Wuxia RPGs - What Do You Want From Them?

[The Rose Dragon]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who likes the wuxia genre. I'm also sure I'm not the only one who likes to play RPGs in that genre. That said, there is something to be said about playing a game designed for the genre than a game that is generic enough to be played in the genre.

So, with that in mind, what do you want from wuxia RPGs? Note that this includes but is not limited to qinggong and martial arts. It also includes things like walking the path of virtue, being an outsider and several other things.

[dsmiles]

The terminology escapes me. If by wuxia you mean late night kung-fu flicks, I'm there. I love it, especially the more humorous ones like Shaolin Soccer, and Kung-Fu Hustle.
I could see myself playing in a humorous, semi-humorous, or maybe even semi-serious wuxia genre RPG. Probably not a full-on-serious game, though, my sense of humor would be in full force by the second session.

[The Rose Dragon]

Kung Fu Hustle is sort of a wuxia story, if a very irreverent one. It has the hero walk the path of virtue (in his own, candy-breaking ways). It has the secret martial arts masters, and it has the bar-none best martial arts technique ever: "TALK TO THE HAND!".

But still, I'm more interested in serious stories. The American audiences are more used to the wire-fu aspects of the genre, but there is a lot more depth to it than I can explain (or more than I know, even). I'm more interested in works such as Fearless, Hero, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers, as well as Jade Empire.

[dsmiles]

Kung Fu Hustle is sort of a wuxia story, if a very irreverent one. It has the hero walk the path of virtue (in his own, candy-breaking ways). It has the secret martial arts masters, and it has the bar-none best martial arts technique ever: "TALK TO THE HAND!".
EPIC WIN!

But still, I'm more interested in serious stories. The American audiences are more used to the wire-fu aspects of the genre, but there is a lot more depth to it than I can explain (or more than I know, even). I'm more interested in works such as Fearless, Hero, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers, as well as Jade Empire.
Didn't see Fearless, or Hero. Crouching Tiger was kind of overrated, IMO. House of flying daggers was teh awesomes! For a more serious non-wuxia, martial arts movie, you should see Fighter in the Wind. Unfortunately, I think it only comes subbed, not dubbed, and it's a Korean movie. I could see myself playing a serious martial arts campaign in that style, but the wuxia style generally leads me back to my sense of humor.

EDIT: For reference, my characters would probably be more Jackie Chan (in The Tuxedo) than Bruce Lee.

[Dust]

"TALK TO THE HAND!".
You will find that the beats in the music during that scene PERFECTLY line up with someone shouting "BIGBY'S....CRUSHING.....HAAAAND!"

I'm just sayin'.

Things a Wuxia System Absolutely CANNOT Be Without IMHO:

The ability to fight just as well unarmed as I can with swords and more standard feudal-china weapons.
A list of rules by which I can create my own martial style.
No idiotic 'hit point' system - rather, the battles should be one of two things; ended with a single stroke, or long, drawn-out duels where neither party becomes injured until one finally dies in a single strike. As the battle rages on the liklihood of being instantly defeated gets higher and higher for one party, but never so much that it couldn't immediately go the other direction at any time. Every battle needs to have the potential to end with a collective jawdrop.
A roll-based system that supports political espionage.
No Exalted-esque fantastical ridiculousness, like characters shouting out 'CRAFTSMAN NEED NO TOOLS' as they construct a boat with kung-fu alone.

[The Big Dice]

Wuxia isn't the same as traditional kung-fu. That's to say, Hero and House of Flying Daggers are wuxia, while something like Fearless is trad kung-fu. One is more about armed warriors in some legendary distant past, the other tends to be set at some mythical time around the time of the Boxer rebellion.

The differences are subtle, but I'd say a wuxia RPG would need to be more about semi magical martial arts. The ability to fly, run along walls and across water and all while fighting an equally skilled opponent, as well as being able to gracefully mow through armies of scrubs would be important parts of the combat system.

Also a look at Chinese myths and culture would be important. There's things like one fighter being higher than the other is not just a strategic thing and a cool image, but it also being a bit Chinese mysticism that are important aspects of the genre that western audiences are only dimly aware of for the most part.