Inspiration
The Foundational Inspiration of Ren
Section titled “The Foundational Inspiration of Ren”“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” — Matthew 4:4
This verse is the theological spine of Ren.
Ren cenceptually is a translation of “word” into “intent and will.” In the beginning, God spoke -> Ylelaim willed. Creation is not a passive backdrop: it is the residue of divine intent, and at its smallest unit, matter is not stuff. It is will. Every particle, every structure, every living thing is composed at its base level of autanomous intent that was willed into being. This is not metaphor. It is the literal metaphysical architecture of Ithasen.
What this means for Rennim is significant. They are not imposing something foreign onto matter when they wield Ren. They are speaking to what matter already is. Their intent, shaped by their values, interfaces with the intent already embedded in creation. Like calls to like. A Rennim who holds Truth as a value and wields it with genuine conviction is not bending reality. They are aligning their will with the will already woven into the fabric of the world.
This also means the Betrayal is darker than it first appears. Ingridrid’s birth did not only corrupt living things. If the substrate of matter is intent/will, then corruption entered the material world at a structural level. The smallest units of reality are now bent. The world is not merely inhabited by broken people in a neutral environment. The environment itself carries the wound. This is why corruption spreads, why Ren can go wrong at a fundamental level, why the Akuim exist not as accidents but as consequences of a reality that is no longer entirely itself.
And it is why restoration cannot come from within the world. You cannot fix the fabric of reality using threads made of the same fabric.
In most games, power is bread: something you acquire, train, and consume. You grind for it. You optimize for it. It exists independently of who you are. Ren is a deliberate rejection of that model. You cannot live by bread alone in Ithasen. Technique matters, resources matter, Realm matters, but none of it functions without the values underneath. Ren is not fueled by effort. It is fueled by the word, by what you actually believe about the world and your place in it.
The parallel to Matthew 4:4 is intentional. Jesus, quoting Deuteronomy in the wilderness, is being offered exactly what a rational person would want: sustenance, security, power on easy terms. He refuses, because the sustenance that actually matters comes from something deeper than what can be handed to you. Rennim who try to shortcut their values, who adopt beliefs they don’t hold to access a polarity they want, find their Ren reflects the lie. You cannot optimize around who you are.
The Betrayal maps onto the Fall. Ingridrid’s birth is the moment sin entered the world as a structural reality, not just a behavior. Every Thuim carries a nature bent toward failure before they make a single choice. This is not background lore. It is the reason the world is brutal, the reason factions have dirty hands, the reason even well-intentioned Rennim produce consequences they didn’t intend. The world is broken at a level no amount of cultivation fixes.
Ylelaim creating Morzed in response is an act of mercy in the same way death is mercy in a Christian framework: not a punishment, but a limit. A broken nature left to accumulate forever would be worse than one that ends.
The entire cosmology is built on the premise that the world was made good, was broken by deception, and is waiting for a restoration that has not yet come. That is the wound beneath all of Ithasen’s history. Everything else is people trying to live in the meantime.
Credits
Section titled “Credits”Authored and designed by Daniel Eynon
My God — To the Most High, The Truth, The Risen, Living God, to whom I owe everything.
My Wife — Despite not having any real desire or interest in playing or designing TTRPGs, she’s supported me in the years of development.
My Father — The advice you gave me as a child still resounds. “Play is practice for Real Life.” Not to mention the enjoyment and authoring of fantasy. Memories and the fun we had writing our (permanently unfinished and underdeveloped) Paolini knockoff to spend time together as father and son is much of what has led me here.
Testers — To those who have read all my terrible rules documents and tried to play a game: you know who you are.
My friends who got me into this hobby — Love y’all. Thanks for listening to me and all my ramblings.
All those I’ve taken inspiration from — “We stand on the shoulders of giants.” To all those whose work below shaped or inspired this game: thank you for chasing truth, beauty, and meaning in your craft.
Inspirations
Section titled “Inspirations”Game Design, Mechanics, and Systems
Section titled “Game Design, Mechanics, and Systems”Thinkers that broadened my horizons and refined my approach to how I make the game feel right.
- Tomb of Line Gaming (YouTube)
- RPG PHD (YouTube)
- Matt Colville (YouTube)
- Notepad Anon (YouTube)
- Seth Skorkowsky (YouTube)
- Me, Myself & Die (YouTube)
- Questing Beast (YouTube)
- Tales from Elsewhere (YouTube)
- Persona 4 Golden (Video Game)
- Door Kickers 2 (Video Game)
- Tactical Breach Wizards (Video Game)
- Arco (Video Game)
- Divinity 2 (Video Game)
- Genshin Impact (Video Game)
- Dishonored (Video Game)
Game Mastering & Roleplaying
Section titled “Game Mastering & Roleplaying”Creators whose content helped me understand the experiences I wanted to occur at the table and how it should feel.
