Detailed Game Concept Report

1. Background

When we touch on Chinese culture, the first response of most people is Kung-Fu. As a Chinese, I always have a dream to create a Role-playing game about Kung-Fu. My game’s name is Legendary of Swordsman (LOS), and it is set in Yuan Dynasty in China. The Yuan Dynasty was built by Mongols Kublai who was Genghis Kham’s grandson and ruled for China almost one hundred years (97 years). From there, LOS places the player in the body of a member of an underground group (similar to faction) which is determined to rid the country of Mongolian dominance. It must be noted that what the “faction” and the “jianghu” is. It is so difficult to explain it with English. “jianghu” is a neutral word, neither brotherhood nor underworld. According to traditional Chinese culture, “jianghu” (lit. “rivers and lakes”) is not a lawless world, but it does not comply the government rules and it has its own political and cultural system. It is a realistic society full of brotherliness and bad faiths. There is a dialogue in American film The Student Prince which could help to make better sense of “jianghu” as follow: “Come on. You and I, we are both men of the world.” Accordingly, there are a great number of “factions” in “jianghu”. Faction is similar with brotherhood, and it has strong sense of organization and behaviors. Particularly, it has its own strong point in Kung-Fu field. Some factions are good at swordsmanship, some ones are good at fist position, and the others are good at internal strength.

2.  Story and Characters

2.1 Goals for the Story’s Role in the Entertainment Experience

Although the Yuan Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, the Mongols are often characterized by the savagery of their warfare. Take Han Chinese for example, which is Chinese main nationality and distributed all over the country, they commonly believe that the Mongolian are aggressors and the people who is held down ruthlessly would not yield to aggressors. In the meantime, underground groups, which are determined to rid the country of Mongolian dominance, emerge in an endless stream. Finally, the historical fact showed that the dictatorial rule of the Mongolian became so egregious that the ordinary people bore arms against the government and defeated their oppressors in a series of dramatic battles. The players turn into a member of underground groups in this game, and threw themselves into the struggle against oppression, including learning new skills, growth, overcoming challenges, exploring, collecting the resources, construction, etc.