Dao (Chinese Tradition) (Magic Vegas)

This describes a Tradition of Magic Vegas
v60e Chapter 3 continued
==Views==
According to its own origin story, Daoism began as a renunciation of its contemporary society, implying a rejection of Channeling as well, in favor of a more natural way of living. That’s what the Mark of “detachment” means in this context, detachment from human social constructs in order to be receptive to nature and spontaneous in behavior. Since its Monotheist beginning, Channeling crept back in, a source of tension within the tradition historically resolved with a compromise in favor of Alchemy, a less direct means of Channeling than spells, with its risks largely confined to the lab. A principal goal of Daoist Alchemy has been immortality, to break the cycle of reincarnation, which always involves a stop-over in Diyu where souls are punished for their misdeeds in life so that they can return with purified karma. Other Daoist signatures are Cloud-Vaulting, found in no other tradition, and Feng Shui, game-mechanically the same as Geomancy but with a narrative focus on architecture.
Daoism is philosophy as well as magic, and even if some practitioners fail to draw a distinction, the magic is potentially compatible with other philosophies. Confucianism is one such, arguably a religious philosophy because it promotes piety as a civic virtue, but to the extent that Confucians use magic, it is game-mechanically Dao, for ancient Chinese magic survives in no other context. Similarly, Buddhism is a philosophy that arose in India accepting Hindu cosmology, but when it spread to China, its followers found Daoist cosmology compatible. Besides Tian, a bureaucrat’s idea of heaven, the Otherworlds of this cosmology are blessed but cursed in equal measure, inhospitable hence largely unexplored. 
During the Cultural Revolution, Communism erased history and stamped out competing philosophies and likewise discouraged superstition in favor of Rationalism. However, successors of Mao Zedong have returned China to greatness by infusing Communism with “Chinese characteristics” including revived nationalism, limited capitalism, revisionist Confucianism, traditional medicine (if only to compensate for a shortage of doctors), and outreach to diaspora communities who have preserved their magic. Among the oligarchs, there must be some who see magic as an edge in China’s rivalry with Western powers who have suppressed their own indigenous magic far longer. The challenge is to keep magic under control of the party even while both party purists and dao purists recoil at the thought. 
==Symbols== 
*Calligraphy, caves, cinnabar, constellations, dragons, evergreens, gourds, music, peaches, sex, trigrams. Language: Classical Chinese. Weapons: Chain Whip, assorted distinctive clubs, crossbows, darts, knives, swords, and polearms. Garb: Robes embroidered with images of animals, clouds, and other natural things. Countermagic: Taijitu (yin/yang). Mark: Detachment (usually from uniquely human concerns such as schedules, fashion, or which fork to eat salad with – could be a Quirk like Broad-Minded, Fashion Disaster, Missing Disadvantage, or even Quirk-level Bestial). Magic Vegas Embassy: Resorts World (replacing Mandarin Imperial). 
==Allies== 
*Most Monsters are unique; rather more common are Djinn evolved from nature spirits (Dryads/Totems) and vampires (Wights) – magicians don’t take animal form, rather such spirits can take human form. Divination: Astrology, Symbol-Casting. Patrons: All deities are Patrons, for Daoism doesn’t take its paths for gods (although they are aspects of the way which can be channeled). Totems: Many, but the prominent ones inspired martial art styles (crane, mantis) or appear in the zodiac. 
==False Path (Horror)== 
*Apportation, Channeling (False Dao), Cloud Memory, Command Beast (Horror of Wuji), Contract Object, Create Gate (Wuji), Distant Blow, Enlarge, Garble, Gentle Beast (Horror of Wuji), Gremlins, Guise, Hallucination, Hand of Glory, Invisibility, Lesser Wish, Liar's Charm, Mage-Stealth, Phantom, Planar Visit (Wuji), Seek Beast (Horror of Wuji), Speak with Beast (Horror of Wuji), Summon Beast (Horror of Wuji), Summon Shade, Teleport (not in Midgard), Time Out, Timeslip, Transform (Horror of Wuji), Wizard Mouth. Portfolio: Deceit, absence of time and space. Symbol: Blank circle. World: Wuji, the void before creation. Mark: Spiritual Distortion. 
==Path of the Celestial Bureaucracy== 
*Borrow Skill (Bureaucratic/Expert), Cadence, Channeling (Jade Emperor), Command Beast (Burden), Create Gate (Tian), Fix Glitch, Fuel, Gift of Letters, History, Journeyman’s Blessing (Governance), Know Fault, Locate, Locate Spares, Magelock (seal), Planar Visit (Tian), Read the Manual, Read Memories, Read Thoughts, See Secrets, Smooth Ride, Telepathy, Unlimited Ammo, Vigil, Vision of Luck. Portfolio: Efficiency, harmony, investigation, preparation. Symbol: Pearl. Mark: Procedural. World: Chinese Heaven is a marvel of efficiency, but there’s no privacy. 
==Path of Diyu== 
*Channeling (Yan Wang), Cold, Create Gate (Diyu), Death Vision, Doom, Entombment, Fix Glitch, Gambler's Token, Gentle Beast (Any), Ghost Shirt, Gloom, Hallucination, History, Journeyman's Curse, Loyal Item, Machines Hate You, Oath, Planar Visit (Diyu), Soothe, Stroke of Luck, Suggestion, Vision of Luck, Will Lock, Windfall. Portfolio: Karmic justice, preparation for rebirth. Symbol: Wheel. Mark: Karma expresses as Bad Luck or the like, in kind and proportion to personal benefit from magic, but as a mental disadvantage it always manifests as self-sabotage, never as environmental factors. World: Chinese Hell is full of cold and darkness and suffering souls. 
