Red Sky
Right. So, despite me planning a bit for the Jade Regent GURPS game I'll be running on Saturdays (not sure when), I really have to do some planning for the Friday "Red Sky" game (GURPS Monster Hunters set in the Dresden Files universe.)
I've mostly got the next story arc - Clean Slate - plotted out, so that's fine. The issue revolves around a new player to the group and his character. Right now, we're leaning toward him basically being (in Feng Shui terms) a "karate cop" with hints of Iron Fist in his backstory. As is always the case in cinematic types like this, I thought it would be appropriate if the PC was trained from an early age, but then abandoned his family's teachings because he "wants to be normal." And then, Fate finds him and drags him back into the mess.
Stats-wise, I'm currently looking at using the the Police Detective template from GURPS: Mysteries atop the Dragon-Man Kung Fu template from Martial Arts, except dropping the whole "breathe fire" thing and replacing it with "hand of fire" down the road. My current thinking is to merge the K’un-Lun elements from Iron Fist, mix in liberally The Destroyer books (Remo Williams, Chiun), throw in a little Assassin's Creed and voila. This is the current "background" that I'm thinking of implementing:
The Order was birthed in Chaos, in a time where Demons known as the Oni walked alongside Men, where creatures of the Otherworld strove to unmake the whole of reality, where Gods and Monsters warred in Heaven. In this time of madness, a single Man strove to master himself and forge his body into a Weapon to stand against the Chaos. He faced Shou-Lao the Undying and survived, thus becoming the first Master of Sinan’ju.
According to myth, the Master was rewarded for his great service by the Jade Emperor who fashioned for him an entire domain to rule. This domain would become known as K’un-Lun, and only those deemed worthy could pass through its gates.
To become a Master, adherents of the Master’s teachings had to face Shou-Lao the Undying as he had and such a ritual was no small task. Of those that dared seek out this dragon, very, very few survived.
For centuries, his Heirs thrived with his teachings, becoming warriors without peer who accepted any challenge and faced any foe, be they mortal or creature of the Veil. These Masters rarely ventured from K’un-Lun, but when they did, they travelled across the world to strike down tyrants and monsters alike.
In time, though, those cast from K’un-Lun, whether due to some terrible crime or because they failed in some great task, began teaching their skills to those willing to pay. From these men came the many fighting styles that would spread out from the Orient: the kung fu monk, the assassin, the master of the blade. All had their origins in Sinan’ju, the sun source from whence all martial arts sprang.
Others would head west and one of those was Hassan-i Sabbāh, he who would become the Old Man of the Mountain in Alamut and form the Hashshashin. From this organization, the Assassin’s Brotherhood would eventually emerge; while it ceased being a purely religious sect and would eventually recruit non-Muslims, it retained many of its Islamic trappings.
Almost forty years ago, two siblings fled K’un-Lun. The sister eventually migrated to the United States where she would marry and have a son who she began training in the martial arts as soon as he could walk. Of the brother, nothing is known.
K’un-Lun’s Gates have not opened since that time...
I've mostly got the next story arc - Clean Slate - plotted out, so that's fine. The issue revolves around a new player to the group and his character. Right now, we're leaning toward him basically being (in Feng Shui terms) a "karate cop" with hints of Iron Fist in his backstory. As is always the case in cinematic types like this, I thought it would be appropriate if the PC was trained from an early age, but then abandoned his family's teachings because he "wants to be normal." And then, Fate finds him and drags him back into the mess.
Stats-wise, I'm currently looking at using the the Police Detective template from GURPS: Mysteries atop the Dragon-Man Kung Fu template from Martial Arts, except dropping the whole "breathe fire" thing and replacing it with "hand of fire" down the road. My current thinking is to merge the K’un-Lun elements from Iron Fist, mix in liberally The Destroyer books (Remo Williams, Chiun), throw in a little Assassin's Creed and voila. This is the current "background" that I'm thinking of implementing:
The Order was birthed in Chaos, in a time where Demons known as the Oni walked alongside Men, where creatures of the Otherworld strove to unmake the whole of reality, where Gods and Monsters warred in Heaven. In this time of madness, a single Man strove to master himself and forge his body into a Weapon to stand against the Chaos. He faced Shou-Lao the Undying and survived, thus becoming the first Master of Sinan’ju.
According to myth, the Master was rewarded for his great service by the Jade Emperor who fashioned for him an entire domain to rule. This domain would become known as K’un-Lun, and only those deemed worthy could pass through its gates.
To become a Master, adherents of the Master’s teachings had to face Shou-Lao the Undying as he had and such a ritual was no small task. Of those that dared seek out this dragon, very, very few survived.
For centuries, his Heirs thrived with his teachings, becoming warriors without peer who accepted any challenge and faced any foe, be they mortal or creature of the Veil. These Masters rarely ventured from K’un-Lun, but when they did, they travelled across the world to strike down tyrants and monsters alike.
In time, though, those cast from K’un-Lun, whether due to some terrible crime or because they failed in some great task, began teaching their skills to those willing to pay. From these men came the many fighting styles that would spread out from the Orient: the kung fu monk, the assassin, the master of the blade. All had their origins in Sinan’ju, the sun source from whence all martial arts sprang.
Others would head west and one of those was Hassan-i Sabbāh, he who would become the Old Man of the Mountain in Alamut and form the Hashshashin. From this organization, the Assassin’s Brotherhood would eventually emerge; while it ceased being a purely religious sect and would eventually recruit non-Muslims, it retained many of its Islamic trappings.
Almost forty years ago, two siblings fled K’un-Lun. The sister eventually migrated to the United States where she would marry and have a son who she began training in the martial arts as soon as he could walk. Of the brother, nothing is known.
K’un-Lun’s Gates have not opened since that time...
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