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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9519643" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/bxMQSYB.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonMasters/comments/1flaa7b/the_city_of_hastinapur_by_silver_compass_maps/?rdt=62241" target="_blank">You can see a full-sized map on Reddit.</a>Whereas our prior post looked at Devabhumi on a subcontinental and then regional level, Cities goes even smaller scope by detailing two major population centers. The first is Hastinapur, the capital of the Kuru Kingdom. It is one of the largest metropolises on the continent in both land and population, and circular stone walls separate the city into several districts. The Devapani River runs through its center from west to east, with smaller tributaries running through the city that are used for drinking and bathing. Beyond the walls, several farming communities are counted as part of the city’s population, while the outermost ring holds districts housing artisans, merchants, and skilled laborers. The second inner ring houses the noble families, temples, and guard barracks along with the royal palace.Hastinapur has 20 detailed locations, such as the Temple of Vishnu whose high priest secretly possesses a powerful astra and is in search of a worthy wielder to use against the Asura Queen. There’s also the Royal Palace, which houses two princely brothers, with the younger one willing to resort to dishonorable tactics to secure himself being next in line. For those with an eye for shopping, the impressive Mandir Markets sell just about everything legal, from street food to a rare magic item every now and then. But there’s a conspiracy of merchants engaging in counterfeit spices to sell to those not sophisticated enough to discern real ones of quality. An arena used to train war elephants supplements the armies of the kingdom, and they’re even willing to sell mounts to civilians. But only the older and injured ones, and via auctions that are the frequent site of expensive bidding wars.Devakurmapuram, the City of the God Turtle, is located on the mountain adorning the island-sized turtle Jalpurush. Its architecture is shaped by Saraswati’s Stonemasons, a guild of spellcasters who use a blend of geomantic and aquatic magic combined with bardic music to shape rocks and rivers for urban development. It is separated into three districts, each named after a deity. The Vishnu District houses much of the city-state’s military, and is home to the city’s only hostel where soldiers disguised as travelers keep an eye on visitors. The Indra District house stables for mounts, where magical towers channel the power of lightning to repel large-scale invasions and more powerful monsters. This district is home to Yashdeva, the half-asura general of Devakurmapuram’s army who is willing to go the extra mile to prove that his heritage doesn’t define him, and has recently become susceptible to Gayatri’s plots.Finally, the Saraswati District is an artistic neighborhood with problems spelling trouble in paradise. First off, the local oracle Gandhari used to apply her talents in predicting future calamities so that the city can avert or prepare for them, as well as giving blessings to newborn children in choosing their name. But she’s fallen ill the past three months, and nobody’s been able to cure her. She may very well die from this, and there’s nobody talented enough to replace Gandhari as orcale. The other problem pertains to Gayatri, a half-apsara whose human heritage caused her to be spurned by her fellows, with her own mother going on to leave with them in a secluded garden part of the city. Gayatri is eager to prove herself a worthy equal to the three immortal apsaras and finally live with her mother. In order to do this, she secretly plots to obtain a dose of amrita from the exclusive garden and drink it. The city’s inhabitants are forbidden from consuming the elixir of immortality, for in so doing the island would become overcrowded and the supply of amrita would eventually run out. If Gayatri becomes the first to do this, this will spell eventual political instability as the once-sacrosanct line has now been crossed. “For if she can be justified in doing so, why can’t others?”Thoughts: Hastinapur may be short in page count, but it has just enough sample sites and characters for the DM to build the foundations for adventure, along with some seeds to grow further plots such as the Vishnu priest’s hidden astra or the scheming younger prince. The other locations covered strike a balance between general world-building to make the city feel authentic, and places of interest to adventuring PC types like suggestions on where one might look to buy magic items and other common services. Devakurmapuram feels lacking in comparison, as barring two sample crisis points the city feels too idyllic and well-defended to be the site of adventures. It’s the type of place that in an RPG would serve as a safe haven where characters can stop between adventures, as opposed to a place that can sustain adventures.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/6JhUchk.