It also seems that the way RuneQuest was designed was so that as you used magic, you got less and less effective. And what I mean by that is that you use up your magic points, and your chance to overcome goes down. Unfortunatly, since I have yet to see a Gloranthan game where Power spirits are exceptionally rare, all it takes is one powerspirt with an 11 power, and you can cast half your spells without worring about your defense.
Also, I have seen pricing for matixes based on the amount of power in it. It's generally been priced between 1,000 pennies and 2,000 pennies. (I go with the pricer one, because I use the d6-1 rule for powergains and am kinda stingy in letting characters resolve checks. However, I'm in a game where pow checks are resoved on the percentile system from RQ2, and power seems to flow a lot more freely.)
Anyhow, the point I'm leading up to is this: A 1-point POW spirit matrix costs the same as a 1-point magic storage matrix. (Which can store 1-10 mps.) I run that sorcerers don't have access to spirits to the extent that shamans and deists have, just so I can justify men wasting the power on matrixes.
I also play in a game where the number of spirits is limited by a stat called "charisma", though usually it's a matter of, "You can't have more than SEVEN spirits!"(when we all know that one int spirit and three pow spirits is usually more than enough.)
For spirit magic, I play with a tentative limit on spell levels where initiates can get up to 4points of one spell, and priests/lords can get a little more. (None are PC's, so it hasn't been an issue. ;-) )
So, what I would like to see is a system where a character's magical attack and defence are not EXACTLY the same. I would also like to see one where shamanism is clearly explained and where they have a clear advantage in spirit hunting/controling. In fact, I'd like to see more limits on non-shamans re: spirits. I'd like to see rules where deist spirit magic was different from shamanic spirit magic. Also, I think limits on spell levels should be more clearly defined. Heck, if Greg really thinks that spells are too common, he should double the power of spell spirits, and say that initiates can't learn more than 2 points from the temple.
Anyhow, sorry that was so long. I've been awfully quiet for a bit and figured I'd toss my ideas into the fire...
Rich Ohlson
(The player formerly known as Hasni Mubarak)
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