Culture Cyclopedia Edition 0.00000002

Table of Contents What this is and why...... 3 And why it looks like trash?...... 3 What the Sections Mean...... 3 Rewrite/Good Copy...... 3 Raw Data...... 3 Locations...... 4 Ancient Greece...... 4 The Basics...... 4 Detailed...... 4 Sikh, Berber, Bedouin, Pashtun...... 10 Basic...... 10 Detailed...... 10 Mythic...... 10 Links...... 10 Irish (Celtic/Gaelic/etc)...... 11 Basic...... 11 Values...... 11 Aesthetics...... 11 Detailed...... 11 Mythic...... 11 Links...... 11 Southeast Asia...... 11 Basic...... 11 Detailed...... 11 Mythic...... 11 Links...... 11 Wild West/Western...... 12 Basic...... 12 Detailed...... 12 Mythic...... 12 Links...... 12 China...... 12 India (Ancient)...... 12 Basic...... 12 Detailed...... 12 Mythic...... 12 Links...... 13 Japan...... 13 Tibet...... 13 Basic...... 13 Detailed...... 14 Mythic...... 14 Links...... 14 Periods...... 14 Genres...... 14 Arabian Nights...... 14 Basic...... 14 Detailed...... 14 Mythic...... 14 Links...... 14 Wuxia (Pronounced “Woo-ZIA”)...... 14 Basic...... 14 Detailed...... 23 Mythic...... 23 Links...... 23 Xianxia (Pronounced Zian-ZIA)...... 24 Basic...... 24 Detailed...... 24 Mythic...... 24 Links...... 24 Languages...... 24 WishList...... 25 Template...... 26 Basic...... 26 Values...... 26 Aesthetics...... 26 Detailed...... 26 Mythic...... 26 Links...... 26 What this is and why Because we’ve all seen the threads, “how do I run a greco roman campaign?” “I wanna set up an African Ooga Booga campaign but know shit about africa.” So I am creating a useful first step. It wont be the be all end all, but it can help inspire Gms and offer just enough information for them to run this shit. At the moment its clearly has a more historical focus, but this document can have a segment for any Location, Culture, country, time period or genre.

And why it looks like trash? Because right now all this shit is being copy pasted from other places.

What the Sections Mean Currently, I plan to divide information into catagories within each Culture or Genre: “Basic” The barebones information that can help you run a campaign in that setting. It could also serve as a way to quickly sell the setting and get people interested. There will be two big segments in here “values” and “Aesthetics”. One covers the key values that define the setting or the people in it. The Aesthetics are the basic visual appearance and qualities of the world/setting. “Detailed” Autistic levels explaining more of that setting. This is the section where you will find pages copy pasted from textbooks. “Mythic” Many settings have a divide between mundane things and magical. This divide seems to exist in rpg campaigns. If the basic and Detailed sections have mostly realworld information, then Mythic is where you find the info about that cultures spirit animals and magic. Optional things that can make the setting fanciful. It may also serve as a dumping ground for random, strange, or interesting things. “Links” Weblinks for more information. Dont be surprised if the info from other sections are just copy pasted from these links.

Rewrite/Good Copy This section will be my own rewrite to slim down some of the copy pasted info. Treat this section as me fucking around in a sandbox to see what works. If you are here for data look down below into the Raw data section. Everything that could be in this section will start below in that section.

Raw Data Everything below is all copy pasted from other sources Locations

Ancient Greece

The Basics There are differences between Greece and Rome, but most will not notice the difference. So dont stress over it if you are rolling with a basic Ancient Greece campaign. Fate is a big part of these stories. Make it a theme that has an effect on everything in some way, even the gods. It is an act of Hubris to defy the Fate chosen for you, and in a campaign were Fate can be anthropomorphize, and the Gods are fickle, things get rough. Speaking of Gods, they are not distant. They will come to crash your party. Treat them as super beings who know they are all powerful and have egos just as large. Remember, even Athena, turned a woman into a spider. This aint Disney, make them all jerks. Values • Worship is like a business contract. You ask for something, sacrifice some good wine, cattle or even sinking a whole ship for Poseidon, they bless or help you as they see fit. You may be careful of what you wish for. • Heroes are ones that challenge the gods and/or attempt to make their own Fate, not nice or good people. And unless one god patronizes them, they fail. They may fail even with a god's protection. Remember that both Heracles and Midas were heroes, and it's arguable which one suffered more misfortune. • "Foreign" and "barbarian" are practically interchangeable, and most cultures have this attitude. At the same time, one can admit that, say, persians, are a respectable civilization in their own right. Aesthetics

Detailed Fate needs to be a theme, even a stat. IT affects all, even the gods. Hubris is defying what Fate chooses for you. You can take notes of Miura's Berserk in this. Guts is a greek hero, beneath the aesthetic.

Attempts to reach the level of gods makes them aware of you. This may be the worst thing ever. The Gods pretty much follow the idea of might makes right and zoophilia isn't a thing. Remember the Minotaur.

Worship is like a business contract. You ask for something, sacrifice some good wine, cattle or even sinking a whole ship for Poseidon, they bless or help you as they see fit. You may be careful of what you wish for.

Heroes are ones that challenge the gods and/or attempt to make their own Fate, not nice or good people. And unless one god patronizes them, they fail. They may fail even with a god's protection. Remember that both Heracles and Midas were heroes, and it's arguable which one suffered more misfortune.

Everything has a antromorphic personification, even Fate herself. Every god has plenty of daughters or sons that are representations of things associated with their divine domain. Your character's background can include: "mama went to bathe in the river and it got her really wet. I was born nine months later."

"Foreign" and "barbarian" are pratically interchangeable, and most cultures have this atitude. At the same time, one can admit that, say, persians, are a respectable civilization in their own right.

