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Stormcrow
2007-03-20, 07:32 PM
Does anyone know any good resources for roleplaying in Imperial China because Oriental Adventures is very Japanese flavour wise.

Tengu
2007-03-20, 07:35 PM
Dragonfist is a DND-based game set in a China-like world (it was released before 3.0 as far as I know), though I cannot say I recommend it much. It's for free though, and can be found on the net somewhere.

I_Got_This_Name
2007-03-20, 07:46 PM
Get a Chinese History textbook, go to Wikipedia, watch some movies, and do your own research, then world-building. Unfortunately, there isn't anything currently in print for D&D settings in China, so that's the best advice I can offer.

The bright side is, though, you can emphasize what you want to emphasize. If you want to tell an wuxia story, with the emphasis on the conflicts between flying warriors, you can. If you want to tell a story of court intrigue at the emperor's palace, you can; PCs can be heroes of the people, special agents to some imperial administrator, secretive priests, or pretty much anything else, all without having to deal with a setting made for one thing over anything else (Looking over Rokugan, it looks like you would have to ignore half of the setting if you want the PCs to be peasant conscripts).

Solo
2007-03-20, 07:58 PM
Read Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Assassinfox
2007-03-20, 08:20 PM
Get your hands on the 2nd ed Kara-Tur supplement for Forgotten Realms.

Darrin
2007-03-20, 11:11 PM
Does anyone know any good resources for roleplaying in Imperial China because Oriental Adventures is very Japanese flavour wise.

Could you be a bit more specific about "Imperial" China, since that kinda spans, oh, several thousand years of history? The Han Dynasty (200 BC to 220 CE) is going to be quite different from the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912 CE).

_Weapon of the Gods_ might work, although the flavor may be more wuxia/manga than what you're looking for.

Dragon Fist has already been mentioned, and Feng Shui deals with China and Hong Kong in particular in four major eras (69, 1850, modern, and 2056 junctures).

Stormcrow
2007-03-20, 11:32 PM
I'm thinking in the Time of the Yellow Emperor?
I think it was like 2000BC or some such...

Jayabalard
2007-03-21, 11:23 AM
GURPS China (http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/china/)

even if you're not playing GURPS, the books can be a good reference. At $8 for the PDF version it's hard to go wrong.

Closet_Skeleton
2007-03-21, 02:43 PM
Oriental Adventures is useful for some things. It appears to have a lot of Japanese stuff but it has stuff from pretty much everywhere. There are plenty of parts of that book you have to discount if you want a purely Japanese setting. That is if there's such a thing as a purely Japanese setting.

elliott20
2007-03-21, 03:39 PM
OA is very ill-suited for any Chinese settings. (Hell, OA is pretty bad for a lot of Japanese settings too)

But yellow empeor? Man isn't that like, pre-bronze age we're talking about here? Not saying you can't do it but that's going to be much harder to create then if you said Three Kingdoms era or late Ming dynasty.

If you're going with that, a lot of martial arts stuff that people love oh-so-much is going to be absent since during those times people were more about mysticism than kungfu.

If you can read Chinese I would recommend that you go find yourself a number of Chinese RPGs to play through for some inspiration. (I'll find a list later, if you want one)

Stormcrow
2007-03-21, 06:07 PM
I absolutely do want a list.

I've decided on three kingdoms as it has the most popular culture showtime.

elliott20
2007-03-22, 08:45 AM
if you want three kingdoms then that's easy.

dynasty warriors games is a good VISUAL start. (the characterization and the voice acting are laughable, but you'll get a good idea for characters your can use) There's also a small encyclopedia that comes with the game which can give you a quick crash course in Three Kingdom's history.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Koei:
A turn based strat game that shows you a lot of the mentality behind the genre. There are like, 12 of these games though. Just go with the later ones.

if you don't mind the 16 bit era graphics, go download a game called "Sango Fighter" by Taiwanese company named Panda. Again, visual aids.

An arcade game named "Knights of Valour" also features a lot of the Three Kingdom warriors.

An oldie but goodie for more visuals is Warriors of Fate.

but the best source in the end, the actual books. Don't read history of the Three Kingdoms though, cuz that will take away a lot of heroic mysticism of the genre. You'll want to make sure you're reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The author went out of his way to distory a lot of historical facts to create a more dramatic tale, but if you're okay with that, then it's a good read.

basic differences:

- Those with questionable morals are now EXTREMELY evil
- Those with seemingly good morals are now so LG it's sickening
- Certain strategic figures like Zhuge Liang are now imbued with magical powers

Earthstar_Fungus
2007-03-22, 09:09 AM
But yellow empeor? Man isn't that like, pre-bronze age we're talking about here? Not saying you can't do it but that's going to be much harder to create then if you said Three Kingdoms era or late Ming dynasty.



