Before I write this post, I think it is important to recognize and contextualize my use of the term tulpa. The concept of the tulpa is often credited to Tibetan Buddhism, but this is mostly untrue, the earliest writing talking about the tulpas we know today was by Alexandra David-Neel, who was a Theosophist relying on the translations and the interpretations of a Kazi Dawa Samdup. her description and concept of tulpas presented in her writings were deeply influenced by her own Theosophical worldview, and the interpretations she received were likely fairly misleading. For the sake of not boring you (who probably came here for TTRPG content), I won't go into details. The ideas presented about Tulpas here have more to do with the Western occultist and new age conception of them than any Buddhist source. Sources will be below if you want to learn more.
"St Bonaventure...had held that insofar as creatures are in potency in some respect, they must be material in some respect"
They say loneliness is like smoking fifteen cigarettes per day. The first wizards invited magic that facilitated survival, calling down rain during times of drought, commanding trees to bear fruit, healing wounds, giving some unlucky bush hog a heart attack, etc. Witches living in huts on the margins of society have continued this tradition; it's hard to make it all by yourself without magic.
Sometimes they choose not to do it alone after all. These are tulpamancers.
If you ask two different Tulpamancers how much of the tulpa is imaginary and how much of it is real, their response will probably depend on how desperately lonely they are when you ask them. Some particularly dedicated tulpamancers will dismiss the question entirely, their tulpa is real enough to be offended by that question. Scholars to the West theorize that tulpas are a kind of thoughtform, a spell nested inside of a complex psychological set.
It's possible that Catherine is a tulpa though the spell's creator refuses to confirm or deny this.
"Thoughtform of the Music of Gounod, according to Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater in Thought-Forms (1905)"
(Taken from Wikipedia)
Restrictions
You cannot disbelieve an illusion you didnt create (no matter how outlandish) and must treat them as if they were real.
Boons
You have a Tulpa. (see section labeled TULPAS)
Cantrips
1. See colorful auras by concentrating on a living creature you can see, you do not automatically know what the colors/shapes mean.
2. you can create small simple unintelligent illusory thoughtforms, they arent convincing but they can help you illustrate a point, look cool and be showy.
3. You can see a sound by focusing on it
Spell List
Mishap
You take damage equal to whatever the doubles showed (1-6), and. . .
1. Take 1d6 Will damage
2. Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then Save. Permanent if you fail. if you succeed you realize the mutation was just an illusion but still carry the illusion of the mutation forever.
3. Blind for 1d6 rounds
4. You cast a random prepared spell at a random target with a random number of MD.
5. One random limb becomes illusory
6. You become an illusion, unable to affect the world exept visually and verbally for ten minutes. during this time Solid impacts pop you. If you get popped you lose 1d6 permanent HP and reform the next day. You can still cast spells in this form.
Doom
1. You become imaginary and your tulpa becomes fully real for 10 minutes. The tulpa can cast spells and do most things you can do but still avoid its anchor/s. you cant cast spells and are effectively just a freewilled illusion that can percieve its environment.
2. As above, except for 1 day. During this time you cannot exist while being observed by anyone other than tulpamancers and other thought forms.
3. As above, except permanent. you are now just an imaginary friend to the tulpa forever unless your former tulpa chooses to manifest you as a tulpa.
Spell List
- Force Tulpa
- Light
- Illusion
- Plasmic manipulation
- Dread Manifestation
- Animate Scribble
- Telepathy
- Fade
- Wizard Vision
- Enforce Trope
- Surreal Form
- Astral Projection
Mishap
You take damage equal to whatever the doubles showed (1-6), and. . .
1. Take 1d6 Will damage
2. Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then Save. Permanent if you fail. if you succeed you realize the mutation was just an illusion but still carry the illusion of the mutation forever.
3. Blind for 1d6 rounds
4. You cast a random prepared spell at a random target with a random number of MD.
5. One random limb becomes illusory
6. You become an illusion, unable to affect the world exept visually and verbally for ten minutes. during this time Solid impacts pop you. If you get popped you lose 1d6 permanent HP and reform the next day. You can still cast spells in this form.
Doom
1. You become imaginary and your tulpa becomes fully real for 10 minutes. The tulpa can cast spells and do most things you can do but still avoid its anchor/s. you cant cast spells and are effectively just a freewilled illusion that can percieve its environment.
2. As above, except for 1 day. During this time you cannot exist while being observed by anyone other than tulpamancers and other thought forms.
