Here is what we discussed on the Bedrock Podcast Channel this week: Flying Swords of Dragon Gate and Heroes Shed No Tears.
The Wuxia Weekend discussion was centered on Tsui Hark's, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. It stars Jet Li, Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Louis Fan and has a special appearance by Gordon Liu. I love Flying Swords of Dragon Gate but the Dragon Gate films have proved divisive at times. It is interesting to see where Adam and Dionne rank this among the other two. One point of discussion that came up, is whether Eunuch Yu Huatian, played by Chen Kun, is really a eunuch or not in the film. We propose a fan theory that he is in fact not a eunuch. We also discuss which characters were our favorites: two major contenders were the Tribal Princess played by Gwei Lun-mei and Chen Kun's Eunuch Yu. But there is more than meets the eye with characters here so listen to learn more.
You can listen to our conversation here.
At Wuxia Workshop Joel and I talked about Heroes Shed No Tears. This Chor Yuen adaptation of the Gu Long Story by the same name is another personal favorite of mine. It stars Alexander Fu Sheng, Ku Feng, Derek Yu, Jason Pai Piao, Angie Chiu, and Yueh Hua. We talk about the movie's gameability and more.
Here is our discussion:
My apologies for the long absence. I have been lost in the Jianghu and working on a number of projects. In the next few weeks, I hope to resume posting on the Bedrock Blog page.
Today I have an announcement. I will be designing a Dark Wuxia RPG with Deathblade from Wuxia World. This will be a freelance project for another publisher (I will reveal more details about that in the coming months). That means this isn't a Bedrock Games release, but the game will still draw on some of the mechanical elements of Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate. However, the aim is a much simpler system, focused more on suspense, roleplaying and deadly fast combat.
Deathblade and I are in the initial phases right now. Over the next three months we will build key parts of the core system. I've already done a number of playtests of the basic framework, and they have been quite successful.
This game will be darker than Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate. It will be firmly in the Gu Long style of wuxia, with a focus on building the Jianghu setting over real-world China, but in a way that is timeless. Gu Long books don't often emphasize the historical details the way Jin Yong or Liang Yusheng stories do. The Jianghu setting is central, and the historical details can be anachronistic from time to time. While we are intending to provide brief overview of the history and geography, the goal is a game that encourages people to play with history freely, painting their adventures over the past but in a way that allows people to draw on modern influences when they desire. Again, the setting is meant to feel more timeless.
The mechanics are going to be much more lethal than Ogre Gate. A lot of the core system is there. For example we are largely using the same skill system. But the combat operates a little differently. And the characters are not built around individual Kung Fu techniques. This is a game where characters face each other down and a moment later, one of them is dead or maimed.
For the moment, this is all I can say about the project. I will have much more to say as things develop and as we get closer to the release date. In the meantime, anyone who wishes can contact me about being a play tester.
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