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Religion in Devabhumi is united by three central concepts: Karma, where every action comes with a consequence; Dharma, or behaviors that are in line with nature and harmony and pertain to the duties of an individual; and Samsara, the cycle of reincarnation that governs all life. Powerful though they may be, not even the gods can defy these cosmic laws, and are subject to them just as much as mortals. But beyond these three rules, faiths take on many forms and can change, not just from kingdom to kingdom but even village to village. Devabhumi is a land of many gods, and in some cases even non-godly beings such as rakshasa form religious orders dedicated to their worship.The Indic pantheon has six major gods, followed by an innumerable number of devas (devi is feminine form, basically a “goddess”) that cover just about everything in existence, both conceptual and material. The latter category has over 10,000 such divinities chronicled in-universe, but only 11 of the most commonly-worshiped ones are covered in the book. As evidenced with the Zhav’s sky spirit and the Samya Confederacy’s adoption of relatively unknown nature spirits, there are deities foreign to Devabhumi, so they aren’t the end-all be-all. The book notes that the DM is encouraged to create deities based on the needs of the campaign, particularly for local gods, and has a list of common questions to ask when creating local faiths and their traditions.The listed gods and devas are all explicitly taken from real-world Hinduism. The gods have specific alignments listed on the ninefold axis: for example, Brahma is True Neutral while Shiva is Chaotic Good. The Devas, however, are more fluid in that they only cover one axis of alignment in being “lawful,” “good,” and so on. For instance, Ganesha is listed as Lawful. No deity has an evil listing, and while not technically gods the role of asura and rakshasa appear to fill in the role of “evil deities” in Devabhumi. None of the gods have listed domains, although the text discusses common areas of influence along with holy symbols and why said symbols are representative of that deity. Additionally, a god’s worshiper doesn’t have to be the same or even close in alignment, and such people usually perform great penances and sacrifices for proscribed behavior in order to get back into a deity’s good graces.The six main gods have male-female pairings of spouses and consorts, each representing creation, preservation, and destruction. They are Brahma (creator deity, responsible for creating many creatures that populate the world to this day) and Saraswati (governs education and the arts, the more ‘practical’ aspects of creation), Vishnu (a rather hands-on god who acts as a divine do-gooder and is a very popular deity) and Lakshmi (represents beauty, fertility, and worldly gain and success), and Shiva (holds the role of destroying the world in order to create a new one) and Parvati (goddess of motherhood, gentleness, and strength and can take the form of Kali when roused to anger). Common types of temples and worshipers vary in line with the god’s nature. For example, Lakshmi’s centers of worship tend to be small waystation shrines or household paintings and statues, the former to help grant travelers good fortune and the latter as a means of inviting the goddess to dwell within a house.The eleven devas and devis include Agni (god of fire, acts as a middleman to other deities given the use of fire in puja rituals), Ganesha (god of good luck and prosperity who people commonly pray to before beginning great tasks and endeavors), Hanuman (god of loyalty, strength, and wisdom, favored by soldiers, laborers, and others saddled with burdens), Indra (god of storms and rain, worshiped by farmers and sacrifices are made during the planting season), Kali (goddess of death and violence, not regularly worshiped save by Thugees and usually turned to by people who view violence as inevitable in their lives), Kamadeva (god of beauty and desire, favored by couples and the married who wish to sire children), Kartikeya (god of battle and strategy, is a popular deity in the south and soldiers often call upon his name before carrying out their duties), Surya (god of light, the sun, and new beginnings, a dispeller of darkness of all kinds and is universally popular), Varuna (god of the sky, sea, and other bodies of water, does not control the ocean so much as soothes and nudges it, is a popular deity among sages and doctors as well as sailors), Vayu (god of the wind, messages, and breath, plays an important role in keeping living creatures alive via giving them air to breathe, not commonly worshiped save in order to enact particular healing rituals), and Yamaraj (judge of the dead, is impartial and was actually one of the first mortals to exist by rejecting immortality to avoid a life of endless boredom and ennui).Thoughts: I am not a Hindu and I don’t know much about the religion beyond common knowledge stuff from a Western perspective, so I cannot speak to the appropriateness of their portrayal in a role-playing supplement, much less how accurate are their assigned alignments. But their descriptions in Devabhumi more or less seem to match their general portfolios and purposes in the real-world religion. The divinities provided here cover a wide ground for PCs of the more religious types, and along with the below cults there’s enough distinctive faiths and methods of worship to make a cleric of Kartikeya feel different from one who pays homage to Indra.Devabhumi is very Hindu-inspired in terms of the religious traditions of real-world India. But when it comes to the other religions of the subcontinent, I did spot some things associated with Jainism in this book. Such as special shoes in the equipment chapter designed to minimize surface area, and thus less likely to crush bugs and small creatures. But for Buddhism and Sikhism, I don’t see any counterpart groups, or rather I may not have enough know-how in their traditions and peculiarities to immediately