A Mystic - by Metaltrox , this guys got some great stuff https://www.deviantart.com/metalratrox/gallery -- I'm probably gonna utilize some of his stuff, but there's definitely a bunch that would work great for your set!
I am a Christian, so I do not have much wisdom about Indian religion. I would definitely love to help, but I would like a brief overview of the religion. --------------- This is just me, but I think Ripple can be renamed to Mantra. It (kind of) fits, Mantra's definition being "(originally in Hinduism and Buddhism) a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation." and ripple's affect being "(When you cast this spell, you may reveal the top X cards of your library. You may cast any revealed cards with the same name as this spell without paying their mana costs. Put the rest on the bottom of your library.)" ---------------
Additionally, instead of purely basing this off of the actual religion, I would love to see more creativity poured into this and make this original. This is displayed in two other sets, Amonkhet and Ixalan, Amonkhet based of Egypt and Ixalan based off of the Aztecs, having it's own new setof gods/goddesses and a side of dinosaurs, respectively. I feel like that when a player would play this set, they would need to first understand the actual religion. It would be awesome to see you guys create a new group of gods, at least loosely based on the gods of the Indian religion, whatever it may be.
Alright, first up, ripple would be used to assist Mantras @The-DM, and also whilst you may be christian, so am I, and that is why I decided to not have it as the India religion set, but the Indian set in general. Not all of it will be religion as well. There are some folktales that I would love to replicate, namely the ghosts and the mirror, and those have nothing to do with religion. Second up, Ixalan was more based off of the Mayans than the Aztecs, you'll notice the building styles of the pyramids, and the worship of predatory animals. The Aztecs worshipped more human-like gods, while the Mayans literally prayed to Jaguars. Third, this is not only the religion, we will be making this original, but there are some characters I know that I need to represent, such as Shiva, Ganesh, Hanuman, Gandhi, and Ravanna. On the religion, I advise that you ask @Rayne-Lord about this, as he seems to be the expert on the subject, but Hindu religion is know to have TONS of gods. One time in church I heard that no one Hindu knew every single one of their gods. Also, I believe that reincarnation plays a big part, as well as Karma. I also happened to hear that the end goal was not to reincarnate, but to reach their version of heaven(I think). That's all, but since Indian folktales are less well known than things like Mayan/Aztec/Incan and Egyptian tales, there are certainly some stories that I want to show off.
Yes, I knew it was one of those civilizations. Also, I was just clarifying if you will be basing the characters off the gods but not the gods themselves. Just making sure you were basing the set off of the religion and not the religion itself.
Also, apparently Hindu religion has 33 millions gods... (goodness...)
To clarify my own position, I will state, that while I am not myself a Hindu, I have been deeply influenced by Hindu philosophy (and went on a 5 month trip to India in 2018), along with the other great religions of the world, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Taosim...etc. So I suppose you could say I'm a Perennialist. I believe in Truth, and that no one faith tradition has a monopoly on that Truth.
In Hindusim the many gods are actually just aspects of one single supreme Reality, which is to say, One God, which is both completely imminent in the world, and transcendent simultaneously. The goal of its true aspirants is to free oneself from the cycle of Karma (binding impressions we receive through multiple lifetimes that bring about the illusion of duality) and subsequent rebirth. This end goal is the realization of this one all-encompassing Reality (God) which is to say, there is Nothing except God. After this you are done with the cycle, and your soul becomes one with the One Soul. The numerous gods and goddesses serve as avenues of connection, ways for Human beings of relating to a God beyond all attributes, beyond duality. Much in the same way that Jesus serves as a relatable avenue for Christians. Folk Hinduism may treat these gods as real, separate entities, but in The Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita (Hindu scriptures) they are shown to be simply different faces of One Truth.
