From: Sandy Petersen (sandyp@idgecko.idsoftware.com)
Date: Wed 03 Jan 1996 - 19:43:55 EET
First off, I've altered a tidbit in my Sorcery rules (actually, a
couple tidbits, but only one was what I'd consider a major change).
Rather than re-post the rules to the heaps o' folks who've asked for
them, I'll just put them here for anyone to cut and paste.
The rules change was stimulated by Harley Patterson's
comments. To sum them up, the Brithini/Vadeli Art skills are now
increasable by experience; St. Malkion can now only be invoked to
learn an Art once a year, during Sacred Time; and unaligned
sorcerers receive -3 to their Presence for Art Vows (plus whatever
Presence the Vow provides.
The result is that the Brithini and Malkioni serve lengthy
apprenticeships, while unaligned sorcerers get their magic quicker
and cheaper, but pay for it as their Presence is lessened -- an
unaligned sorcerer with all the Arts generally has 21 Presence less
than a typical Malkioni journeyman. One result is that I suspect
many unaligned sorcerers don't bother to learn the more obscure
Arts, like Ease or Permanence.
***********
GAINING VOWS
Brithini & Vadeli: The Arts are Magic skills with a base chance of
0%. They are acquired by research, training, and experience. When
the sorcerer reaches 90% in an Art, he has mastered it, and can use
it automatically. Until then, his spells are limited by his skill in
the Arts as well as his skill in the spells (i.e., his chance of
casting a spell is equal to the lowest skill being used, including
all applicable Arts).
Malkioni: -- St. Malkion is the source of Arts. Once a year, in
Sacred Time, Malkion can be invoked to gain an Art. Once he is
gained as a patron, each successive Invocation (at 1 POW each) gains
the apprentice 1 Art. An apprentice's master typically forbids him
to reduce his total Magic Bonus below 10, even to invoke Malkion.
Unaligned: they have access to Art Vows. An Art Vow can be any Vow,
including the High Vow, the Vessel, and Lore Mastery. To take an
Art Vow, the student needs to meditate largely uninterrupted for a
full season. These Vows may be taken before any other vow. An Art
Vow also increases Presence by its (value - 3), in addition to
providing access to the chosen Art. Note that for many Vows, "value
- - 3" is negative! A sorcerer who chose Shun Immortality (1 pt) would
have his Presence reduced by 2. Shun Harm (3 pts) would leave his
Presence unchanged. A Presence less than 0 is treated as 0 in
spellcasting.
If the sorcerer violates an Art Vow, he loses use of the
Art, and his Presence is restored to what it would have been without
said Vow (note that it may increase!). He also loses 10 percentiles
from all his sorcery spell skills. He may take another Art Vow to
restore use of the lost Art. This will not restore his skill loss,
however.
***********
Other remarks on Malkionism.
Hasni Mubarak asks
>Farmers: Farmers don't get intenstity, so what sorecery spells can
>they use that is not completly worthless? Smother 1 is the only
one >I can come up with. Any one else?
Okay, first off, Rokari Farmers do get Intensity, but
that's not your question anywa. The answer is that the following
spells are all useful without any Intensity (except the basic 1
point you get if your Presence is 0). Their usefulness is less, of
course, but even a 1-point Attract Missiles gives a 5% chance of
sending them your way.
Animate Dead (for small animals), Animate [substance], Attract
[harm], Bless [object], Boost [attribute], Castback (1-pt spells),
Dampen [skill], Diminish [characteristic], Dominate [species] (only
for very weak critters), Drain, Evoke [energy], Fly (levitate keys
and such), Hinder, Holdfast, Identify Spell, Neutralize Magic,
Produce [energy], Resist [attack type], Suppress Sorcery, Tap POW,
Telepathy, Treat Wounds, Venom, Banishment, Binding (only for power
spirits and hellions), Bless, Enchant [characteristic], Enchant
[metal], Magic Point Matrix, Open Seas, Spell Matrix, Strengthening.
>WAR: What countries are currently at war.
Organized governments rarely formally declare war on
barbarians. The Seshnegi is basically hostile to Safelster (but not
currently at war with any of the states therein, I believe), and to
the Orlanthi as well. Esrolia is too far away to worry about.
