What is Expected from an Oriental Game Setting?

[carpedavid]

At the risk of tooting my own horn, the Land of the Crane setting meets most of your requirements...

I'd say my single biggest expectation from an OA game would be that it's exotic. I don't want to have the same-old same-old with an anime veneer. There shouldn't be half-orc samurai or dwarves with battleaxes, it should look and feel different. Alot of this can be done with a little research at the library or on wikipedia. Give us things like tengu and martial arts masters and empires ruled by ancient dynasties. If it looks like Tolkien it's way off track.

Got it.

Religion should be very open and tolerant. Think 'spirits' instead of 'gods' for different temples, animism is prevalent in most of the cultures. Enlightenment, culture, and cycles are religious concepts.

Got it.

People have an idea where they fit into society, no matter their station or caste, or even whether or not they want to be involved with society.

Got it.

Alot of what makes a setting oriental to me is the little details: things like having the characters passing by a rice field rather than a wheat field, for example. Nobles wearing silk robes rather than jewelry and furs. Taverns serving roast fish and rice instead of mutton and potatoes. To me, it's mostly in the design and description of the setting.

Got it, got it, and got it.

The only caveat is that it is distinctly inspired by the mythology and folklore of feudal Japan. However, there's a lot of cool stuff from that time period that hasn't had much play in OA-styled products, so, in my opinion, at least, it remains very fresh.

 

[jmucchiello]

In case anyone didn't know, Ash is writing an OA meets AU/AE book ever so slowly. Someday it will be available as 3 pdfs and hopefully a hardcover. Since we already have cover art we are somewhat commited to getting it done.

 

[Li Shenron]

My personal opinions:

Is playing in a fantasy game set in another culture or cultures a waste of time?

Absolutely not, it's a great change of theme, especially if you've played many western settings with the same staple ideas. Changing to a setting where players cannot make the same assumptions is refreshing for everyone (except very monolithic players).

What are your expectations about oriental fantasy game settings?

I expect it to provide a different flavor and image both in the details and overall, and at least something different in how the things work in the world for example religion, economy/trade, technology, magic, training, information gathering... not necessarily all of them but at least some.

Should such a setting try to exactly model itself on real world cultures, just capture the feel of Asian cultures, or find a happy medium?

I think that to capture the feel you need to model something. It's not important that it's actually exact (D&D has IMO a poorly realistic economy model in the standard setting too, but that doesn't make the game bad), as long as it somehow matches some common ideas of what asia was or could have been in the past.

Do you expect thinly veiled stereotypes in the setting, characters, and plots or do you expect to see something more sophisticated?

Stereotypes are good for the start. Most of us started running D&D with archetypical paladins and wizards and orcs and elves and dragons, and later moved for sophisticated or altered concepts. But if you're running an asian setting for the first time, SET THE STANDARDS first! Try to teach the players what are the basic concepts of an eastern dragon (quite different from the western dragon). Have classic Samurai, Ninja and Monks, etc.

What are your expectations about oriental fantasy game characters?

Characters are not going to be completely different from roleplay point of view, the motivations and personalities will not be utterly different. But because usually there is a change in the view of the society as a whole, then I expect certain differences to test your roleplaying against. For example, we play in the Rokugan setting, and the concept of private property is completely different, and so is the concept of honor. Actions during adventuring are affected by these (e.g. the importance of treasure) and this makes it a nicely different game.

OTOH, mechanically there is no change, combat is still combat and so on. But I like the idea of giving even mechanics a "spin" by having different classes/feats/skills at your disposal (tho this is not related to the eastern nature of the game, and can be done for a western setting too).

Are player's of such character just anime fans and munchkin players or do you realize that there is more to those who play these types of characters; that these players might be looking for something more out of their roleplaying perhaps?

In our case, no one is an anime fan and no one is a munchkin, quite the opposite. Rokugan has more abusable characters options than core D&D, at that means that playing with a munchkin can spoil the game for everyone else. But at the same time, strong roleplay frameworks like that of honor & duty, or the different take about property (i.e. equipment) are likely to keep a munchkin away.

Do you think that new rules and game mechanics should be developed to handle certain things or should nothing new be developed for an oriental game?

I think it always helps in order to make the setting feel different from the others. They don't necessarily need to be big changes such as "armor as DR" or totally different spellcasting rules. But for example I find that additions like Void Points or Iaijutsu Focus in Rokugan really work great, the important thing is that they have an in-game explanation. You don't actually NEED to have a whole set of rules for martial arts for example, there is no single topic that MUST exist as a new mechanic to make an asian setting work, but additional rules can help make that topic stand out.

Do you think your expectations the setting and characters are fair?

For an oriental-asian game of D&D, yes of course . But then if what you have in mind is an anime-manga game, then I think we're on very different tracks.

 

[Dave Turner]

A cosmology based on Five Elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, and Metal) rather than Four (Earth, Air, Fire, Water).

 

[bento]

I've outlined four ideas that I think are important differences between OA and "western" D&D games.

SOCIAL CLASSES
Most Asian cultures have a strong sense of social norms. Everyone in society has a role to play and keeping to that role is critical for society to work. Yes, occasionally a young sandal carrier will arrise to become shogun, but he WAS born into the samurai class. To either try and elevate oneself (tradesman carrying a katana) or debasing oneself (drunken samurai begging for food) outside of one's class is a shame and society will eventually eliminate the troublemaker. This idea of place in society is alien to most westerners, as we have an ingrained ideas on individuality and that anyone can rise from a humble beginning to become whatever they want to. Creating this sense of rigid roles in society is important for the GM.

