A Religion of Loving Life
[Rewritten Living Land, pt. 2]

(A new take on the edeinos religion of Life.)

Edeinos worship Life, Life in all its glory. Not sensuality, but throwing one’s self into the experiences of living.

Working hard is a joy, conversation a joy, running and leaping a joy, bearing and raising children a joy. Even times of suffering are endured, not because they are a joy in themselves, but because even in suffering there are moments of happiness that can be savored. And when it passes, one’s joy is magnified, and Life can better be appreciated.

Life in the Living Land is hard. It is hard to provide food, and many times they go hungry. The perils are many, and often Jakatts are hurt, crippled, or killed. But their religion gives them the faith to endure; all these things are for the good of the Goddess and themselves.

Enduring suffering is an offering to the Goddess, the gift of an experience. When they die, and join with the Goddess, their experiences will flow into her and she will know their pains and their joys and know they fully lived the Life She gave them.

Everything in Takta Ker is alive. The people, the animals, the plants, the waters, the air, the land. The Living Land is alive.

The Earthers use tools made of metal and stone ("iknal", in Edeinal, the edeinos language). The edeinos despise these not because they’re “dead” (stone and metals are not dead, to an edeinos), but because they lead to spiritual death.

Earther technology makes life too easy. Comfort breeds complacency, ennui, anomie. By banishing suffering, Earthers have banished joy. In Edeinal, they suffer from takrekia: losing the ability to find joy in Life.

The edeinos don’t hate iknal, or those who use them. They feel pity. They want to help the takrekiadnos (“those whose Life has rotted away”) find joy.

For those trapped in the Living Land, the edeinos help stave off attacks by wild creatures and the Rek Jakutta [next message]. They help feed those without the skills to feed themselves. And they live fully, so that those who have lost their sense of joy can witness the joy their way of life brings, and chose to join the worship of Lanala.

Jakatts do not attack, do not massacre, do not make war. They defend themselves, but do not kill.

The gotaks are very different.

A Religion of Hating Life
[Rewritten Living Land, pt. 3]

The Rek Jakutta are the dark and corrupt worshippers of Rek Stalek, the God of Death. They reject Lanala, and hate her worshippers. Their priests are known as gotaks.

There are no gotaks or Rek Jakutta in the tribes of the Jakatts (no gospog, either). The followers of Death live apart.

Worshippers of Lanala are called Jakatts, which means Children. All living things are Children of Lanala, and they follow her like a child follows their parent.

"Jakutta" are a normal part of edeinos life. They are adolescent warriors, those without a mate or a home. They wander between tribes, and are the primary hunters of whatever tribe they are currently living with.

Rek Jakutta means "Death's Hunters", those who hunt the Living. It is they who attack resistance communities. They who breed the monstrosities that afflict much of the Living Land. They attack and kill, and revel in both. They are takgonos: “those without Life.” They have no love for living, no joy in life, only a burning hatred and a desire to kill.

The enemies of Core Earth are not the tribes of Jakatts, but the tribes of Rek Jakutta. During the earliest weeks of the Invasion, people learned this. Lanala is beneficent, she helps people survive. Even Core Earthers. Rek Stalek is the Bringer of Death, and his followers are the enemies of everyone.

Baruk Kaah is a legendary figure. The first Gotak, the chief Gotak, the immortal Gotak. He leads the worshippers of Stalek. He seeks to rule all of Takta Ker, all Edeinos. He claims the title of Saar, Chief of Chiefs. He is the High Lord. He is the invader. He is the conqueror.

The tribes of Jakatts are rebels against his corrupt and dictatorial rule. They are here only to help. Everyone knows this.

All of this is true. But all of this is also a lie.

Edeinos themselves are really cool, and if this allows them to be playable, so be it.

JG

Quote from: James Gillen;663458Edeinos themselves are really cool, and if this allows them to be playable, so be it.

I hope so. The first series fixes the Reality itself, this series allows the edeinos to participate in the Wars, the third series ("Amping-up") gives them more to do.

And after that? Well, that's just some really cool shit.

The Truth Behind Baruk Kaah
[Rewritten Living Land, pt. 4]

Baruk Kaah is the High Lord, is the chief Gotak. But he (or she) is not a Rek Jakutta. He is a Jakatt.

