Belariath

Let's go through this one again since it seems to be unknown to some newer players...

We don't have Japanese or Chinese characters. We don't have Mayan, Zulu, Sikh, Australian aborigine. cannibals from Papua New Guinea or little green men from Mars. This is a western fantasy / medieval setting using a European base line for humans. Just because the compass still has four directions doesn't mean they equate with Earth at all. Japan does not exist here. Neither does Argentina. The nearest we have to anything non-European would probably be the Tribe who have similarities with American Indians, though they are still not an exact match by any means.

So by extension, we don't have anime in here. Nor do we have samurai or ninjas. We have a small number of Oriental weapons. Full stop. There is no indications these come from a country anything like Japan and there is no indication they come from a country to the East of Nanthalion. Nor is there any indication that travelling in that direction would bring a character to a land that had any resemblance to Japan either.

I don't plan to have a trawl through existing characters to remove any that go too far in such influences but I am reminding all players not to use such things in their backgrounds. Also to reiterate that new characters which show anime or Oriental influences will not be approved.

You know you could say the oriental blades and fashions, kimonons etc, are all of elven make and design?

Even better you could say they are of Ktechlahan Design, then make me do a write up on just what this mysterious tribe you keep hearing about is. Eh? Eh?

I am by no means trying to be a tell anyone they are wrong, as this is not my game in which to do so, and I think attempting to avoid direct real world parallels is a good idea. This is about how the Monk class really does seem to point to an "eastern" influence in the game world.

I think that a few key issues need to be addressed in order to help alleviate the confusion. The weapons and their names, first and foremost, seem to add to a lot of the confusion. I am sure that it has been discussed and solutions are being developed.

Another key issue is the inclusion of the Monk class in its current form.Bare handed martial monks are almost entirely seen as eastern, and while their were western orders that were martial (most notably in the Crusades) the current structure of gear and Advanced Class powers lends itself to a Shaolin style of monk, as opposed to the Franciscan.

A few suggestions might be to change the weapon restriction to any single type. When a player chooses the class of monk, he picks one weapon type (Staff, Long Sword, Unarmed, etc) and gains a bonus with that. With any other weapon, he suffers a -5 penalty and gains no class bonus. This would allow for a higher diversity within the class, and open up a greater possibility of non eastern monks who were not so against violence and killing.

The armor restriction would also need to be modified, and I think allowing them to have A and B types of armor would not be a big deal, though limit them from the heavier things such as scale and plate. While not entirely historically accurate, if we use "Kingdom of Heaven" as a rough guide, then we know monks wore at least Chain mail into battle, and would use shields as well. I recall the knights Templar using plate, but those were Knights, a class we already have, so no need to try and argue that as an example.

I am hoping to be able to see a higher degree of diversity in the class, where you can have your eastern mystic playing the same class as your western flagellant, and both of them drawn from the same root. Just some thoughts in how to help get away from the erroneous idea that there is a direct parallel between "this" world and the "real" one.

Long ago in a galaxy far far away....


anyways, to draw a interesting tidbit out of my rl groups game world.

The katana and Wakasashi where replaced with the Elven Sword, and Elven Blade. Often seen as the weapons of the nobles, with weapons passed down through generations. Similar to eastern use of them but not quite. Changing out the more traditional samuria hilt for a more tradtional western hilt. (a crossbar instead of the round brass piece)

Now the reason we made them elven, the katana is if you ever seen someone who knew there stuff, a thing of deadly beauty. It's also elegant and fits a style more about speed, and less about brute strength, all in all the almost exact way a elf would fight.

Ok, I play a character with Asian influence on the character when I made it, not knowing of this ruling so long ago. I haven't played him as being strictly 'from an eastern land with different ways then this land' or anything, but I do base him off the idea of Feudal Japanese culture with some western influence.

My question is if you are trying to avoid the eastern and stick to western themes...then why include weapons like the Scimitar, Trident, and Repeating crossbow, as all as well have eastern influence (if not strictly asian). I prefer the idea of rather then excluding it...make it a new unplayable tribe or race of itself that has influenced the world and given us such things as the weapons and such. Also, I would say the Sheyka have a strong Arab influence, which is eastern compared to 'western feudal fantasy'

The aim isn't to avoid any eastern or mid-eastern influence at all. The aim is to avoid a) things which are too specifically Japanese, like ninjas and samurai. Also to avoid players creating a character which is a basic rip from an anime.

The east certainly exists here and has its own culture but it doesn't mirror that of either feudal or fantasy Japan.

Not to Necro a dead thread... but it seems to me that the Sheyka also relate somewhat closely to different Native American Tribes/Native People as well.