On 12/10/2012, at 5:55 PM, David Scott wrote:
> I'd suggest you have another read on the Lunar magic section/seven mothers at the back of Pavis. (I hope) we were quite thorough in trying to get the whole feel right.
>
> Not only are there the glamour versions of rune, spirit and sorcery magic, but also the usual non-glamour versions. I think non-moon linked sorcery is pretty common, rune magic the same and spirit magic less so.
There are certainly non-Glamour versions of Lunar Divine magic, the 'Little Sisters and Brothers', and I think it is pretty common, yes. Good point to pick that up. I don't think there are non-Glamour versions of Lunar Sorcery - I think that Lunar sorcerers may learn non-Lunar sorcery, though (eg I think that a particular Grimoire is Lunar, or not, rather than a particular sorcerer). Individual sorcerers may learn more than one Grimoire, of course, including mixing Lunar and non-Lunar sorcery. I think the number of sorcerers who identify as Lunar but use non-Lunar grimoires is small, though - and most sorcerers in the Empire are either Lunar or Carmanian, there aren't really other independent sorcerous traditions (there may well be a few, but I think a very small number as a percentage).
> The HQ rules are very simple with lunar magic working exactly the same as it's normal counterpart. I'd say the same should be for RQ. The only thing to bear in mind is that the Lunars don't really have gods and so rune magic doesn't really exist the same way.
Almost, but not quite, exactly the same. The cycle/Glowline, of course, is the one big difference, but not the only one. The inability of HQ2 divine magicians to access Feats is particularly interesting. I've been thinking about how to represent this disadvantage in RQ6 terms, and I haven't got an answer yet.
> The immortals can be worshipped to get rune magic, but overall that is seen as wrong tying the individual to the world and blocking their illumination potential.
I don't think that 'glamours' of rune magic is seen as wrong.
> Non-lunars can also worship the immortals and get simple rune magic. The disadvantage is that all Lunar magic (spirit, rune, sorcery) is cyclic.
Of course, for the overwhelming majority of Lunar citizenry, the cyclic nature of Lunar magic is an advantage - if you never leave the Glowline, you are always at the top of the cycle.
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> Although I'm not an RQ player anymore, I think any lunar magic rules should be kept simple. The only thing to be aware of is how illumination is handled. In HQ2 it's a narrated thing - you finally get the access to Black Moon by going through your initiation (read adventure) into the Black Moon (and paying your 2HP for the Moon Rune Keyword or whatever). I'd hope that RQ could follow a similar path so the whole system doesn't bog down in numbers (Like in ILH2, RQ2 illumination, etc).
I think I'm trending the other way. If Sevening/Illumination is to be as powerful and significant as it should be, that means it needs to have significant game value, and that means it should have solid rules that represent its use. On the other hand, I do think that the experience of becoming Sevened/Illuminated should be done as an adventure, not about numbers. Cheers David
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> On 12 Oct 2012, at 19:52, David Cake <dave_at_...> wrote:
>
>> There really isn't much sorcery not tied to religion in the Lunar Empire, but there are both Lunar schools and sorcerers among the Carmanians. In both cases, they form a minority among the population (though a very important minority for the Carmanians). Lunar sorcery may well not be true sorcery in some metaphysical sense, but in rules terms, treat it as sorcery. >> Personally, I think that in RuneQuest rules terms, Lunar Magic is best modelled by combining Mysticism with other forms of Magic. Lunar Mysticism doesn't do the showy stuff like mystic martial arts, but tends towards mystic enhancement of magical abilities that sits on top of other magical abilities. This is just my opinion - and should be taken as a way to deal with Lunar magic in RQ game terms, rather than a deep statement about Gloranthan metaphysics. For game balance purposes, Lunar magic probably has some disadvantages as well (just as in HQ2 Lunar Divine magic doesn't have access to feats), disadvantages the Lunars normally compensate for by both the Glowline and Lunar mystic practices.
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