New Shamanic Skill

From MRQWiki

The Spirit Combat rules included in the Companion work fine as a generic set of rules i.e. under normal circumstances, the only thing a character can do against a spirit is a) cast defensive magic, b) try and hit it with a sword in the hope of doing some damage, or c) run, and hope it can't follow (aka a Ghost).

The problems arise when you introduce spirit specialists into the mix e.g. shamans, as found in Cults of Glorantha 2. These are taught from a very early age the nature of the spirit world and how to interact with its inhabitants, and should therefore have a fourth option available i.e. the knowledge of how to control spirits through bargaining, coercion and other techniques. Binding a spirit is generally covered by the Create Charm/Fetish spells, but controlling a spirit in the first place without resorting to combat should be a skill that can only be learned by Shamans or those who worship the spirits. That way most PCs still have to fight spirits the hard way, but those skilled in their ways have an alternative.

Below is a proposal for a new advanced skill to tackle this issue:

Control Spirit(POW)

Can only be learned by a Practictioner of a spirit cult or above.

Used by a shaman to bargain, threaten or trick a spirit into submission. When in spirit combat, make an opposed roll vs the spirits Persistence. If successful, the spirit will not attack the shaman for a number of rounds equal to the shaman's POW, during which time it can be dismissed or bound in the normal way. Like Possession attempts, magic points can be spent by both the shaman and the spirit to improve their chance of success. If the shaman has any companions, they are still subject to attack by the spirit in the normal way.