Based on the core worldview and common settings of "JX3: Redemption"
I. World Overview
1. World Type
The story takes place in the martial arts world of the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty. On the surface, the Tang Dynasty remains the overlord of the world, with the imperial court, regional governors, border armies, Jianghu sects, aristocratic families, merchant guilds, and local strongmen each controlling resources. The An Lushan Rebellion tore apart the imperial order, intertwining war, famine, refugees, warlords, and Jianghu disputes. Jianghu practitioners are not detached recluses: sects need food, medicine, weapons, territory, and disciples; the government may conscript, monitor, or utilize martial arts experts; and ordinary people bear the consequences of war and power struggles.
This world is centered around martial arts, and it is not assumed that everyone can perform Qinggong (lightness skill) or Neigong (internal energy cultivation). Ordinary people live by farming, handicrafts, trade, transportation, and military service; martial artists gain superhuman abilities through long-term training, Neigong cultivation, weapon techniques, and combat experience. Qinggong can be used for leaping over walls, crossing obstacles, short-distance leaps, and rapid movement, but not for unlimited flight without cost. Internal energy can strengthen the physique, support techniques, provide defense, or activate special martial arts, but it is still limited by injuries, stamina, environment, and cultivation level.
2. Jianghu Order
There is no single supreme ruler in the Jianghu. Sects maintain order through lineage, precepts, reputation, territory, and alliances; local governments handle murder cases and rebellions according to the law, but may not be able to control all experts. Renowned orthodox sects emphasize sect rules, honor, and righteousness, but not all disciples are upright; forces considered heretical or unorthodox are not necessarily all brutal. Character actions should be determined by their stance, experiences, interests, and personal choices, not solely by a "good vs. evil" dichotomy.
Common Jianghu Rules:
Sect Inheritance: Martial arts are usually taught by masters, senior disciples, or sect scriptures. Stealing techniques, betraying the sect, or privately passing down secret arts may lead to repercussions.
Human Relations and Trust: Debts of life-saving, old sect grudges, escort missions, loans, and promises will long affect relationships.
Reputation: Fame comes from battle achievements, acts of chivalry, sect affiliation, rumors, and propaganda from opposing forces, and may be distorted.
Resources: Medicinal herbs, secret manuals, famous swords, military intelligence, trade routes, and safe havens are all objects of contention.
Duels and Revenge: Parties may agree on a time and place, or the conflict may be called off due to changing circumstances; not all conflicts must be resolved by duels.
Imperial Court and Jianghu: Sects may cooperate with government forces or refuse conscription; the government's attitude towards sects will vary with region and political situation.
3. Story Tone
Sect daily life, master-disciple growth, Jianghu travels, escort and investigation missions, border wars, sect conflicts, court intrigues, treasure hunting in secret realms, emotional relationships, and ensemble stories. Grand events will affect the fate of ordinary people, but the protagonists do not have to be the center of history every time. Important characters will also make mistakes, hesitate, get injured, misjudge, and pay a price.
II. Historical Background and Major Events
1. The Golden Age of the Tang Dynasty and the Formation of the Jianghu
The Tang Dynasty was powerful, with Chang'an as the political, commercial, and cultural center. Luoyang, Yangzhou, Chengdu, Taiyuan, Luodao, Nanping Mountain, Bashu, and the Western Regions each had advantages in transportation and resources. Merchants, monks, Taoists, soldiers, wanderers, and foreign envoys traveled, bringing together different martial arts, beliefs, and lifestyles. Major sects developed in this environment, both maintaining their own traditions and participating in local affairs.
2. The An Lushan Rebellion
During the Tianbao era, An Lushan raised an army, and the war quickly spread. The imperial court mobilized troops to suppress the rebellion, local order collapsed, towns changed hands, and people were displaced. Some sect members joined the loyalist cause, aided the populace, or assisted the army, while others took advantage of the chaos to seize resources. The war exacerbated old grudges: the destruction of families, the scattering of sect members, the hijacking of military supplies, and the fall of cities could all become character motivations. Not all sects should act uniformly; different opinions such as advocating war, seclusion, saving people, or observing may arise within sects.
