>
> > > Where DO I put such abilities? [...] It seems difficult for me
> > > to decide whether something is common magic, belongs to a
specialized
> > > magic keyword (at least if it's not very similar to another
> ability in
> > > that kw), or is a natural magic ability, which seem the most
powerful
> > > and thus possibly unbalancing.
> >
> > Most things should either be put in common magic or the Magical
> keyword.
> > While Glorantha is a strange and magical place, [...] natural
magic is
> > meant to be very uncommon, not for everyday.
>
> But then, PCs are just that. Uncommon and not everyday. Right? I
> imagine you'd have to step in if a player tries to equip a char with
> all sorts of superpowers, but as long as it's few reasonable ones...?
> Might be a bit too influenced by Mike now, who seems to propose that
> Natural Magic is free-for-all and take as much as you like. Mike, if
> that's reading your intentions wrongly, please tell me so.
>
This is not a `rules' answer, but rather a process answer. Let's say
that the narrative starts off "Antyr the fire starter" and the player
sees this fire starting as a magical ability.
This could be natural magic, and will start at 13 (plus any invested improvement points). Justification could be all sorts of things, including magical heritage, gift from a god, or whatever (`the oldest son in my family always has this ability' or `my mother conceived me on a hero quest') or it could be a mystery. Also as a specific ability it will not be too wide.
Common magic can be almost anything, including `start fire' (actually I think that is in the HQ book somewhere). If it were a charm it would work only as an augment (although every time Antyr tried to light a fire, with no extra justification required), so that probably is not appropriate. It could be a feat, spell, or talent though. However unless Antyr has specialized in common magic (talent) or the appropriate other world (feat, spell) the use would again be just passive. However if this is just to be a small feature of the character, common magic may be a good place for it. Common magic defaults to starting at 17.
If Antyr does not have some other advanced magic specified, perhaps this is just a cultural code phrase to refer to devotees of some fire religion. I don't know if you have Thunder Rebels, but `fire-starter' would not be an impossible nick-name for a devotee of Yavor Lightning. Perhaps the hero knows a specific `lightning starts fire' feat in his lightning affinity. Likewise some animist traditions would have a fire starting spirit which you could have in a fetish, so members of a particular practice might be known as fire starters. In this case those words lead to a broad array of magic as part of the appropriate advanced magic key word, typically starting at 17.
If Antyr does have an advanced magic keyword, this could still refer to a hero cult or helper practice. He could be an initiate of say Destor Adventurous, but also belong to the hero cult of Yggard Elf-Burner. That hero cult might give a single feat—start fire—or could offer a `fire starting' affinity with various special feats as part of it, that only devotees of Yggard would learn. Likewise a practioner can be a member also of helper practices, so might be a member of Nymko Nine-Tails, who offers up fire starting spirits (normally give an augment on starting fires, but can be released to use it actively). As an extra mini-keyword, this would probably start at 13.
Finally, he could have a `magic item' (normally this means it has some sort of spirit, daimone, or essence in it). So he could have a sword, thimble, tattoo, magnifying glass or what-have-you, which has the ability `start fires 13.' The device may have more potency than that, but Antyr has only learned to command it well enough to have it at 13. Implicitly the ability can be used actively.
The important thing is finding the right fit for how the player views the character and what the narrator finds comfortable.
I would submit that none of those options is unbalanced. Actually I'd say natural magic might be the weakest, but it can tie in to interesting mysteries about why the character has this ability.
Regards;
Bryan
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