[Torg] Doctrine Override (was: Penicillin)

[Jasyn Jones]

On Saturday, February 27, 2010, at 08:53AM, "Stephen John Smoogen"
<smooge at gmail.com
 > wrote:

> In fact if the spiritual energy is high enough
> etc it might be that the curative properties of penicillin only work
> when the proper spirits are called suppressing any technological axiom
> tool usage.

Penicillin is a (we'll say) Torg Tech 20. If the Tech axiom of that
cosm is < 20, and they're in a Dom zone, they can use the penicillin
"as prescribed by your doctor" and it would have an effect, until the
user disconnects. The "no Tech uses" comes from a too-low axiom and
disco, not the Spiritual beliefs of the cosm. In a Pure zone of such a
reality, penicillin would never work.

Assuming a generic "berry with natural healing effects" it can be
eaten at a Tech axiom of 0, and this is always possible, no matter
what (save for a World Law in a Pure zone.) If the religion claims
that spirits must be invoked, then the benefits of spiritual
intercession will be absent, but the naturally occurring healing
properties of the berry will work. In this case, the natural world
(not the Tech axiom, but the natural world) has precedence, because no
spiritual belief can arbitrarily override it.

But...

This does bring up a cool idea. In this case, the religion claims
something not supported by the physical world. What if it had the
power to make that true? Not as a result of a miracle, but because the
beliefs of the religion can actually change the natural world? It can
be argued that Spirit 33 is this. But Spi 33 can be argued to mean a
lot of things, so it isn't necessarily useful.

What I'm thinking about is a lower Spirit axiom entry (lower than 33,
but still really high), that would represent the power of doctrine to
alter the magical and physical laws of a cosm to conform with its
truths. In such a case, using Tech tools or Magic tools that violate
the truths taught by the doctrine ("magic doesn't exist, it's really a
tool of the Devil") would be contradictory. So, in a Pure zone, they
must conform to what the religion says, but in a Dominant zone the
doctrines aren't mandatory.

Let's call this Spirit 25. (No good reason, just a really high level.)

Let's take the Cyberpapacy as an example. Because I only want to talk
about axioms for the moment, we'll ignore the 'Papal World Laws and
focus on beliefs and axiom.

Hedge mages use a hodgepodge of superstition and real herbology to
cure or treat ills. But the church sees this as "magic" and Magic Is
The Tool Of The Devil. So, below this theoretical axiom value of 25,
this isn't true and the mage could care less. But, enter Spirit 25.
Suddenly, what the doctrine teaches Is True. One can only ignore the
doctrine by creating a contradiction.

The hedge wizard can do the exact same stuff he was before, but doing
it without involving Satan is contradictory. He can only do so in a
Dominant zone. If disconnected or if in a Pure zone, his work *is*
Satanic and evil, even if he believes otherwise. This means it tends
to corrupt, tends to draw the attention of malign beings and can even
cause unnatural events. (Obviously some research on actual medieval
beliefs would be required to create a list of interesting events.)

If he's a believer in the Cyberpapal religion (or Veritan
Catholicism), he is doing evil things and his spirit is in jeopardy. A
miracle to detect servants of the devil can detect him. He can only be
forgiven through cleansing fire, otherwise his soul will be damned for
eternity.

Let's turn the World Laws back on.

We could say that the Law of Heretical Magic makes the "Magic Is The
Tool Of The Devil" doctrine true. (Which, it does.) But, instead of
the backlash/difficulty mechanics, we could model it on the above "Spi
25" restriction: magic, in the Cyberpapacy is the tool of the devil.
To use it without causing evil side-effects requires a contradiction.
In effect, for this single doctrine, the cosm is Spirit 25.

That's a more interesting take on the Cyberpapacy, but also a more
interesting take on the Spirit axiom. At some axiom, Spiritual beliefs
become True, even if physical laws or magical laws say otherwise.

I'm liking it, and I've put it in the "think about this some more"
hopper.
-----
Jasyn Jones
jasynj (at) gmail (dot) com

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Ulysses, Alfred Lord Tennyson

Check out my Torg webpage, Storm Knights:
web.me.com/stormknights/