Mystical Asian settings: What do you want to see in one?

[MdavidJ]

Hiya everybody.

I'm in the initial planning stages for an asian-styled setting for true20, and I'm wanting to know what you would like to see.

My main inspiration right now is coming from movies Like Crouching Tiger-Hidden Dragon, Big Trouble in Little China, Hero, and House of Falling Daggers, and some Wuxia inspired magic stuff.

I think some neat guidelines for creating weapons similar to D20 Legacy weapons might be fun, as well as rules for cinematic combat, new roles - like the Assassin (ninja) - might also be cool.

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

[Witchblade]

Well, you definitely need:

• Ninja and samurai. If the setting is supposed to be in the modern era, the samurai could be styled as elite police officers or bodyguards.
• Detailed martial arts rules; something that differentiates various styles and makes each character stand out. Sumo is vastly different from karate, which varies greatly from kung fu, and the styles should reflect this.
• Wuxia feats, where the characters run up the sides of walls, balance on sword blades, and manage to avoid being hit by a hail of arrows, not to mention use meditative techniques to heal more quickly, purge themselves of poisons, and use a variety of objects as weapons with all the accuracy of a laser sight.

I'll probably have something to add later; kind of busy at the moment.

[Kommando]

Head over to the Green Ronin main forums, and you'll see what people have been pining for, for years: Dragon Fist. Years as in the forum was opened in 2002 when Green Ronin secured it from Wizards. The forums were subsequently shut down by Nikchick in September of 2006, stating:

As the game is currently still being developed, and because frankly there's nothing to say about it and this forum is currently only being occasionally used (and then only to complain) I'm locking it up for the time being. The Dragon Fist forum will re-open when there's information about the game that can be shared.

Chris Pramas originally wrote this game before 3e came out. It was based on the AD&D engine, it was fun and most importantly it was a free download. The game consisted of two books. the main rules and a short adventure called Dragon and Phoenix. There was supposed to be a third book released for higher level adventures (as the main game only went to level 10), but the announcement of 3e effectively put an end to it. Its been a cult favorite for years, and you still have fans making the odd post on the forums.

The interesting thing about the game, was that the martial arts system had a series of martial arts meneuvers which worked similarly to the AD&D spell system. As you went up in level, you were able to learn these meneuvers (also slightly reminiscent of the Oriental Adventures book for AD&D 1st ed) and were able to use them a certain about of times per day. This was definitely cinematic Wuxia.

Since the forum on GR was shut down, its been kind of forbidden territory. My personal theory is that Chris Pramas is insanely busy with his regular duties, and moreover I think his interest has shifted away from Dragon Fist, particularly in the direction of the Pirates of the Burning Sea MMO, which he seemed to be very enthusiastic about.

Should Green Ronin decide to keep the property alive, then likely they may be holding off to see what developments happen in the realm of d20 with the advent of D&D 4e. It would be nice, if it is brought back, to see the game go in the direction of the Pirate's Guide to Freeport, with a crunch free setting (perhaps setting Tianguo in the same world) that has additional crunchy companions for d20/4e and True20.

So basically for something like this, you would probably want to contact Mr Pramas and see if they are still planning to pursue the property. Being able to licence it and then put it out under the True20 logo would certainly be a boon to the game system. Failing that, creating your own system (perhaps setting free and focusing more on the crunchy mechanics) may be the way to go.

One of the things I think of for the combat system is the fact that using a Dragon Fist like system is just not going to work for True20. However, something similar might be accomplished by creating Martial Arts talent trees, ala d20 Modern and most recently Star Wars Saga. I know Steve Kenson mentioned that he liked the idea of talent trees when Sage Edition came out. Some might think that it runs counter to the spirit of True20 to have a system of talents with prerequisites, though for a martial arts system it would probably work splendidly and be reminiscent of the combat system from Oriental Adventures for 1e AD&D.

Another idea for the combat system would be to borrow some ideas from Mutants and Masterminds. I know at least one person on the Atomic Think Tank forums who was using the idea of containers for powers as a means to build martial arts styles. I'd probably have to dig up the thread, but I am willing to bet that ultimately its going to work similar to talent trees.

Another thing with martial arts is that the combat is not all about damage. Status effects may play a large part in combat, making liberal use of the nonlethal damage track, and even in some cases the Mental Health track from the True20 Companion. The mythical Lin Kuei (aka Forest Demons or Chinese Ninja) might for instance, have a preference for meneuvers which induce a state of Shock and Awe. Or a more passive monk might specialize in a style that prevents damage.

With the more mystical side of martial arts, you also get into a situation where warriors are also part adepts, or vice versa. The role creation system from the True20 Companion would be useful for this, since some meneuvers would be considered to be powers, particularly the internal styles such as Pa Kua (Bagua), Hsing I, and Chi Kung (qigong). I would go so far as to classify most external styles warrior with a touch of adept whereas the internal styles are more adept with a touch of warrior.

The interesting thing about Wuxia, which is similar to True20 is that there is usually little reliance on weapons. Magical weapons are extremely rare, and weapons in general are more expendable. They can break, a lot. In some ways, it would be like Iron Heroes, where the hero is the weapon.

Um... I kind of ran out of ideas, but hopefully some of that is helpful.

[jaerdaph]

Well, if Amalara is going to drop the ball with Land of the Crane, and RPGObject is going to pass the ball with Legends of the Samurai, I can't think of a better company than Reality Deviant to recover that ball.

[MdavidJ]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the feedback.

I looked into getting Dragon Fist Licensed, and no-can-do. Chris told me it's impossible for them to License it out.

