Hearts of Wulin

A tabletop roleplaying game of Wuxia melodrama, Powered by the Apocalypse. In Hearts of Wulin, 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 Smiling Proud Wanderer and Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain, 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. Hearts of Wulin is Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA), meaning its mechanics are inspired, in part, by Apocalypse World by Vincent and Meguey Baker. The game is strongly influenced by several recent PbtA games, including Monsterhearts 2 by Avery Alder, Masks by Brendan Conway, and The Veil by Fraser Simons. That said, Hearts of Wulin stands on its own, and has several distinct features that help players tell stories steeped in wuxia melodrama.