Needs to be made: QfG-style game with an East Asian setting

[Blackthorne519]

Hey, I'm pedantic too, and I'm quick to correct most people on "Dao" vs. "Tao". But you OBVIOUSLY know your stuff, with Pinyin translation and I see it's an educated and researched spelling, not a phonetic-to-text translation error. I'll always call it "Tao", probably because it's the way I learned it and I'm a very large fan of Taoism.


Bt

[Brainiac]

Don't get me started on Chinese mythology, for example, because I could write for hours on the subject of Fox Spirits alone; and mention Sun Wukong at your peril.

Heh-heh-heh; a user after my own heart. I feel the need to discuss the differences between the Classical and Eastern Elementals with you now (perhaps even a debate on my overarching assimilation of the various Elements into my Eight). By the way, what exactly are the major differences between the Chinese huli jing and the Japanese kitsune (or, for that matter, the Korean kumiho)? And why is mentioning the main character from Journey to the West dangerous?

[JustLuke32]

Brainiac:

I'm not too informed about the differences between Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fox spirits, I'm afraid. I'm more into Chinese mythology, history, culture, and classical literature, than the equivalent Japanese and Korean stuff. Chinese fox spirits - the huli jing you mention - are pretty interesting, though. They, like many anthropomorphic creatures in Chinese mythology, represent animals or animal spirits who have either become sufficiently enlightened to take on the semblance of human form, or who crave human form and seek to achieve it through wicked means such as possession and trickery. They can be either male or female, although they are typically female, and either good or evil, although they tend to be either good but misguided or mischievous and self centred. The nine-tailed fox is a particularly well known example of a fox spirit, but more generally, fox spirits are considered to be unlucky, selfish, female spirits who often prey on men in particular. Examples of this include the various stories of men falling in love with woman, only to later discover that the women are fox spirits masquerading as humans. China was a major power and influence in the past, and much of Japanese and Chinese culture, society, and even language have been significantly influenced by it. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Japanese and Korean fox spirits shared many if not most of the characteristics of their Chinese equivalent, because they are most likely derived from the same Chinese source. If you want to add a bit of excitement to your life, you might like to try calling a Chinese woman a fox spirit and see how she reacts... I don't recommend it, though!

As for Sun Wukong, and Journey to the West in general, it's only dangerous to mention it to me, because I'll most likely bore you to death on the subject if you do. Other topics that you might want to avoid are Wuxia and hopping vampires. Actually, on the subject of Wuxia - a genre of Chinese literature and now movies that could be described (overly simplistically) as a "romantic" combination of honour, chivalry, and fantasy... no, no, no. Must. Stop. Writing.

[JustLuke32]

Hey, I'm pedantic too, and I'm quick to correct most people on "Dao" vs. "Tao". But you OBVIOUSLY know your stuff, with Pinyin translation and I see it's an educated and researched spelling, not a phonetic-to-text translation error. I'll always call it "Tao", probably because it's the way I learned it and I'm a very large fan of Taoism.


Bt

Yeah, most people know it as Tao. It's no big deal. The reasons I gave are all true, but honestly, I only write it as "Dao" because I prefer the look and feel of the word on the page in comparison to "Tao". It's an anal writerly thing. In truth, outside of China most people would spell it as "Tao", and that's fine by me.

[Kloreep]

Or maybe I'm talking a load of gibberish.

I think it sounds promising. A choice between philosophies would be a heck of a lot more interesting to me than "will I kill this monster with magic, or a sword?"

[Brainiac]

Mkay, so avoid the Monkey King (Sun Wukong), wuxia, and jiang shi (hopping vampires). There are many similarities between the fox concepts, though I believe overall the kitsune has most of the beneficent aspects while the kumiho has mostly the malevolent aspects.

I didn't see anything against discussing the elementals or the longs, though...

[Labrynian Rebel]

and mention Sun Wukong at your peril.

Sun Wukong!

By the way, I prefer "stop the evil guy from summoning an evil being" peril, but I'm not picky