D&D General Asian D&D

[Azzy]

They did try to release D&D in Japan, BTW, with this enjoyable anime-ish live-action commercial (it was posted here). Not sure how it went--this was a few months ago. The wizard's robe looks kind of Asian, but the fighter's in European-style plate mail with a longsword, not o-yoroi armor with a katana.

Just a note: ō-yoroi isn't a general term for the samurai armor. It's a specific pre-Sengoku era (mid to late Heian period) armor that went out of use by the 1400s.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Just a note: ō-yoroi isn't a general term for the samurai armor. It's a specific pre-Sengoku era (mid to late Heian period) armor that went out of use by the 1400s.

I prefer they use new names rather than historical

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

It might be considered not worth the effort to completely rewrite it—rather just ignore it and pretend it never existed.

That is possible, but that is a huge market that seems like it could very well be worth it. Not that they need a fantasy version of their own culture to play the game. But combining it with the translation of the core books, I think makes a lot of sense.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Again, why bother rewrite it completely when those three have good foundation, they even write with a shared founding legend that is perfect to put three settings in one grand shared world.

I don’t know anything about those three. Are they WotC property?

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

any idea why coc is popular?

I do, but I’m not saying!

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Replays--people chronicle their games, first in text and now on video, and it gained a fan following:

The many-tentacled reach of Call of Cthulhu, among Korea and Japan’s most popular RPGs

Chaosium’s take on H.P. Lovecraft has gone global

www.polygon.com

Horror RPG Call of Cthulhu is bigger than D&D in Japan

The classic RPG has seen its popularity explode in the last decade thanks to web series and anime.

www.dicebreaker.com

I doubt Kara-Tur would be that important; since it's already a Western game (it's coming out of the USA after all) they might as well lean into the pseudo-European tropes. If Japanese people, say, want to watch ninjas and samurai they've got no shortage of domestically produced jidai-geki shows with better accuracy and more realistic locations. I think cultural appropriation would be less a concern over there than running afoul of lousy Sino-Japanese, Sino-Vietnamese, or Korea-Japanese relations, somehow using a location name that takes the wrong stance on Taiwan, or something like that.

I was talking about completely remaking it though. Really based on nothing to what was before other than possibly some names. A complete reimaging.

 

[Tonguez]

It does borrow a couple of things, after all some iconic D&D monsters like the bullette and rust monster were inspired by cheap toys from Hong Kong which were a rip-off of a popular Ultraman show. But there's a difference between borrowing something here and there (and the monk is more inspired by the old Kung Fu TV show than actual monks) and having an entire source book inspired by Asian lore.

But just take a look at how controversial "Asian" hobgoblins are. It's perfectly okay to have this image of a frost giant
View attachment 278580
Complete with the horned helmet that no self respecting Norse warrior would wear. Horned helmets were introduced for an opera by a set designer who thought they looked cool. Meanwhile the hobgoblin
View attachment 278585
is controversial because they resemble a Samurai warrior.

I would have never personally considered the hobgoblin image problematic, but I'm not the right person to ask. So I'm not saying people are wrong about the hobgoblin, I just think it's a complicated topic. It's also a risky endeavor, no matter whether or not they hire someone to review a publication I just don't see the potential profit outweighing the potential risk.

The thing though is the Frost Giant is blue skinned and the spiked pauldron, helmet and ragged loin cloth is nothing like Viking armor. I wonder if the same controversy would apply if the two costumes were swapped

 

[Mind of tempest]

I've always wondered if it isn't, in part, because Shinto remains a relatively significant part of the cultural backdrop of Japan. There's a certain essential spiritualism, but one lacking in the complex rituals of Catholicism, that doesn't really have a match in Western cultures. With that, Cthulhu becomes less a horrifying reality secretly lying in wait to destroy us, but sorta-kinda something vaguely Daoist, the Unfathomable made manifest. If you're already comfortable with the universe being a little magical/spiritual, it pulls some of the oomph out of eldritch horror. (For my part, I mostly find Lovecraftian stories just gruesome, rather than feeling dread or fear, because I'm already committed to the idea that the only Thing which has absolute and eternal existence is Love.)

strange my lack of fear of them is more my utter pessimism making it so I assume they are as doomed as we are, plus I can't really get more insane at this point.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

I'm certainly down for an asian-themed campaign setting, but I'd rather it not be Kara-Tur. I enjoy Rokugan, but I prefer it in it's own roll-and-keep rule setting, not as D&D. Overall, I'd just rather they start from scratch and build a new pastiche setting that has as much in common with the real world as Greyhawk/FR has in common with Europe.

Same goes for an Americas setting, Africa & Arabic settings. especially if they are divorced from FR.

That is basically what I’m suggesting, KT in name only

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

None of those seem

So... D&D is not remotely popular in Japan for several reasons.

1) They've got their own TTRPGs.
Popular with the nerdy crowd, they've got a variety of locally produced and published TTRPGs that suit them just fine. Sword World, for example, is one of the most popular TTRPGs there is, and wound up getting translated into Korean. It's currently on it's 5th edition, too! Their rulebooks tend to be more streamlined than even 5e, as well. And contain a number of "Scenarios" instead of long-format campaign books because...

2) They prefer one-shots.
A different lifestyle makes short and fun 'one night' games much more popular than longer format episodic games. This is due in part to the work culture in Japan, with people working various schedules at their jobs not having many 'sync up' nights. Sort of like Americans, but worse. A short scenario over a few beers is much preferred to playing a continued story you only get to be a part of for a few hours every month or two.

3) Living Space.
Japanese homes tend to be much more compact than Western homes. And having a sprawling collection of 8.5x11 books, maps, miniatures, and dice just isn't really reasonable for a lot of people. And having friends over for an evening's game is a fairly cramped affair as well. Which is why most TTRPG groups in Japan don't chill out in someone's house, but head out to gaming cafes and restaurants that cater to a fairly large group of people having a whole "Night Out" for hours on end. And pick up randos to join a session who might not be there next time.

4) Language Barrier.
Vastly less important than the above, since some basic English is taught to pretty much everyone in Japan, but it does exist. Localizations can help, but there's also the American push toward using a fairly colloquial English for explaining the rules even in the rulebooks that may not translate over really well.

5) Replays are -way- more popular.
Replays are books written about people's campaigns and games. Record of Lodoss War is probably the single most famous Replay in the western world. Some get turned into Manga, but a lot are simply presented in a straight written word format and include some of the at-the-table jokes and laughter. Some, like Record of Lodoss War and Chaos Dragon, even wind up being made into Anime movies or series.

6) Two companies basically control the market.
Kadokawa Futures Publishing and Group SNE basically control the TTRPG market in Japan, which is significantly smaller than it is in the West for reasons 2 and 3, mostly. Group SNE sort of paved the way for TTRPGs, but Kadokawa got most of the business in the end. There's not much room in the market for another contender... Though FEAR (Far East Amusement Research) is holding it's own fairly well.

7) One western game is fairly popular.
GURPS. They made a Sword World RPG module for GURPS and it's kinda popular. GURPS is as simple or complex as a group wants to make it, can be played with one or two small books at the table, and is great for one-shots and short-format gaming. Group SNE pretty much produces all the Japanese GURPS content and that's basically the main reason they're still in business next to the market giant Kadokawa.

like a reason to not launch 5e Asian to me,
Perhaps they are even opportunities depending on your perspective