You are the young scion of a noble clan in the crownlands. This is a vast expanse of land covered in golden fields of spiritual grain where cultivators fight and kingdoms feud. Your clan is neither the wealthiest nor the poorest leaving in a continuous struggle to claw out power from above and fend off attacks from below.
It is your obligation to uphold the prestige of the clan while fulfilling your own destiny.
The measure of the power of a clan has many factors. How many shops they own. How villages they control. How many cultivators they can call on. Their connections to other clans and sects. How honorable they are viewed as being, as well as how feared they are by their enemies. And of course how many spirit stones are in their coffers.
Since this game is focused on a single character who is not actually in control of the clan rather than track all of that separately it is simply abstracted into the Clan Prestige. If it is high then the clan has many resources it can bring to bear, and by extension how much they can back the MC. If it is low, then the clan will struggle to remain relevant, and the MC will have to fend for themselves.
Face
The MC does have more details tracked than the clan as a whole, but their reputation is still vitally important. Their Face statistic is how other characters, both cultivator and mortal will view them. A high Face value will lead to character more readily agreeing or backing down without a fight. While a low Face value will cause them to be recalcitrant or even make demands on the MC. Notably one tenth of the clan's prestige is directly added to the MC's Face as a modifier.
Personality
To aid in my own writing the MC will have several personality stats. Kind/Selfish, Honorable/Deceitful, Calm/Angry, Happy/Sad, and Forgiving/Grudgeful. These will be mostly in the background and hidden. However taking actions will cause them to change, and having high values in one or more stats may lock out the ability to pursue various courses of actions. For instance a very kind character would not be able to loot a village while a very selfish one would be forced to.
Actions
Everything done in the game is done through Actions. Most actions have a goal number. Upon taking an action a 2d6 plus modifiers is rolled and added to the action's value. Once this adds up to the goal number, then it is counted and as completed and takes effect. Characters can perform one action per turn per their realm. Thus soldiers could do two actions and lords could do four. The main character, as a knight, can do three actions each turn.
Secondary Characters
There are other characters in the clan besides the main character. These cannot be directly controlled. However if players want to, then they can write an omake for what a character is doing and influence what their action that turn is. New characters can be created to fill empty roles in the clan as needed.
Trouble Clocks
Time is always pressing as various external and internal troubles afflict the clan. To represent this various clocks will tick down each turn. There are four types of clocks.
Minor: A minor annoyance for the main character. Once they tick down they may lose some treasures or progress in a field of study. No one is likely to be injured or die.
Medium: An issue that needs to be dealt with. If a trouble clock is filled, then something significant will happen. Major damage will be caused to the main character's holdings, or they may suffer a serious injury. Employees may die, but it is unlikely for either the main or secondary characters to be lost unless they are already severely injured.
Major: A very serious problem is occurring that needs to be handled quickly and with care. Secondary characters may die if a major clock is filled, and possibly even the main character if they are already injured.
Severe: There is an issue facing not just you, but the entire region. If the clock fills you will face death and destruction. The normal pace of life will be disrupted until the situation can be dealt with, and many people are likely to die including the main character.
Turns
Each turn is three months. All recurring expenses such as taxes, tribute, and fees will be paid once per turn. All income will also be gained once per turn. One random clock will also advance each turn.
Techniques
Almost all actions will be modified by a character's techniques in that area. Anyone can learn a technique, but their maximum technique cap is governed by their cultivation realm. The actual learning of a technique costs TP. Initially this costs 5 TP per rank in a technique, but the cost increases by 1 TP every five ranks.
Training Points, or TP, is earned by using a cultivation technique. Unlike other techniques, cultivation techniques are not limited by a character's own realm but the grade of the cultivation technique itself. By spending an action cultivating characters can earn one tenth of their total roll as TP. For instance a character with Cultivation 10 who rolled a 7 would earn 1.7 TP, which they could spend in any way they wished. They may even increase the techniques of other characters if they wish.
The initial technique cap is six. TP can be spent even if a technique is capped, and it will not be lost, but the technique will not increase in rank until the character's realm does. Each realm increases the technique cap by five. Despite not actually advancing a major realm, Half-Step cultivators do get the +5 increase to their technique caps.
Traits
In addition to the broader techniques some characters may have areas in which they are exceptionally good. Traits generally cannot be bought. Instead they are awarded for doing a particular kind of action. The main character normally earns 1 EP per turn, but may gain more from a fortuitous encounter or completely a particularly grand action. A trait costs 5 EP, and once it is bought a character can continue to upgrade it or specialize it. Specialization results in a higher total bonus, but only applies to a smaller selection of actions.
