Shamanism for Fun and Prophets

By Bruce Mason, Gary Goldman and Pete Nash

My songs are paths said a shaman, Some take me a short way some take me a long way. I make them straight and I walk down them. I look about me as I go not a thing escapes my notice. I call but I stay on the path. (Townsley, Graham. Song Paths, The Ways and Means of Yaminahua Shamanic Knowledge, LHomme, 1993: 33:p454) Ill tell you what shamanisms all about. Its the quickest way to get your brains scrambled short of falling off a cliff. Praghos the Cursed. RuneQuest II introduces a new, free-form system of Spirit Magic mixing a blend of academic realism and fantasy. The rules provide a toolkit of ideas that can be used to create many different kind of animistic traditions but the openness of the system can make it hard to know where to start or how to t spirit magic into your own campaign. This article provides answers to questions that have been asked and tools to help bring spirit worship to life in any campaign. This is the rst of two articles: the second will expand upon the range of spirits and spirit encounters available to spirit worshippers. Animism is the broadest term for a worldview in which the world is infused by spirits, and shamanism is just one type of animism. RuneQuest II focuses on shamanism but the rules can accommodate most forms of animism. For example, Shinto or folk Hinduism can be seen as animistic practices as can ancestor worship among the Romans and ancient Greeks. And, as can be seen in any bookshop, many new age beliefs are fundamentally animistic. RuneQuest II spirit magic is as applicable to the modern world as it is to the ancient. more likely to be loose afliations or may simply consist of members of single family or clan or tradition of veneration of spirits. Such traditions share one simple insight: the world is alive. Each rock, plant, animal and each cloud, pool and storm has its own spirit. Such spirits themselves, especially the spirits of ancestors, may also be members of a tradition or be friendly towards a particular tradition. Other spirits may simply have no interest in the mundane world. Some may be actively hostile to members of a particular tradition. Because there are so many ways to approach spirit worship, cults tend to be diverse but as a rule of thumb each spirit cult tends to have access to ve or six types of spirit with whom it is friendly and when added up, these spirits will usually offer 7-12 different benets. Smaller spirit cults have access to fewer friendly spirits. Nearly all cults will have access to ancestors and guardian spirits plus a number of nature spirits depending on the cults background. Cults with particular elemental afliations will have access to elemental spirits. Curse and bane spirits are not usually part of a tradition and any spirit magician attempting to bind them into service is taking a serious risk. anyone wishing to bind a spirit needs to know about it are its Intensity and its attitude towards the spirit mage.

Intensity

Intensity is an attribute of spirits. When it comes to Spirit Magic, the Intensity of a spirit measures the benet it can give to the spirits controller as well as how difcult it is to command. The greater a spirits POW, the greater its Intensity. A spirits Intensity can be calculated from the following table. Spirit Intensity Table POW Intensity POW Range 1 1D6+6 7-12 2 1D6+12 13-18 3 1D6+18 19-24 +1 +6 +6

Typical POW 10 16 22 +6

You do not always need to know a spirits Intensity to know the scale of its effects but the attribute is always there and is also used to measure how much it costs to bind a spirit. Occasionally spirits can be found which for mythical or historical reasons break the rules. The system here is simply a default covering most normal cases. Exceptions will always occur.

Dening Spirits

Spirit Cults & Traditions

Although most spirit worshippers will be a member of a cult, the organisation is unlikely to be anywhere near as formal as a divine cult or sorcery school. Spirit cults are

The denizens of the spirit plane are varied and diverse. Spirit magic allows practitioners to approach spirits in two ways: as beings with which they can communicate and as entities which can be bound to service. A spirit magicians most frequent interaction with spirits will be through the use of the Spirit Walking skill to communicate with them. In this respect spirits are non player characters who can be interacted with during game sessions. Spirit Binding is the skill of persuading or forcing a spirit into service or protecting oneself from harmful spirits. RuneQuest II provides a basic breakdown of spirit types and how to quantify what benets a bound spirit might provide. The two key elements

Attitude
Each spirit has an attitude towards magicians who approach it. Some will be friendly, others neutral and some hostile. Spirits belonging to the magicians tradition will most likely be friendly. Neutral spirits consist of both those belonging to traditions which are not hostile to the shaman as well as those not considered part of any tradition. Hostile spirits are those belonging to enemy traditions or are inherently antagonistic due to mythic, runic or elemental oppositions. For example, Bane spirits are hostile to almost all non-Chaotic traditions while a tradition

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with wolf spirits will nd that most prey animal spirits are distinctly hostile to it. The attitude of a spirit towards a spirit magician affects how it will react to being approached, to being bound and what it might do if it ever escapes a binding.

spectral combat skill of 150% or more meaning that only the greatest of the High Shamans can defeat them in spirit combat unless several shamans join together in a Concert (See Spellcom). Such actions should be played out rather than relegated to Down Time. Once bound to the mundane plane in a fetish a spirit can no longer regenerate Magic Points nor can it perceive the world around it so the spirit lies quiescent until either temporarily released or the fetish is broken. In previous editions of RuneQuest, magic items featured spirits being used as Magic Point batteries, spell storage repositories and spell casters. These items were generally an aspect of game balance and do not feature in spirit magic in RuneQuest II. Clearly though you can reintroduce them to your own games as you see t. An adventurer may upgrade the spirit in a fetish to a more powerful spirit of the same type by paying the difference in Improvement Rolls. For example an adventurer with a fetish containing an Intensity 2 Nature spirit can upgrade it to an Intensity 3 Nature Spirit by paying 1 Improvement Roll. They can also replace the spirit with the same type of spirit of the same Intensity if they wish and they can persuade a shaman. Remember shamans are not magic item factories. Each shaman is a combination of priest, doctor, teacher, lawyer, undertaker and spiritual border guard for their community. Most of their time is taken up with mundane affairs and they have very little time for the extensive work required for creating fetishes. Most community members may gain a fetish as an adulthood ritual and maybe at one other rite-depassage. Shamans have more important things to do than provide magic items for wandering adventurers.

Binding Spirits

The RuneQuest II rules leave it up to the players and Games Master in any campaign to determine the precise procedures for gaining spirits with the assumption each campaign will generate its own guidelines. There are, however, some common elements that are likely to underlie most Spirit Magic traditions. Worshippers of a spirit cult gain spirits through undertaking a ritual in collaboration with a shaman to bind a spirit into a fetish. The shaman searches the spirit plane for a suitable spirit for the supplicant, defeats it in spirit combat and then binds it to a fetish that has been prepared by both shaman and supplicant. While the shaman journeys, the supplicant fasts and mediates, purifying himself in preparation for the gift of the spirit. The bound spirit counts against the owners limit, not the shamans. Although there is nothing stopping a non-shaman undertaking the search and binding a spirit by himself, the task is dangerous and would be frowned on by other members of the community. Shamans will usually only provide spirits to members of the same tradition or in recompense for great favours and they will only bind friendly spirits associated with their cult in this manner. The fetish costs the recipient one Improvement Roll per point of Intensity of the spirit. This cost represents the time and personal development needed for a spirit worshipper to make themselves worthy of the gift. The ritual usually takes a week and at the end of the week the player should roll the spirits characteristics randomly based on the spirits Intensity. It is possible the spirit gained may be too powerful for the adventurer to control. Spirits with an Intensity of 5 or more are likely to have a POW of over 30 and a

Thorgelds saga
Thorgeld The Bold has approached the clan shaman, Four Tooth, and respectfully requested his help to gain some wolf magic: in this case the track by scent trait. A simple trait like this merely requires an Intensity One spirit: a good job because Thorgelds Spirit Binding is only 32%. Four Tooth agrees to help so Thorgelds player marks off one Improvement Roll and gifts Four Tooth with a wolf hide that has been treated to be used as a drum skin. He decides the fetish will be a highly polished piece of wolf jaw Thorgeld keeps in a medicine bag hung around his neck. The Games Master has ruled there are several weeks of game time between sessions so Thorgeld has plenty of time to journey to a sacred precipice and undertake the purication and rituals needed under Four Tooths guidance. The shaman binds the wolf spirit into the fetish and dedicates it to Thorgeld, thus the spirit counts against Thorgelds limit and not the Shamans. Thorgelds player then rolls the spirits characteristics. It turns out to have a POW of 8 with the INT and CHA of an average wolf.

Using fetishes

A bound spirit must be released from its fetish in order to use its ability. To release the spirit the magician simply spends a single Combat Action: this does not

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cost any Magic Points and automatically succeeds without any skill test required. Commanding a released spirit is more difcult. The spirit magician must use a free action, spend one 1 Magic Point and succeed at a Spirit Binding skill test in order to make a successful Spirit Command Test. The Magic Point is spent regardless of whether or not the Spirit Binding skill roll is a success. A free action is an action that can be performed at the same time as a regular Combat Action. Generally, one free action can be performed per Combat Action. Therefore a spirit magician can spend 1 Combat Action to release the spirit and, as part of the same action, try to Command the spirit. This is how a spirit magician normally attempts to control their spirits because a spirit released from a fetish without being commanded can act as it sees t until it is brought under control. If the spirit is a hostile one, such as a curse spirit, it may take the chance to immediately attack the owner of the fetish. A critical success when trying to Command a spirit means the attempt costs no Magic Points. A failed attempt to Command the spirit means that the spirit magician must wait until their next Combat Action to try again. While a spirit is under the owners control it will perform its orders to the best of its abilities but if the owner wishes it to perform a new action, he will have to make a new Spirit Command Test. There is always the possibility of losing control of a spirit and the more powerful a spirit is, the more dangerous it is likely to be if the owner loses control. Commanding a spirit currently under its owners control to return to its fetish automatically succeeds and does not cost any Magic Points; this is an effect of the binding ritual. If however the owner does not have control of the spirit he will have to make a successful Spirit Command Test to order the spirit back into its fetish. Given the potential risk of uncontrolled spirits it is no surprise shamans will only provide their followers with friendly, easy to control spirits. A fetish created by a spirit magician can only be used with the Spirit Binding skill. Should someone come into possession of a fetish but not have the Spirit Binding skill then they will not be able to use the fetish. However he could take the risk of breaking the fetish and hoping that the spirit will be grateful. As an optional rule it is possible to release a spirit from a fetish by spending 1 Magic Point. This does not naturally give any control over the spirit but fans of Sinbad tales may see ways to utilise this rule creatively. The supplement Spellcom also presents some options for enchantments that hold spirits which can be used alongside these rules in your game. A fetish holding a spirit will take on some of the spirits essence over time. So a bear tooth holding a bear spirit may seem dozy in winter or take on bearish odour. Fetishes holding curse or sickness spirits may emit a miasma inducing minor symptoms in the holder, making such fetishes extremely unpleasant. On the other hand, a stone holding a Salamander Spirit will be warm to the touch, which may occasionally be useful. Breaking a fetish immediately frees the spirit it contains and allows it to return to the spirit plane. A freed spirit may attempt to ee back to the spirit plane or, if hostile, possibly attempt to attack the owner who imprisoned it. Malicious shamans sometimes trap places with easily broken fetishes containing dangerous spirits. Disease masters in Glorantha have been known to thrown rotting logs binding disease spirits into wells or lakes and let nature take its course. The visual effects of using a fetish will vary depending on the setting. In a pseudohistorical setting the spirits effects would be invisible to the naked eye. In fantasy setting the magician might take on certain visual cues or the shadow might change. In an epic fantasy campaign perhaps the snarling gure of a wolf might surround the magician, seeming to lash out at enemies. Your Fetish Will Vary.

Thorgelds saga
Realising he risks losing the trail of the foreigner responsible for the death of his family, Thorgeld holds his fetish to the air and calls on the aid of the spirit. As part of the Combat Action he spends 1 Magic Point and attempts to use his Spirit Binding skill of 32%. The spirit is released but the skill roll fails. Thorgelds player marks off 1 Magic Point and Thorgeld realises he has not managed to control the spirit. He has not used his Spirit Walking skill so he cannot see the spirit but at least it does not seem to be attacking him. Unsure what to do, he spends another Combat Action trying to control it, deducts another Magic Point and fails his Spirit Binding again. Realising this may not end well, Thorgelds player states that he will take 10 times as long as normal in order to get +60% to his skill (RuneQuest II Rulebook p31). Normally it takes 1 Free Action to make the roll but as an adventurer can only take one Free Action per Combat Action, it takes Thorgeld 10 Combat Actions worth of concentration. Closing his eyes, he contemplates the lessons Four Tooth taught him for the best part of 30 seconds and makes his roll successfully. When he opens his eyes he realises he can almost taste the scent of his quarry. The hunt is resumed! As he runs off he does not notice the nearby lake reects the image of a wolf rather than his own body.

Shamans and spirits

The previous section looked at how to gain and use a fetish provided by a shaman. This section examines how a shaman can gain spirits by journeying to the spirit plane and binding spirits to service. Using Intensity as a measure of a spirits power, the table below shows what the shamans required minimum skill in spirit binding along with the cost in Improvement Rolls to bind a spirit.

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Spirit Hunting Table Spirit Binding Skill Intensity minimum requirement 1 61% 2 81% 3 121% 4 141%

IRs 1 2 3 4

of Down Time to nd and bind a friendly spirit, 2D6 days to nd a neutral spirit and 2D6+6 days of careful planning to safely nd a hostile spirit that can be bound. The Spirit Binding Skill requirement to nd a spirit on the spirit plane and defeat it in spirit combat is not the same as the requirement needed to control a spirit already bound into a fetish. A spirit magician with a Spirit Binding skill of 40% is able to control a bound spirit of up to POW 12. However that same spirit will probably have a spectral combat skill of 60% (POW*5%) and would is likely to defeat the magician if he attacked it in spirit combat. It takes a higher skill to nd and bind a spirit than it does to merely control one already bound in a fetish. Of course players can have their shaman characters undertake quests to nd spirits during play sessions. In this case there is no

Improvement Roll cost involved and they can tackle more dangerous spirits with help from allies. Such sessions are full of roleplaying opportunities.

