How do I introduce divine spells into play?

[Nidhogg]

Ok so here is my problem...

I started my RQII campaign last Tuesday with a character generation session in which we came up with (in vague archetypal terms) a warrior, a merchant, a tracker and a priestess of Ernalda. Now I am fine with the first three but for the priestess in character generation I have basically said that for now she is a lay follower of the cult and we will roleplay the initiation and eventual acquisition of her first spells in the first few sessions.

So mechanically at the moment she has Pact (Ernalda) at CHA + Dedicated POW of 0 + whatever skill points the player assigned and Lore (Ernalda) but no spells.

My first question would be is this how people normally tend to start divine characters or am I being too harsh? I ran it like this in the play test we did before we finally decided to embark on a full-scale RQII campaign (abandoning D&D 4th ed ) and it seemed to go down well with the players... the only caveat being that it was ever so slightly dull for the other players even though I got them involved and tried to reward them accordingly for their assistance to the priest.

My next question would be... what spells do I let her choose from/acquire in the first place? Obviously they have to come from the category available to initiates and I am thinking healing focused type spells (I am at work so I don't have the book in front of me to name actual spells), but which spells would people recommend I offer? Also how many spells should a brand spanking new initiate to a cult generally learn? 1? 2? More? The number of castings per day/spell slots will be limited by the relevant skill but I am more wondering for the depth of choice to offer the player.

Hopefully when I finally get my hands on Cults of Glorantha this will clear all of this up further but in the interim some assistance from a RQ old hand would be appreciated.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Also how many spells should a brand spanking new initiate to a cult generally learn? 1? 2? More? The number of castings per day/spell slots will be limited by the relevant skill but I am more wondering for the depth of choice to offer the player.

Hopefully when I finally get my hands on Cults of Glorantha this will clear all of this up further but in the interim some assistance from a RQ old hand would be appreciated.

It doesn't quite work that way... that's how D&D does it.

First off, the new initiate can learn as many points of spells as points of POW dedicated to spells. There are trade-offs and restrictions involved however.

There is no set "number of castings per day". One casts a spell then has to pray for it again, usually for an initiate at a temple/site/holy place. If one joins a rare small cult that might be weeks, if far from a temple.

I'm sure others will chip in, but those are basic concepts (as per the MRQII book).

 

[andyl]

From the preview of Cults we know that Ernalda provides Heal Body so healing spells seem OK - but don't go overboard on the healing magic. Ernalda is the Earthmother so magic involving fertility is also likely to be appropriate. Bless Crops for example.

Lord High Munchkin describes how divine magic works quite well.

 

[Deleriad]

Just to add a bit more information.

An initiate may dedicate up to 1/4 of their POW to their god (rounded up as usual). So, if a PC had 15 POW, they could dedicate up to 4 POW.

This POW can be used to store spells (1 POW per spell) and, in some cases, gifts. However each point of POW dedicated loses the character 1 Magic Point to spend. E.g. in the case above, if the POW 15 character dedicated the maximum 4 POW, they could learn up to 4 divine spells but would only have 11 MPs left for other uses - such as common magic. It is a bit of balancing act.

There's no hard rules about when to start divine magic. An incremental start is probably a good one. You could also require the PC to make a pilgrimage to a major temple in order to gain the magic, which should allow for plenty of action en route.

Finally, as said above, Ernalda is more than just healing. She commands earth elementals, many farmyard animals, snakes in some places, and has magic based around protection as well as fertility.

 

[cerebrolator]

From the preview of Cults we know that Ernalda provides Heal Body so healing spells seem OK - but don't go overboard on the healing magic.

Where did you find this preview of Cults?

 

[Rurik]

From the preview of Cults we know that Ernalda provides Heal Body so healing spells seem OK - but don't go overboard on the healing magic.

Where did you find this preview of Cults?

From the main Mongoose Runequest page scroll down to the downloads section. All free downloads (including many previews) are there.

 

[gran_orco]

From the preview of Cults we know that Ernalda provides Heal Body so healing spells seem OK - but don't go overboard on the healing magic.

Where did you find this preview of Cults?

From the main Mongoose Runequest page scroll down to the downloads section. All free downloads (including many previews) are there.

???????

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: But there is no cults preview yet!

