STAR-CROSSED BLADES OF THE GREEN PEONY SESSION XI

This is the eleventh session of our Star-Crossed Blades of the Green Peony campaign for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (session I can be found HERE, session II can be found HERE, session III can be found HERE, session IV can be found HERE, Session V can be found HERE, session VI can be found HERE, Session VII can be found HERE, Session VIII can be found HERE, Session IX can be found HERE, Session X can be found HERE). It is set in Zhang Chang prefecture (which I hope to release a blog entry for). In this campaign, every player rolled randomly to determine who their family are, how many siblings they have and whether individual family members are still alive. The players also gave very rough sketches of their background (no more than a few sentences) and I secretly added a "20-year" backstory to each one. I have implemented a special rule in this campaign that every encounter has a 3 in 10 chance of being connected to their secret backstory in some way. Note in this session I was play testing a specific scenario and the players were made aware prior to play.

CHARACTERS

QI YUN: A roaming martial expert who has secretly learned his martial arts from two different masters (and the masters have no knowledge of one another). 

XING GE: A traveling pipa player and the son of Lu Guiying the Iron Flower. His father died when he was five, and his mother married Gongsun Yuan, the chief of Black Parrot Society. Gongsun Yuan despises Xing Ge. 

TU JIN SHI (THUNDER LEGS): A wandering fighter seeking to be the strongest and most upright hero in the region. His father, Tu Haitao sent his mother away when he was young, after being consumed by grief over the passing of Jin Shi's brother, Tian. Shortly after his father died consuming a lethal concoction in a misguided effort to become immortal. 

LU LI (THE UNFILIAL ARCHER): A traveling physician who comes from a family of successful fishermen. 

THE RAKSHA AND THE SCORPION 

The party dragged the body of the creature to Li An, and found a scholar who was writing a Gazetteer of the region for the emperor to give it to named Master Situ Hai. They sent their men in to notify Situ Hai they were holding the body just outside town. 

"We killed this in the Yaoguai Forest," Lu Li told him when he arrived. 

"You didn't kill this," He said skeptically as he inspected it. 

"We used a special poisoned arrow," Said Qi Yun.

"This gentlemen, is a Raksha Demon of the Yaoguai Forest," He continued to examine it. "Had this been a normal Yaksha, your arrows would have been completely useless against it. Consider yourselves fortunate. How much do you want for it?"

The party agreed to exchange it for copies of the draft of his Gazetteer, with the understanding that they would inform him if they discovered any errors in their travels through the forest. 

The party stayed at the Golden Swallow for three nights, hoping Thundering Scorpion would arrive to clear his name. They sent Xing Ge and his men to collect their persimmon shipment from Lanyin. 

On the second day, a man resembling the poster and flanked by disciples whose attire they recognized, arrived and approached the party while they sat at a table. 

"Thunder Legs! I have a quarrel with you!"

He pointed at Tu Jin Shi, and demanded to know why they were ruining his reputation. 

A heated argument followed where they accused his men of behaving recklessly and attacking them at the Jade Gourd (killing an innocent person in the process).  He dismissed their accusation and countered that they had been transporting a stolen necklace and his men were merely trying to achieve it. He kept trying to bring the conversation back to them ruining his reputation. When they brought up stories they had heard that he and White Scorpion were one and the same, he scoffed, saying he was a righteous hero. Thundering Scorpion kept retuning to the matter of the posters.  

"But your methods are reckless and endanger innocent people," Tu Jin Shi said. 

"Justice is messy," Thundering Scorpion said. "My methods are effective. Our thunderbolts get the job done.....I want these posters taken down and my reputation restored!" 

Tu Jin Shi tried to explain the posters were from their companion Xing Ge, who was away. 

There was further argument with lots of accusation, when Thundering Scorpion insisted on a duel with Xing Ge. Tu Jin Shi became furious and flatly refused. Finally Tu Jin Shi and Thundering Scorpion agreed to duel each other. The terms were: If Thundering Scorpion Lost, he would stop using his thunderbolts inside city limits, if Tu Jin Shi lost, he would call Thundering Scorpion "Father". 

They squared off outside the city by a river. There were onlookers. 

Thundering Scorpion launched into a pressure point technique, but Tu Jin Shi sent him crashing to the ground with a counter. Then Tu Jin Shi flew into a fury with his saber, but missed, not being well trained in the weapon. 