There are seven or eight luminaries of the Jakatt tribes, called the Enlightened. People who are lauded for their service and compassion, or their stature as hunters, leaders, or peacemakers. [At some point, I'll be writing these up as characters.] One of these — the GM chooses which — is secretly Baruk Kaah.

Baruk Kaah leads both sides, uses both sides in his invasions.

When he invades, he opens maelstrom bridges for the Rek Jakutta and the creatures of his Reality. Jakatts, seeking to help the Invaded, pray to Lanala and bridges open for them. (Though not because of their prayers. Because of Baruk Kaah.)

They enter the invaded territory, and the population of Jakatts and Rek Jakutta provide enough Invaders to flip the triangle from mixed to dominant. Possibilities begin to flow.

Life in the Living Land is harsh. Even for natives. Aliens do not know how to survive, so would die off in great numbers.

The Jakatts change all that. They take in aliens, or help teach resistance communities how to hunt and fish, which plants to eat and which to avoid. They provide miracles from Lanala, which helps them to survive.

Because they survive, Baruk Kaah can drain Possibilities even faster.

Baruk Kaah hasn't changed the Lanalan religion. He doesn't have to. He uses it to further his own goals.

He uses the Rek Jakutta the exact same way. He is manipulating the Rek Jakutta as much or more than the Jakatts.

Saar isn't an edeinos word, and "chief of chiefs" isn't an edeinos concept. Saar came from a near-Earth cosm, is of the same derivation as Kaisar or Tzar (originally "Caesar"). He uses the office, not because he actually seeks the position, but to motivate the Rek Jakutta.

He stokes their hatred of the Lanalans. He helps them create monstrosities. He leads them into battle. They think they are going to conquer the Living Land, and eradicate the worship of Lanala. They think their grand leader, Baruk Kaah, will actually become the Saar.

But all their efforts only drive humans into the arms of the Jakatts. Where they are sheltered, and fed, and often convert. Just as Kaah wishes.

Baruk Kaah is a master strategist. He uses the strength of his enemies to bolster his own position. And uses that position to pursue his ultimate goal.

Kaah's End Game
[Rewritten Living Land, pt. 5]

The best lies are truths. The Jakatts are allies, here to help. The Rek Jakutta are enemies, here to harm.

But the interplay between the two is a smokescreen for the real plans of Baruk Kaah. He intends to Ascend, to become the third deity of Takta Ker.

When he discovers the idea of the Torg, this becomes his goal. By becoming Torg, he becomes a god. By becoming a god, he takes his rightful place by the side of Lanala. He will be her equal. Her mate. Her lover.

And when that is accomplished, they can destroy the Rek Jakutta, destroy Rek Stalek, and rule over a truly Living Land.

Conclusion
[Rewritten Living Land, pt. 6]

So, this is a reorganization of the Living Land. A Living Land that is more playable. Less monotonous. More mysterious. More interesting. With more built-in secrets GM's can let players discover, that can sway the course of the War against the Reality.

Why is this canon-friendly? Because all of the essential elements of the Living Land are there, just rewritten and reframed.

Enemy tribes in the original, still present. Friendly tribes, still present. A religion of Life, still present. Gotaks and Optants, still there. Baruk Kaah and dinosaurs, all still present. Baruk Kaah's endgame is still the same.

All of the elements of the old cosm are present, but revised to make the cosm more practical, more playable.

The revised Lanalan religion allows edeinos to participate in the War. There is no problem working with Earthers, no problem traveling in jets and cars.

There are known friendly edeinos, so edeinos are not "shoot on sight" enemies. (Not that they are warmly welcomed, but they are not automatically the enemy.)

But the convert or die is missing. The "edeinos can't go there" is missing.

This allows for playable edeinos PC's. Taken with the new World Laws, it makes the Living Land a playable reality.

More, secrets are baked in. Who is Baruk Kaah? Is he really the first Gotak? What happened with the Ustanah? And why are they still here?

(Whoops, I didn't mention that. The ustanah are still here. More secrets for another time.)

And Kaah himself isn't an idiot, he's a tactical and strategic genius. Not only is he using his Reality against the Earth, he's using the warring elements of his Reality to further his own plan.

The Sourcebook failed to deliver a compelling Living Land Reality. I think this one is better.

Next Series

The next series — "The Amped-Up Living Land" — will greatly expand Player and GM options, specifically in the area of spiritual powers: Divine Boons, Intercessions, Prophets, and Legendary Miracles.

