Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

[Susano]

Taking a cue from this thread:

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44426

 

I ask "Have you used any of the creatures from either Asian Bestiary, and if so, what did you use and how did it work out?"

 

A secondary question to this is "did you find anything to weird to use?"

 

To answer my own question: "none as of yet" and "no." However, if I run my Student Warrior University game or Markdoc's Sengoku game, I will use quite a bit of the Japanese (and some Chinese) creatures.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I intend someday to run an Oriental Adventures game (using HERO of course!), and I know the Asian Beastiary is going to be a huge help with that. But I really have to flesh out my world (especially the Far East and the South East) a lot more before I can get to that.

 

So, I guess the answers are No, No, and No. But hopefully someday.

[BlackSword]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I just ordered the books, but once I receive them I plan to use the monsters when appropriate. No reason to limit it to just asian settings, I will be glad to break out of the normal, "you see some orcs...cause its another friggin' D&D clone..."

[Lethosos]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I'll need to see the hebi entry, but that's my target critter for the Celestial/Demonic templates for Eight Sages.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I've used the bibiography....

 

but I don't GM so none of the actual content.

[Curufea]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I've used the Rakshasa of course

One of my PCs is one.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I'm the freak. I'm just ripping all your material and retooling it to my needs, using it as a guage for the general power of the players and the general power of the opponents. Good stuff so far (and I have both bestiaries). But as I said, I'm weird - I'll collect every bestiary ever published and then rework them all anyway.

[Edsel]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I collect one of every book that Hero produces (I just love this system). I haven't used any of the Asian Bestiary stuff yet but perhaps some day... One of the many games I'd love to run would be a Sengoku-era Hero game in which case the Japanese stuff from Asian Bestiary II will no doubt be very useful.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I collect one of every book that Hero produces (I just love this system). I haven't used any of the Asian Bestiary stuff yet but perhaps some day... One of the many games I'd love to run would be a Sengoku-era Hero game in which case the Japanese stuff from Asian Bestiary II will no doubt be very useful.

The Chinese monsters from AB1 will also be useful as a lot of Japanese creatures came originally from there. The Kirin for one is under China, as it should be, but is a creature with a Japanese componant as well.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

on marginally related...

 

Finally getting around to adding AB2 to the Ultimate Hero Index and I reach "F" which has several entries starting with 'Filipino' (Filipino Dwarf, Filipino Ghoul, ...) and I immediately think "Filipino Box Spring Hog, Cooking Up A" should be added.

[James Gillen]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I'm seriously thinking of using a Tanuki as a PC.

 

JG

[Kharis2000]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

Not yet, but I'm about to.

 

One of the players in my Pulp Hero game has had an NPC Chinese houseboy following him around for virtually the entire length of the campaign, cooking cleaning, extoling the virtues of Chinese cooking over westen styles ("You look like what you eat! You look like potato!"), getting lost on the US rail system trying to find Georgia, arguing with each of the character's potential girlfriends about what was proper dress for the character, etc.

 

All, of course, without any understanding on the character (or the *player's* I might add) that his houseboy, Chang, was actually a girl disguised as a boy and was hopelessly in love with him.

 

Now, the girl's brother, a tong leader in China, has finally located them and, believing that the character has dishonored his sister (evil brothers never think that anyone could spend that much time in close contact with their innocent sisters and not have done that - it's a rule), is going to put the mystic tong smackdown on the poor guy and send one of the tong's spirit patrons after him. At some massively inconvenient time. With no warning.

 

Film at eleven.

[Egyptoid]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

soon soon soon.

 

They've finished the Serpent leg of the journey in my campaign,

and embark now on the oriental part. (Mandarin)

 

now when's the Egyptian/African Bestiary due ?

[Susano]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

Not yet, but I'm about to.

 

One of the players in my Pulp Hero game has had an NPC Chinese houseboy following him around for virtually the entire length of the campaign, cooking cleaning, extoling the virtues of Chinese cooking over westen styles ("You look like what you eat! You look like potato!"), getting lost on the US rail system trying to find Georgia, arguing with each of the character's potential girlfriends about what was proper dress for the character, etc.

 

All, of course, without any understanding on the character (or the *player's* I might add) that his houseboy, Chang, was actually a girl disguised as a boy and was hopelessly in love with him.

 

Now, the girl's brother, a tong leader in China, has finally located them and, believing that the character has dishonored his sister (evil brothers never think that anyone could spend that much time in close contact with their innocent sisters and not have done that - it's a rule), is going to put the mystic tong smackdown on the poor guy and send one of the tong's spirit patrons after him. At some massively inconvenient time. With no warning.

 

Film at eleven.

 

That sounds awesome!

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I'm seriously thinking of using a Tanuki as a PC.

 

JG

 

Watch out for those location 13 shots.

 

Well, location 13, 14, and 15.

 

Maybe 16.

[Lethosos]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

The scrotum's large enough to be used as a tower shield by themselves!

[James Gillen]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

The scrotum's large enough to be used as a tower shield by themselves!

 

I think it falls under the "unstable molecules" rule.

 

JG

[Markdoc]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

The scrotum's large enough to be used as a tower shield by themselves!

 

Yeah, I'm sure you get a bonus, but would you want to block with them?

