There's other options for non human cities that have more of a Tian Xia vibe to them. THere's the nation of samsarans, or that nation ruled by the Kraken. And the underwater nation, which would have been pretty crazy
Instead we got hobgoblins.
Asian Hobgoblins tho, with a Half-orc Geisha, and a half-Oni template.
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Asian Hobgoblins tho, with a Half-orc Geisha, and a half-Oni template.
While true, I wouldve preferred something more tied to Asian mythology. We had Jade Regent which had a lot of good stuff about oni.
Honestly, something set in Goka or Dtang Ma would've been really cool. Goka is pretty metropolitan and has it's routes to the west, while Dtang Ma is that South East asian analogue that really isn't represented in RPGs. Seeing some of the creatures and customs of both of those areas would have been pretty awesome and I feel they missed out on an opportunity with Distant Shores to showcase that.
I find Ducharg very impressive. It´s actually one of the cities i like most from that book. Very impressive background for adventures if you ask me. The art is supreme and it´s a great mix of raw barbarism, brutality, and very defined culture.
I don´t think that the underwater city would have been or be a good choice, that´s a completely different thing again.
What surprised me a bit in Distant Shores though were the Casmaron cities, who have that Silk Road feel to them a bit. So while it´s not really Tian Xia, it´s nearly there and could be expanded in that direction, what would be cool. For some reason that rings a bit Cimmeria for me too. A wide, more barbaric, land. More pulp^^
Asian style hobgoblins are still just hobgoblins but we have samsaran, kitsune, oni, ratfolk, kami, dragon ruled lands, a kraken ruled city, and a lot we still don't know about.
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I'll definitely agree, it's a really good city right up. But I would've preferred something more tied to Tian Xia. With yokai or something that really reflects the culture instead of taking traditionally western creatures and putting eastern trappings on them.
Also perhaps we are veering off topic too much.
Hey now, my threads never go off topic... :-D
Fair point
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BTW, isn't "oriental" now more of a racist term, at least in the USA? It's still in academic use in Germany (we have a whole branch called "Oriental Studies"), but I've lately heard quite a lot that the word is considered to be racist in American circles.
Anyway, I'll add my vote for a new Tian Xia AP. Of course I'd love for it to be centered on Minkai, but with the inevitable howls of "But what about my continuity!?!?", I know it won't be. As such, my vote would be for a Dtang Ma, Shokuro, Tianjing or Xa Hoi AP, as those nations appear to me to be the most interesting (grantedly, Shokuro mostly because they also have Samurai in spades). Amanander would also be very interesting, but would probably miss the point of a Tian Xia AP.
Considering "oriental" comes from "orient", what comes from latin "oriens" meaning east, with a word root in "oriri" what means to rise and is the opposite of "okzident" (west), labeling that as racist would be more than a bit ridiculous.
It´s only geographical descriptions the romans used and the world took over from them.
So far it seems to me, with the last chapters of Jade Regent, Paizo hit the nail on the spot. Minkai is the "japanese" region, most things there fashioned after japanese culture. Quite some people seem to like that, but then, it´s probably also the most well-known asian culture.
What i don´t understand is why some don´t like the Hobgoblin city Ducharg then.
On my part, i think reducing TianXia to Minkai and the japanese culture would be a bit sad. Chinese, korean, mongolian and south-east asian influences are just as exciting and interesting. Therefore more of the rest of TianXia is highly welcome.
As to Adam Daigles comment:
I don´t think that there need to be exact and correct represantations of any culture. The Inner Sea does draw different inspirations, yet makes something new and Golarion owned of it. The same should be true for TianXia. I don´t believe that every designer knew of every myth or inspiration before already, so there might be some investigation and research due. All you need to know is at your hands though. And i´m sure people who could help out are easily found too.
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BTW, isn't "oriental" now more of a racist term, at least in the USA? It's still in academic use in Germany (we have a whole branch called "Oriental Studies"), but I've lately heard quite a lot that the word is considered to be racist in American circles.
When used for people, yes. It's not necessarily racist in the sense that slurs are, but it's disfavored. More on why here.
Funny detail: Oriental work well on a flat map used for time zones, but reality wise, from most of the American Continents, Going to Asia is shorter but harder going West, so Occidental.
So the Americas probably use Eastern/Oriental out of old habits...