Stepping back fifteen feet, Thundering Scorpion through his thunderbolt into the air. It flew in a red haze, blasting Tu Jin Shi and setting him aflame. The red energy lingered and settled around his heart, making him feel worn and weary. 

As a precaution, Qi Yun took up a thunderbolt ball and got into his stance, preparing to emulate Thundering Scorpion to counter his attacks if things became dire. "I could be your disciple," He said to Thundering Scorpion. 

Tu Jin Shi used Turtles Snaps its jaws, clapping Thundering Scorpions ears to deafen him. 

Lu Li analyzed Thundering Scorpions Thunderbolt attack, and determined it was not a waijia technique. 

Thundering Scorpion sent another thunderbolt flying, blasting Tu Jin Shi again, knocking him unconscious. He then put out the flame and helped him, telling his friends to administer aid. Lu Li treated his injuries and alleviated some of his symptoms. 

After the match, Tu Jin Shi agreed to call Thundering Scorpion father and the party agreed to take down the posters. Thundering Scorpion promised to beat his men for their behavior at the Jade Gourd. 

Before he left, he asked Qi Yun if he really wanted to be his disciple. Qi Yun threw the thunderbolt at a tree and it exploded against it. He then told Thundering Scorpion he did not wish to be.

Thundering Scorpion handed him a thunderbolt and said "Train more with this, if you change your mind, you can come to me to learn more."

He then told them where in the Yaioguai Forest he could be found and departed. 

They spent the next few days getting new clothes and gifts so Qi Yun could head north to meet with his master, Lively Luan. He made sure to have the rest of the party buy better clothes as his master had demanding taste. They then found passage on a boat and journeyed along the river. 

THE LADY OF SHENZHOU 

In their cabin there was a knock at the door. Answering, they saw a sailor. 

"Sir," The sailor pointed at Qi Yun. "A guest wishes to speak with you."

Qi Yun and the rest of the party followed the sailor who led them to a cabin door. Inside were soldiers, among them, one soldier whose eyes were black and vaporous. A woman, in the finest clothing they ever laid eyes on, sat regal upon a chair.

"Welcome Qi Yun," She said. 

"Thank you Madame," He said. "I was told you wished to speak with me."

"Yes, I am Lady Sun Niao." She said. "What business do you have with the prefect?"

"Business Lady Sun Niao?"

"You do wish to meet the Prefect?" She asked. 

Surprised Qi Yun said "I had intended to do so Lady Sun Niao."

"Why do you want to meet with the prefect?" She asked. 

"When one is rising in this world, it is helpful to make friends in high places."

"Do you have any talents or skills that the prefect would find useful?"

"Skills....." Qi Yun began.

"If I may Lady Sun Niao," Tu Jin Shi spoke. "I am not an educated man, and am regarded as an idiot, but Qi Yun has been traveling with us and in our travels, he has accomplished many great things. Just the other day, he killed a Raksha Demon with us. Together we can be of great use I believe."

"I am a talented writer as well," Said Qi Yun. 

Lady Sun Niao nodded and looked at Qi Yun, "Those are indeed valuable skills. I can arrange a meeting with the prefect if you like." 

"Yes that would be most agreeable Lady Sun Niao."

They agreed to go to the prefect in Shenzhou, and she handed them a red talisman to give to the guards at the city gates when they arrived. 

"Thank you for being so kind Lady Sun Niao" Said Tu Jin Shi. 

"It isn't kindness. I am merely looking after the interests of my husband."

They bid farewell and departed. As they were leaving she said to Qi Yun "Give my regards to your masters." 

INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN

Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan is Chor Yuen's masterpiece. Do not let the name fool you, this is an outstanding movie with an incredible plot, one of the best revenge films ever made. I recently did a review of it on easternKicks, and would love for my readers to check it out. Anyone familiar with my work on Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate or Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades, probably senses my admiration for Chor Yuen. 

For me this is the movie that demonstrates his best talents as a filmmaker. It is about as perfect as a movie can be. If you want to hear my full thoughts, check out the review HERE. 

