GM: Laura L
Players: Amy Sundberg, Wilhelm Fitzpatrick, Megan Sinoff, Brendan Albano, John Powell, Sean Nittner
System: Hearts of Wulin
Hearts of Wulin is a game of wuxia melodrama, Powered by the Apocalypse. Players take the role of skilled martial artists in a world of rival clans, conspiracies, and obligations. The game emulates films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Chinese wuxia TV series like The Untamed and Handsome Siblings, and Chinese martial arts novels from the second half of the twentieth century. In these tales, romance is as dangerous as a blade. Everyone has ties to factions, loves they can’t quite express, and secrets which will shake them to their core. As in the source material, stories in Hearts of Wulin are driven by the characters’ duties, romantic desires, and entanglements with other characters.
That’s what’s on the tin and it’s great already. However, as Laura presented it, the entire game was pretense for lovelorn feels that ran deep. From your martial art style to your element to your weapons and your special moves…they all just calls for love from people who feel unlovable. Here’s the game description:
You are a cultivator, a master of meditation, martial arts, and swordsmanship, sworn to your clan and in pursuit of justness and rightness in the world as you quest for the immortality granted to those who gain the benevolence of heaven. You are sent to uncover a legendary villain who is reputed to have hidden herself for years away in a remote village. Unfortunately, your target has concealed themselves well among the populace. How will you reveal the truth? What will the locals say? And who else searches for the villain? By the time you find her, will you be certain that you can – or should – bring her to justice?
Character Creation
This was possibly the most delightful character creation I can recall. I chose the Outsider, and was immediately rewarded for my choices. I picked the option Cursed and decided that I had a curse that any well or stream I drunk from was poisoned. So I had to travel the lands, only ever drinking from my canteen, and never staying one place for too long, lest I bring the corruption to them.
I played Shu, Casting Blaze, was beautiful with burning eyes, fur lined gear, and lustrous hair. She wielded the Stone Breaking Saber and practiced the Path of the Blossoming Tear. Everyone was in love with her.
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Bonds
We headed out to find and defeat a villain who would poison the land (sound familiar) but first we had to connect our characters.
Turbulent Stone Guan-Yu (Meg), a shapeshifer knew of Shu’s curse, cast by one of her kin after Shu destroyed one of their shrines in a battle. She nevertheless pined for Shu and thought she could be redeemed. L’ang’s friend Hua is another of my kind, but I cannot reveal them without giving my self away.
Laughing Dragon Jung (Wilhelm) was merry and jovial, always ready for a drink, but my sword brother Bao, continually shows me up in front of Shu despite knowing my feelings for them. I suspect L’ang knows of my friendship wit hthe secret monster Duyan, who saved my life and asked me for help wooing Guan-Yu.
Bau, Perfected Starfall Shooting Star (John) was full of fire and passion, and deeply in love with Shu, but every time he came to her aid, L’ang arrived and took credit. I can sense a dark destiny if my friend Shu maintains their love for Ping.
L’ang, Undefeated Steel of the Sage (Brendan) was the first student of Eight Petals Luxian, and not at all intimidated by Ping, the 8th student. My heart aches for my teacher Eight Petals, but Ping would bring me to ruin if I said anything. Guan-Yu shows signs of sinister training, but my companions Ping loves them so much.
Ping, Crystal Willow, the only one not enamored with Shu (and therefor the one I had to pine after) was enchanted by Guan-Yu, in all her many forms! I love Guan-Yu but Eight Petals continues to remind them of my failure to save their sibling, brother Yin. My sibling Jung adores Shu, but I can sense a dark presence around them.
The Play is the Thing
We had a night hunt where a fox was hunted (but got away), fireworks were accidentally set of (how embarrassing!), confessions made, and beast of the night were defeated by Ping’s banishing fist!
When we arrived at the mountain we found the people struggling to survive. Bad portents were made the temple, causing Shu’s curse to flare up and poison all the waters (and of course run away into the mountain) and a new friend was found in the taverns. He was a cultivator himself and went to school with the legendary villain Ling-Fe, back when she strove for good. He told us the story of misfortune and how at every turn, even if she tried to turn away from pain and sorrow, it drew her back in.
Ping learned from her scrolls that that Ling-Fe’s precision and style to great to master, but if she could be distracted by facing her powerful regret, she might be defeated!
Inside the mountain, we found Ling-Fe creating tending to a cocoon that held a powerful malevolent force. Was she keeping it at bay, or trying to hatch it? Shu, convinced that she could do nothing but hurt the ones she loved, begged the villain to put her inside the cocoon so that her curse could no longer hurt the ones she loves.
When the cultivators arrived, they, instead of defeating the villain, offered her a chance to atone, to break her own cycle of violence and harm, and to work with them to heal the land instead of destroying it, restoring hope in all (almost all?) of our Hearts (of Wulin).
Thoughts on this game
I had had such a delight playing it. I’m sure part of that was because of how Shu’s curse (and lustrous hair) drew everyone to her, but I also think everyone’s moments of inner resolve, showmanship, and struggle were so personal and tied to their own emotional needs. The only thing I’d change in a convention game would be to have all bonds with player characters rather than NPCs. We introduced a few NPCs and while it was delightful to see Laura portray them, most weren’t actively in the story, so the bonds with them felt like lost opportunities. I’m glad that most of us kept our connections player focused as it meant we were constantly bouncing off each other’s unspoken longing!
