Kung Fu Animals

[GothKidSamurai]

So after seeing Kung Fu Panda, I really want to do a short campaign of martial artist animals. Any ideas?

[McCoy]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

So after seeing Kung Fu Panda' date=' I really want to do a short campaign of martial artist animals. Any ideas?[/quote']

Players in my old Runequest campagine once found themselves caung in the middle of a war between Ninja Cats and Samurai Ducks.

[Arac-4105]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Scrounge through TMNT for ideas, or Transdimensional TMNT, if you can get your paws on it.

 

Oh, and Usagi Yojimbo.

[shadowcat1313]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

gotta borrow from TMNT, especially Mutants Down Under

 

we ran a critter martial arts campaign once, I ran a kangaroo who took 2 styles, Boxing and either Muay Thai or Savate, ended up taking Muay Thai

 

looking at various critters and what styles would fit them could be interesting in itself.

 

kangaroos with muay thai or savate

how about a Kodiak Bear with Sumo Wrestling?

could an Elephant use its trunk for a martial throw?

and lets not even talk about the Stomp

Octopus with professional wrestling?

anything with a significant tail could be dangerous with a legsweep equivilant

[Ranxerox]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

I have been thinking for months now that it would be fun to do a talking animals campaign in the spirit of the book Redwall or the movie The Rescuers. However, since I don't have any players ATM, I haven't had any incentive to write-up package deals.

 

Writing up package deals is, however, where I would recommend starting. In talking animals stories, the type of animal of a character is a shorthand for what sort of person they are. However, there is almost always one or more animals that wish to pursue dreams that don't seem appropriate to their species. So, while I would insist that people take the package deal of their character's animal, I would otherwise give them wide discretion in choosing the remainder of their skills and abilities.

[bubba smith]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

i remember an old terrytoons cartoon character that was amartial arts animal

hashimoto san judo champion of japan

unfortunately by todays standards he might be seen as politically incorrect as he was depicted as classicaly japanese

[mayapuppies]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

You can't forget Hong Kong Phooey

 

[Enforcer84]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Sounds good. TMNT is a great place to look...also Darkwing Duck and similar shoes for various other feels.

[Egyptoid]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

if you can find "BIG EARS, SMALL MOUSE"

it was the furry supplement for BESMand was chock full of ideas and archetypes

for said genre.

[bubba smith]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

You can't forget Hong Kong Phooey

 

now HOW could we overlook the#1 superguy

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

In case you missed it, here's a link to the Anthropomorphic/Furry Hero Resources thread.

[BNakagawa]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

fear the wrath of the all powerful amoeba style kung fu. Pound for pound the mightiest warriors in the ecosphere!

 

they really get under your skin.

[Arac-4105]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Today JorrJorr reminded me of Jadeclaw, a very Asian-flavored funny-animals RPG. If you want to reproduce the whole 'Kung-Fu Panda' thing, I highly recommend this system, if you can find a copy at your FLGS.

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

It ain't martial arts but you might want to look at the Spellsinger series for ideas on how various species interact in a more cynical setting. Humans are involved as well but can be easily taken out of the equation.

 

There's some good ideas on the animals that furries use for travel, farming etc. Snakes and giant insects mostly as I recall.

 

Be aware however that Spellsinger is not family oriented and although not explicit some of the interspecies romance can be a bit disturbing if that sort of thing bothers you. The human woman and the Rabbit-man make a strange couple.

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Drop Bears would seem like a good basis for ninja/assassin types.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Today JorrJorr reminded me of Jadeclaw' date=' a very Asian-flavored funny-animals RPG. If you want to reproduce the whole 'Kung-Fu Panda' thing, I highly recommend this system, if you can find a copy at your FLGS.[/quote']

 

I don't know if "funny" animals is the right way to describe the typical Jadeclaw campaign. IIRC, the game had a lot of good historical research into the medieval Chinese mindset along with its crittery goodness. Its sister game Ironclaw is more Western in approach, but its Atavism careers are useful for martial artist types who are based on the "animal fury" ideal. (Atavists are quite dangerous to their foes, and tend to be feared in consequence.)

