Because there is a myriad of folk spells in Glorantha this article will provide a cascading style of rule-set. A set of rules (templates) for common types of spells (increase skill spells, for example) will be set out and then short descriptions for individual spells and how they differ from those templates.

Folk Magic requires the advanced skill Folk Magic to cast. Young adults start their Folk Magic skill at INT+POW and are able to cast folk spells that they know from their culture at that score. If a character is taught a folk spell from another culture then that character needs to start a new Folk Magic (new culture) skill based on their usual Folk Magic skill but modified. The more alien that new culture is to the character the greater the penalty. A character from Heortland may start a Folk Magic(Esrolian) skill at his Folk Magic score minus 10 percentiles. He may learn Folk Magic(Praxian) at minus 50 percentiles and Folk Magic (Troll) minus 75 percentiles.

If your character has never been taught Folk Magic (your family is just too sophisticated or other magic is more powerful and accessible) then you must learn your Folk Magic skill starting from zero.

At a very basic level Folk Magic either adds your Folk Magic skill critical score to another skill as a bonus, uses your Folk Magic critical score to penalise someone else's skills or provides a small unnatural effect to help you or hinder others. How and to what these effects take place is dependent upon the magics required by your culture on a daily basis.

Elmalenda has a defending lance folk spell, a spear skill of 65% and a Folk Magic skill of 45%. By casting defending lance Elmalenda adds +4% to her spear skill temporarily and adds +1 to any damage done with her spear.

To cast a folk spell choose a target and wait the required combat actions (see casting time below). If the target is unwilling to accept your spell then both parties must make an opposed resolution test: Folk Magic against Persistence. If the spell is unopposed then a straight roll against Folk Magic is required. If the caster succeeds then reduce the casters magic points by the casting cost of the spell. Any barriers to your spell (such as countermagic) now have their effect. If your magic wins through then it takes effect as described.

The power of your folk spells increase as your skill in casting them increases. For each full ten percentiles in the caster's Folk Magic skill the magnitude of the spell may be increased by one. This increase in magnitude doesn't always increase the effect of the spell but always helps when encountering defensive magic. If you have less than ten percent in Folk Magic skill, or your skill has been reduced to that level by modifiers, then your spell will automatically fail.

Consult the Folk Magic Cost Table. All folk spells have at least one Special Magnitude. Should your spell have five or more points of Magnitude then it gains one extra Special Magnitude. Ten or more has a Special Magnitude of three, fifteen gives your spell a Special Magnitude of four and so on. Special Magnitude is what you use to compare against other types of magic such as Rune Magic, Sorcery and Divine Magic, you might want to break through Countermagic Shield, for example. Special Magnitude may also provide extra special effects for your folk spell.

If you are not able to activate five points of Magnitude with your spell then your spell has a Special Magnitude of zero.

One Combat Action is required for each Special Magnitude of the spell plus two, unless it is specified otherwise in the description. For example a one Special Magnitude increase skill spell requires three Combat Actions to cast and a two Special Magnitude attack enhancer spell requires four Combat Actions.

If a spell has a casting cost of normal then the casting cost of that spell is equal to the Magnitude of the spell in magic points, unless marked otherwise.

If a spell has a Magnitude minimum indicated then that is the minimum magnitudes required to cast the spell. For example, a man with a Folk Magic skill of 25% cannot cast sixth sense because his skills cannot support the Magnitude required (three).

For Example,
Offi, with a Folk Magic score of 75%, wants to use Take That You Fiend on a troll who has been threatening him and who has a Persistence of 55%. Take That You Fiend works exactly the same as Damaging Shout. Looking at the Folk Magic Cost Table Offi's player sees that he can cast the spell at Magnitude seven or lower. Seeing that with this particular spell he gains no extra benefit from casting it any higher than Magnitude five, he chooses that Magnitude. Referring to the same table, Magnitude five gives a Special Magnitude of two, a casting cost of five and four Combat Actions are required to cast.

He declares the spell is being cast waits the four Combat Actions and then rolls to see if he succeeds in casting it. Offi's player rolls 61%, under his Folk Magic score, deducts the casting cost from his magic points (five), checks to see if his spell is blocked by countermagic shield or the like, which it isn't, then the troll rolls 38% against his persistence. They both succeed but Offi's roll is higher so he wins the contest. Damaging Shout does 1d3 damage per Special Magnitude to an opponent. As Offi is using two Special Magnitude in this spell he rolls 1d3 twice and the troll takes a hefty wack in the gut.

