Fantasy Asian Setting other than Kara Tur (movies and books welcome)

[t209]

So I've been thinking after my last discussion on Kara-Tur, or rather on opinions, reasons, and "homebrew special" on its shortcomings.
I kinda want to start asking other Asian-esque RPGS (or works if you want) and wonder how they are compared to Kara-Tur (because DND is famous and only setting outside of Rokugan, which is now Fantasy Flight properties), both before and after its publications.
Essentially, "how come those works are alot better".
All I can think is Pathfinder, Avatar, Bushido (even OA copied most of its classes but Shugenja became clerics and replacing Gashuko while Wu Jen took the place of wizard class) and Rokugan; former being part of Paizo. Anyone who played the first and the third before and your insights?
Also one note if any L5R writers worked on OA or Kara Tur setting books before?

[Mechalich]

Go to drivethruprg. Select 'Core Books' as the product type. Type 'Asia' into the search bar.

Research accordingly.

[Anonymouswizard]

Legends of the Wulin, Qin: the Warring States, and Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades all take place in a fantasy China with an underground works of marital arts (and crime, and occasionally marital arts).

Qin: the Warring States is the most grounded of the three. It's barred on a real historical period (Warring States China, around 200BC), is well researched, characters won't be taking down entire armies, and the Jianghu is closer to a criminal underworld mixed with the remnants of the old noble families. But there's still spirits and journey supernatural elements, as well as four types of magic (Divination, Exorcism, External Alchemy, and Internal Alchemy) and the required supernatural martial arts, although you don't have to have any of it and can just stick all your points into mundane techniques.

Legends of the Wulin is more openly fantastical, with marital arts styles summoning fire, ice, and whatnot, every character being able to Lightfoot just by spending Chi, and the Jianghu being made up of a large number of societies the length and breadth of the moral specctrum. There's an attempt to bring in various Chinese philosophies, and characters can take down move of nooks from the word go, but can't fight a single mook (there just aren't rules for it.

Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades is the grittiest of the three I've mentioned with characters having permanent changes to their aura every time they kill someone g, rules for removing people's ability to perform Kung Fu, and an all round grimmer tone. It's still Wuxia, but it's the kind where you might be playing the disgraced son of an official who can't perform marital arts anymore because his legs were broken and intentionally made to heal incorrectly.

[Cygnia]

7th Sea had Cathay which was a mish-mosh of various Asian cultures (and MASSIVE power creep). I think Wick did some tweaking of it for 2nd ed 7th Sea, but I don't know how exactly.

[Sparky McDibben]

Checked out Raya and the Last Dragon last night. Decent example of both a fast-paced apocalypse and a multipolar fantastic Asian setting.

Possibly also check out Exalted?

[t209]

Checked out Raya and the Last Dragon last night. Decent example of both a fast-paced apocalypse and a multipolar fantastic Asian setting.

Possibly also check out Exalted?
Well, Raya, part of me think that they are trying to emulate Avatar The Last Airbender or trying to outpace it, but saw some reviews that claimed it to be "meh".
Exalted, it did help that entire RPG is "Dragon Ball and Xianxa but as an RPG".
Kara-Tur, I know Aznsrepresent colored my views but I tried looking at it and felt that the Shou Lung kinda feel like trying to plug in Japanese tone (Sohei, Samurai, and "gaijin") to anything missing. Same with Bawa and Koryo as well ("here are their versions of Samurai and Ninjas"). Written by Mike Pondsmith, who wrote Cyberpunk yet seems to botched it abit (that or having different writers might not help) on fantasy. Also Tu Lung being given to different writer, no or little connection to Shou Lung story hooks (kidnapped princess or even a stat for the "Romance of the Three Lords" bard aside as a narrator), and being "look how evil and crappy we are" shallow characterization (maybe it would work like wealthy core regions and destitute frontiers would work, like Earth Kingdom where Ba Sing Se is well-off but other areas are war-torn).
Also maybe seeing it from a time when anime (without riceball donuts), Japanese mythology, Three Kingdoms adapted for western audience, and Avatar as high-bar didn't help my views at all.

[Sparky McDibben]

Well, Raya, part of me think that they are trying to emulate Avatar The Last Airbender or trying to outpace it, but saw some reviews that claimed it was meh.

It is somewhat meh. It's a Disney movie. But taking "meh" source content and making it awesome is a very useful skill for any storyteller. I had about half-a-dozen ideas for D&D just watching it.

[Thane of Fife]

Wizards also put out Mahasarpa (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/Mahasarpa.pdf) as a web enhancement to Oriental Adventures. It's a mini-setting, aimed at using the OA mechanics to represent something closer to India and Southeast Asia.

I'm not too familiar with it - though I have heard good things about it - but there is also a game called Against the Dark Yogi, which I presume has something similar (but probably more detailed).

[Sparky McDibben]

Against the Dark Yogi

This sounds like the plot of a Dresden Files novel involving an evil yoga studio and I am SO here for it.

[TaiLiu]

If you haven't already, check out the webcomic Witchy (https://www.witchycomic.com/about). The author develops an original pan-Asian setting that doesn't feel like a racist amalgamation of real-world cultures. I think the focus is on southeast Asia, but it's been a while since I've read it.

[Martin Greywolf]

If you are partial to books, there's Across the Nightingale Floor, IIRC from Tales of the Otori series? It has magic ninjas.

All that aside, and this will feel so obvious it may sound slightly condescending, but have you considered going to the source? Japan in particular has produced a lot of material, and China is catching up with wuxia shows and books as well.

Even something as mainstream as Naruto or Bleach has a lot of Japanese mythology hidden in it, and then there's all the Miyazaki movies, and movies inspired by those. For China, there are innumerable adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms for low magic (usually), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Curse of the Golden Flower and so on. Hell, Kung fu Panda is actually a pretty good example, even though it was made by the westerners. Unlike Mulan, stay away from Mulan.

There's also Twelve Kingdoms which is a niche thing, but very Asian in its worldbuilding.

You just don't see them listed under fantasy, because definiton of that genre seems to be annoyingly narrow-minded.

[t209]

Even something as mainstream as Naruto or Bleach has a lot of Japanese mythology hidden in it, and then there's all the Miyazaki movies, and movies inspired by those. For China, there are innumerable adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms for low magic (usually), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Curse of the Golden Flower and so on. Hell, Kung fu Panda is actually a pretty good example, even though it was made by the westerners. Unlike Mulan, stay away from Mulan.

There's also Twelve Kingdoms which is a niche thing, but very Asian in its worldbuilding.

You just don't see them listed under fantasy, because definiton of that genre seems to be annoyingly narrow-minded.
Well, mostly due to Martial Arts as its own category.
Just that we had discourse on Kara Tur, which isn’t helped that the main core beak is 30 years old and not something you can do anime, Wuxia, and even generic DND coated in Fantasy Asia without extensive Tweaking by DM (aka need experience and knowledge of Asian fantasy other than pulp that might have inspired the authors, ironically enough Pondsmith who is actually a decent writer but not good at Shou Lung).
Also not sure about Mulan, at least animated is good but not Live Action.
Also don’t forget Avatar the Last Airbender for “good Asian works made by westerners”.

[Ettina]

Many fantasy animes would qualify. Fantasy Sengoku-jidai is about as common in anime as Fantasy Medieval Europe in Western fantasy.

[Libertad]

I actually wrote 2 reviews for a pair of 5e setting/adventure books with East (and Southeast) Asian cultural themes:

Unbreakable Vol. 1 is a collection of 10 adventures written by people showcasing literary, mythology, and folkloric elements from their respective cultures. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?618754-Let-s-Read-Unbreakable-Volume-1&p=24707383)

The Koryo Hall of Adventures is a setting drawing heavy influence from Korean history and legend, focusing on the medieval era. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?632369-Let-s-Read-The-Koryo-Hall-of-Adventures)

Both books were written by people with well-researched knowledge and lived experience in said societies, if that's something that helps your decision.

[t209]

I actually wrote 2 reviews for a pair of 5e setting/adventure books with East (and Southeast) Asian cultural themes:

Unbreakable Vol. 1 is a collection of 10 adventures written by people showcasing literary, mythology, and folkloric elements from their respective cultures. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?618754-Let-s-Read-Unbreakable-Volume-1&p=24707383)

The Koryo Hall of Adventures is a setting drawing heavy influence from Korean history and legend, focusing on the medieval era. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?632369-Let-s-Read-The-Koryo-Hall-of-Adventures)

Both books were written by people with well-researched knowledge and lived experience in said societies, if that's something that helps your decision.
Appreciated.
Also maybe part of me wonder why OA and even Kara-Tur doesn't feel right even in less-serious sense. Even I don't get the idea behind Two Chinas and Two Japans with the latter doesn't share history despite being Fantasy Japan but in different eras. Even Koryo came off as "generic Asian fantasy country" (also for some reason, managing to forget Gat, Hanbok, and Kimchi even having a Korean book...assuming if it wasn't some travelogue with "outsider perspective and using wordy descriptions instead of local terms") even if the authors did try to expand to other non-Asian countries. In contrast with Avatar, which also did the blending and asian analogue-ish but seems to be more enjoyable, even L5R is more interesting in lores.
Strangely, Pondsmith is one of the writers but not sure if he's the writer or just copying from Cook's manuscript.
That or being spoiled by the increased availability of Anime, Samurai movies, and Asian mythology-derived works with more research and often locally-made.

[muggie2]

Chivalry & Sorcery had Land of the Rising Sun, which was a take on (you guessed it) Japan.
Their latest iteration, the 5th edition, has just released the updated version of Land of the Rising Sun.
Seems to be well-researched. Might be worth a look.

[Segev]

I submit the following from Raymond E. Feist's work: https://midkemia.fandom.com/wiki/Kelewan

Janny Wurts worked with him on a trilogy set there that starts with Servant of the Empire. The Magician Apprentice trilogy takes Pug there at one point, too.

[Rakaydos]

Jadeclaw 1st ed, and Ironclaw 2nd ed: Book of Jade, have a well researched chineese-expy setting. Just ignore the animal-people.

[LibraryOgre]

Worth mentioning: Lone Wolf & Cub, Samurai Executioner, and Path of the Assassin. Historical fiction manga focusing on, respectively, a ronin and his young son who become assassins, a ronin who serves as executioner for a daimyo (iirc), and Hanzo, the historical figure.

There's also "Initiate Brother" and "Gatherer of Clouds", a duology by Sean Russell. I read them a long time ago, though.

[t209]

So my friend showcased his game called Moonsoon.
https://www.bluebelu.com/moonsoontooj
Basically 5E homebrew of fantasy South-East Asia Myanmar but with humanoid animals. It was decent.
https://www.bluebelu.com/
Also can I include about Jade Empire and Pillars of Eternity 2 as well?

[Kane0]

Also can I include about Jade Empire and Pillars of Eternity 2 as well?

+1 for Jade Empire

[t209]

+1 for Jade Empire
Part of me wonder if Kara-Tur had been an influence here, at least Spelljammer version (the proliferation of magic ship, the entire setting seems "bleh" and mundane other than Spelljammer version), even if it was capitalizing on Crouching Tiger movies.
Also Bioware being producer of DND, at least Baldur's Gate.
Same with L5R assuming if old staff worked for that company.

[Kriegspiel]

I submit the following from Raymond E. Feist's work:

Janny Wurts worked with him on a trilogy set there that starts with Servant of the Empire. The Magician Apprentice trilogy takes Pug there at one point, too.
While I'm a fan of the books it's probably worth pointing out that Kelewan essentially began as Tékumel with the serial numbers filed off.

[Kane0]

Part of me wonder if Kara-Tur had been an influence here, at least Spelljammer version (the proliferation of magic ship, the entire setting seems "bleh" and mundane other than Spelljammer version), even if it was capitalizing on Crouching Tiger movies.
Also Bioware being producer of DND, at least Baldur's Gate.
Same with L5R assuming if old staff worked for that company.

To be fair Bioware had done D&D with Neverwinter Nights, then Star Wars with Knights of the Old Republic then Jade Empire at an attempt of their own IP all woth the same game engine IIRC.
Anyways, i thought it was an i teresting setting with the fantastical folklore elements interweaved with aspects of modernity, even if the whole open palm/closed fist thing was just a poor mans good/evil after chapter 1

[Anonymouswizard]

Also can I include about Jade Empire

Darn it, now I want Jade Empire 2 again. I don't care if EA insists on making it a live service, despite all it's problems (particularly Closed Fist stuff) it's probably my favourite Bioware game.

Although honestly, I just want more Wuxia games.


Part of me wonder if Kara-Tur had been an influence here, at least Spelljammer version (the proliferation of magic ship, the entire setting seems "bleh" and mundane other than Spelljammer version), even if it was capitalizing on Crouching Tiger movies.
Also Bioware being producer of DND, at least Baldur's Gate.
Same with L5R assuming if old staff worked for that company.

Kara-Tur is primarily Japan, so it's unlikely that it influenced Jade Empire (which is very clearly China). The airships could have come from many fantasy novels, I'm sure somebody on this forum will be able to dig out a 1940s pulp novel with something similar.

Similarly Rokugan is heavily Japan influenced, and so is unlikely to have had much influence.

More likely somebody in the staff was a really big fan of Wuxia movies and maybe even the books. It's a relatively standard Wuxia story with some Western elements and a lot of messing around with filial piety through Master Li.


As a side note, is it just me or have tabletop RPGs moved from fantasy Japan more towards fantasy China over the last few years, and then from there to bring inspired by other countries. Not that I'm complaining, I love Chinese culture and am trying to get every Wuxia game I know of (the big one is now finding Tianxia without paying for international shipping). But I'd love to pick up games based on places such as India and Eurasia if people know of them.

[Satinavian]

As a side note, is it just me or have tabletop RPGs moved from fantasy Japan more towards fantasy China over the last few years, and then from there to bring inspired by other countries. Not that I'm complaining, I love Chinese culture and am trying to get every Wuxia game I know of (the big one is now finding Tianxia without paying for international shipping). But I'd love to pick up games based on places such as India and Eurasia if people know of them.Not so sure. TDE has had several India inspired setting (though one is more Northern India+Persia) since the 90ies while never commiting to a Japan/China setting (only placing some elements here and there). I think it is still a lot about what authors personally find interesting .

[Anonymouswizard]

Not so sure. TDE has had several India inspired setting (though one is more Northern India+Persia) since the 90ies while never commiting to a Japan/China setting (only placing some elements here and there). I think it is still a lot about what authors personally find interesting .

Sorry, should have specified that I was talking about Anglosphere RPGs.

But yet another reason I want to get into DSA I guess.

[t209]

Kara-Tur is primarily Japan, so it's unlikely that it influenced Jade Empire (which is very clearly China). The airships could have come from many fantasy novels, I'm sure somebody on this forum will be able to dig out a 1940s pulp novel with something similar.

Similarly Rokugan is heavily Japan influenced, and so is unlikely to have had much influence.

More likely somebody in the staff was a really big fan of Wuxia movies and maybe even the books. It's a relatively standard Wuxia story with some Western elements and a lot of messing around with filial piety through Master Li.


As a side note, is it just me or have tabletop RPGs moved from fantasy Japan more towards fantasy China over the last few years, and then from there to bring inspired by other countries. Not that I'm complaining, I love Chinese culture and am trying to get every Wuxia game I know of (the big one is now finding Tianxia without paying for international shipping). But I'd love to pick up games based on places such as India and Eurasia if people know of them.

Well, there's Shou and Tu Lung (two chinas) and former had airship fleets in Spelljammer.
Other than using Japanese-themed classes or motif (up to Sohei and inter-temple conflict with armed retinues that sounded more Sengoku than China), it's fantasy China.
And the Rokugan part being some of the provinces sounding like proto-Rokugan to an extent (one province being sea-farers, other being horse riding nomads, and a province of people known for treachery and cruelty). That or Aznsrepresent podcast just trying to analyze while STILL assuming that L5R is Wizard property (at the time).

[Segev]

While I'm a fan of the books it's probably worth pointing out that Kelewan essentially began as Tékumel with the serial numbers filed off.

I admit not being familiar with Tékumel.

[Corvus]

I admit not being familiar with Tékumel.

Tékumel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A9kumel). It is interesting if a little strange in places due to it actually being a sci-fi setting that regressed technologically to a fantasy setting and has some truely bizarre alien races.

It is based on Indian/Middle Eastern/Egyptian/Mesoamerican influences rather than European one, and, like Tolkien, M.A.R Barker used it for his constructed languages.

And yeah, Kelewan has a some influences from Tékumel. This came about as the Midkemia setting wasn't Feist's creation - it was a setting created by a a large number of GMs for a RPG campaign setting and a couple of the GMs borrowed elements from Tékumel for Kelewan.

[Bohandas]

If you're lookig for novels I'd suggest Journey to the West