ROLLING DICE IN WANDERING HEROES OF OGRE GATE

DO YOU COUNT SUCCESSES IN OGRE GATE?

This post is more of a small point of clarification about Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate and the Network system. Something that comes up in a lot of online posts and reviews, is describing the game as 'counting successes'. I don't think this is intentional, more people being efficient in their description. But I think it is important for me to clarify just in case there is any misunderstanding about how to play. 

While it is true if you count Total Successes on Damage Rolls, and you do count successes on Open Damage Rolls. In all other instances of play you do not. It is built around the core Network system design of roll a pool of d10 and take the single highest result. So if you roll 3d10, getting 4, 2, and 7, you just take the seven. Things like Open Damage only start to emerge in Sertorius. And that is meant as an exception to the general rule. Counting Successes was something we considered a problem to avoid when designing the system. This is a minor point but I wanted to raise it in case anyone out there is playing Ogre Gate and counting successes on normal rolls. If it is a normal skill or attack roll, you just take the single highest result. Most damage rolls that is also true, unless you get a 10 or an ability turns it into an Open Damage roll. 

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. 

GAMEMASTERING WUXIA: LETHALITY AND BALANCE IN OGRE GATE AND RBRB

Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate and Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades both take an approach to design that embraces lethality and kung fu techniques that vary considerably in power (even at the same Qi Rank). Balance is not the point of the techniques. This can be contrasted with the parent system, Sertorius, where balance was a goal (and many of our earlier games before that as well). The reason for this shift was two-fold. First, we wanted to emulate the carnage you see on screen in wuxia films like Golden Swallow and Killer Clans. Second, less balance proved more fun in playtest. This was something we initially realized when working on the the first Book of the Archon for Sertorius, where we created a spell expansion that had spells unrestricted by balance consideration. We found they made the game more exciting and when players were offered the balanced versus the unbalanced option, they almost always chose the unbalanced one. It is also much more emulative of the source material. In wuxia and kung fu movies and novels, there are spikes in power. Some characters are amazing, others are not. And we wanted to capture that. None of this is to say there isn't a kind of balance in the game, but for the most part, what balance exists arises organically in the setting and still largely unforgiving. 

Related to this is a central concept introduced in Ogre Gate: The Evolving or Changing Kung Fu Landscape. This is meant to reflect what you see so often in wuxia media: the martial world going through periods of chaos and disruption then returning to equilibrium as new Kung Fu emerges to contend with powerful techniques that upset the balance. Here is the text from the core book:

And I clarified this point further in the Sons of Lady 87 Book here: 

A perfect example of this in the books, and in my own campaigns, is the technique Blade of the Dancing Fox. This was very powerful and players quickly discovered how useful it was. When it first emerged, and started to become known in the campaign, not only did several players start taking it, they soon found NPCs were emerging who knew it as well. This is one way balance can be achieved (a technique simply becomes more ubiquitous as its fame grows and sects covet it). But eventually someone devised a counter: Swift Reply of the Fox (this technique appears in War of Swarming Beggars). Usually that is what begins to occur. The martial world evolves over time, so that there is a natural balance in the world. This doesn't mean characters don't get killed by super powerful technique or some characters don't have better techniques than others, but it means eventually even the most powerful hero with a great technique like Blade of the Dancing Fox, eventually meets their match or eventually the presence of their power alone attracts enemies in larger numbers (whether it is heroic sects uniting to deal with a threat, or challengers seeking to prove they can beat the most powerful people in the martial world). 

As you can see this is crucial to managing powerful techniques in the game. And this is meant to emulate something that happens in both wuxia and Kung Fu: a powerful martial arts technique or weapon is introduced that rocks the martial world by creating a huge power imbalance, but eventually a solution arises to nullify or counter the technique. For this to work the GM needs to understand this principle and be open to new techniques emerging from player characters and NPCs in response. 

Another thing the GM should keep in mind is the sects and NPCs. Many of the more powerful Kung Fu techniques belong to equally powerful sects. So even acquiring them, puts a player character in danger, and using them once acquired can attract the attention of the sect. This doesn't mean the GM is meant to simply spam problems at a player because they have a good technique, but it highlights an important aspect of power in the martial world: everything has consequences and power itself can become its own headache. This by the way was an aspect of Sertorius as well. Players becoming powerful is not really a problem. It can be fun, even its own source of adventure. But the GM needs to understand how it produces complications, as those complications will be things that become a focus in the campaign. 

Characters in wuxia and kung fu films are not always equal in power, some are very weak, some are very strong, and while sometimes this is due simply to the point in training a character is at, often it boils down to individual martial arts techniques being much better or worse than others. The game also doesn't assume or guarantee that characters become great heroes of martial artists. That is often what protagonists in wuxia are, but my approach has been more to emulate the world of Condor Heroes or Heroes Shed no Tears, not the plot lines. One of the things I enjoy about playing is finding out who the players are over the course of the campaign. Do they become one of the greats like Guo Jing, a villain, or simply someone who dies, perhaps giving others reason to get revenge? 

