What if China was a fantasy nation?

[Mokona]

I'm working on a new campaign world to start my first Fantasy Saga game. A central nation in my game will be based on China c.1200. There are no humans in this game.

Which staple fantasy race (drawing on Dungeons & Dragons) would be most compatible with the Chinese cultural legacy of imperial bureaucracy, wu shu style martial arts legends, and mythology?

Bugbear, Catfolk, Derro, Dwarf (duergar), Dwarf (gold; Forgotten Realms), Dwarf (mountain), Eladrin (4th edition?), Elf (drow), Elf (high), Elf (wood), Elf (gray), Genasi, Gnoll, Goblin, Halfling, Hobgoblin, Illumian, Kalashtar, Kobold, Lizardfolk, Orc, Troglodyte, Yuan-ti, &c

Please post your reasoning or just your favorite.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Hobgoblin. They are lawful (albeit lawful evil), meaning that a bureaucracy fits very well. They are also militaristic and might care a lot more about martial arts with or without weapons...

 

[Tonguez]

I don't think a fantasy china should have one race (just like real china didn't have one culture) but

1. You need to have the philosophical (possibly psionic) race of Sages (Elf works)
2. A race which survives off the meager offerings of land and endures hardship (Goblin)
3. The rugged but disciplined barbarian of the steepes (Hobgoblin)

The tension between how the high minded and near decadent manchurian Elfs interact and live alongside the more base Han-ish goblins would define the culture. These would both be united against the threat of the Hobgoblins Hordes

 

[WesternWolf]

Hmm. Having just returned from living in China for a while I have to say I would go with Kalashtar as the best choice of the races listed in the poll. I'm not expert on their history or legends, but it seemed to me that based on the legends I saw/heard about (mostly Monkey King stuff) that the kalashtar would be the best replacement for the humans in the stories and then some kind of anthromorphic animals would make up the rest of the people (maybe were-whatevers permanently stuck in hybrid form). There are also a lot of dragons/nature spirits. So fey wouldn't be a bad idea either. Tonguez was also right in saying it should be diverse and at the least broken into a noble class of scholars and then the peasants. Good luck

 

[green slime]

Yes, what Tonguez said, except I'd also go for Kalashtar as the ruling elite, instead of elves.

 

[Tonguez]

Yes, what Tonguez said, except I'd also go for Kalashtar as the ruling elite, instead of elves.

Sounds good I don't know the Kalashtar well enough to comment on them hence my default was elf

 

[XCorvis]

I'd also go for a mix. IMO, elves work quite well for the bulk of the population, ie Song. Hobgoblin (mongols) sweep out of the north and take over the northern kingdom. Eventually they would integrate and adopt elven (song) customs, but that's probably outside the scope of the game. I'd reduce the lifespan of the elves somewhat.

For a twist, have the Emperor's lineage be draconic, and he is a half-dragon. Maybe a half-dragon hobgoblin leads the hobgoblins and claims equal divinity.

 

[avr]

I think the celestial bureacracy works best when the empire's magics require resources, study etc. For this reason I'd say elf or grey elf, with their favoured class of Wizard.

For the more martial magics, you want Tome of Battle: the Book of Nine Swords. I'd call it a must have. The only class in there which has a racial prereq is a prestige class for elves, oddly enough ...

 

[Phlebas]

I'm going with Xcorvis.

A lot of the time china's emperors were non-Han, eg mongols, manchurians

I'd go for a Hobgoblin emperor / elite army ruling an elf / kalashtar bureacracy and then a halfling / goblin masses. Allows for the hobgoblins to be slowly corrupted by the elvish influence.

use shifters to represent the animal spirits - make them effectively renegades hunted by the hobgoblins and then you have a lot of campaign fodder