WuXia Hero

[UltraRob]

Hi All,

 

I just finished the core version of a page set up for my own WuXia (Chinese Fantasy) HERO campaign, and about Chinese WuXia gaming in general. If you're interested drop on by at:

 

http://www.geocities.com/rpatersonca/WuxiaHeroIndex.html

 

Questions and Comments are of course welcome.

 

UltraRob

[tkdguy]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

I like! I just bookmarked your site. Want a free plug? I was in a discussion about this kind of topic on the WOTC boards. Who knows, we could gain a few converts.

[UltraRob]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

I like! I just bookmarked your site. Want a free plug? I was in a discussion about this kind of topic on the WOTC boards. Who knows' date=' we could gain a few converts.[/quote']

 

Thanks.

 

Go right ahead! The more people we can get turned on to this awesome genre the better! Everyone knows about Japanese fantasy/swordplay, but the Chinese stuff is just as cool, and has a different feel to it than the Japanese. Japanese stuff is so serious, whereas Chinese stuff is more romantic and over the top.

 

 

Rob

[tkdguy]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

I agree. One of my taekwondo teachers was showing me some stuff with the jian, which I liked. He does Iaido too.

[UltraRob]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

I agree. One of my taekwondo teachers was showing me some stuff with the jian' date=' which I liked. He does Iaido too.[/quote']

 

Am I right in my assumption the Jian was a pointed weapon mostly used for impaling attacks? The Jian I have seen in movies and TV don't seem to have much of a blade on them.

 

Rob

[tkdguy]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

The jian is the straight sword. The Green Destiny in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a jian. The floppy ones you see are the ones made for beginners; the advanced practitioners use more rigid ones.

[Rick]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

Your TaeKwon Do Sensei was showing you Jain (we call them Giam in our school, it's a regional thing in china). Funny, it's an interesting amalgam, the basis and nature of a Giam seems some what contictary to some of TaeKwon Do's techniques and ideas.

 

It's a very soft weapon, very little actual blocking, lots of parrying by simple avoiding the opponents force, if you ever see someone block with there edge though smack them. When weapon contact is required (usually to angle the other weapon away) always use the flat of the blade, else you'll lose your edge.

 

It can be used to slice but rarely in an arching manner. Such cutts are more often the result in flicks of the rist, it's trueist strength is thrusting, piercing organs and causing internal bleeding. THough I've seen some techniques with it in my school (a traditional Kung Fu school) that have the wielder slice in large circles.

 

It's a fast weapon though, really fast. When we practice parrying weapons with our barehands it is by and far the most difficult weapon to circumvent.

 

As far as the wobbly blades are concerned, those are spring steal weapons that aren't tanged. They are meant only for show, they look great on stage. The real sword is atleast 8 pounds of solid combat steal tanged near the full width of the blade weighted near the hilt. No wobble.

[Rick]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

I like the sight. A few things on the translations (caveat, Mandarin it's a very fluid language with many dialects, my translations come from either the my study of formal mandarin, or my Sifu's knowledge of Taiwanese Mandarin):

 

Qi, can also mean Breath. The Japanese is ussually Ki. Chi is mispelled pinyin (the phonotic mandarin writing).

 

Gong Fu, Is ussually translated as "hard work", "Repition" or "skill aquired through much effort".

 

Qi Gong, is often translated as Breat work, there is also Body gong but for the life of me the wod for body escapes me (also known as Iron Qi Gong).

 

WuXia, often is translated as Knight Errant. Xia (in pinyin) would be pronouced shee-ah.

 

If you're interested the word for Martial arts is WuShu, meaning war arts. THis word is also used in mainland china and now world wide to descride the sport that looks like martial arts but is far more acrobatic, made famous by people like Jet Li and Ray Park.

 

 

Woe love the stuff you wrote about QiGong and the Stances. Interesting fact, I've aften toyed W/the idea of giving forms W/low stances (northern Kung Fu, Shotokan Karate) a Dcv bonus. THese low stances are used to compress the bodies vital areas and to make you harder to hit. I'm however leaning towards the just making a PC buy a DCV level in this case though.

[UltraRob]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

It's a very soft weapon, very little actual blocking, lots of parrying by simple avoiding the opponents force, if you ever see someone block with there edge though smack them. When weapon contact is required (usually to angle the other weapon away) always use the flat of the blade, else you'll lose your edge.

 

It can be used to slice but rarely in an arching manner. Such cutts are more often the result in flicks of the rist, it's trueist strength is thrusting, piercing organs and causing internal bleeding. THough I've seen some techniques with it in my school (a traditional Kung Fu school) that have the wielder slice in large circles.

 

Hmm...Interesting. That is what I suspected after watching people use them in movies and TV (including a few documentaries)...That makes perfect sense, though, they were practicing anti-armour techniques and ones that resulted in quick kills in what they saw as the most efficient manner.

 

It's a fast weapon though, really fast. When we practice parrying weapons with our barehands it is by and far the most difficult weapon to circumvent.

 

For gaming, this is one of the key things to keep in mind...I will remember this! Thank you! ^__^

 

Rob

[Rick]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

Your welcome. THere are stories of the "Ancient masters" (whatever ) slicing peoples wrists with the blade. Very cool on a cinematic or serial way.

[UltraRob]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

I like the sight. A few things on the translations (caveat, Mandarin it's a very fluid language with many dialects, my translations come from either the my study of formal mandarin, or my Sifu's knowledge of Taiwanese Mandarin):

 

Qi, can also mean Breath. The Japanese is ussually Ki. Chi is mispelled pinyin (the phonotic mandarin writing).

 

Dang it! You're right! That's what I get for tossing my "words list" on as an after thought at 2am because I thought there should be one.

 

Gong Fu, Is ussually translated as "hard work", "Repition" or "skill aquired through much effort".

 

Hmm, I have always been fond of the translation "hard skill" myself, since it tends to refer to skills which are hard to learn period. But, I agree with your translations too.

 

Qi Gong, is often translated as Breat work, there is also Body gong but for the life of me the wod for body escapes me (also known as Iron Qi Gong).

 

WuXia, often is translated as Knight Errant. Xia (in pinyin) would be pronouced shee-ah.

 

Good point, I should change that. Actually, I have reached the point of disatisfaction with translating "WuXia" that I prefer to use it as a term unto itself. Just like Samurai is "Samurai", and Knight is "Knight", I think WuXia should simply be "WuXia". There simply isn't a proper translation for them that I have heard and liked to date.

 

Woe love the stuff you wrote about QiGong and the Stances. Interesting fact, I've aften toyed W/the idea of giving forms W/low stances (northern Kung Fu, Shotokan Karate) a Dcv bonus. THese low stances are used to compress the bodies vital areas and to make you harder to hit. I'm however leaning towards the just making a PC buy a DCV level in this case though.

 

Hmm, would those be a DCV bonus only when the attacker is trying to hit certain areas? Or in general? Probably best to just let them buy a bonus level or two, since simple is usually best.

 

Hey, if you want to write up your thoughts on the subject, feel free to submit them to my site. I'd love to include some thoughts from a real Gong Fu practitioner since I am afraid my knowledge of martial arts is pretty much all theory and observation.

 

Thanks for the comments! I'll work on my glossary when I get the chance! You're right, it does need some fine tuning. :-P

 

Rob

[tkdguy]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

The reason my taekwondo instructor knows how to use the jian is because he also used to take wushu. I think he only stopped because his sifu moved to another city. This instructor isn't the guy who teaches the classes I take; it's the head instructor who's my teacher. He teaches mostly the kids' classes and an acrobatics class.

 

He showed me the staff as well (Chinese style rather than Japanese or Korean style), but I wasn't very good with it.

[Plucky]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

Eek, I guess I should post this here instead of under System Discussion...

 

***********************

 

Interestingly, ever since Fred came out, I've been kicking around WuXia Hero in my mind. Twice before, I started typing things out but then figured I'd actually read Ninja Hero first to see what was covered. Eventually I got distracted and the thing went nowhere.

 

As someone who's actually read way too many of these novels (and tv series) since a kid, I had a hard time trying to combine everything I've seen into one semi-coherent structure.

 

I hashed out the basics again a few weeks ago. But seeing as you beat me to posting yours, I don't know if I'd bother.

 

However, I will say that, from what I've seen, gong fu goes along 2 axis.

 

One axis is internal/external. Internal is qi (chi, ki, whatever) and external is the outer physical kung fu moves/reflex.

 

The other axis is Hard and Soft. The philosophy of the Hard style tend to be a huge burst of power to overwhelm the enemy - like lightning striking a tree. The philosophy of the Soft style is to redirect and erode the enemy's force - much like yielding water creating a valley over time. Typically, Shaolin tends to be associated with Harder arts while Wu-Tan is associated with Softer arts (that's not always a fair accessment though).

