Philippine Gumshoe: Smaller & Smaller Circles

Stepping away from the more fantastic elements of Gumshoe to a straightforward procedural hunt for a serial killer, my immediate instinct is trying to set it in a local setting. Sadly, there aren't many local novels that stray into genre fiction. F. H. Batacan's Smaller and Smaller Circles is one of those rare books.

When F.H. Batacan first published Smaller and Smaller Circles—now acknowledged as the Philippines’ first crime novel—she was calling for a revolution. Or maybe two. 

Early in Batacan’s prizewinning novel, the hero-sleuth, Jesuit priest and forensic anthropologist Father Gus Saenz, reveals his personal dream of overturning the popular national myth that there are no serial killers in the Philippines... F.H. Batacan also started a literary revolution by producing what is now widely acknowledged as the first Filipino crime novel. In the decade that has passed since its publication, others have begun to follow suit, and now the genre is burgeoning. (from the Soho Press blog) 

The idea of having the a priest as the protagonist / detective in the Philippines is an interesting one, as it affords some latitude for the 'amateur sleuth' archetype in the predominantly Catholic country. They  have a measure of respect that allows some access to otherwise prohibited locales of people, and their position in the political landscape of the Philippines affords them some protection from some of the ensconced powers-that-be.

Also, the nature of local crime scene investigation is exposed as being somewhat behind the more modern U.S. and U.K. approaches, rationalising why observation, deduction, psychology, and ground-pounding work are more than valid in a modern world where TV shows like C.S.I. became a phenomenon.

Perhaps more similar amateur detective archetypes can be thought up for a Philippine Gumshoe campaign.

Filipino Fridays: Some Massacres in Philippine History

If you know something about the Philippines, you'd certainly know that it's a predominantly Catholic country in Asia. However, you might not know what we mean when we talk about the Moros.

According to Wikipedia:

The Moro people or Bangsamoro are a population of indigenous Muslims in the Philippines, forming the largest non-Catholic group in the country, and comprising about 5% of the total Philippine population.

You can imagine that there are tensions -- long-simmering, occasionally explosive tensions -- in the country. However, it's also source of rich cultural material, and an eminently mineable history of promises, betrayals, and conflict.

Something that you may wish to take a look at when tackling this kind of thing in your games is to research several key elements in our history and extrapolate them for your own use in your games. But be sensitive in your use -- these are people's lives, after all -- and the wounds may still be fresh in some families.

I offer this as a sort of reversal in the more positive posts on my beloved country -- we are, like every other country -- filled with agendas, personalities, and organisations always in conflict over scarce (or ridiculously valuable) resources.

Moro Insurgency in the Philippines [ Wikipedia ]

Details the emergence of the Moro Insurgency from the late 1960s to the present, with a sympathetic slant toward the Moros' plight. It talks about several key events and policies that led to the current situation.

A key event, still discussed to this day, is the Jabidah Massacre -- something that I'd long accepted as de facto history. A varying number of muslims, it's said, were recruited into the Philippine military to perform a secret mission. But when it was revealed to them that they'd be fomenting dissent in a nearby island against fellow muslims they refused, and were (allegedly?) killed to silence them. It has long been a rallying point for local muslim insurgent movements.

More recently, the Mampasano Massacre (clash, to some) involved members of the Philippine military entering ares controlled by MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) & BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) forces, intending to serve arrest warrants for high-ranking terrorists. In the ensuing clash, 44 members of the Philippine National Police's Special Action Force (PNP SAF) were surrounded, and -- after they'd surrendered -- were slaughtered.


Right now, the media narratives are talking about how the Jabidah Massacre might've been a hoax, and how the Mampasano Massacre might be a reverse Jabidah operation. It's hard to sort out true history from the shouting between camps.


Maguindanao Massacre [ Wikipedia ]

On the morning of November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province, 58 victims were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu, were kidnapped and brutally killed. The people killed included Mangudadatu's wife, his two sisters, a large number of journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy. They were killed because Mangudadatu was challenging the incumbent Mayor (Mayor Ampatuan) for his mayoral seat.

The case is still ongoing.

Filipino Fridays: Skills and Environment Expertise

The Philippine Army Rangers, aside from their reputation as an elite unit, also serve to highlight how being familiar with an environment (the tropical jungle), can give a major advantage to any individual or group.


Also their tracking skills (as also evidenced in the past by people used to living and hunting in the wilds of any country) may seem like wizardry to people more used to technology, and people not used to the jungle, but the tone of the experts is very matter-of-fact. They also seem really friendly, not the typical Hollywood gung-ho military stereotypes (and very similar to many of the soft-spoken military vets I met in the U.S.). Nothing to prove.