Amping-Up the Living Land [Series #3, pt. 1]

I started this with revised World Laws and Axioms, which addressed one of the major problems with the Living Land: punitive and not-fun rules.

The second series rewrote the background of the Living Land, altering the religion and setting to make it more interesting and more playable. (And along the way, make Baruk Kaah into the ruthless, obsessive genius he should be.) But even that rewriting isn't enough. The Living Land needs more.

So, this series contains suggestions on amping-up the reality, adding elements to make it more fun and more interesting. It includes toys for players and for GM's, and some expanded setting detail that gives the cosm greater depth and a sense of history. Taken together with the previous two series, it should make the cosm really pop.

Let's start with the toys.

"Toys"

One of the things I've criticized the Living Land for is the lack of player "toys." "Toys" meaning all of the neat "crunch" players glom onto for their characters to use: magic spells, miracles, cyberware, Pulp Powers, the occult, swami, martial arts, etc. Players use toys to make their characters distinctive, to give them a unique function in the party. Hence, a good variety of toys is essential for any healthy and playable cosm.

The Nile, the gold standard for variety, had several tool sets, most of which were unique (or unique takes on standard tools): Astronomy for miracles, Engineering, Mathematics, Pulp Powers, Weird Science & more, and that was just in the cosm Sourcebook. More came later.

In contrast the Living Land had one set of "toys": miracles. Which, despite their purported axiom, were really quite weak. And if you didn't play an optant, you didn't even get those.

Hence the plethora of "edeinos gone native" and "transformed edeinos" templates. There just wasn't anything else for edeinos to do. To be interesting, non-optant edeinos had to go to other cosms. That's a problem.

One of the core ideas and goals with my "amped-up" Living Land is to give players and GM's toys to play with.

What Toys?

First are expanded options for the Spirit axiom, including Divine Boons, prophets, Divine Intercessions, and Legendary miracles. (These four being the focus of this series). Second is Lifecrafting, a versatile, interesting, and unique ability not tied to being a priest. Third is a radical approach to the Reality's lost worlds. (These latter two will appear in their own series, posted later.)

The last series will cover a high Social Living Land, and explain how a tribal society can reflect a Social 28 (oTorg) Reality. It includes even more potent tools, including meta-linguistics, the insight skill, infective norms, and predictive sociology ("psycho-history").

But that's for the "Holy Crap!" series, not this one. This one just amps up the Reality, it doesn't recast it.

Virtues of this Approach

There isn't a lot of overlap between these "toys" and the toys available elsewhere. They're fairly unique in concept and feel, so give the Living Land an identity distinct from the other cosms.

Religion is still there, and is a strong focus of the cosm, but it isn't the only thing anymore. Edeinos who want to do something else can, and can do it very well.

With lots of interesting, and different, things for players to do, the cosm will be more approachable and more interesting. It's a Living Land I'd like to play in, that I'd like to run.

Divine Boons
[Amped-Up Living Land, pt. 2]

The first step in amping up the Living Land is to make better use of its most prominent aspect: the high Spirit axiom. In the Canon version, the Spirit axiom did little. There was only one religion, and its miracles were underpowered for their Axiom rating.

Rather than just powering up the miracles (though that needs to be done, at some point), I've decided to adopt some ideas from my revised Spirit Axiom: Divine Boons, prophets, Legendary Miracles, and Divine Intercessions. These concepts provide tools for players as well as GM's.

Divine Boons

Divine Boons are powerful gifts given to certain singular individuals among the faithful. (An example would be Sampson's strength, Solomon's wisdom, or Achilles' invulnerability.) They cannot be invoked, there is no rite or prayer to grant them. They appear at the sole discretion of the Divine.

At lower Axiom levels, they are only available to singular individuals, perhaps one in a generation. (These individuals invariably become significant figures in their religion, for good or ill. It was one such individual who caused the Rek Jakutta to schism away from the Jakatts.) At the Spirit axiom of the Living Land, all characters can start with a boon. (I've included one sample boon below.)

Boons are permanent. If the character disconnects in a realm that doesn't support the Spiritual axiom of the boon, they lose its benefits until they reconnect. Once reconnected, the boon operates normally.

