From: paul@phyast.pitt.edu
Date: Wed 07 Jul 1993 - 18:50:23 EEST
Paul Reilly , replying to Curtis.
Glorantha has dozens of magic systems, impossible to fully represent
in the game. The idea of presenting the overall rules is to make a
fairly flexible metasystem that can model most of the other systems.
I tend to think there should be four basic systems, plus exceptions and
non-human systems.
Four basic systems:
Western sorcery, developed back in the Brithini vs. Vadeli days and since
adapted and modified. Mostali sorcery could fit this overall pattern as well -
perhaps they built the Brithini or vice versa. In any case this is the
old "World Machine" pattern.
Spirit Magic: As the World Machine was broken, Glorantha was invaded by
the blessing (or disease) known as 'free will'. Beings were 'ensouled'.
Shamanism uses this for its magical effects.
Divine Magic: The gods who agreed to the Compromise set the overall pattern
for divine magic and this affects even those who did not initially participate
in the compromise, e.g. Black Fang, etc.
Eastern Magic: Originally stemming out of the Eastern stem land of Vithaela,
Eastern magic is hard for Westerners to understand.
-----------------
Nonhuman magic:
Darkness Magic: Based upon eating things and gaining their powers and the
basic strength of Darkness, this is old and strong. Darkness magic includes
the power to eat things and grow an extension with their qualities, as for
example in our campaign Uz "armoring enchantments" work byu eating lead or
chitin and plating it out on the bones and skin. Once this was a basic
Darkness power, now it can be accessed through Rune magics.
Grower "magic": Their special plants appear magical to most outsiders.
Mee Voralan "magic": Similar to our own chemistry and microbiology, the great
fungus colonies can grow special chemicals, spores, or whatever out of
themselves. This combines aspects of Darkness and Aldryami magic, as
is appropriate.
Maker "magic": Not just sorcery but also the application of the rules
of the world to produce mechanistic effects (like cannon). Mostali
are major practitioners but many humans also practice this. Few other
races are heavily into it.
Chaos: Fundamentally opposed to most of Glorantha, Chaos leaches away the
natural laws (or life force) that allow existence. Striking effects can
be produced as the laws of Glorantha are locally violated.
Jelmre magic: Emotion based.
Dragon Magic: Different from everyone else's. In our campaign the
part of a dragon that you can see is only a small part of the whole,
which extends outside of Glorantha.
More later,
paul
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