>A point has been reached when the pinnacle of martial technique has been achieved both spiritually and physically.
>To overcome this plataue the scholars of the martial world developed a special technology to interact with Qi called Soul Engines
>Soul Engines are special implants places in the three Dantian's of the person's body allowing them to enhance their Qi and bodies to levels never before imagined
>Even still, as many martialist clamor to gain Soul Engines only so few survive the procedure...
In this topic, we create a sci-fi wuxia setting
Lincoln Harris
Other urls found in this thread:
kissmanga.com
kissmanga.com
danielbayn.com
en.wikipedia.org
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Jackson Parker
Modern Exalted? I like it.
Feng Shui amped up with cybernetics would do it also.
Landon Powell
Han China in Space, you gotta build up the backstory for the nation, and the surrounding belligerents.
Let's give it a go
>The Middle Empire is a collection of smaller kingdoms, united under a common language, philosophy, and loyalty to the Emperor all instilled by the very first Celestial Emperor Huangdi. Boasting a burgeoning military might, the most advanced tech in the know galaxy, and a thriving economy, the Middle Empire is a nation everyone wants to be on friendly terms with.
>However not everything about the Middle Empire is a grand utopia. The Emperor's court is rife with corruption as nobles and officials bicker with each other over control, and the distance between the Emperor and the subjects grows ever wider. More and more, people ignore the laws of the Divine Court, tithes and tributes are 'delayed, if they ever arrive at all. Armies are more loyal to their CO than to the Emperor, making some officials think maybe they don't need to listen to the Emperor anymore...
Grayson Turner
There's a literal cheesecake thread on this board, I just got done visiting /d/, /aco/ AND /s/ and this is somehow the most whorish thing I've seen today
Jackson Harris
I should have mentioned that I'm stealing this from another thread, but I think you need a good setting to really get things off the ground.
>The Neo Shogunate is the Middle Empire's closest, and strangest neighbor. A collection of isolated planets hugging closely to the few yellow starts in its sector of space, the Shogunate swings between slavering adoration and sneering disgust of the Empire. Their government is based loosely off the Imperial Court, though the Emperor is more a figurehead with all power given to the Shogun as opposed to the Middle Empire's Prime Minister sharing power with the Emperor(and thus sharing the blame when something goes wrong), their technology and art are mimics of the Middle Empire's earlier periods, though they have pursued these to such a fanatical degree that it's become a joke in the Middle Empire. They have the largest military force this side of the galaxy, all modeled off the Military Theory of the Middle Empire's oldest sages, and they have used it regularly, fine tuning their military power to utter perfection(according to the Neo Shog, the Middle Empire's official stance is that their a bunch of suicidal loons)
>As the borders of other powers encroach into their space, and trade begins to flow, the Shogunate begins to fracture. There are some that think they no longer need to kowtow to the Middle Empire. Maybe it was time for a new Empire to grow, with the Shogun at its head...
Oliver Wright
Very interested in seeing how this goes
David Collins
Or Legends of the Wulin in space, depending on your system preference.
Grayson Powell
I mean, you want to set out the people and groups the PCs will eventually gather against them.
>The UPE, or United Planets of the Expanse, named after their section of space, are an up and coming super power on the galactic stage, breaking away from their mother Empires a scant few millennia ago. Their resource rich territory means they have plenty of raw material to develop a rapidly growing industry set to spread its influence to every corner of known space.
>Recently, it became clear that they had become something of a buffer and intermediary between the Old Empires and the Middle Empire. The UPE is determined to be more than a stepping stone between two ancient powers well past their expiration however...
Jose Rivera
>The Crimson Locusts are an organization dedicated to toppling the Empire and replacing it with a people's republic governed by the common masses. Though a mere speck in comparison to the combined might of the Middle Kingdoms, they steadily gain traction as the government's corruption becomes apparent and their minor victories gain them attention and infamy.
>Among their arsenal includes repurposed construction and farming equipment, performing feats of Qi from exoskeletons which greatly enhance their strength and speed. Their perfected targets tend to be dams, solar panels, and other generators of energy which they then slink into the shadows after sabotaging.
