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By popular demand posted:It's nice to see that whatever Bethesda is dragging the Fallout franchise through it only gets bland and not edgy reverse racism mess like this. I give Bethesda one more game before theyre just straight adapting The Iron Dream
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Feb 21, 2019 10:22
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That's being way too generous, Bethesda traded away every ounce of creative and thought evoking writing ability years ago for some loot crates. It's just blandness ahead.
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Feb 21, 2019 10:29
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 Dark Revelation is a d20 system RPG by Chris Constantin and Jason Cable Hall and edited by Joe Amon and published in 2014. Set in a twice post-apocalyptic world, it asks players to make their way in this hostile but still rebuilding landscape. It is available for free along with a host of expansion material and the developers blog Part 3: Seriously, Who is Watching TV? With the world ended twice, it’s time to take stock of the current status quo, or at least the status quo of what used to be the United States. Despite there being 90 years between the two apocalypses and the second one involving entire armed regiments of soldiers and attempted use at nuclear weaponry and the last air combat vehicles on earth*, the majority of people in this setting live in small communities of less than 1000 people. These communities somehow deal with wandering monsters, magical events, and roving bands of slavers while simultaneously being able to purchase electricity from outside source, running factories, and have TV sets tuned onto one of the many TV stations in the game. We’re then reminded that a lot of knowledge and artifacts have been lost but again, it has been 90 years from from the first apocalypse and during the second apocalypse people were able to get fighter jets and ICBMs into the air which requires a level of infrastructure I’m not sure the designers of Dark Revelations really appreciate. Oh and cargo ships apparently still come from China and large scale industrial factories exist so there has to be a large scale market somewhere and stable enough governance to make a journey across the pacific ocean by sea profitable, much less the massive futuristic cities. You know what, let’s just move on. Roads have collapsed but an organization called the Cybercult believes it is their religious duty to maintain the roads of the world and is busy building new, seemingly pointless ones. This, this I like. Unlike the other parts of the setting which are just-so elements with no thought this is obviously that the designers wanted a lot of car driving in an empty, hostile world and came up with a suitably weird group that magically popped into existence that does a weird thing everyone just accepts as normal now. After that there’s a note that electronics have mostly faded away and need to be redeveloped using quartz-based technologies but unmaintained skyscrapers are everywhere and just fine and work great as wind turbines. I should also note that unfortunately the Cybercult isn’t involved in explaining why a setting starting in 2040 has so many useable gas burning vehicles much less gas burning vehicles that don’t need electronics to function properly.  Built two apocalypse tough After that it i way too much detail on weapons. In a section that could be summarized as “most modern weaponry still exists, there are some futuristic but rare exotics like laser guns” it instead is multiple paragraphs explaining in detail we don’t need. I don’t think this game has any rules requiring an understanding of how the settings laser guns work but there is an entire paragraph describing the physics followed by paragraphs describing napalm and what the acronym LAW stands for even though theoretically this setting doesn’t exactly have a bunch of tanks rumbling around that characters will need to deal with. After that overview of the US’s current status, it’s time to finally dive into what the current political orders ruling over parts of the former United States are. Except it isn’t because the by far most detailed one, the Democratic Peoples of the Potomac, isn’t in this section its after the rest of the world and written in far more detail. I think the writers expect that players will either spend most of their time there or start their adventure there but it isn’t ever said and it coming after everything else just makes it all the more perplexing. These write-ups are the first time many of these groups are given any details much-less names and is the first time you get any sense of what a hodgepocalypse even means since the book is now finally defining what sort of unreal things became real in the first apocalypse. Each of these write ups consists of a two to three paragraph description of the group then their key cities.  The game’s official currency is G-Bills and I’ve decided that that stands for Gun-Bills Regions of America
Next Time: Hey, is it possible there is more to the world than just America? *These details not included in the write up, only in the timeline document
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Feb 21, 2019 10:49
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Dark Revelations has some real dumb poo poo but you can’t go wrong with Cybercults. Inject the Adeptus Mechanicus directly into my brain.
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Feb 21, 2019 11:38
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How come not a single grab bag post apocalypse game can't get over its own backstory? If you want to throw together cyberware and medieval knights just go for it, I couldn't care any less about the previous 3 apocalypses and they don't need more than a page to explain. Just get to lasgun toting horse archers or whatever, that is what we want to play.
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Feb 21, 2019 12:17
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Fallout was always kinda helped that the backstory is more about culture than about any specifics of who's in charge and who did what. They don't even know who started the war (though most things point towards the Chinese) and most everyone who could truly care is long dead, and even those who were around from that era no longer see any point in caring.
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Feb 21, 2019 12:25
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Fallout is actually crafted to a very specific and unique style, If you just throw different cultures and societies in together like you're making a smoothie than a backstory is not what you should focus on. E: This is actually one place where I agree with the anime approach of focusing on a set of characters and avoiding worldcrafting as much as possible. By popular demand fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Feb 21, 2019 |
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Feb 21, 2019 12:30
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I think what gets me, and what I'd recommend to the authors, is that they need to decide what the game is about and go from there. At a base level the tone of the game undulates wildly, often on the same page, and while much of the game world is fairly standard post-apocalyptic milieu theres the Kingdom of Caladornia just plopped in. I feel like the reason there had to be two apocalypses is because the game is running in two different directions and can't decide where it is supposed to be heading and so it doubles everything so each vision for the game has material supporting it.
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Feb 21, 2019 12:51
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Ghost Leviathan posted:Fallout was always kinda helped that the backstory is more about culture than about any specifics of who's in charge and who did what. They don't even know who started the war (though most things point towards the Chinese) and most everyone who could truly care is long dead, and even those who were around from that era no longer see any point in caring. There's absolutely no way that Fallout's America didn't fire first.
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Feb 21, 2019 14:41
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For starters, I want to ty kindly for these.  I think I know why the tone went all over the place. As we kept writing the game, it kinda got more light-hearted and just plain weirder. It is supposed to be post-post-apocalypse. aka the apocalypse happened and things got better. The current era is supposed to be pulpy (which is why your adventuring party jumps in the van with their automatic weapons and spells and go kill that bizarre monster and take its stuff), but a smattering of strange locations has appeared, hence the hodgepocalypse. The biggest inspirations are a certain other game that keeps getting reviewed with significantly less fascism, thundar the barbarian and half life 2.
