Flower arranging spells for Hoplites

From: David Hall <100116.2616_at_compuserve.com>
Date: 27 Mar 96 18:59:30 EST


David Cake writes:
>Which is sort of my point - if they are trained Hoplites, then they
>don't need spells to form Shield Walls, they are already good at it.

Exactly! Just like light cavalrymen, who, if they have fast horses, don't need to use mobility spells to move faster - perish the thought! In a magic-rich society such as Glorantha I'm sure they'd always reject any form of magical stimulants to help them perform better.

I mean, it's not as if any self-respecting cult hero would ever *want* to HeroQuest to find a spell to make his regiment perform even better at what it does well already. If a Shield Wall spell makes my regiment's shield wall even more solid (even though a prerequisite to cast it is the ability of the regiment to actually form one) then I'm sure I'd always reject the idea out of hand. I mean, surely it's far more likely that the cult hero would be off seeking spells for better flower arranging or something else totally irrelevant to the needs or proficiencies of his regiment?

> Then why should they have magics that only
>work on appropriately formationed Hoplites?

Because they are a specialist hoplite regiment.

>The root of my disatisfaction is twofold - having the spell enforce
>the tactic implies a) that the spell is there to encourage the tactic, when
>the tactic should need no encouragement and b) that spells should be
>designed as custom crafted things of highly limited use, rather than a
>general way of creating a magic effect (which for a start I find
>mythologically unsatisfying).

  1. The spell enhances the tactic rather than encouraging it. The tactic was there before the spell ever was.
  2. It is only within the power of cult heroes to custom spells in a limited way. Because of the difficulties in creating new spells, teaching them, and the low number of worshippers in the regiment who can maintain them. More general magical effects are the province of more generalised (and better worshipped/powerful) deities. We are talking about a specialised cult here after all.

>Does Berserk say 'only to be cast on a Storm Bull berserk charging
>towards the enemy', or a Humakti bladesharp spell work only on the swords
>that are in the hand of a Humakti soldier? No, and I should hope not.

Oh dear. I think it should!

All Hail the Reaching Moon!

David Hall


Powered by hypermail