The Shamans Fetch

Not every Shamanic tradition features fetches and those that do vary in the nature of the fetch. In some traditions the fetch is the awakened other half of the shaman. In this case the fetch and shaman are two sides of the same soul with the fetch perceiving the Spirit Plane while the shaman exists on the mundane plane. In other traditions the fetch is a spirit (often an animal guide) who is drawn to the shaman to become their spiritual partner. In both cases the prospective shaman must undertake a successful Vision Quest in order to gain the fetch. As the RuneQuest II Rulebook notes (page 139) this is a dangerous ritual, and it may cripple or kill the shaman if he fails to complete it successfully. The precise abilities of a fetch vary widely between traditions. The RuneQuest II Rulebook (pages 144-45) provides a list of the most common abilities but many more exist. In cases where the fetch is the shamans other half the fetch often provides the shaman with the ability to shapechange (see Vikings for RuneQuest II as an example). If the fetch is an animal guide then the shaman may gain the ability to communicate with such animals, control them or gain traits of the animal; this is commonly the case with the animal nomad shamans in Glorantha. A fetch is never bound into a fetish. In some cases a shaman may create an item referred to as a fetish, which is used to focus their relationship with their fetch but this is generally a matter of tradition and does not usually have a game effect. Spellcom also introduces the notion of concerts and states that it is possible for a shaman and their fetch to form a concert. This is potentially a huge advantage and Games Masters will have to decide whether concerts exist in their campaign and how easy it is to nd a teacher for the

For friendly spirits, the minimum skill requirement is reduced by 20%. In addition, a shaman may pay 1 additional Improvement Roll for friendly or neutral spirits in order to reduce the minimum spirit binding skill requirement by another 20%. So, a shaman spending 4 Improvement Rolls and approaching a friendly spirit of Intensity 3 needs a minimum spirit binding skill of 81% rather than the usual 121%. These gures are based on shamans acquiring spirits during Down Time and represent a minimum of risk and maximum guarantee of success. It takes 1D6 days

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Concert skill. By default it is rare skill and it is recommended you do not introduce it into a game until you feel comfortable with spirit magic.

Spirit Powers

Spirit Allies
Over time a shaman gradually makes contact with many spirits. Rather than binding them all to service, most Shamans attempt to strike bargains; they provide something the spirit wants and the spirit undertakes some service. In game terms, such spirits are effectively contacts and act as non player characters. Some spirits are willing to enter into a more formal arrangement by providing the Shaman with their name, becoming an ally of the shaman. In response the Shaman agrees to undertake some sort of repeating task or to uphold a geas or compulsion. On the most abstract level assume the task will cost the shaman one Improvement Roll per year to represent the service or inconvenience. Summoning a spirit contact or ally requires the shaman to make a Spirit Walking skill test and spend 1 Magic Point; this takes a single Combat Action and the Magic Point is spent even if the skill test fails. It will usually take 1D6 minutes before the spirit arrives. If the spirit is a contact then the shaman must succeed at the Spirit Walking skill test or else the spirit does not appear. If it is an ally it will appear regardless of the skill result unless the Shaman fumbles. In either case, if the skill test is a critical success the spirit will appear at the end of the Combat Round. Some allies may be willing to undertake tasks for the magician or even ght for him by discorporating an enemy but this should be a relationship that unfolds over time in play. Most spirits are no more capable of interacting with the mundane world than mortals are capable of interacting with the spirit world. A shaman can however use their Spirit Walking skill to summon a consenting spirit to the mundane world. A High Shaman can use their Spirit Walking skill to forcibly drag a spirit to the mundane plane if he overcomes the spirits Persistence.

There are four ways in which a spirit magician can use a spirits powers. The simplest and safest way is the augmentation provided by nature and guardian spirits. The spirit gives the magician a benet by impressing itself upon the magicians soul and is easily returned to a fetish. Elemental spirits however require embodiment, a harder and more demanding act. A weak magician who incautiously embodies an elemental spirit risks being consumed by it. Finally, ancestor spirits possess the magician, taking complete control. Should an ancestor not wish to depart there is little the unfortunate magician can do. Finally some spirits such as curse and sickness spirits are freed to attack a victim. The danger in this act is that if the magician is weak the spirit may turn on him instead.

Although ancestor spirits of Intensity 1 exist they tend to be too weak and too little known to be venerated outside of maybe a small family shrine. All venerable ancestors tend to be Intensity 2 or greater and were notable heroes in their time. Since they died, the veneration they have received is likely to have further enhanced their POW. The RuneQuest II rulebook gives examples for an Intensity 2 ancestral spirit so we will present a simple system for designing ancestor spirits of any Intensity. All ancestor spirits know the Lore and Culture skills of their people and region at 90% plus their POW. They also know Persistence at POWx4%, and Spectral Combat at POWx5%. In addition, for each level of Intensity an ancestor spirit can choose one additional skill which it knows at 90% plus its POW and pick twice from the following list: another skill at 90% plus POW; Discorporate skill at POW*5%; one Heroic ability; one Common Magic spell at the maximum Magnitude it can memorise (as well as Common Magic skill at 90% plus POW if it is not already known); has a fetch. (The ancestor is a shaman. The Fetch's characteristics are equal to the ancestors +1D61D6. eFor example an ancestor with a POW of 20 has a fetch with a POW of 20-1D6+1D6.) has a spirit ally of one less Intensity than the ancestor which will appear within 1D3 Combat Rounds of being summoned by the ancestor through use of the Spirit Walking Skill. These allies will not themselves usually bring allies. That said, ancestors of Intensity 6 or greater may control a whole army of spirits.

Ancestor Spirits
Unlike the other spirits which are generally bound for their abilities, ancestors are venerated by spirit magicians and their aid is requested. If the ancestor agrees to aid it possesses the spirit magicians body. As the spirit magicians body is the link to the mundane plane no fetish is required, instead there must be a blood link between the host and the ancestor. The ancestor may agree to inhabit the body of a willing third party provided a blood link exists. Some ancestors are prepared to temporarily inhabit an item of great signicance to the ancestor in order to be manifested for some purpose. The item might be an altar, family sword, a crown or even a signicant place such as a tree in a secret grove. The ancestor will voluntarily enter the item as if it were a fetish and wait to be released when it will perform one agreed upon service. Being bound in this way is extremely unpleasant so the expectation is that this will only last a few hours. Any longer and the spirit may extract penance at the rst possibility. Regardless of whether the ancestor is inhabiting a body or object it counts against the number of spirits able to be controlled by a spirit magician.

These abilities will cover most options but, of course, players and Games Masters should feel free to be as creative as they want in designing ancestor spirits to t the needs of their campaign. Remember as well that the most common interaction with ancestors is likely to be the use of Spirit

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Walking to talk with them or request aid other than possession. Over the period of a campaign, some ancestors may become recurring non player characters, with their own agendas.

Thorgelds saga
Realising that his quest to nd the seven ngered man will founder unless he can nd some way to break into a heavily guarded tower he decides to journey to his clans holiest ground to quest for inspiration. The sacred pool provides +40% to his Spirit Walking skill and Thorgelds player asks if the Games Master if he can nd an ancestor who can help. The Games Master says that if he makes his Spirit Walking test he can nd Uncle Spider, an ancestor who can nd his way into any building (and does not mention that he just invented Uncle Spider on the spot). Uncle Spider is an Intensity 2 POW 14 spirit knowing Athletics 104%, Perception 104%, Stealth 104%, the spells Bandits Cloak and Coordination at Magnitude 5 and the heroic ability Wall Leaping. Thorgelds Spirit Binding is still only 51% so he would struggle to prove his worthiness so the GM Games Master asks Thorgelds player to make a Culture roll for his clan. When he succeeds, he tells him that Uncle Spider loves gem stones and witchity bugs. Bringing some of both will provide +20% to his Spirit Binding. It still will not be easy but Thorgelds player decides to give it a go.

against an enemy. They are hostile to all traditions save those perverse enough to revere them. The Intensity of Curse & Sickness spirits measures the number and severity of the conditions they can inict on a target once they have possessed the victim. Each condition requires one or more points of Intensity, so an Intensity 2 Curse spirit can inict two Intensity one conditions or one Intensity two condition. Diseases tend to be a package of conditions so you can assess the Intensity of the Disease spirit carrying a particular disease by looking at the conditions it causes. Intensity 1: Blindness, Confusion, Contagious, Deafness, Dumbness, Exhaustion, Fever, Hallucination, Maiming, Mania, Nausea, Unconsciousness. Intensity 2: Agony, Bleeding, Paralysis, Sapping. Intensity 3: Asphyxiation, Death.

A Spirit Magician can bind an elemental spirit into a fetish in the normal manner but the fetish must be chosen carefully for even while bound some of the elemental spirits power is manifested. A Salamander spirit must be bound into a fetish capable of withstanding heat while an Undine spirits fetish will become damp and clammy. When the spirit magician releases an elemental spirit from a fetish it does not need any source material but while uncontrolled it will gravitate to the nearest source of its element within range of the binding object. By itself it is just a spirit and has no signicant effect on the mundane plane. The spirits power does not truly manifest until the spirit magic controls and embodies it through use of the Spirit Binding Skill. As with any control attempt, the spirit magician must succeed at the skill and spend 1 Magic Point as a Free Action. If the spirit magician succeeds, their body itself becomes the elemental. A spirit magician embodying a sylph transforms into a vortex of buffeting winds while a one embodying a gnome will sink into the ground as if they were some type of earthen whirlpool. While embodying an elemental spirit, the spirit magician cannot turn off or dampen the effects. Furthermore, returning the elemental spirit to the fetish is far more difcult than for other spirits as the magician must make a successful Command Roll in order to successfully force the spirit back into the fetish. Finally, while in his elemental form, the spirit magician is vulnerable to opposing elements just as an elemental is. For all these reasons, embodying a powerful elemental spirit is never lightly undertaken. A spirit magician embodying an elemental spirit essentially becomes an elemental of size based on the spirits Intensity as outlined on the table on the next page.

See RuneQuest II (page 56) for a description of the effects of each condition. Unlike normal diseases, conditions caused by spirits do not recover naturally even with application of healing skills. Some Higher Magic spells may work for a while if their Magnitude is greater than the spirits Intensity. Thus a Divine Spell to cure blindness of higher Magnitude than the possessing spirits Intensity will work but unless the spirit is driven out, the effects will gradually return.

Elemental Spirits
Pavis Rises uses ancestral intensity to measure the power of ancestor spirits which reects the fact the longer an ancestor has been venerated, the more powerful it becomes. The two systems are broadly similar as the four bands of ancestral intensity are roughly equivalent to spirits of Intensity one through four. The differences between the elementals summoned by priests and wizards and the elemental spirits bound by Shamans are subtle but signicant. An elemental is summoned to the mundane plane and embodied within the appropriate source. A shaman is capable of embodying an elemental spirit,which means that shamans body itself becomes the elemental. While elementals are dumb fragments of the elemental rune from which they derive, elemental spirits of high POW are often intelligent and self-willed. As with any spirit, the potency of the embodied elemental spirit depends on its Intensity.

Curse, Sickness and Bane spirits

Although these spirits can be bound for later use they are never used to augment the spirit magician, rather they are sent

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Shamanism for Fun and Prophets

Elemental Spirit Size Table Spirit Intensity Elemental Size 1 1 cubic metre 2 3 cubic metres 3 6 cubic metres 4 10 cubic metres 5 15 cubic metres +1 +6, +7 and so on cubic metres [[[Box text]]] This table produces more powerful elemental spirits than the RuneQuest II rulebook (page 144). This is a deliberate change as there were some inconsistencies between elementals and elemental spirits. Games Masters wishing weaker spirits should stick to giving spirits 1 cubic metre per point of Intensity. [[[End text box]]] The magicians STR, DEX and Hit Points are replaced by the spirits values (which are rolled as normal for an elemental of its SIZ when rst encountered) and he gains all the abilities (including its weaknesses) of the elemental. When the elemental spirit is returned to the fetish, any damage done to the magician while embodying the spirit is divided evenly between all his Hit Locations (rounding up as usual). For example if a human took 23 points of damage while in elemental form then he would take 4 points of damage to each of his 7 locations once he returned to human form. Shamans forming concerts to control huge elemental spirits face particular problems. Although a concert with 300% in Spirit Binding could theoretically control a bound elemental spirit of 90 POW the leader of the concert would have to embody an elemental of some 120 cubic metres. Remember that all concert members need to be within a few metres of each other, which means they risk being incinerated, drowned or otherwise affected due to the sheer scale of the elemental. Furthermore, if the concert breaks down as well as the potential backlash the shaman embodying the elemental spirit will no longer be able to control it. Although embodying an elemental spirit can be extremely impressive it also opens the magician up to new problems. Like an elemental, a magician embodying an elemental spirit will take double damage from the opposing element and can be neutralized by an opposing elemental of the same size or bigger in cubic metres. Reducing the magician to 0 Hit Points while embodying the elemental spirit instantly breaks the fetish and frees the spirit, possibly also killing the magician in the process. Spells able to dismiss elementals (such as the divine spell Dismiss Elemental or the sorcery spell Banish) will free the elemental and destroy the fetish if the effect is great enough to affect an elemental of the appropriate size or POW. A common optional rule is to allow elementals to mutually annihilate each other. Generally Fire and water cancel each other out while Earth and Air also oppose each other. Different settings have different elemental cosmologies, for example Glorantha is unusual in having Darkness as an element. Opposed elementals can annihilate each other it by inicting damage equal to their Hit Points directly to each other. Alternately any attacks launched by an elemental inict double damage to their opposed element. For example, a sylph with 21 Hit Points is grabbed by a gnome with 32 Hit Points. The sylph takes 32 Hit Points damage and is dispersed while the gnome suffers 21 Hit Points damage; it has been severely knocked about by the sylph but still standing. characteristics in advance as they can always be gured out on the y. Usually it is enough to write something like: Armour Points +2 (Bear spirit, Intensity 2, POW 14). Finally, nature spirits do not have to be bound to be useful. Higher Intensity spirits will be fully sapient and can be negotiated with to undertake tasks, gather information or come to the spirit magicians aid.

