> What is the difference between the skills Ceremony / Enchant /
> Summon and the Spirit / Sorcery / Divine spells Enchant Item and
> Summon <species> and Control <species> ?
The skills are necessary to use the spells, in every case. While the spells are all essentially similar, the differences between them reflect the different natures of the three kinds of magic.
> I have a player with a Lunar character, initiate of Jakaleel the Witch,
> who wants to be able to summon, bind and control Shades. Jakaleel (in
> the unofficial write-up I have) has the divine spells to summon shade
> and control shade. However, anyone can see that the spirit spells are
> much easier and practical to use. No one is going to sacrifice power
> when a couple of magic points will do it. Are the spirit spells a Shaman-
> thing ? Or do elemental cults have access to them ?
The spirit spells can be hard to find if you're not a shaman or a member of a cult which provides them as standard spirit magic (*not* divine magic). Finding them is usually a shamanic quest. They take up free INT, which may require unlearning some of the other spirit magic spells you know, and will impede your sorcery (if you are a sorcery-user). They are chancier to cast -- a POWx5% casting roll as well as Summoning roll is needed to succeed. And your god may disapprove of your going to all that time and effort just to avoid making a sacrifice.
> If he has 47% Summon skill, can he just say, "Right-ho then, I'm going
> to sit down for an hour or so and work on summoning a shade" <rolls dice,
> gets 38>. An appropriate time later a shade appears without ever having
> to worry about divine or spirit spells.
No, he needs a spell (any flavour will do) as well as the skill.
> Or does he, being an initiate, go to his temple, sacrifice the power, gain
> the divine spells and have one use of the summon & control spells.
Could do -- this is the norm in theistic cults.
> Or does he, being an initiate, go to his temple, pay his priest to summon
> a spell spirit, beat it in spirit combat and learn the spells summon and
> control ?
Only possible if the temple has cult spell spirits which will provide the summon and control spells for the kind of otherworldly entity he's after: check the writeup. Most provide the divine spells instead, IMO -- it's hardly as if a good initiate, acolyte or priest will begrudge their deity a sacrificed point of POW.
> Or is the correct answer D) All or any of the above.
Probably this is true, too. Note that there are revised RQ sorcery and shamanism rules by Sandy Petersen and others in "Ye Booke of Tentacles" volumes 1 & 2, which may make this more straightforward (but may not, I can't recall)...
:::: Email: <Nick_Brooke_at_btinternet.com>
Nick
:::: Website: <www.btinternet.com/~Nick_Brooke/>
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #87
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