Daqinren Character Guide

This article is a general guide for players trying to make a Daqinren character, an advanced transhurman with distinct visual features derived from animals. Though many will be within the Empire of Daqin, this will still be useful regardless of where they come from. Surprisingly, the Empire harbors a very diverse population, ranging from the Daqinren themselves, to those rich and powerful enough to purchase citizenry, to immigrants who are citizens only in the most technical sense. Each demographic has its own unique history and culture, which will be put into a nutshell summary here. The most important thing to consider when making a character from Daqin, is which social class that they come from. This alone will determine the vast majority of options are available to the player. For this reason, a good portion of the guide focuses on this.

Don't forget to use the Character Template!

Being very difficult to play, the Daqinren First Class Citizenry are not recommended for new players, as their abilities, way of thinking and doing things make them unintuitive:

• They are typically limited to one of 12 forms based off of the Chinese Zodiac; due to social rigidity, they want to present a certain image and be part of the in-crowd
• They are stereotypically haughty and arrogant to humans, having an axe to grind towards their creators due to their history of slavery
• Unlike others, they intuitively take extensive advantage of their abilities, living in virtual reality at the same time they live in physical reality
• They can get annoyed when interacted with by non-Daqinren in real-space, as they are diverting attention from their virtual-spaces; the pace of real-space is slower as well, which can be aggravating to them
• They can and will mentally accelerate so that they have more time to think about how to reply/react to people and situations
• They appear or look like they have much more control of their emotions than humans, and have a reputation of being 'level headed', as they can 'take five' at any moment to think it over and present themselves better
• They are socially expected to both behave and perform better than their human counterparts by their peers, but conversely, may not, reasoning that they're superior and don't need to prove it
• They are fully networked with one another and their electronics, as they can sync with each other to the point that they act like parts of a whole, and their activity together will seem like everything is choreographed
• They look down on humans as people who are crippled, disabled or mentally deficient, though most cases are not malicious and more out of pity
• They are are the most free in their society in a technical sense, but are often content to the point of not using their freedoms; they have no need to change to different jobs/occupations/living areas etc since they are sated

Despite having certain legal restrictions on them in-character, second class citizens are the most free of the three types of citizen in a practical sense. This is because their culture doesn't restrict them like with the first class, and they have more travel and economic permissions than the third class of citizen. More importantly, they're former humans in most cases, meaning that just like the player, they are getting used to being trans-human as well. The most important things to keep in mind are:

• They are composed of Non-Daqinren who have purchased the necessary gene-therapy to physically become Daqinren
• Their gene-therapy is acquired either by paying sufficient money, bartering items of sufficient value, or rendering a service to the Empire
• Foreign governments may pay to have their employees become Daqinren due to their drastically increased performance, at the cost of increased surveillance
• The culture of the individual depends on their own life experience or lack of, where they came from, and so forth
• Anyone who has a full set of Daqinren genes is automatically a second class citizen of the Empire, even if they live outside its borders or have allegiances to another nation
• They only have access to baseline Daqinren enhancements, but cosmetic customization is fully open - for a price
• They have access to the zodiac forms cosmetically, but will often get cosmetic forms based off of other animals
• May purchase a download of information to instruct themselves from the Empire, but training on how to properly use said information efficiently comes separately
• Their abilities are not second nature to them, and as a result, they aren't used to their fullest in most cases
• They may experience Depersonalization and similar disorders, where their selves, body and reality may feel unreal, as though from a dream due to the sharp and drastic change in physical features and mental ability
• They are typically prohibited form entering 'core' areas that are restricted to just First Class Citizens

Because third class citizens are not Daqinren, they're potentially the easiest to play provided the plot and game master are accepting of them. In-character, they have the most restrictions and the least amount of rights however, providing barriers to RP opportunities. Fortunately, playing one can be as simple as being human.

• They are borderline non-citizen with various economic, employment and travel restrictions
• They are composed of everyone that is not 1st or 2nd Class regardless of wealth, station or power (leaving out Chongwu of course)
• They may be born into this position, forcefully annexed or willingly immigrated into the Empire
• They are typically found at the less developed outer edges of the Empire if they immigrated into it looking for opportunity, and aren't allowed to enter the nicer parts
• Those that are born into or annexed into it are likely on the 'homeworld' of Tiāntáng, the sole habitable and undeveloped planet in the Empire; Caelumar, Infernumar, Aos Si, Oruk and Selai are some examples
• For them, living conditions may range from 'more of the same' should they have come from one of the Earth successor nations, to a big increase should they have grown up in a place with medieval knights and magic such as Tiāntáng
• Travel is usually restricted to outer areas of the Empire or the 'cultural preserve' if they are from a primitive society
• Those with considerable contributions to the Empire or power may be given 'perks' normally reserved for the 2nd Class