Update: The bolded title bullets should actually be numbers... I'm not sure why it didn't post properly. I'll look into it. In the meantime, try to enjoy without the numbers. Go to Comment

Very nice, ambitious but well written, a real idea starter and useful. Plus this is a scroll others can add to.

Highest mark. Go to Comment

Excellent! Go to Comment

Great ideas here. Definitely putting a bakery in to my next sesh. Thanks! Go to Comment

Great idea, I like it.

 

I will definitely use this for my RPs, since it's a Forum Based RP I will link back here to give you credit.

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Wonderful post!! It'll be a great help in detailing cities, so I can concentrate on other parts of the game. (and work on more Strolen posts!) Go to Comment

I was expecting something a bit different. Perhaps a skilled asuramancer would have know that eating the spleen of the troll grants its regenerative capability, but doing so gains you a troll's apetite. Each of the organs of the body is associated with various elements and aspects and abilities. Some would be rather obvious, you want dark vision, you eat dark vision eye balls. Others would be more difficult, what organ is associated with a trolls regeneration, or a dragonborn's ability to breath fire? Go to Comment

While tailored to DnD and quite straightdforward, this is an OK idea, something to make a villain despicable and capable at the same time. I also like the idea it is intendd for lower calibre baddies.
All in all, me likey. Go to Comment

Me votey. Go to Comment

5/5 and you deserve more then I can now give you. Go to Comment

With these things said, bon appetite.

This is my favourite line. But, puns aside, I really liked the sub. Cannibalism as the bad guy is recurring, though not enough to be cliched yet. As was said above, I liked that this works for smaller and pettier foes.

 However, I would like to note the rather rule-specific bent. I understand where you come from on this one, but it isn't necessarily needed. Most GMs can serve themselves the crunch to fit with your fluff if they have a mind to. In fact, most will need to either to adapt to a different system (Traveller Psionic-Cannibals, anyone?), or to give exact tables and numbers and die-rolls to what is provided.

 Forgive me for needling what has already been mentioned more than once, Redgre. I liked the example, too.

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In addition to what was said I think a stumbling block to this as written work is the voice of the piece. This is written by a gamer for gamers with out any context provided; such as history of Auromancy or personal accounts of asuramancy. Yet you do allude to a cultural context "...social stigma around it in the civilized world, although Asuramancy tends to have a worse reputation...used by witch doctors of jungle tribes and the occassional shaman of a barbarian clan." You then go into discussing specific game mechanics. I know this is how 1st and 3ed DnD books are written, but it is intermingling information that does not go together. Are you discussing the culture of asuramancy or potential game system? Both are interesting and worth discussing, but it doesn't serve your game system discussion to discuss cultural baggage without a context for the baggage (or the voice in which it is discussed). I think you dealt with this well in one of you previous posts. http://strolen.com/viewing/Accomodations_in_a_Box

If you want to make this accessible in generic fashion then you don't need to allude to specific opinions or you could discuss its game use in a general fashion considering multiple play styles.
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So this how we could make a Windigo. I like this idea a lot, and I think you developed it nicely. The system specific doesn't bother me, and the exemplary story rounds out the piece nicely. I hope to work a version of this into my game, see how my PC respond to it.
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It was a fine submission and you don’t need to change anything. The point I was making is that your submission did not have a consistent voice. The problems with the consistence of voice and perspective is something innate to gaming because the game straddles two points of view, the vantage taken by the players and mechanics and the view of the perspective of the characters and in narrative personalities and systems. This piece is largely a description of a system, and it is written with such a voice. When you start discussing in game matters such as the fact that this is a relatively common practice among jungle tribe and the people view it negatively you start to discuss things as seen from in game perspective. You stated in a discussion of this post:

“In my mind there are several world parameters which to me are a given. For example, I assume that in a civilized society, things like murder, theft, incest, torture, rape, cannabalism, and similar activities are against the law (even if the law is corrupted, otherwise people don't feel safe and you have an unstable government). I'm sure that from society to society the methods of dealing with people who engage in such activities vary greatly and the method of catching such people is different. But to me they are still a standard. Even in our world today, whether living in a Hindu, Moslem, Buddist, or Christian nation, these acts are punishable by law. That standard is where I draw my cultural comments such as "social stigma around it". And draw the conclusion that cultures that are considered "uncivilized" or "savage" would be the likely breeding grounds for such a magic system to dwell.”

This is certainly intuitive, but what does discussing it add to your submission? If as you say these things are a given; is there a need to discuss the context in which cannabalism is viewed? Things like murder, theft and other “crimes” are viewed in a matter of degree in all cultures. For example a biography of Wild Bill Hickok states that he “killed 17 men, not counting Indians and Confederates” which says a lot about how killing was viewed at the time. Perhaps he was a savage, but there were obviously different standards applied to the act of killing based upon the context. I am not saying you need to change your submission, and it is perfectly reasonable to discuss both in game views and out of game views in a submission. But you implementation of both perspectives is intermingled in way that doesn’t put a clear context to the in game information. The short story at the end has a context, because it is presented as a example.
Additionally you don’t go into the metaphysics of your system. Which is fine if only discussing a system, but an example question would be why does eating a Troll in this context run threat of making one evil while just killing a troll does not? Is it Karma, is it a celestial score keeper or judge, or is it that evil spirits travel through the flesh marked by the above mentioned mystical symbols? Each GM will resolve this for themselves I suppose, but you attempt a minor explanation of it. This post works fine as a system, I like the idea and I will base some item in my own game world around your idea. But you tried to put this into a cultural context which is unnecessary for a post of this kind (though not a useless addition), and the context for this information was incompletely developed.
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Really cool - I have a race - the Rephatians - who are very cannibalistic, and this would fit in very well with them.

A bit game specific, but no matter - this is an excellent post!
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Only voted Go to Comment

I definitely agree that a different end for the eighth time would be good. I'm not following your reference though. Could you steer me in the right direction? Thanks for your comment. Go to Comment

I like the way you would have taken with it. It makes sense that as the body works through a set of self checks and balances and that certain body parts contain certain powers. I suppose I didn't want to go that way because I didn't want the baddies (or worse yet the PCs) completely engineering themselves and thus have game balance issues. I wanted a chance of failure on an increasingly slippery slope. I think that from what you've presented, one could keep this article as is, for the masses, and have one rare Asuramancer, knows the true path from ancient days... your idea. Unless there's more to your idea, and it really takes you much further away than indicated. I'd be interested in anything else you have to say on this subject. Let me know what you think. Go to Comment

I'd like to make a quick comment in response to both Echo Mirage & valadaar. I know I used AD&D to illustrate this power. I did so because for one, in my opinion, magic seems to fit the fantasy setting a little better than most other settings and two, because in my experience, almost everyone I know who role plays has at least some experience with AD&D, I thought of it as the common denominator among role players and the most understandable way to share the idea. Please understand that I did not intend to make this an AD&D magic system only. I think it could be modified and fit well with any role playing system with an existing magical component. Thanks for your attention. Go to Comment

A fine response. This is going to be a bit for me to digest, but I thank you. Go to Comment