gamerprinter
Mapper/Publisher
I am working on a dark, feudal Japan-like setting intended for publication to OGL format and eventually to Pathfinder in August 2009. Things that make it dark...
1. The Shogun is a Death Knight, transformed by his own uttered curse that condemned himself, his household and even his child-emperor to undead status and founded the Empire that he now resides in as overlord.
2. Most of the Imperial Court as well as a third of the provincial noble houses are undead as well, though voluntarily as a means to maintain the status quo.
3. The Cosmology of the setting is based on the Buddhist Wheel of Life construct or Sorrowful World (an eternal doomed cycle of renincarnations):
3a. Six realms of existence: Heaven, Asuras, Human, Animal, Hungry Ghost and Hell.
3b. 4 of these realms are divided between the four social castes of the society: Heaven = Noble Caste, Asuras = Samurai Caste, Human = Commoner or Monk Caste, Hungry Ghost = Eta caste (yakuza, geisha, etc.)
3c. 1 of the realms (Animal Realm) occupied by Hengeyokai barbarian shape-changers.
3d. 1 of the realms (Hell) is actually the only metaphyically separate plane of existence (ethereal plane) occupied by oni-demons and demon spirits. (those who reincarnate here become NPCs.)
3e. You are not a farmer because of family lineage, rather because of acts you did in a previous life. You have reincarnated to this caste/realm.
4. Movement up and down the Wheel of Life construct based on "karma" points assigned for lawful and chaotic acts in life. Lawful provides positive karma, while chaotic acts denote negative karma. Once a minimum required accumulated karma points occur, at death/reincarnation you move on the wheel.
5. PC death cannot be undone by Ressurrection of similar magic, once you die, you are trapped in the Wheel of Life construct and eventually reincarnate to another adult PC, in same or different social caste.
6. Once you reincarnate, you lose memories of a past life, however, through sorcery, you can be identified by former party members and possibility to awaken past life memories, so a reincarnated PC, could become multi-class with their current life and past lives bound to their PC skills, spells and memory.
7. The senior nobles who have volunteered undead status have done so, in order to escape the Wheel of Life. Undead do not reincarnate and maintain their position at the top of the wheel.
8. Dangerously common to die and become undead rather than reincarnating. If great emotion at moment of death: hatred, jealousy, love, rage, etc. - causes spirit to become lost and result in Yurei ghost status. Also if proper prayers and burial rites not performed, becoming a ghost is caused by this also.
9. Huge plethora of Yurei Ghost (umbrella to all undead types), also Oni-demons, demon-spirits, nature-spirits, heaven-spirits, many types of shape-changer beings, as shape-changing monsters called Obake; monsters everywhere.
10. Although "enlightenment" exists as a means to escape the Wheel, it is a secret maintained by the Imperial Court who desires to keep the Wheel of Life as an indefinite existence for all its citizens.
There are forces of good, though they are rare, under a noble house of good, where the majority of members are Inkyo or Boddisattva mage/priest/martial artists acting as spiritual guides for those who desire to escape the cosmic wheel of life.
Because the setting is destined for use in Pathfinder, I am forced to recreate the rules set for oriental campaigning. OA is a WotC IP, and AEG Rokugan is also separate IP from Pathfinder/OGL requirements. Thus I am not only developing a setting and campaign arc, but I have to create the rules as well.
Thoughts?
GP
PS: I need a custom rules set for my setting for more than legal reasons, my world, classes , types of magic, relationships between organizations and castes reflect Japanese history and mythology. IMO, OA and Rokugan are too deviated from Japanese history, so these settings don't work for my needs anyway.
1. The Shogun is a Death Knight, transformed by his own uttered curse that condemned himself, his household and even his child-emperor to undead status and founded the Empire that he now resides in as overlord.
2. Most of the Imperial Court as well as a third of the provincial noble houses are undead as well, though voluntarily as a means to maintain the status quo.
3. The Cosmology of the setting is based on the Buddhist Wheel of Life construct or Sorrowful World (an eternal doomed cycle of renincarnations):
3a. Six realms of existence: Heaven, Asuras, Human, Animal, Hungry Ghost and Hell.
3b. 4 of these realms are divided between the four social castes of the society: Heaven = Noble Caste, Asuras = Samurai Caste, Human = Commoner or Monk Caste, Hungry Ghost = Eta caste (yakuza, geisha, etc.)
3c. 1 of the realms (Animal Realm) occupied by Hengeyokai barbarian shape-changers.
3d. 1 of the realms (Hell) is actually the only metaphyically separate plane of existence (ethereal plane) occupied by oni-demons and demon spirits. (those who reincarnate here become NPCs.)
3e. You are not a farmer because of family lineage, rather because of acts you did in a previous life. You have reincarnated to this caste/realm.
4. Movement up and down the Wheel of Life construct based on "karma" points assigned for lawful and chaotic acts in life. Lawful provides positive karma, while chaotic acts denote negative karma. Once a minimum required accumulated karma points occur, at death/reincarnation you move on the wheel.
5. PC death cannot be undone by Ressurrection of similar magic, once you die, you are trapped in the Wheel of Life construct and eventually reincarnate to another adult PC, in same or different social caste.
6. Once you reincarnate, you lose memories of a past life, however, through sorcery, you can be identified by former party members and possibility to awaken past life memories, so a reincarnated PC, could become multi-class with their current life and past lives bound to their PC skills, spells and memory.
7. The senior nobles who have volunteered undead status have done so, in order to escape the Wheel of Life. Undead do not reincarnate and maintain their position at the top of the wheel.
8. Dangerously common to die and become undead rather than reincarnating. If great emotion at moment of death: hatred, jealousy, love, rage, etc. - causes spirit to become lost and result in Yurei ghost status. Also if proper prayers and burial rites not performed, becoming a ghost is caused by this also.
9. Huge plethora of Yurei Ghost (umbrella to all undead types), also Oni-demons, demon-spirits, nature-spirits, heaven-spirits, many types of shape-changer beings, as shape-changing monsters called Obake; monsters everywhere.
10. Although "enlightenment" exists as a means to escape the Wheel, it is a secret maintained by the Imperial Court who desires to keep the Wheel of Life as an indefinite existence for all its citizens.
There are forces of good, though they are rare, under a noble house of good, where the majority of members are Inkyo or Boddisattva mage/priest/martial artists acting as spiritual guides for those who desire to escape the cosmic wheel of life.
Because the setting is destined for use in Pathfinder, I am forced to recreate the rules set for oriental campaigning. OA is a WotC IP, and AEG Rokugan is also separate IP from Pathfinder/OGL requirements. Thus I am not only developing a setting and campaign arc, but I have to create the rules as well.
Thoughts?
GP
PS: I need a custom rules set for my setting for more than legal reasons, my world, classes , types of magic, relationships between organizations and castes reflect Japanese history and mythology. IMO, OA and Rokugan are too deviated from Japanese history, so these settings don't work for my needs anyway.
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