I seem to remember the G.I. Joe comic talking about the wonders that a well-trained, highly-motivated individual can achieve. Something to keep in mind, regardless of your nationality.

Stick a few of these guys in your next game, to remind your players that there are not-so-obvious experts in the world besides them.

Filipino Fridays: "You Speak English Really Well!"

Oh, I've had this said to me and -- sad to say -- my initial snarky reaction was: "Well, thanks. So do you!" Thank God I always held back on the rude second sentence.

The Long Preamble

Backing up -- I'm Filipino, don't look like anyone that might conceivable pass hisself offa sum kinda Caucasian American. But I grew up in the Philippines, reasonably well off, and so grew up as part of a group that would be considered privileged in his home country. A home country where English is considered one of the national languages, and where -- when I was going up -- speaking good English was considered a mark of education, in much the same way that speaking Spanish, and at least one other European language was considered a mark of education and prestige in the era of my grandparents.

So, when I was in the 'States, encountering a compliment like the above rubbed me the wrong way. Misplaced pride, I suppose. I mean, it's a compliment -- and one I've also gotten in other countries since: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia. So why didn't I take offense there?

Many possible reasons that I'm still exploring, but I suppose one is -- I bought into the whole American Dream. Not the white picket fences and suburban bliss, but the one that promises a meritocracy -- you can become anything you want, if you work hard enough. Skin color, ethnic background, economic background don't matter. Bought into it with a steady diet of a strongly American-influenced educational system and imported TV shows (Science Fiction, Crime, and Comedy).

Now, as a published writer, I have a different reaction to these types of compliments: "Thank you so much!"

Because, as someone occasionally lumped into the Person of Color grouping -- as opposed to the "Oh, Alex -- I'm sorry about this, but what nationality are you again?", which I always took as a compliment (yes, I may have complicated identity issues like many people) -- writing in English sometimes triggers an unwanted reaction. You really don't get as much slack as a (perceived) American or British writer -- artistic license with spelling or made-up slang (it's a Fantasy / Futuristic / Modern subculture genre) and get slapped for 'wrong grammar' or 'wrong vocabulary usage' when it's 100% intentional!

Looking back on my adolescent self, I wish I'd taken the compliments more in the spirit that they'd been given: genuine recognition and perhaps even admiration. These days, those things don't seem to be as in vogue as they should be.

This Series

All that is a segue into this: I'm going to be restarting Fridays with a series of posts that will focus on bringing the Filipino element into gaming. Not always a Philippine setting, sometimes just a character or two into a game system, or recognizing a mention in new or old RPG material.

Inspiration

Of course, you may wonder what my Appendix N might be, given my nationality. I tell you this: it started, like many of my generation, with much of the same books as yours. Except harder to find, because they were of low importance to the local bookstores. ("My God, a complete collection of the works of Moorcock? Which branch of National Bookstore? Too far! Buy it for me, pare! I'll pay you back!")

And like some of my generation (and the younger generation), we've started writing our own body of Science Fiction / Fantasy / Horror and Speculative Fiction. Here are a few covers & links for those of the eBook persuasion:

[ Full Disclosure: some of my short stories appear in some of these volumes ]

The Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction 2005-2010 
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/1APA6RA)

This is a good starter, a collection of what the original editors of the Philippine Speculative Fiction series considered the best of the collected stories from 2005 to 2010.

A reprint of my story, The Death & Rebirth of Nathaniel Alan Sempio, appears in this volume -- my filipinized homage to the pulp novels of my youth, and a look at a possible two-fisted alternate future of my country.

Stories from this series have been included in the Honorable Mentions list from The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror edited by Ellen Datlow and Kelly Link & Gavin Grant.

"[I] have been impressed with the quality of the fiction and the scope of it -- quiet, personal stories of the fantastic, real science fiction, tales based on traditional Philippine folklore and mythology, structurally experimental pieces, and humorous commentaries on life in the 21st century." - World Fantasy Award-winning author Jeffrey Ford.

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 1
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/1FADbFT)

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 2
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/TMZTlM)

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 3
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/SEzysW)

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 4
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/YMkblX)

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 5
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/1LOBoRF)

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 6
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/TEdnDZ)

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 7
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/THOaW4)

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 8
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/17C6GML)

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 9
Kindle Store (http://amzn.to/1DXKn0a)

Inspiration: Steve Gan and the Star-Lord

With the renewed buzz around the Guardians of the Galaxy film (which doubly-hit me recently because of my SF feeds and comics feeds), I was surprised to hear about Steve Gan -- a Filipino-Chinese comic book artist that not many might have heard of -- in my social media feeds.

