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Message no. 1
From: Drew Curtis dcurtis@***.net
Subject: (HEY STEVE!) Re: What do characters in the 6th world call karma?
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 13:51:55 -0400 (EDT)
On Fri, 27 Aug 1999, Kelson wrote:

> Well, despite the couple of SR novel references, I don't think of
> karma as being anything other than a game mechanic. I don't use it in
> character and don't think anyone can really measure it within the game
> world. Perhaps spirits can detect and measure it, but I don't see
> (meta)humans as doing so.
>
> A mage might see it as giving a part of himself or some such and may
> not even be aware when he is running out of it. Ever have a day when
> you feel unlucky? Maybe that's when you have no karma left.
>
I agree with this, but the problem is, let's suppose you and a spirit get
into a conractual agreement. What exactly do you warrant that you are
offering to the spirit, and in what amounts? The spirits obviously know.
They probably even call it karma points.

Drew Curtis, President, Digital Crescent, Incorporated
http://www.dcr.net (502) 226 3376 Internet and Software Design services.
Offering dial-up Access from Frankfort to Louisville and all points between.
Message no. 2
From: TalonMail@***.com TalonMail@***.com
Subject: (HEY STEVE!) Re: What do characters in the 6th world call karma?
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 10:41:59 EDT
Drew Curtis <dcurtis@***.net> wrote:
>>>I agree with this, but the problem is, let's suppose you and a spirit get
into a conractual agreement. What exactly do you warrant that you are
offering to the spirit, and in what amounts? The spirits obviously know.
They probably even call it karma points.<<<

In my own games, I've always assumed Karma was a sort of "meta-mechanic,"
something the characters (as opposed to the players) were largely unaware of.
So, a street samurai isn't aware that he's "spending Karma Pool Dice" only
that sometimes he's lucky and sometimes his luck runs out.

For magicians, Good Karma is largely a matter of their magical "juice," how
much power they have at their command that's not tied up in other things. For
magical groups and most matters, Karma is a measure of committment of time,
energy, thought, and one's "spiritual resources." So if you have a lot of
Karma tied up in foci, quickened spells, membership in a magical group, etc.
you have less "free" power to use elsewhere, just like trying to juggle your
"free" time amonst several activities.

For deals with Free Spirits, I tend to go with the old "pact" model, that
says the petitioner is effectively signing over part of his or her "energy"
over to the spirit. Some spirit's call it "life force" or "prana" or
something similar. Nastier spirits call it "essence" (watch players flinch
when they hear that...), "spirit" or even "soul." More modern spirits
may
call it "juice" or just "stuff." The key element is that it's a
commitment of
the character's "spiritual energy."

Hope that helps,
Steve

Talon Studio
http://members.aol.com/talonmail

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