Phil Hibbs Have you seen Sandy's description of Spectres? Illusiuonary monsters at their worst! What the heck, I'll post it myself. SPECTRES Spectres are living creatures of illusion. There are two typesof origins for these beings in Glorantha. The first are creatures made by the casting of the various illusion spells, and then given life somehow (for instance, by binding a spirit into an Illusory Substance). These are not described here. The second are more mysterious, and may date back to the Godtime. They are most common in the East Isles and environs.
Typically, a spectre looks crudely manlike. It usually has a head (but not always), sometimes more than one. It has limbs (various in number). It can stretch and contract its limbs and body, but it cannot actually change the number of limbs it possesses.
They possess only SIZ & INT, and Magic Points. Their SIZ is not true SIZ, but is more like an Intensity or Reality. All Spectres are similar in size -- about the same as a human. However, a SIZ 1 Spectre is very hazy and translucent, while a SIZ 10 spectre is so opaque it glows brightly. A SIZ 10 spectre can expand itself to be much larger than a human, but as it does so, it becomes dimmer and more foggy.
Spectres have 1d6 hit points per SIZ point. They do 1d10 damage per SIZ point upon a successful hit. The damage is peculiar looking -- wounds just "open up" on the victim when the spectre makes his attacking motions, sometimes not even touching the target's body. A small clawless limb can deliver enormous amounts of damage, depending solely on the spectre's SIZ.
Spectres are vulnerable to dispelling magic. However, the spectre does get to resist such a spell with its MPs. A Dispel Magic stronger than a spectre's SIZ blasts it out of existence. Each point of Dismiss Magic permanently removes 2 SIZ of the Spectre. Neutralize Magic dispels a spectre if it overcomes its SIZ with the spell's Intensity.
Example: Sun Tim casts a Dismiss Magic 4 at a 10-point Spectre. First, the spectre tries to resist the spell, matching its 15 MPs vs. Sun Tim's 14 MPs. Luckily, Sun Tim overcomes the spectre. Then the spell takes effect, blasting away 8 points of the spectre's SIZ. It is now a SIZ 2 spectre, much easier to deal with.
SIZ 1-10 Hit Points: 1d6 to 10d6 INT 1d20 Magic Points: 1d10+10 Move: 1m/SR per magic point (i.e., 11-20) weapon sr attk% damage blow 1 95 1d10 to 10d10 SPECIAL ATTACKS: a spectre can attack either a target's HP orhis spells. If it attacks his spells and successfully hits, damage done is treated as a Dispel Magic. Normally defensive spells are targeted first. If the spectre attacks hit points, normal damage is done, reduced by parries and armor. Spectres can be dodged.
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Spectres have no hit locations. They regenerate at the rate of their full HP at the end of each round. If it is knocked below 0 hit points, it "freezes" and appears as a two-dimensional ragged version of itself. It'll remain so frozen until it regenerates back to its full HP total, then return into action. If a spectre begins a melee round below 0 hit points, it loses 1 SIZ, and so eventually dwindles and vanish, destroyed by this means.
Some spectres are invulnerable to all but magic weapons. The usual chance of this being the case is equal to the spectre's INT x 3 or less on 1d100.
When a spectre loses SIZ either by Dismiss Magic or taking damage, reduce its hit points by a flat 3 per SIZ lost. Only reduce its maximum hit points, not its current hit points. If this drops the spectre's maximum HPs below 0, it is destroyed. If a spectre drops to 0 SIZ, whether or not it has any HPs left, it is destroyed.
Example of Combat: Sen Tim's spectre had 35 hit points, but his Dismiss Magic has knocked it down to SIZ 2. This costs it (8*3) = 24 hit points, leaving it 11 points. Sun goes into combat against it striking for 12 hit points, knocking it down to -1. That round, it regenerates 11 HPs back to a total of 10. Sen hits it the next round, with a critical hit, for 24 points of damage, knocking it down to -14. At the end of the round, it regenerates up to -3. At the start of the next round, it is still negative, so loses 1 SIZ, which also lowers its maximum Hit Pts by 3 to 7. Sen sadly misses the immobile spectre that round, allowing it to regenerate 7 points back up to +4. The fight goes on.
Carl FinkSong. But what the father wants is pretty irrelevant anyway, seeing as he lives in his wife's tent, not the other way round.
> Despite such tales, obviously the occurrence of
> unwanted pregnancies amongst the Doraddi is low.
Unwanted *by the mother*. The father might be pretty darn upset. Well, yes. Of course, the father can listen for the Birthing
> Mark asked
> Does this mean that something similar would also happen to
someone who has all their INT/CHA tapped >away by a sorceror? I'm not
sure if losing INT and CHA causes one to become a beast, or
vice-versa...
Technically, the lowest that a Tap can lower you is to INT 1. And INT 1 is, in fact, _stupider_ than a herd man. The whole fixed-INT thing is the problem here. Just Tapping someone's brain doesn't take away their free will or make them subject primarily to instinct.
From: Simon Bray <101635.32_at_CompuServe.COM> I have a query for Sandy: A while ago you gave me some advice on Fonrit, especiallyregarding the religion and mythology of that country. You raised the issue the the Fonritans had a group of Hero-Gods who circled the universe to save the world and then formed the Council of Gods (not to be confused with the Lightbringers). I know from Dave Dunham that the Umathelans have Nine Lightbringers, some of which sound is if they have Fonritan heritage, notably Rabilis the Sister Whore and Systella the Sister Witch who seem to bear some resembalance to the cult of Seseine.
The Nine Lightbringers of Umathela are not the same as the Fonritian hero-gods of the Circle of Light, though obviously there is some confusion between them, and it's possible that the Fonritian Council of Gods (the ultimate development of the Circle of Light) was somehow derived from Orlanth's Ring.
The Umathelan Lightbringers are clearly descended from the Second Age Theyalan colonist beliefs. The Fonritian Circle of Light is a parallel belief.
Gloranthan mythologies are not totally independent of one another, after all. All but the most deranged mythologies include reference to the Darkness, the death of the Sun, etc. though interpretations and emphasis vary enormously. Was the Sun God assassinated (Sartarite), murdered (East Isles), voluntarily martyred (Dara Happan), or did it just fall out of the sky because the sky dome was tilted (Doraddi)? They're just different ways of describing the same event - the loss of the Sun for the latter part of the Gods Age.
However, despite this caveat, the Circle of Light and the Lightbringers may not describe the same event at all.
NOTE: Greg is not responsible for the mythology above at all. It is the result of my own musings. Well, actually, Greg must bear responsibility for the Nine Lightbringers idea, but not their identities, which are as follows:
Tyloque - warrior man Ropotes - old man Cotoplan - bearer Thyla - green life Neiropha - damsel Rondella - pauper queen Phausia - warrior woman Rabilis - sister whore Systella - sister witch NOTE: Systella and Rabilis have nothing to do with Seseine atall. At least not according to the Umathelan forest barbarians, who know and hate the goddess Sidicos (their own name for the Fonritian goddess of evil whoredoms, Seseine).
Powered by hypermail