Hello all!
There was auite a bit of discussion a little while ago about western
magics, but all that focused on the clergy. I must admit that I just
love those good old wizards, and want to have them as a part of my
glorantha straight away, instead of waiting for the western books.
Thus inspired I decided to come up with some rulings. I'm really
unsure which list this belongs on, but here goes... =)
Zzaburite sorcery in Hero Wars, version #1
Example:
Jovzadar the Witty has been studying Jabdamar's Grimoire of
Otherworld Travel. He has already mastered the basic spells of
Refract Speed Via Otherworld, Convey Thoughts To Farplace and
Switch Places Of Men. His mentor, Shidontor Of-Many-Books hasn't
taught Jovzadar the final spell of Otherworld Leap To Homing
Circle yet. Jovzadar could spend his time further studying and
experimenting with the basic formulas and ideas in the grimoire,
increasing his skill by one. If he can convince Shidontor to teach
him the final spell, he can add it to his grimoire. Finally,
Jovzadar can try to apply the formulas in new ways, channelling
the otherworld forces at his disposal into something new.
Researching a new spell is not easy. The zzaburite must attempt to bend the otherworld forces to his will, with the formulas he has researched. His formulas might not work or work in unpredictable ways, he might not be able to focus the energies properly or he might release too much energy. When attempting to come up with a new spell, the zzaburite must match his Read Grimoire -ability against the barrier to the Adept plane, 10W3. Varying degrees of success will yield varying wording for the name of the spell. A complete success should allow the player to name the spell as he wishes, whereas a marginal success will give something in the general direction of the effect attempted, at the narrator's discretion. A marginal failure won't yield any great effects, whereas a complete failure should result in either a magical catastrophe or the realisation that the desired effect is completely unattainable with the grimoire in question. A zzaburite should be able to attempt a new spell only once per adventure, anddepending on the preparations conducted, the research should be ruled as either connected to the story or unconnected. If successful, the zzaburite pays the HP cost, depending on the connection, as described above.
Example:
Jovzadar fails to persuade his mentor into teaching anything new,
but craving for new ways to harness the power of the sorcery plane,
he attempts to create a new spell, The Turning Upside Down Of
Things. He prepares various potions and rare accessories to help
him in his research, which the narrator rules as giving him a ^3
edge. The narrator decides that turning things upside down isn't
exactly travel, so doesn't fit the grimoire too well - giving the
resistance an edge of ^6. Jovzadar's Read Jabdamar's Grimoire of
Otherworld Travel is a meagre 17W, but he augments it with his
Study Tirelessly 5W for a +4 bonus and uses his Analyse Magical
Currents spell from the Lost Grimoire of Sorcerous Clairvoyance
for a further +3. This gives him an ability of 4W2^3, against an
ability of 10W3^6. Making forceful arguments and spending a few
HP's Jovzadar miraculously scores a minor success! His narrator
declares that Jovzadar had to accept that some of his assumptions
were wrong, but he succeeded in creating a new spell, Rotate
Person In Mid-Air. Yovzadar was lucky to succeed, but his mentor
might well feel jealous enough to withhold the information for
the last spell even longer, now.
After lengthy research and possibly combining theories from different grimoires, a zzaburite can create a grimoire of his own. Very few practisers are this creative - most are happy with searching for grimoires created by others, perhaps making a few additions. Grimoires can be of varying sizes, though, so a very small one might encompass the formulas for only one spell. Such grimoires are usually far too brief to allow creation of new spells, but they can help in such activities if combined with various other grimoires. The largest grimoires can consist of several huge tomes, but they often include thorough descriptions of various parts of the adept plane, with only part of it listing formulas. Partially destroyed grimoires might provide working spells, or might not. The narrator should decide the effects for each occurrence.
HP cost: Description 2 / 4 Learn a spell from a mentor 5 / 10 Research a new spell within the grimoire 3 / 6 Improve a small grimoire by 1 (1-3 spells) 4 / 8 Improve a medium grimoire by 1 (4-6 spells) 5 / 10 Improve a large grimoire by 1 (7+ spells)
Comments, critique, anything?
-B
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