Each spell lasts five minutes unless specified otherwise. Such spells remain on the target for the full duration. The same spell (full folk spell not template spell) may not be cast again on the same target unless it is of a higher magnitude. Should the caster attempt to do so he will automatically fail. Should the spell be classed as instant in the description then the spell's effects take place instantly. The caster may then cast the spell again on the same target if he wishes.

As a default the range is a few hundred feet. This is deliberately kept vague and fuzzy like Folk Magic itself. Many of the spell ranges are set to touch which means the caster must touch the target. If the target is the caster, then the caster is already considered to be touching without having to feel himself up. If the target is resisting then the caster must use the Unarmed skill to be able to get close enough to cast (no extra Combat Actions are needed). If the caster is attacked he must immediately make a Persistence test or abort the spell. If he is wounded he must also make a Resilience test.

Folk Magic cast on an unwilling target may be resisted using the Persistence skill. An opposed resolution test takes place opposing the number rolled by the Folk Magician for his Folk Magic test against the target's Persistence. All beings have the spirit, faith, or whatever in their culture, capable of resisting such a lowly magic.

The following spells are the ancestors, if you like, of the folk spells that your players will have written down on their sheets. They are in an "ideal" state waiting to be transformed by necessity into more flawed but more culturally practical versions.

For Example,
Tat's Byrnie, a folk spell, uses Physical Protection as its spell template. However looking at its description: 'Except that it covers only the head, chest and arms' tells us that it works just like its parent spell Physical Protection but only covers the top half of the body.

Neither non-player characters nor player characters should have unmodified Spell Templates. At the very least, games master, change the spells name.

Range: Touch
Duration: 5 minutes
Casting Cost: Normal

Add the spell's Magnitude to the target's weapon skill when attacking with a particular kind of weapon. For each point of Special Magnitude the spell will add one point to any damage done with that weapon when attacking. Counts as a magical weapon for the duration of the spell, but it is only this magical damage that will affect such creatures as werewolves. If the folk spell does not indicate what sort of weapon is enhanced then it is the caster's choice.

Range: audible
Duration: Instant
Casting Cost: Normal

For each point of Special Magnitude the spell will damage one individual of the caster's choice, within hearing, that fails their Persistence test (or blocks it any other way such as countermagic) for 1d3 points of damage to a random hit location. Armour, even magical armour does not reduce this.

Deduct the spell's magnitude from the target's skill as named in the folk spell.

Range: Touch
Duration: 5minutes
Casting Cost: Normal

Add the spell's Magnitude to the target's weapon or shield skill when blocking or parrying with a particular kind of weapon or shield. For each point of Special Magnitude add one point to the armour points of that weapon or shield when defending. Counts as magical armour for the duration of the spell, but it is only these magical armour points that will protect against otherworldly attacks.

Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
Casting Cost: Normal

Each point of Special Magnitude heals one point of damage. The caster may distribute this healing anywhere around one body. To cauterise a wound or staunch bleeding requires a two Special Magnitude casting (not 2 x 1 Special Magnitude heals). Likewise to mend broken bones or reattach limbs severed in the last few minutes requires a casting of Special Magnitude three.

Range: Touch
Duration: 5 minutes
Casting Cost: Normal

Add the Magnitude of the spell to the target's skill as named in the folk spell.

Range: Touch
Duration: 5 minutes
Casting Cost: Normal

Each point of Special Magnitude acts as a barrier against spells of lesser or equal magnitude, preventing them from working on the target. Spells of a magnitude greater than this spell's Special Magnitude break through, aborting the Magical Protection spell, and working normally.

Range: Touch
Duration: 5 minutes
Casting Cost: Normal

Each point of Special Magnitude acts as one point of armour covering all the targets hit locations. It does not effect "spirit" combat nor shield against spells.

Range: A few hundred yards
Duration: 5 minutes
Casting Cost: Normal

Requires the use of a fetish, divining rod, plumb-line or local equivalent and is called, for the purposes of these rules, a divining implement. This spell causes the divining implement to point in the direction of the substance or being that is being searched for. The actual spell learnt dictates what substances or beings may be sought. This spell template works through solid rock, water, earth, etc. Some substances may prevent it working according to GM fiat. This spell may not be resisted except by other magics that may prevent it from working, such as countermagic shield.

Range: A few hundred yards
Duration: 5 minutes
Casting Cost: 3 Magnitude Minimum

The caster can see into the "Spirit" Plane. In Glorantha that means the caster can see all otherworldly beings and emanations that are amongst us in this world but are invisible to the naked eye. The caster cannot see the underworld, Orlanth's stead, the Gods, Waha and Eiritha or the Saints with this spell. The word "spirit" in Glorantha (as played in Runequest) is a catch-all expression for any petty otherworldly entity. Therefore with sixth sense the caster can see a clan's invisible wyter, the genius in a vexilla's war-standard, the essence of logic in a river and Berry Boy cavorting in a brier as well as possessing ghosts, wraiths and sendings. At the GMs discretion this spell may allow the caster to see the emanations from curses, geases and great personal tragedies.

