Quote from: Ghost Whistler;473202jade doesn't equal souls I'm afraid. Thanks anyway.

I was on the fence about Jadium. It is naff, but potentially in a glorious way.

I think Dantien Ore is better.

Now, should robot characters be called Mechanchurians?

And if that doesn't cause your head to explode, should the first sentient robot (ie the first true Mechanchurian) be called Lao 2?

Dantien Ore is much better, although it was the jadium name I thought was weak not the concept of a Jade crystal somehow running the engine. By the way with my ex-geography teacher hat on Jade is actually 1 of 2 minerals one is jadeite the other nephrite. You get all sorts of colours of nephrite from jade green through red, amber and black so there might be some legs in different coloured 'jade' having different effects or being linked to some good/evil dicotomy.

Mechanchurians is a great name and touches all the right points. I like Lao 2 as well but only if you have a combat droid called Sun 2 and a mainframe called Confu-SHUSH and all the Mechanchurians run programmes called KOANS (KOmpiled Advanced Nested Subroutines)  

Jade has much significance in the wuxia/kungfu folklore (and maybe without good reason, it's one of those words that's used a lot in such genres). So it's finding a use for it in an SF context.
Space travel is intended to be ubiqitous, sort of like star wars: ships can take off from the surface and fly across the stars in a manner akin to the old planes George Lucas was inspired from in the saturday morning serials. Consequently, more esoteric forms of space travel/engine, perhaps where such means are arcane and occult, would be counter productive. This isn't like 40K where ships are vast enormous and ancient and fuelled by the will of spirits, if not literally.

So Jade has to have some purpose if only to justify the use of the word in the setting

Currently I have decided it's purpose is to be the most powerful 'computer component': Jade circutiry allows for the highest levels of processing. I also thought of the term 'Living Jade' in relatioon to this while considering the tech of the New Gods (motherboxes etc).

For a game about "kung fu in space" I think it sounds just fine. Made-up "Bullshitonium" sci-fi element names are all kinda ridiculous, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Quote from: Insufficient Metal;473335For a game about "kung fu in space" I think it sounds just fine. Made-up "Bullshitonium" sci-fi element names are all kinda ridiculous, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I agree. Sounds like a game for people who learned about asian culture through cheap martial arts films. Definitely a game i'd be interested in playing. Someone mentioned big trouble little china in space--that is the way to go.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;473338I agree. Sounds like a game for people who learned about asian culture through cheap martial arts films. Definitely a game i'd be interested in playing. Someone mentioned big trouble little china in space--that is the way to go.

Cheap martial arts films?

Pfft.

Wikipedia!

The project is not intended to be realistic chinese society, with real chinese words and terms. It's based on the wuxia genre and probably loosely. That said it's not intended to be 'asian', that is, it's solely based on stuff from china: wuxia (and it's spiritual philosophies). That said, Buddhism originated in India and I'm using some aspects thereof.

FWIW.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;473344Cheap martial arts films?

Pfft.

Wikipedia!

The project is not intended to be realistic chinese society, with real chinese words and terms. It's based on the wuxia genre and probably loosely. That said it's not intended to be 'asian', that is, it's solely based on stuff from china: wuxia (and it's spiritual philosophies). That said, Buddhism originated in India and I'm using some aspects thereof.

FWIW.

What i meant was "cool" will probably be more important than authentic. Didn't mean cheap martial arts film as a slam on the genre. I love martial arts movies. But they can be big without a big budget.

If you are basing mostly on wuxia i think zero g kung fu mechanics would be a cool addition.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;473350If you are basing mostly on wuxia i think zero g kung fu mechanics would be a cool addition.

There was a Zero G martial art in Nemesis called Trafficking (in line with the whole driving anywhere terror tube theme of Termight.....)

You wouldn't need a martial art dedicated to it. Skilled fighters would just expend Chi to compensate. Kung fu would be able to operate in zero g as a matter of course.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;473367You wouldn't need a martial art dedicated to it. Skilled fighters would just expend Chi to compensate. Kung fu would be able to operate in zero g as a matter of course.

I dont think you need an art devoted to it. A lot of wuxia with wires is basically zero g. I think you just need mechanics to help support the zero g combat.

The 10,000 stars is the playground for this setting. Here is a very brief overview thereof.

The Tien - once the galaxy (ie the 10,000 stars - they are synonymous) was ruled by a super race of Chi master-technologists called the Tien. During their reign, under the Sublime Engine-Emperor, their cultural hero, they defeated the evil forces of Feng Du, the Demon King (banishing him to the Hell Worlds), built the galactic datanet known as the Heavenfield, and constructed the Throne of Jade. Located on the planet Xian, their homeworld, the Throne allowed their great ruler to order the universe according to his own principles of power. However he was wise enough to realise that the immortality conferred by the Throne (the focal point for all Chi) was too much and so he stepped down and disappeared into the heart of the universe. All things must pass and so did the Tien.

