Sample file INTRO

Overview

HEARTS OF WULIN is a roleplayingApocalypse game World emulating long-form Chinese wuxia melodrama. It builds on , a game created by Meguey and Vincent Baker. If you’ve playedHEARTS other OF WULINPowered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) games you should find easy to pick up (see PbtA differencesHEARTS OF WULINon “PbtA Differences” on page 13). If you haven’t, you may find operates a little differently than other roleplaying games. At the table, the gamemaster (GM) presents a situation. The players take turns saying what their characters are doing; they may be in completely different locations or all together. The GM acts as both a traffic controller— managing who is centerstage—and interviewer—asking deeper questions about what the player characters (PCs) want to do, as well as what the characters may be thinking or feeling. They also portray non-player charac- ters (NPCs). This is the conversation of play: The PC says what they are doing, the GM says what happens. When theMoves outcome is in doubt or the drama of the moment calls for it, go to the . Different actions may trigger the moves. SampleEach move has a trigger listed in its text. Either the PCs HEARTSor the GMfile OF can WULIN suggest that a moment has triggered a particularBasic move. Moves has a set of moves all characters can use—theRole Playbook. The charactersMoves will have some moves unique to them, called and . 5 6 To resolve aElements move, the PC rolls two six-sided dice (2d6), adds one of the character’s to the result, then checksHit that total with the move’s text. Any total result of 7 or greater is called a . This means the character succeeded. A result of 10 or greater means the character has done the action fully, without complication, or with additional benefits. A result between 7 and 9 means the character has done it partially, with a complication, or to a lesser effect. Miss A final result of 6 or less is called a . Some moves specify what happens on a Miss (it’s always bad). If the move doesn’t specifyGM Move what happens on a miss result, the GM will make a reaction called a . Whether the move’s miss result specifies what happens or not, The GM can always add to a listed miss result with a GM move if they decide doing so is appropriate. The GM doesn’t make rolls, instead they deal harm, introduce new elements, or change the story when they use these GM moves. What Do Player Characters Do? HEARTS OF WULIN In , the player characters play potent heroes in a fantastic version of ancient China. PCs can do amazing things: fight expertly, balance on roof peaks, run along walls. But for all that skill and competence, the characters are undercut by their own hearts. Unrequited love, conflicting filial duty, loyalty to sworn friends—all these pull the characters in different directions. The PCs try to hold themselves together in order to live up to their heroicHEARTS ideals. OF WULIN doesn’t provide a specific setting. Your table willHEARTS build OF WULINthat together—establishing the factions and places of your world. offers a toolkitCrouching for telling Tiger, these Hidden wuxia Dragon; stories. Hero; You Iron can Monkey draw on mediaThe touchstonesUntamed like ; and . There are books, online novels, comics, and more that offer other sources.HEARTS OF WULIN But , first and foremost, aims to emulate a particular kind of Samplewuxia story. file China has a long tradition of “martial arts” novels, dating back centuries. 7 Often these had a strong fantastical element, with gods and monsters alongside heroes. In the early 20th Century, Chinese authorities—social, academic, and political—pushed back against these popular stories, believing they undercut science and rationalism. Fantastic elements fell away and the genre as a whole lost popularity. But in the 1950s and 60s, several authors—most importantly Jin Yong (aka Louis Cha) and Gu Long—began writing serialized novels which breathed new life into old wuxia tropes. They modified the supernatural elements and focused on the characters’ skills. These writers set the pattern and tropes for later wuxia stories. Think about how much Tolkien set the details for fantasy novels or Robert Howard for sword & sorcery stories. Jin Yong and his contemporaries’ influence on wuxia has been even deeper and richer than those authors’ influenceHEARTS OF onWULIN Western fantasy literature. doesn’t aim to emulate these novels exactly. Instead, the Laughinggreatest inspiration in the Wind, comes The Legend from the of the television Condor adaptationsHeroes, Theof those Handsome stories: Siblings and . These are huge, sprawling stories—a series can have more than fifty episodes. All of the great novels have been adapted multiple times, sometimes within a few years of one another. They’re awesome—filled with amazing scenery, great fights, dozens of characters, romances dragged out over many episodes,HEARTS OF gorgeous WULIN costumes, and constant twists and betrayals. That’s what really builds on. It is not an emulation of historical China or even Chinese classical mythology. It is an homage to the many TV series adapted from novels which build on an older literary tradition, including, for most Westerners, the changes occurring when translated into English. Sample file 8 In the next section we talk a little more about wuxia and jianghu, but here are some B basic concepts for new players: This is a game of melodrama. While duels break out, they occur because of longings, thwarted desires, and terrible duties. In melodrama, reac- tions and responses are heightened, nothing is simple, and there’s always B something at stake. B Characters often talk obliquely about things: emotions, desires, drives. You belong to the world of the wulin—martial factions and clans with their own rules and hierarchies. The wulin live under an emperor, but that B relationship can be fraught. Characters have duties to a clan, a school, a mentor, a sibling, a parent, and so on which conflict with their desires and friendships. If a character doesn’t have such obligations, it’s usually because that character has B broken away from their past. Player characters will know their fellow PCs at the start and can get along B with them, though there may be tensions. Forgeries and disguises are super effective, often even in the face of con- flicting testimony or evidence. If you wear a generic disguise or obscure your gender, it will almost always work.

