While doing some semi-related research, I came across this interesting little blurb:
Hac Tao "Black Way" is the literal translation of Hac Tao. It is easy to render this phrase as "black magic," since this area of folklore (or spiritual technology) has much in common with Western magic. Hac Tao is the generic name for the whole range of dirty tricks of Chinese spiritualism: healing, cursing, fertility and barrenness spells and the making and counteracting of poisons, or at least very bad luck. "Debased Taoism" is a phrase often used in academic folklore, anthropological and comparative religion when the real subject -- in Cantonese terms -- is Hac Tao. While the word "tao" or way, makes this connection tempting, much of the apparatus and myth is traditional Chinese, drawn from other sources: Buddhist, Confucian, and non-sectarian folklore.
What type of Chi Magic do you think this would create for Mystic China?
Let me guess, no one thinks this would create new Chi Magic spells. With so many fun things that have yet to be touched on for Chi Magic (and related magic) I wonder if anyone besides Nexx and myself have even been interested.
Maybe it could form the basis for more Chi magic spells. But my knowledge on the subject is strictly limited to what is available in the Mystic China book, so I hardly think I'm qualified to come up with new Chi Magic based on Chinese "Black Magic."
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Kuseru Satsujin wrote:Let me guess, no one thinks this would create new Chi Magic spells. With so many fun things that have yet to be touched on for Chi Magic (and related magic) I wonder if anyone besides Nexx and myself have even been interested.
I'm somewhat interested, but I really haven't examined the Chi magic section, and don't have a good grounding in eastern occult traditions to turn out something that isn't just "western magic with a funny name"
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Kuseru Satsujin wrote:Let me guess, no one thinks this would create new Chi Magic spells. With so many fun things that have yet to be touched on for Chi Magic (and related magic) I wonder if anyone besides Nexx and myself have even been interested.
This one actually has some possibilites.
Likely would be a class who focuses mroe on negative chi for effects, I think it's a good vehicle for placing various curses on people
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was never really big in on the chi magic in the first place.... but for the most part this sounds like a combination of negative chi skills, and using chi majic for bad things...
i could see a couple of poison creating and negative effect causing spells, but overally, no reason to make a whole new class for it...
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Just from the description given, I'd say that it's already touched on by the chi magic section, judging from malignant miasmal disease, accumulation of morbid chi, and other fun stuff. To carry it farther, I could see maybe a conversion of the mystic russia spoiling magic. Those spells seem to fit the nastier side of the initial description, and with a little stretching, the disruptive effects of negative chi in the body could account for a lot of the effects. Some of the chi mastery abilities do mention just a small section of the body holding negative chi, even while the rest of the body has the normal supply of positive chi. I could see infecting just the uterus of a woman with negative could cause infertility, for example, without killing her due to a lack of ability to heal.
Probably to balance it out (since the description did list more beneficial effects), if mystic russia spoiling magic is used, create a reverse spell for every spoiling spell.
Kuseru Satsujin wrote:While doing some semi-related research, I came across this interesting little blurb:
Hac Tao "Black Way" is the literal translation of Hac Tao. It is easy to render this phrase as "black magic," since this area of folklore (or spiritual technology) has much in common with Western magic. Hac Tao is the generic name for the whole range of dirty tricks of Chinese spiritualism: healing, cursing, fertility and barrenness spells and the making and counteracting of poisons, or at least very bad luck. "Debased Taoism" is a phrase often used in academic folklore, anthropological and comparative religion when the real subject -- in Cantonese terms -- is Hac Tao. While the word "tao" or way, makes this connection tempting, much of the apparatus and myth is traditional Chinese, drawn from other sources: Buddhist, Confucian, and non-sectarian folklore.
What type of Chi Magic do you think this would create for Mystic China?
Interesting, if my brain was working I'd add something useful, but being it's not, I'll just say that Hak Tao would probably be a somewhat more common romanization than Hac Tao... try doing a search for info using the mandarin translation (Hei Dao)?
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Originally posted by Hibik. try doing a search for info using the mandarin translation (Hei Dao)?
Apparently in Taiwan, Hei Dao refers to criminal activities.
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