Xia: Character Generation

This page runs through the basics of character generation.

1. Traits

There are three Traits: Physical, Social and Mental.

Apply the values 1, 2 and 3 to them.

You choose which value goes where, but it is strongly advised that Physical scores at least 2, to reflect the physical nature of most stories.

2. Trigrams

There are four Yang Trigrams: Heaven, Fire, Wind, Thunder.

There are four Yin Trigrams: Earth, Water, Mist, Mountain.

You have 8 values to assign as you will:

• 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1,

What do the trigrams mean?

• Heaven is the Trigram of celestial perfection, control and leadership. Those strong in heaven are confident, forceful, accurate, full of focus and driven to attain great things.
• Fire is the Trigram of passion, strength, positive energy and aggression. Those strong in fire are powerful lovers, ruled by emotions, naturally dominant and aggressive in all things.
• Wind is the Trigram of forward movement, momentum and flow of action. Those strong in wind are dynamic, opportunistic, naturally nomadic, forward thinking and favouring constant progress.
• Thunder is the Trigram of speed, quickness and preemptive action. Those strong in thunder are quick witted, fast to act and react and quick to take the initative.
• Earth is the Trigram of passive defence, acceptance and integration. Those strong in earth are nurturing, protective, accepting of hardship and hard to affect as difficulties flow past them.
• Water is the Trigram of absorption, adaptation and intelligence. Those strong in water are well educated, are good at accepting injury and are able to rise above weakness and setbacks.
• Mist is the Trigram of deception, evasion and cunning. Those strong in mist are rarely what they seem to be. They are adept at concealment, both of their physical selves and of their hearts.
• Mountain is the Trigram of unmoving solidity. Those strong in mountain are tough, durable, able to endure massive injury and rarely shaken by anything.

If you are a new player, its worth being strong (i.e. with a rating of 4) in at least one Yin Trigram, as these are the trigrams that see to your defence and survivability.

3. Chi Pools

You have two Chi Pools.

• Your Yang Chi is equal to the total of Heaven + Fire + Wind + Thunder
• Your Yin Chi is equal to the total of Earth + Water + Mist + Mountain

Chi is used to activate your kung fu secrets, and also to power the eight basic Chi Effects related to your Trigrams. These are described in a later chapter.

Also, if your Yang Chi is greater than your Yin Chi, you are said to be Yang-dominant. This should reflect in your roleplaying, as Yang-dominant individuals tend to be dominant, restless, forceful personalities with a predisposition towards acting rather than waiting.

Alternatively, if your Yin Chi is greater than your Yang Chi, you are said to be Yin-dominant. Yin-dominant individuals tend to be passive, accepting personalities with a predisposition towards reacting to the world rather than seeking to change it, but who also are better at accepting the world as it is.

4. Resilience Pools

Your Health reflects how resistant you are to injury of various sorts.

• Your Physical Resilience is equal to your Mountain Trigram multiplied by your Physical Trait, with +10 added to that total.
• Your Mental Resilience is equal to your Mountain Trigram multiplied by your Mental Trait, with +10 added to that total.
• Your Social Resilience is equal to your Mountain Trigram multiplied by your Social Trait, with +10 added to that total.

So, for example, if the Xia hero Iron Fist Weng has a Mountain Trigram of 3, and traits of Physical 3, Social 2, Mental 1, then his Resilience ratings would be: Physical Resilience 19, Social Resilience 16, Mental Resilience 13.

5. Advantages

You gain two Advantages. These could include:

- Wushu Secrets - Specialised Skills - Heart Secrets - Quality items - Shen Secrets - Major edges - Inner Masteries - Magic

ADVANTAGES IN DEPTH

Wushu Secrets These represent mystical wushu powers that let you achieve certain effects in physical combat, albeit at cost of Chi. All Wushu secrets have the following: 1) An Associated Trigram, and a cost (usually 2 Chi minimum). 2) An Activation Condition, and an Effect. 3) If a Yang effect, usually there will be a way to resist the effect, usually based on the opposite Yin Trigram in the enemy. You can only use one Wushu secret in a round. You declare which Wushu secret you are using openly when you make an attack or declare a defence.

Heaven Wushu secrets relate to perfect accuracy, or bypassing all defences. Fire Wushu secrets inflict additional damage, or otherwise injure or viciously cripple. Thunder Wushu secrets are about speed, pre-emptive action and additional attacks. Wind Wushu secrets help with aggressive movement and flow. Earth Wushu secrets relate to perfect or excellent defences. Water Wushu secrets absorb injury to build combat advantage, and flush out negative effects. Mountain Wushu secrets help with self healing, with toughness and stoic resistance. Mist Wushu secrets evade and deceive, using tricks or defensive movements to negate an enemy.

Heart Secrets Heart Secrets are like Wushu, but for social conflict! They are structured in a way that mirrors wushu, but allow the application of secret courtier techniques to overwhelm an enemy socially.

Shen Secrets Shen Secrets are like Wushu, but for mental conflict! They are structured in a way that mirrors wushu, but allow the application of secret scholar techniques to overwhelm an enemy mentally.

Inner Masteries Inner Masteries enhance your chi control, which manifests in various ways, such as reduced rate of aging, or immunity to disease.

Specialised Skills Specialised skills cannot be attempted unless you have this advantage. Note that most tasks in Xia can be attempted by any individual, so this list is quite small in scope, and relates specifically to tasks that could only be attempted with specialist training. For example: blacksmithy.

Quality items Quality items are those with a net gain of +1 to attributes. For example, a fine sword with +1 accuracy, +1 defence, -1 evasion would be a Quality item.

Major edges Major edges are those with a net gain of +1 to attributes. For example, a network of spies with +2 accuracy, -1 defence would be a Major edge.

Magic The magic advantage gives you knowledge of a single spell, for example a spell to make transformed creatures reveal true form, or a spell to ban ghosts from a house.

Credits

This is a complete roleplaying game, originally created on the rpg.net wiki by Asklepios.