{"id":132,"date":"2017-11-02T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2017\/11\/02\/five-or-so-questions-with-james-mendez-hodez-on-7th-sea-khitai\/"},"modified":"2021-11-16T00:39:37","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T05:39:37","slug":"five-or-so-questions-with-james-mendez-hodez-on-7th-sea-khitai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2017\/11\/five-or-so-questions-with-james-mendez-hodez-on-7th-sea-khitai\/","title":{"rendered":"Five or So Questions with James Mendez Hodez on 7th Sea: Khitai"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi all! Today’s interview is with James Mendez Hodez on 7th Sea: Khitai<\/i>, which is currently on Kickstarter<\/a>. Khitai<\/i> is a standalone RPG and is exploring beyond the boundaries of 7th Sea’s core setting, Th\u00e9ah. There is currently a free, 36-page quick-start on DriveThruRPG<\/a>. Check out what James had to say below!<\/p>\n

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This is so damn pretty regardless of anything else. Dang. By Shen Fei.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Tell me a little about 7th Sea: Khitai<\/i>. What excites you about it?<\/b><\/p>\n

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The Khitai<\/i> setting expands 7th Sea\u2019s<\/i> 17th-century swashbuckling fantasy to Asian, Oceanian, and Pacific settings. I\u2019m excited to represent times, places, and legends close to my heart and my real-life ancestry, many of which have never appeared before in tabletop role-play. Khitai also ups the scale of the game\u2019s heroism: one Hero can lead an outlaw gang in the marshes of Shenzhou, a slave revolt on the peninsula of Han, a pirate fleet in the islands of Tawalisi, or a samurai clan governing a warring state in Fuso. We get to stretch the boundaries of what a Hero looks like and how they can change the world.<\/div>\n
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I know in previous<\/a> interviews<\/a> we’ve spoken about your academic and personal expertise, but I’m curious what new you may have studied, played, or what kind of media you looked at to work on Khitai<\/i>. What were some specific things you enjoyed reviewing as you’ve worked on the project? Tell me how they’re reflected, at least a little, in the game.<\/b><\/p>\n

Khitai <\/i>has brought a great deal of new media into my life. Here are a few inspirations that really stand out.<\/p>\n

The Water Margin Classic<\/i>, also known as Outlaws of the Marsh<\/i>, is probably the single most significant influence on Asian swashbuckling adventure in general, and my vision of Khitai<\/i> in particular. It\u2019s one of Chinese literature\u2019s Four Great Classical Novels alongside the Romance of the Three Kingdoms<\/i>, Journey to the West<\/i>, and Dream of the Red Chamber<\/i>. It\u2019s about 108 martial heroes whose \u2026 eventful \u2026 lives drive them to join a bandit gang in the Chinese swamps, where they make trouble, rebel against the unjust government, and then ascend to positions of responsibility and authority in a new government.<\/p>\n

I based indigenous Fusoese religion on The Song the Owl God Sang<\/i>, a book of folk songs and stories compiled by a young woman of indigenous Japanese ancestry who mysteriously and tragically died hours after she completed it. Fusoese Kamuyru will reflect the sometimes-playful, sometimes-deadly kamuy who rule the land, animals, and humans\u2019 relationships with the foregoing in Ainu thought.<\/p>\n

To research Han, I started watching a K-drama called Slave Hunter<\/i> because it\u2019s set in seventeenth-century Joseon Korea, where somewhere from 10% to 33% of the population were slaves or serfs of some kind. I think I might have gotten more than I bargained for, because it\u2019s sexy swashbuckling pseudo-historical nonsense in exactly the same genre as 7th Sea<\/i>. I highly recommend it. Things I have learned so far about historical Korea:<\/p>\n