>>Another possibility for "Low Magic" divination spells could be >>variants of Detect or Sense spells, aimed at the emotions and memory >>of the divinee.
and Martin Crim said:
> I don't agree. That is much too mechanistic and psychological a
> technique for most of Glorantha. Much of our own world, despite the
> ascendancy of Western Thinking, relies on different paradigms,
> explaining misfortune with stories of witchcraft, astrology, spirit
> possession, numerology (have y'all furriners heard of Louis Farrakhan?),
> etc.
I merely suggested a RQ technique to give a game mechanic for these spells. Their actual description would read somewhat different. Anyway, Palm Reading could be a Detect type spell, since the diviner has only the palm and circumstancial info to work upon. Fate isn't that strong in Glorantha that all significant events of a lifetime show in hand lines.
For a different technique for divination I propose this God Forgot approach:
"All the world's truths are stated in the Blue Book of Zzabur. Some are stated in plain text, but more are stated coded by numerics and hidden references to words apparently out of the current context. Zzabur's writing is full of these hidden references, and a person who owns the complete text of the Book at the Dawn, and who knows how to follow the references, will be able to find the ultimate truths of Creation. However, most have only access to fragments or chapters of the Blue Book. Lacking the total word sum, these still have the chapter word sums and references which can be used to answer less haughty questions on the world and its inhabitants."
Adherents to this approach will pay enormous amounts for shreds of Zzabur's writings (quite similar to us poor Glorantha scholars who bid high for Greg's unpublished early writings at Conventions' auctions... ;-).
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