It turns out that -- according to this Comixverse article from last year -- Steve Gan was a co-creator of Star-Lord (along with the legendary Steve Englehart). Steve Gan is more well-known locally for the icon of Filipino Fantasy by Caparas and Gan known as Ang Panday (“The Blacksmith”), which debuted in March of 1979. It was further popularized by a series movies by Fernando Poe, Jr. and many other leading men in movies and TV since -- such as Jericho Rosales (to the right).

This, of course, makes me curious about their take on the Star-Lord, who seems to be getting less press than Groot or Rocket Racoon.

It also triggers my interest in the so-called Philippine Invasion of comics back in the 1980s, also recently touched on by the Fire & Water series of podcasts.

A Taste for Nostalgia: Frustrated Fandom

I've posted before about how pursuing aspects of geek fandom could be a difficult chore growing up in the Philippines during the 70s. Although, having read the anthology of anecdotes by Rob Kelly (Hey Kids, Comics!) and listening to gaming and comic book podcasts, I realize that my experience was far from rare -- even to residents in the U.S.

For me, frustrated fandom took many forms: comic books that I only encountered sporadically, science fiction / fantasy novels, RPGs and related books and gear, TV shows and movies from different countries, mostly from the U.S. and the U.K., etc. Fandom in these areas was frustrated due to numerous reasons:

• economic issues (not enough money, or statospherically priced objects of desire)
• accessibility (no stock -- often a lack of awareness that such things existed, distance to store, being allowed to travel t, store closing down, selection)
• constant travel or moving (comic book collections take up storage and luggage space)
• family resistance (fortunately, I didn't get this much)

Effect:

I can only speak for myself, of course. Though I've seen the same thing with others -- not being able to go after what I want as a kid somehow comes back as a mad collector fever. I would try to be compleatist and pick up copies of anything remotely related to my current obsession.

This is, of course, different from the actual collection obsession tied to something new. Like the 3rd Edition of D&D or the Fading Suns books when they first came out.

Some objects of my deferred collection obsessions were:

• D&D Gazetteers
• the complete run of The New Teen Titans
• all the Babylon 5 DVDs
• the complete run of Grimjack
• all MechaPress issues
• Mayfair's DC Heroes Sourcebooks
• the complete run of Nexus
• all the episodes of I-Spy
• all the episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
• every Sapphire & Steel episode
• Fading Suns sourcebooks and war games

Ah, but it takes up too much space (and eats up too much money)!

R.I.P. Vic Cabazor

A friend, Vic Cabazor, passed away this morning due to a stroke.

In the recent half-decade, we just didn't see him as often due to changes in life schedules, but he was one of the anchors of the local gaming organizations (A.E.G.I.S.) and the local Sci-Fi / Fantasy organizations (New Worlds).

One of his major impacts on our life: being the selfless engine behind the monthly Gaming Meets that merged the wargamers and the role-playing gamers and the larger SF/Fantasy fandom.

Rest in peace, Vic and thanks for all the blood, sweat, and tears for the community.

The pic above is Vic doing some of his voice acting work -- which I did not know about until I googled for a picture of him just this morning. Just goes to show that people are always changing, growing, and have many, many facets, just like the dice we roll from time to time.

Another Lens: Halloween & All Saints

Playing with expectations -- especially cultural ones -- is always something I like to do in RPGs, particularly ones that are set in worlds and times other than our own. I often dip into my experiences stemming from living in the U.S. in the past, and living here in the Philippines now. The thing is, until you have that experience of being in a very different place -- sometimes a different country, sometimes just across the tracks, sometimes at your friend's household -- you don't realize something's out of the ordinary.

So here's another post on something that might be lifted for local color in your setting (perhaps on some world in the setting of Fading Suns).

Halloween

The Halloween experience (costumes, kids trick or treating, etc.) is a relatively new experience in the Philippines. When growing up, my knowledge about this type of celebration came primarily from all the TV shows and movies imported from the U.S. via our local channels and the stuff we watch on Betamax (that's right, Betamax was THE format in the Philippines when I was growing up).

Our knowledge of this time of year growing up was mostly about the All Saints / All Souls days. Can you imagine what it might be like to be at that transition point when the commercial marketing aspect of a formerly solemn (well, not really, more on that later) holiday takes over?

You can have traditionalists clashing with the newer generation, you can have the day traditionally saved for preparations for All Saints / All Souls suddenly usurped by what might be considered another holiday. Like having Thanksgiving the day before Christmas Eve and Christmas.

