> Part of this idea comes from the HeroQuest rule-books. The main
> rulebook describes the Heortling Humakt as having affinities of Death,
> Honor, and Sword Combat (implying that it is actually Hu the Sword).
> Imperial Lunar Handbook Vol1 lists the following affinities for the
> Carmanian version of Humakt: Battle, Combat, and Death. Honor is not
> listed, and if we are following the Storm Tribe model it should be.
I think it has been discussed before that the Storm Tribe model isn't how all Theism works and that even there the use of 3 affinities at all times was not supposed to imply that all dieties only give 3.
That said, I agree that your conclusions are the obvious ones to reach just seeing the rule books.
> In my game, however,
> Humakt is not the patron of oaths, but rather the patron of severing
> ties. You invoke Humakt if you want to break an oath, family tie,
> marriage, etc.
In my game there is a Humakt affinity for Separation - as it strikes me as an important part of his mythos. It tends not to show up in Sartar, as Storm Tribe has, but in other Orlanthi cultures, and other cultures where Humakt shows up, it is more common.
(I also have LM with the Truth affinity showing up more commonly outside of Sartar, often replacing Literacy.)
> I must admit that I am not happy with the affinities in ILH1, though.
> Following the Storm Tribe pattern, there should be two affinities
> common to every sub-cult.
I think you mean aspect here.
> Which two should they be? Probably Death,
> but that leaves us with Battle and Combat. Both have a fairly specific
> remit, unlike "death" and "honor". If I had to choose, I would say
> that all Carmanian Humakti have Death and Combat, with an assortment
> of other sub-cult affinities.
That's what I chose when I first encountered it. Of course, the whole "Two from the god, one from the subcult" thing is... I don't know if it is supposed to reflect how Theism works in HeroQuest. It seems to still be the rule for Heortlings/Sartarites, but I don't see it has to have that model elsewhere.
> That removes a great deal of flexibility from the cult IMHO. In my
> game there are subcults of Humakt that perform other ritual and social
> functions than just fighting. We have the sub-cult of Crysknife, for
> example, whose adherents are church inquisitors attempting to separate
> Truth from the Lie. They don't do much hand-to-hand fighting, although
> they do carry a ceremonial knife. We made them a wizardry order in my
> game because of the desires of the player who created the subcult but
> if I were to depict it as theism, what would I choose? Death, Combat,
> and Truth? It doesn't ring true to me.
Death, Truth, and Separation, in my view.
> Anyway, I am always open to good ideas to pilfer for my game. What do
> the rest of you think?
Hope any of my ideas help. I've never quite managed to grasp how the subcults match up with the cults in Heortling thought. i.e. - When you devote to Harst the Reeve, are you a devotee of Harst or of Orlanth? Is Harst supposed to BE Orlanth? Or is he supposed to BE Issaries? Or neither? How do the Heortlings view this situation?
In other words, do people view themselves as worshippers of the god the subcult is part of, or of the subcult god itself? Are Aspects viewed as unique entities? Do people view themselves as worshipping two gods?
For instance, the Rigsdal cult (or another that overlaps more than one parent entity.)
Do people view them as "Worshippers of Rigsdal" but who have differing powers? Or do they view them as "Worshippers of Orlanth and Rigsdal, Elmal and Rigsdal, just Rigsdal, etc."
Is the Cult/Subcult thing entirely a rules artefact, or does it reflect how the Sartarites think? (Or is it something key to actual Theism?)
LC
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