 

[PhilHibbs]

Ok so here is my problem...

I started my RQII campaign last Tuesday with a character generation session in which we came up with (in vague archetypal terms) a warrior, a merchant, a tracker and a priestess of Ernalda. Now I am fine with the first three but for the priestess in character generation I have basically said that for now she is a lay follower of the cult and we will roleplay the initiation and eventual acquisition of her first spells in the first few sessions.
...
My first question would be is this how people normally tend to start divine characters or am I being too harsh?

A little harsh - most RQ characters that I've played have been initiates from the start, even those that do not intend to follow a priesthood career, and all have had the opportunity to acquire divine magic. If the character has the minimum requirements for the cult, which IIRC is 30% in 5 of the cult skills, then they can start as an initiate with some dedicated POW and divine spells.

 

[andyl]

Where did you find this preview of Cults?

From the main Mongoose Runequest page scroll down to the downloads section. All free downloads (including many previews) are there.

???????

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: But there is no cults preview yet!

Quite right, I shouldn't trust Google - it showed me the preview for the old Cults and I didn't spot it (must still be con-lagged).

 

[Nidhogg]

First off thanks for all of the responses especially the suggestions of which specific spells to use.

Also how many spells should a brand spanking new initiate to a cult generally learn? 1? 2? More? The number of castings per day/spell slots will be limited by the relevant skill but I am more wondering for the depth of choice to offer the player.

Hopefully when I finally get my hands on Cults of Glorantha this will clear all of this up further but in the interim some assistance from a RQ old hand would be appreciated.

It doesn't quite work that way... that's how D&D does it.

First off, the new initiate can learn as many points of spells as points of POW dedicated to spells. There are trade-offs and restrictions involved however.

There is no set "number of castings per day". One casts a spell then has to pray for it again, usually for an initiate at a temple/site/holy place. If one joins a rare small cult that might be weeks, if far from a temple.

I'm sure others will chip in, but those are basic concepts (as per the MRQII book).

Ok so I am aware it is based on "'returning to shrine to pray for spells etc" but I oversimplified it to "per day"... my bad. But I am still unclear on two things:

1) Do initiates get access to ALL the spells available to an initiate in a given cult right off the bat (this sounds like roughly 6 spells or so for your average cult) OR do they get to choose one or two of that set of spells that initiates can learn? I am inclined to house-rule more towards the latter anyway as I intend character development through the initiates carrying out service to the cult to be a source of story/plot in the early phase of the game and learning more spells serves as a useful reward...

2) Of the POW they have dedicated do these have to be to unique spells. For example if a character has 4 dedicated POW as an initiate can they have 4 castings of Heal Body prepared (or other combinations thereof but doubling up on some) OR do they need to prepare 4 unique spells? I was not entirely clear on this after reading the rules in the book.

 

[Deleriad]

1) Do initiates get access to ALL the spells available to an initiate in a given cult right off the bat (this sounds like roughly 6 spells or so for your average cult) OR do they get to choose one or two of that set of spells that initiates can learn? I am inclined to house-rule more towards the latter anyway as I intend character development through the initiates carrying out service to the cult to be a source of story/plot in the early phase of the game and learning more spells serves as a useful reward...

2) Of the POW they have dedicated do these have to be to unique spells. For example if a character has 4 dedicated POW as an initiate can they have 4 castings of Heal Body prepared (or other combinations thereof but doubling up on some) OR do they need to prepare 4 unique spells? I was not entirely clear on this after reading the rules in the book.

1) That's up to you and your preferences rather than being mandated by the rules. You can rule that certain spells can only be learned at certain temples for mythological reasons or you could rule that cults, as societies, will only teach certain spells to new initiates. Or some combination.

2) It's the former. If you have POW dedicated you could, of example, have 2 castings of Heal Body and 1 casting each of two other spells.

Hope that helps

 

[PhilHibbs]

Also, once the initiate has jumped through the hoops at the appropriate shrine to learn an obscure spell, they can "forget" that spell and learn another one, and then get it back again easily at any shrine or temple. So, keep a record of the spell on your character sheet, but put '0' next to it to indicate that you have no castings of it available.

 

[Nidhogg]

Thanks Deleriad and Phil that clears things up for me nicely.