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Message no. 1
From: Tim Kerby <drekhead@***.NET>
Subject: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 14:19:59 -0400
I am considering playing a houngan (voudoun shaman) in a PBEM. Should
be an interesting character. Imagine a black troll with dreadlocks..:)

I am a bit confused about something, though. I understand that a
houngan "begins with a connection to his or her mait tete loa" and
that "a houngan may only call on a loa with whom he or she has
established a connection" (Awakenings, pg. 124). The rules then
proceed to describe the Conjuring Test used to call a loa.
Now, here is where I get confused. Pg. 125 of Awakenings, it states
"The houngan must sacrifice a part of his or her own being, in the
form of Karma, to the loa with whom he or she has a bond. Each time a
houngan calls up a loa, he or she must 'feed' the spirit by paying a
point of Good Karma. Each point of Karma allows the houngan to call
the same loa as many times as the houngan needs it, for up to 24
hours from the first 'feeding'." In goes on the say that gamesmasters
can adjust this time according to the relationship the houngan has
with the loa, including "in extreme cases the loa may demand Karma
each time it is called..."
Therein lies the confusion. In the first paragraph, it say _each_
time the houngan calls a loa, he must pay Karma, and the second quote
says only in extreme cases will the houngan pay Karma _each_ time the
loa is called. Which is it?
Also, it seems to me that a starting character cannot call a loa,
since a starting character will not have Karma. So where's the fun in
playing a houngan? Sure, you still have watchers and work loa, but
you can only start with a rating-1 govi so your work loa limit is
pretty low.
The loa mounting is all the fun of playing a houngan, so certainly I
am misreading something here (at least I hope so).

What are your thought on this, gang?

Mr. Kenson, if your listening a have a moment, I would love to hear
what you had in mind when you wrote this...

--

=================================================================
- Tim Kerby - drekhead@***.net - ICQ-UIN 2883757 -
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Reality is the only obstacle to happiness." - Unknown
Message no. 2
From: "Jonny D. Robinson" <OracleBlur@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 14:44:52 EDT
That's a tricky one...I'm not gonna touch it unless I'm armed with a
flamethrower and an Awakenings errata...!

Newbie J
Message no. 3
From: K is the Symbol <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 10:02:05 EDT
In a message dated 7/12/98 1:19:02 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
drekhead@***.NET writes:

<snipped Tim's confusion concerning Loa Conjuring Requirements>

> The loa mounting is all the fun of playing a houngan, so certainly I
> am misreading something here (at least I hope so).

I don't know if you are misreading it vs. it was just misprinted/wrote.

> What are your thought on this, gang?

My thoughts are that the cost for a "Mounting" of the Loa is always one point
of karma, with the number of services/favors (actions the mambo wants to
directly determine) being equal to the number of successes achieved on the
initial conjuring test.

Just as a side note, this does need some clarficiation, I agree. It gets
really confusing in the long run.

> Mr. Kenson, if your listening a have a moment, I would love to hear
> what you had in mind when you wrote this...

So would several of us I think...
-K
Message no. 4
From: Steve Kenson <TalonMail@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 10:51:04 EDT
drekhead (drekhead@***.net) wrote:
>>>Therein lies the confusion. In the first paragraph, it say _each_ time the
houngan calls a loa, he must pay Karma, and the second quote says only in
extreme cases will the houngan pay Karma _each_ time the loa is called. Which
is it?<<<

The intention was 1 point of Karma was good for as many summonings in one day
as desired. 1 point per summoning is a little excessive IMHO, unless the
houngan is putting excessive demands on the loa. The Karma cost was originally
intended to limit the utility of the Loa somewhat, since they are fairly
powerful. For what it's worth, I've reconsidered my position since and revised
the Voodoo rules a fair amount for Magic in the Shadows. The new rules are
simpler and (I hope) a little more fair to houngans as compared to other types
of magicians. For one thing, the Karma cost for summoning loa is gone from the
new rules.

Hope that helps,
Steve
Message no. 5
From: Tim Kerby <drekhead@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 11:21:37 -0400
On 13 Jul 98, at 10:51, Steve Kenson wrote:

> The intention was 1 point of Karma was good for as many summonings in one
> day as desired. 1 point per summoning is a little excessive IMHO, unless
> the houngan is putting excessive demands on the loa. The Karma cost was
> originally intended to limit the utility of the Loa somewhat, since they
> are fairly powerful.

They are very cool, but only overly powerful if the GM allows them to
be. Since the GM is in control, I thought the Karma was kind of
unfair.

> For what it's worth, I've reconsidered my position
> since and revised the Voodoo rules a fair amount for Magic in the Shadows.
> The new rules are simpler and (I hope) a little more fair to houngans as
> compared to other types of magicians. For one thing, the Karma cost for
> summoning loa is gone from the new rules.

All I can say is - Woohoo!

> Hope that helps,
> Steve

Helps a lot, thanks.

--

=================================================================
- Tim Kerby - drekhead@***.net - ICQ-UIN 2883757 -
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Reality is the only obstacle to happiness." - Unknown
Message no. 6
From: K is the Symbol <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 11:27:45 EDT
In a message dated 7/13/98 9:52:08 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
TalonMail@***.COM writes:

> For what it's worth, I've reconsidered my position since and revised
> the Voodoo rules a fair amount for Magic in the Shadows. The new rules are
> simpler and (I hope) a little more fair to houngans as compared to other
> types
> of magicians. For one thing, the Karma cost for summoning loa is gone from
> the
> new rules.
>
OH YES!!! I like this fact....I don't entirely agree with it, but I do like
it. I don't agree with it, merely because we do treat the "Loa" as
"Divinities" of a sort here. Maybe the karma cost should be paid by any
"non-
voudon" type as a means of contrition on the beneficiary's part???

