Hi!
I do like the idea of the Pact and Pact skill, it makes the connection between the character and the Diety real and could easily be used for other strong connections like guardian spirits for Clan or Warband.
But it do bothers me, that it in the long run it excludes (or at least severly restricts) the use of common magic, (and all other uses of Magic Points).
Common Magic, Sorcery, Spirit magic and Draconic Illumination and even Heroic abilities all use the same Magic points, and no MP's are "locked" for one or the other magic. You can use all the spells and types you know as fit the situation. But Divine magic blocks the use of Common Magic (from the dedicated points), and Divine spells can't be used flexible as the other Magics.
For starting characters this is no big deal at all, but eventually it will start limiting the would be RuneLord/Priest pretty much. Divine Magic is more powerful and gets better, but it does not cover the same ground as Common Magic, and it is still limited to the number of dedications for each spell.
There is of course some balancing taken in to this, but Sorcery feels more powerful and especially way more flexible than Divine Magic. Now that might be the right order for 2:nd age Glorantha (and non Gloranthan settings), but I am running 3:rd age Sartar Rising and it just doesn’t feel right at all.
I have been thinking of another setup for divine magic and pact:
Magic Pool is an independent attribute, that can be developed separately.
It is derived from POW, if POW goes up/down so does Magic Pool.
Magic Pool is sacrifized permanentely (?) to Pacts (and similar for enchantments), to form a Pact Pool (Diety).
Divine spells are fueled by Magic Points from the Pact Pool, so if the character knows Shiled he/she would have as many uses as the Pact Pool, if that is what he/she needed.
POW is the limiting factor for all Pacts (Divine or othervise).
This could of course unbalance Divine Magic, especially if Rune masters could reuse their Pact Pool after an hour. So that would have to change, I been thinking of dayly or perhaps even weelky (holy day).
It also got me wondering of all the limitations for Initiates and so on, are they of mystical origin imposed by the Divinety or are they the results of Cult hierachy?
Is there some bond between a Diety and a Rune Master that an Initiate or Acolyte does not share?
Most feels more like game mechanics or Cult hierachy induced.
I think, I would let all ranks recover Divine Magic (Pact Pool) on the same basis, but instead limit how the Pact skill can be developed.
I could also see a situation where Pact Pool could grow without dedicating Magic Points , after a successful HeroQuest strongly connected to the Deity or so.
So am I alone in feeling that Divine Magic is overly restricted? Is anybody else running 3:rd age Glorantha, and how do you handle Divine Magic?
Halbard
I do like the idea of the Pact and Pact skill, it makes the connection between the character and the Diety real and could easily be used for other strong connections like guardian spirits for Clan or Warband.
But it do bothers me, that it in the long run it excludes (or at least severly restricts) the use of common magic, (and all other uses of Magic Points).
Common Magic, Sorcery, Spirit magic and Draconic Illumination and even Heroic abilities all use the same Magic points, and no MP's are "locked" for one or the other magic. You can use all the spells and types you know as fit the situation. But Divine magic blocks the use of Common Magic (from the dedicated points), and Divine spells can't be used flexible as the other Magics.
For starting characters this is no big deal at all, but eventually it will start limiting the would be RuneLord/Priest pretty much. Divine Magic is more powerful and gets better, but it does not cover the same ground as Common Magic, and it is still limited to the number of dedications for each spell.
There is of course some balancing taken in to this, but Sorcery feels more powerful and especially way more flexible than Divine Magic. Now that might be the right order for 2:nd age Glorantha (and non Gloranthan settings), but I am running 3:rd age Sartar Rising and it just doesn’t feel right at all.
I have been thinking of another setup for divine magic and pact:
Magic Pool is an independent attribute, that can be developed separately.
It is derived from POW, if POW goes up/down so does Magic Pool.
Magic Pool is sacrifized permanentely (?) to Pacts (and similar for enchantments), to form a Pact Pool (Diety).
Divine spells are fueled by Magic Points from the Pact Pool, so if the character knows Shiled he/she would have as many uses as the Pact Pool, if that is what he/she needed.
POW is the limiting factor for all Pacts (Divine or othervise).
This could of course unbalance Divine Magic, especially if Rune masters could reuse their Pact Pool after an hour. So that would have to change, I been thinking of dayly or perhaps even weelky (holy day).
It also got me wondering of all the limitations for Initiates and so on, are they of mystical origin imposed by the Divinety or are they the results of Cult hierachy?
Is there some bond between a Diety and a Rune Master that an Initiate or Acolyte does not share?
Most feels more like game mechanics or Cult hierachy induced.
I think, I would let all ranks recover Divine Magic (Pact Pool) on the same basis, but instead limit how the Pact skill can be developed.
I could also see a situation where Pact Pool could grow without dedicating Magic Points , after a successful HeroQuest strongly connected to the Deity or so.
So am I alone in feeling that Divine Magic is overly restricted? Is anybody else running 3:rd age Glorantha, and how do you handle Divine Magic?
Halbard
