[Fifth World]

[Brennan Taylor]

I've been working on my TSOY variant called The Fifth World. It's based on Southwest Native American culture, and it is really starting to take shape. I just finished the first kiva society writeup and I thought I'd post it here. Kiva societies are the main social and religious structure of the communities in Fifth World, and they have strict rules regarding membership and advancement. They are also the only way to learn secrets.

Here is the Arrow Society:

Arrow Society
The Arrow Society is a hunter's society. Members of this kiva society are instrumental in finding wild food for their community. Wild food is the primary source of meat, and is quite important. This society is stronger in fringe communities where hunting is more important, and its influence fades in central, safe communities where farming is the more prevalent mode of food gathering. The Arrow Society has a traditional rivalry with the Corn Maiden Society, and many say that the Arrow Society is fated to lose this conflict as more areas become civilized.
Gender: Male.
Dominant Clan: Wolf Clan.

Initiation:
•   Young men may join the Arrow Society at the age of 12.
•   The initiate must have a sponsor, and his rank with the sponsor's clan must be 1 or higher.
•   The initiate is ritually prepared, his body painted, and he spends a four-day vigil in the smokehouse. Then, he is given a bow and four arrows and sent naked into the wilderness to hunt and return with a large or dangerous animal. There is no time limit, but he may have no assistance on this journey, and anyone who encounters an Arrow Society initiate on his hunt must immediately turn around and give the leave the area. If he returns successful, he is made a First Rank member of the Arrow Society.
•   Secret of Peace with Death. You have learned how to hunt and kill animals without bringing spiritual corruption into yourself. You do not gain any Outside points from killing an animal. Cost: Free.

First Rank:
•   Young men typically advance to Second Rank before the age of 20. Most do not spend more than a few years at this rank.
•   The initiate must have allies within the Arrow Society to advance. He must have a rank of 1 with the clans of at least four members of Rank Three or Four in his kiva.
•   Secret of the Silent Step. You always have a bonus die when your character attempts to move quietly using the Stealth ability. Cost: none.
•   The First Rank member is required to give a gift to the local head of the Society in order to advance to Second Rank. This gift must demonstrate his hunting skill.

Second Rank:
•   Members of the Second Rank of the Arrow Society are all stong hunters and are considered grown men. Some particularly gifted hunters advance to this rank as young as 13. Most are advanced by the age of 15 or 16, however. Members are expected to stay at this rank for some time, and cannot advance beyond Second Rank before the age of 20.
•   The initiate must have a Third Rank sponsor to advance, someone who will shed blood for the member and stand by him as a brother in the Third Rank test.
•   Secret of Bent Wood. You have learned the secret methods to construct bows from a composite of wood, horn, and glue. You can make your own bow using the Complex Crafts ability, and you gain a bonus die to any action taken with the bow you make for yourself. Any other character attempting to use the bow receives a penalty die. Cost: nothing.
•   Secret of Arrow's Flight. You have learned how to loose a deadly and accurate arrow from your bow. You gain a bonus die when using your Aim ability to shoot your bow. Cost: Free.
•   The Second Rank members must pass a test before advancing to Third Rank. His sponsor will go into the wilderness, and the Second Rank member must track and catch his sponsor. At the conclusion of the test, the pair swears an oath to be as brothers.

Third Rank:
•   Members are not normally allowed to advance until they are at least 45 years of age. A hunter who is clearly of the greatest skill may be given an exception in order to advance at a younger age.
•   A unanimous decision by all of the Fourth Rank members is required to join their number. The member must have an esteem rank of at least 1 with the clans of all of the Fourth Rank members, and 2 or greater with at least half of their number.
•   Secret of Bowcrafting. You can craft bows of excellent quality using the Complex Crafts ability. Any bow your character creates using this secret gives one bonus die to the Aim ability when using the item, permanently. Cost: 3 Reason.
•   Secret of Heart Seeking. Your character can fire an arrow directly into the heart of your target. Spend as many dice of Vigor as you like to increase the damage of your arrow.
•   Secret of the Spirit Arrow. You have learned how your spirit guides the arrow from your bow. You may spend as many points out of your Vigor pool to give bonus dice to your Aim ability as you like while using a bow.
•   One doesn't petition to join the Fourth Rank, one can only be invited.

Fourth Rank:
•   This is the highest rank in the Arrow Society. Once at this rank, the member will die in this rank.
•   Secret of Animal Speech. Your character can speak to an animal and understand its signals with a successful Animal Ken Ability Check. Cost: 2 Instinct.
•   Secret of Blessing. With a successful Pray ability check, your character may bless the actions of a group of hunters. You must state a specific goal for them to accomplish. Your success level with this ability check becomes a pool of bonus dice any member of this group can use in accomplishing this task. Cost: 1 Vigor.
•   Secret of Blood Cleansing. You can cleanse yourself or another person of the Outside corruption that accumulates from killing. You can use your Pray ability to clear all Outside points earned due to killing from the target. Cost: 2 Vigor.
•   Secret of Animal Kinship. You can call animals to you, and they will view you as an animal of the same type. Often, this is used to bring prey animals close in order to kill them for food. Cost: 1 Instinct.

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Brennan,

Holy crap, I like this. I can't wait to play it. This is exactly why I like using Creative Commons licensing by the way, folks. Look at what an awesome thing Brennan has wrought from my paltry creation.

[Brennan Taylor]

Thanks, Clinton! I am still fleshing out the kiva societies, since that is the most labor-intensive part of development for this game. It is nearing a playable stage, however, and I will forward you a copy when it is at that point. On that note, if anyone else wants to playtest, let me know and I will add you to the list.