31 Questions For Barking Alien - Phase II - Question 10

Its 1974. Everyone is Kung-Fu Fighting. Everyone! Especially Kelvin Green, largely thanks to Question #10.

Have you encountered a system that fits Feng Shui better than Feng Shui does? How would you handle Hong Kong style action movies in a role-playing game?

Here's where my knowledge of and experience with Japanese TRPGs is both a boon and a burden simultaneously. Yes, I definitely know of some games that I feel handle Asian Action Movie Martial Arts and Gun-Fu in a cooler way than Feng Shui but they are not available outside of Japan.

The first one that comes to mind is Burning Spirits, a game that to my knowledge was printed up in one or more articles of the Japanese gaming periodical 'RPG Magazine'. I played it only once at an Anime Convention in 1994 but man-oh-man, it left a major impression on me. I loved it! A better version of White Wolf's Street Fighter game, it played like a simplier, faster Ars Magica (kind of), both easier and more evocative of the genre than Feng Shui.

Characters have a few Attributes, one of which is Speed. Your Speed determines how many Actions you can take in a Round (defined very differently from the traditional D&D meaning) and how quickly you.can get off said Actions (which effects not just initiative but whether you can defend against your opponents Attacks). Battles begin with each PC and named NPC taking a Stance that influences your approach to the fight; an Attack Stance adds to your Attack rolls and Damage throughout the engagement, while a Defense Stance makes you harder to hit and reduces the Damage you take from successful Attacks against you. This was really awesome because you could go into a fight with a Defense Stance but take an aggressive approach to your Attacks if you wanted to.

Martial Arts moves are built out of Attacks (like Punch, Kick, Hold, Throw) or Defenses (Block, Deflect, Redirect, and at least one other) and Techniques. This last category defines how the Attack or Defense is executed. Examples include Force to cause extra damage by spending two Actions at once, Position to change where you are located in the bout, or Rapid to get multiple hits in a single Attack or block a flurry of blows. Styles can be added to your moves to give additional modifiers or effects to your Action. 

My character in the game I played was a big, Native American bruiser type with wrestling moves. Among his best was an Attack Stance Hold Attack that used the Clutch Technique to ensure my opponent couldn't move. What did that look like? Basically it's a mighty Bear Hug that lifts the other combatant off the ground. By combining it with one of the three Wrestling Styles I could then slam the enemy to the ground or with a different Wrestling Style, throw the other fighter across the battle area. I mostly used the throwing version and called it 'Bear Hugs and Throws the Great Salmon'! The other version was 'Bear Hugs and Hits the Great Salmon Against a Rock'. lol

My friend's character had this 'Leaping Dragon Punch' that would knock an opponent 10 spaces away, dividing that distance between vertical and horizontal movement. He hit a bad guy up 1 space and back 9 spaces, sending the thug flying out of a window. Another time he punched a crook 7 spaces up and 3 spaces back so he would hit his head on the ceiling and then go backward into a chandelier. 

It was such a cool game. Sadly, I don't have that issue of RPG Magazine and I was never able to get an English translation of the rules. In fact, its almost like the game never existed. I can't find information on it anywhere, including my various Japanese contacts. Very sad panda. 

The other game I really like, which is available in English (unofficial fan translation) through Scribd I believe, is SATASUPE (Saturday Night Special), which I've spoken about before on the blog. It leans more towards the Gun-Fu, over-the-top Crime Thriller side of Hong Kong and Japanese Action Films. Think Chow Yun Fat in Hard Boiled instead of Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon. That said, the game has a number of supplements that expand the game to include Street Fighter Martial Artists, Kill Bill/John Wick type Assassins, and other elements that fit right in with the Feng Shui vibe.

This RPG is a little on the crunchie side but not overly complex. The added material fits in well with both the mechanics and setting already established. Overall, if you want to include everything Feng Shui includes and not just the classic Hong Kong/Chinese Martial Arts movies, SATASUPE would make a really good choice.

There are others, also Japanese, that I can think of but they're not truly in the vein of Feng Shui. 

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RPGaDay Challenge 2023 - Day 15 and 16

 

I'm kind of bending the meaning of the prompts today but I've wanted to tell this story for sometime and this seems as good an excuse as any. So far this RPGaDay event has been pretty boring and I want to do something a little more engaging (at least for me). 

I was at an Anime Convention with a strong Gaming presence in the Winter of 1994 when I came upon a table selling a bunch of Japanese RPG Magazines [in addition to various Manga titles and Artbooks]. Talking with one of the employees, I found out he was running a session that evening featuring a 'Mini-Game' from the September 1994 issue of RPG Magazine. He invited me and a friend to join him and we said sure. 

The game...'Burning Spirits'. 

At least, I think that's what it was called. That might have been the name of the adventure, the article in the magazine, or even something else. I wish I could recall. All I know/remember is that the game was a Street Fighter-esque Martial Arts RPG with a super-cool combat system. I'm getting ahead of myself though...

The GM had a number of pre-generated Player Characters, each an over-the-top cliche' combatant reminiscent of such side-scrolling fighting video games as Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury, and King of the Fighters. Each PC had its own agenda as well as wanting to take down the world-spanning criminal organization 'Dark Inferno'. 

My character was a Native America wandering hero who traveled across the country helping people in the vein of 'The Incredible Hulk' or the 'A-Team'. I added that he focused on helping his fellow Indigenous Americans, basically going from community to community helping out where he could and fighting off agents of Dark Inferno. His combat style was a mix of Traditional American Wrestling and some Special Moves related to Bear Hugs, Leg Locks, and Throws. He was very Big (Tall and Wide), very Strong, and very Tough.

My buddy played a Bruce Lee inspired Chinese-American Secret Agent whose specialty was Chi-Focused Punches and Spinning Kicks. He had some of the wildest Special Move combos including a Flurry of Blows that ended in a Leaping Upper Cut. 

T. Hawk and Fei Long of the Street Fighter Video Game Franchise.

Definitely not our characters.

Definitely. 

The key thing I remember is that the rules for Martial Arts Moves was similar to, though simpler than, the way spells and magic are handled in Ars Magica. The characters each have a number of Actions based on a Speed Score (I believe). They start with a Stance that they can declare before a fight that can give them bonuses during it. An Attack Stance added to Attack and Damage, a Defense Stance makes you harder to hit and reduces damage, etc. If you don't have time to set your Stance you need to take an Action to set it up which gives you one less Action in a round. Like Ars Magica Mages have ratings in Techniques and Disciplines, Burning Spirit Characters have Attacks, Defenses, and...maybe also Techniques? It's been so long. 

Attacks were things like Punch, Kick, Hold, and Throw.  Defenses were Block, Deflect, Redirect, or whathaveyou. Techniques involved how it was done or what was the goal - Rapid (multiple Attacks or Defenses that cause or reduce less damage), Position (end up behind someone or send them out of Hand-to-Hand range), or Force (spend two Actions on one Attack to cause extra damage and weaken an opponent, reducing their stats). 

A PC could, for example, take an Attack Stance and combine Punch with Rapid to throw a whole lotta blows at an opponent using Defense Stance-Block-Rapid to try and avoid them. In addition there were Styles: different sets of moves that gave various modifiers but told the opponent what Martial Arts school you were using. For Example: Wing is using Crane Style. He sets an Attack Stance and tries a Force Kick against Yumi. Unfortunately, Yumi recognizes he's using Crane Style and uses her Aikido Style with a Defense Stance to Redirect the kick so Wing hits his friend Danny and send the latter flying.

It sounds like a lot to remember but it really wasn't in practice and much of it is deciding what move you wanted to make at the last possible moment. Combat was really flexible. You were locked into an Action once you chose one but you didn't necessarily need to decide until you were ready. One of the Stat/Skill combos let you choose AFTER seeing what your opponent was going to do. If the opponent wanted and had the right Stat/Skill combo, they could 'cloak' their Action choice, forcing you both to move simultaneously. I am not sure I'm describing it well but it was so cool. I've played the White Wolf Street Fighter RPG and this was sooo much more fun. It felt like the perfect merging of Video Games and Anime. 

Our finale fight was in a loft apartment in a skyscraper in NYC. The Big Boss bad guy was throwing a party and our PCs had crashed it. While two of us took on the villain, my pal and I and one other took on a horde of goons. Like a freaking army of endless thugs. I was Bear Hugging two guys at once and throwing dudes into three other dudes and having a blast. My buddy had a Special Move that sent opponents 20 feet as long as it was split between Up and Away. Imagine it like this: He could Punch or Kick someone 5 ft. Up in the air and also 15 ft. back and Away. He could knock someone 10 ft. up and 10 ft, backward. He used this to Punch and Kick a number of henchmen into the ceiling or out windows. A lot of hysterical combinations with the environment and the moves of the other characters. 

Anyway, I used to have the issue above in my collection but I lost it some years ago. As I do not read Japanese, I don't know getting it again would help. I am not even sure the basic rules were in the issue. It might have just been an adventure that the GM was using for a separate game he already owned. Who knows?

Anyway, that's my tale. Hope you liked it. Let's see what's next...

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