From: Alex Ferguson (alex@dcs.gla.ac.uk)
Date: Tue 12 Jul 1994 - 19:59:51 EEST
Devin Cutler takes up my gauntlet:
> "You've yet to explain how, or why, this should be the case, though. What
> element of a ritual might be _impossible_ for the non-devout (however
> defined) to perform correctly?"
> In my view, when a ritual is being performed, the worshippers basically
> invite the god or a piece/avatar of that god to enter the mundane plane (or
> perhaps the ritual enters the god plan, or a bit of both) and to possess
> them. [...] It is at this time that a god can determine the devoutness of
> the worshippers. [...]
> How's that work as an explanation?
Doesn't seem to have much to do with Performing the Ritual, for one thing. Essentially, you're arguing that gods do, and can know their worshippers minds, but not invasively, it just happens to be compulsory. This is at least against the spirit of what we've been told about about the general lack of such knowledge. I can't actually think of a "mechanism" which does this sort of thing, off the top of my head; Mindlink and possession by spirits don't work on a subconcious level, at least.
I agree with (the part of) your statement about the ritual entering the Godplane, but not that it'd constitute "possession" by the god in the sense you imply.
> In any case, by inviting the god into intimate contact in order to gain the
> divine magic, one also allows the god to determine intentions and emotions
> and, thereby, devoutness. Illuminates are altered enough to mask or hide
> their true intentions.
And if the god is Personally Present during the ritual, in a sentient, conscious way, in Real Time, how does he fail to notice all the people thinking "Faltikus, the evilluminatedioussoundingbajiriddling bastard", Krogar elbowing him of of the way in the middle of the ceremony, etc, even if he's not able to sense his Naughtily Collaborating Thoughts directly? Is this consistent with the "true" rumour that Illumination is not a Chaotic deception, but a genuine revelation about the nature of Glorantha?
> Well, it seems rather ambiguous, since the short writeup from GoG doesn't
> really tell us much. Let's wait until Soldiers of the Red Moon or ask the
> person who is writing it.
> "Personally, I believe priests _do_ need a high POW, to effectively officiate
> at Worship services. I think I suggested a mechanism or two last time this
> came up. My personal Nightmare Scenario is a priest sitting in a back-room
> somewhere, with a POW of 2, getting 5 POW per year just from worship
> ceremonies..."
> Yes, I agree with your nightmare scenario. It is a problem. But it is also a
> problem when the rules (yes, I am talking rules now) penalize an 18 POW
> priest by restricting his access to Divine Magic.
But they always did, it just happens he _had_ to have a POW of at least 18 previously. (And had an easier POW gain roll.)
I think the problem is rather that there's no clear _incentive_ for him to have a high POW. If it were, for example, necessary in order to officiate at ceremonies, as vaguely implied by RQ2, problem solved. That this wouldn't allow him quite the same rate of POW gain through adventuring as RQ2 doesn't bother me overmuch.
> I rather think that the
> real problem lies with POW gain rolls, which ought to be based on something
> other than Species Max (or Species Max +4 for Priests) minus current POW
> times 5%. That would really stop the problem cold.
RQ2ism. Everyone's chance in RQ3 is the same. ("That really sucks too", says Devin.)
> "Not if their POW is 18, on which (stated) assumption I made the calculation.
> That's counting seasonal HDs. Note the POW gain "abstraction" for
> experience, which assumes 1 POW per year."
> Avergae chance of 18 POW priest to make his roll is 25-18=7 x5%=35%.
15%.
> (Has anyone else realized that those
> with HHD in Sacred Time gain an additional POW Gain roll each year?).
I certainly haven't. Why so? I'd have thought the reverse, since for other cults the Sacred Time is then an additional worship ceremony.
> Even non Sacred Time priests gain 1.8 POW per year with an 18 POW.
5 x 0.15 = 0.75 POW per year.
> "It is? Where do you deduce this from? (The initiate/priest ratio, not the
> total number of priests.)"
> In Pavis there are 4 CA Rune levels. At 3%, this implies 120 Initaites of CA
> in Pavis. I don't think so.
Note that you should count not just those _in_ Pavis, but any initiates in the "catchment area". That is, anyone who worships there on the Holy Days. If there aren't about 100 CA initiates in the area of Pavis county and nearby Prax, they're in rather bad shape. (Certainly by RQ3 temple size rules.)
> "The average number of points lost to a contracted stat-zapping disease is
> 1+100/(CON*N), where N is the "tenacity" fudge-factor."
Nope, RQ3 player book.
> The average Con 10 character will
> lose 1-2 points of a stat to any disease. This means a season or two of down
> time to retrain it. Big deal.
Bigger deal if it's an untrainable stat, at least. (INT, SIZ. POW is going to be unpleasant even if Restore Health is (otherwise) available.) And your argument is specific to the CONx5% type of disease, and ignores more severe strains, and spirits of disease.
Alex.
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