The Hydra is a Dragon, not a type of lesser monster.

Stay away from Typhon. The Gods fear it for good reason.

Stay only within bow range of Achilles. He can be more of a mindless beast than most monsters. Be careful of his javelins as well.

Try to judge a singing contest between mountains sometime.

Speaking of mountains, no one extinguished the mountain lions Europe had yet.

Chariots are used by heroes or as cavalry. Go deep enough in the past enough, and no one has bred horses big enough to mount one person, so chariots pulled by horses, cattle and gryphons ( http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/chariot96.jpg ) are the only option. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/55/53/a7/5553a77362c5e6d344cbe5abfe4418db.jpg http://xlegio.ru/netcat_files/Image/armies/scythed_chariot_in_color.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9e/b2/1b/9eb21b65febf61c4e7f5438002ab1ef3.jpg

Speaking of gryphons, you can ride wingless ones. They are freaking fabulous ( https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Knossos_fresco_in_throne_palace.JPG ). I bet they have cute mating dances ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1o6xwO3aAk ).

Don't ask what year is it. The same city may have a half dozen dating and calendar systems, none of them compatible with their neighbors.

Slaves. A kidnapper may sell you at the next city-state, but you can also have the right of life and death over someone you rightfully trust to guard your daughter.

Besides the Olympics, there are a dozen games staged at diferent regions and cities. Besides the competitions, games are also political assemblies, religious festivals and markets.

Most warriors either need or have only a large shield, helmet, cloak against rain and cold (taken off during the fight), sandals, javelins, spear and/or sword. Having that, you may be a topless amazon for all I care. Javelineers, archers and slingers usually have even less. Adding quilted armor and greaves may be enough to classify you as "heavy infantry", and with good reason: https://youtu.be/AQDr13TyLJ8 . Speaking of armor or lack thereof...

Good bronze (copper+tin) surpasses iron and it's easier to work with. Some bronze alloys can penetrate steel: https://youtu.be/Uz_CBcxzOFk . A fictional world may have much more deposits of tin, and closer to deposits of copper, than real life. So a mythic Greece may have reason to disdain iron as barbarian and inferior, while bronze is the true greek, superior metal. Bronze breastplates may be cheaper, bronze full plate may be used by more people than the single rightmost hoplite in the front row of the phalanx ( http://byzantinum.deviantart.com/art/Archaic-Greeks-387639716 ). A great advantage over barbarians unless some iron-affected foreigner invents steel. If someone does, it will be likely not! India or not!Africa.

One can find lamellar and scales made of bronze, horns, leather, iron, tusks, bone and even certain vegetal fibers. There are as many options as there are different barbarians, and the Gods alone know how many of these there are.

Axes are considered armor-piercing, because even when blunt they are quite useful maces. There are double axes.

There is no canon. A good way of showing the many versions of each legend is through the amazons: A) Go far enough from normal lands, and you'll find women wearing trousers, riding horses , shooting bows and welding sagaris pick-axes as well as their men! B) It's said that in some very distant nomad tribes called "amazons", there is not one man to be found. They mate with an all-male tribe or the scythians, and send the boys back to the men they slept with. In their campaigns, male prisioners are used and abused until death, their minds so taken by narcotics that they feel no pleasure, only violation by she-demons. C) Others tell us that these women aren't nomads, but have a city in the north coast of Anatolia. Men live there as well, but as an underclass, an example of how foreigners have customs oposite to Greece. D) There are even those that say they are lybians from the upper Nile. They wear snake-skins, or perhaps belts made of snake skins, and are ruled a demigod queen called Medusa. Their dreadful masks are made of bronze so polished as to reflect the sun, also having tusks and snake-head carvings. The combination of these masks with their reputation and the realization that one fights women causes hesitation, fear and blindness, thus paralysing their enemies long enough for a lethal strike. http://www.rejectedprincesses.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/scythians-3-with-amazon-666x900.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fe/8b/5c/fe8b5c735a770331da77972a56a3a4b7.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Amazonomachy_Antioch_Louvre_Ma3 457.jpg/1280px-Amazonomachy_Antioch_Louvre_Ma3457.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Amazon_trousers_BM_VaseB673.jpg/4 61px-Amazon_trousers_BM_VaseB673.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ed/8a/42/ed8a422d606e39af1a274c4932f107b6.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/56/d4/a1/56d4a124fd290de7f9748121ac86cd48.jpg http://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/amazons.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/60/8d/5c/608d5c6707984637e256f4052e44d528.jpg http://img01.deviantart.net/343a/i/2006/198/b/e/pentesileia_as_executioner_by_borba.jpg

The ancient Spartoi (not the same that spartans) sprung from sowed dragon's teeth, "fully armed". One can interpret this as a sort of dragonfolk with claws and scales instead of weapons. Whatever your choice, it is said theban aristocrats descend from them.

And how about some berserkers? Mad warriors weren't exclusive to vikings. http://europabarbarorum.wikia.com/wiki/Worg%C5%8Dzez_(Wild_Mercenary_Infantry) http://alkman1.blogspot.com.br/2007/06/berserks-history-of-indo-european-mad.html

You can have a race of thracian half-bear giants if you wish, not unlike the Norn of Guild Wars.

Speaking of giants, some of them have two snake tails instead of legs.

Speaking of snakes, snakewomen want to have sex with you, and one of your sons can found a kingdom.

One of the PCs makes part of a mystery cult, and that explains why he's has wizard powers drawn from ancient texts from wacky eastern or egyptian lands where they do everything different.

