RPG Thoughts: Borrowing the Choson Dynamic

When writing a fantasy RPG setting, I think we all borrow to some degree. There is borrowing from other creative works, and then there is borrowing from history. When borrowing from history, we are also often borrowing from other cultures. That might make some uncomfortable, but if one is inspired by a historical period or event, or a culture, that doesn’t mean one must carbon copy the whole culture.

Sometimes that might be the result—back in 2008, I made my first stab at writing an RPG set in Choson-era Korea, which was set in Choson-era Korea, and Nefertiti Overdrive is 25^th Dynasty Ancient Egypt, which includes the Sudanese culture of the time—but that’s not the only way to approach this. There’s obviously something that draws you to the period and the culture, so borrow those factors and leave the rest.

Let’s look at that Choson-era Korea example. Part of my interest in Korea is personal—I used to live there and have familial connections to South Korea. But in living in Korea and studying its history, there were specific aspects of Choson that drew my interest as a writer and game designer.

The conflict between the elite ‘literati’ and the military is not confined to Choson, but it had a very specific dynamic and outcome in Korea. Choson Korea was sandwiched between a dominant cultural patron (China) and a more-militarized state (Japan), and that created—for me—a really interesting setting. In history, it led to situations like the Imjin War—Japan’s invasion of Korea in the late 16th century. The elites rejected reports of the threat of Japan because they considered Japan a cultural inferior. That didn’t matter when troops hardened by decades of civil war landed on the shores of Korea.

Then there was the way the Choson court treated the Jurchen-led Later Jin Dynasty which was to become the Qing dynasty of China. Even though the Later Jin dominated the region and defeated both a joint Ming-Choson force and then successfully invaded Choson itself, the elites wanted to the king to reject all of Later Jin’s demands—even those to which Choson had agreed in the treaty following the first invasion. How could a refined kingdom like Choson turn its back on its cultured patron for barbarians? The elites claimed Confucianism demanded continued loyalty to the Ming. This also didn’t end well for Choson.

That particular dynamic—the fatal flaw of prejudice against military competence while in a very precarious state of security—was what I wanted to replicate from Choson, and I could do that without trying to also replicate Choson society, culture, and names. There are factors within each of those that are also interesting, but one can take those and mix them in with other factors from other societies and cultures to create something that might not be new—technically—but is unique.