So tell us the stuff the little guy would know.

Expand it just enough with broad strokes so that the GM can take those broad strokes and fill in details.

Further details that are necessary to your game that you want to write, do so only for very important things. Write enough that we can run it from picking up the book. But not so much that we can't do our own thing.


My game has a different flavor since its by me of course but its a similar theme and of course similar implied setting, because of the common shared elements of wuxia. I've begun detailing things important to SF games. Planets, starships, aliens (if any), I'm detailing important things that are setting "differences" like the Brothers of the Scroll who collate the terabytes of information on the infoflow, and make detailed reports to their order, and maintain the integrity of data. Or the Emperor and how he is immortal and yet has different faces. Why the knight-errants exist, and what they can do--an idea for a campaign order (but not the only one.)

Indeed.

Ok, the first thing I would like to explore is the character choice of what I call (for now) Tech Shi. This is something inbetween a Rigger (from Shadowrun) and the Techpriests of 40K.

I have made some broad notes regarding the overall setting that regard the Cultured Worlds as the core of the 10,000 stars; not its totality. Like the Alliance worlds in Serenity, they are an elite core where everything is pristine and advanced. The Cultured Worlds are the home to the ruling elite including the current Emperor (though not the Throne, so that can be ignored for now). They are isolationist and concnered with the pure confucian ideals of propriety, station and duty and are as staid and as oppressive as all that entails. The worlds beyond are largely left to their own devices with people that the Cultured Worlds regard as peasant folk.

I mention this because the 40k analogy is important for the tech vibe i'm going for. To the common man, as was the case with much that was educated in ancient china (and most places of course), the whys and wherefores of technology are not understood. However thats where the 40k analogy ends because i don't want this to be superstitious and medieval where people are necessarily frightened of things. More that those disciplined in the engineering arts have exclusive knowledge (and more), but that the technology is ubiquitous: boradly speaking a star wars level of technology, where there is quite obviously scifi tech happening, but that it isn't hard science fiction (no one worries about how a hydrospanner repairs the hyperdrive, or how those funky holograms work, etc).

The Tech Shi character represents a deeper level than just common 'adeptus mechanicus dude', they are (possibly one of) the wizard types in the setting. They use a unique cybernetic interface known as the Hexaching (think part Motherbox part I Ching) to connect to machines which they can control. In fact this goes deeper: the mystic end of the Tech Shi includes the ability to:
a) use the Hexaching as a divinatory tool to predict the future for an item of tech. They cast the sacred Gears of Change and read the results according to the Hexaching's machine ur-language which I call Trigram Codes.
b) Trigram Codes are the skeleton key to all technology and the Hexaching contains all Trigram Codes and so a skilled Tech Shi who knows the depths of the sacred arts of technology (that I have called the Machine Tao, as opposed to the Omnissiah from 40k) can control any device via their cybernetics, like a Rigger. Though this will obviously need some balancing.

Trigram Codes are not dissimilar from standard templace constructs: a set of building blocks common to all tech. That is what is meant by an ur-language.

Regular Tech Shi are merely engineers and mechanics. Others might include those that seek to come up with new combinations of such templates based on the building blocks of the Trigram Codes to improvise new things.

You know if your going for an oppressive regime the first emperor of china and the Qin dynasty would be a better fit than confusianisn whilst still being Wuxia(this would also allow you to add a sword saint type class into the game as Qin wuxia was pre martial arts as we know them).

It's not exactly based on chinese history. It' snot meant to be like Hellas which is greek mythology in space.

Yeh im just saying the Qin Dynasty were alot more oppressive so would actually fit your concept better and also open up a sword based wuxia class.

I probably mean Legalist as opposed to confucian, though it's not terribly important: the Cultured Worlds are strict, authoritarian and highly regimented and not for the peasants.

I wonder shoudl I start a new thread to get into this project properly, or write privately and present later, if at all?

Legalism was introduced during the Qin dynasty so it seems like were on a similar wavelength here

Question:

As a design aesthetic it's important to fuse technology with the fantasy/chi stuff in most cases. Otherwise it might as well just be a fantasy game since there won't be much that's actually unique.

So for healing arts and doctor type characters who can manipulate others through chi to ease their condition (and to do the opposite, making them more rounded characters). How does technology factor in without completely replacing these elements? After all there isn't much need to poke people with needles or touch pressure points if you have a defibrilator on hand to revive them or whatever? Just look at the modern world of medicine where such practises are, at best, debunked.

Ideas have taken shape, but a fundamental question arises governing the nature of the setting. Would this be better as a fantasy setting? It would certainly make a cool fantasy setting (obviously), but that would betray the original idea which still sounds cool - kung fu, chinese myth and science fiction.

The idea is to create a synergy of the three and not just import legend of the water margin into space. Something original, IOW.

However as I design the 'demon' element; the supernatural aspect, which to me is vital, otherwise the character changes fundamentally. Just ask this guy:



But that's where the problem begins:

Either you don't really explain the supernatural in an SF setting, which to me misses the point (even 40k explains how chaos exists and what the Warp is).

Or you explain it scientifically, which is what i've done and what has led me to this question. To wit, the demons (supernatural monster aspect) in this setting are the result of ancient wars mutating chi powers and people turning them into demons that crave girls with green eyes (last part may not be true). However in considering this concept I felt a little deflated: it just didn't have the cachet that the supernatural in fantasy has. Again in 40k (I don't know why i use this as an example at all other than it's sci fantasy) the supernatural - chaos - is something with a real edge to it. Not just another scientific aspect. It's tangible and scary.

I need that fantasy element but synergised with science fiction. I didn't want to create a setting that was two separate aspects: science fiction with laser guns and spaceships, and then magic/chi etc.

I like these supernatural/magical/mystical aspects to settings. They add atmosphere that can be matched in gaming. A tangible yet malleable threat that adds a real fantasy element (in the sense of the fantastic, not just swords and sorcery).