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Cultures in D&D/roleplaying: damned if you do, damned if you don't
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<blockquote data-quote="gamerprinter" data-source="post: 7398569" data-attributes="member: 50895"><p>Well I published the <strong><a href="http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2373/Rite-Publishing/subcategory/4448_6626/Kaidan" target="_blank">Kaidan setting of Japanese Horror (PFRPG)</a></strong> as an imprint under Rite Publishing, though it's 100% my IP, and I share copyright with Rite Publishing. I am the concept creator, developer, cartographer, and project director for Kaidan at Rite. I am half Japanese, and while my ethnicity alone doesn't give me a particular expertise with a feudal Japan analog, I'm also an amateur historian and folklorist, especially of Japan, as well as a 40 year D&D and other game system GM/player, combined with the fact I "believe" I see Japanese culture through the eyes of my mother and Japanese relatives, rather than through the rose-colored glasses of a westerner. I think I have the "right stuff" to producing a more authentic Japanese horror setting than others.</p><p></p><p>While I love Oriental Adventures since 1e when it first released and played it - at the same time, I felt some things published about such a setting was either wrong, or at least concepts taken out of context, and always wanted to do my own feudal Japan setting. I shared this feeling with every edition of Asian styled games through L5R, 3x Rokugan, even Pathfinder Dragon Empires/Minkai of Golarion. None of those met my standards.</p><p></p><p>Rather than trying to be comprehensive to all things feudal Japan. I picked a limited number of specific concepts I wanted to tackle, then placed tons of nuance to those limited subjects to create what became the Kaidan setting of Japanese Horror.</p><p></p><p>1. History - well obviously Kaidan is a fictional setting, so how much history can you fit into fantasy? Actually the founding of Kaidan was based on real world events - the Genpei War (1180 - 1185 AD) was a fight between two legitimate emperors to the throne - one the former emperor who was facing a possible coup de grace, was suggested by his father-in-law, Taira no Kiyomori (last name first) to abdicate the throne. Which he did and fled to Kiyomori's team to spirit the former emperor away. In truth, Kiyomori, that emperor's Chief Minister was behind the coup with the goal of encouraging the abdication. Then Kiyomori, appointed his grandson (the former emperor's 1 year old son) as emperor of Japan, with Kiyomori as his regent until his grandson came of age. After 5 years of war between the Taira and Minamoto samurai houses, at the final battle of Dan-no-ura, in a naval engagement, the Minamoto had surrounded the Taira ship. Rather than being captured and forced to surrender, the entire Taira imperial family chose to leap into the sea and drown, instead. </p><p></p><p>Where I ad-libbed to history was having Kiyomori's wife (Kiyomori was dead by this time) holding her grandson, the 5 year old emperor in her arms, uttered a dark wish that went something like "How could the world be so cruel as to allow the rightful emperor of Japan to die like a dog. If all things were just the Taira would win this war and rule Japan for a thousand years" - then she leapt into the sea with her grandson. Emma-o, the Lord of Jigoku (Hell) heard this delicious dark wish consummated with the suicide of an entire imperial house and he decreed a dark curse that brought Kaidan into being. The drowning Taira house was saved and brought to land again, but instead of Japan they found themselves on Kaidan, and would rule (as undead) forever. That is how I brought Japanese history into Kaidan.</p><p></p><p>2. I wanted to keep both the Japanese social caste system (nobility, samurai, commoners, and the oppressed caste) and combine it with the Buddhist reincarnation cycle (heaven, asuras, human, animal, hungry ghost and hell), rather than hand-wave those two, as many other publishers of Asian settings have done. Heaven became the noble caste, Asuras became the samurai caste, Human became the commoner caste, Animal became the yokai (animal base folklore beings - kappa, kitsune, hengeyokai and tengu), Hungry Ghost became the Hinin/Eta (oppressed caste) and Hell remained the only actual different plane of existence - the other reincarnated planes of existence were cosmically tied to the social caste system - all planes co-existing in Kaidan. I eschewed achieving enlightenment (Nirvana), used a Karma score to track PC deeds done, and made the Buddhist reincarnation cycle (the Great Wheel of Life) into a slightly altered Buddhist representation in Kaidan. Notably, I got a Buddhist "bishop" to look at what I did and got an "unofficial" praise and approval for the work done, so I know I didn't do a disservice to a real world religion.</p><p></p><p>3. I used Japanese naming conventions and actual Japanese words for people, character classes/archetypes, cities, animals, folklore beings and more. I included a pronunciation guide and a glossary with English translations with the naming done in the setting. I didn't make up Japanese sounding words - it's all straight from the actual language.