Revelations of the Mononoke Princess

Somewhere to the west, there is a forest. It is the gods' last home. Bountiful is it, rich in game and mineral, overwhelming in potential for human ambitions to be made manifest. With rifle and iron pellets, gods are pushed back, and Harmony wars with Ambition.

Tree spirits.

When a god is struck by this bullet and gives in to its ambition to throw back the imperialistic needs of humans, it is possessed by its hatred. The resultant demon goes wild and flees the forest. In its wake is a trail of curses that latch onto the innocent like ticks to dogs. But ambition is not wholly evil, and it is only through harnessing it that life can keep itself from degrading into small, dumb animals.

Thus, a revelation. Harmony is needed to curb ambition and to keep peace; ambition is needed to prevent harmony from reducing all to the sorrowful state of pets and foolish game. At the center of this revelation is the Old Forest, where human countries invade to claim what resources they can. There, in their Iron Towns and carved-out hunting grounds, god and man struggle and curses blossom like sakura from samurai corpses.

God turned demon.

WHO ARE YOU?
You're an adventurer. You have come to the Old Forest for one of the following reasons:

• Ambition [Wealth/Power/Resource/Fame]. Mine iron, cut legendary wood, find mystical plants, steal the fangs of wolf gods--there is natural treasure to be had and power to be gained!
• Cursed. A demon has cursed you, and you have traveled to the Old Forest to find a way to cleanse yourself.
• God-Child. You were raised by the gods and you fight against the lust-looting that humans from outside the forest are participating in.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

In future blog posts I'll elaborate on each one of these. Here is a sample list of ideas for what games could be like:

• Hunt gods for their mystical organs.
• Protect and benefit from the iron mining towns.
• Fight with the gods to overthrow the various human outposts and towns.
• Ignore both sides of the conflict and look for something mystical that will benefit specifically you.

RULES IDEAS

• Give the two alignments, Harmony & Ambition, some mechanic heft.
• Tables of god organs and their possible uses.
• Curses that demons can place on you that must be cleansed, despite what benefits they may give.
• Having followers in the forms of minor gods.
• Rules for ambushes and the benefits of being an effective hunter.

God followers.