Re:Kara-Tur - Reimagining D&D's Feudal Japan (Kozakura)
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- čas přidán 23. 08. 2024
- It's been almost 20 years since the release of the last D&D Oriental Adventures supplement and it doesn't seem like they will be releasing an update anytime soon. So in this new series, I am going to explore ways how we can reimagine Kara-Tur if I was put in charge of the supplement.
In this episode, I'm covering Kozakura, one half of D&D's Japan.
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Samurais and Ninjas on boats! Cool or dumb?
Cool.
Cool
Cool especially with Kunoichi battle suit from Action Taimanin >:^)
Awesome
Dick island
This series is actually very helpful for myself as currently I am developing my own setting and while my adventurers are going to start their adventure in Swanstone (medieval Europe continent) I wanted to set up some material for my in universe equivalent of fantasy China (Xianghu) and Japan (Kazuhiro).
While I am taking some cues from more mainstream parts of these countries histories (Xianghu has three warring kingdoms that I decided would basically be inspired by 12 legendary weapons associated with the starting 5e D&D classes) but I am also trying to have some moments that are based outwith the commonly talked eras (Kazuhiro is unified following internal conflicts and establishing a naval force to claim the West for instance). The fact that I have 2 PCs from Xianghu and 1 from Kazuhiro also helps encourage me to flesh the territories out.
Also, a Dex based Paladin subclass based on the rebellion sounds like a fun homebrew exercise, especially if the magical powers of the rebel leader gets emphasised so the subclass becomes more Arcane than Divine.
Keep up the good work CJ and thanks for the inspiration.
man if you wrote a setting book for this I would buy it
Isn't it too human-centric so far?
Where are the elves and Orcs?
Big Dickus Energy Island i see what you did there D&D
Which is better: Ninjas or Pirates?
Why not have both?
Galaxy brain response.
I love me some good ninjas but... Luffy so pirates
You got Wano.
@@akbarrmd7714 One Dream!
ONE WISH!!!
@@GenericJake damn. That a good song.
Cool idea, looking forward to Wa where I am expecting to see lots of Yokai.
I like your idea of a pirate island hopping rebellion campaign. It definitely works for Forgotten Realms and other campaign settings.
This is exactly what I've been wanting. Outstanding! I'm definitely adopting this campaign.
You had me at "Geriatric Samurai Island". lmao
A nice pulpy setting - it's got the adventurous swashbuckling and slapdash kitchen sink elements of the pulps, but at the same time is as different from the more popular Eberron pulp adventure framework as you can get. Your homebrew sounds exciting.
I came on this channel via the korean video. Really like it and went to watch the entire playlist.
I'm in prepartion to a naval campaign with a lot of asian inspiration. This is really helpful.
Hey! I commented about Kozakura in your last video! It’s like you know me, man!
Thanks for making such great videos! :)
This is really cool. Having each of the island. It would be good if the setting came with advice so as to be fairly sensitive when running a setting in a culture I'm not part of.
This is a pretty novel take on Japanese Sengoku period in DnD, and I've always wanted an excuse to try out ship rules and heists.
For your Kara-Tur setting, what dnd races do you think work well? Or do you think new races need to be made mechanically for the setting?
I think most races can work. The races in D&D are really just a bundle of archetypes and stereotypes attached to a physical form to make storytelling easier.
So I usually work backwards by creating a culture and tradition then cast an existing race or create a new one to fit it.
@@DontStopThinking You can adapt theShifter race from Ebberon to be like the Hengeyokai race from previous Oriental Adventures. Maybe an official book could add a racial feat to assume a full form and add additional subraces for a more eastern feel, but the stats can be re imagined to fit other animals native to Japan.
Somehow I haven't watched your videos for a while and god-damn man those are some excellent ideas that also taught me a few historical things too
This was an awesome video. I loved these ideas. Very well done!
Bit late to these vids but I am enjoying them. I have been a fan of these games since I first played Bushido back in about 1980. The success of the mini-series Shogun was a huge influence on OA and other similar settings.
9:46 I actually would love to see a d&d supplement that trys to tackle horseback riding and fighting. For the myths mixed with sengoku period inspired Kazukura I think would be an excellent way of introducing such mechanics. There is just such awsome imagery of thundering mounted warriors clashing with each other, the very ground shakes as if it were about to sink into the seas how cool is that! So for me I wouldn't exclusively make it a mainly maritime excursion but rather have three main phases of engagement for players, that being; island hopping shenanigans, ridding atop raging steeds on thundering hooves, and some good old walking from bustling town markets to hidden trails amidst beautiful mountains or nature to reach sacred sites.
Please Next Maztica- Aztec in DnD
Coincidentally I am doing that right now.
Very, very cool setting! I‘m officially hyped!
Excellent content, sir! Always been one of my favorite expansions, despite its bumps & warts. Guess I was tired of feudal European tropes & found feudal Japan a bit more off the beaten path & therefore more exciting...
This is not only cool, it makes so much more sense for the society societally and geographically ... and this is coming from a grognard 😁 Well done! I am excited to see how you develope a peace-time Wa so close to a war-torn Kozokura.