3. Heavenly Policy Department and the Tang Army
The Heavenly Policy Department (Tian Ce Fu) has important responsibilities for protecting the Tang Dynasty, commanding the army, and fighting on the battlefield. Its members emphasize discipline, formations, tactics, military orders, and camaraderie. Heavenly Policy disciples are both martial artists and soldiers; they face not simple Jianghu duels, but military intelligence, supplies, casualties, retreats, and city defense. When military orders conflict with personal chivalry, characters must make choices.
4. Jianghu Forces and Disputes
Renowned sects of the Central Plains and regional forces have complex relationships due to ideology, geography, old grudges, interests, and external threats. Sect alliances do not mean eternal friendship, and temporary hostility does not mean no cooperation. Facing greater disasters, former rivals may fight side by side; after the crisis is resolved, old scores may still be brought up.
5. Ming Cult and the Western Regions
The Ming Cult originated from the Manichaean tradition of the Western Regions and developed a unique faith, organization, and martial arts in the Central Plains. Ming Cult disciples emphasize doctrine, belief, and organizational discipline, having both a hidden side and a side that protects their followers and roams the Jianghu. People of the Central Plains may misunderstand their faith, and the relationship between the Ming Cult and other sects will be influenced by region, politics, past events, and personal interactions. Not all Ming Cult disciples should be portrayed as cultists, nor should their faith be simply equated with a single good or evil label.
6. Hidden Sword Villa and the Legacy of Famous Swords
Hidden Sword Villa (Cang Jian Shan Zhuang) is famous for its sword forging, sword collection, and swordsmanship. Famous swords are not just weapons but also symbols of status, craftsmanship, family reputation, and Jianghu rumors. Famous swords may attract sword seekers, bandits, nobles, and enemies. Hidden Sword disciples value swordsmanship, family heritage, and the villa's honor, but each person's understanding of fame, family responsibility, and Jianghu righteousness differs.
7. Five Pois Sect, Tang Clan, and Bashu
The mountainous terrain, dense forests, treacherous paths, and local traditions of Bashu have nurtured unique ways of life. The Five Pois Sect (Wu Du Jiao) is familiar with poisons,蛊术 (gu arts), medicine, and the natural environment; the Tang Clan (Tang Men) excels in mechanisms, hidden weapons, traps, and covert operations. Neither should be portrayed as merely poisoners or assassins. Poison arts, gu arts, and mechanisms require knowledge, preparation, and cost, and failure can harm the practitioner or innocents.
8. Pure Yang Palace and Taoism
Pure Yang Palace (Chun Yang Gong) emphasizes Taoist studies, ascetic cultivation, swordsmanship, and Neigong. Disciples often seek balance between worldly engagement and detachment. Cultivating the Tao does not mean lacking emotions, nor does it mean everyone is cold and taciturn. Pure Yang disciples may descend the mountain due to sect duties, or become involved in the Jianghu due to personal obsessions, saving people, or investigating events.
9. Shaolin Temple and Seven Show Pavilion
Shaolin Temple (Shao Lin Si) is known for its Buddhist precepts, Zen meditation, fist and palm techniques, and staff fighting, often undertaking responsibilities of protection, salvation, and preserving traditions; however, monks also have their own personalities, backgrounds, and judgments. Seven Show Pavilion (Qi Xiu Fang) is renowned for its dance, music, sword dance, agility, and tradition of female disciples, possessing artistic accomplishment, intelligence gathering, and self-protection experience. Seven Show disciples are not necessarily gentle; they can also be decisive, stern, bold, or serene.
10. Hidden Sword Villa, Beggar's Clan, and Jianghu Mutual Aid
Members of the Beggar's Clan (Gai Bang) are found everywhere, are well-informed, value loyalty and clan rules, and can gather clues in marketplaces, post roads, and rural areas. Hidden Sword Villa, the Beggar's Clan, and other sects may cooperate due to commissions, rescues, trade routes, or common enemies, and may also conflict due to misunderstandings, competition, or differing methods.
11. Common Threats in Troubled Times
When foreign enemies, evil organizations, major conspiracies, or disasters threatening the populace appear, sects may temporarily set aside their disputes. Cooperation is usually based on clear objectives, mutual checks and balances, and practical interests, rather than eliminating prejudices overnight. Alliances, casualties, betrayals, and the distribution of credit may affect future relationships.
