Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

HeroQuest Powers

Posted on January 9, 2022

One of the great benefits of heroquesting is the ability to gain magic outside of what can be gained from one’s cult. These magic abilities often operate mechanically similarly to Rune spells. Sometimes these new spells can be incorporated within the cult structure, creating a new subcult. For example, Garundyer gained the spells of Hailstones from Siglolf Cloudcrusher – these spells form the basis of the Cloudcrusher subcult of Orlanth Thundrous.

Alternatively, these new spells can form the basis of a new cult similar to a Spirit Cult. Hon-eel brought forth Bless Maize which became the basis of her cult. Argrath brought forth the White Bull which has become a popular Spirit Cult in Prax.

Most often, these new abilities are personal to the quester. Sarostip has the ability to kill with his left eye. Hofstaring had his flying spear. Jaldon Goldentooth has his ability to bite through walls. Harrek has his God-Spirit White Bear Cloak. Many heroes possess the ability to return from the dead or to Discorporate their spirits.

The distinctions between these approaches and why an ability gained on a heroquest might be personal or might be incorporated into a cult can get more than a little fuzzy or contradictory, but there are certain generalizations. Powers gained on quests where the hero travels in the footsteps of their god are easiest to incorporate into their cult. Powers gained on new quests that can be repeated but are outside of the mythos of the cult must become a new cult. And powers not shared with others remain personal.

And a few of the powers or side effects gained through heroquests don’t fit into either Rune Magic or Spirit Magic. The best known is of course unaging, but also things like lack of shadow despite the sun, no sweat (while being unaffected by heat, cold, or exertion), and so forth.It is important to keep in mind that abilities gained through heroquests are exceptions to the general rules of magic. They are examples of direct interactions with the raw source of magic, rather than the more formulaic expressions of rune magic, spirit magic, or sorcery.

Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
RQG Heroquesting

Sections

  • Search Tips
  • Current RuneQuest Glorantha Publications
  • RuneQuest Glorantha Corrections and Q&A
  • Catalogue
  • References for Glorantha
    • Gloranthan Canon
  • Gloranthan Documents
  • RPG Systems & Versions
  • Gallery
  • About This Site
  • Get involved!

Latest Posts

  • The Grasslands of Prax

    Something to keep in mind about Prax. The grasslands of …
  • Praxian Kinship Groups

    Praxian tribes are divided into smaller kinship groups or clans, …
  • Lunar Resettlement of Tarsh after 1460 ST

    After 1460, large sections of Peloria (especially east of the …
  • The Spread of the Lunar Way

    In the Lunar Provinces, about 26% of the total population …
  • Gods of Fire and Sky and the Lunar Way

    The Gods of Fire and Sky co-exist alongside the Lunar …
  • How Much Land is a Hide?

    So in RQ, a “hide” is a unit of accounting …
  • Agricultural Data for RuneQuest

    Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Greg‘s only …
  • Farming in Dara Happa

    In anticipation of the Fire/Sky Book, here’s a few notes …
  • Farming in the Big Rubble

    There are some 1600 humans in the Big Rubble, with …

Links

  • Chaosium
  • Chaosium’s RuneQuest RPG Wiki
  • Glorantha on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on Discord
  • Prince of Sartar Webcomic
  • Glorantha G+ Archives on Tapatalk
  • Search mailing list archive

Latest from BRP Central

  • Neutralize Magic and Geomancy
  • creating a spirit cult of Fralar
  • Thoughts on running an Animal Nomad/Praxian game
  • Fillable excel RQG character sheets?
  • Where is there a list of temples in Dragon Pass?
  • Cultural Flowcharts for Character Creation!
  • Glorantha Games is back for 2025 (Birmingham UK, September 6)
  • Voyages: The Gloranthan Art of Mark Smylie
  • Secular and religious hierarchies
  • Subcults vs Associated Cults

Popular Tags

Boldhome (large city) Chaosium Colymar (Sartar tribe) Contents Cult demographics Cults of Runequest (preview) Ernalda Esrolia (homeland) FRA Furthest (large city) G+ post Gods Wall Greg Stafford Guide to Glorantha (preview) Humakt Jar-eel Lunar Empire Lunar Pantheon Magazine Malkioni pantheon Map Michael O’Brien Mongoose MRQ1 New Pavis (small city) Old Glorantha Q&A Orlanth Orlanthi pantheon Photo reference Population demographics Prax (homeland) RQ3 RQG Sandy Petersen Sartar (homeland) Spirit Cult Star Subcult Tapatalk post Tarsh (homeland & Lunar province) Troll Pantheon Yelm Yelmalio Yelm Pantheon Youtube

Recently added or updated

  • Borderlands and Beyond – Contents

  • Elder Secrets of Glorantha – Contents

  • AH8588 Elder Secrets of Glorantha (Box 11 – 1989)

  • Yelm Pantheon

  • Troll Pantheon

  • Praxian Pantheon

  • Doraddi Pantheon

  • Orlanthi Pantheon

  • Merfolk Pantheon

  • Malkioni Pantheon

  • Lunar Pantheon

  • Hsunchen Pantheon

  • Elf Pantheon

  • Chaos Pantheon

  • Vormaino Pantheon

  • East Isles Pantheon

  • Kralorelan Pantheon

  • Dwarf Pantheon

  • Lemure

  • AH8587 Troll Gods: The Deities of Darkness (Box 10 – 1989)

©2025 The Well of Daliath | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme