Just got Art of Wuxia and I have to say I'm really impressed by what I have seen so far. The writing is crisp and clear, following the same tradition as DwD's other d00 games. I also like the qi mechanics and the kung fu styles. You can tell it's a d00 game but skinned properly to fit the wuxia theme. Needless to say, the rest of the system is fine since it takes after its predecessors. Finally, I'm also glad you decided to stay away from enforcing politically correctness, which was a big gripe I had with Jiangshi and thus why I decided to give Art of Wuxia a shot.
Can't wait to run this! :)
I'm so glad you like the game. I have a compact writing style so skimming doesn't always work very well. As far as "enforcing politically correctness" I don't know what you mean. The book is just about wuxia and bringing that storytelling grenre to your table. It was tested for cultural sensitivity and we made sure the art holds up to DwD standards of fairness and propriety. It isn't making any political statements and we'd like to keep it that way.
I hope you do get to run it soon. It really shines at the table. I haven't had a player yet that didn't love it. Game on!
Thanks! I am looking forward to it too. I will post some thoughts on it once I manage to get a game started.
I also love the game so far. You've done some fantastic things to bring the genre alive, and mimic those high-flying Kung-fu movies we love.
For example the Qi power: "Heroic Pose" is almost screaming for my players to stand-up at the table and say something cocky (but poorly dubbed in English so their lips don't match the words...hahahaha).
Also, I love the rules for "Improvised Weapons" (again, another standard of the genre) with damage output that doesn't make it a poor choice. I've also ruled that anyone can pick something up instantly and use it as a shield/weapon, even as a 'reaction' to an attack - which makes for those chaotic fights in Tea-Houses.
The Cinematic Sliders is fantastic (and so simple, that other rpgs should have this for an easy/heroic mode).
The simple 'one-line' of stats for minor NPCs is perfect. I don't want to wade through lines of stat-blocks for mooks who are going to drop like flies.
One question: I've seen the term "d00Lite' games. Which of your other games uses this system?
Barebones Fantasy, Covert Ops and Frontier Space (which is a tad more complicated with six characteristics instead of four, but still basically the same game).
@Banesfinger
Thank you so much for getting the game! I'm very glad you are enjoying it.
Heroic pose has always been fun with my home games and very exciting at conventions. Players have pushed back their chairs, described or mimicked their pose. So much fun! One player who has been an awesome return player at my Con of the North games coaches other players and they lay in wait for the final conflict before springing that ability, usually right before the big bad is about to give them some pay back. Yep, Heroic Pose is a crowd favorite. When I watch wuxia with some of my play testers they call out "Heroic Pose!" when they see it happen on screen.
Improvised weapons: yes you understand them exactly the way they were designed. I've had some players try to use improvised weapons in every scene! I like your house rule about reflexively using something to fend off attacks. Since they can spend qi to have their weapon broken with the Final Parry option they wont be risking their own weapons as often. If that isn't of concern for your games no problem. Just thought I'd bring it up. Something I do and I do wish I'd gotten it into the game is I allow a player to choose what weapon is in hand when they start their turn. This allows for all sorts of fun weapon changes and surprises. I would consider this a "Cinematic Slider".
Speaking of which, Cinematic Sliders: I wanted to provide as many options to spark fun game ideas and so that players can choose options that best fit the kind of game they want. Just as there are so many flavors of wuxia I needed to make sure I didn't lock the rules down to just one type. And some of those sliders can greatly change the feel of the game. Which is good!
Simple NPC stat blocks were a must. They are the same as found in the other d00Lite games for the minor NPCs. Major NPCs in this game got a simpler stat block than in other d00Lite games. This is a genre where the GM will be creating many many and I mean many major NPCs for the players to fight. I had to come up with a simpler way of making them as it was just breaking me putting in all the work to make them like PCs only to have them killed or taken out oh so quickly. The GM can now spend time on making their Major NPCs notable. Try giving them a weapon of ingenious design. For example: when I've used the "Ghost Blades", Ting Bo and Ting Bi I give them dao that are actually two dao with locking hand grips. They then can go from each fighting with one, to both fighting with two dao! Using that surprise factor they can cause quite a bit of fear in their opponents when that surprise is sprung.
As for what other games are d00Lite games taustinoc has it right!
Barebones Fantasy, Covert Ops and Frontier Space (which is a tad more complicated with six characteristics instead of four, but still basically the same game).
And lastly, thank you for leaving a review/comments on DrivethruRPG!
Improvised weapons: yes you understand them exactly the way they were designed. I've had some players try to use improvised weapons in every scene! I like your house rule about reflexively using something to fend off attacks. Since they can spend qi to have their weapon broken with the Final Parry option they wont be risking their own weapons as often. If that isn't of concern for your games no problem. Just thought I'd bring it up.
@jasales
That was exactly what happened in a tea-house brawl I just refereed:
An assassin who was disguised as a serving-girl, served the Player Characters their tea, and with the 'Hidden Weapon' ability struck one of the characters.
With the -20% penalty to defend, the player asked if they could use Qi for the final parry option. As written, you need a weapon/shield to use that option. The player quickly asked if they could use the serving tray or a plate for a shield. That sounded like a great scene from a movie-battle so we allowed it.
The players had such great fun using chairs, tables, plates and other improvised weapons that they had wiped out half the assassins and hadn't even un-sheathed their weapons yet! It was great fun!
It sounds like you are doing it in exactly the right spirit.
Also the cost of a qi is high with standard rules so your call was perfect. It went with the cool thing the character wanted to do! Awesome!
Here are just some of the things I've seen players use as improvised weapons: bowls, plates, chopsticks (of course!), railings, benches, tables. roof tiles, flagstones (a very strong character did this), stones, calligraphy brush, small cart, weiqi (go) game pieces, yuanbao, fans (of course), hot teapot, and a blade of saw grass.
Mooks are there for exactly these kinds of encounters. You and your players have the right mindset and I'm glad you are having a good time with it. Please feel free to share more as your game goes along. I and others would love to hear more.
And when they get comfortable, throw them against a formation (page 96-95)! :)