[Dungeon Fantasy] Non-East Asian inspirations for Martial Artists (and Ninja)

Michael Thayne · 07-23-2022, 08:34 AM

Dungeon Fantasy Martial Artists are a bit of an odd man out. The other "core" professions all have roots in fantasy fiction and RPGs primarily (if loosely) based off Medieval Europe. The Martial Artist, on the other hand, has its roots in Chinese and Japanese martial arts. Sure, the barbarian template also represents an exotic foreigner—but often one from a mere few hundred miles away, as opposed to several thousand miles away. So I'm wondering about historical precedents for something that could justify using the mechanics of the Martial Artist without feeling so out of place. One thing that comes to mind, oddly, is to portray them as a sort of cinematic version of ancient Olympic athletes. But it might be that people know of other historical precedents. Thoughts?

07-23-2022, 08:34 AM	#1
Michael Thayne Join Date: May 2010	[Dungeon Fantasy] Non-East Asian inspirations for Martial Artists (and Ninja) Dungeon Fantasy Martial Artists are a bit of an odd man out. The other "core" professions all have roots in fantasy fiction and RPGs primarily (if loosely) based off Medieval Europe. The Martial Artist, on the other hand, has its roots in Chinese and Japanese martial arts. Sure, the barbarian template also represents an exotic foreigner—but often one from a mere few hundred miles away, as opposed to several thousand miles away. So I'm wondering about historical precedents for something that could justify using the mechanics of the Martial Artist without feeling so out of place. One thing that comes to mind, oddly, is to portray them as a sort of cinematic version of ancient Olympic athletes. But it might be that people know of other historical precedents. Thoughts? __________________ Handle is a character from the StarDrive* setting (a.k.a. d20 Future), not my real name.