The Magic of Kara Tur and the Wu Jen

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[@KS-PNW]

Did you reupload? I was watching it and then it disconnected all of a sudden. Great video btw!

[@AJPickett]

Yep, there was an editing error in the video I had to fix.

[@mukwaaravenheart9841]

That’s gotta be a one in a million rare occurrence lol

[@johngleeman8347]

As I recall, most of the Kara Tur and Asian fantasy lore is ancient (not touched since 2nd edition), so referees can rejoice and forge brand new lore without a jot of fear that they are "not up to date" on what's been going on in the Realms in 5th edition. New rules, new monsters, new factions, new wars, new magical events, and new adventures for everyone to enjoy.

[@johngleeman8347]

I forgot that Kara Turans are not subject to the tablet-slinging Ao. Cool beans.

[@jerrywalton8140]

4e made some references in the dragon magazines, and oriental adventures basically became it's own thing in legend of the five rings.

[@johngleeman8347]

@@jerrywalton8140 Very light touch then. I do recall that in 4e a few cities gained the equivalent of a Chinatown.

[@mukwaaravenheart9841]

Why is it every time, I look for not so main stream lore … I’m always pleasantly surprised to find another video from you that’s covering the subject. You’re great AJ!

[@AJPickett]

More to come!

[@brianroberts783]

Ok, now I'm going to need a video explaining how Toril can have 2 Overgods.

[@zmishiymishi5349]

My Wu-Jen started as a shady cook for a travelling master. Got rich by ruining businesses and buying them later for a fraction of a cost. Scammer that he was, but he ended up as a Grand Vazir at the palace.

[@garvinanders2355]

Kara Tur is a place I know very little about since by the time I got into DnD and had the money to really look into things, the company was frantically trying to pretend it didn't exist. Thank you for sharing this AJ! It sounds like a fascinating setting and I'll have to archive dive into your videos when I have time to find more.

[@pheralanpathfinder4897]

I always thought it funny that the response to concerns about racism was 100% Euro fantasy for 5e

[@carlborneke8641]

I love more rare and exotic forms of magic. Would love a video about Shadow Magic and Truename Magic.

[@nickh3205]

I’d love more kara-tur lore videos, I’ve always wanted to run a game in that section of Toril

[@soultron4238]

Absolutely love it every single time I get a notification from AJ Pickett. TMG has never disappointed. This time a trip back in time to the OA book, but stated sooooo much more eloquently! Its been a long time, IDK how much was in there vs. The Horde/Kara-Tur modules vs. the Sage’s own studies. It doesn’t matter. This my new starting place. ❤ Thanks yet again AJ!

[@shellknight1323]

How convenient I was just looking over MightyGluestick's Kara Tur videos and lung dragons, and this DROPS! *IM EATING GOOD TODAY* 😋🤤

[@ImLordDomo]

I was so worried when the video was suddenly taken down so suddenly. Glad to see it's back up. Love your videos, and it's hard to find entertaining content on anything outside the sword cost so this is a treat

[@AJPickett]

Yeah sorry, just an editing error with the video image sequence.

[@HBHaga]

Ah, Kara Tur. My first few college campaigns were set here.

[@wayausofbounds9255]

Would love to see more on Kara Tur and Zakhara

[@comradekev2843]

great video! I love Kara-Tur and lore on Toril outside of Faerun! A lot of people have seemingly have a negative opinion of the setting and perhaps aspects of it were done… not the way things are done now. However, as a lover of 70’s Shaw Brothers movies, i picture the setting to be like ‘The Bastard Swordsman’ or similar Wuxia films. Great vid.

[@powerist209]

“Things that are done now” does seem to have done aspects bleeding through. Like the idea is there but mechanically (Rule as Written, and most DM won’t have cultural awareness or skill to adjust) it’s essentially have to follow Honor system based on (writer’s perspective of) Bushido code even down to implied seppuku since character sheet must be disposed of honor reaches zero. Imagine trying to play a rogue with Paladin code BY DEFAULT. So there is some thoughts to be given on their negative opinion. At least 3E try to have thoughts put on dnd class system even if trying to apply “no bards” on both rokugan/ assumption of default fantasy Asia is questionable.

