Re: What is said instead of Concentration

or ...instead of Devotion.

or: the Return of the Examiners.
(Reference: "Convince the Examiners" Wyrms Footprints, p 84-85)

When we were still playing RQ, most of our characters fullfilled all the formal requirements for becoming runelords/devotees. And the level of devotion that we roleplayed wera also, I'd say, more than sufficient. However, with one exception we were outsiders in Pavis. When we told our GM that we wanted to go reusable-runemagic, he just raised an eyebrow and asked us what we had ever done for the community, that would give the guys in charge reasons to confir this holy power/honor/confidence in us. And we would go "Um..." and "Er...". And then we spent like two or three years working hard to grow local roots.
My characters primary goal became adoption into one of the Argan-clans. Sven the psychopatic uroxi-worshipping laughing murderous morokanth, got married to a sweet gentle Eiritha-worshipper (in one of those weird unions where both parties have reversed gender roles, but remain heterosexual. Er... did I say that Sven is a girl?)

Converting to HQ changed this. As far as our GM and we could tell, devotion was now a private deal between worshipper and deity. So suddenly all of us have reusable rune-magic, and had probably had it for some time.

I wouldn't mind a return of the Examiners. It was fun, believable, and felt Gloranthan. And besides, it generated some pretty neat roleplaying. It also underlined how dependent our heroes was on having ties to their community. (As opposed to "Okay mr GM, I just made lvl 10, fork over the neat special abilites!")

Perhaps the easiest way to handle this is to have a "further initiation" ceremony, that requires a trip into the otherworld, where you have a sit-together with your entity of worship and be found worthy
(or not). As usual, the barrier to the other side is more or less
routinely crossed by large congregations, lead by their supported priest, on the auspicious time, in the consecrated temple. But if you are all alone, crossing over is a really big deal. Anyway, isn't this how "getting new feats" already works?

Dan Guillou             Received on Tue 24 Jul 2007 - 17:23:38 EEST