The Celestial Republic - the first great empire of men, built in the shadow of the Tien. Even though it remains a peerless time of great culture and wisdom, it didn't match the power of the Tien. A thousand years ago it fell into ruin - the Chi Wars - and a great warrior arose using force and power to bring order to chaos. That man was the Iron Emperor and he exists today, the most powerful man in the 10,000 stars who seeks the Throne of Jade to cement his rule to forever order a chaotic galaxy.

Imperial Iron Qin - this is his empire. It is the largest and most efficient of galactic kingdoms. It is harsh and unforgiving with many laws and strong concepts of duty and station. Many things that people beyond take for granted are forbidden, most Chi Arts and kung Fu, and the face of their beloved Iron Emperor smiles from every corner uttering his propaganda and compelling the masses to work and to order in his name. Beneath him are the aristocrats of a thousand worlds: the Lotus Junzi. Many are hopelessly decadent, but possessed of ancient titles and fiefs. He plays them against each other that he may rule unchallenged.

Thunder Margin - a place of cosmic storms and phenomena that have long protected it from mass invasion. Conveniently, as it neighbours the Iron Empire. It is so called because it was once a fief of the Empire until the great Thunder Duke, a blustery old warhorse, seceded. Now a parliament of politicians seek to rebuild the Celestial Republic from within the depths of this realm. It is bent around the impenetrable galactic core: the Storm of Jade, into which is said to have travelled the great emperor of the Tien, ever to return. Thunder Margin is also home to the legendary Wulin heartland: Heroic Golden Planet. The most charismatic leaders are born here.

Sword Shen State - to the galactic south and bordering on the Phoenix Stars, lies the greatest battlefield of the Chi Wars. The harsh and quaking worlds of Sword Shen are mineral rich while the space is littered with ancient relics from that time. It is the birthplace of the greatest warriors and the goal of those that seek to recover the treasures of the time of the Chi Wars. Legend says that a body comitted to the Phoenix Stars will be reborn, but few can stand the voyage into that burning region.

The Realm of Heavenly Lore - the birthplace of great scholars, the lush and often artificially engineered environments of the Realm are the envy of the 10,000 stars, as are its academies and universities. Ruled by the Soverign Minister of Sages, it hides terrible secrets. There is rot in this galactic centre of wisdom: a cult called the Magistrate of Shadows practises kung fu based on lies, deceit and secrets from their headquarters in the mysterious Autumn Clouds nebula. They maintain the Shadow Library wherein is said to contain all the insidious truths and mistruths of important people. Beyond, the Ministry of Sages ruthlessly deny their existence and practise their own pure form of kungfu.

The Xian Remnant - the spiritual heart of the 10,000 stars and the purported location of exactly that: the remnant of the Tien homeworld wherein is said to be the Throne of Jade. The worlds within contain the greatest concentration of Tien knowledge and are carefully monitored by their spiritual descendants, the sect known as the Wu Engineers. No central authority claims this place beyond the Wu Engineers and the surviving Hsien of the Heavenfield (itself a 'kingdom' of its own in the galaxy).

Great stuff !
I looked back at your other wuxia space opera thread and I like your ideas, I could immediately imagine possible characters and scenarios, always a good sign.

Quote from: Sean !;473662Great stuff !
I looked back at your other wuxia space opera thread and I like your ideas, I could immediately imagine possible characters and scenarios, always a good sign.

well that's kind of you to say.

i think this project is going to be a very long one. ideas come and unfortunately ideas go. The very essence of taoist ideology.

I was thinking of shrinking the setting. Instead of an enormous and thus completely unplottable galaxy (they reckon the star wars galaxy has 400 billion stars - what a sourcebook that would make!). Maybe something based around the five element motif (or the 8 trigrams of the ba gua). I then discover that's exactly what the Serenity 'verse is. Bummer. Maybe a little creative theft ain't no bad thing.

Sounds more manageable. Maybe you could use the demonic realms as Hyperspace (with gates and guardians) to quicken the journey for the courageous/reckless and provide some weird - also tie-ing in the Demon Hunter to the party:

'One of the Lotus Junzi employs the characters to bring back his long-lost daughter, captured by criminals on a mining world in the Sword Shen state. He warns them that his rivals are out to get her first, so the characters must take a shortcut through the realms of Feng Du (will cost a lotta joss or maybe a fight with a guardian before a Yamo) to arrive before them.'