Blood, Blades, & Booze

Out beyond the reach of the Emperor is a world of martial arts practitioners, bandits, criminals, and gangs, prostitutes and brothels, secret sects and societies, inns and teahouses, tales of heroism and notoriety, and more. It is a place of corruption and lawlessness and unbridled consumption of alcohol despite the best efforts of the Emperor and his officials, but it is also a place of wandering ‘knights errant’, martial artists, court officials, pursuivant detectives, and the ‘greatest’ swordsmen of the age who right wrongs, feud with rivals and lovers, dedicate themselves to their arts and their crafts, engage in fierce, determined battles with their enemies, compete in tournaments for great prizes and reputation, enter into duels for reputation and face, and more… This is the Jianghu, not so much a place as a culture, and also the setting for Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying, published by Osprey Games—the imprint of Osprey Publishing best known for its highly illustrated military history books. It is the fourth roleplaying game from the publisher after Paleomythic, Romance of the Perilous Land, and Those Dark Places.

Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying is not designed as a sourcebook on historical China, but rather presents a romanticised, even ahistorical version ancient China, one drawn from the Wuxia novels of Gu Long and the darker films of the Shaw Brothers Studio of the 1970s and 1980s to create a grimmer, more brutal, and more dangerous take upon the Wuxia genre. It comes complete with rules for both martial arts and character creation, a discussion of the genre, a lengthy reading and watching list, notes aplenty on Chinese culture for the Game Master and player who is new to it, and an extensive sample Jianghu, a sandbox with tens of NPCs, organisations, locations, and potential plots, as well as a scenario. The focus is entirely upon Wuxia and martial artists. There is no magic—except for astrology and similar forms of divination and an option allowing the Magical Arts skill to launch attacks, which requires Game Master approval, and there are no supernatural creatures—so there is scope for the Game Master to create her own or for the authors to write a supplement. Instead, players take roles such as Brave Archer, Daoist priest, Master Swordsman, Palm Master, Unarmed Boxer, and others, who all study and practice some form of martial arts.

A character in Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying is defined by his Signature Abilities, Counters, Special Resources, skills, eccentricities, and an occupation. A Signature Ability represents martial arts styles or talents, for example, ‘Butterfly Sword Expert I’, which means that the martial artist fights with grace and skill to easily deflect blows and slide in strikes to improve his Evade ability, or ‘Breath of Fire’, with which the martial artist can channel the fire element to scorch all of enemies around him. A Counter is a means of defence against a particular type of attack, such as ‘Bending Reed Defence’, with which a martial artist can lean out of the way when his head is targeted, and then snap back to deliver a sharp blow, or ‘Water Torrent’ with which the martial artist splashes water onto the floor and uses it to slide behind an opponent to attack with a bonus on the next round. Special Resources can be wealth and property or social resources. So an illicit business, landed gentry, or a manor, or a loyal friend, devoted ex-lovers (who feud and bicker when they meet—brilliant for roleplaying potential and comedy there), or an official post and title—though sometimes this prevents the martial artist from leaving the post, so he can send a loyal servant instead, in which case, the servant transmits the Experience Points earned to his master in his reports! Skills fall into five categories. These are Defences, Martial Arts Skills, Specialist Skills—such as Medicine and Alchemy or a particular talent like painting or poetry, Unorthodox skills such as Disguise and Drinking, and Mental Skills such as Command and Reasoning. Eccentricities are quirks and flaws, from Absent-Minded and Beautiful to Persistent Smile and Scars. They can also include Deep Eccentricities, which represent recurring problems for the Martial Artist, such as Bad Breath, In Love, or Social Climber. 

A martial artist also has a Max Wounds value—typically three for a starting martial artist, representing the amount of damage a martial artist can take before rolls on the quite nasty ‘Death and maiming’ Table, a Resist Value—the ability to absorb wounds before taking damage, and Fire Deviation and Killing Aura. Fire Deviation represents an internal imbalance in the martial artist’s Qi energy and is gained by failed meditation rolls or can even be selected to gain an extra Signature Move. However, suffering from Fire Deviation also means gaining a Fire Deviation Eccentricity, such as suffering from delusions of grandeur or your hair or eye colour changing. Killing Aura is measure of how powerful or capable a martial artist is and is equal to his Level. It can easily be detected by other martial artists. In addition, for each NPC or Player Character a martial artist kills, he increases his Killing Aura Darkness, which hangs over the martial artist like a cloud and again, is an indication of how powerful he is and to an extent, his reputation.

