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Magistrates of the Warring States (Legends of the Wulin) [Forum] [Dice]

Dietaku

Crimson Cool Sage
So, since I am masochistic trying out new systems, I thought I'd give one last system I've been meaning to try a whirl. I love chop-socky wuxia action, and LotW seems to be right up my alley, so here we go.


Number of Players: 4-7(ish. We'll see if people have really good ideas if we get to hat number)


Premise: The Empire is in a shambles. The Jin Emperor has disappeared, and is rumored to be a pirate on the high seas. The Crown Empress has gone mad with power, using her beauty and wiles to manipulate the court, raise taxes, and execute those who disagree. The courtly eunuchs have left the Forbidden City, and are rumored to be instigating a new religion to undermine the authority of the Royal Family. The barbarians of the north have descended upon the northern allies and vassals of the Imperial Family, claiming that they are the rightful rulers of the Empire, as the Jin dynasty has lose its virtue in the eyes of Heaven. The Sun family, stalwart supporters of the Imperium and allies to the throne, have quietly seceded, and are beginning to war south in order to gain more land and resources to survive, seeking to preserve their dignity in these troubled times. Out of all of this, the Minister of the Left, Shen Xiu, has sought out powerful and capable members of the Wulin, and granting them the titles of Magistrates of the Court, tasked them with finding peace and security for the Empire. Can you do so, even with all these forces arrayed against you?


Note: I'm new to this system, so being new is no deal-breaker. We can learn together!


Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you here!
 
So, since I am sadistic a fan of the three kingdoms and Wuxia, I'm certainly interested. Although I can't really say for sure if I'm going to be on board with this or not yet. To me, the premise is still unclear. The empire is on the eve of destruction to be sure. However what the prospective players have to do with it is hazy.


To my knowledge, magistrates were more localized and low ranking. While it seems the players would have more authority and leeway to...fix everything. Somehow. Against some or all of these forces.


Unsure where this is all going beyond save an empire and kung fu violence. What sort of authority would we have in a collapsing empire beyond what we could demand with our fists? Does our job have a focus in this empire or would we be travelling the length and breadth of it to said problem locales? Most importantly, do I get a funny hat?
 
I'm totally fine with giving this system a try. Mind, I'm not as familiar with Wuxia as I could be but eh. Learn as I go.
 
Glad to see that helped. I'm allowing any and all internal and external styles, so go wild with whatever you want.
 
Which is great because I'm thinking warrior obsessed with becoming martial arts master and a sense of JUSHTISH. Gotta have that token cliche player character tossed in at some point.
 
Wuxia runs on cliche, so having a warrior obsessed with justice would be completely okay.


You got any skills or styles in mind?
 
God, I've wanted to play Wulin for a year at least. I need to reread the book to get a handle on it. But I'm interested!
 
I'm having second thoughts on that, honestly. I'm going through the book and trying to get a better idea of the everything it has to offer before I give a real definite (biggest fear is that we have nothing but meat heads running around without tactical/political/medical support. That would be a bitch to deal with).
 
Skrakes said:
God, I've wanted to play Wulin for a year at least. I need to reread the book to get a handle on it. But I'm interested!
Cool! Glad to have you!

Varna said:
I'm having second thoughts on that, honestly. I'm going through the book and trying to get a better idea of the everything it has to offer before I give a real definite (biggest fear is that we have nothing but meat heads running around without tactical/political/medical support. That would be a bitch to deal with).
Well, whatever it is you settle on, I'm sure it'll be fine, Varna.
 
Thinking of going with a scholar, courtier, or warrior. No ideas yet on style or which of the 3 I'll do. Mostly trying to wrap my head around the system and it's fondness for trying to use confusing water metaphors for mechanics.
 
Personally, I'm a fan of Ravening Wings+Untainted Lotus Mastery. Delicious NotHokuto Ryuuken. Anything you're having trouble with specifically, @Action Replay ?
 
Saw the not hokutou, was thinking on getting it depending on the character type I play. There's even a suitable fc for that in the prior to the apocalypse story...


Not really sure about the troubled times deal. Since it says when all 0's come up, which is not possible when rolling between 1 and 10. Also I don't know what happens if you roll multiple 10s as the highest score. Given the # of same result dice is the 10's place...say I roll 5 dice that all give me 10. What is the result? 5*? 5**?


Might have more questions later as I progress further through the book. These are what I don't quite get so far.
 
The result would be five times zero, it seems, as they seem to be adhering to a d10 having 0-9 on the faces. Interesting times is their version of a Critical Failure. Instead of just failing, something unusual and unexpected happens. You can still succeed, mind, just the outcome is not the norm. You also get a point of Chivalrous Joss for accepting this, as you don't have to accept it.


To answer your initial question, let's say we have a Wulin, Li Kuugo, former bandit, and master of Xin Shan Quan. Ms. Li rolls her Lake to punch a thug who is threatening her. Being rank 4, she rolls 7 dice, and gets a trio of 5s. This would mean she could use those to get a (5 rolled result*3 of that number) 15 result to attack the thug. It's a sort of Cribbage-esque deal where you want higher numbers, but also a set of said number to get super-high results.


That's a basic description of the rolling system, and Li could do much more, like adding Joss to mess with her lake or the thug's, used a martial arts technique to inflict various ripples (Deletrious conditions or wounds) on her opponent, or added any fives from her River (A reserve dice pool you can use at any time) to make her attack even better.
 
I'm holding off on deciding on one character until I see what holes the party actually needs filling, but I have a few ideas:

  • A merciless swordsman, the illegitimate son of a highly-cultivated member of the Wulin. While his father cannot be named, his father granted him a post as a bodyguard, protecting the actual heir of the clan -- his half-brother. But in the chaos surrounding the emperor's disappearance, an assassin slew the air; the swordsman was cast into shame for his failure. He sees this opportunity from the Minister of the Left as a way to hunt down the assassins and restore some justice to the empire. He will let nothing stop him on his path. (Definitely a Warrior, focusing on Jade Spirit Sword for combat.)
  • By day, she is a lady of the imperial court. Conspicuously unmarried but influential, she has lines of communication with (what remains of) the government, including the empress's officials. By night, though, she walks the street of the capital, in the lower wards, to train her skills and dispense swift justice to the corrupt -- while appropriately disguised as a poor wanderer. She would focus on running political interferance for the party, namely keeping the Empress's focus elsewhere. (Courtier, focused on unarmed fighting. Perhaps using the Ice internal style for theme.)


I have others, but that's enough for now.
 
The Crow-mother is spoken of most commonly by superstitious soldiers, who can each swear with authority that their cousin saw her scavenging the dead for organs, after a battle. None have ever seen her personally. She is disregarded most completely by those of low standing and great pride, in the Wulin, who know better than to fear a witch-doctor of vague provenance and no tales of glory. None have ever fought her. She is respected most highly by the sages that advanced students despair of the chance to apprentice to, who have the insight to identify her kung fu, and who clutch more tightly to their q'i when she is reported to be in the area. None will share their reasons.


Yin-metal Doctor. Not sure on styles; I'll have to borrow the book.
 
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Welp, since my friend has been giving me the nudge towards it, I'll just play a not!Lyn warrior swordswoman. I'll try to get a profile crafted sometime this week or the next.
 

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