> I must confess to being a bit deflated by the non-theist rune
> suggestions. Most of what has been suggested can already done by the
> Orlanthi (Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes p75) and they don't have a special
> facility for doing so. So if the Orlanthi can do them then so can
> everybody else.
Unless there have been changes in this respect from the Tentacles Edition, my own reading is that the Orlanthi connection to their Runes is the same thing as their connection with the gods, so that the rules as presented show a distinctly theistic approach to magic.
Which would suggest that many of the things that the Orlanthi can do may be specific to them, and not things that everyone can do.
Apart from that, I'm a bit deflated by the suggestions myself...
> I should point out that as the rules stand, your personal runes do not
> have an ability rating so they can't be used to augment spells,
> grimoires or tradition knowledge. What the character creation process
> creates are affinities for thos runes. The personal runes aren't used
> to augment the affinities either but make them active.
Hmmmmmmm, well that's not exactly what the rules say, but I think I can see what you're getting at.
I think it would be worthwhile to always keep the being/theistic, having/spiritist, knowing/sorcerous distinctions in mind when thinking about Runic abilities in the three systems.
Theists like the Orlanthi *are* the Runes when they perform magic, so that it would follow that spirit magicians would own/belong to their Runes, and sorcerors would know the Runes.
> So my suggestions for use of personal runes for sorcerers and the like:
>
> I think Animists use the runes to become a charm for their patron
> spirits (eg Waha, Storm Bull, Telmor and Kargzant). Not that they now
> have a charm for Waha etc but that their body and spirit becomes a charm
> for Waha etc. Obviously they still have freedom of action but if they
> stray from Waha or whoever their patron spirit is, then their spirits
> from that tradition go kaput until the charm is remade.
I think this is the right approach, except that I disagree with your terminology.
Animists basically engage in social relationships with spirits, from what I have read on the subject in various publications and forum discussions -- this is how ownership and belonging manifests in these matters. The relationship can be to a superior, in which case the magician seeks to properly belong to that superior ; to an equal, in which case the magician seeks to negociate a friendship, a trade, a sharing of knowledge, a struggle, or a discussion about the weather depending on circumstances ; to an inferior, in which case the magician offers protection and patronage in exchange for services.
The great spirits will have many that belong to them, so that instead of being alone, the magicians all belong to the same cult/tradition of Waha for example -- the magicians will have an easier time with spirits that belong to Waha ; and a harder time with the enemies of Waha because of this.
But I think that the basic magic of the animists is that they have relationships with spirits that can perform magic tricks for them at whichever xWy rating. Depending on the nature of the relationship, this xWy may or may not be improvable for any particular spirit.
The Rune abilities of animists would then simply be a reflection of their relative position of influence in their Tradition and in the spirit world, and the relative power of spirits that are their superiors, equals, or inferiors (this could be whichever spirits have the same or a greater or smaller number of Masteries in the Rune - including temporary augments from social support and et cetera).
What I know of the Praxian situation is that Praxians belong to a sex/gender ; to a tribe ; to a spirit tradition. If each of these provided a Rune, and the player could also choose a personal Rune, should Praxians then start the game with 4 Runes ?
> For the sorcerers, there are several option, based on their theological
> background.
This is probably the most difficult of the three main magic systems to flesh out from this Runic point of view, and the suggestion that it should be based on "knowledge" of the Runes is abstract enough not to be obviously helpful either -- although it certainly does establish as you suggest that there can be several conflicting dogmatic approaches to magic based on variant understandings of "knowledge", and it can help give shape to one's thoughts on the matter.
We know that the God Learners anyway had a Runic system including all of the Runes ; so that, did the basic GL Grimoire(s) provide access to all Runes ? It would seem likely.
So the character generation of a sorceror could involve the player selecting whichever Runes the character knows about at the start of his career, depending on his studies.
Certain Schools might require that all its students must master Rune X prior to graduation, which would certainly be the case in some Orders focusing on Saints for example as they would focus on their Saints' personal Runic affinities as a primary method.
Certain Grimoires may provide easier access to some but not all Runic affinities in a similar manner.
Conversely though, this should not be preventative of personal research by the character, unless there were some taboo requirements NOT to study Runes Y or Z in any Order or School he belonged to.
Personally, I think that the flexibility of the Western Runic system should be represented by some greater flexibility in player choices than the other systems provide. Theists can freely choose their Runes (because that's just what they *are*), but these Runes then predetermine which gods they can follow ; Animists have a system of belonging/ownership which may require that the Runes they have are predetermined by their choice of sex/gender, tribe, and tradition they belong to maybe ? ; Sorcerors study these Runes instead of those.
Does that sound any good, or am I barking up the wrong tree(s) ?
Julian Lord
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