> > Is the idea still that the magic systems are ranged from primitive to
> > sophisticated, and that the ultimate powerlevels of the magicians are
> > connected to this?
>
> I think this is flawed. RQ required an upgrade in power level to
> represent character advancement. It was unelegant. HQ IMO better
> simulates Gloranthan reality in that it is the characters advancement
> down his chosen path that defines his power level. Thus Bog
> Spirit-Eater who has a best magical ability at 1W3 is way better than
> Iccius the wizard adept who has his best magical ability at 10W.
Of course. Not the _ultimate_ power levels. The thinking was that a sorcerer _can_ end up more powerful than a shaman can. Actually it was even more sophisticated. The point was that a beginning shaman is more powerful than a beginning sorcerer, but that the sorcerer gains power faster from there on.
power
* * ww * ww * ww ssssss * ssssss * ssssss *ssssss ww * ww * ww * ww *ww * * -------------------------------------
> > In the RQ era there was some speculation (and evidense of this), and
> > reading the HQ books, I see shades of the same.
>
> Book and Page number?
The animist only needs to pass a w3 barrier to get at his spirits, and the power of his spirits (in the examples) is capped at a certain level. One spirit can be taken as a "pet" and fed more power, but that doesn't much help the overall power of your magic.
> > Animism gives quick access to some useful power, but the power level is
> > capped pretty soon. I started thinking about this since broo and scoprion
> > men seem to be compleatly animistic these days, and this makes their magic
> > pretty weak. The Dark Gods just aren't that scary anymore.
>
> Eh?A concentrated practitioner is scary!! Just look at Grazelander
> warriors. Mounted, first class weapon skills and, as practitioners can
> release spirits from fetishes for big bonuses. In our group when we
> came up against Char Un we were suitably scared.
The cultures can be scary, but I was talking specifically about the magic, and power of same.
> If you look in more detail at the rules for animists, the practitioner
> can go hunting for more powerful spirits than are listed in the book.
> The book spirits are for guidance only for low to mid power animists
> IMO.
Ok. I suppose that helps.
> > And at the far end we seem to have mysticism. So esoteric and specialized
> > that most people even in the lands of the mystics don't really have
> > anything to do with it. The mystic spends a _lot_ of time before learning
> > any magic (three abilities to two masteries) and doesn't really gain much
> > immediate power even then. But...
>
> IMO mystics are to be used in games like Illuminates and Dragonewts.
> Although anyone could play one, I think no one could. And maybe at
> least half of that is that I wouldn't necessarily know if they had
> played it right!!
Yes of course, but I'm just speculating out loud about the nature of Glorantha. Oh, and I do actually much around with EWF secrets and dragon magic in my games. One of the most fascinating aspects of Glorantha, I think.
> > Civilization is what brings power to magic.
This, btw, was meant as a joke. Not well delivered I'm afraid.
> > Then again, all animists have at least some spirits at their disposal.
>
> 1.Remember that a practioner adds a fetish spirits ability rating to
> either his advantage points or his own ability rating when it is
> released. That's a much better bonus than a normal augment.
That's just for the shaman, right?
> 2.I believe that Roderick once said that the listed spirits are just the
> common ones, and that rarer ones could be more powerful.
Hmm... it would help if this was spelled out in the rule book. At least that's not how it reads out to me.
> 3.Chaotics probably don't have to follow the normal rule for excluding
> the other magic types when they concentrate. They're chaotic, after
> all:)
Changing most chaotic entities to spirits has been a surprise to me. I'm not sure it's one I much like.
Anyway, as chaotics, shouldn't they be somewhat outside the three worlds paradigm?
-Adept
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