Now, I'm taking for granted the these things work. They don't give me a glowing aura or make floating words appear when their effect takes hold, which would be useful from a user feedback standpoint, but those would be a bit obtrusive - and in a potentially sensitive situation, they would give away your advantage to anyone watching. So I can understand why an otherwise functional charm wouldn't be rich in feedback; consequently, there's no good reason to think that they don't work as intended.
What I'm thinking about is how they work. Not the in and outs of the magic itself, I mean, but how they function mechanically. Firstly, it seems safe to assume that the effects of the charms don't stack with other charms of the same type. I base this on the existence of the "wealth" charm. To justify its purchase, it necessarily has to provide the buyer with more than its price (500 Yen). But if the effects of multiple wealth charms stacked, even additively, then you could amass endless wealth simply by buying more and more wealth charms as your successive windfalls permitted it. An obvious game breaker.
It doesn't seem unreasonable that the effects of different charms stack with each other, however. The charm I bought, for "Victory and Success," would almost seem to be a catch-all, depending on how you define those two terms, so there mere fact that other charms exist should be evidence that their effects stack. As another example, what would be the point of a "Prevention from Traffic Accidents" charm if the "Good Luck" charm provided the same protection, from a broader array of misfortune?
It's also possible that their effects don't stack, and that Traffic Charms simply provide a larger benefit. Let's say the Traffic Charm provides you with 4 units of benefit, whereas Good Luck Charms provide you with one unit of benefit. If you only have the Good Luck Charm, your benefit to avoiding traffic accidents (as well as every other aspect of life where luck applies) is 1. If you equip the Traffic Charm AND the Good Luck charm, then, presuming they don't stack, your benefit to general good fortune is 1, and your benefit to traffic safety is 4. It's still smart to carry both charms, despite their effects not stacking.
And here's where some insight into the specific supernatural workings of the charms would admittedly go a long way. Does the Traffic Charm rely on luck manipulation, or is it a different brand of divine intervention? If the Good Luck and Traffic Charms use different kinds of "magic," then it's more likely that they stack. I'm inclined to think that the different charms apply different sorts of protection, particularly due to the charm that claims to "Protect Your Child From Every Evil." The claim is so absolute, it makes me doubt that the charm simply manipulates your child's luck whenever evil is involved. "Protection" and "Good Luck" are two very different things to begin with, as are "misfortune" and "evil." This leads me to believe that, although perhaps not every charm stacks with every other, certain charms do stack with others.
The "Protects Your Child From Every Evil" charm gives me pause, though, with regards to how the charms target. I'm reminded of Magic: the Gathering, in which "you," printed on a card, refers to the person who controls that card at the moment. If these charms are similar, then it is the parents who should hold the charm. But most of these charms are meant to be held by the person who wishes to benefit from their power. It's a very important distinction!
Well, at any rate, my charm seems to be in working order, so I'm not too worried. Selfish, I know, but with all the victory and success I'm going to be getting, I'll be able to recruit lackeys and toadies to be thoughtful on my behalf.
I think it may be premature to rule out the stacking of charm based stat buffs. While the wealth charm certainly indicates that there's a limit to stacking is doesn't make such a limit absolute.
ReplyDeleteIt could be the case that charms simply follow the law of diminishing returns. Thus while charm stat buffs may stack it may be the case that each additional charm after the first provides less and less of a benefit.
Or it could be there is a limit on the total amount of active charms an individual can have in play. In this case each individual would hold a certain number of 'slots' for storing active charms. This could be something as simple as the number of pockets you have, or perhaps a more metaphysical ability related to one of an individuals invisible stats.
Finally there's the possibility that there's some unadvertised negative consequence to possessing active charms. Thus it could be by equiping high numbers of charms you'd be building up a negative karma stat that could ultimately leave you worse off than you might otherwise be.
While these are possible there's no way to be certain of anything without more clear instruction on the processes involved. For rules clarification it may behoove you to contact your nearest Shinto priest.
True, I was too quick to try and derive ironclad rules from some fairly scant information. In terms of function and balance, there's a lot of ways it could play out.
ReplyDeleteAnd although I don't quite have the Japanese to make a thorough inquiry into how the system actually works, I'd like to do some spiritual min/maxing, maybe see if there's some charms that offer a greater benefit in exchange for an explicit downside. I'd consider buying a charm that made me MORE likely to get hit by a car if I could profit in some other way, maybe also wearing a Luck and Health charm to ensure that I'd sustain only minor injuries and recover quickly.