[ replying to my suggestion about diversifying spell names ]
> I agree with the last point, but when it comes to the first I'm a
> great heretic: I do not think spells have names at all. This sounds
> stupid, I know, but its a matter of language. IMG people do not say
> "I know the Bull's Hide spell" but "I can make my skin as tough as
> the Bull's Hide".
Ugh! But the intent behind my comment went in exactly the same direction as yours! As a GM, I _never_ had any NPC use game terms for magic. In fact, I think I never did as a player, either. Flowery names for spells should be only a suggestion to players about the sort of periphrasis their characters actually use to refer to the magic effect they invoke, not the official name the High Priest uses for the spell. Coming back to our Shield example, an Orlanthi who used Shield in battle could tell his tale like "When I saw the huge broo I invoked Orlanth's might to make my armor as tough as his mail coat, Turnspear.", which is better than the game lingo "Then I cast Shield/Turnspear/Whatsoever on myself to fend off the broo's attack". I simply think that having a direct reference to Orlanth's myth in the spell designation can induce some players to choose the correct language.
And after all, this "taxonomical" approach to magic is clearly a God Learner construct...
Donald Wachenschwanz
> However, in a situation where an Orlanthi is being approached by a Lunar with lowered
> spear, this particular Orlanthi, who for whatever reason has never been shown the
> secrets of "The Arming of Orlanth," but knows that Orlanth is an awesome deity, thinks
> in a split second, "Orlanth protect me from that spear:" Will not Orlanth, in
> recognition of the worshipper's devotion (runepower points) cause the worshipper to be
> surrounded by his Shield (or "Turn Spear" as someone suggested)?
You pointed out the exact situation that makes me sceptical about "generic" Runepower. In your example you assume that the Orlanthi has proven his devotion to his god by sacrificing many points of POW. So Orlanth should intervene with all powers he has available to help his worshiper. I have three main objections.
First of all, your solution involves a certain degree of intentionality on the deity's part. Does it not violate the Compromise? I believe that going out of the known schemes requires Free Will, which is a characteristic owned by the worshiper, not the god.
Second, you are using sacrificed POW as a measure of how worthy the worshiper appears to the god. My opinion, instead, is that a woshiper proves worthy to his god by walking his or her Path as stated by the GC, both in re-enactment rituals and in notable deeds on the mundane plane. Your Orlanthi has never participated in a well-known Quest, not even in the rituals, so I think he risks being judged unworthy of protective magic by Orlanth, no matter how much POW he donated. Orlanth prefers worshipers who show bravery in front of the enemy, maybe calling upon divine powers who , not people who start crying "Oh, my god, help me against this foe because I have no means of overcoming him". The sort of prayer you suggested sounds too "chrisitianized" to my ears. A RW viking, which is a good template for a gloranthan Orlanthi, would never enter combat with such a plea to Odin: he would feel a coward if he did.
[ No offense to RW believers, the above judgements are limited to roleplaying barbarian characters. I still prefer the christian idea of "man can succeed only with God's help" when not roleplaying. And "cowards" are the guys who survive and keep humanity alive. ]
Third, it sounds too much like "Pay POW, get spell" to me, which I do not consider very good for Roleplaying purposes. I am afraid most players would abuse such flexibility with the excuse of the high POW cost, much like many tend to do with DI.
But maybe I am misinterpreting your POV.
Owen Jones
> In the same way that your battle magic spell Healing 2 has to be learnt on
> top of Healing 1, you could require that before you can stack two
> points of Shield (or whatever), you have to complete a more intricate
> version of the ritual wherein you learnt Shield.
> Conceivably, you could require that to stack 2 points of a spell, you
> must perform the learning ritual on a cult holy day. Performing it on a
> high holy day might allow you to stack 3 points. Alternatively, only
> certain temples might have the priesthood in place that could lead you
> properly through the more involved versions of the "Shield Ritual". If
> these rituals are in fact minor heroquests, where you act out some part
> of your gods mythos, then learning how to stack points further could be a
> heroquest proper (or part of a heroquest)
Why should the learning ritual be separate from the main Worship rituals? If an initiate attends High Holy Day cults and "plays the role" of the deity in it (rituals as roleplaying: an interesting new perspective...) after being instructed by the priesthood, or simply concentrates his efforts on a deeper understanding of one aspect of myth, he has certainly gained enough insight in the appropriate myth to be able to cast a new spell or to stack a known spell one level higher. Subcult or associate spells could be gained at an appropriate temple on the subcult's Holy Day. Maybe Sacred Time is a also good time for new spell-yelding rituals.
I think that an Initiate should visit a temple outside Holy Days or weeks allotted to temple duties only to sacrifice for Rune points, not to increase his spell array. This way it is the normal (i.e. required) temple attendance that increases the cultist's knowledge of the cult secrets (Rune Spells), whereas POW sacrifices only give him "fuel" for his Rune Magic, like Erik Sieurin's Soul Points. And this is fairly consistent, IMHO, since it makes people who attend all yearly rituals fairly powerful. Priests, OTOH, are much freer in performing rituals than Initiates are, and not only they have already mastered most mythical paths, but they can try new ones without further instructions. Probably they can try a new ritual each Holy Day, while Initiates are limited to the High Holy Day.
Heroquests should not be a requirement for normal spells, since not all worshipers have access to them. However, re-enacting the mythical path on the Hero or God Plane yelds a much deeper insight than a mere ritual, so it should allow the quester to stack many more points of the related spell, or perhaps enhance the spell effect or make it reusable.
One question is still unanswered: what myths (and rituals) give access to common Runespells? Maybe Sacred Time rituals, which are performed, though differently, by all cults?
http://www.geco.it/~guccione ------------------------------
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