- Daniel from Bandit’s Keep (YouTube)
- Zee Bashew (YouTube)
- Dungeon Masterpiece (YouTube)
- EarthMote (YouTube)
- Mystic Arts DM (YouTube)
- XP to Level 3 (YouTube)
- Bob World Builder (YouTube)
- Jay Martin from Play Your Role (YouTube)
Aesthetics & Worlds
Section titled “Aesthetics & Worlds”The Ancient and Fantastical
Section titled “The Ancient and Fantastical”- Esoterica (YouTube)
- Matt Rhodes (YouTube)
- MiniMinuteman (YouTube)
- Ed Greenwood (YouTube)
- Atlantis (Disney) (Film)
- Plini: Handmade Cities (Music)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Video Game)
- Carlo Scarpa (Architect)
- Guarino Guarini (Architect)
- Peter Morbacher / Angelarium (Artist)
- Nephis (YouTube)
A New Frontier
Section titled “A New Frontier”- Star Wars (Film)
- Dune (Film/Books)
- Stargate (Film/TV)
- Fractalize (Music)
- No Oath (Music)
- Silent Planet: Superbloom (Music)
- Becoming the Archetype: The Lost Colony (Music)
- Warframe / Digital Extremes (Video Game)
- Destiny 2 (Video Game)
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess & Breath of the Wild (Video Game)
- The ‘Tales of’ franchise (Video Game)
- The Halo Franchise (Video Game)
- Vitaly Bulgarov (Artist)
Body Horror
Section titled “Body Horror”- Prometheus (Film)
- Project 86: Omni (Music)
- Arsen Asyrankulov (Artist)
- H. R. Giger (Artist)
The Gritty, Brutal, and Malevolent
Section titled “The Gritty, Brutal, and Malevolent”- True Grit (Film)
- Day of the Jackal (TV)
- The Jason Bourne Series (Film)
- Carcosa (Music)
- Whitechapel (Music)
- Oh, Sleeper (Music)
- Mick Gordon: Doom 2016, Wolfenstein the New Order (Music)
- Predator (Film)
- Impending Doom (Music)
- Disembodied Tyrant: The Poetic Edda EP (Music)
- Shadow of Intent (Music)
- Doom (2016) (Video Game)
Desperation, Suffering, and Self-Questioning
Section titled “Desperation, Suffering, and Self-Questioning”- Shadow Slave (Light Novel)
- Berserk (Manga/Manhwa)
- Brandon Sanderson: Elantris, Way of Kings (Books)
- Vinland Saga (Manga/Manhwa)
- The Contortionist: Clairvoyant (Music)
- Brand of Sacrifice (Music)
- Fit For a King (Music)
- Fyodor Dostoevsky: Dream of a Ridiculous Man (Short Story)
The Eerie
Section titled “The Eerie”- Chelsea Grin (Music)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Music)
- Antonio Vivaldi (Music)
- Ludwig van Beethoven (Music)
- SCP Foundation (Articles)
Decay & Cycles
Section titled “Decay & Cycles”- FromSoftware Games: Dark Souls & Elden Ring (Video Game)
- Lebbeus Woods (Architect)
The Incomprehensible
Section titled “The Incomprehensible”- Darko US (Music)
- Modern Day Babylon (Music)
- Animals as Leaders (Music)
- Humanity’s Last Breath (Music)
- Vildhjarta (Music)
- Mirar (Music)
- At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft (Book)
- HyperObjects by Timothy Morton (Book)
Identity & Memory
Section titled “Identity & Memory”- Last Year at Marienbad (Film)
- Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy by Graham Harman (Essay)
- A Fairytale for the Demon Lord (Manga/Manhwa)
Heroism, Morality, and Honor
Section titled “Heroism, Morality, and Honor”- The Bible (Books)
- Lord of the Rings (Film/Books)
- The Chronicles of Narnia (Books)
- jmont (Music)
- The Iliad (Book)
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Book)
The Questionable
Section titled “The Questionable”- Thornhill (Music)
- Saka (Music)
- Borne (Music)
- Sorrow (Music)
- Thom Mayne (Architect)
- Blade Runner (Film)
- Cyberpunk (Video Game)
- Altered Carbon (TV)
The Political & Social
Section titled “The Political & Social”- Jackal Among Snakes (Light Novel)
- Hunt for Red October (Books)
Mechanics of Ren
Section titled “Mechanics of Ren”- The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman (Light Novel)
- A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation (Light Novel)
- Legend of the Northern Blade (Manga/Manhwa)
- Volcanic Age (Manga/Manhwa)
- Hunter X Hunter (Anime)
TTRPGs I’ve Learned From
Section titled “TTRPGs I’ve Learned From”- Broken Empires
- Traveller 2e
- Righteous Blood & Ruthless Blades
- Burning Wheel
- Worlds Without Number
- Stars Without Number
- Fabula Ultima
- Runequest (Chaosium)
- Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium)
- Shadowdark
- Blades in the Dark
- Cosmere (Brotherwise)
- Mystic 2e
- Cairn
- Mothership
- DC 20
- Nimble 2e
- Quest
- Numenera
- Crescendo
- Tales From Elsewhere
- Dungeon World
- Dungeons and Dragons 5e
- Mythras
- LUMEN (GilaRPGs)
- Mage the Awakening 2e
- Go All In
- Shadowrun
- Biomancer / Demonizer / The Hungering Void
- The Worldsea
- FATE
- City of Mist