For example, the Thunder Brothers would be a collective and its members listed as:
Daylanus the Conqueror Fight Elements Destor the Adventurer - Wind Finovan the Raider - Raiding Hedkoranth the Thunder Slinger - Thunderstone Helamakt the Fighting Storm - Combat Starkval the Weapon Thane - Combat Umbrol the Great Storm - Thunderstorm Vanganth the Flier - Flight Vinga the Adventuress - Defender Storm Vingkot the Champion - Troll Fighting Yavor Lightning - Lightning
A worshipper of one of the Thunder Brothers could join the cult of the Thunder Brothers for an additional 10% of his time and resources so that he could learn either the affinity or one feat from each of the Thunder Brothers (rule adapted from HQ p120).
The collective can be used for cases of mythic variation, ie an Orlanthi could decide to follow the Lightbringer's Ring, the Traditional Ring, the Hill Ring and so forth, each with its own strengths and different magics.
THE MALKIONI - A VENT I'm having a terrible time trying to find the reasoning behind the spells given to the Malkioni Saints and Orders. Perhaps because there isn't one.
My first complaint is the lack of distinction between spells and blessings. How does one know whether a certain effect is a spell or whether it should be a blessing? For example, Xemela has a blessing of Keep Surgical Tools Clean and a Spell of Sear Hurt Clean (HQ p171) while Gerlant has Burning Blade blessing but also a Flaming Sword spell (HQ p170).
Blessing should be restricted to peoples and relationships that a Saint sees as good. Specific and technical effects (Such as Sear Hurt Clean, Pray Right for Right, Hide from Foes etc) should be made spells instead.
My second plaint is about the names of grimoires and formularies. They add colour but at the same time, they obscure. Having a formulary entitled miracles of the saints, volume IV only raises questions about what the other three volumes are and why Gerlant's order doesn't teach them. It also blurs the distinction between the magic of the saint and the magic known by a particular group.
I'm currently toying with principles and sample spells. For example Gerlant might have the following principles:
The Flaming Sword (burn pagan, burn wound closed, ignite kindling etc) The Valiant Knight (commanding shout, rally followers, sword cutting etc) The Wise King (command knight, command wizard etc).
A third complaint is the lack of connect between the saints as presented in the rulebooks so far and the mythology of the Malkioni as presented in Revealed Mythologies.
Related to this is the tendency to invoke Martyrs and Missionaries too often. A good example is Saint Morlian (MotS p37) who is a dawn age missionary and who gets martyred by the Brithini. Somehow he gets transmuted into an exemplary fisherman. Saint Makri buys and sells while on a religious pilgrimage becomes a saint of traders while Eliavar and Deliam are both unnecessarily martyred by the Vadeli.
These usage of these tropes bespeak a profound misunderstanding about what it means to be a saint. A Malkioni Saint is not a analog of a Christian Saint but someone who has discovered a cosmic truth, a new magic or performed a profound heroic deed. Moreover the majority of Saints are historical when the Malkioni are as old as anybody else.
Hence I would place most occupational saints in the Old Republic or the Ice Age as that is when the classic Malkioni crafts are being developed. Only the newer arts, involving some technological change, would warrant a Historical Saint.
--Peter Metcalfe
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