Common Rune Spells and Cults

[Malin]

So, I am back with yet another set of questions I don't think there is a clear answer to:

Is there a clear line when a god/cult becomes powerful enough to provide all common rune spells? Looking at it, I get the feeling that it might depend more on how developed/spread the cult is than the "power" of the god itself? The cults that don't get access to all seem to be rather... let's put it this way, "shifty" or "individualistic" (Gagarth, Lanbril, Yinkin, Donandar). Teelo Norri is different, since her powerlessness is part of her divine self. Lanbril was as close to a mortal as a godtime being could be, Donandar spends a lot of his time still messing around within time as a wandering minstrel if the tales are to be believed, Yinkin is pretty much Orlanth's henchman in most myths, and Gagarth... well, Gagarth doesn't give a #%@£ in the classic honey badger way.

Does anybody else have any thoughts on this? It's been on my mind for a while.

 

[mfbrandi]

6 hours ago, Malin said:

Is there a clear line when a god/cult becomes powerful enough to provide all common rune spells?

I really, really hope not. Let’s leave it anomalous. (Of course, others may feel differently, and that is OK.)

[jajagappa]

10 hours ago, Malin said:

Is there a clear line when a god/cult becomes powerful enough to provide all common rune spells?

No, there isn't.

Generally, I figure the gods included in the Cults book series will be the ones that have all common rune spells (except with exceptions as noted). For the most part you can understand these gods as those that are wielding the core Elemental or Power Runes in some combination (i.e. the various powers of nature or the world).

For any others, I'd generally figure they don't (unless they are variants or masks of one of the above).

[PhilHibbs]

Back in the development phase, Eurmal didn't get Extension. I persuaded Jeff that we could be trusted not to abuse it!

*Casts Group Laughter extended to a whole season*

[Rodney Dangerduck]

No.  Frankly, the distribution of Common Rune Spells is complete arbitrary nonsense.

Orgovale Summer, a cult no more than a handful of worshippers, provides all Common Rune Spells.

Donandar, a decent sized cult, with the Harmony Rune that, before time, "won the gratitude of the White Goddess", does not offer the common Heal Wound spell.

It's a joke.  Ignore the rules here.  And it is complicated to remember, especially if a PC is in multiple cults.

[PhilHibbs]

15 hours ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

No.  Frankly, the distribution of Common Rune Spells is complete arbitrary nonsense.

Orgovale Summer, a cult no more than a handful of worshippers, provides all Common Rune Spells.

I don't think the Orgovale Summer case is significant, it's one line in a scenario. We don't know who wrote it or whether that's considered a justifiable decision. But it is what it is. You could say it's because Orgovale Summer used to be a big deal. Maybe rune spell availability doesn't change when a cult dwindles.

Sure, it's a bit arbitrary, and some of it doesn't make sense. This is one of those rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty.

[mfbrandi]

On 7/8/2024 at 11:08 PM, Rodney Dangerduck said:

Frankly, the distribution of Common Rune Spells is complete arbitrary nonsense.

Is that really a bug? I see it as a feature. The imaginary world should be incomprehensible to both its inhabitants and the players. The things that seem important to people — in this case, available magic — are probably not the things one needs to understand to figure out how the world works. And even if one got under the skin of the world, there would be brute facts. Ask any Eurmali (or Alan Moore … or Arachne Solara): it is important to have a sense of the arbitrary unfairness of the world. 😉

If one could just tot up the POW sacrificed in a year and derive the deity’s annual spellbook and DI allowance, would that be a good thing?

Spoiler

PET THEORY: POW sacrifices are to show one is serious and submissive to the divine, not to feed the god.

And from a purely practical point of view, who would want to put in the work to impose order on decades of random accretions?

On the other hand, we all balk when our own darling cult looks weak or unloved. Ho hum.

[Rodney Dangerduck]

7 hours ago, mfbrandi said:

On 7/8/2024 at 3:08 PM, Rodney Dangerduck said:

Frankly, the distribution of Common Rune Spells is complete arbitrary nonsense.

Is that really a bug? I see it as a feature. The imaginary world should be incomprehensible to both its inhabitants and the players.

Interesting points.  I don't disagree.  However, if we follow your logic, 90% of this basicroleplaying message board is pointless.  Because it's all about players trying to comprehend Glorantha.  🙂

For the record, I'd prefer that Common Rune Magic be, well, common.  All cults have all common spells.  With a few rare exceptions.

[mfbrandi]

1 hour ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

Because it's all about players trying to comprehend Glorantha.

Or just making it up … in many and always provisional versions.

[Shiningbrow]

The way I view it is that the 'Common Rune Spells' is merely a list of powers that the god has learned to be able to protect their supplicants and to contact or manifest as the deity. If the cult doesn't provide it, it's because the god doesn't care, or hasn't learned how to do this yet.

 

Orgovale Summer knows how to do this, because she used to be worshipped. Blackfang doesn't because he doesn't care for those that are missing.

Most of the big gods have learned these "spells" because it helps the followers - give a touch of the god's power to bolster spiritual/magical protection, to impart a bit of healing for wounds, to contact the god and make a place holy, to summon and control their specific spirits. \

 

Eurmal may not have Extension because that's just thinking way too far into the future to consider 😛

[Whizbang]

12 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

Eurmal may not have Extension because that's just thinking way too far into the future to consider 😛

Maybe when he found out it didn't extend what he thought it extended, he lost interest.

[metcalph]

Eurmal's extensions only extend bad things and thus would need a special spell description.

[Rodney Dangerduck]

On 7/8/2024 at 12:58 PM, PhilHibbs said:

Back in the development phase, Eurmal didn't get Extension. I persuaded Jeff that we could be trusted not to abuse it!

*Casts Group Laughter extended to a whole season*

The problem here is not with Extension.