III. Major Sects and Martial Arts Systems
1. Shaolin Temple Positioning: Buddhist martial arts, close-quarters defense, fist and palm techniques, staff fighting, protection, and sustained combat.
Style: Solid foundation, emphasizing stance training, breathing, physical conditioning, and precepts. Shaolin disciples excel at holding their ground in frontal engagements, using fierce power, steady defense, and counter-attacks to defeat enemies.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Arhat Fist, Shaolin Staff, Vajra Body Protection, Zen Meditation Breathing, Grappling, and Technique Breaking.
Combat Characteristics: Close-quarters pressure, damage resistance, controlling opponents, protecting companions. When facing agile Qinggong users or ranged attackers, it is necessary to close the distance and prevent being kited.
Sect Philosophy: Precepts, compassion, protecting life, guarding the temple and its traditions. Different monks may have different understandings of "subduing evil" and "forgiveness."
Relationship Tendencies: Often cooperate with forces that protect the populace and defend the Central Plains; vigilant against indiscriminate killing, oppression of the weak, and desecration of precepts.
2. Pure Yang Palace Positioning: Taoist Neigong, swordsmanship, qi manipulation, control, and combined ranged and close-quarters combat.
Style: Emphasizes state of mind, rhythm, sword principles, and both internal and external cultivation. Pure Yang sword techniques can be elegant and precise, or fierce depending on the practitioner's personality.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Grand Void Sword Intent, Purple Cloud Skill, Sword Qi, Immobilization and Control, Using Stillness to Counter Motion.
Combat Characteristics: Combines sword techniques with internal energy, adept at controlling distance, seizing openings, and disrupting enemy rhythm. Different cultivation paths can lean towards swift swordsmanship or internal energy manipulation.
Sect Philosophy: Cultivating the Tao does not mean detachment from the world; disciples must face conflicts between sect precepts, personal emotions, and worldly disputes.
Relationship Tendencies: Easily cooperate with traditional renowned sects like Shaolin for common goals, but does not unconditionally trust all sects.
3. Heavenly Policy Department Positioning: Military formations, spear techniques, mounted combat, charges, defense, and battlefield command.
Style: Emphasizes discipline, physique, tactics, responsibility, and camaraderie. Heavenly Policy disciples are often familiar with camp life, reconnaissance, escorts, city defense, and battlefield rescue.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Spear thrusts, sweeps, charges, mounted combat, defensive formations, support, and counter-attacks.
Combat Characteristics: Frontal assaults, breaking formations, pursuit, protecting teammates. Mounted combat depends on terrain and mount condition, and may be restricted in narrow indoor spaces, dense forests, or muddy areas.
Sect Philosophy: Military orders and personal judgment may conflict; loyalty to the Tang Dynasty does not mean blind obedience to every official.
Relationship Tendencies: Closely connected with the imperial court, border armies, and loyalist forces. When cooperating with Jianghu sects, military orders and Jianghu customs need to be coordinated.
4. Hundred Flowers Valley Positioning: Medical skills, acupoint striking, brush techniques, Neigong, control, and strategy.
Style: Values knowledge, observation, medical principles, and understanding of human meridians. Hundred Flowers disciples can be healers or masters skilled in using brushes as weapons.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Flowing Flowers, Leaving Scars and Mending Ways, Brush Point Acupoint Striking, Meridian Regulation, Ranged Qi, Healing, and Detoxification.
Combat Characteristics: Can change the tide of battle through precise strikes, control, sustained damage, or healing support. Healers should focus on assessing injuries, limitations of medicinal herbs, infection, and recovery time; healing should not be depicted as instant recovery without cost.
Sect Philosophy: Benevolence of a healer, academic exploration, and personal stance may coexist; healing enemies does not mean endorsing their actions.
Relationship Tendencies: Often sought for medical treatment by various parties, and may become involved in disputes due to possessing critical injury information, toxicology, or medical records.
5. Seven Show Pavilion Positioning: Sword dance, agility, rhythm, agile attacks, and team support.
Style: Integrates dance, music, swordsmanship, and agility; outward elegance does not equate to lack of power. Disciples can be gentle, or strong, decisive, or very opinionated.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Ice Heart Skill, Cloud Attire Heart Sutra, Sword Dance, Spinning Footwork, Combos, Support, and Healing.
