ForceUser
Explorer
Greetings. This is the first time I've asked for advice in this forum, but the truth is that as I develop Neat New Things (tm) to drop into my campaign world, I'm reminded of just how little I actually know about asian culture! You can read the story hour about my campaign over at the Story Hour forum by following the link in my sig, but basically it's a fantasy world drawn part and parcel from medieval southeast Asia - specifically Vietnam.
The ancient Vietnamese share a lot of culture and history with the ancient Chinese, due in large part to the fact that Vietnam was a subject state of the Middle Kingdom for over a thousand years. So keep that in mind regarding the following scenario.
I'm going to present my problem like this: I'm going to tell a story, and you guys are going to fill in the blanks. It needs to feel distinctly asian. The story is about an artifact weapon that will one day appear in my campaign setting. That weapon is a +4 ghost touch/+4 sonic burst quarterstaff of defending. It is intelligent and can speak telepathically, but refrains from doing so, instead communicating through empathy with its wielders. In addition to its basic properties, the staff grants the wielder Spirit Sight at will, blink 1/day, ethereal jaunt 1/day, and commune with greater spirit twice per year. The descriptions of Spirit Sight and commune with greater spirit can be found in the Oriental Adventures book.
The tale itself...
Long ago, a monk named Duong Le Li became vexed by an unanswerable riddle about the nature of ___________. He sought out many sages and wise men, but none knew the truth. After meditating on the matter, he decided that the only way to answer this riddle and achieve Enlightenment was to ask the Great Spirit Tree, a large banyan known for its infinite wisdom in all things. So Duong journeyed to the Spirit World and posed the riddle to the tree, which went like this:
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
"Do you know what this means?" asked the monk.
"Yes," replied the tree, "I know the answer."
"Please tell me!" responded Duong. "I have sought this answer for many years, and I will not achieve Enlightenment without it!"
In response, the Great Tree grew a magificent arm of silver and said "Take this branch. The answer lies within, and Enlightenment awaits he who understands its nature."
Duong happily took the branch, feeling very satisfied. He had only to study a stick to find the truth! He thanked the Greet Tree and returned to his home to examine it.
However, he soon came to realize that he understood very little indeed, and the meaning within the branch eluded him for the rest of his days. He passed it on to his student for study, and that student also failed to discern the Truth within. And so it went as the years marched on, and the branch passed from monk to sage to king, and none who possessed it understood the Answer.
What was that answer? (Please, don't say "42!" I'm being serious here
) The reward for understanding the message of the Great Tree is Enlightenment - an instant elevation to Native Outsider status, with DR 20/+1 and a +5 inherent bonus to Wisdom. So given the nature of the story, the reward, and the campaign setting, what do you think both question and answer should be?
Whatever it is, it needs to be difficult enough that it may take the player a few months to figure it out, but not so difficult that he will never figure it out. Also, take your time if you don't know immediately, I am literally planning the campaign out years in advance here! My group is level 2
Let's hear your suggestions!
The ancient Vietnamese share a lot of culture and history with the ancient Chinese, due in large part to the fact that Vietnam was a subject state of the Middle Kingdom for over a thousand years. So keep that in mind regarding the following scenario.
I'm going to present my problem like this: I'm going to tell a story, and you guys are going to fill in the blanks. It needs to feel distinctly asian. The story is about an artifact weapon that will one day appear in my campaign setting. That weapon is a +4 ghost touch/+4 sonic burst quarterstaff of defending. It is intelligent and can speak telepathically, but refrains from doing so, instead communicating through empathy with its wielders. In addition to its basic properties, the staff grants the wielder Spirit Sight at will, blink 1/day, ethereal jaunt 1/day, and commune with greater spirit twice per year. The descriptions of Spirit Sight and commune with greater spirit can be found in the Oriental Adventures book.
The tale itself...
Long ago, a monk named Duong Le Li became vexed by an unanswerable riddle about the nature of ___________. He sought out many sages and wise men, but none knew the truth. After meditating on the matter, he decided that the only way to answer this riddle and achieve Enlightenment was to ask the Great Spirit Tree, a large banyan known for its infinite wisdom in all things. So Duong journeyed to the Spirit World and posed the riddle to the tree, which went like this:
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
"Do you know what this means?" asked the monk.
"Yes," replied the tree, "I know the answer."
"Please tell me!" responded Duong. "I have sought this answer for many years, and I will not achieve Enlightenment without it!"
In response, the Great Tree grew a magificent arm of silver and said "Take this branch. The answer lies within, and Enlightenment awaits he who understands its nature."
Duong happily took the branch, feeling very satisfied. He had only to study a stick to find the truth! He thanked the Greet Tree and returned to his home to examine it.
However, he soon came to realize that he understood very little indeed, and the meaning within the branch eluded him for the rest of his days. He passed it on to his student for study, and that student also failed to discern the Truth within. And so it went as the years marched on, and the branch passed from monk to sage to king, and none who possessed it understood the Answer.
What was that answer? (Please, don't say "42!" I'm being serious here
) The reward for understanding the message of the Great Tree is Enlightenment - an instant elevation to Native Outsider status, with DR 20/+1 and a +5 inherent bonus to Wisdom. So given the nature of the story, the reward, and the campaign setting, what do you think both question and answer should be? Whatever it is, it needs to be difficult enough that it may take the player a few months to figure it out, but not so difficult that he will never figure it out. Also, take your time if you don't know immediately, I am literally planning the campaign out years in advance here! My group is level 2
Let's hear your suggestions!