Spirit Combat

Spirit combat occurs only on the spirit plane and requires both participants to be there. High Shamans can discorporate corporeal beings through spending one Magic Point and pitting their Spirit Walking skill against the targets Persistence as a Combat Action. The target has to be within range of the skill (the Shamans POW in metres). Spirits using the Discorporate skill likewise must spend one Magic Point and a Combat Action to discorporate a corporeal being whose soul they can perceive and who is within their POW in

Nature Spirits
These spirits augment the spirit magicians abilities exactly as described. It is possible to augment Combat Actions but that requires a minimum Intensity of 2, giving +1 Combat Action per point of Intensity after the rst (so an Intensity 3 spirit gives +2 Combat Actions). Magicians cannot command their spirits to augment others abilities: it is the bond between magician and spirit that allows the augmentation. When designing Nature and Guardian spirits for non player characters there is no need to determine all its skills and

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metres on the spirit plane. Naturally they can keep trying for as long as they have Magic Points but if the target successfully resists with a critical then it is reasonable to assume the target is immune to being discorporated by that particular shaman or spirit for at least a week. As discorporation is an extremely powerful ability then one option is to increase the cost for multiple attempts against the same person by one Magic Point each time. So the rst attempt at discorporation costs 1 Magic Point, the second costs two, the third costs three and so on. This will prevent spirits from simply trying over and over again until they succeed. Once both participants are on the spirit plane Spirit Combat may continue until one side has been reduced to zero Magic Points. At that point the winner may perform various actions as listed in the RuneQuest II Rulebook (page 142). The winner does not have to take advantage of the loser and it is important to remember that spirit combat can represent any kind of contest from a battle of wits to an artistic performance; it does not always have to be a grim battle to the end. The same mechanic is used but how it plays out depends on the beings involved.

powerful than the spirit. If, however, the owner is weaker than the spirit the spirit is completely free to attack its owner instead. This is yet another reason shamans are reluctant to provide these types of spirits to worshippers in their tradition. In game terms, assume that a spirit with a lower POW than the magician will attack the intended target. Optionally, call for a Spirit Binding roll opposed by the spirits Spectral Combat Skill. If the magician fails to win, the spirit simply departs. If the magician fumbles, or if he fails while the spirit succeeds and the spirit is of greater POW than the magician, it will turn on him instead. Generally a spirit magician does not bind an aggressive spirit like a curse spirit to a fetish as the risks are high and the fetish is unpleasant to handle. Instead, if the magician wishes to send such a spirit against an enemy the usual procedure is to journey to the spirit plane and defeat the appropriate spirit; once defeated the shaman can compel the spirit to one service. A possession or part of the target is burnt or otherwise consumed in order to identify the target. Once the spirit has regained its Magic Points it will journey to the target and attack it. Alternately the shaman may command the defeated spirit to perform one service in the future. Such a spirit will act like a spirit contact and come within 1d6 minutes of a successful Spirit Walking skill test to attack an opponent. The most fearsome shamans are those from traditions with friendly curse and sickness spirits. Such spirits may become allies and willingly attack victims nominated by the shaman. Once the victim is dead, the ally will return to the shaman to beg for more victims. If spirit combat happens on the spirit plane, what does it look like back on the mundane plane? The answer to that depends on the victims Spirit Walking skill. Someone with no ability in the skill has no way of controlling their physical body while they are on the spirit plane so when they are attacked they might writhe around and show symptoms of the attack. Someone

being attacked by a sickness spirit might break out in boils and cold sweats or might vomit endlessly depending on the conditions they are ghting against. Someone who has training in Spirit Walking may be able to mostly control their body showing just small signs of stress. A shaman with a Fetch will be able to sit serenely, their body undisturbed while on the spirit plane the struggle ensues. In campaigns with a lot of spirit combat various questions come up about how exactly ghts occur and whether it is possible for one side to ee. Generally speaking, if a spirit magician is looking for a spirit to bind he must hunt the spirit, sneaking close enough to it to be able to attack it. Spirit walking corporeal beings as well as natural spirits can attack anyone within their POW in metres. While adjacent the combat looks like two enemies exchanging blows while enemies distant from each other appear to aim missiles or simply leap at each other. Like normal combat, spirit combat can generate Combat Manoeuvres although many will be effectively meaningless. The Change Range manoeuvre (or action) can be used to disengage and ee. If the eeing spirit has a higher POW than the other spirit then once it has successfully performed a Range Change it can ee automatically. If the other spirit has a higher POW then it will be able to hunt down the eeing spirit, though that might take some time. As a rule of thumb spirits and spirit walking mortals travel at a speed equal to their POW on the spirit plane. Unfortunates on the spirit plane without any kind of spirit walking skill are virtually trapped as they can move but can not follow a direction so they tend to drift aimlessly. Such characters trying to defend themselves in spirit combat through using half their Persistence skill (RuneQuest II page 142) are also unable to gain Combat Manoeuvres. Characters who have Dedicated a large amount of their POW can be very vulnerable to spirit combat. One option is to rule the cost to discorporate a character with Dedicated POW is one Magic Point plus one Magic Point for each point of Dedicated POW of the target. A spirit wishing to

Spirit Combat and bound spirits

Spirit combat happens on the spirit plane and a fetish (or other binding object) binds a spirit to the mundane plane so it follows logically that a spirit bound in a fetish cannot be commanded to attack an opponent in the spirit plane. A spirit magician wishing to use a curse, sickness or even bane spirit this way must therefore free the spirit by breaking the fetish. Of course, breaking the fetish frees the spirit from the magicians control so there is no obligation for the spirit to do what the magician wants. Indeed there is now nothing stopping the spirit from turning on the person who freed it. Generally the procedure is that the magician points the fetish at the victim and promises the spirit freedom if it attacks the target. Usually it will agree because its nature is to attack and possess corporeal beings and also because usually the magician who bound it is more

21

Shamanism for Fun and Prophets

discorporate a character who has 4 points of Dedicated POW would have to spend 5 Magic Points to make the attempt. This represents the difculty of transferring the Dedicated element of a persons soul to the spirit plane. Discorporating a character with a large amount of Dedicated POW may also draw the attention of spiritual guardians tasked to protect the faithful. One of the primary tasks for shamans is to exorcise spirits possessing the faithful. The most common technique is to use Spirit Walking to nd the spirit within its body. At this point a High Shaman can use their Spirit Walking skill to forcibly discorporate the spirit and then either he or his fetch can battle it on the spirit plane. More junior shamans will have to rely on their fetch to discorporate the spirit. In both cases it is usually the fetch that battles the spirit, leaving the shaman free to perform physical actions acting as a complementary skill for the fetchs combat skill. Usually this will be the use of the Healing skill but it may also include drumming, singing, dancing, burning of herbs to make the spirit drowsy and so on.That said, once the spirit has been discorporated it may attempt to ee if the shaman or his fetch clearly overmatches it so it is often up to the shaman as to whether he wishes to pursue it. A spirit possessing a body is trapped on the mundane plane and therefore cannot regenerate Magic Points. This is why spirits tend to possess people who are already weakened and cannot adequately ght back because it minimises the risk of the spirit losing Magic Points. Like any predator, spirits tend not to attack healthy, dangerous victims. If you wish spirits to be able to regenerate Magic Points while possessing a host then allow them to leech off the hosts life force and regenerate Magic Points at a slower than normal rate, such as 1 Magic Point per 10 hours. A person with all of their POW dedicated to another entity cannot be leeched in this way.

Spirits & Society

In societies where Spirit Magic is the main form of spirituality, spirits and fetishes are ever-present and a shaman fulls the same role as a priest. It can be easy to forget that spirits are not just power ups or resources to be used, unless of course you are a God Learner. The spirits are not tools, however, they are part of the society. Most people will have a shrine to revered ancestors, a fetish holding a totem spirit and will take part in ceremonies of remembrance and revitalisation. In general, animists regard spirits in one of three ways. they revere their honoured ancestors and totem spirits; they respect the power of the spirits of the world around them; and they fear the malevolent spirits of their enemies.

but a powerful shaman should have built a strong enough web of allies that most predators would rather hunt less powerful prey. Player character shamans, however, should expect occasional very unpleasant surprises....

Trapped Spirits

Player characters who walk the spirit plane, binding spirits against their will and generally treating them as weapons and armour will soon gain a poor reputation both in the mundane world and on the spirit plane. Most members of the society will know enough Spirit Walking to see the spirits around them when they meditate and enough Spirit Binding to use their fetishes properly provided they take time. It is highly unlikely they will ever engage in a life and death battle on the spirit plane (that is what the shaman is for) so for them the Binding skill represents the proper means of address, the proper visualisation and proper state of mind needed to invoke the power of the spirit within the Fetish. The shaman is the bridge between the mortal world and the spirit world. He lives a life in two worlds and with the shamans help, the members of the tribe can pass through to the spirit world to converse with those who have gone before. Naturally a powerful shaman tends to attract attention on the spirit plane. When viewed on the spirit plane, the shamans soul echo is often at the centre of many spirits eager for attention. This can be highly distracting and may attract the attention of predators

Some spirits occasionally get accidentally bound to the mundane plane and become Haunts. The spirits of the dead who did not receive the proper funeral rites or who have died violently may be incapable of leaving the mundane plane. Other mortals may have been cursed or may have died before an important vow was completed or died full of hatred and rage and become bound to the mundane world. Such spirits may be bound to the bones of their corpse, a tree from which they were hung or maybe a cliff from which they jumped to commit suicide. By denition Haunts are trapped on the mundane plane and cannot discorporate victims in an attempt to possess them. In fact most such spirits can do little but bewail their fate. Some, though, may have acquired certain powers. The list should be limited only by your creativity but some include. Telekinesis: the spirit has a STR equal to its Intensity, which it can use to move items around. Miasma: the spirit can induce feelings of dread and despair, maybe even fear and terror. The Magnitude of the effect depends on the spirits Intensity. An Intensity 4 Haunt may be able to induce a level of Fear that is potentially lethal. Wraith form: the spirit is able to physically damage corporeal beings. The spirit can physically attack with a skill equal to its POW*3% doing Hit Point damage equal to its usual Spirit Damage ignoring all physical armour. For example a spirit with a POW of 18 usually has a spectral combat skill of 90% meaning that it normally does 1D10 damage to Magic Points. When attacking physically it attacks at a skill of 54% and does 1D10 damage to Hit Points in a location ignoring all physical armour. Magical

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armour such as Protection still works however. Glamour: the spirit can engender illusions, which are experienced by all within a range of the spirits POW in metres of the item the spirit. This glamour is a mental illusion that works in a similar way to the sorcery spell Phantom (Sense). See the RuneQuest II Rulebook page 134. Cast magic. Becoming a Haunt usually severs the spirit from any form of higher magic but some may retain the ability to cast Common Magic. An awful lot of Haunts consist of spirits casting magic such as Befuddle, Disruption, Demoralise, Fanaticism and so on.

Like bound spirits, Haunts cannot regenerate Magic Points normally but they are able to tap Magic Points from the natural world around them, a process that inevitably creates an unsettling area shunned by animals and where the plants are stunted and withered. A Haunt can tap the POW of any animal or plant with lower POW than the Haunts Intensity to provide it with Magic Points up to the limit of its normal POW. Generally most Haunts must manifest in order to use any of their abilities. While a Haunt is manifested it becomes vulnerable to magical damage, however destroying it with damage simply drives it back to its binding until it has regained Magic Points through tapping its surroundings. Dealing with a Haunt is not easy. Spirit Walking or magical senses may reveal the location of the binding object. Sometimes destroying the binding object is enough to release the Haunt but usually any attempt to release the Haunt requires determining why the spirit became bound in the rst place and undoing the effects. The supplement Necromantic Arts provides several additional options that can be used for Haunts. It is recommended, however, that you do not allow spirits trapped on the mundane plane to attempt to possess corporeal beings.

Fighting Wraiths
A manifested Wraith Spirit has only one hit location and it has a number of Hit Points equal to its POW. Reducing its Hit Points to zero will temporarily drive the Wraith back to its binding for 24 hours, after which its Hit Points will be fully regenerated. The weapon the spirit uses depends on its Intensity. Each point of Intensity counts as one rank of Size and Reach so an Intensity 3 spirit could use a spectral weapon with a Size of Large and Reach of Medium. As the spirit is intangible parrying the attack has no effect normally but if a weapon is affected

by some form of weapon enhancing magic then it can usually block 1 size equivalent for each point of Magnitude. As with any kind of combat both participants can generate Combat Manoeuvres where they are appropriate; being impaled by a spectral dagger is every bit as nasty as being impaled by a real one. With that cheery thought in mind, read the second part of this article next month for a bestiary of spirits, quests and traditions.

