Moon Revolutions: The Celestial Game

[Mike Holmes]

Bevek sing a Darjiini song that says, essentially, "I'm looking everywhere but where the people are having sex. I see nothing, I hear nothing."

Note before I get clobbered for representing a Darjiini wrong, the idea was in part that he was over-reacting to his perception of Sylilan mores. That is if they were Darjiini, it would probably have been natural for this pair to be boinking, and he wouldn't have given it a second thought. But being in Rome, and being the outsider, I wanted to play it more like he would know about the "stuffy" reactions that non-Darjiini have about sex, and would assume that he was breaching some sort of protocol to notice the infraction.

We discussed this after the fact, and it was pretty humorous. Well, I thought so anyhow. I'm looking forward to a lot of stuff like this happening. It's really the part of the character I'm looking forward to exploring most. I read that the Darjiini have an ancient and complex culture despite what other cultures think, and I want to "discover" just what that's all about.

Mike

[RaconteurX]

Hi Mike,

Based on the information I have concerning the Darjiini, which mainly comes of having assisted Mark Galeotti in running the "Birth of the Goddess" LARP, I would say you are doing a fine job exploring their culture. You might consider buying Bevek a Cultural Sensitivity ability, given his efforts thus far to avoid discomfitting his Sylilan hosts. :)

[Mike Holmes]

I might just do that. OTOH, his Sylilan Customs probably covers that, along with his Nurturing, and some other Darjiini personality traits.

In any case, I'm looking forward at some point to exploring the "Dark Side" of Darjiini culture. That is, they seem like a very "hakuna matata" sort of people on the surface, but I also get that their naturalism may lead to strong survival mechanisms at times. I think that I'm being inspired there by the illustration of the Darjiini with the knife in the Lunar Handbook, and trying to reconcile the look in his eyes with the description of the Darjiini. Their shamanistic practice is my best evidence, I think.

Speaking of which. I think it's always tempting to think about animists in terms of potentially progressing towards being Shamen. I know that this probably isn't what happens to most practitioners, but the idea of getting a Fetch is a fun and attractive one. For this character, however, as a noble, I think that his societal destiny is fairly set, and I really don't want to tamper with that.

So, what I'm asking here, is where do you take a Practitioner? How do they develop? Just more fetishes with ever more powerful Spirits? How many "stages," so to speak, are there to the Spirits in a tradition? I mean are there always ever larger ones? I guess what I'm saying is that I wonder what my character knows about what range of spirits there are out there, and about what makes them interesting. So I can hunt some more up at some point.

Mike

[joshua neff]

Seems to me there are a number of ways to go with that, Mike:

1) Bevek isn't the son who is directly in the line of succession. When his father & mother die, an older sibling becomes leader of the town of Gromiuk. In medieval Europe, the younger sons often became priests of monks. Likewise, Bevek could become a shaman.

2) Bevek is in direct line of succession, but at some point he is "called" by the spirits of SurEnslib & becomes a shaman. "Screw my nobility. When the spirits call, you gotta answer."

3) You don't want Bevek to become a shaman. In which case, I think what he does is continue being a practitioner, accumulating more & more spirits. As a practitioner, there's no limit to the number of fetishes & charms you can have. You are limited to having only one spirit ally (at least, as far as the rules go--but I have been known to ignore rules like that in favor of what's cool & what the player wants). There's also no limit to the number of Practices you can join--& according to the rules, many practitioners join multiple Practices. Also, Practices have their own secrets (we'll have to come up with a good one for the Agsargon Practice), which Bevek can learn when his traits are high enough.

That's just off the top of my head.

[buserian]

Another option is to explore the concept in Hero Wars of ... don't have the book here at work, like the khans of Prax and stuff ... sacred leaders, something like that. In other words, make up a new @60%-commitment level for your animist practice that doesn't involve a shaman, but still involves some additional magical abilities. An alternative promotion track, as it were.

Having multiple spirit allies is one possible magical benefit, as is an ability to enter the Spirit World (though probably more limited than a shaman's Spirit World Travel).

However, I think the best way to deal with very advanced practitioners is just to give them access to special or even unique spirits that most practitioners don't get access to. In HeroQuest, the Five Spirit Moons practice (I think) mentions some special, unique spirits that are known to the religion, and something along those lines is a great way to distinguish those who have accumulated a lot of magical power.

Also, an advanced practitioner will likely know the practice secret, and have a high rating in it, and that alone can be very powerful.

buserian

[Mike Holmes]

1) Bevek isn't the son who is directly in the line of succession.

Hadn't decided this. In fact, I wasn't sure that the Darjiini would practice primogeniture. I'm thinking that they're too tribal for that. Anybody have any canon notes on that?

His responsibilities may make it mor or less likely, but it doesn't really matter, however. Because...

3) You don't want Bevek to become a shaman.

This is where I am right now. Like I said, as a player Shamanism is tempting, but I just don't have it as part of the character's concept right now. That may change, but at the moment, I'm intrigued by the idea of the noble who is a member of this Practice.

In which case, I think what he does is continue being a practitioner, accumulating more & more spirits.

Right, that's my assumption. The question is what sort? I mean what does his practice imply about what spirits he has access to. It seems that, once you become a practitioner, the only limit to the types of spirits you can have is what the ones you already have will accept.

There's also no limit to the number of Practices you can join--& according to the rules, many practitioners join multiple Practices. Also, Practices have their own secrets (we'll have to come up with a good one for the Agsargon Practice), which Bevek can learn when his traits are high enough.

This is the same as the shaman thing. I may change my mind, but right now what I'm interested in is exploring what it's like to be in just one practice, and how "internal" progression occurs in a practice.

Buserian, I think that the "sacred leader" thing is sorta where he's headed in a way. I think that it'll probably work just fine with the occupation and the practice. I was thinking more in terms of those unique spirits that you're talking about. How would these be represented? Are they valid for a practice?

Mike

[buserian]

There's also no limit to the number of Practices you can join--& according to the rules, many practitioners join multiple Practices. Also, Practices have their own secrets (we'll have to come up with a good one for the Agsargon Practice), which Bevek can learn when his traits are high enough.

Doesn't membership in a practice require a 10% time commitment or so? If so, there is a limit to how many practices you can join.

Also, keep in mind that no matter how many practices he joins, he can only ever learn one secret. And do all practices in a tradition have secrets, or just some of them?

Buserian, I think that the "sacred leader" thing is sorta where he's headed in a way. I think that it'll probably work just fine with the occupation and the practice. I was thinking more in terms of those unique spirits that you're talking about. How would these be represented? Are they valid for a practice?

I would think they'd be like other practice spirits, just rare, and possibly more powerful. You might only be able to get them on set heroquests, like the old Waha's Quest that appeared in Different Worlds and Book of Drastic Resolutions. Or they might be actual individual, named spirits, with special abilities. I would personally expect that individual named spirits would have to be taken as spirit allies, so relaxing the restriction on number of allied spirits for a sacred leader might be important. (But might also fly directly in the face of canon.)

Possibly they might be able to deal more directly with spirit creatures, like the ones in Anaxial's Roster -- imagine having a nymph as a spirit ally!

buserian

[joshua neff]

Doesn't membership in a practice require a 10% time commitment or so? If so, there is a limit to how many practices you can join.

That's one of what I see as optional rules that I will gleefully throw out in favor of What's Cool & What the Player Wants. Of course, if Mike had Bevek trying to join each & every Practice in the SurEnslib Tradition, plus every Jakaleel Practice & a few more besides, I'd put some sort of foot down. But in the real world, there were some people who joined numerous religious & mystical orders (like one Sufi--whose name I'm forgetting at the moment--who joined every Sufi order he came across). If Mike wants Bevek to be one of those types (& it looks like he doesn't), I'm willing to give him some leeway.

Also, keep in mind that no matter how many practices he joins, he can only ever learn one secret. And do all practices in a tradition have secrets, or just some of them?

There's precious little actually written up about the SurEnslib Tradition, & it doesn't look like any upcoming supplements will be covering it in depth. Off the cuff, I'd say that I see every Practice having its own Secret.

I would think they'd be like other practice spirits, just rare, and possibly more powerful. You might only be able to get them on set heroquests, like the old Waha's Quest that appeared in Different Worlds and Book of Drastic Resolutions. Or they might be actual individual, named spirits, with special abilities. I would personally expect that individual named spirits would have to be taken as spirit allies, so relaxing the restriction on number of allied spirits for a sacred leader might be important. (But might also fly directly in the face of canon.)

Right. Like how the Five Spirit Moons Practice mentions some rare & powerful spirits. Mike, you should feel free to make upsome powerful spirits that you would have to heroquest to get. As I said, there's very little actually written about this, so let's make up so cool stuff.

[buserian]

But in the real world, there were some people who joined numerous religious & mystical orders (like one Sufi--whose name I'm forgetting at the moment--who joined every Sufi order he came across). If Mike wants Bevek to be one of those types (& it looks like he doesn't), I'm willing to give him some leeway.

Well, in a rules sense I would view such a person as being a spiritist member of those practices, rather than an actual practitioner of them.

buserian

[joshua neff]

But in the real world, there were some people who joined numerous religious & mystical orders (like one Sufi--whose name I'm forgetting at the moment--who joined every Sufi order he came across). If Mike wants Bevek to be one of those types (& it looks like he doesn't), I'm willing to give him some leeway.

Well, in a rules sense I would view such a person as being a spiritist member of those practices, rather than an actual practitioner of them.

Yeah, I'd agree with that. Still...if a player wants it, I'd be cool with it.

[joshua neff]

We had our second session last night, & again it went really well. One player (who is, on one hand, biased because she's my girlfriend, but on the other hand tends to be brutally honest) said she thinks this run is going much better than the previous (aborted) run. She said it feels more focused, & as such is much easier to riff off of.

Which confirms what I thought: I am a much better GM when the play is fairly focused & the narrative runs for a limited number of sessions. Three to six sessions is, I think, a good number for me. Which is not to say that after this run, we're done. Far from it. I love HeroQuest, I love the Lunar Empire, & I love these heroes. I want us to keep playing until...we all decide we don't want to anymore.

[Peter Nordstrand]

Hi Joshua,

Tell us a little bit more about the session. And, please, tell me that the draconic currents of the Servants will change, forcing Warryt to change faction. ;-)

Cheers,

/Peter N

[joshua neff]

I'll post a write-up of the session, with commentary & notes about what I was trying to do & what worked & what didn't, as soon as I can (which will probably be in a couple of days).

As for the Servants (that's yours, isn't it?), I see it like this: there will always be someone in the Lunar Empire who says, "We are all us? Well, that means this, too!" Even if most people are saying, "Dragons? Yikes!" or "Dragons? You bloody fools!", there will still be a Lunar faction that says, "Hey, dragons are cool...& useful." And any such faction would likewise see people who study draconic lore as...useful.

[Mike Holmes]

Again, my favorite moment was another tradition that I made up. This time the tradition was giving a SwampFlower to the head of the temple as a sign of respect. I envisioned handing over this ridiculously big blossom. Bevek managed to impress both the Tribune and the head of the temple, so he's in a good position to persue his own goals (by further ingratiating these folks by figuring out what's going on).

Mike

[doubtofbuddha]

Could someone explain to me what the Imperial Synod is?

Jesse D.