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Feb 21, 2019 14:45
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Happy to hear I haven't been thrown off the review yet. So I'm not done reviewing the book so my opinion might* change but I feel like there are two things working against the goal you've laid out: The first is a lot of the setting material, especially for the united states region, is very much written with a survivalist mindset. Theres a lot of talk about needing to re-purpose the old, scavenge everything, losing airplanes being a permanent loss, etc. This builds in a readers mind that resources in this setting, from things to people, are precious and precious is basically the opposite of pulp. A pulp hero blows through modes of transit like they're getting bulk discounts, ancient ruins collapse freely because there are probably two more around the corner and it doesn't matter how many sad sirs with tragic backstories walk in to your life again before dying protecting you from their mob boss wife they couldn't leave-- tomorrow another one with blue eyes will be in with a fresh case. I think if you played up the fact that the apocalypse added to the setting and emphasized the wonderment of the new stuff brought by the apocalypse it'd capture that pulpy tone a little better. For example in the section about artifacts of the past why not include some examples of things not from our current history in what can be reclaimed? Let players get a feel that there is more than just the bare essentials up for the grabs but whole new things that could make them rich, powerful, or be an interesting thing to put on the hood of their truck. Caladornia captures the zone idea you have, but I feel like it's sandwiched between too many other "regular" spots to feel like it authentically belongs. I don't know how pulpy you want to get, its admittedly a very fine line, so these are just thought starters. The second is that d20 by default isn't very pulpy. Its a game obsessed with weights and measures, food supplies, nickel and dime bonuses, and careful planning of your long-term progression. All of these things reinforce that survivalist feeling that the book sets, that you have to care about every triviality and they're all important. I'm not saying ditch d20 since that's a massive undertaking, but it might be worth it to review more of the rules and see which ones you could rework to be a little more to fit the tone you want or, honestly, flat out drop. Rules are narrative, so its important to make sure they tell the story you want them to. I've got to move this weekend so lets see if I can keep up my pace. *Will probably Barudak fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Feb 21, 2019 |
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Feb 21, 2019 15:34
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wiegieman posted:There's absolutely no way that Fallout's America didn't fire first. Especially if you're going by the original Interplay/Black Isle/Obsidian version of Fallout.
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Feb 21, 2019 16:40
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Emerald Empire: Templestuous Shinseist temples serve as community centers for locals as well as spiritual centers. They teach religious doctrine to the laity and offer various services – officiating at offerings, scripture readings, assisting in festivals and weddings, overseeing funerals. They offer spiritual and mental counsel, and traveling monks carry news and mail. However, they do more than this. Nearly every temple or monastery of any size grows grains and even trade goods, and many also work as brewers. The crops and commodities are stockpiled to serve the local community when there is surplus, minimizing the need to rely on outside patrons. The fields are sometimes worked by novice monks, while the senior monks tend to more proper gardens according to ancient manuals of sacred plant arrangement or experiment with vegetables to find new ways to prepare delicious food without meat. Rich monasteries with large fields, however, often hire peasants to work them. In times of natural disaster or war, peasants often seek out the monasteries and temples for handouts. Large, well-run monasteries have an easier time gathering resources to serve these people, but even then, they can run out fast if things get bad. When this happens, the monks usually head to the local magistrate to request subsidies, sending the requests up the chain of feudal life. Natural disasters also often destroy Rokugani buildings. Temples, made of stone and well-joined timber, are often the strongest buildings in town as well as the most beautiful, and the locals will flock to them when rain, wild beasts or other problems threaten their homes. The fortified monasteries of a martial order are the best protection, as they are often equipped to withstand siege and prepared for attack, plus the hot-tempered young monks that join such orders are usually convinced that dying in defense of other Shinseists is a shortcut to a better reincarnation. Even bandits and army scouts prefer to avoid tangling with that kind of monk. The temples and monasteries of most orders are also storehouses of knowledge and scholarship. Priests and monks are almost universally literate and speak many dialects, spending much of their time traveling or copying texts. Monastic libraries often end up collecting vast numbers of scrolls on many topics, from poetry to fencing, and the monks often occupy themselves with medical research or study of nature. Their infirmaries lie open to anyone, no matter what, if they are in poor health. Some temples and monasteries even explore the idea of mental illness and how to treat it, as well, using Shinsei’s doctrines of dependent origination and analysis of the causes of suffering to identify psychological causes of problems. This is used to augment the normal counseling that priests often provide, along with meditative exercises and mindfulness teaching, plus herbal treatments. Shinseist monks, unlike Fortunist priests, are not really worried about death as a problem. They are, in fact, the Empire’s greatest experts on the process of dying, because in the Tao, death is not seen as inherently evil or unclean. It is just part of the natural cycle. One of the practical jobs of the Brotherhood, in fact, is to give retired samurai a way to prepare for their deaths by meditating on impermanence and serenity. Because of this, Shinseist monks handle funerals. (It’s also practical, as many samurai retire to spend their final years as monks, so they are usually at a monastery or temple anyway when they die.) The funeral ceremony is derived from the teachings of the Tao, with only slight regional variance. The main job of the ceremony is to sever the karmic influence of death on the family of the deceased and to provide them a way to mourn without loss of face. It is occasionally said that Shinseist funerals are primarily for the living, not the dead. The funeral is always held four days after the death, as those days are spent by having hinin prepare the body under monastic direction, outside the temple grounds. The body is washed, anointed with oil and rubbed with salt, and a featureless mask is placed on the face to keep any lingering spirit from recognizing its body or trying to reclaim it. On the day of the funeral, the temple gives the family a wooden marker bearing the dead person’s name and deeds. The family dresses in white, the color of mourning, and is given a modest meal of special funereal food, called otoki. Imperial decree forbids burial, so the body will be placed on a funeral pyre, with the family witnessing the cremation. It is widely believed that too much sorrow during this part of the ceremony causes the spirit to be troubled and remain behind, so mourners will conceal their grief behind veils and maintain grim expressions, to avoid dooming their late relative to endless wandering. After, the family picks the bones from the ash using ceremonial chopsticks, passing them along the line of family and into an urn while monks light candles to symbolize rebirth. The funeral may have some variation due to regional beliefs; the Crane exchange funerary gifts, called koden-gaeshi, typically small items of personal meaning, which the mourning family will later recompense. The Crab can rarely afford formal funerals due to the proximity of the Shadowlands threat, and all Crab funerals are held indoors, but with all windows open to allow the soul to escape, save for windows that face south, which are sealed. We get a sidebar on the real-world beliefs that figure into Shinseism: Buddhism, proto-Hinduism, Confucianism and Taoism. It explains a few historic figures that play into the portrayal of Shinsei himself, and then talks about stereotyping and the dangers of treating the philosophies as abstruse, mystical and impossible to understand, rather than practical. It talks about the harm of stereotypes, and the fact that monks aren’t in fact going to speak entirely in koans – or even rely much on crypticism. Monks want to be understood by people, so they can teach their lessons of compassion, moderation and good citizenship, and the best way to do that is by giving practical lessons and parables that the people they’re talking to actually understand. It also reiterates that you should definitely avoid making people umcomfortable and stop doing things if they ask you to, and that you should avoid chanting actual mantras because those are real religious things. Good sidebar. (Fun fact: past editions have basically entirely presented Shinseism and monks in general as pseudo-koans.) Monasteries and temples also often serve as neutral