The Beliefs of True Communion

1. Everyone matters, no matter how lowborn
2. We are defined by our connections with others.
3. True knowledge can be found within, by listening to one’s intuition and accepting the morality one already knows in their heart.
4. The “real” world is an illusion; only the “inner world” of thought, dream, perception and connection is “real.”
5. All people are but facets of an infinite cosmic divinity; through introspection, we can understand the infinite cosmic and understand how it connects all people together.
6. Virtue is found through aligning one’s self with the will of Communion, and in accepting one’s true purpose in life, one’s destiny.
7. Time is as much an illusion as the world: there is only the Eternal Now.

Patreon Preview: the Keleni

What the Ranathim were to the Divine Masks and the Cult of the Mystical Tyrant, the Keleni are to True Communion.  This naturally telepathic and compassionate species first discovered their inherent interconnection with one another, but rejected their inherent interconnection with all other species, for the other races of the Galaxy treated them poorly.  Their heretics brought their faith and power to the other races, but the Keleni continue, scattered across the galaxy, struggling to maintain their identity and yearning for a chance to return to their temple worlds.

Today, I have a Patreon Preview of the Keleni race, for all $3+ patrons. It includes their racial template, a few power-ups, a discussion of their culture, language and a few pieces of concept art.  If you're a patron, thank you for your support, and feel free to check it out.  If you're not, I'd love to have you!

The Cultural Context of Communion

The Origin of Communion

A race native to the same region of the Galaxy as the Ranathim, the Keleni, first discovered the phenomenon of Communion and, around it, created the philosophy of True Communion. Naturally telepathic, this race has an innate connection to one another and to their own ancestors. The origins of the idea of communion came from studying ways to deepen this connection, allowing communication across vast distances of space and time. Eventually, the Keleni discovered that they could interact with this inherent connection itself, that they could do more than just commune with one another, but that they could commune with the state of communion itself, this great unconscious gestalt that surrounded them and bound them to one another.

The Keleni had a rough history with other races. First, the great and terrifying Monolith Empire conquered them and shattered their temples and scattered them in an attempt to “cleanse” their temple-worlds. The rise of the Ranathim Empire broke the Monolith Empire, and the Ranathim allowed the Keleni to return to their worlds and rebuild their temples, but they introduced their own strange religions that they demanded the Keleni acknowledge, and they demanded slaves of the beautiful and graceful race. Whenever an Empire has arisen, the Keleni have found themselves under the boot of oppression. They became an oddity in the galaxy, an insular race often found in enclaves on alien worlds where they practiced their unique meditations and ceremonies regardless of what the prevailing ideology. Oppression only made martyrs of the Keleni faithful, or drove their faith underground, but it remained, made resilient through adversity and empowered by the legitimate enlightenment that True Communion gave them.

During their diaspora and while interacting with these great empires, the Keleni discovered that most other races lacked their innate psionic abilities and those who had innate psionic abilities, such as the Monolith or the Ranathim, were bound to entirely different, alien and dangerous forms of Communion (Broken Communion and Dark Communion respectively), leading the Keleni to conclude that their access to Communion was unique to them. Even so, other races, especially the dispossessed among the galaxy, watched the miracles worked by the Keleni with awe and wonder. Many began to treat them as sages, begging at their temples for a miracle cure, or to learn at their feet.

The debate over what to do with aliens who petitioned to join the ranks of True Communion sowed the seeds for the first true schism in True Communion. Traditionalists claimed that because only the Keleni could naturally access Communion, only the Keleni should practice it. They argued that despite the tenets of tolerance native to their faith, that all “people” should be brought into “Communion,” only fellow Keleni counted as “people.” They pointed angrily to their mistreatment at the hands of other races, to the unique Keleni bond, and to the need to protect their culture and way of life. On the other side of the debate, Keleni argued that true tolerance required patiently forgiving the sins of others. Some among them had managed to teach other aliens, such as the Ranathim, the means of Communion. They advocated strenuously that if the Keleni were a special and chosen people, then their destiny was to bring Communion to the entire Galaxy.

State of the Patreon: February

Happy Valentines

January is behind us.  What do I have for you, patron and reader alike, in February?

The State of the Blog

The Cult of the Mystical Tyrant has, unsurprisingly, been popular.  I'm hitting new highs since I reduced the posting schedule to 2 posts a week.  I must say, that this new posting cycle suits me well: I can hit all of my goals and keep my pace up, but the schedule will look like this for the next few months:

• Post on Tuesday
• Post on Thursday
• Last week is "Patreon week"
• Scattered Patron posts as necessary.

This is a little slower, but it allows me to give Patrons the time they really deserve, rather than treating their posts as an afterthought.

