From: Richard Melvin (rmelvin@radm.demon.co.uk)
Date: Sat 21 Jun 1997 - 02:16:21 EEST
In article <199706200224.CAA23085@erzo.org>, owner-glorantha@erzo.org
writes
>Can any of the more mathematical types propose a set of bands that might be
>used to define how many points of Will need to be sacrificed to make a change
>wrought on the God Plane permanent?
>
>I was thinking of
>
>1-9 points: Gaining a personal power that affects the Quester himself.
>10-99 points: Gaining a personal power that can be taught to others.
>100-999 points: Altering a minor aspect of reality.
>1000-9999 points: Altering a major aspect of reality.
>10,000+: Altering a core aspect of reality.
Last time I ran a RQ heroquest, I just used the standard rules, scaled
1-4 points: standard rune spell
up:
5-9 points: 'mega' rune spell, but still personal
< 100 pts: local area effect (e.g. call storm)
> 100 pts: _real_ magic
All costs in POW, no discounts, credit cards not accepted (after a few
nasty incidents with the Jrusteli...).
Naturally, few can afford to pay the bigger costs by themselves, which
So making a change involves:
- - getting at least a clans worth of people to pledge some fraction
Normally, you'd just return to the real world and use your new-found
is where support comes in. With support measured in POW, paid in
advance, and lost if the quest fails, you need serious backing from a
bunch of committed people to get anywhere.
of their soul to you in a suitable ritual.
- - getting to the right 'place' on the hero-plane to sacrifice for
the power you need.
Which could be easy, but probably won't be. Also, the more POW
riding on this quest, the more difficult it will be.
power for the good of all (or whatever).
However, I play that spells cast on the hero-plane have indefinite
'duration', but are one-use.
So if you want to make a change to myth, just work your way into the
right story, and use your power in the right place.
Unimaginative uses, such as casting another 100 points of shield on
Yelmalio just before he goes into battle with Orlanth, will have only
minor effect. The next one through this myth will see a few extra blows
deflected, but it probably won't be enough to change the outcome of the
fight.
Truly creative heroquesting involves using the right power at the right
time - something new that you bring to the situation, an idea that
hadn't been tried before. Such new ideas are often consequences of
experience with other cultures and ways of life - the trick is to
combine that with sufficient support within your culture to succeed in
the quest. Being Arkat helps.
If you succeed, anyone following in your footsteps will see your god
acting in the way you acted, and so can learn to do the same.
This translates to adding a new rune spell to those available at a
temple.
If there is enough cultural contact, spells get passed on from temple to
temple as people learn a power at one and use it on a quest in another.
Where cultural contact breaks down, magics don't get circulated, and
myths diverge over time. On founding a new temple, you have to run
through the complete cycle of myths known to your culture to get the
full panoply of spells.
And free will? That's simple - work out the fraction of your POW
(inculding fetch, active spells like the above, etc.) that is really
_yours_, as opposed to coming from supporters, gifted to you by other
gods, or whatever.
If 95% or more of your soul is not actually _you_, how much influence
can you expect to have over your own actions?
If 99% of your soul remembers the version of events it experienced on a
heroquest, how do you expect to reliably remember what really happenned?
If 99.9% of your soul pronounces your own name wrong, can you even say
the original?
Most sorcerors, who know all this, would sooner be swallowed by the void
than allow themselves to become a god.
- --
Richard Melvin
------------------------------
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #530
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