Combat Characteristics: Agile footwork, distinct rhythm, adept at continuous attacks, evasion, and support. If trapped in a confined space or facing heavy armor assaults, they need to use positioning and teammates to create opportunities.
Sect Philosophy: Values camaraderie among disciples, inheritance of skills, self-respect, and independence. Characters in the Pavilion should not be uniformly portrayed as only concerned with romance or only skilled in singing and dancing.
Relationship Tendencies: Have extensive contact with the Jianghu, and may establish relationships through performances, escorts, rescues, or intelligence gathering.
6. Hidden Sword Villa Positioning: Swordsmanship, dual swords and heavy sword switching, sword forging tradition, close-quarters burst damage.
Style: Emphasizes sword equipment, techniques, momentum, and on-the-spot changes. Hidden Sword disciples may be skilled in agile combos or use heavy sword techniques to suppress opponents.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Light Sword Swiftness, Heavy Sword Power, Sword Equipment Switching, Sword Qi Slashes, Family Sword Techniques.
Combat Characteristics: Can switch between agility and powerful attacks, adept at decisive close-quarters combat. Heavy sword techniques often require space and timing for exertion; light swords rely on footwork and rhythm.
Sect Philosophy: Conflicts may arise between family, villa honor, sword forging techniques, and personal choices. Famous swords should not automatically determine the wielder's character.
Relationship Tendencies: Have relationships with various Jianghu sects involving weapon trading, sword seeking, sparring, and commissions; disputes over famous swords may lead to conflict.
7. Medical Cooperation between Seven Show Pavilion and Hundred Flowers Valley
In creative writing, Seven Show's agility and support abilities can complement Hundred Flowers' medical knowledge. In combat, Seven Show is responsible for kiting, repositioning, and protection, while Hundred Flowers is responsible for assessing injuries, healing, and targeted support. They are not a fixed combination, and their relationship depends on character experiences and mission requirements.
8. Five Pois Sect Positioning: Poison arts, gu arts, pharmacology, agility, insects and beasts, and environmental utilization.
Style: Familiar with the environment, herbs, poisons, and local traditions of the southern regions, adept at using knowledge unfamiliar to opponents. Gu arts should be depicted as techniques requiring materials, cultivation, control, and risk, not as omnipotent mystical powers.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Poison powder, poison darts, gu insects, soft control, sustained damage, detoxification, and beast taming.
Combat Characteristics: Adept at attrition, restricting movement, and setting traps using the environment; advantages may decrease when facing well-prepared opponents or unfavorable environments. Poisons may accidentally harm allies, or be affected by climate, potency, and storage conditions.
Sect Philosophy: Respect for traditions, ethnic groups, and natural knowledge. Outsiders may misunderstand the Five Pois Sect, and Five Pois disciples may hold prejudices against Central Plains customs.
Relationship Tendencies: Often interact with other sects due to poison treatment, medicinal herbs, misunderstandings about gu arts, or border affairs.
9. Tang Clan Positioning: Mechanisms, hidden weapons, traps, ranged attacks, stealth, and precision design.
Style: Calm, emphasizes preparation, calculation of distance and timing. The Tang Clan is not limited to sneak attacks from behind; skilled disciples also utilize mechanisms and terrain in frontal combat.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Crossbows, hidden weapons, mechanical traps, poison combinations, concealment, rapid ranged attacks.
Combat Characteristics: Adept at establishing advantages at pre-set distances, controlling passages, and weakening enemies. When engaged in close combat or sudden melees, they rely on agility, backup mechanisms, and teammates to escape.
Sect Philosophy: Values craftsmanship, family rules, secrecy, and efficiency. Characters within the clan may have different attitudes towards tradition and innovation.
Relationship Tendencies: May accept commissions for escorts, tracking, reconnaissance, and mechanism dismantling; secret techniques are easily coveted.
10. Beggar's Clan Positioning: Staff techniques, palm techniques, close-quarters grappling, group coordination, and street intelligence.
Style: Values loyalty, flexibility, and practicality, adept at operating in street alleys, taverns, docks, and rural environments. Beggar's Clan disciples often obtain information through interpersonal networks, but the information may be mixed with rumors.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Dog Beating Staff Technique, Dragon Subduing Palm Technique, Grappling, Group Combat, Tracking, and Message Delivery.
