As written, your use of CON makes divine magic users the most powerful in all Glorantha! You sacrifice CON to the god, but do not lose any of it ... Either you can sacrifice indefinitely, becoming very closely tied to the god, and supremely powerful, or the player must keep track of "real CON" and "sacrificed CON" in order to maintain balance. Just like POW vs MPs.
If you're going to redesign the magic system, and not be tied to an existing system (like RQ), why not go all out? Here's my (soon to be flamed, no doubt) suggestion:
We are all born with physical and magical characteristics. The physical include one's Size, Strength, Constitution (I like this stat), Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma or Appearance. These stats all have base values, and some can be trained to higher values. Just like the RQ system.
Our magical characteristics include one stat for each of the five major magical systems (as I see them): DIV = divine connection, SPR = spiritual connection, PRE = presence, DRA = draconic connection, CHS = chaos connection. Together, these new stats replace what we now know as POW. We all are all born with these stats, and they all have a base value of 0 (zero). In other words, we have _no_ magical strength or ability when we are born. Left in the wild, we would grow up without magic. Our parents and our society help us learn to use our innate potential, and train our magical stats up from 0 to some species-max limit.
So, if you are raised in a Theyalan society, you learn to raise your DIV, and you gain a connection to one (or possibly more) gods, and can use divine magic. You might also be taught the rudiments of a spiritual tradition (the shamanic path), and increase your SPR. In this tradition, you can cast spirit magic.
True shamans have a high SPR, and can use spirit magic well. Depending on the culture they're part of, they might also have non-zero values for some of the other magic stats.
If you are raised in a Malkioni or Mostali society, you would learn to use your PRE to cast sorcery. I'm using Sandy's sorcery rules update as the basis for the PRE stat. Because of the beliefs of these societies, you would be unlikely to learn to use any of your other magical stats.
If you are raised in Kralorela, you would probably learn to use your DRA to increase your connection to draconic magics. You might also learn to use your SPR and PRE, and maybe even your DIV. A very powerful combination, to be sure.
Of course, if you're a Dragonewt, you'll learn DRA only, unless you go renegade ...
If you are raised in the Lunar Empire or among chaots, you would learn to use your CHS, your connection to chaos. Some chaos beings have a non-zero CHS stat from birth! A Lunar would learn to use CHS, DIV, SPR (maybe), and probably PRE too. Another very powerful combination.
Note that Urox (Storm Bull) and other anti-chaos types deny that we are born with any CHS. However, having the potential for CHS does explain how an unwilling being can become tainted with chaos ... Perhaps this can also explain the rape/chaos connection we've been flogging lately? Rape adds a tick to your CHS stat, which can be increased ...
Just as RQ had limits for the combination of STR, SIZ, and CON, perhaps we could add a limitation for DIV, SPR, PRE, and DRA, so that pure users of one stat have higher limits than those who use more than one stat. CHS would, of course, be unlimited. Or maybe this would be simply a game mechanic to keep power gamers at bay? Maybe "real world" Gloranthans don't have such limits, except those given by their cultures?
I realise that everything I've said has a very Genertelan slant to it, but I'm not too familiar with the magical traditions of Pameltela.
I also know that all of this applies to individual magic, not (the much needed) communal magic.
Finally, I propose that Lunar Illumination allows us to discover yet _another_ stat that combines the magic stats with the physical ones to define our seventh part. In this state, you lose your other stats and have only the one, ILL. Everything you knew is gone, but now you know so much more ... You new ILL starts at the value of your highest other stat (before it goes away...).
Now, I know that many folks are opposed to games with many types of stat, so I don't mind if you don't like my system. In practice, a PC would likely only have one or two of these new stats, so you wouldn't have to track them all.
Waiting for flames,
Michael
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Michael C. Morrison Santa Teresa Laboratory Phone (408)463-4706 IMS User Technology IBM Software Solutions Fax (408)463-3696 Lotus Notes ID: MCMORRIS at IBMUSM50 IBMLink: MORRISON_at_TORIBM IBM Mail Exchange: USIB47H4 at IBMMAIL or USIB4MCM at IBMMAIL X.400 Address: G=mcmgm; S=morrison; P=ibmmail; A=ibmx400; C=us
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