While both games lean into drama, neither leans into story structure, so what this brings in terms of emulation is not a guarantee that your character will survive as a hero or survive to die spectacularly at the end. It does mean, because death is on the table, there are ample opportunities for drama. Death almost always produces drama. A good way to think of it is you never really know who or where you are in the story. You could just be a bit player meant to die under a henchman's sword, and that might launch the real story of your brother coming for revenge. It isn't about story structure it is about situations, drama, bloodshed, etc. 

Take the Venom Mob film Crippled Avengers as an example. At the start of this movie, the entire party of characters is maimed in some way. One is deafened, the other blinded, another has his legs cut off, and one is even made into an idiot when they crush his head in a vice. This all happens at the start of the movie. It is essentially a TPK with an asterisk. And it launches the heroes on their path to training around their new disabilities so they can confront the father and son who maimed them. That is how lethality operates in a Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate or Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades campaign (particularly the later where maiming is probably more common). Now there is no guarantee they will survive, this is very much a play to find out what happens kind of system. But whatever it is, it will be a solid evening of swordplay. It is also why back-up characters are crucial. 

Generally Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate is more forgiving than Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades, because it is a bit easier for players to gauge how many more hits they can take in a given fight, but this isn't always the case. Character deaths happen for all kinds of reasons in campaigns and this is something built into the game's design. I am not personally a fan of giving PCs plot armor, and that is something that has been constant in all our games (whether it is Terror Network, Servants of Gaius or Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate). Sometimes that means characters meet anti-climactic ends because the system is not loaded for only dramatic outcomes in that respect and the GM is not supposed to tip the scales. You are playing to discover what happens, which I think is more exciting and also acknowledges that this is a game using random dice rolls. Fighting against random dice to achieve story goals can be a terrible exercise in frustration for all. 

There is another element that these games embrace, particularly Ogre Gate, which is some of the gonzo quality in many wuxia. Everything in wuxia feels heightened, the characters, the battles, the situations, etc. Some movies and books leans into this in a very heavy way, like Web of Death or Holy Flame of the Martial World, and those influences are certainly there. But it is also present in more typical examples like The Condor Heroes trilogy or Smiling Proud Wanderer. Or take some of the film versions, like Swordsman II* or Brave Archer Series. One of the things that makes these films so exciting is how wild and inventive they are, and the kind of plot turns they lean into. 

Something I discovered taking this approach from the early playtests to now (with Ogre Gate in particular as that is the primary system I run week to week), is this really lends itself to long term campaigns. And making long-term, sustainable, wuxia campaigns was a major goal from the outset. When you get out of the mindset of plot armor and hinging the story on a single character, even if their stories are important while they live, it opens the game up to more durable sources of fuel and attention. A total party kill for example is not the end of the campaign, it is a great beginning. An important character dying, can mean an exciting new direction for the campaign. A character obtaining an overpowered technique puts them at the center of conflict in the martial world, the adventures start to write themselves as other clans seek to deal with that person. Characters who find themselves weak or feeble, have solid motivation for finding a solution to that weakness. They may seek out a powerful technique/weapon or die trying. When you combine this with many of the other classic elements I have discussed before (sect conflict, wuxia dungeons, etc) it has given me campaigns that last for years. 

I will talk more about Gamemastering wuxia campaigns future posts based on my own play at the table. Feel free to send me a message or comment about something you would like to see me discuss.

*By part III of this series the movies deviate wildly from the books, so I mention this one as it is well regarded by many fans because it was marketed in the west as a stand alone movie under titles like The Legend of the Swordsman. 

 

THE SCHOLAR OF XIA KINGDOM

These are my notes for a profound masters location in one of my recent sessions, with some additional advice and material to make them more useful for general campaigns. The maps are my attempts to copy my own maps from my notebook (there were too many scribbles and turn order notes in them to use for the blog). The party was seeking a man named Tung Lu, a powerful master who had gone missing and was last known to have dueled with a mysterious hermit, Magnificent Scholar. One of the players decided to seek him out, and ended up trapped in the scholar's miniature kingdom of Xia. 

The adventure itself was partly inspired by The Eleventh Son (and the movie Swordsman and the Enchantress) and the thriller The Vanishing. Because I wasn't expecting the players to drink the shrining substance, I only loosely planned out Xia Kingdom. I could see going into much greater depth on this one. I considered starting a campaign here as well (decided not to do it, but it is still an interesting possibility, especially if you have player characters who were born in Xia Kingdom). 

Again this was written with my campaign in mind. So the things like the hook are rather specific to it. But I do try to advise GMs running their own campaign as well in these sections. 

One thing to note as well: Magnificent Scholar was generated randomly with the Bedrock App. I modified him slightly once the character became clear from the results, but his techniques are pretty wide ranging as a result of the random generation. 

XIA KINGDOM AND THE MAGNIFICENT SCHOLAR 

This Miniature world is found inside the home of Magnificent Scholar. He resides on a peak in Southern Li Fan, protected by a long rope bridge over a chasm that leads to hidden emerald deposits and a mountain god named Xuan. 

