Re: Animism\t rituals

From: Chris Lemens <chrislemens_at_3MIevvdnJu2SDFJBdkD3Zxgd1hVVexbAkh4IHJSUZkGU2Y7CaJE5J9PZ14GZt1Oe>
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 2010 11:35:23 -0800 (PST)


Julian responding to Jeff :

> > I think what Chris is trying to get at is "narratively how does animist rituals work?"
> > What concrete results do you get from them? Since he is working on some animist
> > materials for Moon Design it is pretty important that he has a good feeling for this
> > so he can describe it in manner that others can easily understand.

In particular, I want to ease the narrators' tasks by giving them a few well-examined ways that animists act and how the rules handle the situations. Animism is very foreign to most moderns and our views of them are highly influenced by caricatures -- the cartoon headhunter, if you will. Giving the narrator a half-dozen encapsulated applications should make their jobs easier, not harder. Thus:

> Part of that understanding though will surely be -- which bits already exist in the rules?
> and which parts have to be created fresh for the upcoming products? :)

No new rules! Just suggested applications, cultural qualifications, and the like.

> This can take the form of a lingering benefit, of a new spirit ally/ability to be permanently
> written on your character sheet, of an exhaustible resource usable once/X times, of a > storyline development not represented by any target number but by GM descriptions.

All are both (a) rules applications and (b) things that animists do. Bringing them together in some short explanatory text is harder work than I thought it would be. I have some core applications that I think are common and evocative. But I tend to get wrapped around the axle when struggling with things that I haven't already assimilated.

> I really think that the X versus Y contest should be a theoretically equal contest

Presumably, you mean to qualify that with something like "in the absence of any story-driven need or the pass-fail cycle, as the narrator desires."  ;-)

Chris

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