The Popular Posts (other than the Primer) this month were:

1. The Iteration 1 Bonus Post: Evidently we have some new people digging through the old Psi-Wars material. I hope you guys enjoy it!
2. Transcendent Paths of the Mystical Tyrant: I honestly expected the Transcendent Principles to be a bigger hit, but you guys do love paths.  I suspect the Prodigal Knight (I was inspired by a very old comment made by Ivalero here; I've noticed people really like playing "the one unique redeemed dark horse character" and the Prodigal Knight is intended to be that) is more popular than the Slave, but there's no way to be sure!
3. TTRS Session 2: Everything Tinker Titan Rebel Spy is a hit; I suspect a lot of people like to see how Psi-Wars fits together, plus a lot of people just like reading "the story" of a session.
4. The Martial Arts of the Mystical Tyrant: The popularity of things like this lead me to believe that people are actually using this material for something.

Honorable Mentions: Space Ghosts Revisited is in the top 10 and eclipsed the Sample Space Ghosts, which I intended to direct traffic to the former.  Seems detailed rules for running ghosts is popular!  And the True Communion introduction, after one day is in the top 10.  Introductions tend to do well in general, but you guys really like your Jedi!  I suppose that makes sense, though: True Communion as a philosophy has been with us since Iteration 4.

The State of the Patreon

Last month I gained three new Patrons, and one Patron squeezed in just in time to vote on the Emperor poll!  Thanks to everyone who joined up this month, and to everyone who has been a long-term supporter.

This wasn't the best month for engagement (August beat it; that would be the Alexian poll, I think), but it was definitely one of the best month.

I readjusted my goals this month, and some of them seem really big: the next one is "art" at 205, because based on the previous goals, this is what the current artist I have on hire runs me for pictures, but when you see them, you'll understand why.  By the end of this month, I'll have art to show you, dear patron.

The patreon schedule this month will be:

• The Keleni: These aliens are to True Communion what the Ranathim were to the Divine Masks and the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant.  Once again, I have a conlang, a template and a cultural discussion.  This will be a preview available for $3+ patrons

• The Shaolin: I did some homework while working on the Knights of Communion, and while there's plenty of readily gameable information on, say, the Templars, there's surprisingly little on the Shaolin monks, so I compiled my research and turned it into a document that discusses the history, styles and personalities of the Shaolin monastery.  Includes a new martial art: White Eyebrow Boxing.  This will be available for $1+ patrons.

• (Tentative) The Cult of the Emperor Poll Results: I'm half-way finished with the poll results right now, and I've worked far enough ahead with my main posts that I'm confident I can have this finished by the last week of February (more honestly, I think I'll have it done this week, but let's manage expectations).  This will be available for $3+ patrons.

• Art Preview: the Ranathim: I should have a male and female portrait available for you by the end of the month, so you can see where your money is going (Yes, I know we haven't hit that goal, but I can tip some of my own money into this too ;) ).  This will be available to all $3+ patrons.

There will be no poll this month.  

I'm also going to pause the previews for a few reasons.  First, right now, I'm working about one month ahead, so it's not much of a preview, and I find my patrons don't really discuss it much, and often end up discussing the topic in greater detail when the post itself drops.  The best part of this was that it forced me to write documents, but I do that as a habit now, so there's little merit in releasing half of True Communion right now.  This is just a pause, though; I think it's highly relevant once I get to revisions of material, as I can see from the playtests that there is much call for revised material.

Well, there you have it guys.  That's what January looked like, and what February will look like.  As always, I want to thank my patrons for supporting me and I hope you will continue to do so.  If you're particularly enamored of the work I've done and you want to support me, just click the link and donate.  I'd be happy to have you.  If you want to join in the discussion, you can check out the Psi-Wars channel over at Discord.

True Communion: An Introduction

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. 

-The Jedi Code

Here we are at last.

The Jedi are Star Wars. While one can make the case for the importance of characters like Han Solo and Princess Leia, by the Return of the Jedi, the exploration of the Jedi and their code came to dominate the Star Wars narrative, and main characters became defined by their “force sensitivity.” The prequels told the story of the Jedi, and by Rogue One, their philosophy had morphed into the dominate religion of the Star Wars galaxy.

I’ve had a few problems with this drift, though. First, the Jedi practice, as depicted in the Star Wars movies is essentially the only religion of the setting (with an honorable mention to the Sith, though they really accept the core premises of the Jedi code, and just invert them; they are to the Jedi what Satanists are to Christians). Furthermore, the Jedi philosophy, as depicted in A New Hope is some ancient, nigh-mythical lost religion, but if you can trip over Guardians of the Whills, force sensitive philosophers and outcast Jedi in every cantina, then when Obi-Wan Kenobi explained the Force to Luke, it was more like some preist explaining Christianity to you today, rather than some martial art master explaining the lost secrets of a bygone age.

