Beneath a More Auspicious Star

At the urgings of those enthused by such things, and inspired heavily by the mythology and tales surrounding the Romance of the Three Kingdoms I'm designing a AW Hack for playing the Movers and Shakers of pseudo-Dynastic China.

Whether a proud Warrior from a Small Independent House who follows the Way of the Clouds or a Governor for the Ambitious Wei House who believes in the Way of the Law, Beneath a More Auspicious Star deals with the passions and personal prides of those who shaped a new Order from the Chaos.

I thought I'd introduce it here. It's still very much a work in progress, as I try design moves that embody the scope and spirit of the actions taken by these all-too-human titans. I guess this is also an open call to here the kinds of people you'd want to see and be, and the actions you'd want to perform. I'd also like to know how close to history you would want a hack like this to adhere.

Thanks,
Shadowmourne

EDIT - It occurs to me, a glance at the (somewhat messy) bones of the Hack might help people grasp what I'm going for - https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1BApzKeweJICnSPaGEnWqybjQZwABkP3c3cDGdRrTHbc&hl=en_GB&authkey=CK2Bk4AD

I have seen bits of pieces of it and it is pretty awesome. Generals, Sword Dancers, wizzened old philosophers... The breath of possible characters is even wider than in regular AW, and the one's I've seen seem very much playable (in the "I want to play this guy!" sense). It is my firm belief that when it's done, it'll be way cool.

There are also some really neat design innovations ("Pawns" - NPCs that are basically a powerful persons *gear*) and design choices (Beauty is the violence stat - duels and such - unless you go to war with the offender, in which case Ambition and Reputation begin to matter a lot more).

The name though. The name! I have no idea what the game with that name is about.

There's some really good stuff in there, I can't wait to see it cleaned up and formalized a little more. I might be stealing some ideas on how you handled character creation and the concept of pawns for my Song of Ice and Fire hack :)

Loads of flavor stuffed into the moves, though, it feels very epic-Classical-Chinese, so that's cool.

Unfortunately, I have to agree that the name originally left me kind of going 'huh?' Is that a phrase from Chinese history/mythology? I'd figure "heaven" ought to be in the title somewhere :)

Anyone seen Red Cliffs?

I own it.

I need time to read rather than only browse it but I love this genre and I think this is gold:

When you Wield a Blade with Deadly Grace roll +Beauty
On a 10+ pick 2, on a 7-9 choose 1:
You wound someone’s pride
You wound someone’s body
You remain unharmed

Lots more great stuff, but this stood out.  Mostly because I see myself always picking the first two at the cost of being harmed.

I've finally acquired and viewed Red Cliff - aside from it being an incredible film, it maps perfectly onto what I want. Many of the moves were made by characters in the film and they suggested a few extra moves to incorporate.

Observations:

Zhou Yu demonstrates exactly why the Harm move (to wield a blade with deadly grace) is a Beauty move.

Kong Ming (Zhuge Liang) is the image of what I imagine the Strategist to be - which is hardly a surprise considering he's one of the great Strategists.

I need more tea ceremonies - this is something I feel is true not just in a hack but in life.

Those of you who quite rightly point out the title doesn't quite ring true - what are your thoughts as to an alternative - the thinking at the moment is one tied to Horoscopes and the Emperor and the idea of the Emperor as a Beacon of Light, Hope and Fortune for the land and the people - though I'll admit it doesn't quite resonate the way I'd like.

I have Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon to get through too, so hopefully that will provide more fodder for inspiration.

"Light, Hope and Fortune"
"Empire of Stars"
"Empire of Light and Fortune"

http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B73tJPBL4QX8OWEwNmI0YmItYjFjZC00YzZiLTk2NjAtMWUyM2FlNzJlMTI1&hl=en_GB

If anyone's interested in seeing the full work in progress, there it is.

As for the name, I think I'll put it to one side for the moment and see what comes to me.

Oh, awesome. I was trying to do an ROTK-inspired hack but you seem to be a lot more steeped in the source material than I am (I still have to read the book). Chances are I'll just end up kicking my hack to the curb and playing with this.

I will glance through your rules as soon as I can spare a moment.

Please don't change the name! I love it. My friend has just starting work on a system based around Romance of The Three Kingdoms. We play Apocalypse World and Dungeon World all the damn time. Definitely going to show this to my friends and give it a try soon.