What “Wuxia” and other important terms mean

Wuxia, wulin, jianghu. What are all these terms? And why should you be familiar with them? With a knowledge of wuxia, wulin, and jianghu, you will have a clearer picture of the world you are about to create and enter, and the characters you are about to play. WUXIA 武侠

Most of us are familiar or have grown up with Jin Yong (Louis Cha)’s fantastic worlds of swordsmen and adventures. Even people living in the primarily- SampleTheEnglish Legend speaking of the worldCondor have Heroes been exposedThe Heaven to movies Sword andand dramaDragon serials Saberfile like and . 9 Likewise, the Xiaoli Feidao and Chu Liuxiang stories have captivated readers and audiences. Yong and his contemporaries Gu Long and Liang Yusheng are sometimes called the Three for “Three Legs of the Tripod of Wuxia.” The novels and the movies give us an idea of wuxia which roughly translates to “martial heroes.” Wuxia is not just awesome sword and martial arts skills, but a display and expression of popularity of the xia, the scholar warrior: a balance of courtly manners and deadly martial arts skills. The scholar warrior is at home whether sipping exquisite jasmine teas and fine wines, enjoying elegant poetry and playing the zither or wielding deadly weapons in combat. They are also a skillful healer, being an adept of traditional Chinese medicine, able to clear poisoned or blocked meridians in the body. XIA 侠

Xia means “chivalrous”俠客 or “hero.” A wuxia hero who follows遊俠 the code of xia is called either a xiake ( , follower of xia) or youxia ( , wandering xia). As heroes, they are fighters of oppression and warriors for justice.

The term has evolved so much so from the warrior tales of the Three to the present today that we have xiayi tales whereby we see stories of romance and chivalry with woman heroes and protagonists. Wuxia as a genre label appeared at the end of the Qing dynasty, influenced by the Japanese genre of “bukyo:” militaristic adventure fiction inspired by bushido ideals. Wuxia is so popular that it has been done in films, television serials and video games. It is also illustrated in comics (manhua) and enjoys a huge following across the globe. With the internet and social media, light novels are extremely popular. Cross-platform and serialized, they can now even be accessible on smartphones and similar devices. WULIN 武林

The scholar warriors, the wanderers, the swordsmen and the sword maidens all interact within a community of sects, clans (orthodox and unorthodox) and Samplefactions. The community is called wulin, literally “martial forest.” file 10 Like a dark forest, the wulin world is often filled with danger and 武林盟主 intrigue. Major clans and martial arts houses battle to lead the community as (wulin mengzhu): master of the wulin world. They often call upon the wulin world to judge their competence. They challenge all comers (or people who doubt their suitability). Often in wuxia, orthodox and unorthodox clans are pitted against each other. In many stories, the leader of the wulin world is not often the best or the most capable martial artist. Sometimes, this position is passed down from parent to child. The leader would act as the arbiter of law and order in the jianghu (see below). Yet, in between all these frenetic and perilous scenes, the wulin world could be a world of support, brotherhood, and love. Friends help one another. Allies seek out their sources of assistance in times of need. Siblings overcome differences to defend their clan. Sworn brothers and sisters sit around the table to share wine and food. JIANGHU 江湖

