What Infinite Worlds worldlines or GURPS setting work for martial-artsy characters?

[Toptomcat]

If I'm in an Infinite Worlds game and I want to play a super, a centurion out of time, a steampunk inventor, or several different kinds of combat robot, I have a fair number of worldlines to root them in.

If I want to play a cultivator, super-ninja, or other superhuman martial-arts expert from a place where martial-arts schools, sects and temples are powerful and influential organizations which play a seriously important role in world politics- or at least have more cultural cachet than stip-mall McDojos- is there a ready-made worldline or GURPS setting I can claim that they're from and use to fill out their background, or do I have to work from scratch?

[Mark Skarr]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Go look a the White Wolf Street Fighter game (actually, watch Mr. Welch's review of it). Claim you're from there.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Toptomcat

If I'm in an Infinite Worlds game and I want to play a super, a centurion out of time, a steampunk inventor, or several different kinds of combat robot, I have a fair number of worldlines to root them in.

If I want to play a cultivator, super-ninja, or other superhuman martial-arts expert from a place where martial-arts schools, sects and temples are powerful and influential organizations which play a seriously important role in world politics- or at least have more cultural cachet than stip-mall McDojos- is there a ready-made worldline or GURPS setting I can claim that they're from and use to fill out their background, or do I have to work from scratch?

Martial Arts Adventures: Pawns of the Clonemasters. It's set in a world where 250 point martial artists fight the creations of evil scientific overlords.

[thrash]

Arguably, a campaign based around Wanshijieshan (IW, p.80) meets your criteria. You could have the monks take a more proactive role in policing the worlds that connect through their mountains -- or at least the people who use those connections.

Historically, martial arts flourish when people are oppressed and denied more conventional weaponry, or where individual prowess with hand weapons (read: dueling) is a valuable social tool. Schools and temples become powerful (openly or in secret) in opposition to repressive mainstream political organizations. You could probably pick any of the worlds that have been / are being taken over by Centrum or Reich 5 and give them a martial arts based Resistance. Bonus points if that world allows superpowers or magic.

[Aletheus]

Maybe Ming-3 (AE2, p.32-49)? Playing with Wuxia-style game is presented as a possibility.

[thrash]

Ming-3 also has the option to have the martial artists be Europeans, as with the Irish Triads and Si Lei Li (AE2 pp. 38-39). Chi powers are mentioned on p. 40.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Martial Arts Adventures: Pawns of the Clonemasters. It's set in a world where 250 point martial artists fight the creations of evil scientific overlords.

Note that this was a 3e adventure and you'd want to up the pts for 4e. There was an Art that taught TBAM and pretty much all the TBAM Skills.

There was even a skill (the notorious Mountain Heart) that didn't make it into 4e. You'd replace it with some Regeneration.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Shikaku-Mon, of course. Can't have Cyberpunk Japan without cool martial artists (and Gun-Fu!). In fact, any Cyberpunk world, as aggressive self-empowerment is integral to the reality (as are Secret Societies in the origial novels).

GURPS Voodoo, again a natural. It's halfway to wuxia already with Secret Lodges and mystical lore.

Technomancer specifically mentions the martial art of Spellboxing, although there's no write-up. And a supernatural world is more likely to have Old Masters.

Conspiracy X, with it's secret agents and shadow wars.