Updated 27 May 1998, changed Pagan term to Meldek, and split out non-meldek stuff into separate document.
These rules constitute a set of suggested
amendments to Sandy's sorcery rules, with the intention of allowing the
various non-malkioni sorcerors of Glorantha, with most PCs still being
from Dragon Pass or Pavis, to fit into a compatible framework with the
Malkioni. These rules have not been playtested.
Other sorcery material is in a separate
document.
Please note that one of the primary
reasons for these rules is to cope with existing sorceror characters,
which the RQ4 rules and Sandy's rules do not do. They address the
problem of sorcerors having too much power available, and if that is
what you want, then ignore some of our suggested amendments. However,
taking an existing sorceror and preventing him from performing spells
which he has relied on and based his entire repertoire on in the past is
not going to make any friends. In fact, these rules do not fully
address all of these difficulties - there are too many fundamental
differences in the system. Yes, these rules may make the sorceror more
powerful in some respects than Sandy's, so take care what you let your
players do!
Take note, though, that the non-Malkioni
sorceror does not have access to Saints, so this tends to level the
balance. I reckon 4 points of POW beats 3,000 hours of training any day!
Another problem with converting old
characters to the Vows system is that the player suddenly has to come up
with a list of stuff that his character could forego without
fundamentally changing the character's whole lifestyle. With Journeys,
it's not so difficult, you just have to think up some stuff that the
character has done (or avoided doing) in the past.
The male pronoun is used as default,
except for when I refer to Trolls, where I use the female. I value my
freedom of language over abstract impositions of 'political
correctness'.
I presume that the reader is familiar
with Sandy's
Rules If not, read them - they're great!.
[Comments like this point out differences and explain pros and cons relative to Sandy's rules]
The meldek sorceror is an arrogant beast.
He performs magic by bending the stuff of the universe to his will, and
owes no allegiance to any deity. He may deal with spirits from time to
time, and the existence and sometimes usefullness of deities cannot be
denied. But he would never make a timeless vow to any entity -
even himself, for even that would rob him of his free will, and thus his
power.
He thus embarks on a series of 'journeys
of self-knowledge', during which he (typically) denies himself of
something, goes out of his way to do something that he would not
normally do, or just look at the world in a particular way for a time.
A Journey is, like a vow, normally only
worth 1 point of Presence, but may not gain an Art instead. Journeys
worth more than 1 Presence are much more unusual than are Vows.
Presence gain from a Journey is
invariably at the end of the Journey.
Failure to complete a Journey ends in
the loss of a point of Presence, but subsequent completion of the
same Journey both counteracts this loss and gives the sorceror
the normal Presence for the Journey.
Journeys are normally started in the
Sacred Time, and he may only undertake one Journey at this time.
However, other magical events may give rise to the opportunity for a
Journey, or a Journey could take more than a year, and these could lead
to the sorceror being on more than one Journey at a time. Indeed, a
sorceror may complete or fail a Journey without even knowing that he had
embarked upon it.
Abjure Ceremony:
The sorceror must not use Ceremony to
increase the chance of casting spells. He thus learns that he can do
whatever he needs to do at any time, without the props and psychological
tricks, if he needs to. They are useful, however, if only to maintain
an air of mystique, and he may pretend to use them if the situation
warrants a ceremonial display!
Abjure Confrontation:
For one year, the sorceror must never
engage in a confrontation, but must always avoid or resolve disputes by
discussion or non-combat magic. He may be beaten up, but must never
fight back.
Abjure Magic:
For one year, the sorceror must never
cast magical spells or perform magical rituals, and any spells
maintained on the sorceror must be cancelled. He must not use items with
spells cast on them (inadvertent use may or may not fail the Journey -
I'm not sure on this one, it may reduce the value to 1). This Journey is
traditionally taken by an Adept just prior to declaring himself to be a
Magus. It is worth 2 presence.
Journeymen who have not yet achieved the
rank of Adept taking this Journey are frowned upon, and the Journey is
only worth 1 presence to them (they have less to lose, therefore less to
gain).
Apprenticeship:
This is the first Journey that a budding
sorceror makes, after which he is considered a Student. Over the course
of this Journey, he gradually accrues his natural Presence, equal to
his Magic Bonus, the same as the High Vow, at a rate of 1 point per 5%
in his chosen primary Art. The Westerners claim that these cultural
strictures must be followed in order to maintain one's Presence, but the
meldek knows that this is bull.