 

Usagi Yojimbo, which has had two licensed RPGs over the years, is a Kurosawa-inspired comic in a furry universe and one of the very best in its genre. It is a very serious story, and many of the characters are utterly deadly (Usagi is a brilliant swordsman and quite lethal with his dai-sho). I've wanted to see it animated for years, but aside from guest appearances in the various TMNT animated series we haven't seen Usagi onscreen in his full glory.

 

In HERO terms, animal abilities are fairly easily representable as combinations of Characteristics and powers. One can build templates for the various species in the campaign that resemble templates for fantasy HERO races. And of course a copy of Ultimate Martial Artist (currently available in PDF) will give you solid insights into fighting styles and their cultural backgrounds, so you can see which sword styles are suited to Eastern characters and which to Western ones.

 

You have a few interesting cultural decisions on your hands. Diet is always a tricky subject in furry games -- since most settings retain a taboo against eating sentients, you need to find another source for meat (for those that eat it).

[brionl]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

I was going to recommend Jadeclaw as well. The system is a little shaky, but it has a whole ton of background & setting info. You could easily make the different careers into Package Deals. They handle the "food problem" by making lizards non-sentient. Except for snakes.

[Arac-4105]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

I don't know if "funny" animals is the right way to describe the typical Jadeclaw campaign.

 

I know it wasn't, but at the time I was too tired to type out the word "anthropomorphic."

[Jachra]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

I was going to recommend Jadeclaw as well. The system is a little shaky' date=' but it has a whole ton of background & setting info. You could easily make the different careers into Package Deals. They handle the "food problem" by making lizards non-sentient. Except for snakes.[/quote']

Or if you aren't particularly fond of pigs and cows and don't mind them being the odd ones out..

 

Or you can have it the weird way, where there are 'normal' critters alongside the anthros.

 

Mine doesn't have anthros, but carnivores very clearly are okay with eating other sapients. Some have problems with it, but some creatures are either sufficiently alien (or mindless insects) that they don't bother thinking about it.

 

Could always eschew the diets... If you'll notice, in Kung Fu Panda, even the carnivores were eating Po's noodle dish.

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Could always eskew the diets... If you'll notice' date=' in Kung Fu Panda, even the carnivores were eating Po's noodle dish.[/quote']

 

Just because there are anthropomorphic animals doesn't mean they're the only kind around. Just because humans exist monkeys, lemurs and apes didn't just vanish off the face of the planet.

 

Example: From Fur Will Fly

 

At the very least, it's worth a chuckle.

[Jachra]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Just because there are anthropomorphic animals doesn't mean they're the only kind around. Just because humans exist monkeys, lemurs and apes didn't just vanish off the face of the planet.

 

Example: From Fur Will Fly

 

At the very least, it's worth a chuckle.

I was thinking of JUST THAT PAGE when this topic came up. I salute you, Sergeant.

 

And it could go either way, the anthro/not-anthro thing. That comic juxtaposed it well. Another example was the cat lady who liked keeping cats; not for the obvious reason (she's a cat! Durf) but because she felt it helped her get in touch with herself and her instincts. The (somewhat silly) idea in that comic is that all sorts of creatures had evolved to bipedalism and intelligence (while their cousins didn't, just like apes on Earth,) all except for apes, who remained primitive, thus the human from Earth being the odd man out.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

You have a few interesting cultural decisions on your hands. Diet is always a tricky subject in furry games -- since most settings retain a taboo against eating sentients' date=' you need to find another source for meat (for those that eat it).[/quote']

 

Or, if we're talking kung fu animals, you could keep it. Makes for a whole new way to punish the loser of a martial arts duel...

[greenbriar]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Thre was an old graphic novel called Beast Warriors of the Shao Lin. That had reps from each animal style turned human. might give you ideas or plot points

[Susano]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Usagi Yojimbo for Hero:

 

http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptationscomic/uy/uyhero.html

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Kung Fu Animals

 

Usagi Yojimbo for Hero:

 

http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptationscomic/uy/uyhero.html

 

Thanks for the link, I appreciate it. But did I blink, or is the character list missing a write-up for Usagi himself?