Pavis Cult under new rules

[Russ Massey]

I'm hoping to convert the Grey Company campaign from the Tentacle Press series to the new rules. The main stumbling block is that the campaign was designed around the theistic Pavis Cult of Cults of Prax and Gods of Glorantha, but we now know (from the HQ supplement Pavis: Gatewat to Adventure) that Pavis is not worshipped as a deity but provides sorcery via grimoires.

I'm assuming that Pavis won't be included in the upcoming Cults supplement, so do I need to create the sorcery spells from scratch or has there been any work done anywhere that would give me a start on this?

[Runeblogger]

My advice is: ignore Pavis as a sorcery cult and keep it as a deity.

[metcalph]

5 hours ago, Russ Massey said:

I'm assuming that Pavis won't be included in the upcoming Cults supplement, so do I need to create the sorcery spells from scratch or has there been any work done anywhere that would give me a start on this?

The write-up does state: 

Quote

Pavis is strongly associated with the Man Rune, although it is not necessary for a hero to take the
Man Rune in order to be a member. Any initiate of Pavis with the Man Rune of 1W or higher may use it
directly as a divine rune affinity. This is a byproduct of Lord Pavis’ experiments in the Second Age.

Man Rune Affinity ,

The Man Rune is shared by all mortal humanoid species, but as it represents the humanoid shape
itself, it is unusual for it to be one of the dominant runes of any mortal (in game terms, it is rare that
it is one of a person’s three runes). Nonetheless, Pavis is strongly associated with the Man Rune and
his initiates may use the Man Rune directly within the boundaries of Old and New Pavis to foster unity
amongst those who share the Man Rune.
Pavis initiates are known to use the Man Rune to placate others who share the Man Rune within
the boundaries of Old or New Pavis, and to mate successfully with other species sharing the Man
Rune.

Pavis Gateway to Adventure p363

So yes, Rune Magic is available to the Cult of Pavis (placing him in a similar situation to Lhankor Mhy) except that the magics can only be used within the borders of Pavis.  I would as a result give common rune magics plus city harmony (and perhaps city fertility). 

The higher magics such as the summoning the Elementals, the Harmony of Parts, Door to the Room without Doors etc remain sorcery spells.

[Russ Massey]

8 hours ago, metcalph said:

The write-up does state: 

(cut for space)

So yes, Rune Magic is available to the Cult of Pavis (placing him in a similar situation to Lhankor Mhy) except that the magics can only be used within the borders of Pavis.  I would as a result give common rune magics plus city harmony (and perhaps city fertility). 

The higher magics such as the summoning the Elementals, the Harmony of Parts, Door to the Room without Doors etc remain sorcery spells.

I like that interpretation. Restricting bestowal of the magics depending on a cutlists Man Rune score would keep them fairly unusual except in the hands of devoted Pavic specialists, which is what I am aiming for. The sorcery, especially as regards stone-working and earth manipulation can be more generally available.

[soltakss]

On 9/20/2018 at 5:37 PM, Runeblogger said:

My advice is: ignore Pavis as a sorcery cult and keep it as a deity.

Yes, do this. Use the RQ2/3/Classic writeup for Pavis and use those Runespells. 

If you want the sorcery flavour, then have the cult provide Grimoires for Pavic Sorcerers, as additional magic.

Edited September 22, 2018 by soltakss

[Russ Massey]

I've been working on sorcery spells for Pavis initiates. I'd welcome any comments or criticism of the suggestions below.

Sorcery Spells associated with the Master of the Faceless King Grimoire

THE GREATER BODY (Truth, Earth, Summon)
2 Points
Ranged, Active, Temporal
The caster can sense the presence of the stone that formed the body of the Faceless Statue out to the range of the spell. With 4 levels of strength he can determine what type of stone it is (i.e. Body Stone, Bowel Stone etc). With 8 levels of strength he can determine if any type of enchantment is present in the stone and what the purpose of that enchantment is. Use of the spell requires active concentration on the part of the caster, and it takes a full melee round to examine a 25 square meter area. The spell is blocked by 1 meter of loose dirt, sand, thick vegetation or water. Solid riock or stone is transparent to the spell.

THE UNITY OF THE KING (Harmony, Earth. Command)
3 Points
Touch, Active, Temporal
The caster can repair and restore damaged stonework by touch within the walls of Pavis. At strength 1 small cracks and chips can be smoothed out.  At strength 4 you can reattach broken pieces like the arm of a stature, or repair a large crack or fracture. At strength 8 you can completely rebuild a shattered stone block. It takes a full minute to use this magic on an item for each 6 SIZ it possesses.

BE OF THE SKIN (Earth, Dispel)
2 Points
Ranged, Passive, Temporal
The recipient gains protection from damage caused by rock or stone. This spell protects only the body of the target and not any possessions carried. The total damage done by any attack using rock or stone must overcome the strength of the spell on the resistance table. If the damage overcomes the strength of the spell it does full damage to the user, with any armour then applying. If it fails to overcome the strength of the spell then no damage is taken. The spell will protect against rock falls and stone traps, falls onto solid rock or stone, and blows from stone weapons, such has many troll clubs and maces.

BE OF THE BLOOD (Earth Movement, Combine)
4 Points
Touch, Active, Temporal
The recipient of this spell gains the ability to move slowly through rock and stone in Pavis. Movement is 1m per round and demands concentration. These is no ability to breath while within stone, so suffocation is treated as if being transported through earth by an elemental. The base spell affects only the body of the user, but each level of strength allows 1 ENC to be taken along with them. The spell does not work through loose earth or sand.