A sorceress may be a follower of Hecate, goddess of moon, witchcraft, ghosts and necromancy*. She may use her powers to better her life in a society where most women are pretty much property of their husbands and fathers. Witch-hunting may ensue.

*The original necromancy, talking with the dead or undead to see the future, portents and prophecies. Your character may be the first to use this as a means to control ghosts and undead, using them just like "fantasy necromancy".

Your ranger/longe range hitter is more likely to use javelins or slings than bows. The first includes flaming and all iron versions, the second outranges most bows, breaks shields and launches either lead bullets inscribed with curses or ceramic jars of greek fire. They say egyptian slingers use a carnivore scarab which can roll up into a ball: http://melvynyeo.deviantart.com/art/Ceratocanthidae-481314938 .

You could mix much of the Hyborian Age of Conan into a "Mythic Greece" setting. It already portrays a prehistorical lost age of Earth, with several not!cultures which later turn into the real cultures they were based on. The land of "Corinthia" represent not!Greece itself, while "Argos" is somewhat greek. Foreign not!cultures relevant for a "Mythic Greece", such as amazons and egyptians, also appear. Note that this also ties in the Cthulhu mythos... ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyborian_Age#Corinthia ) ( https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/Maphyboria.jpg ) ( http://hyboria.xoth.net/history/hyborian_age.htm )

The Bronze Age collapse and the subsequent dark age is an almost unbelievable but real apocalyptic event. There are good theories, but much remains unexplained. The Sea Peoples, who were they? Where did they came from? These raiders of horned helmets and swift ships (quite the viking stereotype) are a blank in the history of the world. One known thing is that they razed all known civilizations, except for the phoenicians. These prodigal sailors and worshippers of Dagon were untouched and even prospered afterwards. "Sea People" being respectful to worshippers of "Dagon", need I say more?

Bronze automatons are a thing. Artificers capable of making those may be your only source of 'magic items' that aren't godly gifts or pieces ripped off monsters that have divine parentage. Moving tables, turtle-like war engines ( https://youtu.be/bi4f8CTbhhg ), armor made of indian iron which surpasses even greek bronze, drilling rams, primitive crossbows etc. One recently made a machine capable of throwing great stones, promising it shall end those craven archers refusing to close the distance for manly fights. This starts an arms race of which war engine can throw the heavier stone, which can demolish any wall, as well as means to defend against those engines.

Galleys come in many sizes. From fast biremes used by and against pirates, going to armored triremes ( https://youtu.be/5e1cmprH6BY ) and all the way up to huge catamarans, crewed by 4000 professional rowers and free men: https://youtu.be/eVfszRzWttk . Those were all realistic vessels. Fantasy opens the possibility of replacing a hundred rowers with a couple of cyclops with either gigantic paddles or moving levers of a clockwork system using paddlewheels. And if one has a hundred legless undead, sails are superfluous, for they won't get tired, rebel or stop rowing.

As one goes away from Greece, the world gets weirder. North: there are trees taken away by the tides up north, crashing ships like floating islands, its leafs as sail under the winds. Men dressed as wolves eat human flesh. East: One-eyed nomads steal the gold of gryphons. Elephants are so plentiful that peasants may have one. West: the winds of the iberia coast impregnates mares. The great river Oceanus may not be a river at all. South: a kingdom of tall hairless people, except for the head. Their bones are rubbery and their two- tongued mouths can talk with two people at the same time. The garamantian chariot nomads are actually raiders from a kingdom that somehow grows crops in the middle of the desert.

Bestiary: http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/bestiary.html

Kingdoms of Mythic Greece: http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/kingdoms.html

Weird foreign lands: http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/fabulous-tribes.html

I assume you're aiming for fantasy. If that's not the case, read this to get the ideas and themes: (Note that the links below may be quite useful for fantasy campaigns as well)

Historically correct story about the Trojan War, uniting all the fragments and accounts. http://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Age-of-Bronze

The End of Civilization (In the Bronze Age): Crash Course World History 211 https://youtu.be/ErOitC7OyHk

Knossos 3D reconstruction https://youtu.be/P3Ez8drCIvc https://youtu.be/LGsVKFld6XM

The Traditional Narrative of the Bronze Age Collapse https://youtu.be/A3mlkdLMrSk

"The End of the Bronze Age. In this video, the foundation Luwian Studies presents a comprehensive and plausible scenario of what might have happened." https://youtu.be/oz5uFA9IWJ8 (4:54 resume) https://youtu.be/1DNyA90f_aw (49:00 full)

THE GREEK AGE OF BRONZE Weapons and warfare in the late Helladic time 1600-1100 BC http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/ Also contains information on the Sea Peoples.

More on Sea Peroples: https://periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/the-sea-peoples-history-weaponry-and-a- detailed-list-of-their-tribes-13th-12th-century-bc/ https://periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com/2015/05/02/on-some-possible-sea-peoples-settlements-in- sicily-sardinia-and-corsica-bronze-age/

Bronze Age pics: http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/war18.jpg https://periklisdeligiannis.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/edit.png Armor http://www.hellenicarmors.gr/media/photos/18/hellenic_armors_18_01.jpg http://www.hellenicarmors.gr/media/photos/18/hellenic_armors_18_02.jpg http://www.hellenicarmors.gr/media/photos/18/hellenic_armors_18_03.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/armour06.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/armour68.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/corselet03.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/scale07.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/armguard08.jpg Helmets http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/elmi9.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/elmi10.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/elmi11.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/earlyhelmet63.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/middlehelmet38.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/middlehelmet12.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/latehelmet08.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/achille-eric.jpg Shields http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/bodyshield51.jpg https://periklisdeligiannis.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/00.jpg https://periklisdeligiannis.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/connolly1.jpg Weapons http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/sword18.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/sword69.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/spear176.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/bow01.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/otherweapon50.jpg http://www.bronze-age-swords.com/

