I used the term for Neolithic period magic. It was a working system, and you'd learn about it from your elders. It was primitive in that it didn't work as well as today's magic, not that it was incomplete. It would be unsophisticated, lacking any concepts like variable spells. As magical knowledge progressed, people figured out shorter and easier ways to get the same effects. But this doesn't mean the Neolithic magicians were a bunch of ignorant savages.
Some people seem to be using the term for systemless magic -- "just throw Magic Points into it and see what happens." I'd call this raw or wild magic, and there's no special way one can learn it. Presumably this was a forerunner of primitive magic.
I do agree that the magic of primitive (which really means very small-scale organization, like bands) people is more sophisticated today (Third Age) than it was at the Dawn. I'm not sure whether the Wendarians or the Bemuri (two early people I've run scenarios about) are more sophisticated -- I think Peter may be right that it's actually the much earlier Wendarians, but they were also a sedentary people who went on to form cities, which the Bemuri still have barely managed to do. Either way, these days you'll find people practicing the far more refined Spirit Magic of RQ3.
David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_pensee.com> Glorantha/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> NO ZUKES! Stop zucchini proliferation.
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