ground for negotiations between samurai groups in conflict. That said, most monks and priests can’t really be said to be truly politically neutral. Senior monks and priests have significant influence, due to their educated opinions and wide connections – and, of course, the threat of protesting monks which the Bishamon Order wield so well. All most samurai can do in response is to threaten their agricultural holdings, or change who they donate to. The Tao officially states, explicitly, that all must follow the same path to Enlightenment. In pursuit of the Way, an Emperor, a Fortune and a peasant are all equal. Shinsei mentions passingly that privileged birth indicates a lighter karmic load, and also that greater privilege carries greater civic obligations, and greater chance both for heroism and failure. Later commentators are the ones that emphasize the connection between karma and station more aggressively. Technically speaking, at a sutra reading in a temple, rank should not matter, and all should be treated as equals. In practice, prejudice and stereotypes are no less likely there than anywhere else. Samurai that enter holy orders typically advance faster than peasants, due to established connections or prior education, having already learned the academic and social graces expected of a monk. Priests, due to the etiquette they learn before ordination, typically cater to those whose caste matches the priest’s, and aristocratic congregations are more able to donate money, so those priests tend to have more influence. Many ranking clergy born as samurai are not very comfortable with the legitimate populist reframing of Shinsei put forth by the Perfect Land Sect, as they enjoy the comforts of class even if they don’t always admit it. Likewise, clan and family rivalries can carry over into monastic life. Holy places are no less prone to cliques or factions, and differing approaches to Shinsei can also cause discord, though shared views can smooth over rivalries based on background or political origin. Lion and Unicorn, for example, are often shocked to find themselves comrades in those rare Perfect Land congregations that admit nobles, and Crab and Lion that get along in all other ways often learn not to talk Shinsei over drinks. The Phoenix are often held up as the Keepers of the Tao, in recognition of Shiba’s recording it. Most clans defer to them on Shinseist theology, and their approach to study of Shinsei is usually considered the orthodox, proper method. When people talk about Shinseism or the Tao, most assume they’re referring to Phoenix interpretations unless otherwise specified. While the lives of monks of different orders may vary, monastic life is generally one of routine. Routine maintains harmony, makes sure duties are performed and keeps the monks dedicated to the order’s ideals. Most monks wake well before dawn, starting the day in quiet reflection and using the daylight hours to work in the gardens, repair the monastery, copy texts, study and do other work. Worship is part of every activity, with rituals performed as part of daily tasks and group chanting of sutras being common at set times. In some orders, music or dance may be used to celebrate Shinseist virtues or to honor the Thunders. All work is spiritual when done in the right, mindful way. Most orders include some level of physical training in their daily routine, which may well have martial applications; more on martial arts in a moment. Orders of sohei (warrior-monks that wield weapons) spend much of the day training, but even peaceful orders train. Shinsei taught, after all, that the separation of physical and spiritual is illusory. Even the most meditative monk must master their body and remain fit, to do their duties properly and control the flow of their inner energy, ki. By becoming aware of their ki and that of the world, monks can achieve apparently supernatural effects via kiho techniques as well as understand the world. While some monks never fight and while sohei sometimes wield weapons, monks have a reputation for mastery of unarmed fighting. This is largely due to common folk tales of apparently harmless old people demonstrating shocking skill when threatened on the road. Nothing impresses the common folk like seeing a pompous samurai in full armor laid out by the little old monk they insulted. The spread of these stories has provided all traveling monks with a certain level of protection, as they are treated with caution. Some orders avoid violence at all costs, and while they may train with martial exercises for self-mastery, they learn no practical fighting techniques. However, that’s pretty rare – most peaceful orders still teach self defense and the protection of the weak. With proper training, monks can disarm foes without harming them, or disable them long enough to escape. Many orders also consider fighting for a just cause, like defending a monastery, acceptable. Some even teach outsiders, though typically only commoners who are forbidden to carry weapons and therefore have no other means of self-defense. Yamabushi, wandering warrior monks, are a special case. They seek Enlightenment by communing with nature, often in wilderness isolation far from roads or villages. They are so toughened by their life and their commitment to training that even samurai sometimes come to them for help when desperate, though any petitioner must prove their worth to the yamabushi to get any help. The first task is finding the hermit, which is rarely easy, then persuading them of the value of your case. Either way, the average person of any rank is likely to assume any monk they meet is capable of self-defense, which provides a certain level of safety to even pacifist monks, especially if the monk carries a weapon or bears tattoos like the ise zumi Togashi order. Monastery meals are communally grown, prepared and eaten at set times, which vary based on how many meals the monks get daily. Most monks are strict vegetarians or even vegans, avoiding animal products and foods born of death or decay, such as mushrooms. Most monasteries are at least partially self-sufficient, with gifts supplementing what they cannot grow or make on their own. Most orders maintain vegetable and herb gardens plus some fields, with some even working to make enough to supply local communities. Some monasteries are also known for ceramics, metalwork or sake brewing, or are known for their healing, scribal or other skills. All services are given freely, without charge, though often there is an expectation that recipients will donate in return. Those who don’t are unlikely to receive future gifts and probably hit some karmic consequences. The most important part of any monastery is the shrine, temple or relic repository. The monks have a sacred duty to tend to and care for this place, and it is the focal point of their devotions, connecting them to the spiritual world. Monasteries also set aside space for training and study, with the training ground or meditation hall often serving as a secondary focal point. If meditations are done while laboring, the forge, brewery or other workstation will instead hold that position. The least important place is always the dorm rooms, individual or communal, which never have any comforts not required to meet the monks’ physical needs. Temples, on the other hand, are built for all people, to provide a worship space. They are usually much more open and accessible, though they may be in hard-to-reach places for various reasons. Larger temples need more care, and monks often live within them, while small ones rely on traveling monks and priests or even local volunteers to care for them. Most, however, will have at least one resident monk to care for them. Temple monks often have much less private lives than monastic monks, as they must be available for visitors. A private space may be provided in large temples for meditation, but not always. Not all temples get many visitors, however, due to remote or secret locations, and some worldly monasteries function more like temples. Either way, the resident monks burn incense to ensure air purity and maintain the sanctity of the shrine or relic repository. Many temples are built for the sole purpose of maintaining this sacred space. Visitors and pilgrims dropping in may be granted overnight stays in return for donations, and while all are welcome, the monks are quick to expel those who lack in temple etiquette. This requires removal of hats, shoes and weapons before entry and speaking only very quietly. Temples often serve a major community role, with residents making frequent visits to pay respects. The monks or priests may perform daily public rituals, or reserve them for feast and festival days. Depending on the temple and what it is dedicated to, it may serve other purposes, but the main job is to give people a place to worship, and they contain all the tools needed to do so, like incense and prepared offerings. One of the chief jobs of the monks or priests is to teach the lay people about whatever the temple is dedicated to, as well. The monks also maintain the temple’s elemental balance, and many temples are designed such that each side represents an element, with the roof being Void. No element must ever overcome the others, to maintain the temple’s viability as a sacred space. Representation of elements is typically symbolic – colors and images, usually, though in larger temples there may be pools for Water, braziers for Fire, incense for Air or salt bowls for Earth. Each must be kept full or burning constantly, if so, and all can be used for ritual purification, which monks perform whenever they enter the temple and visitors use before approaching the temple icon. Next time: Specific temples.