All Saints' Day

Here's what Wikipedia currently has to say about All Saints' Day in the Philippines:

Hallowmas in the Philippines is variously called "Undas" (based on the word for "[the] first"), "Todos los Santos" (literally "All Saints"), and sometimes "Áraw ng mga Patáy" (lit. "Day of the Dead"), which refers to the following day of All Souls' Day but includes it. Filipinos traditionally observe this day by visiting the family dead, often cleaning and repairing them. Offerings of prayers, flowers, candles, and even food are made, while Filipino-Chinese additionally burn incense and kim. Many also spend the day and ensuing night holding reunions at the graves, playing music or singing karaoke.

For Fading Suns, you may use this in three ways:

• it's a time for a mini-pilgrimage to your home planet, or wherever all your family members are buried. If a noble, it's likely that different sub-factions have different family mausoleums. It's like a time for reunions, for catching up with family gossip, for reconnecting with familial allies, and so on.
• it's a time for the family spirits to revisit a PC, especially those who were unable to attend the reunion; to berate them for not honoring the family, to make revelations about family secrets, to give warnings about something they're facing in the future -- and then follow that up with scenes involving family members that have missed him at the reunion and want to reconnect.
• there are unspeakable sects that worship their ancestors; this is a special time for them to perform their rites -- but during a period of excruciating scrutiny by the Church.

Mahadlika: A Philippine RPG (Kinda Old & Never Released)

I think this was done as a thesis, or something.

Time to read through it, for kicks. :)

A Table for a Tropical Clime: Armor in San Lazario

From The Tao of D&D comes a table that will restrict the use of the warmer armors in different temperature ranges. There may be slight adjustments for people native to this area, but even we eschew very heavy armor to avoid heat-related ailments.

Time to strip down to the essentials, unless it's time to fight! Right, Amaya?

Seriously, though, some of it is also a matter of available materials. Perhaps the iron ore is difficult to get at, or at least in quantities that would make chain mail or plate mail likely to be produced (and maintained) on a larger scale. Or perhaps the powers that be don't look kindly on anyone manufacturing large amounts of armor?

Speaking of maintenance, being near the sea (and all that salt water) might make fighting against rust a real pain. How quickly does uncared for metal armor rust? Like those pieces of armor found in dungeons that may or may not have had blood spilled on them?

Another concern is the craftsmanship -- perhaps the skill is there for creating swords and other weapons, but I'm sure that it must be a pain to 'start over' when you've made a mistake with your armor crafting for chain mail or plate mail...

RPG Blog Carnival: "Give Chance To Others"

There was a Filipino saying -- in English words, but not necessarily English grammar (we're funny that way as a bilingual country) -- that advocates letting everyone have a chance. When a child has been monopolizing a swing or a see-saw, parents will say: "Give chance to others." When someone in class tends to have all the answers, the teachers will say: "Give chance to others." When someone doesn't have a college degree, or the requisite experience for a political office like the office of Senator or President, the people say: "Give chance to others."

In that spirit, and in the spirit of the RPG Blog Carnival theme Campaigns I'd Like To Run, here's a list of  some of the RPGs out there that I'd love to "give chance" to -- primarily because even if I'd get a chance to run these games, the niched nature of these would make the players agreeing to it a long shot! But I'd really like to try out these particular systems or settings, because the interest me in particular.

EABA by BTRC

EABA is one of those Universal Roleplaying Systems that can handle multiple genres. It has game system elements similar to the DC Heroes / MEGS exponential scale table and the D6 system. And it's got a number of interesting settings to its name.

The setting I'd like to try is Verne, which is a Victorian Steampunk & Science Fiction setting (as you may have surmised from the title). Here's a bit of the blurb:

Battle dirigibles, Cavorite, steamtroops, dinosaurs, Martians, Selenites, mad scientists, clacking Babbage engines, the works. Verne starts off with the historical Victorian Era and then merges it with the fiction of Jules Verne, H.G.Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and others to create a seamless alternate history that the adventurers get to shape and be part of. Verne can be as stiff-upper-lip fictional or Victorian Era grimy as you like, with detailed historical and cultural information, half a dozen adventures and numerous plot-centered NPC's and gadgets. 

Verne is nearly 220 pages of steampunk with the traditional BTRC attention to detail. Also available for Verne: A free interactive character creator for Verne, and a map pack with nearly 20 adventure locations, including an annotated interactive map of London.

Oh yes, it should be fun!

Traveller Hero

Yeah, these two books are out of print, but I'd still like to get my hand on a second-hand copy of both books and run them using the HERO System. It's the system I'm most comfortable with for modern and future settings, to be honest. One of my favorite SF campaigns was a Star Hero campaign, so Traveller with HERO is a logical leap. Boy, was I bummed when I found it it'd gone out of print (the license had been revoked) and I hadn't been able to buy it!


