> > What exactly do you intend the extra disciplines for? Are
> > you trying to expand Martial Arts into something flashy
> > for example?
>Yes, pretty much.
What you could do is devolve a portion of a discipline further (so you don't tamper around with the basic cosmology of the tradition). Instead of just having the basic martial arts discipline, the artist could have Martial Arts x (Fists of Iron y, Tortoise Shell z etc).
These subdisciplines would be used for edges or augments onto the martial arts skill or other suitable skill (i.e. Flight of the Leaping Crane to enhance jumping). The subdisciplines should be mundane in effect as the real flashy mystical powers are for the strikes and counters.
You could also devolve the mental discipline and spiritual discipline in the same way. A point in Glorantha (I dunno about Lot5R) is that the physical discipline actually relates to (refutation of) space, the mental discipline time, and the spiritual discipline, consciousness. If you want a subdiscipline to go without food longer or to slow the ravages of poison, you would use the mental discipline. If you need a subdiscipline to keep lustful thoughts in check or to stay off the booze, then it comes from the spiritual discipline.
Genre dictates that the usage of subdiscipline normally lasts for a round. I can see the point of extending it for a combat or longer in which case, the mental discipline might be used. And for fun, to attack multiple targets in the same round, one might use the spiritual discipline. Range, if there is a need for it, would come under physical.
The downside of all these devolutions is that it inhibits the artist from progressing upon the Master's path. A way of handling this might be to increase the cost of improving the discipline by 1 HP per subdiscipline known. Thus most monks in the dojo would learn very few subdisciplines if at all (and pass on quickly) while the more worldly monks (including heroes) have mucho subdisciplines but are forced to strive for greater challenges to attain enlightenment. If he learns too many then he might lose balance or even fall to the Dark Side.
>I've been tampering with my LOT5R translation, and
>I was wondering how broad individual schools could be, as I'll want
>to locate most of the effects under schools - like they are bunched
>under gods (and saints?).
Each school will have the same "Counter" as its core philosophy. "Strikes" are secondary truths and IMO these can vary from Dojo to Dojo.
As for the subdisciplines, I don't think they are school-dependant but that they can be taught by any master (one who knows the strikes and counters) who knows the subdiscipline. A subdiscipline might be incompatible with a discipline (like Fist of Iron and the Whirling Blades physical discipline of the Lunar Tareltarans) in which case it might not be learned.
One can invent their own subdisciplines but I am of the opinion that this requires that one knows the secrets of the order (strikes and counters) and a suitable period of reflection in which one learns how to devolve a portion of the discipline to create the subdiscipline. One could do this in combat although it would be a moment of high drama.
>Incidentally, we were discussing zzaburutes under sorcery earlier,
>but I note in the section on the east it is mentioned that zzaburites
>are western mystics. Is this the case?
That's correct. They do not follow the mystical path as described in the HW:RiG. After learning the secret of their order (which connects them to their founders node on the Philosopher's Plane), IMO they spend their time casting arcane magics to reach the Law Plane and so forth.
There are sorcerers in the East (the Martalaks of Vithela and I do believe that the Kralori have sorcerers as one of the six hundred sacred occupations), but they don't quite follow western ways.
--Peter Metcalfe
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