Patuás, the Corpo Fechado & other uncanny matters
Brazilian folklore, the Afro-Brazilian religions that the uninitiated called “macumba”, and capoeira culture all have strong associations with magical practices, including the protective amulets called patuás, communion with divine entities and sometimes superhuman powers.
The extent to which such things appear in your game of Malandros is up to the group as a whole. The manner in which they appear – particularly in terms of game mechanics – is at the discretion of the GM.
In this chapter are some Signature Moves that PCs can get as a result of mystical training, from a item of power such as a patuá, or whatever other circumstances arise . Obtaining one of these counts as your use of the Learn Something action for the session.
The GM chooses which of these Signature Moves are available as and when the question arises. The following examples begin with relatively modest abilities, which might be explained away as the effects of psychology.
Others are more powerful and more nakedly supernatural.
Though the GM gets to choose how these powers manifest, they must also take into account the wishes of the players. The players’ own actions are useful indicators: if someone spends a great deal of time and effort finding out about how to transform into a beetle, that’s a strong hint that they’re interested in this whole magic beetle-transformation thing.
Patuá effects
To use a patuá effect, you must be wearing the amulet in question, and be free of negative magic targeting its enchantment. You may only ever choose one “Child of...” status, and cannot switch to another.
Child of Exú
When you wear red and/or black and cause mischief or surprise others with your actions, gain Asé.
Child of Ogum
When you wear dark blue and act on impulse or are quick to take offence, gain Asé.
Child of Oxossi
When you wear turquoise and demonstrate leadership, independence, or respect for nature, gain Asé.
Child of Osain
When you wear green and white, and demonstrate an imperturbable spirit or knowledge of plants, gain Asé.
Child of Oxum
When you wear yellow or gold, and show your elegance or vanity, gain Asé.
Child of Xangô
When you wear red and white, or brown, and you demonstrate that you’re the boss, gain Asé.
Corpo Fechado
When you have performed the necessary rites, wear the correct amulets and do not break any of the taboos given to you by the maker of your patuá, you gain the corpo fechado, the ‘closed body’, making you invulnerable to knives or bullets.
Tucum Dagger
It is said that an enchanted knife made from the wood of the tucum palm tree is the only weapon that can kill a man who has a corpo fechado.
Supernatural abilities
These might be granted by spells, amulets, or simply be personal powers gained through great understanding, the favour of the spirits, or piety.
Magical Escape
When you want to leave a scene as if by magic, spend a point of Asé and you’re gone, just like that.
Flight of the Beetle
When you spend a point of Asé, you can fly.
Transformation
When you concentrate for a moment and spend a point of Asé, you can turn into a common animal such as a beetle, cat or lizard. (Choose which one when you first gain this ability.)
Blind Spot
When you stand still and stay quiet, and spend a point of Asé, people looking for you cannot see you. They just walk right past as if you weren’t there.
Magic & Mandinga
Referring to the ability to weave magic or to wear the blessings of the spiritual world, the term mandinga comes to Brazil from west Africa and the slave trade. To have mandinga is to have the necessary expertise and awareness to work with the natural magic of the world. To outsiders it is just more “macumba”.
Some people use mandinga to inflict harm, financial failure, illness, death, etc. on other people for various reasons. One request that a spiritual leader will ask if you want to inflict harm on a person is to bring a picture of that person and to write their name on the back of the picture.
More common are rituals intended to produce beneficial effects for oneself: enchantments to promote good health or luck, ritual cleansings of a house to protect it from evil, love potions and wards against the evil eye.
Spells of wealth and beauty are available, but practicioners warn that both of these have unavoidable negative effects. The subject of a wealth spell becomes greedy and grasping, while someone under a beauty spell becomes ugly on the inside.
Magical Powders
Those trained in the art also know how to create magical powders from certain plants. Concealed in the palm or under a fingernail, the powder can be slipped into food or drink, or transferred while shaking hands, to harm or kill an enemy. The powder called ataré, made from pimenta-da-costa seeds, is placed on the ground where an enemy will walk in order to inflict a disease, or placed in a house to cause misfortune there.
Changing Heads
The ritual ‘troca de cabeça’ – “exchanging heads” – can be used to free a person of a negative spirit that is haunting them. The process is complicated and a well-guarded secret. It takes the spirit from the person and puts it into an animal or object, usually a dead chicken, which is then left at a crossroads or other place of power. It is easy for the spirit to jump into a passerby, who will then need a troca de cabeça of their own.
The troca de cabeça has a more sinister use. A priest or priestess has the
ability – some say the right – to use the ritual to take life force from their disciples, causing a premature death in the follower in exchange for a year of extra life for themselves.
Mandinga for Player Characters
Players who want their characters to know the ways of macumba must acquire Mandinga as a separate skill. You can roll Knowing to know about various practices, gestures or enchantments, but actually being able to perform them yourself requires the specific skill.
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