Boons can be revoked, however. There may be some unusual religious stricture attached to them (as with Sampson), violation of which causes a revocation of the Boon. Or the Boon may be revoked for violating the tenets of the religion. (Another reason why Series 2 altered the religious doctrines of Keta Kalles.) Followers who honestly repent may be able to regain their Boon. Some religions might require the offender to undergo a Ritual of Purification (R&E, pg. 237). In all cases, the will of the Divine (as played by the GM) is the deciding factor.

Divine Boons are not the sole province of Jakatts. DM's can use them in any cosm with a sufficient Spirit axiom (12, using the canon Spirit axiom). They are exceedingly rare in realities with a Spirit axiom less than 18 (and the Boons are far less powerful than in 18+ Realities), meaning GM's should grant such abilities once or twice in an entire campaign, if then.

Friend Form

Lanala recognizes that spreading Her word becomes difficult, if her faithful cannot converse with unbelievers. The natural form of her worshippers are often alien and frightening to others. To aid her worshippers in their endeavors, Lanala allows them to appear as other species.

This isn't a disguise, the edeinos can't choose who to look like or alter their aspect once it has manifested. The appearance is chosen by Lanala. Most often, they appear as an average member of the species, of roughly the same attractiveness as themselves.

The boon crafts their appearance so their innate abilities, if displayed, won't be remarked on. For example, a strong edeinos will appear as a muscular human, a form that one would expect to be strong.

Other Boons

At some point in the future I'll be writing up several Boons. For now, these suggestions should get you started:

GM's can peruse the miracles of the Living Land for more ideas: often, a Divine Boon includes the ability to activate a miracle at-will. Or, permanent miraculous effects, akin to Blessing Vow, but applied to other miracles can be chosen. Attribute or skill packages can be Boons, as can "powers" (something analogous to Pulp Powers, for example).

GM's can charge 3 starting PE for especially powerful Boons, or even an Adventure Cost (if they feel it's appropriate). I wouldn't, unless the Boon were very powerful, but that option is open.

In such cases, not paying the Adventure Cost means the Boon is unavailable until it it paid. As Boons are not innate, there is no "light blight", nor can such Boons be permanently lost by failing to pay PE.

Prophets and Legendary Miracles
[Amped-Up Living Land, pt. 3]

These "toys" are more for the GM than for players. Even so, they make the cosm more interesting, and give GM's new options for depicting the Reality.

Prophets

Prophets are rare individuals, with a close relationship to the Divine and immense divine power, who found, revive, or reform a religion. They are sent by the Divine (the "gods") to teach the religion's mythos and doctrine among mortals. Moses, Buddha, Muhammed — these are prophets known (or believed) to have existed on Earth. Such individuals are chosen by the Divine — never themselves — and are given specific missions to advance the religion.

Prophets are rare at low Axiom levels; there may be only one true prophet in a millenia or two. At higher levels, they become far more common (though only one at a time). On Takta Ker, there are 8 Jakatts with such a role: the Enlightened.

(Rek Stalek is thought to have at least one prominent prophet: the often-talked-about, but seldom seen Baruk Kaah. The truth, however, is far more complicated. (See Series 2.))

Prophets invariably have high faith and focus values, higher than just about any other individual in the cosm. They always possess some kind of Divine Boon (if the Axiom allows), and can be assumed to have access to any miracle the religion offers. More, they are capable of invoking Legendary Miracles.

Legendary Miracles

In addition to the more mundane rituals and prayers of other cosms, the Living Land has access to a category of miracles so powerful, they are unthinkable anywhere else. Such Legendary Miracles are not quite as imposing as a Divine Intercession (see next message), but are still far beyond the scope of everyday life. Only prophets can invoke these miracles.

A writeup of the Legendary Miracles of the Living Land can be found here: Wrath of Life

[Note that the linked article references the canon religion and setting of the Living Land. GM's who are using ideas from "Rewriting the Living Land" should change those sections, as necessary.]

Here is a sample miracle from that write-up, rewritten for the revised Living Land.

Wrath of Lanala

Spiritual Rating: 24
Community Rating: 11
Difficulty: 20
Range: 100 miles
Duration: Until ended.
Effect: Grants visions to Jakatts and motivates them to attack a foe.

This miracle calls down the wrath of Lanala upon enemies of the Faith — those who would harm Jakatts. It cannot be invoked against Jakatts.