>How much contact do they get with the barbarians, any how?
Way too much. The barbarians come raiding down in large
strength on occasion, and it's not uncommon for them to bypass
Safelster and go straight to Tanisor. Even worse, some of the
Safelstran kingdoms have adopted the custom of bribing barbarian
invaders to spare their property and go straight on to a neighbor
(either another Safelstran or Tanisor).
>Armoring is a Humakti cult skill. When does it come into play?
When you want to make a new piece of armor, or to repair an
old damaged one.
>Humakti Gifts: Does the gift go away when a Humakti dies?
No, it goes with him to his afterlife. Or else it goes to
someone else willing to follow the geas, as Dave Dunham suggests.
>If a Humakti dies, can his last DI be something along the lines
of, >"Make me an allied spirit embeded in a sword!"?
He can request this, but it's unlikely Humakt would grant
it unless he was particularly heroic. And it's even less likely he'd
grant it on the spot, to the sword the Humakti intended. And it's
even _less_ likely that Humakt would approve of the person whom the
Humakti wanted to have access to the sword.
Becoming an allied spirit does happen, but generally not by
freshly dead Humakti -- usually only those who died centuries ago,
and there seems to be some indication that much of their memories
from earth life have been forgotten. Many Humakti allies are
probably "awakened" swords or Sword Spirits, not dead Humakti.
>If an Elf learned Sorcery in the west, would he technically be
>a worshiper of the Invisible God?
There is evidence that elves cannot learn Sorcery at all. I
suspect that "bent", excommunicated elves can do so, as they've
lost their world view. They wouldn't have to worship the Invisible
God, but no good Malkioni would teach a non-believer.
>Is ALL sorcery phrased as prayers?
Only by the pious.
Mr. Happy
>The discussion of the Malkioni on and off-line seems to have
>concentrated on schism, heresy and theological nicities. Fair
enough >but the sorceror's magic isn't supplied by his deistic
religion, >merely justified by it. Their cosmology is seperated from
their >theology and just hasn't been addressed.
Their cosmology isn't _separate_ from their theology,
exactly, and probably differs in some degree from one religion to
another, though with more similarities than differences (just as
with their theology).
Here is my evaluation of "standard" Malkioni cosmology.
NATURE OF THE WORLD
The Invisible God's mind IS the cosmos. He rules by Law,
and his mind is also ruled by Law. As we learn the Laws that govern
the world we grow closer to understanding God's mind. As we better
our understanding, our magic and hope of Peace in Glory improves.
There are two schools of thought as to how our own souls
come into existence (doubtless fostered by competing sects). The
first is that our souls are made by the Invisible God, and that we
are naturally made perfect, only to degenerate as we struggle
through his universe and disobey his laws. The second is that our
souls are made by the Invisible God, but that we are only embryonic
and primitive when constructed, and that we must improve and strive
to perfect our souls. Most sects agree that a degenerate or primeval
soul dissipates upon death, returning to the natural energy cycles
of the universe. The Malkioni know no Hell.
There are three types of Laws that we must follow.
First are the Laws of Nature. These are immutable and
attempts to violate them result in direct harm to the physical body.
For instance, fire burns, water drowns. a long fall is injurious.
It is possible to bypass these laws temporarily, but their effects
are still present.
Second are the Moral Laws. These are as immutable as the
Laws of Nature, but their violation is not immediate, and not
perceptable, as the damage caused is to one's spiritual self, rather
than the physical body. Theological disputes are about the Moral
Laws.
Third are the Laws of Man. These are created by the minds
of Men, in imitation of God, and ought to be obeyed, where they do
not violate higher Laws.
The Invisible God is impersonal and does not perform
miracles, for he must obey his own Laws. It is possible for a very
wise human to receive a vision from the Invisible God, but this
happens rarely indeed, and only to Saints. In any case, this is not
evidence of the Invisible God taking action, but of the soul of the
man reaching out to God, and sensing a fraction of His intellect.
Theists naturally perceive the Malkioni as being atheists
or as worshiping a useless blind god. Malkioni scoff at the
materialism of the theists, who worship a god only because he can
give them instant satisfaction.
Sandy P.
------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Fri 13 Jun 2003 - 16:28:35 EEST