Current Insights: 32 Current Enlightenment
Diplomacy, Poison, Endurance, Administration, Alchemy, Internal Energy, Teaching
Professional Traits (Turn 0) (1 EP) Understanding of the Path: Gain a bonus to attempting to teach or learn techniques. Alchemist: Gain +3 TP per turn that can only be spent to advance Cultivation or Alchemy Schools. Aspiring Administrator: Reduced stress from administrator actions. Upgradeable Impart the Fundamentals: Passively improves knowledge of retainers two realms or more below you. Elixir Purification: Elixirs Produced are one grade higher, Stress Penalties for brewing are Halved
Bountiful Lily Elixir: +20 to Cultivation Action x0
Rusted Lily Elixir: +10 to Cultivation Action x0
Spirit Beasts
Mountain Poplar
Total Modifiers +3 to Cultivation in areas rich in Wood Qi
+1 to Learning Fire Schools
+5 to Learning Wood Schools
+5 to Healing and Alchemy Actions -4 to Combat with Metal Qi Cultivators
Imperial Obligations: Low
Rivals: None
Infrastructure: Low
Mortals: Low
Danger: High
Expansion: High
Clan Members
Zhuge Yahui, the Forest Shadow (Mid Oath Baron) (Relation: Friendly)
She has been the matriarch of the Zhuge clan for approximately two centuries. You do not know the details of her ascension, but have heard rumors that it was a bloody time. You and your mother have positive relations. Not as close as you would like, but you know she would still support you in most matters.
Zhuge Jiang, the Chess Master (Peak Core Lord) (Relation: Neutral)
Your eldest brother has always been very distant. Born when your mother was still a lord, he is far older than you at nearly two centuries. He has long since reached the peak of Core Lord and is merely waiting for an advantageous time to make his next breakthrough. Your relationship has been less one of siblings and more of teacher and disciple. He oversaw much of your training and was very strict in doing so.
Zhuge Xin, The Poison Phoenix (Early Core Lord) (Default: Unfriendly/Current: Pleased)
Unlike your eldest brother your eldest sister is only a few decades older than you. As such she is very much in your generation. Which is somewhat unfortunate for you as while you are somewhat more talented than most she is a true prodigy. She broke through to Core Lord at the unheard of age of fifty two. She is regarded as the treasure of the clan with all the ensuing benefits. And unfortunately this has translated directly into your relationship. She regards you as weak and inferior. Someone who is not working hard enough on their cultivation.
Zhuge Huang and Zhuge Zhen, The Mischievous Twins (Late Tempered Peasant) (Relation: Neutral)
Your youngest siblings were born unexpectedly late. You and your older siblings were planned and already assigned roles in the clan nearly from birth. By contrast the twins were a surprise. Instead of strict training they were pampered and treasured by your mother. They could be talented you think, but they don't apply themselves nearly as much as they need to. Unfortunately they have grown cruel and selfish. They demand anything they want in the expectation that they'll get it.
Ruoxi Min, the Pale Lord (Peak Core Lord) (Relation: Distant)
The father of the youngest of the zhuge siblings. He is the second son of the Rouxi clan head and married your mother in a political marriage to secure an alliance between the two clans. He is the Zhuge clan's head diplomat and spends most of his time either traveling to surrounding provinces or living in the capital city of Count Ling, who your mother is the vassal of.
Clan Elders
Zhuge Lushan (Zhuge CLan Elder, Late Lord)
Clan Retainers
Guan Yu (Xin's Retainer, Late Knight)
Your Retainers
Miss An Lia (Loyalty 8/10, Alchemist, High Soldier, Manager) - Your loyal right hand.
Lin Qing (Loyalty 5/10, Alchemist Prodigy, Peasant, Specialist)
The Silver Grass Pavilion (Turn 19)
Manager: An Lia (6) Budget: $1 + $7.5 ($26.5) Size: Small (8/10) Facilities: Excellent (7) Expertise: Mid Soldier (Jade 6) Discipline: Good (6) Loyalty: Poor (3) Reputation: Low
The accumulation of mental fatigue, worries, and various forms of pressure all weigh down on the main character. Any time they do something that does not align with their personality, such as being greedy when they would prefer to use those resources for charity, they will gain stress. They also gain stress for doing activities that they find unenjoyable or draining. Failing at an important task may cause stress especially if they are being pressured by the clan to complete. Finally being stuck at a cultivation bottleneck will cause stress that increases as time goes on.
