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.