Designing a 5e Wuxia setting [WIP]

[Croverus]

The Realm of Ziylea
Designed for D&D 5e
Planet with two moons
Normal Gravity
Style: Eastern Aesthetics (Wuxia setting)
Religion:Animism is only religious practice (No gods)
Optional Rules that are part of the normal setting: Loyalty, Renown, Flanking(+2 bonus to attacks), Honor, Healer's Kit Dependency and Slow Natural Healing

Large world of 2 major landmasses and 13 smaller land masses and vast oceans. The world is not particularly old, with the 10 kingdoms uniting just 3 decades ago after several wars between different nations finally ended. The lands within the nations are mostly charted and even wild regions are at least outlined. Secrets still exist though as the ocean is vast and has not been fully charted.

No Humans, Elves, Half-elves or Dwarves
7 major nations rule their respective kingdoms; Minotaur, Aarakocra, Dragonborn, Teiflings, Gnomes, Goliaths, Fire Genasi, Water Genasi, Air Genasi, and Earth Genasi
Halfings have no lands of their own and are mostly second-class citizens in most places.
Other humanoids (kobolds, goblin kin, orcs, giants) fit into society either serving the nation they live closest to and assimilating into it, or else they are barbaric tribes beyond the lands of a kingdom, a threat to all that are not them.

Magic exists in all lands and is represented as spiritual energy throughout most of the world. Divine casters harness the energy by paying respects to the spirit world, while arcane casters use spirit energy as something they acquire through will and study instead of as a gift from the spirits. There are no Deities. All people worship spirits. They believe everything has a spirit and they pay respects to different spirits for different reasons. Some focus on spirits of the elements. Some on spirits that embody ideals and purposes. Some worship the spirits of their ancestors. All magic comes from the spirit realm and thus is easily accessible. Magic practitioners are common place, as almost every hamlet has at least a single spirit guide with access to magic to heal and protect its people and even the barbaric tribes beyond the control of the kingdoms have hedge wizards, war priests, and shamans in their ranks. Most magic is accepted even by the common people as useful and part of the world though grand displays of magical power are still frightening. Necromantic magic is the only magic looked down on by most as it is often seen as a corruption of the spirits though some kingdoms are accepting even of its use. The Dragonborn, Minotaur, and Gnomish nation outlaw its use in their lands, while the Genasi and Goliath nations restrict it's use. The Aarakocra and Teiflin kingdoms have no issue with it. Magic that brings back the dead to life is also looked on with some disdain, as death is seen as a natural part of life and once dead a person's spirit should be free to move on, joining the flow of the spiritual energy of the world. Reincarnation is often thought of as acceptable and reviving someone seconds after death is reasonable to most.

A lot of the changes in this setting to a typical fantasy are all in the fluff. The DMG has a list of Wuxia names for weapons as they would be in Chinese or Japanese origin. The Minotaur, Aarakocra, Tieflings, Gnomes, and Goliaths use Chinese names when there is an option while the Dragonborn and Genasi use Japanese names. Cultural reflections of the real world do exist but there is no straight transfer from one to the other.

More of the setting will be posted below. Ideas are welcome but this is very much a WIP

[Croverus]

Races

This spot will be filled covering the 7 major races that have their own nations as well as several minor races (halflings, goblins, orcs, giants) and how they exist in this world. It will include the stats for each race (most races mechanical stats are unchanged with some minor skill bonuses), important cultural information of each race, and an idea of a race's major settlements and their relations with other races.

[Croverus]

Magic & Religion

This section will expand on how magic and religion works in the world, covering all the fluff involved in such and listing the different schools of Animism. Any changes made to specific spells, new spells added to this campaign, spells that are removed from the game, and natural magical phenomena are also included in this section.

[Croverus]

Equipment

This sections covers the fluff changes to equipment, mostly the changes in names to many weapons and items. Some gear is not available in the world, or may have a different price based on its availability. It also includes a number of items added to the setting, including special alchemical substances, two minerals that are common in the realm, and gear that exists to fit the theme of the setting.

[JNAProductions]

Optional Rules that are part of the normal setting: Loyalty, Renown, Flanking, Honor, Healer's Kit Dependency and Slow Natural Healing

Why? Why on earth would you add flanking in? (Or, if you are serious, tell me it's just a +1 bonus or something, and NOT advantage.)

[Lalliman]

^ I second the fact that flanking, as presented in the DMG, is just not a good mechanic.

Also, doesn't Slow Natural Healing conflict with the exaggerated martial feats that wuxia is known for? Maybe that's an ignorant question, since I'm not so well-educated on wuxia, but it bears asking.

It seems to me that some of those rules (Flanking, Healer's Kit Dependency, Slow Natural Healing) are included not because they're essential to the setting, but because they're part of your preferred play style. If that's true, I would suggest taking them out to separate what's part of the setting from what isn't. Assuming you mean for this to be used by other people than just your group, that is.

I will say, what little you have right now looks pretty good.

[ES Curse]

So how much are you trying to represent within this setting? You mentioned 2 landmasses and 13 islands, do any/all of them have parallels to real-world Asian cultures? Is the entire setting solely Chinese or Japanese inspired?

[Croverus]

The Flanking used here will simply be a +2 to attack rolls when flanking. I'll be sure to edit it for clarification.

The healing kit dependency and slow natural healing is in play because Magical healing is so commonly found that healing without magic or medicinal practices has become stagnated across the world. This will have an important plot point in a Adventure path that will be part of this campaign.

As for cultural parallels, those will largely be specific more to the different races. The Genasi amd Dragonborn will have strong Chinese aesthetics, the Minotaur will parallel Polynesia and the Philippines, The Aarakocra have a general Asian aesthetic with no specific comparison, Tieflings and Gnomes will both have Japanese styles to them, and the Goliaths will be Mongol-like in their traditions and such.

[ES Curse]

So, going off your first post's info, I can safely say I'd run a Halfing Monk/Rouge, whichever sounds better with more detailed rules.

Pardon me, as I always find these discussions interesting. Are there any factors that made you think "This race would be a really good X parallel" or was it arbitrary? For the Aarakocra, I might suggest giving them jungles based on Vietnam and the SE Asian area. And your reply seemingly contradicts the first post's last paragraph, unless the linguistic disparity is intentional.

[Croverus]

It is intentional, the aesthetics and customs of some cultures are more diverse while the naming I'm keeping to just Japanese and Chinese until I do more research on other cultural parallels.