The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Wu

[ghoyle1]

I'm one of those people who abandoned the Hero System right before 5th ed came out. However, I probably will be buying Pulp Hero and most of its supplements because I'm a diehard Pulp fanatic. Looks great, Steve!

I was hoping that somebody could help me brainstorm a Pulp scenario for a local games day in October. I want to do something something like a Pulp-style "Big Trouble in Little China", but for some reason I'm having a tough time getting my head around it. In my head I can sort of see it, but I can't get it down on paper. I could use some suggestions about good places for action to occur, maybe some appropriate deathtraps, things like that.

I'd like it to be a humorous piece, but all I know is that the maguffin turns out to be a legendary recipe for General Chang's chicken. (Maybe it's a magical recipe of some kind that makes you immortal, or really cranks up your chi; or maybe it's just really good chicken, and the evil Dr. Wu can get America addicted to his chicken and take over the country.)

Anyway, suggestions would be very welcome.

[ChaosDrgn]

Been watching Undercover Brother?

[ghoyle1]

Uh, no. Haven't seen it.

[Curufea]

I think "Big Trouble" combined two concepts - weird/wonderful/unique characters - and then shoving them into a basic quest plot.

So just make up characters first. Then do the bad guy. Then have a quest involving unlikely components and longterm plans. Bad guy has goons (of course) which interrupt the plot now and then with gratuitous violence. There should also be the equivalent of Trusted Lieutenants (tm) that make cameos throughout before the final bad guy confrontation. They can only be killed/done in just before the final confrontation (or as part of it).

The setting should be exotic - back corners of well known places (so hardly known), or exotic places.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Big Trouble in Little China was already very pulp in attitude, although it managed to avoid falling into the "Yellow Peril" trap quite deftly by refusing to make all the Chinese characters bad guys.

Then again, most of John Carpenter's best work is pulpish. After all, didn't Campbell publish the original version of "Who Goes There?", the wondefully paranoid story that became The Thing? And Snake Plissken could have strode out of a dime novel without breaking a sweat, an action anti-hero with attitude to spare. (Kurt Russell and John Carpenter will probably be associated in the public mind to the end of time....)

[Southern Cross]

Actually,John W. Campbell Jr.,WROTE "Who Goes There?" ,under his penname of Don A.Stuart.

[Steve Long]

Hmmm, let's see. Good places for action in Chinatown....

--restaurants. "Chinese gotta lotta restaurants, Mr. Burton." :) With six PCs you get eggroll!

--secret tunnels and caverns beneath Chinatown. BTILC didn't come up with this concept; the Shadow uses secret tunnels beneath Chinatown on several occasions (though admittedly they lack monsters!).

--Taoist and Buddhist temples

--Dr. Wu's secret Oriental stronghold hidden in the heart of Chinatown (what look like tenement houses are actually the "Great Wall" around his garden and palace).

--kung fu kwoon (school)

--herbalist shops


For a Pulp-style writeup of Dr. Yin Wu, see Adventurer's Club #21. For some cool martial arts maps, including at least one of a trap-filled martial arts maze that we never published in a book, see the Map Archive #1, available in the Online Store.

[Blue]

"You enter an asian garden. Through the center runs a winding path of stepping stones that lead to a small yet high-arched wooden bridge, and dotting the landscape are topiary trees of animals; Pandas, Monkeys, Tigers, Boars. Also along the path on each side are statues of asiatic warriors, experience and pride etched in their faces. Suddenly, something moves on each side of the path..."

"The warriors start moving?"

"No, the Topiaries. The panda stands up and each of his fellows follows suit. The rooster nods its head mockingly. The Crane takes up a kung-fu stance. The tiger, now on it's hind legs extends it's paw and motions in Bruce Lee fashion for your to 'Come Get Some'. The hedges leap to action! Segment 12!"

[BobGreenwade]

Running with the chicken idea for the humorous aspect (at which I tend to excel), you might want to look at The Muppet Movie and Who Is Killing The Great Chefs Of Europe?. These can give you not only some interesting gustatory humor -- admittedly fairly dark in the latter case -- but perhaps some plot seeds to run with. (You might also consider using Weird Al's The Food Album as a soundtrack.)

And remember the ancient Chinesproverb: "Many man bite, but Fu Manchu."

