Campaign with an Asian feel

[Atypical_Necro]

I'm going to be starting a campaign soon so I've been brainstorming ideas for a setting. I've considered an Asian theme, as running an asian-inspired world has been in my mind for a while now and my players seem open and excited a b out the idea.

I would like to ask for advice from the many great minds on the forum. What can I do to make this setting more than just Asian wallpaper? I don't want standard dnd with curved swords, i want it to feel right.

I know there are many ways I can go about this and I know that Asian cultures are very distinct from each other. I'm open to any and all suggestions from any and all asian cultures on both fluff and crunch levels.

Also, I know the boards were working on a wuxia setting a while back. I read it and thought it was awesome but I want to go my own way (although if someone were to link it I'd love to give it another read).

Looking forward to seeing whAt we can come u p with!

[Telonius]

Are you familiar with Rokugan and Oriental Adventures? That's the simplest pre-made D&D thing I can think of. Tome of Battle could give you some of the wuxia elements; and Incarnum is always good if you want something centered around chakras.

[Atypical_Necro]

I have access to oriental adventures but not Rokugan, and I own tome of battle and was considering it strongly. I'll check out OA though. Never thought about incarnum, thanks!

Should be noted that I will be porting Spheres of Power in.place of standard magic.

[Alcore]

Asian wallpaper is often enough. When in doubt add more wallpaper. Too much Asian and you just might alienate them, and you, with the setting itself. Here is possibly some wallpaper;

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e622.html

Play the game like normal but remember the wallpaper; it's sometimes the little things that have great impact.

[Atypical_Necro]

Fair enough. I'm not going to force their characters to commit seppuku, but I want it to feel right. Duly noted, though. Sake with a grain of salt.

[inexorabletruth]

Have you tried starting it in literally an asian setting?

Like, use a map of an area in Asia that you want to emulate in your campaign.Just pick the appropriate map for the era you wish to play in. That way, you've already got your cities, infrastructure, government, religions, culture, and history all figured out. Wikipedia can help you the rest of the way for further details.

Use popular asian names for your NPCs, For example, here is a link to top 100 most popular Russian (http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/penpals/stats.php3?Pays=RUS) names, in case you want to set the game in Russia. Roll a d100 to keep it random and fresh.

Find some music from the nation and era you wish to represent, and maybe some relevant artwork/poetry/etc to incorporate into your sessions.

You don't have to limit your characters to a pseudo-medieval era as well. JK Rowling did fantastic work breaking that boundary, so you could set the campaign in 70s era Korea, or late 40s era Pakistan. Late 1800s China or mid 1800s Sri Lanka.

If you wish to set your background in Asia, then you've picked a vibrant and varied buffet of settings to choose from, rich with culture, rife with history, and virtually pregnant with plot hooks, from wars, empires, intrigue, mysticism, culture clashes, war-mongers, activists, prophets, philosophers, and messiahs.

And for a nice final touch, lean a few phrases in the language of the region your setting will be in, and use them as greetings from shop keepers, battle cries from rival armies, or words of affection and endearment from grateful damsel or damoiseau.

I hope this helps!

[Mechalich]

Okay, first of all 'Asian' setting doesn't really mean anything. Asia is a huge place and in terms of societies that existed during the feudal period actually has significantly greater cultural diversity than Europe ever did - since the entirety of medieval Europe fell under the Christian umbrella in some fashion (well except for the parts that got conquered by the Ottomans, but that's a different issue).

Most people looking for an 'Asian' setting are thinking about China, an independent society within the Chinese-influence cultural umbrella (Japan, Korea, to a lesser extent Vietnam and Mongolia), or both those things. Rokugan, for example, is a bizarre pastiche of Chinese and Japanese elements. Personally I think it's much better to just pick a single culture that appeals to you and emulate that for greater coherency. For my money China actually works better than Japan, since its storytelling traditions (wuxia and otherwise) are much more accommodating of the kind of shenanigans D&D characters actually get up to than Japan's are.

