I Went to GenCon
(more later–with pictures and CHW Bear!)
HotB: Research Standards at the Shanri Research Institute
(originally posted at the HotB Forums at www.housesoftheblooded.net/forums)
This is a brief introduction on the standards we expect at the Shanri Research Institute. Please follow these guidelines for the best chance of having your research verified.
Cite Your Sources
This is the most important step. If you look through the introduction of the core book, you’ll see all the sources I used. I’ll give you an example of the kind of citation I’m looking for.
For example, let’s look at Marcus Fledderjohn’s Virtues: The Complete Yvarai Text.
The Fledderjohn Text was translated from primary documents. The work is very old, held at the Institute, and available for viewing by special permission.
Virtues was a very important book to the ven. It presented moral and ethical dilemmas in the form of plays. Different versions of Virtues contained different versions of the plays, or in some cases, different plays all together. Each House kept its own version–each claiming it had the definitive version, of course–with alternate interpretations of the plays. The Burghe Version emphasized Strength, the Steele Version emphasized Cunning, etc, the Mwrr Version emphasized Wisdom, etc.
The Fledderjohn Text is one of the only complete copies of Virtues we have. It is also the only version translated directly from the original ven. Other texts exist, but are less trustworthy, less complete.
This is one of the sources I listed in the main book. Before we start using sources, new members should give a detailed account of their own sources for approval by the Institute. Some texts are more and less reliable than others. We just want to make sure we’re using the best possible sources and identify poorer sources so we can give the material the proper scrutiny.
Findings
After your sources have been approved by the Institute, you are free to list findings in those sources. Again, the Institute will review all research and make comments (and corrections) where necessary. While the Institute does maintain the final voice of authority on all matters regarding Shanri and the ven, we are open to different interpretations of text. We can be wrong. and there are cases where multiple interpretations are be valid–even if they contradict each other.
If you have any questions regarding research, please post them here. One question per post, please!
Houses of the Blooded News
A few notes…
Limited Edition
The LE books will be sent to Indie Press Revolution on Monday. Everyone who ordered the book will get a confirmation e-mail as well as the location of a secret website to download the bonus CD. That will be up next week before I leave for Gen Con.
Speaking of which…
Bonus CD
I planned on having the Bonus CD with me at Gen Con, but that’s not going to be possible. (Damn last second details.) Instead, I’ll have a double secret probation download page available for folks to download the .pdf and other bonus stuff. The CD contains everything the above disc contains except the three bonus tracks.
Again, folks who orderd the Limited Edition get this for free. You can purchase the download at Gen Con for $15. I’ll make the disc available to the general public after Gen Con.
Books
I will have Standard Edition books for folks who want them. If you ordered the Standard Edition, e-mail me and let me know. I’ll have your book for you. Books will be selling for $45.
Demos
I will be running demos, but I don’t know when. I’m playing all of this on the fly and I have no idea what the booth looks like, etc. Probably small demos on request.
New Website!
A new website is on the way. Isn’t quite finished yet. You can go to www.housesoftheblooded.net/forums to sign up for the forums. There’s a FAQ forum, a forum for each House and some other goodies as well. Check it out.
New Blog
I’ll be moving all my HotB information to the new website as soon as it’s ready. I’ll cross-post here, but everything should be up and running after Gen Con.
If you have any questions about the information above, just post them below.
I can’t wait to see all of you at Gen Con!
Ireland
After a conversation with
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about the political/economic future of the United States, I am seriously considering moving to Ireland in the next couple of years.
When I visited, I loved it. Stronger economy (and growing), a better political match, the land of my ancestors.
Any feedback, suggestions, etc.?
EDIT: Why must I constantly be reminded why I should keep my journal friends only?
The Mighty Mighty Foster and the MMO
My buddy
(the Eternal Nomad) has some thoughts about MMOs that intrigued me. I recognize some of this monologue from conversations we’ve had about roleplaying games and MMOs in the past and some new insights.
If I ever get a chance to design an MMO myself, I’ll be calling on him for insight.
It’s the Little Things
I notice little things. Watch this video, then tell me what’s wrong.
Why is a Protestant preacher using the word “saint” when he’s talking about Paul? I mean, really. Don’t these people understand their own religion?
(The answer is, “No.” Yeah, I know the answer to my own questions, sometimes.)
The preacher, by the way, is John Hagee. Not a man known for his love of the Catholic Church.
Science Beats Jesus to the Punch
While Christians all across the world wait for Jesus’ return–and the End of the World–it looks like Science may do it first.
“Officials at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, outside Geneva, announced Thursday that their new particle accelerator, the world’s largest, would begin operation on Sept. 10. On that date, the physicists and engineers will make the first attempt to circulate a beam of protons around a 17-mile-long super-cooled underground racetrack known as the Large Hadron Collider.”
They are going to recreate conditions that first occurred at the beginning of the universe… and may take out the universe with it. So, go hug your loved ones and say goodbye–just in case.
Science is gonna blow up the universe. Jesus better get a move on.
Goddamn, Science is sexy.
Houses of the Blooded: Gen Con Bound!
I will be at Gen Con!
I’ll be at the Abstract Nova/Flames Rising booth #2115.
I’ll have 100 copies of Houses of the Blooded for sale.
If you already ordered a copy, let me know via e-mail. I’ll bring a list and you can pick it up there.
I’ll also have… other goodies. You’ll have to wait to see.
Questions on a Sunday
The God of the Old Testament is named “YHVH.” It is unpronounceable and most scholars translate this to “I AM.”
In the New Testament, Jesus calls the god he reveres “Abba.” “Father.”
Jesus also teaches the doctrine of salvation–something the Old Testament God certainly does not teach. Jesus also teaches a new prayer to “Abba” and all but says, “Forget the old ways, this is the new way.”
Therefore, it is logical to assume that Jesus is teaching his followers to revere a different god from the one in the Old Testament.
(This is not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, but most people have never heard of the gnostics or any of the other Christian heresies that the Catholics put down [re: “murdered”], and I was thinking about it today, so I decided to write it down.)
Likewise, Paul had his own religion going on. He talked a lot about Jesus, but take note of this: nowhere in Paul’s writings does he mention anything about Jesus’ life other than the crucifixion. Nothing. So, in other words, he doesn’t mention
the virgin birth,
Herod killing the firstborns,
John the Baptist,
40 days in the wilderness,
the temptation of Satan,
turning water into wine,
walking on water
no healings,
no casting out of demons,
“… cast the first stone,”
the arrival in Jerusalem,
the last supper,
the betrayal of Judas,
or any other of the events of Jesus’ life
With that evidence in mind, is it possible Paul was talking about a different Jesus? After all, lots of folks named Jesus at that time. A common name. And the Romans were crucifying whole metric shit tons of people. So, maybe the “scholars” of the bronze age (if you really want to call them scholars) got things mixed up and mingled the stories of two different men called “Jesus.”
It’s possible.
Or maybe the four different gospels in the Bible are written about four different men named Jesus. After all, the stories are similar, but not identical, and there are a lot of descrepencies. So, maybe there were a few men in Jerusalem calling themselves “the messiah” and more than a few of them were named Jesus.
It’s possible.
Of course, if you want to be an archeologist and print any of this in a shcolarly journal, you’ll need some proof.
But, if you make it your religion, you don’t need to prove any of it. You’ve got faith.
Just some thoughts on a Sunday.