STAR-CROSSED BLADES OF THE GREEN PEONY

This is the Tenth session of our Star-Crossed Blades of the Green Peony campaign for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (session I can be found HERE, session II can be found HERE, session III can be found HERE, session IV can be found HERE, Session V can be found HERE, session VI can be found HERE, Session VII can be found HERE, Session VIII can be found HERE, Session IX can be found HERE). It is set in Zhang Chang prefecture (which I hope to release a blog entry for). In this campaign, every player rolled randomly to determine who their family are, how many siblings they have and whether individual family members are still alive. The players also gave very rough sketches of their background (no more than a few sentences) and I secretly added a "20-year" backstory to each one. I have implemented a special rule in this campaign that every encounter has a 3 in 10 chance of being connected to their secret backstory in some way. Note in this session I was play testing a specific scenario and the players were made aware prior to play.

CHARACTERS

QI YUN: A roaming martial expert who has secretly learned his martial arts from two different masters (and the masters have no knowledge of one another). 

XING GE: A traveling pipa player and the son of Lu Guiying the Iron Flower. His father died when he was five, and his mother married Gongsun Yuan, the chief of Black Parrot Society. Gongsun Yuan despises Xing Ge. 

TU JIN SHI (THUNDER LEGS): A wandering fighter seeking to be the strongest and most upright hero in the region. His father, Tu Haitao sent his mother away when he was young, after being consumed by grief over the passing of Jin Shi's brother, Tian. Shortly after his father died consuming a lethal concoction in a misguided effort to become immortal. 

LU LI (THE UNFILIAL ARCHER): A traveling physician who comes from a family of successful fishermen. 

THE BLACK PARROT SOCIETY 

The players traveled north to the Black Parrot Society so Xing Ge could speak with his mother about his father's recent attempt on his life and an another matter that eluded his memory for the time being. On the way he brought his mother, Lu Guiying, an embroidered weimao (a wide brimmed hat with a long veil to block dust) that she could use to conceal her Iron Hat. For a design he chose a flower, because her nickname is the Iron Flower. 

As they made their way through the dense Yiaoguai forest, Tu Jin Shi, taking up the front, heard the distant murmur of a human voice, seeming to be in great pain. 

"Is anyone there? Are you in trouble?"

A contorted voice responded "Help....Help...."

He followed it into the woods and as he entered a dark green viper launched from a tree and bit him in the thigh. Immediately he felt overcome by heat and experienced localized swelling. 

Lu Li sent a hail of arrows into the woods, killing multiple vipers. He then used the vipers to create an antidote with his exceptional medical knowledge. A cure was administered and Tu Jin Shi survived. 

There they were greeted by high ranking disciples who informed Xing Ge that Chief Gongun Yuan wished to speak with him in his hall. He thanked them and then went to his mother. They met in her garden, the rest of the party present. 

"I must tell you mother, there was an attempt on my life. My step-father's chief assassin, Qian Henglao, ambushed us and tried to kill me with his jade arrows.

Lu Guiying pounded her fist into her palm saying "I knew he couldn't be trusted. That terrible woman, Lady Yu Huang, must have got to him. We should have killed her ages ago!"

"I must tell you mother, we asked Qian Henglao who sent him, and he said it was Gongsun Yuan. It seems he sent him to kill me."

"You are too naive my son," she said. "Clearly that filthy villain Yi Huang, seeks to sew turmoil in our organization, by implicating your father. I just fear we are not ready to contend with her."

"Still mother, Gongsun Yuan wishes to see me, I would like for you to be by my side when I inform him about this matter."

She agreed and they went to Gongsun, who greeted them from his dais and made niceties. 

"Qian Henglao?" Gongsun asked after they had explained everything. 

"Yes, but we managed to kill him."

"Well it is good you put that traitor in the ground. I am glad you are alive, I had heard there was a plot by Huo Long Cavern Sect to abduct you."

Gongsun Yuan thought for a moment then said "I have been meaning to give you this."

He handed a medallion in the shape of a black bird to Xing Ge.

"I want to make you Steward of Black Parrot Lake, it is a prestigious position and will signal to Huo Long Cavern that you have my full protection."

He explained the responsibilities and Xing Ge thanked him but said he could not perform the duties the positioned required as he still needed to travel. As a compromise, Gongsun Yuan offered to make his holding of the post ceremonial. Someone else, likely Master Han, would perform the duties, but he would be given a retinue of ten disciples and have all the privileges of the post. He also asked Xing Ge to keep look out for news on anything that would help them contend with Lady Yi Huang. 