 

XIA KINGDOM

My crude depiction of 
Magnificent Scholar's abode 

Xia Kingdom is a small model of the empire. The entrance to Xia Kingdom is an oval portal with thin iron bars on the wall of Magnificent Scholar’s studio, with a sign above it that reads “Xia Kingdom”. This goes to a small world he crafted that replicates the era of the demon emperor on a much reduced scale. About the size of a large basement (1,400 square feet), it is sculpted into the rock of the mountain side that abuts Magnificent Scholar’s home, forming a cavern complex filled with miniature lakes, forests, inns, towns, etc. Though modeled on the real period, much of it is Magnificent Scholar’s own invention. It is anachronistic and imprecise as well. 

Xia Kingdom is populated by people shrunk down to the size of a thimble. Therefore while he has models of cities such as Daolu, the models themselves, even on this smaller scale, are simplified and usually populated by tens of people rather than hundreds or thousands, or tens of thousands. He also has trouble casting, for example the Ogre Demon he placed to be the Love General, refuses to fall in love with Sunan (Tung Lu), and the man he shrunk to play the role of Sun Mai spends most of his time in a drunken stupor. For characters simply pick actual heroes from the books randomly to play the different people from that period. For an elaborate campaign set in the underground world, using Legends of Ogre Gate as a guide can be useful. But information from the history section in the WHOG rulebook and in the Yao Gong Palace entry of Ogre Gate Inn (page 63) should supply plenty of material. 

 

HOOK AND ADVENTURE 

My very crude depiction of
Xia Kingdom

The players may seek out Tung Lu because he has a technique Iron Tiger needs to complete his own manual. However Tung Lu has been missing from the martial world. No one knows he lost a duel with Magnificent Scholar and was imprisoned in Xia Kingdom. Magnificent Scholar will see the player’s arrival as an opportunity to cast new people to fill his world. He will provide them each with his shrinking transformative substance, saying once they consume it, they will find Tung Lu. If the party drinks it, they wake up in Xia Kingdom where they must find their way around and hopefully escape. If they do not, the adventure may simply end up as a confrontation with Magnificent Scholar and the discovery that he has a world of shrunken heroes below his house. If he wins the confrontation he likely tries to shrink them and continue with his original plan. If he loses, the party will be able to decide his fate but will still need to find a way to rescue Tung Lu and, if they desire, restore him to his normal size. 

For other campaigns a reasonable hook would be for the heroes to be seeking anyone imprisoned in Xia Kingdom. Most likely the whereabouts of such individuals would be a mystery and there may be an investigative adventure that eventually leads the party to Magnificent Scholar’s residence. 

MAGNIFICENT SCHOLAR

Magnificent Scholar is sullen and arrogant hermit who resides in a small hut on a peak in southern Li Fan. He became obsessed with the era of Demon Emperor and with creating a model replica of the empire during the Demon Emperor’s reign called Xia Kingdom. As his obsession deepened he devised a way to transform people to thimble size, and imprison them in his model. He spends his time researching and seeking out heroes to trap. Occasionally he duels them, but mostly he tries to trick them into drinking his shrinking substance (use SHRINKING SUBSTANCE in STRANGE TALES OF SONGLING, page 27). 

 

Magnificent Scholar is a prisoner of his own record book (see The Scholar of Xia Kingdom below). This has intensified his resentment. He has a natural dislike of other people, which is why he lives as a hermit, but being imprisoned makes him appreciate good conversation with the people of Xia Kingdom. He views these prisoners as his friends. However he is incredibly frustrated by them and most of his exchanges with them end him threatening to tear off their limbs or deprive them of food if they don’t play the roles he has assigned to them. 

 

Defenses: Hardiness 4, Parry 8, Evade 9, Stealth 6, Wits 8, Resolve 7

Key Skills: Arm Strike: 3d10, Light Melee: 4d10, Small Ranged: 4d10, Muscle: 2d10, Speed: 4d10, Athletics: 3d10, Reasoning: 4d10, Detect: 3d10, Medicine: 3d10, Talent (Calligraphy): 3d10, Talent (Poetry): 2d10, Talent (Poisoning): 4d10, Trade (Stone): 3d10, Trade (Alchemy): 4d10, Trade (Architecture): 2d10, Survival (Mountain/Hill): 4d10, Ritual (Activation): 3d10, Ritual (Create Seal of Jiangnu): 3d10, Ritual (Draw out the Demons): 2d10, Ritual (Profound Binding of the Demon): 4d10, Ritual (Supreme Activation): 3d10, History (Era of 100 Pieces): 2d10, History (Era of the Demon Emperor): 4d10, History (Era of the Glorious Emperor): 2d10, Places/Cultures (Hu Qin): 3d10, Institutions (Sects): 4d10, Religions/Gods (Dehua): 3d10, Classics (Rites of Wan Mei): 3d10, Classics (Sayings of Kong Zhi): 4d10, Classics (Scripture of Sun Mai): 3d10

 