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Feb 21, 2019 16:42
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megane posted:Take a shot every time Rifts tries to make the PCs feel bad about opposing someone evil or punishes them for doing something good. I get the impression Siembieda really had a reaction against to the classic D&D trope of being able to often tell alignment on sight, where ugly often equals evil. So that's why in England you have the two bug races, and the more monstrous one is good while the more human-looking ones are evil. It even goes back to Vampire Kingdoms with the snake-people that are presumed to be demons but actually a perfectly advanced and decent technological race. And so on. Villains Unlimited is a real highlight of this, with a number of "villains" who just have a bad rep because of their appearance but are really secret good people, and a number of villains that seem like upstanding citizens who are really total monsters. And I get it, he wants people to not judge on appearance, but he does it often enough that it just ends up tiresome when you end up with the umpteenth persecuted and tragic race that's really peaceful but they have horns on their head so everybody thinks they're devils etc. And he likes to do that a lot, so maybe this Coalition officer isn't so bad, or the vampire hunter guy really is a monster, and so on. The problem is there isn't anything more to say than to pick on the players being potentially judgmental, there's no greater story behind it most of time other than muddying the waters. It just feels like a minefield for murderhoboes rather than the neat surprise it could be if used judiciously and with purpose.
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Feb 21, 2019 17:54
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Emerald Empire: Template Most temples are devoted to a specific Fortune, Thunder or aspect of Shinsei, though some larger ones are dedicated to multiple Fortunes, all of the Thunders, or Shinsei’s lessons in general. Temples open each day to let people in to pray, leave offerings or ask for guidance. The monks perform various rituals on their own to maintain temple sanctity, and sometimes lead group rituals for festivals or holy days. Parades might begin inside the temple, but most public rituals are done outside. Blessings for the dead can be done inside, but ashes are put in the nearby cemetery, where the local samurai might have a family shrine on site. Temples are places for quiet contemplation, and being quiet and reverent is highly encouraged. Temples often share common features – tower gate entrances, pagoda-style architecture, a main hall containing an object of worship and a meditation hall are all common. There may or may not be a shrine or shrines inside, as well as candle-lit altars. There will be at least one incense bowl, to catch the ash of daily offerings. Sacred objects will be kept in private rooms, away from visitors. Pilgrims may travel the entire Empire – or may come from just one town over. Pilgrims may be of any class, motivated by any cause. Monks often make pilgrimages because they are told to or because they want to. Large temples often provide basic housing for pilgrims, who must otherwise rely on the charity of strangers or their own wealth. Pilgrimages aren’t easy, but the journey is seen as important, as much so as the destination. The journey is a chance to prove devotion, and it is not rare for a monk to join a pilgrim and support them on their way, offering encouragement if they weaken or tire. Making sacred journeys earns respect from most people, and the honorable will offer hospitality to pilgrims – food, water, a place to rest, some company. However, because some travelers abuse this and claim to be pilgrims despite traveling for other reasons, some people are suspicious of all pilgrims. Thieves may also target pilgrims traveling alone, especially those forced to sleep outdoors. While the Brotherhood of Shinsei is not poor, they rarely finance a temple’s construction by themselves. Temples are expensive, but many daimyos and lords consider the blessings earned from it worth far more than the money spent. Building a temple in your lands raises your prestige and helps your karma, and many families finance temples for this reason alone. Often, these temples also hold special meaning to them of some sort. Temples are rarely as self-sufficient as monasteries, but often find ways to increase donations. They will produce the items of worship, such as incense or candles, offered in return for donations. This also ensures the objects are made correctly and are of good quality, and often making them is considered a reverent act. Temples may be built around an existing shrine, on the site of a miraculous event, or in a newly founded or grown town in need of a place to worship. New monastic orders also raise temples for their own use and to draw eyes to the Brotherhood, often in places of pure or natural beauty or in well kept parts of a city. Being south of a mountain, north of a volcano or west of a body of water is especially auspicious. The better a temple is planned and maintained, the more blessed it is, and even commoners can sense the sacred aura in a grand temple. The Brotherhood maintains quite a few relics. The greatest would be the original Tao of Shinsei, but they don’t actually know it is currently sitting in the hidden Phoenix city called Gisei Toshi. Several prominent temples have extremely old copies of the text, however, which are highly revered because it is held that the closer the text is in the chain of copies to the original, the more true it is. There are countless other kinds of relic, ranging from texts of wisdom to weapons used by the Thunders or other great heroes to magical statues to clothing worn by the Kami to special funerary urns of holy people. Great legends surround some relics, especially old and mysterious ones, and many of these legends are as old as the relics themselves. Others are made up by witnesses to otherwise unexplained events, or invented by monks keen to spread the fame of their temple. The Brotherhood maintains extensive records on its relics and their abilities, but these records are constantly being altered and updated. There is no system for determining the authenticity of a relic or its magical status, either. Temple gates are built as towers for symbolic reasons. They mark the boundary between the normal and spiritual, with the most elaborate being two stories and highly decorative, sometimes with alcoves for guardian statues. The guardians at the gate are vital to keep unwanted spirits out, and depending on the region these statues may be komainu, lions or dragons, especially in areas of the Lion or Dragon clans respectively. Beyond the entrance is typically a path through the temple gardens, which may well meander or circle before reaching the main building, to give the visitors time to meditate and clear their heads and to confuse any spirits that slip past the guardians. The garden is itself sacred, and everything growing in it serves a purpose in the design of the temple. Not all temples have a garden, but those which do will use it as an extension of the temple proper, a place to tell stories and meditate. Larger temples will often have the main building built in pagoda style, with each floor representing an element. In some temples, the hall near the entrance can be opened up to connect the garden and inner rooms. Wooden temples are most common, but remote temples often use stone to minimize maintenance needs, as do those temples built in areas of harsh weather. Some stone temples are so old none