I'm been building a japan themed d&d game for twitch/youtube. This was stupid helpful
Kind of helpfull, i'm curently hombrewing a realm of dread, in the Ravenloft setting, inspired by japanese horror tropes.
I wanted the setting to be historicaly accurate thought (im from canada..) so this video is helpfull.
I say it's a great idea for D&D to inspire anime fans and/or people who study Japan, to make new adventures and create new interesting characters.👍👍
I Love the idea concept
9:46 I really like the idea of magic tea ceremonies that give warriors incredible strength and power. Maybe for the imperial family being in the 'custody' of the Shogun and why they haven't been killed of is because the sacred empowerment tea ceremony requires the 'blessing' of those of imperial blood to complete because the first emperor of the imperial family was married to and sired children with some of the daughters of the great "kami" or gods of Wa and who's descendants once wielded great power they could even bestow mystical power into others, namely their loyal retainers.
But as time past, the powers of the imperial bloodline dimmed or became dormant because such power required constant practice and experience on the battlefield to truly hon to its fullest but ever since the early emperors successfully conquered Wa and the surrounding islands ushering in an era of relative peace their own descendants grew more and more complacent, spending less time practicing their combat powers and ever more time reciting poetry and having drunken parties in their self imposed isolation from the rest of the country within gilded palaces and fancy private gardens.
This meant that the loyal retainers that were still being empowered by the imperial family to patrol and enforce the peace of the empire were the ones that still practiced their combat arts with their mystical powers keeping them sharp as ever if a bit dimed thanks to the dulling of the imperial family's own powers from disuse and the centuries of peace.
being delegated more and more responsibilities and thus "de facto" power by the imperial family the loyal retainers's own children and descendants became more ambitious, with many becoming more weary of the old imperial order, dreaming of empires if their own and with growing rivalries between the clans of magically empowered families it was only a matter of time that tensions would boil over the seemingly serene peace of the empire and the growing descruntalment of the populace over greedy officials over taxing them and the economic stagnation would fester for decades until it reached a breaking point, all that was required is a match that would light the powder keg of WAR.
I love this idea! I really want a ninja rouge
The funniest thing as a Westerner watching Japanese genre fiction based on the Shimabara Rebellion is seeing the cultural perceptions flipped around. Like Samurai Reincarnation or Ninja Resurrection, both riffs on Futaro Yamada's novel Makai Tensho, have Amakusa Shirou and the other members of the Rebellion using their "Christian Sorcery" (including necromancy) against the daimyo's forces and I'm like, "oh, this must be what it's like when they see how we handle Eastern religion and mysticism in Western media." ;-)
Definitely cool.
I know this is late and Kinda pointless to comment but I'll do it anyway. I really like the idea for a story setting in *"not-Japan"* dnd, Wa and Kazukura respectively.
You never mention the black samurai Sasuke !
Hmm what about the emishi horse archers and swordsmen and the ainu hunters that use poison?
Sounds like great material for an Adventure Book. I feel like the setting should have more variety of mythical creatures and alternate PC races though, rather than focus primarily on adapting historical Japan. IDK how much of the Sword Coast is adapted from RW history, but I seek more sorcery and mythical creatures for my roleplaying game.
Important question which part of land is a resemblance to Tsushima?
Depends, but the lore about Shou Lung invasion of Wa kinda reflect that, no Kozakura (which I find it odd for having Sengoku and Edo right next door yet seems to treat it as different nations despite sharing language and history--by that I mean copy-pasting Japanese history until their game countries' history mark--even the lore seems to have them cultural isolated until thousands of years later, assuming if the writers assume that it require DM to really really assume it rather closely).
This being TSR's wanting to "distinct" cultures yet blend as they please meant that they didn't have Yuan/Mongol dynasty yet used Japanese terminology.
I know you aren't skipping Korea since you're doing East Asia. 맞 아 요? The 3 Kingdoms of Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo to Goryeo to Joseon have plenty that gets ignored because everyone likes to focus on Japan and China only.
Yep. I am doing that. I find it quite strange that there aren't much media from Korea about the Korean 3 kingdoms period either. Maybe because it might get too political with NK currently occupying the territory that used to be Gojoson and the other two Korean kingdoms claim ancestry from Gojoson?
@@DontStopThinking
Fantastic to hear! In addition Korea's dynasties lasted longer than any in the world because of how peaceful the kingdoms were, and the lack of information available to people that don't study 한국어 and traditional Chinese is another big problem preventing Korea from getting more spotlight in fantasy media.
@@DontStopThinking
North Korea's territory isn't really a point of controversy for Korean media depicting earlier dynasties. Going chronologically, Gojoseon's got very little information about it as the only written records about it are from China, so scholars have to go off of archaeological evidence to learn more about the people then. If we move down the line to Korea's 3 (4) kingdoms of Silla, Baekje, Goguryeo (and the Gaya confederacy which Silla absorbed) - Goguryeo had most of it's land in where NK is today plus parts of Manchuria. The founder king of Goguryeo has a legend about how he rode on a Kirin, and several of the legends of nation-founder kings describe the rulers being born from eggs. Anyways, Silla with the help of China dominated the peninsula including the Japanese-friendly Baekje and we had United Silla. Pyongyang was an important city for much of Korea's history even before North Korea became a thing. Of course then we had the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties which took over very peacefully and finally in the latter years of the 1800's the Daehan empire began it's super short lifespan before Japan assassinated their queen and eventually forced an annexation in 1910.