Pathfinder + NeoExodus: A House Divided

The setting is interesting enough for me to pick up Pathfinder, which I wouldn't normally do due to my allergy to the escalation of Feats that annoyed me about D&D 3.5. But with the OSR house rules and other things I've learned, I'm willing to make a streamlined run of the game to explore this interesting melange of concepts.

I did an Armchair Review of this particular book. Check out the link for more information on NeoExodus.

Hats in Enigmundia

Coming back from a trip to the beach, I have a new appreciation for the usage of hats in a fantasy setting. Aside from the more modern association with fashion, hats do provide a certain kind of utility.

The tricorne hat, for example, seen in many historical films, performs a very useful function during seasons of rain by channeling rainwater away from the wearer's face to the shoulder areas (often also covered with raincoats).

Therefore in my fantasy setting, inspired by many an old school setting and my own learnings and research about Philippine history, there would definitely be a tricorne equivalent -- perhaps for the conquering settlers of the land of San Lazario -- during the rainy season of the two-season land. Interestingly, the tricorne (according to Wikipedia, anyway) originated from Spanish soldiers evolving the use of the standard broad rim hat, and was brought to France in the 1660s during one of the wars.

And it would have both functional and dress versions of the same structure. As for the decorative colors, it's hard to say.

This also means that there would have to be places to hang hats in homes and in public places -- preferably areas that you would not mind getting wet.

Of course, the Enigmundian Inspancialo aren't the only source of hats. The locals have a variant of the salakot, a hat that has kept the sun and the rain out of the locals' faces for many years. It is usually made from rattan wood or perhaps woven from reeds. But there are wonderfully decorated versions worn by the headmen of the various barangays and tribes -- decorated with embossed silver and precious gems and coins and metals.

But the common folk should have a variety of designs that they will wear, and perhaps hang on walls when they enter. There must be some kind of cultural approach that deals with ownership, sharing, and borrowing hats, particularly for long trips.

And, perhaps even some magical hats in the future. But for now, it's a nice cultural touch to add.

Holy Week Posts: Transportation Adventure Seeds

It is Holy Week in the Philippines.

For those of you who've never worked here or visited here during this time, here are some things you might find interesting enough to mine for cultural variety in your RPG campaigns.

Background

Holy Week stems from Catholic religious belief, primarily remembering and celebrating the Passion and Death of Christ. In the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country in Asia, it has several well-known expressions of faith (Visita Iglesia, Crucifixions, and significant days of Holy Week itself). It is also significant enough that Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are national holidays, with some people already leaving work as early as Monday.

Transportation

 Because of this tradition, traffic takes on erratic patterns at certain times during this week. Because of those fortunate enough to leave early in the week, traffic becomes lighter along many minor roads and major thoroughfares. But then, some government projects take advantage of the reduce traffic and begin making repairs on some paths.

And then as Wednesday approaches, paths of traffic toward the provinces (main highways) become choked with cars and buses. Buses are, in fact, the main mode of travel back to provinces in Luzon -- and bus stops are often crazy places to be during this time. Imagine a seething mass of humanity suffering in the summer heat, sometimes dealing with inefficient transport lines, ticketing offices, and the ever-present threat of criminals preying on travelers at numerous bus stations of varying quality.

Those seeking to return to home provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao portions of the archipelago often take boats, ferries, and local flights to return home. And they deal with similar problems as those who opted for bus travel do.

Naturally, the police, along with local and national government services do their best to serve the public and keep a watchful eye over the welfare of the millions of citizens returning home.

Adventure Seed: PCs must travel to a far-off location, but are surprised find that they must contend with a horde of travelers also bound for the same place. Not adventurers or mercenaries, but people from various stations in life merely seeking to go home to observe religious rites and visit family at a critical time during the year. They may find themselves learning useful information about the locale and its delights and dangers, or may end up thwarting crime targeted at their fellow travelers.

Adventure Seed: Some monsters also come out to hunt during this time for very specific reasons. perhaps the Sigbin has come to take advantage of the confusion of travelers and hopes to steal the heart of a child during the pilgrimages of travelers through its hunting lands.

Adventure Seed: The local government, normally very permissive, is quite alert during this time of year. They search travelers gear, question suspicious individuals, and sometimes delay some groups for a time to ensure that they will not be a danger to the other pilgrims. Perhaps some secrets or dangerous, cursed items choose this unfortunate time to cause trouble for the PCs.

Mining Firebirds: the Church, State, and Citizenry

After reading this post about the medieval mindset, and because of how clearly the point of view of NPCs (and perhaps some PCs) in that era might be explained, I immediately jumped to thoughts on how Philippine culture can be mined for Fading Suns RPGs, particularly in the case of religion.