All of this is accumulated into the stress pool, which represents how well the MC can deal with stress. By default this is 10, but it may change over time if they become mentally resilient or their situation degrades. To help with keeping things simple this is a simple binary. If the MC is below their stress cap they can function completely normally. However if they meet or exceed the cap they will begin Venting.
During Venting the MC will automatically spend their actions to reduce stress until they have 0 stress. They will use whatever stress options are available at random, and may take more extreme variants of those actions. They may also take other options that are narratively relevant to whatever pushed them over the cap. During this period they will engage in heightened Young Master behavior and may well take actions that reflect poorly on their reputation and status.
Mechanically the entire Venting process will occur in one update potentially overriding multiple turns before control returns to the Voters. There may or may not be voting options depending on if they seem relevant or if the stress reduction options would result in personality changes.
Reducing stress requires making the character happy. The easiest way is to simply take an action off to let them relax and pursue their personality interests. However making major accomplishments towards their personal goals will also reduce stress. Getting a beloved pet or companion would also help reduce stress incrementally.
As the young master of a distinguished clan the main character has a lot of people working for him. Most of these people are background extras without any real individual impact. Some of them are important NPCs with their own actions and plans. But between these two levels lie the MCs retinue. Confidants, retainers, and personal servants who both follow the MCs orders and have enough skill to provide meaningful benefits. There are four aspects that make up a minor character. Their loyalty, skill, cultivation, and type.
A character's loyalty is established when they are first recruited. It is very hard to change either for the better or worse. A low loyalty character won't directly betray the MC, but they probably will siphon funds off for themselves and may be open to bribery. They will likely abandon the MC if things get dangerous. By contrast a high loyalty character will be honest in their work and will be willing to fight and die for the MC.
The skill of a minor character is simply their specialty. For instance alchemy, administration, or fire combat techniques. It defines what they can do and what bonuses they can provide. A minor character's skill cannot change outside of special circumstances. Rare characters may have more than one skill.
A minor character's cultivation determines how effective the bonuses they provide are. It is divided by realm and general level in a realm. Peasant provide no real material benefit. A character at this level is mostly a placeholder to be trained. Low level soldiers open up options, but come with penalties. While high level soldiers can provide bonuses. Characters in the knight realm provide bonuses at all level. Lord characters are beyond the current scope of the MC. A character's cultivation can be improved, but it takes a long time without the MC providing active support.
Finally there is the type of character. This is the type of benefit they provide. There are three kinds. Specialists, managers, and retainers. Specialists simply provide a bonus to an action, although they don't stack. This may also open up locked categories for actions that the MC is not skilled in himself. Managers handle organizations such as merchant halls, medicine pavilions, or guard regiments. They allow the MC to control these organizations and provide benefits or penalties to the organizations running. Finally retainers can function as specialists or managers, and also can be assigned long term tasks to work on instead of the MC.
Specialists are relatively easy to hire and usually don't cost enough to be worth tracking for the MC. Though more powerful ones are both rarer and pricier. Managers are harder to find since they need the skills to run a large organization. Their pay is also higher, but is usually factored into whatever organization they are running. Retainers are either acquired from narrative events or promoted from specialists and managers with high loyalty and cultivation.
Example
Miss An Lia (Loyalty 8/10, Alchemist, Mid Soldier, Manager)
Each character in the game has a certain cultivation realm. These range from the vast majority of mere mortal peasants all the way up to the Eternal Emperor himself. Each realm provides significant bonuses in the form of higher technique caps, multipliers, and special abilities. The realms themselves are typically divided into four minor realms, Early, Mid, Late, and Peak. With an additional optional fifth stage, Half-Step.
The early stage occurs right after a cultivator has broken through. At this point they have the basic benefits of their new realm, but still have to consolidate their foundation in order to begin making progress and acquiring any realm special abilities.
The mid stage is when a cultivator has stabilized their foundation and made progress in their path. In this stage they can typically wield all the abilities of their stage at a novice level.
A late stage cultivator has finalized their cultivation path. They have acquired numerous techniques at their level and are capable of using their innate abilities expertly.
Peak stage cultivators have completed their cultivation for their current realm. Their foundations are deep and they are vastly more powerful than other cultivators in this realm. They are typically only waiting for an auspicious moment or some particular aspect unique to their path in order to break through.