To create a martial artist a player chooses a Signature Ability, a Counter, a Special Resource, assigns points skills—this is done by skill type and is standard for all martial artists, an eccentricity, and an occupation, before defining a backstory and filling out secondary details. If the martial artist qualifies for it, he can also select an occupation. This primarily determines his income. The process primarily involves making a fair number of choices and is simple enough, and notably, the deadliness of the setting and rules is foreshadowed in the suggestion that a player create a backup martial artist! However, the process is hindered by the wealth of choices and everything that a player needs being spread out over eight chapters—almost half of the book—and not necessarily in the order that the checklist gives.

Wang Yimu, the Widow of the Needle is the daughter of a wealthy merchant who was forced to marry beneath her status when her father’s business collapsed. Her husband was a tailor and his mother taught and scolded her over her lack of skill as an embroiderer and seamstress. She did not love her husband, but when he was killed by bandits, she first escaped their ambush and then set out to kill them one by one, tracking them down and enticing them in her company before sewing them up and leaving them behind her… When she returned, she told her mother-in-law that she was in charge now and would be taking over the business. Free of the scolding, she flourished and her skill grew and grew until she is one of most talented women in the Jianghu with a needle.

Wang Yimu, the Widow of the Needle
Signature Ability: Needle and Thread Expert
Counter: Steel-Shattering Finger
Eccentricity: Beautiful
Special Resource: Prosperous Business
Occupation: Artisan

Max Wounds: 3
Resist: 1
Fire Deviation: 0
Killing Aura: 1
Killing Aura Darkness: 0
Drinking Limit: 1

Skills
Defences: Evade 2 (7), Hardiness 1 (6), Wits 2 (7)
Martial Arts: External 0, Internal 3, Lightness 1
Specialist Skills: Medicine and Alchemy 1, Meditation, Survival, Talent (Seamstress) 3, Trade 2
Unorthodox Skills: Disguise, Drinking 2, Gambling 2, Magical Arts 2, Theft
Mental Skills: Command, Detect, Empathy 2, Persuade 2, Reasoning 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Endurance, Muscle, Ride 1, Speed 3
Knowledge Skills: Institutions 2, Jianghu 2, Peoples and Places 2, Religion, Scholarly Arts

Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying is a Level and skills roleplaying game. A martial artist will start play with one Signature Ability and one Counter, but will gain more, plus increases to his skill as he goes up in Level. The rate at which he rises is determined by the length of the campaign—the shorter the campaign, the faster the improvement rate, up to maximum of Level Nine, whatever the campaign length.

Mechanically, Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying uses pools of ten-sided dice. Typically, this will be one, two, or three ten-sided dice, depending upon the level of the skill. Rolls are made again a target number—typically six—and the single highest die is counted. If it equals or succeeds the target number, the martial artist has been successful. A Roll of ten counts as total success and gives a more specular result. In opposed rolls, the single highest die rolled is compared to the opponent’s roll, the highest roll succeeding. Penalties and bonuses subtract or add dice respectively, as do many Signatures Moves, although there is a soft skill cap of a maximum of seven being rolled for any one action.

For example, Wang Yimu, the Widow of the Needle has tracked down one of the bandits who killed her husband and attempts to seduce him. Her player declares that she will not actually seduce him, but lull him into a false sense of security and to do that, Wang Yimu will use her Persuade  skill, which gives her two dice. The Game Master gives her a bonus die because the bandit is drunk. This gives her player three dice to roll and he rolls two, six, and seven. The latter is the highest result and is definitely higher than the bandit’s Wits of six. Wang Yimu, the Widow of the Needle has him where she wants him.

Combat revolves around six skills. The three Martial Arts—External, Internal, and Lightness, and the three Defences—Evade, Hardiness, and Wits. Evade is the ability to avoid being hit, Hardiness to withstand damage, and Wits a martial artist’s mental strength. They are not rolled, but provide the target numbers when a martial artist is attacked. External Martial Arts combines physical force and explosive damage, employing a martial artist’s bodily might with either weapons or unarmed; Internal Martial Arts is fighting with internal energy or inner force, to be able to emit energy blasts, fight with energy-based weapons-play or unarmed combat; and Lightness Martial Arts is about a martial artist’s control of his body weight and speed to be able to do all of the signature man oeuvres that the Wuxia genre is famous for—running up walls, hopping over rooftops, and balancing on treetops.

