Weapons of the Gods Roleplaying Game (Wuxia Action Series)
Weapons of the Gods Roleplaying Game (Wuxia Action Series)
Weapons of the Gods is the first licensed roleplaying game to be published by Eos Press. A rich and textured book based on the Chinese wuxia genre, it features a quick and cinematic rules system written specifically for the genre;easy to learn and fast to play, it is set in the fast-and-furious kung fu setting of Tony Wong’s popular comic series, but is useful for re-creating any beloved kung fu movie, such as Storm Riders or the Jet Li HERO. The hardcover book features full-color art throughout by the comic artist himself and a setting by the renowned writer Rebecca Borgstrom - it’s meant to be a wonderful read as well as a roleplaying game.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Wuxia Empowerment!
I tend to flit from system to system, exploring new ideas and concepts, but occassionally, a game enchants me enough to keep me coming back to it. Very occassionally, it constantly surprises me and does more than just allow me to run a decent game: it actually improves upon what my group and I can do.
Weapons of the Gods is just such a game.
The game brings a variety of tools that keeps the game exciting and ever-changing. The rules for River and Martial Arts ensure that every turn of a fight matters, forcing players to make tough choices between going for a killer blow now or building up for an even more powerful blow later on, while they carefully manage their chi flows. The Secret Arts allow players to input their vision of the world directly into the game, and creates a social system that expands upon, rather the replaces, roleplaying. The Lore system allows players to explore the world of Shen Zhou, to place their characters into the setting, and to have their say in the world and the story. Furthermore, unlike other games which lay out how a player might, after years of play, start to reach the ultimate levels of power, WotG lets players reach those upper echelons quickly, within a few months of play, making it an ideal game for those who don’t want lifelong investments in a single game.
Weapons of the Gods isn’t perfect. As I said before, it’s dense and deceptively simple. The core system allows players and GMs to easily arbitrate any system or strangeness they can imagine, but first time players tend to assume the game is more complicated than it really is. Concepts like “River” and “Breath” are harder to explain on paper than they are to simply show at the table. The entire book is written with an eye towards rules and character development. Even the setting exists to offer interesting options for character generation: a fascinating concept, but one that means the setting is somewhat obliquely explained. The core book misses out on a decent map that would help players visualize the world (fortunately available at the publisher’s website as a free download), and you really need to watch or read some Wuxia to really get the feel of the game down: It isn’t a game that pretends to be about China while really using western tropes. It really is about China, from a chinese perspective.
Still, it’s been a game that has ensured constant entertainment for myself and my friends, one that has enchanted nearly anyone who has tried it. Unlike some other games of similar genres, WotG doesn’t require dozens of books detailing the world to make it playable: I’ve run plenty of games with just the core book. If you enjoy games like Exalted, Feng Shui, Legend of the Five Rings, or other cinematic, asian-flavored games, you owe it to yourself to give this game a look.
5 Stars Be a Chinese superhero!
This game book gives you the tools to roleplay adventures in the settings of the mythical ancient China as presented in the comic book series of the same name. Well written, it provides an enormous amount of material to base adventures on and helps budding wuxia heroes become a part of their world. If your hero has learned about any of the legends, histories, tales or secrets presented herein they may find themselves involved in adventures involving the secret knowledge - a great way to have the GM set a story on what interests you.
The game mechanics are a bit different than any other game that I have played but I like them. You will roll several ten-sided dice based on your skill (plus specialties if any)plus one if your relevant attribute is superior to your skill. You look for sets of matching numbers, the more the better, to get a value that meets or exceeds a target number to achieve your goal, whether it is writing a poem in elegant calligraphy to make a favorable impression or to kick your opponent through the next wall. The value of sets are based on ten times the number of matching dice plus the number on the dice itself, for example a roll that includes 7, 7, 7 would have a set value of 37. Modifiers to this roll (such as -5 or +10) are provided by circumstances or superior equipment. If your heroine was fortunate enough to be using the Four-Virtue Sword, for example, she would have a +15 to strike. The last aspect of the dice rolling is a dice pool called the River that allows you to set aside dice (two to begin with)in the hopes that they will be able to add to sets later on. If you had a 7 in your River, for example, you could add it to the set above and make it 47. It’s a bit more complex than what many may be used to but it lends an ebb-and-flow quality to the game that I like.
