>>Oakfed was defeated by a mighty Lunar heroquest proving =
>>the Shamans mistake - but then the winners write history
Martin Dick comments:
>To my mind, the latter scenario where we have Lunars Hqing =
>to control Oakfed as the rebellious/lost son of Lodril and =
>praxian Shaman's desperately trying to help Oakfed from =
>being corrupted by the dark powers of Wakboth and trying to =
>use the Waha myth to turn him back while the rest of the battle =
>is raging would lead to a far more interesting game than just
>Lunar General roll your chance and Praxian leader (a strange
>concept in itself :-)) make a resistance roll. Now that is of
>course a simplification of what they said, but seems to be the
>essence of the mechanics they are suggesting.
You have a funny way of arguing. You simplify what we said to =
the point that it is out of context to what we actually meant and then tell us that our over simplified argument is wrong!!!!!!
Wacky.
I wasn't implying that it was one roll at all. Think about what was said - the Lodrili have a ritual as do the Shamans as they =
summon their respective spirits. In a RQ 3 sense thats going to be several ritual or ceremony rolls. If you are playing Pendragon Pass (soo to be seen in Enclosure - the Victoria Con book) then you would have the leading participants make cult virtue rolls.
This is before the two spirits collide. Then there would have to be sacrfices made and rolls to see how well recieved or performed these were and then when the spirits actually fought, there would =
be rolls made on the strength of the spirits, determined by the success/failure of each sides prepatory rituals. So if you truly =
wanted a mechanic for this I could write one in maybe half and =
hour. You might not like it but it would work. At that point any competant GM would use the result but fill in the blanks with his mythic knowledge so the players would feel the mythic significance of their acts rather than roll some dice.
>I guess my problem is that I want both, I want mystery and
>wonder, but I also want some framework for that. Maybe =
>that's not possible.
Sure it is. Make the mechanics the underlying structure then add the wonder and mystery on top. I suppose when you cast a rune magic you say "I cast shield" or something boring like that? What you should say is "Orlanth, bless me with the stoutness of you shield and the staunchness of =
Heler!" and describe a swirling cloud forming around the character that deflects magic and harm. =
In other words turn a mundane mechanic into a thing of wonder which is exactly what it is to a Gloranthan.
Nick Brooke Writes about the Moonbroth battle and my view
on it:
>I'd be inclined to give the Lunars much more credit for =
>originality and improvisation than that. Several factors give =
>them credit for excellent tactical thaumaturgy in winning the =
>magical battle of Moonbroth.
I don't disagree, it was pretty snazzy - however, I was trying to state my ideas without getting too complex - Martin Dick wanted a rules mechanic view so he got one. Unfortunately they tend =
to be simple.
>It'd be hard for the Lunars to have known for certain that they'd =
>face Oakfed shamans. Given the nature of Praxian magical warfare =
>(if Nomad Gods is any guide), Oakfed's Great Spirit may have been =
>summoned only weeks or days before the conflagration at Moonbroth: =
>little enough time to prepare a coordinated response.
>Treating it as "routine" for the Lunar army to have a supporting
contingent =
>of Lodril priests is unlikely, IMO. More probably, when the nature of th=
e
>the threat facing them became clear, the Lunars looked desperately for a=
>solution to the magical holocaust that faced them. Although *not* a god =
of
>Military Magic, the Lodril cult is a widespread and popular Pelorian
>peasant cult, with obvious appeal in the barracks (god of drinking, sex,=
>and R&R generally). It's likely that the General or the Lunar Magicians
>quickly assembled a contingent of Lodrilli from among the ranks of the
>Pelorian units, and that any priests or acolytes in their number were
there
>quite by chance.
I think this is a quite likely version of events. I would add though tha=
t
Sor-eels trip into Prax in 1605 might well have prepared the Lunars for
the differing spirits available and their intelligence would have been =
massively boosted by the presence of the Sable riders who had, till their appearance on the Lunar flank, been thought to be part of the =
defence of Prax by the other tribes. The Lunars would have known to some degree that the Oakfed Shaman would be there as the Sable Shaman would have told them of the opposition they were likely to face. (Those same Shaman would have helped the Lunar maps of the Praxian spirit world immensely IMO).
>Then again, Oakfed is the native wildfire god of Prax; Pelorian Lodril a=
n
>outsider on the Plaines. What gave the Lunars the additional strength th=
ey
>needed to defeat Oakfed's shamans on his home ground was the proximity =
>of the geothermal springs of Moonbroth Oasis, an obvious but previously
>unrecognised Holy Place to Lodril, God of Vulcanism.
Yes this would be an advantage and perhaps another good reason =
for including a strong Lodrili contingent among the force, ready to set u=
p
a =
temple there.
>So, in the face of an overwhelming threat from Praxian wildfire, the Lun=
ar
>Army was able, quickly and inventively, to come up with effective magica=
l
>countermeasures. Their superior magical sophistication allowed them, in =
>the face of an unprecedented peril and in the middle of an unfamiliar
desert,
>to make use of the natural magical advantages which they happened to =
>have about them.
I think a combination of both improvisation and careful planning is most=
likely. Another edge the Lunars have is the ability for priests of differing =
cults to support one another - much as the priests did against Harrek - t=
o
their cost later in the hero wars.
JANE WILLIAMS AND MUSHY PEAS Well said Jane! I've told them all about Mushy peas and how they soak up the grease on your chips when you go to the chippie but these culinary=
delights seem to escape my American and Canadian friends. =
I resent Pams 02% rating of my cooking ability. I don't HAVE a cooking ability. I have Turn on Microwave skill at 95% though and Peel Open Plastic Container skill at 150%. At a push I can open a can of beans but thats my limit.
Martin Laurie
Powered by hypermail