spot things that jump out at me, like the aforementioned shoes. And I do know enough about Islam to say that they aren’t present as a fantasy counterpart here. This isn’t a criticism necessarily, as trying to holistically cover every major faith of the world’s most populous country is beyond the scope of an RPG book. But I did feel it worth pointing out for those who might be wondering how, and if, those groups get represented here.Cults & Factions represent widespread groups in Devabhumi, usually but not always of a religious nature. Unlike other settings, the term “cult” doesn’t necessarily imply a secretive circle of evildoers nor an abusive pyramid scheme ruled by a charismatic leader. It instead refers to a subculture bonded together via a common god, group of gods, and/or rituals. It is not considered unusual or shameful to join a cult in and of itself, although certain cults can earn societal scorn and even retribution depending upon their actions and ideologies. This section provides us with 9 sample cults.Ahimsayas are pacifist worshipers of Vishnu who maintain strict lifestyles designed to cause the least amount of harm. They are vegetarians and perform occupations deemed to be largely beneficial to the common good, such as artisans and merchants. They have a universally good reputation to the point that some inns and restaurants provide vegetarian menus to encourage their patronage. They also get involved in local government in order to advance their principles of non-violence on a political scale.Aghoris are a decentralized, individualistic movement of Shiva worshipers who believe that the world is an illusion. Furthermore, they believe that things regarded as unhealthy and unclean are actually spiritually beneficial, and that pleasurable things are the opposite. They tend to do actions in line with this, like consume cold and rotten food or live as hermits, although some still live relatively normal lives save in largely avoiding worldly luxuries. Beyond their patron deity and questioning of reality, they have no other steadfast tenets, so each Aghori is encouraged to find their own path.The Hijra are people who are considered neither male nor female, to embody qualities of both masculine and feminine genders. Hijra are largely considered blessed by the gods and are commonly sought after to bless newborns and newly married couples. They live in communal housing with a guru serving as their leader, and their households are considered to be “neutral ground,” so those on the run from an enemy or the law can come in for sanctuary. Hijra tend to worship female deities, but this isn’t universal and they often worship one based on how they identify.The Kamuaram, or Cult of Kartikeya, is a sect of warrior-sages whose namesake patron deity is revered as a role model for which to model one’s principles. Their group was founded by Agastya the Sage, who created an internal language of Por Moli designed for clarity of communication in regards to “the language of war,” a new martial art known as Silambam, and scientific medicine to encourage a multi-faceted path for a warrior. That way, a practitioner becomes more than just a slayer of lives. Cult bases are closer in purpose to community centers than military fortifications, where they teach civilians means of practical self-defense.Maha Yaksha is a little-known movement that worships Yakshis, nature spirits* who live in forests. They hope to earn the aid of such Yakshi as a means of having some goal or desire fulfilled, such as finding an ideal romantic or marriage partner.*and a new playable race.Tirth Taraka are a society of traveling warriors who owe no allegiance to any particular deity, instead united by ideals of religious freedom and so act as guardians of pilgrims on the road. While they were once large and influential, the Mahabharata caused most of their order to die. In current times they are a small and stretched out sect who have their hands more than full yet no less vigilant in protecting who they can, where they can.Thugees are a loose movement of bandits across Devabhumi. Many worship Kali and even the more secular members tend to adopt her iconography, but by and large their primary motivation is selfish opportunism wrought by violence and the threat of it. They draw most of their number from the desperate and outcast, but prospects are subjected to demanding trials in order to prove both their loyalty and competence. Thugees play a delicate balancing act; they need to keep a certain distance away from civilization in order to evade the law, but retreating too far places them in dangerous and remote territory with little reward.Yamadutas are centered around the god of death, but don’t worship him so much as use his name as an excuse to enrich themselves as killers-for-hire. They draw their number from the worst-off in society, granting them shelter and a new family of sorts in order to gain their loyalty. Such loyalty is expected to be absolute, for a superior’s orders are to be followed without question. Failure or insubordination are grounds for execution.Yogis are practitioners of exercises known as yoga. While some perform them as a means of religious expression, yogis are overall secular in being united as fans of the activity. Yoga is performed as a means of strengthening one’s physical and mental discipline, and their schools are known as Ashrams and typically located in the wilderness. But even nobles and the financially well-off have grown fond of yoga, so some tempt yogi to urban centers as well-paid teachers.Thoughts: While brief, the sample groups provided have a good mixture of general world-building, patrons and allies for PCs, and adversaries to oppose. For instance, the Ahimsayas’ vows of non-violence aren’t ideal for most 5e PCs, but their integration into communities and politics makes the setting feel more realized and three-dimensional. The Kamuaram and Tirth Taraka look the most suitable for paladins and “honorable warrior” types. Thugees and Yamadutas are tailor-made to be antagonists in the classic bandits in the wilderness and sneaky assassin” types, or perhaps a backstory for a PC with a checkered past.