RQ2 gave Orlanth as its example of a major god;
It gave Kyger Litor as its example of a second-tier god, though Kyger Litor was near the top of the second-tier. (In retrospect it is not the clearest example one could have used, because that religion always was supposed to be at least as much of an animist practice as a theistic cult if not more so, and the mechanics have evolved over time to reflect this more clearly). Something more unambiguously theistic like Humakt or Issaries might be a better example today;
It then gave Black Fang as its example of a third-tier god, but intimated that many third tier gods were spirit cults that were even smaller or narrower in scope than Black Fang, (although the mechanics of a spirit cult (as distinct from a small cult) were defined more later).
By contrast the larger Praxian gods/demigods seemed to be either at the very top of the third division, or maybe the bottom of the second.
As far as I can tell, what has evolved over time is the correlation in game mechanics terms between the magic a god can give and the runes associated with that god. It has always been there to some extent, but it has grown stronger over time. This probably makes the mechanics of magic more uniquely Gloranthan than what has gone before
The latest refinement to this process, as I (probably imperfectly) understand it, is to make a very direct link in terms of game mechanics, between the number of runes with which any god can be associated and the status of that gods in the three-tier system.
It sometimes seems to be a bit tricky shoe-horning existing gods/cults into this new system of stricter runic associations, especially at a time when the system is also trying to shrink the number of core runes.
If forced to choose between the Fire/Sky rune and the Earth Rune, Lodril is better described by the Earth Rune. But are his cult's powers and feats really described better by the Earth rune than they would have been by the old Heat rune?
Secondly if Lodril's powers over heat are (now) derived from Earth, is it really logical that Ernalda (as the premier Earth cult) can duplicate everything heat-related that Lodril can do?
Maybe the answer is to have two levels of runic assocation:
A system of primary runes, the runes which denote the magic that a god can give to its followers (to which the system of ranking the gods using 'three runes', 'two runes' and 'one rune' applies); but
A separate means of using another rune or two to describe (and limit?) the kinds of feats that a god's association with his/her primary rune(s) allows its worshippers to perform?
For example, I have no problem with Doburdun granting his followers limited storm/air magic only because he is minor league (and was probably even more minor league until recently when the Lunar Empire latched onto him as "the acceptable face of storm/air worship"). Doburdun's cult should not be able to grant powers connected with a second rune.
At the same time I think maybe it would be useful to be able to use other runes to describe what kind of a minor storm god Doburdun is, (and which aspects of Storm/Air magic his followers can/can't do), without granting the followers of that god access to feats associated with these secondary runes. In a funny way it seems right to use the language of runes to flesh out the descriptions of gods in this way.
The earlier discussion of runes for other Pelorian gods suggested that Doburdun might not be the only god to benefit from this kind of description by reference to runes other than the one or two over which the god (and his/her cult) has real power.
Or maybe this is just another of my eccentric ideas ...
Richard Hayes
From: valkoharja <rintasaa_at_FNfBG9InRqPaSh3Jf8L6ufzk4wA0S0C6ZAeyA9bglR7rb0GibsTk1WTdq2JhiwHLODKgpow8KRu5sawIV8eJqA.yahoo.invalid>
Subject: Re: Opposing runes and the circle of elements - Lodril
To: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, 30 July, 2009, 5:06 PM
Power scale, I think.
The best part is that I seem to recall Greg saying he's ultimately an aspect of Orlanth.
-Adept
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