Thursday, December 31, 2015

A Kabbalist in Outremer

We are temporarily stopping our StarCluster game to run a game of Outremer. Outremer is set in an alt-universe where the states created by the Crusades lasted into the Renaissance. It is a game where magic is real, and the characters can follow various Paths of Power to learn to control Magic.

One of the Paths is that of the Kabbalist. One of the possible powers of the Kabbalist is the ability to create Golems. In the game, Golems start with a Strength of 18 and an Intelligence of 1. Each month, the Golem's INT increases by 1, but its STR decreases by 1 as well. After 18 months, the now hyper intelligent but pathetically weak Golem dies, unable to raise the strength to breathe, but able mentally to pierce the veil and see the face of God as it died. Most Kabbalists destroy the Golem before this time is up, as a mercy.

One of my players wanted to - as a Kabbalist - be able to change this, so that the Golem could live on longer. I love this! Thing is, as a Kabbalist, he (the character, not the player) would know that the life, the soul which animates the Golem, is not under his control. It is a gift of God. It may be a life quest of the Kabbalist to stop the Golem's rapid change, in which the Kabbalist might succeed once - either to allow the Golem to grow and mature, as in the Galatea myth, or as an immortal repository for the Kabbalist's mind, a kind of Kabbalistic Philosopher's Stone.

Interesting settings lead to interesting questions. Just thought I'd share this!

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