Before departing, Xing Ge took lessons from his mother in the Unveiling the Iron Flower Technique. She also gave him one of her old blood stained iron hats. 

On their way out they stopped to speak with Master Han, who managed the sect's information network. They asked him about Black Leopard Villa, he was able to narrow down the possible location of its headquarters to a thirty mile area. He also told them that the only time the disciples left Black Leopard Villa was to retrieve or track down escaped members. But he warned them that their leader, Jade Leopard was feared for her Jade Leopard Palm and Jade Moon Saber. He then gave Xing Ge a pigeon in a cage to use in case of an emergency (which Xing Ge handed to his men to care for). 

The party then travelled back to Xi An and Xing Ge commissioned a life-like portrait of Thundering Scorpion. He then had his men spread rumors at local teahouses and inns that White Scorpion has been seen along the road between Xi An and Li An. 

From there they set out for Li An to meet with Sheriff Bao. As they traveled through he forest, still under the Demon Moon, they heard a booming voice:

"Delicious meats have arrived!"

They saw nothing, but Tu Jin Shi discerned it was before them, yet not visible. 

"Show yourself!"

A creature shimmered into view. It was a tall beast, similar to the ones they had encountered in the woods before. Towering and with black claws and teeth it laughed and leapt to devour Tu Jin Shi. 

Though his kung fu could not hurt it, he was able to evade the attack using his martial arts. Lu Li launched a Jade Arrow at the creature and it died almost instantly. 

After the battle, Xing Ge recalled that he forgot to tell his mother, Gongsun Yuan killed his father. 

This is where the session ended. 

STAR-CROSSED BLADES OF THE GREEN PEONY SESSION IX

This is the Ninth session of our Star-Crossed Blades of the Green Peony campaign for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (session I can be found HERE, session II can be found HERE, session III can be found HERE, session IV can be found HERE, Session V can be found HERE, session VI can be found HERE, Session VII can be found HERE, Session VIII can be found HERE). It is set in Zhang Chang prefecture (which I hope to release a blog entry for). In this campaign, every player rolled randomly to determine who their family are, how many siblings they have and whether individual family members are still alive. The players also gave very rough sketches of their background (no more than a few sentences) and I secretly added a "20-year" backstory to each one. I have implemented a special rule in this campaign that every encounter has a 3 in 10 chance of being connected to their secret backstory in some way. Note in this session I was play testing a specific scenario and the players were made aware prior to play.

CHARACTERS

QI YUN: A roaming martial expert who has secretly learned his martial arts from two different masters (and the masters have no knowledge of one another). 

XING GE: A traveling pipa player and the son of Lu Guiying the Iron Flower. His father died when he was five, and his mother married Gongsun Yuan, the chief of Black Parrot Society. Gongsun Yuan despises Xing Ge. 

TU JIN SHI (THUNDER LEGS): A wandering fighter seeking to be the strongest and most upright hero in the region. His father, Tu Haitao sent his mother away when he was young, after being consumed by grief over the passing of Jin Shi's brother, Tian. Shortly after his father died consuming a lethal concoction in a misguided effort to become immortal. 

LU LI (THE UNFILIAL ARCHER): A traveling physician who comes from a family of successful fishermen. 

THE BLOOD OF THE DEMON MOON 

The Party decided to track down Thundering Scorpion to get to the bottom of the matter by venturing into the Yiaoguai Forest in search of bandits. They eventually came upon the aftermath of a robbery and followed tracks, where they found a man with a dragon long pole sitting atop a large stone*. 

"I am Tu Jin Shi, who are you?"

The man perked up and spoke "I am Long Pole Huo, and you are disturbing my camp."

"We happened upon a robbery down the way," Said Tu Jin Shi, "And I wanted to get to the bottom of the mater. Are you a bandit?"

"Some mistake me for such," Said Long Pole Huo."And you are still in my territory, leave or face my long pole!"

Tu Jin Shi asked to spar, and Strange Dragon Long Pole Huo met him with ferocity and lethal intent. They traded blows, then Strange Dragon Long Pole send a ripple through the air with his spear tip, and the energy split Tu Jin Shi in two. 

Instead of one Tu Jin Shi, there were two. And the two halves were completely unharmed, each a perfect copy of the other. 

Strange Dragon Long Pole chuckled and planted his long pole in the ground. "Now be gone before I get angry!"