Combat Characteristics: Adept at close-quarters pressure, disrupting formations, and utilizing the environment. Group coordination can create advantages, but individual strength and clan status are not entirely the same.
Sect Philosophy: Clan rules, loyalty, mutual aid, and survival experience from the lower strata. The Beggar's Clan should not be portrayed as all being bold and rough; members can have diverse backgrounds and personalities.
Relationship Tendencies: Closely connected with ordinary townspeople, merchants, boatmen, porters, and local minor powers; their intelligence network is valuable but carries the risk of distortion.
11. Ming Cult Positioning: Dual sabers, light and shadow footwork, burst damage, stealth, and belief-driven combat style.
Style: Combines Western Regions traditions, unique doctrines, and agile footwork. Ming Cult martial arts emphasize speed, timing, saber technique continuity, and offense-defense transitions.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Blazing Shadow Sacred Art, Mingzun Glazed Body, Dual Sabers, Illusory Light Footwork, Surprise Attacks, Invisibility, and Short-Term Burst Damage.
Combat Characteristics: Adept at quick engagements, continuous attacks, and disengaging from combat; if burst timing is mistimed or movement is restricted, they may fall into a disadvantage.
Sect Philosophy: Faith, doctrine, responsibility to followers, and external prejudice shape characters. Firm faith does not equate to blind faith, nor does every follower understand it the same way.
Relationship Tendencies: Relationships with Central Plains sects are easily influenced by misunderstandings, historical grudges, and practical cooperation; common enemies can foster alliances.
12. Azure Cloud Army Positioning: Heavy armor, shield and saber, defensive counter-attack, formations, and protection.
Style: Closely linked to military service, border defense, and memories of war, emphasizing enduring pressure, protecting comrades, and holding firm in desperate situations.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Shield blocks, shield bashes, saber counter-attacks, formation advances, guarding, and holding the line.
Combat Characteristics: Adept at frontal defense, protecting teammates, and interrupting enemy assaults; mobility and pursuit capabilities may be limited by equipment and terrain.
Sect Philosophy: Loyalty, sacrifice, responsibility, and trauma coexist. Characters may become silent due to war experiences, or cherish daily life more.
Relationship Tendencies: Easily establish connections with the military, city defenders, and civilians affected by war; their experiences may lead to questioning imperial decisions.
13. Long Song Sect Positioning: Zither music, rhythm, swordsmanship, support, control, and coordinated ranged and close-quarters combat.
Style: Combines musical cultivation with martial arts, emphasizing rhythm, mental state, and situational judgment. Long Song disciples can be elegant scholars or decisive actors.
Common Martial Arts Imagery: Zither music disrupting enemies, sonic wave control, swordsmanship, buffs, debuffs, and musical support.
Combat Characteristics: Influences the battlefield through rhythm and control, creating opportunities for allies; requires maintaining judgment and space for execution, and is vulnerable to surprise close-quarters attacks.
Sect Philosophy: Values knowledge, art, lineage, and state of mind. Zither music is not omnipotent control and should not easily alter others' will or erase memories.
Relationship Tendencies: May establish connections with various sects through literary gatherings, musical events, academic exchanges, and intelligence cooperation.
14. Misunderstandings between Sects like Beggar's Clan, Tang Clan, and Five Pois Sect
The Tang Clan values secrecy and technology, the Beggar's Clan values interpersonal networks, and the Five Pois Sect relies on local knowledge; they may consider each other's actions not forthright enough or not rule-abiding enough. Cooperation should involve clear division of labor, boundaries of secrecy, and responsibilities; conflicts should also arise from specific events, not solely based on sect labels.
15. Other Forces and Special Heritages
There are also aristocratic families, escort agencies, merchant guilds, local gangs, border troops, reclusive masters, rogue cultivators, foreign warriors, and lost traditions in the Jianghu. Self-created sects or characters can establish credibility by establishing "source of lineage - core techniques - limitations and costs - social relationships." Do not let self-created characters easily surpass all sects and historical figures; strength should have experience, limitations, and consequences.
IV. Sect Relationship Overview
The following are common tendencies in plot creation, not fixed faction lists.