Here are couple of things that you might want to use for your Fading Suns storylines for flavor, or even an adventure premise:

Mass is always full

Okay, not always. The lunchtime mass at the But on Sundays (and Saturday evenings -- anticipated masses), they're full. Sometimes standing room only full.

The "mega-chapel" known as the Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord, located on the top floor of one of the bigger malls in Metro Manila, tends to have long lines on Sundays as the attendees of the next mass await their turn to enter after the current mass finishes. Yes, we have chapels in malls -- and masses in malls -- because it's very convenient in a country where traffic and parking can be part of the trial of keeping the Lord's Day holy. I though it would be very controversial, but it hasn't gone away. And the various other churches still get their fill on Sundays. I don't think churches in malls are particularly Fading Suns-y, unless you consider the Guild worlds and perhaps the more cosmopolitan planets like Byzantium Secundus.

Aren't there other religious denominations in the Philippines? Yes. The Christian services tend to be longer, I think, and also get full with worshippers, according to my Christian friends. And the Iglesia ni Cristo, and Jesus Is Lord, and El Shaddai movements have their throngs of followers choking their churches and causing traffic at their places of worship (public and more private).

So, even with all the atheists and agnostics and lapsed Catholics / Christians / etc. that I know personally in society -- well, basically if you throw a stone into a parking lot, chances are you'll hit a regular churchgoer.

Applying this in Fading Suns, it means that most NPCs spend a chunk of their day of worship at the Cathedral, or perhaps a properly sanctified and recognized chapel nearer to where they live. It's something they make a regular part of their lives, something the either set in stone on their schedules or something they always include on their to-do lists.

And I haven't even touched on the Muslims and the Chinese temples.

Faith and the Syncretic approach

By praying and walking on their knees
from the entrance of the church to the
altar, devotees believe their intentions
will be heard and answered.

This isn't to say that we're saints in this country. Crime and corruption are long-time residents of this archipelago. The sermons about Sunday-only Catholics certainly ring true here.

But more than that, there is an undercurrent of syncretic practice ("the combining of different -- often seemingly contradictory -- beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought") in this worship. Chinese superstition and feng shui are equally present at blessings of homes, offices, and public structures, even if no one of Chinese descent is present. Local monsters, spirits, and creatures of lower mythology have all been lumped together as 'demons' under the Catholic catechism, but provincial residents still have minor ways of appeasing them alongside religious observances and protections. There have been admonitions to the faithful that they should not view the lighting of candles, the kneel walker pilgrimages at the Baclaran Church, and the Holy Week practice of Visitia Iglesia as superstitious rituals, but instead as gateways to deepening faith.

But I have no doubt that in some minds, they're both.

In Fading Suns, this can be seen as the general ignorance of the populace about true Orthodox Church doctrine, and a multitude of local superstitions that have been infused (purposely, or by default) with the original, older set of beliefs that came from the planet's natives and from the earliest settlers.

Mining Firebirds: Saints Alive

In Fading Suns, the dominant religion seems to be a mix of Muslim and Christian (Catholic and Greek Orthodox?), with the worship of the Pancreator and the Prophet who revealed the truth of the Holy Flame.

The Eight Disciples of the Prophet Zebulon were the first saints of this religion, but there are many more that are mentioned fleetingly in the material.

I wanted to bring in a bit of this into the Fading Suns gameplay, with a bit of the local color I've discovered.

In the Philippines, there are regular devotions to saints. There are these almost human-size statues of saints that are paraded around on small floats or carried on a palanquin once a year during that saint's festival. The rest of the year, it's in the home of a devotee.

It is said that the intentions of the devotee will be answered by God, through the intercession of the saint -- but the devotee will, in the course of his or her life, undergo a similar trial to that of the saint. Naturally the martyred saints seldom get this kind of the devotion, but some would prefer some physical pain over the social or cultural persecution that other saints have endured...

Inspiration: Diwanis of the Enchanted Garden

Here are some pics from a new Philippine Fantaserye titled Enchanted Garden. Don't know too much about it, aside from the fact that they've signed up some of the sexiest women in Philippine Showbiz (and one of the funniest -- I love Ruffa Mae Quinto's comedy work). Pictured below are the Diwani (a play on diwata, commonly translated as being a faery or nymph, but closer in local myth to being a local goddess of nature).

Here they are while I figure out what the show's about.

Diwani Alvera played by Alice Dixon

Diwani Valerianna portrayed by Ruffa Gutierrez

Diwani Quassia portrayed by Ruffa Mae Quinto

Armchair Reviews: Asuang -- Shapechanging Horrors

This is an 18-page sourcebook for D&D 4e that deals with a fair number of well-known and lesser known Filipino monsters. Being an absolute 4E noob, I cannot comment on the ruleset realization of the creatures. However, on other matters...

