Magic and Mundane

From: James Turner <j.a.turner_at_...>
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 11:10:59 -0000

>> In the RQ days when you were facing a humakti sword you knew he could do
>> death magic. The guy could actually kill you with magic (sever spirit),
all
> >his combat magic actually made a real difference to his abilities (shield
+
> >truesword etc, etc).
> >Compared to:
> >Orlanthi 1: "Here comes that bugger Orloff. Beware of him for he has
pledged
> >devotion to Humakt and learnt his feats of striking true and destroying
> >shields and weapons."
> >Orlanthi 2: "Hah, I have 2 seasons more combat experience than him. I can
> >take him."

Michael:
>Remember a devotee isn't a rune lord, so Orloff isn't a sword of Humakt.
>The Humakti's got more combat related feats than a (say) Orlanth
>Adventurous, so a couple of seasons more HP may not save the Orlanthi.
>But even if it does, think in terms of RQ - a Humakti initiate with lower
>skills never had any guarantees vs. an Orlanthi initiate.

The problem I was trying to show was that this guy who has devoted himself to Humakt and learnt his combat magic and is no better at fighting than someone who spent that time just getting cc experience. In fact strictly by the rules he is worse off because it costs more to learn all that magic.

That devotion and magical knowledge should account for something. Not just interesting character development. Which is why I wouldn't treat magic the same as any old mundane ability.

---

James Turner
j.a.turner_at_...