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The World of Spirits

By Gary Goldman, Bruce Mason and Pete Nash
Redspear watched in wide-eyed silence as the high shaman ended his long chant and the last beat of the drum was sounded. He waited with his heart in his mouth; never before had he crossed the borders of life. Slowly be became aware of the changing colours around him, everything became sharper and more detailed. The ames from the re grew higher and brighter and seemed to dance together like children, the trees around them were taller and full of vibrant greens and whispered in half heard voices, the very air seemed alive somehow. He looked about in wonder at the colours and textures all around him as though he had never opened his eyes before. Welcome to the spirit world, Redspear smiled the old shaman as he took his hand and gently pulled him from his body like a leaf from water. The spirit world is a complex and often confusing realm that is both separate from the mundane world and yet intimately linked to it as well. There is constant interaction with the mundane world from the spirit plane in the form of shamans journeying there on spirit quests, haunts crossing the borders between the worlds to terrify the living and ancestor spirits being venerated by their descendants. The spirit plane is both an impossible distance and leap of imagination to reach for the layman and an oddly familiar environment accessed by ritual for those with Spirit Walking abilities. There are also places and times when the spirit world can overlap into the mundane world and create gateways or portals where the borders of both realms are weaker and easier to cross. The rst article on shamanism in Signs & Portents gave background detail on shamanism and expanded upon some of RuneQuest IIs game mechanics. With this second article we shall examine some of the inhabitants of this strange and otherworldly realm; provide some mechanics for journeying there; example spirit cults; new heroic abilities and, nally, provide a couple of non player characters who long-time RuneQuest players might well recognise. But rst some brief comments about getting the most out of bound spirits. A bound spirit is trapped in the mortal world and unable to regenerate Magic Points.Yet to bind a spirit the Shaman needs to defeat it in spirit combat by reducing it to zero Magic Points. This makes the straightforward binding of an aggressive attack spirit such as a bane rather pointless. For this reason, any spirit magician wishing to bind such a spirit for later use needs to nd a way to allow the spirit to regenerate some or all of its Magic Points. Of course, as stated last time, a Shaman does not have to bind spirits to a fetish. It is possible to defeat a spirit in combat and then bind it to a single, future service to be agreed later. The spirit remains on the spirit plane where it can recover its Magic Points. One time in the future, the magician can summon the spirit as if it were a spirit ally and the spirit will, if possible, attend and undertake the service. Whether or not spirits bound to future service count against the magicians maximum number of bound spirits (RuneQuest II page 140) depends on the campaign setting. That said one generic option is to allow a spirit magic to transfer his own Magic Points to a bound spirit he controls with a suitable ritual and a Spirit Binding skill roll. The Magic Points are transferred at a rate of one per hour. This means the spirit magician can recharge his bound spirits Magic Points as part of a long and involved ritual. Games Masters may also require other sacrices to be made at the same time depending on the campaign setting. A fumbled roll will likely release the spirit by accident. There are also various other ways to replenish a spirits Magic Points while it is bound. The forthcoming supplement Blood Magic explores methods such as Avulsion (the killing and reaping of a creatures life force) in depth. Games Masters should explore the creative options and implications of different methods. Consider what it must be like for a Shaman who lets a disease spirit suckle his Magic Points to feed itself.

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Spirit Bestiary
The following spirits represent just small fraction of the complex and interesting denizens of the spirit world. Some of these descriptions are merely expansions or additional information on the basic spirits from the Core Rulebook, others are new and more unusual spirits that may prove of interest or provide inspiration for Games Masters to invent their own spirits. They are presented in alphabetical order for ease of reference. As per RuneQuest II, all spirits know the skills of Spectral Combat at POWx5% and Persistence at POWx4% while some may also posses Discorporation at POWx5% and Stealth at POWx4%. Some spirits may have much higher values for these skills. Other additional skills may be thought appropriate by Games Masters for stronger spirits such as Common Magic, Inuence and Insight. Any skill with INT, POW or CHA as a base are often most appropriate. A handy rule of thumb is to say that such skills are likely to be rated at a percentage equal to around their POWx3% to POWx5%.

Ancestor spirits are just as complex and variable as any human. They will have their own well dened personalities complete with dislikes and opinions. Often their personalities are more rigid and inexible due to the hundreds of years of existing on the spirit plane. They may be wise and knowledgeable about clan affairs but may also be old fashioned and harbour ancient grudges of little relevance to the modern world. This makes ancestor worship something to be dened through play and used as a backdrop that helps dene the spirit magicians approach to the rest of the spirit world rather than just a specic magical source. The powers and abilities of ancestor spirits are detailed fully in the RuneQuest II and expanded upon in the shamanism article in the previous article (Signs & Portents 89) and so are not repeated here. Some examples of ancestor spirits follow and are ready for use in play or to provide inspiration. Warrior Brother Warrior Brother was renowned as a master of weapons and military tactics. He was as strong as two men and wore his armour when he slept. We remember how he single-handedly slew three of the enemy clans thanes when they dared to cross the Black Brook into our lands. Intensity 2 ancestor spirit, INT 12, POW 14, CHA 14 Skills: Lore (Regional) 104%, Culture (own) 104%, Persistence 56%, Spectral Combat (Spectral Sword) 70%, Sword and Shield 104%, Lore (Tactics) 104% Common Magic: Bladesharp 4, Demoralise, Parry 4 Heroic Ability: Duellist Chief All-father Chief All-father was the wisest and most beloved clan chief since the Raven banner was found in Badgers Wood. He made peace with the unfriendly tribes and he led the warriors to victory over the dark raiders. We remember how the herds grew tenfold under his watchful eye. Intensity 3 ancestor spirit, INT 16, POW 21, CHA 18

Skills: Lore (Regional) 111%, Culture (own) 111%, Persistence 84%, Spectral Combat (Sword and Shield) 105%, Oratory 111%, Inuence 111%, Insight 111% Common Magic: Glamour 6, Fate 6, Bearing Witness 6, Second Sight, Thunders Voice 6 Heroic Ability: Heroic Aura Old Ma Old Ma was a wise woman who lived near the village when the blood plague came. She healed the villagers and drove away the sickness spirits, then taught us all how to use herbs and friendly spirits to keep our children safe. Intensity 3 ancestor spirit, INT 18, POW 21, CHA 6 Skills: Lore (Regional) 111%, Culture (own) 111%, Persistence 84%, Spectral Combat (Spectral staff) 105%, Lore (Herbs) 111%, Healing 111%, First Aid 111%, Insight 111% Common Magic: Heal 6, Spirit Bane 6 Spirit Allies: Old Ma may also call on an Intensity 2 healing spirit ally that acts as a Cure Disease spell and a guardian spirit of Intensity 2, with a POW of 16 Heroic Ability: Disease Immunity Old Grandpa Old Grandpa was a master boatman and knew all the currents and best shing spots in the rivers and streams. He could talk to the water spirits and often brought ne catches to the high table. We remember how he hid the villagers in the marshes when the foul raiders slipped past the guards. Intensity 4 ancestor spirit, INT 12, POW 25, CHA 8 Skills: Lore (Regional) 115%, Culture (own) 115%, Persistence 100%, Spectral Combat (Spectral net) 125%, Boating 115%, Lore (River) 115%, Swim 115%, Survival 115%, Craft (Net making) 115% Spells: Endurance 4, Beast Call, Lucky, Repair 4, Light Spirit Allies: Old Grandpa may also call his old spirit ally, Keelfriend, who is an Intensity 3 water elemental STR 21, SIZ 3, INT 3, POW 20, DEX 8 Heroic Ability: Born in a Boat (as per the Born to the Saddle ability but applies to all Boating skill rolls instead)

Ancestor Spirits
Ancestor spirits are the souls of dead family members who reside on the Spirit Plane after death, rather than joining a deity in their halls on the God Plane. They remain on the spirit plane, close to their tribal lands in the mundane world, to help their former clan and family members. Ancestors are often the rst port of call for a clan chief or family head looking for assistance, typically through the intermediary of his local spirit magician. Whilst the gods can be ckle and often cruel, ancestors are often far more approachable if they are suitably venerated and respected by their descendants. Through veneration an ancestor worshipper hopes to emulate their greatness and deeds, and become an ancestor himself so he may one day watch over his clan to protect and teach them, reminding them of the traditions and rituals that have made the clan strong for hundreds of years.

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The World of Spirits

Bane Spirits
Bane spirits are entropic spirits derived from the Chaos Rune, they exist only to cause dissolution and deterioration to the very spirits and souls of their victims. Bane spirits have the ability to absorb and destroy the spiritual essence of their targets, their entropic touch permanently destroying any magic points they drain in spirit combat and they are capable of utterly destroying any spirits they reduce to zero magic points, their victims literally ceasing to exist, their spirit is simply rent apart and dissipated. As Bane spirits are both hostile and dangerous they are rightly avoided by most sensible spiritual traditions. A few malign and chaotic spiritual cults may seek out and use these twisted spirits, but most shamans try and either avoid them or try their best to destroy or trap them to prevent them causing further damage in the spirit world.When vengeful or malicious spirit magicians do use Bane spirits they are most commonly bound into a fetish, released and commanded to attack other spirits or bound into an easily broken fetish and set as a trap for an unsuspecting foe to unleash. Slime This spirit attempts to dissolve its target into a puddle of mucus. Intensity 1 bane spirit, INT 4, POW 9, CHA 9, CA 2, SR +7, Spirit Damage 1D6 Discorporate 45%, Spectral Combat 45%, Persistence 36% Maw This spirit appears to consume its victim. Intensity 2 bane spirit, INT 5, POW 15, CHA 12, CA 2, SR +9, Spirit Damage 1D8 Discorporate 75%, Spectral Combat 75%, Persistence 60% Scream Surrounded by some sort of psychic scream this spirit seems to shatter its victim into pieces. Intensity 3 bane spirit, INT 6, POW 20, CHA 14, CA 3, SR +10, spirit Damage 1D10 Discorporate 100%, Spectral Combat 100%, Persistence 80%

Birthing Spirits
Birthing spirits are a very specic type of spirit creature linked to the Fertility and Harmony runes. They provide a great advantage to the sometimes risky business of childbirth by helping to ease the mothers pain and induce a feeling of calm and peace to both mother and baby. Birthing spirits also grant a gift to the newborn child in the form of a boost to one of the childs characteristics, this takes the form of a xed bonus equal to the spirits intensity, to one of the childs characteristics. This gift often has some physical manifestation such as a specic birthmark, unusual eye colour or something similar.

Birthing spirits must be persuaded to assist the spirit magician and they may well ask for a boon on the mundane plane in reward for their services. This can be abstracted as an opposed test of the spirit magicians Inuence skill against the spirits Persistence if preferred. Game Masters may wish to introduce other types of Birthing spirits which grant unusual abilities to the new-born child such as second sight, the ability to communicate with a certain animal, being born Rune Touched and so on as they feel appropriate to their campaign. Such special birthing spirits should be at least Intensity 3.

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An example of a birthing spirit is found under the cult of Pamalt in Cults of Glorantha. A further example is provided here. Midwifes Friend Manifests as a smiling, portly old lady with sparkling violet eyes. Intensity 3 birthing spirit, INT 6, POW 20, CHA 14 Spirit Combat (Spectral slap, 1D10) 100%, Persistence 80% If convinced to help deliver a baby within the clans home territory, Midwifes Friend will grant a gift of +3 to any one of the babys physical characteristics. She requests the boon of three days service from the magician for this gift.

Spirit magicians who defeat chonchon spirits in spirit combat on the spirit plane may bind them in to a fetish so they can release them at night for their own purposes. Breaking the fetish releases the Chonchon which can then act of its own accord. Chonchons are always hostile to mortals so usually it will attack the nearest esh and blood mortal. If the breaker of the fetish looks weak enough it will attack him. Remember that unless the magician undertook a specic ritual, the bound Chonchon may have zero Magic Points and will be for all intents and purposes useless. Two example chonchon spirits follow. Chon-chaw Intensity 2 conchon spirit, INT 14, POW 17, CHA 1, SR +8, CA 3, Spirit Damage 1D10 Spectral Combat 85%, Persistence 68% Chon-chom Intensity 3 conchon spirit, INT 16, POW 20, CHA 1, SR +9, CA 3, Spirit Damage 2D6 Spectral Combat 100%, Persistence 80%

will have a number of poison effects equal to their Intensity and once they are in possession of a victim they emulate these effects (as in the Disease and Poison section on page 55 of the Core Rulebook). The previous article provided mechanical suggestions for how to construct such spirits and a few examples are presented here. The mechanics, however, are simply a starting point. To produce new and exciting curses simply assess the likely intensity needed and create a spirit to match. Most spirits covertly possess the victim. Vomiter Intensity 1 curse spirit, INT 8, POW 10, CHA 9, CA 2, SR +9, Spirit Damage 1D6 Discorporate 50%, Spectral Combat 50%, Persistence 40%, Stealth 40% Vomiter manifests as a shadowy blur with a strong smell of vomit. Victims who make any sudden activity must make a Resilience test or be incapacitated for 1D3 CAs with uncontrollable vomiting and retching. I am a sexy, shoeless god of barf. Squint Intensity 2 curse spirit, INT 10, POW 15, CHA 12, CA 3, SR +11, Spirit Damage 1D8 Discorporate 75%, Spectral Combat 75%, Persistence 60%, Stealth 60% Squint manifests as an indistinct and blurred movement in the air. Possessed victims nd their vision dims and blurs, this results in a halving their Perception skill tests for spotting things and any other sight related skills, such as missile weapons, suffer a 20% penalty. Dire Intensity 3 curse spirit, INT 12, POW 20, CHA 12, CA 3, SR +12, Spirit Damage 1D10 Discorporate 100%, Spectral Combat 100%, Persistence 80%, Stealth 80% Dire manifests as an unpleasant grinning old man. Whenever the possessed victim makes a skill roll, he must roll twice and use the worst dice roll. If he fumbles in combat then he must also roll twice on the fumble table. Sickness spirits are malevolent beings who attack and covertly posses mortals. They are linked to the Death Rune and are often

Chonchon
Chonchons are magical denizens of the spirit world that can break through into the mortal plane and take physical form to terrify its inhabitants. They appear as large grotesque human heads with huge ears that they ap to move around. They can pass into the mortal plane at will but must hide in a dark place during the day as they are instantly dismissed back to the spirit world by direct sunlight. Chonchons are described more fully in Monster Coliseum (page 117).

