RE: Magic and Valkyries

From: Sandy Petersen <SPetersen_at_ensemblestudios.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 14:06:27 -0600

Richard Develyn
>why not have a non-magical +5 (RQ terms) sword, maybe also doing an
extra point of damage.

        The only reason I can think of is because it's dull. What about one of the following (minor) effects instead?

1. Knee-Biter; all damage penetrating armor to a leg hit location is doubled.
2. Madsword; anyone drawing the sword automatically receives an undispellable Fanaticism in effect until they drop the sword or manage to sheath it.
3. Blade of Cowardice; to-hit chances are halved, but parry is increased by 1.5 times.
4. Topper; always hits opponent's head - no need to roll hit location.
5. Sword of Fate; critical hit chances are doubled, as well as fumbles.
6. Quicksilver sword; buoyancy-neutral in water, and does not hinder user when swimming.
7. Unbreakable sword; still only worth 10 parry armor points, but does not take damage from opposing weapons.
8. Moonsword; damage done & parry armor varies with the phase of the moon, from 1d6+1 and 4 AP at dark moon up to 1d12+1 and 16 AP at full.
9. Glassword; invisible blade; since you can't see it, your chance to hit is reduced by 25 percentiles, but so is their chance to parry.
10. Soul Sword; magic intangible blade that does 1d6 damage ignoring all armor and cannot be parried (only Dodged). Also can't be used to parry. Countermagic and similar spells do count as armor vs. it.

>what could Sorcery do by way of item creation (beyond enchantment)?

        Well, with my current sorcery rules, it can make magic items that cast spells all by themselves when appropriate triggered. Combine the right spells and trigger conditions and you can make almost anything.

Dave Dunham (unusually) misses the boat re: the magic Godlearner swords
>Presumably nobody minded the swords themselves (other than the enemies
of the God Learners), but the
>process of making them was objectionable. I'd speculate that they were
created by killing a sentient being
>(getting their spirit to power the sword).

        I would say that the first statement is correct -- something about making the swords was objectionable. But I don't think it was something simple like killing a sentient being. What culture in Glorantha finds killing sentient beings objectionable? To the point that elf, dwarf, troll, and human would join together to stop the killing? What sentient being's destruction would arouse all four species to action?

        Nothing immediately springs to mind for me, I have to admit. In Pamaltela, it could be a hoolar. Everyone loves them. It's possible that nobody remembers any more what the Bad Thing was that was done to make the swords, in the same way that Praxians try to suppress the surprisingly-easy ritual to make a Ball of Tails.

Mark Mohrfield wonders
>What's the truth here? Has Sandy Sandied Sandy?

        Sandy aggressively denies any claim to either consistency or infallibility.

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