This spell provides no information as to the power of any entities. This spell makes the caster very obvious to any hostile otherworld entities nearby.

Range: Touch
Duration: 5 minutes
Casting Cost: Normal

This type of protection provides "spirit armour" equal to one point per point of Special Magnitude. Attacks made by spirits have their damage reduced by this armour. This armour covers all hit locations.

Folk Ways are not proper religions or cults, though worship is transferred in many cases to divine places. They are simply folk traditions that survive where the dispensation of help from both lord and priesthood are lacking (and that is just about everywhere). The magics that these Folk Ways teach are viral in the way they spread so sometimes you may learn a spell from someone who has never heard of the Folk Way from which it originated and sometimes you will learn it from a "Hedge Priest".

Draco-Orlanthi Folk Way from Dragon Pass and known pretty much everywhere the EWF and Orlanth are known.

This Folk Way exists to preserve the traditions and folk magics concerning Orlanth and Yinkin in their guises as Tat and Tol. Anyone Orlanthi in the Empire of the Wyrms' Friends may know some or all of these magics, learnt at their father's or mother's knee.

As you might have guessed from the Folk Way's name it is a Draconic form of folk tradition. This does not stop anyone learning the magic, or listening to the stories, even traditionalists do so. This is because there is no commitment: it is a sub-culture and nothing more.

Because this Folk Magic tradition is a Draconic version of barbarian myths it costs an extra one magic point to cast its folk spells. Unbeknown to those traditionalists who do use these folk spells that extra one magic point goes to build the Great Dragon to Come.

Also unbeknown to traditionalists, and just about every other user of this Folk Magic, the power that animates these spells is the unfathomable mystic dragon "world soul".

Fight Hostile "Spirit" (use Attack Enhancer) This spell affects one chosen weapon (caster’s choice) but the spell is only active when fighting any hostile otherworldly creatures nearby. Hide (use Increase Skill) Adds Magnitude to stealth skill when hiding. Hide on Moor (use Increase Skill) Duration: hours equal to magnitude Adds Magnitude to stealth skill when hiding on moorland. Quiet Step (use Increase Skill) Adds Magnitude to stealth when moving stealthily. Run Fast Uphill (use Increase Skill) Duration: hours equal to magnitude Adds Magnitude to athletics and dodge skills when running about on hills and ignores negative modifiers due to gradient. Note: hills not cliffs, mountains, gorges or anything else. Take That You Fiend (use Damaging Shout) Tat’s Byrnie (use Physical Protection) Except that it covers only the head, chest and arms. Tat’s Hat (use Magical Protection)

Tat’s Tail (use Point Out Thing) Detects the spouses and significant others of individuals with which the caster is having an affair. Don’t ask what the divining implement is! Tat’s Trews(use Physical Protection) Except that it covers only the abdomen and legs. Tis but a Flesh Wound (use Heal) Tol’s Coat (use "Spirit" Protection) Tol’s Left Eye (use Sixth Sense) Tol’s Nose (use Point Out Thing) Detects enemies nearby using any item or knick-knack on a string. Tol’s Right Eye (use Increase Skill) Increases perception by Magnitude. Tol’s Whiskers (use Point Out Thing) Range: Visual Detects romantically interested individuals of the opposite sex. Hairs on the back of the neck stand upright when looking in the right direction. Weaponsharp (use Attack Enhancer)

This is just one example of a folk tradition that provides Folk Magic, there are many others. Note also that some of the spells restrict the effects of the spells they are descended from as well as sometimes enhancing them.

Your Comments No comments as yet. Be the first to comment by using the form to the right of this page.

If you would like to leave a comment feel free. I would like to keep these pages and their comments as a resource for other fans of Glorantha so occasionally I will be pruning out the odd nonsensical or useless post. Anything at least half sane or useful will be left here as is. Your Name: Your Comment: Authentication: Please type in the letters and numbers displayed to the left (exactly as they are shown) in the following box: Rules Of The Road No advertising. You may advertise your Gloranthan or Glorantha related web site Be nice. The database stores your IP if you leave a comment. If you incite others to commit hate acts, for instance, I will phone up your ISP. I may even phone your mum (and don't think I don't know how to). Don't type in your email address unless you obfuscate it in some way. It's for your own good. I may edit or prune from time to time to keep things informative and useful.