Qi: 9

Max Wounds: 19

Weapon: Iron Thread (5d10 Attack, 2d10 Damage)

Combat Techniques: Arm Strike - Outside Fighter, Light Melee - From the Shadows, Arm Strike - Inside Fighter, Light Melee – Deflect

 

Kung Fu Techniques (Dianxue 3, Qinggong 1): Plum Blossom Palm, Four-Point Touch, Distracting Crane Rake, Gallbladder Strike, Sealing the Winds of Gushan, Web of Lies, Tree Bounding Strike, Tree Bounding Stride, Crippling Strike of Bing, The Gentle Footsteps of Timeless Perennial, Crawling Tiger, White Flower Palm, Strike of the Raging Tiger, Bladder Strike, Sealing the Phoenix, Leap of the Swan, Bounding Spider, Stealth of the Spider Demon, Gushan's Gambit, Lurking Spider Stance, Nine Divine Snakes, Trembling Strike, Arc of the Spine Flick of the Wrist (Counter), Whirling Dodge (Counter), Onyx Backflip (Counter), Philosophical Crane's Pull (Counter)

 

Profound Techniques: Jade Ribbon Burst, Robes of Steel, King Viper's Fiery Greeting, Iron Strike, Lily of the Poisoned Mind, Swift Punch of Thundering Crane, Tortoise Holds Up the Sky, Devastating Strike of Thundering Crane, Throttling Web (Counter), Hands of the Fireshield (Counter)

 

THE SCHOLAR OF XIA KINGDOM 

This began as a record book of Magnificent Scholar’s own accomplishments, but slowly his style was taken over by a voice not his own, and then the book began to write itself. This book records all the great deeds of the Magnificent Scholar and does so with the flair of the most fashionable literary works. The writer has a clear voice and often anticipates outcomes. The tomb towers at 20 feet in height and is so heavy that Magnificent Scholar cannot move it around and has become a prisoner to it. 

 

When the person who it is written for dies, the next person to handle it becomes the new owner. It is cursed and cannot be eliminated. If thrown into the sea, it returns the moment the person turns around. If given to someone else it returns to the owner. The owner of the book can venture away from it temporarily but must ask the book’s permission (which it doesn’t always grant, and usually only allows small distance travel for essential things like sleep and food). Anyone who tries to escape the book, must make a Muscle roll against 7d10 every minute or get pulled back towards it. 

 

MOUNTAIN GOD XUAN 

This towering but weak mountain god looks like a large yak with emerald colored hairs and two great tusks. He stands on two legs and his eight hands are like a man’s. He can speak with a terrifying face that is vaguely human. Slow witted he adores music and is always kind to gentle and/or polite people. He was defeated by Magnificent Scholar and now serves him. He protects both the scholar and the emerald deposits below.

 

Mountain God Xuan is friendly and will gladly talk with anyone. He never attempts to deceive people, always telling them clearly the consequences of any actions they may take.  Though he has vowed to protect the area, he tries not to kill anyone. 

 

Defenses: Hardiness 9, Evade 4, Parry 8, Stealth 3, Wits 4, Resolve 10

Key Skills: Arm Strike: 4d10 (Damage 8d10), Gore: 2d10 (5d10 Open), Medium Melee: 2d10, Speed: 1d10 (40 feet), Muscle: 5d10, Detect: 2d10, Meditation: 3d10, Institutions (Bureaucracy of Heaven): 0d10

 

Qi: 9

Max Wounds: 18

Key Kung Fu Techniques (Waijia 2, Qinggong 1, Neigong 2, Dianxue 1):

Hands of the Hawk Beak, Ringing Strike of the Divine Ram, Roar of the Lion, Iron Body (Counter), Whirling Dodge (Counter)

 

POWERS

Multiple Attack: Can attack up to eight people a round by throwing stones or striking with his hands for 8d10 damage. 

 

Deathless: Destroying Xuan’s body is only a temporary measure. Forms as an emerald crystal in the pit and slowly returns over 1d10 days when this occurs.

 

Immunities: Immune to Mundane Attacks and to Waijia and Qinggong attacks (from opponents lower Qi rank than him). 

 

Beast Strength (x5)

CELESTIAL PLUME MASTERS SESSION ELEVEN

This was the eleventh session of my Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate wuxia sandbox campaign, the Celestial Plume Masters, using the Sons of Lady 87 book, which was just released in print. You can see the first session HERE. You can see the Tenth session HERE. 

