At least part of my plan is explicitly to save face in-character. Yu Jing needs to get allies back in-game, which just so happens to be the same way you get fans back. The only reason I haven't stated what I'd do to completely re-write the Uprising is because US Customs is still holding onto the damn shipment. No book yet, can't fix what I don't have. These are all very good points. I'm still surprised that CB kept any explicitly Japanese troops in Yu Jing. We call them "Ninjas," because it took us something like 5 years on the forums to chase down the Chinese word for "sneaky bastard" (Cike). There's no problem with having ethnic-Chinese (or anyone else, really) troops with the same gear and training. There's a big story problem with how the minor Ninja clans somehow avoided the brainwashing to follow the Emperor and rebel that apparently every other ethnic-Japanese got. From the original timeline (from the Bibliotekfiles E-zine, written ~2007 or 8), Yu Jing was created about 2050 (give or take 5 years). It's been as long as from the American Civil War (and the United States went from a plural "The United States are" to the singular "The United States is") to today as it has been since Yu Jing was created until the Uprising. It's been 5 generations or so since then, and about 2 human lifetimes. So you'd generally just start to see people who had been alive back before the establishment of Yu Jing get Resurrected (takes a really damn long time to pay for it if you weren't killed in combat). 5 generations of "All Hail the Yu Jing StateEmpire!" and "If you want to be in politics, you need to join The Party." That's a lot of indoctrination that should have been happening, just from having to say the words. Hell, going to boot camp will change your culture in 8 weeks... That would be an excellent idea. Though I still hope for a Judge Dee expy. (He'd technically be no more than a Pheasant, and a Zhanying is more likely, as Judge Dee was a village magistrate in the first stories, as low-ranking as you can get in the Imperial Bureaucracy) While at first I really liked the idea, I think @banthafodder is right. You can't ReCreate the First Emperor, the Party wouldn't stand for the competition. Which also runs into problems with anyone else you'd choose as a historical. Cao Cao is even worse as a competitor to the Emperor and the Party (assuming his portrayal in Red Cliff is accurate to the history). Sun Quan might work. We definitely can't use any historical personage since about 1850. Actually, let's throw down on Legalism, the other way: Jing Ke. The 'Nameless' hero of the movie, Hero.
Definitely agreed with you @Section9 & @banthafodder that the First Emperor is probably too threatening to Party and Imperial authority to risk a Recreation, it is far from a hill I'll try to die on, but in defense of the idea let me present the following scenario: What one probably wants out of this Recreation is to provide a motive behind the very Legalist mistakes being made by Yu Jing, despite the ostensibly Confucian philosophy of the Imperial Service and the Buddhist-Communist one of the Party, a set of mistakes that give rise to Uprising and need to be purged in the aftermath. Recreations are not reincarnations. They are constructed according to historical data but also according to the specifications of Aleph and the group which orders their creation. While a faithful recreation of the Qin Emperor would be a threat, perhaps the Party orders a Recreation specifically trained for loyalty... or I think more likely the Emperor orders such, to have his 'own' Recreation alongside Sun who was Party-commissioned. The Qin Emperor offers the advice of a ruler who welded several kingdoms into a single Chinese state which then persisted for millennia, by negotiation and by force. His expertise in the context of Yu Jing, struggling by force and negotiation to unify several nations (and particularly the resistant Japanese) into one StateEmpire would have appeal for an Emperor charged with accomplishing that goal and also Aleph who seeks a stable Human sphere. One might even argue that Emperor Shao Ming, the 'Gentle Dragon' who fought the Triads and shaped the current Imperial Service, would be a particularly likely person to face a dark hour and seek the advice of the very first, and known most harsh, of those to hold his rank, though I'm not sure on the timing having a good fit there. As to risks, in addition to the supposed safeguards against him seeking power built into his creation, Yu Jing law on Imperial succession is clear: no one who is resurrected may sit on the throne. I know it isn't stated in canon, but I hold that part of maintaining the fiction of Recreations-as-historical-persons will certainly involve legal classification of them as resurrections of their historical source, with all that entails. Thus you have Qin Shi Huang, programmed to exist in the background like Sun Tse, an advisor in the cutthroat byzantine Imperial Court. He dictates the harshest measures, Legalism over Confucianism, and his words is trusted as the Imperial Service solidifies. Why waste a body condemned to death, create Kuang Shi! Why worry over courts and lawyers, empower ten thousand Judge Dredds! The Tatenokai have bombed a school, let all who share their nation bleed in consequence! The error, of course, has been to assume that one can dictate the nature of a Recreation. Qin Shi Huang, constructed from histories and recollections though he might be, remains Qin Shi Huang. His advice, his guidance, from the beginning designed to create a state not in service of the people or the Party or the throne, but in service to himself and his 'rightful' place as immortal Emperor of China. In this scenario Uprising represents perhaps a culmination of the Recreation's efforts to subvert Yu Jing in favour of the Empire of the neoQin... not that the Recreation is the initiator, the Japanese ought reserve that role, but that he exploits the sudden circumstance to push the final phase of his agenda. The Imperial Service acts against the principles of Yu Jing because it is meant to, engineered by decades of advice calculated for this outcome. The Yuandun division, loyal to the 'Emperor', have been primed to be the forward spear of Qin when the time is right, their actions wholly Legalist (and genocidal) due to this fact. Even the seemingly-ubiquitous ignoring of Sun's advice makes far more sense in this context... some who listen have already been subverted by Qin who has worked to discredit a rival, some who listen have become aware of Qin's betrayal and are thus suspicious of all Recreations. Now, the Japanese secession has succeeded. The current ITS scenario shows Yu Jing 'Confucian' forces acting as Legalists. This is the zenith of Qin's scheme. But it has failed, surely, the cleanup of the faction, from here, becomes simpler: Qin Shi Huang's plot gained ground, but has ultimately failed, the purge and reform of the Imperial Service is a purge of his influence and a reform along true Confucian lines.