</p><p></p><p>4. Culturally I got deeply nuanced, often explaining odd cultural data in the form of gray boxed text as it corresponded to adventure or rules supplement text. Many of the rules supplements got a huge section of fluff to explain these cultural details, even before getting into crunch. For example in Way of the Samurai (PFRPG) a class/faction rules supplement, there's 11 pages of fluff dealing with origins of the samurai, describing samurai as a social caste, rather than a character class. I fully explained Bushido and it's origins in samurai house codes. I explained when it was proper to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) when it was not, when you could do something we might consider dishonorable and not feel compelled to commit suicide - there are nuanced reasons when it's appropriate and when it isn't. Since Pathfinder didn't have an Honor system (at the time yet) we delved deeply into personal honor and Kaidan's honor system. At crunch we offered 5 different kinds of samurai archetypes from noble samurai down to the original samurai as a mounted archer, rather than the katana wielding duelist of the Tokugawa Era 450 years later. We introduced a ranger and a wizard who were also members of the samurai social caste. Two prestige classes, one a more resilient samurai, another a bureaucrat with immense political power. We even created a samurai clan creation rules based off the city stat block and included 36 kammon (samurai house crests) that players could use as their family symbol. All this to heavily instruct users of that guide what it meant to be samurai, and more than what is usually exposed in media and previously published games. We gave the same treatment to Yakuza (members of the Hungry Ghost or Hinin/Eta caste), as well as accurate to folklore abilities and qualities of the yokai races.</p><p></p><p>Every book we released (15 in all) got this kind of detailed cultural treatment, even the one-shots and full modules.</p><p></p><p>Our goal was not to create an anime infused, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", impossible sword work kind of Japan that others publish, but a more poignant and visceral touchstone - dread. The goal was to present Kaidan as Japan, through the perspective of the Japanese and convey that to people who chose to play our game.</p><p></p><p>Many critics/reviewers concede that Kaidan is the most authentic and realized version of fantasy feudal Japan ever published and a very spiritual setting (read the product reviews) - and I'd like to think that I did truly accomplish that. So while I may be biased, I think I created what I always intended to do, and did it well.</p><p></p><p>In response to this thread's title - I did it, and don't think I am damned at all! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>Final thought, since Kaidan is my IP, and I'm a small RPG publisher myself (Gamer Printshop), my next big project is to upgrade Kaidan from Pathfinder to Starfinder, as the Kaidan Interstellar Empire of Japanese Horror - feudal Japan crossed with MegaCorps and some cyberpunk aspects. Already have 2 designers working on it - one converting old Kaidan to new, while the other is developing new content. I will be the author, and so far it's looking like a 400 page guide, including 160 pages of art, maps, deck plans and tables (a big damn book), that will serve as a Setting Guide, GM's Guide, Player's Guide and 50 Monster Bestiary all in one comprehensive book with a tentative release date of Halloween 2018. So Kaidan is at it's next threshold in development...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gamerprinter, post: 7398569, member: 50895"] Well I published the [B][URL="http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2373/Rite-Publishing/subcategory/4448_6626/Kaidan"]Kaidan setting of Japanese Horror (PFRPG)[/URL][/B] as an imprint under Rite Publishing, though it's 100% my IP, and I share copyright with Rite Publishing. I am the concept creator, developer, cartographer, and project director for Kaidan at Rite. I am half Japanese, and while my ethnicity alone doesn't give me a particular expertise with a feudal Japan analog, I'm also an amateur historian and folklorist, especially of Japan, as well as a 40 year D&D and other game system GM/player, combined with the fact I "believe" I see Japanese culture through the eyes of my mother and Japanese relatives, rather than through the rose-colored glasses of a westerner. I think I have the "right stuff" to producing a more authentic Japanese horror setting than others. While I love Oriental Adventures since 1e when it first released and played it - at the same time, I felt some things published about such a setting was either wrong, or at least concepts taken out of context, and always wanted to do my own feudal Japan setting. I shared this feeling with every edition of Asian styled games through L5R, 3x Rokugan, even Pathfinder Dragon Empires/Minkai of Golarion. None of those met my standards. Rather than trying to be comprehensive to all things feudal Japan. I picked a limited number of specific concepts I wanted to tackle, then placed tons of nuance to those limited subjects to create what became the Kaidan setting of Japanese Horror. 1. History - well obviously Kaidan is a fictional setting, so how much history can you fit into fantasy? Actually the founding of Kaidan was based on real world events - the Genpei War (1180 - 1185 AD) was a fight between two legitimate emperors to the throne - one the former emperor who was facing a possible coup de grace, was suggested by his father-in-law, Taira no Kiyomori (last name first) to abdicate the throne. Which he did and fled to Kiyomori's team to spirit the former emperor away. In truth, Kiyomori, that emperor's Chief Minister was behind the coup with the goal of encouraging the abdication. Then Kiyomori, appointed his grandson (the former emperor's 1 year old son) as emperor of Japan, with Kiyomori as his regent until his grandson came of age. After 5 years of war between the Taira and Minamoto samurai houses, at the final battle of Dan-no-ura, in a naval engagement, the Minamoto had surrounded the Taira ship. Rather than being captured and forced to surrender, the entire Taira imperial family chose to leap into the sea and drown, instead. Where I ad-libbed to history was having Kiyomori's wife (Kiyomori was dead by this time) holding her grandson, the 5 year old emperor in her arms, uttered a dark wish that went something like "How could the world be so cruel as to allow the rightful emperor of Japan to die like a dog. If all things were just the Taira would win this war and rule Japan for a thousand years" - then she leapt into the sea with her grandson. Emma-o, the Lord of Jigoku (Hell) heard this delicious dark wish consummated with the suicide of an entire imperial house and he decreed a dark curse that brought Kaidan into being. The drowning Taira house was saved and brought to land again, but instead of Japan they found themselves on Kaidan, and would rule (as undead) forever. That is how I brought Japanese history into Kaidan. 