 

For that matter, can you sling them on your shoulder like a continental soldier?

 

cheers, Mark

[Susano]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

Yeah, I'm sure you get a bonus, but would you want to block with them?

 

For that matter, can you sling them on your shoulder like a continental soldier?

 

If it's a tanuki? Heck you can use them as an umbrella.

[Shike019]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I actually haven't been able to purchase them yet, but I plan on using them quite abit for my campaign setting (which is sort of a celtic/japanese mix) and having these bestiaries will definately help me flesh out the world more.

[Black Rose]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I've only managed to get AB II so far, and I've really enjoyed both the Japanese and Filipino sections. My fiancee pointed out to me that most of the Filo monsters were "indiginous" to the middle of the Phils, and that they weren't as well known in the north or south. Then again, she wasn't able to recall any that weren't listed, just that she "knew there were some".

 

I'm looking forward to getting AB I, since the three main cultures I wanted were China, Japan, and the Phils. I was hoping for/expecting some more boogah-boogah monsters from the Japan side, but they seem to have been folded into the Gaki, Oni, Yasha, and Yurei. I had also been looking forwad to the Yuki-Onna write-up (thanks!). I didn't know much about Filo monsters, so the look was great; it was also interesting to see the borrowing from nearby nations (my SO knew the penanggalana, but thought it was a local thing).

 

Since I'm working on a Magic & Martial Arts setting, the Japanese and Chinese monsters are going to be fairly important. Again Susano, thank you for writing this.

[Susano]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I've only managed to get AB II so far' date=' and I've really enjoyed both the Japanese and Filipino sections. My fiancee pointed out to me that most of the Filo monsters were "indiginous" to the middle of the Phils, and that they weren't as well known in the north or south. Then again, she wasn't able to recall any that weren't listed, just that she "knew there were some". [/quote']

 

Most (if not all) of the Filipino entries came from one book ("Creatures of Filipino Lower Mythology" IIRC), so if the author limited himself to one area, be default, so did I.

 

I'm looking forward to getting AB I' date=' since the three main cultures I wanted were China, Japan, and the Phils. I was hoping for/expecting some more boogah-boogah monsters from the Japan side, but they seem to have been folded into the Gaki, Oni, Yasha, and Yurei. I had also been looking forwad to the Yuki-Onna write-up (thanks!). I didn't know much about Filo monsters, so the look was great; it was also interesting to see the borrowing from nearby nations (my SO knew the penanggalana, but thought it was a local thing)..[/quote']

 

To be honest, the Gaki, Oni, Yasha, and Yurei covers something like 50% of the typical Japanese monster fare -- especially once you include the varients.

 

Since I'm working on a Magic & Martial Arts setting' date=' the Japanese and Chinese monsters are going to be fairly important. Again Susano, thank you for writing this.[/quote']

 

You're welcome!

[Kharis2000]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

Update on my earlier post in this thread:

 

After some reading, what the player (who, thankfully, doesn't frequent the boards) in my Pulp Hero game is going to have sent after him by the evil brother of his houseboy 'Chang' is a pair of Foo Lions (possibly three or four, depending on the way the rest of the scenario this event occurs in is going).

 

The tong the evil brother (henceforth 'EB') belongs to has several creatures that will come to right wrongs done to members or oppose other supernatural entities as part of an ancient agreement that dates back to before the organization became more criminally-oriented. Recently the spirits have only been called when there was a clear-cut case of a tong member being victimized by someone the tong could not reach, or when a supernatural threat appeared, to prevent the breaking of the pacts by asking them to perform an evil act.

 

Since EB is convinced that a wrong has been done (who would really believe that the PC would run around the world for five years with his 'houseboy' after snatching them out of the tong's dungeons (the sister had previously disguised herself as a boy in a failed attempt to avoid an arranged marriage and offered to help the PC escape), including living in the same house with them, and *not* take advantage of the situation?), he'll call on the Foo Lions to make things right by killing the PC and bringing his sister home. The Foo Lions will dutifully head off after the PC.

 

From that point, things can go in all sorts of directions. The party might succeed in killing the Foo Lions without ever knowing what's going on (there have been no less than seven attempts on the PC by various tong hatchet men from the EB's tong and allied groups). The Foo Lions may figure out that the sister has *not* been dishonored and write the whole thing off as a misunderstanding. 'Chang' the houseboy's secret may be exposed, or may survive to be exposed at a later point. Or some combination of the three.

 

Complicating this is the fact that outside of 'Chang' (an NPC) there's only one PC with any real knowledge of Chinese mysticism, and he may not be able to make the game. 'Chang,' for obvious reasons, is going to be reluctant to reveal any real knowledge of what's going on.

 

The scenario will run over Memorial Day weekend, so I'll update folks after that on how it fell out.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

I've long wanted to run a major Champions plotline I have in mind featuring Dr. Yin Wu, so I very much desire the AB I for the Doctor's army of supernatural Chinese monsters. Unfortunately I've had unexpected financial demands lately, so my game purchases have been curtailed.

 

I'll let you know once I get it and have a chance to peruse it.

[Susano]

Re: Have you used anything from the Asian Bestiaries?

 

A review of the ABs, BTW.

 

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/efbq/phred/r004_Hab.html