can remember who made them. Some temples, especially Crab ones, resemble fortresses; few would actually dare to forsake honor and attack a temple, but the Crab always consider attack to be possible in designing a structure. Shinden Kasai is one of two major temples to Osano-wo, Fortune of Fire and Thunder. Osano-wo, second son of Hida, is surrounded by legend. His mother is said to have been the Thunder Dragon, patron of heroes. He is a legendary figure, heroically strong, honorable and brave. While he was Crab Champion, he led his clan in war against the trolls, nearly obliterating that ancient race of creatures. He had two sons, each by a different mother. The elder, Kenzan, was his heir, and it is through Kenzan that the Hida trace their lineage back to the Kami Hida. His other son, Kaimetsu-Uo, left the Crab to found the Mantis Clan in the Islands of Spice and Silk, and many Mantis sailors claim descent from Osano-wo, including Yoritomo. The Mantis built the other great temple to Osano-wo, Shinden Sanda, in Inazuma Province. Shinden Kasai, meanwhile, was made by the Crab on the Plains of Thunder. It is unusual for a temple in that many of its monks are retired Crab samurai. The temple is surrounded by storms all year and is a fortress of limestone, which visitors must clamber over huge rocks to reach, through a maze of deadly traps, which is also used as a training ground for the monks. This ensures that only the best become full Thunder Sohei. Lightning rods along the temple walls create blinding displays during the frequent storms. The master sensei of Shinden Kasai is a former Lion samurai, now called Kusuburu. He is smaller than most Thunder Sohei, but regularly fights and defeats them all to maintain his position. His scalp is red and heavily scarred, and he goes bare-chested, wearing only a red hakama, to show off the many welts he’s earned in his long stay at the temple. The temple was built two centuries after Osano-wo’s death, when the Brotherhood of Shinsei requested that they be given the Fortune’s ono battle-ax for safekeeping, as the Hida were not using it. They wanted to place it in Shinden Sanda in Mantis lands, but the Hida were unwilling to send the weapon so far away, and so they assigned the samurai Kaiu Tomoki to build a temple to rival Shinden Sanda. The Plains of Thunder were selected as the best location for it due to the storms, and Tomoki led a team of engineers and bushi to construct a temple worthy of protecting the ono. The bushi never left, becoming the first martial monks of the temple. Since then, many warriors from all clans and castes have chosen to join their order rather than retire to a more quiet monastery. The Brotherhood was satisfied, even though the Thunder Sohei largely remain set apart from the rest of the temple to govern themselves. Rumors of Shinden Kasai posted:
Shrines to Osano-wo and associated Fortunes exist in the bowels of the temple, lit only by flames kept perpetually burning. The monks train and sleep only in barren stone rooms, their rituals physically intense and their training grueling to the extreme. Even the successful initiates are burned and scarred by the experience. Almost all of the temple’s relics and artifacts are weapons, the most precious of which are locked in the same vault as Osano-wo’s personal ono. The Thunder Sohei train with the ono battle-ax as their signature weapon, but they are also masters of jiujutsu, seeking Enlightenment by reverence of the Fortune of Fire and Thunder and adherence to his martial philosophy. Because the Thunder Sohei are functionally a battle-ready army, several commanders have petitioned their aid in the past. Few manage to persuade the master sensei that their cause is worthy of such intervention, however. Only the Emerald Champion can regularly count on them, for the monks hold that victory in the Emerald Championship demonstrates Osano-wo’s blessing, and that the Emerald Champion is therefore Osano-wo’s chosen, to be obeyed unquestioningly. Small groups or individual Thunder Sohei may leave the temple to fight in the name of the Fortune, but never has the Empire seen the entire army of sohei together. Our example NPC is Takeshi, Sohei. Takeshi was a Crab samurai that lost his leg in battle against the Shadowlands, retiring to Shinden Kasai to re-learn how to fight. He’d have returned to the wall once he was done, but Osano-wo came to him in a dream, so he chose to remain in the temple to teach others, taking on the monastic name Takeshi. He is a large, frightening monk who has completely accepted his new life, considering himself deeply fortunate. He has a prosthetic wooden leg and is rather more acrobatic than either his great size or false leg would normally indicate. He trains hard alongside the other sohei, remaining constantly ready for battle in case he is ever needed. Our adventure seed features Takeshi’s family wanting to reclaim ownership of a relic he brought to the temple, a Kaiu blade. They say that he should have left it with them, and that he gave it to the temple only after he became a monk, when it was no longer his to give. They want the PCs to get it back for them – but quietly. They will provide an inferior replica sword to leave in its place. Sneaking in will require the PCs to get past the deadly maze that guards Shinden Kasai. If they announce themselves and convince the monks to let them in, the sohei will guide them through it, but that means they’ll have to speak to Takeshi. Takeshi won’t even let them view the weapon, which is locked in a temple vault that only the master sensei can access with a key he carries with him at all times. If pressed, Takeshi will admit he could get the key for them, but only if they defeat him in a duel to prove their worth in the eyes of Osano-wo. The vault is full of many sacred items, and without Takeshi, it would take a long time to identify the correct blade. However, if he notices the PCs making the blade swap he will immediately attack them. As in the duel, defeating him will, to his mind, prove that they are in the right, having received the favor of Osano-wo in battle. Alternatively, the PCs might be able to convince him diplomatically, but if so, they must appeal to him as a monk, not a Crab – he has entirely abandoned his former samurai self. Next time: The Temple of Listening Ghosts and the Four Temples of Shinsei
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Feb 21, 2019 19:08
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and also not helping is how the Coalition and other fascistesque factions gets increasingly lionized as more books come out so it becomes less 'let's not practice functional racism' as D&D sometimes fall into in the hands of bad writers and GMs, and more 'Really the fascists are good guys'
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Feb 21, 2019 19:09
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By popular demand posted:How come not a single grab bag post apocalypse game can't get over its own backstory? The main thing I don't like about post-apoc games is how so many of them think they have to have d100 tables of lolrandom monkey cheese mutations, even when it's at odds with the tone of the game otherwise. I feel a little bad; the creator of Dark Revelations posted it on the forums some time ago and I never got beyond giving him some constructive criticism about some setting elements that stuck out to me. I can't even remember what it was, but it was clear they wanted to do "Palladium but playable" and the issues were due to hewing too closely to that. I think I just didn't have the time or inclination to go over all the inherent design flaws in D20 again.