BE OF THE BONE (Earth, Summon)
2 Points
Touch, Passive, Temporal
The recipient partakes of the endurance of the Faceless Stature. The recipients CON is increased by 1, plus another 1 for every two levels of the spell, with no cap on the maximum increase.

MASTER OF FORM (Truth, Summon)
2 Points
Self only, Passive, Temporal
The caster is inspired in his stone working ability. He adds 10% to the skills of Masonry and Devise (stone traps only) for each level of the spell.

MASTER OF BALANCE (Harmony, Motion, Combine)
2 Points
Self only, Passive, Temporal
The caster is one with the body of Pavis. He may move over any stony or rubbled surface within the city without losing his footing or being slowed. While in contact with rock or stone his skills of jumping, climbing and dodge are increased by 5% per level of the spell, and movement speed is increased by 1 for every 3 levels of the spell.

 

[David Scott]

2 hours ago, Russ Massey said:

I've been working on sorcery spells for Pavis initiates. I'd welcome any comments or criticism of the suggestions below.

Sorcery Spells associated with the Master of the Faceless King Grimoire

Looks good

Quote

THE GREATER BODY (Truth, Earth, Summon)

BE OF THE SKIN (Earth, Dispel)

BE OF THE BLOOD (Earth Movement, Combine)
BE OF THE BONE (Earth, Summon)

MASTER OF BALANCE (Harmony, Motion, Combine)

These certainly fit the Master of the Faceless King Grimoire

Quote

THE UNITY OF THE KING (Harmony, Earth. Command)

MASTER OF FORM (Truth, Summon)

These feels like Flintnail ones from the Secrets of the Stone (P:GtA page 371)

You've missed Harmony of the Parts & Soothe the Dyspeptic Stomach. Harmony of the parts is City Harmony and is available as a rune magic in a different form.

Soothe the Dyspeptic Stomach. Harmony Darkness combine (as per Calm Water)

Harmony of the parts. Harmony Man combine (as per Calm Water)

I'd also make all the spells with the harmony rune as that was the theme of the grimoire. It means that Pavis sorcerers will likely master the Harmony rune and combine technique (incorporates command and tap at double mp cost). My suggestions would be:

THE GREATER BODY (Harmony, stasis, combine) The caster harmonises with the stone that formed the body of the Faceless Statue...

BE OF THE SKIN (Harmony, stasis, combine) The caster harmonises and becomes the rock.

BE OF THE BLOOD (Harmony, stasis, combine) the caster harmonises and becomes the rock.
BE OF THE BONE (Harmony, man, combine) the caster harmonises and becomes the statue.

MASTER OF BALANCE (Harmony, man, Combine) The caster is one with the body of statue.

Don't forget they can get access to a Flintnail grimoire and maybe some dwarf sorcery. Have a look at Makor the Strong on page 19. I tried to show him with a range of Pavic magics, with Pavis, Flintnail and Dwarf spells.

Also have a look at how Sorala works as a pregen in RQG. Her spells are all Truth, Command apart from her best spell one which is a summon.

Edited October 2, 2018 by David Scott

[Russ Massey]

10 minutes ago, David Scott said:

Looks good

These certainly fit the Master of the Faceless King Grimoire

These feels like Flintnail ones from the Secrets of the Stone (P:GtA page 371)

You've missed Harmony of the Parts & Soothe the Dyspeptic Stomach. Harmony of the parts is City Harmony and is available as a rune magic in a different form.

Soothe the Dyspeptic Stomach. Harmony Darkness combine (as per Calm Water)

Harmony of the parts. Harmony Man combine (as per Calm Water)

I'd also make all the spells with the harmony rune as that was the theme of the grimoire. It means that Pavis sorcerers will likely master the Harmony rune and combine technique (incorporates all the others at double mp cost). My suggestions would be:

THE GREATER BODY (Harmony, stasis, combine) The caster harmonises with the stone that formed the body of the Faceless Statue...

BE OF THE SKIN (Harmony, stasis, combine) The caster harmonises and becomes the rock.

BE OF THE BLOOD (Harmony, stasis, combine) the caster harmonises and becomes the rock.
BE OF THE BONE (Harmony, man, combine) the caster harmonises and becomes the statue.

MASTER OF BALANCE (Harmony, man, Combine) The caster is one with the body of statue.

Don't forget they can get access to a Flintnail grimoire and maybe some dwarf sorcery. Have a look at Makor the Strong on page 19. I tried to show him with a range of Pavic magics, with Pavis, Flintnail and Dwarf spells.

Also have a look at how Sorala works as a pregen in RQG. Her spells are all Truth, Command apart from her best spell one which is a summon.

Thanks for the comments.

I agree about the two spells metioned feeling more like they would be from the Flintnail grimoire. I hadn't looked closely enough at Flintnail.

I didn't bother statting Harmony of the Parts and Sooth the Dyspeptic Stomach yet, as I was mainly interested in creating new spells so that beginning characters would have a reasonable choice to select from. I like your selection of Harmony as the unifying rune - I think I'll go with that. I was originally using the Stasis rune instead of Earth for the spells, but changed my mind after reading that the Earth rune represented stone. Your way for the definitions is better IMO, and will certainly make it easier for Pavis sorcerors to specialise by concentrating on Harmony or Stasis.