 

Internal can be further separated into Yang (heat) and Ying (cold). Amongst other things, this really means heat and cold effects. The 'qi veins' in the human body are separated into yang and ying. Depending on how the person practices qi, it is possible to build up yang qi or ying qi only. This is not necessarily harmful, by the way. Dragon Girl can be considered a mistress of Ying internal style. (The ultimate style practiced by Guo Jing/Yang Guo/Dragon Girl formally translates into the Scripture of Nine Ying while that practiced by Cheung Wu Zee translates to the Scripture of Nine Yang.)

 

Frequently, the most powerful gong fu is a balanced blend of internal/external, hard/soft, and ying/yang. However, there are also some really powerful ones that are more focused along one axis or another.

 

Here are some examples.

(Since I don't know what the 'formal' translated names of the styles, I'll make up my own.)

Tai-chi is both internal and external but primarily soft style.

The "Sunflower scroll" practiced by Asia the Invincible is ying internal with hard external.

"18 Palms of Dragon Slaying" practiced by Guo Jing (as taught to him by the North Beggar) is hard internal and hard external

"Iron Shirt" is hard external

In Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber, Cheung Wu Zee (the main character) learned, from a scroll, gong fu that allows him to redirect forces and use the enemys' attack against them. In the novel, there were no "moves" associated with this gong fu so this is soft internal art.

"Scripture of Nine Yang" would be yang, hard internal.

"Scripture of Nine Ying" incorporates manuvers with qi practice so it's ying internal (with both hard and soft elements) and hard external.

 

Anyway, it's late and I really should go to sleep. Hopefully, I make sense.

 

Plucky

[UltraRob]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

So, given Plucky's writeup, I have been thinking...

 

Hard/Soft

Internal/External

Yin/Yang

 

How are these really different?

 

Hard MA are focused on direct application of force, Soft MA are focussed on redirection of force.

 

Well, internal techniques seem to affect the user, and obviously external techniques affect the outside world.

 

Yin and Yang are different kinds of energy, Yin in the feminine, the passive, whereas Yang is the masculine, the active.

 

So for example, a "Hard Internal Yin" technique would be one which physically affects the user's body and makes use of Yin energy. (ie Making your skin hard like Iron.)

 

A "Soft Internal Yin" technique would be one that affects the energy balance of the user's body by making use of outside Yin energy, and makes use of Yin energy. (ie Absorbing an opponent's Qi into your own reserves.)

 

A "Hard External Yang" technique would be one that uses Yang energy to affect the outside world in a direct way. (ie An armour piercing sword technique.)

 

A "Soft External Yang" technique would be one which redirects outside energy and uses Yang as the basis for it's manipulations. (ie Using the force of an opponents punch to slam them into a nearby wall.)

 

Okay, if this is true then I understand Hard/Soft and Internal/External better now. But, how would Yin/Yang fit into this? Do they act like Positive and Negative electricity? Do you have to use Yang to counter Yang and Yin to Counter Yin? Or do you need to use the opposite to cancel out the one being used? Is there some effects which only Yin energy could generate and some effects only Yang could generate?

 

Okay, the next question is how to apply this to a game, and should we apply this to the rules or just leave it as a special effect, a story element?

 

I think this is really up to the GM and how he wants to run his game, but for my own money I rather like simplicity, so I would probably just use it as a special effect and story element when making up the techniques and martial arts for the game. These seem mostly to be classifications rather than actual sources of techniques, whether a technique is hard/soft or internal/external has more to do with the focus of the power and style of the manipulation than the "source" of the power or way in which it's manipulated.

 

I suppose I could use them to limit the types of powers PCs could build...For example limiting the types of powers they could build based on their Martial Art's particular focus:

 

Hard External: Offensive attack powers. (ie Energy Blast, Killing Attacks, etc)

Soft External: Defensive powers using outside foci, Pressure Point techniques, Healing Techniques. (ie Force Fields and Missile Deflection using objects and clothes, Drains and Transformations (to simulate pressure point strikes), etc.)

Hard Internal: Qi powers which affect the user's body in a physical way. (ie Damage Resistance, Aids to physical stats, Self-Healing, Leaping and Running, etc)

Soft Internal: Qi powers that involve the energy balance of the user's body. (ie Aids to "energy" stats like STUN and END, Transfers, Flight, Life Support, etc.)

 

So, I suppose if players chose to study Shotokan Karate, which is a Hard External art, they would only be able to buy Qi Techniques which are offensive and external in nature because it's an Hard External martial art. If they want to buy a "Lightness of Breath Technique" to "fly" which is Soft Internal, they wouldn't be allowed to do it until they had mastered a Soft Internal martial art. (It's up to the GM to determine what "mastery" of a new Martial Art requires and means.)

