'Running in Hong Kong, Tips for making Hong Kong feel "right." Options

[Ixal]

When you are using video games as example don't forget Sleeping Dogs.
Its representation of Hong Kong isn't half bad. Just too few people and there is too much space.

[Cain]

Dear gods, it's been decades since I was there.

The thing about the Triads is, they're everywhere. Some are perfectly legal "Benevolence societies", with no more criminal activity than your local chamber of commerce. Others are so dirty, they need to look up to see the gutter scum. You can't do business in Hong Kong without involving Triads somewhere, legally or otherwise.

[Sir_Psycho]

Just as a bit of flavour, it is nearly impossible to get actual marijuana in hong kong, but hash is common as dirt. It might be a little different with Deepweed, given the coastal setting and the way Deepweed is grown, but it could apply due to tradition and preference.

A story a friend told me from hong kong; A western girl, living in hong kong was walking through a market when a hash dealer approached her, offering hash for over three times it's normal value. She had been there long enough to know what it was worth, so told him to walk on, and he smiled and pointed to the police officer standing three feet away. She realised in a case of culture shock that she would actually be arrested if she didn't buy from him. That's the sort of relation between triads and police you can think about and use in game encounters.

[Critias]

The more I've read up on the Triads, the more....startled...I've been. There really is no overstating how entangled they are with the culture as a whole, how long they've been there, how thoroughly imbedded they are in the whole system. I think when we hear "Chinese mafia" or something, this gross simplification, we get very much the wrong idea about them from our Western point of view.

[ShadowDragon8685]

The thing about the Triads is, they're everywhere. Some are perfectly legal "Benevolence societies", with no more criminal activity than your local chamber of commerce. Others are so dirty, they need to look up to see the gutter scum. You can't do business in Hong Kong without involving Triads somewhere, legally or otherwise.

My local Chamber of Commerce might or might not be a hive of scum and villainy that would make a den of Tatooinian gangsters say "at least we're not pretending what we're doing is legal." (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Just as a bit of flavour, it is nearly impossible to get actual marijuana in hong kong, but hash is common as dirt. It might be a little different with Deepweed, given the coastal setting and the way Deepweed is grown, but it could apply due to tradition and preference.

A story a friend told me from hong kong; A western girl, living in hong kong was walking through a market when a hash dealer approached her, offering hash for over three times it's normal value. She had been there long enough to know what it was worth, so told him to walk on, and he smiled and pointed to the police officer standing three feet away. She realised in a case of culture shock that she would actually be arrested if she didn't buy from him. That's the sort of relation between triads and police you can think about and use in game encounters.

That's pretty much the definition of corruption, sadly.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Just as a bit of flavour, it is nearly impossible to get actual marijuana in hong kong, but hash is common as dirt. It might be a little different with Deepweed, given the coastal setting and the way Deepweed is grown, but it could apply due to tradition and preference.

A story a friend told me from hong kong; A western girl, living in hong kong was walking through a market when a hash dealer approached her, offering hash for over three times it's normal value. She had been there long enough to know what it was worth, so told him to walk on, and he smiled and pointed to the police officer standing three feet away. She realised in a case of culture shock that she would actually be arrested if she didn't buy from him. That's the sort of relation between triads and police you can think about and use in game encounters.

And very well highlighted by our GM, time and time again. What an amazing campaign city.

[Freya]

The more I've read up on the Triads, the more....startled...I've been. There really is no overstating how entangled they are with the culture as a whole, how long they've been there, how thoroughly imbedded they are in the whole system. I think when we hear "Chinese mafia" or something, this gross simplification, we get very much the wrong idea about them from our Western point of view.

It's a function of the value of "family" and "community" in Chinese culture (speaking from experience - with the culture, not the Triads). There's every bit as much focus on the community in Chinese society as there is on the individual in Western societies. It's not exactly a case of "the Triads have infiltrated all levels of society" in the sense that every person willing to help the Triads is a member, but thanks to that wonderful concept of guanxi (the "network" thing), it only takes one Triad member in a network to take advantage of the social norms of favour-trading. Honestly, from a GM's perspective, it's probably more accurate to think of the Triads in Hong Kong as "the old boy's network with some criminal elements" rather than "the Chinese Mafia".

[Demonseed Elite]

*resurrects thread*

Brand new article over on Vice on the Kowloon Walled City, or as the article's title accurately puts it, "The Internet's Favorite Cyberpunk Slum."

[hermit]

Thanks, this goes into my ressource links. Especially the links it bundles are interesting.

[Wounded Ronin]

Well, like the title and description says...

I have looked through the Runner's Havens sourcebook for 4th edition, and we are preparing to start a game set in Hong Kong, mostly to be different from our last Seattle game. Basically, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how to make it feel unique from Seattle, and I'd appreciate any tips/pointers.

Thanks!

PatriotArrow

Play the original Deux Ex and blatantly rip off of their Hong Kong, complete with goofy accents and hilariously stereotypical characters.

"Rever one rabs."

"Issac is letting anybody back here these days."

"I spill my drink!"

"JC Denton, as dark and mysterious as his brother!"

Watch your game devolve into a wild evening of nostalgic in-jokes.

[Umidori]

"Ay wonted ohrenge! Eet gave me lemon lime."

~G. Hermann

[Wounded Ronin]

"Ay wonted ohrenge! Eet gave me lemon lime."

~G. Hermann

Eet eez zhe maintenance man! He knows I like OHRENGE.

[Stingray]

.. Johnnie To's The Mission and Exiled are also good watching..