a puzzle about spirits

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Reprogrammable. This is a world governed by the laws of magic, one of which is the Law of Names: The true name of a thing is magically linked to the thing and gives power over it. This applies all the way up the power spectrum; for example, Jewish legend says that Lilith learned the true name of God, who therefore is unable to control her! In GURPS terms, this is the Reprogrammable disadvantage, worth -5 points, and every character therefore has Reprogrammable, as a free -5-point trait. Characters are free to keep their true names secret, entrust them to powerful protectors, or even give themselves new true names when necessary, through an elaborate ritual, of course.

Is it supposed to be -10 points, or are you assuming a limitation?

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Okay, here's my draft handout on character creation, as far as it's gone (I still have to write the stuff about spending points and such):

I. Universal Traits...

Yeah, this is excellent.

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by whswhs

So far as spell use is concerned (...) it doesn’t use the standard –1 to skill per yard of range, but the ranged attack modifiers, which are a lot more generous.

Another way for overcoming some of the spatial determinations of the bodily world could be using Long-Distance Modifiers (GURPS Magic, p.14): it is interesting to think some spells and rules in this book were implicitly claiming the existence of the non corporeal psychic domain as their medium for reaching their objectives.

Originally Posted by whswhs

It’s possible to reach the celestial plane from the astral plane. The normal method is by going to parts of the astral plane that border the celestial plane, and crossing over. Neither mortals nor spirits are normally capable of reaching the celestial plane unaided,

Here is again the Fantasy and Dungeon Fantasy labyrinth or dungeon theme: in ancient times they were regarded as the frame for a travel or hazardous pilgrimage to "The Next Level" (GURPS 3e Religion, p. 78-79), from the circle's or square's periphery to its center, being this center Holy Land (1), the Paradise or the gates to Heaven:

...The adventurer, the man in tribulation needed to make his way through the dangerous dungeon (the profane world, the Hell, the maddening sea of the psychic domain (2) (...), with the aid of some heavenly guide, Ariadne's thread, magical being or spiritual master (3).

Usually the immediate step, access or door to the already mentioned "Next Level" (4) was agressively protected by a Temple Guardian (GURPS 3e Religion, p. 41) (5), as the Minotaur or the fire sword wielding Cherubim of Eden, the dungeon's boss or bosses: "Only the 'munchkin' will pass" defeating the guardian, or the purified ones by not unleashing the guardian's hostility with their passing through.

Usually, these symbolic frames were depicted as eastern mandalas:

Western Labyrinth

Eastern sample

Chartres Labyrinth

Originally Posted by whswhs

though mortals such as saints and bodhisattvas may sometimes do so.

Exactly, because Saints or Enlightened ones were those already having successfully crossed the cosmic dungeon, the perilous psychic sea, finding the way to the extra-cosmic (spiritual) worlds (6).

They were called Delivered ones, too: delivered from the worldy dungeon or prison.

—

So, the archetypical Dungeon can be regarded as a mystical place in its own.

—

Notes:

(1) Medieval labyrinths were know as "Chemins de Jerusalem", and the Chartres Labyrinth was known to medieval pilgrims as "station of Jerusalem".

(2) "The Foam of Perilous Seas" is an excellent name for this.

(3) As Virgil in The Divine Comedy, guiding Dante trough the levels of the Hell and Mount Purgatory to the Paradise. Then it is Beatrice's turn, marking the radical passage from the psychic to the higher, trascendent spiritual order.

(4) That "Next Level" achieved by reaching the center of the circumference or the exit of the dungeon was an ontologic change upwards —leveling up— in the scale of the Being: advancing from hell to salvation, from the profane to the divine, from tribulation to peace, from human to celestial condition.

(5) The "ultimate temple" or "the Temple of the temples" was the center of the frame, or also called center of the world. So the Guardian guarded the access to the Temple or Center.

(6) Their biological bodies —differently than their psychic and spiritual ones— however, remained in the corporeal world until their decomposition.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Is it supposed to be -10 points, or are you assuming a limitation?

No, that was a memory failure. Thanks for catching it!

Bill Stoddard

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by whswhs

It’s possible to reach the celestial plane from the astral plane. The normal method is by going to parts of the astral plane that border the celestial plane, and crossing over. Neither mortals nor spirits are normally capable of reaching the celestial plane unaided,

Originally Posted by demonsbane

Here is again the Fantasy and Dungeon Fantasy labyrinth or dungeon theme: in ancient times they were regarded as the frame for a travel or hazardous pilgrimage to "The Next Level"

I can't resist the temptation:

Metagame Knowledge
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...g?t=1203155034

[Polydamas]

Very cool Bill. I may use some of that in my Bronze Age Setting. This thread is reminding me of an earlier thread which I should revisit, on then.beings which exist in the substantial and insubstantial worlds at the same time. I wasn't entirely satisfied with any of the answers I got back then.