Re: Digest Number 159

From: JEFFREY KYER <jeff.kyer_at_...>
Date: Sat, 01 Jul 2000 14:43:06 -0000

> >Running 10W3 should be somebody that runs the
> >100m in 9+ seconds, not somebody who outruns a horse. Othervice
> >Glorantha has seriously changed, and no longer resembles our earth
at
> >all, even in the mundane world.
>
> This is only true if you allow a human to have a purely mundane
physical
> ability at 10W3.

Eventually, a truly heroic individual outruns the horse. My view on the subject is that when you start getting into the w3 region, you are
becoming magical. THere is, in HW, no abrupt barrier betweenthe magical and the mundane. Apparnetly its a smooth progression. Eventually, your abilty just HAS to be magic.

I know Karparov's abilty to win 20 chess games simultanously is magic.
 Its gotta be, right? =)

(And in RL, a human can easily outdistance a horse, if the walk is over a longer period of time -- 2-3 days. We evolved to run down prey, afterall. Albeit slowly.)  

> I can't think of any physical abilities that any real-world human
has
> that I would count as that high. Long-distance running is supposed
to be
> the human physical specialisation, and that maybe would make a
10W2.
>
> Plenty of mental abilities, particularly stuff like play chess,
would be
> somewhat higher.

And, of course, we're not in the real world here. Glorantha is like the sagas and Irish myths. I'd love to know when Finn MacCool stopped
being a precoius boy and became the magic killer thing we all know and
love.

But that being said, there comes a point when a hero knows he's a Hero. I suspect that its when other folks start to worship him and get benifits from it.  

> Now, given the difference between Earth and Glorantha is magic,
then
if
> you have a human with an ability level higher than that, then they
are
> using magic. QED.
>
> This is not to say that an ability that starts off as a normal human
> capability can't be developed beyond the point that any real world
human
> could reach.
 

> It's just that, after a point, you have to change the explanation of
> that Mostali's 'Program Golem' skill from being 'he's very good at
his
> job' to 'he has become one with the world machine'.
>

 Eventually that is what happens. But there's no real hard and fast cut off point. I prefer to use w3 as a rule of thumb. w2 is usually 'the best we've had in our Clan for generations'

Anything better than that is 'obviously magic' -- or at least that's how the clan will describe it.

Jeff