[@powerist209]

On bard part, I get that Rokugan restriction has merits but their idea that “it wouldn’t fit with Asia” seems odd even it’s supposed to be DM discretion.

[@setbos5385]

Wu Jin that take never showering is pure d&d

[@warlok363]

Kara-Tur are is the only Toril setting I can tolerate. Though I did rather like the 3e version of Oriental Adventures setting of Rokugan as being different and interesting

[@nicholasberris6246]

i enjoy your storytelling. theres sooo much lore and youve got enough down where your subject matter flows so smoothly & your depth of your knowledge of the game and its mechanics would make world building (like making npcs a house tavern etc.) and creative and flexible style would be really cool .id love to play a campaign with your style of dm'ing and storytelling i bet that like you mentioned previously, making multiple characters and running a potentially med/long term campaign id be down for if you ever need a extra lol.

[@zakvis7282]

Well now I REALLY need to know more about the wu jen traditions and examples of their magic. 😂

[@dragonlord498]

nice to learn more about the less covered regions of the realms

[@mikewaterfield3599]

Missed this one earlier. Always a please thing to find a piece if the Forgotten Realms.

[@KAINIVERUS]

Ohh ive been waiting for this one... some of the spells are crazy... i like glass punch turning people to glass i could also see it being a monk ability as well... always great to see these videos still coming👍 tbh i feel like theres enough you could go forever...

[@davidlewis8814]

“You must know this, oh great sage.”

[@zacharyweaver276]

I thought it was funny the last two minutes of the old version was just a black screen. I hope this is the start of a series on Kara-tur it's got a lot of cool monsters and classes. I also hope this means a video on ninjas in the forgotten realms/dnd

[@AJPickett]

Yep this is the start of a series on Kara Tur and the Shou Lung empire

[@zacharyweaver276]

@@AJPickett Awesome I hope you do a video on bakemono which I understand are just a type of goblinoid in Kara-tur rather than generic term for monsters

[@AJPickett]

@@zacharyweaver276 I have a video on more detailed Kara-Tur magic and more on the celestial court, and then yeah, tons of yokai and such to choose from. But its just a nibble of Kara-Tur before I get back to monster ecologies (heaps left from early D&D to cover)

[@zacharyweaver276]

@@AJPickett looking forward to it as well as the monster ecology videos

[@pheralanpathfinder4897]

​@@AJPickett I love Kara Tur. Some of my favorite adventures took place in these lands.

[@jessegrizzle4340]

Good stuff, AJ. Thanks! Excited for more

[@stokelyandhisboys2773]

Wow that would be a great series. The East moves to "enlighten" the West. That's a lot of novels for someone interested in bringing it to life. Be really interesting if they make it to Thay.

[@wesmaass4669]

Great video, please more Kara Tur...

[@edwardbirdsall6580]

Excellent work. Thank you.

[@williamfawkes8379]

As much as I tried to get others interested in Kara Tur, I could never get the rest of my group on board.

[@AJPickett]

The secret is you just include Kara-Tur in the Forgotten Realms like the foreign country it is, cities like Waterdeep have 'Shou-Town' areas where Kara-Tur cultures thrive, merchants travel by road, sea, air and portal, so, you run into Shou people all the time.

[@shawnhowe7311]

Smart

[@aaronnoisey3754]

Excellent idea!

[@hunterwalker8425]

I wish they did more on the other continents.

[@shellknight1323]

Perfect setting for my new *"Bi-racial Were-Bear Open Palm Monk"*

[@YoKhai1221]

Sir… did you just say “the force”!?… Daoism would like a few words 😂 - New fan and subscribers here! Looking forward to binging your content!

[@brianroberts783]

Yeah, I was definitely expecting him to say Daoism. Of course, I also thought he was going to compare the Path of Enlightenment to Buddhism.

[@YoKhai1221]

@@brianroberts783 good catch! I was so caught up with “The Way/The Dao” i missed that. Also “Dao” literally means way or Path. - Based on this I would assume that there a third religion is probably nod to Confucianism

[@cernunnos_lives]

AJ has several episodes explaining lore about Forgotten realms and even other stuff you never come across.

