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The Journey To...Romance Of The Three Kingdoms
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<blockquote data-quote="neobolts" data-source="post: 7718269" data-attributes="member: 65244"><p>Ok, wading in.</p><p></p><p>Romance of the Three Kingdoms (R3K) is my favorite novel and probably the most influential work on the worlds and sessions I DM. </p><p></p><p>WHY R3K IS A GREAT SETTING</p><p>The political and military movements of R3K are fascinating. There are tons of tactical board games (often like the complex WWII board game sims popular in the West), primarily in the Chinese market (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/geeksearch.php?action=search&objecttype=boardgame&q=Three+Kingdoms&B1=Go" target="_blank">https://boardgamegeek.com/geeksearch.php?action=search&objecttype=boardgame&q=Three+Kingdoms&B1=Go</a>). And while the military/diplomacy aspect makes for a great Birthright/Kingmaker type adventure, where the novel excels is in the characterization of the heroes and the epic duels that they fight. This aspect makes R3K feel more akin to the Trials of Hercules or the Arthurian Legend. A third great aspect of the series is the brilliant minds that execute fun and inventive military strategies. The master strategists come from both military and Taoist spiritual backgrounds and are eccentric and memorable. </p><p></p><p>HOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SETTING</p><p>There are a couple of different "canons" in R3K, for lack of a better word. This grew out of the legends that arose from a long oral tradition about the period. The most popular account by far is the novelization (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms</a>), which feels right at home with modern Wuxia films. Others are fans of the historical version of events (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms</a>). If you go down the rabbit hole, there are many folk tales that go beyond the novels, and even other at-times contradictory written works, such as The Tale of Hua Guan Suo (<a href="http://threekingdoms.wikia.com/wiki/The_Story_of_Hua_Guan_Suo" target="_blank">http://threekingdoms.wikia.com/wiki/The_Story_of_Hua_Guan_Suo</a> ).</p><p></p><p>If you are interested in the setting at all, there are a couple of great entry points:</p><p>- First there is the novel itself, a free English version is here: <a href="http://threekingdoms.com" target="_blank">threekingdoms.com </a>(just scroll down past the seemingly abandoned pitch for a web-based R3K game).</p><p>- There are a number of TV series/films based on the novel/history. Three Kingdoms 2010 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_(TV_series" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_(TV_series)</a>) is a great series, but the subtitles on the official release are..ummm..."special"...at times. Instead, for a quick introduction, I would recommend the subtitled film Red Cliff (<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/70130851" target="_blank">https://www.netflix.com/title/70130851</a>). Another possibility is the out-of-print dubbed anime film Great Conquest (<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1993-09-27/entertainment/ca-39509_1_great-conquest" target="_blank">http://articles.latimes.com/1993-09-27/entertainment/ca-39509_1_great-conquest</a>). I would avoid the weird Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms:_Resurrection_of_the_Dragon" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms:_Resurrection_of_the_Dragon</a>) as well as the slow moving 1990s TV series.</p><p>-There have been a large number of video games as well. The two most famous are Koei Tecmo's Romance of the Three Kingdoms (a complex and nearly impenetrable strategy series) and Dynasty Warriors (a 3d brawler driven by tactical objectives). </p><p></p><p>WHAT ELSE IS THERE?</p><p>Others have mentioned Journey to the West (the legend of the Monkey King) as another great Chinese source for campaign inspiration. I would add to that Outlaws of the Marsh (aka Water Margin; a Robin Hood like tale where 108 destined heroes set up a swamp hideout and work to free the Emperor from corrupt ministers) and the tale of Supreme Ancestor Liu Bang (a story of warring factions that ended with the founding of the Han dynasty).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="neobolts, post: 7718269, member: 65244"] Ok, wading in. Romance of the Three Kingdoms (R3K) is my favorite novel and probably the most influential work on the worlds and sessions I DM. WHY R3K IS A GREAT SETTING The political and military movements of R3K are fascinating. There are tons of tactical board games (often like the complex WWII board game sims popular in the West), primarily in the Chinese market ([URL]https://boardgamegeek.com/geeksearch.php?action=search&objecttype=boardgame&q=Three+Kingdoms&B1=Go[/URL]). And while the military/diplomacy aspect makes for a great Birthright/Kingmaker type adventure, where the novel excels is in the characterization of the heroes and the epic duels that they fight. This aspect makes R3K feel more akin to the Trials of Hercules or the Arthurian Legend. A third great aspect of the series is the brilliant minds that execute fun and inventive military strategies. The master strategists come from both military and Taoist spiritual backgrounds and are eccentric and memorable. HOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SETTING There are a couple of different "canons" in R3K, for lack of a better word. This grew out of the legends that arose from a long oral tradition about the period. The most popular account by far is the novelization ([URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms[/URL]), which feels right at home with modern Wuxia films. Others are fans of the historical version of events ([URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms[/URL]). If you go down the rabbit hole, there are many folk tales that go beyond the novels, and even other at-times contradictory written works, such as The Tale of Hua Guan Suo ([URL]http://threekingdoms.wikia.com/wiki/The_Story_of_Hua_Guan_Suo[/URL] ). If you are interested in the setting at all, there are a couple of great entry points: - First there is the novel itself, a free English version is here: [URL="http://threekingdoms.com"]threekingdoms.com [/URL](just scroll down past the seemingly abandoned pitch for a web-based R3K game). - There are a number of TV series/films based on the novel/history. Three Kingdoms 2010 ([URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_(TV_series"]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_(TV_series)[/URL]) is a great series, but the subtitles on the official release are..ummm..."special"...at times. Instead, for a quick introduction, I would recommend the subtitled film Red Cliff ([URL]https://www.netflix.com/title/70130851[/URL]). Another possibility is the out-of-print dubbed anime film Great Conquest ([URL]http://articles.latimes.com/1993-09-27/entertainment/ca-39509_1_great-conquest[/URL]). I would avoid the weird Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon ([URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms:_Resurrection_of_the_Dragon[/URL]) as well as the slow moving 1990s TV series. -There have been a large number of video games as well. The two most famous are Koei Tecmo's Romance of the Three Kingdoms (a complex and nearly impenetrable strategy series) and Dynasty Warriors (a 3d brawler driven by tactical objectives). WHAT ELSE IS THERE? Others have mentioned Journey to the West (the legend of the Monkey King) as another great Chinese source for campaign inspiration. I would add to that Outlaws of the Marsh (aka Water Margin; a Robin Hood like tale where 108 destined heroes set up a swamp hideout and work to free the Emperor from corrupt ministers) and the tale of Supreme Ancestor Liu Bang (a story of warring factions that ended with the founding of the Han dynasty). [/QUOTE]
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