[Curufea]

You could also have portals leading to "Mythic China". It would explain why the restaurant is inundated with an army of Ninja, for example :)

In similar fashion to London Above and London Below in Neverewhere.

[Susano]

Anyway, suggestions would be very welcome.

This might help:

http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptionshkaction/hkaction.html#BTILC

[Susano]

Big Trouble in Little China was already very pulp in attitude, although it managed to avoid falling into the "Yellow Peril" trap quite deftly by refusing to make all the Chinese characters bad guys.

Per John Carpenter, Jack Burton is Wang Chi's sidekick. Wang Chi is the hero of the movie.

[ghoyle1]

Awesome, guys! I'm already getting some fantastic ideas from this thread. And my DVD of Kung Fu Hustle is on the way, too; if I can't pull some wild characters and settings out of that, I shouldn't be running a game at all!

Thanks, and keep 'em coming! (And Steve, you've made a sale -- ka-CHING!)

[ghoyle1]

Anybody know of a good resource for Chinese monsters? (Of course, I'll be including hopping vampires!)

[Blue]

Well, you can start with the chinese mythology page, maybe...

http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/asia/chinese/articles.html

[Susano]

Anybody know of a good resource for Chinese monsters? (Of course, I'll be including hopping vampires!)

The HERO SYSTEM ASIAN BESTIARY will have all the Chinese monsters you could ever want... it comes out later this year.

[Steve Long]

Anybody know of a good resource for Chinese monsters?

Well, not right now, but give us a few months and we'll be publishing The Asian Bestiary, by Michael Surbrook, which is going to be hands-down the best reference ever for Asian monsters for gaming. :hex:

[Susano]

Well, not right now, but give us a few months and we'll be publishing The Asian Bestiary, by Michael Surbrook, which is going to be hands-down the best reference ever for Asian monsters for gaming. :hex:

Tru Dat.

:D

[ghoyle1]

Hmm... any chance it'll be out before October 22nd?

Guy

[Steve Long]

No, it'll be later in the fall, probably November sometime.

[BobGreenwade]

Well, not right now, but give us a few months and we'll be publishing The Asian Bestiary, by Michael Surbrook, which is going to be hands-down the best reference ever for Asian monsters for gaming. :hex:Of course it is! Just look who you got to author it! :D

[Susano]

Of course it is! Just look who you got to author it! :D

At one point I estimated the are 450-500 named creatures in the book (maybe 600). Granted, that's not 450 character sheets, but instead refers to anything from a full-blown character sheet to a couple of sentences in a sidebar.

I told Steve at one point I thought the book was perfect for people using FANTASY HERO, NINJA HERO, PULP HERO, FENG SHUI, VAMPIRE, LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS, ORIENTAL ADVENTURES, GURPS HELLBOY, and just about any setting involving the Far East and/or the supernatural.

The book also proves that truth is stranger than fiction... I mean... huge headless, cigar-smoking demons who spew smoke and bubbling blood from the hole in their neck?

[BobGreenwade]

The book also proves that truth is stranger than fiction... I mean... huge headless, cigar-smoking demons who spew smoke and bubbling blood from the hole in their neck?In these parts, we call those "land developers." ;)

[ghoyle1]

Sounds awesome! I'll definitely have to pick the book up. Any creature names somebody would care to drop, to make the search a little easier? Wading through all the Chjinese names on that mythology is making my head spin.

[Susano]

Sounds awesome! I'll definitely have to pick the book up. Any creature names somebody would care to drop, to make the search a little easier? Wading through all the Chjinese names on that mythology is making my head spin.

What are you looking for?

[ghoyle1]

I'm really just looking for some creatures that a Chinese sorceror might have on hand to give the heroes a hard time, or spy on them, or just to have around to show that he's a real Chinese badass. For example, I know I'll be working Hopping Vampires in there somewhere.

[Susano]

I'm really just looking for some creatures that a Chinese sorceror might have on hand to give the heroes a hard time, or spy on them, or just to have around to show that he's a real Chinese badass. For example, I know I'll be working Hopping Vampires in there somewhere.

Chiang-Shih -- vampire
Qiongqi -- bizarre mountain-dwelling beast
Poh -- flesh-eating horse
K'uei -- ghost

[ghoyle1]

Many thanks! Do you know of some more that would be of use in an urban environment?

Guy

[Susano]

Many thanks! Do you know of some more that would be of use in an urban environment?

Vampires & ghosts.

You may also want to look up spirit-foxes and were-animals (animals that assume human form).

I don't want to get too in depth, because this all will be in the manuscript I submit.

[Curufea]

What's that monster from the rogue-like games? I think the letter used is a "t", but it's an asian monster..
Tengu or something?

[Susano]

What's that monster from the rogue-like games? I think the letter used is a "t", but it's an asian monster..
Tengu or something?

Tengu is a Japanese mountain goblin.

[ghoyle1]

I don't really need a whole lot of description at this point; I'll try and find the descriptions on the Internet or whatever mythological resources I have available. I just need a place to look because Chinese mythology, unlike greek and roman mythology, is relatively unknown to me.

I may have some AD&D Oriental Adventures material somewhere, I'll have to see if I can ferret out what's really Chinese and what's not.

Guy

[Susano]

I don't really need a whole lot of description at this point; I'll try and find the descriptions on the Internet or whatever mythological resources I have available. I just need a place to look because Chinese mythology, unlike greek and roman mythology, is relatively unknown to me.

I may have some AD&D Oriental Adventures material somewhere, I'll have to see if I can ferret out what's really Chinese and what's not.

Try punching the names into google and seeing what you get. Also try The Vampire Encyclopedia and Ninja Hero for 5th Edition.

[Black Rose]

What's that monster from the rogue-like games? I think the letter used is a "t", but it's an asian monster..
Tengu or something?
Tengu.... Crow goblins in more than one reference. If you can lay your hands on Watchers of the Dragon, there's a writeup of one. Basically, take a strong, tough winged flyer, make them really good with a katana, add some spooky ninja stealth tricks, and maybe some freaky spook-the-villagers magic. These guys should be quick, strong, pretty tough, have a few tricks to throw their opponents off, and use a katana near the top of the charts - these are the guys you can use when you need a good excuse for your bad-*** sword skillz "My character trained with a Tengu kensai for seven years, to find but a single night had passed in the world of Men."

Oh yeah, and they should fly.;)

[Susano]

Tengu.... Crow goblins in more than one reference. If you can lay your hands on Watchers of the Dragon, there's a writeup of one. Basically, take a strong, tough winged flyer, make them really good with a katana, add some spooky ninja stealth tricks, and maybe some freaky spook-the-villagers magic. These guys should be quick, strong, pretty tough, have a few tricks to throw their opponents off, and use a katana near the top of the charts - these are the guys you can use when you need a good excuse for your bad-*** sword skillz "My character trained with a Tengu kensai for seven years, to find but a single night had passed in the world of Men."

Oh yeah, and they should fly.;)

Basically. Having tengu around allows you to use every crazy sword stunt you ever saw in anime, manga, a video game, or HK cinema.

[ghoyle1]

Those would be great, but aren't they Japanese, not Chinese? Is there some kind of Chinese monster like that?

Guy

[Susano]

Those would be great, but aren't they Japanese, not Chinese? Is there some kind of Chinese monster like that?

Shen. Shen can be virtually anything and include various forms of fairy/goblin/nature spirit.

[Mad_Ernie]

Ultra Rob posted a website link in a more recent thread that is basically Lester Dent's formula for developing a story (pulp or otherwise). It might be good to check that out.

Also, I have found in trying to develop stories for story-sake or RPGs, it is best to work backwards. Start with the villian and how you want it to end. Do you want the heroes to prevail and have everything come to a climatic conclusion? Is this the first in a series of adventures with continuing characters(villians)? Do you want to wipe out all of the characters because you or your players hate them and want to start over?

Then go to the villian. You have Fu Manchu character in mind. To borrow a phrase from acting school, what's his/her motivation? What goals/objectives does he/she have in mind? Who are his/her friends/family? What is their motivation?

Then location becomes important. Who are the other "players" in the area? Rival factions? Law & order? Other heroes who might be on a similar or altogether different quest?

You get the idea?

Mad_Ernie
:eg:

[ghoyle1]

Michael: Thanks for the shen! I think that's definitely one I'll use. When the Asian Bestiary comes out, I'm definitely nabbing one.

Mad_Ernie: I've seen the Lester Dent formula before, but thanks for reminding me! And the working-backwards formula sounds like it could prove to be very valuable.

Thanks again, everybody! Now I need to start getting some of this down on paper, err, computer...

Guy

[ghoyle1]

OK, here's a preliminary synopsis for the scenario as it stands now. I've ended up borrowing (and hopefully filing off the serial numbers) from "Fists of the Warlord" (in Ninja Hero 4th Edition, p. 154), a little from "Big Trouble in Little China", and combined it with the General Chang's Chicken idea.



The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Wu

Setting: 1934 in “San Frederico”, a prominent West Coast city, including the “Peking West” (Chinatown) neighborhood. Peking West is well known as a place where outsiders can come and indulge their taste for wild living. This is a tongue-in-cheek pulp-style adventure with larger-than-life characters (see character generation rules when they’re done).

Synopsis: Almost 3000 years ago, the notorious General Chang led an army of virtually invinceable warriors in an attempt to conquer China. His secret was a legendary chicken dish, prepared by a sorcerer of great cunning. Since that time, however, the secret of the recipe was lost, and only inferior versions of General Chang’s chicken have been prepared in the Chinese restaurants of the world.

That chicken recipe has now surfaced again, albeit in three separate fragments. Dr. Wu, businessman, sorcerer, and crimelord, has determined to retrieve the recipe at all costs. If Dr. Wu gains all 3 parts, then he will be able to fulfill his evil plan to turn ordinary people into bulletproof, unstoppable warriors loyal to him. As more and more people are converted, he will take city after city. He plans to crush China’s enemies (America, England, Germany, Russia, and Japan) and then restore his homeland to its rightful place as the center of the world.

Dr. Wu must accomplish these things for his plan to succeed:
1) Acquire all the parts of the recipe. He has only one, and knows (through divination) that the other parts exist here in town. (The players will receive one at the beginning of the adventure, and the third one will be found by one side or another during the game). There can be several fights over the possession of the fragments. Also, the fragment that Dr. Wu possesses has the ingredient list, so his thugs can go searching for the rare and exotic ingredients inevitably contained in the recipe, before he gets the formulas and rituals contained in the other two fragments.
2) Persuade the owners of all the Chinese restaurants in Peking West to sell their restaurants to him, using the fighting tong he controls to pressure them. This will enable him to distribute General Chang’s Legendary Chicken. (Very few of the owners will, in fact, give him any resistance, since he’s such a hero to the community; those that do oppose him might be a good source of aid and alliance for the PCs.)
3) Perform the ceremony necessary to create General Chang’s Legendary Chicken, and start serving it to the world! (If things get that far, the PCs will probably be on their own!)

Dr. Wu’s Resources and Limitations
1) He’s a powerful sorcerer disguised as a very successful businessman, the “godfather of Peking West”
2) Dr. Wu is looked on as a benefactor to the citizens of Peking West. He has helped out many businesses and families when times were tough, and has even used his connections in China to get political prisoners released. Many residents will in fact be ready to aid him and his minions, though outward signs of sorcery will probably frighten the hell out of them.
3) He’s got a powerful tong working for him, making him the “godfather of Peking West”
4) He has a legitimate import business as well as opium dens, prostitution and slave trading. These businesses are also well-guarded.
5) He has a few demons working with him, but they are too hard to replace for him to squander except for big trouble.
6) He has a large Taoist temple with access to the underground catacombs of Chinatown. This is where the ceremony will take place; I think it’s probably got a giant Wok in it. (Maybe he has Iron Chefs? Wouldn’t THAT be a battle!)
7) All the mystical energy Dr. Wu is expending is upsetting the chi flow in this area. Already, various supernatural problems are popping up in Chinatown and the rest of San Frederico proper. (In fact, maybe a haunting or other spooky event could get the PCs involved). An earthquake is a definite possibility, a small one foreshadowing things to come at first, then maybe another at some pivotal time. If the Doctor’s ceremony succeeds, a major quake might result, destroying much of the city, setting fires, etc.
8) Dr. Wu’s activities have not gone unnoticed. The only restaurants that are not going along with Dr. Wu’s plan are affiliated with the rival Tong, which has some magicians and warriors of their own. They can offer advice and assistance to the PCs (but they’ll probably not participate in the big fights for various reasons; the PCs should take center stage, not stand back and watch NPCs do their fighting for them).
9) Why did General Chang’s army fail to take over China? There must be a secret “antidote” for the powers granted by the Legendary Chicken. What can it be? (Somebody suggested “hot dogs”, which is very tempting; maybe the secret weakness is discovered at a baseball game…)

