Quote from: Ian AbsentiaAs for a Qin-like treatment of an Indian setting, I agree.  Furthermore, I'd suggest that a really good treatment of a Japanese setting has yet to be done (always the same, tired emphasis on the Sengoku period).

I did the Muromachi period when I did RQ Japan. You know that The Blossoms are Falling for BW does the Genpei War period?

Quote from: droogYou know that The Blossoms are Falling for BW does the Genpei War period?

I was of the impression that it focused on the Sengoku as well.  Good for them.  I still have sheafs of notes for running Pendragon during the late Heian/early Kamakura (and it serves me right for not running with the ball when it was handed to me).

!i!

Quote from: RPGPunditSecond, I agree that there's really no good RPG product for detailing mythological India out there.  What we desperately need is for someone to for India what Qin did for China.

Actually what is needed is someone to get the ball rolling and do for India what TSR did for the Middle East with Al-Qadim.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David RActually what is needed is someone to get the ball rolling and do for India what TSR did for the Middle East with Al-Qadim.

Fingers crossed, maybe that's what Brand is doing with Suryamaya -- retooling it for 4e.

!i!

The problem with taking Japanese RPGs back to other, colorful, periods is that you start to lose things that we consider, as gamer geeks, as authentic Japanese Flavor.  The Sengoku period was long and wild and makes good gaming territory, and once Meiji period is even easier to grasp with the blending of East and West.

But when you push back too far you lose things like Katana. The Samurai cease to resemble Samurai... even going back to the Kamakura period you have to understand that the influence of Buddism on Japanese Culture was not yet 'fixed', still being in flux. The Katana, as we recognize it was not even in existance yet, coming some three centuries after.

So, for gamers, notoriously lazy, asking them to play a Japanese game where they won't be able to do recognizable 'japanese things'.... like swing a Katana or be a Samurai (or at least, not without serious changes to what Samurai were...) is going to feel distinctly un-japanese to them.

Of course, Ninja are still good even going back to the Jomon if you want. Fuck it, man, they are pretty much pure creations of fiction, do what you want with 'em.

Quote from: MoonHunterThe reason why the writers of Qui avoided all references to "China" and "History" was to avoid the stigma they found when they said it was a Chinese Historical Fantasy game.   Most people who read it when it said that "up front" kind of looked at it and shrugged.  When people thought it was a real fantasy, they read through a good chunk of the book and throught it was "cool, innovative, and wanted to play".  It is an odd effect, but I have found it to be true when I have tried to run any number of fairly historical games.

I've noticed that too. "Historical" = "Boring" for a lot of players. I can understand that; we are playing a game after all, not engaging in academic study. (Although, as you point out, players are often prepared to engage in academic study of, say, different kinds of Vampires.)

I think the TSR/Al Qadim point is a good one. Al Qadim was a completely bastardised pulpy version of the Middle East, but it worked really well because it didn't take itself too seriously and it was just really well done. If I was to play/design a "Hindu Mythological" game I'd go for the same tenor.

Quote from: SpikeThe problem with taking Japanese RPGs back to other, colorful, periods is that you start to lose things that we consider, as gamer geeks, as authentic Japanese Flavor.

We'll tell you what to enjoy, bitch, and you will thank us for it.

!i!

You don't get katanas in the Genpei War, but you get some pretty cool armour:





And you don't get ninja but you do get warrior monks:

It'd probably be pretty easy to have a group based on the Thugees as an adversary in any adventure.

Quote from: Age of FableIt'd probably be pretty easy to have a group based on the Thugees as an adversary in any adventure.

Hmm, I like your thinking. With added bonus: detailed rules for strangling people.

In reference to Japanese games, I have run four different Nipponese campaigns each one lasting for about 2 years. To be honest, running them in a "Fantasy Japan" that have as much in common to one period of Japan, like most "Common Fantasy" has in common with the Middle Ages of Europe, is much easier. Thus you have "all that Japanese stuff" that your players recognize from movies and such (mashed together from different eras). We have Samurai, Katana, Sushi, Nobles active with bow and horse, Chinese invaders (or the threat), Bhuddism, Shintoism, Noh theatre, plus all those great spirit beings and oni. And you can feel free to make any political/ social/ historical situation that fits your campaign's needs. (You can also ignore the "police state" that the late period became.)  Thus you have a great deal of freedom (within the structure of Nipponese culture) to tell the story and play out the situation you want.

The real joy of running a fantasy Japan is that you can add any odd thing that "seems" Nipponese and the players will take it without much of a complaint. The mirror people of the lakes are really Fey Elves living in a Nipponese mode, but when coached in Nipponese terms, the players just accept them as part of the scenery. After all, it is "A Fantasy Japan".

This is an Aside (my real post is above this one):  the RPG.net side of this thread is just "going off the beam".
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=398119

It is interesting, but odd.

Quote from: MoonHunterThis is an Aside (my real post is above this one):  the RPG.net side of this thread is just "going off the beam".
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=398119

It is interesting, but odd.

Ugh.  It started out good, but then it completely derailed into some wierd fucked up PC deconstructionism or some shit, some dude got a hair up his ass, and now I'm pretty sure someone will probably be banned the way it's going.  


I would love to see a well treated Hindu fantasy game.  Wasn't there one mentioned in the "Non-english RPGs" thread?

Quote from: J ArcaneUgh.  It started out good, but then it completely derailed into some wierd fucked up PC deconstructionism or some shit, some dude got a hair up his ass, and now I'm pretty sure someone will probably be banned the way it's going.  


I would love to see a well treated Hindu fantasy game.  Wasn't there one mentioned in the "Non-english RPGs" thread?

I think thanks to the ridiculous "it might offend Hindus!!!!!!1" derailing it's been irretrievably ruined as a source of information, but what did I expect from rpg.net?

Quote from: David RActually what is needed is someone to get the ball rolling and do for India what TSR did for the Middle East with Al-Qadim.

The web enhancement for 3E's Oriental Adventures is IIRC a fantasy India of about 5 city states. Hey, at least it's free.
http://www.aquela.com/roleplaying/OA/mahasarpa.html

The link on WotC's site redirects to the 4E page currently. :mad: