Lila, a Vedic Role Playing Game: A Synopsis

I wrote this synopsis for my own satisfaction, for clarity of mind. But I thought I should post it to fellow Forgee’s in the hope of positive feedback. If you are not familiar with The Mahabharata or Vedic literature it may all sound a bit strange – it really is a small target audience. This is just an overview and shows no real system design as such but for your imagination it will be similar to Scott Lininger’s The Window. As it stands it is not fully realized, hence this synopsis, and there is much more to do.

About the Game
Lila is a Role Playing Game designed as a fun, educational tool for Vaisnava (Hindu) children. The players will assume characters who grew up with our heroes of The Mahabharata and play an important role in the story. They will not be like our heroes who were born so righteous but rather more like you and me, who can attain that level only with great endeavor. On their way they will hear the retelling of the Mahabharata and the tenth canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, and the players will learn some of the philosophy therein.

Character motivation
“Once when the entire world was overburdened by the increasing military power of demons in the form of kings, mother earth assumed the shape of a cow and approached Lord Brahma for relief. Sympathetic to mother earth's lamentation, Brahma, accompanied by Lord Siva and other demigods, took the cow-shaped mother earth to the shore of the milk ocean, where he offered prayers to please Lord Visnu, who lay there on an island in transcendental ecstasy. Brahma thereafter understood the advice of Maha-Visnu, who informed him that He would appear on the surface of the earth to mitigate the burden created by the demons. The demigods, along with their wives, should appear there as associates of Lord Krsna in the family of Yadu to increase the sons and grandsons in that dynasty. By the will of Lord Krsna, Anantadeva would appear first, as Balarama, and Krsna's potency, yogamaya, would also appear. Brahma informed mother earth about all this, and then he returned to his own abode.” – S.B.

Duty (dharma)
PC’s will specify the unique roll they have in God’s play (Lila). Duty defines what is most important to the Character. The only race the PC’s play is humans and the only class is Ksatriya (Warrior) though they may be accompanied by brahmanas and others on their campaigns. Their rolls should culminate in the partaking of the battle of Kuruksetra.

Virtues
Virtues (self control, austerity, truthfulness, faith etc.) are the most important part of a characters make-up and perhaps the most common recurring theme in The Mahabharata. Through the acquisition and deepening of virtues the character can blossom. Virtues work in two ways: Passively and actively. How they work passively: The more virtuous one is, the more qualified he becomes to witness and enter into the higher realms of celestial beings. So as one advances in virtuousness so do the beings he can associate with are more powerful - whether they are human sages, Gandharvas (heavenly angels) or the demi-gods themselves. By pleasing these beings (subduing them in combat, giving them charity etc.) the character will be rewarded with such things as; celestial weapons, mystic powers, information or most importantly a Benediction. Virtues work actively by rewarding successful virtue rolls with points. These can be spent on “upgrading” existing mantra weapons, siddhis (mystic powers), virtues themselves or a given to aid a Vow. More on Vows later. PC’s should also specify a vice. The heroes of The Mahabharata all possessed one prominent vice.

The Benediction
The benediction can be anything the character desires, providing the granter is qualified to grant it. The more potent the benefactor, the more potent the boon. This may be something like: “I wish to defeat my greatest enemy in battle” or “I desire the ability to fly wherever I like”. It may even be a wish for more virtues.

The Terrible Vow
Often our heroes in The Mahabharata are making terrible vows to the shock and awe of those around them. Virtue Points can be given to these vows to increase the sureness of their success. Any time a vow comes into play the PC may use those points to boost any applicable dice in the situation. To be blunt vows work like the Spiritual Attributes in The Riddle of Steel. A vow that goes unfulfilled however is nothing more than a boast and will have dire consequences for the one who uttered it.

Creative combat
Combat will play a huge part in the game though it won’t be like the combat we find in traditional RPG’s. Every encounter will be like a puzzle. The antagonists will have inherent flaws that the PC’s must exploit in order to succeed and the PC’s will also be awarded bonus dice for thinking creatively in battle.

Traits and Skills
The standard RPG affair. Traits are the inherent characteristics that we all have in common; Strength, Wisdom, Beauty, Renunciation etc. Selecting of Traits and anything else in Lila will be completely freeform. Skills are stuff that’s learnt; Swordsmanship, Charioteering, Dancing etc.

Celestial Weapons
These are weapons powered by the utterance of mantras. The PC’s will learn some in martial school, others will be given to them by higher beings. Most of them work elementally.

Siddhis (Mystic Powers)
Siddhis pertain to powers that aren’t explicitly for combat. The ability to control the minds of others, to tolerate heat and cold, to become invisible are all examples of Siddhis. Acquisition of Siddhis will be the same as celestial weapons.

This doesn't really give you much of an idea of how a story will pan out in game - for that you will have to read the Mahabharata! But the most important issue is virtue: taking the right action, the practical application of spiritual life, Vaisnavism. other important ideas are: the importance of association and alliances, recieving God's grace etc.. etc..

I could go on and on but the point i'm trying to make is: much of the interest lies in the stories and adventures themselves not the game system.

Any feedback will be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Lorenzo.