I’m not sure if we’re ready for this conversation yet.

First, this is still a concept in development. Second, I’m dreadfully afraid I’m going to get accused of cultural appropriation over this one. Last, I’m not sure I’m even the first one to come up with this plan, so it might be getting scrapped.

My plan is to treat Unarmed Combat like a fighting skill for them. Various maneuvers will cast like spells. Regular punch, kick, chop, thrust, headlock, etc still does 1d6 + STR or AGL depending on which is higher. (Rules hack number two.)

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

Then, they will get a Secondary Skill for their Martial Arts Style. Much like spellcasting, each style will be cast based on STR, AGL, and maybe CON. (Steel Jacket Kung Fu.) Then each special attack casts just like a spell. Rolling Dragons on an attack roll with a maneuver do extra damage. Rolling Demons on a casting check have their own icky boo-boo table to roll on different from the mages.

Some styles will have basic, hard hitting maneuvers. Others will rely on complicated joint locks and pressure points to cause pain or paralysis. Still other styles will resemble magic, allowing practitioners to fall great distances without getting hurt, hide in plain sight, fly through the air while holding a sword and land on a single grass reed to hold them up.

Once the style is determined, there will be a list of maneuvers associated with the style. Not every style has access to every maneuver in the game. However, if one finds a Seifu or a Sensei willing to teach a technique not on the list, arrangements can be made to learn something outside of their regular martial arts school.

However, such things may be frowned upon in the martial arts world. Teaching a student from another school one’s own techniques could come with dire consequences for the student and the teacher. This is so people aren’t running around learning the deadliest moves out of every style list. We don’t want characters running around with Death Touch, Wu-Tang Sword, Wuxia Flight, Ultimate Dodge, and Ninjitsu maneuvers. Some techniques take dedicated practitioners years to learn. Some young upstart shouldn’t be able to just pick it up overnight.

Statistically it will look like Profession: Monk. Skills: Acrobatics, Awareness, Bushcraft, Evade, Healing, Spot Hidden, Swimming, Brawling, Knives, Spears, Staves, Swords. Yes, that’s a lot of skills, but you don’t have to take them all. Brawling and Evade are heavily recommended. I’ll come up with gear packages later. Heroic Ability = Martial Arts Style. Pick one style.

I love martial arts movies, Chinese culture, Japanese History, and all things Asia.

That having been said, I’m still an old white guy. I honestly would have loved to have joined a Shao Lin temple as a young child, but it would have changed my perspective on life completely and I wouldn’t be in the TTRPG niche right now. Zen Buddhism generally requires a high degree of minimalism. People who know me know I’m kinda the opposite of a minimalist. (Maximum-ist? Maximal-ist? Maximillian? Whatever.)

There is a much larger context, though. I’m not doing this whole thing in the Misty Vale. It’s going to be part of a much larger Dragonbane setting book. I’ve been toying around with the idea of building a sort of Asian themed Dragonbane world. The only problem is I can’t afford to hire a cultural consultant, and I don’t want to get absolutely shredded on social media. The social media outcry/backlash has been shown to hurt sales. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t on a digital product with no Kickstarter or crowdfunding sources. Still, Samurai Wolfkin, Cat Folk Monks, and Ninja Mallards…

Then there’s the game research component to all this.

I want to make sure, as I do with all of my projects, that I’m not merely duplicating someone else’s efforts. I won’t say “plagiarizing” because I haven’t seen any kind of Dragonbane Asian style adventures book yet. However, my research into Drakar och Demoner is still incomplete, and I wasn’t around in Sweden for the last 30 to have possibly seen one go by either.

I’m going to poke around a bit in both the Basic Role Playing (BRP) and Drakar och Demoner spheres to see if there’s any sort of “Oriental Adventures” type of supplement. I know the very term OA tends to get some people riled up and I certainly don’t want to arouse that kind of anger. I’m just saying it wouldn’t surprise me to see a similarly named product from before 2000 when things weren’t always so culturally sensitive.

I also know there’s a Book of Magic coming for Dragonbane sometime in the next year or two. No word yet as far as I know. That book might change up with way we look at spellcasting and mess with the way I’ve chosen to do maneuvers. I would also love if it sorted out Animism a bit for Druids, Shamans, and other different belief systems. I’d also love a fix for Mentalism to make it more psionics than magic per se.

There is also talk of a Dragonbane Expert Rulebook being ported over from the original Swedish version. From what I’ve heard it’s Drakar och Demoner’s version of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Same rules, just more professions, details, maybe skills, weapons, armor, spells, Kin, and so on. It might add stats to the monster entries. I have not seen a translation of this book yet, but I’ve heard it’s really cool.

More details as they arise. I’ve done a martial arts/Samurai/medieval Asia supplement for both BareBones Fantasy and ICRPG that never made it to publication. I’m taking this version of the project by ear and working on other things elsewhere while I wait to see what goes on with the game.  

Thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you. Keep it real, but please strive for positivity, too. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy in your life.