Dwarves (used as synecdoche for the whole of intelligent creatures) should have a new personality trait that affects how willing they are to believe in the supernatural: the unseen, the otherworldly, that which goes bump in the night.
I had considered whether "superstition" should be an intellectual value or a psychological facet, but I think representing it as psychological makes the most sense to me. Many cultures have typical levels of numinous belief, belief being the key word, but you can't quite debate the topic abstractly. Facets also have the possibility of characters being conflicted between their heart and mind. Regardless of implementation, the trait should be a way to vary behavior, with interesting behavioral effects at either end.
My original thesis was how the ghost mechanic would work in the "fantasy level 0" roadmap - they would still horrify the living, because the superstitious among them would still be haunted by a soul that hasn't been laid to rest. Perhaps the no-magic version of a ghost still causes a reasonable level of havoc: visions of the deceased, missing socks here and there, but no obviously supernatural things like organ theft. Thus in a world without magic, it would be correct to disbelieve in magical thinking.
Sample game text for the values:
Very superstitious - is utterly convinced of the supernatural, observing a personal list of taboos
Superstitious - greatly respects the power of the supernatural
(neutral) - is comfortable with the idea of powers beyond their ken
Skeptical - is wary to admit fanciful causes to events
Very skeptical - denies outright the idea of so-called unexplainable phenomena
A dwarf that is neither skeptical nor superstitious should behave as default - they'll still pray in church, get startled by a ghost or a bogey, and perform all the socio-political religious behaviors already programmed for them. Superstitious dwarves are conflicted should they worship a deity "dubiously", while skeptics become increasingly conflicted the more fervor is applied either to the gods or their skeptical personality. Do note that one does not need to be purely neutral or superstitious to be religious; skeptics prefer organized religious societies to worshipping a deity personally, as they can benefit from their affiliation and can even *espouse* the ethics of the religion should it align with their own.
N.B. the idea of religions having their own social values is unimplemented, but it is an expected next step once they expand from just representing clerical labor unions deific cults to whole moral systems unto themselves. There is something to be said about sufficiently prolific religions creating their own ethical feedback loop, "the atheist living in the shadow of Christian morality" to paraphrase Nietzche.
So, with that in place, I will give some examples of what effects the different positions have, and how they may be affected.
High superstition affects:
- Propensity to draw fanciful creatures
- Can be more easily convinced to worship something (though not so much to abandon one without due cause)
- Prayer-related needs and thoughts are stronger and will be more likely to increase their fervor in worship
- Night creature related thoughts are likewise stronger
- Will be more likely to seek out spiritually potent items (even just crafts with a religion-related symbol), and will reject cursed objects
- Cares more about alignment, perhaps superstitious evil creatures will try to fight (or flee) good creatures, the same is true for creatures with opposed spheres. Goblins picking on gorlaks, but scattering once the unicorns stampede.
- Doctors might try magical healing methods, regardless of whether the setting validates it. Superstitious patients will feel comforted by this.
- Will be more motivated to pursue destiny or prophecies, however they may be implemented.
Low superstition affects:
- Can console others suffering from the horrors of ghosts and bogeys by dismissing it as a figment of their imagination - subject to a skill check, of course.
- Will generally ignore supernatural effects and preferences
- Most of the high superstition effects are reversed (if logical), so skeptics don't need to pray as often and won't be as scared of the night.
- Can be more easily convinced to abandon deities - this works in the favor of proselytizers.
- May preferentially destroy spiritual items, if very low. Surely there's no divine retribution...
- Low superstition represents an influence to act against prophecy and destiny, should it align with their other goals. Maximally low superstition means that they will most often act without regards to confirming or rebuking their destiny.
Events that might increase superstition:
- Being very lucky, some examples would be creating a masterwork when only a novice, being subject to a luck buff, or being struck by lightning.
- Performing divination or other mystical practices
- Rapturous thoughts from very satisfying prayers
- Becoming cursed by a supernatural being (respect the gods and the dead or else!)
- Encountering fanciful creatures (a 1-2 combo with the megabeast cults that already spring up)
- Being successfully treated by a superstitious doctor
Events that might decrease superstition
- Abandoning a deity
- Becoming numb to the horrors of the night
- Receiving counsel from a skeptic to withstand such horrors
- Failing a mystical ritual, especially the higher your skill level and thus the less reason you have to suspect human error.
- Defeating a monster without exploiting its elemental weakness (who needs silver to fend off werewolves?)
- Witnessing the death of a god or a mighty HFS entity that might take such a shape
- Massive tragedy (can go either way, can definitely feel lucky)
- The passing of the ages into mundanity
- Pursuit of certain scientific topics that explain how the world works. Astronomy tends to be the big case for skepticism, though it takes only one glance at a horoscope to recognize that studying the stars has been an ancient part of human spirituality.
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Topic: "Superstition" personality trait (Read 256 times)