Also regarding mantra, the repetition of a sound or phrase (a prayer), is found throughout all the worlds religions. Prayer beads likely found there way from India into Islam, and thence into the Christian west. Many monks, especially in the Eastern Orthodox church utilize repeated phrases (mantras) as a means of keeping the mind focused on Christ. It's really a pretty unifying thing to think about. _____________________
With that aside, I also agree that it would be best to avoid a direct 1-to-1 recreation of Indian Faith and culture in the set. My own current set draws heavily from Central Asian culture, themes, and my study and admiration of Islam, but out of respect for adherents of that faith, and for my own personal urge for creativity, I've changed it to be my own world that is merely inspired by that culture and faith. Names changed, aspects of culture expanded upon or drawn from other sources. In short, it feels like Arabia, but it isn't, it's Al-Qara.
I think it would be strange to have a direct representation of Gandhi in a set featuring the deities of Hinduism, you're mixing timelines too much. What would be interesting would be to create a character that is unique to your world that represents the ideals of Gandhi in it. I would say the same about various gods and goddess and legendary heroes. For those that know, they will get the references and find that cool, and for those that don't, they may be intrigued to learn more, or not. But there's no pressure in terms of representing actual History, and real peoples beliefs. The game Smite ran into that when they depicted the Hindu pantheon, which unlike the greek and norse gods, has many, many current adherents. People can get offended by unintentionally insensitive portrayal, or cheapening of what to them is sacred.
Ahh, The Smite Pornifacations.They were forced to completely change how Kali looked, even though it looked quite similar to what she looked like in pictures @Rayne-Lord. But yes, we should be careful.
Ahh...I really loved the Rakshasa...anyways, I'm guessing that they will have some transformation/trickery stuff, and the Nagas will have something to do with venom(?) @The-DM.
Side note for Esper:Gandhi will be a new character, only sharing the beliefs of the great dude, not a direct copy. Speaking of that, @Rayne-Lord@The-DM, could we possibly have some reference to british occupation?
I think that incorporating the British occupation make this set less like the other sets that are based off of other religions, other than Ixalan, because that part was necessary. I think we should have our own space bubble, that being the religion, and not actual real life...
Religion played a big role in fighting the occupation, and Gandhi himself was hindu. It would make sense to have a somewhat realistic villain as well, so that the world doesn't feel too distant. Game design aims to make the player feel like they're in a new world, but they need to be able to connect to that world in some way. That could be the Brits for our matter, but perhaps they're displayed differently, because they could be very similar to the Phrexyians @The-DM.
New tribe names?Currently I don't even know if they're going to be proper factions. But for some of them, yes, like a name for (possible) british, a name for #TeamRavanna, and maybe some sort of mystic faction @The-DM?
Sorry, I really do rush things sometimes...but yeah, I like chant being a ripple rename, and mantras having chant of would work well @Rayne-Lord@The-DM.
Comments
A Mystic - by Metaltrox , this guys got some great stuff https://www.deviantart.com/metalratrox/gallery -- I'm probably gonna utilize some of his stuff, but there's definitely a bunch that would work great for your set!
I am a Christian, so I do not have much wisdom about Indian religion. I would definitely love to help, but I would like a brief overview of the religion.
---------------
This is just me, but I think Ripple can be renamed to Mantra. It (kind of) fits, Mantra's definition being "(originally in Hinduism and Buddhism) a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation." and ripple's affect being "(When you cast this spell, you may reveal the top X cards of your library. You may cast any revealed cards with the same name as this spell without paying their mana costs. Put the rest on the bottom of your library.)"
---------------
Second up, Ixalan was more based off of the Mayans than the Aztecs, you'll notice the building styles of the pyramids, and the worship of predatory animals. The Aztecs worshipped more human-like gods, while the Mayans literally prayed to Jaguars.
Third, this is not only the religion, we will be making this original, but there are some characters I know that I need to represent, such as Shiva, Ganesh, Hanuman, Gandhi, and Ravanna.