Iron Age: http://www.hellenicarmors.gr/products.php?pageId=11&lang=EN http://www.hellenicarmors.gr/products.php?pageId=12&lang=EN https://periklisdeligiannis.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/skythian-warlord.jpg https://periklisdeligiannis.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/romans-vs-greeks.jpg https://periklisdeligiannis.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/athena-promachos1.jpg

Gallery with plenty of useful images: http://panaiotis.deviantart.com/gallery/34496451/Cultural-Heritage

Bronze Age ships: http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/ship135.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/ship136.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/ship28.jpg http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/images/ship35.jpg http://www.navistory.com/pages/antiquity.php >A particularly rich and long era in naval matters, although rather limited in its study towards the Mediterranean. It began rouhly 1000 to 5000 years after the ice age. This period extends over the Bronze Age (3500 BC) and continues through the Iron Age (1200 BC) opening the classical era (500 BC).

Reconstruction of ancient Corinth city as it was in II century AD, in Roman Empire ages. https://youtu.be/dEHPfMIyLfc

Articles on ancient history http://www.livius.org/

There was more than one version of the list, and the author may have got some details wrong. http://www.livius.org/articles/concept/seven-wonders-of-the-ancient-world/

Geospatial network model of the roman world http://orbis.stanford.edu/

Europa Barbarorum II. This mod for Medieval II: Total War offers tons of information on the in-game texts of its buildings and units. The wiki talks a lot about factions and warriors of the Iron Age: http://europabarbarorum.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

About the hoplite phalanx: https://periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/hoplite-phalanx-where-it-was-invented/ https://periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/hoplite-tactics-the-hoplite-phalanx/ https://periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/the-hoplite-phalanx-in-combat-hoplite-tactics/

Sikh, Berber, Bedouin, Pashtun

Basic

Detailed

Mythic

Links http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/49940009/ Irish (Celtic/Gaelic/etc)

Basic

Values

Aesthetics

Detailed

Mythic

Links

Southeast Asia

Basic

Detailed

Mythic

Links http://hariragat.blogspot.com/2014/03/building-southeast-asian-settings-part-i.html http://hariragat.blogspot.com/2014/04/on-southeast-asian-settings-part-ii.html http://hariragat.blogspot.com/2014/05/highland-southeast-asia-for-your.html Wild West/Western

Basic

GURPS Old West has a whole bunch of useful info. Just read that and your set for the basic level.

Detailed

Mythic

Links

China

India (Ancient)

Basic

Detailed

Mythic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures_in_Hindu_mythology Links

Japan Life/Living in Rokugan? = useful Busido stuff for samurai stories. Hard to find cover image.

Tibet

Basic Unable to confirm at this moment, but this source promises to offer plenty of information regarding the area. Detailed

Mythic

Links

Periods

Genres

Arabian Nights

Basic

Detailed

Mythic

Links http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/18350298/

Wuxia (Pronounced “Woo-ZIA”)

Basic Okay. Note that these aren't mutually exclusive, and can be thought of as the kind of adventures one has as he ups his class.

>Note that I will mostly use D&D-influenced terms, as that is the system I am most familiar with.

>I tend to classify the typical "Chinese setting" into several "Worlds" or you can say "Layers" (I am sure there's a better word for it, but I can't think of one right now), which can be used as a framework to expand into a detailed setting.

>The first layer is what I called:

>1) "Base world" or "Overworld" This is the layer/setting that is closest to its "standard medieval fantasy" equivalent, and the setting where you can throw in most non-magic Chinese cultural element(s) without worrying too much. If there's a conflict happening somewhere, it is mostly because of a war with foreign powers, or a civil war etc. This is the stage where a "Fighter Class" can shine most brightly. If there is a "East meet West" setting, this is also the easiest setting to use.

>Stuffs like rockets, repeating crossbows, heavy armours, shields, bows & arrows, fancy Chinese firearms/bombs/cannons, mundane emperor, imperial civil servants and mandarins etc belong in this layer.

>Classes like fighter, warlord (and/or strategist) also belong here. Base world tend to be no/low magic. Spellcasters, if they exist at all, are mostly limited to divination/adivsor role.

>You will also notice that I do not mention "Kung fu" and "martial arts" in this layer, because they don't (normally) belong here. Fighters in this layer act like...well, fighters, i.e. they whack at each others with the weapons they are good at, without shouting "iron heart surge" or whatnot.

>2) "Jianghu (??)" or what I called "Low Wuxia" or "Underworld" >This is the entry gate to the world of Wuxia, where you will start to find all sorts of martial arts stuffs. However at this layer it is still very much grounded in reality. Most factions that operate at this layer are the ancient Chinese equivalent of gangsters and mafias and triads. Wealth and vengeance, as well as the underworld's code of honour, is the prime motivation of conflict at this layer. Gang fights happen about as often as personal duels.

>Stuffs that belong to this layer: Wealthy river merchants (essentially "river mafia"), mountain bandits, rebels, salt peddlers, horse merchant alliance (again, essentially "horse trading mafia" of sort), caravan bodyguards (??), martial arts throwing weapons, taverns. etc. Due to the prevalence of river merchants, underwater combat happens quite a lot.

>Classes that belong to this layer: Rogue. As long as you step into the territory of Wuxia, you will be dealing with rogues, rogue variants, and more rogues.

>Stuffs that do NOT belong to this layer: Heavy armours and shields, bows, crossbows and arrows, fighter class, firearms*. Low Wuxia also tend not to have legendary swords and somesuch.

