Sandy gets all Psychopompous.

From: Alex Ferguson <alex_at_dcs.gla.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 23:08:12 GMT


Sandy Petersen, for whom Rule #2 is more honoured in the breach than the observance appears to agree with me about clan/tribe distinctions, and adds:
> It is my belief, incidentally, that the Praxian tribes and
> the Sartarite tribes differ in almost every respect but the name.

Indeed. Though I just airily said "tribe" in the original, let me say that I meant Sartar-and-similar-Theyalan-ite tribes, and not tribes Praxian, trollish, or anthropological, which I have reason to believe are all amusing different.

> Short List of Psychopomps

> ELVES: dunno. Suggestions?

Don't think they have a nominee in this category. They reckon their spirits just get churned round the eco-karmic wheel anyway, right?

In fact, I think Sandy's picture is a bit over-generalised. Daka Fal is really just a Orlanthi/Praxian guy, in my view. Other areas may have similar beliefs, but by no means identical.

> Harrek, with no gods to plead for him, will
> no doubt end up in the darkest hells available. Or he would, if he
> weren't a damn superhero with his own star in heaven. Dang.

I can see it now...

Harrek: "Where the %#?! am I?!"
Daka Fal: "You're dead. I shall now Judge you." Harrek: "Are you talking to me?"
Daka Fal: "Let's see, murder, piracy, more murder..." Harrek: "Are _you_ talking to ME?"
Daka Fal: "Looks like I'm going to have to send you to--" <*SPLAT*>

So I guess we have to get Bob("-E") de Niro to play him in the movie, right?

> What kind of bad afterlives are available from Daka Fal?
> Depends on your culture what you believe in, but plenty of Orlanthi
> in Dragon Pass believe that you end up in what amounts to the troll
> afterlife.

Nifty. Any thoughts on how Bad you have to be to end up this way? Is this getting into Grave Crime territory, or just not being miscellenously up to snuff?

> Incidentally, the Roman centurions were NOT officers -- they were
> more like unto a sergeant in rank, though they had the responsibility
> of a captain. A centurion was drawn from the ranks, and his pay was
> only twice that of a private soldier.

I wasn't sure about this, and I refrained from going and looking it up out of deferrence to the "Less RW analogies!" mob (not MOB). ;-) Maybe we should stick to such a model for YT regiments, though it's probably easier for an "NCO" in such to get a commission, as the soldiery and officer cadre are of the same religion.

> No, I think the entire Lunar army is probably not much bigger
> than what is shown in the DRAGON PASS game.

I'm not sure about this. Isn't the empire supposed to be fighting a war on about three fronts at this point? (Having never read Mein Kampf.) It may be that Sartar is the main event at this point, though, which other borders being held by provincial and allied semi-regulars, plus some of the specials which seem to be absent from SP. Wot, no demoness-eater-of-horses types?

But is this really all the phalanges that the empire can muster? I'd have though there would be about a couple of dozen of this type of unit, though of doubtless highly variable quality.

I do agree that for the sorts of reasons Sandy outlines, mobilising more than the DP battalia as a single, effective Army on one campaign would be a propect which would bring the Lunar High Command out in hives. Some of the units they'd have to deploy to do this might prefer fighting each other to the designated enemy.

> I hereby decree that Healers of Arroin still exist in certain
> Chalana Arroy temples. Probably in the solar-oriented temples, but
> not the Lightbringer ones. They're probably somewhere between the
> High Healers and the Healers in status, a kind of High Initiateship.

Hrmph. You didn't like my fix of making them "honorary" High Healers? (I though this described them quite well, due to the skill requirements for being a HH.)

> Well, what cults do _you_ think powergaming PCs should be
> joining instead?

Now there's a have-you-stopped beating-your-wife sort of question.

> [Kralorela Pack]
> Nils and I have toyed with the idea. right now we're hot on
> the East Isles instead, though.

We should probably exchange notes: I may Need To Know about the interactions of the EI (as especially the ESE, I think) and Vor(u)main.

> I decree
> that in my campaign, a human woman must roll her CONx10 or less, or
> die in childbirth. Hence, an especially feeble woman might be advised
> by her doctors to avoid bearing any children.

At the risk of getting into Zee Rules, I think this is waaaaaaaaaaaaay too (low) CON-sensitive. Assuming you waive the 5%-auto-fail, this would give chances of survival ranging between 100% and 30%. Something like a 20%-CON chance of death would be nearer the mark (or half that say, depending on the exact rate of carnage you want to inflict on your hapless NPC's), which could be offset by Rune magic on a per-point basis.

> Shorten Labor (Rune magic)
> [...]The total length of time that the woman's labor
> would normally last is divided by the points in the spell.
> Note that a single point of this spell does nothing -- at
> least 2 points are needed for action.

Just be glad it isn't possible to cast a 1/2 point of Rune magic... "Pain, suffering and grave medical risk are character-building, dear. Shut up and push."

Not that I advocate taking magical aid to excess. If it ends up easier and safer than modern RW medicine makes it, then that would be a bit fishy, to say the least.

Alex.


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