Nils, on mysticism:
> All mystics have a [Mystic Philosophy] ability. The name
> depends on the school , e.g. Unrealization (Mashunasan),
> Perfect Stilness (Enrono).
Basically then, the 'Philosophy' and the 'Counter' are now the same thing? Doesn't this create at least a small chicken and egg situation?
> The mental discipline gives the mystic superb concentration
> and focus. This can be used to augment _any_ other ability.
Including 'passions', relationships, 'misapplied' worship numbers, etc? Not sure how sensible this necessarily is.
> Time Max. augment
>
> 1 minute +1
> 1 hour +2
> 1 day +3
> 1 week +4
Pretty stiff restriction. Esp. given what a loudy deal augments already are...
> As the mystic progresses he becomes increasingly immune to
> external influence. At w1 in the mystic philosophy the mystic
> no longer needs clothes and shelter for protection (modesty
> is anoher thing). At w2, the mystic no longer needs sleep,
> food or drink. At w3, the mystic stops aging.
These numbers seem on the low side to me. I'd bump 'em up at least a W, to seem more in line with the HW 'ability scale'. Also it should be more school-specific. Running around nekkid would be more within some mystic's Idiom than others, who might 'prefer' ones with different application (like more martial ones, most obviously).
> For each w the orthodox mystic has in the mystic philosophy,
> all opponents receive a -1 handicap in all contests against
> the mystic.
That seems a little modest, esp. at high levels. Also, I'm doubious about the idea that it applies only to 'orthodox' guys, with all the demarcation disputes and semantic quibbles that implies...
> Different schools
> teach different effects. This is where the eagle talons and
> the lightning bolt ridem fit in.
I'd rather use the 'whitespace is your friend' approch to that particular rulebook statement, I have to admit. :-/
> But, using these magical effects entangles the mystic with
> he material world which is not good for mystic progress.
> As soon as the manifets mystic has used a magic effect, he
> cannot increase his mystic philosophy with Hero Points until
> he has done purifications.
>
> This is an extended contest of the mystic philosophy against
> a basic difficulty which is the same as the mystic's own
> mystic philosophy target number.
Hurm. What about philosophy vs. the ability used, or the highest ability used, say? Always matching one ability against itself seems rather self-defeating.
> If the mystic wins a minor victory or better, he is purified
> and can once again increase his mystic philosophy. If he
> suffers a major defeat or worse, he fails and loses 1 point
> in mystic philosophy for a major defeat, 2 points for a
> complete defeat. With all other results, the purification
> fails, but has no long-term negative effects.
Making the 'marginal' results no effect seems problematic. If your TN is 2<something> or 19<something>, you have a _very_ slim chance of anything other than an effective tie. At the very best, you have a 1 in four chance of success here. Is the lesson to be drawn here, that mystics need lots of HPs?
> The world is a beautiful place and it's worth fighting for
What a terribly Manifest sentiment. ;-)
I like Nils' rules a lot better than the printed ones, let that least that be said. I'm having a sufficiently hard time discerning the Gloranthocentric intent of those, I must admit, that I'm far from confident about proposing 'fixes', hence, perhaps, the hedging and equivocation, aside from the above quibbles.
Cheers,
Alex.
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