> Personally I think that Magic, relatively useless as it is, might still function as a sort of jack-of-all-trades affinity to help enact magic and connect with the Otherworlds. It may indeed be a sign of a great future magician, though it does seem like a strange thing to have.
The Magic rune's main use "is an individual's "personal power"". I find it a very powerful rune in the game, as heroes can easily bring the power of their otherworld through themselves into the world. Their every act can be imbued with magic, rituals and power. In other words it's a great augment rune. It would start off at 17 or 13, 7W if the player added the max points to it.
> Stasis, though, really doesn't seem like something an Orlanthi would normally get. I can see it in conjunction with one of the 15% cults.
Stasis is one of those runes that Orlanth is in conflict with, so actual Orlanth followers are unlikely to have it, but i'd let character join any Orlanthi cult that doesn't have the movement rune, so no real problem. Female characters have even less of a problem.
> I wonder if it also helps one get along with dwarves.
It gives you the same traits as dwarfs, "Stubborn, inflexible, exacting". I doubt dwarfs would see that, although you might make a better piece for the world machine, so dwarfs may want to be your friend for more sinister reasons.
> It certainly won't make you popular among your own people.
I've not found it to be problematic, characters with Stasis tend to be conservative. I've a few players with the Stasis rune and it's fun when combined with Earth rune users.
> I rather doubt one can awaken the Infinity rune during adulthood initiation rites; if only because from a MGF perspective that'd make someone much more powerful than the other characters. It does seem more like an endgame thing to be unlocked after a very involved heroquest, perhaps by walking the path of a God or of a SuperHero, or by seeking out draconic wisdom.
Of the Infinity rune, S:KoH says "It is characteristic of gods, heroes, and dragons only." So I'd certainly allow players to pick it for their heroes'. As with the Magic rune, it would start off at 17 or 13, 7W if the player added the max points to it. However unless they came up with a cool hero cult that had it, they would only be able to augment with it. It does say that "it implies total control of the power flow around the user", which in HQ2 really means beginners aren't really very good at it. If a player wanted to invest in this rune, I certainly wouldn't discourage them.
The Fate, Luck, Magic, and Infinity runes are all good augmenters, one of my player's always augments with his Luck rune.
> Incidentally, I also wonder how many human holders of the Infinity Rune there are out there. I'd guess a SuperHero would have it; what about any of the "lesser" heroes? Did the people who founded hero cults acquire it at some point?
Not many and as the new sourcebooks currently stand, none, and we haven't seen any NPCs with 4 runes yet. You can definitely get more runes, it's just that you have to spread your experience points further. So I think most heroes will find a way (HeroQuest) to swap a rune, just like the Lunars can get you to do with the Moon rune (or the Chaos rune). For Orlanthi heroes, swapping your Mastery rune for Infinity seems like a good progression. Lunar heroes will become Sevened, then master all of the Moon phases, so infinity is not needed as the complete Moon probably functions the same way. I would say that Hero cult founders don't need to have it. I've always felt that the Infinity rune has a mystical feel to it, and so illumination, sevening, Nysalorian practices and dragon enlightenment embody part of it, the Orlanthi being one of the few cultures who use the rune to avoid those other practices.
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