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/wabay8F.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Karma is a new sub-system that acts as a kind of point-based morality. This reflects the universe reacting to an individual’s deeds and misdeeds, bringing them boons and consequences down the road. Karma is rated on a scale from -15 to 15, and as one gets closer to one end of the spectrum it requires greater and greater acts of altruism or villainy in order to continue. Conversely, slip-ups that knock one’s Karma back become easier; if you’re saintly, even minor selfish desires and actions can lower your karma, while the world’s wickedest person can end up gaining karma from even a tiny act of self-restraint or kindness. Due to this, even the gods and oldest entities rarely if ever maxed out their score or dropped it to its lowest point, and those few who did are some of the most holiest sages and vile entities that ever lived.Examples are given for what kind of person sits at a general level of karma, and what they would have to do in order to make amends to raise a negative score or how easy it is to slip up and falter for a positive score. For instance, the score range of -3 to 3 is an inoffensive medium, where karma can be gained via minor good deeds that result in a tangible loss or inconvenience that is not dangerous or ruinous, like giving some coins to a beggar. Conversely, karma can be lost via acts of minor harm, such as petty theft or insulting a god. For another example, a karma score of 10 to 14 is typically the highest most pious people get in their whole lives, where in order to gain more one must perform actions of great danger and sacrifice such as putting one’s life in danger to save another or completing a difficult pilgrimage. Meanwhile, losing karma at this level can come from even telling a white lie or succumbing to anger.The rewards and punishments for karma are primarily driven by DM Fiat, where things auspiciously line up in ways that might be supernatural but have a rational explanation. The magnitude and frequency increases the farther along one gets on the axis. For example, someone of -3 to 3 karma may find a coin in the street as a little convenience after performing a good deed, or mud is splattered on them from a passing horse after doing a bad deed. Meanwhile, someone of 10 to 14 karma will have good things happening to them on a daily basis, with enemies subconsciously targeting others in combat and they seem to stumble upon treasure just from traveling around. Albeit this last example this tends to happen to PCs in a typical campaign by default, so it might not be the best means of showcasing karmic justice.Thoughts: Given the prominence of karma in Indian culture and their religious traditions, I can understand making it an important and persistent aspect of a campaign in order to reinforce themes in line with myths and legends. However, whenever one introduces a new sub-system, it should ideally be both easy to understand and seamless enough to insert into play. Barring gaming groups whose PCs shoulder their burdens together and make decisions as a team all the time, a DM will need to juggle the consequences of various individual karma scores and come up with events of cosmic consequence for each PC’s actions during play.Then, there’s the delicate balancing act of ensuring that the players feel that said consequences are the natural result of said actions, rather than making them continually guess as to what is just a coincidence or karmic in nature. At worst, perceptions of favoritism can arise if one player appears to be suffering less or being rewarded more despite having a close or same score, or arguments over the DM being inconsistent in their rulings. While I don’t think that a karma or “morality with consequences” sub-system is a bad one in and of itself, Devabhumi’s default could use more fleshing out to account for these potential difficulties.Thoughts So Far: I found these chapters to be overall good, but the Karma subsystem left much to be desired. The coverage of gods and cults does much to make Devabhumi’s religious traditions feel authentically unique as opposed to generic fantasy with a South Asian paint job. The maps for the two sample cities are beautiful and just begging to be used.If I had any suggestions for improvement, I would’ve liked to see more discussion on where divine casting classes would fit into Devabhumi’s faiths. While it would more appropriately be covered in the next set of chapters, there isn’t much talk about in this book on how existing classes and subclasses fit into the setting beyond some generalities. I would’ve loved to see how Druids, with their penchant for animal shapeshifting and unique shared language, would’ve been interpreted in the setting, or how Paladins and their oaths would interact with gods and the world.Join us next time as check out new races, backgrounds, feats, and items in Character Creation and Equipment!</blockquote>

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