Combat involves three phases. In the ‘Talking and Analysis Phase’, opponents attempt to bluff or out talk their way out of the fight, psych them out to impose a penalty, assess them to gain bonus, or learn about a Signature Ability or Counter. In the ‘Roll Turn Order Phase’, the players roll their martial artist’s Speed to determine who goes first, and in the ‘Move and Perform Skill Action Phase’, the martial artists attack each other using a combination of Martial Arts skills, Signature Abilities, and possibly weapons. If appropriate, a Counter can be used in response to an attack. Notably though, the mechanics are deadly, so the Game Master will want to be careful as to what level of opposition she wants to pitch against the martial artists.

Continuing the example, Wang Yimu, the Widow of the Needle has tracked down one of the bandits who killed her husband and has him in her sights—she is ready to strike. . In the ‘Talking and Analysis Phase’, she definitely wants to analyse the bandit for the bonus. Her player two dice for her Empathy, getting a nine and five, the nine again being higher than the Bandit’s Wits of six. This grants her a bonus dice to the attack roll and bonus to the damage done if any wounds are inflicted on a Total Success or roll of ten. In the ‘Roll Turn Order Phase’, the player rolls three dice for Wang Yimu’s Speed, getting a one, three, and seven, the latter higher than the Bandit’s four and five. Wang Yimu, the Widow of the Needle will now use her Signature Ability of Needle and Thread Expert, making an Internal Martial Arts roll against the bandit’s Evade of six. Wang Yimu’s player has four dice to roll, three for the skill and one as a result of  the successful assessment. His roll of three, seven, eight, and eight indicates that the needles hit and Bandit is snapped out of his lascivious designs upon her by the sharp points imbedding themselves in his skin. Wang Yimu’s player rolls for damage, inflicting a single wound. The bandit responds by pulling out a knife and throwing it at her. The Game Master rolls two dice for the bandit’s External Martial Arts of two, attempting to beat Wang Yimu’s Evade of seven. He rolls ten and ten, which if successful is going to hurt her. Her player declares that Wang Yimu will Counter with Steel-Shattering Finger, which requires her player to roll a success and with a five, six, and seven, she gets her fingers in the way and stops the blade dead. At the end of the round, Wang Yimu has the bandit impaled on the needles and thread and the bandit needs to find another weapon.

In the second round, the bandit attempts to Psych Wang Yimu out, telling what he has planned for if he catches her. This is a Command roll, but with a score of one, the Game Master rolls the one die and on a five, does not best her Wits. Wang Yimu responds by telling the bandit what she did his comrades and with a roll of four and eight on her Persuade, it works—the bandit will be a penalty of one die to attack. However, the bandit first has to get a weapon, so the Game Master states that this will become a bonus die on the damage roll as he moves away from the pull of Wang Yimu’s needle and thread. This is automatic since the needles are embedded and the bandit is moving. Wang Yimu’s player rolls a seven and a ten. The latter inflicts two wounds, reducing the Bandit’s wounds to zero and necessitating a roll on the ‘Death and Maiming Table I: External Injuries’. A roll of ten indicates that the Game Master needs to roll on the ‘Death and Maiming II: Internal Injuries’ and the result of four is an intestinal injury which levies an Endurance penalty. The needles are free though and the bandit is armed, but is badly torn up by the said needles…

Beyond the rules, Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying provides the Game Master with swathes of information, ranging from overland travel, poisons and antidotes, rare and prized objects and weapons, rules for handling alcohol—it is possible play a drunken master with some effort, and more, even before she gets to the second half of the book, which is solely for the Game Master. This covers how to referee the Jianghu and run the roleplaying game, it includes an introduction to the Wuxia genre and a good bibliography, and a discussion of various scenarios and campaign types. There are also rules for handling fated destinies, calamities, secret histories and the like for martial artists in campaigns with bigger, bolder fates.

