Re: How many Versions of DQ were there?

["john_kahane" <jkahane@comnet.ca>]

   Hullo, Pat,

   Yes, I know the original message that you posted was back in 
January, and there were probably some other responses to this, but I 
thought I'd add my 2 cf worth...

--- In dq-rules@yahoogroups.com, William Hough <houghpt@y...> wrote:

> Has anyone had fun (short-lived or not) playing a Rune
> Mage? What are they like? Are they unbalancing to a
> campaign? Just recently rolled up a BUC (back-up
> character) and am thinking about trying this path.

    As a matter of fact, I've had two players play Rune Mages (from 
the actual Arcane Wisdom material, not any of the later stuff), and 
I've got an NPC Rune Mage in one of the current groups now.  I don't 
consider them to be all that unbalancing to the campaign because they 
are one of the few Colleges of Magic that depend on materials to cast 
spells (ie., the runesticks).  The types of wood that you make 
available as GM in a given area or that you decide exist in the game 
world can have an influence on the nature of how the Rune Mage 
functions, simply because by the very nature of the spell cast 
modifiers that various woods give (not to mention the use of yew for 
damage in certain effects) you influence the manner in which the Rune 
Mage is going to go about using his or her spells and rituals.

    The Rune Mage can be a character who is going to carry an awful 
lot of physical weight, if you keep track of that for encumbrance 
purposes, but more to the point, one finds that players playing Rune 
Mages keep track of their sticks meticulously (because they have to), 
and a large belt pouch for storing runesticks in an organised fashion 
is useful in combat. :)

   As for what they are like, well... Rune Mages owe a lot of their 
nature and basis to the many forms of shamanism that exist in the 
world (although their power is based more on the symbols of power 
than it is on the spirits that surround us), but differs from 
shamanism in that they have a somewhat more "materialistic" view of 
things - as well they should, since they base their power on 
runesticks, runestaffs, and the like.  They tend to be down-to-earth, 
understand the nature of balance in the world, and appreciate the 
power that they wield through the runesticks.  If the College has a 
real weakness, it's that there are only three totem spirits described 
for the game, and the College lacks additional Totem Spirits for the 
Rune Mage to call on (since they would function well under the Summon 
Totem Spirits spell), but I've never had time to do more work on this 
sort of thing for the game.  What makes the Rune Mage so interesting 
is that they are highly depended on physical materials to cast their 
spells, but that has a deficit, since it takes time to fashion these 
runesticks - so while other characters are practicing their skills 
and other spells and the like, the Rune Mage is whittling away and 
conducting rituals and the whole bit.  That means that Rune Mages 
tend to have a bit more "focus" to their lives. :)

   Hope this helps. :)

   JohnK