Now what sets your heroes apart from the regular inhabitants of the Land of Shen Zhou is chi, an energy that allows you to perform amazing powers. And make no mistake, your heroes will be able to do some amazing things even early on. Able to run over the tops of bamboo and defeat any ordinary warrior, your hero is a force to be reckoned with even to begin with. And later on, even armies can fear your One Man Legion stance. All it takes is chi, and in this game it comes in different “flavors” with five of them (Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood) being the most common. Different styles of kung fu use different chi and you may find your hero running out of one sort if you have too narrow a focus in your martial arts. Fortunately your hero will tend to have two to four martial styles that will utilize more than one type of chi. And heroes recover one chi of all types every turn. So battles have a resource management aspect as well in that you will need to track what chi you have left and fight accordingly. As a game master, I find that this is a “quality over quantity” system of play - fewer fights but more interesting ones.
Finally, the book is extremely well illustrated with a high quality format. How fortunate that artist Tony Wong provided many pictures from his comic book series here - they really set the mood of super-powered wuxia heroes in a world that is threatened by corruption and evil. This is one great looking package that is full of everything you need to be a Chinese superhero. Get out there and burn some chi!
4 Stars Wonderful Passionate game
I’m a huge fan of martial arts. I illustrated several books on the matter. I’ve been watching kung fu movies since about 1975.
This book nails the subject matter.
Or more specifically, the Wuxia subject matter. That insane, over-the-top ballet of bounding battlers as seen in films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Jet LI’s Hero (my personal fav). House of Flying Daggers and for those in the know, really, really influenced by Legendary Weapons of China (dir. Tsui Hark).
Because it is Legendary Weapons that inspired the comic, Weapons of the Gods. The comic’s world is the world of the roleplaying game. Larger than life heroes and villains with passions that make the Heavens and Hells shake!!!!
Because it ain’t all about the cool moves and the slick superhuman feats. One has to navigate evil eunuchs, court intrigues, tricky spirits and an insane emperor. Not to mention the predilection of Kung Fu warriors to fall in love with the most unattainable matches at the most inoppropriate times.
As the other review as stated the cool die mechanics and such, let me state my opinion. They TOTALLY support the feel of the genre. I’ve played martial artists from the most hardcore of detail systems, Hero and Gurps and even Rolemaster, to the most tongue-in-cheek, light systems like Feng Shui.
Weapons of the Gods gets it. My players are bouncing around, shouting out their manuevers… and that is just at tea with the governor.
This is a game that gives a lot of co-GM stance to the players. A player gets more Destiny/experience for playing up a love for that socially inoppropriate love interest. Or any number of setbacks that seem to drive most kung fu stories.
The players get to chose plotlines by spending their Destiny of cool Lores. Really like that neat Godweapon rope dart known as Silver Thread of Destiny? Spend the Destiny (re: experience) and start yourself along the road to getting your life intertwined with a cool magical item.
The writing is a bit dense. One does have to suss out the occasional rule, Healing comes to mind, which is in a couple of different places. It is a first edition, and it shows somewhat. That is why it didn’t get a full five stars. I’d rather be upfront about that and make sure that people who do purchase the book are happy with what it does do.
But the community is helpful. There is a very good index to be downloaded from Eos’s site.
This game is not for everyone. It is definitely a particular taste. There are no elves, no dwarves, magic is a very different flavor. But dragons? dragons are kinda important in Chinese myths… hee…
So, if you ever wanted to channel your chi into taking out the evil imposter on the throne of a king, and throw down with the Hell Clan… this is the game you must have!
Filed under: Dungeons and Dragons Book Reviews