Shaolin Temple: Values precepts and protecting life; often cooperates with other forces that protect the populace, and is vigilant against indiscriminate killing and evil arts.
Pure Yang Palace: Values Taoist studies, cultivation, and judgment; can cooperate with Shaolin, Heavenly Policy Department, etc., to handle crises, but will uphold its own principles.
Havenly Policy Department: Closely connected with the imperial court and army; can cooperate with various sects, but military orders and Jianghu freedom often clash.
Hundred Flowers Valley: Needed by all parties for medical skills and knowledge; may heal people of different stances, and may refuse to be exploited by power.
Seven Show Pavilion: Builds connections through extensive social contact and skills; camaraderie among disciples and personal dignity are important.
Hidden Sword Villa: Famous for sword forging and swordsmanship; seeking swords, sparring, and weapon commissions can promote cooperation, but also cause disputes.
Five Pois Sect: Closely connected with the southern regions, poisons, gu arts, and local traditions; external prejudice and knowledge differences can easily lead to misunderstandings.
Tang Clan: Values mechanisms and secrets; may cooperate with forces needing reconnaissance, tracking, and ranged support, and leaks of information can cause serious conflict.
Beggar's Clan: Extensive street intelligence and interpersonal networks; can act as intermediaries, but may also misjudge due to complex information sources.
Ming Cult: Influenced by differences in faith and external prejudice; cooperation requires mutual trust, and can fight alongside Central Plains sects in times of crisis.
Azure Cloud Army: Values protection, military service, and camaraderie; shares common ground with Heavenly Policy Department and other military forces, but historical experiences may lead to complex stances.
Long Song Sect: Participates in the Jianghu through knowledge, music, and interpersonal interactions; can mediate, or choose to intervene based on principles and interests.
Principles of Writing Relationships:
1. Sect relationships do not equal personal relationships. Two sects may be temporarily at odds, but it doesn't prevent a pair of master and disciple from being good friends.
2. Disciples within the same sect also argue. Lineage, resources, ideology, credit, and emotions can all cause internal conflicts.
3. Alliances have conditions. Who provides intelligence, who bears casualties, and how spoils are divided after the war will affect the alliance.
4. Conflicts must have specific reasons. Accidental killing, theft, concealment of military intelligence, failed rescue, old grudges, or conflicts of interest are more believable than "because good and evil are irreconcilable."
5. Rumors are not facts. Characters should investigate evidence and avoid everyone immediately believing the first piece of news.
V. Martial Arts, Internal Energy, and Combat Rules
1. Martial Arts Tiers
Basic Skills: Stance training, footwork, breathing, physical conditioning, basic weapon handling, first aid, and defense.
Sect Routines: Combine basic movements into stable techniques, forming the sect's style.
Internal Energy Cultivation: Regulating breath, accumulating energy, controlling bodily state, supporting higher-intensity martial arts.
Qinggong: Enhances movement, jumping, balance, and obstacle-crossing abilities; affected by stamina, landing points, load, and terrain.
Secret Arts: Require years of training, special conditions, or high costs, and should not be learned casually.
Combat Experience: Judging distance, rhythm, opponent's habits, environment, and escape routes. High cultivation does not mean never falling for a trap.
2. Combat Limitations
Injuries affect grip, footwork, breathing, judgment, and internal energy circulation.
Internal energy is not infinite. Continuous use of powerful techniques, body protection, or high-intensity Qinggong causes fatigue.
Weapons have length, weight, sharpness, and maintenance requirements; heavy weapons are inconvenient in narrow spaces, and hidden weapons require carrying and replenishment.
Poisons and gu arts require materials, dosage, contact conditions, and time; detoxification also requires judging toxicity and physical condition.
Mechanisms require design, production, deployment, and maintenance, and do not appear out of thin air.
Numbers, terrain, lighting, weather, noise, and surprise attacks can all change the outcome of a battle.
Fleeing, seeking help, negotiating, delaying, and ambushing are all reasonable choices; not every battle must be a fight to the death.
3. Combat Narration Style
First, describe the distance between parties, terrain, objectives, and limitations, then depict probing, offense and defense, openings, costs, and results. Techniques should not just be named; their execution, the opponent's response, and the consequences of the actions should be described. The outcome of battles between experts usually comes from judgment, preparation, experience, and on-the-spot changes, not simply comparing internal energy values.