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Feb 21, 2019 19:19
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Robindaybird posted:and also not helping is how the Coalition and other fascistesque factions gets increasingly lionized as more books come out so it becomes less 'let's not practice functional racism' as D&D sometimes fall into in the hands of bad writers and GMs, and more 'Really the fascists are good guys' I just want to say I finished the roughs for Coalition Overkill recently and just you wait. (Seriously, wait, you don't want to have to read it yourself, trust me.)
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Feb 21, 2019 19:24
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Alien Rope Burn posted:I just want to say I finished the roughs for Coalition Overkill recently and just you wait. That might even be the book that caused Coffin to just throw his hands up in the air and quit. I know it was somewhere during the Siege.
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Feb 21, 2019 19:38
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Mors Rattus posted:Despite this, a few unfortunate souls have been born while the gates were closed for one reason or other, and these Kakita are never taught the ways of the family or even allowed to touch a blade. I do hope they all become terrifyingly-skilled archers, because gently caress That Guy.
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Feb 21, 2019 20:11
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In Coffin's view, the Siege series was a big part of what soured his relationship with Siembedia, the other major part being the Land of the Damned series. He got fired while working on Recon.
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Feb 21, 2019 20:12
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Loxbourne posted:I do hope they all become terrifyingly-skilled archers, because gently caress That Guy. There's a loooot of gently caress That Guy in Rokugan and it's kind of off-putting. Even the minor gods are just dicks. Oh, you got dirty? Guess I'll give you the plague!
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Feb 21, 2019 20:14
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Halloween Jack posted:In Coffin's view, the Siege series was a big part of what soured his relationship with Siembedia, the other major part being the Land of the Damned series. He got fired while working on Recon. Yeah. He stated that writing the Coalition as heroic (at times) was one of his major problems with Coalition Wars, but it he didn't quit until shortly thereafter. Technically, Coffin was fired, but he deliberately confronted Kevin in a way he knew would likely result in that. Very much a mutual explosion at that point.
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Feb 21, 2019 20:24
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Halloween Jack posted:The main thing I don't like about post-apoc games is how so many of them think they have to have d100 tables of lolrandom monkey cheese mutations, even when it's at odds with the tone of the game otherwise. Personally I'd drop most post-apoc games if they didn't have that.  Like, if it's a game where radiation just kills you in horrible ways, that sounds bleak and unfun, I want to have as many mutations as CDDA offers and then some. If walking through a nuclear waste dump doesn't mean I come out with at least one extra limb, then it's starting to sound awfully grim and serious for a post-apocalypse.Because, I mean, the thing about a realistic nuclear post-apocalypse is that, uh. We probably won't be around for it, and there probably isn't any fixing it, and playing something that fatalist just sounds more depressing than listening to Pink Floyd.
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Feb 21, 2019 20:30
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I mean, sometimes when I play with those tables I get something cool, and most of the time I get a guy with six eyes and scaly arms and three furry legs and it's just dumb. Random tables in RPGs are much, much, much better as a way to generate suggestions than binding results.
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Feb 21, 2019 20:37
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Halloween Jack posted:I mean, sometimes when I play with those tables I get something cool, and most of the time I get a guy with six eyes and scaly arms and three furry legs and it's just dumb. Random tables in RPGs are much, much, much better as a way to generate suggestions than binding results. and most random tables especially if you're rolling for parts of the same character/magic item/etc don't try to make sure the majority of possible results will line up (so you can get things like 'Character has crippling fear of being alone / will run away to hide if distressed' or some such contradictory results )
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Feb 21, 2019 20:59
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wiegieman posted:There's a loooot of gently caress That Guy in Rokugan and it's kind of off-putting. Even the minor gods are just dicks. Oh, you got dirty? Guess I'll give you the plague! I mean, it's more that being dirty attracts evil spirits. Like, literally. Dirt and blood and filth literally attract evil spirits.
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Feb 21, 2019 21:23
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Alien Rope Burn posted:I get the impression Siembieda really had a reaction against to the classic D&D trope of being able to often tell alignment on sight, where ugly often equals evil. So that's why in England you have the two bug races, and the more monstrous one is good while the more human-looking ones are evil. It even goes back to Vampire Kingdoms with the snake-people that are presumed to be demons but actually a perfectly advanced and decent technological race. And so on. Villains Unlimited is a real highlight of this, with a number of "villains" who just have a bad rep because of their appearance but are really secret good people, and a number of villains that seem like upstanding citizens who are really total monsters. Not to mention him missing the ever so slight difference in the judgments "you have horns, you must be evil!" and "you're wearing the uniform of an officer in an expansionist, genocidal fascist military, you must be evil!" E: And as far as post-apocalypse explanations and random tables go, the sterling example of doing both excellently is still Gamma World 7e, with functional random characters that you get to explain yourself, and an apocalypse of "all the apocalypses at once, who cares, have fun." Mors Rattus posted:I mean, it's more that being dirty attracts evil spirits. Like, literally. Dirt and blood and filth literally attract evil spirits. That's an entirely diegetic explanation, though. The real world one is "we decided to not only incorporate some kind of unpleasant Japanese superstitions that still result in prejudice to this day, but to say they are Officially And Truly Correct in-universe." Pieces of Peace fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Feb 21, 2019 |
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Feb 21, 2019 21:52
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Pieces of Peace posted:That's an entirely diegetic explanation, though. The real world one is "we decided to not only incorporate some kind of unpleasant Japanese superstitions that still result in prejudice to this day, but to say they are Officially And Truly Correct in-universe." Yes and no. The hinin (and the castes in general) aren't inherent to the world. The fact that the hinin are forced to perform the labors that cause spiritual impurity is explicitly a societal thing; the castes are not inherent to Rokugan the way the rules of spiritual purity are. If a hinin never did those jobs, they would not be any more impure than a samurai. The game's pretty clear that the treatment of hinin is an actual flaw of prejudice in Rokugani society.
