Lone Wolf Fists: Skills pt.5, you're a Taoist, Harry

Legends of the Wulin did a fantastic job with it's magic system. It cleaned and organized the raw blessing/curse mechanics of Weapons of the Gods and beautifully re-presented them, dripping with setting authenticity. They're a marvel to behold, and they elevate every game they're in.

So I approached our magic stuff with some trepidation. This is the part of the design where I would feel like a true plagiarist if I copied it, and a total fink if I couldn't design a worthy successor. Clearly my work was cut out for me.

I didn't swallow the whole pill at once, so that helped. I'm not messing with the Imbalance-relocating stuff quite yet. I didn't dig into the prognostication or astrological curses quite yet. I didn't dig into the beneficial Prana-manipulation stuff quite yet...

You get the idea. I didn't chicken out entirely, I just don't want to layer on the more delicate, artful stuff until I've gotten in a solid bedrock of "What does spirit even do?"

And there's a lot of very specific, cultural design that I had to consider too. The Legends magic system used Taoist mystical practices (like 5-element and Chi theory) as it's underpinning. Tian Shang has a strong Indian cultural influence, and a direct translation wouldn't have been appropriate.

I didn't want to totally ignore the Chinese mystical elements, so as with everything else I sort of just... Blended them together. I kept stuff I liked and added some things from Shintoism since there are more Japanese cultural elements in this game than the predecessors.

So it's all a wonderful mishmash of magical craziness. But that's important to magic; it should be something mysterious, difficult to comprehend. It should work on dream-logic and defy rational thought. It should remain mysterious, which isn't possible if you have a predictable methodology when you write it.

This is one of the reasons I so admire the magic of old D&D; there's no scaling behind it, no linearity, no clear equation that produces predictable results. There's not even a discernible singular culture to blame for all its weird effects; like true magic, it feels like an incomprehensible and powerful collection of cosmic truths that mankind barely has the ability to wield.

So I didn't nail down everything magic can do on purpose. I want player to be surprised when something magic happens; sometimes delighted, somethings terrified, but never ever bored.

Spirit

The skill of the soul, balance, and mystical attunement. When characters need to synchronize with the weft of Dharma, sense spiritual phenomena, or use magical rituals, they use this skill. Use Spirit when you need to:

·         Attune to the invisible world of the spirit

·         Perform complex magical rites or rituals

·         Use the raw strength of your soul to change the world

Spirit Effect Chart

Rank 0 / Mortal: Unrolled Enjoy a moment of spiritual reverie at a site of Dharmic significance or feel unease in a cursed or haunted place.

Rank 1 / Capable Mortal: Result 10-19 Vaguely sense powerful spiritual phenomena with the accuracy of scent: you detect obvious properties but lack finer detail. Aid in the creation of a mortal charm. Empower an already-active Chakra

Rank 2 / Peak Mortal: Result 20-29 Sense spiritual phenomena with direct focus and scrutiny; you could, for example, accurately diagnose an Imbalance by feeling a patient’s meridians. Create a mortal charm. Awaken a slumbering Chakra

Rank 3 / Enhanced: Result 30-39 See fully into the spirit world with the accuracy of hearing and vision: you perceive it in detail. Sense distance events through the weft of Dharma (you gather information on any living thing with a destiny, including characters, organizations, bloodlines, even entire worlds with the frustrating vagueness of prophecy). Follow a ghost-hunter’s ritual or aid in their rites

Rank 4 / Superhuman: Result 40-49 Physically interact with spiritual phenomena; punch ghosts with your fists or awaken a mortal’s sleeping Chakra. Create a ghost-hunting ritual. See into the Dharmic web with the accuracy of scent and taste, gaining direct and true information but only of very broad and obvious facts

Rank 5 / Titanic: Result 50-59 Project your consciousness into the astral plane, allowing you to enter the dreams of yourself or others and access their deepest thoughts and memories. Enact a ritual prepared by a powerful spirit. Spiritually scry the Dharmic web with the accuracy of sight and hearing

Rank 6 / Minor God: Result 60-69 Shift a patient’s Imbalance through their meridians to inhabit another Chakra, transforming an unwellness into a more manageable form. You can choose how the new Imbalance manifests, though it must be of the same Rank and Type (Spiritual, Physical, or Emotional). Create a ritual the equal of a powerful spirit

…

Rank 7 / Demigod: Result 70-79 Solidify an astral projection into a complete, functional facsimile of your corporeal body. Your physical body remains torpid and motionless but comes to no harm if your astral body is destroyed (although your entire self is still subject to mystical and social harm); the projection has 1 Health box per open Chakra you possess. Enact a ritual created by a powerful terrestrial deity.

Rank 8 / Major God: Result 80-89 Know the happenings of any place, person or thing in the universe through your mystical connection to the cosmic web. Create a ritual of power equivalent to a mighty earth-god.

Spiritual Rites

There are four ranks of mystical rites known in the World of Ashes and Ghosts.

Mortal Charms are the weakest. Although performed by human beings without Prana, these ceremonies nonetheless are true expressions of Dharmic magic.

Ghost Hunter Techniques are more powerful, though still primarily mortal expressions of power. They are used by trained exorcists and sages to enact potent mystical effects.

Spirit Rituals are used by powerful ghosts, djinni, and minor gods to create the laws and boundaries of the spirit world. They are powerful, potent mystical workings that can reshape landscape and destiny.

Earth God Decrees are the most powerful rites known. These are used by the few sane, healthy gods that remain in the world to establish order and permeance on a continental scale. Mortal kingdoms rise and fall in the wake of such mighty Dharmic thundering.

These rites have four primary uses:

They Ward an area, creating a barrier which must be overcome by hostile spiritual phenomena. Spirits and magic must overcome the ward to enter or affect the warded area.

They Cleanse an area. This dispels any effects and spirits present in the area. Similar to a mortal Hazard, this pushes such beings to the boundary of the cleansing, injuring them if they attempt to re-enter while the cleansing lasts.

They Bind spirits to service or imprisonment. This forces them to act in accordance with the binding while it lasts. Binding is inescapable to spirits, but mortals may shatter the delicate harmony of the seal and free the spirit.

They Heal (or Inflict) curses and possession. Possession allows a spirit to inhabit a mortal body, hiding from cleansings and wards and allowing them to control the mortal’s frame and channel their magic through it. Curses bedevil their targets by reshaping Kharma to bring them misfortune and woe.

Mortal Charms:

1.      Ward a structure such as a house

2.      Cleanse a sacred space, like a temple

3.      Bind a minor spirit or weak ghost with a prayer strip

4.      Heal/Inflict a bad-luck curse

Ghost hunter techniques:

1.      Ward an entire town from ghosts and demons

2.      Cleanse a small community, such as a village

3.      Bind a weak demon or strong ghost into servitude with a mystical seal

4.      Heal/inflict a possession on a mortal by a minor spirit or ghost

Spirit Rituals:

1.      Ward a large city from harmful spirits

2.      Cleanse an entire metropolis

3.      Bind a powerful demon with an imprisoning seal

4.      Heal/Inflict a powerful spiritual possession of a mortal or object

Earth God Decrees:

1.      Ward a country against wicked spirits

2.      Cleanse an empire of devils

3.      Bind a powerful demon into obedience with a Devil-Mollifying Seal

Heal/inflict a curse on a mortal that marks them as a foe of the entire planet, ostracizing them from succor wherever they roam