Re: Stygians

From: TTrotsky_at_aol.com
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 16:19:48 EST


Peter:

<< >I don't think [Stygians] be specifically mentioned in the HW rulebook
>(doubtless they will be in later supplements, though) so this could be
>subject to change, but last time I asked, him, Greg's thinking was that
>they use the normal rules for Theist magic, but have a penalty to their
>chances of success and/or efficacy. They are, after all, 'doing it
>wrong'.
 

 I imagine at some point or another, some Stygians whether great or small achieve an occult awareness of God as a result of their devotions and thus have the potential for increased spiritual mastery. Normally these people joins one of the many shadowy
 Arkat cults as the secret masters and the elite warriors of Stygian Society.  Thus while most Stygians have pathetic magic, there is some hidden segment that fills more orthodox folk, whether Rokari or Orlanthi, with dread. >>

    I'd certainly imagine this to be the case. I have some difficulty seeing how they'd survive as a culture if they were magically inferior in every way to their neighbours.  

<< There are several other groups of henotheists who do not follow the above pattern IMO. They include the henotheist church, the Janubians, the Umathelans and some Fonritans. >>

     I quite agree.  

<<after >all, its well known that Orlanthi magic is a fusion of theist and animist
>(albeit with a preponderance of the former) yet in roolz terms, they use
>theist magic just like the Dara Happans.
 

 I wouldn't say the Orlanthi use magic just like the Dara Happans but that the Dara Happans have a different roolz method at some level that hasn't been detailed. The
 Orlanthi only appear to be normal theists because they are the most detailed.>>

     Debatable - both cultures and their cults are dealt with in more or less equal detail in the HW rulebook. Not that they're entirely identical, I admit - - they Dara Happans go in much more for the community-style magic rather than the individualist stuff. And there may be subtleties that will become clearer when the Players Books for the relevant cultures are released. After all, there is, apparently, a difference at the Gloranthan level so one would reasonably expect to find one in the rules too.  

Forward the glorious Red Army!

     Trotsky


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