Christian Turner
As a GM, you should emphasize the difference between liquid and non-liquid things. You could have a very rich place that has grabage buildings versus a 'poorer' place that has awesome decor.
>A common misconception, the Old Empire is not infact a single Empire, but multiple nations that squabble and bicker with each other over territories and resources. Their core worlds starved for material, they have blindly sent out colonial pods to the farthest reaches of their known space, intent on bringing the riches of the galaxy to them. What they didn't anticipate was the distance between them and their colonies would see the rise of dissidents and separatists, discontent to following the rule of a government they'd never seen nor will ever see. By the time word had reached the Old Empires that the colonies in the Expanse had broken away, the UPE had already formed, forming its first Congress and electing its first President. By the time their ancient warp cores brought soldiers to suppress the rebellion, the UPE was firmly entrenched, the Imperial troops dashed upon the UPE's guns, the PoWs rounded up by the UPE were used as a bargaining chip to guarantee their independence from the Old Empires. The reply instead was "Keep them. If aren't willing to die for their Kings, then they don't deserve to come home."
>This defeat came as a wake up call. The Old Empires began a series of reformations, throwing out much of what was old and trusted, replacing it with new and dubious. It was time to extend their reach outside their arm of the galaxy, with ruthless application of force.
Hudson Richardson
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order has potential to be a huge influence here, if you let it. Basically, high tech bodies and martial arts mastery are direct force multipliers upon each other.
Comes to a head in Last Order's Zenith of Things Tournament arc, with Cyborg Karate playing a central role. Some good samples:
kissmanga.com
kissmanga.com
Parker Morales
...
David Russell
...
Luke Cook
>That being said the Old Empires are a fractious lot. As likely to fight themselves as a common enemy. Of the squabbling kingdoms, the most notable are the Londiium Consortium, the Novaya Rus Confederacy, and the Zuerst Sternreich
>The Consortium of all the powers boasts the largest, strongest navy, their Line Ships the bane of pirates and marauders throughout Old Empire Space, the approved Press Policy which drafts captured officers and pirates into the navy only serving to bolster their numbers.
>A necessary force as the Consortium must deal with its own unruly members on a regular basis, the two largest members in a constant struggle for supremacy. If one side was ever to gain true dominance, the surplus of war material and manpower would be enough to tip the balance of power and allow the Consortium to dominate the Old Empires.
David Fisher
>In the Westward expanses of the Sea of Void the Holy Empire of Avonis have warriors who, with the aid of Alchemy and sophisticated augmentations utilize Quintessence to become superhuman warriors oft awared the title of Knighthood.
Xavier Morales
Last Order has some great examples of some of the kinds of crazy martial arts that can be developed thanks to a combination of cybernetics and a Zero G environment
Jayden Diaz
You could pull an assassination like in Star Trek 6 but rather than walk around with gravity boots and shooting people you're darting around and shanking them with poisoned knives
Christian Price
More options than just poison knives, too.
Joseph Turner
>Soul Engines are special implants places in the three Dantian's of the person's body allowing them to enhance their Qi and bodies to levels never before imagined
Chase Kelly
danielbayn.com
Wushu has a really cool setting, kind of an alternate china with ancestor AI ghosts and awesome powers.
Gabriel Miller
>Riderman Karate
>Guy is a grasshopper cyborg
>Doing a flying kick
Dooohohoho!
Christian James
I say it's actually mech fighting.
Christian Lee
PANZERKUNST
MASCHINEKLATSCH
Logan Bailey
...
Colton Young
So all the greatest martial artist are post-human monsters essentially?
Gabriel Smith
Pssh no, it's fighter-sized spacecraft instead.
Jonathan Russell
reality warpers
> start off by punch lightning and deflect it
> will the air molecules into mono-molecular saw blades
> move between droplets of acid rain during an acid storm
> Call out into the heavens and bring down meteors
> eject the core of a planet through well-placed blow
> Dive down into the Sun and collapse it into a blackhole and reemerge unscathed
> travel on foot between planets by willing the space between closer
> intercept starships in mid-warp by entering warp with their own body
> breath in the surface of a star causing it to blank out during each intake during meditation
> battle between masters causes quantum ripples in the timeline, causing spectators to fade in and out of existence
William Flores
A few of those definietly but otherwise we're talking endgame shit that should not be PC accessible.
Brandon Martinez
Yeah, this is something evil/heretical masters would do.
Installing their bodies with Event Horizon level bullshit, and being able to punch out Eldritch Abominations.
Justin Morales
Space samurai allowed?
Hudson Miller
Of course
>Power armored Samurai breed via extensive gene modification and training to be the ultimate warrior as well as being a tacturn businessman
>unassuming Ninja/Kunoichi that can manipulate shadows to strike at weak spots. Is the Samurai's secretary
>Iron fisted Karate Master. The Samurai's brother
>Kanabo wielding Brute with Oni like horns an synthetic muscle augmentations. Drinking buddy
>Tengu beastmen swordsman and magic user. Is the Samurai's driver.
Jeremiah Brown
Nice, I've always liked the idea.
Some random things to help inspire people:
en.wikipedia.org
Elijah Perry
would prosthetics that deviate from human form be considered something only scrubs and heretical styles rely on? ex. multiple cybernetic arms, chi-draining tentacles, tank tracks
or
since it's the future, would those kind of prosthetics accepted more by the martial artists?
Adrian Nguyen
Probably compeiting philosophies on the matter. On the one hand you have a group that tries to stick as close to the natural form as possible and then you have the ones who skirt the line with a few not quit human limbs like tiger claws and wings and then you have the "no fucks given" group that goes out there with full on spider limbs and mechanical tentacles turning them into mecha versions of the Kos parasite. Not all of them are evil but then none of them have the non purer schtik on lock.
Leo Long
Tell me your secret.
Oliver Sullivan
>dude who catches bullets
>couldn't even catch a bullet
>out of the blue
>fired at point blank
>in the confines of his own home
>by his adolescent son
Austin Diaz
>all currencies are condensed into a single unit of exchange: the brouzouf
>cults of cyberleg worshippers have recently sprung up, hungry to break the boundaries of maximum human velocity
Jaxon Williams
I slept with a girl this thin before and it was actually unpleasant.
Cooper Clark
Transhuman Space has this already. China is the world's dominant power. Lots of biomods, genemods, cyberware, and replicants running around, and martial arts have kept up with the advances. The culture on Mars is very lawless wild west slash Chinese, so that plus the low gravity gives you the classic wire-fu visual style of wuxia movies. And the culture has been around on Mars long enough that you have some Revered Masters to do training with.
Jordan Evans
That is moving into sci-fi xianxia territory not that I'm complaining I love that shit
Nicholas Lewis
>Partical accelarator in your stomach
Oh boy.
Ryan Perez
>battle angel alita
>orion
>wuxia
Xavier Hernandez
I imagine you would see guys going full CYBER and integrating weapons and various devices into their bodies to give themselves an edge
If bio modding is a thing you could see guys try to go full BIO except for the Soul Engine implant due to a belief in keeping the body as pure organic as possible to better regulate Qi
Grayson Perry
Always allowed
Isaac Williams
We could go Afro Samurai and just have dudes who are cybered up super swordsmen.
I believe in the second movie Afro's Dad was cloned into some kind of Swole monster.
Anthony Cox
>People who have failed to fully accept or have improperly placed Soul Engines often turn into horrid monsters who's Qi is poisoned causing them to become monsters.
>Worst still, this is sometimes done on purpose for the sake of creating such monsters. The unfortunate few sometimes retain their sense of selves and suffer in their new, twisted forms.
Logan Adams
>Worst still, this is sometimes done on purpose for the sake of creating such monsters.
Cyber-Zombies launching Qi blasts at the players as they attempt to escape the lair of the Evil Kung Fu Space Cult out in the Kuiper Belt
Hunter Smith
Or turned into barely human monstrosities as a form of punishment.
Would you like to see my human dogs?
Chase Bailey
Bumping with a true man of Space Karate
Jason Young
yes
Ryder Roberts
There's plenty of shit you could do with sufficiently advanced technology
I'm not sure if I'm down with every idea here, but it has legs