On Wednesday, September 24, 2003, at 08:55 PM, Andrew Solovay wrote:
> Alex Ferguson <abf_at_...> wrote:
> >
> > It's not at all
> > clear to me what the Deep Gloranthan Reason for Flesh Man providing
> > specifically talents is, or indeed what sense "learning talents" even
> > makes, I must say.
>
> I think it's because Flesh Man is the archetypal human, and thus
> teaches how
> to use your own human abilities (i.e. how to develop talents) rather
> than
> rely on gifts from possibly-unreliable gods (i.e. feats). But that's
> just my
> guess.
I think this is mostly on the mark. It's not so much developing talents that are already there but teaching people to use magic with an energy source that comes from themselves.
> If that's true, it would account for the sticky Heortling
> wicket--relying on
> Flesh man abilities is, to an extent, showing a lack of faith in the
> gods to
> help you. Entering deeply into the divine mysteries would force you to
> give
> up the crutch of your human talents, and rely on the gods.
>
> (Am I completely off-base about this?)
I don't think so.
> But I *do* think Heortlings can get common-magic feats, from sources
> other
> than Flesh Man...
Definitely! There are plenty of sources even if you only look at the listed magical landscapes. A story that I've heard Greg tell multiple times that explains a lot of why common magic is the way it is is because the average Joe (or Kallai...) doesn't care where the magic comes from. If they have to worship a spirit bush so it provides more berries and a theistic stream so that it's easier to catch fish, they'll do it. So what if it costs them more HP? They're just worried about feeding their family. They're not PCs.
So, your clan might have a magic spirit grove that provides those who want them some charms (perhaps they need to be made with twigs and leaves that have fallen from the tree and if someone goes against the taboo of actually *picking* a leaf off, the charm will actually give a penalty). What is listed in the books are only examples. Even the sample characters use common magic not listed in the book.
Camo
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