[@TheHornedKing]

Such a cool setting.

[@aaronwilliams007]

Thank you for your good works

[@danielsmall3403]

More Kara-Tur videos pls

[@Kargoneth]

Reminiscent of the afterlife bureaucracy that I have seen in Chinese animations on Netflix.

[@adamwelch4336]

more Kara Tor ❤ more lore too! yay! 🥳also Kara Tor wizards sound like a version of the scribe wizard calligraphy and tiny scrolls instead of a spellbook! 🤔 📜

[@lucasdurham-styles3169]

I would love to see a return to Kara Tur in some kind of way. I always wanted to see more attention to the other places in the world of Toril

[@martindaniels3004]

I cant help but wonder if we will ever have a video about the glorious Sage of Candlekeep himself?

[@AJPickett]

That's the thing, you learn about him through all of the videos, bit by bit.

[@DaussPlays]

Thanks, Billy!

[@ThengelB]

Kind of wish i knew what Wu-Jen was at the time we were playing Kara-Tur

[@shawnhowe7311]

Suddenly just realized Dungeon Starts with D U N G !!!! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@mattnerdy7236]

Hey AJ, did you reupload? The last few minutes was black screen. I figured something went wrong. Love Kara Tur, just something magical about it. Thanks AJ you have a wonderful day!

[@benreilly7676]

Another great video AJ!

[@AJPickett]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@javierburgos9975]

I would so run a hook with an Empyreal Agent coming to get Volo by the short hairs.

[@powerist209]

So where did you get the lore, especially the journal account and the weave part, and books you used? Like even the OA lore (at least original OA book and Easter Realms fluff book) didn’t mention weave connection…Draconic, I think Faerun 3E book but haven’t found much of they try to connect that.

[@AJPickett]

kara-tur eastern realms (vol.1 & 2), Dragon #404, Dragon #229, Oriental Adventures and WotC's article on Eastern Classes online, and the Forgotten Realms wiki, which has information from the novels I have not read.

[@GRIMJAW112796]

Will you continue the character class videos? Such as Rogue, Cleric, and Paladins?

[@AJPickett]

Sure

[@Comicnut64]

Awesome I caught an AJ vid and it’s big trouble in little china style let’s go

[@MrMonkx]

Awesome stuff

[@venkelos6996]

So, I want to say that I really liked this video, but Kara-Tur, Maztica, and Al-Qadim have probably always been one of my biggest problems with Toril. Faerun juggles incredible magic, and several of its "Forgotten Realms" wielded it in earthshaking ways not possible in later editions. Monstrous events occurred, like the various progenitor races, and the subsequent wars with each successive winner, summoning fragments of outer planes into the sea, magic across the land dying occasionally, thecSpellplague, and Death Curse, and reaching into other worlds to steal people. There was once talk of an age where the world was locked in ice, and aboleths ruled the depths, and times when Abeir and Toril comingled, and yet none of these "world wide events" seem to have influenced "the peoples next door", because they are typically a separate campaign setting. The Faerunian deities are powerful, but does that power really not even encompass a whole continent, much less their world? Do all those other settings actually see the same stars, moons, and Tears Selune? I know that they occupy the same world, and in some cases one can even just walk from one land to another, but did the ancient Imaskari need to steal humans from other worlds, when there were whole continents of them closer at hand? Did the Netherese never feel like flexing their magic there? A group of super-wizards who saw gods as little more than other advanced creatures, or casters of a higher skill, seem like they could have gone far there? They've always just felt TOO separate, and isolated, for me to wrap mt head around them, being on Toril, with FRCS.😊 At least the different Demiplanes of Dread are srparated by the Mists, and so feel properly independant, and Abeir is in a separate level of space-time, or something.. I'm probably just complaining now, which isn't my intent, so sorry. Definitely enjoyed the L5R, and 3e Oriental Adventures vibes, i got from this. Still weird, as 5e has barwly walked awat from just the Sword Coast, much less this far east, but still fun. Thanks for making another fun video!

