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known from time to time to use house rules or rules modifications.

In Glorantha, the Compromise prevents gods from directly interfering. So that
means they can grant other beings magic which can be used against others, but
they can't directly attack others themselves. So, giving a HeroQuestor Shield
20 is fine for a DI on a HeroQuest (although perhaps a bit gross), making all
his cast spells available again would be fine as well, but slaying a living
creature himself would not be allowed.

In other worlds, there might not be an objection to this. So, someone could
call on Zeus to strike an enemy with a thunderbolt, for instance.

Steve Perrin:

> I would say that divine Intervention cannot be used to do anything against
> another living creature than one of the god's other spells couldn't do. So
> a Humakti doing in some undead would be kosher.

So an Orlanthi using a Thunderbolt would be OK as well. And people say that
*my* games are too powerful.
 
> The main prohibition is supposed to be (or was when we were tweaking it
> around the time of 2nd Edition) that one god's DI does not work in the holy
> place of another god.

I saw an article somewhere, maybe Wyrms Footnotes, saying that you couldn't
use DI in another god's Holy Place, but the restriction on DIing people dead
was stil there, I think. Anyway, we always played that you could use DI in a
Temple of an opposing god, but not on the HeroPlane of an opposing god. This
was purely because the idea of going into a Thanatar Great Temple without DI
being available was so terrifying that we abandoned the idea.

> Then again, Your World May Vary (otherwise known as YWMV)

I always wondered what that meant, but didn't like to show my extreme
ignorance. (I hate acronyms and abbrevations).

David Smart:
> ROFLMAO!
> 
> To quote a priest from my younger days:
> 
> "All prayers are answered.
> 
> The problem is, most of the time the answer is "No"."

We had a rule of thumb for Rune Lord DI:
Healing one person was always granted.
Resurrecting one person was always granted (unless asking Humakt or helping
cult enemies).
Casting defensive magic on a person was usually granted.
Casting weapon-enhancing spells on a person was sometimes granted.
Casting one's own spells on oneself was usually granted.
Dispelling hostile magic on somebody was usually granted.
A little bag of gold in the corner was often granted, but only when it came
at the end of a long list of requests.

A god would grant one request without a problem. For good/powerful Rune Lords
a second request would normally be granted. For people attacking an enemy
stronghold, a third request was normally granted. Anything else had a
percentage chance of being granted, depending on the GM. POWx5 for the first
one, POWx4 for the next and so on, if a roll failed then no further requests
would be granted. 

This had the advantage that it helped good worshippers, it forced players to
be careful about what they asked for and it could provide help in very
dangerous circumstances.

So, for example, Derak is fighting a horde of vampires in Dorastor and is
poisoned and slain. He DIs to Zorak Zoran and asks for Healing/Resurrecting
Self, Berserker and Shield, cast from his own spells, all his Crush cast from
his own spells, Healing the rest of the party, Resurrecting a fallen comrade,
a little bag of gold in the corner.

He is on a cult mission and is fighting Chaos, so the GM decides that the
first 2 are automatic, the third is POWx5, the fourth is POWx4, the fifth
POWx1 because the person died in a cowardly fashion, and the Little Bag of
old in the corner becomes a Little bag of lead in the corner. Derak makes the
POWx5 and POWx4, but fails the POWx3, so he gets Resurrected and tooled up
with Berserker, Shield and Crush, his friends are healed but the fallen
comrade stays dead, which Derak doesn't mind as he never liked him anyway.
There is a clink as a little bag of lead falls into a corner and Derak
charges after the rapidly disappearing vampires. (Something similar actually
happened, with Derak using DI to ask for Berserker, something he never, ever
normally did, the vampires ran off, but stayed just far enough in front so
that he could catch sight of them and run after them, he got lost in the
caves, came out of Berserker after 15 minutes and was Enthralled, Befuddled,
Mind Blasted, Madnessed and clapped in Slave Bracelets, with all his items
taken. We found it funny at the time, but Stuart didn't, for some reason.)

Leon Kirshtein:

> In which case he just as well may strike dead anyone
> at all since he has access to Sever Spirit.  I would
> say no to this.  

Me too.
 
> The most he could do, IMO, is give his follower
> imediate use(uses) of of Turn Undead, but it would be
> up to the follower to cast the spell.

Sounds reasonable.

Steve Perrin:
> Leon, have you evaluated this?
> 
> RuneLord Quackmire the bold uses his DI to kill an opponent (who gets the
> usual resistance against it). Since Quackmire has a POW of 15, let's say he
> loses half of it, or 9 points of POW. He has to build this back up again.
> 
> Meantime, Daphfee the Demented, High Priest of Humakt, uses the Sever
> Spirit
> he paid 3 points of POW for under controlled conditions and achieves
> exactly
> the same thing.
> 
> Having had a Rune Lord thoroughly screwed after doing one DI, I really
> don't
> see the problem with Quackmire taking the chance here. 

Putting it that way, it doesn't sound too bad. However, a Rune Lord can only
DI once a week (if memory recalls, as we had a house rule that did away with
that), so if he succeeds in attempting a Sever Spirit attack against an
oppenent and fails, then he is stuffed if he is badly injured by the opponent
and needs more Divine help. 

> Unless your campaign
> has ways for a Rune Lord to immediately reclaim expended POW, he is taking
> a
> helluva a long term chance for a short term gain.

We played that a successful DI counted as a successful use of POW and the PC
got a POW gain roll out of it. Not much consolation for a Rune Lord on 3 POW,
though, but it saves him trying to find some zombies or skeletons to Disrupt.

Leon Kirshtein:
> I do not use DI as Rune spell as was the case in RQ2,
> I mostly use RQ3 mechanics for cult status and Rune
> spells.  In which case a Rune Lord with a power of 15
> will always get a DI (even if it costs him 10 POW)
> while a priest still has to roll under his POW and may
> kill himself.

Or, indeed, to happily join his God in the afterlife without all that mesisng
about.

lepus at anthrobunny.com:

> This is exactly my take on it as well.  Rune spells are just future
> promises of miracles from a god to the worshipper in exchange for a chunk
> of the worshipper's spirit.  Divine Intervention is a miracle on-the-spot
> in exchange for what could be all of the worshipper's spirit.  It's the
> worshipper's fault for not taking the Rune spell in the first place --
> it's not the god's fault.

So, in RQ2, if a Zorak Zoran PC DIs and asks for a Sever Spirit to cast at a
foe and he rolls a 01, losing 0 POW, he gets a 3 point one-use spell for 0
POW? In RQ3, he can roll a D10 and roll 1, getting a 3 point one-use spell
for 1 POW. And that would be OK, then? Let's gloss over the fact that Rune
Lords cannot actually sacrifice for Divine Magic that is One-Use for Priests,
so he gets a spell that he couldn't have sacrificed for. OK for Rune
Lord/Priests, though.

See Y'all

Simon


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