PLAYER CHARACTERS 

Wei Ziying: A skilled poisoner and physician, with ties to the Relentless Corpse Sect, Wei Ziying is a disciple of the Celestial Plume Masters. He also has a longstanding friendship with Kuo Qingzhao, who wishes to know more about the poisons that killed his wife (poisons Wei Ziying knows the secrets of). Grudge: Ravenous Nun Xuanji (for the murder of Red Eagle)

Wang Haoyang: A master of stealth, Wang Haoyang is one of the Celestial Plume Master disciples. He has a lifelong friendship with Pei Ye of the Vermillion Bird Teahouse, but has attracted the affection of another member of that organization, Fan Zhen'er (he does not return the affection but wishes to avoid creating friction within the Vermillion Bird Teahouse, and possibly creating enemies). Grudge: Guan Nuan (for a duel he escaped, she feels she lost face because he was weaker than her and should have been an easy victory)

Hei Ling: A one-eyed chief in the Celestial Plume Masters, Hei Ling is the father of Li Liang, whom he wishes to cease practicing her Toad Style kung fu because of the physical toll on her body. He had Li Liang with Qixia the candied fruit in his youth and since then Qixia has grown hostile. He has a working relationship with the Wu Sisters. Grudge: Qixia the Candied Fruit Vendor (of Hai'an). Grudge: Qixia (many reasons related to their pre-existing relationship)

Iron Tiger: The newest member of the party, sent by Night Thorn to help them expand. He has a longstanding friendship with Iron Beggar Sun Kang, whom he wants to leave his lap of luxury in the House of Flying Lanterns so he can train with the Nature Loving Monks and improve his Kung Fu. Iron Beggar in turn wants Iron Tiger to leave the Celestial Plume Masters. Grudge: Pei Ye (he murdered her favorite client, Golden Cobra). 

THE TEMPLE OF THE GOLDEN DRAGONS 

In Jinsa, Iron Tiger received a message and followed the order. He had Qixia's corpse exhumed and preserved so Li Liang could craft a mace handle from her bones. 

Then Iron Tiger went to the Banyan to meet with the Golden Dragons. He offered to train their men in exchange for the temple's Kung Fu. They were uncomfortable with his offer and Bronze Master said they could not freely trade their marital arts with a person like himself. 

Iron Tiger threatened to destroy them all if they didn't consider his offer. 

"But we have thousands of men, what hope do you have?" Asked Bronze Master. 

"I have never been defeated. My kung fu is exceptional and unrivaled. I can take you all."

Seeing Iron Tiger was serious he offered to meet with him privately. 

Iron Tiger persuaded Bronze Master to allow him a match with one of the Golden Dragon masters. He called in Master Emerald who faced off with Iron Tiger. 

Initially Master Emerald countered Iron Tiger's first attack with a spinning back kick. Shortly after Iron Tiger broke Master Emerald's arm and Bronze Master ended the match, accusing Iron Tiger of being an animal. 

"You should leave" He told Iron Tiger. 

Iron Tiger refused, demanding that Bronze Master allow his men to spar with the disciples of the Golden Dragons. At first Bronze Master said their sect was too righteous, that he found Iron Tiger's methods appalling. But after he made Iron Tiger promise to not break any more bones, to not kill or seriously injure, he agreed on the condition that he would leave after the matches. 

The Golden Dragons selected some of their better men to go up against Iron Tiger's. In the end, the Golden Dragons outperformed them. Before Iron Tiger left, Bronze Master asked to speak with him privately. 

"Your Kung Fu is very impressive, and I believe we can come to an arrangement if you are open minded my friend," said Bronze Master. "I have men here, well trained men, who are not worthy to remain. They have misbehaved and I must expel them anyways. Perhaps I can assign them to train with you, to help them reform." 

Iron Tiger was pleased by the offer and said he could accept. 

"I just need you to do some things for me, if I give you these men," said Bronze Master. 

Iron Tiger once again said this was acceptable. 

"You will need to kill from time to time; you can accept this term?"

"Yes," Said Iron Tiger. 

"Good, I will expel them after you leave and tell them to go to your headquarters in?"

"Tung-On."

"Very well, I will send them to Tung-On to meet you." 

TURN OF THE ZHEN BIRD 

Iron Tiger left and set out for Tung-On. The journey was mostly uneventful save for passing some Kushen Soldiers as they crossed the Banyan Mountains. However they spotted two birds circling down to them in the Southern Desert. They both tried to peck Iron Tiger so he grabbed their throats and snapped their necks, killing them. Emerald Cobra was concerned they were an omen. 

WEI ZIYING BETRAYS HIS SECT

It was decided that Wei Ziying would go to Mai Cun and pretend to join The 87 Killers, providing them with select information about the Celestial Plume Masters. He and Wang Haoyang coordinated a time and place to stage an ambush by leading them to believe Haoyang would be alone and vulnerable when his wife left their residence on a journey. With Hei Ling's blessing he made the journey. Along the way he was accosted by a monk named Li Yaochen. The monk demanded he come with him to see an old friend. Wei Ziying played along but used his elusive viper technique to slip away when it became clear the monk was taking him to Gao Cun. 

When he reached Mai Cun he made his way to the Guan quarter and asked for an audience with Lady 87, explaining that he hide vital information about the Celestial Plume Masters. 

He was given an audience. 

"Greetings 87th Lady of the Guan House," he said before her. 

Lady 87 continuously called him "Wei Ziling" throughout the meeting as he explained he wished to join their organization because he felt his chief, Hei Ling did not treat him well, rewarding others who did not deserve it, while passing him by. He also offered to provide Lady 87 with information on the whereabouts of Wang Haoyang. 

