I'm skeptical of a single system that applies to all systems of magic - if there's a system to concert-cast sorcery spells then it should be a sorcerous system at heart. But thats's the Gloranthan in me speaking. Are my concerns valid, or do the various components of Spellcom have the distinctive flavour of the three/four magic systems?Ultor said:
Spellcom mechanics
- Thread starter PhilHibbs
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Mongoose Pete
Mongoose
Um, have you actually read the book?PhilHibbs said:
Mongoose Pete
Mongoose
Since I don't know what you've heard and your original ramble is a bit obtuse, could you perhaps rephrase your question(s) clearly?PhilHibbs said:
Just that "The concert casting skill is designed to be flexible, and can be applied to Divine, Sorcery or Spirit Magic." That made me a little wary, as I said, if there's a way to combine sorcerers then I just instinctively feel it should be a sorcerous technique. But, as I said, I'm looking from a Gloranthan perspective. "If it ain't in the Abiding Book, it ain't true!" Sorry if I'm coming over as obtuse, I actually just don't know enough to ask a meaningful question.Mongoose Pete said:
Well, the Lunars were well known in the Third Age for combining magical resources - the Lunar College of Magic - and Argrath organized the Sartar Magical Union to counter them, so I see nothing non-Gloranthan at all about this.PhilHibbs said:
In the Second Age, the God Learners should certainly have crusading wizard regiments and the EWF a band of mystics who all get together and say "OUROBOROS" over and over again in unison.
I'm very happy with the Concert skill, which fills a gap I've been looking for in Glorantha for a long time - Aziok Manylegs and her children from Strangers in Prax now make sense in game terms. And the Enchant and Summon guidelines are excellent too (and in RQIII all magical types had access to them, so I don't see anything non-Gloranthan about them either).
Meanwhile, my sorcerous player was drooling over the new sorcery spells, while recognizing that many of them are indeed non-Gloranthan.
In short, I find Spellcom one of the best supplements to date, for general RQ as well as WR.
Given that under the rules as written a sorcerer who has concert and a divine magician who has concert will be unable to form a concert because they don't share the same skills, I don't think this is a problem at all. Get the book and read the description - I think you'll find your objections vanish. If you really want, I suppose you could have Concert (Sorcery) as a skill, but this would be pretty meaningless in game terms.PhilHibbs said:
I suppose that if you are playing with (Nysalor-style) illumination rules then a group of illuminates together using their concert skill for a variety of different magical types could be pretty powerful, but this strikes me as fully Gloranthan and could perhaps explain the strength of the Bright Empire (and, if we believe Gbaji's lies, the strength of Arkat's army too).
Mongoose Pete
Mongoose
As Ultor has pointed out such combined ritual castings occur in every Gloranthan culture, from EWF dances to Praxian shaman powwows. Since one of the objectives of MRQ2 is to reduce surplus skills, I made Concert casting omni-flexible. This way it also removes possible issues with cults that have more than one magic system to their bow.PhilHibbs said:
I don't see any conceptual problems with a one skill fixes all approach myself, but as the author I would say that. In return it allows cult or tradition based rituals, up to battle-field or even the national scale as elicited in Glorantha and other fantasy, even pseudo-historical settings.
Is it a power-gamer's wet dream? Well, assuming that they can gather together the manpower for such an act, then hell yes... until the first time it goes wrong, then everything goes to hell in a hand-basket. Such castings are inherently risky and get increasingly so the bigger the concert involved.
I don't think that illumination bridges that gap, the lunars did so with their adapted form of illumination, and the God Learners managed to bend divine cults into being sorcerous cults without it.Ultor said:
Back to the subject at hand, I'm tempted to pick it up now so my obtuse rambling might have got somewhere after all. :wink:
The book gives mechanics for group-casting, for summoning, a large amount of magic items - albeit D&D style, new magic item creation rules (which Eberron borrowed from extensively) and some new sorcery spells.
They might be usable to you, and I believe the book is very good
But it did not strike me as very Gloranthan-friendly..- But again, I know next to nothing about Glorantha.
- Dan
They might be usable to you, and I believe the book is very good
But it did not strike me as very Gloranthan-friendly..- But again, I know next to nothing about Glorantha.- Dan
So how would one integrate that system into a 3rd age Glorantha campaign? It's not just about the concert skill, is it? How big are the changes you need to make on the character sheet, for example? One of the reasons for switching to MRQ2 was having one concise set of rules again, is this Spellcom going to make magic a lot more complicated? Can it be introduced gradually, or is it something you need to take along right from the start?
Deleriad
Mongoose
Pruneau said:
If you wanted to add the Concert skill in you would simply add the concert skill in. Having been involved in playtesting it, that's all that you need to do. The one thing that I would be unsure of is letting a Shaman and fetch concert together as that would ramp up the strength.
From the earliest days RQ has tried to encourage group casting (hence the Mindlink spell), Concert just gives a simple mechanic for it.
In Gloranthan terms I would probably enforce strict cultural limits and would probably make it a great cult secret requiring a heroquest to learn. I would also suggest that formalised concert casting is one of the great successes of the God Learners, allowing them to cooperate to bind deities.
Finally I would be tempted to say either no expenditure of Hero Points while concert casting or require all members of a concert to spend a hero point each should one be thought required...
What Deleriad said.
For the Third Age, I'd say that any members of the Lunar College of Magic (so not Seven Mothers, the provincial cult) would know the skill. So would Arkati sorcerers, who have handed it down as part of the Book of Secrets (viz Aziok in Strangers in Prax).
For the Storm Tribe and nomads, not so much. I'd suggest Argrath gained the knowledge and founded the Sartar Magic Union through a heroquest, probably involving bigwigs like Minaryth Purple, Tosti Runefriend and your players.
Rokari clerics probably know it too, but keep it for punishing the wicked (ie everyone). Malkioni wizards probably use it with their Apprentices and at the occasional council.
I have a feeling that the Holy Country would use it - perhaps the Building Wall Battle was an example of it in action - but still have no real clue how the Pharoah's magic works.
For the Third Age, I'd say that any members of the Lunar College of Magic (so not Seven Mothers, the provincial cult) would know the skill. So would Arkati sorcerers, who have handed it down as part of the Book of Secrets (viz Aziok in Strangers in Prax).
For the Storm Tribe and nomads, not so much. I'd suggest Argrath gained the knowledge and founded the Sartar Magic Union through a heroquest, probably involving bigwigs like Minaryth Purple, Tosti Runefriend and your players.
Rokari clerics probably know it too, but keep it for punishing the wicked (ie everyone). Malkioni wizards probably use it with their Apprentices and at the occasional council.
I have a feeling that the Holy Country would use it - perhaps the Building Wall Battle was an example of it in action - but still have no real clue how the Pharoah's magic works.
Simulacrum
Mongoose
Just took delivery of Wraith Recon and Spellcom - what a happy chap I am. Well done Pete, useful, inspirational and fun.
