I totally stole that title format from clash.

Although I am also gathering resources and making notes elsewhere, I thought I'd show a little bit here too. This is the game I mentioned in the other thread.

When/Where: Sengoku period Japan.
Set-up: PCs are ghosts of bushi recruited to serve the Queen of the Northern Yokai Court.

Here's the idea I'm fiddling with right now: spirit beings (all manner of yokai and ghosts) are essentially dedicated to specific purpose. When acting in accordance with that purpose they can be quite powerful, but when they veer from their purpose they can be very weak. The breadth of their purpose often is directly related to how powerful a being they are. For example: The Queen's purpose is to rule the Northern Court. As it's a very broad purpose, many activities can fall under it. A Kappa, on the other hand, has the purpose of protecting this stream.

In addition to having less mojo to use when not acting in accordance with their purpose, beings often get easily distracted and forgetful. If the kappa hears about a jeweled fan someone has at the local inn and decides to go try to steal it, he may get half way there and forget what he was doing, being distracted by a flooded paddy.

Mechanically speaking, I see some kind of resource associated with a being's purpose. If you are acting in accordance with your purpose, you can use all of your resource (and it replenishes very rapidly). However, the farther from your purpose an acticity it is, the more costly it is.

Kappa protecting his stream can use his Purpose at a 1:1 ratio. And it replenishes rapidly.
Kappa sneaking into a house to steal a jeweled fan can only use his Purpose at a 3:1 ratio. And it replenishes very slowly (or not at all while he is sneaking and stealing).

More powerful beings have the advantage of having a broad Purpose, but they also are less prone to being easily distracted and forgetful.

*I am using Kaidan because it carries the sense of Weird Tales.

I now wonder if Jason Pitre's Spark RPG would be a good starting point for you.

Each character has a set of 'Beliefs' or 'Pillars'. When these beliefs are actualized in a game, the character gains a new pool of fate points.

It's inspired by Fate, but also Savage Worlds which I know you like.

I played this with doomfistmonk last year, and I know Clash played it too in a separate game. What do you guys think?

It sounds cool, Ryan! I always thought too much attention in games was paid to Samurai and Ninja, and not enough to Spirits and Ghosts. Japan has a very strong supernatural streak in its culture, and I'm glad someone is addressing it.

-clash

Great suggestion, Thalaba! I know Jason's made some changes since, and I thought it was pretty solid to begin with. You might be well served by checking it out, Ryan!

-clash

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't look to closely at Spark when he was posting it at Roludo, but now I'll take a look.

Continuing my thinking out loud here.
The Game starts after the PCs have become vassals to the Queen.

The normal contract for a ghostly vassal (as opposed to a spirit) is 100 years. However, PCs can arrange for certain terms which may reduce the time served. They can also barter this time (like the victims on board The Flying Dutchman in POTC movies) for goods and favors.

As all PCs are bushi, they can fight. And they share in the Purpose of Serving the Queen but they also have personal Purposes that give them mojo: "Protect my child," "Avenge my death," that sort of thing. ("Mojo" is just MZR-speak for character resources.)

I may use the Cho-Han system I have for Dokkodo with Purpose in place of the Precepts to some degree. This make thematic sense because of the parallel ways that Dokkodo and Kaidan are narrowly focused games. But in Dokkodo the PC has 21 precepts to call on. That simply doesn't make sense to me for Kaidan. So...I think I can message the way Precepts work in play. this is where I am going to have to focus my thoughts for now.

The other big part of Dokkodo is the dueling system. Dueling in Dokkodo is done with special cards. And it is strictly a duel between two samurai. Kaidan does not need this, but it does need something. Maybe some kind of "Bring Down the Pain" system to escalate a conflict and zoom closer into the action. Between this idea and the similarity between Purpsoes and Keys, I think it's time to look over The Shadow of Yesterday again.

Dokkodo is very much about Samurai achieving perfection through the teachings of Musashi-sensei. Everything is structured around the actual Precepts of Musashi's Dokkodo. Kaidan is about bushi serving as warriors in the spirit realm, but I also think it may also be about what you do to move on to the afterlife.

I know this is not everyone's kettle of squid, but this tight focus is what I want in games I make.

Have you looked at the Lost Souls RPG? It's free for download here. What makes me think it might be useful for you is it has about a million ghost/spirit types, with special abilities associated with each. Could be a friggin brainstorm explosion there.

Also, the Wraith: the Oblivion Passions/Fetters system might be useful for you too. Here's the download shop for that.

Thanks Jason. I haven't thought about Wraith in a long time. And I've never heard of Lost Souls.

Have you talked to Jason about Spark yet, Ryan?

-clash

First of all. Awesome! I love this direct tether between their potency and their effectiveness [Edit. I meant potency and purpose]. I suppose they might also become less tangible the further they stray from their purpose. My first reaction, though, was a bit of trepidation over the fact that my character might feel like a one-note instrument. Your idea of "breadth" helps that a lot, but I think I have another idea you might find attractive.

Each spirit character should have one cross-purpose focus. For instance, I might have the mission of hunting down a certain class of evil spirits. I'm designed for that. My spirit is strongest when I do that. BUT ... I am also in love with the girl who lives in the cottage by the stream. The Queen has noticed that I spend too much time there, protecting that area from evil spirits and ignoring their presence elsewhere. She has accused me of mooning around and not pursuing my purpose. This adds some depth and conflict to my character. As a GM you will have opportunities to present me with painful choices. A powerful evil spirit has entered the forest near the east side and I must track him down. At the same time, I have seen a stranger in the woods near the stream and I fear he means to harm the girl. What do I do? If don't track down the evil spirit my Queen will punish me and I will grow weaker because I resisted my calling. But if I do, the girl I love could come to harm.