Re: Initiates using feats.

From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_...>
Date: Sun, 08 Aug 2004 14:56:08 -0400

At 06:27 PM 8/8/2004 +0000, Jane Williams wrote:
>I have generated an initiate of Vinga, who has concentrated her
>magic. She gets all three Affinities at 17, and can improvise feats
>from them at -5, so can use the feats at 12.
>
>If I either put them in her 100 words, or "buy" them with a HP in
>play, she can learn stand-alone feats from any other sub-cult of
>Vinga, or of Orlanth (and possibly of other cults too, but that's a
>tangent).
>
>And those stand-alone feats, she'll get at 13. Not 12. By default,
>she can use the magic of any other subcult more effectively than the
>one she's an initiate of. If she was unconcentrated, and improvising
>at -10, it would be even worse.
>
>Either I've completely misunderstood the rules (again), or there's
>something horribly wrong here.

         My impression is that most Initiates use Affinities to augment other skills ("Barntar, give me strength," "Allmother, help me get the kids sorted out.") rather than calling on the sort of deep knowledge of a myth/the god/whatever to use a feat. Initiates just aren't that closely connected to their gods (especially the ones who haven't concentrated their magic and are still screwing around with charms and spells and that sort of thing). So they aren't using feats very often, unless they have developed a special relationship to the myth/power (ie, they have bought it as a stand-alone feat) -- which I think is probably not all that common (except, of course for player characters). If you wanted that kind of connection to a god (or a god wanted that kind of connection to you), you would be a devotee, right?

         In game mechanics, the numbers are a little weird, but only at the very bottom of the scale -- if you start your Affinities any higher than 17, you will have an equal or better chance improvising a feat than using a brand-new stand-alone feat (assuming you concentrate). While the stand-alone feat could increase faster, each Affinity contains a range of improvisable feats and is more flexible. I don't think the numbers are that ugly.

         I also think that stand-alone feats should have some sort of worship cost -- if you are, say, a Vingi , and you want a stand-alone feat from Hedkoranth (I'm not sure that this is possible, but I don't have my books with me), surely you need to stay in Hedkoranth's good graces to keep the feat, right? So it shouldn't cost just HP but a trip to a shrine now and then, a few sheep for sacrifices, and the occasional getting tapped for some Hedkoranth business (play the god in a ritual or something). I don't think you'd need to start adding up worship percentages, but using stand-alone feats as a sort of magic buffet seems kind of against the spirit of Gloranthan religion....

Peter Larsen