I tried to acquire Land of the Crane to keep it from dying after Amalara left the rpg business. Apparently it went to Dark Quest Games, who haven't seemed to be wanting to do anything with it...

That's a shame, really, because I wouldn't hesitate to get it out there.

So I'm just going to do my best to bring Asian-styled rpg setting fans something special for True20.

I might see about using OGC from Legends of the Samurai (an Outstanding book, BTW) and maybe the Martial Arts True20 book that RPGobjects put out, so as to keep from doing redundant stuff.

Keep those ideas coming, and I'll certainly keep taking them into account in these planning stages!

[77IM]

Land of the Crane is a great setting and my favorite of the initial 9 settings. If Dark Quest Games offers to license it back to you on the cheap you might take them up on it.

If I were going to look for an Asian setting, I would focus on psuedo-Chinese rather than pseudo-Japanese. It seems to me that well-done Samurai-oriented settings are already fairly prevalent, plus the strong feudal system of Japan often makes such settings seem, to me, like "D&D + katanas." Whereas, a kung-fu/wuxia setting to me has a different feel than Western fantasy, but is still ready for adventure.

My group is actually playing in such a setting at this moment. (We are using GURPS, though... I was out-voted.) It's a good setting because action sequences can erupt at any time (you never know when the humble shopkeeper is actually a master of Flowing River Dragon Sword-Fu), and because the mystical/fantasy elements are refreshingly weird when compared to the standard pseudo-European monsters and magic that I am used to.

-- 77IM

[jezter6]

Personally, I would absolutely love if you could get or do something very similar in the vein of Steampunk Musha. It's a wonderful setting that is stuck in a less than popular rule base.

[Kommando]

Hmm... Having those properties being locked up may not be so bad, since you mentioned your intention was an Asian setting, rather than a specific culture. As for Land of the Crane, I assume you have tried speaking with Dark Quest Games about the license? In any case, I have not really seen a pan-cultural setting since Kara Tur was introduced for 1e AD&D Forgotten Realms (I still have the old boxed set ). These days, there is Rokugan which seems more focused on Japaneses culture.

One thing which could be interesting, is the influence of Buddhism (or something contemplative like it) had on Asian culture. Perhaps there could be room for a Indian like culture from which the internal arts sprang from. This would be assuming that the stories of Bodhidarma (Da Mo) were true, and he really did teach a form of yoga to the monk of Shaolin which was called Yi Jin Jing (its interesting to not that Qigong and Pranayama translate to almost the same thing). The Indian influence seems strongest on south east asian cultures. The religions themselves may be more genericized (as they were in the Kara Tur setting), but the cultural richness they bring would add depth to such a setting.

Of course Indian culture wouldn't have to be limited to Buddhist like aspects. A mystic (Sadhu) with a proper command over something like Kundalini Yoga could be a formidable opponent even the most powerful warrior. Anyhow, I digress. I just wanted to point out a potential of cultural diversity.

I took a look at the demo for the True20 Blood and Fists by RPGObjects, and its seems like a fine martial arts system. Differentiate from their system would be a challenge, as your own setting should be self contained, and even if it does a splendid job it would be an odd marketing practice to say "Buy my third party True20 book, but you need this other third party book from another company as well". One thing I would suggest is, if you have it, look at the system from the 1ed Oriental Adventures, since its kind of the granddad of d20 based martial arts systems.

[MdavidJ]

I admit, it_would_be interesting to tackle a setting which introduces elements from many Asian cultures and not_just_one influence, like China, or Japan, which are the most common thematic influences in gaming products.

Having a setting (or even a toolkit) including some diverse cultures derived from India, Tibet, China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan might be alot of fun.

[Grail]

[*]Detailed martial arts rules; something that differentiates various styles and makes each character stand out. Sumo is vastly different from karate, which varies greatly from kung fu, and the styles should reflect this.

Not the best RPG out there, but I've found that Palladium's Ninja's and Superspies offered a goodly amount of information on different martial arts from a gaming perspective. Also Gurps Martial Arts is pretty useful as well, but a bit more heavy handed.

[A Letter From Prague]

Soul-switching during dreams while your shaman-priestess debates which monotheistic religion to convert to.

[jaerdaph]

I might see about using OGC from Legends of the Samurai (an Outstanding book, BTW) and maybe the Martial Arts True20 book that RPGobjects put out, so as to keep from doing redundant stuff.

Exactly - don't "re-invent the wheel" - the very intent of the OGL! I know I would greatly appreciate that approach - avoiding redundancy and incorporating and expanding on what's already out there for True20.

[Razuur]

I would only hope that you do not combine the cultures. I would prefer your setting to have a "china" culture, a "Japan" culture, a "SE Asia" culture, and "India" culture.

I hate it when settings merge them for a "generic asiatic" campaign.

Razuur

[MdavidJ]

I would only hope that you do not combine the cultures. I would prefer your setting to have a "china" culture, a "Japan" culture, a "SE Asia" culture, and "India" culture.

I hate it when settings merge them for a "generic asiatic" campaign.

Razuur

That's the plan. I don't think it would make any sense to homogenize the cultures like that.

I have to do the research on nations like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Korea to see how culturally divergent they are before I tackle them in this Fantasy setting, but, to be clear, you won't see anyone being lumped together.

[jaerdaph]

I have to do the research on nations like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Korea to see how culturally divergent they are before I tackle them in this Fantasy setting, but, to be clear, you won't see anyone being lumped together.

Joe and Suzi of Expeditious Retreat Press (publishers of True20 Nevermore) did a series of PDFs related to Tibet as well as India as part of their World Building Library product line.