I just picked on this message to reply to, so my comments are not necessarily about what's said here...
> > > It introduces the notion of using an Affinity "directly", as
opposed
> > > to using a Feat. These seems an unnecessary complication:
isn't
> > this
> > > essentially the same in effect as saying an initiate has
exactly one
> > > feat per affinity, and isn't allowed to learn more
Not really, a Feat is a specific effect, recreating an action of your deity. An Affinity is a general area of your deity's interest. It's the difference between 'Ask the Audience' (Affinity) and 'Phone a Friend' (Feat) - I think that damned program has infested enough of the world for everyone to understand that. If you have a Friend/Feat specially knowledgeable/fitting to the situation, that's a better bet than a generalised cry of 'help!'. Likewise, the Affinity can cover situations your known Feats (if any) might not, but it's not as reliable, nor as precise.
Also, a Feat can do things the Affinity can't, according to what I've picked up here. Feats can be used on their own, instead of a mundane Ability. An Affinity can only augment an existing Ability. Feats can therfore do things not possible otherwise, because no mundane Ability lets you, for example, fly (well, some might, but they'd be pretty exotic). Feats have (if you allow it) far lower resistance from the mundane world, commonly only 14. The theist is following in his deity's footsteps, and the world has a hard job resisting a deity's feet! So Vingans really DO throw javelins a full mile, for instance, not just a little bit further than usual. I'll be using the magical range penalties where applicable (height of cliffs to run up, width of water to leap, variance from a precise mile range +/-, etc). Hopefully, these and/or other pieces of extra info will be included in the second edition, I consider them vital in defining theistic magic.
> Hrm, me too... I think the key point is to avoid the word
"improvise",
> which has both certain RW connotations that confuse matters, and a
more
> particular game-mechanical meaning in HW. What about just calling
it
> an unknown Feat penalty?
For reasons above, I think that's a worse choice of wording, as Initiates and Devotees using the Affinity are NOT using Feats, known or unknown. You could just call it an Affinity magic penalty.
Wulf
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