Best wuxia RPG?

[jian]

Ah, this is an old question.

For those who don’t know, wuxia (martial heroes) is a genre of novels, films, TV, etc mostly concerned with the adventures of martial artists in a version of medieval China that never was. These heroes fight each other, leaping from tree to tree with flashing swords, gathering in sects such as the Shaolin Temple or the Wudang clan, and having terribly complicated personal lives. The most archetypal wuxia work in modern times is probably the 2000 film version of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, though there are many other examples such as the books by Louis Cha.

Back in the day, the wuxia TTRPG to beat would undoubtedly have been Weapons of the Gods, terrible art and incomprehensible Secret Arts rules and all. There’s a rewritten version called Legends of the Wulin, which is rather over-complicated for my taste.

There are many others since, of course. There’s Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades, which does a good job with both system and setting; it’s based on Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, which has more supernatural elements and a really solid setting, and it’s PWYW to boot. There’s Tianxia for FATE, which has the virtue of simplicity, though I’m not entirely happy with the way martial arts styles work there. There’s also Art of Wuxia, which is perfectly fine.

What have you all played, run, liked, and disliked from the above or other games?

 

[TerraDave]

In terms of archetypal work, Bride with White Hair would be my choice, but there are many, many others.

I know Feng Shui the RPG exists, but don't know much about it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

In terms of archetypal work, Bride with White Hair would be my choice, but there are many, many others.

This is one of my favorite wuxia movies. I actually once wrote down all the techniques and sect details reading the book on which it was based and almost made a system around it just so doing the movie would be possible

 

[CandyLaser]

My go-to today would probably be Outgunned. The base game can handle it, but I'd also grab the Action Flicks supplement and use the Rising Dragon rules package, which is designed to cover the wuxia genre. Depending on the details of the game I was planning to run, I might also make use of the rules for duels and for horses and carriages from the Cloak & Dagger Action Flick. If I wanted supernatural elements, then I'd borrow from the Great Powers, A Kind of Magic, and/or Midnight Wars Flicks.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Ah, this is an old question.

For those who don’t know, wuxia (martial heroes) is a genre of novels, films, TV, etc mostly concerned with the adventures of martial artists in a version of medieval China that never was. These heroes fight each other, leaping from tree to tree with flashing swords, gathering in sects such as the Shaolin Temple or the Wudang clan, and having terribly complicated personal lives. The most archetypal wuxia work in modern times is probably the 2000 film version of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, though there are many other examples such as the books by Louis Cha.

Back in the day, the wuxia TTRPG to beat would undoubtedly have been Weapons of the Gods, terrible art and incomprehensible Secret Arts rules and all. There’s a rewritten version called Legends of the Wulin, which is rather over-complicated for my taste.

There are many others since, of course. There’s Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades, which does a good job with both system and setting; it’s based on Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, which has more supernatural elements and a really solid setting, and it’s PWYW to boot. There’s Tianxia for FATE, which has the virtue of simplicity, though I’m not entirely happy with the way martial arts styles work there. There’s also Art of Wuxia, which is perfectly fine.

What have you all played, run, liked, and disliked from the above or other games?

Thanks for the mention.

I think when it comes to wuxia, every fan has their own idea about what that should mean at the table. If you are a GM, running a wuxia game, you are a bit like a director. Not in the sense of being in control of the story, but in the sense that each wuxia director brought their own vision of the genre and their own ideas to the table. And so what system will work, is going to depend on

Art of Wuxia is amazing. I can't praise it highly enough. Tianxia is a great choice on the FATE end of the spectrum. There is also Flying Swordsmen, which is soon to have a second edition.

In the 90s I was a big fan of Hong Kong Action Theatre! and Feng Shui. And also liked the OA books (ran a bunch of wuxia campaigns with these). I started picking up anything that looked vaguely wuxia at the game shop, and just sticking them all together to fit what I wanted. Shortly after that I just decided to make my own system.

 

[Piperken]

I haven't followed up on where development for this is at, but may be worth looking:

Wandering Blades | Not DnD

 

[Joshua Randall]

Feng Shui is pretty creaky by modern standards, but still a blast if you're in the right mindset. Note that it is essentially a modern-day game (well, time travel blah blah blah), not an Ancient China That Never Was.

Fabula Ultima can do some wuxia stuff although I have serious concerns about its game mechanics. It's not a wuxia game per se; more of a Final Fantasy game. But it definitely has wuxia elements to it and with better math could be a solid and flexible enough system.

For movies to watch I'm going to nominate A Chinese Ghost Story which is great fun. And, like many of these movies, has an absolutely gorgeous actress (Joey Wong).

 

[Bedrockgames]

For movies to watch I'm going to nominate A Chinese Ghost Story which is great fun. And, like many of these movies, has an absolutely gorgeous actress (Joey Wong).

I feel like that is a nearly perfect film. The other two in the series are pretty good as well

I don't think I could settle on just one movie. One of the things that is so great about the genre is how many outstanding wuxia films are out there. Movies that leap to mind would be Duel to the Death, Come Drink with Me, Reign of Assassins, Heroes Shed No Tears (the Chor Yuen movie), One Armed Swordsman, A Touch of Zen, Lady Hermit, The Bride with White Hair, House of Flying Daggers, Swordsman II, Last Hurrah for Chivalry and the Brave Archer series. Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is another great one.

A film that is a little hard to come by but one I would highly recommend is Duel for Gold (1971). It is about four characters who are all involved in a heist and start to distrust one another (it is an early 70s movie but think something like Reservoir Dogs, except a wuxia setting). Another great one is Web of Death. It has everything and is kind of off the wall.

When we did RBRB, we settled on three movies as a wuxia crash course: Magic Blade, Bride With White Hair and Reign of Assassins. That was aiming for a darker feel but it does gives a pretty good range of eras of wuxia.

But the fun of wuxia is diving into the movies and finding all the gems. I'm sure after I type this, I'll remember some great movie I half forgot that belongs on the above list

 

[dbolack]

You may also find interest in Into The Far West.

 

[Bedrockgames]

You may also find interest in Into The Far West.

If we are going into other genres, Heroic Trio and its sequel The Executioners does a good job of blending wuxia with modern urban superhero tropes