Scintasy is riddled with religion. Some a bit covert to the story and some overly overt; much like that of Dan Simmons' Endymion Cantos. However it appears it is usually present more times than not. Religion in Scintasy worlds is one of the most useful tools available (presenting a tool for excuse as to the action of characters or particular groups). Religion is Scintasy, unlike our world will not argue with you over elements of it however they can just as easily argue with other religions created too. In reality it is the best of both worlds.
Currently I am working on a religion for one of my Scintasy worlds. It started with a joke about the fact that in movies, books and stories there is occasionally a 'chosen one' who will kill all evil, lead us to light or maybe even bring balance to the force. The joking scenario then led to a discussion about a 'what if' situation; What if the chosen one dies before they carry out their 'chosen' action? So what would happen?
For this religion let us assume that the chosen one had a younger brother. All their childhoods this younger brother is riddle with jealousy. The Chosen brother gets this and that and everything he want, while the younger has to work for everything. Now let us assume there was a situation where the younger brother struck out in a moment of jealousy and accidental killed his Chosen brother. Being an accident nobody blamed him, however there is the small issue of the chosen one being dead. People become split. One half thinks that humanity is doomed because of the death of the chosen one and the other half feel that the 'Prophecy' wasn't as clear as originally thought and it could refer to either brother.
However religion plays out in Scintasy it will always provide an excellent source of motivation and direction for character and even provide brilliant protagonist and antagonist groups.
Saturday, 23 June 2012
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Discussion: A Matter of Nature
So you have the Iak'shovise. Now, like with any Scintasy creation - race, ability or other - they all have a place in their created worlds and realms. The important thing to consider though, just like with any good story is the fact that something needs a definite beginning, middle and end. As I said you have the Iak'shovise and they have both a beginning, middle and end. The proposed details I spoke about in an earlier post, are without undeniable doubt the middle.
So where did the Iak'shovise come from? One certainty is that their abilities are like that of any defence mechanism in any creature. It's there to ensure the survival and continued propagation of the species. From what, is where the real question lays. Human Beings are at the top of the food chain; so what type of predator would there have to be for human intelligence to not suffice as a defence mechanism? Something that I will tell you is that the 'middle' Iak'shovise are no where near maximising their potential in their abilities as the 'beginning' and 'end' do. This is a strong indication that this 'predator' was around then disappeared and then it or something equally as frightening crept out of the very rocks forcing those with the Ghar'ivisu abilities to find their hidden niches once again. It's all a matter of nature.
I'll just clarify what I'm going on about. Iak'shovise are the people with the abilities, however the abilities are known as Ghar'ivisu. The main point of this post was generally beginning to flesh out an idea I could potentially use in a series of short stories or maybe even a novel.
So where did the Iak'shovise come from? One certainty is that their abilities are like that of any defence mechanism in any creature. It's there to ensure the survival and continued propagation of the species. From what, is where the real question lays. Human Beings are at the top of the food chain; so what type of predator would there have to be for human intelligence to not suffice as a defence mechanism? Something that I will tell you is that the 'middle' Iak'shovise are no where near maximising their potential in their abilities as the 'beginning' and 'end' do. This is a strong indication that this 'predator' was around then disappeared and then it or something equally as frightening crept out of the very rocks forcing those with the Ghar'ivisu abilities to find their hidden niches once again. It's all a matter of nature.
I'll just clarify what I'm going on about. Iak'shovise are the people with the abilities, however the abilities are known as Ghar'ivisu. The main point of this post was generally beginning to flesh out an idea I could potentially use in a series of short stories or maybe even a novel.
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Creation: At the Core of all Things
Well I felt it about time I put something of my own up. It's always frustrated me how I have never been able to create elements of a Scintasy world that are unique. They have always been what you would consider the stock standard elements. However a couple of weeks ago the strangest thing happened. I fell asleep and awoke to find that in my slumber I had knocked over a glass of water and it had soaked into the carpet. Strangely the water stained the carpet (Bizarre occurrence right there) and then for they days following every time I glanced at the stain I felt exactly as I did when I awoke. This for me was a bit of a Eureka moment.
Please note that everything following is of my creation and I don't give permission for personal use at this point in time.
I haven't decided on a definite name yet but it will either be Iak'shovise (yak-shove-is-aye) or Ghar'ivisu (gar-iv-vis-hu). Both are Gharnian (Language of my creation) words. Iak'shovise is fairly easy to translate into English and it means something along the lines of 'Body, mind and spirit one with or within existance' while Ghar'ivisu is a little harder to translate but it comes out as something similar to 'The power of the construct or building blocks'.
Now as the names have started to hint towards it has something to do with an ability related to existence. Specifically though they are people with a biological anomaly that allows them to meld with molecules and molecular structures. i.e. Walk through a wall. There is a catch though the same biological feature which allows this also imprints the molecular structure of the said object like a wall onto itself. If this is done enough the person begins to take of personality traits which correlate metaphorically with the object. If its the structure of a door the person may begin to be one who provides protection or blocks a path, keeps things in, etc. The actual traits they take on are reliant solely on their interpretation of the object.
If one of these people were to have a sword swung at them and the allow the sword to pass through them several times the would imprint. If they saw a sword as a weapon with a sharp edge with one purpose, that being used for killing they would begin to take on these traits. However if they saw a sword as a weak thing or an evil thing that's is how they would become.
This then opens up the option of the fact that some can change their view or interpretation of something hence honing themselves in the process.
It's a work in progress but I'm very happy to have thought of it!
Please note that everything following is of my creation and I don't give permission for personal use at this point in time.