"Wang Haoyang and Hei Ling are not important people, and why am I to trust this man who betrays his own sect then grovels in my hall?"

"I have more information Lady."

"Can you tell me where the Celestial Plume Masters are headquartered?"

"I cannot Lady, they are very secretive and do not inform me of such things."

"The Celestial Plume Masters ranks are filled with deceptions and secrets," She complained. 

"I do know the location of a secret martial school they are using to build a force to send against you Lady. And I am skilled in the use of poison and stealth."

Lady 87 thought and said she would take him into her organization as a prospect. He would be given quarters and uniform, then assigned a task the next day. 

WEI ZIYING FACES CERTAIN DEATH 

The next morning Yuhuan, Lady 87's right hand, came to Wei Ziying with a pitiful black uniform and told him he would be paired with Big Sister Hong Na and sent to kill the leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult. He was to leave that day. 

He travelled for six days with Big Sister Hong Na leading the way. He observed that she got a lot of very basic facts of the world wrong as they talked, and while she was initially very distrustful he managed to persuade her of his sincerity. 

On the way they were approached by a Sheriff and 10 constables demanding passports. As Wei Ziying was focused on providing the information, they encircled the pair and announced both were under arrest as Big Sister Hong Na was wanted. 

They leapt into action, Wei Ziying spraying them with poison and Big Sister Hong Na slicing most of them down with her cleaver. The remaining constables pleaded for their life, so they departed and let them die from the effects of the poison. 

When they reached the entrance to the Heavenly Wind Cult's cave, they realized it was well guarded, so Wei Ziying decided to take a direct approach. 

He had a copy of a page of a manual that turned Yao into normal humans. Knowing that the Heavenly Wind Cult was led by Palm Mistress Qin Ying, who opposed the empire, he coated it with contact poison and spoke with the guards saying he came on behalf of Lady 87 offering a peace gift to end the conflict between them. He explained that he had something their leader would find helpful. 

He and Hong Na were given an audience, in a cavern where Mistress Qin Ying held court over a jade pool filled with blood. Her son and daughter flanked her as did her men. 

Wei Ziying said that he had a manual which could restore the Yao, making them mortal men again. She had one of her acolytes take it and bring it to her. The contact poison worked quickly and she sensed the trembling it caused her acolyte. 

Wei Ziying felt that Palm Mistress Qin Ying was extremely powerfulness he stood in her presence. 

She rose into the air and called into existence fifteen swords which surrounded and struck at Wei Ziying. He whirled away and avoided the attack then used his Eluding Viper to deliver a surprising Blade of the Dancing Fox and landed devastating blows against her. 

Her children sprung into action, her son sending a spinning axe at Wei Ziying and Big Sister Hong Na. Wei Ziying used Arc of the Spine, Flick of the Wrist to escape the blade and poison him with needles. The daughter then used a palm strike against Wei Ziying but he evaded that as well. 

The battle raged, but was quickly brought to an end when Wei Ziying once again used Blade of the Dancing Fox to kill Palm Mistress Qin Ying. The Daughter and Son were badly hurt. The daughter's name was Fan Wenrou and she offered peace saying "Let us take our mother and bury her in the south, and I promise to cause no further trouble with the 87 Killers." 

Wei Ziying agreed, but he knew his poison would soon kill the son, Fan Jing, so he and Big Sister Hong Na quickly made their way back to Mai Cun. On the way Big Sister Hong Na expressed her admiration for Wei Ziying's incredible martial abilities. She was very impressed that he had killed the Palm Mistress in a direct fight. 

ALLIANCES IN TUNG-ON

In Tung-on Hei Ling and Wang Haoyang spoke with Chief Wanli who wanted a special arrangement to buy celestial plume. Hei Ling offered him a rate of 2,000 a pound and Wanli agreed.  

Iron God Meng continued to focus on snake handling, now working with King Cobras and showing signs of having been bitten many times. He told Hei Ling it made him stronger and more resilient. 

When Hei Ling explained the request of Chief Wanli, Iron God Meng was furious. He despised the Nature Loving Monks and resented their encroachment. It would be best to go to war with them he said. 

"Is it wise to fight them brother?" Asked Hei Ling

"They have what? Twenty men in this prefecture? We will crush them swiftly!"

Hei Ling paused and said "Brother we should crush them and we will, but why not sell them some plume for a while, let them expand the market and then destroy them so we can swoop in?"

Iron God Meng expressed admiration for Hei Ling's strategic mind and said this was a good idea. 

Hei Ling then arranged a meeting with the Seven Demons, and met them just outside Zha. He offered an alliance. They would work together to defeat Long Ma Hall, as he had information that their men were largely in Mai Cun. He agreed to give them Long Ma hall territory after if they would join with them in an attack on the 87 Killers. 

The Seven Demons agreed and they began planning their assault on Long Ma Hall. 

ELIXIR CATASTROPHES

In my wuxia sandbox campaign using the Sons of Lady 87 book, one thing that has started to come up is the use of external alchemy to create transformative substances. These are very setting appropriate but present balance issues the more open I am as a GM in adjudicating their creation (and I like to be open to things the players try to do in game).

