And here it is...
Sharing Charms (And other Magic)
The recent discussion got me thinking, (and returning to the rule books to check what was said there). Of all the types of Magic available in Heroquest, it seems to me that Charms should be the easiest to give to another character - they are the Gloranthan equivalents of a St Christopher medallion, or a Lucky Rabbits Foot, or other similar talismans, and require no action on behalf of the user beyond possession of the charm (HQ p134 "A charm gives an automatic augment whenever the owner is performing any action related to its ability, as long as the charm is touching his skin or is otherwise on his person").
And that would seem to be true of Common Magic Charms - there doen't appear to be any requirement that one follows a particular common magic route to gain the benefit of a charm (so a member of the Praxian Horn Dweller society could give their "Drive Out Disease" charm to a member of the Esrolian Curbside Society who would be able to use it alongside their own charms, even if their society was unable to make such charms themselves. (There may well be social barriers to such sharing, but it doen't appear to be forbidden by the rules as written ).
It's when things get to specialised Animist Magic that things get a
little more tricky. According to the rules One must belong to a
Tradition to get and use Tradition charms and to a Practice to get and
use Practice Charms,
and although traditions have no prohibition against leaving, "an
animist who leaves a practice or tradition must give up all charms
received from it, for the spirits will no longer aid him" (p141)
So, according tothe rules, a Waha practitioner can only give "Resist Enemy Magic" charms to other members of the Praxian Tradition, and can not give a "Dismiss Otherworld Enemy" Charm to anyone who is not a fellow follower of Waha.
The problem is that this doesn't quite seem to add up with the description of charms. If a spiritist can use a charm automatically and without any contest required then it makes me wonder how it is that the spirit in the charm gets to decide not to work for a non member (Fetishes are a different matter. The Spiritist has an individual relationship with the spirit in the fetish, so obviously the spirit will be aware of a change in the spiritists status). So maybe the rules about Charms are not actually hard and fast rules, but a general statement of (social) normality that can be overruled in a particular case, but should always be done so deliberately.
In other words, it is not normal for a Waha Practitoner to give charms containing Praxian, and especially Waha spirits to non-followers of his religion, (but then it is not normal for most Waha Practitioners to mix with non-Praxians). However where an individual Waha Practioner has made friends with "outsiders" then there is no particular reason why he shoudn't offer them charms to protect or aid them. (There may be reasons why they wouldn't accept, of course, especially if they are concentrated devotees!)
If one wanted to ensure that members of the appropriate tradition or practice was not disadvantaged by this widening of the availability of spirits you could make the cementing of charms from a tradition other than your own cost an extra multiple (so a concentrated Praxian Spiritist pays the non-concentrated cost to get swamp spirits from a Dar-jini practitoner, while a non-concentrated Theist pays three times the cost of a concentrated member of the tradition. (A concentrated theist also pays three times the cost, but additionally looses his concentration and any status depending on that, which is likely to be much more expensive in the long run )
A non-Animist can never use a fetish or gain a spirit ally, because the spirit is more active in such magics , although a practitioner could (attempt to) release such a spirit in order to aid a non coreligionist colleague - In these cases the contest to release the spirit (p137) is likely to take an increased penalty based on the attitude of the spirit to the person being aided. (A Waha practitioner may have formed an alliance with a follower of Yinkin, but his Brother Dog Spirit may be less keen...)
What of Non Animists hoping to help their colleagues?
Theists are very much something that needs to be taken on a case by case basis - the Gerendetho feat "Help Him Fight" is obviously a feat that can be used to augment an ally, whereas I doubt an Odaylan's "Identify Scent" feat is of any use if the Odaylan can't smell the scent themself, nor can a Buserian help someone Audit books if he isn't looking at them himself...
As for followers of the Wizardry schools and Orders, Wizards, Sorcerors and other Adepts, along with Orderlies can cast their spells on whoever they wish (against a resistance of 14, (I assume) for a willing recipient, or whatever they choose to resist with for a non willing recipient). Liturgists are more restricted - their blessings are cast on the congregation, so unless their colleagues have taken part in the worship service they are not able to benefit from a regular blessing. It may be possible for a liturgust to hold an impromptu rite (p159) to provide a blessing to an individual (The example is of a Staunch Wound blessing cast on a member of the congregation. If you would accept that this blessing could be cast on a non-worshipper then there would be no reason not to let a liturgist likewise cast a "Hide from foes" blessing on a non worshipper should the need arise).
Powered by hypermail