Kami-no-Michi: Potentially badassed megasorcery?

[Paul B]

Okay, so I'm extrapolating from my viewing of Onmyoji (http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Onmyoji/60029682?trkid=189530&strkid=830288253_0_0). Wacky, weird, sort of silly but it had a lot of very cool, inspirational ideas for a high-fantasy take on a Blossoms game. Since I have a very focused Shrine Mother type character in our game, I thought I'd better get a firm grasp on just what is possible.

In Onmyoji, the hero appears to invoke all kinds of cool, handy assistance via Kami. The example that really jumps out at me is when he plucks the leaf off the bush, whispers to it, and the leaf zips off and "kills" the butterfly goddess. Naturally I started thinking about how to do this in Blossoms.

We have the skill Kami-no-Michi. The skill writeup itself is vague as to what is possible with this skill. I mean, you get get "good luck" and chat with the Kami, or summon a rainstorm, or engage it in a DOW.

Cool. Next, I look up what Kami are capable of. Well, if they're "angry Kami" they can harm, reveal, perform locks and holds, hinder everyone in their domain, and provide generic help dice. So...

It seems to me that, to get a Kami to do anything for you, you need to anger it. I assume you can anger it via a DOW. If you succeed, then you can probably direct that anger via the stake you set. And if you fail the DOW, then presumably whatever you tried to get the Kami to do happens to you and not your enemy.

Basically I'm looking for clarification that Kami simply don't do anything if they're placated and feeling groovy. To get them to do something always means angering them. True? Not true? The "Help" ability writeup seems to suggest they can do that whether they're angry or not. It's not really explicit.

I'm looking for guidance as to how an Onmyoji-type character needs to negotiate with a Kami, and whether it comes down to pissing it off and making sure it's aimed the right direction. It didn't appear the character in the movie had pissed off the leaf Kami (or maybe the wind Kami!), but then again the whole "killing" scene turned out to be an illusion anyway.

Thoughts? Or does anyone see using Kami-no-Michi this way as nastily exploitable?

p.

[Paul B]

A tacky reply to myself:

Another possible answer to how all this works is that, in the movie, Abe no Seimei invoked Onmyodo (it would make sense, given that he's an Onmyoji). The description of Shikigami in the book make it sound like his paper-doll girlfriends were maybe Shikigami, but they certainly weren't "animals" or "little oni demons." Unless, I suppose, those particular demons had the ability to appear as full-size hotties.

Again, extrapolating from what's in the book, could an onmyoji induce an oni Shikigami into using their "angry oni" powers (via a DOW)? The list is "reveal unto me this fact," "help," and "possession."

p.

[chillydawg]

Page 166 "Onis are always angry". So yes angry Oni powers,would seem to be always available.

Page 165 "On rare occasions a shinto priest will anger the Kami themselves and ask for rain or storm to aid his or her purpose"
Sounds like you were right again. The Kami have to be angered to get them to go to work. I wonder if it is a Kami no michi roll or a kami wise roll to figure out how to make them mad. Perhaps you could use Kami wise to figure out how to make them angry and not, royally pissed destruction of the world avatars of the 3rd level of hell. That would suck and make their eventual appeasment a true pain in the rump. If you can get them angry and if you can win the DOW (both big ifs for my character), it would seem you can make them shake the pillars of heaven if you want.

Stake setting for the DOW would be dramatic. If I wanted a kami of the winds to blow an approaching fleet back out to sea as my stakes what would be the matching Kami stake?

[Paul B]

My understanding is that the losing stake is that the Kami or Oni or Ghost you fail to talk into doing something instead takes their anger out on YOU.

However, in our game, your character has Touched by Ame no Minakanushi, which makes her a VERY formidable summoner since, really, the only negative consequence you'll face is a bad Let it Ride result (i.e. you don't get that effect, and you don't get to ask again). To crack through your Touched... trait, I'll need to beat your Will of 6 and that's going to take a 6+ strength spirit (and all successes, without artha help). Rough.

p.

[chillydawg]

I believe the end result is either the ghost can leave or possess. I could be wrong. But since ghosts don't have powers those are the only 2 options available to it. I'm not real sure about Kami options. I'll research a little more.