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<blockquote data-quote="Baron Opal" data-source="post: 4693990" data-attributes="member: 10433"><p><strong>Religion, Faith and Spirituality</strong></p><p></p><p>So, I’ve been thinking about the religions and gods of my new setting. Still feeling a little lazy, so I’m going to read through my Tekumel book. Hey, my fungus deck! I’ve been looking for that.</p><p></p><p>One of the concepts that I like from Tekumel is “noble action”. What is good or evil is dependant on what benefits you, harms your enemies and what your station and purpose in life is. The noblest man in the world is the potter who makes the very best pots and the most profane person in the world could be the weaver who throws away his trade to pick up a sword and go adventuring. How successful he is becomes irrelevant since he has turned his back on his responsibilities.</p><p></p><p>Alignment irritates me sometimes. For me, it is little more than picking a side. Good or Evil? Law or Chaos? Purple or Green? There is more to it that that, obviously. How far will you take things, ends and means and all that. Sometimes, however, I just want to be a righteous ass-kicker for God and the paladin class may be the best way to express it. Making me deal with orc babies is just rude at that point.</p><p></p><p>I have been thinking about using Magic the Gathering as a moral compass for some time. Let’s start. Five alignments, ready made allies and foes. But, like a party with Karakan and Ksarul worshippers, I would like some breadth to my alignment choices and who can adventure together.</p><p></p><p>Let’s make five alignments: Order, Logic, Ambition, Passion and Instinct. We can call them ideals if you want. All of those can be distinct, have unique goals and methods and be good or evil depending on what you do with them.</p><p></p><p>I have enjoyed Fajita’s Halmae campaign vicariously. I’ll use that, GURPS Conan and Tekumel for some inspiration. Some of the following is ripped right from the Dusk setting too.</p><p></p><p><strong><u>The Five Temples</u></strong></p><p></p><p><strong>The Bright Temple</strong></p><p>Patron: Mitra</p><p>Sign: 12 Rayed Sun</p><p>Ideal: Order</p><p></p><p>The creed of the followers of Order is “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.” This is the ideal that the group is stronger and worthier that the individual; by contributing to the group the individual reaps benefits that would be impossible otherwise.</p><p></p><p>Orderly tend to have a cut-and-dried, black-or-white vision of the world. The have a strong sense of honor as well as being committed to the success of the group over that of the individual. It is easy to see this as the “good” alignment, but that isn’t necessarily true. The will of the group is paramount, and if individual sacrifice is required it can be compelled if necessary. Fascism is a very orderly system. Even with that caveat, this alignment does tend to look out for their fellows more than others.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Hellbridge Temple</strong></p><p>Patron: Asmoder</p><p>Sign: Scepter of red and gold</p><p>Ideal: Ambition</p><p></p><p>Followers of Ambition seek the perfection of the Self and the advancement of the Ego. They desire omnipotence, the power to fully control their destinies. “Survival of the fittest” is their creed. They take what is needed or desired, hesitating only when someone stronger could stop them.</p><p></p><p>The Ambitious don’t pass judgments on their own actions or those of anyone else. They don’t recognize the value of morals or ethics; the true follower is amoral. It is important to note that they are not immoral. They don’t seek to disrupt society or violate morality; those values just hold no value to them. This does not preclude being law-abiding or showing kindness. Simply, an action or behavior is valuable if it benefits the person and has minimal or no consequences. The difference between making friends and robbing strangers is merely one of utility.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Fane of the Brazen</strong></p><p>Patron: Ishtar</p><p>Sign: ?</p><p>Ideal: Passion</p><p></p><p>"Life is the journey, not the destination.” Such is the creed for the Passionate. Those that have Passion as their ideal seek to experience all that life has to offer; none are as caring in love or as deadly in fury.</p><p></p><p>Freedom is the underlying principle in their philosophy. As long as they are able to act as they will when they will they care little for other concerns. They also believe that freedom must be extended to all so they don’t actively interfere in the concerns of others. The Passionate don’t set long term goals like those who follow other ideals. It’s not that they can’t; their objectives tend to be in the short term and involved plans are executed haphazardly</p><p></p><p><strong>The Way of the River</strong></p><p>Patron: ?</p><p>Sign: ?