Re: Re: All the Worlds...Which is Which???

From: donald_at_...
Date: Tue, 07 Feb 2006 14:49:27 GMT


In message <20060207080831.33075.qmail_at_...> Jane Williams writes:  

>> That doesn't add up to all that much - total support from
>> say 8,000 living Humatki gives an extra two masteries
>> and a million dead ones gives an extra five and a half.
>> Personally I don't think the numbers are that high.
>
>Seven and a half masteries "doesn't add up to much"??

If the numbers are that high and assuming total support.

>Andrew may well be right that we shouldn't count the
>living ones, but the dead ones?

I'm not sure. There's at least a bit of confusion about what happens to theists as some things I've seen imply they are reborn after spending some time with their god. The question then becomes how long? and is Humakt a special case who's followers are never reborn?

>> The book does say "Best Magical Ability" so I think Humakt
>> would have "Sever Spirit" at W10, other affinities at W8 or
>> W9 and relevant mundane abilities somewhere in the region
>> of W5.
>
>Could be, though seems a bit low to me. I'd say his
>problem is more that anything *not* in that keyword,
>he doesn't even get at 6.

When we talking about these sort of values the difference between 6 and 0 is rather insignificant. I've put them so low because a god doesn't have much use for mundane abilities and skills. Humakt is a death god not a soldier or warrior god so those abilities related to secondary functions are going to be substantially lower. Great Orlanth however is going to have the abilities of all his subcults at or near the W10 mark because the subcults are part of him.

>> Only if you challenge a god in his area of expertise. If
>> you challenge Humakt to a riddling contest he's going to
>> be on something like 13 with his Truth affinity as a
>> penalty rather than a bonus.
>
>As RR says, I doubt it.

While truth is useful for solving a riddle it is a disadvantage for asking one as there's usually some deception involved in the wording. For an ordinary Humatki it's a minor modifier but for the god it's going to swamp his ability in language.

>But I also doubt if he'd default to using his Kill
>Things as a defence. You're not threatening him, so
>his Honour (assuming that version of Humakt) would
>stop him. Challenge him to an embroidery contest, he
>just ignores you.
>
>If you want a non-lethal challenge, a game of chess is
>a traditional answer (be careful, he's good at it).

Yes, this is the point. You need to find a contest that is sufficently relevant to some aspect of the god for him to meet it while being one you are good enough to win. Of course if you beat Humakt at chess you then become the chess god assuming there isn't one already. Which is why associated abilities should be about W5 - a minor specialist god (on W6) will then usually beat the more powerful god in that specialism.

>Thinking about how Humakt's been defeated in the past,
>you may be best off looking at the "Eurmal nicks
>Death" approach, and just hoping the consequences get
>delayed a bit.

Surely the bigger problem is being associated with Eurmal?

-- 
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/

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