Aspects of Chinese culture in the Jianghu are also covered, including Face—earned, lost, given, or taken, various religions, philosophies, and beliefs, the drinking culture—inhabitants of the Jianghu, especially martial artists, are renowned for capacity to drink alcohol, the imperial bureaucracy, and more. As well as suggesting ways for Game Master to create her own Jianghu, Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying comes with its own. From the Top Ten Fighters and Top ten Weapons to the twenty locations and organisations and ninety-five NPCs—all nicely detailed and given stats and relationships with each other, this is a rich, Soap Opera Wuzia-style sandbox of a setting with a huge wealth of information for the Game Master to delve into and draw out ideas for scenarios and encounters from. This Jianghu could keep a campaign playing for a few months, there is so much information there. To help get a playing group started, ‘The Obsidian Bat’, a short scenario is also included, which has plenty of action and doublecrosses to keep the martial artists happy. Details of another scenario, free to download from the Osprey Games website, is also included.

Physically, Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying is a sturdy, glossy little hardback, done in the simple style seen in other titles from Osprey Games. It is well written and both illustrations and maps are excellent. However, Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying is simply not as well organised as it could be. Essentially chapters feel like they are out of order and they present the reader with such a deluge of information that it is at first difficult to take in and then it is difficult to work with. The index is decent, but finding things is not easy in the book and for example, creating a character takes a lot of flipping back and forth through its first half. 

Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying really is a simple, straightforward Wuxia roleplaying game, one that is easy to learn and easy to play. However, its organisation hampers both that and learning the game, there being nothing wrong with the organisation of individual chapters and their content, but rather the order in which the chapters are arranged. It also does not introduce the genre and what to watch or read for the player at all, let alone before leaping into the rules and the generation of martial artists. And for that, it presents the player with such a wealth of options, it is difficult to know where to start, such that it might have been useful if some ready-to-play archetypes had been included. There are pointers to that end, but they are just that.

Ultimately just hindered by its odd organisation, Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying is a gritty martial arts fantasy roleplaying game which plays fast and light, if not more than a little deadly, all backed up with plenty of well written background and advice for the Game Master and a fantastic Jianghu, or sandbox, of its very own. With a little bit effort to get past its organisational issues and Ruthless Blood, Ruthless Blades – Wuxia Roleplaying is a great introduction to roleplaying in the Wuxia genre.

The FATE of Wuxia

Out to the west lies Jiāngzhōu, the ‘border land’ on the edge of the ‘Divine Realm’ that is Shénzhōu. Far from the capital, this province is a place of banditry, gangsters, and corruption that preys not only on the local populace, but also the merchants that travel along the Jade Road and the Silk River. In response, the merchants have formed trade houses and hire security companies to protect their interests—interests that sometimes extend beyond the simply mercantile. Pirates, like the Blue Carp Brotherhood, led by the infamous pirate king, Fish-Eye Cheng, prey upon the boats moving up and down the Silk River; Five Demon Forest is known to be a haven for bandits and thieves, but is reputed to be haunted too; and perhaps the best place to meet famous fighters, soldiers, and wandering warriors in Băo Jiāng, the ‘Jewel of Jiāngzhōu’ that is the province’s biggest trading city, is the Drunken Dragon Inn, Playhouse, and Bath. Such a place has become an important meeting place because Jiāngzhōu is also home to the Wuxia, the ‘Wandering Swordsmen’ and ‘Knight Errants’ who lead lives often independent of society. Many are mercenaries, some follow their own paths, but all seek to become masters of Kung Fu.

This is the setting for Tianxia: Blood, Silk, & Jade, a Wuxia RPG setting in which chivalrous knights travel the byways and rivers of a province of a China that never was, righting and redressing wrongs, fighting for righteous, thwarting oppression, and seeking retribution for misdeeds. Published by Vigilance Press after a successful Kickstarter, Tianxia combines martial arts and cinematic action to tell stories in the vein of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is powered by Evil Hat Games’ FATE Core, a generic system that is light in tone and more than suited to cinematic action that relies upon the narrative input of the players—and Tianxia: Blood, Silk, & Jade gives the means to do that Wuxia style.

As per the FATE Core rules, characters in Tianxia are still defined by their Aspects, Skills, and Stunts. Changes to these—and indeed to the FATE Core rules—are kept to a minimum. They include the addition of a new skill, Chi, used to regain focus and overcome distractions, to create temporary Aspects that complement Kung Fu manoeuvres, to withstand magical attacks, and so on, as well as suggestions as to what to rename the existing skills to better fit the setting.

