> > Shame RR is away/busy, he's good at this.
>
> If you say no (ducks head and blushes).
I does say so.
> Tired, frustrated at the bull-headedness of
> convention-goers, but back (for
> a little while - got a Victorian ball to put on this
> coming weekend...), but I'll give it a try.
Oh, good! (And enjoy your Victorian ball. Did one of those a couple of weeks back, and it was hectic but ultimately fun).
> You & your buddies are taking the
> part of Orlanth (and his
> buddies) so are all going to see the same thing,
> because that what the story says you're going to see
Yep, with you so far. The "you see what you expect to see" principle. Though I start to wonder about minor followers who aren't as familiar with the story as the leaders, or who may have their own versions that differ in the details?
> Even if you are different magical backgrounds,
> you'll still see the same
> thing. You may see it a little differently,
It's that "little differently" that gets me interested. We've added all this complication to the rules with three different magic systems, now how do we milk it for effect?
> This, of course, only applies to heroquests
> in the Heroplane, not going into the God or Spirit
> or Essence plane, where
> people have those -20 modifiers and such -
> perceptions via the "wrong magic"
> there are probabaly enough to give you a migraine
> (and account for at leats part of that -20...)
Quite - perceptions in the HeroPlane aren't by the "wrong" magic because it's equally all types, but they are via "different" magic. Assuming that having ones perception changed by what myth you're trying to follow counts as "magic", and I'm pretty sure it does.
> If you are performing a quest where Orlanth fights a
> Darkness Monster, and
> some troll is doing his own quest where Karrg beats
> Winter, they might end up in each other's quest
(nods) yes, this is the sort of thing I was thinking of. Either accidentally, or because Tim the troll wanted to hit Harry. Though I think both are still theist?
> At some point
> the narratives cross. Orlanth meets Karrg, (or Harry
> the Heortling meets Tim
> the Troll) - "Orlanth" may see a hideous, amorphous
> darkness monster with a
> thousand fanged mouthe, while "Karrg" may meet Ice
> Demons and a Blizzard -
And at this point they're looking at the same thing (Orlanth/Harry) and seeing something completely different. If both are PCs, you'd describe it to bring that out. In this example you're describing two theists, and differences based on different stories: presumably if one was a spirit-magic-user their story would be different again, almost by definition, and the differences in perception due to that will drown out any differences due to using different magical abilities to see what's going on?
Hmm, a nasty thought. If you've been sucked in as the
opposition, you weren't expecting it, you've just
found yourself on the Heroplane (or at Practice level,
on a magcially enhanced Mundane), facing an enemy. You
don't know what story you're in. You probably don't
know theirs, you may not have one of your own that
matches. What do you see?
If you look down at your feet, do you see your own
shoes, or the claws of the Monster Behind the Tree?
> but *if* you could "see beneath the layers", you'd
> see that in this
> particular instance of Harry and Tim heroquesting,
> the Darkness Monster is
> Karrg, and the Winter is Orlanth.
And if I understand it correctly, on the HeroPlane seeing "beneath the layers" is very hard, but at "Practice" level its very easy. (And on the GodPlane it's next to impossible, but let's not worry about that for now). Biturian had no trouble recognising Rurik. What ability would you use to try to do that, anyway? Use your relationship with the other person as an augment, I expect? Or as the lead?
> But if Hugo the Heortling went on the
> exact same quest, he might meet the Dark Seductress
> of Midnight in the place of the "Darkness Monster"
If Hugo was one of Harry's followers, then what? At a tentative guess, what is seen by the party as a whole is determined by the "leader", and the starting ceremonies magically bind them together in a way that specifies who the leader is today?
>The Dark Seductress and the Obsidian Dragon
> don't represent Karrg,
> the three of them represent "Darkness and things
> that go bump in the night" to the hero being
Orlanth.
OK. So as a GM you need to look at the essentials of the plot of the story you're following and come up with an opponent that fits those essentials, not necessarily the specifics. Which is fun in itself, but that's a whole different can of worms. (Is Aroka "a thing that brings drought", or "a thing that imprisons my friend"?)
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