Welcome, valued customers!

Have a seat and some snacks. This servant shall take your order when you are ready.

Hi everyone. I'm looking forward to playing this game with you all. I'll have a read through the play books tonight and see which give me ideas of characters to play in this setting.

I'm most tempted to go for a Scoundrel, who would be a dashing rogue, living for the moment and not thinking twice before walking into trouble of one form or another, and presumably rubbing up against the more serious and subdued members of the Huashan Sword Maidens. If not that, then a Devoted, probably with upholding the orders rules as her calling in life, though I might switch that devotion to a PC if their character makes sense.

I'm happy to move to other playbooks if other players have their hearts set on them, though.

Jiā Lǐ (Beautiful Truth), meet Xiao Hu (Little Tiger)

We're waiting for our third interested player, but feel free to start a bit of relationship/building. Your sect is not set in stone, so if you want to change aspects of it, feel free. The first decision is whether to make it Righteous or Heretical, the next one whether membership is based religion, philosophy, sisterhood or some other set of ideals.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:32, Wed 09 Dec 2020.

Please welcome Mei Hua (Plum Blossom).

Fun fact: there is a (or several, depending on viewpoint) real kungfu style called Mei Hua Quan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meihuaquan
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:21, Thu 10 Dec 2020.

Hello all! I had on my options to be a Devoted as well, Jia Li, though I’m not married to the idea by any means. I also thought Seeker would fit well, and would be more than willing to play most of the play books with a little change (Beast would be right in line with my background as well, if we wanted to do a Devoted, Seeker, Beast team)

As for Order, I am wholly on board for the order to be on its face more righteous than obviously heretical. Maybe it can have a reputation of “reforming” women of not perfectly proper background, but in fact just provide a discipline through which they can channel their passions more than reduce them.




Ha, I had no idea. Definitely an interesting read! I just thought it was a cute name in keeping with the setting.

I'm more than happy for you to take Devoted if you want, Mei Hua. I'm leaning more towards Scoundrel anyway, and that could make a good contrast to a Devoted.

I'm also happy for the order's purpose to be reforming women. If Jia Li is a Scoundrel, then she could have only been with the order for a short time, and so still wouldn't display the expected behaviour.

Secret societies are mostly about cultivation - self-perfection and attainment of skill. Refroming might be a common side-efect, but is certainly not the order's purpose if you still want it to be an Orthodox/Righteous one. Heretical sects could have "reforming" women as one of their tenets, sure.

OK, so perhaps Jia Li's parents sent her to the order to help cure her waywardness, though that isn't the purpose of the society.

Mei Hua, if you're going to play a Devoted, what are you devoted to? I wonder if that will give us an idea of the order's true purpose.

Well, we can start small. The current purpose of the sword maidens is "Have Sword, Will Travel". You hop form place to place earning your upkeep and experience via odd jobs and fights. We can fill in the blanks later.

My plan was to be a devoted to General Yong, her brother still serving in his army. She follows all the official news channels and has a few animated scrolls of propaganda reels sent from away. I don’t, however think there’s any specific rules against it changing with a little time.

Simple to start makes sense, presuming our characters need to prove themselves of value before being given a full induction.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:49, Sun 20 Dec 2020.

So here's what I have so far; I also added some images to my character description.

Name: Xiao Hu
Playbook: The Beast
Aesthetics: Wild Demeanor, Practical Clothes, Wooden Staff
Stats: Daring +2, Grace +0, Heart +2, Wit -1, Spirit +0
Moves: Transform, Tenacious Purpose, Tracker

I'm thinking she's an escaped scientific experiment in cross-genetic live forms, and she was raised by wild animals for a while before she was found and adopted by the sect.

In reply to Xiao Hu (msg # 12):

very evocative. I like her already ♥

Perhaps an elder from the sect answered a call for help from a mountainous village. She proceeded to pacify the local beast population. Suddenly there was a young girl, snarling and bestial. The fight was akin to a toddler trying to hit an adult. The elder stayed her hand and brought the snarling little beast back...

