Troll Lord Games

I have always had an interest in the orient since I was quite young (Thank Godzilla and Speed Racer for that). Given recent events in my life, this has rekindled in spades and I will likely be very close to the subject at hand. (for which I may actually have to THANK the ex eventually. Some of you already know why. )

I have several ideas in mind, but before I start really getting into them I wanted to know how much interest there is. This will give me an idea of if I should write these with possibility of publishing or just for around my own group once I get one going again now that I will have room to entertain others.

I'm always a fan of the Orient, its why I own so much L5R and Quin. Not to mention the old Oriental Adventures book and adventures.

Doing European all the time gets boring.

I don't usually go for it in published materials as it tends to get "over done" on special abilities and the like. I've never seen a setting that wasn't mad with hyperbole based on a low/poor understanding of the actual civilizations involved.

I would love to play in a C&C con game with an OA theme, but I probably wouldn't buy modules or settings for it.

Well, to explain a little more. My girlfriend is from China so I will be having a first hand reference on proper history and myth when doing my writing. I also tend to be more moderate in terms of powers and all that stuff. You get something good you also get something equally bad to offset it. Yin and Yang. I also think most of the OA stuff produced so far has had a lot of westernized influences to it so I want to see if I can do something a little different in the same flavor. A thought anyhow.

It was a toss up for me between the adventure and setting, and tails came up .... so the setting got my vote.

That said, I'd love to see an adventure or 3 if a whole setting would be too much to ask for.

Now, as I've mentioned in other areas, I prefer a little more realistic to my settings and this is doubly true in and OE style game.

I love the old black and white '7 samurai' style movies and hate the 'hero jumps up runs on the enemies' spears and kicks one person's shield and knocks down 20 warriors' style of movies. That stays true for my games too.

However, as there isn't a lot of choice, and you are taking you own time to do this on your own, I can't be to picky

Lurker wrote: Now, as I've mentioned in other areas, I prefer a little more realistic to my settings and this is doubly true in and OE style game.

I love the old black and white '7 samurai' style movies and hate the 'hero jumps up runs on the enemies' spears and kicks one person's shield and knocks down 20 warriors' style of movies. That stays true for my games too.

Hehehe Well, the idea is to give the feeling of the wuxia in the adventure but having a bit more normal action. Then again, this is C&C and if the dice are with you and you are brave, landing on the spear is always an option anyhow.

The whole setting, eh? A bit greedy there, eh Lurker. Well, I can think of a couple ways to develop a couple of the more oriental type classes with ties more to taoism than wizardry or such that might find their way into such an endeavor.

I'm descended from the "Orient" and I look like an "Oriental" so I'm strongly interested.

Would especially love to see the competing philosophies / religions, and how various people try to combine them in a way that makes sense for them. Also, how each philosophy school was associated with different groups of people, like authoritarians, eunuchs, scholars, etc.

Go0gleplex wrote:I also think most of the OA stuff produced so far has had a lot of westernized influences to it so I want to see if I can do something a little different in the same flavor. A thought anyhow.

Personally, I love me some westernized OA gaming. Good is good even if it isn't "authentic".

Buttmonkey wrote:

Go0gleplex wrote:I also think most of the OA stuff produced so far has had a lot of westernized influences to it so I want to see if I can do something a little different in the same flavor. A thought anyhow.

Personally, I love me some westernized OA gaming. Good is good even if it isn't "authentic".

Won't argue with that. The stuff produced hasn't been bad at all. But to me it just seemed a bit, I don't know, off. It lacks that other worldly feeling that is generally associated with the orient in my mind.

My favorite oriental RPG, Legend of the 5 Rings, is primarily influenced by Japan, but it has obvious, and not so obvious, influences from other groups all around that region, with probably the most obvious being the Mongols and China itself. So is it "authentic"? Nope. Then again, neither is D&D's Medieval European settings, such as Greyhawk, Judges Guild's Wilderlands, or Faerun. They just succeed at the most important thing, being fun to use.

I am not really worried too much about authentic as I am about capturing the essence or feeling. I mean authentic is impossible since Shinto by itself has 8 million kami. Daoism has a thousand or so I want to say, each of the 30+ regions/tribes(for lack of a better term at the moment) of China having their own pantheon and what not. Would have to verify the specifics. And Buddhism is an auto reincarnate unless you really pissed off the powers of the universe. lol Still, even that could be interesting to try to touch upon and capture.

