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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 4962578" data-attributes="member: 15538">There is a facet of Buddhism sometimes called left-hand Buddhism. The underlying premise is this: all attachment leads to suffering. A particularly enlighted student may be able to free himself more quickly from attachment by acting in ways opposite to his attachments. Thus, a Buddhist monk might eat human flesh or perform a sex ritual. Ex:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamachara" target="_blank">Vamachara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</a>Although his central motivation remains enlightenment and compassion, he does not allow anything to stand between him and ultimate truth. It is said that masters of this path can literally eat dung and consider it equal to eating a feast. Keep in mind: left-hand path Buddhism is condidered very dangerous, even for many students who excel at other practices. To adapt this concept to a game, maybe this villain has decided that avoidance of pain is his greatest hindrance.Another idea is a protector-spirit. In some forms of Buddhism, as well as Shinto, powerful spirits are associated with people, places and things. In Buddhism, spirits are somtimes "Tamed" through special rituals that bind them to a certain spiritual practice. Thereafter, the spirit is "fed" through devotions and in turn uses its spiritual power to help others achieve enlightenment. Villain idea: he's decided it's much more efficient to use sorcery to extract life force from vicitmis instead of performing slow and demanding rituals. Heck, maybe he uses traditional methods, but he has taught his followers to use sacrifices so they can be empowered with minimal training. Shinto is a Japanese religion. The kami are basically spirits or gods of various types. Shinto priests are knowledgeable about how to honor, placate, and defend against spirits. Villain idea: obviously, drawing power from a particularly vicious or destructive kami could lead a corrupt human into evil. Another idea: in some versions of Hindu and Buddhism, people with evil spirits are believed to face scourging by entities like Kali, and may risk being reincarnated as demons rather than humans. Villain idea one: the villain likes the idea of "scourging" and has embraced it, feeling that softness helps no one achieve their full potential. Villain idea two: the villain is or is in allience with a reincarnted demon. As a result of his karma, the demon has suffered greatly and wishes to make the world suffer, too.</blockquote>

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