Animism: the world of spirits
Inhabiting the world
The animist inhabits a populated world.
A stream, a hill, a sickness, an animal, a weapon, or a wind may have a presence that must be reckoned with.
Spirits are not an invisible army waiting for orders. Some are familiar, others foreign. Some answer spontaneously. Some must be recognized, persuaded, appeased, or bound.
The animist therefore does not merely ask: "what can help me?" They ask: "who is here, and what relationship is possible now?"
Others readily call them primitives or savages.
Reading the roll
- Each even die counts as a Success: the Middle World responds normally.
- Two dice showing the same odd value form a Spiritual Pact and together produce one Success.
- Form as many Pacts as possible; within one Animist's reading, each die may participate in only one Pact. Thus
3 · 3 · 3 · 3forms two Pacts, while3 · 3 · 3forms only one. - A lone odd die has no effect: something was present, but no useful relationship could be established.
A decisive outcome may turn a momentary relationship into a lasting one:
- a Feat may allow a spirit to be bound into a fetish;
- a Fiasco may cause a bound spirit to depart.
When the Worldview falters or is fulfilled
Unravelled Bonds — Weakened Worldview
Even dice still produce their Successes: the Middle World continues to respond normally.
But matching odd dice can no longer form a Spiritual Pact. The spirits are still there; what has unravelled is the ability to establish a new relationship with them.
The problem is not the absence of the spirit world. It is the inability to establish a new relationship with it.
The Shaman's Path — Heroic Worldview
This Heroic reading corresponds to the Shaman's Path. It is not gradual: the change concerns the shaman's relationship to the spirit world, not a series of power degrees.
The boundaries between the two sides of the resolution no longer limit Spiritual Pacts.
When counting the Animist's Successes, an odd die from their roll may form a Spiritual Pact with a die showing the same odd value in the opposing roll.
Form as many Pacts as possible. For this Animist's reading, each die may participate in only one Pact. Dice from the opposing roll that are recognized in this way remain available for the other side's own count: the Circle creates a relationship; it takes nothing away from the opponent.
This restriction is not global. If several Animists take part in the same resolution, each may independently recognize the same presence in the opposing roll and form their own Pact with it.
Spirits are no longer neatly divided between "mine" and "theirs." A presence revealed by the opposition may answer a presence in the Animist's own roll.
The Circle of Spirits now crosses both sides of the action.
The Shaman's Path is not limited to this way of reading the roll. Depending on culture, Tradition, and teaching, a shaman may gain shamanic aptitudes—spirit travel, second sight, possession, exorcism, or others—that make actions possible which other Animists simply cannot perform. These aptitudes are not additional degrees of the Heroic Worldview.
Where to look
Even dice give their Successes immediately: they express the ordinary response of the Middle World.
But as an Animist, your attention should go especially to odd dice. Look for those that resemble one another: who has just recognized whom?
In the Heroic Worldview, do not stop at your own roll. Look at the odd dice in the opposing roll as well: which presences recognize one another despite the opposition?
Example of play
A shaman seeks a path across a marsh before nightfall.
She rolls:
3 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 5
The 4 is an ordinary Success of the Middle World. The two 3s form a first Spiritual Pact. The two 5s form another.
The roll therefore gives three Successes.
In the fiction, this does not necessarily mean that three spirits appear before her. The shaman may feel the marsh itself arranging around her passage: insects change direction, a sheet of water withdraws, reeds reveal an old path.
She has not merely found a route. She understands which presences of the place have momentarily come into accord with her.
Now, on the Shaman's Path, within the Circle of Spirits, imagine that the Animist rolls:
2 · 5 · 1 · 1
and the opposing roll is:
4 · 3 · 5 · 1
The 2 is an ordinary Success of the Middle World. The two 1s in the Animist's own roll may form a Spiritual Pact. The 5 may form another Pact with the 5 in the opposing roll.
The Animist therefore obtains three Successes. The spirit world did not stop at the boundary between the two sides of the resolution.
DESIGN — Why this reading?
Even dice retain the naïve, natural reading of the Middle World: the visible world responds normally, as it does for the other Worldviews.
Animism, however, does not reduce odd dice to failed results. They reveal a spirit world that is present but difficult to bring into accord. This is where the animist Worldview adds something to the ordinary reading of reality.
The Spiritual Pact makes a Success emerge from the relationship between two presences rather than from an isolated face.
The Shaman's Path carries this logic to fulfillment without introducing a second language of reading: within the Circle of Spirits, the same relationship simply becomes able to cross the opposition. The shaman no longer assumes that spirits naturally belong to one side. They recognize the accords that exist across the whole scene.
Reminder on shamanic aptitudes, which allow some animists to perform spiritual actions that others absolutely cannot.