[@AJPickett]

glad you enjoyed it

[@digunder14]

i have a soft spot for this concept cuz i made a 5e adaptation for 5e and ed greenwood gave it a big ol' thumbs up to how well i was able to adapt it to 5e without it just being another word for wizard, saying he liked the feel of what i came up with

[@johngleeman8347]

Kudos for FR-Santa digging your work pal. :D

[@erekthus]

That will be kool Do you have a link?

[@chriscalvin5083]

Good re upload aj 😂

[@AJPickett]

Thanks Chris, Part II, the Thanking.

[@docbaker3333]

We really need an official 5e Kara-tur supplement.

[@AJPickett]

At this point, I would prefer a third party publisher did it.

[@powerist209]

In honesty, even 3E supplements like Unapproachable East and magazine entries, seem to be hesitant about changing or updating Kara-Tur lore. And this is not going into OA main book and Eastern Realms book along with modules seems to have contradictory ideas. Like even the foundation seems to be…less fantastical (like entire countries being more one-to-one and simplistic real life history of their inspiration, and more focused on “Mysterious and exotic Asia that is incomprehensible to outsiders” trope…which ironically came off as mundane compared to Faerun (might work on 1E setting like Greyhawk and Mystara…but even Faerun phenomenon is kept at minimum, like Wa persecution of Chauntea feels like writers just want “authentic Asian xenophobia” with Tokugawa Christian persecution…in a setting where it had negative consequences and bizarre compromise in a way where it wouldn’t be engaging to OA players (also DM would be encouraged to punish players for not taking their role in Fantasy Asia) or even Faerun one with latter wouldn’t be in said country due to its xenophobia (same issue with Koryo where it wanted to have both hooks and deterrent but also ignorance on Korea besides Tae Kwan Do along with book lack of ideas to implement base DnD classes for ideas not covered by heavily Japanese coded class mechanics like say maybe Bards, Rangers, and maybe give some flavoring idea…which 3E OA did even if their idea of making Bards as “not suitable because it’s European” by default is questionable like the writing would be justifiable if done for Rokugan but also apply that to Fantasy Asia even if DM discretion is allowed…keep in mind, it’s 2000’s and I think players might be familiar with Asia music playing fighters). Sorry if it’s a bit much but part of me kinda want to make production-stand-point analysis after reading Kara-Tur Eastern Realms along with magazine articles about it and Behind the Scenes from authors (which also had inconsistent ideas as well).

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

Cool 😎

[@gargoyles9999]

Do you know de wai

[@Baraborn]

They should change that relationship with Io. That's stupid.

[@AJPickett]

I mean, if anyone has got to go, its that bumbling overgod of the ruined western frontier provinces... what's his name? Ao.

[@mattmoseley6429]

I mean my understanding may be wrong but it has to be one of two implications, with the latter being more likely, 1 - the emperor of the celestial bureaucracy is either an aspect/ally/guise of ao or 2 - It works like the other pantheons' allocated regions, where he technically arbitrates it and allows them to have ones work as the overgod of the region because the whole planet is his technically. But this like other regions hasn't required his intervention, because the gods and mortals here aren't like petulant children constantly breaking his status quo like they do in faerun, so he's been relatively forgotten by its people. Which is probably preferable to him.

[@trajanfidelis]

Wu-Jen? Are they related to the Wu-Tang?

[@AJPickett]

I mean, if casting spells involved busting rhymes... sure.

[@Kingnothing7x]

Im a ninja! I wave my hands and do jutsu! I run with my arms behind my back!

[@liondovegm]

Let there be cultivation, and let it be executed with modern sensibilities. I love non-european-centric fantasy but it is treacherous territory to tread. Biases and generations of ingrained stereotypes and poorly handled attempts really mar this portion of the ttrpg space (and fantasy in general)

[@AJPickett]

Kara-tur blends more with the Forgotten Realms than is represented in the published adventures and sourcebooks for this very reason, which makes it a problem... Eastern cultures are a part of Toril; they are a part of the Forgotten Realms, just as the Western lands interact with the nations of Kara-Tur quite a lot. But really, the great thing is... this is not China, in Kara-Tur there actually is a celestial court, there really in an Overgod named the Celestial Emperor, and the state really does rule with the authority of Heaven.

[@DeanNatheos-eq3hl]

I

[@NICK29255]

First 😂