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Author Topic: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme  (Read 6048 times)

SHARK

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #45 on: January 20, 2022, 10:05:25 AM »
The old Kara Tur boxed set has plenty of inspirational material.  Not sure if it's even available nowadays due to issues of political correctness.  Several of the recent wuxia rpgs like "Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate" & "Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades," offer good setting info.  I think the latter would be pretty easy for most players to gronk if they've seen a few martial arts films.  And it's got plenty of NPCs you could probably convert over to your preferred system if you don't use that one.

My own campaign setting features lands derived from China (more Tang era, though), Japan, and Korea, though these are not necessarily the main areas of action.  I've done one campaign mostly there. 

Personally, I favor the Ming-Qing eras as those are my areas of academic specialty.  But there's enough info out there in English to do pretty much any era of Chinese history.  And many of the major novels & short stories have been translated so you can easily find plots and setting details.  Monkey & Water Margin are probably the best for that, or one of the martial arts novels by Jin Yong.  If you want stuff specifically on the Song, let me know and I can make recommendations.  Water Margin is set in the Song, but was written in the Ming.

Greetings!

Good Morning, Persimmon! Excellent! Yes, I actually have an original Kara Tur Boxed Set in my collection. I'll have to dig it out!

You specialized in the Ming/Qing Dynasties? Damn, that's awesome, my friend! Where did you go to school for that? Did your school have a great Asian Studies Program? That's so cool. I love it!

Myself, my main focus was Ancient & Medieval Europe, specializing in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. My university required us to select two secondary specialties--I picked American History, and Asian History, specializing in Ancient China & Ancient India. My university even established its own special Yadunandan Center for India Studies. I was going to take courses in Sanskrit, ahh, but geesus. You know how crazy the course work can be like at upper levels. There's only so much you can do in a set time frame.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Hey Shark,

I got my B.A. at The College of Wooster (OH) and my M.A. & Ph.D. at the University of Michigan.  I did my archival research at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.  Since graduating I've done research in Korea, Japan, and mainland China.  I specialize in Ming-Qing military history.  I currently teach at Southern Miss and serve as the Book Review Editor of The Journal of Chinese Military History. 

If you're super interested you can find my books on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Head-Serpents-Tail-Commanders/dp/0806155817/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2XW49XIJBEQ6S&keywords=a+dragon%27s+head+and+a+serpent%27s+tail&qid=1642685120&sprefix=a+dragon%27s+%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Military-Collapse-Dynasty-1618-44-Empires-ebook/dp/B00I06LPK0/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Y6YJ21YZIFL1&keywords=the+military+collapse+of+china%27s+ming+dynasty&qid=1642685167&sprefix=the+military+collapse+of+china%27s+ming+dynasty%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Trail-Yellow-Tiger-Dislocation-Transition/dp/0803249950/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1DDY3VACU2COZ&
keywords=on+the+trail+of+the+yellow+tiger&qid=1642685225&sprefix=on+the+trail+of+the+yellow+tiger%2Caps%2C106&sr=8-1

My current book is a military biography of General Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885), known to Americans as the namesake of General Zuo's chicken, but known in China for helping suppress the Taiping Rebellion, which was the largest civil war in world history, then crushing a series of Muslim revolts in the northwest and Central Asia which resulted in the creation of Xinjiang province, currently a hotbed of Uighur unrest.

As I said, your proposed campaign sounds great & I look forward to hearing about it!

Interesting! My minor History focus was on East Asia as well. But as much as I did for China it was predominantly on the rest of East Asia, especially Humanities: culture, arts, cuisine, philosophy, religion, and exchange. The dialogue and archaeology from the neighbors around China has delightful... discrepancies to popular narratives. But I still love all of the friction, tracing ideas as they travel!

Due to your interest in war, if you ever get a chance I recommend the War Museum in Seoul, Korea. It is excellent. When talking to Museum Studies majors they would appreciate their application of modern practice. You might love it!

Greetings!

Opaopajr! You studied East Asia, too? Like Tibet, Vietnam, Thailand?

I have of course done some reading and study of ancient Vietnam and Thailand, and damn, there's more good things and drama going on there, too. Wars, armies, kings, dynasties, religions, great cities, temples built, lots of drama, too. They also liked using lots of war Elephants!!! As I recall, for many centuries, Thailand blended Hinduism with Buddhism and Confucianism.

Opaopajr, do you love Asian cuisine, too? I just love Indian food, Chinese food, and Thai food as well. So yummy! *Laughing*

Sometimes, before game sessions, I get the group to go to an Indian restaurant or a Chinese restaurant for lunch. It helps to get their minds in the right frame for the game!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

Rhymer88

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #46 on: January 20, 2022, 10:56:12 AM »
The old Kara Tur boxed set has plenty of inspirational material.  Not sure if it's even available nowadays due to issues of political correctness.  Several of the recent wuxia rpgs like "Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate" & "Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades," offer good setting info.  I think the latter would be pretty easy for most players to gronk if they've seen a few martial arts films.  And it's got plenty of NPCs you could probably convert over to your preferred system if you don't use that one.

My own campaign setting features lands derived from China (more Tang era, though), Japan, and Korea, though these are not necessarily the main areas of action.  I've done one campaign mostly there. 

Personally, I favor the Ming-Qing eras as those are my areas of academic specialty.  But there's enough info out there in English to do pretty much any era of Chinese history.  And many of the major novels & short stories have been translated so you can easily find plots and setting details.  Monkey & Water Margin are probably the best for that, or one of the martial arts novels by Jin Yong.  If you want stuff specifically on the Song, let me know and I can make recommendations.  Water Margin is set in the Song, but was written in the Ming.

Greetings!

Good Morning, Persimmon! Excellent! Yes, I actually have an original Kara Tur Boxed Set in my collection. I'll have to dig it out!

You specialized in the Ming/Qing Dynasties? Damn, that's awesome, my friend! Where did you go to school for that? Did your school have a great Asian Studies Program? That's so cool. I love it!

Myself, my main focus was Ancient & Medieval Europe, specializing in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. My university required us to select two secondary specialties--I picked American History, and Asian History, specializing in Ancient China & Ancient India. My university even established its own special Yadunandan Center for India Studies. I was going to take courses in Sanskrit, ahh, but geesus. You know how crazy the course work can be like at upper levels. There's only so much you can do in a set time frame.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Hey Shark,

I got my B.A. at The College of Wooster (OH) and my M.A. & Ph.D. at the University of Michigan.  I did my archival research at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.  Since graduating I've done research in Korea, Japan, and mainland China.  I specialize in Ming-Qing military history.  I currently teach at Southern Miss and serve as the Book Review Editor of The Journal of Chinese Military History. 

If you're super interested you can find my books on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Head-Serpents-Tail-Commanders/dp/0806155817/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2XW49XIJBEQ6S&keywords=a+dragon%27s+head+and+a+serpent%27s+tail&qid=1642685120&sprefix=a+dragon%27s+%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Military-Collapse-Dynasty-1618-44-Empires-ebook/dp/B00I06LPK0/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Y6YJ21YZIFL1&keywords=the+military+collapse+of+china%27s+ming+dynasty&qid=1642685167&sprefix=the+military+collapse+of+china%27s+ming+dynasty%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Trail-Yellow-Tiger-Dislocation-Transition/dp/0803249950/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1DDY3VACU2COZ&
keywords=on+the+trail+of+the+yellow+tiger&qid=1642685225&sprefix=on+the+trail+of+the+yellow+tiger%2Caps%2C106&sr=8-1

My current book is a military biography of General Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885), known to Americans as the namesake of General Zuo's chicken, but known in China for helping suppress the Taiping Rebellion, which was the largest civil war in world history, then crushing a series of Muslim revolts in the northwest and Central Asia which resulted in the creation of Xinjiang province, currently a hotbed of Uighur unrest.

As I said, your proposed campaign sounds great & I look forward to hearing about it!

Interesting! My minor History focus was on East Asia as well. But as much as I did for China it was predominantly on the rest of East Asia, especially Humanities: culture, arts, cuisine, philosophy, religion, and exchange. The dialogue and archaeology from the neighbors around China has delightful... discrepancies to popular narratives. But I still love all of the friction, tracing ideas as they travel!

Due to your interest in war, if you ever get a chance I recommend the War Museum in Seoul, Korea. It is excellent. When talking to Museum Studies majors they would appreciate their application of modern practice. You might love it!

Greetings!

Opaopajr! You studied East Asia, too? Like Tibet, Vietnam, Thailand?

I have of course done some reading and study of ancient Vietnam and Thailand, and damn, there's more good things and drama going on there, too. Wars, armies, kings, dynasties, religions, great cities, temples built, lots of drama, too. They also liked using lots of war Elephants!!! As I recall, for many centuries, Thailand blended Hinduism with Buddhism and Confucianism.

Opaopajr, do you love Asian cuisine, too? I just love Indian food, Chinese food, and Thai food as well. So yummy! *Laughing*

Sometimes, before game sessions, I get the group to go to an Indian restaurant or a Chinese restaurant for lunch. It helps to get their minds in the right frame for the game!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Then you're probably familiar with this move, although it's set in the 1590s and therefore not "medieval":


Bedrockbrendan

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #47 on: January 20, 2022, 11:57:43 AM »
The old Kara Tur boxed set has plenty of inspirational material.  Not sure if it's even available nowadays due to issues of political correctness.  Several of the recent wuxia rpgs like "Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate" & "Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades," offer good setting info.  I think the latter would be pretty easy for most players to gronk if they've seen a few martial arts films.  And it's got plenty of NPCs you could probably convert over to your preferred system if you don't use that one.

My own campaign setting features lands derived from China (more Tang era, though), Japan, and Korea, though these are not necessarily the main areas of action.  I've done one campaign mostly there. 

Personally, I favor the Ming-Qing eras as those are my areas of academic specialty.  But there's enough info out there in English to do pretty much any era of Chinese history.  And many of the major novels & short stories have been translated so you can easily find plots and setting details.  Monkey & Water Margin are probably the best for that, or one of the martial arts novels by Jin Yong.  If you want stuff specifically on the Song, let me know and I can make recommendations.  Water Margin is set in the Song, but was written in the Ming.

Greetings!

Good Morning, Persimmon! Excellent! Yes, I actually have an original Kara Tur Boxed Set in my collection. I'll have to dig it out!

You specialized in the Ming/Qing Dynasties? Damn, that's awesome, my friend! Where did you go to school for that? Did your school have a great Asian Studies Program? That's so cool. I love it!

Myself, my main focus was Ancient & Medieval Europe, specializing in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. My university required us to select two secondary specialties--I picked American History, and Asian History, specializing in Ancient China & Ancient India. My university even established its own special Yadunandan Center for India Studies. I was going to take courses in Sanskrit, ahh, but geesus. You know how crazy the course work can be like at upper levels. There's only so much you can do in a set time frame.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Hey Shark,

I got my B.A. at The College of Wooster (OH) and my M.A. & Ph.D. at the University of Michigan.  I did my archival research at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.  Since graduating I've done research in Korea, Japan, and mainland China.  I specialize in Ming-Qing military history.  I currently teach at Southern Miss and serve as the Book Review Editor of The Journal of Chinese Military History. 


I just want to say as a former history student (I just have a BA----and not in Chinese history), military history is something I have always found challenging to read. It is definitely an area I would say I am weakest in history wise. And I mean proper military history, not just a survey of a war or something. Every once in a while I accidentally pick up a military history when I am delving into a subject and read it (or read a military history because there isn't anything else I can find on that topic) and I have so much trouble understanding the language because it seems rather specialized (and I have no military background and no real familiarity with the military so a lot of it goes over my head). I almost wish there was a guidebook to reading military history (sort of how they have philosophical dictionaries for philosophy students). For a while I was reading everything I could about the Khmer rouge and Cambodia, and the book that stumped me most, but one that I recall being important for getting the information I needed, was a military history book (wish I could remember the title right now).

S'mon

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #48 on: January 20, 2022, 01:10:54 PM »
Hey S'mon! How are you my friend? Have you ever met Professor Michael Wood? He's a pretty prominent historian that teaches just up the road from you, at the University of Manchester!

Heh, by British standards Manchester is very much not 'just up the road' from London. If I was still in Sheffield you might have a case.  ;D
I had a good PG Law induction/orientation today, but am stressed & unhappy about excessive workload and an unsympathetic manager.  :'( :D

Wulfhelm

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #49 on: January 20, 2022, 02:54:14 PM »
Hello!
Are you familiar with Paul Mason's "Outlaws of the Water Margin" RPG? It is set in the Song period, or to be precise, against the background of the "Water Margin" novel . Neat, clean 2d6-based system, a (to my semi quarter barely-informed eyes) deep understanding of the time period, the mythology and the culture, and some short but juicy background information presented in an RPG-friendly way.

It used to be available free on the Internet, but Paul's website seems to have disappeared. It can still be reached through archive.org, though:
https://web.archive.org/web/20051216223040/http://www.tcp-ip.or.jp/~panurge/outdown.htm

I also have a more current and more expansive version as PDF files stored somewhere, but I'd a.) have to look for them and b.) have to check it's okay to distribute. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

Hzilong

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #50 on: January 20, 2022, 04:29:50 PM »
So, to share my related experience, I recently-ish finished a campaign set in a world where definitely-not-just-China-renamed was the dominant human culture. Most of the campaign had heavy Asian influences in the monster selection and naming. This included Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, etc. references. One of the big things I realized is that, for most western players, they cannot for the life of them keep up with anything other than the most basic of Asian names. Pretty mush the only significant cultural touchstones for Asianess were Avatar and pop culture samurai depictions. Basically, delving into the nuances of Asian mythology and culture were appreciated to some extent, but bogged the game down as I had to explain the context.
Resident lurking Chinaman

SHARK

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #51 on: January 20, 2022, 04:59:07 PM »
The old Kara Tur boxed set has plenty of inspirational material.  Not sure if it's even available nowadays due to issues of political correctness.  Several of the recent wuxia rpgs like "Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate" & "Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades," offer good setting info.  I think the latter would be pretty easy for most players to gronk if they've seen a few martial arts films.  And it's got plenty of NPCs you could probably convert over to your preferred system if you don't use that one.

My own campaign setting features lands derived from China (more Tang era, though), Japan, and Korea, though these are not necessarily the main areas of action.  I've done one campaign mostly there. 

Personally, I favor the Ming-Qing eras as those are my areas of academic specialty.  But there's enough info out there in English to do pretty much any era of Chinese history.  And many of the major novels & short stories have been translated so you can easily find plots and setting details.  Monkey & Water Margin are probably the best for that, or one of the martial arts novels by Jin Yong.  If you want stuff specifically on the Song, let me know and I can make recommendations.  Water Margin is set in the Song, but was written in the Ming.

Greetings!

Good Morning, Persimmon! Excellent! Yes, I actually have an original Kara Tur Boxed Set in my collection. I'll have to dig it out!

You specialized in the Ming/Qing Dynasties? Damn, that's awesome, my friend! Where did you go to school for that? Did your school have a great Asian Studies Program? That's so cool. I love it!

Myself, my main focus was Ancient & Medieval Europe, specializing in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. My university required us to select two secondary specialties--I picked American History, and Asian History, specializing in Ancient China & Ancient India. My university even established its own special Yadunandan Center for India Studies. I was going to take courses in Sanskrit, ahh, but geesus. You know how crazy the course work can be like at upper levels. There's only so much you can do in a set time frame.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Hey Shark,

I got my B.A. at The College of Wooster (OH) and my M.A. & Ph.D. at the University of Michigan.  I did my archival research at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.  Since graduating I've done research in Korea, Japan, and mainland China.  I specialize in Ming-Qing military history.  I currently teach at Southern Miss and serve as the Book Review Editor of The Journal of Chinese Military History. 


I just want to say as a former history student (I just have a BA----and not in Chinese history), military history is something I have always found challenging to read. It is definitely an area I would say I am weakest in history wise. And I mean proper military history, not just a survey of a war or something. Every once in a while I accidentally pick up a military history when I am delving into a subject and read it (or read a military history because there isn't anything else I can find on that topic) and I have so much trouble understanding the language because it seems rather specialized (and I have no military background and no real familiarity with the military so a lot of it goes over my head). I almost wish there was a guidebook to reading military history (sort of how they have philosophical dictionaries for philosophy students). For a while I was reading everything I could about the Khmer rouge and Cambodia, and the book that stumped me most, but one that I recall being important for getting the information I needed, was a military history book (wish I could remember the title right now).

Greetings!

Yeah, BedrockBrendan, getting into or accessing *Military History* can be intimidating. The field has its own lexicon and vernacular, and numerous concepts, ideas, and philosophies that are frequently referenced in discussion of whatever is at hand. Jump in, and keep plugging away!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

SHARK

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #52 on: January 20, 2022, 05:05:25 PM »
Hey S'mon! How are you my friend? Have you ever met Professor Michael Wood? He's a pretty prominent historian that teaches just up the road from you, at the University of Manchester!

Heh, by British standards Manchester is very much not 'just up the road' from London. If I was still in Sheffield you might have a case.  ;D
I had a good PG Law induction/orientation today, but am stressed & unhappy about excessive workload and an unsympathetic manager.  :'( :D

Greetings!

*Laughing* Well, you have lived in America. You know how we can often be with measurements and distance. "Just up the road from London" *Roaring* Yeah, you must have been laughing at that, my friend! Forgive my ignorance. :)

I sympathize with your work stress. S'mon! Go to the pub, order up a good beer, and light up a cigar, my friend! I guarantee doing so will make the day better! I hope you are doing well, S'mon.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

SHARK

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #53 on: January 20, 2022, 05:07:13 PM »
Hello!
Are you familiar with Paul Mason's "Outlaws of the Water Margin" RPG? It is set in the Song period, or to be precise, against the background of the "Water Margin" novel . Neat, clean 2d6-based system, a (to my semi quarter barely-informed eyes) deep understanding of the time period, the mythology and the culture, and some short but juicy background information presented in an RPG-friendly way.

It used to be available free on the Internet, but Paul's website seems to have disappeared. It can still be reached through archive.org, though:
https://web.archive.org/web/20051216223040/http://www.tcp-ip.or.jp/~panurge/outdown.htm

I also have a more current and more expansive version as PDF files stored somewhere, but I'd a.) have to look for them and b.) have to check it's okay to distribute. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

Greetings!

That sounds interesting, Wulfhelm! Did you ever play that game?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

Hzilong

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #54 on: January 20, 2022, 05:16:44 PM »
Hello!
Are you familiar with Paul Mason's "Outlaws of the Water Margin" RPG? It is set in the Song period, or to be precise, against the background of the "Water Margin" novel . Neat, clean 2d6-based system, a (to my semi quarter barely-informed eyes) deep understanding of the time period, the mythology and the culture, and some short but juicy background information presented in an RPG-friendly way.

It used to be available free on the Internet, but Paul's website seems to have disappeared. It can still be reached through archive.org, though:
https://web.archive.org/web/20051216223040/http://www.tcp-ip.or.jp/~panurge/outdown.htm

I also have a more current and more expansive version as PDF files stored somewhere, but I'd a.) have to look for them and b.) have to check it's okay to distribute. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

Greetings!

That sounds interesting, Wulfhelm! Did you ever play that game?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

If you have time, the actual Water Margins novel is a pretty interesting story. It’s a bit long and the writing style is decidedly different from what we see nowadays, but it paints a pretty vivid picture of the era. Incidentally, though you may already be aware of it, Water margins is one of the great 4 pieces of literature in the Chinese literary canon. The other three are Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and A Dream of Red Mansions. All of them are great resources, though I personally did not like Red Mansions all that much.
Resident lurking Chinaman

SHARK

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #55 on: January 20, 2022, 05:26:46 PM »
So, to share my related experience, I recently-ish finished a campaign set in a world where definitely-not-just-China-renamed was the dominant human culture. Most of the campaign had heavy Asian influences in the monster selection and naming. This included Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, etc. references. One of the big things I realized is that, for most western players, they cannot for the life of them keep up with anything other than the most basic of Asian names. Pretty mush the only significant cultural touchstones for Asianess were Avatar and pop culture samurai depictions. Basically, delving into the nuances of Asian mythology and culture were appreciated to some extent, but bogged the game down as I had to explain the context.

Greetings!

Very interesting, Hzilong! How many players were in your group? What kind of characters did they play? How long did this awesome Asian-themed campaign endure?

It sounds like you did an excellent job! Alas, much of a DM's labour often goes unknown, and sadly, entirely unappreciated by the players.

As you mentioned, though, our culture does absolutely nothing to familiarize our society with Asian culture in any meaningful way. I've said for years that we get "Ninjas, Samurai, and Geishas". It can be such a struggle where you essentially have to educate the players to get them up to speed. So many nuances and elements of choices--why person A does X, but not Y, is because of *culture* Players have zero understanding of the culture, so they have zero understanding of appropriate or inappropriate choices, or *why*--and further understand the pros and cons of such different choices. Even their choices that they might make are like throwing darts while blindfolded. It's probably why all of these wonderful, foreign, "Diverse" campaigns have been absolute commercial failures through the years. No, the market as a whole does not want anything radically different. They want North-Western Medieval Europe, heaped on with vanilla pudding, and nuked, again, and again. Sometimes drizzled with chocolate sauce. ;D

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

Thorn Drumheller

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #56 on: January 20, 2022, 05:34:43 PM »
So, to share my related experience, I recently-ish finished a campaign set in a world where definitely-not-just-China-renamed was the dominant human culture. Most of the campaign had heavy Asian influences in the monster selection and naming. This included Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, etc. references. One of the big things I realized is that, for most western players, they cannot for the life of them keep up with anything other than the most basic of Asian names. Pretty mush the only significant cultural touchstones for Asianess were Avatar and pop culture samurai depictions. Basically, delving into the nuances of Asian mythology and culture were appreciated to some extent, but bogged the game down as I had to explain the context.

That sounds really cool (the part about the heavily asian influence, not the having to explain).
Member in good standing of COSM.

Thorn Drumheller

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #57 on: January 20, 2022, 05:41:07 PM »
Greetings!

Very interesting, Hzilong! How many players were in your group? What kind of characters did they play? How long did this awesome Asian-themed campaign endure?

It sounds like you did an excellent job! Alas, much of a DM's labour often goes unknown, and sadly, entirely unappreciated by the players.

As you mentioned, though, our culture does absolutely nothing to familiarize our society with Asian culture in any meaningful way. I've said for years that we get "Ninjas, Samurai, and Geishas". It can be such a struggle where you essentially have to educate the players to get them up to speed. So many nuances and elements of choices--why person A does X, but not Y, is because of *culture* Players have zero understanding of the culture, so they have zero understanding of appropriate or inappropriate choices, or *why*--and further understand the pros and cons of such different choices. Even their choices that they might make are like throwing darts while blindfolded. It's probably why all of these wonderful, foreign, "Diverse" campaigns have been absolute commercial failures through the years. No, the market as a whole does not want anything radically different. They want North-Western Medieval Europe, heaped on with vanilla pudding, and nuked, again, and again. Sometimes drizzled with chocolate sauce. ;D

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

So I'm curious SHARK, what might be a solution, if there needs to be one? Cause this is something I've pondered/thought on. The sjdubs want to censor the 1e Oriental Adventures because it wasn't inclusive of all of Asia (is my understanding).

But honestly, unless you're from the culture or have delved deeply into the history you won't know those nuanced things.

We all have our finite time and what we want to spend it on. When I want to 'play dnd' what I know is that European/Western world view.

Idk, I'm rambling.
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Persimmon

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #58 on: January 20, 2022, 06:13:31 PM »
But the issue is that SJW "bananas" like Danny Kwan don't know jackshit about actual Asian history and culture.  Plus, they completely ignore the fact that ALL of D&D is simplified cultural appropriation and use of stereotypes.  Not to mention the fact that real Asians aren't offended by this, or at least none that I know.  And I know lots of Asians....

Thorn Drumheller

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Re: Contemplating Medieval China Campaign Theme
« Reply #59 on: January 20, 2022, 06:25:17 PM »
But the issue is that SJW "bananas" like Danny Kwan don't know jackshit about actual Asian history and culture.  Plus, they completely ignore the fact that ALL of D&D is simplified cultural appropriation and use of stereotypes.  Not to mention the fact that real Asians aren't offended by this, or at least none that I know.  And I know lots of Asians....

Yes, you said it better but that's how my thoughts have gone. Thank you.
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