As this is my first post to the list, I'll start by saying hi to
everyone. Next, a question. How common is minor magical healing in
Glorantha, and specifically the Dragon Pass area?
I'm not talking about the specialist, heavy-duty stuff that is the
preserve of Chalana Arroy and Queen Deezola healers, like casting out
disease, regrowing limbs, and so on; but the magical equivalent of
first aid - staunching wounds, setting broken bones, curing
stomach-aches, etc.
Back in my old RQ2 days, the answer was easy: "very common".
Certainly all my PCs learned Healing-2 as their absolute first
priority, and it was rare and surprising to find an NPC opponent who
lacked the spell. In HW, though, it seems that magic is much more
specialised - the *only* Heortling deities that provide *any* healing
magic are the specialists like CA and Ernalda the Healer. (and Vinga,
strangely enough). So what happens now to poor Jon Stormfollower when
he cuts his leg open?
- He bleeds to death. Tough break.
- He limps back to the village to find an Ernalda healer. Not too
bad if he was injured while milking the cows; a problem if he was on
a 2-week hunting trip in the mountains. If he's in the middle of
Snakepipe Hollow, see (1).
- He finds a Chalana Arroy or Bevara healer willing to accompany a
bunch of low-lifes on a highly dangerous trip to the middle of
nowhere, and manages to protect her from harm while fighting off
hordes of slavering broo (and preventing her from trying to heal them
as well).
- He joins the cult of Vinga. Dyeing his hair red shouldn't be too
much of a problem; lying about his sex may be more tricky.
- Although he does not have healing magic as a devotee of Orlanth,
he *is* a fully paid-up member of the Religion of Orlanth and Ernalda;
so he can call on one of the other deities in the pantheon to heal him
(in HW terms, with an improvisational modifier). "Great Orlanth,
please help Your servant who was injured while fighting in Your name,
by asking Your follower Chalana to come and heal my wounds."
- He becomes a hero and goes on the experimental heroquest "Orlanth
steals Xiola Umbar's magical healing balm" - from then on, all
Orlanthi who follow his hero cult will be able to use healing magic
themselves. I'd be *very* surprised if nobody had already done
something like that: healing is just too useful an ability for a
warrior not to have.
- Actually, he does have minor healing magic. Every Heortling child
learns it from his or her mother as soon as they can talk. It's so
common and trivial that the writers of HW didn't think it was worth
mentioning separately under the "Heortling" cultural keyword, but
that's where it would appear in those rules.
- as (7), but this time it's an artefact of the HW rule system.
Because HW conflict is more abstract than RQ, we can assume that minor
magical healing is going on all the time under the surface of the
rules - it's how someone can go from 3 AP back to 15 AP with a lucky
roll; they cast the equivalent of Healing-6 on themselves. However,
to carry out important healing activities that are the focus of a
scene rather than incidental to it, you have to be a Healer God
worshipper.
Which of these do you think best reflects Gloranthan reality?
Thanks!
Stephen