The two halves of Tu Jin Shi felt an instant enmity towards one another, and one half, launched into the air to deliver a Kick of the Chaos Star, hitting both his split self and Strange Dragon Long Pole Huo. 

As the fight unfolded, Lu Li made a point of observing, trying to identify the technique Strange Dragon Long Pole Huo had used. However he could not. It was an utterly baffling spear technique to his eyes. 

In moments, Tu Jin Shi had pulverized his other self and Strange Dragon Long Pole Huo. He left the latter alive, but defeating his other half caused him to rejoin with himself. 

They dragged Strange Dragon Long Pole Huo to the local magistrate in Xi An. On the way they question him about Thundering Scorpion, and he said he didn't know the man, but knew his brother, a mad beggar named Chu Leng. They learned the Chu Leng was a wanderer who could be found in the forests and along the rivers of the region. 

They got luxurious rooms at the Orchid Bridge Inn, an ornate tower that is perched over the canal and only accessible by boat. They set out again to the forest, but cautiously as they were in the early days of the Demon Moon. As they traveled the road in the Yaoguai Forest, they heard an eerie song, sung by creatures in the shadows. They became lethargic and fatigued, and passed out. 

Eight Hours later they awakened, and it was dark out. Each one of them had a narrow wound near a vein, and had been drained of blood**. Their possessions, everything except their clothing, were gone. 

Lu Li healed tended to everyone's injuries but could only do so much. Still weak and near death, Xing Ge found tracks that lead deep into a wide dell, and lounging amid the party's belongings, were small creatures with black claws and sharp tusks: Yaksha Demons. It seemed they had recently feasted and the players could see more treasures gathered nearby. As the Yaksha Demons were sleeping, they launched a surprise assault, with Qi Yun leaping to retrieve Lu Li's bow, and Tu Jin Shi launching a barrage of kicks that left the thieves in a bloody pulp. 

They picked up their property and sifted through the other treasures finding spears, swords, meteor hammers, twelve ounces of gecko cinnabar, a brick of Menglao's Black Tea, fine quality robes and dresses worth thousands of spades, a box of seven golden taels, and two bolts of silk. They left the clothing and silk but took everything else. In addition they found The Manual of the Golden King, which contained the Majesty of the Lion technique. 

As they left the dell and returned to the road, they saw a man with a group of nine spearmen standing there. He was familiar. Tu Jin Shi recognized him as the Wan Di, the man from Huo Long Cavern sect, whose disciples they had bested (see HERE). 

"Impressive!" He said. "You dealt with those creatures skillfully."

Tu Jin Shi thanked him and once niceties were out of the way, Wan Di got to the point: "I want to have a rematch. I think my men," He pointed to the nine spearmen behind him "can contend with your Thunder Legs."

Tu Jin Shi agreed but said they needed to recover first. Wan Di offered to let them recover at his camp, where they were fed fine foods and given comfortable tents. 

They asked more about the Black Parrot Society and Wan Di told them they were at war with the sect, because the chief Gongsun Yuan, coveted one of their great treasures.

"He is a vile and greedy man," said Wan Di. "But I can tell you the truth, my real name is Pei Qi, and I am the son of Lady Yi Huang The Winter Phoenix." 

On the fourth day of the Demon Moon, when the party was recovered, they had a friendly rematch. Qi Yun launched a tree bounding stride, injuring several of the nine spearmen, Lu Li rained arrows on them, then Tu Jin Shi launched his infamous Kick of the Chaos Star technique. However the spearmen grouped into a formation and countered his attack. 

Satisfied he had demonstrated that he cracked Tu Jin Shi's technique, Pei Qi/Wan Di bowed and the fight ended. He expressed interest in hearing about their meeting with the Black Parrot Society and offered his hospitality any time in the future. 

Before they left the party asked about his mother, and learned she was friends with Prefect Diao Yue, a detail that interested Qi Yun. They also asked about Thundering Scorpion, and if he knew why some people said he was wicked, and others said it was White Scorpion simply ruining his reputation. 

"Thundering Scorpion and White Scorpion are one and the same. It is sad really. He was once a bandit, a ruthless bandit. And one day he slaughtered a caravan, only to discover one of his victims was his own father. This drove him mad. Filled with remorse, he turned a new leaf and became a righteous hero, but could not confront his own guilt. He attributed his crimes to a man named White Scorpion and has been seeking to bring him to justice ever since (blocking all memory of what he had done from his mind)."

After hearing this information they departed, and Pei Qi gave them a butterfly sword with his name etched into it. 

"Show this anytime you deal with Huo Long cavern Sect. They will know you are my friends when you see it." 

Tu Jin Shi graciously accepted and said he was glad to call Pei Qi a friend. 

This is where the session ended. 

*This is an example of an inverted encounter roll. Because they were looking for a specific bandit I made a d10 table on the fly with all the bandits in the area, weighted in favor of finding Thundering Scorpion because of their efforts. These are the d10 results I wrote down: 1-Thunderbolt Gang; 2-Golden Centipede Bandits; 3-Shu Bao the Laughing Thrush; 4-The Lightning Sage; 5-Strange Dragon Long Pole Huo; 6-10-Thundering Scorpion 

**They had been drained by Yaksha demons, and left with only 1 Wound each

WHAT'S REAL IN STRANGE TALES OF NEW ENGLAND

Strange Tales of New England features an abundance of locations and foes, many based on genuine New England Lore. But mixed in with that is my own lore that I created. My goal was to thread it seamlessly so people could not tell the real from the fabricated. I am not sure how well this succeeded in the eyes of others, but I am inclined to think I pulled it off because I often have trouble distinguishing my own lore from actual legends when I go through the book. So today I am going through some entries in the book showing which ones are real and which are made up. I can only go over a few entries as the book is filled with lore and to go over every single one would mean an enormous blog entry. 

First up is Old Man Blood of the Blood Forest of Lancaster: 

This one is real, and there are urban legends surrounding Arthur Blood murdering campers. However there are also legends and history involving bloody raids during King Philips war that the book doesn't cover. King Philip's War is mentioned numerous times in the history section of the rulebook and in a few other places. It was tempting to make that a central part of the setting, but I didn't want everything in the game to come down to that one conflict (GMs who want more lore though should definitely consider looking into at as background, because it was one of the most brutal and deadly wars between natives and settlers). 

Another interesting one is the Beast of Greene, a creature who haunts near the
lakes in Maine. This is one I made up, but by coincidence there is a Beast of Greene, which refers to an incident in 2006 where the carcass of an animal, later believed to be a dog, was found in a neighboring town. Here is the entry on the Beast of Greene:

Next up is The Bridgewater Triangle and its dark inhabitant John Selee. This is more a blending of two legends. The Bridgewater Triangle is famous, there are documentaries and books about it. And John Selee is supposedly a real person, a wizard who used satanic imps to build a saw mill in Easton during the 18th century. There is even a plaque to the commemorate the event. Easton is inside the Birdgewater Triangle and given the exorcist themes, I thought he would serve as a suitable heart for the location (especially since there are also urban legends of satanic murders occurring there to this day). To touch on King Philip's War again, the obvious choice would have been to make the hear of the Bridgewater Triangle Metacom or King Philip. But I thought a satanic wizard fit the theme of the setting better. It was a fifty-fifty split though in my mind. 

Now I want to look at one of the entries from the Boogie Men and the Damned section. Most of the book focuses on locations, but there are ten boogie men and ten cults. These are more like floating entries that the GM can use wherever they want or when they become relevant due to player actions. One of my favorites was The Live For Evers. Here is the blurb from the book on them: 

Believe it or not this is based on real events. You can look up the Live For Evers under various spellings and find all kinds of information. They were a real Christian cult based in Sutton Massachusetts. And while all of the entries required some degree of elaboration on my part, these needed surprisingly little. The backstory involving Ebenezer and Lucy Fletcher was real. 

I think that is enough for today. I may go over some more in the future. 

STRANGE TALES OF NEW ENGLAND DISCUSSION

I got a chance to talk with Mildra about Strange Tales of New England. You can watch the interview HERE. It is a great game and I was happy to talk about it. The system is similar to our Strange Tales of Songling game, but adapted to a modern New England setting with demons, cryptids and classic creatures of horror. It is a spiritual horror heavily inspired by the Exorcist. 

To learn more about Strange Tales of New England check out our website or the blurb below: 

STRANGE TALES OF NEW ENGLAND 

Man has long been subject to demonic possession and ghostly hauntings. New England history is plagued with such strangeness, from the Salem Witch Trials to the ghosts of Wood Island Lighthouse. Here something wicked permeates the soil and rolls like fog through the twisted landscape. 

