same discussion.

My doubt regards the relationship between Meld Form and Proteus spells.

Once I performed "Meld Form" to obtain a shape, how many times can I use that specific shape with Proteus spell?

Once or many times?

Is each use of "Meld Form" connected to a single use of "Proteus"?

Or can I collect many shapes through "meld form" and use them all in different times, maybe even multiple times?

Sorry, I'm not very expert in RQG things, and my confusion derives from the fact that "Meld Form" is an enchantment (so I supposed it was kind of permenent thing) and the first line in its description is very confusing.

"This ritual must be undergone whenever a cultist sacrifices for the spell of Proteus"..... the reference to "sacrifices" does not make sense to me.

Thank you in advance!

[Scotty]

1 hour ago, Luca Cherstich said:

Sorry if I resurrect an old thread, but it made sense to keep this doubt of mine in the same discussion.

Answered in the Q&A:

 

[Luca Cherstich]

Thank you, indeed!

[Luca Cherstich]

2 hours ago, Scotty said:

Sacrifice means pay POW to learn the spell. So 1 POW to learn Proteus and one for Meld form.

You may find it helpful to re-read the example. Note that if Loronaga casts only one point of Proteus, she must choose which form to change into, two points - she can switch twice in the 15 minutes.

Given this text...."This ritual must be undergone whenever a cultist sacrifices for the spell of Proteus".

If "sacrifice" means "pay POW to learn a spell", does it mean that Proteus should be learned again (each time paying 1 POW) for each form acquired through Meld Form?

 

 

Edited May 27 by Luca Cherstich

[General Confusion]

On 5/27/2024 at 4:26 AM, Luca Cherstich said:

Given this text...."This ritual must be undergone whenever a cultist sacrifices for the spell of Proteus".

If "sacrifice" means "pay POW to learn a spell", does it mean that Proteus should be learned again (each time paying 1 POW) for each form acquired through Meld Form?

 

 

Yes, each new shape costs you 1 POW and requires a use of the Meld Form ritual. It's not 'just' a tax though, as each time you do it you will also gain +1 Rune Point with Mastakos.

[Scotty]

On 5/27/2024 at 12:26 PM, Luca Cherstich said:

Given this text...."This ritual must be undergone whenever a cultist sacrifices for the spell of Proteus".

If "sacrifice" means "pay POW to learn a spell", does it mean that Proteus should be learned again (each time paying 1 POW) for each form acquired through Meld Form?

No. Meld form needs to be learned once. A different ritual needs to be performed each time to learn the form. You don't need to spend anymore POW. 

I've updated the q&a: