10-25-2015, 11:16 AM | #21 | |
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
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Re: Chi Power: What can and can't it do?
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10-25-2015, 03:11 PM | #22 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Charlotte, NC, United States
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Re: Chi Power: What can and can't it do?
Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [2000] is actually rather restrained in its depiction of qinggong compared to most wuxia movies and TV series since Tsui Hark's Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain [1983]. Major characters routinely give gravity lip service at best. Sometimes I suspect the only thing that stops them from flying everywhere they go is a desire to avoid ostentation. "Flight (Chi, -10%; Costs Fatigue, -5%) [34]" would be legitimate for PCs in a "full on" wuxia campaign calibrated to the power level found in contemporary wuxia TV series. Very powerful characters might even have "Flight (Chi, -10%) [36]" with no Fatigue cost.
I think an important question that has so far been unasked in this thread is "will this be a wuxia campaign or a more generic fantasy campaign that happens to have wuxia elements in the mix?" Wuxia has a definite "look" and "feel" to it. The more you let Chi do in your campaign via Cinematic Skills, Imbuements, and Advantages, the more of that look/feel the campaign will have. This is true regardless of relative power level; many weak inexpensive Chi abilities will color the campaign as much or even more than a few powerful expensive ones. I recommend watching contemporary wuxia TV series for inspiration. There are many posted to YouTube with Mandarin audio and English subtitles. If anyone is interested, I'll point you at my own YouTube channel. I maintain several playlists.
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Tim Harris The Seeker Time Lord Saving the universe one planet at a time. Occasionally from my own mistakes. Oops. Last edited by the_seeker; 10-25-2015 at 03:23 PM. Reason: Spelling Correction |
10-25-2015, 03:11 PM | #23 | |
Computer Scientist
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dallas, Texas
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Re: Chi Power: What can and can't it do?
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It's more a question of budget, but there are many films with people lightly running over water, or skipping over the tops of parasols. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4BvCC28SaU (mostly superjump style, but note the upside-down arch run at the beginning) HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNgDtwHreZM HERO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGq6FXcpxtY KUNG FU HUSTLE https://youtu.be/DQrR4BQ6oKY?t=238 (seriously extreme) KUNG FU ROMANCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb64AjF5708 |
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10-25-2015, 03:29 PM | #24 | |||
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Dakota, USA
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Re: Chi Power: What can and can't it do?
I know this gets really annoying, but I've gotten a bit confused over something so I've got to do a big, stinky "quote chain" to make sure I haven't gotten something wrong in it. I actually did get lost in a quote chain a day or two ago on a Pokémon message board so again, I apologize for the inconvenience to others but I need the help. ^^'
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We are talking about "world building" decisions. One part of that is the general "tone" or "reality level" of the setting: harsh realism, realistic, lightly cinematic, cinematic, full on cinematic, four color, silly or any other flavors I left out. We are also talking about fantastic elements; while quite similar, these are two different toggles... or perhaps "dials" are a better term because it isn't just "on off". Not just chi but when we consider any real and fantastic elements, with GURPS you get to fine tune how it will operate in the setting. You can take real world principles of how the universe operates and "tweak" them if you wish... either because it is a "silly" game or because it is otherwise a realistic setting except for some reason one cannot artificially produce electricity, or springs and/or clockwork are far more efficient stores of energy than in real life or any number of similar variables. Of course when it comes to other fantastic elements like magic, there are many schools of thought on the matter and what someone considers to be how magic ought to work and what is appropriate for magical effects, others will disagree or at least find less endearing. When deciding what chi can do, I consider the setting, both in terms of "realistic versus cinematic versus others" and what particular "flavor" of chi I want to allow. There will be a lot of overlap and some combinations don't sound like much fun to play, but they have to be eliminated from consideration nonetheless. Otherwise if we want a simple answer... ...chi can do whatever the player and GM can agree upon. Many (most?) Advantages can be tweaked until they make sense as a chi power, with chi possibly being part of a hybrid modifier if everything is "chi" to some degree: chi cosmic or chi divine for attaining a "higher state of being", chi fueled elemental powers if they could work for the setting. In some a chi based Energy blast is perfectly fine, in others it is clearly a "no no".
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My GURPS Fourth Edition library consists of Basic Set: Characters, Basic Set: Campaigns, Martial Arts, Powers, Powers: Enhanced Senses, Power-Ups 1: Imbuements, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents, Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, Power-Ups 6: Quirks, Power-Ups 8: Limitations, Powers, Social Engineering, Supers, Template Toolkit 1: Characters, Template Toolkit 2: Races, one issue of Pyramid (3/83) a.k.a. Alternate GURPS IV, GURPS Classic Rogues, and GURPS Classic Warriors. Most of which was provided through the generosity of others. Thanks! :) |
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