-K
Message no. 7
From: Wiebke & Birger Timm <WiebkeT@********.DE>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 22:40:51 +0200
Tim Kerby wrote:

> I am considering playing a houngan (voudoun shaman) in a PBEM.

What's PBEM? What's a houngan? It's not in the Grimmy...Blix
Message no. 8
From: Spike <u5a77@*****.CS.KEELE.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 16:36:50 +0100
And verily, did Wiebke & Birger Timm hastily scribble thusly...
|
|Tim Kerby wrote:
|
|> I am considering playing a houngan (voudoun shaman) in a PBEM.
|
|What's PBEM? What's a houngan? It's not in the Grimmy...Blix
|

PBEM.... Play By e-Mail
Voudoun... A vudu type priest/shaman found in Awakenings, I think....
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|u5a77@*****.cs.keele.ac.uk| Windows95 (noun): 32 bit extensions and a |
| | graphical shell for a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit |
|Andrew Halliwell | operating system originally coded for a 4 bit |
|Principal Subjects in:- |microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company, that|
|Comp Sci & Electronics | can't stand 1 bit of competition. |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|GCv3.1 GCS/EL>$ d---(dpu) s+/- a- C++ U N++ o+ K- w-- M+/++ PS+++ PE- Y t+ |
|5++ X+/++ R+ tv+ b+ D G e>PhD h/h+ !r! !y-|I can't say F**K either now! :( |
Message no. 9
From: K is the Symbol <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 14:29:53 EDT
In a message dated 7/13/98 10:33:19 AM US Eastern Standard Time, WiebkeT@**
ONLINE.DE writes:

> > I am considering playing a houngan (voudoun shaman) in a PBEM.
>
> What's PBEM? What's a houngan? It's not in the Grimmy...Blix
>
a PBEM is a Play-by-Email game, such as the numerous sponsored by several
people of this list and upteen bejillions more out there.

A Houngan is a "Shaman" of the Voudon (Voudoo) practices. It's material
introduced within the Awakenings book and expanded upon in the Target:
Smuggler's Haven text.

-K
Message no. 10
From: "Ubiratan P. Alberton" <ubiratan@**.HOMESHOPPING.COM.BR>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 14:09:05 -0300
At 11:27 13/07/98 EDT, you wrote:
>In a message dated 7/13/98 9:52:08 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
>TalonMail@***.COM writes:
>
>> For what it's worth, I've reconsidered my position since and revised
>> the Voodoo rules a fair amount for Magic in the Shadows. The new rules are
>> simpler and (I hope) a little more fair to houngans as compared to other
>> types
>> of magicians. For one thing, the Karma cost for summoning loa is gone from
>> the
>> new rules.
>>
>OH YES!!! I like this fact....I don't entirely agree with it, but I do like
>it. I don't agree with it, merely because we do treat the "Loa" as
>"Divinities" of a sort here. Maybe the karma cost should be paid by any
"non-
>voudon" type as a means of contrition on the beneficiary's part???
>
>-K
>

Maybe the houngan should pay Karma as the current rules say if he has
been lazy lately with those ceremonial feasts he must hold regularly? To
the houngans, the
Loa ARE gods, and they are the priests...

Bira
Message no. 11
From: "Ubiratan P. Alberton" <ubiratan@**.HOMESHOPPING.COM.BR>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 14:10:56 -0300
At 22:40 12/07/98 +0200, you wrote:
>Tim Kerby wrote:
>
>> I am considering playing a houngan (voudoun shaman) in a PBEM.
>
>What's PBEM? What's a houngan? It's not in the Grimmy...Blix
>
>

PBEM: Play By E-Mail

Hougan: Magician that practices Voudoun.

The first is not found in any book :) .

The second is in Awakenings.

Bira
Message no. 12
From: "Ubiratan P. Alberton" <ubiratan@**.HOMESHOPPING.COM.BR>
Subject: Re: Voudoun shaman Q looking for A
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 13:33:19 -0300
At 10:02 13/07/98 EDT, you wrote:
>In a message dated 7/12/98 1:19:02 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
>drekhead@***.NET writes:
>
><snipped Tim's confusion concerning Loa Conjuring Requirements>
>
>> The loa mounting is all the fun of playing a houngan, so certainly I
>> am misreading something here (at least I hope so).
>
>I don't know if you are misreading it vs. it was just misprinted/wrote.
>
>> What are your thought on this, gang?
>
>My thoughts are that the cost for a "Mounting" of the Loa is always one
point
>of karma, with the number of services/favors (actions the mambo wants to
>directly determine) being equal to the number of successes achieved on the
>initial conjuring test.

What I understood from reading Awakenings was: The Houngan has to pay 1
point of Karma once in a while to feed the loa, not every time he summons
it. This
only happens if the loa is pissed off at the character. No such things as
"services"
or "favors" from the loas, either. You call it, it stays as long at it wants
(usually until it finishes helping you, as in that example given in the
book). You
take the Drain after the loa dismounts.

Bira

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