Hawaiian Flavor type game?

[Tonguez]

This brings a question: how do you see a d20-Polynesian setting? Or do you see it as something compatible with D&D and that can be imported into a pre-existing campaign?

Despite my love of the Polynesian tradition and a desire for authentivity I beleive to be a viable DnD product compatibility with existing campaigns is required.

Nontheless the divine nature of all magic in Polynesia and the abundance of spirits is an important aspect of the culture that needs to be included for an authentic feel.

What I can suggest is tying the dearth of Arcane Magic directly to the lack of metals in Polynesia, a region which is known to be resource poor.
Something thus
The spirits in Polynesia are more active than in other more technologically advanced areas, they actively move between the spirit and mortal realms, interact with the material world and freely manifest thier Mana. It is the task of the tohunga to mediate between spirits and mortals.
Early explorers were quick to notice this and proposed a number of theories for the phenomena. The most credible links the fact that Polynesia is known to be resource poor and metals are practically unknown. It is suggested that the know properties of Cold Iron and Silver etc to diminish the power of Spirits does not apply in Polynesia due to the overall dearth of metals across the islands. As such the paths between the Spirit realms and the mortal realm have not been so readily blocked off.
This is contrasted with the diminishing of the power of spirits as occured in metal using areas which resulted in a need for people to develop other means of drawing on magic such as Arcane theory.
Thus it is suggested that Arcane magic is unknown in Polynesia not because the people are incapable of using it but rather that the presence of a world full of spirits meant that Arcane practices did not develop

Psions and the like would make up for the absence of arcane spellcasters in a Polynesian setting. They would also be a way for some DM to give a place of origin for psionic-users in his world. This would explain the exotism of psionics vs magic (at least arcane magic). Now what about "all magic is divine" if a foreigner conquistador and arcane spellcaster comes to the Archipelago? Does it ruin your idea of "all magic is divine?".

scanning through the psion powers in the SRD I can see how they can be made compatible with a Polynesian setting (even adapting the psicrytals to take the form of talismans and 'tiki' images), but I still need to ponder the full implication of this

Just as another aside I would also include a feat which allows all characters to cast 1 or more orisons as a manifesttion of 'mana'.

Anyway I am willing to work with Turanil and others so do we need to formalise this more and get some kind of structure to how we approach things?

 

[seankreynolds]

Ever since my Hawaii trip in 2000 (?) I've wanted to run such a thing, I even bought a few reference books. Still haven't worked on it yet, though. :/

 

[Turanil]

Anyway I am willing to work with Turanil and others so do we need to formalise this more and get some kind of structure to how we approach things?

First of all, we need to know who is seriously interested to contribute. I have been a member of the FanCC for a long time (see FanCC netbooks and many of my contributions and work in following this link (the first netbook is entirely by myself for instance); what I saw frequently was people who swore they wanted to join a group but then practically contributed nothing. This always proceeds like that, and my experience is that 2 or maybe 3 maximum authors will do more work and more quickly than a bunch of people who were eager to join but then quick to disappear. This requires dedicated work for the sake of it (financial reward is almost non-existent). Those who are excited about it for a couple of days would better just post their ideas and suggestions on this thread (which may be valuable).

Myself I am willing to contribute art, layout, maps, and strong contribution on game mechanics. I am also willing to propose various ideas, but since Tonguez is the expert on the Polynesian subject, I will let him decide in the last instance.

 

[Kankichi]

I'm not quite sure how I can contribute to this project.

I do know that mana was very important aspect of Hawaiian life. Great chiefs and other personages were said to have a large quantity of it. So valued was their mana that it could "rub" off a little to those around them, but it was also found in their bones. When important figures died their bones were often hidden away to prevent their mana from being used by others.

Perhaps a mana mechanic that is given to all PC's that scales upward with level. Not sure what kind of effect this might mean. Perhaps it would simply be a new name for using hero points or action points or what have you.

Also in regards to deities, the ancient religion was animist. In Hawaii, there were four main gods. However, the only creation mythology does not involve them. Not sure why. Pele, the goddess of fire, is said to have made each of the islands and moved for one reason or other, which created the chain of islands. The other involves Maui, a demi-god, who fished the islands out with a magic hook. It was said that it would have been a large island/continent, but one of the paddlers in the canoe that Maui was fishing in looked back when they had been told not to and only the islands that are seen today are the result. In addition to the main gods, there were minor aspects of each god and family gods as well.

In terms of social structure, I am not sure how strict you wish to follow it. In polynesia, versus social structure in melanesia or micronesia, a more hierarchical structure existed with a rigid caste system as has been said above. There did not seem much in the way of mingling between castes, especially when the difference in status was greater. If a chief or kahuna was so high in status, they could not even be looked upon. Similar, I suppose to the emperor of Japan. So I'm not sure how strictly one would want to follow this in the game. The caste system was similar to the Indian caste system.

Spirits can be a tricky thing. Like those around the world, they could be benevolent, although in my general recollection they all seem to have more nefarious purposes. A pond that would never drain and was colored in blood. Or the night watchers, dead warriors who walked upon a set track that would drag the living into death if they were caught. If you could feign being an animal, usually by urinating on oneself, you could avoid capture.

I know there's more, but I need to dig through some books I have somewhere. Hope this helps some.

 

[Ranger REG]

What if in the PC races section we have the Menehune PC race with its relevant description (fluff), but then a line tells that they are distant cousins of gnomes, and the racial traits are those of a jungle gnome (Unearthed Arcana). Do you see this as "traditional" (within the frame of a D&D game, that is) or some Western Mythos adaptation into a Polynesian-like setting. My concern is that with all the plethora of custom classes and races that flooded the d20 market these last years, I thought it would be better to stick with existing official material (such as UA variants) but rename it entirely so, for example, it's not an "island gnome" but a menehune.

