The Shining Empires Campaign Guide

[Metroknight]

Just s slight favor for those of us that are not familiar with this type of setting, can you write up suggestion and example in the beginning about how to play and run this setting? I have no idea about how npc's and pc's are suppose to act and such in this type of setting.

[Steveman]

Just s slight favor for those of us that are not familiar with this type of setting, can you write up suggestion and example in the beginning about how to play and run this setting? I have no idea about how npc's and pc's are suppose to act and such in this type of setting.

I think what I have planned for Chapter 3 will fit the bill. I wanted to put Race and Class before the meaty bits because thats what will probably be referenced most, and having it up front is just easier that way.

The chapter 3 outline

Ch 3: Campaigns and Rules
Language Primer
Naming Conventions
Non-player Characters
Adventuring and Gamemastery
Character Descriptions (Height/weight/age)
Honor
Iaijutsu

[Metroknight]

That sounds great.

[Steveman]

Might as well crosspost this here, since it is an excerpt

Ashigaru (AC 13, 25 ryou, 15 kin, 40'/30')
Ninja (AC 13, 30 ryou, 12 kin, 40'/30')
Hikaku (AC 14, 20 ryou, 20 kin, 30'/20')
Kozane (AC 15, 90 ryou, 30 kin, 30'/20')
Kozane o-yoroi (AC 16, 120 ryou, 45 kin, 20'/10')
Shurogane (AC 17, 450 ryou, 40 kin, 20'/10')
Shurogane o-yoroi (AC 18, 600 ryou, 50 kin, 20'/10')
Tate (AC +1, 25 ryou, 5 kin)
ryou is a coin, kin is a weight

Ashigaru: The armor of a common soldier of which it shares its name. It consists of a padded kimono (shirt) and hakama (pants) worn with a hardened and lacquered leather cuirass and a jingasa (armored hat).
Ninja: Layers of linen quilted with thin sheets of kusari form the basis of the armor worn by ninja. These suits of armor are often disguised to look like traveling clothes or form the base of camouflage.
Hikaku: Protective clothing made from multiple layers of animal hides stitched or riveted together and reinforced with bamboo or animal bones. It is dishonorable for a samurai to appear to battle in hikaku. Hikaku is favored by korobokuru and ushitora.
Kozane: A form of middle armor worn by both soldier and samurai alike, though in varying degrees of cosmetic detail. It consists of a chest plate of kikko (scale or laminar) or karuto (coat of plates) worn over a shirt of kusari (chain) with a jingasa or kabuto (full helmet).
Shurogane: Shurogane (iron) armor is much like kozane, except used strong iron plates, which are often painted or lacquered if they are intended to be a part of a samurai's o-yoroi.
O-yoroi: The samurai's great armor, kozane or shurogane armor may be fitted with a selection of ornate axillary armor pieces that provide better protection and create the iconic image of the samurai. Facing an enemy in o-yoroi is a sign of honor as it can take upwards to an hour to don and requires the aid of a servant. The samurai wearing his o-yoroi is saying you are foe worthy of such ceremony, and not matching this level of respect is a grave insult.
Tate: Tate are discs of wood or sheets of bamboo layered with hardened leather that are either lacquered or painted. They are rarely used by samurai as the most common weapons of war are two-handed (nodachi, naginata, yumi) or hand-and-a-half (katana, yari). Ushitora are fond of using tate with hokabuki.

edit: Apparently kanji breaks the forums.

[Steveman]

Would a mod please move this to the workshop?

[SmootRK]

done... or as Solo often says "Shazam!!"

[xav++]

So what is this? A like oriental adventures?

[Steveman]

The Shining Empires, the land where the Sun is born, is an isolated subcontinent far to the east of the world. A beacon of human civilization where honor stands paramount.

Yes, it is kind of an OA setting that I am writing, however unlike most OA settings which mashup East Asian cultural influences into something that is not really recognizable as any one culture, The Shining Empires draws heavily from my old teenage obsession with all things Japan (which as subsided in the decades since, but not completely) and creates a specifically Fantasy Japan setting.

Kara Tur and Rokugan both mashed up too much Chinese into the Japanese mold and with what I have learned about cultural xenophobia and the isolationist era of Japan, writing it as an Empire that has almost no connection to the outside world feels right to me. I kind of want it as a place that can be dropped into most existing settings without much adaption work, just pick a large mass of water in the far [whichever direction the Sun rises in on your world] and "plop", you now have your fantasy Japan.

And, of course, catgirls.

I am writing it, my wife, a couple of close friends who owe me favors and I are doing the illustrations. I have a talented philologist and historian working on some extra research, and will be doing quite a bit more playtesting in the near future.

I've tested a bit to get a hold on tone, but now I need to start really hammering out rules... and actually typing stuff up.

[SmootRK]

The Shining Empires, the land where the Sun is born, is an isolated subcontinent far to the east of the world. A beacon of human civilization where honor stands paramount.

Yes, it is kind of an OA setting that I am writing, however unlike most OA settings which mashup East Asian cultural influences into something that is not really recognizable as any one culture, The Shining Empires draws heavily from my old teenage obsession with all things Japan (which as subsided in the decades since, but not completely) and creates a specifically Fantasy Japan setting.

Kara Tur and Rokugan both mashed up too much Chinese into the Japanese mold and with what I have learned about cultural xenophobia and the isolationist era of Japan, writing it as an Empire that has almost no connection to the outside world feels right to me. I kind of want it as a place that can be dropped into most existing settings without much adaption work, just pick a large mass of water in the far [whichever direction the Sun rises in on your world] and "plop", you now have your fantasy Japan.

And, of course, catgirls.

I am writing it, my wife, a couple of close friends who owe me favors and I are doing the illustrations. I have a talented philologist and historian working on some extra research, and will be doing quite a bit more playtesting in the near future.

I've tested a bit to get a hold on tone, but now I need to start really hammering out rules... and actually typing stuff up.

I am wondering where you are with this project. I am really looking forward to this whole thing.