Curse and Sickness spirits

Curse spirits are malevolent beings who seek to attack and covertly posses mortals. They are linked to the Disorder Rune and are often found lingering close to areas of great disaster or misfortune. Curse spirits

21

The World of Spirits

found lingering near the bodies of the recently dead or in foul and foetid marshes, where they await passing mortals to attack and posses. Sickness spirits may have a number of disease effects equal to their Intensity and once they are in possession of a victim they emulate these effects (as in the Disease and Poison section on page 55 of the Core Rulebook). As with curse spirits, new and exotic diseases can be created by comparing their severity with pre-existing conditions and setting the spirits intensity accordingly. Soul Weeper Intensity 1 sickness spirit, INT 8, POW 10, CHA 9, CA 2, SR +9, Spirit Damage 1D6 Discorporate 50%, Spectral Combat 50%, Persistence 40%, Stealth 40% Soul Weeper manifests as a slowly dissolving shadowy spirit. The spirit carries the disease of Soul Blight at an Intensity of 65. Mad-dog Intensity 2 sickness spirit, INT 10, POW 15, CHA 12, CA 3, SR +11, Spirit Damage 1D8 Discorporate 75%, Spectral Combat 75%, Persistence 60%, Stealth 60% Mad-dog manifests as an insanely rabid dog and carries the disease of Rabies at a potency of 80. Feverfilth Intensity 3 sickness spirit, INT 12, POW 20, CHA 12, CA 3, SR +12, Spirit Damage 1D10 Discorporate 100%, Spectral Combat 100%, Persistence 80%, Stealth 80% Feverlth manifests as a hideous rotting goat, the spirit carries Creeping Chills at a potency of 90. It is possible for spirit magicians to gain elemental spirits as allies in which case the magician cannot embody the spirit but can summon it to the mortal world through Spirit Walking and have the spirit manifest within the appropriate volume of material. As stated in the previous article, elementals and elemental spirits have different relationships of POW to volume. In some settings this may be undesirable and can be modied by the Games Master if it suits his world better.

Fear spirits Elemental Spirits

Elemental spirits originate from the Elemental Runes; Air, Darkness, Earth, Fire and Water. They are the spiritual form of such beings as are summoned by such spells as Elemental Summoning but a spirit magician can invest their powers within his own body. The shamanism article in Signs & Portents 89 discussed elemental spirits and their abilities in some depth, and they are also detailed more fully on page 144 of the Core Rulebook. Other types of elemental spirits can be derived from the elementals presented in RuneQuest II supplements. For example a Shade (darkness elemental) spirits powers can be derived from the rules for Shades given in Races of Glorantha Volume I page 270. An elemental spirit with an Intensity of 3 will be within 46 cubic metres in volume normally and when embodied the spirit magician acts as an elemental of that size. Fear spirits are linked to the Disorder Rune and cause feelings of unease, panic or outright terror in those they effect. When a fear spirit successfully overcomes a target in spirit combat it covertly possesses him and remains hidden until the possessed victim is put under stress or faces something which may cause anxiety, then the spirit takes hold again, forcing an opposed test of the victims Persistence versus the Fear spirits Spectral Attack skill. If the spirit wins then it affects the possessed victim, its effects varying with the spirits Intensity as shown on the table at the bottom of this page.: Fear spirits may be temporarily overcome with appropriate magic such as Fanaticism, but the spells magnitude must be equal to or greater than the spirits intensity to work. Once the spell expires or is cancelled then the fear spirit instantly returns and may exert its inuence on its victim again.

A good rule of thumb to employ with sickness and curse spirits and the potency of their effects is to assume a potency of around four or ve times their POW as a base level. This can then be modied defending upon the severity of their effect.

Intensity 1 Intensity 2 Intensity 3 Intensity 4+

Mild anxiety and unease Victim suffers 10% to all skill rolls Demoralisation As above plus effects as per the common magic spell Demoralise Fear As per the divine spell, Fear Terror Collapses in terror a number of minutes equal to the spirits Intensity

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As an alternative system to the above Games Masters may prefer to use the Fear and Madness rules from Necromantic Arts. If this is the case then calculate the Fear spirits Fear Rating as its Intensity x10 instead and add this to the Fear Rating of any creature faced by the possessed victim or add it to the attack roll of magic users if they are using fear or demoralisation spells against the victim. Thus a possessed victim is far more likely to break under the horrors he witnesses or suffer more readily from fear-inducing magic.

If the Guardian spirit is strong enough to resist the spell then it does so with its Persistence skill, which has a base level of the spirits POW x4%. Should a bane spirit be present then the magician may release the guardian spirit and it will immediately engage the bane spirit in spirit combat, battling to the death. Other guardian spirits which will attack hostile spirits such as disease spirits, chonchons and so on exist but are much rarer. Little Warden Intensity 1 guardian spirit, INT 8, POW 10, CHA 9, CA 2, SR +9, Spirit Damage 1D6 Spectral Combat 45%, Persistence 36% May attempt to block spells up to a Magnitude of 4 Brightshield Intensity 2 guardian spirit, INT 10, POW 15, CHA 12, CA 3, SR +11, Spirit Damage 1D8 Spectral Combat 75%, Persistence 60% May attempt to block spells up to a Magnitude of 5 Watchword Intensity 3 guardian spirit, INT 12, POW 20, CHA 14, CA 3, SR +13, Spirit Damage 1D10 Spectral Combat 100%, Persistence 80% May attempt to block spells up to a Magnitude of 7

Guardian spirits
These useful spirits originate from the Magic Rune and act as a ward from hostile magic as well as being the natural enemies of Bane spirits. They are often found in places where vast magics have been cast, or holy sites where a god or great hero invoked the power of a Rune. They can also be drawn to intense concentrations of magic such as ceremonial gatherings, ley lines and magical nodes for example. The usefulness of guardian spirits should not be underestimated by spirit magicians as they can help them counter incoming magical attacks from divine and sorcery magic users as well as other hostile spirits by interposing themselves between the threat and the magician. They can provide a valuable rst line of defence for the magician allowing him to unleash more powerful and damaging spirits upon his foes as their offensive spells are simply stopped dead by his guardian spirit. A guardian spirit tends to look like the spirit traditions totem animal. A badger Hsunchen from Glorantha would have a guardian spirit looking like a badger, a Saami nomad spirit would be a Reindeer. The spirit can attempt to block any spell with a Magnitude less than a third of its POW (rounded up), spells beyond this level are too powerful for the spirit to block and they can effect the spirit magician as normal, although he may still attempt to resist them himself if possible.

special abilities, they can choose either to gain the ghouls horric demoralising howl or to gain their venomous bite attack. Ghouls spirits typically have a POW of 3D6, with an average of 11, making them Intensity 1 spirits. Those ghoul spirits with a POW of 13 or more are classed as Intensity 2 spirits. They rarely attack still-living souls, preferring to animate fresh corpses instead, but will ght with spectral claws in spirit combat if they are provoked and will not hesitate to destroy a victims soul and possess the freshly dead body.

Ghoul spirits
Ghoul spirits are the hungry demonic entities responsible for possessing and animating fresh corpses into the physical undead horrors known as ghouls so they can sustain their parody of life by devouring other corpses. They are typically found lurking in areas where fresh corpses are found, such as burial grounds, sepulchres and battleelds, where they attempt to break through into the mundane world and animate a corpse to feed. Malign and desperate spirit magicians will sometimes try to bind these spirits for their own twisted reasons. They can be used for many dark purposes such as possessing fresh corpses or being bound to a fetish as a trap to threaten the living. Some spirit magicians may even be insane enough to internalise a ghoul spirit to gain one of their

Healing spirits
Healing spirits are linked to the Fertility Rune and are gentle and peaceful by nature. Unsurprisingly, they are the natural enemies of sickness spirits and are highly unlikely to assist those who use or control such spirits. Should a spirit magician require the assistance of a healing spirit he must rst convince it to help, this can be done with either an opposed test of Inuence versus the spirits Persistence or by making some form of bargain with the spirit. Such bargains invariably involve the magician in some minor quest to rid an area of a sickness spirit or similar tasks. Lucky magicians may even gain a healing spirit

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The World of Spirits

as an ally and be able to request its aid by calling it forth with its true name. The most useful healing spirits are of higher Intensities and provide the healing equivalent to a Heal Body divine spell equal in Magnitude to their Intensity and costing them an equal amount of magic points to use. This is a natural ability for the spirit and no skill roll is required, only enough magic points to fuel it. Lower Intensity spirits may posses an ability equivalent to a Heal Wound spell instead. Other, rarer variants of healing spirits exist that posses different powers. These powers are equivalent to one of the following divine spells; Cure Disease, Cure Poison and Heal (Mind). Remember that a bound spirit cannot regenerate its Magic Points therefore healing spirits are rarely bound; for obvious reasons using a blood sacrice to replenish their Magic Points does not work. They are usually contacted through Spirit Walking and then asked to provide healing or binding for a single future service. On the other hand disease masters will often journey to spots frequented by healing spirits and imprison them in bindings so that they can no longer be called upon. Wosil Darc Wosil Darc was once a mighty sage who wandered the world seeking knowledge of ancient civilisations. His last expedition ended in disaster when he was slain in some ancient ruins by bandits and buried in a shallow grave. He is now bound to the ruins for eternity. He is not inherently evil but he does desperately try to plead with mortals for their help, causing damage with his cold spectral touch as he does so. Intensity 1 ghost Characteristics: INT 10, POW 12, CHA 9, Attributes: CA 2, SR +10, Move 20m ying, Spectral Damage 1D6 Traits: Wraith Form; Necromantic Arts (Ghostly Weapon , Possess Lesser creature). Skills: Evade 36%, Insight 27%, Inuence 36%, Persistence 48%, Stealth 48%, Spirit Combat: Ghostly Touch 60%, Physical Combat: Wraith Claws 36% (S/T, 1D6) Notes: He possesses the traits of Wraith form (Signs & Portents 89), Ghostly Weapon and Possess Lesser creature these allow him to attack mortals with his touch and control small animals such as rats and bats in his immediate environment. He is bound to the ruins by his still hidden body and can only be truly removed by a proper burial rite. The Necromantic Arts trait Possess Lesser Creature should be interpreted as a form of domination, not actual possession. His wraith form/ghostly weapon attack ignores all non-magical armour. Rage Rage is the insane spiritual remains of a warrior who was ayed alive by his foes many centuries ago. He is utterly insane and full of hateful vengeance and will attack any mortal who is unfortunate enough to come close to him. He manifests as a hideous screaming parody of human form with his skin hanging in threads about his body. Intensity 3 wraith Characteristics: INT 16, POW 20, CHA 14, Attributes CA 3, SR +15, Move 20m ying, Spectral Damage 1D8 Traits: Wraith Form; Necromantic Arts (Ghostly Weapon, Telekinesis) Skills: Evade 50%, Insight 60%%, Inuence 42%, Persistence 80%, Stealth 60%, Spirit Combat: Strangling with ropes of skin 75% Physical Combat: Skin strangling 80% (L/M 1D8), Thrown Rock 100% (M/ 1D4, 20m) Notes: His telekinesis trait allows him to move objects up to his POW in metres with a STR equal to his INT, he often uses this ability to throw objects at mortals as he attacks them. Rage could potentially be freed in two ways. One is to discover his name and tell him. The second would be to nd his ayed skin. It is likely that this has been put to nefarious uses by some necromancer.

Hellion
Hellions are manifestations of pure energy sometimes encountered on the spirit plane. They manifest as translucent silvery bubbles and ll the air with a smell of ozone. Hellions have not, as yet, been dened in RuneQuest II but their statistics can easily be adapted from previous editions of RuneQuest or from the free RuneQuest creatures download found on the Mongoose website. Hellions are certainly not a good spirit for a shaman to use as they are more closely linked to more alien magic such as sorcery and so they are best avoided by spirit magicians. Games Masters are most likely to use Hellions as enemies or troublesome encounters for questing shamans.

Haunts
Wraiths and ghosts are both possible types of haunts which may be encountered by a shaman, either as possible allies to dark shamanic traditions or as hostile spirits to be confronted to save mortals from their horrors. They have been covered in some detail in the previous article and the RuneQuest II supplement Necromantic Arts also presents some possible interpretation of such haunts. A couple of examples are provide below and may be used by Games Masters as they stand or as a inspiration for their own haunts. Although a haunt cannot discorporate mortals because it is bound to the material plane, a value for spirit combat is given in case a shaman attempts to discorporate the haunt.