Invoking this miracle involves a ritual, one which lasts for several hours. At the end of this ritual, the Enlightened nominates one location or group of enemies and calls down the wrath of Lanala upon them. All Jakatts within range then receive a clear vision of the foe who has so offended Lanala, and a clear feeling of the direction they need to travel to reach this foe. During this travel, each Jakatt can run tirelessly, far faster than normally possible, reaching a maximum Speed Value of 13.

All Jakatts naturally respond to this miracle. However, some may wish to avoid the compulsion to attack enemies of the faith. In such cases, the faith total achieved when invoking the miracle (its Effect Value) is the Difficulty Number for a willpower check. Failure at this check means the Jakatt complies with the will of Lanala.

This miracle is exclusive: it cannot be invoked against two different targets simultaneously. It can be ended at any time, according to the will of the invoker or Lanala.

Divine Intercessions
[Amped-Up Living Land, pt. 4]

Divine Intercessions

Divine Intercessions are singular and powerful Acts of Divinity, that occur only in times of great need where the survival of the faith as a whole is threatened. Examples (from the Old Testament) include the 10 plagues inflicted on Egypt, The Flood, the destruction of the Walls of Jericho, or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. As they only appear in times of great difficulty, and are quite spectacular, such events invariably become part of the scriptures or mythos of the religion.

A Divine Intercession is something only a priest or prophet can call for, and only in circumstances where the survival of the religion, or a substantial portion of it, is threatened. Its effects are always substantial, always proof of the Divine, and always more dramatic than even the highest level success on a Divine Invocation (see pg. 229-230, R&E).

At lower Axioms, only prophets — great and singular leaders responsible for the faith as a whole — can invoke Intercessions. At the Spirit of the Living Land, any priest can (though they had better have a good reason for doing so). If the Divine so orders, individual priests can cause great calamities or blessings.

Any priest can invoke an Intercession (though the Divine has final say on if it is granted), but Intercessions are often a result of the Divine acting independently: "I'm about to wipe these two cities off the face of the map. Get moving." "Rain. A lot of it. Build a boat or you and everyone else dies."

Rules

In extreme circumstances, where the very survival of the entire religion (or large portion of it) is at stake, the Divine may act to preserve the faith in obvious and awe-inspiring ways. Flattening mountains, draining seas, opening up vast chasms — nearly anything is possible, if the Divine so wills it.

Intercessions are incredible and singular events. Whether granted at the behest of the Divine or at the request of a priest, the occurrence of an intercession is up to GM fiat.

Optants and gotaks (the priests of Lanala and Rek Stalek, respectively) can request intercession from their respective deity. In the case of PC requests, the priest should roleplay his supplication to Lanala. Based on that supplication, and the GM's knowledge of the situation (is the survival of a significant portion of the faithful threatened) he can make the decision about whether or not to grant the intercession.

Divine Intercessions typically place some burden on the faithful to perform some rite, such as blood on the doorways in Egypt, walking around Jericho 7 times, etc. Individuals who fail to perform these acts will often not be aided by the Intercession, or can even fall victim to its effects.

Divine Intercessions require a Spirit axiom of no less than 14.

[Note: This is the last post in this series. Separate series covering Lifecrafting, Lost Worlds, and the "high Social" Living Land are forthcoming.]

Crafting Life in the Living Land
[Lifecrafting, pt. 1]

Nearly every cosm sourcebook introduced an unique FX system for that reality. There was psionics from the Space Gods, the plethora of options in the Nile, the Occult from Orrorsh (plus swami, true sight, and spirit medium), Nippon Tech's Business Warfare and Martial Arts rules, and more.

Nearly every cosm. Except the Living Land.

Lifecrafting fills in that gap.

In concept, it's pretty simple. Lifecrafting allows both Jakatts and Rek Jakutta (followers of Rek Stalek) to take normal plants and animals and alter them in ways they wish. By tapping into their inherent force of Life, they can alter the Life of others. Hence, Lifecrafting.

This series discusses its history, practice, origins, and already extant place in the canon. (That's right, a wholly new FX system already implicitly exists in the cosm. Crazy, man, crazy.) Why is that important?

The Living Land needs some major surgery. Even so, I've structured this revamp to respect the original cosm: GM's can change as much or as little as they want.

Lifecrafting already exists, in an implicit way. So, introducing a full-fledged rules set isn't a radical change in the already existing background. This makes it easier for the GM to integrate into their campaign.

But What is Lifecrafting?

Life, to the edeinos, is the force that pervades the world, that animates flesh, that distinguishes a corpse from something living. But Life is not just an energy, it contains within it the essence of a thing. All that something is or can be is contained by, and defined by, its Life.

