Me>> But the riddles are spells to _induce_ paradoxal sensations in the
>> mind of the answerer, are they not?
>_Are_ riddles spells? I would have said not. I believe they are
>psychological exercises aimed at breaking down a particular barrier
>in the minds of sentient beings.
What is the difference between a verbal psychological exercise and a spell, Grasshopper? A Joke is a Trickster spell to make people laugh. A Lie is a Deciever spell to make people believe in something that is not true. So why are Riddles Not Spells?
>There's a danger in Glorantha of assuming, because of the
>existence of magic, that everything strange that is encountered must
>therefore be magical.
What is non-magical in Glorantha?
>The problem, IMO, with formalising riddles is twofold. Firstly, the answers
>may become known ahead of time. Since the point of a riddle would seem to be
>the time spent puzzling over its meaning, to have already heard the answer
>robs it of its effectivness.
'Puzzling over its meaning'? Methinks you are taking the Zen Koan parallel far too strongly here. I always understood the answering of the question to be similar to being a victim of a Socratic Dialogue. It's done in a normal conversation and leaves the victim feeling slightly strange.
As for knowing the answers ahead of time, think! How does one know the answers? From reading it in an illuminated book? Then surely he knows the corresponding question? *OM!* If on the other hand, he knows the answer from a non-illuminate ('Er, somebody asked this funny question and I told him...') and is later questioned by the Riddler ('I know this one! 'Seasy! The answer is blah blah...*om*..whaddafu-?') then he doesn't have to make a skill roll when questioned IMO.
>However, I doubt that it is possible to get a second-class illumination.
>Sadly, because there are possibilities in the alternative, I think it would
>be a pure on/off sort of thing. Pity really...
I think that having answered some riddles qualifies you as a second class illuminate. Dunno about any benefits though. I think that if there were any, it was all destroyed by Arkat's Crusade.
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