> (snip)
>
> > Leik is born into the clan, and grows up a fairly normal boy with
> Movement,
> > Wind, and (oddly) Communication as his runes.
> /// So he's a weirdo.
>
I doubt this. Players maximize the efficiency of their characters (usually),
but my impression is that the Runes/Gods chose you, not the other way
around. The vast majority (~85%) of Orlanthi males will have the Air Rune;
Mobility is also very common, I imagine, although perhaps less so, and
Mastery is probably even less common. Loads of perfectly ordinary Orlanthi
males will end up with Death or Fertility or Communication or whatever
instead of one of the "perfect 3" -- I kind of imagine that people with
perfect matches for their god's Runes are the minority and probably reveal
their specialness early (Harmast's initiation being a good example, Ranulf
had another particularly spectacular one, as I recall).
> > In the normal course of things, Leik raises his Movement Affinity to 1W
> and
> > becomes an Initiate of Orlanth. He can now use his Movement and Air
> > Affinities to work obvious magic -- run up cliffs (Movement 1W)
> //// Agreed.
>
> throw rocks long distances (Air 18), etc.
> // For me, he'd have to get 1M in the Air Rune before doing that. A
> character
> must understand a Rune to use it actively in Magics.
>
This is incorrect (Sartar, p. 80). Initiation (which requires one Rune
affinity at 1W+) "turns on" all Runes associated with your God.
> These are obviously magical, in that they defy normal actions
> /// They ARE normal actions for good orlanthis !
>
Yeah, but they defy the way the world normally works. Let's not complicate
matters by getting cute.
> He can't do obvious magic with any of these, because it's not an
> Orlanth-related
> action (and it uses a Rune Orlanth doesn't hold).
> /// I'd say he can't do it because he doesn't have 1M in the Exchange /
> Communication Rune.
>
No, as far as I can tell, it's because he is sealed to Orlanth, and Orlanth
doesn't have the Communication Rune. If he Initiated to Issaries, he could
use Communication actively, but Air and Movement would be "augment only."
Obviously, a PC would be unlikely to make that choice, but there are
probably a few Issarians who have messed up Rune structures like this (maybe
they are destined to become *very* good communicators -- blame the whims of
the gods).
> > Later, after much excitement in his life, Leik raises his Air Affinity to
> > 11W, and decides to devote himself to Orlanth (snip) He can still use
> Orlanth-related Movement and Air Magics, using his affinities as direct
> abilities.
> /// If they are above 1M ; in the case of Devotion to Orlanth you both (you
> and
> the player) must decide if he must have 11M both in Air and Communication.
>
Again, not as I am reading Sartar, p.80. I could be wrong here; I am trying
to feel my way through this as well.
> He can no longer use the Issaries-based Communications augments, but he
> might
> still be able to claim a Communication Affinity augment based on doing
> something
> Orlanth did (Communication isn't an Orlanth rune (Orlanth uses Mastery for
> more
> or less the same effect)
> /// I don't see Hedkoranth and Drogarsi mixing well in the same character,
> so
> I'd agree he loses Communication. Maybe he can replace it with Mastery.
>
He doesn't "lose" it so much as he can't use it without damaging his
connection to Orlanth. Orlanth doesn't "communicate" with beings; he shows
them his Mastery to convince them to be friends or let him stay the night or
whatever. Communication, the Rune, is not, confusingly, communication the
interpersonal ability.
> Leik also learns the Hedkoranth Feat and, later on a heroquest, the
> Pounding
> Hail Feat. Normally, it just uses Leik's Air Affinity (15W at this point),
> but
> he could also increase the Feat as a sub ability (ie Air 15W (Hedkoranth
> +3)).
> /// Yes, why not ?
>
No reason at all, it's stated explicitly (Heroquest, p111). I am trying to
account for all the various permutations.
> With the Narrator's agreement, Leik is able to increase his ability in this
> feat
> by acting like Hedkoranth before using it -- He paints his body with woad,
> > lifts heavy rocks, and boasts of his own and Hedkoranth's exploits. He
> can
> > roll his Air Affinity 15W vs a Moderate resistance (usually, it might be
> > higher or lower depending on whether he is in a Temple of Orlanth or
> hiding
> > out in a Lunar city) to get a lingering augment for the whole battle.
> /// Fine and well !
>
Well, I am unsure -- this seems like it fits the spirit of the rules, but I
am expecting someone to sort me out, if I am wrong.
> > The Pounding Hail Feat (again, worked out between the Narrator and Leik's
> > player) requires more investment by Leik (snip) He must do a ceremony
> that
> lasts a whole day to activate the feat, and it calls down punishing hail on
> the
> enemy army
> /// Very nice. I like your idea to use the Feat as an "area effect weapon".
> A
> Feat could affect a whole battle, especially if his clansmen and fyrd
> brothers
> back his ritual up with their magics.
>
Again, it seems reasonable to me, but I am waiting for clarification.
> > Later still, Leik earns the Smash Giant Feat, which might give some
> extreme
> > bonus automatically (+(? +more?) but would serve no purpose but to kill
> > giants.
> /// I like your idea of a greater bonus for narrower ablity. How would you
> work
> it out in term of game rules ? The Giant would resist it at "Background
> Resistance" level ?
>
This one I am the least clear on (by the way, that was supposed to be (+9?
+more?)) -- it makes sense for a very specific feat to have a special bonus
(at the cost of limited utility -- this would give the bonus if you were
fighting a giant, but less of a bonus if you were, say, attacking a
giant-made object or a mountain that is the remains of a dead giant, I
expect, and it would be useless against a creature that is very large but
not descended from the beings Hedkoranth fought (e.g. chaos creatures,
Maran's various creations, and Dragons), but I could be wrong.
Any clarifications?
Peter
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