[Rite Publishing] Kaidan: A Japanese Ghost Story (PFRPG)

Kaidan: A Japanese Ghost-Story Setting

Patronage Project


“Far to the east, away from the lands you know, there lies an island called Kaidan. Shrouded in dark mystery for centuries, its ports are at last being opened to foreign merchants and opportunity awaits the bold. Yes, I have heard the stories you have heard. That it is a land where the dead rule the living. That in Kaidan no man ever truly dies. Who can believe such tales? We shall discount the rumors, you and I, knowing how it is sailors talk. I have a gift to carry to one of the Lord's of that land and I need stout souls to protect it on its journey there. Will you not make this journey with me and see the wonders of the far east for yourself?”

Welcome to Kaidan!

Kaidan is a “Japanese ghost-story setting.” In Kaidan, the land is filled with malevolent spirits, the dead do not rest easy and the living are trapped in an endless cycle of life from which they can scarcely hope to escape. Drawing inspiration from Japanese history and mythology, Kaidan offers a setting that is at once new and yet quite ancient.

The Kaidan patronage project offers you a chance to help design both Kaidan and the three part adventure which will introduce the west to the east, using Michael K. Turney's original Kaidan concepts and his adventure, “The Gift” as a starting point.

The project's guidelines are as follows:

• - compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
  - Approximately 100 pages (75,000 words)
  - Japanese based horror setting
  - Three part adventure arc in which traditional PCs travel to the land of Kaidan, escorting a gift, only to find themselves trapped on the island, fleeing from the powers that be.
  - In Kaidan the lords of the land are undead, and those who die on the island are quickly reincarnated in an endless cycle from which there is no easy escape
  - Kaidan is an isolated and xenophobic land, not used to outsiders
  - Kaidan will be designed as an isolated island kingdom, easily dropped into any campaign setting.

Original Concept: Michael K. Turney
Lead Designer and Project Manager: Jonathan McAnulty (Kobold Quarterly, Coliseum Morpheuon, The Secrets of Divine Channeling)
Artwork: Mark Hyzer
Cartography: Michael K. Turney

I am half Japanese, a Japanophile, lover of history and RPGs...

Kaidan is something I've been wanting to develop for a long time. The summer of 1977 I began playing D&D, and that August I went with my family to Japan as I was reading Japanese ghost story books by Lafcadio Hearn (a famous folklore writer in Japan in the 1890's). I've been in love with tengu, yuki-onna, and other 'kaidan' stories ever since.

Early in 2009 I began developing Kaidan as a setting for Pathfinder. The cosmology and caste system, karma system, the perverse reincarnation cycle, better adaptations of Japanese magic systems from history and folklore than previous editions, and use of Buddhist concepts, Ojigami ancestral spiritual magic and ki, noble onmyoji wizardry and peasant jugondo sorcerers, I wanted to follow history and folklore better than previous editions. Though they were fun to play in, they didn't match my perceptions well. I wanted to do a better and more accurate job.

I wanted to build a better samurai and a playable ninja.

I got advice from Steve in early 2009 on my intentions of publishing a setting for Pathfinder, and asked what he best recommended. From that start - and almost 2 years later, Steve has taken on Kaidan as a patronage project and an imprint under Rite Publishing.

With Jonathon McAnulty at the helm and a staff of freelance illustrators including: Mark Hyzer, Jan Pospisil, and Simon Turnbull, as well as editors, and more its now on the fast track with an excellent support staff. Besides being the concept creator, I'm a developer, art director, an illustrator, page layout artist and the cartographer - I can use my professional skills without having to wear all the hats.

Its a patronage project, which means patrons who pay for the priviledge gain varying access (bronze, silver, gold) to help in the development with the setting and introductory campaign arc. From voting for additions, art and more, while all patrons gets a color printed version of the final product, silver patrons gain free Rite Publishing PDFs, plus their names as contributors in the publication credits. Gold members get to pitch actual ideas during development and for the adventures themselves - plus they get an autographed copy of the final product.

The point is purchasing a patronage membership allows you to make Kaidan more like how you want to see it, it pays for all the development costs, and let's us do the best production values, illustrations and maps - so we need your support.

Michael K. Tumey (aka: GP)