Mystic China Review

Mystic China is a sourcebook for Ninjas & Superspies focusing on China, magic, and martial arts. It is written by Erick Wujcik and published by Palladium Books for the price of $19.95. It is designed to supplement Ninjas & Superspies with more material on China, however it also works for Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness. While this an excellent addition to Ninjas & Superspies as the sole sourcebook, the shift away from Ninjas & Superspies system for character classes, martial arts, and the inclusion of magic and monsters moves the focus of the setting away from contemporary espionage and martial arts games.

Despite the attempt at making this almost independent of Ninjas & Superspies as a sourcebook, gamers will need a copy of that book as well to fully utilize this book. It is also recommended that one gets a copy of Beyond the Supernatural (first edition) to further fill out the magic and monster possibilities. While gamers will find the background information provided on Chinese settings a useful addition, several differences from Ninjas & Superspies will require more work to be completely usable. The lack of many key features from the martial art style format of Ninjas & Superspies, as well as the changes to several of the styles first appearing in that book will leave gamers scratching their heads over how to reconcile the problems. However, the expanded martial art powers and short Q&A session concerning Chi can be quite useful to N&S gamers. The adventure included with this book is somewhat disappointing and drab unfortunately and I have never actually run it because it doesn't generate enough interest for me to do so.

The switch away from Ninjas & Superspies' O.C.C. system is quite disappointing, since the focus is away from the easily customizable classes of Ninjas & Superspies, to the much more rigid and limited system for classes seen in games like Rifts. On the bright side, the inclusion of "Level Advancement Bonuses" for each O.C.C. in Mystic China is a welcome inclusion, since it clearly spells out the bonuses and new skills and abilities characters get as they increase in experience. Characters familiar with Palladium's standard P.P.E.-based magic system will likewise require some reading and time to adjust to the different system of Chi Magic.

Another area of concern are the non-standard romanizations of the Chinese language. There is a detailed explanation of why the romanizations used were chosen, however, the primary problem caused by this is that the author's idea of what is "simple" in terms isn't necessarily the same as the rest of the world's idea of "simple" so you're often left wondering just what a particular word was supposed to be instead of what's printed. This problem manifested primarily in the new weapons included in the book.

The layout for this book is fairly logical and makes it fairly easy to find the majority of the items within the book quickly and easily. However, those familiar with the standard Palladium layout may find some areas of confusion since this book isn't quite laid out in the same manner as other books in the Palladium line. A short introduction and recap of character creation start out the book followed by a new alignment, new skills, a game master section with tips on handling Chinese settings, a short Chinese glossary and name generator, money and equipment considerations, 40 new weapons (which, while nice, would have been better served from filling out from the various weapons listed in the martial art styles), five martial art O.C.C.s, two non-combat O.C.C.s, two R.C.C.s, four magic P.C.C.s (why these are considered "Psychic" classes is due to the influence of BTS1E on the book), Chi Magic, Chinese Alchemy, Mudra, Immortals both False and Enlightened, a variety of Infernals including undead and demons, a short note on the Yama Kings, new martial art powers, 29 martial arts (14 of which are new), a short adventure, the experience tables and a short bibliography. The artwork for this book is generally awesome, with few reprinted pieces (ironically, many of the pieces first seen here are reprinted in other books), and is mostly appropriate to the setting.

The editing of this book is a bit better than that of Revised Ninjas & Superspies, however there are some cut and paste errors, such as two paragraphs of text concerning the View Ghost Drama spell reprinted within the Exhale Electrostatic Fog spell (easily spotted since it's on the next page of facing pages). Changes to O.C.C.s and martial art styles also resulted in several problems, and for all the fixes to the martial arts reprinted from N&S there are new errors to deal with. The biggest detraction is the constant minor references to tid-bits of information or functions for which no additional information is presented. Celestial Calligraphy for instance are typically written on paper and burned to be used, however the description of where Celestial Calligraphy can be inscribed also lists a variety of other sources, such as jade and rock, or in the dirt which cannot be burned to be used. (Erick Wujcik recommends the use of gasoline, however that isn't the impression we're given from the book.) Likewise, there are tantalizing hints concerning the Yama Kings that many people are waiting for the long-promised Mystic China Sourcebook to answer. A few contradictions, such as one reference to the Blind Mystic being able to read braille countered by another reference to the Blind Mystic being incapable of reading braille, do exist. Vague and confusing references, such as the cost in Positive Chi of the Mudra for the Evocation of Healing Energy when the Mudra can be used to fill the body with Positive Chi for characters with Negative or Zero Chi, also exist.

However, despite some flaws with the book, it still remains one of the best resources for Chinese settings for the role-playing game community. There's tons of useful information and new stuff to play with, from magic, to weapons, to martial arts and monsters. The references to a future supplement for this sourcebook promise even more fun and useful stuff, though that's somewhat disappointing due to the failure of release of the sourcebook to date. Hardcore fans are still hopeful, especially after Erick's work on Rifts China 1 and 2 (and semi-scheduled release for Rifts China 3), however, it will still be a while before the Mystic China Sourcebook is seen. Despite the lack of additional material hinted at, this is definitely a book I recommend getting.

I consider Mystic China to be an excellent sourcebook for Ninjas & Superspies, even if it does suffer from an almost completely different set of problems. The book has great potential for anyone wishing to run games in Chinese settings, from historical, fantasy, or contemporary genres.