Yellow Emperor? Do you mean Ching Shi, the Dragon King, First Emperor of China, etc? By the the time he was around (Warring States Period) there was already iron.

elliott20
2007-03-22, 09:14 AM
No, yellow empeor was called "Huan Di", which translates literally to "Yellow Emperor" if you look at the characters for it. And in this case, he's actually more of a mythical character part of the Chinese creation myth. I do believe he was pre-bronze and the legend has it that his victory over the bull king (which I think was a minotuar prototype) Chi Yo was the result of him inventing bronze weaponry which gave his army the edge he needed over Chi Yo to defeat him.

Who you're talking about, is a completely seperate person, and about 1000+ years apart. (I think it is... Zhou dynasty lasted about 800 years, Shang lasted for another couple hundred... well, I'm fuzzy on the numbers)

btw, where did you get the title dragon king?

Stormcrow
2007-03-22, 07:02 PM
I've been reading GURPS China as suggested and god damn its very thorough. But now I need an aditional hand from you valliant friends.

The plot currently reads thus;

The basis of the current plot line is that (Key Character) recently lost her husband and head of family in suspicious circumstances. Her surviving family includes her son, daughter and revered mother.

The plot will follow her life as she guides her young son's hand through court intrigue.

Her family is one of the lesser families in the clan and live in one of the provinces near the Imperial City.

I'm stumped for what kind of intrigue to throw at her (solo campaign) any suggestions for compelling court/political drama?

kamikasei
2007-03-22, 07:18 PM
Her husband was killed by someone (person A) at court because he would have opposed them. This someone is now acting as a patron to her son, because having the representative of this family endorse person A will help his credibility and prestige. Thus, the man who caused her husband's death is also her ally and helper in raising her son.

Stormcrow
2007-03-22, 09:19 PM
Brilliant!

Her husband was killed by the man who his sister was married to... after she kills the key characters son he becomes the heir to the clan when the husbands father dies. He'll try and discredit her if he can so she looks incompetent also.

While also plotting to kill his own father and brother to make him the leader of both clans so he can merge then and cement his power and influence.

His biggest mistake will be stealing the Clan-Sword off the husband when he killed him because unbenownced to him it is a Dragon Sword (Read: Chinese Myth. The sword IS a Dragon) which if ever recovered will present crippling evidence against him (Read: Chinese Myth. Dragons are Sacred and Revered).

:) Anyone else want to help flesh it out?

elliott20
2007-03-23, 08:36 AM
first of all, if you're doing three kingdoms stuff, drop the clan concept.

The political intrigue, while does involve families, it doesn't work that well with the clan concept. (since ascention during those times was not thorough the structure like a japanese court.)

Here's a second little tidbit idea.

Remember, every dynasty has their own signet seal that the emperor uses to stamp all of his edicts. This is call the Yu Xi (pronounced Yu-she, which translates to Jade Seal). This seal is quite significant for two reasons. 1. it's symbolic of the emperors power and 2. all documents that are stamped by this are automatically official and the word the emperor. Needless to say, whoever wields this item commands a LOT of a power.

While the dragon sword is nice, a legendary weapon is not that powerful. I think switching it out for this seal makes a better line. The loss of one of these things usually are not taken lightly and would involve a very extensive search.

Often the only time a new one is ever created is when the dynasties have changed hands or when the old one was lost and they realized that recovery of the old one is just not possible.

It is quite common that during the warring periods of the different states, the recovery of the item becomes a major quest since the seal gives the holder legitamacy as royal lineage.

Here are some powers for the jade seal:

Suggestion - when a document has been stamped and sealed using the Yu Xi, the next person to read this document is subjected to a Suggestion spell as if cast by a level 15 caster.

Mass Suggestion - Usable once every day, when a document has been stamped and sealed using the Yu Xi and the document is read by an orator to an audience, all those who hear it is subjected to a Mass Suggestion spell as if cast by a level 20 caster.

Aura of Majesty - when holding the seal his hand, the individual receives a +5 circumstantial bonus on all CHA skill checks when dealing with someone capable of recognizing the nature of the seal and is part of the empire. (Thus, while a barbarian king might recognize the seal, he is not subjected to it's powers like say, one of the court officials)

Another thing I suggest is the time setting.

during the beginning of the three kingdom eras, there was a period where it was still the Han Dynasty and the court was ran mostly by the royal family and eunuchs. There was a lot of political strife between the Royal Family and the Eunuchs on account of the emperor being a 9 year old child. During this time, both the royal family and the Eunuchs were trying to garner an edge over each other.

The royal family eventually brought in Dong Zhuo to quell the Eunuch's rebellion after He Jin, one of the Royal Family generals began a massive slaughtering of Eunuchs, causing the Eunuchs to rise up against him. Bringing in Dong Zhuo proved to be their doom as Dong Zhuo had no intention of actually helping the royal family. He later slaughtered the entire royal family (including He Jin), and made the even younger Ling Di emperor as a puppet.

Stormcrow
2007-03-25, 07:25 PM
Thanks for the advice. Over the weekend I shifted the focus to the T'ang Dynasty.