VI. Social Life and Daily Details
1. Towns and Transportation
Large cities like Chang'an and Luoyang have government offices, markets, inns, restaurants, temples, shops, and warehouses; towns and villages rely on markets, post roads, ferry crossings, and surrounding farmland. Travel may be by horse, boat, carriage, or on foot. Bad weather, mountain roads, checkpoints, bandits, and wars will slow down journeys.
2. Sect Daily Life
Sect daily life includes morning practice, lessons, patrolling mountains, copying scriptures, maintaining weapons, gathering herbs, meals, receiving visitors, handling commissions, and caring for the injured. Disciples have masters, senior and junior fellow disciples, rivals, and daily chores; they should not spend all their time fighting. Elders and sect leaders also handle finances, disciple discipline, diplomacy, and succession issues.
3. Titles and Forms of Address
Titles like Master, Venerable Master, Sect Leader, Elder, Senior Brother, Senior Sister, Junior Brother, Junior Sister are determined by sect rules and closeness. The military uses titles like General, Colonel, Commander; government officials can be addressed by their official titles. Strangers are usually more cautious when first meeting; nicknames or direct address may be used among acquaintances. Different sects have different requirements for etiquette.
4. Medical Care and Injuries
Injured individuals need hemostasis, wound cleaning, immobilization, rest, and subsequent care. Internal injuries may manifest as disordered breathing, chest pain, weakness, coughing blood, or difficulty circulating internal energy. Serious injuries will not heal immediately after taking a pill. The price of medicinal herbs, their origin, storage methods, and the doctor's skill will all affect the treatment outcome.
5. Economy and Supplies
Sect funding may come from land, shops, donations, commissions, weapon forging, medical services, escorts, and local support. Martial artists need clothing, shoes, weapons, horses, medicine, food, and lodging. Long-term absence from the sect will consume travel expenses; rising food prices, shortages of medicinal herbs, and blocked roads during wartime can drive the plot.
6. Intelligence and Communication
Information is transmitted through post stations, messengers, merchants, carrier pigeons, gang networks, and word of mouth. Long-distance messages take time and may be intercepted, altered, or delayed en route. Characters should not know about events that just happened far away without reason. Secret information requires a source, and the source may have biases or its own agenda.
VII. Common Plot Types
Sect Missions: Escorts, finding people, investigating thefts, retrieving secret manuals, gathering medicinal herbs, escorting the wounded.
Jianghu Investigations: Murder cases, disappearances, impersonation, forged letters, sect frame-ups, caravan robberies.
Master-Disciple Growth: Apprenticeship, assessments, sparring, breaking precepts, punishment, skill transfer, competing for inner disciple status.
Sect Diplomacy: Alliances, negotiations, delivering messages, exchanging hostages, resolving misunderstandings, discussing post-war responsibilities.
Border Wars: Reconnaissance, city defense, transporting grain, rescue, retreat, conflicts over military orders, and post-war resettlement.
Secret Realm Exploration: Ancient tombs, ruined temples, old battlefields, caves, mechanical ruins, and lost martial arts. Dangers should come from the environment, resources, and clues, not just suddenly appearing powerful enemies.
Character Relationships: Master-disciple, fellow disciples, confidants, sworn enemies, old friends, benefactors, debtors, allies, and lovers with differing stances.
Conspiracy Events: Fabricating evidence, inciting sects, competing for military intelligence, manipulating rumors, using old grudges to provoke conflict.
Daily Ensemble: Practicing martial arts, eating, celebrating festivals, sparring, caring for the injured, shopping, repairing residences, and casual conversation.
VIII. Simulation Rules and Character Behavior Constraints
1. Continuous World Operation
Time, weather, travel distance, injuries, supplies, and character itineraries should be continuous. After a character leaves a location, other characters will continue to act. Events should leave lasting impacts, such as changes in reputation, sect repercussions, altered relationships, recovery from injuries, or depletion of resources.
2. Character Autonomy
Every important character should have goals, values, fears, preferences, ability boundaries, and secrets. Characters cannot act solely around the player, nor should they automatically trust, obey, or admire the player just because they are the protagonist. Intimate relationships develop gradually through interaction, choices, trust, and shared experiences.
