"You just listen to the words of the old Porkchop Express and take his advice on a dark and stormy night when the lightning is crashing, the thunder rolling and the rain falling in sheets as thick as lead. Just remember what Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, the poison arrows fall from the sky and the pillars of heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton looks that big old storm right in the eye and he says: 'Gimme your best shot pal, I can take it!.""

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

GAMING IN THE WORLD OF BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

An Introduction To Big Trouble In Little China

As far as I can tell, Big Trouble was originally written to be a Western, with Asian magic and martial arts mixed in to create a very different sort of film then anyone had ever tried before. John Carpenter found the project interesting, but balked at making the film due to a lack of understanding of such a movie's "look and feel." But, as fortune would have it, Carpenter saw Tsui Hark's film Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain and instantly knew how he wanted Big Trouble to look.

The film was released in 1986, to very mixed reviews. Most people didn't know what to think of it (much like the reaction The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai would get) and pronounced it a flop. Critics tended to view it as a slightly silly "comic book-like" film, missing the fact that Big Trouble is supposed to be a slightly silly comic book-like film. But, as with many films such as this (Buckaroo Banzai, Mad Max, Rocky Horror, The Road Warrior) Big Trouble became a cult classic. Personally, I think it's the best film for explaining HERO System special effects and powers ever made. You can watch the movie and rattle off: "That's an Energy Blast; That's Leaping; See that? That's a Presence Attack; That's Desolid; That's a Flash Attack," and so on.

A Short History Of David Lo Pan

In the distant past (272 BC to be exact), the first sovereign emperor of China united the seven warring states into one country. Along the way, he subjugated a man by the name of Lo Pan and eternally cursed him with a body of "no flesh." Now, although this curse effectively made Lo Pan immortal, it also rendered him powerless, since his body of "no flesh" meant he existed as an insubstantial ghost. In order to regain his natural form, he had to find a green-eyed girl and marry her. This would appease Ching Dai, the God of the East—Lo Pan's patron—but in order to appease the emperor, Lo Pan would then have to sacrifice this woman. There were a few drawbacks to this cure, however. The first was that green-eyed women are exceedingly rare in China. The second is that she would have to be brave enough to embrace the burning blade and tame the savage heart.

It is now 2270 years later and Lo Pan has yet to find the girl that will allow him to regain his corporeal form (and go on to rule the world from beyond the grave), but he keeps trying. Backed by his own private army, a trio of powerful sorcerers, and several supernatural monsters, Lo Pan is the de facto ruler of Chinatown, doing his best to find the girl of his prophecy.

People Of Note In Chinatown

Chang Sings—The Chang Sings are a fighting tong, and are "the good guys." See the write-up for more information.
David Lo Pan—The Godfather of Little China, see his write-up for more information.
Eddie Lee—The maitre de at the Dragon of the Black Pool. He dresses in sport coats and looks more like a used-car salesman than a headwaiter. He looks to know some basic kung fu (or boxing) and has a crush on Margo Litzenberger (see).
Egg Shen—Tour bus driver and local authority on Lo Pan. See his write-up for more information.
Gracie Law—Chinatown lawyer, see her write-up for more information.
Jackie Burton—Trucker and longtime friend of Wang Chi's. See his write-up for more information.
Lem Lee—Lem Lee is (was) the chief of the Chang Sings. According to street rumors Lo Pan had him assassinated.
Lords of Death, The—The Lords are described as "errand boys for the Wing Kong." They are typical Chinatown streetgang, heavily armed with a variety of weapons. Typical members should have some martial arts and gun skills.

Margo Litzenberger—Reporter for the Berkeley People's Herald. Margo will do anything for her story, but she is hampered by the fact she's "monumentally naive."
Miao Yin—Wang Chi's fiancŽ from China. Wang Chi has known her since they were children, and has scrimped and saved every possible dollar to bring her to America. Miao Yin is very beautiful, with long black hair, a slender figure, and green eyes, "like creamy jade." This latter fact is not lost upon Lo Pan when he finds out.
Tara—A young, pretty, immigrant girl from China, Tara is almost kidnapped by the Lords of Death at the airport. Instead, the Lords grab Miao Yin (see).
Uncle Tsui Wong—Uncle Tsui ("Choo") is the head cook at Wang Chi's restaurant, Dragon of the Black Pool. Aside from his cooking skills, Uncle Tsui has quite a bit of knowledge concerning supernatural beings and their habits.
Wang Chi—Owner of the Dragon of the Black Pool and member of the Chang Sings. See his write-up for more information.
Wing Kong—The Wing Kong are a fighting tong, and the minions of Lo Pan. Wang Chi describes them as "animals." See the write-up for more information.