HONOR
As most players have some kind of powerbase that they work from, rewards often come in the form of "honor" or respect for taking the correct action and saying the right things. Some OA games I've read or played have a mechanism to record this. Rewarding players with "honor" points for carrying out missions, meeting challenges, and doing the right (not necessarily good) thing is an important component of this style of gaming. As some classes may have a code against dealing with money, such as a samurai, monk or shugenja, providing this kind of reward helps add flavor to the game. These rewards can be used to improve social interaction (+3 diplomacy, +2 intimidate, etc.).

MISSION-BASED ADVENTURES
The notion of dungeon crawling also becomes very difficult, as the stories are more mission based for the players. While there are abandonded temples and castles here and there, the idea of "dungeon of the week" seems less fitting for this setting. Players are instead challenged to go on a quest or deal with a problem, and come up with a solution, often using social interaction as much as combat.

POWER GROUPS
Because everyone has a place, and the adventures are typically mission-based, fleshing out power groups early on adds a lot of flavor to the game. Coming up with unique spins on thieves and assassing guilds, ruling families, religious groups, temples, or mage groups add most of your flavor. Watch almost ANY eastern movie, or TV show, or western ones inspired by asian culture, and you'll find at the heart of many of them power groups and their struggles. Often the players are caught between different groups and for the early part of their adventuring have little to say in regards to group decisions.

I know there are many more differences than this, but I think any GM and group of players should consider these concepts before they dive into an OA-style game.

 

[The_Gneech]

Settings - What is Expected from an Oriental Game Setting?

For it to be universally praised, but almost never actually played.

-The Gneech

 

[Psion]

For it to be universally praised, but almost never actually played.

Sad, but mostly, true.

 

[frankthedm]

SOCIAL CLASSES
Most Asian cultures have a strong sense of social norms. Everyone in society has a role to play and keeping to that role is critical for society to work. Yes, occasionally a young sandal carrier will arrise to become shogun, but he WAS born into the samurai class. To either try and elevate oneself (tradesman carrying a katana) or debasing oneself (drunken samurai begging for food) outside of one's class is a shame and society will eventually eliminate the troublemaker. This idea of place in society is alien to most westerners, as we have an ingrained ideas on individuality and that anyone can rise from a humble beginning to become whatever they want to. Creating this sense of rigid roles in society is important for the GM.

HONOR
As most players have some kind of powerbase that they work from, rewards often come in the form of "honor" or respect for taking the correct action and saying the right things. Some OA games I've read or played have a mechanism to record this. Rewarding players with "honor" points for carrying out missions, meeting challenges, and doing the right (not necessarily good) thing is an important component of this style of gaming. As some classes may have a code against dealing with money, such as a samurai, monk or shugenja, providing this kind of reward helps add flavor to the game. These rewards can be used to improve social interaction (+3 diplomacy, +2 intimidate, etc.).

These two are Absolutly Needed IMHO.

I like keeping the party based exploration fantasy setting to Japanese / Island Nations flavor. I'd Kill to see Kamigawa as the New OA. I feel this vital because I feel there should be another ruleset [setting] for Chinese /Asian Mainlaind myth. One that places far less focus on an individual character's own combat prowess, and more on their capabilities as a leader, general and possibly ruler. Think Birthright meets Romance of the 3 kingdoms.

 

[jollyninja]

For it to be universally praised, but almost never actually played.

-The Gneech

a most unfortunate state of affairs indeed. I do so wish that it were not so.


and to the waste of time question, nothing your group enjoys is a waste of time.

 

[Ashanderai]

I know I am bringing this thing back from the dead like a hopping vampire, but I wanted to address the following comments to folks with an interest in playing in Asian fantasy settings with d20 style rules, not to mention folks who just plain expressed an interest in Lands of the Jade Oath before.

Lands of the Jade Oath has finally signed a deal to be published. The publisher is Rite Publishing and they have created a page for "Lands of the Jade Oath" where folks can sign up to become patrons for the first PDF in the project. Lands of the Jade Oath is an oriental setting that uses Arcana Evolved as the basis for its game mechanics, utilizing all of AE’s rules and incorporating elements from the core rules as well as new and original game elements all its own. The setting focuses on many of the various cultures of Asia with an emphasis on Chinese culture and mythology, much as the old D&D setting of Kara-Tur did.

This is not a typical RPG PDF project. Becoming a patron on this project involves you in the creation of the PDF and provides you with access to the POD book and an exclusive adventure that will only ever be made available to you and other patrons. You will have access to the daily discussions of creators and developers behind this project and be privy to Q&A sessions by them as well.

Senior patrons get all that and more. You gain early access to the manuscript and can play-test it. You can get involved in the creation of the PDF and offer input for the project, evaluating and suggesting improvements at the initial sketch stage of interior art, cartography, layout, player handouts, and any other visual aspect of the project. You also get recognition in the credits.

The first PDF to be released for this setting will be "Heroes of the Jade Oath" (a 260,000+ word PDF at over 250 pages with full color interior art and an awesome cover painting by Wayne Reynolds). This first PDF is basically like a player's guide with an introduction to the setting, new classes like the Enlightened Scholar, Demon Hunter, Kensai, and Kusa; new races such as the Mandragorans, Bakemono, Hushen, and Shenxue, variant races and classes from AE and the core rules, sutra magic, rules for the use of ch’i, over 150 new feats, new weapons, and optional rules. The manuscript is already near completion and is waiting for the rest of the production process to get underway, which is why it needs patrons. Later PDFs will be "Arts of the Jade Oath" and "Secrets of the Jade Oath", which are already in the process of being written.

If you are interested and would like to know more you can check out the setting description at Rite Publishing's website; and be sure to check out the page for Lands of the Jade Oath where you can read the public announcement and sign up to be a patron, if you so choose.