Back in November of 2016 I posted an article titled “Why art of Wuxia!?”on this blog.

I’ve been thinking about that as I just finished up the final edits in the book. It has been through several edit passes now and is ready for layout, art, and all that makes it a published game.

It is by far a better game than back when I wrote that first article on this blog. The article talks about why I made this game and how it can have a broad appeal. All of that article is true of the final game.

But still…

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention THE MOST IMPORTANT reason of why I created this game. I ran Art of Wuxia for a couple of old friends and four new friends at The Source Comics & Games in Roseville, MN recently.

Here is a picture from the event (click to embiggin). That is why I created Art of Wuxia! I want you to have that much fun at your tables!

In an earlier post I listed the various skills in Art of Wuxia and wrote a little about each one. Today we look a little closer at one of the abilities of the alchemist skill, and indeed the most important one, Alchemy.
Upon gaining a level in the alchemist skill, the player chooses an alchemical expertise. There are six such expertise: Antidotes, Catalysts, Debilitating Substances, Deadly Substances, Explosives and Medicines.
Antidotes: used to treat poisons, these can be general or specific to one poison. Specific antidotes work better than general ones of course.
Catalysts: used to enhance one of the other five alchemical expertise by extending duration, adding new effects, or making deadly substances harder to treat.
Debilitating Substances: these cause conditions such as dazed, slowed, weakened, deluded etc.

Deadly Substances: these are poisons, acids or other harmful substances that do direct damage.
Explosives: things that go boom, also includes signal rockets and other fireworks.
Medicines: these cure common ailments, heal damage caused by physical injuries and cure diseases.
With a little bit of time and money, an alchemist can prepare several alchemical items to help his or her fellow adventurers. Small quests can revolve around acquiring rare ingredients to cure deadly plagues or save a poisoned individual’s life. The alchemy rules are designed to keep the alchemist skill relevant in any adventures the alchemist finds themselves in.

This weekend I finished Art of Wuxia. This says it all.

via GIFER

Con of the North, Feb 15-16, 2020
Minneapolis, MN
www.conofthenorth.org

Back in May, I said I wasn’t running any game conventions in 2019. That is still true. What is also true is I will start doing conventions again with Art of Wuxia in early 2020. I’ve made huge progress since my post in May and I should be done with Art of Wuxia in the next two weeks. Yep. Therefore, it is time to get this show on the road.

I’ll be running the scenario below at the times listed.

Ghostly Echoes

The Bowing Dragon Monks need your help fighting an enemy from the past. Can you discern the real from the Ghostly Echoes? Based on the successful Bare Bones Fantasy, Covert Ops and Frontier Space games from DWD Studios comes the high flying, sword swinging kung fu action of Art of Wuxia.

Con of the North
Feb 14-16^th. 2020

Friday 6 – 10pm

Sat 2 – 6pm

My time slots aren’t set in stone yet but those are what I submitted.

May your dice fu be strong!

 

The map is done! I’m thrilled to show off the map for Art of Wuxia! It turned out quite lovely. The map scale is similar to the Keranak Kingdoms, the default setting for BareBones Fantasy RPG by DWD Studios.

My original map for Art of Wuxia looked nice and I used it for many of my playtest campaign adventures but it had one HUGE flaw that took me much too long to notice. It didn’t contain discrete continents giving GMs the option of plunking them down in their own world, or that of the Keranak Kingdoms. So back to the drawing board, er…, computer I went.

My design goals were to create interesting landscapes that were pleasing to the eye, provide enough space for GMs to make the setting their own and have it inspire adventure wherever you look. I spent an hour and half last night just looking at the laminated poster I had printed out at OfficeMax and I can’t stop thinking of adventures and more setting ideas.

Another design choice, and a hard one, was that I decided to use English place names for the vast majority of locations. Some places are named after great heroes so retain a Chinese flavor. Older places of importance are still referred to in the Old Tongue (Chinese) within the text of the book. I also wanted players to understand that there is a North Dragon and a South Dragon fortress. Their names in the Old Tongue are Beilong and Nanlong.

My play testers got to see the map earlier this week and they want their characters to go “there” and “there” and “over there” etc. And you know, that sounds pretty awesome to me too! I hope this map inspires many hours of wuxia adventures, wherever they take you.

My next goal is to have the final chapter of the book wrapped up by the end of July.