Short Asian Campaign

(Not sure what category this should go in)

I may be doing a brief mini-campaign while the current DM preps for ExDWP, which she is setting up right now in the regular game.

I have about decided I want to run something set in an pseudo-asian setting, mainly because the likely time period includes my wife's birthday and she loves asian art, comics, movies, etc and we have never played in that kind of setting before.

So, here are my criteria for the kind of game I want to run
- Pregen PCs that do not require a lot of unfamiliar mechanics to use nor a ton of stuff to keep up with. I love Bo9S but wouldnt want to use more than 1 or 2 levels of one of those classes as we have never used them before. Similarly I have considered gestalt, as I have 2 players, but dont want to make things overly complex.
- Memorable events both for combat and roleplay. I dont want to just fill time, I want to do something that the players will find uniquely interesting (not that we dont want all games to be interesting, but "different-intersting")
-Something that feels complete in 2 to 3 4-6 hour sessions.

I have a though that invovles the PCs being sent from a detachement holding a river/town against barbarian invaders. The first session would invovle the PCs sent to do something like secure a bridge or take out a fortification on the flank of the enemy army using material from Heroes of Battle. This sets up for the next 2 sesssions in which the PCs must secretly deliver an emisary from the Emperor to the Khan of the barbarian horde. I dont want to say exactly why, as one of my players might read this, but this should set up some interesting role play.

So, to that end I have some questions/requests:

-What suggestions do you have for making a setting 'feel' asian as opposed to traditional DnD european-esque fantasy?
- What would be good source material for mechanics/monsters/enemies/encounters etc? I do not have OA but I do have most non-FR Wizards stuff including the Complete books with oriental classes, Legends of the Samuri (althoug I am thinking more Chinese than Japanese), and most 3.x issues of Dragon and Dungeon so suggestions from those would be great.
-What are some appropriately memorable encounters in such a setting?
-If you were going to run a short campaign with nothing more than the above criteria what would you do?

Thanks

Stormborn said:

-What suggestions do you have for making a setting 'feel' asian as opposed to traditional DnD european-esque fantasy?

Click to expand...

Social things - diplomacy, honor, etc - can can just as important or more important than outright combat.

For this game, it might be worth downloading the 2e Kara-Tur boxed set and The Horde boxed sets for background info. The Horde used to be free on the Wizards site and has a lot of great cultural stuff. As sukael said, social interaction should play a big part in any Oriental/Asian adventure.

Cheers


Richard

If it helps your campaign, look to my signature for an Asian Bard (the Geisha) which is perfect for 'wives who love Asian stuff'. It is mostly Japanese based, but I include notes on tweaks for other Asian cultures, such as Korean, India, and even a Malay tribal variation. I also envision the class for Chinese based culture as a sort of Court Lady class, like the princesses of the Forbidden City or similar environment, but I never put down the notes for this particular concept.

If you include it, I would love to hear feedback on its use.

Stormborn said:

-What suggestions do you have for making a setting 'feel' asian as opposed to traditional DnD european-esque fantasy?

Click to expand...

Well, you want a Chinese like setting as opposed to a Japanese one, so to make it feel Chinese, use the following:

• Bureaucracy
• Foreign mercenaries
• Saving face (rather than preserving honour) as a plot device
• Multiple religions, all official (see "Bureaucracy" above)
• (I know it's a bad cliche) Lots of gambling