OK, I follow. You were creating a ReCreation to sacrifice/blame for the actions of the Imperial Service.
Pardon me, some recent likes have made me realize I haven't replied to a couple posts yet. It is getting to campfire weather around here. But I would really prefer not to do that. I like it here. I'm not sure how many Japanese traitors are left alive. Spoiled fluff makes it sound like they're going for max bodycount, and taking no prisoners.
So, aside from the Disney-IP infringement, I really cannot sympathize with everyone who seems to dislike the Recreations. That's one of my favorite parts of the fluff lol. If they took that out or stopped it all together I would lose a lot of my interest in this setting, so, I'm going to have to hope none of you are ever hired as fluff-director! :) The idea of Mulan being essentially a nickname, like a lot of the Greeks are, for a particularly heroic Lhost or something is fine too, and a cool one :) @Section9 As long as that's pronounced the Chinese way and not the American way, I'm all down with switching terms ;) Also, again...I'm not asking about re-writing what has been written. I want to know "where do we go from here?" What would the storyline look like for Yu Jing to re-brand their image a bit? BESIDES just 'well IA are nice so, oh well.' ;)
I’m totally in agreement with changing the ninjas still in Yu Jing, evolving into their own troop that does virtually the same thing as what we have. Maybe change a few little things to give them more synergy with the forces they are with. Maybe things that would help fight the JSA, and others, but giving them E-Maulers and Repeaters. I’d like to see YJ fight against in JSA in a totally different way too. With TRADE! How is the JSA going to sustain itself? Especially if YJ puts sanctions of some sort on them and don’t allow any YJ corporations to do business with them? Earth and Dawn settlements might do okay on worlds with mixed factions but I can’t don’t see them doing well on Huang Di (Svarle). Sanctions and blockades can work. Blockades only for a little while I’m sure because O-12 would not allow anything to hurt civilians. I can’t agree more about more characters and Wuxia! The main reason I started Yu Jing was because they had Shaolin! I really want YJ to have more CC specialists again. I also want from other things mentioned as well, but I can’t help but imagine a Silo 5, ARM5 Guan Yu with his EXP Kwan Dao (pole arm) wading into the enemy! How about a Shaolin character that turns all other Shaolin into Regular, or non-impetuous. (I’ve got to say that the Impetuous part of Shaolin never made sense to me, I know it’s a way to give them an extra order, but they are not the blood thirsty killers the rule says in the book). Question, this may be in the book but I haven’t read the whole thing. Who had control of the Japanese people cubes? I thought it was the YJ party that had control of them and decided who could be resurrected. If that’s the case and they still have them. What are they going to do with them? This might be for a whole other topic, but I think YJ needs to move their scientific muscles a bit too. Some more technology, one thing that I’m surprised at is the lack of drones. This is tech we have now! Why is it not represented in the game with remotes or other things. Even little REM drones with Multi-terrain, Super Jump, Climb+, and do nothing but Forward Observe, but don’t count as a specialist.
Trade sanctions are definitely an avenue Yu Jing has to adopt, as well as exploitation of the O-12 legal system. You don't even have to ban exports to or from Japan, you just need to dial up the complex bureaucracy Yu Jing is known for, "Perishable foodstuffs from Japanese territories, no longer certified by the StateEmpire Ministry of Agriculture, must now be inspected individually for any trace of dangerous fungi. This process will take [# of days it takes for the food to rot +1] days", etc. Meanwhile in the courts on Concilium there has to be a torrent of claims and counter-claims over who owes what, Yu Jing claiming Japanese corporations stole investment and educational resources, Japan claiming Yu Jing corporations owe for exploitation. Its just that Yu Jing has been playing this game from the beginning, and has proven very good at it, Japan is new to the party and its resources are pinched, the cases Yu Jing knows it can win can be pushed hard, the ones it knows it will lose can be tied up in legal knots until Japan just gives up because they can't afford to outlast the StateEmpire. Its war, of a low intensity sort, and even though it isn't military conflict (in fact I'd argue BECAUSE it isn't open military conflict) it can lead to fitting context for our tabletop clandestine special operations missions. - The lawsuit of Kanzaki Heavy Industries against No-Dong Naval Yards has stalled in the courts, as Yu Jing lawyers bog it down in an impregnable fog of continuances and increasingly invasive demands for discovery. But the leader of the No-Dong legal team is rumoured to have certain unsavory predilections... can a JSA team obtain incriminating evidence to force him to cease his obstructive efforts? And, the very act of working outside the courts to extort a lawyer spits in the face of the Court, can a Yu Jing team secure proof of Japanese intentions, to present to the judge so that the case is dismissed outright?
If I may join in regarding Mulan: I don't think that Disney would be in the right to sue for IP, were CB to introduce such character. Mulan is an actual Chinese legendary hero and Disney cannot claim IP on all versions of her. They could claim IP violation if CB's version was a blatant adaptation of the Disney movie, but in general, some sort of Mulan should be doable. Just like Beauty and the Beast-inspired movies exist aside from Disney. Of course, I can imagine stupid Disney lawyers trying claim Mulan is their IP and I can see CB not wanting to get into a legal battle with them... still, that would be a case of just playing it safe than Disney being right. I mean, there already *is* a Chinese live-action movie about Mulan, completely unrelated to Disney in any way...
I don't think we'd actually get 'mulan' but a female terracotta warrior who just happens to look the type? Sure.
Uh. Depends. If they went the route of Sun Tze or Sforza, where there is inspiration but the character is more than just legally distinct, then they'd be fine. If they went full Moderator on a Mulan character, then they're simply gambling on no one notifying Disney IP, because they will probably sue based on character design and looks which is what Disney owns.
Admittedly, I'd say that they were reeeeally skirting the IP infringment line with the Morlock Suicide Squad. And of course, if they introduced a character that would be named Mulan and would look just like Disney's Mulan? That could be a problem. But if CB were cautious enough to make their own Mulan distinct from Disney's...
Screw Hua-Mu-Lan, the Demigod of Martial Arts "Angry Red Face" Guan Yu RULES !!! Jokes aside I'm preparing some rough Concept Art Sketches for Recreations / Inspirations / "Masked Heroes" that more or less Yujing versions of the MOST of the "Cast" of Dynasty Warriors / The Battle of Red Cliff. . . They are slightly delayed as I have FAR MORE stuff for My upcoming R.P.G. Campaign, but the first Three of the batches will be just Hua-Mu-Lan, Guan Yu and Lu-Bu. . . As a former practicant of Kung-Fu (some Hung-Gar, some Drunken Monkey, some Shaolin style and a "Smidge" of Pa'Qua, one of the MOST difficult styles of Kung-Fu) I hope to give respectful homage to these "Heritage Legends of Zonnghuo". . . . .!!!
If we're going to do a ReCreation for the Invincible Army, I think it'd be best to run with Guan Yu, the Chinese God of War. Hua Mu Lan is a hero, no doubt. But someone who is so badass that he is raised to godhood as the God of War? Also, if you've seen Red Cliff, you know that Guan Yu was a general, not a head of state. Makes him politically acceptable for the Emperor and the Party.
This is going to sound silly, but with only 5 new units and add what we know and suspect, IA would be a slim sectorial. If they are the heroic sectorial of the Yu Jing, what if each of the iconic units had their hero. Zuyong - Hua Mu Lan Shang-Ji - Lu Bu Shooting Star - Guan Yu etc
They won't do this because it will imply that Yu Jing didn't roll over and die when O-12 prodded them. They wanted Yu Jing to lose, and lose utterly, and lose any moral high ground in the process.
That'd be nice, but I'm not sure we want to have a copy of the Steel Phalanx. I'd rather the Invincible Army be something different from that.
Steel Phalanx is entirely different. For the most part, SP have heroes that command the entire sectorial (they are almost all of them Myrmidons for one). What I'm describing is a sectorial with 3 to 5 Yuriko, Xi, and Neko. Explicitly, Mu Lan would not link with Lu Bu, only with other Zuyong.
Named characters period, regardless of recreation status or IP rip off are only popular with certain sorts of players, and certain other sorts hate named characters period cluttering up their army lists with special snow flake one offs with a less than stellar hit to miss ratio on effectiveness and model attractiveness. Me, I lean towards simply disliking them most of the time by a fairly large margin, if the new sectorial comes out and it's all unique named snowflakes with edgy background stories where they might be cylons then basically I'll be looking at a list I am far less than enthused about. And that's a pretty neutral reaction, the players that don't like that kind of thing, and they aren't at all uncommon in my experience, will look at that sort of list and make that sort of sneery "ewwwwgh..." face. You know the one. Good (faction/sectorial) lists keep uniques to a minimum. Not that Yu Jing doesn't have room for a few, but without significantly restoring other options first it only barely has even that much room.
