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  • Player Characters as Part of the Asteanic Caste System

    When you look at the equipment section of the premade archetypes’ Character Sheets, you will notice that most of them come with documents – this exact Passport pictured below.

    This one simple paper is the primary tool by which the Asteanic high nobility controls its population.

    Documents are needed for crossing borders (sometimes even for entering a city), engaging in any business activities, and occasionally, they must be shown to a samurai who suspects the person in something or just wants to know who they are.

    Obtaining Documents

    Documents are issued by samurai. The document templates are printed using a printing press. Although not every village samurai has the authority to issue documents, generally, there is a deputy magistrate samurai in every larger settlement whose job is to issue new documents. Usually, the rulers (or the samurai independently) charge around 10 SD as a document issuance fee.

    People without documents are in a precarious situation, as without proof of their caste and rights, they are vulnerable to the whims of the samurai, who may suspect them of the worst.

    Overview of the Caste System

    Today’s Asteanic society is based on a rigid caste system, crucial for the survival of the ruling castes who use its restrictions to control the population. Strict boundaries precisely define what one can do or where one can go.

    Only the old high aristocrats belonging to Asteanic House Bloodline, the patrician caste, and the high priests of the Temple of the Divine Ocean are free from these restrictions, all of whom meticulously enforce these boundaries with the help of their samurai.

    The old high aristocracy’s interests lie in keeping society as static and thus as safe for them as possible. However, some concessions have already been made: new inventions have led to the creation of manufactures, and some crafts have slipped from the hands of old craft syndicates to nouveau rich productors caste. Similarly, the high nobility is being challenged by nouveau rich licensed merchants caste whose purchased rights to trade on the Ocean and compete for markets bring them fabulous riches without having to spend money on maintaining the state apparatus.

    While there appears to be a movement towards improvement, a darker side reveals the exploitation of peasant tenants turned into serfs to replace slaves who are hard to get without the huge empire supporting the slave system. The numerous caste of samurai-bureaucrats monitors, keeps records, and collects taxes for the rulers caste

    The advent of printing technology has expanded bureaucracy, becoming a tool for enforcing the caste system while illiteracy persists among lower castes.

    The entire Asteanic society is divided into castes, each with clearly defined rights (privileges) and obligations. Although most people remain in the same caste from birth to death, moving between castes is neither forbidden nor impossible in the Asteanic World. In fact, for those who accumulate significant wealth, it is relatively straightforward, as one can essentially buy their way into most castes. Additionally, a person can belong to multiple castes simultaneously. For example, someone born into the caste of freemen can purchase a licence to join the caste of licensed wizards, thus gaining the right to practise magic.

    Castes can be hereditary or non-hereditary.

    Non-hereditary castes include licensed wizards, licensed merchants, and priests. Membership in these castes does not extend to the individual’s descendants, as their children may not follow the same profession. For instance, a wizard’s children are not automatically wizards, and a priest’s children are not necessarily priests. Individuals in non-hereditary castes always belong to a hereditary caste as well, usually the one they were born into.

    Hereditary castes membership extends to the entire family and descendants, even if the individual buys their way into the caste or changes caste through other means.

    Examples of some of the castes:

  • Daimyo of Strorkway example domain scenario is published

    Daimyo of Strorkway example domain scenario is published

    DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/485388/Daimyo-of-Storkway 

    Itch.io: https://rainer-kaasik-aaslav.itch.io/daimyo-of-storkway 

  • Playing a Priest Type of Character in SAKE TTRPG

    Playing a Priest Type of Character in SAKE TTRPG

    In the Asteanic World, there are many gods and various religions.

    Gods are divided into two types: major deities and lesser deities.

    Major deities are associated with larger, overarching concepts, such as the god of death, the god of trade, the god of the sea, or the god of war. Lesser deities, on the other hand, are either nature gods linked to specific locations, like the god of that lake, forest or swamp, or ancestor-gods associated with specific human groups, such as our tribe’s ancestor god or the ancient god-king of this city, and so on.

    Major Deities

    Major deities are characterized by their elusive nature to humans. There is no specific place where they reside, no clear understanding of their appearance, and no direct way to communicate with them. Therefore, their nature is largely the domain of theological debates.

    Major Deities of Asteanic Culture.
    Map of the holy sites mentioned above.

    Blogpost about The Doctrine of Eternal Waters, also known as the Temple of the Divine Ocean or just Asteanic Polytheism: https://sake.ee/religions-in-the-asteanic-world/

    One can make pacts with as many major deities as they wish, as pacts with major deities do not come with any taboos that need to be written on the Character Sheet. To make a pact, one must summon the major deity’s totemic being or visit a sacred place where a major deity’s totemic being resides. The totemic being assigns a task to the priest. These tasks are complex, and completing one task can be a whole adventure.

    Lesser Deities

    Lesser deities are actual beings in the game to whom the Game Master can assign Health Points, Skills, and Abilities.

    All lesser deities belong to a certain deity class or portfolio, which determines the spells that can be acquired by a priest who enters into a pact with them. The classes of lesser deities are wind deities, water deities, forest and earth deities, mountain deities and ancestors.

    Establishing a pact with lesser deities necessitates initial contact with them, which can be achieved through a Theology Ritual: Prayer (only effective when the character is in the same region as the deity) or physically seeking out the deity.

    To formalize a pact, a priest must fulfil the task assigned by the lesser deity and adhere to the lesser deity’s taboo or principle which has to be written on the Character Sheet. Tasks set by lesser deities are typically less complex than those imposed by major deities.

    Priests have the capacity to enter into pacts with up to ten lesser deities, as each new contract requires the adoption of one of the deity’s principles or taboos, and characters can possess a maximum of ten principles and other personality traits.

    Playing a Priest

    To use priest spells, a PC must purchase the skill: Channelling, which is not initially present on the Character Sheet. Channelling is an Instinct skill.

    However, characters can forge contracts with gods without possessing this skill. For instance, if they plan to become a priest later or wish to earn favour with a local nature deity through a contract.

    There are two ways to acquire the Channelling skill:

    • Purchasing Theology Ritual: Prayer
    • Purchasing Self-Powered Spell: Divine Aid

    Technically, Channelling works the same way as other magic: the priest selects a spell to cast, makes a Channelling check as indicated in the spell description, and the spell consumes Spellpoints.

    Channelling Spells

    Priest spells are categorized into three groups, all utilizing the Channelling skill:

    The first group consists of Self-Powered spells. These abilities are not specifically linked to any particular deity, meaning they can be acquired even without forming a pact with a god. Characters can attribute increased strength or a more potent strike to a deity, but in reality, it’s their own faith and soul’s energy at work. These spells only affect the priest and do not influence anyone else without additional abilities.

    Self-Powered spells are simple and straightforward.

    The second group of spells originates from contracts with lesser deities. These spells can influence the external world more realistically than other magic. These contracts are tied to a lesser deity, and the priest channels the world-altering energy of that deity. A priest can form contracts with up to ten lesser deities, but in return, they must perform deeds for the deities and embrace the taboos or principles of those deities. Breaking a lesser deity’s taboo may result in the contract breaking (50% chance). Additionally, it is possible to kill lesser deities, in which case priests lose their spells.

    Spells from lesser deities are more intricate.

    The third group of spells comes from contracts with major deities, which can be made by receiving tasks from and fulfilling them for the major deity’s totemic creature. Spells received from major deities are powerful, and acquiring them requires significant effort to please the deity. Once a contract with a major deity is established, it never breaks.

    Extremely powerful ritual from a major deity – Wind Control.

    Additionally, there are theology rituals that do not require the Channelling skill at all.

    SAKE Full Book at Kickstarter: LINK

    Free Basic Edition at DriveThru RPG: affiliate LINK

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