You are invited to New England to face demons, vampires, satanic witches and other supernatural minions of the darkness. Each of you will answer a different calling. Some cast out demons using an exorcist’s prayer, others fight evil spirits with psychic powers. And of course, some take up arms or use science and deception to win the day. All will discover, things are not as they seem in these strange lands. 

Strange Tales of New England is a horror RPG with a focus on monster-of-the-week investigations into local anomalies. It uses the core system found in Strange Tales of Songling and is a blend of classic and surreal horror. 

MAINTAINING WUXIA CAMPAIGN LONGEVITY PART ONE

This is part of an ongoing series on long lasting wuxia campaigns (and a casual Saturday post while I recover from being sick). I have been running regular Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate campaigns since we started work on them in 2014, and before that I ran a  number of wuxia campaigns using other systems. When we started work on Ogre Gate, one of my goals was long term play, and I tried to incorporate the things I had observed added to long term play. Here are key things that helped me. 

D&D-ISMS

While I would not compare Ogre Gate to Dungeons and Dragons, or claim it is an OSR game, it does have some D&D-isms. In general these were things I felt were shared by D&D and wuxia (like inns for example). I think it is important to get into because I often see online discussion about wuxia or horror campaigns dismiss D&D or D&Disms. But D&D is a great game and can work for genres like wuxia and horror (I've seen it work for years). Obviously there are system concerns people may have around emulation, and that is a topic unto itself which I might get into later (because I believe Ravenloft was a highly effective Gothic Horror campaign world using the D&D system). But today I just want to focus on features of D&D that can help add longevity to your campaign, not focus on system issues. 

D&D has a lot of features that lend themselves to long term campaign play. You have large tomes of monsters, pages of spells, magic items, etc. It also has concepts like the dungeon, wilderness exploration, random encounter tables, etc. It is a highly gameable approach to play, and I think one of the reasons D&D and its various iterations (whether they be official or clones) is something about its core ingredients and adventure structures, function well for week to week play. When I was working on Ogre Gate, while it wasn't a retroclone or d20 system, and in many ways the polar opposite of D&D, I made a point of not shying away from D&D-isms I felt contributed to healthy campaigns. I had run a number of wuxia campaigns using 1E and 3E Oriental Adventures for example and had noticed certain things lent themselves to long term play but also to reducing GM burnout in terms of how you prep. 

Having some fantastical elements definitely helps. And chief among these is monsters. That is one reason why Ogre Gate has a robust monster section. What having monsters in the setting allows for is a change of pace from human-centric play. Monsters are challenges, they can serve as the basis for an entire adventure. A haunted house for example, almost writes itself once you start with the monster. Anyone who follows my session logs probably sees most adventures are not about monsters, but they crop up from time to time. And I think this element of the setting breathes life into the campaigns. It makes it so it isn't always just about sects and feuds. While monsters are generally not common features of wuxia, there are exceptions, but this is one area where I think leaning into other source material like Pu Songling is helpful. One of the key moments of development for me with Ogre Gate was when I started intentionally using Pu Songling as inspiration for adventure ideas. 

Other elements of D&D are much more at home with the wuxia genre itself. Random encounters for example can help emulate a living martial world. Wilderness exploration certain fits with characters in wuxia stories going on long adventures, often to exotic and dangerous places. But my favorite D&D adjacent feature of wuxia is the dungeon. 

Everyone seems to understand that wuxia has a strong character driven element. Many efforts to emulate the wuxia genre, including my own, Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, put great emphasis on character and sect conflict and the drama that can flow from that. But I think people often tend to see wuxia as being less at home with dungeons or classic adventure structures you might find in traditional RPGs like D&D. One thing I tried to do with Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate was embrace tried and true approaches alongside the more character driven approach. Wuxia often features things like love triangles, sect politics and stories about torn loyalties. But it is also an adventure genre. Even melodramatic wuxia films like The Thundering Sword, have plenty of adventure tropes like the aforementioned Thundering Sword and a trapped tomb where said sword is located. 

Dungeons are perfectly at home in wuxia. Whether it is finding a manual in the tomb of an ancient master, or a complex that is part of a sect headquarters, dungeon exploration adds another dimension of play to your wuxia campaign and helps produce a more robust martial world. 

