> If you take the all-consuming time constraints seriously then most
> Devotees and Shamen are barely playable for the same reasons that
> advanced mystics are unplayable. Unless their god/spirits are directly
> challenged or the community that supports them is threatened they have
> little cause to get involved in the story, the same would apply to a
> dedicated mystic of equivalent level. This does not mean that mystics
> have to be any more unplayable than theists or spiritists, just that
> those who are most obviously committed to the mystic path are at an
> advanced level of progression and as marginally playable as the
> equivalents from other cultures.
>
Exactly. I concur.
> You could probably model all this with the theism rules but you could
> probably model wizardry with the theism rules if you really wanted to.
>
Exactly the point I was trying to get at earlier.
> The question is not if you use this set of rules but whether this set
> of rules give the atmospheric feel that you want for an enjoyable
> game. Personally I do not think the theistic progression works well
> for mystics, not at least in any game where mysticism is a significant
> part of the genre.
>
I think it would depend entirely on how the mystic school in question was conceived. As you say, it is the atmosphere that it is important, and ultimately credibility tests rule the roost for HQ2 rules structures.
>
> I had some ideas for a Teshnos campaign that I never got going but the
> core things I wanted to achieve with those rules were
> * Mysticism is something you experience.
> * The core "benefit" along the way is insight.
> * Insight can make a character quite effective, although it grants no
> powers in itself it may grant an intuitive understanding of how to act.
> * Mystical characters can get magic from a variety of
> gods/spirits/spells which the wise have deemed not overly harmful.
> More advanced practitioners view this as a crutch to be left behind as
> they advance
> * Various common practices such as vows of poverty, chastity etc act
> in a similar way to geases and strengthen insight so long as they are
> followed correctly.
>
> Most of which can easily be achieved game mechanically by means of
> augments and in HQ2 lingering benefits.
>
And oddly, the whole "Insight lets you do things" sounds similar to the
"Lunar magic is actually all through the Illusion rune" idea proposed
elsewhere.
LC
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