The Ten Courts of Hell

I have briefly mentioned the Ten Courts of Hell on page 36 of the Celestial Empire. This is the place in the netherworld where evil whitesouls stay awaiting their judgement, and where they undergo the judgement itself after having spent some time in this purgatory.

There is a fundamental text of Chinese Folk Religion from the 18th century AD, the Yùlì Bǎochāo 玉歷寶鈔 (the Jade Guidebook), that describes the ten infernal tribunals in detail; you may read it here.

In a nutshell, the whitesoul of the deceased arrives at the gate of Fēngdū (see illustration) where their name is registered, then proceeds to the first court of Hell. This is the most lenient place in Purgatory, for those who committed suicide and who must stay there until the equivalent of what the duration of their life would have been had they not committed suicide has elapsed. Everybody else is ushered into the second court of Hell.

The whitesouls of those who kidnapped or robbed people during their lifetime remain in the second court of Hell to undergo several series of terrible torments. Everybody else is ushered into the third court of Hell.

The whitesouls of those who accepted bribes during their lifetime remain in the third court of Hell to undergo even worse terrible torments.

Etc. etc. with ever more atrocious depictions of torments until the ninth court for arsonists, assassins, rapists, and the like.

The tenth court is not a place of punishment but the place where those whose time of suffering has expired go in order to await the details of their rebirth through the wheel of karma.

Apotropaic New Year’s Rites

 Stolen from the blue bird site:

originally posted by 溥彥

A Podcast About Outlaws of the Water Margin

Outlaws of the Water Margin is the roleplaying game that initially made me want to write my own frp game set in Imperial China. It is also an early example of a ‘culture rpg’, a kind of role-playing game that is really different from our usual escapist games.

I have recently discovered that the podcast “Ludonarrative Dissidents” had covered the game, in particular the cultural environment in which it had been created.

Enjoy the episode!

Diversity in The Celestial Empire

The Celestial Empire is not a fantasy tabletop role-playing game inspired by the myths and the history of Cathay, but a TTRPG firmly set in Imperial China, her culture, and her society. As a result, the rules as written strongly encourage the players to have a male character of Hàn ethnicity.

Now I realise this mayn’t be everybody’s cup of tea, and that today’s TTRPG public expects more diversity, both in terms of gender and of ethnicity, when generating their player characters.

However, having the GM set their campaign at the time of the Táng dynasty, and particularly in the capital city of Cháng’ān, could provide a solution. Under the Táng (618-907 AD), Cháng’ān, the eastern end of the Silk Road, was one of the largest metropolises of the world, a cosmopolitan city with several neighbourhoods explicitly designed to house the many merchants, pilgrims, envoys, missionaries, etc. coming from the lands to the West of the Celestial Empire.

This picture (from Twitter) shows the various ethnic groups one might have encountered in the streets of Cháng’ān under the Táng.

Note: the English-language translations in the yellow labels are from a Chinese Facebook group. “Rakshasa” is a wrong interpretation of the original “羅剎”, which used to mean “Russian” and which now indeed means Rakshasa [although I doubt there were any Russians in Cháng’ān; that is an utter anachronism].

Asian TTRPGs

Except for Japan, there aren't many Asian tabletop RPGs out there. Here are a few links to Asian tabletop RPG companies/individuals that I have found online:

Cadua Sirmata, from the Philippines (facebook)

Ginintuan: Legends of the Golden Sea (fantasy setting based on Philippine culture)

Curious Chimeras, from Singapore (web-site):

Tales Of Saintrest and the Three Paths System (South-East Asian Hindu-Buddhist rural horror fantasy.)

划拳 huá quán (duelling martial arts TTRPG)

Liquor Canini, from the Philippines (web-site)

Karanduun (fantasy TTRPG)

Megaladon Games, from the Philippines (facebook)

Yore Campaign Setting, for D&D 5th ed.

Role Over Play Dead, from Malaysia (blog)

Ech0 Micro-RPG (GM-less TTRPG for kids)

Summerhaven Games (drivethruRPG shop)

Knife to Know You (a teen pulp horror module for D&D 5th ed.)

Sword Prince Games, from the Philippines (patreon)

Arch Angel Dating Simulator (Romance and the supernatural)

undeadR (drivethruRPG shop)

Ramayana Run, for D&D 5th ed.

Vorazunbrews, from the Philippines (facebook)

D&D 5th ed. supplements