Actually, mostly because modern scientific geography was very much formed out of European academic work in the eighteenth and nineteenth century and adopted by basically the entire world as the standard.
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Granted, using Oriental when speaking only of Asia is a bit weird.
Actually, "Oriental" was used for pretty much everything east of Austria, at least colloquially. ^^ For example, there's the "Orient Express" train.
Retrospectively, the Orient Express might just have inspired the Jade Regent Caravan^^ With the plot twist someone becomes emperor at the end, or not.
Asia actually has 3 parts though:
-China, Korea and Japan
-South East Asia with Philipines, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, etc.
-the middle East
Now i´m not sure if middle East is the right name, but there is that region that is not really arabian, including North India, Nepal, Burma, but also Pakistan, Afghanistan, Xinjiang (West China).
Kind of the region between Iran/Persia and China, which carries it´s very own flavor. Where once the Silk Road was.
Also in those areas you could include places like Georgia and Turkmenistan
Also in those areas you could include places like Georgia and Turkmenistan
Definately! And all areas with a very interesting and inspiring past for RPG´s!
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BTW, isn't "oriental" now more of a racist term, at least in the USA?
To some Laowai, (老外, old outsider, slang: foreigner) yes, it is. However to quote my co-worker here in Zhangjiajie just now on the general attitude of the word in China.
"Would you care if I called you Oriental? Some people think that's racist or rude."
"That's stupid, just don't call me Japanese." *Rest of office laughs.*
As far as my personal views as someone that lives primarily in China and Japan, it's just an antiquated term. It's much more common to use and hear Eastern/Western when talking about regional and cultural differences as a whole.
As far as an AP I really like Minkai and all things Japanese, but seems a more Chinese themed AP would be the way to go considering we have already "been there, done that". HOWEVER, SE Asia and Korea have been woefully underrepresented in almost everything in fictional media, being eclipsed by Japan or China. So if there was another Tian Xia AP I would like to see some of the regions inspired by those cultures included if only for a book or two.
Paizo caters to a lot of customers, so some of its APs are right up my alley (Hell's Rebels blew me away), while others are not for me. Since we take years to finish just one AP in our group, I can afford to cherry-pick my favorites. Still, I'd probably cancel my subscription for a Tian Xia AP.
Oh there's a new Tian Xa book out I missed that in my notifications I'll have to take a look at it although I am sad it sounds like western monsters got a big look in rather than eastern ones or eastern cultures it could have had.
What book is that? Did I miss one?
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Oh there's a new Tian Xa book out I missed that in my notifications I'll have to take a look at it although I am sad it sounds like western monsters got a big look in rather than eastern ones or eastern cultures it could have had.What book is that? Did I miss one?
No I just misunderstood what they're talking about thought it was a Tian Xa specific one but its just the various cultures one.
I'll add my name to the petition for a Tian Xia AP, on the condition that the writers of the AP each read the Master Li & Number Ten Ox Trilogy of books by Barry Hughart before they start writing. What I don't want is a standard AP that has Chinese names and concepts slapped on like a cheap coat of paint.
Yes...Yesss...YESSSSS!
IT NEEDS TO BE ABOUT PREVENTING THE RISE OF THE KAIJU FROM DESTROYING THE DRAGON KINGDOMS! :D
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IT NEEDS TO BE ABOUT ENSURING THE RISE OF THE KAIJU TO DESTROY THE DRAGON KINGDOMS! :D
Fixed that for you!
IA! IA! GHIDORAH FTAGHN....
*Dragged away by Toho Studios copyright goons and stuffed into a barrel*
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I ran Jade Regent for my group and really really liked the first three books. Then I absolutely LOVED the last three that finally put us silly Varisians on the other side of the world.
I'm all for another Tian Xia centered AP, but I'm also just as much in favor of a Tian Xia World Guide followed by maybe a handful of splat books detailing more on the people and the geography.
Now I need to go start writing up some sort of Numeria/Minkai teleportation debacle that involves giant robots battling Kaiju.
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IT NEEDS TO BE ABOUT ENSURING THE RISE OF THE KAIJU TO DESTROY THE DRAGON KINGDOMS! :DFixed that for you!
IA! IA! GHIDORAH FTAGHN....
*Dragged away by Toho Studios copyright goons and stuffed into a barrel*
LOL, good one. ;) :D