You mean trying to make them mainland "haole" gamers relate to the Polynesian culture with something they already know? Suit yourself.

 

[Ranger REG]

Spirits can be a tricky thing. Like those around the world, they could be benevolent,

A totem spirit that ties to your family and ancestors is your aumakua. It could be an owl or a shark or any animal form.

the night watchers, dead warriors who walked upon a set track that would drag the living into death if they were caught. If you could feign being an animal, usually by urinating on oneself, you could avoid capture.

The night marchers. There are many spooky stories about them. I recalled one story in which a lady who rented out a small unit in which her bedroom was directly in the path of the Night Marchers. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of voices and drums and then not being able to move from her bed as she saw the spirits walked over her body. She lived. When she asked a kahuna about what happened, she was lucky that a god took pity on her and laid upon her body for the mere touch of the Night Marchers would have taken her soul.

Then there is a story about a visiting couple who camped directly on the path of the Night Marcher. They woke to the sounds and seen shadows playing across the cloth of their tent but they dared not sleep nor looked out. In the morning when they finally dozed, they woke up, crawled out of their tent, and found that it had moved from their original campsite next to a sharp cliff drop.

I don't care how adventurous you are, you don't screw with them.

 

[Turanil]

Plenty of great stuff here.

Okay, here is how I do see the book's structure. Feel free anybody to comment and suggest.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Polynesian World in D&D
-- Introduction which is an overview of the Polynesian world from a gaming perspective.
-- Glossary of terms: Mana, Tahua, etc. and explanation of important concepts.
-- Daily life and social structure of the Polynesian people.
-- List of Polynesian names (cannot be missed!)
-- The natural and supernatural Polynesian world (spirits, etc.).
-- About magic and psionics in a D&D Polynesia
-- Weird and magical stuff: corpses full of mana in their bones, living statues and monoliths, and else.
-- Description of a typical temple, of typical habitations, a boat, whatever.

Polynesian Archipelago: the setting
-- Map
-- Short history of the Archipelago
-- Politics, factions, enemies (i.e.: sahuagins, etc.)
-- Succinct description of places and islands
-- Plot hooks, adventures ideas.
-- Monsters that fit, and tables.
-- New monsters.
-- Some basic everyday life Polynesian NPCs

Game Mechanics
-- The races in a Polynesian setting.
-- The classes in a Polynesian setting. (Mostly adaptations of existing PHB classes ala Unearthed Arcana, with new names and description that fit the setting: Kahuna, etc.
-- Prestige classes (just what appears to be extremely necessary)
-- New feats and skill-uses.
-- Armors and weapons.
-- Equipment and currency

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Turanil]

Feel free anybody to comment and suggest.

I mean: you can comment and suggest about the book structure, but of course feel free to tell what you would like to see in such a book. If you are a DM what are the things important, what you need. Also, if you have creative ideas about something, feel free to post it here, it can only help.

Thanks.

 

[Tonguez]

excellent stuff Turanil I was just thinking about what kind of contents would be required so you've taken care of that. Thank you.

I think a small section on Vaka (boat)-use, Navigation and the Stars is required since boat-use is essential in an island setting (and in Polynesia should replace the ride skill)

Also a section on types of tohunga (kahuna, tohu'a) since the word means 'one chosen' and refers to Experts of various fields (since all knowledge is divine in origin) eg a tahu'a tarai vaka is a boatbuilder

Also we need to have a discussion on 'Wealth' since Polynesia had a moneyless economy, based on 'ritual gift exchange'
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Scope
We also need to decide on the scope of this project whether it will be concentrated on Hawaiian structures or broadened out to the whole of Polynesia or even 'Oceania'. Also are we create a single archipelego or different 'sets' based on real world archipelago's of Polynesia
I ask this for a couple of reasons. 1st in many ways the Monarchal system which developed in Hawaii (and Tonga) is not the norm for Polynesia (although it is derived from the Polynesia norm and reflects the same basic tenents - the stratified hierarchy) The norm for Polynesia is more an oligarchal system wherein the heirarchy is present but social mobility is possible. The oligarchal system did exist in Hawaii but was largely replaced by the monarchal system after the rise of Kamehameha

Anyway without writing a thesis the social formation adopted in various parts of polynesia are based on primogeniture (senior descent) with a caste-like division between Ari'i - Nobles (ra'atira)- Commoners- Slaves-Outcasts. However because of common descent Ari'i, nobles and commoners are related.
Diversity in this structure arises in response to environmental and demographic pressures thus:

Low Population High Resources = Standard Chieftainship system where the Ari'i is essentially first amongst equals (ra'atira) and works alongside his people
Low Population Low Resources = Family 'mobs' usually no 'physical' Ari'i (in Tokelau the Tui-Tokelau (King) was a god not a person)
High Population High Resources = Monarchy the high population means Ari'i and commoners are often not related (due to population movements and conquest through war) (Hawaii, Tonga)
High Population Low Resources = Warlords as occured in Rapanui (Easter Island) and Marquesas (due to its isolated narrow valleys)

Anyway lots of stuff to consider
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Turanil I'm looking through you Celtic Druids pdf now and it is good, I'm looking forward to this endeavour.

 

[XCorvis]

For the scope, I'd like to see a Fantasy Polynesian setting, rather than a historically accurate Polynesia or Hawaii. Those could be cool, but I think most folks are more interested in the general feel of a "South Pacific" game rather than the specific feel of Hawaii or any other particular island group.

Someone might want to start looking into a wiki for this...