[Glorantha] Demigod magic

[Andrew Dawson]

I snipped a lot of good ideas on the daughter of Yinkin, but I chose a
slower, less front-loaded approach in my most recent game. A player
wanted to play a demigoddess, so I let her add "Demigoddess 17" to the
character sheet. So far, the ability has mostly been used for
augmentation. I don't like the thought of adding a 10w3 ability to a
starting PC, and I think that's yet another poorly thought out rule in
HQ.  I'm using the whole divine parentage thing as a detail, not a
game statistic. I also think that one player having a super-powered PC
will irritate some of the other players, even if they won't admit this
(or maybe even realize this).

We didn't know which entity was the parent at first, but we figured
out during the first session that the PC's mother was a local river.
Now that we know the parent's identity, we have plenty of kin (other
waterways, including great-grandfather Magasta) to interact with (the
PC has been able to cross rivers easily and invoke mists to hide in),
and adventure seeds (the Lunars are always looking for semi-divine
beings to add to their "stable"). The other PCs aren't overshadowed by
the semi-divine being in their midst, and they have their own equally
interesting and powerful special abilities.

I also allow the demigoddess PC to add extra appropriate abilities as
though they are in-play. So far, she has chosen to have animated hair
that flows in air as if underwater water, and she has Attractive at
something mastery one. The PC may develop into a goddess eventually,
but it will be the same power curve as any other PC. She may even
become a new river some day. (Another PC is so far intent on becoming
a wolf, maybe a Telmori or some sort of god-wolf thing; another is
pursuing a triple initiation between OA and Issaries subcults, so the
other PCs have equally interesting things to pursue.)

On the other hand, there is a Yinkini PC in one of my other games who
has through roleplay, play, and heroquesting almost become a daughter
of Tol. The PC didn't start with such a relationship, but every action
has been for the glory of her god, and she is on her way to becoming a
Hero and/or demigoddess daughter of Yinkin. (And I don't think that
any character in that game has broken the w3 barrier.)

Another thing that I didn't state explicitly above is that in the
games I've been running, once a PC becomes a thing (wolf, demigod,
etc.), they've been that thing all along (unless the transformation is
the important story element).

Thanks,
Andy