Go0gleplex wrote:
...
The whole setting, eh? A bit greedy there, eh Lurker. Well, I can think of a couple ways to develop a couple of the more oriental type classes with ties more to taoism than wizardry or such that might find their way into such an endeavor.

Greedy, of course, are we not all greedy in some form or fashion. Also, like I said, it was a toss of the coin, so blame random chance for my perceived greed any way

Plus, If I ask for the whole setting, and you only give some adventures, but it spurs you to think about the over arching structure and include it in the adventures, we all win !

Go0gleplex wrote:I am not really worried too much about authentic as I am about capturing the essence or feeling. I mean authentic is impossible since Shinto by itself has 8 million kami. Daoism has a thousand or so I want to say, each of the 30+ regions/tribes(for lack of a better term at the moment) of China having their own pantheon and what not. Would have to verify the specifics. And Buddhism is an auto reincarnate unless you really pissed off the powers of the universe. lol Still, even that could be interesting to try to touch upon and capture.

That is my weakness in this area. As a man of faith, a history guy, and a novice philosophy guy, I can hold my own in discussions and debates on those areas for a western setting. I can even argue that I have some experience with a middle east setting due to my numerous deployments etc.- With those areas being the underpinning for what why how of a setting.

However, I have very limited knowledge and experience for the far east. An interest in old black and white Samurai movies, a few comparative religion lectures, but that only scratches the surface of 'faith' for that area, a limited overview of the history, a little training with Thailand 's rangers, Korea and Japanese troops, and actions and attitudes of my wife's mother and step father (they are Korean), and the soldiers in depth study of 'The Art of War'. That amounts to a depth of knowledge of "I don't even know what I don't know". So any thing that comes close to realistically capturing the 'essence' of the setting would be far better than anything I could ever come up with.

Yes, I am interested. I started D&D with Arcana Unearthed and Oriental Adventures as my first books. Even adding AU to the Players handbook, I felt the Oriental classes were more powerful. I understand that you intend to concentrate on Chinese Culture more than Japanese. To illustrate the power difference I am talking about I will use a Japanese example. I would say based upon a very thorough review of history, scientific testing, and modern day reenactments a Samurai Character class would be more powerful than the Fighter or the Knight class in the C&C PHB. Of course using C&C you could adjust the experience to account for the increased abilities. I will also say that the Western World knight is underpowered compared to Historical examples.

Samurai warriors were known for their mastery of both the Katana and the Yumi, (longbow), which I would equate with C&C weapon specialization. They were also has great horsemanship, which I would equate to the Knight's ability. In addition, I would allow for some recognition of Ki such as a +2 to Strength for one round that the Samurai can use once per level per day. Also Samurai had non warrior skills such as listed below:

Bushido dictated that a samurai strives to better himself in a multitude of ways, including those unrelated to combat. This is why the samurai class participated in a number of cultural and artistic endeavors. Poetry, rock gardens, monochrome ink paintings, and the tea ceremony were common aspects of samurai culture. They also studied subjects such as calligraphy, literature, and flower arranging.

I only provide my viewpoint as a perspective. Someone could just use the classes in C&C as is and say role-play accordingly.

Well, the goal is to capture the feel from the entire orient. I am including Thailand north to Mongolia in that. Not just the Chinese. And I am not committed to a setting book to worry about classes right yet. Simply adventures with the oriental feel and dressings to them to be simple.

GoOgleplex,

I think that is a great idea. Also by allowing the advantages based upon the recomended progression in the CKG in addition to the character class abilities would allow for an quick and easy way to reflect Asian, Western of Midle Eastern character classes that would have some balance. Given time a special set of advantages could be created for each setting to create a unique feel, but remain balanced with the rest of the game world.

Okay. Looks like there is slightly more than less interest in this. I'll go ahead and plan on writing for publishing (while keeping notes for a possible future setting book if I feel REEEEEALLY ambitious (read masochistic) later.

I would be, if it departed from China and Japan. Unless it was Mongol. That's sort of China.