#Joseon ttrpg

[evydraws]

Korean history inspired Tiefling designs.

Bottom right was the original idea, a Joseon era Tiefling artificer alchemist named Peril, using a mix of herbal medicine and mean yet motivational commentary to keep everyone (mostly herself) safe.

Then, I wanted to try and draw versions for other periods of Korean history and other social classes, so we’ve got a Goryeo-inspired hairstyle on the top left, and a Joseon noblewoman on the top right.

I love getting hyper-focused on random shit in my free time, I guess. Currently painting the Goryeo version in acrylics! Patreon | Commissions | IG

[open-hearth-rpg]

Hearts of Wulin Now at Age of Ravens

Hearts of Wulin, a PbtA game of wuxia romance and melodrama is now at Age of Ravens Games. Written by Joyce Ch*ng and Lowell Francis (me). This game and its expansion, Hearts of Wulin Worlds, offers a range of playstyles by focusing on the powerful heroes trapped by a web of obligations and personal desires. 

It’s pretty awesome IMHO. It draws on the literature of writers like Jin Yong and Gu Long, in particular adaptations of those stories in dozens and dozens of TV series (Laughing in the Wind, The Proud Twins). It also works to include things like more recent web novels and their adaptations, with rules for xianxia and the fantastic. The core book includes ideas for various genres, narrating fight scenes, building entanglements, and handling historical/courtly games. 

Hearts of Wulin: Worlds includes several settings: 

Shadow of Joseon, set during the Korean Joseon Dynasty. (Yeonsoo Julian Kim)

1905: San Francisco, presents a Chinatown just emerging from the shadow of the Chinese Exclusion Act. (Banana Chan)

Cour de l'Eppee transports Hearts of Wulin to swashbuckling France. (Cat Evans)

Academy of the Blade offers a dueling academy inspired by Revolutionary Girl Utena. (Alison Tam)

Fight Me IRL is a unique take on cyberpunk. (James Mendez Hodes) 

Silk & Steam gives you a wondrous silkpunk setting. (Kienna Shaw)

It also includes two major rules add-ons:

The Villain, a new playbook. Not all wulin "Heroes" are heroes with a capital H. Some start in a darker place... 

Numberless Secrets, a new set of rules for telling mystery/investigation stories in Hearts of Wulin. 

These can be found on Drivethrurpg– both are part of the ongoing GMs Day sale happening right now. 

Personally I’m really excited about the future for Hearts of Wulin. Though I never learned the print run, I do know that the last of the physical copies recently sold out at Indie Press Revolution. I have a short list of things I’m hoping to accomplish. 

Get it up on itch.io. I know some folks prefer to get their ttrpg pdfs via that site. 

Figure out how to get Print-on-Demand versions up on Drivethru. I’ve been told this is a challenging process to get right, so I’m hoping to talk to some folks who have done it before. 

Publish the Names & Entanglements deck. This was a self-print add-on for Hearts of Wulin. It's a useful resource for character creation and I’m hoping to have physical copy available for sale. 

I’ve always said folks should feel free to hack and rework Hearts of Wulin as they wish. But I’d like to get a clear Creative Commons license out there for everyone and encourage folks to play around with the system.

Eventually I might do a 1.5 version bringing some of the HoW: Worlds material over into the main book, as well as a couple of rules updates.

I want to publish a collection of Numberless Secrets mysteries along with guidance for running detective wuxia games. I love the series Ancient Detective and this is the best way I get to play out those kinds of stories. 

Get an online keeper which has easy to use set ups for all of the expansion worlds. We have a solid one– newly automated thanks to Agatha– but it doesn’t have all the expansions. 

Some folks have done from amazing things with HoW so far (inspired by media like Scott Pilgrim, Cobra Kai, Star Wars and beyond). It would be great if I could assemble a collection of new hacks and settings, maybe with some additional play options.

Finalize the one translation agreement I’ve been offered. 

I want to thank everyone who has read and/or played Hearts of Wulin. It remains a game I love to run and it would be amazing to have more people try it out.

