> One problem with this is the HW has no concept of difficulty or
level
> of a feat. Take for example Sword Help and Killing Rain, simple
> interpretation would imply one makes you use a sword a little
better
> while the other could be used to kill an army. Yet these feats cost
> the same number of hero points.
Others have replied to this, but I think I do have somethign to add to the mix.
First of all, most peeople in Glorantha take Farming as their main ability not because it's cool, but because if they didn't everyone would starve to death. Even if HP represented real game world resources (others have refuted this well enough), the fact is that spending all your HPs on combat and cool magic abilities is an indulgent luxury most Gloranthans simply don't have. Those that do are likely to be regarded as arrogant and selfish unless they can clearly demonstrate their value to their society. Otherwise they will be pariahs.
> I like to also analyze how magic would affect society. If learning
> to fly is only slightly harder than learning to ride a horse why
> would anyone still be riding horses?
First off, affinities cost 3 HPs to raise by one point, horse riding abilities don't (although to be fair, a flight ability taken as a personal special ability costs the same). Secondly, magical abilities all must oppose a minimum resistance of 14. For 'Difficult' magic, this is added to any other resistence that is oposing you, although I don't think Orlanthi flying is in this category.
> Some of this has to do with play style. I like a world where a lot
> of the magic effect is subtle. Where a non-believer could travel
> with an Orlanthi initiate and convince themselves that Orlanth is
not
> really doing anything. Its only when really heroic levels of magic
> are encountered where the magic can not be denied.
That's entirely fair enough, and it's your game. It's just that in geenraly accepted glorantha, obvious magical effects are much more common, so the rules reflect that.
Simon Hibbs
Powered by hypermail