Ah, you're making me blush:-)
> It's great, but it's also geared to Hero Wars and the understanding
> of magic that we had then. HQ has tons of new(ish) options for
> animists that I'd like to include, so I've been thinking about how
> some things should be converted.
I've changed my mind about the whole magic set-up in Balazar since then and have gone back to a combination of theistic and animistic worship rather than any misapplied worship.
> For instance, what should the primary Tradition of Balazar be?
> Votank? Is he really a Great Spirit (I don't believe so)? If he
> isn't the focus of the Tradition, there are few others who could
> qualify. One might be the Wild Mother, but she seems much more like
> a Land Guardian than a focus of worship. I could see Rigtaina being
> the source of some common magic in the region, and Foundchild and
> Hearth-Mother are obvious choices for Core Practices for the
> Tradition (for men and women respectively).
I've put some thought/work into this but didn't get too far. What I have so far is that the main tradition is centred around Votank and Hearthmother. They're the ones who define what it is to be a Votanki man or woman. Hunter Foundchild is the youth/adult male manisfestation of that track while Rigtaina is where females who wish to be hunters fall. I think Votank is a Great Spirit for the Balazrings anyway since he's the one who taught them to get along and how to survive in groups. Hearthmother is just as important because without her the Votanki would have perished in the Darkness. Foundchild isn't a Great Spirit because he isn't interested in leading anyone, he's only interested in hunting.
Blueface is the shaman practise and Brother Dog is a helper practise. The Wild Mother is a guardian spirit who is propitiated rather than worshipped.
I keep flip-flopping on
> Tharkantus: either he's still worshipped as a theistic cult (which
> locks his devotees out of the rest of the region's magic, but plays
> better with some of the NPC reactions in Griffin Mountain) or he's
> (mistakenly) worshipped as a spirit (which allows for some of the
> NPCs in Griffin Mountain to be translated exactly). If Tharkantus
is
> worshipped as a spirit (which I usually tend towards) then Balazar
> is also worshipped as a spirit, even though he was most certainly
> devoted and most probably resides in the God World. Plenty of
> misapplied worship going on in this region, then...
Originally I had decided that the three "gods" in the region, Yemalio, Balazar and Entra, the Sow Mother were all subject to misapplied worship. But I've now changed my mind and decided that they're worshipped theistically. I don't think there's any reason why the areas shamans would have to exclude these people from the magic in the area. Why not a lovely mess of spirits and feats?
>
> Sorry for the rapid-fire questions, but I've gotten into some of
the
> metaphysical considerations of the game here, and it's a lot of fun
> to consider...
>
Hope this is some help,
Oliver
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