Indonesian setting?

[tkdguy]

I got this idea last night while watching a show about Komodo Dragons. Basically, the campaign would be set in the area in ancient times (according to once source, the history of the area before 1000 AD is largely unrecorded). Perhaps someone with more information about Indonesia can help.

Here are a few links about Indonesia, Komodo Dragons, and even the fighting style of Pentjak Silat:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/id.html

http://indonesia.elga.net.id/

http://www.heptune.com/komodo.html

http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/komodo/

http://www.pentjaksilatusa.com/

http://www.martial-way.com/pentjaksilat.html

[gewing]

Don't forget to write up some Kris as MAJOR magic items. Danger sense of various types(rattle, jump in hand) Indirect ranged killing attack by stabbing shadow or footprint...


One thing that might make it really interesting would be the limited armor.

[tkdguy]

I have to look into the way magic was viewed there. Also, the discovery of Homo Florensis can add some variety.

[Steve Long]

1. See UMA for lots of information about Pentjak-Silat, as well as bibliographic references in case you'd like to learn more.

2. See UMY (when it's available in the next few weeks) for some descriptions of various Indonesian, Malaysian, etc. monsters.

[Susano]

1. See UMA for lots of information about Pentjak-Silat, as well as bibliographic references in case you'd like to learn more.

2. See UMY (when it's available in the next few weeks) for some descriptions of various Indonesian, Malaysian, etc. monsters.

UMY? Ultimate Mystic?

And when it comes out (next year), the HSAB (HERO System Asian Bestiary) will be crammed with stuff from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines (and so on).

[Susano]

I got this idea last night while watching a show about Komodo Dragons. Basically, the campaign would be set in the area in ancient times (according to once source, the history of the area before 1000 AD is largely unrecorded). Perhaps someone with more information about Indonesia can help.


Here is my Komodo Dragon character sheet:

http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptionscreatures/real/komodo.html

[BlackSword]

1. See UMA for lots of information about Pentjak-Silat, as well as bibliographic references in case you'd like to learn more.

2. See UMY (when it's available in the next few weeks) for some descriptions of various Indonesian, Malaysian, etc. monsters.
For flavor, Silat should be greatly expanded. Pretty much every village or at least region had their own variations. So to get that flavor PCs should be encouraged to find a style and stick with it. Some examples of the variations:
Harimau - Tiger Style -typically fights low to the ground and specializes in grappling. Tends to bring an opponent to the ground and break them from there.
Monkey Style - Known for fast attacks. The monkey is not as strong as the Tiger (actual animal, not comparing styles) so it doesn't want to grapple, it will use its speed.
Cimande - Training focuses on strengthening/toughening forearms and other striking points. Can break furniture with a forearm block.

Villages were protective of their styles, so a person would have to gain a villages trust before being able to learn their martial arts. Few people would know a wide variety of styles.

[uninspired]

I got this idea last night while watching a show about Komodo Dragons. Basically, the campaign would be set in the area in ancient times (according to once source, the history of the area before 1000 AD is largely unrecorded). Perhaps someone with more information about Indonesia can help.

Here are a few links about Indonesia, Komodo Dragons, and even the fighting style of Pentjak Silat:


what do you mean by 'ancient times?' indic influence is so ingrained in the culture that it'll be hard to separate them. if you're looking for pre-hindu (basically bc era), you'll be hard pressed to find anything. your best bet would be to research folktales (and indian accounts of first contact, if you can find any) and go from there, but be sure to leave out anything you can discern as indian in origin, such as stories from the ramayana and mahabarata.

buddhism arrived about 5th century, and that's about the time the srivijaya kingdom gained power. 'indonesia' didn't exist until 1945- it's a collection of many different ethnic groups, so to get any sort of unifying culture you'll have to go with one of the major kingdoms, whose influence commonly spread to parts of modern malaysia, phillipines, and thailand. srivijaya was buddhist, i think, centered on the island of sumatra. the early history is fuzzy, but its power began to wane sometime around the 12th century. the javanese hindu majapahit kingdom gained power about that time, eventually overtaking the old srivijaya kingdom. majapahit lasted until the 15th century or so, when it collapsed and islam spread.

to me, the interesting times in their history would either be the inter-kingdom period between srivijaya and majapahit, or near the end of majapahit, with the coming of the 'new religion' of islam.

as for silat - blacksword is right about the diversity of styles. however, the oldest style i know of, cimande, is a fairly recent development. it began in sunda (west java) in the 17th or 18th century. not to say they didn't fight- southeast asia has some of the fightingest people on the planet. but 'fighting systems' tended to be personal, not codified or structured, and more accurately viewed as a set of tricks or principles that have kept you alive in combat. of course, this is all if you want to be historically accurate- it's generally a much better game if you're not.

a note about spelling:
like all romanized languages, the spelling is going to vary a lot. for instance, 'pentjak' is 'pencak' in the modern spelling. the 'tj' is dutch. 'c' in the modern spelling is pronounced like 'ch' in english. the dutch also use 'oe' in place of 'u,' and 'j' in place of 'y.' sometimes the terminal 'k' (representing a glottal stop) is omitted, such as 'penca.' 'h' can be added in some spots- 'kabar' in indonesian is 'khabar' in the malaysian spelling (same language). the malaysians also use 'ch' (colonized by england). sometimes unstressed vowels are omitted 'selamat' becomes 'slamat.' this all ignores the actual differences in language, since modern indonesia speaks malaysian as it's official language. each ethnic group had its own, sometimes similar or wildly different from those around them. some names you find may be old or new or regional spelling, so you should be aware of these things.

you have a tiger by the tail. good luck with it. keep us posted, yeah?

[tkdguy]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys! If this gets off the ground, you can be sure I'll share it with you.

[Trencher]

Be sure to check up on your players if they will play in an Indonesian setting, I once made a whole country based on old Ethiopian culture just to discover that my players was not interested.