>*As this layer is more grounded in reality, many stories set in early 20th century (Republican/Japanese occupation period) utilize this layer, and thus firearm are (sometimes) quite prevalent.

>3) "Wulin (??)" or what I called "High Wuxia" >De facto Wuxia world. Borderline supernatural martial arts such as jumping really high, short range ki blasts, internal energies and punch through metal doors etc are quite common here. Various martial art sects and religious organizations (instead of lowly criminal gangs like the Low Wuxia) pop up at this layer. Fame, romance and sex, legendary weapons, martial pursuits and secret manuals become the prime motivator of conflict. Otherwise some evil ominous cult wanted to dominate the Wulin world, causing all sort of mayhem.

>Personal duels, assassinations, and martial arts tournaments are much more common at this layer, although war between sects or against aforementioned evil cult are also common.

>Stuffs that belong to this layer: High powered martial arts, secret manuals, lost treasures, legendary (but usually not supernature) weapons, tournaments, "Wulin alliance", code of honour, religious organisations, evil cults, impossible but non-magical gadgets and traps ("Rapid fire thousand needle launcher" or "automaton wooden dummy", or something like that), weird poison and medicine ("it will kill you during the first day of next Chinese new year!" kind of poison), weird animals ("the toad whose blood can cure all poison").

>Classes that belong to this layer: Rogue, assassin, and possibly swashbuckler, some sort of martial art- herbalist class. Some of the more exotic Wuxia archetypes, such as the crazy zitherist that cause you to go insane or mind control you with her music, or cult leader that control swarms of poisonous snakes, might fit into bard and druid class, albeit imperfectly. Also monk.

>Stuffs that do NOT belong to this layer: Most stuffs that do no fit in Low Wuxia also do not belong here. Which means no heavy armour and shield whatsoever, barring rare exceptions. No firearms and generally no magic (which mostly limited to Base World at the moment).

>As you can see, the worlds of Chinese fiction are generally distinct - a military general (fighter class), armoured to the teeth and wield a heavy war axe, will not generally show up and compete in a Wuxia tournament (remember Wuxia is mostly rogue class), and you won't generally see river merchant gangfights in a novel about massive civil war.

>Yet these layers also superimpose over each other. They can and do exist in the same setting/universe, as well as interact with each other. A military general might also be good at martial arts and influential in the Wulin world, Imperial government maintain a secret service agency that specifically deal with martial art sects, martial artist request the aid of river merchants (or more likely, just kick their arse and force them) to acquire a legendary sword sunken in a lake, strategist employing martial artist to assassinate political enemy, etc.

>These instances are actually quite common, although character without background in multiple layers (multiclass?) usually end up in a fish-out-of-water situation. >4) Xianxia (??), or "Immortal Heroes" >This is the layer where immortal swordsages flying around, aero-skateboarding with sword (yes, this is really, really common), fighting with remote-controlled swords, swinging swords that turn into dragons or frikkin' laser beams, etc.

>You will notice that I mention sword repeatedly (specially, Chinese double-edged straight sword, the Jian). Well because Taoist religion, which most of these fictions are based on, is really really fond of Jian, and thus most if not all characters in this layer will wield a Jian or two...or thousands.

>This is the high fantasy version of Chinese fiction, and most of the characters in this layer are immortals, immortals-in-training, or at the very least, larger-than-life magical heroes. Sects still exist in this layer, although they generally become full-on religious (typically Buddhist and Taoist, plus the evil cult). Prime motivators for conflict are usually due to the awakening of some ancient, Morgoth-level evil beings, disruption of the balance of light and darkness/Ying and Yang, etc.

>Magical beasts and plants, while they started to pop up in this layer, tend to be rare, and usually are simply magic version of real-life animals. These beasts do sometimes shapeshift into a more human form after enough training.

>Sometimes a particularly talented yound lad is chosen to become the protege of a immortal wiseman, or evil cult sacrificed entire village/city/kingdom/continent for their evil rituals, etc. However, once a character from previous three layers stepped into Xianxia layer, there's usually no turning back.

>Stuffs that belong to this layer: Immortals, magic swords, more magic swords, intelligent weapons (usually swords), magical evil cults, curse and cursed weapons (again, usually swords), supernatural poisons, magic, magical beasts (such as giant magic snake etc), Chinese alchemy.

>Classes that belong to this layer: Swordsage, wizards, highly enlightened monks.

>5) Chinese mythology >At this layer, we deal with stuff like "Journey to the West", gods, buddhas, demons and monsters. Celestial emperors, heavenly court, divine champions, mythical beasts, and so on.

>This layer is to the Base World what Xianxia is to Wuxia. In a sense you can say the immortals and swordsages from the previous layer are civilians/underworld, while this layer is the government and the boss.

>The power level gap between this layer and the other layers is so vast that the death of one minor god can be the equivalent to edition change from D&D 3.5 to D&D 4. An escaped pet dog from heaven can be the very same prime evil that require the effort of entire Xianxia world (layer 4) to put down. Due to this power level gap, this layer tend to sit around doing very little, only occassionally sending divine aid to some mortals and stuffs.

>As it is quite similar to base world, only more magic (Celestial court can be as corrupt as its mundane counterpart, as this is the case in real Chinese mythology), it tends to interact with the base world layer moreso than other layers.

>The analogue to level progression is at least partly intentional, although I have more of a "3.5e class tier list" in mind when I wrote that, althoug swordsage obviously isn't tier 1 or 2 in D&D setting (I forget to make it clear that the swordsage I was talking about isn't the same as3.5e swordsage in D&D).

>Making it a "low level beginner > mid level adventurer > high level heroes" progression can in fact work quite nicely. Despite what my previous email might indicates, there's actually no significant power gap between the "Base world" and the "Wuxia world". Only when you move up to magic stuffs does the power gap emerge. Good thing that "training really hard" and "killing enemy really hard" is indeed some of the many ways for a mundane to move into Xianxia layer or higher.