Flowers grow from seeds, their Life is what makes this so. Everything else about flowers — and all other creatures — is defined by its Life.

Specially trained edeinos can Speak to the Life of a creature and Craft it, changing what that creature is. Using this ability, the edeinos have carefully molded their environment.

Their houses are plants Crafted to grow a certain way. Carefully Crafted animals serve as transportation, others provide food. Luminescent plants provide light. All of the many needs that humans fulfill using technology, edeinos fulfill with Crafted living organisms.

Such creatures, and the use of them, is pervasive throughout edeinos culture. Nearly everything the edeinos do is aided in some way by their Living technology. It is the single sharpest distinction between human and edeinos cultures.

And it comes from Lanala. We start with a myth.

The Words of Lanala
[Lifecrafting, pt. 2]

An excerpt from the holy teachings of the edeinos:

And Lanala Crafted all Life, Speaking unto each creature knowledge of what it was and how it should live, and each creature lived according to the words She Spoke. And after She Crafted all Life, She walked among Her creations, and watched them live and grow. And Her creatures grew, and thrived, and Lanala took joy from all of them save one, for whom She feared.

For all creatures lived as She spoke, save one only. Trees knew to grow towards the sun, they needed no parent to guide them. Spiders knew how to weave webs, they needed no teacher to show them. And crosktreckts knew how to hunt in packs, they needed no elder to lead them.

Yet of all Her creatures, the edeinos had no knowledge of the words of Life, for they had forgotten them and forgotten She who spoke them, and so they wandered in ignorance under the sun, separate and alone and in pain. Seeing the afflictions of Her children, Lanala was moved to mercy, and She stretched forth her Hand that She might heal the wounds of these, Her children.

Among the trees She found a wounded edeinos, far from his camp, starving and nearly dead. She lifted him from the jungle floor and carried him in Her arms, placing him in the crook of a limb of a tall, aged tree. She spoke to all Life in the jungle, and gave it a charge to protect and harbor the stricken hunter. She said that when he was well, She would return. And all Life bowed, and gave obeisance to the Goddess, and protected and succored he whom She had blessed.

The edeinos thirsted, and the vines caught the rains and gave him drink. The edeinos hungered, and the creatures of the jungle gave him food. The edeinos knew fear, and the tree grew tall, and lifted him high above the forest floor, that no creature could hunt him.

The edeinos was alone, and lonely, and all Life in the jungle called to his family with silent whispers, that they might come and comfort him. The edeinos grew old and infirm and feared Death's approach, and the tree bent near his ear and Whispered without speaking, teaching him the words of Lanala.

The edeinos died, and all Life in the jungle remembered him, and his life, and Spoke to his family of him, in Whispers that could not be heard, that he would not be forgotten. And his family interred his body beneath the roots of the tree, that in Death he might nourish the tree that had sheltered him in Life.

And they grew, the edeinos, in the jungle. Laying eggs, learning to live, living and mating and eventually dying. And Life Spoke to them in whispers that could not be heard, and they Whispered to each other, but did not speak. And the edeinos waited for Lanala to return.

And with the passing of ages, Lanala returned to those who were once hurt and lost, to teach them Her words. She found them living in the jungles, happy and contented, for all Life in the jungle had remembered Her words, and had Taught them to the edeinos, that they might know the truth and pay heed to the words of Lanala.

And She was pleased, and feared no more for Her children, for they knew the words of Lanala, and knew how they should live, and no longer wandered in ignorance under the sun.

You're right, most of this was implicit in the original cosm, given that Edeinos usually went around with spears crafted from living native material.

JG

Quote from: James Gillen;664428You're right, most of this was implicit in the original cosm, given that Edeinos usually went around with spears crafted from living native material.

Most of Storm Knights isn't a radical change to the game. (It started out radical, but didn't end up there.) Instead, I've taken the already-existing elements and amped them up. Lifecrafting is living technology, which is what edeinos (implicitly) had already.

Nippon Tech is the Wuxia Technothriller Reality. Fabulous martial arts, intrigue, and espionage: all elements that were already present, "turned up to 11".

Of course, the background of the cosms have changed, in some cases pretty radically. But the same play-style elements are (for the most part) present in all the same cosms. It's a better Torg, not a wholly new Torg. (IMHO.)