Wulin is part of the much broader and complicated jianghu, a term first coined by Zhuangzi in the late 4th century BC. It was used to describe the lifestyle or way of life of the scholar-officials who sought to distance themselves from the messy political intrigue and corruption of the court. Wulin, in this sense, could mean the life of a hermit or a recluse. Gradually, jianghu evolved over the centuries to mean a sub-culture as opposed to the mainstream. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, poets and writers began to use jianghu to describe a fictional world where protagonists lived by their own moral principles. The moral principles are similar to the Western concepts of idealized knighthood: chivalry, righteousness, virtue, loyalty, and vengeance. But they are not knights, ronin, or samurai. They are heroes who uphold Confucian ideas of honour and help the weak. At the same time, jianghu became entwined with outlaws and their aversion to the government. Jianghu only crystallised in the 20th century when writers like Jin Yong and his ilk created their worlds of swordsmen and gentlemen warriors who operated on a basis of righteousness and conflicts that pitted martial artists and clans against each other in grand acts of good versus evil. Likewise, martial arts became a medium through which the characters show or express their moral Samplebeliefs. The stories included characters who, in pursuit of power,file ended up abandoning their moral beliefs. This fictional world then formed the current interpretation of jianghu in Chinese popular culture. 11 A common theme in jianghu is that the courts of law are unreliable or corrupt. Disputes and arguments are to be handled and resolved by the community, either by mediation or force. Within the jianghu and wulin world, law and order are reinforced by the orthodox clans and righteous characters. They might form a coalition to combat against an unorthodox, evil, or unscrupu- lous clan. Most of the time, law and order is meted out by the wulin mengzhu, the leader of the wulin world. Even the jianghu has a “code” or norms which members follow. Honor is a strong motif, influenced by Confucian ideals. Members are to honour their own word or promise. They are to show respect and honour their elders and seniors—even within a clan, age and level of skill matter. They are not to use their martial skills to hurt the vulnerable and those who are not trained martial artists. A member of the jianghu is obedient to their master, called a shifu. (See Code of Xia) XIANXIA 仙侠

Xianxia is a genre of Chinese fantasy incorporating Buddhism, Taoism, Chinese mythology, martial arts andThe otherLegend traditional of the White aspects Snake of ChineseThe Classicculture. of Examples Mountains of and xianxia Seas are and . Xianxia is frequently fantastic, and romance is a common theme. Xianxia comics and moviesJourney are to extremely the West Oncepopular Upon as A evidencedTime by the many interpretations of . Journey to the (2017) West is one of the most modern reimagined interpretations of . Another interpretation for xianxia is “cultivation literature.” The characters in xianxia novels often seek immortality which imparts eternal life, supernatural powers, and enhanced physical prowess. Gods, demons, shapeshifters, magical relics, and miraculous medicine are interwoven with passionate struggles where the protagonists attempt to attain (or “cultivate”) immortality by rigorous learning, meditation, and accumulating as many resources (like skills, powers, relics, etc.) as they can. The landscape is often that of ancient China, but a xianxia novel could also Samplebecome more epic in nature. file 12 Xianxia has evolved and become immensely popular in recent history, especially in the realm of Chinese web/online literature. BL (Boy Love) xianxia comics have taken off and reached a wide audience as a subgenre within xianxia. Wuxia and xianxia also have links with chuanqi (legendary tales or folklore). Chuanqi refers to short stories or fiction written in the Tang dynasty and includes ghosts and demons and xiayi. So many recent renditions of wuxia and xianxiaStrange have hints Stories of chuanqifrom a Chinese or folklore. Studio (For example, Pu Songling’s Liaozhai Zhiyi [ ] from the 17th century). Romance and Sexuality in Wuxia Stories ROMANCE

There is romance in the wulin and jianghu world. The stereotypical romance scenario in the novels, movies and drama serials is often between a handsome swordsman and a beautiful woman. Often the romance is unrequited because both parties are torn between duty to clan and self, or the romance becomes the story’s sub-plot as both parties navigate through a series of obstacles and setbacks in order to consummate their love. Sometimes, the drama comes when the swordsman or swordswoman is unable to express their love. They try to express it obliquely, only to be misunderstood by the other party. Longing and pining are common tropes in wuxia stories. The hero saving the maiden is a stereotypical motif, though wuxia often sees the reverse with sword maidens rescuing clueless heroes in more modern stories. (Also see xiayi and chuanqi.) SEXUALITY

In most traditional wuxia and xianxia stories, sexuality has never been explicit or overt. It is frequently handled with a fade-to-black. Romance is frequently heternormative, especially for the wuxia movies from the 1960s by the Shaw Brothers, while movies in recent years have been more diverse and inclusive. Modern wuxia fantasy isA more Chinese and Ghost more Story open in the depiction of sexuality or desire. One example is (1987), directed by Tsui Hark. It’s more along the lines of xianxia and Chinese folklore with thousand-year-old Sampletree demonesses and spirits. The one scene with a kiss occurs whenfile the ghostly heroine kissed the hapless hero underwater. The scene astonished audiences when the movie came out. The movie grew immensely popular in Hong Kong and many Asian countries.