>While it might be shocking to some that a battle-hardened military general (i.e. fighter class) might be taken out by a Wuxia kungfu guy (i.e. a rogue class) in a head-on, 1v1 duel (in fictional world anyway), in reality they are merely good at different things. Throw a bunch of Kungfu guys to the battlefield, and they will be shot to pieces in no time (due to having no armour) or trampled by massive cavalry charge.

>(Note that High Wuxia is significantly more powerful than Low Wuxia. Many Wuxia novels do not make clear distinction between the two, although the difference is there)

>3.5) Xiuzhen (??) or "Cultivator" stories >This is not a "layer" per se (and I don't like the name "cultivator", which I think is a faulty English translation), but rather a modern sub-genre of Xianxia novel, most commonly found in web-novels, light novels, and comics.

>To put it simply, it is basically a "level grinding story". The main character is more often than not a Base World layer nobody. By training, study, killing stuffs, sexing real hard, eating exotic stuffs, unearthing artifacts, and inheriting wisdoms and inner energies and life essence or whatever, the main character gradually move up the ladder/layer, eventually becoming an true immortal, god, or some sort of multiversal Supreme being.

>Cultivating, or forcibly extending one's lifespan, is obviously against natural law, so every cultivator must at some point face his own "Heaven's calamity" (basically a single target rock-fall-everyone-die event. In some cases, this is the result of Layer 5 gods actively trying to f**k with every single poor guy at layer 4). This can come in the forms of divine retribution, divine labours, training-gone-wrong, accidents, bad lucks, enemies, own inner demon emerging etc. If one manages to survive, he or she will "level up", ascending into the next level of power, otherwise he will perish. Depending on the writer, one might have to survive five to twenty calamities (or more!) to achieve full immortality.

>I think it is too influenced by modern MMORPGs and most of these works are trash. However it does present an interesting and somewhat creative merge of modern RPG elements and classical Chinese fantasy fiction. Plus it gives a good excuse for the DMs to throw progressively powerful stuff at the players.

>Due to the nature of this type of novels, the MC will spend a long time as an Immortal-in-training. Extremely powerful, but not quite there yet. Which is perfect if you don't want something too overpowered.

>???) Chinese ghost(busting) stories >Again not a layer, and not even a solid genre on its own. I just feel this is too good a material to pass up. At lower layers (Base World), we have the wandering Taoist exorcists trying to stop the Jiangshi (hopping corpse) menace, or a monk exposing a magic snake that shapeshifts into a lady and try to seduce young man (Legend of the White Snake). At high layers, we have a minor god (Zhong Kui ??, look it up) catching demons that escaped hell.

>A good place to look for low-level mythical beasts to throw at the players in China-themed rpgs.

>Chinese ghost stories share many similarities with the gothic horror genre (vampire, werewolf, headless horsemen etc). Sometimes the monster/ghost is portrayed in a sympathetic light, while the hunter become bad guy, but otherwise (in RPG sense) they are not that different. Oh, the Taoist monster hunter tend to suck the monster into a container (usually a magic pouch, or gourd bottle) and then seal it inside, rather than (or in addition of) straight out impale its heart or cut off its head.

>Larger/High power version of these sealing container is the Zhen Yao Ta (???), or monster-sealing pagoda, basically the magic version of Arkham Asylum. Another function of Xianxia sects is to guard the pagoda...and yes, sometimes prison breaks do happen...

>kinks to work out for a "port" a D&D-isque RPG to a believeable Chinese-themed fictional setting (or "East meet West" scenario):

>1) Characters from different layers rarely mingle with each other. >If there's interaction, they usually just work out a cooperative deal or loose alliance, and almost never go adventuring together. So a "classic" fighter-rogue-wizard-cleric adventuring party will be really out of place in a Chinese setting. Worse yet, China did not have a knightly/warrior aristocrat class, so you can't use the "Knight and his squires/sidekick" excuse. Exceptions do exist, so this isn't too hard to work out.

>2) No equivalent to cleric class >With the possible exception of Taoist alchemy, medicine in ancient China was highly secularised, which means there are no "cleric" class that pray to the gods and using divine power/miracles to heal wounds and cure diseases. In fact, seeking antidote/healing internal injuries/realign potentially fatal ki flow disruption is a major plot elementi in many Wuxia stories, which tells you how rare these professions are.

>Closest thing to a "Divine healer" class in Chinese setting is the tales of Ji Gong (??), a buddha- disguised-as-crazy-beggar-drunkard-monk. But he is closer to a good trickster god than actual healer though.

>Replacing these clerics are wandering medicine men (which can be either charlatan or real doctor), although these guys tend to be extremely terrible in combat. In Wuxia works, there's usually a highly skilled herbalist (or entire sect of herbalists) hidden in a canyon somewhere.

>Wuxia code of conduct > The concept of Wuxia code of conduct generally only apply to High Wuxia, as characters from Low Wuxia tend to be more pragmatic/down to earth. This code of conduct may vary from writer to writer, so I can only put up a general guideline:

>If A and B entered a duel, and there's no personal feud involved (yet), the older/more experienced party, or party with higher Wulin social standing (let's say A) will generally offer to let the other side (let's say B) attack him for 3~10 "moves" without retaliation. An offer in reverse/counter offer will be seen as great humiliation. An offer in absurd number ("I will let you attack me 10000s time") is also intentionally humiliating.

>In the above situation, A is supposed to let B attack him for 3~10 attacks (depending on his offer). He can evade and/or parry (depending on the writer, sometimes he cannot even parry) as long as he stand his ground.