More than anything in Tianxia though, characters are defined by their martial arts style. Each martial arts style consists two substyles—element and body. With six element substyles—forest, ghost, iron, lightning, stone, and storm, and six body substyles—crane, dragon, monkey, phoenix, serpent, and tiger, Tianxia gives a total of thirty-six martial arts styles. Each sub-style provides three techniques, so every style has six techniques plus a lost technique which can only be learnt once the others have been also been learned. Once all seven techniques have been learned, a practitioner is said to have mastered that style.

Picking a style will go some way to defining a character. Want to turn the whole of the field of the battle—including your opponents—to your advantage? Then select Forest Monkey. The Lightning Tiger style relies on hard strikes at range or up close, but movement for defense, whilst Stone Crane emphasises defensive blocks combined with a solid stance. The range of styles available also means that the average starting group is unlikely to share the same styles, although overlaps in terms of element and body is possible—and will become more likely as a campaign progresses. In addition there are several lost techniques are given that a character might learn, research, or indeed create himself. Some of the styles and the way they interact are nicely illustrated with a full example of play using a set of sample characters.

Our sample character is a Tax Inspector, a recent graduate considered to be too much trouble to have in the capital despite having graduated with top marks in his examinations. He is too attentive, too assiduous when interpreting the law, and as good as he is at his job, he is regarded as a fool. Thus he has been dispatched to Jiāngzhōu, ostensibly to ensure that the taxes are collected from a slightly wayward province. Either he will be successful and learn some judgment, or he will annoy the wrong person and be assassinated, or simply he will fail. Either way, Ning is out of everyone’s hair for the moment and someone else’s problem.

Ning Choi-san

High Concept (Aspect): Incorruptible Tax Inspector

Trouble (Aspect): Every errand needs a fool

Aspects: Numbers never lie, There are always lessons to be learned, Honour the ancestors

Stunts: Time to hit the scrolls, The quill is mightier..., Not sure I should be here!

Skills: Lore (Great +4); Investigate, Will (Good +3); Chi, Fight, Rapport (Fair +2); Athletics, Crafts, Physique, Resources (Average +1)

Physical Stress (Physique): 1 2 3

Mental Stress (Will): 1 2 3 4

Refresh Rate: 3 Fate Points: 3

Jianghu Rank: 1

Kung Fu Style: Iron Crane Form

Crane Hides in Reeds: Add an additional +2 bonus when in Full Defence to defend yourself in combat. If used to defend others, gain 2 Armour instead.

Mechanically, there is nothing to stop a character from learning techniques from more than the one style; story-wise it may be well be another matter. Learning and mastering more techniques and styles will increase a character's Jianghu rank, with  practitioners of a higher rank having advantages in terms of movement and actions when facing those of a lesser rank, particularly when facing mobs. Instead of a mob being a means to inflict damage on an opponent, in Tianxia it more becomes a timing tool, a narrative device to speed up or slow down the players’ progress . 

If there is a limitation to the martial arts rules in Tianxia it is that they focus purely on hand-to-hand combat and styles, so there are no styles for using melee weapons, missile weapons, or indeed firearms. Of course there is nothing to stop a character creating a signature weapon—as per the core FATE Core rules, but nevertheless the martial arts styles in Tianxia are resolutely hand-to-hand based. The lack of firearms is understandable given that in Shénzhōu gunpowder is only used in rockets and fireworks and as explosives. So no firearms, but the lack of styles for melee and missile weapons is at odds with the genre and many of the setting’s inspirations. That said, there are suggestions as to how they might be handled, but that is all that they are, suggestions.

The setting of Jiāngzhōu is rather broadly drawn, with little more than a handful or two of locations and NPCs being detailed. They include plenty of Aspects for the player characters to bounce off and for the GM to use as inspiration. This paucity of locations and NPCs is intentional though, because it leaves space and more for the GM to create and and detail himself. Most notable of these are the number and types of Kung-Fu schools, but again this is intentional, the GM being given room to develop them himself, in part based upon the styles employed by the player characters. That said, an example or two would not have gone amiss.

