From: Dennis Hoover (SMS) (71736.77@CompuServe.COM)
Date: Thu 17 Feb 1994 - 06:24:23 EET
Dennis Hoover <dhoover@bix.com>
I am bugged by the spirit spell distributions in the literature to date, and I
would like to see some of these things addressed in RQ:AiG. For example, Aldrya,
Yelmalio, Waha, and Storm Bull get no melee-weapon-enhancing magic at all, and
Yelm gets only Fireblade (OK for low-damage weapons, but no pluses to hit),
despite there being seven rune lords in the five cults (I count Gardeners
because
of the d10 DI). (Yea, I know, Storm Bull gets BS by association, but he should
get it in his own right.)
On the other hand, the single most kick-ass cult for offensive spirit magic in
GoG is clearly Dendara, who gets Bladesharp, Bludgeon, Ironhand, Fireblade,
Speedart, Multimissile, and Firearrow, not to mention Disrupt, Befuddle, and
Demoralize! (All by association, of course.) I played a priestess of Dendara
at the Con, and little did I know that instead of mucking around in politics,
I should have been commanding the Dendaran Heavy Infantry, the core of the
solar army. Vying for second are Ernalda et al, because of their multiple
associations with the Gor sisters. They get the same spells as Dendara, lacking
only the missile-affecting spells.
Something is clearly amiss here. I believe this is a problem with the rules.
This is
not the way cults in Glorantha are supposed to work, as someone wrote last week.
I don't think my players really want to play Earth cultists, but they are driven
that
way to get the spells they need to survive. Then they quit the cult. This is not
a
problem with divine magic; when you quit the cult you lose access to the spells.
Not so spirit magic.
I don't believe all cults should be evenly balanced. B.Gor, M.Gor, and Gorgorma
I suggest the following:
(how about Gormalio?) SHOULD get tough spells. They are restrictive, specialized
cults with a rationale for being tough. But Asrelia, Ernalda, and Dendara?
1) Get rid of spirit spells by association, except in specific cases (the way
divine magic is currently done).
2) Give spirit spells to the cults that should have them (i.e. bladesharp to
Storm
Bull and Yelmalio), appropriately limited in strength.
3) Ex-initiates lose access to spirit spells they gained from a cult when they
quit the cult.
P.S. I know some have said that Yelmalio shouldn't get bladesharp at all. I
disagree.
He is not forbidden bladesharp, as he is fireblade. Also, EVERY Yelmalion
written
up in Sun County (except for a brand new initiate in one of the scenarios) has
the
spell. Count Solanthos got a BS 10 and a permanent Truespear from Yelmalio
himself.
The typical Templar has a BS 2. Even the sleaze-bag militia gets a point of BS.
I
think it was a typo in Sun County that BS is not in Yelmalio's list of spells
<g>.
Dennis.
0,,
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