Transformative substances are one of the more interesting parts of play for me in Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate. They can work in a variety of ways but basically use external alchemy to produce pills, elixirs, etc that can change things at a fundamental level. Usually the changes are temporary but can increase over time with regular use (there are some substances though that produce more long term effects). An example of a transformative substance is the Human Forming Essence, which can be used by animals, demons and other creatures to take human form. 

Recently one of the players has been using his Alchemy skill to produce a substance that improves the performance of his minions by radically accelerating cultivation (in mechanical terms his aim would basically increase Qi Ranks). 

The 1993 film Green Snake 

There is precedent for this in the system because I introduce a pill based on Monkey King's background in Journey to the West. This item is called the Heavenly Pill and there are extraordinary conditions surrounding its use, so that will be a very big natural limit should the player pursue making this substance. But this got me thinking about ways to introduce a table to use when players want to make a very powerful substance that could achieve great benefit but might be counterbalanced by some of its side effects (generally speaking I like to give transformative and longevity substances side effects). 

This table is meant to be used anytime a powerful transformative substance is created as its inherent drawback: 

Like the tables I shared the other day this one is still very preliminary. I will likely make some adjustments over the course of my Celestial Plume Masters campaign. 

I am still working with the player to determine what this might look like in the end (and not settle whether this table would apply to the substance he is attempting to discover). It will likely have heavy side effects or be temporary, granting an increase in Qi that goes away after a period of time and is followed by recovery (perhaps through lost Hardiness points). 

QI RANK ADVANCEMENT FOR NPCS IN WANDERING HEROES OF OGRE GATE

There are a number of ways to advance NPCs in Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate. One of my favorite is the Going into Seclusion method in the Lady 87 Campaign book (you can also see an early version of this idea on the blog). Sometimes I use more granular methods or random ones. I put the two tables below together today for my Celestial Plume Masters campaign. 

The first table is a method for calculating NPC advancement over time. It can be done session to session, like PCs, or in time in the game world (using either weekly or daily increments----you can also use monthly if you prefer). This assumes an average of 2 XP gained each session/week/day and just charts it out over time. It also uses the revised XP chart from the Bedrock Games website (rather than the one in the rulebook). One thing you will notice is a bit of a hump at the Qi rank 7 mark, because this is the entry point into the profound levels of martial arts. So it takes considerable time to get there from Qi rank 6. After Qi 7 however it reduces back down to a more reasonable level. 

This can be used to figure out a characters Qi rank when they are re-introduced (if they were Qi 3 when the players met them 20 sessions ago, they could be Qi rank 6 in the present session). It is just a tool. You can use any approach you want here, from eye-balling the level to giving your NPCs XP the way you do PCs. 

I also came up with a random method, the above Defeated Master Progression Table. This was designed to handle NPCs who suffer a big defeat at the hands of the players, to determine how they react, but I may turn it into a more general table for randomly determine a given NPCs current level. 

Because the table was designed this afternoon it is just a rough attempt. I am sharing it with my players before the game for feedback and will probably make changes based on that, then make further changes after using it in play (and then create a modified version for NPCs in general). 

The Defeated Master Progression Table was designed with Li Liang in mind, an NPC one of the characters defeated in humiliating and painful fashion to strike a physical and psychological blow (with the aim of impacting her performance in a duel one year from now). So it was created with that specific tactic in mind (and meant to reward it much of the time, but also keep open the possibility that the defeat serves as a key motivator for the NPC). Once I have a chance to test it out tonight and make some changes I should be able to write about how it went and possibly put together a new version. 

GUIDE TO OGRE GATE

With the release of Sons of Lady 87: an Ogre Gate Campaign, I thought it would be a good time to provide an overview of the Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate system and setting landscape. 

The core book is Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate. It is a wuxia rules system based on d10 dice pools, skills and a vast number of Kung Fu techniques. The core d10 mechanic is sleek and works pretty quickly too. You simply roll your pool, take the single highest result and compare it to the target number to see if you succeeded. Characters advance by gaining ranks in Qi, which happens when they meet certain thresholds for experience (i.e. finding or stealing a martial arts manual, fighting an opponent more powerful than themselves, growing their reputation, etc). It is set in a fantasy world inspired by Song Dynasty China. The book itself is 492 pages, with a large portion devoted to Kung Fu techniques and setting. It also includes sects, NPCs, everything you need to make a character and a sample adventure. There is also crucial GM advice, including guidance on using the Grudge Encounter system (which really helps emulate the feel of a jianghu setting). It is the only book you need to play Ogre Gate, and it is available as a pay-what-you-want HERE, and available in print HERE. 

The next most important book for the setting is Ogre Gate Inn and the Strange Land of Li Fan. This provides a full description of the client kingdom Li Fan, a host of sects, NPCs, maps (including Yao Gong Palace), a large adventure inspired by the Dragon Inn films, new Kung Fu techniques and monsters. The adventure takes up three chapter of the book and the book itself comes in at about 190 pages or so. There is a ton of adventure material to draw on in this one. It also has a bit more supernatural horror in it. Ogre Gate Inn and the Strange Land of Li Fan is available in print and in PDF. 