==Path of Earth== 
*Cadence, Channeling (Dao of Earth), Create Gate (World of Earth), Divination (Geomancy), Earth Vision, Journeyman's Blessing (Extraction), Locate, Love Charm, Planar Visit (World of Earth), Predict Earth Movement, Purify Earth, Retch, Rockfall, Seek Coastline, Seek Earth, Seek Pass, Shake the Earth, Shape Earth, Silence, Summon Beast (Burrowers), Transmutation of Metals, Walk Through Earth, Warrior's Blessing, Weatherworking (Geyser/Volcano). Portfolio: Change, earth/stone (anti-water, pro-metal), maturity. Symbol: Bit of rock. Mark: Love (could be a Dependent or Sense of Duty). World: Unattested world like an amusement park ride, always shaking enough to induce vomiting, but eerily silent, for even speech is impossible. 
==Path of Fire== 
*Channeling (Dao of Fire), Clean, Command Beast (Reptile), Create Earth, Create Gate (World of Fire), Endure Elements (also DR1 vs. Heat/Cold per level), Evisceration, Gift of Tongues, Great Haste, Halt Aging (adds no years but reduces the ravages), Heat, Infravision, Liar’s Charm, Lust, Perfect Appearance, Perfection of the Soul (no effect on Marks of Power), Planar Visit (World of Fire), Remove Contagion, Smoke, Speak with Beast (Reptile), Summon Beast (Reptile), Tirelessness, Vigil, Virility, Vitality, Weatherwoking (Fair). Portfolio: Fire (anti-metal, pro-earth), speech, summer, youth. Symbol: Burning candle. Mark: Joy (Mind-Numbing Magnetism). World: Unattested crucible where lovers wear their hearts on their sleeves, literally. 
==Path of Metal== 
*Age, Armor, Blight, Channeling (Way of Metal), Cold, Create Gate (World of Metal), Decay, Flash, Grace, Hold Breath, Ice Slick, Impotence, Journeyman's Blessing (Craft), Mirror, Perfect Control, Planar Visit (World of Metal), Purify Water, Remove Contagion, Reshape, Spasm, Stench, Stop Healing, Summon Beast (Herbivore), Weapon Blessing. Portfolio: Age, autumn, breath, metal (anti-wood, pro-water). Symbol: Bit of metal. Mark: Grief (could manifest as Chronic Depression, Guilt Complex, or a substance-abuse problem). World: Unattested, antiseptic freezer inimical to organic matter. 
==Path of Water== 
*Alter Terrain (only to change a river's course or cause flood), Channeling (Dao of Water), Cloud-Vaulting (10 miles per vault, one vault per minute), Cold, Command Beast (Fish), Command the Waves, Create Gate (World of Water), Create Spring, Current, Death Vision, Firecalm, Frostbite, Hail, Journeyman's Blessing (Maritime), Malaise, Mist, Panic, Planar Visit (World of Water), Plant Growth, Seek Beast (Scavengers), Seek Water, Speak with Beast (Fish), Snow Shoes, Summon Beast (Fish), Swim, Water Vision, Weatherworking (Rain/Storm). Portfolio: Death, water (anti-fire, pro-wood), winter. Symbol: Bottle of water. Mark: Fear (Fearfulness or any Phobia). World: Unattested freezing maelstrom which flings people around like autumn leaves. 
==Path of Wood== 
*Air Vision, Bright Vision, Channeling (Dao of Wood), Command Beast (Pollinators), Conjure Flame, Create Gate (World of Wood), Create Plant, Fertility, Hawk Vision, Heal Plant, Hide Path, Hunter's Blessing, Journeyman's Blessing (Agriculture, Childcare), Night Vision, Planar Visit (World of Wood), Preserve Food, Rejuvenate Plant, Ruin (inorganic only), Seek Beast (Game), Seek Plant, Summon Beast (Pollinators), Vigor, Walk Through Plants, Water to Wine, Wisdom (doesn't raise base IQ but mitigates penalty of Afflictions). Portfolio: Birth, spring, vegetation (anti-earth, pro-fire), vision. Symbol: Bit of wood. Mark: Anger (Bad Temper, Berserk, or Bloodlust). World: Unattested perpetual forest fire. 
==Absent Rituals==
* Blackout, Body of Shadow, Calm the Winds, Command the Bodies of the Dead, Command the Waves, Continual Light, Create Animal, Create Object, Create Warrior, Dark Vision, Dose, Dream Shackles, Dream Visitor, Dreamwalk, Earth to Stone, Essential Acid, Evil Eye, Exchange Bodies, Great Gas Mileage, Hasten Mount, Inexorable Breeze, Irradiate, Lightning, Lure, Madness, Measurement, Night Terrors, Obscurity, Predict Weather, Purify Air, Regeneration, Repair, Resist Pressure, Rotting Death, Scry, Slumber, Steal Energy, Sterility, Stone to Earth, Succor, Sunbolt, Supercharge, Thunderbolt, Unbearable Pleasure, Walk on Air, Walk on Water, and Weaken Blood.
Category:Magic Vegas Tradition
Category:Books and Paths