Here are my decisions:

Name: Jia Li
Playbook: The Scoundrel
Aesthetics: Eyes only for you, tight clothes,  delicate sword
Stats: Daring +2, Grace +1, Heart +1, Wit -1, Spirit 0
Moves: Heat of the Moment, Lust at First Sight, Shiny and New, Impressive Swordplay, Rrrip!

Jia Li grew up feeling inadequate. Her older brother was always the apple of their parents' eye, and she could never compete with him for their affections. When he joined the Imperial Navy, she threw herself into studying the sword in an attempt to prove herself as good as him. She also adopted a devil-may-care attitude, at one and the same time attempting to draw attention to herself and pretending that she didn't care about it. Eventually, her parents despaired of marrying her off when she was caught in bed with both of the local magistrate's daughters. In order to avoid a scandal, and to keep her away from his daughters, the magistrate insisted that she be sent far away. And so she joined the Huashan Sword Maidens, with her parents hoping time there would calm her wild behaviour.

She is always smartly dressed, with a fine sword forever at her hip. In terms of character, she acts first and thinks later, partly because she is over-confident in her own abilities. Even in battle, she prefers flashy moves to moves that will win her the fight.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:30, Sat 12 Dec 2020.

Name: Mei Hua
Playbook: The Devoted
Aesthetics: Affectionate Demeanor, Sturdy Clothes, A Defensive Sword
Stats: Daring +1, Grace +1, Heart -1, Wit +0, Spirit +0
Moves: Last Stand, What's Best For Them, Fanatical Self-Sacrifice, Gallant Rescue, Lay On Hands

Mei Hua grew up on an outskirts planet, even for the sprawling Middle Empire. When her planet was embroiled in an intra district war over water rights and country boundaries, her country was blessed by the backing of the Empire as the one in the right, and eventually got support by the military. Her brother joined the army, leaving her alone with her father, who was too weak to take part. Knowing she couldn't support them as was, she dressed as a boy to labor acting as her "distant cousin". When the war was over, her brother, serving under General Yong has sent back money and his adoration for General Yong, including a few empire approved glossy videos on scrolls but not himself, and her father passed away in an opium den a few months later. Mei Hua was left with just her father's long unused sword and, having decided she wanted to serve, as her brother did, the empire, found her way by recommendation and determination at the Huashan Sword Maidens, thinking their name either a sign.

Mei Hua will always be broader and rougher than she is petite and soft, and is quite friendly with anyone who doesn't outright ignore her like the village did once the facade of her laboring was no longer needed.

I guess we're on to the relationships part of our characters. My first one is:

    "Who were you Smitten with until recently?"

I think I'll choose Xiao Hu for that, if she's OK with it. I'm thinking that Jia Li may have got a glimpse of her bestial side and gone off her.

My first one is “Is another PC an object of your Devotion?”

I think that for now we sort of answered that as ‘no’ but I could absolutely see that changing in the game.

My second one is “ Who looks out for you even when you don’t look out for yourself?”

And this one might be a little more easy. Mei Hua is still relatively new to the blade, and I could see Jia Li as a scoundrel telling Mei to relax a little on the training, rather than throw herself into exhaustion with little progress. Does that makes sense to you, Jia, or maybe point it in another direction?

First, some mood music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZY4b6g7JeM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_WAYGjeGTI




As for how new you all are to swordfighting - you are all Adept ranked, with several years of training. Ordinary mortals are simply not a threat to you at all. Don't forget to use flashbacks to training when inspired.

So, it seems I need to prod you along the path of character creation. Imagine "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" spread out over the whole galaxy. Your characters are working as security guards, a job requiring finesse and not offending people while keeping stuff safe during sometimes month long travels. The three of them are junior disciples of a well known sword sect, and righteous organizations will give them more "face" than they would ordinary guards. The concept of "giving face" is huge in all wuxia/xianxia settings. Travel in the unruly sector you're in happens on spaceships that are a cross between airships and junks, and operate using principles of Fneg Shui and Dragonlines applied as Bai Shou (handwavium). ;)

Mei Hua seems to be predestined to be your Face Man, no? That leaves Jia Li do be the planner, and Little Tiger to be some sort of Murdoch/B.A.Baracus crossover. Should be fun!