 

Of course, some Martial Arts are both External and Internal, or Hard and Soft...So can you really classify them like this?

 

Any thoughts?

Rob

[Rick]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

Cimematicly you can define them as different for coolness purposes, in really life though they are all the same thing...in the end. People talk about Hard and soft, internal and external, trueth be told, to be an effective fighter you need to be relaxed...or soft. To generate real power you need to be on some level explosive hard. Any "real" fighting form will get you there eventually, even if the style starts you in rigid stances there will come a time when you need to soften up. THe opposite is true too, competent Tai CHi fighters can be VERY explosive in their strikes (see Chen Tai Chi for an example).

 

To Sum up, "There are many paths to the top of the mountain, in the end though everyone sees the moon."

 

My school, a Traditional Shoalin (XiaoLin, meaning Little or Young Forrest) system is a Northern Green Dragon. We try and epitimize the three stages of water. First in stillness we are like the pool, reflective and calm. In Motion we are like the River, soft and yielding yet continuos and unstoppable. Finally in combat we are like the ocean, A-rythmic, in one moment, we are still, the next we can flow and when we strike we crash down like waves on rocks.

 

That's all really pretty, what it means is that we blend the soft and the hard. I never meet someones force W/my own. THere will always be someone stronger, so I deflect and evade. At the same time I don't want to waste my opponents energy so I strike simultaneusly to my deflection, using our combined energy. We also are big on angling off line, to catch opponents off guard.

[tkdguy]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

I agree with Rick. You do need both hard and soft techniques, as well as yin and yang.

 

If I remember correctly, it's more useful to conter yang with yin, and vice versa. Even in a hard style like taekwondo you use that.

 

Let's say someone is punching you. He's in a yang state right now. But after he's thrown the punch, he has to retract his arm and return. Now he's in a yin state. You evade or parry his strike (yin) and counterattack when he retracts his arm (yang).

 

Let me know if I got this wrong, btw. It's been a while since the last time I studied this.

[Plucky]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

UltraRob,

 

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. That's one of the reasons I had so much trouble organizing my thoughts.

 

Also, I am all for simplicity...as long as players don't ask to do things they saw on tv that's hard to define within the simplified structure. (Then, I've gotta learn to say NO!!) I wish the famous wuxia authors had been more organized.

 

Anyway, for complex gaming purposes, I ended up somewhere around here:

 

1. A lot of the gong fu has different 'levels' to them - different moves for external or attainment for internal. The fact of the matter is, it's just increasing power of the same basicattack. Some people spend decades trying to advance to the next level.

 

2. I agree with you completely, by differentiating the external/internal/hard/soft qualities by limiting powers to certain qualities.

 

3. There are gongfu that have no discernable qualities per se. Realistically, that had more to do with particular author's writing style than anything else. On the other hand, a lot of Asian philosophy goes in cycles - extreme yang becomes ying and extreme ying becomes yang. Practically speaking, elementary gongfu is too basic to have specialized qualities to them while really advanced gongfu has reconcile the differences between the extremes.

 

So, I implement a martial arts skill. Anyone learning martial arts must successfully roll their martial arts. I figure one skill is enough.

 

Before going further, I also want to say that 'side effects' (or losing control to the infernal flame) is a common theme, especially with regards to practicing qi. This happens when someone try to learn something too fast, becomes distracted in their meditation, or attempt to learn something incompatible to what they've already practiced. The effects can be anything from going crazy to losing their qi to losing their lives. Many old masters can no longer fight or walk because they messed up trying to learn some difficult, advanced gong fu.

 

Okay, learning all gong fu, even to attain the next level of mastery, requires a skill roll. Next, any gongfu that people bring up, define it along the hard/soft (and Ying/Yang if desired) axis..say from -5 to 5. Advanced gongfu that are beyond categorization have the Advantage "able to work with any gongfu". All the flavor text become modifiers to the skill roll for advancement.

 

Learning from typical books/scrolls is neutral (unless it's cryptic).

Every 5 active points (or 10 point of END in the qi pool) is -1 to skill roll.

Creating new gongfu on one's own doubles above penalty.

Learning from a great sifu gives bonuses to the roll.

Learning gongfu that has a different sign along either axis gives negative modifier (additive).

 

For even more complication, add a 'time to learn' for any gongfu and apply modifiers for moving up and down the time chart.

