danielhkwan

Preview: Bashe

I'm currently working on volume two of Denizens of Mountains & Seas! In this volume, I'm going to try to include more educational content on the depiction of the natural world in classical Chinese literature, but also the role of these creatures in broader Chinese culture!

So here's a sample of the bashe, a GIGANTIC snake! I'm going to be reworking it's stats and abilities as I continue doing research. I'm taking next week off work, so I'm excited for an opportuni...

Oriental Adventures & Wizards of the Coast: Suggested Solutions

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that I've been very vocal against Wizards of the Coast continuing to profit off of racist legacy content like Oriental Adventures. It's left me feeling very apprehensive to do anything "D&D" and with respect to this Patreon, I'm unsure if I want to continue posting "Kwan Family Plays" as it directly references a Wizards of the Coast pro...

Denizens of Mountains & Seas Vol 1 (Final)

My first solo zine is complete! Denizens of Mountains & Seas Vol 1 is now complete with art by Dot Valledor (@dottobotto)!  I am now working on volume 2, which will feature new monsters and even locations for your Chinese-themed fantasy adventures!

---------- Thanks for joining me on this journey!----------

Remember ...

The gluttonous TAOTIE!

On Friday, I shared the completed OSR monster manual draft - Denizens of Mountains & Seas - with champion patrons. At the moment, I'm waiting for my artist to complete pieces for the taotie, zhenniao, and baiyuan. Here's the draft I received of the taotie! Isn't it awesome?!

While I wait for the art, I'm going to continue researching and developing vol 2. That means 8 more creatures!

This week, I'll...

Beta release: Denizens of Mountains & Seas vol. 1

It's done!  Please enjoy this beta of Denizens of Mountains and Seas vol. 1!  

After A LOT of research into Chinese classical monster manuals and the world of the OSR, I've written a short collection of 8 strange creatures (8 is the luckiest number in Chinese culture) that are compatible with Old School Essentials (and relate...

Tier Updates

Hi Everyone!

I've made a couple of amendments to the two patron tiers on this page. Thoughtful Supporters ($1) will receive access to this blog, updates, etc. This will include my OSR monster posts! Champion Patrons ($3+) will now be the exclusive tier for video/audio content and as before, any PDF content I produce. 

Love all of you!

Daniel

Monstrous Chinese Horses (OSR Monster Manual)

I'm going to try spacing these out month to month, but these monstrous Chinese horses were too cool not to share! I'm making some changes to the stat block formatting to make these more applicable to those who might want to use these in D&D. Next month, I'll be making a PDF collection of a few monsters (with some art) available to Champion Supporters! 

Enjoy!

Lushu

A lushu is a beast with a body similar in form to that of...

I'm (slowly) writing a Chinese OSR monster manual!

Since my good pal Joe DeSimone taught me about the OSR, I've become obsessed with writing a Chinese OSR monster manual. Since I learned how to play Knave, I've become determined to learn how to play Labyrinth Lord and to write my own collection of Chinese monsters! I'll be posting them here as I write/test/revise! Each monster will come with an in-game description and a note on their histo...

"Leveling Up" social skills: lessons learned in quarantine

It's been 73 days since I was able to start working from home during this quarantine. Almost all of the work that I do translated well to my new home workplace. With the transition to a virtual workspace, I grew concerned about how we would continue to provide services to our Level Up Gaming participants. For those who don't know about Level Up, it's an organization I started in 2016 with my two colleagues Christian Blak...

Anything But D&D #6: Creatures to Inspire Nightmarish Stories

I've been waiting for SO LONG to do a science episode of Anything But D&D. As my luck would have it...the audio got messed up (with a new video overlay at that)! Regardless, the lessons I learned from my pal Danielle de Carle will be inspiring MANY games to come. Danielle is a biologist specializing in the evolution of blood feeding. We talked about strange creatures in nature that can inspire YOUR games!

I'll be sure to fix the audio for next time! Sorry again!

Daniel  &...

Kwan Family Plays #3: Kevin the Toad Wrangler

Here's another session of our family D&D campaign! This has been an interesting experience for me. It's been different producing this content for you folks, as the dynamics between new players and the GM are a bit different than those I'm used to when producing Asians Represent. There's a bit more give, than take. More silence. I need to lower my expectations and allow my family to learn their own way. This game is for US, and I'm learning to embrace those moments of silence. 

...

Preparing for "Star Wars: Flight of the Phoenix" (Blog 1)

Next month, my family will begin a new campaign set in the world of Star Wars! Champion patrons will already have access to the first two sessions of our D&D game, but I want to include all Patrons in my GM notes for our next game! The Frozen Sick adventure will conclude after session 6 (session 3 will be posted soon), giving me enough time to make this new series something really cool! I want to include sound effects, music, and more!

So, why Star Wars? 

My First D&D Book

Unbreakable Vol. 1! It finally arrived in the mail! Since I started playing D&D over two decades ago, I had a goal of writing a source book for one of my favourite games of all time. Well, it finally happened! Unbreakable has been out for a couple of weeks, but finally being able to hold a physical copy of the book has been a completely different experience. I'm unbelievably proud of what the team did and overcame (see 2020-05-07 21:58:57 +0000 UTC View Post

Kwan Family Plays #2: First Blood

We're four sessions into Frozen Sick from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, and my family is slowly starting to get the hang of things! At this rate, I'm going to have to post two of these a month! In session 2, they ventured into the treacherous Croaker Cave to find some stolen antiquities and confront a dwarven thief! 

Every time we play D&D, the stress of quarantine goes away. I can't wait for us to all play together in person! In the meantime, please enjoy t...

It's May!

Apparently my last post didn't get published due to the Patreon maintenance! Ugh.

Well, a few days ago, I posted about my plans for this month. Things have been super chaotic on my end with work. COVID-19 has affected many of my close friends, and I've been struggling to stay present and not feel helpless. Producing TTRPG content has been an escape for me. 

So what's to come?

1) A blog post on the "qualities of a good GM"

2) One episode of "Anything But D&D" 2020-05-01 21:58:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Anything But D&D #5: Voices at the Table ft. Aaron Catano-Saez

Voice actor and podcaster Aaron Catano-Saez joined me to talk about the use of voices at the table. We talked about the immense pressure to do "voices" or "accents" that hugely successful shows like Critical Role place on aspiring GMs. Does this matter? In answering this question, we talked about bringing immersion to your table through tone, rate, pitch, and of course narrative.   

Follow Aaron on Twitter ...

Anything But D&D #5 (AUDIO): Voices at the Table ft. Aaron Catano-Saez

 Voice actor and podcaster Aaron Catano-Saez joined me to talk about the use of voices at the table. We talked about the immense pressure to do "voices" or "accents" that hugely successful shows like Critical Role place on aspiring GMs. Does this matter? In answering this question, we talked about bringing immersion to your table through tone, rate, pitch, and of course narrative.   

Follow Aaron on Twitter 2020-04-17 14:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post

I FINALLY played D&D with my family!

*Content warning: the adventure we played leans on themes related to a curse/sickness. With all that's going on in the world right now, I figure it's right to leave this disclaimer. 

I can't believe it finally happened! Because COVID-19 has separated all of us, my parents and brother agreed that a "quick" D&D session would be a great way for us to bond. Two and a half hours later, they've found themselves solving the mystery of the Frozen Sick from the new Explorer's Guide ...