>In the players book page 181-182, there
>is mention of learning specific feats
>from other subcults without joining the
>subcult. As the rules for theists were
>substantially revised in Thunder Rebels
>and Storm Tribe, do these original rules
>still apply?
I replied:
>I'd say definitely not.
>
>The player of a devotee of Gultha must
>spend 1 HP (2 HP if unrelated to session)
>to acquire a Gultha feat. If the player of
>a devotee of any other Issaries sub cult
>could the same there would be no
>difference between the sub cults.
Charles pointed out that the rules might be saying that the hero gains a stand alone feat (presumably with an initial rating of 12) rather than adding the feat to their affinity.
Charles continues:
> My opinion, after ruminating on this for a while is that devotees
> (and possibly even initiates) can do this. The rules protection
> against abuse is that the feat is standalone and starts at a rating
> of 12.
But consider the problems that will occur if the devotee changes sub cults or aspects. ST pg 70 says this is rare, which might as well say that player heroes will tend to do it! See the example on ST pg 71. Imagine that Govoran (a devotee changing from Ormalaya to Orlanthcarl) had learned the Orlanthcarl Farming feat of Move Stones, and raised it to a rating of 19 (costing 1+(19-12)=8 HP) while devoted to Ormalaya. Govoran now becomes devoted to Orlanthcarl. What is Govoran's rating in the Farming affinity? pg 71 implies zero (or 6, if you rather) until the player spends 3 HP, to gain an ability rating of 12. But what happens to Govoran's ability rating with the Move Stones feat? It too must fall to zero, then bounce back to 12. So the result would be that becoming devoted to Orlanthcarl could make a hero LESS capable of doing Orlanthcarl magic. I can't see how that is Gloranthianly correct, so the rules are not modelling Glorantha well, if you can purchase standalone feats from other cults.
> The obvious next question is, well if an initiate can get a feat from > a different subcult, why can't he get a feat from his own?
The rules on HW:RiG pg 181--182 don't actually say that inititates joining subcults can learn subcult feats. The only example provided is for Kallai, who we know is a devotee (charact sheet on pg 28). I'd therefore say that the normal rules apply: an initiate joining a sub cult has access to the spaecial skills of the sub cult, and I suppose has access to the special affinity of the subcult (for those rare subcults that provide a special affinity), but does not have access to the special feats.
I wrote:
>I would enforce a rule that you
>may not improvise feats which are closer
>to a different cult's feats than to your
>own, unless both feats were in a
>recognizable 'overlap' area.
Charles replied:
> I agree(ish). If the feat is an obvious interpretation of the
> affinity then either subcult can improvise/use it.
...
Absolutely not! The affinity names, and thus 'obvious interpretations' are very general. But looking at the provided feats for a sub cult (or even, aspect) shows that the affinities are meant to be interpreted much more narrowly. Allowing all 'obvious interpretations' of a 'combat' affinity, for example, would allow gross abuse.
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