Love, swords, and adventure in a Wuxia-themed Sword&Spaceship setting
~ Ingredients ~
Thirsty Sword Lesbians
Most Wuxia and Xianxia stories
Equal amounts of funny and Serious
Numerous other inspirations
There will be
fury, from boiling hot action to ice-cold stares!
There will be
feels, often and of various depths!
There will be
flirts, horribly awkward and otherwise!
Tone: There will be more fighting toxic people and negotiating dangerous environments than celebrations of queer love and power. Tongue in cheek moments might be frequent, depending on player choice.
Familiarity with
genre tropes is desirable but not necessary. If in doubt, check
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wuxia and
https://immortalmountain.wordp...nxia-xuanhuan-terms/ . A Pinyin to English dictionary is freely available at
https://chinese.yabla.com/chin...inyin-dictionary.php .
The PCs are members of the
Jade Lotus Sword martial arts school, out on their warrior pilgrimage in a space sector pincered between the ancient, slowly failing
Yellow Empire that occupies the galactic center, and the hordes of the
Turuk Khaganate coming in from the galactic North.
The
New Han Dynasty has reigned the Galactic Core and the Yellow Empire for ten million years, ever since humanity emerged from its cradle. The glorious Empire of the Central Plains first dominated Earth, and then led mankind in its spread throughout the galaxy. It is the far future... but some things never change. Very few people are truly free. Much of humanity toils endlessly to repay the debts of prior generations of their families. Those in power see to it that those debts are never repaid, and keep populations of whole worlds under their thumbs.
Much of mankind lives on pleasant worlds connected by wormhole gates. For their own protection and comfort, and following Neo-neo-Confucian thought, most live in
nigh-medieval agrarian settings.
High tech is ever-present but unobtrusive. Government through inaction is the norm, resulting in high levels of corruption.
The Golden Emperor has held the reins for over a thousand years. Countless wars and intrigues left barely a mark on him, and he still looks barely a day older than forty. Then again, looking at him is a capital offense for anyone not a member of the Imperial Court.
The
court eunuchs are the shadowy power behind the Throne. Their fingers reach into every crack of the Empire. The
Secret Police is the tool they use to perpetuate their power.
The effort required to bring something to another planet grows exponentially with its mass. As a result,
spaceships are usually small; even suit-sized "spaceships" are not unusual. Most are the size of today's jetliners. City-sized spaceships exist, but are the province of the obscenely wealthy. Speeds and distances involved ensure that fights between spaceships happen rarely, if at all. When they do happen it's in orbit around planets, and even then they are mostly boarding actions. Any large spaceship is simply too valuable to damage.
Within the Empire travel is done by
wormgates. This allows merging the planets of the Empire into a single living, breathing mass. As a simple consequence, a world belongs to the Empire if it has a working wormgate. Wormgates range in size from doorway to village size.
Any
technology advanced enough is indistinguishable from
magic. With wild technological disparity comes the time where appearance is more important than function. Nanotechnology duplicates nearly everything people from prior ages might have dreamed of. The powers that be work hard to keep 99,9% of the population away from advanced technology, however.
Human happiness is found either in
drugs or in
religion. There is no third option. Well aware of this, the Empire readily provides both. Opium dens and alcohol flow in rivers, easily accessible and cheap. Religions are many and varied. The state religion is Legalism, which promotes societal responsibility, adherence to law, and maintaining social peace and order. On the flip side, it is responsible for millennia of violence against minorities, and brutal enforcement of patriarchy.
The Empire works hard to maintain gender inequality through ideals of social responsibility and custom. The nail that sticks out will be hammered the hardest. Women are expected to obey their parents, older brothers, and husbands; they are to stay at home in the back rooms of the courtyard; going out without male escort is frowned upon. Law is adjudicated by
magistrates from local palaces ("Yamen"). As a measure against corruption, state officials are frequently relocated far away. Administering the Emperor's will to thousands of worlds requires an enormous network of magistrates and officials. Various factions and sub-factions evolved within this bureaucracy during millennia of its existence. Keeping the wormgate network stable is the primary function of the bureaucracy, because the greatest threat to the existence of the Yellow Empire is the vastness of space itself.
The Turuk Khaganate is in reality a confederacy of tribes expanding from the inhospitable Galactic north at an alarming rate. There have been clashes with the Empire for thousands of years. The Turuk are dynamic, passionate, and respect strength above all. They have an innate dislike for the stiffly organized Empire of the Middle. They favor living in round tent-like structures that can be easily transported.
Martial arts societies exist in several flavors, but all are somewhat removed from the regular society and exist in the
"Jianghu" (rivers and lakes). Members of the jianghu are expected to keep their distance from government officials, but most are pragmatic with this limitation. On average, a martial artist values righteousness, virtue, loyalty and revenge; these values often clash with the Legalist view taken by high-ranking officials. Martial arts societies can be gangs of thugs, religious groups, philosophers, ex-military formations, or goal-oriented factions. Common abilities are
Qinggong (lightness skill - from balancing on opponent's blade to running on water and flying),
Neigong (inner skill - using breath energy for superhuman strength, speed, resilience...) and
Dianxue (pressure points - paralyzing with touch, stopping bleeding in others, etc.).
