It's been interesting watching things people come up with, that's for sure.
No, this wasn't the intent of the rule - "Berserk" and "X Weapon attack" are probably close enough together for me to say "Sure, go for it" (After all, a spirit of "Flaming Sword" *should* be stackable with "Sword and shield combat, surely?)
Yes, high-level animists *are* tough - but only in the right circumstances Plus, they have a refill rate that takes their magic offline for a while. The time to hit animists is right after they've had a major fight. The swarm o' trollkin tactic works well against them. (First, find yourself a swarm of trollkin... :-) ).
*By the rules* there is no limit to the number of fetishes you can release and stack onto the same ability, and the usefulness of the spirit is ultimately up to the player and the narrator. Of course, changing the contest so that the now-buffed shaman doesn't get the benefits of his magic is always a possibility - he's got 14 fetishes sunk into "Combat"? Run away! (And hope he doesn't have a Gazelle fetish with Run Fast 12W3...)
> I agree that animists are overly attractive, but I think other proposed
> changes make more sense than this. One was to limit the outcome as per
> heroforming. Essentially (OK, spiritually), the character becomes one with
> the spirit, just like the spirit of an ancestor. Simply melds these two
> rules. It's an interesting option.
One of the primary brakes on animist advancement is the HP cost to gain that high-power spirit (though it's not as much as a Theist spends to get a high-mastery Affinity). Even a low-level (no-mastery) spirit costs 3 HP at the best of times. Then it comes down to how the narrator hands out HP, and things like that, which aren't really a Rules issue, but a Playing one.
It's interesting to read comments sent to the Issaries HQ-Question line, since I think I've seen all magical systems (including Common magic) declared to be "overpowered".
HQ is a game where it is easy to become nigh-on invulnerable to the common Heortling or Imperial trooper. That's when the emphasis on the mundane should decrease, and more focus on the Otherworld come to the fore. You don't need to worry about raising the stats of the common grunt, because there is *always* someone out there that can eat the uber-character for breakfast - if Harrek doesn't scare them anymore, how about a realio, trulio Big Red Dragon? Or Humakt (no, not a Humakti, or an avatar, or the Hero-world shadow, but Big H himself?
RR
C'est par mon ordre et pour le bien de l'Etat que le porteur du pr�sent a
fait ce qu'il a fait.
- Richelieu
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