First off, the *basic* rules are still the same no matter what ability you're using - magic, combat, relationship, basic arithmatic - You choose an ability, add augments/penalties, and roll against a resistance. That basic mechanic should *not* change.
For the record, I'm in favor of removing the "equipment" bonuses for
non-ability weapons in all contests, especially including combat. If you've
got bog-standard gear, you get no bonus. If you're missing gear, you might
get a penalty. I might be amenable to +/- equipment bonus/penalty for
"better gear", but Plate Armor and Two handed Axe vrs No Armor and Dagger
can favor either side - I had a teacher who could whip most anyone with just
a stick, so even that isn't a rule I'm totally for.
If you've got a piece of equipment as an Ability ("Spear of the Morning Sun
17", then that's an abiltiy and you can use it as an augment or actively,
just like any other ability). And if you want named Ability-items for other
things "Pen of the Gracious Prose", Counting Board of Significance",
"Senthera's Hair Curlers" you can apply them to appropriate contest as a
normal ablity.
That's just my take on the "equipment" question. Makes all "basic" contests equal, doesn't make combat "different" than any other contest because of all the automatic Equipment bonuses.
As far as magic, and the differences between God, Spirit and Essence magic -
I'm for difference. The main differences are:
1) How do we get it.
2) How much can we play with the name to get an effect.
#1 is not really a problem at all from my point of view - we don't get Combat abiltiies the same way we get Relationship Abilities, or Literacy abilities, etc. So having three different worlds having three different ways of getting magic doesn't faze me. "No, Bobby, you can't learn 'Sword and Shield Combat' from a tree, you'll have to find a teacher."
#2 - The ways we can use magic - this is not a question of changing the basic contest system, but additions to it (just like "equipment" (whether the current auto bonuses or my suggested Ability-equipment ones) bonuses are *additions* to the basic contest resolution system). Having the magic used differently is not *just* a mechanical difference, but an insight into how Glorantha works -If you improvise a feat, you are doing something your god could have done (obviously, I'd rather see improvisation in the mode of a particualr god than just "Mastakos *could* have ridden a horse if he wanted to" - but that's really a Player-Narrator question). Spiritrs can be really powerful, but can do limited stuff, and can't get any better. Spells do what they say and no more. I *like* the differences.
And since I'm on a roll...
Common magic - make it all augment-only, and forget about "where" it comes from (ie, remove the "Feat/Spell/Charm/Talent" categorizations).
Concentration - Rather than concentrate on a particular system of magic, concentrate on a particular being. So you want to Be a Devotee of Humakt? Great, you can't have any other kind of magic (even Common magic). I'd abolish the "Concentrated Initiate/Practitioner/Lay person" categories altogether. If you want to concentrate, you need a strong focus to concentrate on. if you want to change your concentration (Now you want to be a Devotee of Chalana Arroy?), then you'll lose some abilities because you were so focused on another being. Shamans would (I think) concentrate on their Fetch. Magi, possibly on their Familiar (since I haven't seen the Magi rules, I can't really comment - maybe instead of their familiar, on a particular School or Founder node. I haven't bothered to think much on them).
But may main point is:
The three-world model can work easily in HQ, as it doesn't *change* the
basic resolution system, but adds to it.
The question then becomes: "How much *you* want added?" In an ideal world (or, as we say around here: "If I ran the zoo"), the basic presentation would present the three-world mopdel in the "Where we get our magic from" text, and be pretty vanilla in the "How do we use it" part. But the Advanced magic levels *should* have more particular-to-their-system rules.
Go ahead and present counter-arguments if you want, I don't really care. Some points I'm not strong on, some I think pretty strongly should be the core concepts of that particular part of the new Gloranthan-HQ. Some things I can flip-flop on, some will remain steady. At the end of the day, unless I'm picked to work on the manuscript you won't have to worry about what I think anyway (unless you play in a game I run).
RR
The questions that have come up are more in the "How do we learn" and "How
much can we get away with improvising" magic.
He was born with the gift of laughter and the sense that the world was mad
R. Sabatini, Scaramouche
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