Hi all,

So, it's my first post here, so be kind.

We're just getting ready to start a TRoS game. The background for the game isn't quite as new - we played for several months using Iron Heroes as our system, but with a new set of players we decided the time was right to change systems, and TRoS certainly seems to fit the bill.

In short, the game aimed to be low-magic (or low-good-magic), human-centric, Dark Ages-style sword-and-sorcery in the Conan vein. Beyond that, we kind of just grabbed onto some Dark Age Earth cultures, mixed them up a bit, threw out all the normal animals and replaced them with prehistoric mammals. If you're interested, you can peruse what little has been done here: http://chainsofkhoros.pbworks.com

So we have a Chinese-ish culture called the Fengzhi, and I'm planning on converting my IH concept over: something along the lines of your Shaolin monk. But I don't want to be a Shaolin monk, exactly. So I'm fishing for interesting ideas for the philosophy that drives his monastery. Twists on the usual D&D monk. You might want to read more about the Fengzhi, but it's certainly not necessary. (Feel free to throw in Spiritual Attributes, if you want...)

Thanks in advance for your help, and best regards,
Patrick

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Patrick M. Murphy, Ph.D.
Mad Irishman Productions
http://www.mad-irishman.net
Slainte!

Hi! I would welcome you on behalf of trosfans, but I'm sort of a newbie myself. I'm also really interested in Asian-themed philosophies.

There were four Chinese philosophies:

Legalism
Daoism
Confucianism
Moism

You can wikipedia those easily enough, and I think you'll find some of their differences interesting enough to build conflicts and situations in your world. For example, monasteries might have differing views on the nature of man, the role and rights of government, and so on. A Moism-themed monastery might be interested in seeing justice done so that ghosts don't come back in vengeance. Daoists would probably be the most religious. In Chinese culture they were great fencers and developed many different types of martial arts. They could have 'soft' form specializations like tai qi. Confucianism was what was adopted by the state, so perhaps they or the legalists could serve as palace guards and court advisers.

Just some thoughts. I like your wiki page. It looks like PBWorks is a subscription site, though. I'll probably end up using Obsidian Portal.

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"Remember it well, then... this night, this great victory. So that in the years ahead, you can say, 'I was there that night, with Arthur, the King!' . . . For it is the doom of men that they forget."

Just as an FYI: we used Obsidian Portal for the Iron Heroes incarnation of the site. Pbworks is free, as well: they just wave the subscription stuff in front of you first, hoping you'll bite.

The historical stuff is very useful, thanks, Seanachai. But I'd also like to shake it up with a couple of departures that might be cool to play (yet hopefully still making sense). So instead of having a bunch of Taoists who endeavor to take the path of least resistance (oversimplifying, I know), maybe they're Taoists who see death as a release from the burdens of life and therefore go around sticking spears in everyone they meet, that kind of thing.

P

_________________
Patrick M. Murphy, Ph.D.
Mad Irishman Productions
http://www.mad-irishman.net
Slainte!

Do you recommend PBWorks over OP, then?

Were you looking for a simple dichotomy of philosophies (a la Jade Empire) or a whole slew of differing schools of thought? Have you read the Conan stories? I'm just getting into them myself, but I suspect there might be some interesting philosophies in there.

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"Remember it well, then... this night, this great victory. So that in the years ahead, you can say, 'I was there that night, with Arthur, the King!' . . . For it is the doom of men that they forget."

Well, OP has the added benefit of making your stuff visible to people looking for games who live near you. I just made the wiki less visible to old players (who are still on OP) where there might be bad blood.

I don't remember there being much in the way of philosophies in the Conan stories - act first, think later!

Yeah, I'm really just looking for a couple of philosophical ideas they might have which would influence my character's actions in fun ways. If that means a fully fleshed-out religion, great, but I figure small ideas are just as good.

Thanks,
P

_________________
Patrick M. Murphy, Ph.D.
Mad Irishman Productions
http://www.mad-irishman.net
Slainte!