And of course there is the Sons of Lady 87 Campaign Book. This provides an overview of the imperial prefecture of Fan Xu. It also is focused on criminal organizations with an emphasis on the 87 Killers. It is available in PDF and will be available in print soon. 

The next two books are adventures. 

The first is The House of Paper Shadows. This one is a pure blend of wuxia and horror. It takes the players to the House of Paper Shadows, a mysterious organization in the Qi Xien setting, where they face all kinds of horrors and can be transported back in time to the dark events that created the House of Paper Shadows in the first place. The house of Paper Shadows is available in print and PDF and is100 pages. 

The next adventure is called Tournament of Daolu. This is just a fun book. It spans time and place as well, starting with an adventure in the southen wilderness, but culminating in a tournament in the city of Daolu, where the players may find themselves back in time meeting Sunan and Sun Mai. The city is well fleshed out, and the tournament is structured providing the GM with a clear way to manage elimination and competitors. The Tournament of Daolu is only available in PDF.

After that there is the sects of the martial world series, which has 6 entries. These are PDFs that each include one new sect. Presently they are: Maidens of the Jade Blue Sky, The Silken Robe Society, Crocodile Sect, Relentless Corpse Sect, Temple of the Jade Mercies, and The Glorious Death Cult. Each PDF is just 50 cents. 

In addition this blog contains a number of useful Ogre Gate books. The first is War of Swarming Beggars. This is a campaign and setting book that describes Hai'an, a land in the south that is still independent from the empire. You can find it HERE. There is some really great stuff in it in my opinion. Originally I was going to put it out as a print and PDF book but other projects became more important to prioritize. So this is pretty much a full module, it just hasn't been through the normal editing process and it has no art. 

The Blood Stained Roads of the Martial World was also meant to be a book, but it got sidelined as other projects vied for the pipeline. It is essentially an encounter book but the encounters are quite fleshed out. Think of it as one big encounter table with the encounters fully described. 

The Profound Masters is also on the blog. This goes into more depth with profound sects and abilities. 

Journey to the South provides a description of the lands south of Hai'an. This is pretty useful and includes my hand drawn map. I ran a number of campaigns that ventured into this territory so most of the stuff here comes from those sessions. 

There is also an official Ogre Gate novel called Legends of Ogre Gate, which describes the rise of the ancient heroes Sunan and Bao (important figured mentioned in the setting history of the core rulebook). This was written by Jeremy "Deathblade" Bai, who co-wrote Tournament of Daolu, Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades and was a part of many of the early Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate campaigns. At the time Jeremy was translating xianxia novels so he was able to bring that knowledge to the setting. It is a large book, at 808 pages with nearly 100 chapters. 

There are also two Ogre Gate adjacent books out there. The first is Strange Tales of Songling, which is a Bedrock Games book that was inspired by Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and similar stories. I decided to make the game after I went through the penguin edition of Strange Tales of Songling (which is shorter than the multivolume sets) and did one entry on the blog for every story in the book. Each entry was Ogre Gate content inspired by that particular story. It was so much fun, I made a simplified version of the Ogre Gate system specifically for a setting inspired by Pu Songling's stories and similar anomaly accounts. Strange Tales of Songling is available in PDF and in print. 

Then there is Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades published by Osprey Games. It is available in print and PDF. I co-designed this with Jeremy, and it is quite different from Ogre Gate, but uses the same core mechanics. Unlike Ogre Gate it is set in historical China and it is specifically emulating the wuxia style of Gu Long. I'm very proud of how this one came out. It really captures what we were going for. One thing I love about it is it does a great job of emulating the genre while still remaining highly gameable. Also where Ogre Gate is sect-focused, the Jianghu of RBRB is places greater priority on individual characters. There are still sects, of course but the emphasis was more on unique characters who populate the martial world and their relationships with one another. 

SONS OF LADY 87 AVAILABLE IN PDF

Sons of Lady 87: An Ogre Gate Campaign is available in PDF (and soon to be available in print). 

Sons of Lady 87 brings the underworld of Fan Xu Prefecture to life with a massive cast of NPCs. Explore the criminal life of the southern empire, serving Lady 87, or working against her, as new recruits working their way up the ranks. This campaign book focuses on gangs and criminal sects vying for dominance in the region. 

It features tables for managing sect warfare, at-the-table advice for running extended Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate campaigns, a complete overview of Fan Xu Prefecture, and much more. 

Sons of Lady 87 provides a full chapter on the 87 Killers, a criminal shadow empire led by Lady 87. It also includes a visual guide to all the sects in the area, helping clarify alliances and conflicts. 

It includes new profound sects, new kung fu techniques, and new equipment. 

The book is illustrated throughout with artwork by Jackie Musto, maps by Francesca Baerald and a prefecture map by Robert Conley. 

Check it out and be sure to leave a review if you enjoy it!