 

Any failures that miss by 4 or more is subject to the side effect. The severity and effect of the side effect depends on the gongfu this practitioner is trying to learn.

Typically, side effects are difficult to get rid of and usually involves:

1. Finding a qi master willing to risk side effect to treat you.

2. Finding a master doctor who also knows a lot about qi.

3. Finding some rare, once-in-a-hundred-year herb or animal.

4. Practicing some ultra-powerful qigong.

 

In novels, you frequently read about the established, 'white' school that teaches people to take one step at a time (this minimize the chance of something bad happening) and the 'black' schools that emphasizes maximum power in the shortest amount of time (with maximum risk...like trying to advance 40 active points in 1 shot).

 

Incidentally, that's why the supreme Shaolin qigong, Yi-zin-zing, is so powerful. It's said to be the qigong that can blend any other qigong. Learning Yi-zin-zing can cure side effects and dramatically reduce incuring side effects in the future.

 

Of course, there can also be specific conditions and effects of each gongfu. Gu Long had one where, before you've completely mastered the qigong, your qi comes and goes at random. And, there's the famous Xin Yun one about castration....

 

As to your question about how ying and yang oppose each other. Usually, greater qi wins regardless. However, ying or yang aligned powers also have the elemental damage kicker. Typically, only ying can heal yang damage and vice versa, however.

 

That's all for now. Again, hope I make sense. Time for bed.

 

Plucky

[Rick]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

Bruce li once said, "When my opponent expands I contract, when my opponent contracts I expand, when the moment to strike comes I don't, the strike happens on it's own."

[UltraRob]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

UltraRob,

 

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. That's one of the reasons I had so much trouble organizing my thoughts.

 

It is tricky, I think being immersed in it is both a blessing and curse...

 

Also, I am all for simplicity...as long as players don't ask to do things they saw on tv that's hard to define within the simplified structure. (Then, I've gotta learn to say NO!!) I wish the famous wuxia authors had been more organized.

 

Yeah, I already noticed that reading both Gu Long and Jin Yong stuff, and of course watching the movies and TV shows...there really isn't a lot of consistancy. Actually, when I first tried to run a WuXia campaign one of the mistakes I made was not recognising that my source materials were presenting different concepts of WuXia theory and martial arts...I didn't realize that I needed to filter the materials and find a coherent focus which works for my type of gaming. (for those Superhero fans reading this, it's kind've like trying to reconcile the different power levels of the Marvel and DC universes into one coherent whole...they have different theoretical basis and philsophical basis behind them Marvel's "Men with the powers of Gods" approach, and DC's "Gods who walk among men" approach. They are actually not compatible with each other because they are completely different approaches.)

 

Anyway, for complex gaming purposes, I ended up somewhere around here:

 

I love your writeup here, do you mind if I archive this on my site? With credit given to you, of course. I think this is a great analysis of how to develop these powers using HERO. I was thinking along similar lines already myself (as you will have probably seen if you read my campaign guidelines) but you set up a simpler and more coherent structure than I had.

 

 

1. A lot of the gong fu has different 'levels' to them - different moves for external or attainment for internal. The fact of the matter is, it's just increasing power of the same basicattack. Some people spend decades trying to advance to the next level.

 

So, in the end, it's really just high active point levels. ^_-

I noticed the whole "level" concept (which HERO doesn't have) ironically applies very well in WuXia martial arts stuff. To the point where I was thinking of actually using a ranking system either based on characters or power level.

So it would either run like this:

 

(Based on Character level, and borrowing from Killer Shrike)

Character "rank" is equal to their total points minus 100, divided by 25. (This is assuming that 125pts is the base starting level for PCs in a campaign)

So it would work out like this:

125: Rank ("Level") 1

150: Rank 2

175: Rank 3

200: Rank 4

225: Rank 5

250: Rank 6

etc.

 

(Or, Based on Active Points)

Character Rank= Highest Active point power divided by 15.

(This would work regardless of starting points, I chose "15" because that is the cost of a 1D6 Killing Attack.)

So it would work out like this:

15 or less: Rank 1

30: Rank 2

45: Rank 3

60: Rank 4

75: Rank 5

90: Rank 6

etc

 

The reason I was considering this is because I find in Martial Arts/WuXia fiction that who is better than who is a really big deal, and characters seem able to sum up each other's power level in seconds. Unless they are hiding it, almost any display of true martial skill seems to show a character's "level of accomplishment".

