Fantasy Core RPG
© Jerry Harris 2013
(This link will take you to the
Fantasy Core Index.)
Supreme knowledge is only useful if it is held in the
proper hands.
There are two known Grandmasters of martial arts in Shang-tu
province. They may be considered the
most powerful warriors in the area, and yet they are the least likely to ever
engage in any conflict.
No stats will be given for the Grandmasters. They should only be plot devices, who the
characters learn from, not opponents to be fought directly. These guys (along with truly pious Shamen)
are about a step away from immortality, whereas the characters can’t even see
it on the horizon. Their concerns and
motivations are well beyond normal mortal ones, such as whether should they try
and become an Immortal or not.
A Grandmaster might only become involved in a fight if a
truly great evil surfaces. Perhaps an
embattled Governor Yu or one of his Ministers makes a deal with Yomi for
supernatural power and demonic troops, in return for human sacrifices. Perhaps a Mongol hoard attacks and
indiscriminately begins to slaughter everyone in the province. Of course, a Grandmaster will gather heroes
to join him in the fight.
The wise claim to see reality the most clearly, as do the
insane.
The Abbot of the Mount Tien Temple is Grandmaster Fu. Fu is a funny, little old man, seemingly
child-like in his attention span and senile in memory. He speaks in strange, nonsensical phrases and
non-sequiturs, along with absurd actions.
This is his frustrating genius, as those around him are forced to
interpret what he does in order to learn anything from him. His students attempt to read meaning into his
every action, as much of the time he teaches lessons indirectly, by symbolic
acts, metaphor, and allegory. Then
suddenly, he speaks in clear, unmistakable terms. These tend to be moments of terror for the
monks. He was in one of these lucid
moods when he dismissed Yune.
If Fu is asked by a petitioner to teach them one of his
Special Techniques (such as The Dragon), he is likely to respond with a
seemingly foolish response, such as, “I’ll teach you after you put down your
burden.” He’s not talking about anything
the characters’ are physically carrying.
Perhaps he’ll invite you to a tea ceremony, and afterward ask you how
many sips you took. Perhaps he sends you
into the woods to capture a specific cicada.
When you return, he asks if you’ve found yourself yet. Perhaps he tells you to meditate until you
can’t take it anymore. After ever
increasing Fort Saves and eventual failure, Fu announces that you have
succeeded.
If all this sounds like something to frustrate the players
more than the characters, that is correct.
Don’t stop until the actual player has learned something about the game
or life in general. (Tears will be
shed!) At that point, Fu announces that
the character already knows the technique and knew it all along. They never needed him at all.
Here are some more ideas for character trials. (Some of these are rather painful.) http://terebess.hu/english/zen.html
The company of the wise is a trial of mind, spirit, and
body.
Grandmaster Lin is a hermit living in the woods in
the Mount Tien mountain range. He roves
around, sleeping in trees and caves, and meditating on mountaintops, and at
streams and lakes. He subsists off of
nuts and berries and, reportedly, wild creatures will kill themselves in front
of him to provide him with meat. Lin is
an earthy creature. Real earthy. As a practical matter, DC 12 Fort Sv or
nauseated 1 turn, when first meeting Lin.
If he decides to train you, that will be one of the easier Saving Throws
you’ll have to make.
Grandmaster Lin is a Wudan master. He has harnessed his inner lifeforce and is
able to externalize it throughout his body and can project it out. (Mind over matter.) Lin has perfect health and can survive in
virtually any climate. His Chi can
produce tremendous healing powers, or it can produce devastating force
(telekinetics).
Finding Lin, even with his smell, is going to be a task in
itself. Then there is matter of
convincing the mercurial wild man of the woods that you are worthy of his
teachings. There should be plenty of
humiliation to go around. Then begins
the harsh endurance training of mind, body, and soul. The good news is that he won’t let you die in
training, even if you fail. The bad news
is that he won’t let you die, no matter how much your character is
suffering. Where Fu might be mysterious
and enigmatic in his teachings, Lin will be painfully direct and obvious. “If you wish to develop Steel skin, take
these burning coals out the fire and carry them to the stream. One at a time.”
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