Knowledge spirit
Knowledge spirits are linked to the Truth Rune and are actually partly encyclopaedic in nature and partly prescient. If the owner of a knowledge spirit can beat it in an opposed test of Spirit Binding versus its Spectral Questioning skill, then the spirit will reveal hidden knowledge by answering, correctly and accurately, a number of questions up to its Intensity. It can see no more than its Intensity in days into the future but up to its Intensity x100 years into the past. The Games Master must carefully consider the information he provides to his players through a knowledge spirit, questions should be answered with infuriating

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literalness or bizarrely phrased prophecy, although they will always be accurate and correct. Examples of knowledge spirits are found under the cult of Pamalt in Cults of Glorantha.

Magic Spirits
Skills:Common Magic (POWx5%), Persistence (POWx5%). Magic spirits are a spiritual manifestation of the Magic Rune. Magic spirits will know a number of Common Magic spells up to a maximum of their POW, with a maximum magnitude for each spell equivalent to their Intensity. The spells it knows are often related or follow a theme in some way. It will lend its POW as Magic Points and its Common Magic skill can be used in place of the mortals when casting Common Magic. Its Persistence can be used in place of the mortals for resisting spells that require Persistence. Once removed from the spirit plane magic spirits are unable to regain magic points just exactly as other spirits and so must be bargained with for assistan-ce or recharged somehow once bound. Examples: Magic Spirit 1, Intensity 1, POW 10. Skills: Common Magic 50%, Persistence 50%. Knows the following spells: Becalm, Light, Cauterise, Endurance, Repair. Magic Spirit 2, Intensity 2, POW 12. Skills: Common Magic 60%, Persistence 60%. Knows the following spells: Fireblade, Ignite, Demoralise, Bladesharp 2, Pierce 2, Protection 2. Magic Spirit 3, Intensity 3, POW 16. Skills: Common Magic 80%, Persistence 80%. Knows the following spells: Clear Path, Mobility 2, Coordination 2, Bandit's Cloak 3, Beast Call 3, Repair 3.

more if the particular effect warrants it. The abilities provided by nature spirits are only accessible if the spirit is internalised as detailed in RuneQuest II. Other abilities are possible for such spirits such as the terrible defensive odour of a skunk, the colour changing ability of the chameleon or the poisonous properties of a plant. Any ability, skill or unique behaviour of an animal or plant is a possible source of an ability a spirit magician can use. Some examples of nature spirits follow. Remember these are individual spirits and others of their kind may be more or less powerful. Power Root (Intensity 3 boost MP, plant spirit) INT 1, POW 20, CHA 1, CA 2, SR +1, HP 20 Spirit Damage +1D10. Persistence 60%, Spectral Hallucinogenic 100%. Increases the MP of the magician by 3. Thorny Might (Intensity 2 boost Damage Modier, plant spirit) INT 1, POW 18, CHA 1, CA 2, SR +1, HP 18 Spirit Damage +1D10. Persistence 72%, Spectral Thorns 90%. Increases the Damage Modier of the magician by two steps. Steadfast Root (Intensity 2 grants Combat Manoeuvre, plant spirit) INT 1, POW 21, CHA 1, CA 2, SR +1, HP 21 Spirit Damage +2D6. Persistence 84%, Spectral Roots 105%. Grants the magician the use of the Stand Fast combat manoeuvre. Touch Vine (Intensity 4 grants Combat Manoeuvre, plant spirit) INT 1, POW 27, CHA 1, CA 3, SR +1, HP 27 Spirit Damage +2D8. Persistence 108%, Spectral Vines 135%. Grants the magician use of the Pin Weapon critical combat manoeuvre. Shadows Leaper (Intensity 2 grants ability, Lynx spirit) INT 5, POW 16, CHA 5, CA 2, SR +5, HP 16 Spirit Damage +1D8. Persistence 64%, Spectral Bite 80%. Allows the magician to use Leap attacks as detailed in the combat chapter of the Core Rulebook. Bushy Tail (Intensity 3 increase skill, Squirrel spirit) INT 5, POW 17, CHA 4, CA 2, SR +5, HP 17 Spirit Damage +1D10. Persistence 68%, Spectral Bite 85%. Increases the magicians Athletics skill by +30%. Nevermore (Intensity 3 increase skill, Raven spirit) INT 6, POW 24, CHA 6, CA 3, SR +6, HP 24 Spirit Damage +2D6. Persistence

96%, Spectral Peck 120%. Increases the magicians Perception skill by +30%. Swift Tail (Intensity 2 boosts MP, Mouse spirit) INT 5, POW 14, CHA 3, CA 2, SR +4, HP 14 Spirit Damage +1D8. Persistence 56%, Spectral Bite 70%. Increases the magicians MP by +2. Swift Hoof (Intensity 3 increase skill, Zebra spirit) INT 4, POW 23, CHA 4, CA 3, SR +4, HP 23 Spirit Damage +2D6. Persistence 92%, Spectral Hoof 115%. Increases the magicians Ride skill by +30%. Scaled Walker (Intensity 3 boost AP, Armadillo spirit) INT 4, POW 21, CHA 4, CA 3, SR +4, HP 21 Spirit Damage +2D6. Persistence 84%, Spectral Claw 105%. Boosts the magicians AP by +3.

Nymphs
Nymphs are a form of special nature spirit inhabiting a specic natural environment or geographical feature. They are subdivided in to several types according to their habitat; dryads are sylvan spirits tied to a grove of trees, hags are dark and malign spirits of caves and ruins, naiads are ckle water spirits and oreads are spirits of mountains or valleys. Nymphs can either be encountered in a physical form on the mortal plane or in their spirit form on the spirit plane. It is the spiritual form that is of most interest to spirit magicians as they can be bargained with for assistance or bound to serve a shaman. Nymphs will never agree to be bound as they hate being removed from their home and so must be defeated in spirit combat to be used in this manner. The basic statistics for each type of nymph are shown below along with some possible powers that they may posses, encounters with nymph spirits are best rolled up beforehand by Games Masters due to their unique powers. Many nymphs will also know common magic or possibly a few divine spells as well, hags may have learnt several sorcery spells instead of common magic, but remember that spirits cannot regenerate Magic Points on the mortal plane. Most nymphs are classed as spirits of Intensity 2 to 5 dependant upon their POW.

Nature spirits
Nature spirits are discussed fully in RuneQuest II and additional examples are provided here. Nature spirits embodying Combat Manoeuvres have a minimum POW of 1924 (2530 for critical only manoeuvres); those embodying Traits have a minimum POW of 1318 and sometimes

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The World of Spirits

Dryad INT 3D6+6, POW 2D6+15, CHA 2D6+12 Dryads may control all the plant life within POW x2 metres, she can cause plants to bloom, roots to grapple foes and branches to sway and move. Dryads are often very friendly to elfs. Hag INT 2D6+12, POW 2D6+21, CHA 1D6 Hags may summon a darkness elemental with a size equal to one square metre per magic point expended, there must be some suitable dark shadows for the elemental to form. Shamans who use Hag spirits must be aware they are dismissed instantly by direct sunlight and forced to return to the spirit world. They are also invariably hostile to most mortals and may know sorcery spells as well. Naiad INT 3D6+6, POW 2D6+18, CHA 2D6+12 Naiads may transform themselves into a water elemental with a size equal to one square metre per magic point expended, there must be enough water nearby for the naiad to transform in this manner. If they are destroyed in their elemental form then they simply return to the spirit world. Oread INT 3D6+3, POW 2D6+15, CHA 2D6+9 Oreads may transform themselves into an earth elemental with a size equal to one square metre per magic point expended, there must be enough earth nearby for the oread to transform in this manner. If they are destroyed in their elemental form then they simply return to the spirit world. fatigue spirits in some spiritual traditions. Pain spirits are most commonly associated with the Gorgorma cult in Glorantha but may also have a place in other world settings. Pain spirits inict terrible pain on those they possess until they are somehow exorcised, this varies with the Intensity of the spirit as per the table at the bottom of this page. Further information on pain spirits are found under the cult of Gorgorma in Cults of Glorantha. likely be hostile. Other runic spirits are likely to be neutral.

Tribal spirits
Tribal spirits are closely related to nature spirits but they are linked to the Man Rune instead of the Plant or Beast Runes. They are not to be confused with Ancestor spirits, as these venerable forebears are very different, but are instead more like concepts or ideals specic to a clan or tribe made manifest. They are a kind of tribal memory in spiritual form which can be tapped and used by members of the appropriate culture. Tribal spirits will always possess a skill appropriate to the clan or tribe they represent. This could be the Ride skill for a nomadic clan or the Survival skill for an Arctic tribe, for example. When internalised the spirit will provide a bonus equal to its Intensity x10% to the appropriate skill. A couple of easily adaptable examples are given below: Wise-chief Intensity 2 tribal spirit, INT 5, POW 13, CHA 5, CA 2, SR +5, HP 13, Spirit Damage 1D8, Persistence 52%, Spectral Spear 65% Wise-chief grants an increase to the magicians Inuence skill of +20%. Horse-whisperer Intensity 3 tribal spirit, INT 6, POW 20, CHA 6, CA 3, SR +6, HP 10, Spirit Damage 1D10, Persistence 80%, Spectral Spear 100% Horse-whisperer grants an increase to the magicians Ride skill of +30%.

Rune spirits
Shamans can forge runic relationships with the Spirit World on ritual Dream Hunts and become Rune Touched just as other magical traditions offer their paths to harnessing the Runic powers. As a more temporary alternative to this, Rune spirits, which are spiritual manifestations of the Runes on the spirit plane, may be sought out and internalised to provide Runic powers to the spirit magician. This allows a temporary use of the spirits Rune Touched ability whilst internalised as detailed on page 104 of the Core Rulebook. More than one rune spirit may be internalised at once, but all the spirits must be compatible. For example mixing Fire with Ice inside your body at the same time is really not a good idea! Rune spirits will normally have an Intensity of 1 or 2 although more powerful examples do exist and will have a proportionately greater effect. Most shamanistic traditions have two or three runic associations and so will nd the appropriate runic spirits as friendly, although their direct opposites will most Inicts one level of Fatigue Inicts two levels of Fatigue Inicts four levels of Fatigue

Pain spirits
Pain spirits are an unpleasant and dangerous spirit used by some dark and malign spiritual traditions to cripple and torture their foes. They are also known as Intensity 1 Intensity 2 Intensity 3 Aching, cramps Crippling pain Debilitating pain

Spirit Lords
Spirit lords are extremely powerful spirits whos abilities transcend the normal classications, they may be linked to several runic powers and even possess unique abilities. They may be from almost any basic spirit type, be it a terrible dripping manifestation of venom and poison derived from a curse spirit or a wise and intelligent knowledge spirit.

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Such spirits will always have access to unique powers, common magic and other abilities well beyond their basic spirit type. They will also have highly developed personalities along with their own agenda to follow and do not take kindly to troublesome mortals interfering in their affairs. Spirit lords may not be bound into a fetish but, if defeated in spirit combat or if they choose to assist a spirit magician temporarily, then the spirit lord can work their magic or manifest certain traits through that person. This ability is usually restricted to a certain geographical location the spirit lord calls home. Such spirits have Intensities of at least 10 or more and are well beyond the scope of a typical shaman to control or bind. They are a mechanic for Games Masters to use as important non-player characters on the spirit plane who can act as reoccurring contacts, allies or foes to make life interesting for their players. Games Masters must be careful to avoid direct confrontations with these spirits and his players as they are capable of doing serious damage to even an experienced party. In settings where the Concert skill is used, such as Wraith Recon, it is possible that some groups of magicians may try to cooperate in order to bind a spirit lord. Such an attempt, or the results of the attempt, provide many possible plot hooks to build adventures upon. Shayle Intensity 10 disease spirit lord INT 20, POW 50, CHA 20, CA 5, SR +20, Spirit Damage 2D8 Skills: Common Magic 120%, Discorporate 120%, Insight 120%, Perception 100%, Stealth 100%, Persistence 120%, Spectral Combat (Spectral Whip) 140%, Disguise 100% (reduce Shayles Disguise skill by 1D10% per hour as he slowly reverts to his true form) Common Magic: Befuddle 2, Babel 2, Countermagic 10, Glamour 10, Mindspeech 10, Repair 10, Slow 10

Shayle is a twisted and malevolent sickness spirit lord whos primary goal is to spread disease across the spirit plane and to infect as many as possible. He is highly intelligent, scheming and calculating and innitely patient, he delights in nothing more than seeing long term plans come to fruition and in duping unsuspecting mortals into helping advance his foul agenda. He can manifest up to eight different diseases at once. Shayle manifests as a hugely bloated and rotting corpse, alive with maggots and covered in open sores and pulsating blisters. He is able to mask his true form temporarily by taking on the form of a tall, thin white haired youth with sparkling violet eyes, but this illusion tends to slip with time as he slowly reverts to his true form over the course of several hours. Leilani Intensity 10 guardian spirit lord INT 18, POW 50, CHA 25, CA 5, SR +22, Spirit Damage 2D8 Skills: Common Magic 120%, Discorporate 100%, Insight 100%, Perception 120%, Seduction 120%, Persistence 140%, Spectral Combat (Spectral light) 120% Common Magic: Bearing Witness 10, Befuddle 2, Countermagic 10, Mindspeech 10, Repair 10, Push/Pull 10 Leilani is a bright and helpful guardian spirit lord who, rather grandly seeks to rid the spirit plane of evil and malevolent inuences.She is enthusiastic and condent, but often a little naive and quick to accept things at face value. She occasionally seeks the help of mortal heroes to assist her in her grand plans to ght her foes on the Spirit Plane and beyond, but she often forgets just how frail mortal souls are for such battles. Leilani manifests as a tall, beautiful woman with owing silken hair that shimmers from blond to red. Her facial features are sharp and eln with the palest blue eyes that ash with a silvery light. She often oats just above the ground with her diaphanous silvery robes billowing behind her in some impossibly slow spirit wind.

