Question: What legend is Inari Ōkami, and what would his associates be? What about Uke Mochi?
I really think that in that bright and shining someday when we're out from under the oppressive yoke of these Titans we're working on, I want the Amatsukami to be our next project. (Okay, not next project because apparently all of you guys voted for sample Birthrights and Relics over on the right, but soon project, then.) They've needed a rewrite in the worst way for a long time, and due to our lack of current PCs there have gotten none of the fancy PSP rewriting, roster re-evaluating fun that most everyone else except the Shen have.
Personally, I'm pretty sure Inari is at least Legend 11 (I want to say Legend 12, but I can't recall any stories off the top of my head of him actually doing anything as opposed to just existing; as I said, the Japanese pantheon needs some thorough research and rework). He'd almost certainly have Animal (Fox) and Fertility associated, and I'm leaning toward Magic as a god of prosperity and good fortune as well. Along with Sarutahiko, he's one of the deities I'm planning on lobbying for inclusion in the ranks of Legend 12 gods once we get around to working with the Land of the Rising Sun.
As for Uke Mochi, I don't think she'd be a playable deity (there's the being sort of beyond interaction with humanity or even the gods most of the time, and the being dead), but I suspect that she may be destined for Titanhood (but you didn't hear it from me if it doesn't happen).
I am a little scared about the big Amatsukami clean-up because of the Dodekatheon, but the Japanese REALLY need it. Their page is a mess. They could be so much better. Also, if Uke Mochi is a Titan Avatar, it certainly puts a huge twist on the myth of Tsukiyomi killing her.
ReplyDeleteUnless she wasn't a Titan Avatar until he did that. Then again, I guess that's just a twist in a different direction.
DeleteYeah, the Japanese have badly needed rehauling for a long time. I'm really hoping we can do that soon, because I want them to get to rock out in all their full glory like the other pantheons.
Speaking of Pantheon Rehauls, you've been talking for a while about super rehauling the Loa. I was really confused about just WHY, until I took a closer look at Cheval. It really isn't a very good PSP compared to the others, isn't it? It seems like a completely drawn out Hero-level knack or boon. What would a better PSP for the Loa be? Or is this a question better for being answered in the queue?
ReplyDeleteWe could have answered it in the queue, but what the heck, we're here now. :)
DeleteThere are a lot of things we want to work on with the Loa. For one thing, they're the only pantheon that is approached from a perspective of their (relatively) modern worship instead of their ancient roots; nobody is suggesting we base the Aztlanti on the rural spiritual practices of modern Nahuatl people or that we base the Aesir on Asatru, but the Loa are for some reason presented in their very young New World forms, while the African religions they founded and came from are ignored. (I think this is probably a combination of the Loa being more recognizable to the average player than the traditional African gods are, and the Loa always being fairly popular in the old World of Darkness materials and being carried over to this new game on momentum.) We've never liked that, and our biggest project with the Loa will probably be reverting them to their mythic forms as the gods of Africa (specifically of the Yoruba religion). Which doesn't mean PCs can't be New Orleans loa-children, of course - they certainly can, and should be encouraged to if they want to! But we want all of the African gods' forms represented, not just the newest ones from the last two centuries, so we'll be returning them to their original mythic form like the other pantheons, and, just like a Scion of Ares can identify himself as a son of Mars or a Scion of Tlazolteotl could call herself a daughter of Our Lady, a Scion of Eshu is welcome to consider himself a new-world Scion of Kalfu if he wants to.
And yes, Cheval is another big deal - it's very narrow and doesn't compete well with other PSPs (and, sadly, you can tell, because our Loa PCs really don't bother with it much). The move back to traditional African religions will help, there, too - while we'll probably retain some elements of possession and "riding" humans, as that's an element not only in voudun and Candomble but also in the African traditions they come from, we'll also probably explore a lot of the African religious concepts of "head" (destiny, sort of, but in a distinctly self-determining way) and the three spiritual paths of priest, prophet and diviner.
We're also probably changing their Titan opposition, but Titans are in so much flux right now while we're working on them that who's irritating the African gods the most is not foremost on our minds.
Very interesting! I think the thing I am most looking forward to with that, apart from the better PSP, is that the family and hierarchy of the Gods will make more sense. Will you be releasing the Yoruba Pantheon on PDF, so that we can see your replacement Overworld/Underworld for Ville au Camp/Guinee, or will we just have to guess? Also, what of the Baron Samedi? He seems like a Loa wholly Vodoun.
DeleteYeah, our family tree for the Loa right now is a crazy fusion mess of voudun, Candomble, Yoruba and Nigerian strands. It could stand to be simplified like whoa.
DeleteI don't think we were planning at this point on doing a separate PDF, but you're right, it's a project more comparable to building a new pantheon than most of our usual edits. Depends on John's preferences, I expect - I imagine it would probably be a possibility. :)
Baron Samedi is indeed wholly voudun (unless you ascribe to the scholarly theory that he's actually an Irish import of the minor god Samhain, carried into voudun by African workers sharing the fields with poor Irish laborers in the eighteenth century, and that his wife Maman Brigitte is an old memory of the Irish goddess Brigid. Which is actually a pretty freaking awesome theory). We're not sure yet where he'll end up - he might not be Legend 12 anymore, or he might be an adjunct to the African pantheon in some way, or something else entirely.
Sadly, we just have vague plans for most of this because all our brainpower is being eaten by Titans at the moment.
Should probably do that pdf first instead of arabs ;_)
DeleteOh, are you volunteering for Japanese pantheon work? Because I will be all over that.
DeleteI have heard the theory of Samedi and Brigitte being Irish Gods, and it is indeed pretty awesome. I guess since Titans come first (the sooner they are here the better, contrary to the entire plot of Scion) we'll just have to wait and see, but my interest is definitely piqued!
ReplyDelete