On the religion, I advise that you ask @Rayne-Lord about this, as he seems to be the expert on the subject, but Hindu religion is know to have TONS of gods. One time in church I heard that no one Hindu knew every single one of their gods. Also, I believe that reincarnation plays a big part, as well as Karma.
I also happened to hear that the end goal was not to reincarnate, but to reach their version of heaven(I think).
That's all, but since Indian folktales are less well known than things like Mayan/Aztec/Incan and Egyptian tales, there are certainly some stories that I want to show off.
Yes, I knew it was one of those civilizations. Also, I was just clarifying if you will be basing the characters off the gods but not the gods themselves. Just making sure you were basing the set off of the religion and not the religion itself.
Also, apparently Hindu religion has 33 millions gods... (goodness...)
@The-DM @LordTachanka123
Very Brief Overview
In Hindusim the many gods are actually just aspects of one single supreme Reality, which is to say, One God, which is both completely imminent in the world, and transcendent simultaneously. The goal of its true aspirants is to free oneself from the cycle of Karma (binding impressions we receive through multiple lifetimes that bring about the illusion of duality) and subsequent rebirth. This end goal is the realization of this one all-encompassing Reality (God) which is to say, there is Nothing except God. After this you are done with the cycle, and your soul becomes one with the One Soul. The numerous gods and goddesses serve as avenues of connection, ways for Human beings of relating to a God beyond all attributes, beyond duality. Much in the same way that Jesus serves as a relatable avenue for Christians. Folk Hinduism may treat these gods as real, separate entities, but in The Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita (Hindu scriptures) they are shown to be simply different faces of One Truth.
Also regarding mantra, the repetition of a sound or phrase (a prayer), is found throughout all the worlds religions. Prayer beads likely found there way from India into Islam, and thence into the Christian west. Many monks, especially in the Eastern Orthodox church utilize repeated phrases (mantras) as a means of keeping the mind focused on Christ. It's really a pretty unifying thing to think about.
_____________________
With that aside, I also agree that it would be best to avoid a direct 1-to-1 recreation of Indian Faith and culture in the set. My own current set draws heavily from Central Asian culture, themes, and my study and admiration of Islam, but out of respect for adherents of that faith, and for my own personal urge for creativity, I've changed it to be my own world that is merely inspired by that culture and faith. Names changed, aspects of culture expanded upon or drawn from other sources. In short, it feels like Arabia, but it isn't, it's Al-Qara.
I think it would be strange to have a direct representation of Gandhi in a set featuring the deities of Hinduism, you're mixing timelines too much. What would be interesting would be to create a character that is unique to your world that represents the ideals of Gandhi in it. I would say the same about various gods and goddess and legendary heroes. For those that know, they will get the references and find that cool, and for those that don't, they may be intrigued to learn more, or not. But there's no pressure in terms of representing actual History, and real peoples beliefs. The game Smite ran into that when they depicted the Hindu pantheon, which unlike the greek and norse gods, has many, many current adherents. People can get offended by unintentionally insensitive portrayal, or cheapening of what to them is sacred.
Okay, so, mechanics at the current time:
Mantras
Ripple
Chant
Creatures:
Devas
Asuras
Rakshasas
Avatars
Humans
Loxodon
Nagas
-#TeamRavanna
-Humans
-Ravanna himself, maybe some Asuras
-Animals
-I want this to be somewhat Gandhi related/Mystics, asuras
(Recall that we are using the religion for inspiration, too.)
Is Chant a renaming of Ripple, or is it a an ability that would be seen on creatures that has interaction with Mantras-
Do mantras have ripple, or some other sort of effect
@The-DM:
Mantras(New enchantment)
Ripple(Now chant)
Chant(Now ripple)
Okay, so we need at least one old mechanic(I'm not counting ripple).
Also, note that we will probably have some mechanics for the "British."
Also also, I think we should stick with two mechanics for each, so we'll have to either kick one or kick two and use an old mechanic.
And chant works with Mantras, as they will be better for each mantra you cast.
@The-DM.