I haven't decided on a definite name yet but it will either be Iak'shovise (yak-shove-is-aye) or Ghar'ivisu (gar-iv-vis-hu). Both are Gharnian (Language of my creation) words. Iak'shovise is fairly easy to translate into English and it means something along the lines of 'Body, mind and spirit one with or within existance' while Ghar'ivisu is a little harder to translate but it comes out as something similar to 'The power of the construct or building blocks'.
Now as the names have started to hint towards it has something to do with an ability related to existence. Specifically though they are people with a biological anomaly that allows them to meld with molecules and molecular structures. i.e. Walk through a wall. There is a catch though the same biological feature which allows this also imprints the molecular structure of the said object like a wall onto itself. If this is done enough the person begins to take of personality traits which correlate metaphorically with the object. If its the structure of a door the person may begin to be one who provides protection or blocks a path, keeps things in, etc. The actual traits they take on are reliant solely on their interpretation of the object.
If one of these people were to have a sword swung at them and the allow the sword to pass through them several times the would imprint. If they saw a sword as a weapon with a sharp edge with one purpose, that being used for killing they would begin to take on these traits. However if they saw a sword as a weak thing or an evil thing that's is how they would become.
This then opens up the option of the fact that some can change their view or interpretation of something hence honing themselves in the process.
It's a work in progress but I'm very happy to have thought of it!
Discussion: To Paradigm or Not to Paradigm? That is the Question...
Deliberation. Deliberation. Also, more deliberation. One of the most basic and common elements to all role-playing games and I am struggling to decide whether to include it in the A Wheel of Time RPG. Paradigms are essentially my version of a class, only more open than a class. The reason I am deliberating over what many would consider a 'no-brainer' is because removing paradigms/classes provides a freedom to players which is lacking in most RPGs.
Experience Paths, or Life-Paths and The Burning Wheel puts it are an open-ended style of play allowing players to form their characters based on their wants not what is restricted and available. In an open ended system you may have a Blademaster who is of Noble beginnings or a Gleeman who is a master of the blade. In this system (while still possible in a paradigm system) it will have more of flowing feel rather than a tagged on the end feel which can happen when your paradigm/class features don't compliment your additional traits.
At this point most are probably wondering, 'Well the open-ended system sounds like a dream come true, why not?'. Well the reason why not is a simple one. If you come in the A Wheel of Time RPG not familiar with RPGs or the world of WoT then you may stumble a bit when it comes to creating a character and you have all these options available. When you have paradigm/classes you can look at them and pick the one you want and there's no fussing around.
The toss up between the two is a difficult one. Personally I'm tending to fall to the side of an open-ended system and have what would have been all the paradigm features as skill perks which can be bought instead.
Experience Paths, or Life-Paths and The Burning Wheel puts it are an open-ended style of play allowing players to form their characters based on their wants not what is restricted and available. In an open ended system you may have a Blademaster who is of Noble beginnings or a Gleeman who is a master of the blade. In this system (while still possible in a paradigm system) it will have more of flowing feel rather than a tagged on the end feel which can happen when your paradigm/class features don't compliment your additional traits.
At this point most are probably wondering, 'Well the open-ended system sounds like a dream come true, why not?'. Well the reason why not is a simple one. If you come in the A Wheel of Time RPG not familiar with RPGs or the world of WoT then you may stumble a bit when it comes to creating a character and you have all these options available. When you have paradigm/classes you can look at them and pick the one you want and there's no fussing around.
The toss up between the two is a difficult one. Personally I'm tending to fall to the side of an open-ended system and have what would have been all the paradigm features as skill perks which can be bought instead.
Saturday, 2 June 2012
Discussion: The Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills
'The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills; weaving the threads into the pattern of the ages. Some threads are pulled,while others lead and some just simply disappear. There are some however that pull the pattern around them and guide people's lives like ripples in a pond; they are Ta'veren.'
Are you Ta'veren? Well why not? After many arguments and discussions with myself I have come to a conclusion on a relatively small yet highly relevant part of the A Wheel of Time RPG. We are all familiar with the abilities seen in nearly every RPG; Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Well now there is a seventh; Ta'veren. It's not a simple matter of are you Ta'veren or not when it comes to the weaving of the pattern. Everybody is Ta'veren to some degree.
The purpose behind the introduction of this as an ability is a simple one. It's an important part of the 'Universe'. While this is the main fact I've also found that while play testing elements with myself, Ta'veren makes for an interesting addition in two ways. First it allows players a degree of luck in some of the things they carry out day to day; whether it be an attack or convincing the council of Far Madding to allow use of weapons in the city. The second aspect is from the GM's point of view more so even though it directly affects the players and their characters. The Ta'veren ability provides a ripple effect throughout the campaign. It not only provides reason and purpose for things occurring but also an element for consequences for characters actions.
Hopefully this mechanic works out well.
Are you Ta'veren? Well why not? After many arguments and discussions with myself I have come to a conclusion on a relatively small yet highly relevant part of the A Wheel of Time RPG. We are all familiar with the abilities seen in nearly every RPG; Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Well now there is a seventh; Ta'veren. It's not a simple matter of are you Ta'veren or not when it comes to the weaving of the pattern. Everybody is Ta'veren to some degree.
The purpose behind the introduction of this as an ability is a simple one. It's an important part of the 'Universe'. While this is the main fact I've also found that while play testing elements with myself, Ta'veren makes for an interesting addition in two ways. First it allows players a degree of luck in some of the things they carry out day to day; whether it be an attack or convincing the council of Far Madding to allow use of weapons in the city. The second aspect is from the GM's point of view more so even though it directly affects the players and their characters. The Ta'veren ability provides a ripple effect throughout the campaign. It not only provides reason and purpose for things occurring but also an element for consequences for characters actions.
Hopefully this mechanic works out well.
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