[hungryclone]

만위괴물 The Monster With 10000 Stomachs. When it swallows you you end up in a random stomach(a tree, an organ, rocks etc) being digested by random things(acid, flocks of birds, crushers etc) before being flung to a random place.

[sprintingowl]

Okay, quick endnote:

The book has a small subheading about "could you use this to play a K-drama", and its conclusion is "I dunno. Maybe?"

After reading through, I think Pasiones could probably be used to fit some non-telenovela dramas, but it's so precisely adapted to the telenovela model that it's going to have a harder time with stuff that doesn't fit it. Kingdom, Sweet Home, and Extraordinary Attourney Woo all follow very different narrative logics, and I really wouldn't recommend Pasiones for them. However, with a few tweaks I think you could use it for Breaking Bad? As a final note, I'm going to plug two more systems that are used for dramas but different types than Pasiones: Sageuk! is a rad indie system built for playing joseon era dramas.

And Warmer In The Winter is a great engine for Hallmark holiday specials.

Pasion De Las Pasiones

Pasion De Las Pasiones is a tabletop telenovela roleplaying game (ttrpg), and it's super good.

Tone-wise, Pasiones is dramatic, passionate, and silly. You take on the roles of telenovela archetypes and pick up from a season already in progress, trying to guide your characters towards their objectives.

Also you play the roles of an audience that is watching this show from their couches at home.

Pasiones is built on the PbtA engine (Monsterhearts, Masks, Nahual,) which emphasizes simple, meaningful choices.

One of these choices, from a design perspective, is not to track HP, wounds, or the like. When something hurts you in Pasiones, you take an emotional state. And when you're full up on emotional states you have a meltdown and act impulsively.

Think of it as a pre-loaded critical fail, except instead of setting back your progress it shoves you forward into more drama.

The Playbooks all have different emotional states that they can mark, and on the flipside they have core Questions that show when they're in a position of power. For example, El Gemelo (the twin) gets a bonus on rolls whenever they can answer yes to "are you taking advantage of your twin's reputation?"

The game's art and layout are simple and direct, with lightly accentuated photos on most page spreads. It's a look that works for Pasiones, and it compliments game's cheesy-but-sincere-and-intense atmosphere.

In terms of useability, this book does an excellent job of teaching you how to play rpgs, and about telenovelas, and how to find the most drama in any given scene. If you've played even one rpg before, you won't be lost. And if this is your first rpg, the book will get you up to speed really quick.

As far as GM utilities go, there's scenarios included, but PbtA games are so "yes and..." driven that they don't tend to need much prep.

Overall, if you're looking for something lavish, indulgent, and dramatic---and especially if you're looking for something to play for an AP or a podcast---I strongly recommend checking out Pasion De Las Pasiones.

[gryphll]

Got to design an original druid character for the Joseon-Korean TTRPG book by @nineheavenspress !

Kickstarter launches Sept 27 🌺

[hungryclone]

I’m finishing off a game set in a world where Hell exists. It uses the rules from my Wild West Core game, with three static and three fluid stats.

I’m in the playtesting state for a personal project, a Korean TTRPG set in the Joseon Era under the rule of King Sejong the Great. It uses Hwatu/Go-Stop cards for RNG. I really want it to resonate with other Koreans.

I also have a solo ttrpg WIP that you play when you’re incredibly overwhelmed with depression or sadness as a tool to not make you happy but to navigate your sorrow. I need to flesh out a large 100 item table for that to be finished.

What’s everyone else working on?

What are you working on?

It is what it says on the tin! If you're working on an indie ttrpg project, idea, art, podcast, stream, whatever, drop links, wips, and talk about it in the comments!

I just finished the first draft of a playbook that's part of the Apocalypse Keys stretch goals, and am going to be working on some secret space pirate stuff very shortly 👀

I've also got a few other projects in some very early stages that I've talked about HERE and HERE.

It's been great seeing so many new and returning ttrpg people pop up on tumblr, and the best way to continue that momentum is to keep talking, posting, and reblogging all the cool stuff everyone is working on!

So, what're you working on??