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Feb 21, 2019 22:02
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So there's no reason villages don't build, like, big shower facilities for the hinin besides "gently caress the poor?" Or is this the sort of thing that they'd have to expend a bunch of priest-hours on to clean off?
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Feb 22, 2019 04:08
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Loxbourne posted:I do hope they all become terrifyingly-skilled archers, because gently caress That Guy. Just use a bronze sword. Or get an attendant who's job is to draw your sword for you then hand it to you.
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Feb 22, 2019 04:52
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wiegieman posted:So there's no reason villages don't build, like, big shower facilities for the hinin besides "gently caress the poor?" Or is this the sort of thing that they'd have to expend a bunch of priest-hours on to clean off? I mean, they do. They're called shrine and temple cleansing pools and purification rites. There's a reason the priests and monks try to ensure that everywhere at least gets access to itinerant religious figures. Ritual cleansing isn't just a simple wash - this is taken pretty much directly from Shinto. Purity and corruption/filth are a huge deal. e: and hinin are kind of hosed over by it because they are handling extremly filthy materials like blood, urine, ichor and so on very often, what with being responsible for butchering, tanning and all the other trades involving bodily fluids.
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Feb 22, 2019 05:14
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Mors Rattus posted:I mean, they do. They're called shrine and temple cleansing pools and purification rites. There's a reason the priests and monks try to ensure that everywhere at least gets access to itinerant religious figures. Ritual cleansing isn't just a simple wash - this is taken pretty much directly from Shinto. Purity and corruption/filth are a huge deal. I thought Hinin weren't allowed in though?
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Feb 22, 2019 05:15
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Yeah, I misread the post. Hinin are not normally allowed in, but can still undergo ritual purification by petitioning itinerant priests and monks. It's not usually worth it for them, though - why bother when tomorrow all of it's gonna come back? e: and hinin are allowed into Shinseist temples, because unlike Fortunism, Shinseism doesn't give a poo poo about purity. Hell, there are hinin that become monks. Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Feb 22, 2019 |
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Feb 22, 2019 05:16
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wiegieman posted:There's absolutely no way that Fallout's America didn't fire first. Somewhat unlikely if only because most of the fluff has America basically days away from conquering China before the nukes fly. That said, yeah, depends on what fluff you trust. It also might have been aliens.
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Feb 22, 2019 05:22
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Next update is taking a while because I needed to read ahead to remind myself how the Friday Night Firefight rules worked. Time to min-max this bitch 
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Feb 22, 2019 06:13
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Ghost Leviathan posted:Somewhat unlikely if only because most of the fluff has America basically days away from conquering China before the nukes fly. Good point. I know I trust that fluff about as far as I, personally, can toss a nuclear warhead like a caber.
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Feb 22, 2019 06:15
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Cults: Neolibyans, pt. 2. Degenesis Rebirth Primal Punk Chapter 3: Cults NEOLIBYANS Raiders This bit is a bit confused, since you don't know if we're delving into history again or describing the present. But whatever; the Neolibyans didn't get rich via trade alone. They took Scourgers and Scrappers to loot the abandoned parts of Europe, like we've heard about 500 times at this point. This wasn't really frictionless as Scourgers “man the guns and race through the ruins in their four-wheel buggies, the Koms, searching for savages and running them down,” which is kinda what Spaniard mercs did when they crossed into Africa to get oil, right? Also, lol at the reminder that Koms, the scourger buggies, are indeed four-wheeled. Basically, this was/is so bad that Scourge tank sightings get entire clans up in arms. Stuff like that happens before diplomacy is established – or after it ends. At least you can capture a few slaves!  Veteran Scourgers let Neolibyans take point, since if they die, nothing of value is lost. The Bank of Commerce 450 years ago, the location of Bank of Commerce only held mud buildings. Eventually the place grew with two-storey offices clad in Purgan marble, manufacturies producing materials for scribe duties, and more. Today, the Bank is nearly its own town in the middle of Tripol. Hundreds of chartists and scribes do all sorts of Adeptus Administratum stuff here. The trade route auction is held on the first day of the first month of the new year. In the Bygone era, that was January 1st, but who knows what sort of entrepreneurial calendar the Neolibyans have adopted. quote:The riches gained through the auctions go to the Bank of Commerce’s vaults and from there into the pockets of craftsmen who expand Tripol. Large sums are also given to impoverished settlements at the outskirts of the city. Neolibyans hate poverty in close proximity to the capital. Only cockroaches and NIMBYs will survive the Eschaton! Business A side section! It basically goes to describe how Tripol's market are exotic bazaars and how the need to become rich drives the people to work harder. Glory and Obligation Neolibyans measure personal worth by capital. However, since only the accountants at the Bank know anyone's true wealth, they have to turn to conspicuous consumption to carry the message. A wealthy dude is usually slated for continuous success. However, if you try to gently caress over a fellow Neolibyan by going against the auction (working a concession you no longer have rights to and so on), you will be put on trial - no matter how wealthy you are. The guilty party will assign three judges and so will the accuser and quote:Usually, this is an unruly process. The proceedings are far from civilized. New Ways The Neolibyan Cult is increasing – but the number of profitable routes isn't (so much for the explorer doing their part). So what does a Neolibyan without a concession do? Some work for other, wealthier dudes. Others turn towards regions that don't have concessions due to their unstable nature. This also means that profits aren't guaranteed, which is a threat big enough to make the most hardened capitalist faint. There's also the option of going exploring and finding new markets or just new stuff, thus becoming the talk of the town. Rifles A side section! Having a rifle is a mark of prestige in Africa, see, and Neolibyans are continuing the trend. Your rifle might be non-functional, but as along as it's impressive (maybe even gold-plated and studded with diamonds), you're good. Next time: those thankless peasants!
