Southeast Asia Dungeon Fantasy?

[b-dog]

Why doesn’t Dungeon Fantasy make some adventures set in Southeast Asia? There does not seem to be much competition in this area so the DF line would probably have a lot of interest. Bali, Siam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Indonesia seem like a great location for dungeon delving.

[Anders]

Probably because no one has volunteered to write them.

[WhiteLily]

A conversion of Paizo's Jade Regent could be cool.

[ravenfish]

Does anyone know of roleplaying game source-books for any system that have a Southeast Asian focus (there is no shortage of books offering advice on playing in historical/mythical/serial-numbers-rubbed-off "Asia", but, for most of them, "Asia" seems to be synonymous with some combination of Japan and China)? Failing that, can anyone recommend non-RPG works that would be helpful/inspirational from the angle of campaigning in either medieval-to-early-modern Southeast Asia or fictional settings that take flavor therefrom? I agree with B-Dog that there are definite possibilities here- areas on the borders of cultural spheres of influence are frequently where the best adventures are to be had, and there's lots of opportunities for pirates.

[WhiteLily]

Check out The Jade Regent. The first book gives characters plots hooks on the adventure that pull them into a journey to the land of the fantasy Far East.

By book 4: After surviving one deadly wilderness, the heroes emerge into another—a land of ancient mysteries and sacred secrets known as the Forest of Spirits. But the forest knows how to defend itself from strangers, and its powerful and aloof guardians, the kami, brook no harm to their eldritch home. Those who would defy the spirits of the land have little hope of survival. Yet those who prove themselves friends to this mystical realm and its strange inhabitants stand to gain not just great allies, but also knowledge of a secret evil that has long festered in the forest’s heart and now poisons all of Tian Xia.

[ravenfish]

Originally Posted by WhiteLily

[...]Jade Regent[...]

I play Pathfinder now and again and have read (though not played) Jade Regent, and I would include Tian Xia in my comments about "the east" in roleplaying games being largely China and Japan (off-brand or otherwise) with Southeast Asia a comparatively minor component.

[WhiteLily]

Those two countries constituted the most established feudal society of the region. You may look to whichever nation interests you and see if anyone created material for that nation's history.

Otherwise, you are looking for something is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike something else.

[b-dog]

Originally Posted by ravenfish

Does anyone know of roleplaying game source-books for any system that have a Southeast Asian focus (there is no shortage of books offering advice on playing in historical/mythical/serial-numbers-rubbed-off "Asia", but, for most of them, "Asia" seems to be synonymous with some combination of Japan and China)? Failing that, can anyone recommend non-RPG works that would be helpful/inspirational from the angle of campaigning in either medieval-to-early-modern Southeast Asia or fictional settings that take flavor therefrom? I agree with B-Dog that there are definite possibilities here- areas on the borders of cultural spheres of influence are frequently where the best adventures are to be had, and there's lots of opportunities for pirates.

I have been to Southeast Asia quite a few times and with all of the temples and statues it seem like an awesome place to have DF adventures and not many others games are doing it.

[ravenfish]

Originally Posted by WhiteLily

Those two countries constituted the most established feudal society of the region. You may look to whichever nation interests you and see if anyone created material for that nation's history.

Otherwise, you are looking for something is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike something else.

Obviously we're discussing vast and culturally diverse areas. Given the paucity of roleplaying supplements for any of the regions under consideration, my intent was to cast a wide net and, if anyone is aware of inspiring sources, allow my choice of focus to be guided by that (in the spirit of the man who, when asked why he was looking for his dropped wallet under the street lamp when he had no idea of whether he had dropped it there or somewhere else, replied that it was easier to look where the light was).

[b-dog]

Anyway, China and Japan have settings and adventures for dungeon delving but places like Siam and Bali do not have much.