Spirit Traditions
In every world setting there will be many different approaches to spirits and the spirit world and each one will be inuenced by the culture and environment they are found in. These are referred to as spirit traditions and can be thought of in simple terms as a kind of cult. In RuneQuest II these spirit traditions are treated as spirit cults and the rules in the Core Rulebook give some ideas on how to create your own cults and outline the spirits, runes, myths and magic available to them. To give some idea of how Game Masters can easily create their own spirit cults a couple of simple examples are provided. These can be used as they are or modied as required. Many other examples of spirit cults can be found in Cults of Glorantha.

Brother Hunter
Runes Death and beast Mythos and History Hunter Kills the First Beast (Resonance 65%) Brother Hunter knew his people were starving in the Great Winter, the food stores were low and the snow and ice had not melted for months. Then he had a dream, a great wolf came to him and showed him how to hunt the beasts of the forest and mountains, to kill them swiftly and take their meat. He taught him how to send their spirits back to the spirit world to be reborn. Nature Although the cult is small and is restricted to the clans territory it is very inuential with the clan chieftains. Other hunter cults from nearby tribes are also known and respected as well. Organisation The cult has very little in the way of organisation, the clan shamans pick those they wish to join their ranks in vision quests and train them in their ways. Any clan member in good standing may learn Spirit Binding from the shamans and may request help in creating fetishes for a

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The World of Spirits

suitable gift. There may only be one High Shaman in the cult at a time. Common Magic None, but the shamans have no objection to using such magic. Bandits Cloak, Speedart and Warmth are available from many clan members. Higher Magic Brother Hunter provides the help of many spirits to the clan and its shamans. Friendly and hostile spirits can be summarised as below, all other spirits are considered neutral. Friendly spirits: Nature spirits in the form of wolves, ravens and lynxes. Fire elemental spirits and appropriate Tribal spirits. Ancestors are also venerated as friendly spirits. Hostile spirits: Nature spirits in the form of elk, rabbit, deer and grouse. Ice spirits are also considered hostile. Bane and sickness spirits are shunned as well. Spirit Allies The cult has two allied spirits which may be called upon. Wolf Brother Intensity 2 nature spirit, boost movement, INT 5, POW 14, CHA 3, CA 2, SR +4, HP 14. Spirit Damage +1D8. Persistence 56%, Spectral Bite 70%. Boosts the magicians movement by +3. Hunt Friend Intensity 3 tribal spirit, INT 6, POW 20, CHA 6, CA 3, SR +6, HP 10, Spirit Damage 1D10, Persistence 80%, Spectral Spear 100% Hunt Friend grants an increase to the magicians Track skill of +30%. Cult Skills Perception, Stealth, Track, Survival, Spirit Binding, Spirit walking, Lore (Brother Wolf Tradition). Allied Cults Most hunter cults are friendly to the Brother Wolf tradition.

The Cursed One

Runes Disorder and spirit Mythos and History The Cursed One Finds Strength (Resonance 65%) the Cursed One was once a mortal who was shunned by his own clans for a thing He Did Not Do. As he hid in a dark cave one day a spirit whispered the secrets of the power he could gain from following its dark path. After many years he returned to his people and they ed in terror at the powers he showed them. He cursed their lands and left to form his own band of followers. Nature Although the cult is small it tends to attract many evil and power hungry people who care little for their own traditions and seek revenge in some form. Organisation The cult has very little in the way of organisation, the strongest member present leads rituals and squabbles and ghts between members are commonplace. Despite this there is typically a semi-stable pecking order and cult members who prove themselves in some way may learn Spirit Binding from the shamans and may request help in creating fetishes for a suitable gift. Common Magic None, but the shamans have no objection to using such magic. Spells such as Disruption, Befuddle and Hand of Death are commonly available - for a price. Higher Magic The Cursed One provides the help of many spirits to its cultists and its shamans. Friendly and hostile spirits can be summarised as below, all other spirits are considered neutral: Friendly spirits: Nature spirits in the form of jackals and vultures. Sickness and curse spirits. Fear and ghoul spirits. Some pain spirits.

Hostile spirits: Nature spirits of any prey animal are all hostile. Healing and birth spirits are hostile. Bane spirits are often used but are rarely better than neutral in attitude even to cultists. Spirit Allies The cult has two allied spirits which may be called upon. Jackals Laugh Intensity 2 grants special trait, nature spirit, INT 1, POW 21, CHA 1, CA 2, SR +1, HP 21 Spirit Damage +2D6. Persistence 84%, Spectral Bite 105%. Grants the magician the ability to demoralise foes with his hideous insane laugh. Anyone within the magicians POW in metres must resist with their Resilience against the magicians Persistence or be demoralised (as per the common magic spell) while the laugh continues. Anyone who resists is immune to the fear attack for the rest of the day. Remember that spirit abilities cannot be turned off so this laugh is permanently in effect while the spirit is internalised. Darkword Intensity 2 curse spirit, INT 10, POW 15, CHA 12, CA 3, SR +11, Spirit Damage 1D8 Spectral Combat 75%, Persistence 60% Darkword manifests as a horrible pulsing movement in the air. Possessed victims nd their memory and mind effected by a dull throbbing pain and whispered threats only they can hear. This has the effect of reducing all the victims INT based skills by 20%. Cult Skills Stealth, Craft (Poison), Spirit Binding, Spirit walking, Lore (The Cursed One). Allied Cults A few chaotic and evil cults sometimes form temporary alliances with the cult but these invariably fall apart with inghting and jealousy until a new common foe arises.

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Spirit Quests
Spirit Quests are the spirit magicians way of seeking out suitable spirits to aid him or become allies. They are the spiritual equivalent to a divine cultist learning new myths and spells, or the sorcerer researching a new grimoire to gain arcane knowledge. Yet they are also very different; unlike his priestly or sorcerer equivalents the spirit magician must leave his physical body and quest upon the spirit plane to seek out useful spirits and either persuade them to help him or bind them against their will. There really is no better way to run locating and dealing with spirits within a game than through role-playing the encounters. However, this is not always practical, particularly with larger groups where the other players have no real dealings with the spirit world. The following rules are presented here to provide an alternative that can used during downtime for a spirit magic user to locate, negotiate with and bind spirits. They are meant as a guide only and Games Masters are positively encouraged to amend and modify them to t with their campaign and world. The rst step in seeking a spirit is for the shaman to decide on what type of spirit he seeks. This could be as simple as looking for a guardian spirit to help protect the shaman or as complex as seeking an

allied magic spirit with a set of re related spells to help defeat a local troll tribe. The possibilities are as vast as the spirit world itself and so the player must clearly state to the Games Master just what type of spirit his character is seeking and an ideal Intensity level for that spirit. Once the type of spirit has been determined then the shaman needs to make an appropriate Lore roll to nd a suitable location to begin his spirit quest. If the shaman is seeking a type of spirit regularly associated with his own spirit tradition and is in his home terrain then a Lore (Regional) roll augmented with Lore (Shamanic Tradition) would be sufcient (see the RuneQuest II Core Rulebook page 33 for augmenting skill rolls). If, however, he is in another location or is seeking a more unusual spirit for his spirit tradition then the Games Master may well feel other skills, such as Lore (Animal) or Lore (Spirit World), may be more appropriate based upon the type of spirit he seeks. The Games Master may apply modiers to these skill rolls based upon various advantages or disadvantages. A few possibilities are listed on the table at the bottom of this page. These modiers may well be cumulative. Once a suitable location has been determined then the shaman needs to

travel there and enter the spirit world as described in the rules for spirit magic (RuneQuest II Core Rulebook pages 138 142). Such journeys are typically only a day or two in duration and should be easily slotted into players down time between adventures. If the shaman fails his Lore roll then he is unable to even nd an appropriate location in time or his other duties interfere. Perhaps he needs to do further research or the site was temporarily out of use for some reason. The Games Master may allow him to make another roll at a later date with a bonus (say +20%) to reect the current level of research already completed. If he fumbles the roll then he may well nd himself in a hostile situation or completely waste his time looking for a suitable spot. If, however, he succeeds then he may then prepare to enter the spirit world on his spirit quest.

The Spirit Quest

Once the appropriate Lore roll has been made and the location found, then the shaman may enter the spirit world and make a Spirit Walking skill to try to nd the type of spirit he requires. The shaman may make one such skill roll for every 1D4 hours he remains on the spirit world. This is handled as an opposed test against half the appropriate spirits Persistence skill, as most spirits are not actively hiding.

Reason for skill modier Modier Applied Examples Appropriate location +5% to +20% Site of a week old wildre may grant +5% to nd a re spirit but the edge of a lava pit would give +20%. Inappropriate location 5% to 20% A long-empty sepulchre for seeking a ghoul spirit would be 5% but seeking a ghoul spirit at a well renowned for its healing waters would give a 20% penalty. Appropriate time +5 to +10% An ancestors birthday +5%, midnight for a darkness spirit +10%. Holy Time +20% Walpurgis Night, All Hallows Eve, Sacred Time (Glorantha). Shared runic afliation +5% +5% per rune the spirit and shamanic tradition share, even if considered a hostile or enemy spirit. Runic opposition 5% 5% per rune opposite the spirit has to the shamans tradition, such as darkness being opposed by re or light. Allied spirit. +20% The spirit type sought is considered an ally to the spirit cult or is a tribal ancestor such as a horse spirit to a nomad or bloodline ancestor. Enemy spirit 20% The spirit type sought is considered hostile to the spirit cult such as a sickness spirit to a healing cult.

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During this time the Games Master may require the player to roll for random encounters on the spirit plane which may well disturb or change his spirit quest. A spirit world encounter table is provided at the end of this article. If he succeeds in locating a suitable spirit then the shaman needs to roll and determine the spirits initial attitude toward him. The spirit will have a general attitude to the spirit magician based upon his particular spirit tradition. A bane spirit is likely to be hostile to most sane spirit traditions, healing spirits are often neutral and guardian spirits are typically friendly. The Games Master should rule which column to use. The table also provides a modier to his Inuence skill or other skills used to gain the spirits assistance. The Spirit Attitude Table should only be taken as a guide and it must be remembered that a hostile healing spirit is far less of a concern than a hostile bane spirit. Even a spirit who may be interesting in becoming an ally could well change its attitude if an Inuence skill roll is fumbled. Negotiating with the Spirit Once the spirits initial attitude has been determined then the shaman must either defeat it in spirit combat (sometimes mock spirit combat) and bind it to his service or, more commonly, convince it to assist him with a roll of his Inuence skill opposed by the spirits Persistence. The spirit magicians actions will often be determined by the type of spirit he is seeking, the descriptions of each spirit type should be consulted at this point for clues to the best action. The modier from the Spirit Attitude table above should also be applied to this skill check. The games master may also allow the shaman to augment his Inuence skill with his Lore (Shamanic Tradition) or Lore (Spirit World) should he feel this is appropriate. A critical success could well result in the spirit offering to become an allied spirit, this means the shaman may call upon it any time in the future for its assistance. A fumbled roll would result in a hostile and possibly dangerous response from the spirit. The games master should now work out some form of agreement between the shaman and the spirit. This is best roleplayed, if possible, but the following tables are provided with some suggestions, or for when inspiration fails.

Spirit Attitude Table Hostile Neutral 01-05 01-10 06-15 11-30 16-25 31-70 26-85 71-90 86-00 91-00

Friendly 01-15 16-75 76-85 86-95 96-00

Attitude to shaman Friendly and co-operative, +20% to Inuence Open and helpful, +10% to Inuence Neutral, +0% Inuence Open dislike, -10% to Inuence Aggressive, -20% to Inuence

Spirit Request Table Spirits Request Physical Task Physical Sacrice Physical Compulsion Mental Task Examples Deliver a message, climb a hill, move an item A sacrice of alcohol, money, blood, a possession Eat no meat, remain silent, sleep outside Difculty of task Routine Simple Very easy Easy Medium Medium Tough Hard Very hard Extremely hard

Next the Games Master needs to determine the difculty of the request, this can be simply abstracted with the roll of a D10 on the difculty column above, but it is important to remember that the difculty of the request should be in proportion to the power of the spirit. The Intensity of the spirit could be applied as a modier to the D10 roll if felt appropriate by the Games Master. Remember an agreement is only made when both parties have nally agreed on the result. The Games Master may even allow the shaman and spirit to continue to barter using appropriate skills such as Inuence, Insight and Evaluate or even role-play the encounter with the player. Once an agreement has been reached then it becomes binding on both parties, although in reality such agreements are as easily broken on the spirit plane as they are on the mundane plane. However a shaman who gains a reputation for continually breaking agreements will nd fewer spirits are willing to assist him as time goes on. It is also possible for a shaman to enter the spirit plane and simply search for a

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

A riddle or puzzle, answer a question, learn a chant Mental Sacrice Dont use a Lore or INT based skill for a time Mental Compulsion Be friendlier, hate darkness, develop a phobia Magical Task Cast a spell, seek a spirit, increase a magical skill Magical Sacrice Sacrice Magic Points, forget a spell, release a spirit Magical Cast no re magic, learn a particular spell Compulsion Roll twice Roll twice and apply the results

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interesting spirits at random. Although this is can be a risky business the rewards can also often be much higher than the safer Spirit Quest. The following encounter tables are provided to give Games Masters a random encounter chart to use for shamans who wish to explore the spirit world or who may have become lost on a Spirit Quest. As a guide, a roll should be made on the table for every four hours spent on the spirit plane, those spirits encountered deeper within the spirit world will tend to be of much greater power than those found on the borders. Ancestors are not shown on the random encounter chart as they are usually only available to blood relatives and are not likely to be found wandering the spirit plane. The attitude of the spirit to the spirit magician can be determined randomly using the Spirit Attitude Table. An Aggressive spirit will attack if it feels the shaman is weak while a Friendly spirit may be interested in an exchange of some sort. Spirits with other attitudes will react based on how the magician responds. The spirits Intensity will depend on the region. Spirits in the border region usually have an intensity of 1D3, spirits in the outer region have an intensity 1D3+1 and spirits in the Inner Region have an Intensity of 1D4+1 at least. Border Regions of the Spirit Plane 1D100 roll Encounter 0102 Chonchon 0305 Sickness spirit 0608 Curse spirit 0910 Ghoul spirit 1125 Ghost or Wraith 2627 Bane spirit 2830 Nymph 3160 Magic spirit 6170 Knowledge spirit 7180 Guardian spirit 8185 Discorporate shaman 8600 To outer region

Outer Region of the Spirit Plane 1D100 roll Encounter 0103 Chonchon 0406 Sickness spirit 0709 Curse spirit 1012 Elemental spirit 1315 Hellion 1625 Ghost or Wraith 2628 Birthing spirit 2935 Healing spirit 3645 Knowledge spirit 4655 Magic spirit 5660 Guardian spirit 6170 Tribal spirit 7180 Fear spirit 8185 Other spirit or demon 8690 Discorporate shaman 9100 To inner region Inner Region of the Spirit Plane 1D100 roll Encounter Spirit Lord 01 Cult allied spirit 0210 Elemental 1125 Ghost 2635 Hellion 3640 Healing spirit 4145 Knowledge spirit 4650 Magic spirit 5160 Guardian spirit 6165 Rune spirit 6670 Pain spirit 7180 Discorporate shaman 8185 Games Masters choice or 8600 use a questing ancestor spirit

Heroic Abilities
Two new heroic abilities are presented here to round out spirit magicians.

