Anyone know of a cool RPG that is focused on brining kung-fu action film style combat to the table?

I would prefer non-wuxia style (that is the Chinese Mythology style kung-fu where they can fly and stand on one foot upon a daisy or w/e)... more interested in "The Raid" kind of stuff... as in kung-fu set in the "real" world. Though if you know of a wuxia-style one I would still like to read it.

I'm just interested in the mechanics of describing a kungfu fight in a RPG and how that could be done, and done well.

If you have any suggestions I would love to hear it, thanks!

Ninjas & Superspies by Palladium Books has an insanely detailed martial arts system with dozens of styles laid out (along with superspies, gadgets, super vehicles, agencies).

It's got the usual wonkiness of Palladium mechanics, but as one of its earlier settings and with Erick Wujcik having significant input, it's probably one of the better organized rpgs released by Palladium.

In the Wuxia realm, there's Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9-pC3TisEA

Outside of Wuxia, I don't think I'm aware of a dedicated martial arts game, but it seems to pop up in a lot of spy/modern games. Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes has a few pages devoted to martial arts combat. Cyberpunk 2020 also had a surprisingly detailed martial arts system (which I think has been removed from the most recent edition), with bonuses for different styles.

This is probably what you're looking for: https://www.atlas-games.com/fengshui

Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, made by the same designer of Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades.

Weapons of the Gods, based on it's Hong Kong comic book.

Feng Shui 1 or 2, which is specifically aimed at attempting to mimic Hong Kong action movies of the 80s and 90s. Feng Shui 2 is a lot more mystical and seems super inspired by Big Trouble in Little China.

For Hero System there is Ninja Hero, which has all sorts of cool martial arts you can steal from.

Gurps has its own Martial Arts book as well.

There is a martial arts book in the works for Savage Worlds.

Without going into the realm of fighting games or superheroes there isn't a whole lot for just modern martial arts RPGs.

It is Wuxia but Flying Swordsmen is worth a reading.

There is an RPG being made called Masters of Death that looks like it is meant to emulate the kung fu films of the 70s and 80s. I don't think it has been released yet but you might find out if early playtest material is available.

I would second Feng Shui as being in the ballpark of what you seem to want. I also like Hong Kong Action Theatre! (first edition but you might like the Tri-stat version too).

It has been a long time since I played but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might have some material that you could use for this sort of thing.

I co-designed Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate and Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades which others have mentioned. Those are wuxia and would be similar to games like Weapons of the Gods, Legends of the Wulin, Qin, Tianxia in terms of needing some amount of adjustment to focus soley on Kung Fu. I quite like Art of Wuxia and would recommend looking into it and see if you think that can be adapted to your purposes. For Ogre Gate I did some blog entries to replicate more real world martial arts, which might give you an idea of the kind of work you need to do for games of this sort if you want to shape them into something else: https://thebedrockblog.blogspot.com/2022/06/wandering-heroes-of-ogre-gate-foot-fist_4.html

There is also a game by Osprey that is more of a miniature-tactical game called A Fist Full of Kung Fu you might want to look into (I have a copy at my old place but I don't have it here with me so hard to give a break down).

Also I don't know a lot about it but I think there is a preliminary version of a Kung Fu RPG for DCC called Kung Fu Classics Playtest edition on Drivethru.

Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on May 20, 2023, 01:53:37 PM
There is an RPG being made called Masters of Death that looks like it is meant to emulate the kung fu films of the 70s and 80s. I don't think it has been released yet but you might find out if early playtest material is available.

I would second Feng Shui as being in the ballpark of what you seem to want. I also like Hong Kong Action Theatre! (first edition but you might like the Tri-stat version too).

It has been a long time since I played but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might have some material that you could use for this sort of thing.