As he learns the other two primary Arts,
he gains access to his Free INT as Presence, at a rate of 1 point per
10% in either skill. Thus a sorceror with INT and POW of 18 must get all
three Arts to 90% in order to utilise his full Presence.
Example : Marco is an Apprentice, he has INT 18, POW 14 and DEX 16, giving a Magic Bonus of +15. He knows 5 spells, so his total potential Presence is 27. He must learn Intensity to 75%, and Range and Multispell to 80% and 70% to gain this Presence. When he manages to free up the 5 INT, by Matrixes, INT Spirits, or a Familiar, then he must increase Range and Multispell by 20% and 30%. If he manages to increase his POW or DEX, then he must again spend time studying the Arts to gain access to the additional Presence.
Example : Kim is an Apprentice, she has INT 17, POW 15 and DEX 16, giving a Magic Bonus of +15. She knows 5 spells, so her total potential Presence is 27. She must learn Intensity, Range and Multispell to 90% each to gain this Presence. When she manages to free up the 5 INT, by Matrixes, INT Spirits, or a Familiar, then she must increase one Art by 10%, and two others by 20% each. If she manages to increase her POW or DEX, then she must again spend time studying the Arts for no other benefit than to gain access to the additional Presence.
Chastity:
The sorceror must not engage in any form
of sexual activity until the next Sacred Time.
Diverse Mastery:
The sorceror gains 1 Presence when he
achieves 90% ability in a skill, but only one per category. Thus a
sorceror could benefit for mastering Dodge, Orate, Spirit Combat, and
Broadsword Attack, but would gain nothing for subsequently mastering
Sing, as he already has a Communications skill. Spells and Arts do not
count for this.
Hedonism:
The sorceror must devote a year to
overindulgence, aesthetics, sex, time-wasting and general excess. During
this year his skills will deteriorate as per the RQ rules. At the end
of the Journey he must return to normal, and thus learn that he can
overcome temptation. If he ever becomes addicted to intoxicating
substances, or loses control to any similar uncontrolled urge, he loses 1
Presence and must first of all regain control of himself, and recovers
the loss at the next Sacred Time.
This Journey is a great reason
for a stiff-necked Malkioni with a Vow of Chastity to hate the meldek
sorceror!
Humility:
The sorceror must strive to see his own
place in the greater scheme of the universe, must act with deference
toward his fellow creatures lest he disturb some part of the system
which he does not understand, until the next Sacred Time then he truly
recognises this charade for what it is, and carries on as he did before,
but with 2 extra Presence.
This is quite a difficult Journey, and
the referee should take every opportunity to tempt the player to break
it.
Teaching:
This is the Journey that the sorceror
starts when taking on an apprentice, and completes when that apprentice
becomes an Adept. During this Journey he must teach the apprentice what
he needs to know, and protect his apprentices from harm from other
sorcerors. This Journey does not carry a penalty (Optional: unless the
sorceror abandons his responsibility to the apprentice without due
cause; this penalty is non-recoverable.)
A sorceror may take on this Journey
several times simultaneously, once for each current apprentice.
Other Journeys:
Many Journeys are less general than
these examples, for example a sorceror may decide to climb to the
precipice on Kero Fin where the Orlanth priests climb and hurl
themselves from as a test of faith, and throw himself off relying on his
Damage Resistance, Fly and Dominate spells to protect him from the
forces at large; thus he learns that they are no better than him.
He may hear the story of Sheng Seleris
and decide to get himself enrolled in a torture camp just to see what it
is like.
Or he may embark upon a sailing voyage
around the ocean.
There are as many Journeys as there are
grains of sand on a beach, some are particular to an individual
sorceror, others are circumstantial, only applicable under certain
circumstances, and it it even possible for a Journey to last less than a
combat round. For instance, if you use one of the more interesting
spell fumble tables, you may wish to classify certain results on that
table as a Journey.
Many Journeys can be considered to be
similar to heroquests, in that they have mostly been done before, are
relatively well-charted, and have a predictable outcome. There are many
other, darker, Journeys which bring greater reward. Journeys can be a
great plot device - please send your suggestions to phil@snark.freeserve.co.uk!
[This is just for clarification, the wording can sometimes be a little confusing]
*** These Rules Are Not Complete And Have Not Been Playtested ***