Magic in RQG

[kaydet]

I think that a chapter on practical use of magic in the game would be very helpful both to players and to GMs.

I don't mean so much the use of individual spells; those are pretty obvious, and the cult write-ups provide an excellent framework for allocating spells. But when you start to incorporate all the systems of magic, companion spirits, enchantments of permanent or lengthy duration, and the acquisition/increase of magical power and ability over the long term, it seems as if the possibilities become complex and varied enough that I think it might be worth an in-depth discussion in the GM Book. Some questions that might be worth answering:

How/when will a community donate magical power to a hero?

What kind of enchantments will a hero bear? Will he store magical energy within himself or within items? Why?

What kind and how many spirit guardians will accompany a hero? How will he utilize them to defend himself?

I know that many or all of these questions can rightly be answered with "it depends", but for the novice GM new to Glorantha, I think providing a decent guide would be very helpful. Players have the advantage of learning how to use magic by experience as they gain experience with their characters, but GMs need to be able to replicate more tactically and magically advanced NPCs from the get-go.

[David Scott]

I totally agree. Previously RuneMasters for RQ2 filled this niche. I think Rune Levels at beginner, established, advanced and Hero could be covered within cult writeups, but given a basic primary skill range. I'd want to avoid slavish npc generation and just give ranges. I always liked the treasure factor system and feel it could be adapted to kit out npcs. This could always be supplemented with a previous experience system.

as for community power donations - that's for role play and something similar to convincing the examiners. For something within the purview of the cult, always for a rune level, less for an initiate, never for lay. The depends, should be replaced by yes but... 

[styopa]

It would actually be a fairly interesting, and useful adjunct to the rules to have a place here where DMs and/or players could upload in some sort of standard format (I'm rather confident that once the game comes out, if Chaosium doesn't immediately release fillable PDF charsheets, someone will) their NPC or PC characters of all levels of power as examples to new players (I'd use interesting ones myself as nicely fleshed-out NPCs personally, although likely the names would be changed to protect this innocent).

[kaydet]

3 hours ago, David Scott said:

I'd want to avoid slavish npc generation and just give ranges.

Yeah, definitely. I don't think there's any need to go into extreme detail -- particularly regarding skills and characteristics. But I do think that some notes about what we might call the "meta-magic" could be useful.

@styopa I'd be pretty surprised if there's not a fairly significant spread of NPCs in the GM's book, but I think it would be great for Chaosium to add a sub-forum to discuss PC/NPC creation. I've never used it, but I believe this site has a fairly robust system for uploading files into a personal library that can then be shared freely.