[Heroquest] Xian Quan, the Well of Souls?

As mentioned here and here, I'm currently running an HQ game for my die-hard DnD group on the alternate Fridays from the regular game. I will talk more about this (and the most recent session of play) in another post, but this whole situation did bring about another game opportunity.

One of the players from the DnD game got left out of the HQ game due to being out of town for almost a month during the holiday season. Unfortunately for her, she's quite a fan of what she's read on HQ and was pretty bummed that she'd missed the boat on the Spring Fountain game. Her husband's birthday was this weekend and he'd requested one of "Doyce's games" -- by which he meant one of the many indie games that I'm constantly trying to find a good time to run. We've done up DitV characters, but I wanted something a bit lighter. I didn't feel ready to run PTA, so I suggested HQ.

But I didn't have anything to run. The players said "Let's just do Spring Fountain in a Marvel Alternate Timeline (tm)". I grudgingly agreed to this, and we all went home for the night and agreed to meet and begin play the next day.

On the way over, I had an idea that I then pitched to the players when I arrived -- take the same basic set up for Well of Souls, but set it in the mythic Ancient China of movies like Crouching Tiger and House of the Flying Daggers.

The players were amenable to this (and one was quite happy not to have to make a second character for the same basic set up, as she was in the first Spring Fountain game already), so while the players worked on basic concepts and took them as far as they could without benefit of complete rules knowledge, I created a "Xian Quan" player briefing, with help from a Chinese Name Generator (well, it gives you Chinese words that sound like names to ignorant anglos, at any rate) to convert the NPCs into their Chinese homynym equivilants. :)

After that, we got down to work on character generation, and in brief form, here's what I got:

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Jackie made up a daughter of the Lord of Xian Quan -- technically the eldest of his children, though not in the running for rulership, due to her gender.

Background: Bao-tu, the oldest of Lord Aoshi's children, was married off by her father almost five years ago. Her husband was neither especially good nor evil, and when he died during the recent Winter Campaign, she mourned him the appropriate length of time, returned to her father's household, and informed him that, having done what she must for the honor of her house, she would never be married for political alliance again.

Goal: Find love on her own terms. Oust her aunt (Lady Kai Ling) from the household, or at the very least end the shameful affair she conducts with Bao-tu's father.

Keywords:
* Homeland: Xian Quan Prefecture
* Species: Human
* Occupation: Petty Noble
* Magic: School of Lordly Advisory (Buddhist)

Key relationship:
- My brother Gulang makes me look good.
- Respects and loves father, but resents her arranged marriage
- Intensely dislikes her aunt, and the affair with her father.
- Loves the memory of her mother.
- Enjoys my brother Huigong's company.

Thoughts: The player was going for someone who was very good at court intrigue, and her 'gimme' skills, plus application of the magic of the scrolls from the School of Lordly Advisory have given her a real edge in that regard. Hers is a magic of shadows and whispers borne to her ears on the breezes and echoes of a drafty castle.

Fun bits: I like her "Quiet Conversations" bracelet, which warns her of eavesdropping -- ironic, considering how much magic she has invested in just that activity.

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Dave made up the son (I think he has a name, but it's not up on the wiki yet) of Lady Kai Ling, the sister-in-law who conducts a long-time affair with Lord Aoshi. He is a soldier for the Prefecture, and a veteran of many bandit incursions.

Keywords
* Homeland: Prefecture of Xian Quan
* Species: Human
* Occupation: Cavalry Soldier, Regular
** Secondary keyword: Veteran of the Bandit Raids: 13
* Magic: Common Magic: My Big Friend

Goal: Good grief, I can't remember.

Key bits: Dave put together a straightforward fighter type, who's conflicted over his parentage. He introduced background that indicates that there's a good chance that Kai Ling was actually having an affair with Aoshi BEFORE her sister died, and that he might be the by-blow of that affair, rather than the son of his supposed father. Aside from making Kai Ling a widow rather than a spinster, this also puts him in line for succession, a fact he suspects and finds troublesome... especially since he's two years Gulang's senior. I also like his "Sword of the Red Willows".

Key relationships:
* Like a brother to Huigong
* Son of Kai Ling
* Bad blood with Gunlang
* Attracted to Sister Jian
* Unbeknownst (?) to him, illegitimate son of Kung Aoshi

The best part: it's quite likely (we need to check this with Dave) that Bao-tu suspects his parentage, and thinks that Kai Ling might be using the affair (or even the Prefects coma) to put her son in command. Whee!

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Aorong Mo (Soaring Glory)

Background: Aorong was raised by his mother's people, a long-lived group of 'high men' who live in a mythical hidden valley in the west. His mother wandered for a time and spent a summer with Man Xun -- he is Aorong's father, though they only met recently.

Aurong lived a somewhat troubled life with his mother's people -- he excelled in classes and swordplay, and children are rare in that long-lived people, but his mixed-blood status caused him much difficulty, and he finally took him mother's advice to travel abroad -- perhaps even visiting his father before the old man died. (Man Xun is in his eighties, and while he fathered Aorong when a young warrior, his son looks to be only in his twenties.)

Aorong has come to the barony and found a place where his is almost a god among men -- taller, more handsome, skilled in word and deed -- he has decided he wants to stay in his father's world and make a place for himself.

An appropriately noble place, that is.

Goal: Marry up.

Keywords:
* Homeland: XianQuan Prefecture
* Species: High Man
* Occupation: Sifu Warrior (Warrior keyword with a few variations)
* Magic: Flying Crane School of Kung-fu

Relationships:
His fathe, Man Xon -- Grudging respect
Xavier -- teaching me how the military works -- he's useful
Huigong -- Family friend and noble contact

My mother's people -- I'm a half-breed with potential
My father's village -- they're a potential asset

(In writing out Aorong's relationships, it became clear that he sees most 'lesser men' as tools. Aragorn, he ain't.

What I really enjoyed about Aorong was how well the magic system fed into the high-flying kung-fu style the player was going for. Aorong is a 'theist' Devotee of the "Flying Crane School" -- basically the Affinities and Feats for "Destor the Adventurer" from the HQ book, with "run on water" swapped in for "run on mud". It rocks.

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And that's what we've got. The wiki pages for it start here. We play on Friday. Comments welcome.