Sources and Inspiration: “Big Trouble in Little China”; Ninja Hero for Hero System 4th Edition; Gold Rush Games’ “San Angelo” and “Dragon’s Gate”; GURPS China & Martial Arts; Hong Kong Action Theatre! 2nd edition and “Blue Dragon, White Tiger” for HKAT!


Thanks also to the HeroGames.com message boards, and the DragonsOfTheEast and pulp_rpg mailing lists at groups.yahoo.com

[Curufea]

If you want some made-up Chinese or Japanese monster names, I creaeted a list for my fantasy campaign - and where I couldn't find a suitable name for a standard fantasy monster, I used the various dictionaries :-

Race (Japanese) (Mandarin)
Humans Hito Yuán rén
Feline, Cat Banbutsunoreichou Rén lèi
Feline, Tiger Torareichou Lao hu rén lèi
Feline, Cheetah Subayaireichou ZhÃ*n rén lèi
Feline, Lion Shishireichou NÃ* rén lèi
Centaur, Horse Kentaurosu Bì rén
Centaur, Lion Shishijin NÃ* bì
Lizardmen, Cold Blooded Tokagejin Bì hu rén
Lizardmen, Warm Blooded Ekijin Tuó rén
Lizardmen, Cold Blooded, Mature Doragonjin Jiao rén
Lizardmen, Cold Blooded, Ancient Doragon Téng
Dwarfs, Hill/Mountain Kobito Zhu
Elf, Dark Erufu Xiao Ã*n
Elf, Wood Sennyo Xiao mù cái
Elf, Sea Ningyo Xiao hai
Elf, High Shinzuiyo Xiao jing lÃ*ng
Gargoyle Ga-goiru Fei diao xiÃ*ng
Giant Jaianto Jù rén
Gnome Ikichika Chi
Goblin Keshou Xiao yao jing
Hobbits Issunboushi Ai zi
Ogre Oni Yao guÃ*i
Orc Shachi Yao wù
Serpent-Folk Hebijin Shé rén
Sprite Yousei Liang
Troll Kyokan Yao chi
Canine, Wolf Urufujin Bèi rén
Canine, Dog Inujin Gou rén

[Susano]

Ningyo, Oni

For the record, both of these are currently mentioned in the HSAB.

[ghoyle1]

Thanks for the list, Curufea! That'll definitely be handy.

Guy

[Duke Bushido]

If you want some made-up Chinese or Japanese monster names, I creaeted a list for my fantasy campaign - and where I couldn't find a suitable name for a standard fantasy monster, I used the various dictionaries :-



Thank you thank you thank you for that little list!

I have been wanting to get some 'exotic' names for various races in some of our games-- names with some real meaning behind them as opposed to the classic 'scrabble tiles and add vowels' kind of thing--- but so far have had little luck finding online language dictionaries and such (the translator pages such as babelfish don't do quite what I want, as I am looking for the 'real' names of very much _unreal_ things......

But with a dictionary and maybe some grammar/usage guidelines, I think I could make suitable tags for these races and places.

When compiling your list, did you stumbe across any such dictionaries online?

[Curufea]

Unfortunately not. Many of these names just combine an adjective and a noun from the dictionary - where I couldn't find a suitable equivalent. I'd start searching for words such as spirit, fairy, ghost, magic and so forth to get many of the names as well. There is a list of other languages as well (each nation has its own language in my setting) here:
http://www.curufea.com/games/western/5e/races_n.php

I'll post the links to all the dictionaries and online tools I used in a separate thread rather than dragging this one so off-topic

[st barbara]

Don't forget all those opium dens and brothels to which innocent young westerners are lured by those insidious "Oriental Fiends" as settings for adventure. Then of course there is the "tong war" aspect or rival schools of martial artists who will contest for supremacy in Chinatown. The movie "Year of The Dragon" contains elements of this with a ruthless oriental criminal contending with more established criminal elements (both Asian and Italian/American) for control of the drug trade !