You also need to decide how much D&D you're going to retain beyond simple mechanics. For example, most East Asian mythologies include demons of some sort, but are those going to be Tanar'ri or something entirely different? Are you going to have D&D style gods? Etc.

[Kelb_Panthera]

If you want something that's basically plug-and-play, just run a "Rokugan" campaign using the rules in Oriental Adventures.

Otherwise, you've got some studying to do. First and foremost; which part of Asia? The culture from the mongolian steppes, the culture of mountainous China, and the culture of sweltering India are all pretty drastically different from each other in spite of their influence on each other.

I'm sure those who are familiar with those cultures would be happy to help after you pick one.

[Atypical_Necro]

Okay, first of all 'Asian' setting doesn't really mean anything. Asia is a huge place and in terms of societies that existed during the feudal period actually has significantly greater cultural diversity than Europe ever did - since the entirety of medieval Europe fell under the Christian umbrella in some fashion (well except for the parts that got conquered by the Ottomans, but that's a different issue).

Most people looking for an 'Asian' setting are thinking about China, an independent society within the Chinese-influence cultural umbrella (Japan, Korea, to a lesser extent Vietnam and Mongolia), or both those things. Rokugan, for example, is a bizarre pastiche of Chinese and Japanese elements. Personally I think it's much better to just pick a single culture that appeals to you and emulate that for greater coherency. For my money China actually works better than Japan, since its storytelling traditions (wuxia and otherwise) are much more accommodating of the kind of shenanigans D&D characters actually get up to than Japan's are.

You also need to decide how much D&D you're going to retain beyond simple mechanics. For example, most East Asian mythologies include demons of some sort, but are those going to be Tanar'ri or something entirely different? Are you going to have D&D style gods? Etc.

I know. As I said in my op, I'm aware of the vast number of culturally diverse societies in the area, I was just looking for ideas. You're right though, I'll probably focus on a more Chinese background, perhaps with a dash of Japanese.

As for demons, I was already thinking I'd simply refluff tanar'ri and baatezu to suit my needs. If anyone has a better idea though, I'm open to it.

In terms of religion I was leaning more toward a blend of ancestor worship and spirit worship (kami), perhaps dependent on where you are in the world though probably not. Thanks for the help!

[Red Fel]

I know. As I said in my op, I'm aware of the vast number of culturally diverse societies in the area, I was just looking for ideas. You're right though, I'll probably focus on a more Chinese background, perhaps with a dash of Japanese.

As for demons, I was already thinking I'd simply refluff tanar'ri and baatezu to suit my needs. If anyone has a better idea though, I'm open to it.

In terms of religion I was leaning more toward a blend of ancestor worship and spirit worship (kami), perhaps dependent on where you are in the world though probably not. Thanks for the help!

The trick with establishing the setting isn't just telling everyone, "It's an Asian setting." It's really making them feel it. Same is true of any setting, really, but once you step away from generic fantasy and into a more specific one, you have to be thorough.

I'd recommend coming up with some really comprehensive setting fluff. I don't mean that you have to dump it on the players as required reading, but have it for your own reference so that you don't have to improvise.

You might consider, for example, enforcing caste - ask the players who their characters' parents were. Offer a small trait bonus based on that, to encourage them to explore that flavor. If a PC is a swordsman, how did he get that privilege? Was he born into a soldier family, or lesser nobles? Is he self-taught, or an orphan; did he join a school? If a PC studied magic, did he learn it from some sort of academy? A cult of demon-worshipers? Or is he the seventh in a line of sorcerers sworn to the Imperial family? For instance, in one game I played (Jadeclaw; not D&D, but great Asian flavor) I played an itinerant scribe. As in, that was his profession, because all local rulers are required to write reports to their feudal lords, but not all are literate, so there was good money to be had. He was also - again, part of his character classes - part of the Imperial secret police, spying on local lords under the guise of being a traveling scribe for hire.

