I had similar thoughts about the details of this, but its fairly clear that using a not-very-appropriate ability could be disallowed or penalised in a straightforward way. (I recall a couple of circumstances vaguely like that even in the demo game.)
Another area that was rather unclear (to me, not necessarily in the rules) was if you wished to change the ability used in the midst of a contest. For example, suppose I overcome someone's Persuasion with my Hatred, but then want to deal with a _different_ opponent in the same contest with my Obfuscation, which seems more appropriate against her Law. Or whatever. Is this allowed, and if so, how does one manage the resultant numerological chaos as it affects my SPs?
> Humakt Death Lord with only sword skill be better at fencing than
> a starting Orlanth Wind Lord with sword skill, teleportation and
> lightning bolts?
Shameless tangent: Death Lords are Zorak Zorani, Humakti are called Swords! And yes, I blame Robin Laws for this disinformation, as it's expressed thusly for the Black Spear character. ;-)
> In Runequest, the Sever Spirit might kill the defender
> instantly, or have no effect at all, and the axe could damage the defender's
> weapon or remove the defender's limbs. In the full rules, do the consequences
> of a resolution depend on the abilities used?
I presume so; the magic rules seem to be somewhat Under Construction, though. Certainly Sever Spirit isn't simply "Combat", so I see no logical necessity that one would use the generic SP combat table. (Or rather, one of the two different ones!)
Slainte,
Alex.
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