Right now, GPO is a little thin on GMs this time (only 2 have stepped forward), so if you’re in the area and want to play, stand up and be counted!

Full details are over at the GPO blog. Highlight events include: Dogs, Dirty Secrets, Poison’d, Pulp!, Mechaton, Moldvay Basic D&D

Saturday November 8
55 Laurier Ave East
Ottawa
Inside the Starbucks
11:00am-9:00pm

Hope to see you out!

This test drive is just going to make it stronger for GenCon.

What is the genre?
It’s not quite historical, not quite horror, and not quite fantasy. It’s not quite historical because the Korea in which the characters exist is not the real Korea, though it might be a reasonable facsimile thereof. The Korea of the story is the Korea of my imagination. It is not quite horror because horror requires tension, and while there may be mystery, I don’t completely expect the tension to be high enough to create horror. It’s not quite fantasy as there won’t be magic or strangeness . . . well, not a lot of it.

Think of it as a historical-horror-fantasy, though it’s none of those.

What kind of game is this?
I’m planning for it to be pretty quick, pretty fast-paced, but taking the time to allow for meaningful interaction with the NPCs. Because it’s a one-shot and constrained by time, character development will likely be minimal. Characterization, though, should remain strong.

How close will you follow the rules?
This will be my first time running a Savage Worlds game, so rules might be an issue. However, I’m not particularly rules obsessed, and Savage Worlds has a simple basic mechanic of dice and target number. Rather than spend time looking up rules, I’ll be winging stuff. If you know Savage Worlds well and have issues with the GM ignoring or missing rules, don’t play in my game.

Rules are a mechanic to tell a story. The story is paramount.

How close will the players have to follow the rules?
As close as they need to in order to tell the story they want.

Here’s the thing, I’m more interested in running a fun, exciting session than I am in running a Savage Worlds session. As long as you let me say yes to what you are asking, I will say yes. If you ask, “Can I leap over the guy in front of me, then kick the shaft of the spear he’s holding to propel myself onto the roof?” I will answer, “Ooo, very cool. Roll an Agility check.” If you then said, “My Agility isn’t as good as my Fighting, so what if I’m using my martial arts skills, directing my chi through my foot?” I’d probably answer, “Pushing it, but if you make a successful Spirit check, I’ll let you try it as a Fighting check.” Give me a reason to say yes. Make it cool. Make it fit your character. Make it fun. We’ll get along fine.

Will we be kicking @$$?
While I do expect combat, I only expect a minimal amount. This will be about the characters learning the mystery, dealing with the villagers, and completing the last wishes of their General. As the name implies, there is a beast, and I expect the characters will at some point come into physical conflict with said beast, but I can’t see much more combat than that.

An important aspect of any individual in Choson (What Koreans call Korea during the time of the Yi Dynasty) was social class. Choson Korea was extremely stratified, with minimal movement between classes. For an interesting look at the class dynamic in a Korean period action movie, check out “Musa” (sometimes subtitled “the Warrior”), with its yangban leader who leads only because of the accident of birth, its yangmin archer who is a true leader despite the accident of his birth, and the chonmin martial artist, given freedom from his patron but denied that freedom due to prejudice.

Please note, this is only for use for those interested in adding depth to their characters. I don’t intend the game to turn into a veiled Korean history and culture lesson. A quick synopsis of the class system will be delivered in the pre-game warm-up. Were this to grow into a campaign, or if you are drawing inspiration for a campaign, the class system can definitely help bring some party conflict and role-playing.

At the top of society were the yangban (yawng-bawn), the aristocracy. Not only were the yangban nobility, they were exempt from taxation, from the military draft, and from the labour service demanded of other Koreans. Only the yangban could sit for government exams, and therefore they maintained their dominance by dominating the bureaucracy. Just as France had nobles of the robe and nobles of the sword, yangban could be military or bureaucratic nobles, though a military yangban did not necessarily know how to fight and a bureaucratic yangban did not necessarily know how to administer.

