Quote from: baran_i_kanu;1003161Great article. Been  enjoying your Wuxia playlogs on your blog.

Thanks Baran.

I'm kind of interested in 'modern Wuxia', you know, something that evokes the feeling of the '60s/'70s(Enter the Dragon), '80s(Bloodsport/Kickboxer, Big Trouble In Little China, any of the numerous ninja movies) or even the '90s(Mortal Kombat, one of my all time favorite games.). Does a modern 'flavor' have any kind of huge impact on gameplay, when you account for guns and cars and stuff, or is all that trivial?

Also, is there a name for Japanese Wuxia, like L5R and the like? Also, if there is a name for Japanese Wuxia, is there a name for when they collide? I recall a great movie where a Chinese Kung Fu guy meets a Japanese Samurai guy, and they freaking haaate each other. But before they can fight each other to the death, they have to team up to fight some evil guy, I think he was a sorcerer(it's always a sorcerer) or something. It was a wonderful flick.

Anyway yeah, this was a fun read, thanks for writing it up.

I'm not Brendan, but this post touches questions that interest me.

Quote from: UppercutIntoCeilingSpikes;1004057I'm kind of interested in 'modern Wuxia', you know, something that evokes the feeling of the '60s/'70s(Enter the Dragon), '80s(Bloodsport/Kickboxer, Big Trouble In Little China, any of the numerous ninja movies) or even the '90s(Mortal Kombat, one of my all time favorite games.). Does a modern 'flavor' have any kind of huge impact on gameplay, when you account for guns and cars and stuff, or is all that trivial?

Depends on the movie, I'd like to say. Besides, movies aren't uniform, either.
In some, guns are a huge deal that shape the fighting.
In others, they're what inept thugs use, without great success once they encounter a real martial artist.
Which sub-genre is your game representing?

QuoteAlso, is there a name for Japanese Wuxia, like L5R and the like?

Chambara, chanbara or Jidai-geki.

QuoteAlso, if there is a name for Japanese Wuxia, is there a name for when they collide?

Mish-mash;).
Also, it can be either wuxia or chanbara. They're different genres, not different settings.

I think Asen got it but I would just add.

With guns and cars you need to know what 'franchise' you are in. Bruce Lee films are a whole different thing with guns than John Woo movies. I think if you are doing modern stuff like Enter the Dragon, Feng Shui or Hong Kong Action Theater are good options (but like Asen said, movies vary a lot even within genre). For Bruce Lee movies and other Kung Fu movies where guns are still very lethal, I'd just up the lethality of firearms in general. In my wuxia campaigns, when things veer into that more modern territory (either through time travel or advancement of the timeline) I treat modern firearms as impossible to counter for that reason.

Quote from: UppercutIntoCeilingSpikes;1004057Also, is there a name for Japanese Wuxia, like L5R and the like? Also, if there is a name for Japanese Wuxia, is there a name for when they collide? I recall a great movie where a Chinese Kung Fu guy meets a Japanese Samurai guy, and they freaking haaate each other. But before they can fight each other to the death, they have to team up to fight some evil guy, I think he was a sorcerer(it's always a sorcerer) or something. It was a wonderful flick.

Anyway yeah, this was a fun read, thanks for writing it up.

I don't watch nearly as many Japanese movies as I do Chinese and Thai, but there is plenty of cross-over (Japan and China still exist in each other's movies and books). Even in straight up Kung Fu movies like King Boxer, you plenty of Japanese characters (and the Japanese are almost always evil in these). For wuxia there are quite a few instances of samurai and ninja showing up. My favorite is Duel to the Death by Ching Sui-Tung.

Been thinking about Wuxia lately: most (if not all) tabletop RPG use armor for defense in some form or another, but Wuxia comparatively doesn't use armor a whole lot. Thoughts on possible replacements?

Quote from: Bob Something;1064411Been thinking about Wuxia lately: most (if not all) tabletop RPG use armor for defense in some form or another, but Wuxia comparatively doesn't use armor a whole lot. Thoughts on possible replacements?

Well, parrying and dodging/evasion are the obvious alternatives, both of which are well-represented in most wuxia.  They're your primary defenses in most BRP-family RPGs (and plenty of others, BRP is just what my head is in at the moment), with armor only playing a role after an attack connects because you failed to parry or evade it.

I haven't played the FFG Star Wars games, but I seem to recall seeing some discussion about major characters getting semi-literal plot armor based on their level(?), so a level-4 PC would automatically have 4 points of free armor even if they're standing around in their skivvies.  This plot armor doesn't stack with actual armor, thus explaining why Luke and friends run around in civilian clothes instead of wearing armor - unless it was extra-heavy armor, it would just be heavy and uncomfortable, but wouldn't add anything to their defense.

Quote from: nDervish;1064496Well, parrying and dodging/evasion are the obvious alternatives, both of which are well-represented in most wuxia.  They're your primary defenses in most BRP-family RPGs (and plenty of others, BRP is just what my head is in at the moment), with armor only playing a role after an attack connects because you failed to parry or evade it.

If you need examples, those would be the d6 system, the newer editions of Traveller (everything after CT, in fact, though I'm not sure about MegaTraveller), GURPS, EABA, Warhammer (at least 2+, I'm just not sure about 1e), BoL, Exalted, Pendragon, Flashing Blades...oh, wait, and most other games not related to the D&D family:D.
In fact, the initial statement about "most games using armour for defence" is only true if most of the games one has seen are D&D-derivatives;).

If you are doing D&D one approach would be to change the Saving Throws to Martial Defenses. You could still keep AC (though you probably want to tweak what affects the actual AC rating). The saves would vary by edition but something like Fortitude Save  could be your Qigong defense for example. The earlier editions would have all kinds of possibilities (you have enough saves to cover a lot: qigong , pressure point, fire deviation defense, external, etc.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;1065146If you are doing D&D one approach would be to change the Saving Throws to Martial Defenses. You could still keep AC (though you probably want to tweak what affects the actual AC rating). The saves would vary by edition but something like Fortitude Save  could be your Qigong defense for example. The earlier editions would have all kinds of possibilities (you have enough saves to cover a lot: qigong , pressure point, fire deviation defense, external, etc.

This reminds me of Mutants & Masterminds, where with a mix of power building/house rule you can have damage-based powers that require a Fortitude/Reflex/Will/any custom-save-which-exist-in-the-campaign. Normally, most if not all attacks target your Toughness save which is fundamentally your defense/hp save so to speak. Status effect usually use the other saves but, as mentioned, one could easily crunch the reverse too and thus essentially potentially make all the saving throws equally relevant in combat.

Thoughts?

I am spontaneously very creative, and love the Wuxia genre, so I always have a blast playing Hong Kong Action Theatre! I just wish I got to play it more!

It's a game that requires creativity though. I've played alongside guys that REALLY struggle to come up with Stunts, and crave the "roll and add modifier to hit monster" kind of Roll Playing.

I would recommend "Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman" for Japanese Wuxia. Zatoichi is Chanbara and One-Armed Swordsman is Wuxia. To be honest I don't remember the details of that one, with 26 Zatoichi movies they all blend a lot.