Religion of the common folk

May 24, 2010 · Posted in World Background · Comment 

Guang Keshar has a state religion – the worship of Huang Ti, the Jade Serpent. The Church of Jade, as the organization is known, is a pyramidal organization, with the top being the High Priest(ess), the head of House Thumun who hold the Seat of Faith. All residents of Guang Keshar, human or otherwise, are assumed to be members of the Church.

While attendance at religious functions (which are also state functions and visa versa) isn’t mandatory, per se, not attending would definitely be a matter for gossip, particularly in a city such as Lia Tsashu. So while attendance is (for all intents and purposes) require, belief isn’t. Like the Roman state church of our own world, as long as the rites are observed, the Empire will be safely guarded by the Jade Serpent and her offspring. Belief is a matter for the clergy.

In a town like Lia Tsashu, the highest resident member of the clergy would be a full priest. Priests are not required to be celibate—indeed, they are encouraged to marry. They do, however, take vows of poverty and they (and their families) are expected to live on church grounds, supported by tithes from the faithful. They may own no more than their family needs for it’s day-to-day sustenance.

Religion is woven into everyday life in Guang Keshar. Every household has their own guardian spirit who, along with the family’s ancestors, watches over and guides those who live there. A portion of every meal is set aside and placed on the family altar. Fresh flowers, seasonal fruits and nuts, and miniature replicas of the tools of the family’s trade are also placed there so that the family’s daily activities may be blessed and fruitful.

Before preparation for the next meal, a member of the family takes the food offerings from the last meal and sets them outside in a bowl for the fey spirits, the “little people” who are considered to be Huang Ti’s helpers. Not placing an offering is considered stingy and is likely to bring bad luck. Before big events in the family’s life, the family spirits are given a special offering and asked for guidance, which usually comes in the form of dreams or seemingly chance events. The family also shares a portion of its good fortune with the family spirits and also shares a small portion of their income (5%) with the local priest.

Public religious rites are far from dreary and quite unlike the “church services” of our Christian world. High holy days involve games and feasting.

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Using the Seafarers’ Guild in Your Game

May 19, 2010 · Posted in Powers and Abilities · Comment 

The Seafarers’ Guild with its specialized magics and abilities can take many forms, depending on the system you’re using it with. While there are as many ways to represent the Seafarers as there are GMs, below are some suggestions based on individual systems.

D&D 3.5/Pathfinder

Probably the best way to render the seafarers’ Guild in d20 terms is to make it a prestige class. Seafarers would be arcane casters with minimal magical abilities (probably not gaining higher than 3rd level spells.) and shapeshifting would be one ability they gain as they increase levels. While not every Seafarer is a shapeshifter or is magically inclined, there is something to be said for making the PCs (who are supposed to be extraordinary) a member of that privileged minority.

Ars Magica

While it would be up to individual storyguides to determine how well Seafarers would fit into their version of Mythic Europe (or any other setting they run using the system), one way of handling them would be to make the Guild a group of hedge wizards with strong Aquam abilities and make shapeshifting a Virtue or modify the ability and use the “Skinchanger” Virtue.

Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game

Very little adaptation would be required to add the Guild to an ADRPG game. Those PCs could purchase the Shapeshifting power and Power Words or Sorcery if they also choose to have magical abilities. The Guild itself would simply be background, unless you wished to make it an Artifact under the control of one of the characters, where it would be Horde, Shadow-wide, or Ubiquitous, depending on how wide-spread you want the Guild to be.

Classic World of Darkness

The Guild itself would be represented as Allies (for guild member characters) or Contacts (for characters with strong guild connections who aren’t actually members). The shapeshifting ability could be handled a variety of different ways, depending on which set of mechanics you’re using. In Vampire, for example, you could make it a variation on the Vicissitude Discipline; in Mage it would be Life Sphere magick (in which case you could introduce the Seafarers as a new Tradition or use them as a type of hedge wizard)

These are just examples and suggestions, of course. Feel free to implement the Guild any way that works for your game.

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Shapeshifting

May 10, 2010 · Posted in Powers and Abilities · 2 Comments 

Shapeshifting is a talent passed down through Seafarer bloodline since the sea dragon Shenlu took her first husband among human kind. It’s an innate ability, not a magical aptitude and is rare, even among Seafarers, and only occurs in those members who are descended from the original Seafarer bloodline. Characters have a 10% chance of being shapeshifters if they have one Seafarer parent, 25% if they have two.

Shapeshifting is taxing. Even automatic shifts have a small endurance cost. Full shifting causes fatigue. Staying in a shifted form for more than a few requires great endurance and a daily expenditure of fatigue/endurance points.

Every shapeshifter has a “natural form”. That’s the form his body was born to. When a character falls unconscious or his body performs an automatic shift, he reverts to his natural form. A shifter can only take the form of something of his approximate mass. He cannot get larger or smaller than he naturally is.

A shapeshifter’s body will adjust to keep a character alive, even if the character is unconscious or near death. If a character is bleeding out, the wounds will close (but further healing requires the usual procedures) and keep the character from dying. If the character suddenly falls into the water, say from the mast of a ship, her body will automatically shift gills. A character in danger of freezing will grow a thick coat of fur, etc. This takes no thought on the part of character and the endurance cost is minimal. If the character was in another form before she automatically shifted, her body will revert to her natural form as part of the survival process. As soon as the body is out of danger, the character reverts to her natural form (not any form she was in before). This is the body’s natural protection; if a character wants to prevent an automatic shift, she must be conscious and make a Will save to prevent the change.

The shifter may shift a single body part, but his takes practice and skill. For example, he may change a hand into a claw or grow wings. He may imitate any animal feature he’s seen, with practice. But he doesn’t automatically get that animal’s abilities. A winged character may learn to fly, but it’ll take practice and many, many falls before he can get it right.

A shapeshifter may also find herself hunted. Shapeshifter blood is magically potent and is often used to power magical effects or spells.

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Seafarers’ Guild Rumors

May 4, 2010 · Posted in World Background · Comment 

Below are some rumors about the Seafarers’ Guild. I haven’t really decided yet which ones are true, so please leave me a comment telling me which ones you would like to be true:

  • The guild reports to no one and is following the will of Admiral Limani without supervision or accountability
  • A new Emperor has been selected, but refuses to come forward while Emperor Hotashen lives. The guild actually reports to the new Emperor.
  • Emperor Hotashen isn’t really sick; the Guild still reports to him.
  • The Guild has captured the Emperor and hidden him away. The Harbingers Council made up the story of his illness to cover his disappearance. The want to put Lord Kenlo Ling on the Imperial seat because of his ties with the Guild.
  • The Council has kidnapped the Emperor and made up the story of his illness to cover it. The Guild is doing his best to find him.
  • The Guild and the Council are working together to overthrow the Emperor and have the Moot of Harbingers become the sole ruling body of Guang Keshar
  • The Guild has found a cure for the Emperor’s illness, but is withholding it for their own reasons.
  • The Guild is searching the world for a cure to the Emperor’s illness.
  • The Guild has found a cure, but it’s on the other side of the world in the hands of barbarians who won’t give it up for anything less than the hand of the Emperor’s daughter in marriage. Because the Emperor has no daughter, this is a problem.
  • Emperor Hotashen has named Admiral Limani as his heir, he just hasn’t made it publicly known yet. The Council knows this and is looking for a way to subvert it.

Which one of these should be true and why? Do you have any other suggestions for rumors? Please leave a comment below. What you suggest could become an official part of Lia Tsashu.

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