Spirit Combat

[Briquelet]

Hi All,

I ran an adventure today in which the PCs faced a guardian spirit that attempted to discorportated any non-cult member who tried to enter an ancient temple and then engaged him in spirit combat. The guardian was only meant to deter, not kill or possess. Needless to say, it did not go well for the PCs, who each ended up dropped to 0 MP. The most capable character had 62% Persistence, meaning a 31% chance to hit the spirit in spirit combat. The spirit had a meager POW 14 and whomped the snot out him.

Ok, so here is my question. Is spirit combat meant to be fairly rare, or are PCs simply expected to get trounced, unless they have purchased the Spirit Binding skill? Having come from old RQII and RQIII, this change is a pretty big one for me. In the old days, enemy spirits were not all that uncommon, but PCs generally had a fighting chance by matching POW vs. POW.

Any thoughts/comments are much appreciated.

 

[ThatGuy]

I feel your pain. Spirits and spirit magic is now the domain of those that tread those waters. All others are at a *huge* disadvantage with out some kind of spirit protection magic. The skill difference, just as relates to spirit damage done, between spirits and the adventurer with no skill- is a deal breaker. A spirit with a Pow of 9 can take out a Sorcerer with a Pow of 16, and it might happen quickly.

Essentialy, The spirit world has become the domain of Spirits and Shaman. Everybody else- watchout. If you see a spirit coming, run ( oh wait, you can't see them coming because THEY'RE SPIRITS!).

Not sure what else to say, except maybe encourage at least one member of the party to invest in developing this aspect of their character, or as GM adjust Spirit strength to take into account the PC's general lack of spirit combat capability. Or maybe limit strong spirit activity to the wilds.

Still, there is no denying RQ2 Spirit magic is on steroids compared to ALL earlier versions, but I like it, as it makes Shamans very potent and different schools of magic susceptible to each other...cool 8)

 

[dbhoward]

I agree that Spirit Magic is now very scary and virtually unstoppable by an unprotected victim. Though of course the locals would have heard such tales? Spirit Block and Spirit Resistance are actually quite good and would be nearly universal in a demon-haunted world; amulet-sellers should be busy!

And remember that "Spirit Magic practitioner" could also include Divine cult exorcist-types and Sorcerously-inclined demonologists, if I understand the intent of the rules. Anyone who commands spirits would be using Spirit Walking and Spirit Binding, not just "shamans" as that term is usually used (Loz and Pete said this in an article in S&P 75). This is, I assume, why the Summon and Spiritual Projection/Spiritual Journey spells are no longer available, and why the Dominate's spell description no longer refers to spirits. The local caster-out of demons is actually a temple-sanctioned spirit magician...