Asuang: Shapechanging Horrors is a good sourcebook if you want to introduce a change-of-pace set of monsters into your campaign, especially if your players are intimately familiar with the Monster Manual and the 'acceptable variants'.

The asuang are akin to vampires (viscera-sucking rather than blood-sucking), werewolves (monsters by night, human-looking by day), and doppelgangers (not human, no matter what you might think), but have a mythology and logic and flavor of their own that can be quite dangerous if players assume they're dealing with the more common monsters.

I think that the statement early on really brings out the strength of these creatures:

Rather, people fear the asuangs because when the sun rises, an asuang can wear the face of a perfectly normal person: a merchant, priest, friend or neighbor... When a loved one is revealed as an asuang, it means that at one point, he or she was consumed painfully and replaced by the monster.

Of course, even that rule isn't closely followed by all of them. And that variety (within certain thematic similarities) makes them truly horrible foes.

I like the format, organization, and informational density of the sourcebook. It starts off by establishing the asuang in broad strokes, touching on what people think about them, what they think about themselves, and suggestions about how they might fit into a DM's preferred setting. I particularly like the rumor that "asuangs are otherworldly reflections found in the world: busaos and sigbins are reflections or lycanthropes; manananggals are distortions of shapechanging vampires".

Each monster has the following informational elements, in addition to the various monster stat blocks for a given asuang and its variants:

• monster name, general description, and behavior
• monster tactics -- how they monster fights when acting alone, as a mob, or as part of a mixed group
• monster mythos -- what lorekeepers believe about the creature, its beliefs, its origins, its motivations and its occasional variants

Some of my favorite bits in the book:

• the Balbal -- a version of the Mananaggal (an asuang that, at night, separates from her lower half and sprouts bat wing before going off to hunt viscera from humans) that has lost its lower half and has gone even more feral and vicious;
• the Tianak -- the undead creature created from infants and the unborn; a terrible creature to inflict on the more noble members of the party because of its tendency to appear as a child in need as a trap;
• the Tiktik -- the evil elemental demon spirit that the pre-Mananaggals must join with in a ritual to become fully asuang.

I heartily recommend picking up this sourcebook to spice up the encounters of a complacent, know-it-all adventuring party.

Enigmundia: Rivers Run Through It

Some of Arnold Arre's 2000 work. A lot if his paintings actually
inspired my early attempts at RPG work in Fuzion, but it didn't
see the light of day, sadly. Much of this work is arguably set in the
shared world of Hinirang (and that's the setting I was working on),
but I'd have to ask him moving forward. There are Tiq'barangs in
this painting, along with other creatures of Philippine myth.

Informed not only by WFRP, but also by my experiences in the Philippines and by a certain seminal fantasy novel, I incorporated river travel into my modified Mystara setting.

The primary use was trade; secondary use was transporting people. This meant caravan travel quite often involved people following alongside or within sight of the river barges and boats.

I also incorporated the concept of rest stops along the river -- some warehouses, some moorings, some inns that primarily cater to travelers along the river.

I stopped short of creating a system whereby certain types of material would travel certain river segments, then travel the rest of the way via carts and other wheeled contrivances -- but I did allude to them.

They also made slightly modified water creatures interesting potential encounters.

Other potential encounters: river pirates, ornery owners of other boats, grifters and con artists, and peddlers of food stuffs (they cook along the river, attracting customers through aroma).

Inspired by the aforementioned seminal fantasy work (Lord of the Rings) I started thinking of shrines to the gods or spirits of the river, but my campaign ended before I could follow up on that thread of thinking.

How have you made use of riverways in your campaigns?

NPC Hero: Elemental Champion of Water -- Part 2

Okay, so continuing from the post almost a month ago, I began listing the most appropriate HERO power mechanics to match the abilities I came up with. At the same time, I started to adjust the character concept -- partially due to natural concept refinement, partially due to the need to fit a complete character into the overall point totals.

I start with the "Torrent Raider" abilities, which are water elemental related powers skewed towards a rogue-ish portfolio:

TORRENT RAIDER Abilities

"Body of Water" - an ability to transform her body into a liquid, making her impervious to most damage

• Desolid - the classic intangibility power, and also allows the 'walk through walls' type of ability though it'll probably be blocked by airtight or watertight barriers
• 75% rPD & 75% rED - when attacked, some damage bleeds through, but the remainder passes harmlessly through her after she flickers into her waterform

"Lady of the Lake" - an ability to become invisible by receding into a nearby body of water, and even to skip to other bodies of water and emerge there.

• Invisibility - slides into the water and disappears, except for ripples
• Teleport - jumps to another body of water, and remains hidden till she emerges.

