The Campaign Builder's Guild

The idea is also partly inspired by Ghost Fox Killer from DC's the Great Ten. That is purely a magic character; the link between her realm and her powers is not explained scientifically.

In my SF setting there is a proposed character type known as a Ghost Constable. Were this a straight fantasy setting it might be easier to explain (it's magic duh!). But I don't want to just have it be 'done by magic', it needs to be a synergy of SF and fantasy.

"There are 108 Ghost Constables.
When one is killed another is drawn from the ranks of the evil in society who may earn redemption by fighting evil. Redemption is measured in Joss; more commonly known as Hell Money, a spiritual payment.
A suitable candidate is an evil doer saved by another Constable and brought before the mysterious Wu Kwei of the Underworld who infuse his body with the Evil Force from the Eye of Feng Du.
If the candidate survives he becomes the 108th Ghost Constable. There are always and only 108 Ghost Constables. They draw their power from this number: the number of Evil.
If he does not he becomes a zombie entity known as a Jiangshi and thus a slave of the Wu Kwei. These entities were once used as Feng Du's footsoldiers."

So how to develop these concepts in a sf context. The point of this setting is to create a synergy of wuxia chinese folklore and science fiction (as opposed to just pasting science fiction onto china).
To explain some of the ideas:
Feng Du is a big bad in the setting; a science sorcerer if you will. Sort of Gao Zhang or Johan Bonengel of the Buro (both from Feng Shui, the former is a eunuch sorcerer, the latter is the architect of a new world order using demons and cybernetics).
The Evil Force (which i may possibly rename Yin Force, though that sounds more bland) is just that: a force of evil. Sort of 'anti Chi'. I haven't 100% defined it but it's possibly the accumulated hate of the enemies of the gods. Or maybe it incorporates nanites, which i'm not normally fond of because in rpg's nanotech is a bit of a cheap out, IMO. The Eye of Feng Du is a source of that force.
Underworld - a dark region of space possibly to be renamed Underspace, if that isn't a dreadful moniker.
Wu Kwei - the leaders of the Ghost Constables, the immortally suffering victims/prisoners of Feng Du from when Feng had power.

How to tie these together?

Though I'm not the biggest fan of nanotech as a setting concept (because it just seems too easy to explain things by way of magic machines in your blood, the air, the sky), I came up with a new version of the galactic computer environment, or space interweb, if you prefer!

Essentially a cloud of nanites pervade the air. These machines can be accessed in two ways: a traditional hardpoint interface (for the peasants), or a 'cyberjack' implant for those that can afford and are allowed to have such things. The latter allows peoplpe to wirelessly access the internet that's in the air (i'm not a futurist nor a scientist nor a technologist).

These nanites contain the internet as an ephemeral 'spirit medium' and relay information from place to place by relays through hyperspace (otherwise ALL OF SPACE AND EVERY PLANET would be smothered in this, which seems a bit weird).

Ultimately this probably quite bizarre idea is just set dressing. It doesn't change the function, but allows the galactic interweb to be decentralised and to appear more in tune with a fantasy vibe. This could be instead called the Cloud of Heaven.

Quote from: Señor Leetz
The makes a bit more sense. The only issue I see with that is with verisimilitude - Earth as we know it does not exist within the setting, but all of these Chinese terms do. I could that if there was an Earth and at sometime Chinese culture became the defacto culture of humans and thence spread across the galaxy, but I think using specific terms from a place, people, and time that never existed stretches the suspension of disbelief.

That's just how the setting is. It's like characters in star wars saying 'oh hell' and indeed speaking english :P

It's the nature of the setting. I get that won't appeal to everyone, but hey.

Technology, I think, in the arcane sense. Not perhaps in the 40k tech priest sense (ie technology is old and feared) but in the arcane sense of being indistinguishable. Part of the culture. I can't really explain it. So for instance, you don't necessarily have programs or icebreakers you have Shen (spirits in chinese folklore).

Quote from: Luminous Crayon

Quote from: ghost whistler
I think I would prefer a synergy of both, somehow.

Perhaps the AI of the River are the 'soul forms' of honoured dead. I'm not sure.

What if, upon death, some people are rewarded by having their personalities copied to the River, and being used as models for AIs in their likenesses? That way, you keep some of the ancestor worship (because in the river, I can ask Grandpa for help and guidance), and you blur the lines a bit between spiritual and technological outlooks (since there can be a legitimate debate in the setting about whether that's really Grandpa existing in the River's afterlife, or whether that's a soulless computer program that's imitating Grandpa).

Really like your premise here, by the way, this is looking great.

That is something I had and am considering. Just not sure of the logistics. The River is an ancient construct. In some respects the 'present' is a post tech society - it's current era is after the decline of a cultural golden age (the Xia Empire) which itself rose in the shadow of the Tien who are long gone but even more advanced and nonhuman.

This means the River can be full of uploaded people. Factor in a galactic civilisation and it can be overwhelming. Of course you'd have to assume that the ruling nobility would be uploaded, because if anyone qualifies for digital immortality it would have to be the emperor and the ruling dynasts down the ages.

There are some aspects of what might be regarded as supernatural. Just not necessarily this aspect.

Quote from: Señor Leetz
I think it would be best to ignore the nitty gritty details in that case. I see no problem in encountering the residual consciousnesses of the dead within the River if there is some vague techno-spiritual jargon to explain it ever so vaguely, but it should be rare and difficult to find them. Would players be able to physically manifest themselves within the River? Will mystical magic exist within the setting, or will all magic be a form of uber-advanced technology?

magic in ancient china is really the purview of the Taoist priest doing the usual things that such people culturally do: dealing with the supernatural, pursuing immortality - alchemy. On top of that you have geomancy/feng shui. The main focus of the setting is, I suppose, Chi based (which is another topic entirely). So if you look at something like Weapons of the Gods, then the majority of characters use chi to do kung fu in some form (even to superheroic levels). a few characters can do 'magic'. So the River is that part of the setting: the part that's an anolog, in some form, for taoist magic.

I think I would prefer a synergy of both, somehow.

Perhaps the AI of the River are the 'soul forms' of honoured dead. I'm not sure.

do you mean spirit realm in the sense of actual spirits, not technology?

Hello, some people may recognise my nickname because i've posted about these ideas on therpgsite. Currently I am working on a project, that I hope one day might become its own game, called Wuxia Space Opera. As the name suggests this is an SF setting, not hard scifi, based on Wuxia and some elements of Chinese Folklore (in the way something like Zu Warriors or Chinest Ghost Story or Hero is - as opposed to straight up Bruce Lee kungfu). It is important to notw a few things: firstly I don't intend to discuss everything I have all at once, which might be counter productive in places. Secondly, this isn't meant to be like Hellas (or similar projects); it isn't straight up chinese culture/folklore in space. It is a synergy of these things often using anglicised terminology (which has its own flavour as a result) rather than naming everything after the chinese words (i do not speak chinese in any form, nor do I claim any cultural expertise, nor am I even chinese in any way shape or form). Thirdly the science is light. Science and tech are important to the setting, obviously, but I am not a scientist nor a reader of hard SF. This is not Eclipse Phase (not that there is anything wrong with EP either, but it is intense).

With that in mind, I'm posting specifically to discuss how to create the River. This is the galactic internet of the setting. It is important to have this because this is the analog for Taoism/Heaven in the setting (ancient AI instead of the Jade Emperor) - and because there needs to be something like a mass comms/info system in the setting really. But what should this be? There are a few problems already: mainly that, in rpg terms, cyberspace is often problematic. It's just something that doesn't really work in the narrative space roleplaying occupies (I'm thinking in terms of netrunning/jacking into systems/hacking). Also I don't want the whole concept to get bogged down in huge levels of describing computer systems and operations. This isn't specifically a cyberpunk setting. So:

The Xia Empire created the River as it exists today; the galactic information and communication network. It was made in the shadow of the Supreme Ultimate System, the network built by the Tien and administered by their singular Ancestral Intellects: sentient programs built to control the system.
The River has survived the demise of the Xia Empire and the fragmentation of the 10,000 stars, including the rise of the Iron Emperor. It still exists across the galaxy, but each state and organisation has its own territory within. Imperial Iron Qin, for example, has the Great Firewall, which is actively protected by deadly software, to keep out intruders, and the Bureau will pursue hackers across the galaxy if need be.
During the time of the Xia the River was more easily accessible and its own system intelligences, known as Shen, were abundant. Most every cyber interest, such as merchant organisations or noble houses, had Shen representing them in infospace.
In the modern age access to the River is guarded; knowledge about its systems and operations has become the purview of Data Shamans. In more civilised/populated areas entry level system access is easy enough, but elsewhere and for more complex interactions such individuals are needed.

Background:
The Xia Empire - the great cultural pinnacle of galactic civilisation that serves as a cultural and ethical ideal for the heroes of the troubled present.
The Tien - the most advanced culture to ever exist; nonhuman they ruled the galaxy - the 10,000 stars, in ancient times as a precursor race. Note that humans in this setting, like Star Wars, do not come from earth. Earth/Terra is not a part of this galaxy.
Iron Qin - the default bad guys of the present; led by the all powerful Iron Emperor (he knows all the best kungfu/power) they are an oppressive regime that has risen in the wake of the Xia Empire and is the most powerful of the current states.
The Bureau - we might think of Iron Qin as similar to communist China; the Bureau of Doctrine is a pwoerful agency that deals with threats to the cultural stability imposed by Iron Emperor. It deals, for instance, with dissidents and produces propaganda. An all encompassing shadowy tyrannical agency.

HTH.

Thanks for reading.