Create-a-Magus 2

[DelRey]

thank you, but arent Executors only responsible for killing the inhuman?

[Kamera]

Heresies, to be exact. They're basically the Inquisition.

[PA270]

Tl;dr: can i just make a "zenki and goki" magecraft that uses shugendo and others to make it happen, and not think about/have to make a shugendo magecraft system? (or am i severely underestimating what i have to do/misunderstanding what i can actually do? or am i just really just thinking to hard on this?)

i swear everytime i ask and talk about magecraft and the like i still feel like i'm way over my head even as i keep learning new things and understand it a little better
hopefully i get a little more used to this sooner than later

I think that's totally fine, and that you are overthinking it just a little bit. There really shouldn't be that much difference between making a Magus and making a Servant. You start with an idea of what you want, you do research about the real world elements involved, then you start Nasufying and futzing with them until you get something you're happy with. The only difference in this case is that you're researching a religious/spiritual system rather than a historical/mythological figure. Your idea of a specifically focused offshoot is totally in-line with how Magecraft works, so I'd say go for it!

[Desdinova Incarnate]

So I reread Strange Fake recently and noticed that the people behind the Snowfield Grail War are part of a group of American Mages that iirc, are either not part of the Mages Association or very loosely connected to them. And it got me thinking about all those university secret societies that have a ton of conspiracy theories and rumors around them (like Skull & Bones from Yale) and if they have Mages among their ranks in the Nasuverse. Heck, universities in Europe also have secret societies like that, but I guess the Clock Tower sort of makes up for those.