Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 brokenjade Jun 17, 2008 16:19:07	Hi every one i am slowy starting to like 4e and am thinking about an oriental campaign setting but am not sur how to go about this. Any help would be great
#2 idabrius Jun 17, 2008 16:26:09	Read some Chinese history and fictional history (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey into the West, etc.) and then take a look at Rokugan and Kara-tur. When you've done all that, you'll have a good feel for the asian flavors that have been done before in D&D and how you can go about making something that is different from what's out there.
#3 thinkhard Jun 17, 2008 20:09:17	Give everything asian-ey names. Talk about honor and ancestry until it puts your players to sleep. Make alchemical/elemental motifs run like water in your campaign. Have kooky demons be the bad guys about half the time, and selfish feudal lords bad guys the other half. Throw in a bunch of mysterious old guys, some secret ultimate fighting styles, katanas, and ninjas. Then you'll have done what ever-other uninspired asian-themed campaign ever did. If you want something good and original, take Idabrius's advice.
#4 brokenjade Jun 17, 2008 21:42:07	Thanks for the advice. My general idea is that the players are retainers for a lord and his wife. In a skirmish with a rival both get slaine but not before the wife beseeches the Raven Queen to curse her foes. So the Raven Queen turns the entire lords dominion into a cursed wasteland. Now the players must escape the cursed lands.
#5 KenkakuKnight Jun 19, 2008 23:50:00	I would recommend getting some strong props/visuals from the get-go. Firmly establish that this world has an Asian air to it, and the players imaginations should take care of the rest. Occasionally bring in new visuals to reinforce this idea when it loses momentum. If you have any artistic skills, study up on weaponry, clothing, writing and architecture, as these would give the strongest impression of your world. Even without artistry skills, a good selection of computer print-outs would help. Here are a few images to help you out Japanese Flavor Village skyline: http://travel.3yen.com/wp-content/images/japan_kurashiki_quay.jpg (just imagine the people wearing older clothing) Edo Castle http://konara-han.com/torashindonasgallery/castleswarandbeauty.html Pages from a Japanese imperial document: http://www.koutouclub.net/english/hikone2-logo.jpg Clothing and Armor http://www.imperialweapons.com/armour/12mailcoif.html http://www.geocities.com/odamachi2/armor.htm http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/kimono/gifs/man-hakama.gif http://www.plasticbamboo.com/wp/wp/wp-content/uploads/kimono_howto.jpg Misc: http://www.koutouclub.net/english/news.htm Chinese Flavor Shaolin Temple http://www.shaolintemple.ca/images/front_temple_1.jpg Wudang Mountain http://www.eternalspringtours.com/assets/images/WudangTaiji-4.jpg Clothing http://www.chinesekungfuhustle.com/index.php (this has a plethora of clothing that one can fight in, so these are great for adventurers) Weapons http://www.shaolinquebec.com/photos/armes.jpg Don't forget, these real world countries have extensive histories and lands as well, meaning that there is different clothing/weapons/architecture depending on where and when you are. Don't be afraid to mix and match (it works for Avatar, why not DnD), and I hope this helps.
#6 rentauri Jun 20, 2008 8:20:26	Many of the current classes can be modified with simple name changes (depending on the culture) for example the Paladin can become the Samurai and the Warlock can become the Wu Jen (or the like). Thanks for the advice. My general idea is that the players are retainers for a lord and his wife. In a skirmish with a rival both get slaine but not before the wife beseeches the Raven Queen to curse her foes. So the Raven Queen turns the entire lords dominion into a cursed wasteland. Now the players must escape the cursed lands. Couple of questions: Whose wife? The Lord of the PC's wife of the rival Lord's wife? (I think it was the PC's lord but I wanted to make sure) Are the lords serving a greater Lord, part of an Empire or the like? If there is this 'greater' power that both lords are bound to you can flip who did the cursing. If it wasn't anyone on the PC's side and there is a greater power it becomes not only an escape mission but a warning to that higher power. The adventure might even force some courtly intrigue as the PC's attempt to clear there lord's name and prove who really did it.
#7 nobunaga_oda Jun 21, 2008 0:24:16	the Paladin can become the Samurai ? In no fantasy tropes the Samurai was represented as a champion of a god, neither his smithing powers. A Samurai fits well the fighter.
#8 rentauri Jun 21, 2008 9:12:50	? In no fantasy tropes the Samurai was represented as a champion of a god, neither his smithing powers. A Samurai fits well the fighter. Drop the fighting for the god for fighting for a lord, paladins are champions so to are the samurai just for a slightly more terrestrial source. It may require some re-tooling (depending on how you want seperate some functions) but the fighter is not the better representation, in my opinion. Fighters in asian flavored campaigns are often the commoner, low born person becoming an adventurer/hero. Besides in many games, I believe the Samurai are cast as neither the Fighter or the Paladin with the latter actually not appearing in the flavored game at all. Instead of writing a new class up for a flavored game the honorable Paladin who is a champion of an ideal (whether it is a god/person or idea) that shouts challenges to enemies seems the closer fit. I could see using a Fighter and Paladin as a base to come up with something else or simply taking the fighter and adding some other elements to it. Perhaps flipping out abilities for others as I see the Divine Challenge, calling out for a duel to follow their idea more then the Combat Challenge, where you smack them for the challenge.