The Theory of Magic

Chariot's crowdfunder now stands only about £92 short of its first stretch goal, with 15 days to go. Please tell your friends about the game, share my posts and contribute if you like my writing. 

Anyway, after all that painful family history and difficult words about rape, it's business as usual, as today, we have another excerpt from the magic rules of Chariot. Tomorrow, some explanation on how this goes together, but today, the structure of a magic system based upon a theosophical Atlantis. People knowledgeable in Western occultism will probably recognise bits. That's not a bad thing. 

On Slavery, and the Violation of Consent

Page of Wands

This post carries a warning. If you are offended or distressed by discussions of human consent and the violation thereof or if they bring back things you'd rather they didn't, please stop reading. I'm on your side here, believe me.

If you like my writing and you agree with what I'm getting at, you can still support Chariot here, and I would love you to do so. VII.CHA.BE.CHA

Fifteen Statements on the Ides of March

It's the 15th March.

Today is the anniversary of the death of Julius Caesar. He was stabbed by his political enemies and several of his friends, because they believed that killing him would put things back the way they were before. This did not go quite according to plan.

For me, it has a significance that goes beyond the mundane tide of world history. Today would have been my Dad's 77th birthday. His name was Dave Ingham.

I've written about my dad a lot over the years. Today, though, here are fifteen things about him, for the 15th. Which are, by extension, about me.

The Hat Club Playtest, Part 2

Aumec

Sorry I didn't get this posted sooner, but it's been... a rough week. Still. we finally got to have a proper first session. And it worked! I mean, look, no matter how watertight your game looks, it's one thing to thrust a rulebook under the nose of your mates... Actually playing it is a different matter.

Remember you can still support the Chariot crowdfunder at http://igg.me/at/ChariotRoleplay

What Magic Can't Do

Seven of Wands

An excerpt from Chariot's magic section. It might seem unduly negative, but the way that the magic of Chariot works, it's actually easier to define what magic can't do rather than what it can. These limits on magic, by the way, are the ones codified by early Theosophist William Quan Judge in Occult Arts, which you can read here, here and here. Judge was responsible for the US branch of the Theosophical Society, still based in Pasadena, making a decisive break with the Indian/UK branch shortly after Madame Blavatsky's death, leading to there being, now, two Theosophical Societies. Why? Leadbeater, basically. 

And don't forget: I'm still funding! Help us get to our stretch goals at http://igg.me/at/ChariotRoleplay
  VII.CHA.BE.CHA

In Lemuria

9 of Wands

The section on Atlantis is now 100% written. Lemuria, though, is dreamlike, and its inhabitants think in songs and verse and dance. I decided to do something different with Lemuria. Lemuria's section is written as a poem. Here's some of it.

So I made a game

So I made a game where the point is altruism. Seriously, your character is a demigod, doomed, yes, but unable to be beaten. There's no point in self-actualisation; your character is already about as far as you can go on that road. No, the struggle, and the point, is in making a difference in a larger sense. It lies in freeing the slaves, standing as an accusation against the horrendous human sin we call “empire” and getting people off the land when it sinks, when the bombs fall and the meteorites hit and the land breaks in two. You fight a harder battle. Heroism is in who you save, because the lot of your hero is, as is the way of heroes, to conquer the armies of the world and to die in the end of the age.

And I made a game where there are no monsters. There are only fallible people and animals following their nature. Sure, some of the greater villains might even call themselves monsters, but one thing I've learned is that when you call yourself a monster, you only use it as a perverse badge of pride, as a way to hide from the true banality of your failings. Because the greatest crimes – empires, institutionalised slavery, genocides – they're a function of smallness. They're failures of imagination, failures to be better. You can be better. Here: you know what's going to happen, you know when you're going to die; what will you do with this?

VII.CHA.BE.CHA