Re: Sorcerous Familiars in Hero Wars ?

From: Julian Lord <julian.lord_at_...>
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 09:54:08 +0200


Peter :

> >However, the idea of the sorceror's Familiar hasn't gone away, and there are
> >probably Gloranthan sorcerors who do actually have them. But does anyone have
> >an idea how they work in HW ?
>
> A created follower?

Fair enough : but I wonder what the difference might be between a homunculus and a
familiar (whether summoned, created, or otherwise aquired).

Actually, I'm wondering about the various kinds of sorceror one encounters in fantasy literature ; and wondering whether or not some sorcerors' contact to the
sorcery plane might not be via a familiar, via some special Inner World stuff (power crystals frex), via Blood Sacrifice (Vadeli Blood Magic), etc.

This is a non-problem rules-wise, and the roolz answer is 'yes, among several other weird sorcerous techniques'.

But in the Gloranthan West, do these various kinds of sorceror actually exist, and are there many different ways for a sorceror to be connected to the Sorcery Plane ? Or, is there a single dominant sorcery technique that everyone uses (the one described in the rulebook) ?

Jeff sez :

> I think they would work best as a specialized follower. I think some
> Churches may frown on having them but I don't see a reason why, IF your
> branch of Logic allows it, you could proabbly learn some sort of Embody
> Familiar enchantment to create your follower.

Good point ('Churches may frown') : having a familiar is probably a form of demonology for most people ...

I think that this is what I'm fishing for (and why I took it up here and not on the rules list) : actual cultural attitudes towards familiars (including magical techniques, but not really rules issues).

Basically, this whole section seems fairly vague right now ...

> Probably have abilities
> like 'Know Wizard's Grimoire' (to help with spells) and the other useful
> ability determined by the species of the familiar such as "Follow by
> Getting Underfoot" for cats. More powerful familiars (the traditional
> faustian imps and the like) would probably be Allies and function under
> similar constraints.

Cool !

cheers,

Julian

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