Animal Companion
Requirements: POW 15 or higher, Spirit Binding at 90% or higher Hero Points: 8 Duration: permanent After a suitable quest the Adventurer gains an animal companion of a type appropriate to their cult or culture. The animal is a superior example of its type and has 1 point of more of Fixed INT than normal. The ability does not allow either to speak the others language nor does it provide telepathy. The Adventurer can summon their companion by spending 1 Magic Point, in which case the companion arrives within 1D10 Combat Rounds. The strength of the bond is such that the companion knows in advance when it will be wanted. Should the companion die, the Adventurer loses the ability and must reacquire it if they wish to gain a new companion.

Self-Resurrection
Requirements: POW 18 or higher, Spirit Walking at 90% or higher, High Shaman status Hero Points: 12 Duration: special The Adventurer can, literally, bring themselves back from the dead. Once the body dies, the Shaman is able to act normally on the spirit plane so none of the spirit allies or fetishes are immediately released. The Shaman can then use spirits

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or spells to heal the body. Providing the body is healed so no locations are suffering anything worse than a minor wound and providing the body is capable of holding life (for example, it is not decapitated), the Shaman can then make a Spirit Binding test to reanimate himself by, literally, binding his soul back into his body. Each time this ability is used it is lost and must be regained.

Sample Non Player Characters

Finally, two shaman non player characters are presented here. Blueface is an example of a spirit magician who has progressed even beyond High Shaman status. He no longer regards himself as a member of any one clan or hearth. Instead he roams the plains bringing succour to those who need it and terror to those who deserve

it. His name is given for the ghostly blue tattoos covering his body. If watched for long enough those tattoos seem to move, as if alive. Muriah is an example of a new shaman who is beginning to come into her power. She is fundamental amoral, seeking only the power to wreak revenge on those who wronged her and willing to kill, maim or torture anyone who stands in her way.

Blueface the Shaman

As old and as ageless as the plains on which he roams, Blueface follows his own agenda. All who live on the plains know of him. STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX CHA 14 15 14 18 21 17 20 13 46 79 1012 1315 1618 1920 Right Leg Left Leg Abdomen Chest Right Arm Left Arm Head 0/6 0/6 0/7 0/8 0/5 0/5 0/6

Attributes: SR 18, CA 3, Damage 1D2, Move 8m, Magic Points 21 Armour (Penalty 0): None. Skills: Athletics 91%, Brawn 28%, Culture (Own) 102%, Dance 87%, Evade 34%, Evaluate 91%, First Aid 88%, Inuence 100%, Insight 82%, Lore (Regional) 122%, Perception 92%, Persistence 102%, Resilience 80%, Ride 38%, Sing 71%, Sleight 37%, Stealth 38%, Swim 29%. Advanced Skills: Craft (Brew Poison) 105%, Dog Handling 67%, Healing 92%, Lore (Poisons) 102%, Lore (Spirit Plane) 112%, Meditation 82%, Oratory 71%, Survival 92%, Teaching 41%, Track 96% Common Magic 101%: Bandits Cloak 6, Bearing Witness 3, Beast Call 2, Befuddle 2, Bestial Enhancement 6, Bladesharp 6, Cauterise 3, Clear Path 2, Countermagic 6, Countermagic Shield 6, Disruption 6, Dullblade 6, Extinguish 3, Heal 6, Mindspeech 3, Mobility 6, Protection 6, Skybolt 3, Speedart 6, Spirit Bane 6, Thunders Voice 6, Understanding 3 Spirit Magic Spirit Binding 141% (2D10 damage), Spirit Walking 126% Fetishes (all tattooed on his body touches the tattoo to invoke the spirit): Right eye tattoo (Tiger eye spirit, Intensity 2, POW 14): Night Sight. Tattoos on both hands (Tiger claw spirit, Intensity 2, POW 15): Formidable Natural Weapons. Abdomen tattoo (stone spirit, Intensity 4, POW 26): +4 APs to all locations. Chest tattoo (Tiger heart spirit, Intensity 4, POW 25). +4 Magic Points. Neck and mouth tattoos (Darkfang, Guardian Spirit, Intensity 5, POW 31). Neutralize spells up to Magnitude 11. Abdomen tattoos (Bonegrinder, Gnome Spirit, Intensity 4, POW 26). 10 cubic metre equivalent. Neck tattoos and ear piercings (Wildwind, Sylph spirit, Intensity 4, POW 27). 10 cubic metre equivalent. Right forearm tattoos. (King Smilodon, Tiger spirit, Intensity 4, POW 26): Dominate and control up to 4 tigers or similar big cats. Spirit Allies: Mother Cat. Healing spirit. Intensity 4, POW 23. Can cast Heal Body at Magnitude 4 with a skill of 115% for a cost of 4 Magic Points. Rikkitikki. Healing spirit. Intensity 4, POW 21. Can cast Cure Poison at Magnitude 4 with a skill of 105% for a cost of 4 Magic Points. Will cure all mundane poisons and any magical ones with a Potency of 105% or less.

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Spine Chiller. Ancestor spirit. Intensity 3 POW 22. When summoned is willing to cast the divine spell Fear with a skill of 110% and a Magnitude of 3. Has 3 castings of it. The Beast. Animal Ancestor spirit. Intensity 5, POW 31. Provides Blueface with his animal possession heroic ability. Blueface spends 5 days per year undertaking service. Vrog the Tireless. Ancestor spirit. Intensity 4 POW 26. Provides Blueface with his Tireless heroic ability. Blueface spends 4 days per year performing tasks for Vrog. The Bluefaces. A long line of ancestors who can provide information about almost aspects of life on the planes. Blueface never lets an ancestor possess him, he relies on them for guidance and advice. Heroic Abilities Possession. Blueface is able to possess xed INT creatures by discorporating them to the spirit plane and defeating them in spirit combat. Note that this is done with respect. Many animals recognise Blueface and do not resist. In return he treats them with love and honour. Blueface is able to fully utilise the traits and physical skills of any animal he possesses this way. Note that while possessing a creature, Blueface cannot regenerate Magic Points. Self-Resurrection. Tireless. Notable Equipment: A golden bottle that is always lled with ne wine; Staff with Bluebuck head that allows Blueface to speak with the holder. The staff can y through the air to return to Blueface. A furry ball which when thrown at a victim acts as a Discorporation attempt at a skill of 130%. A mini pharmacy of poisons and their antidotes with a potency of around 105%. Combat Styles: Dagger 51%, Spear 51%, Thrown Spear 54%, Unarmed 51% Weapons: Dagger (S/S, 1D4+1, 6/8), Short spear (M/L 1D8+1, 4/5), Thrown short spear (L/, 1D8+1, 0/25m) Greyrunner Runefang Greyrunner is Bluefaces animal part. He is both a fetch and a living smilodon (Monster Coliseum page 168). Blueface can possess Greyrunners body while Greyrunner is Discorporated and vice-versa. Greyrunner cannot speak or cast magic while he is in his smilodon form. Even for a smilodon, Greyrunner is a huge and impressive beast. While discorporated Greyrunner may cast common magic but while in smilodon form he cannot cast common magic nor can he speak. He is capable of discorporating, casting Bestial Enhancement on his body and then returning to his body. Generally though, while discorporated he uses Befuddle, Countermagic and Heal to support Blueface and may cast Mindspeech to talk with outsiders. Greyrunner could in theory possess a foe he has defeated in spirit combat but he would only do that under extreme circumstances. STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX CHA 40 22 30 16 18 17 16 13 46 79 1012 1315 1618 1920 Right Hind Leg Left Hind Leg Abdomen Chest Right Front Leg Left Front Leg Head 3/11 3/11 3/12 3/13 3/10 3/10 3/11

Attributes: SR 17, CA 3, Damage +2D6, Move 10m, Magic Points 18 Traits: Formidable Natural Weapons; Night Sight. Armour (Penalty 0): Fur (3APs) Skills: Athletics 87%, Brawn 70%, Culture (Own) 92%, Evade 64%, Evaluate 32%, Inuence 32%, Insight 74%, Lore (Regional) 92%, Perception 74%, Persistence 76%, Resilience 74%, Stealth 93%, Swim 62%, Survival 84%, Track 108% Common Magic (94%): Befuddle 2, Bestial Enhancement 5, Countermagic 5, Heal 5, Mindspeech 4 Spirit Combat: Discorporation 84%, Spectral Combat 94% (1D10 damage) Combat Styles: Formidable Natural Weapons 85% (Bite, Claw, Tusks) Attacks: Bite (M/T, 1D8), Claw (M/M, 1D10), Tusks (M/M, 1D10)

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The World of Spirits

Muriah
Mistress of disease. With the appearance of an ugly 10 year old girl, Muriah is easy to underestimate. She is a recent shaman of a disease cult who burns with the need to revenge herself on the people who outcast her. Right now she is carving out a power base among a bunch of broos. If she survives she will be a terrifying prospect for the human settlers in the nearby valley. STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX CHA 7 10 7 16 17 12 12 13 46 79 1012 1315 1618 1920 Right Leg Left Leg Abdomen Chest Right Arm Left Arm Head 0/5 0/5 2/6 2/7 1/4 1/4 0/5

Attributes: SR 13 (11), CA 3, Damage 1D2, Move 8m, Magic Points 15 Traits: Disease carrier (Creeping Chills & Rabies); immune to disease; barren Armour (Penalty 2): Leather jerkin (2AP), Leather greaves (1AP). Skills: Athletics 38%, Brawn 17%, Culture (Own) 72%, Evade 20%, Evaluate 50%, First Aid 26%, Inuence 78%, Insight 81%, Lore (Regional) 82%, Perception 51%, Persistence 80%, Resilience 58%, Ride 25%,Sleight 24%, Stealth 76%, Swim 22%, Lore (Diseases) 62%, Lore (Mistress of Disease) 82%, Lore (Spirit Plane) 72%, Survival 51%, Common Magic (89%): Countermagic 5, Demoralise 2, Heal 2, Mobility 5, Spirit Bane 6 Spirit Magic: Spirit Binding 89% (1d10 damage), Spirit Walking 79% Fetishes (each one is a tooth belonging to an enemy worn on a necklace): Walktapus spirit, Intensity 3, POW 20: Regenerates 1 HP per combat round. Broo spirit, Intensity 3, POW 19: +3 APs per location Slime spirit, Intensity 3, POW 21: +3 Magic Points Gnome, Intensity 2, POW 14: 3 cubic metres Disease Spirit, Intensity 2, POW 14: Creeping Chills Pain Spirit, Intensity 2, POW 16 Spirit Allies: She has three disease spirit allies who follow her eagerly. Choose your favourites as best ts your setting. Combat Styles: Dagger 38%, Spear 28%, Unarmed 18% Weapons: Dagger (S/S, 1D4+1, 6/8), Short spear (M/L 1D8+1, 4/5) Notes: Should Muriah have time and be facing an opponent who is not immune to disease she will smear her weapons in her own excrement. Anyone wounded by such a weapon is potentially infected by one or both diseases she carries. Muriahs Fetch A diseased impala. INT 14, POW 17, CHA 12 Attributes: SR 13, CA 3, Move 20m ying, Magic Points: 17 Traits: Disease carrier (Creeping Chills); Life Sense, Magic Sense, Possession Skills: Inuence 44%, Insight 50%, Lore (Mistress of Disease) 58%, Lore (Spirit World), Perception 51%, Persistence 74% Common Magic 79%: Befuddle 2, Bladesharp 4, Coordination 4, Countermagic 4, Heal 4 Spirit Combat: Discorporate 61%, Spectral Combat 69% (1D8 damage) Notes: her fetch largely protects her from the kinds of threats common in what passes for broo society. While she sleeps the fetch protects her. Should the fetch choose to possess a victim it acts like a disease spirit carrying Creeping Chills.

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