Chikadō: A New Setting for Moment of Truth
Sept 18, 2018 17:40:23 GMT -8
Post by Zaszamonde on Sept 18, 2018 17:40:23 GMT -8
So I've mentioned this on the Discord (and a few posts here), but I want to start a full post with what I'm planning on writing for Moment of Truth. I've always loved samurai drama, my minor is Japanese and I found this podcast from the L5R Actual Play.
As much as I love Rokugan, it has some key flaws that I feel can detract from a game. To me, the world is too stable, somewhat akin to the Edo period. I prefer the Sengoku period, a massive hundred year bloody civil war between dozens of clans. A world where the Emperor holds no real power and warlords vie for superiority, sometimes through peace, but mostly through war. A single battle could end the clan, making each battle as important as each duel.
So I want to take a swing at my own world. A large problem with having a non-Western setting is that you have to sell the players on everything. The setting, culture, traditions, prejudices, topography, history, etc. It can feel like dropping a book in the players lap and telling them to sink or swim. Stu's choice of having a limited scope for new players to start in was brilliant. They didn't need to know each and every clan and their history.
Simultaneously, I know that I cannot be correct about everything in Japanese history. If I get 50%, I'll feel pretty good. Most of the primary sources aren't translated and translations can be...mixed. There's a lot of nuance and classical Japanese loves cross references and puns that don't translate. They also have strong Chinese influence (depending on the period). It's a bit like reading Shakespeare and having to know every other play that was going on at the same time in English and all of the plays of Paris as well.
That's why I'm taking the Stu-approach with Blood, Blade, and Tusk.
Welcome to Chikadō, the Land Under the Earth.
I've got a rough timeline happening, but it starts in 1000 CE. The same event that triggered the orcs to come into France also caused massive earthquakes in Japan. People fled into the caves of the mountains and as they went in deeper, they came out onto an unfamiliar land. This new land had no people, but did have familiar animals from Japan. Luckily, people could go back and forth easily between the above and below world.
As time progressed, people began to move into this new world, called Chikadō. New clans formed and everything continued above. It wasn't until 1467 when disaster struck. A massive earthquake struck again, sealing the tunnels between the two worlds. At the same time, the Ōnin War began, triggering the Sengoku period, the Japanese Warring States era. In Chikadō, the society would have to learn how to survive without the Emperor or the Shogun. Who can hold power in Chikadō?
Most games would start 100+ years after the Great Split in a world that's entirely free to the GM to manipulate. This world isn't the world the orcs left and is essentially Earth without humans. I wanted to divorce Japanese history from the culture and let the GM decide what they want.
As for what I'm planning on adding, here's a list:
This will be a slow process since I'm moving and my Japanese history books are in boxes...somewhere. I'm using the L5R sourcebook along with John Wick's Blood & Honor. As mentioned above, I'd love to come up with a clan generation system like Green Ronin's A Song of Ice and Fire RPG.
Let me know what you think!
As much as I love Rokugan, it has some key flaws that I feel can detract from a game. To me, the world is too stable, somewhat akin to the Edo period. I prefer the Sengoku period, a massive hundred year bloody civil war between dozens of clans. A world where the Emperor holds no real power and warlords vie for superiority, sometimes through peace, but mostly through war. A single battle could end the clan, making each battle as important as each duel.
So I want to take a swing at my own world. A large problem with having a non-Western setting is that you have to sell the players on everything. The setting, culture, traditions, prejudices, topography, history, etc. It can feel like dropping a book in the players lap and telling them to sink or swim. Stu's choice of having a limited scope for new players to start in was brilliant. They didn't need to know each and every clan and their history.
Simultaneously, I know that I cannot be correct about everything in Japanese history. If I get 50%, I'll feel pretty good. Most of the primary sources aren't translated and translations can be...mixed. There's a lot of nuance and classical Japanese loves cross references and puns that don't translate. They also have strong Chinese influence (depending on the period). It's a bit like reading Shakespeare and having to know every other play that was going on at the same time in English and all of the plays of Paris as well.
That's why I'm taking the Stu-approach with Blood, Blade, and Tusk.
Welcome to Chikadō, the Land Under the Earth.
I've got a rough timeline happening, but it starts in 1000 CE. The same event that triggered the orcs to come into France also caused massive earthquakes in Japan. People fled into the caves of the mountains and as they went in deeper, they came out onto an unfamiliar land. This new land had no people, but did have familiar animals from Japan. Luckily, people could go back and forth easily between the above and below world.
As time progressed, people began to move into this new world, called Chikadō. New clans formed and everything continued above. It wasn't until 1467 when disaster struck. A massive earthquake struck again, sealing the tunnels between the two worlds. At the same time, the Ōnin War began, triggering the Sengoku period, the Japanese Warring States era. In Chikadō, the society would have to learn how to survive without the Emperor or the Shogun. Who can hold power in Chikadō?
Most games would start 100+ years after the Great Split in a world that's entirely free to the GM to manipulate. This world isn't the world the orcs left and is essentially Earth without humans. I wanted to divorce Japanese history from the culture and let the GM decide what they want.
As for what I'm planning on adding, here's a list:
- Setting information for Chikadō
- Clan generation system (think Green Ronin's A Song of Ice and Fire RPG)
- New list of skills including a possible emphasis system (still deciding on that one)
- More traits and talents
- Weapons and armor
- A deadly dueling system
- Domain management system
- Mass combat utilizing domain management for resources and losses
This will be a slow process since I'm moving and my Japanese history books are in boxes...somewhere. I'm using the L5R sourcebook along with John Wick's Blood & Honor. As mentioned above, I'd love to come up with a clan generation system like Green Ronin's A Song of Ice and Fire RPG.
Let me know what you think!