> A number of sub-cults have things like:
> - "barley" affinity, with "bless barley" feat.
> - "family" affinity, with "bless child" feat.
> - "making" affinity with "bless new building" and "bless tools" feats.
>
> I was trying to think how those bless feats would work out, and all I
> could really think of was similar to liturgical blessings, an augment
> to the blessed thing or person for the duration of the magic. But,
> it seems you could do the same sort of augment just with the
> affinity. Since devotees can still call on the general affinity, why
> would they learn those "bless" feats?
>
> Any opinions on how you could use a "bless" feat in a way that is
> different from just calling on the affinity?
Well, you could make life a hole lot harder for things/people that weren't blessed...
As Camo noted, a Blessed object can be used when the caster isn't present, but with all the magical and mundane dangers in Glorantha, a Bless cast on an infant will make it just a little better able to survive, a barley field to resist blights and rots and rusts, a house to shed rain, stay up, etc. You might think of these as "background" magic (sort of like Background Radiation) - under normal circumstances the Blessings allow the blessed things to live "normal" lives. When there is a major threat, additional blessings may need to be cast - sort of like innoculations against disease, but in this case against a whole host of bad things.
They can also be used as the basis for Ritual enchantments - "Bless this Plow so that it cuts the earth with ease" (Add the "Plow Hard Earth" feat to the plow, instead of having to cast it yourself every day during plowing season).
RR
It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has
done what he has done.
- Richelieu
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