>If A is forced to retaliate, getting hit by B, or forced to dodge/tumble away from the place he was originally standing before the quota runs up, he is considered humiliated or "losing face".

>Hidden weapon and poison are considered dishonourable/underhanded in a duel. Same goes for throwing sands in someone’s eye etc. In some settings, magic get the same treatment.

>Not that anyone will believe you, but “oops I slipped” is still a good excuse if you want to kill someone during a duel that’s supposedly not to the death. Doing this for too many times will cause someone to use the same excuse on you though.

>After a duel, the WINNING side is supposed to find excuse for the losing side to explain away his lose, in order to "save his face". Even if both parties and all bystanders know the real reason why someone is losing. Bragging around or humiliating the losing side is seen as stepping over the line.

>On the other hand, the losing side is supposed to praise the martial prowess of the winner, EVEN if he used underhanded tactics to win (and every bystander knows that). Finding excuses for yourself or angrily accusing the winner of cheating is a good way to "lose face".

>Intentionally pickpocketing your rival during a duel, or using weapon to cut away his head/dress assessories without harming him during a duel, will be considered very offensive by the receiving party (who wouldn't?) as it means you are toying with him. Sometimes a "pickpocketing duel" might occur.

>Cutting off someone's hair/beard is considered equally offensive as cutting off someone's head (hair is SERIOUS BUSINESS!). Throwing weapons are generally immune to this rule, for some reason.

>The above two points can be done honourably in some cases, i.e. A has all the rights to kill B to enact vengeance or something, but choose to spare B instead, only cutting off some of B's hair as symbolism.

>If there is a fight between different sexes, female chest is off-limit to empty handed attack. Period. Even in a duel-to-the-death situation. Doubly offensive if one party is using something like "Eagle claw" martial arts to target the female chest, or anything that looks like he is trying to grope her. Likewise, intentionally slash apart female dress (without harming her) is a big no-no. ACTUALLY groping her is a surefire way to turn a friendly duel into a fight to the death, and invites bigger fishes to intervere/gank up on you.

>If there's no one looking, then there's no rule. If there's no one alive, then there's no one looking. (Good characters will uphold rules regardless)

>Mad people follow no rules, and no rules apply to you when you are dealing with such people.

>Killing one's own master is one of the most serious offenses in the Wuxia world. But the master has all the right to kill his own student without reason. If one such student is your sworn brother/adventuring party member etc and his master comes and tries to kill him...no, you are not supposed to intervene, UNLESS you have good reason to, or at least something that pass as an excuse ("he's gone mad!" Is a good one, since no rule applies to a mad man). You must convince other onlookers with your excuse though.

>Masters are not supposed to intervene in a duel between students. IF they intervene, they usually just save their own student without attacking the other student.

>Students CAN intervene in a duel between masters in some extreme cases, even attacking enemy masters, although this tend to end badly for them.

>An open invite for eveyone at the scene to attack oneself can mean (a) he consider everyone at the scene so beneath him that they are not worth his trouble, or (b) he is cornered to the point that he's prepared to go all out. If (b) is the case, all Wuxia rules no longer apply to him (and everyone else fighting him).

>If you are adventuring, and you entered a town/city that is under the protection/care/territory of a certain sect, you are supposed to pay them a friendly visit, or at least notify them of your stay. Most sects will build some sort of reception hall (if not their HQ) in their territories. Failure to do so will be seen as an attempt to cause trouble. Religious sects and beggar sect tend not to hold any territory though, and they freely enter and leave the territories of other sects (well, because monks and beggars don't usually seek lodging in a tavern, which is THE brewing place of all sort of trouble).

>If there are multiple sects (usually a Wulin/high Wuxia sect and several Jianghu/low Wuxia organisations) at the same city, pay visit to the top dog.

>The above rules will not apply to you if you are still a nobody and doesn't show up on their radar, or you are not from Wuxia layer/background. It WILL apply to you if you bring twenty armed followers with you though. That's why it is kind of hard to play as a warlord class in a wuxia setting. It STILLS apply to you even if you are an imperial general on active duty.

>If you and your followers are too high leveled for them to touch you, you will be treated as a walking natural disaster instead (if you still refused to follow above rule). Sometimes entire city will shut down as they wait for you to leave. This reaction is quite similar to what happens when a band of bandits stroll into an unguarded cowboy town.

>This may sounds like common sense, but disrupting a wedding or funeral procession is a big taboo. If you really have to do it, cover your face.

>Doubly so if you see a funeral procession that has the coffin covered in red. (Chinese use white as a mourning colour, and red as the colour of celebration. A funeral in red means that the dead person suffered extreme injustice, probably murdered without knowing who is the suspect. The victim's family is symbolically trying to turn the dead into a vengeful ghost so he can avenge himself).

The Chinese concept of "face"1/2 >Tied directly to fame, and tangentially related to honour. However it has less in common with honor code concepts such as chivalry or bushido or noblise oblinge, and everything to do with social position and personal connection/sphere of influence. So if you are very very wealthy, or have power (martial or otherwise), sit on a high government position, have a drop dead gorgeous wife, know someone important in the government, doing a lot of good deeds etc, you will have a lot of good "face/fame".

>After you earned pass certain level of fame, you are expected to behave/treat others in certain way, and others not at the same level with you are also expected to treat you in certain way.

>The primary purpose of this face/fame is...well, demanding respect from others, as well as social bargaining chip that let you break the aforementioned Wuxia code or other code (within certain acceptable limit). For example, there's one guy that every one is trying to hunt down and you, for some reason, wanted to save him. If you have enough "faces", you can use it to basically demand everyone to step down. Everyone that heeds your demand is considered "selling you face" or doing you a favour, while those that ignore you are considered offending you. So now you have an excuse to kick their arse.

