Me>> All seem to have the similar pattern of
>> commoners use easy magic, while powerful magic is restricted
>> for the few.
>That's true, but in the mixed magic societies mentioned,
>the commoners have more magic than in the pure ones.
I don't think so. The Praxians and Hsunchen are generally animist and their average members have just as much magic as the Orlanthi.
>If you mean
>that the Lodrili commoners aquire more magic because they
>have to fend for themselves to a higher degree I can see a
>point,
I didn't. They have more magic than the average Pelorian citizen because their overlords or priests have great difficulty in forcing them to yield their magic to a distant priest or official.
>but I still don't think of them as very magically
>adept.
But I don't consider the average Orlanthi to be very magically adept either. So there is little difference in the availablity of magic to commoners regardless of tradition - what difference does stem from social factors IMO.
>But I think that a
>Malkioni commoner's magic is very limited as he would
>normally trust the local wizard to supply the magic he needs
>and is entitled to.
This isn't the Malkioni approach to magic. Wizards do not cast spells for the average Malkioni because there are too few wizards for that purpose. The Malkioni uses his magic for what he does best and supports Society (Soldiers for protection, Lords for leadership, Clergy to keep in touch with God) so they can use their magic on his behalf in areas where his own magic is worthless.
>> IMO a full sorcery adept would be scared shiteless of tangling
>> with his Stygian counterpart.
>Bad phrasing, I was comparing a common Stygian to a Malkioni
>adept.
Well that's still a fallacious comparison to use. One should compare similarly powered magicians to compare the magic capabilities of both cultures. Unless you had some other meaning of adept in mind?
>I think the sorcerer is firm in his belief
>that his magic is superior, and thus more powerful, but there
>is still the nagging fear that the stygian has gained an unfair
>advantage because of his dealings with infernal forces.
Virtually everybody thinks their magic is best, and thus more powerful. Thus this is hardly evidence as to whether the magic of a sorcerer is more powerful than his Stygian counterpart.
>> This would be the Doraddi and I believe virtually
>> all Doraddi would know some magic and that the spectrum
>> of magical power within their society resembles the
>> Orlanthi or the Praxians.
>That is something I have a slight problem with. What we know
>about the Doraddi stems from a time when they seemed a lot
>more theistic when they are supposed to be now.
When was this? As far back as Cults of Terror, Pamalt was specifically said to be in the Animist camp.
>In Sandy's
>Pamaltelan work, they seem about 50/50 theist/shamanic.
Sandy's work had the Doraddi similar in practice to the Horned Man or the Hsunchen. Any theistic elements in the Doraddi cults are largely an artefact of the RQ3 rules IMO.
>> I don't think the Praxians are mixed and their most powerful
>> magic is concentrated in the hands of a few.
>I think they are a shamanic/theist mix, but with the proportions
>reversed as compared to the Orlanthi. The religious leaders are
>shamans, but the Paps seems more theist and there is a cult of
>sorts of the Storm Bull.
The issue was generally accessible magic. Arguments about the nature of the priesthood at the Paps or the Storm Bullies is irrelevant. Most Praxians use animist magic for their daily lives and it provides them with as much magic as the average Orlanthi.
>I think the muxed mystic traditions are rather
>weak magically, as mysticism abjures all magic use.
I don't think the magic gained from worshipping an eastern god (who is really a mystical concept if I understand Greg correctly) is any weaker than theistic magic.
>Martial
>arts is not necessarily a mixed tradition btw, the first
>martial artist, Darja Danad, was a mashunasanic monk for
>example.
He learned secret stories from the Elders and had become obsessed with Kabalt before becoming a Monk. Hence I don't think he was a pure mystic.
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #272
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