Reckon it's cool, you took the time and research to align a story to make things historically accurate. My spice/special sauce/two cents is to have the shogunate secretly become hexblade warlocks (masamune blades and all that). The only thing is that their bloodlust brought about the corruption of their Bushido. As the sword is a popular but non historically accurate reflection of the warriors soul, it grants them powers but at a price. Kind of like how their views on life gets distorted and how sometimes the samurai class can be so blasé about ending human lives like medieval European nobles/aristocrats. With a Japanese setting - I'm looking to bust out an onmyoji wizard.
Is it cool or dumb? Maybe a bit of both! ;P
I think Forgotten Realms had Christian persecution--Chauntea converts playing that part--for Wa part.
And a bit of pre-Opium War China (or Dejima Islands) with one of their cities being the sole place where they can trade.
Why do you need so many locations if it is a heist setting?
Wouldn't the heist be very localized?
A little late but , maybe get the shit for the heist ? , magic sleeping potion for the lion dog guard , magic fireproof rope weave from the vines of a holy tree or the princess hair , find the master locksmith that build/enchanted the magic doors of the vault.......i once run a game like that but we only got to half of the stuff before the group dissolved
Burgers in a sushi restaurant? Isn't that just Katsu burger?
1:20 but you're the one who drew it 😆😆
This is interesting, but where and how do the mythical beasts and races of legend interact with all factions? Though all this could be fun to play I would like to try it out and see for myself, but I find it that if you just turn history's upside down and give it splitting headache, it doesn't make it a good fantasy or even fantasy at all, l see it as just a reimagining. I'm not Asian but I do like the mythos of the Asian cultures, you can thank old school animes for getting me hooked on it. lol. I think they need to better landmass map designers because it looks like a 3-year-old did it with the ancient bitmap program. All in all, I would liked to try this out. But I like something that has something greater going on other than the human race social-political issues something that says "Hey! You are not the center of the universe. There are things that are unfathomable greater than your petty squabbles." I hope you know what I mean?
For Races of legend you pretty much just reskin the factions or groups
Japanese nobility = Dragonborne (because dragons , duh)
Commoners = human , gnomes , dwarves
Displaced Natives (example: Ainu)= Orcs
Foreigners = elves/drow/etc...
Tengu = Aakroka
Yokai = tefling
Mythical Beast: much like normal dnd those are in the wild not cities
I have run somewhat history oriented adventures (Vikings into england inspired plot)
Vikings = Orcs / dwarves / Gnomes
British = Elves / Humans
No common language + little to no maps beyond coastlines and a lot of raiding + defending settlements / wood forts
We got a good run before the group broke (1.5 yrs) due to reasons , it is the only such type of history adventure i have run , it requires some work from the DM to integrate the myth to the real but nothing beyond the usual and you dont need to work as much but mostly reskin a little
DST: wa is a traditional name for Japanese people.
Me: wa is for WALUIGI TIME!!!
It's not dumb but it's not cool either.
The thing i don't get is this is supposed to be a fantasy. Why are we recreating our history of white people doing the same thing and have it play out same way-ish.
And let's be real they are not recreating "Asia" it's obviously Japan sure part of Asia.
But Japan isn't the only part of Asia.
This is a great opportunity to create a different history. Sure you can have some elements.
But idk maybe I'm just sick of constantly hearing about white colonialism and "Japan " letting it happen because apparently that means the Emperor of Kata Tur
Is like Tokugawa.
Looks like it just my world is the only one which depicts "Asia" in general hasn't let colonialism happen to them.
Sure did the white people try?
Yes.
Did they succeed?
Kinda.
Did we do something that made them regret it?
Oh beyond all imagination 😈
You the thing i really don't get is fantasy and Scifi. Isn't real, but everyone wants "realism "
Wich from what i know as amln artist of Manga, Comic book, Erotic fantasy, and Horror. Realism isn't what people want. It's believability is what people want.
And history, wtf is up with history.
You creat or go into another world.
And it still has the exact same or similar history. As if no one is creative enough to think of something very interesting in a damn world full of Dragons, Mythological creatures, Magic and Chi/Ki. A world that is essentially
Role-playing Anime! But we are still fallowing the same old history trope. Why? We should use history and Mythology as inspiration. Not guidelines to make our world.
And i have a problem of the name Kara Tur, Tur!? What part of the Japanese language has Tur in it!?
It's funny how people say they want "Realism/History " but then still end up butchering our language.
A,E,I,O,U
KA,KE,KO,KU
SA,SE,SHI,SO,SU
DA,DE,DO.
ok i forgot the rest i live in America ok its not like my family talks Japanese to me lol
Point is i see an opportunity to creat your own history and don't see why we have to stay in the box.