For the GM there are optional rules allow for faster fights; a guide to applying The Bronze Rule, that is, turning anything and everything into a ‘character’ so that it can be modelled using FATE Core; and a discussion of the game’s core genre elements in play. The Bronze Rule is supported by examples including mysteries, kung fu challenges, epidemics and ailments, corrupt Chi, whilst the genre elements discussed include ‘One person can make the difference, good or bad’, ‘Heroic isn’t always good’, ‘The best rewards do not always glitter’, ‘Equipment is always important’, and ‘It’s okay to lose, and sometimes you will’. Of these ‘Equipment is always important’ looks a little odd in the context of Tianxia because it is a game where equipment is not intrinsically important. Here though equipment is important because it tells so much about a character, whether player character or NPC. How well he dresses, whether he carries a broken sword, or whips out poison darts all tell much about a character.

Broader campaign advice suggests Campaign Aspects for the various Wuxia subgenres—comedy, epic, horror, romance, and so on. These, for example ‘Death isn’t funny… misfortune is’ for comedy and ‘Duty is the enemy of romance’ for romance, can be tagged like any other Aspect in the game, but these help enforce the feel of the game. Similar sections examine relationship triangles in the Wuxia genre and applying ‘Interesting times’ to a campaign. More specifically, the GM is provided with a lists of formidable opponents, dangerous mobs, and fierce creatures, the latter also including an option for the players to choose animals as their player characters. Rounding the section for the GM is a set of decent adventure seeds, each including more NPCs.

The setting of Jiāngzhōu is rather broadly drawn, with little more than a handful or two of locations and NPCs being detailed.This though, is intentional, because it leaves space and more for the GM to create and and detail himself. Most notable of these are the number and types of Kung-Fu schools, but again this is intentional, the GM being given room to develop them himself, in part based upon the styles employed by the player characters. That said, an example or two would not have gone amiss.

Physically, Tianxia: Blood, Silk, & Jade is pleasingly presented full colour hardback with bright artwork and some engaging colour fiction. That said, the book does feel slightly spacious in places, almost as if a slightly smaller book had been spread out to fit a larger book.

Tianxia: Blood, Silk, & Jade is not quite perfect. It is missing a decent treatment of martial arts weaponry and the setting could be said to be too broadly drawn, though to be fair, the former does not fall within the remit of the game and the latter is by design. That aside, what Tianxia: Blood, Silk, & Jade sets out to do, it does very well. It is accessible, it presents a solidly playable set of martial arts rules, and FATE Core supports the type of cinematic action that Wuxia calls for with just about the right amount of detail. In a very many way, Tianxia: Blood, Silk, & Jade is the Wuxia RPG I have always wanted.

Beasts of the East I

Monster books as I have opined in the past, are never easy to review. Simple lists of random monsters such as the contents of Monster Manual series for Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition are not just difficult to review, but actually boring to review to boot. The better monster books are built around a theme or genre, such as the demons and devils of The Book of Fiends from Green Ronin Publishing and the genre of Pelgrane Press' Book of Unremitting Horror. Or they are written for a particular setting with monsters native to that setting, of which the Monsternomicon, the d20 System supplement for the Iron Kingdoms setting from Privateer Press is a personal favourite. In addition to providing a range of foes to be arrayed against the player characters, a setting's monster book needs to add detail to the world and the background.

The good news is that Qin: Bestiary, the third supplement to be translated by Cubicle Seven Entertainment for Qin: The Warring States, the French RPG from Le 7ème Cercle, is a monster book for the game's setting of Ancient China during the period of the Zhongguo or “The Middle Kingdoms.” Qin: The Warring States is a game of low powered Wuxia action, and can be seen as an alternative choice for the gamer who wants to roleplay in the ancient Orient, but one that is more cinematic and without the constrictions placed upon player actions by the society of Rokugan presented in the better known alternative, Legends of the Five Rings. What Qin: Bestiary presents is another aspect of the setting, one not fully detailed in the core book, that of the supernatural in the Middle Kingdoms. Given within its pages are creatures high and low, celestial and demonic, as well as many things in between.

The even better news is that the supplement is just a bit more. Not only is each of the creatures it presents is woven into the background, primarily through the use of flavour text that places each entry within the setting through in-game reports and tales and describes the attitudes towards it, but the supplement adds new supernatural powers, new exorcism techniques, new spells, magical items, and more. These new items are not numerous, but they either support an aspect of a creature described, such as the new Illusion and Flight supernatural powers for Ghosts; are derived from the creature itself, such as the sacred carapaces of the Celestial Turtles the markings of which aid in divination; or they are items are used by the creature itself, like the Style of the Shadowless Spear martial arts style wielded by the Children of Nü Wa, an organisation led by Yao-snakes.