So, if you used this system then with a good PER roll (or appropriate skill roll) the PCs (or NPCs) would be capable of having a rough "rank" to judge each other's skill by. I am inclined to use the "Character Level" system because the "Active Point" ranking system doesn't take into account the guy with 10 Combat Skill levels, but no real points in "powers".

This would also be a good metagaming tool for determining whether a character was "worthy" of learning from a master. Although it's one of those things that would depend on GM taste since a lot of Masters seem to pick students based on "what they might handle one day" instead of their current level of power.

As well, I have to admit one D&Dism I do like is the ability to tell my PCs the rough level of a potential NPC combatant and have them suddenly go from "Yeah! Let's get him!" to "Yessir Mr. Buttkicker, Nosir Mr. Buttkicker. Right Away Mr. Buttkicker." because they know they're not in his league. I find in leveless games like HERO, PCs never seem to think about whether the badguy is someone they can really take on or not. :-P

 

2. I agree with you completely, by differentiating the external/internal/hard/soft qualities by limiting powers to certain qualities.

 

The only problem is that even as I was writing that up, I was finding it hard to determine which powers should go where. It might be a very workable system, but it would also be a lot of work and thought on the GM's part.

 

So, I implement a martial arts skill. Anyone learning martial arts must successfully roll their martial arts. I figure one skill is enough.

 

Which do you think is better, a skill for "martial arts" in general, or a specific knowledge/ability skill of one particular art?

 

Before going further, I also want to say that 'side effects' (or losing control to the infernal flame) is a common theme, especially with regards to practicing qi. This happens when someone try to learn something too fast, becomes distracted in their meditation, or attempt to learn something incompatible to what they've already practiced. The effects can be anything from going crazy to losing their qi to losing their lives. Many old masters can no longer fight or walk because they messed up trying to learn some difficult, advanced gong fu.

 

I knew about this, but didn't give it sufficient thought I think...I think "side effects" are a great way to handle the problem of characters making skill rolls to learn Gong Fu skills. When I tried a system similar to yours, what I ran into was that even though I incorporated "extra time" to develop and learn skills it was far more practical for my PCs to make an 8< (or even 6<) roll every day than for them to take the extra YEAR to get that 8< up to 12<.

BUT, if we incoporate Side Effects into the roll as you have, it suddenly becomes really important that the characters only make that roll ONCE! Because every time they try it, they risk being screwed up, or screwing up the powers they are trying to learn/create. (Which can be a good plot device in and of itself.)

What about making it so that every 1pt (or 2pts) they miss their roll by gives them 5pts worth of Side Effect. This could be to the power itself, or even as a character disadvantage. (In which case I would say that every 2pts they miss the roll by gives them 1pt worth of character disadvantage points.) Or perhaps if they miss their development roll, they would have to make a roll on some "Side Effect Table" to see what happens to them.

Suddenly messing with Qi becomes a serious business, only done by professionals, and even they screw up sometimes!

 

In novels, you frequently read about the established, 'white' school that teaches people to take one step at a time (this minimize the chance of something bad happening) and the 'black' schools that emphasizes maximum power in the shortest amount of time (with maximum risk...like trying to advance 40 active points in 1 shot).

 

I like this idea too, that the PCs are toying with fire, and although they CAN learn mega-powers in one shot, there is a major risk and price to be paid if they fail. Anything which makes the Players gamble and think about how far they want to push things is a good idea in my book!

 

As to your question about how ying and yang oppose each other. Usually, greater qi wins regardless. However, ying or yang aligned powers also have the elemental damage kicker. Typically, only ying can heal yang damage and vice versa, however.

 

I think it's best to just leave them as a special effect, and not worry about them too much except in story terms. ("The damage from my attack cannot be healed, except by someone who knows the 5 Yin Fire Healing Technique, and the last master of it died five years ago! Do you still wish to fight me? Or will you taste my Gong Fu today?"

 

 

That's all for now. Again, hope I make sense. Time for bed.

 

Plucky

 

No, you wrote an excellent writeup! I understood completely and you made some really good points! Thanks for helping me out with this!

 

Rob

[Plucky]

Re: WuXia Hero

 

I love your writeup here' date=' do you mind if I archive this on my site? [/quote']

 

Thanks! Feel free to archive this and I can feed my ego on my handle being on a website somewhere. I'll write more when I have the chance and I've already thought about some of the gongfu from the novels...though a lot of that depends on what level game is being run.

 

Also, I really like your ranking idea. Yes, one frequently got a sense of how powerful other people are by watching how them handle themselves. How about Analyze Style?

 

Plucky