"Ripple sense" - allows the ability to sense water in the immediate area, and the ability to sense in a 360 degree arc movement in water (Sense + Analyze)

"Scry Water" - allows her to sense things near bodies of water (Clairsentience)

"Fathom form" -  allows her to deal with breathing underwater, the pressure, and the temperature extremes in the deeps of the water (Life Support)

Post-Easter Post: Holy Week in the Philippines

In the predominantly Catholic Philippines, Easter (and indeed, all of Holy Week) is a big thing. How big? Well, it's usually several days worth of holidays. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are official holidays, but many people already start leaving for their provincial homes as early as Monday. Traffic is horrendous as you get closer to Wednesday, because that's when most people can afford to leave work and either drive or catch public transport to their hometown and celebrate the religious holidays with their families.

Here are just three elements of the Filipino Easter Experience that you can modify and insert in your campaigns for some religious flavor:

Visita Iglesia

Photo from my man Ivan.

Experience: As the name suggests, this practice involves visiting churches (usually seven or fourteen) and praying the stations of the cross at each church. The Stations of the Cross normally involve meditation and prayer centered around fourteen key scenes that trace the arrest of Jesus all the way up to his Death (old version) and Resurrection (new version). For my non-Catholic visitors, the images of these fourteen stations can be found in any church, spread out along the walls.

Usage: Now, in the modern era, there are a lot of churches in the Philippines. But in a fantasy world, I'm sure that these places of worship, depending on how the religion is structured, would be few and far between. This would make this devotional practice (it's not required, but some folks do it as penitence for sins or sacrifice for blessings) an interesting bit of local culture that is slowly built up as the year rolls around -- perhaps only the elderly practice an equivalent of it at various times of the day.

Then, at the height of the religious festival, the entire community (and perhaps some fair-weather believers) suddenly turns out around the temple, clogging the streets, blocking traffic, and -- in addition to becoming a very dangerous opponent for blasphemous visitors -- a source of religious benefices and protection.

Crucifixions

Yes, these folks are tied to the crosses. If you want nails,
look for them yourself, but remember that I warned you.

Experience: Yes, some people get crucified in the provincial areas during this time of year. Yes, some of them go beyond (for me) the bounds of reason and use nails. No, I'm not posting pictures -- google "Easter in the Philippines" for yourself, and you'll get a healthy bunch of them. But I'm warning you, that -- in addition to disturbing pictures of nails and the hands and feet, some of those pics also involve the flagellants and thus involve a lot of blood. Anyway, this is an extreme method of penitence or devotion that the Catholic Church disapproves of, but it hasn't really gone away.

Usage: Running into one of these 're-enactments' may trigger some gung-ho members of the adventuring party into rescue attempts -- that is until everyone, including the folks being crucified, start shouting at them and looking at them as if they were mad.

For the slightly more spiritual-oriented campaigns, one can take a page from RuneQuest and actually have this as an annual event wherein the people in the various roles are not performing some devotional activity, but are actually trying to reinforce or subtly modify important aspects of a religion's -- er -- mythology. Yeah, RuneQuest is funky that way, and deserving of an entirely different post, I'm sure.

Black Saturday

Experience: This also known as Easter Saturday or Holy Saturday. Folk wisdom cautions against travel on this day, and keep close watch on your surroundings and your loved ones, because "patay ang Diyos" ("God is dead"). Nietzschean allusions aside, there is some significance to this during the observation of this day in terms of religious observances:

In Roman Catholic churches, the chancel remains stripped completely bare (following the Mass on Maundy Thursday) while the administration of the sacraments is severely limited. Holy Communion after the Good Friday service is given only as Viaticum to the dying. Baptism, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick may be administered because they, like Viaticum, are helpful to ensuring salvation for the dying.

All Masses are severely limited. No Mass at all appears in the normal liturgy for this day, although Mass can be said on Good Friday and on Holy Saturday for an extremely grave or solemn situation with a dispensation from the Vatican or the local bishop. Many of the churches of the Anglican Communion as well as Lutheran, Methodist, and some other Churches observe most of the same; however, their altars may be covered in black instead of being stripped.

-- source: Wikipedia

Usage: Nothing in the chancel (and almost all religious statues or relics covered), no sacraments or Masses except in extreme circumstances, and the whispers of the elderly urging caution.

I'm sure that many DMs out there are already hatching nasty scenarios to take advantage for such a foreboding scene upon reaching a town or city -- I hope they weren't hoping to get religious services like healing or exorcism or raise dead today!

Note that the liturgical end for this is 6PM, but you can shift it to a more dramatic hour -- perhaps the dawning of the next day?