3. As above, except permanent. you are now just an imaginary friend to the tulpa forever unless your former tulpa chooses to manifest you as a tulpa.
(Figures 27, 19 and 34 (respectively) of Thought-forms)
NEW SPELL
Force Tulpa
R: Touch T: Tulpa D: (dice) Hours
You give your tulpa a vessel of light and force. If you invest 1MD your tulpa becomes fully visible to everyone but if it attempts to affect anyone who isn't insane or on drugs they get a Will save to disbelieve your Tula. If they disbelieve your Tulpa they treat it as if it was just an illusion. At 2MD the tulpa is fully real for the dration of the spell as long as you can percieve it through at least two senses. At 3MD the tulpa is fully real for the duration of the spell or until killed. at 4MD or higher the Tulpa is fully real until destroyed. A forced Tula has (sum) HP and does not leave a corpse when killed.
TULPAS
Tulpas in their base state are like hirelings that dont exist if other people besides tulpamancers or other thought forms are percieving them. They pop immediately if they take any damage and do not exist until you wake up after a full night rest. Tulpas vary in strengths and weaknesses, roll 3d6 and assign for all ability scores (Tulpas are considered NPCs and do not have a Luck score), choose a size category between small and large (NOTE: large tulpas may be inconvenient in a dungeon and are easier to see the area of), roll or work out with your GM a power that they have (just like anything else these powers only work if unobserved aby anyone other than Tulpamancers and other thought forms). Finally give them a power and an anchor, players can talk to their GM about gaining more powers by picking up more anchors or maybe by replacing gaining a new spell, tables for generating/inspiring these is below.
The more detailed your tulpa is, the more complex commands it can understand so go nuts. If you want to tell your tulpa "slay my enemies" and want it to know what to do, it should at least have something like a name, a favorite food, a pet peeve or obsession and a basic personality.
A tulpa is more than a puppet or a tool, it is a forever friend.
D20 Tulpa Powers
1. Can fly
2. Can see invisible things
3. Can breath fire
4. Sheds light as per a torch
5. Can break simple locks effortlessly
6. Can write incredibly moving and well witten letters in any handwriting it has seen.
7. Can immediately tell if someone is lying
8. Can climb like a spider
9. Can create a field of zero gravity within 10ft of itself
10. Can blow up like a stick of dynamite (destroying itself in the process)
11. functions as per an immovable rod
12. Can gently comfort you to heal 1 Will damage per hour.
13. Can make a sleeping person wake up with a slight crush on you which could develop into something over time.
14. can blow up small sized or smaller mundane animals like cats, rats and cockroaches
15. Is immune to either fire, acid, electricity or cold.
16. Is fully amphibious
17. Can be ridden like a horse
18. Can be stretchy like rubber
19. can be heard while not forced
20. can rip madness out of brains in the form of a demon, if the demon is killed the madness is cured. Severity of madness determines the power of the demon.
Giving a Tulpa an anchor is necessary for the safety of the Tulpamancer
("anime girl tulpa" by spookier)
("anime girl tulpa" by spookier)
D20 Tulpa Anchors:
1. Cannot be in the same room as a dead body
2. Cannot touch water
3. Cannot be within 10ft of fire
4. Is repelled by holy symbols
5. Cannot touch or affect the opposite sex of the tulpamancer
6. Cannot willingly help kill another living being.
7. Cannot go outside
8. Cannot go inside
9. Cannot enter an area with any light level darker than a torch
10. Cannot enter an area with any light brighter than a candle
11. Is completely destroyed by sounds louder than a whisper.
12. Cannot exist unless there is a depiction of it in the room (such as a drawing or a toy with a similar likeness)
13. Cannot exist unless a specific song is played or being sung
14. A specific color burns it like acid.
15. Cannot exist unless the tulpamancer is not at full hit points.
16. Cannot exist while wet
17. Cannot exist over/under the freezing temperature of water
18. Cannot exist if not being actively paid attention to
19. Cannot exist if no one has died in front of their tulpamancer today
20. Cannot cross lines of salt.
Tulpas often take human forms but dont have to, many take fantastical and outlandish shapes ("Tulpa" by Vetyr)
Ill probably update this soon
Mikles, N. L., & Laycock, J. P. (2015). Tracking the TULPA. Nova Religio, 19(1), 87–97. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2015.19.1.87
Tulpa.info. Home • Tulpa.info. (n.d.). https://www.tulpa.info/
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