|
>Can you define what a secular Toaist is? It seems like a contadiction in terms. Do you >mean he uses fu without worshipping the guys who he can control? Basically yes. I'm looking at this character concept being a renegade or outcast, hence his location along the Silk Road and interaction with Mythic Europe. Early in your article you mention adepts that don't focus on Unity as much as being almost secular and following the master rather than one of the subsequent schools. He's essentially meant to be a folk magician with knowledge of fu but not necessarily the right to use them. >> I'd like to involve tattoing as a partial expression of this
>> character's magic but am unsure of how to fit this although
>> permanent complex fu that granted Gifts (ie Virtues) seemed to fit
>> the bill.
>
>Sure...the Criamon do it, after all. This adds to the concept no end. >> Do Internal and External Alchemy count separately and/or are they
>> mutually exclusive in terms of flavour?
>
>Why would he want both? External alchemy leads to a lesser form of immortality from >internal alchemy. I suppose you could do both - but I'm not clear on why you'd want to. He doesn't want both, I'm just checking that I understood the intention of the article correctly - they seem philosophically incompatible. >> Is Unity a requisite Virtue or optional?
>
>It depends what you are doing. 8) Unity basically needs to reach a certain level before >you can do Mao Shen magic, but if your lad is secular, he can't get Unity, can he? He's >one of the magicians who have fu to which he seems not to have the right. (a Feng Shih) This is a core of his character concept - so would this make him a "Feng Shih" or folk magician - the Eastern equivalent of a hedge wizard? BTW, the cap at one third the primary ability with Unity as an exception seems a bit odd. What was the rationale for this? >The Civilised Aura surrounds human habitations and wanes with the Mandate of Heaven. >It represents the role of the household, landlord and city gods. The Wild Aura is most >other places. So are these Magic, Faerie or Divine auras or something different? How do they influence Taoists, folk magicians and Hermetics? >> 3. My reading of the article suggests that without a Purity or
>> Unity score the adepts MAgic Resistance is zero (which is fair
>> enough given the setting's existing power scale but difficult to
>> understand in the wider context). Is this correct?
>
>Yes, but you can get a charm to help you with that, or command a spirit to aid you when >facing magical attack. Or use a complex fu to grant the equivalent of the +4 Virtue Magic Resistance for example (my preferred option for this NPC)? >> 4. Do you think Parma Magica and Magic Theory are incompatible with
>> this type of concept? (I was thinking sidestepping entry into Ex
>> Miscellanea as a story point and learning Parma Magica might be
>> helpful).
>
>The Parma seems to work anywhere, but I'd point out that Taoists don't need to have the >Gift: their power comes from external sources.
>
>> 5. Would you consider this type of tradition incompatible with
>> Hermetic magic or could a practitioner later learn Hermetic magic
>> (like a volkhvy or galdraman) if trained properly?
>
>It is immoral to give Toaist fu to scholars, but yes, you could learn their rites. This is what I thought. The article implies no penalty from the Gift's social hindrances. So if a Taoist / folk magician was Gifted, he could learn Chinese magic and then later adopt Hermetic forms etc if trained properly? Your version of Trianoma seems to imply this has occurred at least once in your alternate history - possibly creating a distinct Taoist influenced esoteric lineage within House Bonisagus (or possibly adopted into House Criamon given the conflicting philosophy). A few further thoughts: Given that the Dragon and the Bear suggests that the mongol shamans have enslaved sorcerors as allies, to my mind Chinese adepts would be the most likely candidates for this. Do you see this as feasible? Could mongol shamans learn some Taoist practices (probably without the correct belief system or morality as expressed by Unity no doubt).? Thanks, Jarkman (Who can't abide the current history/canon debate on the Berklist which was one of the reasons he recalls was why he initially unsubscribed all those years ago before discovering Hermes Portal)
|