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Feb 22, 2019 08:18
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Emerald Empire: Monk Key Monasteries, unlike temples, aren’t meant to be public. (Mostly.) Rather, they exist to house monks that wish to study and learn. In some orders, a monk may go their entire life from joining to death without ever setting foot outside the monastery, and such buildings will need the space and facilities to provide for them and their quest for Enlightenment. Other orders value real world experience, and will offer only what is required to shelter through the winter or survive an illness. Some orders have hundreds of members spread through several monasteries, while others have so few members that they only need one. Some monasteries are large, generations-old complexes; others are just a few huts and a shrine. While a monastery provides for monastic physical needs, this is purely so that the monks may focus on more important spiritual tasks, and spiritual health is considered far more important than physical. Likewise, the order as a whole is more important than any individual. This is why so many samurai retire to monastic orders to prepare for death. A monastic initiate usually changes their name when they leave their old life behind. It may or may not be required that they do so by their order; that varies. Likewise, they may get to choose their new name or it may be assigned to them, as in the case of the ise zumi monks of the High House of Light, where initiates are typically assigned the Togashi family name. Monk names often are quite simple and are largely chosen for personal or symbolic meaning. A Shinseist monk may go by Hideaki, meaning ‘wise,’ while a Fortunist monk devoted to Benten may select Ai, ‘love,’ and a monk following Isora, Fortune of the Shore, might go by Kishi, ‘beach.’ The new name is honestly less important than the fact that the old name has been abandoned, though. Changing one’s name marks the end of the old life and the beginning of the new. Most monasteries, particularly the large ones, are supported or even founded by wealthy patrons, typically daimyo looking to impress the Brotherhood or gain spiritual favor and virtue. Some of the small ones, though, are founded cheaply when a monk or group of monks feel the need to form a new order. These monasteries are still connected to the Brotherhood, but the more isolated ones tend to prefer fending for themselves as a spiritual family. The head monk of an order is usually referred to as an abbot, while other monks call each other siblings, to reinforce that they have left their old families to join a new one. The importance of family cannot be overstated in Rokugan, and the use of familial terminology here reminds the monks of where their responsibilities are now. Monks of different monasteries may argue, but within a monastery, it rarely gets worse than friendly debate. The Brotherhood is generally quick to remind everyone that all monks are siblings following Shinsei together, regardless of any differences of opinion. Every monk knows their ‘family’ shares their worldview and goals, thus demonstrating the ideal of the Rokugani family, with all members working towards a single purpose. The larger the order, the more likely the abbot will need to settle arguments and discipline those who act against the order’s principles. Expulsion from the Brotherhood is even possible for serious crimes against it, and this is considered a fate worse than death. Typically, infractions are dealt with more internally by assigned extra labor, physical pain or periods of fasting and contemplation. Even monasteries devoted to study of the Tao often bear many of the features and architecture of Fortunist shrines, thanks to the mixing of the faiths in the Shintao. Monastery gates always, stone or wood, bear quotations from Shinsei and riddles designed to confuse and drive off evil spirits, warnings against impurity or koans to stimulate the minds of monks. This is on top of the torii arches that will guard any shrine entrances in the monastery itself. All monasteries have spiritual defenses, even if they may not always have physical ones. Most monasteries have a gong, bell or drum tower to mark the changing of the hours, call the monks to order, wake them up and send them to bed. They may also be used to communicate danger, speak to the kami or draw a Thunder’s attention, though that requires extremely careful handling and specialization. The monks assigned to that job develop their skills over years of study as apprentices and masters. In the hands of a true master, a drum can be made to sound like a storm, a gong can be used to induce meditative states and a bell can aid in focus. Even a monastery for a sohei order is likely to have a library of sutras for study, and may also have a scriptorium for the copying of texts. Shinsei’s teachings are spread on the written word, after all, and learning the texts is vital to any monk. There may be a separate room for training initiates or locals in the wisdom of Shinsei, as spreading his teachings is one of the great duties of the Brotherhood. Original texts may be kept in a relic repository as precious, which different orders handle in different ways. The wealthier orders are proud to let people know of their treasures and increase visitors by doing so, as people will want to be close to the holy items even if they can’t see or touch them. Smaller monasteries, however, often keep them hidden behind shrines or locked away in secret rooms. It is nearly inconceivable that anyone would put their karma at such grave risk as to steal a sacred relic, but chaotic thought or desperation have driven people to worse. Most monks would die to protect the relics, and losing any would be a terrible blow to an order and to the local community, whose spiritual wellbeing is tied to the monastery’s. While monks lie outside the social order, the influence of the Brotherhood is immense. Peasants and samurai both trust them as guides and spiritual advisors, no matter what. The Emperor, as head of the Shintao, is theoretically immune to being undermined by monastic criticism; no one else is on spiritual matters. And really, what isn’t a spiritual matter? Still, while monasteries provide no income, daimyos welcome them invariably, at least in public. Privately, daimyos may well consider an influential head monk to be a threat – and may well be correct. The Four Temples Monks in particular consider it their sacred duty to follow and to influence politics, with representatives in every major court. They’re even the only order willing to try and direct the Emperor himself, offering their advice whether requested or not. They work not to just spread Shinsei’s teachings but ensure they are followed, and the most effective place for that is the Imperial Court, where Shinsei began his teachigns. Warrior-monks can also prove influential, if in a different way – they might show up and turn the tide of a battle or protect an otherwise undefended village. The motives of these sohei are not always obvious, and they rarely remain in one place long enough to explain themselves and their decisions. Pilgrims often seek out monasteries to prove their devotion or to find answers to spiritual questions. However, they aren’t the only visitors that a monastery might get. Even a casual visitor to a monastery often feels relief from the pressures of the wider world in a place where rank has little meaning. A welcoming monastery is a great place to seek peace and time to think, even if you don’t intend to actually become a monk. Ranking samurai often enjoy the chance to relax in relative obscurity, while those seeking to hide enjoy the privacy of monasteries. More introspective orders are unlikely to question them much, and if a criminal is tracked to a monastery, they may still be able to offer themselves as an initiate and become a monk before they get arrested. We also get a brief aside on meditation. All monks meditate. By doing so, they learn truths that cannot be gained merely from study and they attempt to approach Enlightenment. How they meditate, however, varies wildly between orders and even just individuals. Some monks chant sutras, focusing only on the sound of the words and their meaning. Others empty their mind of thought, trying to abandon the world by will. Some focus on a specific image, such as a statue of Shinsei, a candle or a scenic view. Some sit, some balance, some meditate while doing labor. In some monasteries, meditation is highly structured and taught to initiates in specific ways. In others, it is left to the monks to decide how to meditate privately. Next time: The High House of Light, the Silent Ones Monastery and the Plain Winds Monastery.
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Feb 22, 2019 15:29
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Wait they don't have the printing press? Real China/Japan had had it for like a thousand years.
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Feb 22, 2019 18:34
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