> And if a character with such a practice _does_
> think they're on a mystical path, are they or
> are they not "deluded"?
Not enough information to decide. Being deluded or true is not dependent either on the character's belief or his Kung Fuiness. Even more so because you can travel forever on a mystic path and never get nearer to your goal, but when you give up the goal, you may achieve it.
> A danger is that if the rules say one thing, and
> the text says another, it may give the
> _impression_ that the practitioners are indeed
> deluded. Especially if the text doesn't say all
> that much on the topic.
>
> This is even moreso if Issaries produces a
> "mystical magical system" which describes
> only the 'orthodox' types, and proceeds to
> describe others in terms of theism, animism,
> etc, _regardless of self-perception_. (e.g.
> we end up with some "Lunar mystics" that are
> "HQ mystics" and some "Lunar mystics" that
> are "HQ theists", just as Greg says (that by
> his definition) would be the case for Buddhists.)
>
> One approach might be to use less loaded
> terminology. If we wree to talk in more
> practice-oriented oriented terms, like
> "Asceticism", or "Renunciate" rather
> than "Mysticism" and "Mystic", we might
> have fewer cross purposes.
I pretty much agree. I agree that "failed" mystic is a loaded term. "Travelling a mystic path" is the more useful game term, because it implies that the character sheet may have unusual magic on it, representing mystical insights. All that I have read so far on the subject makes me think that there isn't really a "mystic magic system" as such. Rather, you would have particular schools that teach particular insights (into this world or one of the three other worlds) that are mystical in nature, so can mean that the school teaches magic from multiple otherworlds, perhaps without various penalties.
Or may be not. ;-)
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