From: Joerg Baumgartner (rq4@sartar.toppoint.de)
Date: Fri 07 Jan 1994 - 00:43:08 EET
Guy Robinson writes:
> extreme rarity, or prehaps absence, of sorcerers in Glorantha.
David Dunham mentioned the Western culture whose magic is called sorcery
by outsiders. They themselves prefer the word wizardry, and I'd suggest
this to be the term used in the rules. Sorcerers are the rare
independent users of that kind of magic, as well as anybody using
strange magics. Delecti is considered a sorcerer, Argin Terror, Zzabur
and the Orathorn inhabitants are, too, but what all these use can hardly
be called sorcery in RQ3 terms. Oh, even some Praxian shamans or khans
can justly be called sorcerers, e.g. when meddling with spirits like
Cacodemon or Thed.
> In RQ3 they fleshed out the spirits, made Battle Magic the domain of
> Shamans but in doing so Battle Magic was shifted from it's role as
> the low magic of a fantasy society.
I agree here. To focus the spirit magic chapter on the shaman was an
unneccessary thing to do, to say it cautiously. Call me a heretic, but
the shamans' rules are no more core rules than the sorcery rules for
western wizards, or the rules for heroquesting. I think it is impossible
to fit all of Gloranthan or RuneQuest magic into one volume of the size
of say the latest Pendragon rulesbook, let alone in a rulesbook aiming
at newcomers. If RQ4 is to be released complete, it will a) take several
years before it is issued, will b) be out of date by then, and will c)
be more expensive than RQ3 (relative to other games, with the possible
exception of Gygax's Dangerous Journeys).
Someone else metioned other low magics besides battle magic. I'd like to
see that in the rules, all the little ceremonies that might be magic
spells, or might just be little psychological chants. Get rid of the
five minutes duration, one MP cost, 50 m range limits, similar to
certain divine spells with special duration, range or cost. Get rid of
each and every effect coming instantly, and the magic system alone will
provide a niche for RQ4.
> Your views about Runes are noted. In my reading of RQ2, given
> my preliction for bleak backgrounds, the Runes appeared to be
> more prominent that the Gods themselves who largely seemed
> bound to conform to them and be described by them.
Certain deities rule over certain parts of nature, and impose their
character and actions as law of this part of nature, often in opposed
pairs. Some cultures which don't view the world as theistic prefer to
call the deities "natural forces" and their realms of powers "runes".
The theistic cultures do it vice versa.
> In RuneQuest 2 the Priest can scarifice for Rune Magic because he
> has mastered the Spirit Rune and has been accepted by his cult
> and diety as a Priest. The Rune Lord has also mastered a certain
> Rune when he becomes a Rune Lord (I've forgotten which).
Could you give a reference for that? As latecomer to RQ I'm not too
familiar with RQ2, and I can't remember this from Cults of Prax or
Terror.
> RQ3 was a turkey. It was the first role playing game to hit the
> UK at the kind of "premium" price it was sold at. Subsequently
> all I possess of it is a second hand copy of the Magic Book.
>From your formulation I take it that the other main frps have followed
suit, and AH had to cut their prices to sell the game in the UK. Why do
you think did the Games Workshop edition fail to hit the market? I
remember it as at least reasonably priced in Germany. I used it for a
start, but switched to the AH "DeLuxe" edition after getting fed up with
looking up everything in two different books, without cross-references.
> What I am trying to do is build a general consensus and discusion
> about RQ magic. This has so far proved usefull for me and I hope
> it aids RQIV to save from the fate of RQ's last release.
A just and noble cause. Did you read the discussions we had here earlier
on? More than two thirds were about magic, if I recall correctly...
-- Joerg Baumgartner rq4@sartar.toppoint.de 0,,
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