[Rq-rules] Re: Illumination/Humakti Death Drive

[Simon Phipp]

Bjorn Stolen:

> The way I've interpreted Illumination, it is a loophole in the Great 
> Compromise; a backdoor that the God Learners invented\discovered. So I rule

Illumination was first seen in the First Age when Nysalor/Gbaji/Humakt
appeared, but Rashoran had it in the Godtime, before being killed. The
Godlearners exploited it, as did the Arkati and Bright Empire.

> that an illuminated work like a tick or like those beetles that disguise 
> themselves as ants, crawling happily into the breeding-chamber of the ants 
> hive, chumping away at the ant-larvae, then crawling out again unscratched.

That's a good analogy. I am sure that if the ants found them out, then they
would be eaten immediately. The same applies to Illuminates in many societies
- if they are found they are killed.

> I let illuminated ones not beeing chaotic, but they're treated like the 
> worst sort of chaos by the phanteons, as the gods know exactly how
> dangerous 
> they are. 

Not all pantheons displike illuminates. Dara Happa accepts them, the Lunars
embrace them, Chaos includes them, even trolls and orlanthi accept them in
Arkat. 

Bad Illuminates can cause problems even though they are not chaotic. A
humakti who ignores his geases is not chaotic, but can undermine the cult,
especially if he "proves" he is justified by his sword not breaking.

> The challenge with letting players achieve illumination, is that 
> if they're munchkin-players, you're in for it as a GM. The fun part is to 
> play on the players temtpations; the possebility to flirt with several 
> opposing phanteons (including chaos) without risking getting their fingers 
> burned.

Players can abuse Illumination a bit, but not a lot, really. They can join
multiple (not a problem) mutually hostile/enemy cults and can leave cults
willy-nilly. They are not affected by Spirits of Retribution and are immune
to skills/spells such as Sense/Detect Chaos/Law/Undead, but that's as far as
it goes. Anyone taking on chaos features can still turn into a broo. Any
Humakti getting pally with Vivamorti or Zorak Zorani will get found out
eventually.

When my main PC became Illuminated (never answered a riddle, he went around
the Puzzle Canal once and felt a bit funny over Sacred Time) it actually
strengthened him. Instead of ignoring his geases, he decided to actively keep
them, as he knew that it was his own personal honour that was important, not
a fear of retribution. Of course, it did allow him a few little lapses now
and again, but he was only human after all.

David Gordon:
> > >I rule the god knows exactly what the PC is doing and
> > chooses to allow the reigning in of geases and
> > retribution spirits for his/her own reasons.
> >
> > No, I do not see it that way. There is no way Humakt
> > would allow a vampire Humakti for example to exist if
> > he knew about it. If the character is illuminated the
> > god does not know exactly what the character is doing.
> 
> But then - wouldn't Humakt consider the person dead and stop the gifts and
> geases?

Being dead does not stop gifts/geases. If you summon a Humakti spirit and
bound it as a ghost, it could well still have its Sense Undead skill. A
Yelmalian ancestor may have Mindspeech with Horses or be a master of the bow.

In any case, if the vampire humakti still worshipped Humakt at a shrine,
still sacrificed magic points etc then Humakt would still treat him as a
normal worshipper. Going to a temple with other Humakti might be a problem,
though, but not, perhaps, in Dorastor. Presumably, a vampire humakti could
worship at the Broo Humakti temple without many problems. Unless, of course,
the hunakti broos dislike undead as much as normal humakti. 

I play that they (Dorastoran Broo Humakti) have zombie temple guardians, as
Humakt allows them to return to continue their service in this world after
death, although they don't get the spell from Humakt but from Vivamort, who
_helped_ humakt gain the sword Death and so is an associate cult of the
Dorastoran Humakt. This is all highly unofficial, though, so take it as you
find it.

If you play that Humakti can't return as undead, then the problem of a
Humakti vampire does not occur, although you could still belong to both
Vivamort (as an initiate) and Humakt. Since there is at least one case in
print where a Humakti comes back as a spirit/wraith of some kind, I think the
_cannot_ becomes _normally doesn't_ instead.

See Ya

Simon