I’ve tackled the problem of “no other religion” throughout this entire philosophy series: the heroes of Psi-Wars can choose from Neo-Rationalism, the Akashic Mysteries and the Divine Masks as their driving morality and beliefs, and I’d like to think I’ve made each sufficiently compelling that someone might be willing to follow them. True Communion, then, can retain something of an exotic nature.

Two problems remain, though. First, the Jedi philosophy is, as depicted by Star Wars, one exclusively practiced by “knights,” warrior-priests. Outside of the implications of the Guardians of the Whills (we hear very little about this offshoot in Rogue One, and both of those characters are also warriors), we never get a sense of how the common man feels about the Jedi philosophy or how he might express his devotion. Do people go to temples to worship? If so, how? Does “worship” even make sense? Or is all the devotion of the Star Wars galaxy to the Jedi philosophy really a devotion to the Jedi order and the hope that these space wizard-knights will return and save them?

Which brings us to problem number two: the Jedi are thematically an ancient order of heroes with messianic elements. They saved the day long ago and will someday return to save the day again. They resemble the once and future King Arthur, or the Assassins of Assasin’s Creed or the Solar Exalted of Exalted. Thus, the Jedi Order should be dead long enough to have faded into myth, but in fact, they faded away only a generation (in the first trilogy) or two (in the latest trilogy) ago.

What we need then is a broader and more ancient order. We need to get a sense of what it means to be a practitioner of this Jedi-like philosophy without actually being a space knight. What are its priests like? Do lay people go to temples? If so, what do they do there? We also need to end the order a much longer time ago and explain what happened to them in the meantime.

We also need to integrate Communion itself into all of this. The philosophy of True Communion is not the philosophy of the Jedi for the same reasons that the Force is not Communion. True Communion is a universal, divine, psychic gestalt that contains paths, archetypes, occult elements, avatar states and world-shattering miracles. The philosophy of True Communion, then, can and should have a more distinctly religious character, and explain why a Knight of Communion is so much more powerful with Communion than, say, a devotee of the Divine Masks.

Furthermore, the core theme of True Communion must be that it is right. The base assumption of the Jedi is that their vision is correct (They are “the good guys”), and that all right-thinking individuals back them. Most psi-wars players will expect something similar in Psi-Wars, and look to True Communion as the “Right faith.” If this is so, then why doesn’t everyone worship it? And if it isn’t so, in what ways might it be wrong? How might it exploit people’s good will? How might (say) the Akashic Mysteries or the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant be more right, if the GM wishes to go in that direction?

Finally, we must understand that this is an RPG. Star Wars depicts almost all Jedi as essentially the same (all are skilled with their lightsabers; all learn the same styles; all have the Jedi Mind Trick and telekinesis and precognitive dreams and the ability to “sense” things), which is fine for a film, but players will need to express their uniqueness and differentiate themselves from one another, and explore different themes within True Communion. Ideally, one should be able to play a game with nothing but the Knights of Communion and see each player play a different character, and still have a sense that they have more they can explore.

I would like to note that unlike the other philosophies, True Communion did not spring up in this iteration, but has been quietly in the works since Iteration 4, and I’ve discussed them at length before, so if these inspirations seem familiar, that’s why.

Patreon Special: Domen Khemet, the Ranathim Cult of Death

Last month, at the culmination of the Divine Masks, I offered my Patrons a poll to choose the fourth and last Cult of the Divine Masks: the Cult of Death.  Those poll results are in now, including Domen Khemet, a fully detailed version of the Cult, ready for play. The cult utilizes the Broken Communion miracles detailed in Tuesday's patreon post about Broken Communion ghosts.  Further, it has a unique relationship with the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant, as Anthara, the founder of the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant once swore an oath to them that the later cult broke, so be sure to check those elements out too.

This post is available to all $3+ patrons, as it represents a preview.  The Patreon Post contains a discussion of the votes and my thoughts on them, as well as the completed cult.  If you're a patron, check it out!  If you're not, as usual, I'd love to have you.  Enjoy!

Patreon Special: Sample Broken Communion Ghosts

Yesterday, I released a document on Broken Communion ghosts, including the means of creating your own. I want to follow this up with a few sample ghosts, in part to test how such rules work and make sure that I have all necessary pieces in place, and also to offer you, dear reader, an idea of what such ghosts might look like.  Naturally, any of these can be dropped into your Psi-Wars game, but they can also be adjusted and used in a horror or Monster Hunters game.

This is a publicly available document, available for free and it should be fairly easy to divine how these ghosts are intended to work, but if you're not yet a patron and would like a better understanding of the system behind their creation, the design document is available to all $1 patrons, and can be accessed via the link above.

If you're a patron, check it out.  If you're not a patron, you can still check it out!  And enjoy.