The Chinese concept of "face"2/2

>However, doing this repeatedly cause you to use up your "face currency". Those people that "sold face" to you may return someday and demand some reparation or reward or favour as well.

>Also, while all "faces" have some base value, different people place different importance on different type of "face". Son of a wealthy merchant will get very little respect from a martial artist, because the martial artist places more value on "face" related to martial prowess, influence of someone's sect etc. OTOH, a wealthy merchant that donated most of his wealth to do good deeds will earn a lot of respect from a good/righteous martial artist, even if said merchant know zero kung fu.

The Chinese concept of "face"3/4 actually

>Despite the convenience of having many "face currency", it is still just a social bargaining chip and not some magical Geas spell. Using the currency usually means you are giving up some long term benefit for short term, immediate gain.

>Taking the previous example, when you step in to protect that guy, and put your bargaining chip on the table, you are essentially forcing every pursuer to reconsider whether the benefit of hunting down that guy outweigh the risk of getting into trouble with you. Plus if they stop now, they are "selling you face"/doing you a favour. These pursuers have everything to gain and nothing to lose, and they don't even have to do anything!

>However if the pursuer has some personal feud (let's say that guy killed the pursuer's entire family) that he want to settle, and will satisfy at nothing other than the death of that guy, then all the "face currency" in the world probably (but not always) won't help.

>As for you, by simply associating yourself with a guy that everyone is trying to hunt down, you are already "losing face". Asking everyone to step down is also a form of requesting for favours, so you use up your "face currency" even more. If someone refused to stop due to personal vengeance or something, and you forcibly beat him down, you are losing even more "face". So this bargaining chip is not something that can be used lightly. This is the reason why intentionally humiliating others (cause them to "lose face") is a big deal, and many Wuxia codes of conduct revolve around this.

>Oh, in some cases, another person with the same level of face/fame step in, and put HIS bargaining chips on the table, demanding others to ignore your demand. In that case you and him.....well, duke it out to decide.

The Chinese concept of "face"4/4 >I always think of Chinese "face" as something like a political/diplomatic facade that no one really believe in or even care about, but decided to play along anyway. To this end it is the complete opposite of chivalric ideals and bushido. While chivalric code is the code of conduct that every knight should strive for but only really exists in an idealised/romantised "bygone age", Chinese code is very much real and already there for ages, and the society at large is ready to force its totalitarian, twisted, ugly and uncaring rules down your throat, by peer pressure or even force if needed be. There's a Chinese idiom "As long as you are in Jianghu, your body does not belong to you".

>In other word, a Chinese fantasy/Wuxia world is a world where everyone tries to force everyone else to act in a Lawful Stupid way (the "law" being Wuxia code/"face"), but thinks the law does not apply to himself. Thus powerful people or people with the right connection can get away breaking a lot of the laws.

>(In high fantasy setting/layer, at times the players will have to face the f**king buddha/god/immortal/whatever standing between them and the chaotic evil dark lord, and the gods will throw their bargaining chip, asking the player to stop/look the other way.)

>So even "law-abiding" players are expected/encouraged to break the code, or at least exploit some loophole once in a while.

>(In a sense you can remove everything I said before, every martial arts, Wuxia guys, Chinese gods and immortals and dragons, and replace them with beholders, aliens and kobolds, but keep the "code" in place and the setting can still be recognizably Chinese.)

>"Cape buster agency" is one of the many ways for a Base World government to deal with the Wuxia world. It also features heavily in many Wuxia novels, especially those set in Ming Dynasty (because Ming Dynasty had the most famous and iconic secret service agency, the Jingyiwei). Although like anything that came from the Government, they tend to be painted in extremely unfavourable light, usually outright evil. In Wuxia setting, these agencies usually act like a non-religious version of the Spanish Inquisition though.

>You can also reference the Tales of the Legendary Judge Bao Zheng and his four "Arresters". (I don't know the proper English translation, but think these arresters as the ancient Chinese equivalent of Police Sheriff)

>In both cases the government agents act like spies, inspectors, assassins and law-enforcement, with equipment you would expect from such professions, and the agents usually act like typical Wuxia guys. But it does allow you to bring armed followers and bust into people's house as long as you have the required paperworks/warrant.

>Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei was almost the perfect match for WH40k Inquisition. Worse yet the Jingyiwei wasn't the only secret service agency around... There were also Eastern Depot, Western Depot, and the Inner Depot, each more powerful and corrupt than the next. (Jingyiwei was run by guards/military men, while the other three were run by eunuchs).

>You can think of the Depots as different Ordos (Malleus, Hereticus, Xenos etc), and Jinyiwei as their chamber militant. This analogy isn't completely accurate, but close enough.

That's all folks. Detailed

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Links https://pastebin.com/KybyNCUR Xianxia (Pronounced Zian-ZIA)

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Wuxiaworld has some pretty good primers on Chinese myth and magic, mostly through the lens of Xianxia and cultivation but it has pretty general stuff to. https://www.wuxiaworld.com/page/general-glossary-of-terms https://www.wuxiaworld.com/page/cores-in-chinese-cultivation-novels https://www.wuxiaworld.com/page/what-dao-heck

Languages If anybody wants language resources for their cultures, an anon on /his/ a few years ago made a giant collection of language learning tools for just about everything under the sun (It even has Klingon). All here: https://mega.nz/#F!x4VG3DRL!lqecF4q2ywojGLE0O8cu4A Link to original thread: http://archive.is/JTRoM bit dot do/langstuff also redirects to the folder for ease of access.

Shit Load of history and Military History http://archive.is/JTRoM

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