Healers

From: Sandy Petersen <SPetersen_at_ensemblestudios.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 14:08:20 -0500

	Jane Williams


	>After all, what do healers do? 

		As Jane points out, most Gloranthans have their own

tidbits of first aid (i.e., Heal or Treat Wounds). So what do healers do? Obviously, the main source of a healer's income in Glorantha, just like ancient Earth, was to cure diseases and accidents. I would suggest that the main healer jobs in Glorantha are:

1. treat disease (illness is rife in Glorantha)
2. purify diseased places and articles - if a broo fouls your well, call a healer! If someone in your family has been suffering from Creeping Chills, you'll want a healer to cleanse the room & garments if at all possible, right?
3. treat poison. Venomous snakes and insects are as common in Glorantha as earth. Even if a bite doesn't kill you, in game terms there is "general hit point loss", which Heal spells won't deal with.
4. treat problems that aren't exactly disease or poison. Such as exposure, or drowning, or amputation.

>So if PCs don't have headaches or bad breath, and don't worry
about their mother's back >trouble, what is there left for a healer to do for them?

                Not a heck of a lot. How often does a healthy person see a doctor? For me, maybe twice a year, if I get to count my dentist as one of my medical visits.

                Presumably a healer who hangs out with PCs becomes a combat healer, a sort of medic. I've always found these folks to be extremely useful. The warriors go into combat, and the healer fixes them up during and after battle. Sure the PCs can heal themselves, but having a healer is much more efficient.

                My own campaigns have never had a full-time healer PC. There have been healer specialists, but they also did other things. Of course, there are full-time healers in the villages and towns.

	Bill Thompson 


	>I need some information on Umath and his cult in first age

Fronela Pre-Carmanian era. 
	Suggest you  make it up yourself and let us know what you find.

	Me: 

> rape is an act devoted to Thed, and any rapist stands a (admittedly very small) chance

> of going into broo-hood.

	Carl Fink
	If the above is literally true, that "any" rapist can become a
broo,
	then I'm much happier with Glorantha. If it only works if the

rapist *has heard of Thed and expects it to happen*, then I'm really irritated.

                Be happy. It has nothing to do with the rapist having heard of Thed. It's just the way the world works. HOWEVER, it's possible that acts of rape that are overpoweringly meant for other purposes might _not_ turn the participant into a broo, because the hostility, violence, and lust of the act are not present in the "normal" way. For example, a ritual rape done for (evil) religious purposes might not turn the perpetrator into a broo.

	Stephen Martin
	Hmm, I wonder if anyone in Glorantha theorizes that dragonewts
evolved
	from dinosaurs -- intelligence comes after beasts, right? 
		Only individuals who'd never encountered one or both of

these creatures.

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