Places Of Note In Chinatown

Bog of the Dead Trees—This tunnel or cave lies somewhere underneath Chinatown. It is part of the sewer system, and filled with, as the name suggests, fallen tree trunks. Below the narrow walkways and bridges flows, as Egg Shen puts it: "the black blood of the Earth," and Egg sure isn't talking about oil.
Dragon of the Black Pool—Chinatown restaurant where one can sample fine Cantonese cuisine.
Egg Fu Young Tours—Egg Shen houses his tour bus in what looks like a converted fire house. Although the place "looks like a dump," it is crammed with priceless artifacts, potions and substances. To top if off, Egg owns the whole block, making him a very rich man in Chinatown.
Wing Kong Import Export Company (aka the Wing Kong Exchange)—Home of David Lo Pan and his minions, the Wing Kong Exchange is huge. It has at least six basement levels, numerous storerooms, quarters for the Wing Kong, a garage, torture chambers, a scattering of hells (a.k.a. "The Hell of Upside Down Sinners," "The Hell of the Horny Dragons," "The Hell of Being Cut to Pieces," "Hell of Being Skinned Alive," and so on.) and a prison for Lo Pan's slave trade.
White Tiger, The—Noted whorehouse and massage parlor, the White Tiger is where the Lords of Death go to sell girls they kidnap.

Magic In Big Trouble In Little China

Magic in Big Trouble is a touch different than what most people might be expecting. A lot of the magic powers displayed by the characters in the movie isn't the usual "point the finger blow something up" schtick common to fantasy RPGs (although Egg Shen comes close); instead sorcerers such as Thunder, Rain, and Lightning display their magic prowess through their martial skill and command of the weather. Egg Shen's magical prowess is more in the field of alchemy, allowing him to whip up magic potions and various forms of explosives. Lo Pan is said to be a powerful magician, but we only really see him cast a few spells. It really is a matter of perspective, since very few people deal with magic, than anyone with any sort of magical power is going to be powerful when compared to anyone else around them.

Powers

Honestly, it is a bit rough to decide what does and does not fit as "Asian Magic" when creating spells. Based on what we see in Big Trouble (and a number of other Hong Kong action films, such as Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain, which inspired John Carpenter to make Big Trouble) we can come up with some rough guidelines.

The most obvious spells are attack powers, such as Energy Blast, RKA, Flash, and so on. Movement powers are usually Flight and Leaping (or Flight made into a form of Leaping). Defensive powers are tougher, since one doesn't usually see effects such as Force Field and Force Wall. We do see Lo Pan use a Missile Deflection spell versus Egg Shen's "rocket launcher" in the final fight scene of Big Trouble however. Powers that certainly don't seem to fit are Size Powers (Growth, Shrinking, Density Increase, and so on.) and FTL.

What makes Asian magic seem, well, Asian is the special effects. An Energy Blast could be a jet of fire launched not from the finger tips, but the mouth or nostrils. An RKA isn't a magic arrow, but a sword projected from inside the sleeve. An Entangle isn't a mass of spider webs, but lengths of cloth flung from your sleeves or arms. Lo Pan's Flash (fired from the mouth and eyes) and Rain's physical Energy Blast (the little red ball) are great examples of the special effects for these sort of spells. Watchers of the Dragon has some a number of spell effects based off of actual Chinese magic traditions, while other sources are Mystic China (Palladium Books) and GURPS China. For visual inspiration try Big Trouble in Little China (naturally), Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain, A Chinese Ghost Story, and A Kid From Tibet.

Advantages and Limitations

There is no real "overall" Advantage that applies to the spells used in Big Trouble. There are obvious Advantages applied to individual spells (such as Invisible Power Effects on the Storm's bullet barrier) but otherwise it is up to the GM's desires.

Most Big Trouble spells look to have Gestures as a limitation, as well as Extra Time and Concentrate. This is especially true of some of Lo Pan's spells. Some of the more complex spells (such as Lo Pan's bride finding ritual) have casting times of up to a half hour. With the exception of Egg Shen, none of the characters in Big Trouble look to rely on Foci to any great extent, trusting instead on their "innate" or "natural" powers.

As a final note, Uncle Tsui and Egg Shen mention "All movement in the universe is caused by movement between positive and negative furies. If the furies are out of balance—as they are in Lo Pan—then the person turns into demon and lives forever." It would seem all magic in Big Trouble is governed by a balance between Ying and Yang (light and dark, hot and cold, male and female, and so on). This could mean that all spells have unwanted side effects which need to be corrected before one's internal chi balance gets out of hand and perverts the magic user.

Return to Movie-Derived Character Adaptations.