Friday, June 10, 2011

Only a ninja can stop a ninja!

Today, I am thinking of the martial arts.  Last night I wanted to watch something that wouldn't tax my brain, and would be filled with the awful awesomeness that I so enjoy in my films.  So, browsing through the NetFlix instant view selections, I found it.  Sho Kosugi's first starring role, Revenge of the Ninja (1983).  Though not his first ninja film (that would be Enter the Ninja, which, incidentally, was much cheesier), it was the one that put him on the map, and really started the ninja-craze of the 80's.  The whole thing is filled with camp, cheese, over-the-top acting, sub-par acting, cliche villains, and a surprise plot twist that was revealed much too soon.

This movie got me to thinking about martial arts again.  And, since I'm a dork, and this is how my gamer-brain works, I immediately started thinking about martial arts-themed Role-Playing Games.  Back in the days before the d20 OGL, (pre-WotC) TSR put out a PDF game called DragonFist.  Based on the AD&D (2E) system, it was heavily inspired by the Wuxia films of Hong Kong, and did an admirable job of representing that.  At least, from what I remember.  Unfortunately, my copy is long gone, and the original game is not available anywhere that I can find, on account of Green Ronin buying it and then letting it sit.

During the heyday of the Street Fighter craze, Capcom contracted with White-Wolf Games to create an RPG based on their IP, using the Storyteller system.  I have that game, as well as all of the supplements.  Very cool stuff.  Even managed to play it a little.  But mostly, it's just a collector's item.  because I am a HUGE Street Fighter fan.

This morning I browsed John Kim's Free RPGs on the web, and found a couple of games to download and look at.  Slayer of Dragon looks pretty cool, though I can't figure out how to print it so it's readable.  I also grabbed Final Stand.  This one looks less "fun" but I haven't really reviewed the rules yet.

I don't know.  What do you guys think?  Should I do a list of my favorite Martial Arts movies?

1 comment:

Charles Gramlich said...

The "Awful Awesomeness." I'm gonna start using that term in making my own judgements on movies. Perfect.