RQG PC's Preview - Spirit Magic

[Richard S.]

1 hour ago, styopa said:

I do hope there's a fair bit more clarity on the whole iconic 'tatooing spells' thing.  After all these years I never quite got it. 

Is that so it doesn't occupy INT but you have to use your MP?  Is it an enchantment with its own MP?  If it's skinned off someone, is it gone (or is it more mythically engraved on a person's being)?  Could someone else use the skin?  What if it's on an arm that's lopped off?  Do you have to be able to see it?  Could it be covered up and thus unusable if you wore a longsleeve turtleneck?  Could one be on your back?  In your mouth?  Sole of your foot?  Tattoos fade, do these eventually go away?  How big do they have to be?  Does the person casting the spell somehow give the tattooist the spell to implant?  Is there a limit to how many tattoos one can have or where they can be?  

Are you taking about spell foci? The only benefit they gave was that if you didn't have one on hand for the spell you were casting it took an extra 5 SR to cast.

[Yelm's Light]

5 hours ago, styopa said:

I do hope there's a fair bit more clarity on the whole iconic 'tatooing spells' thing.  After all these years I never quite got it. 

Is that so it doesn't occupy INT but you have to use your MP?  Is it an enchantment with its own MP?  If it's skinned off someone, is it gone (or is it more mythically engraved on a person's being)?  Could someone else use the skin?  What if it's on an arm that's lopped off?  Do you have to be able to see it?  Could it be covered up and thus unusable if you wore a longsleeve turtleneck?  Could one be on your back?  In your mouth?  Sole of your foot?  Tattoos fade, do these eventually go away?  How big do they have to be?  Does the person casting the spell somehow give the tattooist the spell to implant?  Is there a limit to how many tattoos one can have or where they can be?  

LOL I just had a vision of some character, blood in his eyes, frantically searching the ground for his missing arm, finding it, picking it up, and pointing his now-dead hand at his target and zapping him.

[Mugen]

9 hours ago, Yelm's Light said:

LOL I just had a vision of some character, blood in his eyes, frantically searching the ground for his missing arm, finding it, picking it up, and pointing his now-dead hand at his target and zapping him.

Sounds a lot like "Scar" in manga Full Metal Alchemist, whose magic comes from tattoos on his arms.

Arms that are originally his brother's arms, and were transplanted on him after he lost both arms and his brother died.

I would personally treat those tattoos as Spell matrix enchants.

EDIT : I have to say this thread reminds me how much I love POW and MP economy in RuneQuest 3. 🤗

Edited May 23, 2018 by Mugen

[Roko Joko]

I do hope there's a fair bit more clarity on the whole iconic 'tatooing spells' thing.  After all these years I never quite got it. 

If you're talking about spirit spell focuses that are tattoos, here are my answers for RQ3.  And for HQ I suppose.

Is that so it doesn't occupy INT but you have to use your MP?   It's so you don't lose the focus.  And what Richard S said, I guess.
Is it an enchantment with its own MP?  No, those exist but are different.
If it's skinned off someone, is it gone (or is it more mythically engraved on a person's being)?  Usually gone.
Could someone else use the skin?  Usually not.
What if it's on an arm that's lopped off?  Usually not.
Do you have to be able to see it?  No.
Could it be covered up and thus unusable if you wore a longsleeve turtleneck?  Yes covered, not unusable.
Could one be on your back?  In your mouth?  Sole of your foot?  Yeah, but maybe only on the outside, unless having it in your mouth is thematically appropriate for the magic.
Tattoos fade, do these eventually go away?  I suppose that might be possible, but you can just re-up the ink.
How big do they have to be?  One inch.
Does the person casting the spell somehow give the tattooist the spell to implant?  No.
Is there a limit to how many tattoos one can have or where they can be?  No.

[Richard S.]

7 minutes ago, Roko Joko said:

I do hope there's a fair bit more clarity on the whole iconic 'tatooing spells' thing.  After all these years I never quite got it. 

If you're talking about spirit spell focuses that are tattoos, here are my answers for RQ3.  And for HQ I suppose.

Is that so it doesn't occupy INT but you have to use your MP?   It's so you don't lose the focus.  And what Richard S said, I guess.
Is it an enchantment with its own MP?  No, those exist but are different.
If it's skinned off someone, is it gone (or is it more mythically engraved on a person's being)?  Usually gone.
Could someone else use the skin?  Usually not.
What if it's on an arm that's lopped off?  Usually not.
Do you have to be able to see it?  No.
Could it be covered up and thus unusable if you wore a longsleeve turtleneck?  Yes covered, not unusable.
Could one be on your back?  In your mouth?  Sole of your foot?  Yeah, but maybe only on the outside, unless having it in your mouth is thematically appropriate for the magic.
Tattoos fade, do these eventually go away?  I suppose that might be possible, but you can just re-up the ink.
How big do they have to be?  One inch.
Does the person casting the spell somehow give the tattooist the spell to implant?  No.
Is there a limit to how many tattoos one can have or where they can be?  No.

Going from the RQ2 rules at least (never had or read RQ3) you do have to be able to see the focus to cast the spell without an SR penalty, and other people can use it considering all it is is a little symbol that helps focus your mind,you butu're right on everything else. It's matrixes that have spells implanted in them, but those don't have limits on who can use them or where they can be either.

[jajagappa]

2 hours ago, Richard S. said:

It's matrixes that have spells implanted in them, but those don't have limits on who can use them or where they can be either.

They can have limits on who uses them.  That was part of the User Conditions that could be applied during the enchantment ritual.  There were other conditions, too, that could be added.

[Richard S.]

3 hours ago, jajagappa said:

They can have limits on who uses them.  That was part of the User Conditions that could be applied during the enchantment ritual.  There were other conditions, too, that could be added.

Okay. That must've been added in 3 cuz I don't see it in the spell description in 2. My bad, carry on.

[jajagappa]

21 minutes ago, Richard S. said:

That must've been added in 3 cuz I don't see it in the spell description in 2.

Correct, added in the enchantment rules in RQ3.

[Mugen]

16 hours ago, Richard S. said:

Going from the RQ2 rules at least (never had or read RQ3) you do have to be able to see the focus to cast the spell without an SR penalty, and other people can use it considering all it is is a little symbol that helps focus your mind,you butu're right on everything else. It's matrixes that have spells implanted in them, but those don't have limits on who can use them or where they can be either.

RuneQuest 3 requires "Contact" with the focus, which can be through any sense : touch, sight or another sense. There's no SR malus if you don't see it, as long as you touch it.

Tattoos and methodical scarring are expressly named as possible foci.

[soltakss]

On 5/21/2018 at 5:04 PM, styopa said:

You're right.  I guess I ruled a forgettably long time ago that was OP, handing characters what typically amounts to AN ENTIRE ADDITIONAL CHARACTER'S MP to fuel their spells.  Or with experienced adventurers that could easily be a handful of such crystals.

For a long while, Soltak Stormspear took POW Crystals as his pick of magical loot. At one stage, he had over 500 points stored away and emptied familiars to fill them. Another PC, Derak the Darktroll, had a leather jacket with Derak picked out in POW Crystals.

[Psullie]

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

Another PC, Derak the Darktroll, had a leather jacket with Derak picked out in POW Crystals.

any relation... 

 

[soltakss]

1 hour ago, Psullie said:

any relation... 

 

 

Could well be