None. It costs one Hero Point to become Concentrated if you're GM allows you to (and you decide to) retain your Common Magic Keyword. If you decide not to take Common Magic, it's free. But otherwise all this "costs" is your one magic Keyword that you're garunteed.
The "Upgrade Points" are used to raise the level of any Abilities that you have, nothing else.
>2. can I have some local Common Magic charms too, or only the
>Ancestor Tradition charms and the Bush Practice spirit spells?
If your GM allows you to retain your Common Magic Keyword, and you keep it (again, which will require you to spend the one HP to concentrate), then you can keep whatever charms you have if you concentrate. The use of said charms may be more or less acceptable to the spirits you deal with depending on the nature of the magic. For example, your Ancestors might not like you using a "Thwart Ancestor" charm, or somesuch. But this is handled on a case-by-case basis with common sense. Nothing mechanical happens automatically. The only hard rule is that you can't use anything but common magic charms if you concentrate in Animism.
>3. what does "Any, but rare" mean in the Bush Voice Practice listing?
>That Practitioners are rare, but any (puma) can become one?
That's how I'd read it, but I'm not really certain either.
>4. Although it's not clear, I'm guessing that Voice of the
>Wilderness, Speak with Anyone, and Speak with Anything are individual
>spirits, and will work with my GM on coming up with spells for each
>them.
That's the second time that you've used the term "spells". To be technical, spells in HQ are the abilites that Wizardry gives you. There are no spells in animism. All you have are Spirits, and these have Ability levels. You get effects by asking the spirits to do something in some way. For example, if they're in a charm, they just help with that charm Ability automatically. A spirit in a fetish can be released and can operate more independently (sorta like a follower). But the spirits just have innate abilities that they use in your favor - no "spells" or "feats" or anything. Does that make sense?
I think the above are the three abilites for the Spirit in question. That is, these are the three things that the spirit can do on your behalf.
>5. Would the Bush Voice practice have a Secret, or are all Puma
>religions Secretless because Death was revealed?
I'd work that out with the GM. Whatever is more fun.
>6. Is there any more detail about Puma People available somewhere,
>either official or otherwise? I've seen the Puma Homeland Voices
>writeup.
There's probably some canon somewhere that would straighten things out for you, but I'm not a canon guy, however, so I can't help you there. Sorry.
Mike
Powered by hypermail