Initial relationships are next. Please be on the lookout for things to make interesting :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:42, Fri 18 Dec 2020.

Mei Hua, I agree that it makes sense for Jia to be the one who looks out for you as you described. I imagine that she'd also learn to mimic a little of Mei's discipline as a result of training with her. My second relationship question is Who replaced them in your desire?, following on from Jia no longer being smitten with someone from her first relationship question. Would you be OK with Mei being the subject of the a crush from Jia, given that they're spending time training together? I'm not sure if that means I should follow the rules for being smitten, but I'm guessing it does.

Wuji, I'm OK with Jia being the planner, though I was originally going to make her be fairly undisciplined. Perhaps she's good at planning, but gets carried away once we get into action. That could provide a learning curve for her in future.

In reply to Wuji (msg # 18):

Oh derp, I totally missed that line. I think that putting a point into Wit and into Spirit would make her well rounded.

It will play into Mei Hua being particually friendly and like to support others in their passions, but be completely blind to how they feel about herself and allows for an easy mistake regarding trying to overhelp. (-1 heart), presuming that they tolerate or appreciate her efforts at best, even after weeks or years of friendliness.


In reply to Jia Li (msg # 19):

That's totally fine by me! Mei Hua might be the affectionate one, but she might not be wholly aware that Jia's interest isn't anything but just being extra attention since Mei Hua already needed to be helped once. This might not even been the first time Jia Li's interest has swung to Mei Hua, given that they've worked together for a time, and I wouldn't begrudge her being a little exasperated at Mei Hua's obliviousness.

I think you just need to place a number of strings that I may already have on you, but not be outright smitten.

Per page 9 of the handout : "When all PCs have answered the questions, each PC gives zero, one, or two Strings to each other PC, depending on how much emotional sway the other character holds with them."

Both of these sound good to me.

For my relationships, here's what I think:

Who has seen you at your most bestial? I'm thinking this would be Jia Li as it would work nicely with her having been smitten with Xiao Hu until recently, maybe she witnessed a bout of anger causing the Beast come out and was discouraged.

Who most reminds you of a beast? I'm thinking the protective nature of Mei Hua makes Xiao Hu see her as some kind of Mama Bear.

Okay, that takes care of the missing points. We should have an idea about the emotional conflicts your characters have. Perhaps talk a little bit more about those. Complete the remaining questions in your playbooks, too. You should copy them into your character descriptions so everyone can read them. Unless you want secrets, then I'll open the private sheets.

Next step is relationships, aka strings. I trust you all have the rules? if not, I can copypasta the relevant bits for you. If there are unclear special rules, ask about them now.

If you have any particular squicks, this is also a nice spot to put them down.

Xiao Hu's beast form pic is borkened.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:35, Fri 18 Dec 2020.

My last question is Who has almost as much flair as you? Neither of the other PCs sounds as though they have much flair, so unless one of them objects to that characterisation, I'll answer the question with nobody.

For strings, I'll give one to Xiao Hu because Jia feels bad about how shallow she was in not trying to work past her beast side. And I'll give two to Mei Hua, in part because they sound fairly close, and also because Mei is the new object of Jia's desire.

So one of the group is an ex-crush who Jia feels she has treated badly, and the other is a current crush who is oblivious to her hints.

In terms of her emotional conflicts, she questions whether she's good enough, but tries to prove that she's the best at everything, all while trying to act as though she doesn't care whether she's the best. She also tries to plan ahead, but when things get heated she will often get carried away and act without thinking. And though she doesn't stick with women once they hit problems, she does feel bad about that and wishes she would treat them better.

In reply to Xiao Hu (msg # 21):

I like that! Maybe Mei Hua can fill her third question as "Who did you save from a terrible fate?"

Perhaps Mei Hua didn't see Xiao Hu transform, but helped reassure her that she was still welcome to the team, no matter what, which helped Xiao recover from feeling as discouraged, because Mei Hua was trying to help patch things up with Jia Li, who Mei assumes still has feelings for Xiao.

(Mei Hua put her misguided heart into trying to reassure Xiao, which gives her two strings, and one string to Jia Li.)


