From: Joerg Baumgartner (joe@sartar.toppoint.de)
Date: Tue 12 Jul 1994 - 17:34:33 EEST
Devin Cutler in X-RQ-ID: 5107
> Joerg writes:
> "That's a great deal for a 1-point spirit spell. And highly abusable -
> imagine a party teaming up against a ghost, the first participant
> softening up the spirit, then the second casting control and taking over,
> and so on. Even hairier than the current "there's no way to control a
> spirit while corporeal" rule. And it makes Subere's Attack Soul a lot less
> effective (still great against corporeal entities...)."
> Can't this be done with several Priests and Spell Teaching?
You mean for _huge_ spell spirits?
I would rule no. The Spellteaching ritual is a special case of a Summon ritual which includes the Command of the summoned spirit, and works only because the summoned spirit cooperates with the cultists.
This means that once the spirit is summoned, it is there, manifest, and cannot be resummoned. The Command of the summoning priest is limited to "Teach!" and designing a recipient. The rest is up to the recipient.
I rule that the recipient has to let the spirit access him unhindered, else the spirit isn't obligated to teach its spell.
> "You don't need to be associated to buy a spell from a temple, it just costs
> more. And Yelmalio initiates are more often than not active Ernalda
> Lay Members, with access to loads of friendly cult spirit magic."
> Then GoG or RQ needs to state this. GoG implies that only your cult or
> associated cult spells may be learnt. Why isn;t a cost guideline given?
The rules say that initiates of the cult gain cheaper access to the spells. While I agree with the AiG designers that access to the powerful spells is too cheap in RQ3, the possibility to buy spells from other cults than one's own has been in the rules already in 1984, in the "DeLuxe" edition.
> "Ok, but then there is the next problem: the priest has fought the spirit
> down to zero MP. How does this sorry remains of a spell spirit initiate
> spirit combat?"
> Spell spirits, when they lose their spell because someone beats them down to
> zero MP and learns the spell, go back to the primal soruce of the spell and
> regain it. This is from RQ3 (I don't remember where).
Which means that only the caster of the control spell (which is needed to make the spirit attack in the first place) can learn the spell. So to learn the spell from an unaligned spirit you'd need to cast Control Spell Spirit upon it. In my most benevolent days, I only allowed the summoner to try and control a spirit summoned by him with a control spell, and only one chance, as soon as the summoning is completed and the mental link to the summoned entity still exists.
(Once I had a runaway shaman aprentice turned thief in my campaign who tried to access spirit magic exactly this way. The rest of the party was quite busy to find exorcists...)
> "And: is the Summon Spell Spirit the priest uses a divine or a spirit
> spell? If it is a spirit spell, where did he get it?"
> Spirit spell. He got it from his priest, who got it from his priest and so
> on. The point is, once a useful spell like Summon Spirit Magic Spell Spirit
> gets infected into a cult spell teaching system, it will propogate wildly.
So the spell spirit conveying the spirit spell Summon Spell Spirit has to be learned this cheating way as well? Or did the shrine's attendant start to worship the spell spirit in order to make it more willing to serve the cult? In this case, you get a fully fledged spirit cult attached to the shrine, and to learn the spell you'd have to sacrifice 1 POW for initiation. Attractive enough for worshippers who have no alternative, I'd expect, but more costly than the regular way of going to a non-hostile temple and paying too much.
> Nowhere in the spell description of Spirit Screen does it say that it allows
> affected spirits to disengage. That is a holdover from RQ2, where a fully
> blocked spirit COULD disengage (but then again, ANY spirit could disengage
> from RQ2 spirit combat).
If it doesn't, then IMO it should. One thing to do for the next edition.
> Spirit Block still does allow a spirit to break off if it is brought down
> below the level of the Spirit Block.
The same should apply to spirit Screen, IMO.
> "RQ3 knows two outcomes for actual spirit combat: either participant is
> fought to zero MP, or one has a 10 point+ advantage, is discorporate and
> breaks off."
> Then that would imply that Resurrection involves full spirit combat down to
> zero, and CA would have a full compliment of Spirit combat affecting magics
> so that Resurrections and expellation of disease spirits would become
> trivial. I don't like it.
The expellation of disease spirits can be done with a compliment of healing spirits. Since the disease spirit is embodied, the healing spirits can take turns to soften it up.
> "What I
> was thinking of were disease spirits. Get only a mild affliction, and
> you're doomed without outside help."
> Which any CA priestess with a healing spirit and Spirit Block can kick out
> with no problem. The CA has access to Spirit Block and Spirit Screen. The
> disease spirit does not.
Getting to the CA priestess through the wilderness is the trick. And the healing spirit must be rested, the Spirit Block must be ready, ...
> "The average CON roll would be CON*3, which gives you considerably worse
> chance to make your roll."
> In RQ3, it states that the typical Con roll for all diseases is Con x5%, and
> only special tenacious ones are less.
One paragraph lower the penalty for not staying in bed (a bad idea in a broo infected ruin, IMO) is detailed.
> Yes, I agree an interesting little adventure. But since when is a farmer
> concerned about pride? He must lead his cow into the city to butcher it.
Since he is an Orlanthi.
To butcher a beast, one lets the butcher come to the stead, not vice versa. Or one drives a whole herd of these beasts to the market. The guys who do so mostly are professionals who buy comparatively cheap at the steads and gain city prices at the markets.
When you travel to the temple, you wear your best outfit, at least on the last stage of the trip when you present the damned gift to the priesthood. This is a lot different from cowboying...
--
-- Joerg Baumgartner joe@sartar.toppoint.de
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