Yep.
> Even the rules do not call Theism and the others "Magic", but they are
> the systems by which mortals can gain magic. So far, HQ2 has no rules
> for Mysticism. But previous rules did grant Magic through your mastery
> of the mystic tradition.
HQ1 didn't have mysticism either. HW did, but nobody was happy with those rules.
Trust me on this, (pure) mysticism does not give magic (there will be a but though). The (Vithelan) mystics say there are three states:
Indulgence (and excessive austerity) entangle you with the physical. Daydreaming, strong emotions and using magic entangles you with the non-physical. Both bringing you further from the mystical.
So for the but... You cannot do magic with mysticism, but you can refute both physical (cold, sword blows, gravity) and non-physical effects (despair, magic). On the surface this can look a lot like magic, but it isn't, and it cannot be used actively, it is always a passive side effect.
> According to the background material I have read for the various
> mystic traditions, that tradition is always a minority in the
> population. If granted through a god, there is usually a lay
> population that still sacrifices to the god and gains magic through
> the theistic system. One of the reasons that mysticism is a minority
> is that is has to be supported by the community, since the mystics
> gain no useful magic (or, more likely, have little interest in using
> it for reasons that derive from the gross nature of the world, such as
> feeding people; in fact, do so is supposed to slip the mystic back
> down the slope of enlightenment).
That's exactly the same way I have read it. Mystics can be useful to the community though. A monastery full of mystics extends the passive protection mentioned above to the "normal" people living nearby.
> Ultimately, the mystic is supposed to transcend in some way and leave
> the net of time. I would say that escaping the Great Compromise is
> some pretty powerful magic!
Very powerful, but not magic (sorry for the repetition). Also, the Vithelan myths know of neither the Great Darkness nor the Great Compromise.
>
> But, to return to the gods. describing their nature, I feel, should be
> done by myth and by describing the culture that associates with their
> pantheon. Generating the rule-based units that are used to connect
> player (and non-player) characters to the gods should only list the
> units that are relevant to this process. That would be Runes, in this
> case. Runes that the players do not connect to or that do not exist
> for playing purposes, in my way of thinking, are limited. They are too
> short to use as a shorthand for describing the interesting ideas of
> this god's myths and too limiting to give a quick-view into who that
> god is. Perhaps they are a great starting point for opening up the
> stories about this god, but trying to reverse engineer the stories
> into a rune association (without using that rune for gameplay
> purposes) seems like square-peg-round-hole-ism to me.
That is a very valid line of reasoning. The "Cosmic Order" does permeate Vithelan myth. It is relevant, but perhaps so pervasive that it can be ignored.
There is one gameplay use though. As I mentioned in a previous post, I think your affinity with this rune is actually helpful in mysticism.
/Nils W
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