</p><p>Ideal: Instinct</p><p></p><p>The followers of Instinct seek to join with the patterns and flows of the natural world. “To everything a season” is their creed. The ideal they strive towards is an existence without thought or passion; to be able to act in accord to need without the distraction of ego or vice. </p><p></p><p>The natural world is their guide and advisor. The Instinctual have seen the primacy of life: life breaks through all barriers. All things have their place in life as well. To hunt, kill, mate, grow – these are all activities that are part of the cycle of life. Cycles of life and death, growth and decay are their guide to proper living. By observing predation, symbiosis and the cycle of seasons do the Instinctive discover a source of wisdom. Adopting these lessons is a source of strength. </p><p></p><p><strong>The Collegium Akasha</strong></p><p>Patron: Agamotto</p><p>Sign: The Illuminated Eye</p><p>Ideal: Logic</p><p></p><p>The Logical desires nothing less than omniscience; the acquisition of all knowledge and the most efficient means of its application. Information is everything to them, and when they aren’t learning they plan and scheme to discover more lore. Not all bright people have this alignment, nor is it a prerequisite, it’s just that Logoicals are preoccupied with learning above all else.</p><p></p><p>This hunger for knowledge can be a detriment, however. Studying a problem from every angle can be time consuming; those that follow logic’s rules can be slow to a fault. This puts them at a disadvantage when haste is needed</p><p></p><p>* * * *</p><p></p><p>There was a poster a while ago that said “develop a religion, not gods. A religion is far more interesting because how a character interacts with a god is more interesting that the god itself.” As I was developing this campaign I was reading through my copy of <u>Book of the Righteous</u>, and darned if that wasn’t exactly what they did. While the gods are interesting, there is a whole religion there. And how they interaction with humanity is what makes them interesting.</p><p></p><p>I have ~ 34,000 years to see how these deities and religions spread and developed amonst the humans. From their adoption of mortal kind to the eviction of the primordials / titans. And then a good ~10,000 years until the Bronze Age Collapse to see how they strive against each other. Plus, I have the elven demigod and the dwarven power to work in too.</p><p></p><p>Uh oh. Racial gods. I've come to despise racial gods. I may have a problem here. </p><p></p><p>Plus, I have the Pattern and Logrus to work in yet.</p><p></p><p>Hmm.</p><p></p><p>I'm off to read <u>The Divine and the Defeated </u>for a while. Plus, some Tekumeli history, mostly the Dragon Kingdoms and the Fishermen Kings era. I'll get back to this.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Baron Opal, post: 4693990, member: 10433"] [b]Religion, Faith and Spirituality[/b] So, I’ve been thinking about the religions and gods of my new setting. Still feeling a little lazy, so I’m going to read through my Tekumel book. Hey, my fungus deck! I’ve been looking for that. One of the concepts that I like from Tekumel is “noble action”. What is good or evil is dependant on what benefits you, harms your enemies and what your station and purpose in life is. The noblest man in the world is the potter who makes the very best pots and the most profane person in the world could be the weaver who throws away his trade to pick up a sword and go adventuring. How successful he is becomes irrelevant since he has turned his back on his responsibilities. Alignment irritates me sometimes. For me, it is little more than picking a side. Good or Evil? Law or Chaos? Purple or Green? There is more to it that that, obviously. How far will you take things, ends and means and all that. Sometimes, however, I just want to be a righteous ass-kicker for God and the paladin class may be the best way to express it. Making me deal with orc babies is just rude at that point. I have been thinking about using Magic the Gathering as a moral compass for some time. Let’s start. Five alignments, ready made allies and foes. But, like a party with Karakan and Ksarul worshippers, I would like some breadth to my alignment choices and who can adventure together. Let’s make five alignments: Order, Logic, Ambition, Passion and Instinct. We can call them ideals if you want. All of those can be distinct, have unique goals and methods and be good or evil depending on what you do with them. I have enjoyed Fajita’s Halmae campaign vicariously. I’ll use that, GURPS Conan and Tekumel for some inspiration. Some of the following is ripped right from the Dusk setting too. [B][U]The Five Temples[/U][/B] [B]The Bright Temple[/B] Patron: Mitra Sign: 12 Rayed Sun Ideal: Order The creed of the followers of Order is “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.” This is the ideal that the group is stronger and worthier that the individual; by contributing to the