Beneath the yangban were the chungin (choong-een). There were few of these “middle people,” and they represented a fledgling middle class in Choson society. The chungin were professionals, be it of medicine, languages, accounting, law, painting, whatever. Their roles were as hereditary as the nobility of the yangban, meaning the son of a painter was a painter, whether he could paint or not. The chungin also filled the offices of the minor bureaucracy–clerks, messengers, law enforcement, those roles which had direct contact with the yangmin.

Those yangmin (yawng-meen) were also known as pyongmin (pyohng-meen). Yangmin literally means “good people,” though their lives were rarely what we would call good. These were the lower class–the farmers and the labourers–and they were the taxpayers in Choson society. Along with taxes, they owed military service and labour service to their yangban lords. These were the peasants of Korea.

Within the yangmin were the sangmin (sawng-meen), a fringe element of mercantilism within the lower classes. The sangmin lead a precarious existance, hoping to find themselves accepted into the chungin, but often despised by the yangban, who saw any hint of yangmin turning a profit as unethical under Confucianism. Sangmin who earned well soon found their practice made illegal and themselves forced back into peasantry, until they could think up a new scheme and make money fast enough to buy themselves into the chungin.

And at the bottom were the chonmin (chohn-meen), or people in bondage. This class was made up of slaves–called hain (hah-een)–and the untouchables. Slaves were owned by yangban families and were considered chattel, possessions which could be traded, sold, loaned, etc. Slaves could enter the ranks of the yangmin if their master emancipated them. Often, when the population of slaves grew too great, and fears of an uprising or revolt grew with them, the government would emancipate all government slaves or all the slaves in a region or province, regardless of if there were land enough to sustain more farming or other yangmin activity.

The untouchables among Choson society were entertainers like singers, dancers, or actors. Sorcerers, witches, and butchers were all untouchables. Unlike the slaves, these chonmin could not be emancipated. A butcher, though, could disappear with his family and reappear in another village, suddenly an interint labourer and therefore yangmin. Slave records were maintained meticulously. Records of the untouchables, not so much.

But not all entertainers were untouchables. The kisaeng (gee-sang) were a variation of the entertainer similar in many ways to the Japanese geisha. Highly educated, kisaeng became renowned poets and painters, showered with honours, and their company highly prized. No matter how famed they became, they remained paid escorts–until a partner of sufficient power or wealth made of them a concubine or even, and extremely rarely, a wife.

For the purpose of simplicity, consider the yangban the aristocracy, the chungmin the middle class, the yangmin the peasants, and the chonmin the untouchables.

This is a dark time for Korea.

A century ago, during the reign of kings like Sejo and Sejong, it seemed as though Korea were the centre of the universe. This has changed. Mad kings, lazy kings, greedy kings, and a nobility only too similar have eroded what power and prestige Korea may once have had. And now the Japanese have come. Not the pirates that raided constantly, those dismissively referred to as waegu, but a full military invasion.

Korea’s army, what little there was of it, could not match Japanese soldiers hardened by decades of civil war. Its navy, though potent, could do little to aid those on land. And so, in less than a year, Korea collapsed. The Japanese are harried by the navy, but they control all save Cheolla province. Although the Japanese impose harsh order on those areas which they control, much of the Korean countryside is outside of any control. Banditry, always a problem, has become a plague. Whole villages have disappeared, either abandoned or destroyed.

Through this chaos, travel four figures. Armed and grim, their very appearance dissuades both bandits and Japanese patrols. It should. These are the Four Worthies of the army of General Kim Jong-mu. They bear an urn with the remains of that great General. They take it to the village of Namgakksan for internment.

Woe betide any who delay them.

Also, each character has a Birthright Edge, which is an edge based on the description of the Chinese zodiac for which the character does not need to meet the prerequisite. These are the first draft, and may be changed.

