Acknowledgments and Inspirations
My first real exposure to fantasy adventure in an Asian setting was the Bushido game by FGU. Although my experiences with this game were rather brief, the effects were long-lasting. On a personal level., it piqued interests in historical Japanese figures such as samurai, yakuza, and ninja. On a more profound level, the influence that the game system had on any later RPG effort in the area of Japanese historical or fantasy games was profound. Its approach of putting the attitude in the mechanics persisted in the great variety of products that were but thinly veiled offshoots.
My second major influence from RPGs was one of these offshoots: AD&D Oriental Adventures. Though often criticized for it's portrayal and blending of Japanese and Chinese culture, it provided me with another set of experiences in mystifying and colorful Asian settings. Although many ways inferior to it's obvious inspiration, it contained what I as a game master feel are two great leaps forward in the treatment of Asian settings in games: a martial arts system that gave each art its own unique flavor, and an event system that allowed a DM to plot out the events in a game with authentic oriental flavor without knowing a great deal about the setting.
Of course I would be remiss in mentioning games that served as the basis for this campaign if I left out the one that I am actually using: the HERO system. The HERO system's flexibility along with the Ninja HERO and Fantasy HERO books' ripe-for-picking source material served as a ready basis for the campaign.
Oh, one more major influence-the complete Ninja's Handbook. Aaron Allston, author of Ninja HERO, again pulled me in to his fascination with the subject with the AD&D Complete Ninja's Handbook. This volume gives loads of details and ideas concerning the ninja, their clans, and their adventures.
Outside of the gaming realm, I must admit that while I'm not an old dubbed Kung Fu or Chanbara movie fan, I've seen and been inspired by my share of martial arts flicks: Most Jackie Chan movies, a few Bruce Li movies, and the irreverent Big Trouble in Little China. I must also admit a getting a few kicks out of some van Damme movies (especially Kickboxer). I admit no influences from Segal. (Gee, another "wronged Italian cop good at martial arts out for vengeance" flick?)
Video games also fueled my armchair martial arts fever, most notably Soul Edge, but also Mortal Kombat and an ill-remembered game called Shanghai Kid.
Oh, then, none of that would have given me a complete picture if I hadn't been exposed to a bit more pertinent take of Japanese history and culture through psuedo-historical epics such as James Clavell's Shogun, and a much less well known but still excellent novel called Shimabara, about the historical rebellion in the province of the same name. A semester of east Asian history didn't hurt, either.
Feudal era Japan is a wonderful era to emulate-from the military posturing and intrigues of the Sengoku era, to the colorful characters such as ninja and yakuza that saw their heyday in the Tokugawa era.
However, at the same time, I wanted to incorporate various eras of Japan's feudal era, and there were things I did not want to emulate at all. For example, I wanted to create a Nippon with a very fantasy feel. Ergo, I left out elements that had important impacts on feudal era Japan that I didn't feel fit with fantasy-namely, the guns and Christianity that were brought to Japan by Europeans in the 16th century.
Further, in addition to the fact you will find elements in Mythic Nippon that were from different eras of historical Japan, and a lack of European influence that historical Japan saw, I wanted to make my own people and intrigues. Accordingly, there are people in important positions in my campaign that never existed in historical Japan. No, there never really was a Shogun Fukutsu.
Another disclaimer: if you are a scholar of Japanese history or language and examine my campaign, you are likely to think I am out to lunch. I am not an expert of Japanese culture, so I am likely to be WAY off on many aspects thereof. I am also using a computerized name fabricator, which is likely to produce some bizarre sounding names in the ears of those who know the difference.
Next question that you may want answered: Why use the HERO system to make a Japanese fantasy campaign? Well, first off, I have been a long time admirer of the HERO system, especially the martial arts system thereof. However, I have only a few times got the chance to run it. Since I have considered writing products for HERO, I figured I should acquire some actual experience with it.
One setting that I have long been interested in, and which HERO had a sizable amount of source material for, was the feudal Asian setting. Further, HERO lends itself to highly visual cinematic epics that often find their home in this type of setting.
Some may wonder, given my goals with this campaign, why I didn't consider using Legend of the Five Rings game. I agree that it is indeed a very colorful fantasy variant of Japanese history and folklore. However, I wanted to try some of my own ideas. Plus, I detest dice pool systems (>spitooey!<).
When I started this, I only intended on taking a short break from my AD&D game. However, my players seemed to have a lot of fun with it, so I ran with it. I hope you enjoy!