Buddhism and my Writing for Academagia

[Rhialto]

I have been introducing Buddhist themes into my writings for Academagia: The Making of Mages. The adventure that I submitted (called “Wandering the Corridors”) is in six stages, each one based the player character’s using one of the six senses that Buddhist scriptures say that we have. Furthermore, one possible outcome of the adventure mentions flowers in the four colors of red, yellow, blue, and white – the four colors of the lotus flowers in Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land of Sukhavati. I have also been writing adventures for the game’s sequel, which is still apparently being developed. These adventures include a foreign orphan and burglar who is shown to be (and describes herself as being) a devotee of Amitabha Buddha, and loves reciting Buddhist dharanis in her spare time. She may, depending upon the player’s choices during one adventure, give a definition of atheism that is related to my explanation of how I am a Buddhist and an atheist and a believer in YHVH’s divine power while not being a Jew or a Christian. I thought it to be appropriate to have Amitabha Buddha veneration within the adventure because Amitabha Buddha, within the scriptures that describe him, is said to be known and venerated upon many worlds.

I mentioned this during an online discussion of Buddhism within video games, wherein I also talk about Planescape Torment. https://old.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/a8nc3n/whats_a_buddhist_video_game_in_execution_themes/ecdspoq/

[Metis]

Can you really make that fit into Academagia, though? Not only would an ingame character describing herself as a Buddhist reciting Buddhist scriptures be rather jarring, IRL stuff ingame and all, but IIRC Mineta isn't big on the whole "religious tolerance" shtick. Especially when people come from far enough east that they could feasibly come from Dragon-controlled territories.

[Rhialto]

@Metis: Well, the Team is welcome to reject or re-write my story ideas as much as they want. For what it is worth, however, the character does not describe her self using the term "Buddhist", is said in one possible encounter that I have written for her to have joined a criminal gang precisely because she wants freedom to practice her religion and cannot find it elsewhere, and is involved with the Southside Pitts, a gang whose leader is unhealthily interested in forbidden magics and forbidden knowledge.

[Metis]

Fair enough, though you might have to add a reason why she can't leave Mineta considering that pretty much should be her next step if she wants to find a place to practice her religion in peace. In fact I'm not sure why she thought going to the old capitol of the Empire and holy city of the New Gods was a good idea to begin with. Lack of choice, I would imagine.

Not sure where she could really go to be left alone in that respect, either. Pievre, maybe?

[Rhialto]

@Metis: She is an orphan whose parents were merchants who came to Mineta from their homeland in an attempt to make money, but died, following which certain things (which I hope to write about for Y3) left her without any money in Mineta's orphanage system.

If this seems implausible to you, there were Buddhist merchants from India who made their fortunes trading with the Roman Empire.

[Metis]

Seems plausible, I just see a potential issue with her being taken in as an orphan, despite not being a citizen of Mineta and clearly not from around there and all of that, and her falling in with a criminal gang. If she wasn't left to fend for herself despite everything it must be because the city officials didn't want her to fall into a life of crime, so her falling into a life of crime I would think is something that people would look out for. Of course you could easily excuse that as saying that her caretaker is overworked/negligent/corrupted/etc., but something to keep in mind.

[Rhialto]

@Metis: I address these issues in one of my events, called "Dharanis and Drinks", when the player chooses the option “How did you get involved with the Southside Pitts, Roxan?”.

See: