What is a spirit (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

Animism

Animism is the belief that inside all things are spirits, and these spirits can be befriended, cajoled, or browbeat into cooperation. This series will present three classes grounded in animism, the animist, shugenja, and Wu Jen. These all share the same animistic view of the world, and are collectively called spirit magicians. Each class uses spirit magic differently, but they all gain power by gaining the cooperation of spirits to work magic. Spirit magicians are no meek clerics who offer worship. A spirit can be bribed, persuaded, or be offered service and loyalty, but it can also be coerced or defeated in combat to bind it into service.

Spirit magicians live on the border between worlds. Good spirit magicians help folk and spirits live together. Their traditional duties are both to facilitate contact with spirits and to delineate a border between the mystical and the mundane. Most spirit magicians live in two tribes at once, the folk tribe and the spirit tribe. They help and protect their allies in both tribes, counting on their assistance in return. Some spirit magicians side entirely with one side, exploiting folk for benefit of spirits or the other way around, while few are renegades who use both folk and spirits strictly for their own benefit.

Spirit magicians help define the border between the domains of living folk, the dead, animals, and spirits. While rarely lawful the way civilized people see things, they help maintain the world order. They explore the planes to find power, wisdom, and solutions to problems, often bringing others with them for spiritual education or assistance. But when the threat of planar incursion looms, most spirit magicians are staunch defenders of planar boundaries.

Spirit magicians see spirits where others find only dead matter or magical energies. Most of the spirits spirit magicians interact with are invisible to everyone else. Wizards and clerics often claim these spirits do not exist, as they cannot be observed.

Spirit magicians regard most monsters as youkai, and spirit magician powers gives them power over a wide range of supernatural creatures. To the spirit magician an earth elemental is an awakened earth spirit—a youkai—while a rock is an earth spirit at rest. They are both the same, just that one is active and awake while the other is dormant. This confounds and annoys those who try to rationally classify what is supernatural and what is mundane.

What is a Youkai?

Some cultures and magic traditions see the world as alive with spirits. These are mystic energies that can be communed with to work magic. Spirit magic is common in tribal cultures that live close to nature. Asian civilizations tend to be more accepting of spirits and spirit magic, allowing for more advanced magic. These rules use Japanese terms, but feel free to use spirit magic in any campaign.

Spirits come in four forms; objects, mundane creatures, youkai, and immaterial spirits. Objects are dormant spirits. They take no action until awakened by the spirit magician's entreaties. Mundane Creatures are spirits that have taken a living, physical form, but that have no inherent magic. This includes all humanoids. Youkai are spirits that have taken possession of a mundane object or creature to become a magical creature. Most monsters are youkai. Immaterial Spirits are spells and supernatural abilities. Spirit magic is the work of immaterial spirits allied to or bound by a magician. Youkai and some mundane creatures can manipulate immaterial spirits, and the immaterial spirits in turn can manipulate all other kinds of spirits.

Not that there are no clear lines between these classifications, and combinations are common. A magic item is an object tied to an immaterial spirit. A summoned creature is an immaterial spirit that has taken the form of a youkai. A spirit magician is usually a mundane creature that can cajole youkai and immaterial spirits to work for him. This is all subjective and every spirit magician sees the details differently.

Nevertheless, for rules purposes, we need to know exactly what a youkai is, as many of the animists', shugenja's, and Wu Jen's abilities only work on youkai. For purposes of the these abilities, a youkai includes all of the following creatures:

• All aberrations
• All constructs.
• All dragons
• All fey
• All magical beasts
• All monstrous humanoids
• Humanoids of the giant or shapechanger subtypes
• All outsiders
• All creatures of the Plant type (not normal plants)
• All undead
• Creatures created by spells, such as animate object.
• Creatures summoned by spells, such as summon nature's ally.
• Creatures in astral, ethereal, or incorporeal form, or who are possessing another creature or objects, such as by the magic jar spell.

Spirit magicians see elementals and fey as youkai of nature and undead as youkai of the dead. Magical beasts, constructs, plants, giants, monstrous humanoids, and aberrations are either youkai-possessed or youkai bound in corporeal form. Most spirit magicians consider youkai to be unruly but lovable rascals. While youkai have a definite place in the world order, their place is in the wilds and on other planes, not in the lands of folk. Youkai that cause trouble are often bound and enshrined, placated by treating them as little gods.

Enshrined Youkai

In cultures where animists and shugenja are common, it is normal practice to enshrine youkai. This is done using the Bind Youkai power, and the bound youkai is not hidden away. Rather it is made into the focal point of a shrine or temple, venerated, and thus kept placated. Whole religious orders can be dedicated to keeping a powerful or destructive youkai sealed. Shugenja seek out such shrines because they can learn spells from them, but guardians ususally demand some kind of service or offering from a strange shugenja before they let him into the presence of the youkai. A normal cost would be the same as that for casting a spell of the level the youkai can teach.

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