I co-designed Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate and Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades which others have mentioned. Those are wuxia and would be similar to games like Weapons of the Gods, Legends of the Wulin, Qin, Tianxia in terms of needing some amount of adjustment to focus soley on Kung Fu. I quite like Art of Wuxia and would recommend looking into it and see if you think that can be adapted to your purposes. For Ogre Gate I did some blog entries to replicate more real world martial arts, which might give you an idea of the kind of work you need to do for games of this sort if you want to shape them into something else: https://thebedrockblog.blogspot.com/2022/06/wandering-heroes-of-ogre-gate-foot-fist_4.html

There is also a game by Osprey that is more of a miniature-tactical game called A Fist Full of Kung Fu you might want to look into (I have a copy at my old place but I don't have it here with me so hard to give a break down).

Also I don't know a lot about it but I think there is a preliminary version of a Kung Fu RPG for DCC called Kung Fu Classics Playtest edition on Drivethru.

I ordered Art of Wuxia and totally forgot about it *facepalms* and Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate is one of the games I'd put into a top 5 RPGs list of personal favorites for me.

Quote from: RebelSky on May 20, 2023, 01:57:49 PM

Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on May 20, 2023, 01:53:37 PM
There is an RPG being made called Masters of Death that looks like it is meant to emulate the kung fu films of the 70s and 80s. I don't think it has been released yet but you might find out if early playtest material is available.

I would second Feng Shui as being in the ballpark of what you seem to want. I also like Hong Kong Action Theatre! (first edition but you might like the Tri-stat version too).

It has been a long time since I played but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might have some material that you could use for this sort of thing.

I co-designed Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate and Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades which others have mentioned. Those are wuxia and would be similar to games like Weapons of the Gods, Legends of the Wulin, Qin, Tianxia in terms of needing some amount of adjustment to focus soley on Kung Fu. I quite like Art of Wuxia and would recommend looking into it and see if you think that can be adapted to your purposes. For Ogre Gate I did some blog entries to replicate more real world martial arts, which might give you an idea of the kind of work you need to do for games of this sort if you want to shape them into something else: https://thebedrockblog.blogspot.com/2022/06/wandering-heroes-of-ogre-gate-foot-fist_4.html

There is also a game by Osprey that is more of a miniature-tactical game called A Fist Full of Kung Fu you might want to look into (I have a copy at my old place but I don't have it here with me so hard to give a break down).

Also I don't know a lot about it but I think there is a preliminary version of a Kung Fu RPG for DCC called Kung Fu Classics Playtest edition on Drivethru.

I ordered Art of Wuxia and totally forgot about it *facepalms* and Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate is one of the games I'd put into a top 5 RPGs list of personal favorites for me.

Thanks I appreciate it. Art of Wuxia is quite cool in my opinion. It is a very tight game

Millennium's End by Chameleon Eclectic isn't focused on martial arts, but I think it has a very good system for more realistic fighting.

I've had a lot of fun playing with Feng Shui 1 and 2.

The nice thing about Feng Shui is that you can have very different characters playing different roles, and it all works well together. You can optimize your character to shred through mooks, or fight the Big Bad one on one. I even played in a Wild West game using Feng Shui rules once.

Wuxia, BRP-based, Dragon Lines by Charles Green.

https://www.therpgsite.com/pen-paper-roleplaying-games-rpgs-discussion/dragon-lines-guardians-of-the-forbidden-city/

Want Rules Lite?

Tiny-D6 Supers.   Ok, this game by itself isn't why I think it's good for martial arts.  It is a game of super heroes in bright costumes with powers, capes, masks, and striking poses on top of buildings.   

But if you get the expansion called Fallen Justice, now the game is about non-powered, street level heroes and villains.  Beating each other up and little to no reliance on guns is the way you play.  It's even got gadgets and utility belts.  Martial arts ought to be common here.

I can easily see this repurposed to run something like Big Trouble in Little China, or Karate Kid. 

"Bug Trouble in Little China" is a game I'd stand in line to play!

Some cool suggestions here... thanks I will check them out.

To be clear, I am not actually looking to play a kung fu game at this time. I'm just interested in the mechanisms used for kung-fu in rpgs. How skills work, how the combat rounds work.. how the kung-fu aspect is "described" during play by the mechanisms.

So anything with a good rule set for kung-fu is fine, even if the game as a whole or setting is lame, or whatever is lame.

Thanks again.