Western / Oriental Campaign themes

[mfrench]

Inspired by this thread, I have started thinking about a campaign with Old West and Oriental/anime themes. I've always been a fan of Westerns, and I have long thought that sorcerers would be an interesting substitute for gunslingers. I don't know of many Oriental influences though, so I was wondering, if you are a fan of either,

A) What are your favorite influences (books, movies, TV series) from these genres? and
B) What themes would you want to highlight as a DM or a player in a campaign from these genres?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Huw]

Well, China has a wild west - Xinjiang (AKA Uighurstan) and Qinghai. If you've seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, you'll have seen a romanticised view of the area.

Looking the other way, there are lots of superficial cultural similarities between some East Asian/Siberian peoples (such as Ainu, Nivkh, Uilta/Orochi, Evenki) and some of the Native American tribes (Haida, Tlingit, and various Athabascan and Wakashan groups). A culture with animal totems (especially bears) and practising potlatch would fit into both an Oriental and a Wild West setting.

EDIT: I was trying to remember a film name, and it came to me just as I clicked submit! Tears of the Black Tiger. Now, I haven't seen it, but I believe it is accurately described as an oriental western.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Heijin (or whatever the 1180s war in Japan was called). Too bad they're big army military stuff and not adventuring stuff.

 

[mythusmage]

Here's something you may want to consider. The Haida of British Columbia are most closely related to the Ainu of Hokkaido. They are thought to be descended from Yamoi refugees who fled kyushu when the clans from the Korean Peninsula's south migrated there. Which makes the Haida the last migrants from the Old World before the coming of Europeans.

 

[RainOfSteel]

• Movie: Shogun
• Movie: Big Jake
• Movie: The Magnificent Seven (based on Seven Samurai)
• Anime: Samurai Seven (based on Seven Samurai)
• Anime: Trigun
• Anime: Outlaw Star

 

[mfrench]

Movie List

I've seen Seven Samurai 3-4 times, and Magnificent Seven probably a dozen. They just never get old. For other westerns, I'm mostly familiar with Eastwood movies. I've only seen a few with John Wayne.

As for wuxia, I've seen Crouching Tiger, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers. I'll excited to see some new stuff, thanks for the suggestions.

Mike

 

[mfrench]

Two other influences

Two TV influences, though not exactly right:

Western: Firefly / Serenity: it may be cowboys in space, but it does a good job of bringing the Western themes to a new setting.

Oriental: Samurai Jack: he goes all over, and he does fight robots alot, but I've watched several seasons of it.

 

[AbeTheGnome]

Stephen King's Dark Tower series is the quintessential fantasy western. It doesn't have any oriental influences that I can tell, but for the Western side, there's no better inspiration IMHO.

 

[Simon W]

Kung Fu (David Carradine) and Red Sun (Charles Bronson & Toshiro Mifune) are good sources of inspiration too.

 

[Aramax]

There is a great old western w/Charles Broson and Toshiro Mufuni called 'The Red Sun'
(beware of PG nudlty)