Jung
Kim Jung-yun, swordsman
Dog (Honest, straightforward, loyal, sense of justice and fair play, unpretentious, idealistic, moralistic, dogged, cynical, judgmental, worrier, quarrelsome)
Experience: 20 Seasoned
Agility: d8; Smarts: d4; Spirit: d4; Strength: d10; Vigour: d6
Skills Fighting d12; Guts d6; Intimidation d6; Stealth d6
Pace: 6”; Parry: 8; Toughness: 7 (5)
Hindrance: Enemy (major – the Clan Yashida)
Edge: Trademark Weapon (the Daimyo, a katana: this is the weapon of a samurai Jung killed in his first battle. That samurai was daimyo of the clan Yashida. Jung kept the weapon as a trophy, which has led Clan Yashida to put a bounty on his head and seek his death); Frenzy; Fast Healer
Birthright Edge: Dog (loyalty) – Common Bond
Equipment: the Daimyo (Katana, +1 Fighting, Str+d6+2, AP 2); chain hauberk; sundry other equipment

Young
Yun Young-won, archer
Snake (Graceful, soft-spoken, prudent, shrewd, cautious, responsible, calm, purposeful, loner, bad communicator, self-doubting)
Experience: 20 Seasoned
Agility: d10; Smarts: d4; Spirit: d6; Strength: d6; Vigor: d6
Skills Fighting d8; Notice d6; Shooting d12; Throwing d6; Tracking d6
Pace: 6”; Parry: 6; Toughness: 6 (5); Charisma: -2
Hindrance: Loner (as per Ugly), Cautious
Edge: Quickdraw; Steady Hands; Flight Frenzy (as Frenzy but for Shooting)
Birthright Edge: Snake (calm) – Level-Headed
Equipment: Bow (12/24/48, 2d6), arrows, leather armour, dagger (Str+d4), sundry other equipment

Song
No Song-han, martial artist
Rabbit (Kind, sensitive, amiable, elegant, tender, self-assured, astute, compassionate, flexible, moody, self-indulgent.)
Experience: 20 Seasoned
Agility: d8; Smarts: d6; Spirit: d6; Strength: d6; Vigor: d6
Skills Fighting d12; Notice d8; Persuasion d6; Stealth d6
Pace: 6”; Parry: 8 (10); Toughness: 5; Charisma: +2
Hindrance: Code of Honour; Curious
Edge: Quick; Two-Fisted; Taekyon (Fists and feet are counted as weapons; unarmed combat damage is Str+d4); Frenzy; Acrobat
Birthright Edge: Rabbit (elegant) – Charismatic
Equipment: Staff (Str+d4, +1 Parry, reach, 2 hands), sundry other equipment

Dae
Choi Dae-yoo, Monk
Monkey (Quick-witted, flexible, self-assured, sociable, polite, dignified, intellectual, egotistical, suspicious).
Experience: 20 Seasoned
Agility: d6; Smarts: d8; Spirit: d8; Strength: d6; Vigor: d6
Skills Fighting d6; Guts d8; Healing d8; Knowledge (philosophy) d6; Notice d8; Streetwise d8
Pace: 6”; Parry: 5; Toughness: 6
Hindrance: Heroic, Pacifist (minor), Vow (minor, Buddhist vow of charity and chastity)
Edge: Danger Sense; Brawny; Healer; Alertness
Birthright Edge: Monkey (quick-witted) – Jack-of-All-Trades
Equipment: Shakujō (metal monk staff, Str+d6, reach, 2 hands), prayer beads, prayer drum, sundry other equipment

The characters are listed by the name commonly used, their full names, their role, and their Chinese zodiac symbol. Korean names begin with a surname and then a given name, usually a first and second name, hyphenated. It is possible to have a single given name, though this is not common.

Jung
Kim Jung-yun, swordsman, Dog

Young
Yoon Young-won, archer, Snake

Song
No Song-han, martial artist, Rabbit

Dae
Chay Dae-yoo, Buddhist monk, Monkey

All four fought in the Righteous Armies, volunteer militia units that have sprung up in response to the Japanese invasion. They have forged a deep bond in the months of hard fighting, and were General Kim Jong-mu’s most trusted soldiers. The General was killed by a Japanese arquebus just outside Andong, and asked the four–known within the Righteous Armies as the Four Worthies–to take his remains to his father, Kim Dae-sam, in the village of Namgakksan, near the town of Jinbo.