Ninja Hero

[Seraphim]

After having ninja hero and the UMA 5th ed since they have come out i am itching to get a ninja game started but just have no idea where to start, i want something that is different and that my group arent gonna think is just average run of the mill not knowing a lot about martial arts style as it is was wondering for some help.

[Susano]

Well, what do you want to play? Martial arts aside that is.

[Nightfly]

actually both books offer many excellent plot seeds for adventures, other cool adventure concepts can be found at the Free Stuff section of this site.

[Seraphim]

my group want a wuxia or street fighter esque game that will fit into my universe.

 

I have read both books and they are very good but still not sure where to start a wuxia type game.

 

I would prefer a wuxia type game to a fighting tournament.

[Susano]

I'm not sure what to tell you. You state you want a wuxia game that will fit into your campaign, but knowing nothing about your campaign, I can't tell you what might work for you.

[UltraRob]

By sheer co-incidence, I happen to be running a WuXia campaign right now based on "The Book and the Sword" novel by Jin Yong, a translation of which can be found here:

 

http://www.spcnet.tv/jinyong/jyreadingroom.shtml

 

Jin Yong, by the way, is considered one of the greatest WuXia novelists in Chinese history, his novels originally presented as newspaper serial stories. He didn't invent the Genre, but he sure as heck influenced it a lot!

 

The Book and the Sword was his first novel, and is highly highly recommended to anyone who wants to get into the genre. (Unfortunately it's one of the only complete works by him available online.)

 

Also, if your players need to understand the concept of WuXia have them read this:

 

http://www.heroic-cinema.com/eric/xia.html

 

Good luck, and if you have any questions just ask. I am a newbie to the genre too, but I have a strong background (a degree in fact) in Asian studies.

 

Rob

[NuSoardGraphite]

This reminds me;

 

I need to get to work on getting my Wuxia game ready for my triumphant return to San Diego.

 

Btw, anyone here get a chance to see Hero yet? if so, how is it?

[Markdoc]

Seen Hero yet? Are you kidding, it's been out for a year

 

I liked it, although it falls at the artsy end of the spectrum for those who like their wuxia fast, violent, and silly.

 

But for me, the first fight sequence was worth the price of admission alone. If they had cut the extended water-ballet sequence it would have been almost perfect. I've got it on DVD, but would recommend seeing it in a cinema - with a really big screen - first, if possible.

 

cheers, Mark

[Susano]

Is this the film "A Man Called Hero"? Or something else?

[Markdoc]

I assumed he meant Hero - Zhang Yimou's biggie from last year. I figured Nu Soard knows what's what with regard to titles

 

I also have a VCD of A Man Called Hero but that's also been out for ages: I picked it up in Hong Kong about a year ago.

 

It's OK - one of these wuxia/america crossovers. I don't really care for them that much.

 

cheers, Mark

[Susano]

Yeah, I saw "A Man Called Hero" and didn't like it much either. However, my extended cut of t"The Stormriders" was just great.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Yeah, Zhang Yimou's "Hero" is what I was referring to (Starring my fav's Jet Li and Maggie Cheung and Donnie Yen!)

 

I know it came out last year and was supposed to hit the Art-house circuit in the States, but I moved to L.A. at that time and didn't know where to go to see it. I kept my eyes open to see if it was playing, but never saw any referrences to it and was also having financial difficulties at the time (job hunting was VERY slow going) so I think I missed the theatrical run.

 

I'm going to get the DVD as soon as I locate a store that has a copy (I know there's a few here in L.A. that specialize in the HK stuff, I just gotta find them!)

 

A Man Called Hero was "O.K." but not great. It had a couple of cool scenes (when the Ninja's showed up. They were cool) but I liked Stormriders a lot more. Thats one cool flick (the extended version, not that butchered version they try to foster off on American audiences)

[Old Man]

Originally posted by NuSoardGraphite

Yeah, Zhang Yimou's "Hero" is what I was referring to (Starring my fav's Jet Li and Maggie Cheung and Donnie Yen!)

 

I picked up a copy off of ebay. Visually breathtaking with excellent action sequences, though overall it is slow moving and hard to follow.

[Markdoc]

Yeah, one of the differences between Europe and the US: here in Copenhagen, Hero ran in 4 large cinemas when it was first released and then moved onto the smaller arthouse circuit after that. In total, I guess it played for about 3-4 months. Dark Water (Japanese horror movie) also opened recently in a couple of big mainstream theatres alongside (for example) Finding Nemo.

 

If you love film (and I do) it's great. Copenhagen (population about 1 million) has maybe twice as many independant cinemas as the San Francisco Bay area and the Washington/Baltimore area combined. And the filmhouse (the equivalent of the American Film Institute) shows maybe 60 different movies a month from old silent films to new releases.

 

The only drag is that anime movies are not well represented in the shops: I get most of mine via the net or on blowouts when travelling (I bought 30 assorted DVDs /VCDs on a trip to san Francisco about a month and half ago - yay Amoeba and Rasputins!) I would have bought a lot more except that DVDs are so expensive in the US (yeah, I know, bitch, bitch)

 

cheers, Mark