Huashan Sword Maidens are a semi-monastic order with exclusively female membership. An oddity in the Legalist male-dominated era, these subdued seeming women nevertheless manage to steer events on a grand scale. The common folk call them Witches – but only when their backs are turned, of course. The one rock the flood of their influence has been unable to move for the past millennium is the Emperor. Even he has had to acknowledge the Witches’ power, allowing them free passage on imperial ships, and presence at court. The current headmistress is an ancient crone who has been close to death for a century. The Order is far from direction-less, however, as it continues to expand its influence.
The Emperor has no sons. The last one died a century ago under unclear circumstances, possibly involving attempted rebellion. The number of his daughters is difficult to estimate, as he has been changing consorts for a thousand years. They all inherited their father’s good looks, sharp intelligence, and complete lack of morals. These women form a power that can’t be ignored.
General Yong is a noted duelist and the official head of the billion-strong imperial armed forces. He is a model leader and a close confidante of the Emperor. His loyalty seems unshakable on the outside. Under his leadership the Army is nothing but exemplary. Strict adherence to procedure, extensive rewards for competence and liberal education for the underachieving are omnipresent. He also makes sure to look after his soldiers on a more personal level, as well as taking care of eventual widows.
There are no sentient races apart from humans in the setting. Then again, countless years of messing with DNA can have quite a bit of influence on what locals consider to be "human". Some beasts might be sentient, but these have been "uplifted" by humans.
Does it have to be swords? No, any melee weapon will do. Old school Wuxia stories overflow with various bizarre tools.
Does it have to be lesbians? I'll let the players decide on this one.
Does it have to be thirsty? The characters should crave interaction! Blind loner swordswomen will have a hard time attracting spotlight. Then again... surprise me and the other players!
Common Wuxia Weapons:
Four basic weapons:
- spear - the King of weapons - powerful and dominating. It can pierce, smash and slam. "for an unskilled opponent, the spear can't be long enough. For a skilled opponent, the spear can't be short enough." This is a soldier's weapon.
- sword - the Gentleman of weapons - light, agile, razor sharp. Using a sword means avoiding the opponent's attack and going for his weak spots. This is a straight, double-edged sword. A refined gentleman's weapon.
- staff - the Grandfather of weapons - legend has it a soldier wanted to practice spear after becoming a monk. The spearhead was clearly a killing implement, so he removed it and was left with a staff. It shares many of the same moves with the spear.
- knife (saber) - the General of weapons - a straight or curved single-edged sword. It is a soldier's weapon, durable, made for blocking, savaging the opponent's weapon and chopping. While the sword is used like a scalpel, a knife is swung around to hew opponents in two.
Common weapons:
- big knife (horse-chopper, nine rings, serpent, halfmoon, etc...) - the result of putting various knife (saber) blades on a long handle.
- axe - sometimes used in pairs. Thrown or wielded in melee.
- bronze hammer - Short-handled, heavy and indestructible, often used in pairs, usually as practice weapons. Despite its name, these are made from all sort of materials.
- buterfly knife - Used in pairs, considered a compassionate weapon as these are less likely to kill. A compassionate wielder might leave portions of the blade unsharpened to administer crushing subdual blows against small bones. The compassion might be lost on the maimed victims, however.
- sweeper, big and little - legend has it that an emperor's favorite staff was cut almost in half during a battle. Since he was unwilling to part with it, he connected the two parts of the staff and got the sweeper. The little sweeper is more familiar as the nunchuk.
- monk spade - with one side as a fork to keep wild animals at bay and the other a spade to dig graves for unfortunates who died without burial, this is the usual traveling gear for a Buddhist monk.
- ruler/hard whip - a sturdy piece of metal long as a sword. As it doesn't have an edge it's technically not lethal. Still, it's easy for a skilled exponent to crush bones and weapons with ease using this.
- soft whip - a number of iron links connected into a whip. Usually there are up to thirteen short iron bars, with the handle being a basket. A weapon dangerous for the unskilled wielder.
- rope dart - a dagger sized stabbing and cutting blade attached to a ten foot rope. This can be thrown, stabbed with, the rope or chain can be used to trip, tie and strangle.
- trident - a bully's weapon. this weighty tool is made for clashing against and smashing the opponent's weapon; the sharp tips help keeping an impaled enemy at bay. Associated with expelling evil spirits.
Uncommon weapons
- deer horn knives
- hook sword
- fire and water wheels
- throwing disks
- chicken claw knives
- rake
- meteor hammer
- prayer wheels