What the book covers in turn is ghosts, the undead, minor spirits and local gods, demons and damned souls, monsters and minor creatures, and celestial creatures. Some of these – primarily the celestial creatures – are only described, not given stats, but then again, entities such as the Kilin or the Dragon cannot be killed by mere mortals. Interestingly, the Qin: Bestiary actually includes the full write ups and stats for the individuals who either appeared in or wrote the various pieces of in-game flavour text. Thus the GM has yet another set of ready-to-play NPCs to add to his campaign. An adventure seed appears alongside some of the creatures described, and while there might not be enough of them, the monsters and their flavour text are themselves interesting enough to inspire the GM.

Almost a third of the Qin: Bestiary is devoted to the Yao. These creatures were once animals, but through fortune or misfortune, have been raised to a near human state. They lack the souls that man possesses, but most strive to attain the same path to divinity. Yao come in many forms, the most common including buffaloes, cats, foxes, monkeys, pigs, snakes, spiders, and tigers. Each is immortal and capable of shifting between animal and human forms, but even in human form a Yao retains an aspect of its original form and much of its nature. Thus a Yao-monkey will be clever, but mischievous and have either a long tail or limbs, monkey-like features and so on... Given that Yao are almost human, they are really NPCs rather than creatures or beasts to be beaten, and this is supported with a fully written up example of each. Fans of the television series Monkey will no doubt enjoy this chapter.

It is suggested that no player be allowed to play a Yao. Reasonable enough given the powers and abilities of most Yao, but instead he could play a Ban Yao or half-Yao or almost-Yao. One of a Ban Yao’s parents was a full Yao and so he retains one of that parent’s animal features, but can also possess his natural armour, weaponry, and terrifying aspect. A lesser alternative is for a player character to be Yao Xie and descended from a Yao. With this gift, a character has access to one of the abilities of a Ban Yao, but only once per day.

Rounding out the Qin: Bestiary is a trio of scenarios that make use of the creatures it describes. All three stand independent of the Tian Xia campaign that is supported in the Qin: The Warring States corebook and the Qin: Legends supplement and are set in small town or remote places. The first, “The Sins of the Father” finds the heroes investigating a series of deaths in a small town. It suffers from too obvious a title, but is otherwise a decent affair built around an old theme. The GM will have more fun with the roleplaying opportunities present in “The Eternal Lover,” in which the heroes are caught up in the lies of a temptress and the trail of broken hearts she leaves in her wake. The last of the three “Ceramic Guardians,” is little more meandering in structure than the previous two and sees the heroes on the trail of an unstoppable monster. Some of the details in the book’s last section, devoted to Funeral Rites and Tombs, should inform what is the most dangerous of the three scenarios, but with careful play the heroes should survive.

Physically, the Qin: Bestiary is a decent looking book. It is not as liberally illustrated as I believe that a monster book should be, but the artwork is good. The editing is an improvement over Qin: Legends and the book is a decent read. Initially, that read is a disconcerting one. This is due to the book’s mix of fiction and fact; to the lack of entries compared to other RPG monster books; and to the way that the book is organised. It just feels odd to have a section labelled “A Few More Fabulous Creatures.” Anyway, once you realise that this book is not just about the monsters, but about the supernatural this is not an issue.

As an aside, this book can be used in conjunction with Enemies of the Empire, the foe guide for Legends of the Five Rings to add creatures and NPCs to Rokugan. Some conversion work would be needed, but since that game is based upon Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures, then the parallels are there for the GM to work with.

The Qin: Bestiary is several things. It is of course, a bestiary, but more than that it is a collection of NPCs that a GM can add to his campaign and an examination of the supernatural in the Zhongguo. The flavour fiction nicely captures the attitudes towards both the creatures and the sample of each creature it describes as much as the stats and write up give the game details. The inclusion of the sample creatures and NPCs makes the supplement both more useful and easier to use, with the three scenarios showcasing how that can be done. The Qin: The Warring States GM is naturally going to want a copy of Qin: Bestiary, any GM looking for a well supported, detailed introduction to creatures of Chinese myth and legend that he can add to his own game, should be looking at this supplement too.