2. I wanted to keep both the Japanese social caste system (nobility, samurai, commoners, and the oppressed caste) and combine it with the Buddhist reincarnation cycle (heaven, asuras, human, animal, hungry ghost and hell), rather than hand-wave those two, as many other publishers of Asian settings have done. Heaven became the noble caste, Asuras became the samurai caste, Human became the commoner caste, Animal became the yokai (animal base folklore beings - kappa, kitsune, hengeyokai and tengu), Hungry Ghost became the Hinin/Eta (oppressed caste) and Hell remained the only actual different plane of existence - the other reincarnated planes of existence were cosmically tied to the social caste system - all planes co-existing in Kaidan. I eschewed achieving enlightenment (Nirvana), used a Karma score to track PC deeds done, and made the Buddhist reincarnation cycle (the Great Wheel of Life) into a slightly altered Buddhist representation in Kaidan. Notably, I got a Buddhist "bishop" to look at what I did and got an "unofficial" praise and approval for the work done, so I know I didn't do a disservice to a real world religion. 3. I used Japanese naming conventions and actual Japanese words for people, character classes/archetypes, cities, animals, folklore beings and more. I included a pronunciation guide and a glossary with English translations with the naming done in the setting. I didn't make up Japanese sounding words - it's all straight from the actual language. 4. Culturally I got deeply nuanced, often explaining odd cultural data in the form of gray boxed text as it corresponded to adventure or rules supplement text. Many of the rules supplements got a huge section of fluff to explain these cultural details, even before getting into crunch. For example in Way of the Samurai (PFRPG) a class/faction rules supplement, there's 11 pages of fluff dealing with origins of the samurai, describing samurai as a social caste, rather than a character class. I fully explained Bushido and it's origins in samurai house codes. I explained when it was proper to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) when it was not, when you could do something we might consider dishonorable and not feel compelled to commit suicide - there are nuanced reasons when it's appropriate and when it isn't. Since Pathfinder didn't have an Honor system (at the time yet) we delved deeply into personal honor and Kaidan's honor system. At crunch we offered 5 different kinds of samurai archetypes from noble samurai down to the original samurai as a mounted archer, rather than the katana wielding duelist of the Tokugawa Era 450 years later. We introduced a ranger and a wizard who were also members of the samurai social caste. Two prestige classes, one a more resilient samurai, another a bureaucrat with immense political power. We even created a samurai clan creation rules based off the city stat block and included 36 kammon (samurai house crests) that players could use as their family symbol. All this to heavily instruct users of that guide what it meant to be samurai, and more than what is usually exposed in media and previously published games. We gave the same treatment to Yakuza (members of the Hungry Ghost or Hinin/Eta caste), as well as accurate to folklore abilities and qualities of the yokai races. Every book we released (15 in all) got this kind of detailed cultural treatment, even the one-shots and full modules. Our goal was not to create an anime infused, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", impossible sword work kind of Japan that others publish, but a more poignant and visceral touchstone - dread. The goal was to present Kaidan as Japan, through the perspective of the Japanese and convey that to people who chose to play our game. Many critics/reviewers concede that Kaidan is the most authentic and realized version of fantasy feudal Japan ever published and a very spiritual setting (read the product reviews) - and I'd like to think that I did truly accomplish that. So while I may be biased, I think I created what I always intended to do, and did it well. In response to this thread's title - I did it, and don't think I am damned at all! ;) Final thought, since Kaidan is my IP, and I'm a small RPG publisher myself (Gamer Printshop), my next big project is to upgrade Kaidan from Pathfinder to Starfinder, as the Kaidan Interstellar Empire of Japanese Horror - feudal Japan crossed with MegaCorps and some cyberpunk aspects. Already have 2 designers working on it - one converting old Kaidan to new, while the other is developing new content. I will be the author, and so far it's looking like a 400 page guide, including 160 pages of art, maps, deck plans and tables (a big damn book), that will serve as a Setting Guide, GM's Guide, Player's Guide and 50 Monster Bestiary all in one comprehensive book with a tentative release date of Halloween 2018. So Kaidan is at it's next threshold in development... [/QUOTE]
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