Hmm, The eleven lines you quote here are considerably longer than the 2 lines in your original message that did basically paraphrase to "Armour of Woad is Woad that you use as Armour". None the less there is much that can be seen as redundant if you want to run a book-keeping lite game.
>This spell may only be learned by a full Wind Lord.
All feats are performed at an improvisational penalty by non-devotees. The only way to duplicate this would to be to make it a secret rather than a feat
>It may only be cast during the High Holy Day of Orlanth upon a properly
>prepared pot of woad (a blue dye derived from the woad plant), and thus
>may only be cast once a year.
Which probably takes place "off camera", so all we need to worry about is if the Character has and can apply it in time - which is what the Feat represents...
> The woad must be smeared over the naked body of the user. A casting
>of the spell enchants enough woad to coat one man.
I'd assume this anyway, to be honest. I don't think Orlanthi combat feats are used to augment the whole fyrd...
> Each day that the woad is worn it declines in potency by 1 point.
Bookkeeping (boring)
>If the user ever puts on armour or clothing, the woad immediately loses
>all its magic power.
It has been suggested before that Armour of Woad should state that the wearer should be naked... I will conceed this is possibly true
> Once a pot of woad is enchanted, additional castings of Bless Woad
>will not enhance its enchantment. As long as its pot is kept sealed,
>blessed woad never spoils.
So, basically the feat can be performed at any time...
>Is this detailed in the rules... nope. "you would typically be using
>Armour of Woad to augment your defensive edge", you say as if it's
>obvious, but it is NOT.
Sorry, it is to me. "Armour" = "That stuff that protects you in combat" "Woad" = "Blue War Paint" therefore "Armour of Woad" = "Blue War paint worn to protect you in Combat", I don't really see any other sensible way of reading this...
>"Right, my player is going to smear lines of woad all around the clan
>grounds to defend against nearby Maran Gor worshippers that are
>threatening to shake the clan buildings to the ground!"... um...
Not quite sure what this is, but it sounds like a huge improvisational penalty to me...
>"Right, my player is going to smear his woad on a cheese sandwich. When
>he eats the cheese sandwich it gives him magical armour abilities until
>he next goes to the toilet"... er...
No, You're thinking of "pickle of invulnerability" - (I think that is a Geo cult secret - or a cheesy (pun intended) D&D Magic Item)
>You see, to me, both of the above examples are rubbish
We agree on some things then...
>The point is it is not EVER said what "you would typically be
>using Armour of Woad" for,
They don't say what I would be using my Chainmail, Large Shield, Spear and Broadsword for either, but fortunately, I was able to work it out.
"I'll send the Chain Mail to all my friends so they come to help me, and hide behind my Broad sword (I can do that because it is broad...)"
Remember, the game (every game) is what you make it. Try playing Hero Wars as Hero Wars rather than complaining because it isn't RuneQuest
RQ: "Eric the Storm Bull Wanders over. He is wearing enchanted Rhino Fat and has cast Bladesharp 4, Vigour and Protection 4 on himself. He wants to know if you have seen any Broo recently"
HW: "your characters are confronted by a wounded and naked Warrior covered in woad with a strange glow in his eyes. Although the afternoon is still, his hair is moving as if blown by a Strong breeze. He is touching his sword uneasily..."
--
Tim Ellis EMail tim_at_...
Christian people above all should know the Truth is not the same as
erasing ambiguity Robert Runcie 1999
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