group the individual reaps benefits that would be impossible otherwise. Orderly tend to have a cut-and-dried, black-or-white vision of the world. The have a strong sense of honor as well as being committed to the success of the group over that of the individual. It is easy to see this as the “good” alignment, but that isn’t necessarily true. The will of the group is paramount, and if individual sacrifice is required it can be compelled if necessary. Fascism is a very orderly system. Even with that caveat, this alignment does tend to look out for their fellows more than others. [B]The Hellbridge Temple[/B] Patron: Asmoder Sign: Scepter of red and gold Ideal: Ambition Followers of Ambition seek the perfection of the Self and the advancement of the Ego. They desire omnipotence, the power to fully control their destinies. “Survival of the fittest” is their creed. They take what is needed or desired, hesitating only when someone stronger could stop them. The Ambitious don’t pass judgments on their own actions or those of anyone else. They don’t recognize the value of morals or ethics; the true follower is amoral. It is important to note that they are not immoral. They don’t seek to disrupt society or violate morality; those values just hold no value to them. This does not preclude being law-abiding or showing kindness. Simply, an action or behavior is valuable if it benefits the person and has minimal or no consequences. The difference between making friends and robbing strangers is merely one of utility. [B]The Fane of the Brazen[/B] Patron: Ishtar Sign: ? Ideal: Passion "Life is the journey, not the destination.” Such is the creed for the Passionate. Those that have Passion as their ideal seek to experience all that life has to offer; none are as caring in love or as deadly in fury. Freedom is the underlying principle in their philosophy. As long as they are able to act as they will when they will they care little for other concerns. They also believe that freedom must be extended to all so they don’t actively interfere in the concerns of others. The Passionate don’t set long term goals like those who follow other ideals. It’s not that they can’t; their objectives tend to be in the short term and involved plans are executed haphazardly [B]The Way of the River[/B] Patron: ? Sign: ? Ideal: Instinct The followers of Instinct seek to join with the patterns and flows of the natural world. “To everything a season” is their creed. The ideal they strive towards is an existence without thought or passion; to be able to act in accord to need without the distraction of ego or vice. The natural world is their guide and advisor. The Instinctual have seen the primacy of life: life breaks through all barriers. All things have their place in life as well. To hunt, kill, mate, grow – these are all activities that are part of the cycle of life. Cycles of life and death, growth and decay are their guide to proper living. By observing predation, symbiosis and the cycle of seasons do the Instinctive discover a source of wisdom. Adopting these lessons is a source of strength. [B]The Collegium Akasha[/B] Patron: Agamotto Sign: The Illuminated Eye Ideal: Logic The Logical desires nothing less than omniscience; the acquisition of all knowledge and the most efficient means of its application. Information is everything to them, and when they aren’t learning they plan and scheme to discover more lore. Not all bright people have this alignment, nor is it a prerequisite, it’s just that Logoicals are preoccupied with learning above all else. This hunger for knowledge can be a detriment, however. Studying a problem from every angle can be time consuming; those that follow logic’s rules can be slow to a fault. This puts them at a disadvantage when haste is needed * * * * There was a poster a while ago that said “develop a religion, not gods. A religion is far more interesting because how a character interacts with a god is more interesting that the god itself.” As I was developing this campaign I was reading through my copy of [U]Book of the Righteous[/U], and darned if that wasn’t exactly what they did. While the gods are interesting, there is a whole religion there. And how they interaction with humanity is what makes them interesting. I have ~ 34,000 years to see how these deities and religions spread and developed amonst the humans. From their adoption of mortal kind to the eviction of the primordials / titans. And then a good ~10,000 years until the Bronze Age Collapse to see how they strive against each other. Plus, I have the elven demigod and the dwarven power to work in too. Uh oh. Racial gods. I've come to despise racial gods. I may have a problem here. Plus, I have the Pattern and Logrus to work in yet. Hmm. I'm off to read [U]The Divine and the Defeated [/U]for a while. Plus, some Tekumeli history, mostly the Dragon Kingdoms and the Fishermen Kings era. I'll get back to this. [/QUOTE]
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