Michael Hopcroft Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 One thing anyone who watches a lot of anime gains is an apprecition for the infoluence of Shinto, the former Japanese state religion and one of the two main relgiions practiced in that country, on the stories that come over. The heroic demon-hunting miko has become a very popular character in games and videos alike, shrines are popular places to have things happen in, etc. The beliefs of Shinto are a powerful infleunce on people like Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away is a very Shinto film) and other manga artists and animation writers. What i am wondering is whether there are concepts from this very Japanese view of the world that translate well into other genres. Such as a fantasy setting where magical power comes from communicating with and appeasing the capricious spirits that inhabit everything alive and otherwise, sceince fiction settings where planets and comets and just about eevrything you could encounter have their own kami, and modern-day settings in which the Western view of how the world and the cosmos work is completely wrong, there are spirits everywhere, and they are unhappy about being leglected by the monothesists all these centuries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraRob Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world The actual term is "Animism", the belief that everything in the world has life to it on a spiritual level. It's in the tree, the rock...the tight leather pants that girl was wearing on the subway today , it's all got a spirit to it. Traditionally most cultures had animistic religions to start with, and then slowly developed other kinds of religions more based on personified spirits or ancestors. As for how to use it in a game, that's up to you. Something to keep in mind is that in the Japanese version there's a hierarchy of spirits, those "kami" you mentioned are the bosses, they're in major landforms and lakes, not the rock or the shoe. Actually, one angle you might consider is that hand-made items have a life/spirit in them, but machine/factory made ones do not. Thus animistic "magic" could be limited to affecting things that had direct human involvement in their creation. (ie handmade items and buildings, but not machine-made things like import TVs and tires.) Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world GURPS Voodoo is dead easy to adapt as a Shinto magic setting. Pick the major Kami you want the Shinto priests to call on, allow various traditional Japanese monsters as in-betweeners, and you're set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamamura Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world GURPS Voodoo is dead easy to adapt as a Shinto magic setting. Pick the major Kami you want the Shinto priests to call on' date=' allow various traditional Japanese monsters as in-betweeners, and you're set.[/quote'] Also GURPS Spirits expands the magic path and rituals. With a little retolling can work well with HERO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world The default magic system from The Valdorian Age would appear to easily adapt to this kind of fantasy setting. The whole SFX of it is achieving specific effects by negotiating with appropriate spirits to get them to do what you want. For that matter, part of the tradition of Hermetic Theurgy in Western occultism is the casting of spells by drawing upon the spiritual qualities associated with various planets - see The Ultimate Mystic for a translation of this practice to HERO System. I could certainly see these principles being extended to other worlds in a scifi setting with interstellar exploration. As a general influence of this concept on a campaign, one thought that occurs to me would be the infliction of Luck and/or Unluck upon characters as a part of the environment, reflecting the favor or disfavor of the local spirits toward their presence and actions. The more the characters impact the environment for good or ill, the more Luck or Unluck dice you roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethosos Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world If you want a little control, just point out that a large enough source of "life energy" will create its own kami, or bind someone's ghost to it. I've been thinking about how to deal with spirits in general, and that's a very good starting point for Eight Sages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister E Posted September 28, 2005 Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world For me, Shinto is all about mono no aware, and "The Tale of Genji." I now think the whole animism thing is part of it, but over-played. What a kami is, is more of a spirit of subjective appreciation of things. When a waterfall is viewed, ancester is thought of, or a personage of significance is in your company, a sensation of 'presence' is felt and given form in the mind as a kami. If I were to pattern a campaign around a Shinto-ized cosmology, churches and cerimonies from Western Religions would be just as highly composed of kami energy as Kahuna, Voodoon, Wicca, or the Force (pre-episode I). Of course, I'm probably thinking more along the lines of a Buddhism modified Shintoism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world I fear that my attempts to infiltrate the HERO cyber citadel and make off with the attractive young ladies from the "Catsuit" and similar threads has hit a snag. I seem to end up in the wrong thread "corridors". Perhaps I am not as skilled a Cybermancer as I had assumed. I will look over here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister E Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world I fear that my attempts to infiltrate the HERO cyber citadel and make off with the attractive young ladies from the "Catsuit" and similar threads has hit a snag. I seem to end up in the wrong thread "corridors". Perhaps I am not as skilled a Cybermancer as I had assumed. I will look over here... It's funny. You got lost in Cyberspace, and ran into me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted October 5, 2005 Report Share Posted October 5, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world It's funny. You got lost in Cyberspace' date=' and ran into me.[/quote'] Sorry about that. Goggles fogged up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister E Posted October 5, 2005 Report Share Posted October 5, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world Sorry about that. Goggles fogged up...If you find any food, do you think you could bring me some? I'll be around here for a while, and I'm getting hungry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted October 5, 2005 Report Share Posted October 5, 2005 Re: Campaigning in a Shinto world I'll see what I can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 Campaigning in a Shinto world I am told that the word "kami" actually means "that which inspires awe." What is kami for one clan is not necessarily kami for another; however, kami always means something that is important to a group, not just to an individual. Or such is my understanding. Lucius Alexander The palindromedary points out that Lucius is not Japanese Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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