>flavour sense above sweet/sour/bitter/salt.
That's right. The orientals add a fifth sense -- "flavor", or "tastiness" or something. Seaweed and peas both add this, as does MSG. Onions have it, too.
PART OF SANDY'S GRIMOIRE
What is a Gloranthan Grimoire? It's not a collection of
spells. Instead, it is a compilation of handy ways to _use_ those
spells. Many experienced Gloranthans know these techniques, and will
remember to use them to enhance their spells' effectiveness.
ELEMENTAL NOTES
Elementals are useful for a great variety of tasks. If you
specialize in elementals, you can fly, burrow in the ground, set and
douse fires, and need not fear drowning. Since an elemental matrix
takes a hefty 3 POW, shamans may wish to keep small elementals in the
fetch, saving their POW for other purposes.
Take only sylphs and gnomes when traveling, (possibly shades if you expect trouble by night or undines if you're going by boat). Undines, shades, and salamanders are more effective for home defenses, where you can keep the appropriate element available at all times.
Defensive magic greatly enhances an elemental's lifespan in combat. A little Protection makes a big difference.
SALAMANDER TIP: To summon a colossal salamander, start with a small fire for a small salamander. Use the small salamander to start a big fire, perhaps using a sylph to fan the flames. When you have a big enough fire, you call forth a salamander as big as you like.
SYLPH TIP: Use your sylph as a missile shield. Place the sylph between you and the foe. You can see through it to cast spells, but their missiles hit the sylph, not you. Remember to cast Protection on the poor sylph, & periodic Healing, because sylphs have stinky hit points.
UNDINE TIP: Use a sylph to carry an undine into combat. Think about it.
SHADE TIP: you can use a shade as a cheap illusion at night. Just hide behind it as if it were a shadow. shaping it to cover you. Also, if you try to set an ambush with a shade in a very dark place, the enemy won't be able to see the shade to aim missiles at it (missiles are the bane of shades), and will be smacked by it before they can hit back.
GNOME TIP: Gnome-to-Gargoyle kicks major ass, especially when properly supported. First, use at least a 3-meter gnome. Second, invest some magic points; you're losing a point of POW for the gargoyle, so a dozen MPs is worth the investment. Give the gnome an Ironhand spell (not for damage -- he'll have a plenty big damage bonus, but for an enhanced chance to hit!), and it wouldn't hurt to cast Protection or Shimmer as well. Most Earth cults have a pretty good assortment of defensive spells. And now that it's a gargoyle, your opponents can't use Command Gnome to wrest control from you.
To keep them from hurting your gnome before it attacks, have it travel completely underground, so spells and missiles can't be targeted. Then turn it into a gargoyle in the midst of their party. A 3m gnome has 39 ht points, a basic attack of about 35%, and does 1d6+3d6 damage. Add a Protection 4 and Ironhand 4, and you've got a hell of a fighter.
3) Magic Spirits
Magic spirits can be among the most useful tools at hand. However, they can't see enemies to cast spells on them (unless you have the spirit cast Second Sight), and even then they have to figure out who the bad guys are. Proper training of your magic spirits can mitigate these drawbacks and turn them into truly impressive allies.
Teach them to obey one-word commands. Then, in combat, you needn't waste several SRs telling your spirits what to do -- simply sing out, "Melee!" and one spirit casts Protection while another casts Firearrow on your shuriken. Or whatever.
If a bound magic spirit casts Lightwall in an asymmetrical shape (an arrowhead on one side, say), then it is easy to direct the spirit to move it into position.
If you're a shaman, spirits are kept on the spirit plane, hence can always see a target's POW. Since they can also see spells being cast, simply order your spirits to cast their spells at the same target as you do. For instance, cast Disrupt on SR 3 followed by the spirits' simultaneous Disrupt (or whatever) on SR 5. The target cannot take much defensive action, since the 2-3 SR warning of the initial attack is insufficient to give him a chance to react.
Likewise, if a shaman casts a spell at you, watch out -- you might be about to get hit by a huge barrage of spells cast by the shaman, his fetch, and a medley of bound spirits.
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