In reply to Wuji (msg # 22):

Regarding emotional conflicts: Do these work with out themes?
- Mei Hua has always been obsessed with the Empire's military, particularly General Yong, as seen by her memorabilia. Any sort of conflict or contradictions her expectations would definitely upset her. Being less than perfect would be enough to shake her.

- Mei Hua is still not assertive enough to throw out her ideas, too ready to see them batted aside as bad.

- Mei Hua has trouble hurting people, even bad people, when the time comes for her to draw her sword. It hasn't affected the team's performance yet, but she'll usually refrain from delivering a final blow, preferring rather to bring them alive to 'empire justice'.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:49, Sun 20 Dec 2020.

So I think I'll give 2 Strings to Jia Li because Xiao Hu feels vulnerable around her as Jia Li saw her beast out, and 1 String to Mei Hua since Xiao Hu feels comforted by her presence.

Also I fixed the pic!

This message was deleted by the player at 09:11, Sat 19 Dec 2020.

Oh... white tiger? Oh my we are stepping into chinese idiom territory quite heavily here! :D

Please list your strings on the character sheets.

As for your emotional conflict ideas:

Mei Hua:
- deifying general Wong is a nice idea. Perhaps she's an illegitimate daughter of his, and the man she's called father was hiding a secret? May I use this? General Wong (is it Yong or Wong? you spelt it both ways) will get a string on you, and I'll give you a free shiny XP right now too if you let me :)
- not assertive enough is the chinese female stereotype, worth turning around and using to your advantage.
- Having trouble hurting people? There are many chinese idioms dealing with this. The most popular is "Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to yourself". Doing this will bite you back later.

Jia Li:
- so the superficially sloppy perfectionist with deficient self-control Scoundrel it is. Perhaps others might see her practicing sword moves deep in the night, because she dreamed of an imperfection in her sword technique?

Xiao Hu:
- hmm, she's a Beast so nothing much to say. A time bomb, you are.

You might want to toss an idea or two about what you want to see explored here as well.

I'll be making the first post later today.

I guess one of them is...*sunglasses*...General Wrong.

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oops, well I am super embarassed. It should be General Yong. My apologies! v_v'

Teehee.

Then again, you didn't answer my questiong about general Wrong and you. ;)

I believe it makes perfect sense for General Yong to have a string on Mei at this point, sight unseen, for sure. I was caught up in my mistake and missed the line.

I also promise not to make Mei Hua a completely useless lesbian, Jia. She's just target fixated on other things at the moment, ha.

you can call for moves, you know. :)

This has been your regular useless prodding announcement from the announcer on call.

Mei Hua, that's fine; I think we can probably get a fair bit of humour out of the situation. I'll try to keep Jia's words and actions ambiguous for now.

Merry xmas :)

should I move things on without waiting for all the players to respond?

Merry Christmas. Yes please; I was waiting for a response to Mei Hua's questions before having Jai act again.

Ditto; I think we should have some kind of consensus on when to wait for everyone to respond vs. when to wait for the MC's response?

Ah! I usually wait for all players to post before moving on. I'll switch to random updating for now :)

I mean usually it's okay to wait a few days to let everyone get a post in, but when dice come into play sometimes players would wait to see  how the roll turned out first while the GM waits to see if anyone else wants to do anything, which is why I say we need a consensus; like, maybe wait a week for everyone to get a post in before doing an update when people are just talking, but post the result of a move as soon as possible so others can react to the outcome, or something.

Oh good, to be honest I thought maybe I'd said something wrong my post.

Apologies for the delay on my end.

if you are trying to change Burcu's mind, you'll need to roll something... Little Tiger's approach is almost Fight, no?

I promise it won't hurt :D

Happy New Year everyone! I'm looking forward to seeing where this game goes in the new year.

well, I for one won't be missing 2020, not with the virus and earthquakes and insane overtime. I sure hope 2021 won't try to be worse than her predecessor :D I mean, what more could happen? Cthulhu awakening? Aliens landing? :D

Happy New Year <3
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:03, Fri 01 Jan 2021.

Okay, so I've finally sobered up. Had to, working today. :D

I hope your slide into the new year went well?

 Its been a, uh, long year already, for sure.