Wuxia

by Viridisium

Like the Pirates page, this is pretty minimal. Any additions would be useful; it's just base concepts right now.

Combat Considerations

• Swordfighting
  • Different special moves, such as that one move in Hero - Nameless strikes with "surgical precision" and cuts through the body without harming any vital organs, allowing for the faking of murders, which might be helpful in a more story-based Wuxia roguelike.
  • Impale, Sweep, Jump attacks, like in Berserk!.
  • Maybe a mode where you move extremely quickly and can get in ten or so attacks per turn, with enemies probably dying unless they had the same skill to defend themselves. This mode would last only a short while, three or so turns, and even that might be too much.
• Jumping/Third dimension
  • It could be set up like, say, Dwarf Fortress, with a seperate screen off to the side showing height.
  • Some interesting things like jumping (j?) could be implemented, as well as the option to attack above or below you. Another interesting idea is this: An area with lots of bamboo poles spread around. The character must balance succesfuly each turn, or fall off - possibly onto spikes or fire.
• Other normal weapons
  • Bo staff fighting
  • Flails, chains, whips
• Throwing things
  • Shuriken, throwing daggers (remember to include all sorts of different types)
  • Maybe a skill - "Irregular Throwing" - to throw large, unwiedly objects, such as swords, large rocks and such.
• Possible gunpowder?
• Strange weapons
  • A variety of exotic weapons should be included.
  • Huge hooks, extremely long swords and staves
• Improvisal combat
  • People in wuxia films always seem to be able to turn anything into a deadly weapon. Parasols, antlers, books, plates. Most of the items included in the game should be able to be used as weapons, of course, their use would have a slight penalty.

Martial Arts

Martial arts are, of course, a huge part of wuxia. All sorts of moves should be included. Another concept is this: Each level, you can choose a few more moves, or improve already existing moves. Each time you choose to improve existing moves, you should get a fairly good bonus, since you're giving up new stuff in favor of old things. Of course, this bonus would decrease with time, since eventually that move would be too powerful. Alternately, the bonus could never stop increasing, resulting in the move getting insanely powerful as you increase levels. This, however, would probably result in the game becoming too easy after taking a powerful move and improving it to the point at which it can obliterate practically the whole dungeon. Admittedly, it would be possible to reduce XP gain from moves as you improve them. That would be a good way to tone down the power.

I actually don't need to list these, it's pretty easy to think these up. I would like to point out that Kung Fu Hustle, a wuxia film, has some incredibly creative moves. Namely, the Buddhist's Palm, which - when improved by enlightenment - has exactly the kind of thing that a wuxia roguelike should have. Imagine flying or being hit extremely high, then coming down and smashing a gigantic imprint of a hand into the ground, smashing the spines of whoever is standing there. Of course, this could probably only be performed in outside environments. Preferably, this hypothetical WuxiaRL would take place almost exclusively in randomly generated towns, forests, and other such locale. This makes for a more intriguing game when combined with the third dimension and a whole heap of martial arts. Imagine, perhaps, snowy forests as in The Promise, swamps, oceans, cliffs, tops of mountains, and all manner of exotic locale.

The Usual Stuff

• Robes
  • Catching things with extended clothes, or ripping weapons out of people's hands. "Cloth Grabbing" as a skill?
  • It's also possible to hide things in robes, sometimes supernaturally so. Imagine someone grabbing shuriken out of hidden flaps in their robes, long after the supply should have ran out. Maybe, there could be artifact robes that could be reached into and have weapons pulled out. Or perhaps just fairly rare magical robes - "Cloak of Infinite Shuriken" or "Robe of Infinite Throwing Daggers".
• Flying
  • Again, this would require 3D to be interesting. With it, however, it would be an intriguing combat - and normal movement - concept. There could be a maxium height or time aloft that you could improve by flying, which takes down MP each time you use it.
  • Another interesting facet of flying would be landing on roofs, walls, and other unusual surfaces. With a skill - "Strange Landing"? - it would be possible to land briefly on a wall or even ceiling before taking off again.
• Stealth
  • Ninjas are all about stealth. Regular stealth and even invisibility are concepts that have already been explored.
  • Teleportation could possibly be counted as being a relation of stealth. Admittedly, it's not really a staple of wuxia, but it is an interesting idea. It, too, has been explored in depth.
• Poison
  • Poison would certainly make our WuxiaRL a more interesting game. Bottles of poison could be used - or made from snakes - for weapons, assasination, and traps.

Fantasy Elements

There would, of course, be a ton of magic. Specifically, magic related to combat. As soon as I think of some examples, I'll put them here. You might think that this is a pretty big thing to leave blank. If so, write your ideas and remove this notice. I've been up for a few days and I'm too tired to think of anything good.

There would, of course, be monsters. Demons and all manner of spirits would be good.

Inspirational Sources

Movies: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, The Promise, Kung Fu Hustle, House of Flying Daggers, all the usual suspects.