WEEKLY PLAY

As much as possible, I think weekly play is one key to successful long term campaigns. Life can be challenging, so sometimes sessions have to get rescheduled, but overall I find a schedule of once a week, much better than once every other week or once every month, for maintaining the momentum of a campaign. 

THE CYCLE OF GRUDGES AND VIOLENCE 

This is incredibly important element of my long term campaigns. In wuxia characters are often motivated by a desire for revenge, grudges need to be settled. And these can span generations sometimes. Toward this end, Grudge tables are essential to my campaigns. 

Grudge tables have several ways they can work but the core idea is anytime the players kill an NPC, upset a sect or group, or even embarrass another martial hero, there is always the chance a grudge arises. Generally this should be up to the GMs judgement based on what he knows about the group or characters in question. Once it is established there is a grudge, they are put on a 2d10 table. As each grudge is handled, the grudges move position. The GM then rolls regularly before play to see if a grudge encounter happens that session (and encounter tables have entries for Grudge Encounters as well so they can come up during a random encounter as well). 

Grudges give the game focus. Even if the players are meandering or not following a clear path, a grudge introduces a problem they eventually have to deal with. And the GM can get quite creative with grudges. A grudge encounter can simply mean the players have a run in with the disciples of a rival sect or a specific person they have a grudge with. But sometimes sects and enemies hire assassins. And sending waves of increasingly colorful and skilled assassins when grudge come up is a fun way to liven up play (assassins are just enjoyable to make). 

They also give the game fuel. It draws the players into the cycle of violence in the martial world, which can often be quite endless. 

NOTE TAKING

If you don't take notes, long term campaigns are impossible to maintain. You need to know very basic things, like which NPCs are alive and dead, but also you have to track changes that have occurred to the setting as the campaign has gone on. 

I think note taking has other benefits for wuxia that might not be obvious. I've mentioned in this in previous discussions about 'pinning it down' but frequently in wuxia characters have encounters with random martial experts or thugs, and these are always stark characters of the martial world, people with signature kung fu and weapons, often strange personality quirks. Note taking skills can help you when you need to make NPCs like this on the fly. Through note taking I became very good at inventing techniques, weapons and overall personalities for groups of martial experts...all in the moment. So not taking helps your campaign not just by tracking what happened, but giving you a tool for instant prep when unexpected things come up. And when you write it down that makes it more objective than if you don't. 

RUN CHARACTER BASED CAMPAIGNS

My campaigns tend to be character based. Occasionally, when I am running shorter campaigns for horror RPGs, I may do more monster of the week style adventures, but when I am running Ogre Gate, I always start each session asking the players what they want to do, without any real plan of my own. I may have prepped details I knew were important, NPCs in the setting might be plotting or planning things of their own, but I am not working to fold what the players are doing into any of these things. My campaigns are about letting the players decide what they want to do, who they want to deal with, etc. There is always a back and forth as things go, so if they piss off a sect, adventure might come to them in the form of a grudge, and if they grow their reputation, people may ask for their services, but there is never any obligation for the players to do so. And the adventures they go on just flow from what happens. I don't think in terms of paths or needing to pace things a certain way. That means things never go off the rails, but also that I never get overly burned out. Path adventures, and this is not a knock on them, take a lot of prep. Doing that week to week can burn you out (I know because I did it for years). But a more open character based approach, means you as the GM basically prepare like an hour between each session. You might work on more at your leisure, but that is mostly just world building stuff. It can be more prep before the campaign begins, but once things get started it's about treating the players, NPCs, sects, etc as live things in the setting: a living adventure. 

I don't think this is the only way to do things. But it is a way that has consistently worked well for me. 

PARTING THOUGHTS

As I said, this is what worked for me. I find everyone has a different idea of what wuxia should be at their game table. Not everyone is going to want monsters in a wuxia campaign for example (and if you don't, but like Ogre Gate, you can just push monsters to the side or try the grittier Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades system I co-wrote with Jeremy Bai). What I have learned though is deal with the table have before you. Worry about your game table, what makes things work for you, and make the wuxia campaign you want to make (don't make a wuxia campaign to impress someone on the internet you don't even game with). I will try to get back to this topic in the near future. 

In the meantime, if you found this post helpful, check out my Wuxia Sandbox posts HERE.