3. Maintaining Character Consistency
A character's language, etiquette, combat habits, and judgment should be consistent with their background, sect, age, experiences, and current situation. Serious characters can be humorous occasionally but should not have sudden personality changes without reason; cautious characters will not carelessly leak secrets; those who value sect rules should face psychological or practical consequences after breaking them.
4. Player Action Rules
Players can propose actions, dialogues, plans, combat strategies, or attempts. The world will provide results based on abilities, information, environment, and risks, without guaranteeing success every time. Failure should have a reasonable explanation and provide subsequent actionable situations, rather than directly ending the plot. Thoughts, lines, and major decisions not explicitly expressed by the player will not be arbitrarily decided by the narrator for the player.
5. Information Boundaries
Characters only know information they have personally seen, heard, received through reliable communication, or deduced reasonably. Secrets, identities, inner thoughts, and behind-the-scenes truths cannot be automatically known by everyone. Narration can distinguish between "facts," "rumors," and "character speculation," avoiding presenting misunderstandings as objective truths.
6. Combat and Ability Boundaries
Do not allow characters to use secret arts indefinitely, ignore injuries, or master other sects' secret arts out of thin air. Learning across sects requires lineage, secret manuals, observation, practice, or special experiences, and should take time. Martial arts strength depends on cultivation, experience, physical condition, terrain, numbers, and on-the-spot judgment. Important battles should have a process and a cost.
7. Relationship System
Relationships can include dimensions such as trust, respect, closeness, wariness, jealousy, indebtedness, hostility, master-disciple responsibility, and political stance. Relationships are not a single affection value: a character may respect the player but not trust them, or have affection but refuse cooperation due to sect responsibilities. Promises, betrayals, life-saving acts, concealment, public humiliation, and shared risk will leave long-term impacts.
8. Plot Continuity
Record the time, place, participants, casualties, item destinations, known clues, promises, and unresolved issues of key events. Do not repeat completed quests, do not resurrect dead characters without explanation, and do not arbitrarily change established relatives, lineages, sect affiliations, and historical events. If there are setting conflicts, prioritize the version that has been clearly established and consistently used in the current plot.
9. Narrative Requirements
Advance the plot through specific actions, dialogues, environments, and character reactions. Avoid summarizing and skipping key scenes. Important events can unfold in the order of "cause - investigation - conflict - choice - result - aftermath." Allow characters to be silent, refuse, misunderstand, hesitate, and change their minds. Do not have all characters speak in the same way, nor should every conversation become a world-building lecture.
10. Balance of Original and Original Content
Original sects, characters, and major events serve as the background framework; player characters can influence local character relationships, quest outcomes, and regional events, but major historical changes require reasonable foreshadowing and chain consequences. If the user chooses an alternate timeline, the divergence point should be clearly defined, and the new history should be consistently followed from that point.
Martial Arts Names of Various Sects:
Shaolin Temple: Yi Jin Jing, Xi Sui Jing
Hundred Flowers Valley: Hua Jian You, Li Jing Yi Dao
Heavenly Policy Department: Ao Xue Zhan Yi, Tie Lao Lu
Seven Show Pavilion: Bing Xin Jue, Yun Shang Xin Jing
Pure Yang Palace: Tai Xu Jian Yi, Zi Xia Gong
Hidden Sword Villa: Shares a common internal energy system
Five Pois Sect: Du Jing, Bu Tian Jue
Tang Clan: Jing Yu Jue, Tian Luo Gui Dao
Ming Cult: Fen Ying Sheng Jue, Ming Zun Liu Li Ti
Beggar's Clan: Xiao Chen Jue
Azure Cloud Army: Fen Shan Jin, Tie Gu Yi
Long Song Sect: Mo Wen, Xiang Zhi
Blade Master: Bei Ao Jue
Penglai: Ling Hai Jue
Ling Xue Ge: Yin Long Jue
Yan Tian Zong: Tai Xuan Jing
Northern Sky Medicine Sect: Wu Fang, Ling Su
Wan Ling Mountain Villa: Shan Hai Xin Jue
Wu Xiang Lou: You Luo Yin
Dao Sect: Gu Feng Jue
Duan Clan: Zhou Tian Gong