These are things you can build with your setting - palace intrigue, machinations of merchants and local governors, inter-clan politics. You might squeeze in a courtroom scene. I encourage you to watch some Chinese period pieces to get a feel for how the old courts differ from modern ones. (There was a particularly funny comedy, Justice, My Foot!, that you might enjoy.)

If you're going for a more Chinese flavor, it's also important to determine what period of Chinese history - was it when the Empire was on its militaristic expansion-and-conquest trajectory, or its meritocratic-but-militaristically-stagnant period? A lot of period pieces depict the latter, which creates a fascinating opportunity for the PCs - take the exams and become a bureaucrat! Wield real political power! Accept bribes!

You'll notice I'm not talking a lot about combat. There's a reason. Much of setting flavor falls outside of combat. In combat, it will just be D&D with curved swords. That's fine. But if you want to really explore setting, that happens in towns, in capitals, in a lost shrine in the woods, in the tall trees on a mountaintop, in the Emperor's court, in a small tavern with a homely but hard-working girl trying to pay the bills, and so forth.

[Bohandas]

Okay, first of all 'Asian' setting doesn't really mean anything.

Yeah, if you look on a map Asia and Europe are clearly the same continent.

[Geddy2112]

If you want Wuxia, the system Feng Shui is designed for over the top Wuxia action movie style.

Since you are posting in the 3.X forum I assume you want 3.X.

Pathfinder has done a solid job of east asian themed stuff. They have material for eastern weapons, ninja as an alternate to rogue, samurai as an alternate to caviler, and tons of Japanese themed monsters like the Yuki Onna, Gaki, and Oni just to name a few.

[Bohandas]

I'd suggest directly reusing the plot of the classic chinese novel Journey to the West (A party of adventurers [in this case a monk and several supernatural beings {including the monkey spirit Sun Wukong who was the inspiration for Goku from Dragonball}] undertakes a long dangerous journey to retrieve a copy of a rare sacred religious text)

[Karl Aegis]

Never fight a land war in Asia. They've been doing it for far longer than you and they have hosts of men they can throw at you. You will never outnumber them and they know the actual terrain.

That being said, which part of Asia were you looking at? Russia, Indochina, China, India, Indonesia, Babylon, Persia, Mongolia, Korea, Anatolia, The Silk Road and Japan were all pretty interesting. Greece probably had some colonies in Asia somewhere. Ionia, I think. Alexander the Great vs. Darius the Great or Ghengis Khan might be a source of inspiration for a campaign. Never actually happened, but you could make it happen. You'll probably get buried under a mass of horse archers, but you can try.

[Bohandas]

Greece probably had some colonies in Asia somewhere.

They definitely had contact with India, as IIRC India is referenced in one of the legends about Dionysus; I forget the details but I think it had something about him having to be bounced from the region by an army after a supernaturally out of control party that wrecked half the subcontinent.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Jade Empire, with the tech level stepped backwards a bit (or not). That was a pretty excellent setting that Bioware didn't monetize to death, and there's a lot of room for expansion into not-Korea, not-Japan, not-Mongolia and other parts of not-Asia.

[Metahuman1]

Jade Empire, with the tech level stepped backwards a bit (or not). That was a pretty excellent setting that Bioware didn't monetize to death, and there's a lot of room for expansion into not-Korea, not-Japan, not-Mongolia and other parts of not-Asia.

I could not possibly second this stronger if I wanted too.


That said.


If your doing 3.5 D&D, OA has some rules if not a specific setting that you may wish to snag. You absolutely simply MUST use Tome of Battle. Hell Id consider picking a recovery mechanic and maneuvers know selection and some schools and assigning them to ALL classes that aren't' already tier 2 or above magic users.

Incarnum, Psionics, Tome of Magic's Pact Magic section, the Ritual Magic section in Unearthed Arcana, all excellent things to have mechanically as well.

That said, to be honest, 3.5 probably isn't the best system for this. There are others that do it better. I'd start looking at those.