Role playing games are rooted in human myth and the continuation of oral tradition, up to and including the war games that are RPGs' direct ancestors. Although the stories that primarily drive play are derived from north and northwest Europe (Moorcock, Tolkien, various versions of Norse mythology), there is a vast and often neglected collection of human mythology and history available for play. The idea of this series is to talk about the history and mythology of other cultures and how players and game masters can incorporate this bounty into their own characters and stories. Today we journey to ancient China and the last days of the Han dynasty.
The Three Kingdoms is a period of Chinese history that has been covered by film, video game, and board games but seems underrepresented in RPGs. A real historical period between the fall of the Han dynasty and the beginning of the Jing, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a novel that has immortalized this period. The historical romance is attributed to Luo Guanzhong. Guanzhong takes historical events and transforms them into legend to tell a tale of war, politics, ambition, and betrayal. The fates of the nations of Wei, Shu, and Wu are entwined in an ever shifting world of alliances and personal politics.
With such a dense source material to work from, a game master won't lack for conflict and details to choose from. It is however, the focus on the personalities that makes the novel as well as the period a perfect sell for a campaign. Role playing games are about larger than life characters and few works of literature express this better than Romance. These are not mere mythological analogues, but actual people who lived, loved, and died during a tumultuous period in the history of one of Earth's greatest nations.
How can you use this? Romance of the Three Kingdoms is not a dungeon crawl setting. Where it can shine however, is as a campaign focused on politics and power, with high stakes decisions affecting the lives of millions. Every character will not be carrying a sword, which makes a game focused on the politics behind the battles extremely rewarding. A tale of families and politics on par with the War of the Roses / A Song of Ice and Fire is available for the ambitious game master willing to tackle the source material in depth. Of course there is plenty of fodder for individual heroes interacting with legendary figures like Liu Bei and / or the more metaphysical myths of Chinese lore. Indeed, combining Journey to the West with Romance of the Three Kingdoms would make for an outstanding play experience.
China has a long history and a wonderful mythology that goes beyond what we have talked about here. I recommend taking a look for yourself and breaking free from gaming tradition for a while to walk among legends who actually lived. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is well worth the experience.
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