Here's my opinion for what it's worth. The mechanics are for PDP (which uses d20s.) The Kralori use sorcery and mysticism. They learn their sorcery from the spirits of venerated ancestors or temple priests (like RQ Tekumel) in the ordinary way. Mysticism is about intuitive personal insight, it may be learnt without a teacher. It also has no ritual component and is completely incompatible with Ceremony.
Mysticism is a magical "stat." It starts at zero. For each Kralori month a character spends in meditation they may sacrafice 1 POW and gain one point of Mysticism. It can't be increased in anyother way. Personality Traits are also very important for this magic. By spending one Kralori month in meditation a character may decrease one Personality Trait by 1 point without increasing the opposing trait, so that they add up to less than 20. Mysticism and Personality Traits may not be altered simultaneously. A kralori month is seven weeks.
There are two types of Mysticism: Low and High. To perform an act of Low Mysticism the player must nominate a skill they wish to enhance and make an opposed roll against a Trait pair nominated by the GM. If either roll is successful the character receives a tick in that Trait. If they fail both rolls (Wu Wei) they may expend a number MP less than or equal to their Mysticism score and modify the nominated skill by this amount temporarily.
High Mysticism uses the Ki skills from land of the Ninja. To initiate a Ch'i skill you must have a score of 20 in the related mundane skills. Ch'i skills may be improved with a a master of that Ch'i just like normal skills. To use a Ch'i you must make an opposed Trait pair roll and fail both, just as with Low Mysticism. You must then make a successful roll against the appropriate Ch'i. If this succeeds you may cause a permanent Ch'i effect for X Mysticism or a temporary one for Xd6 MP.
Example Ch'i effects may be found in LoN. As a rule for something like a Sword Ch'i a minor effect like ignoring armour for the duration of a combat) is appropriate. For something like Paintbrush Ch'i it should be possible to paint real animals, real gold, real escape tunnels etc.
The Worship (Deity) skill is special. This is the orthodox Kralori method
for gaining real Divine Magic. In return for a Mysticism sacrafice equal to
its POW value you get the spell permanently, for an MP sacrafice you get
to use it right there and then. I think that this is the real importance
of the Charismatic Wisdom skill.
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Andrew Behan
ajbehan_at_alf2.tcd.ie
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