To join realm - Nothoi, OG, Sint or Melhed?

[Marlboro]

I played a follower of Daishi but she died in the last invasion. In RPs I generally ignored the fluff and just played it up as a straight doomsday cult, meshed pretty well with the fatalistic character. Don't really give a !@#$ what the creators' intentions were when it comes to my own character's views and beliefs.

[Elroy]

Indirik - very few religions/realms/characters in Battlemaster did not draw inspiration from some other source.  Hell, one of the daimon invasions was completely ripped out of the Tolkien novels.  Clearly you and Chenier have a major OOC issue with the founding members of Daishi (although I didn't even know you had a character in Beluaterra - never ran across your family name in over 6 years of playing that island), so I don't expect to change your mind.  Looks like we will just have to agree that it is your problem.

[Chenier]

All sources are not created equal.

And if you're to ignore the "fluff", you may as well just join another religion altogether.

[Anaris]

Indirik - very few religions/realms/characters in Battlemaster did not draw inspiration from some other source. 

I think that's something of an exaggeration. There are some that do, but there are many that are original.

And even among those that are not original, most of them are in better taste than trying to bring mecha into BattleMaster.

Hell, one of the daimon invasions was completely ripped out of the Tolkien novels. 

You wanna elaborate on that? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that's BS.

Clearly you and Chenier have a major OOC issue with the founding members of Daishi (although I didn't even know you had a character in Beluaterra - never ran across your family name in over 6 years of playing that island), so I don't expect to change your mind.  Looks like we will just have to agree that it is your problem.

I don't believe either of them has anything against the players that founded Daishi except for the fact that they founded Daishi as a BattleTech religion within BattleMaster. I certainly don't, and I feel pretty much the same as they do about Daishi.

[Elroy]

Chenier - you are right about sources and "fluff"...apparently cutting and pasting from Aztec Wiki entries and images didn't inspire anyone to fight to keep your dead religion alive.

There are very few of us left from the time when Daishi was formed, yet Daishi spans more realms and regions than ever.  Regardless of the inspiration for the "fluff," the religion can be viewed as a pantheistic religion like the ones I already mentioned, or even as a doomsday cult (one of my characters also saw it that way).  The part that seems to bother you the most is based on your interpretation...most people who aren't fans of Battletech will read the description as similar to Norse or Greek myths.  It is not some colossal joke that any of us tried to play on anyone, and I find it odd that a board administrator (Indirik) is acting like a troll on this topic.

[Chenier]

For the record, I didn't copy any aztec mythology. I used their pictures, yes, but the mythology was just inspired by them, not simply plagiarized. All of the text on the Blood Cult's wiki, I wrote myself. To state otherwise would equal stating that all monotheistic religions in BM are a ripoff of christinity.

As for a faith staying alive, that really doesn't mean squat. Eretzism survived for years and years, and it was an utterly crap hollow religion. As many others. Longetivity is often inversely proportional to how fun a religion is. The duller a religion, the easier it is for it to spread through space and time.

[skiarxon@gmail.com]

...most people who aren't fans of Battletech will read the description as similar to Norse or Greek myths.

NO.

The ultimate vision: Giant armored gods over thirty feet tall are walking across a battlefield while the tiny humans are fighting Undead and Monsters while scurrying about their feet. These armored gods throw metal javelins and darts the size of small trees that explode on impact. Casual waves of appendages bring forth shafts of lightning that melt and destroy targets along with everything around it. There are small swift gods with supreme skill and accuracy aiming for weak spots trying for critical strikes. There are gods who can fly through the air on pillars of flame that direct the others and control the flow of the battle. The last group of gods are large and ponderous destroying all in their way employing no subtlety or finesse.
There are no names known for any of the Armored Gods. There does not seem to be any one leader. In any vision ever received by a follower, any given group of Gods seem to work together to achieve a common goal. There does seem to be one consistent description of one particular large God that causes the very ground to tremble with each step of its mighty feet. Sometimes there are more than one of them as they lay waste to entire sections of land destroying Undead and Monsters. Many who have had these visions talk about the death's head visage that is burned into their minds. Strangely enough, there are few if any pictures or drawings of these Gods. Some have talked about an ancient law that forbids such renderings. Whether it is a law or not, any true believer frowns mightily upon any they come across.

[Indirik]

Indirik - very few religions/realms/characters in Battlemaster did not draw inspiration from some other source.

Indeed, they do. And I don't have a problem with that, so long as the result is period appropriate. And, to an extent, that they acknowledge what they're doing, and not try to pass it off as original, or inspired by something completely different.

Hell, one of the daimon invasions was completely ripped out of the Tolkien novels.

As with Anaris, I'd really like to hear how you came up with that. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'd just like to hear your reasons why you think this.

Clearly you and Chenier have a major OOC issue with the founding members of Daishi

I have no idea who founded the religion. I couldn't even tell you the names of any characters that are followers of Daishi. So the idea that I have a problem with the founders... not gonna fly. My only objection to Daishi is their blatantly ripped Battletech inspiration, that no one even attempted to disguise. If whoever made it had tried harder to disguise it's origins, you could make something good out of it. Giant armored gods fighting evil? Sounds like a great core concept for a crusader religion, or a war god mythology, etc. Just... *try* to not make it a blatant scifi reference.

(although I didn't even know you had a character in Beluaterra - never ran across your family name in over 6 years of playing that island)

...is this the part where I'm supposed to attack your relevance and credibility in return?

[Lorgan]

Hey now, what's the difference between giant robots and an all-knowing man in the sky? Both images of gods seem quite unrealistic to me, yet ask any medieval christian about god and all-powerful man in the sky is very likely to be what he'll tell you. These are supernatural made-up creatures being worshiped, what's the difference really?

All that matters is the way that they are worshiped by the characters who have joined their religion. And from the Daishi people I have met I don't think there's any problem there.

[Anaris]

Hey now, what's the difference between giant robots and an all-knowing man in the sky?

The difference is one is medieval, one is modern/futuristic.

[Lorgan]

The difference is one is medieval, one is modern/futuristic.

Well from what I can see the Daishi page doesn't even have anything futuristic. It's just about an ancient struggle between good and evil and the insignificant duty of humans. Maybe it comes from Battletech but I don't know Battletech and I think it's a perfectly acceptable theology for medieval times.

[Anaris]

Well from what I can see the Daishi page doesn't even have anything futuristic. It's just about an ancient struggle between good and evil and the insignificant duty of humans. Maybe it comes from Battletech but I don't know Battletech and I think it's a perfectly acceptable theology for medieval times.

It's couched in terms a medieval person would understand, but they're very clearly describing mecha. Which is not particularly medieval.

[Lorgan]

So if it's in terms characters can understand and relate to their actual surroundings, what does it matter that players know that it's inspired on some futuristic crap?

[Anaris]

So if it's in terms characters can understand and relate to their actual surroundings, what does it matter that players know that it's inspired on some futuristic crap?

Because describing mecha firing lasers and missiles in terms a medieval person could understand doesn't make the mecha firing lasers and missiles less futuristic.

[Lorgan]

Zeus grabbed lightning with his bare hands and threw it at at the world just like that. Thor's hammer struck with the impact of a small comet.

Who knows what pre-christianity people dreamt up? Fire, lightning and big-ass magical weapons seem quite all right to me for a religion that's always on the verge of ragnarok.

Sure maybe it could've been less blatantly obvious but that still doesn't mean that this isn't a religion that could realistically be followed by medieval nobles.