Half-Step cultivators have attempted to breakthrough and failed. They have some grasp of the next stage making them even more powerful than peak cultivators, but are also likely suffering some form of backlash from their failed ascension.
Benefits of a Realm
The initial technique cap is six. TP can be spent even if a technique is capped, and it will not be lost, but the technique will not increase in rank until the character's realm does. Each realm increases the technique cap by five. Despite not actually advancing a major realm, Half-Step cultivators do get the +5 increase to their technique caps. (To save myself a headache in the early game the base cap has been set to the Knight realm.)
Cultivators in higher realms are ever more powerful than their lesser brethren. In effect they get a multiplier of x10 for every realm they are above another cultivator when it comes to any kind of interaction whether it is combat or social. This multiplier may also apply to actions in the world, but it depends on the action. For instance a Blooming Knight could sweep through a field of low level herbs and harvest hundreds of bags of herbs, but it might take all their concentration to find and pluck a single Lord flower.
The multiplier actually starts at 1/2 for peasant realm and mortal characters. They are simply not very good at anything compared to cultivators. Unfortunately for them Half-Step cultivators retain their old multiplier.
In addition to their realm multiplier each minor realm, early, mid, late, peak, half-step, also gives an overall bonus to anything mystical they accomplish. Mostly this is combat, alchemy, artifice, and beast taming. The bonuses at each minor realm are +0, +2, +3, +5, and +8.
Cultivation is unique in that it does not benefit from realm cap increases. Rather the cap for cultivation is based on the grade of the cultivation grade itself. With the increase in cost for every five levels becoming increasingly larger.
Breakthrough
Breaking through between minor and major realms requires two things. First the cultivator must accumulate sufficient qi for the attempt, and second they must accumulate insights. These insights are transformed into enlightenments and then applied in a method specific to the realm. Once both steps are accomplished breakthroughs are automatic for a minor realm. However moving between major realms however is too much defiance for the heavens to stand. When a cultivator attempts to break through a major realm, then they will undergo a lightning tribulation.
For every realm they have already attained they must survive one bolt of heavenly lightning. In game terms this requires a combat check for each bolt of heavenly lightning. If they fail more than half of the lightning strikes they will not only fail to ascend, but actually lose one minor realm as well. If they endure more than half of the lightning strikes, with a minimum of three, then even if they fail they will become a Half-Step cultivator as they have seen into the next realm and are on the brink of ascension. If they endure all of the lightning strikes, then they will triumphantly break through to the next realm.
These tribulations make it ever more difficult to breakthrough thus in addition to any other bonuses they may accrue cultivators may build tribulation arrays. This requires one qi infused object of their realm for each element. The Tribulation Array will shield them from half the tribulation strikes before it is destroyed. This allows cultivators to guarantee they will at worst become a half step expert.
Enlightenments represent a character's fundamental understanding of the world. The more insights a character has the deeper their knowledge and the more efficiently they can apply their efforts to the world around them. Enlightenments are formed by combining nine insights. Each enlightenment itself will correspond to a specific path, which will limit what it can be applied to. However to cut down on bookkeeping insights will be universal and can be used to form any enlightenment corresponding to what the character has been focusing on.
Insights are gained in two ways. First performing any type of action for the first time gains 1 insight. Second completing a major activity will grant a number of insights corresponding to the difficulty of that activity. Once gathered 9 insights can be formed into an enlightenment, which can then be spent on various powerful benefits.
Enlightenment Uses
The most fundamental usage of enlightenment is in cultivation. Each breakthrough in cultivation requires the usage of enlightenments for various aspects as the character forges their own unique cultivation path. However there are other uses as well.
The second use of enlightenments is to research new techniques and recipes. There are two modifies to the qualify of a technique or recipe. The grade and the refinement. The grade defines how powerful the effect of the technique is. While the refinement defines how much it costs either in Qi or ingredients. Most of the time class is not identified as most techniques are simply Mid Refinement. However there are other levels of this. Spending an appropriate enlightenment allows a character to research at the next refinement level as follows.
Crude: Base Level
Low: Requires some skill in the area of research
Mid: Requires skill mastery in the area of research
High: 1 Enlightenment
Master: 3 Enlightenments
Perfected: 5 Enlightenments
There is a third use of enlightenments. This is to improve the quality of traits that a character might has. This usually is equivalent to increasing the trait to the next higher level.
