From: Paolo Guccione (p.guccione@geco.it)
Date: Thu 18 Sep 1997 - 02:23:08 EEST
Jane Williams wonders whether a healer is a worthy PC. Well, I have
never had one in my Glorantha campaigns, but I think he/she would be
worth playing.
First of all, a healer is not defenceless in combat. Sleep is the best
attack spell in RQ3, and it is a restricted, cult spell. Imagine your
party being attacked by a _very_ big dinosaur or another huge monster.
They cannot fight it by conventional means, it would take several
critical hits to take it down. They cannot Befuddle or Demoralize it
because of its fixed INT (casting Release INT would not be a god idea).
Fear is useless with CON 20+ creatures. Madness would do, but
unfortunately it is a Lunar spell... The party is doomed, but wait -
what happened? Serena the healer just waived her hand and the Big Scary
Monster went down and started snoring aloud? Three hoorays for her, and
shame for all those who always called her a wimp!
Moreover, and more important, a Healer's knowledge is not restricted to
practical matters. Her ability to heal comes from a deep knowledge of
myth, not hospital practice. Each time she resurrects, she is in contact
with the Otherworld, maybe even the God Plane. After some castings, she
should be able to Heroquest on her own, albeit most healers choose not
to. Apart from the most combat-oriented encounters, the healer should be
at an advantage in understanding the deepest significance of any magical
phenomenon.
Although it may be a disadvantage in most campaigns, being a healer is
an advantage in a game which features the deeper mysteries of Glorantha.
After all, Chalana Arroy is a Lightbringer, while Urox and Humakt are
not...
Paolo Guccione p.guccione@geco.it
http://www.geco.it/~guccione
------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Fri 13 Jun 2003 - 20:59:53 EEST