What Do I Get?
- 1 New Monk Subclass The Way of the Tulpa
- 1 NPC Statblock for a Way of the Tulpa Monk
- Assorted Reprinted Standard Rules Spells relevant to the Tulpa Monk
Monks following the Way of the Tulpa spend most of their time meditating on the nature of “self”. In considering what it is to “be” they enter into internal dialogues which, given time, lead to the development of a secondary level of mind and character within, but separate from themselves. Some followers of the way call these secondary internal entities “tulpas”, others “daimons”, ”reflections” or some other similarly esoteric term.
Repeatedly engaging with these imaginary friends strengthens them, the more you meditate on them the more real they become. Eventually these imaginary constructs become strong enough to hold their own awareness, opinions, and eventually to physically manifest into the real world. As a result of their intense meditation these monks often live solitary lives, with only their tulpa to keep them company.
What this is.
This is a philosopher/monk subclass with built in spellcasting features, built around the idea of meditating on a sense of self and building a philosophical dialogue within your own mind. Socrates’ Daimonion, David Néel’s Thoughtforms, Pinnochio’s cricket conscience, or the dæmons of His Dark Materials, are the kinds of concept we are looking at here.
What this isn’t.
This subclass isn’t intended as an attempt to provide the means to portray characters with Schizophrenia, Disassociative Identity Disorder or any other mental illness (indeed, we suggest not attempting to portray these kind of conditions without personal experience or professional study of them), nor is it a physically transformative Jekyll and Hide type framework (for that you should probably seek out the Dark Gift Second Skin rules from VRGtR).
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This item is produced by Keith Hiscox
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