Re: Re: Common religions and concentrating magic

From: Greg Stafford <Greg_at_...>
Date: Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:39:13 -0700


YGWV Concentration is not well known in Glorantha, and the rules once again are at fault for that (yea, I mean the rules I wrote). It is a condition that is known to some, and the fact that they take up such a large part of the rules for a minor function is one of those damnable things about writing rules and trying to be complete. (I'd do the whole magic presentation differently if I did it today.)

> > Personally, I'd make Concentration focus on a single entity, rather than
> >> a
> >> form or magic or a pantheon - basically, it would be the
"Devotee"-style
> >> restriction - use no magic (from another Otherworld entity) except from
> >> your Patron Saint/God/Great Spirit/whatever.
> >
> > Except you already do that to Devote. How is this different?
>
> Because currently you can Concentrate without devoting or becoming a
shaman.
> I'd remove the "Concentrate on Theism" or even "Concentrate on the Storm
> Tribe" and replace it with "Concentrate on <Otherworld being>", which
in the
> case of Theism, is not the same as Devoting, as you could still be a
> "Concentrated Initiate". However, there is no equivalent in Sorcery as it
> stands, nor in Animism except for Shamans.

This is called Initiation.

> Also, it
> > specifically violates one of the things that Shamans have going for
them,
> > the
> > ability to get spirits from various places. I'm not even sure what the
> > effect
> > would be on the Malkioni. Limit to one School or Order, I suppose?
>
> Shamans can have special rules - they're wierd enough already. I can
see the
> Fetch allowing capture/diplomacy with "foreign" spirits.

I think this is already covered, with Hostile spirits, etc.  

> >> This would allow much more leeway in "mixing" the magic of
pantheons. So
> >> you worship a God and he worships a Spirit and she worships a Saint -
> >> they
> >> are all in the same pantheon, you're all friendly towards each
other (at
> >> least as friendly as any family/clan/tribe is), you share rites and
holy
> >> days with each other, You band together against "them heathen
furriners",
> >> etc.
> >
> > Why can't you do that now? Isn't that what people do now?
>
> The only two pantheons that have really had really good overviews are
pretty
> monolithic in their magic systems - Heortling are pretty solidly Theist
> (yes, I know all about Sedresdosa, Kolat, Odayala and Renvald Meldikbane,
> that's hardly a significant proportion of Heortlings)

I'd say that just about everyone among the Heortlings engages in worship of their local spirit, without having any shamans to intervene. They collect berries from that spirit, sacrifice to this one to keep crows out of the barley, offer gifts to the creek over there, etc.

THAT is why they are mixed, not because they have Kolatings, etc.

>and the Lunars (All
> Lunar, all the Time). We have not seen a truely "Mixed" pantheon in any
> depth.

I agree. I am hoping to have some time to illustrate what a clan actually worships.

>Also, the rules specifically (absolutely wrongly, in my opinion) that
> "Specialised Religions concentrate on one type of magic to the
exclusion of
> all others." (top of page 105).

Me too. I hope the revised HQ for Glorantha will take a different presentation than the one I did for the first edition.

>The first truely mixed "pantheon" we've seen
> is in BoG. (and about time, too!).

Benefits of test play, time, and discussion. Let's hope the new Gloranthan HQ does the same.

--Greg

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