10,000 SWORDS AGAINST HEAVEN, REACH HEAVEN THROUGH VIOLENCE
das a lotta swords.
Genre: Cultivation, Marxist?
Touchstones: Exalted, Das Kapital
What is this game?: 10,000 swords against heaven is a self described "Maoist Xianxia" about cultivators rising up against an evil imperialist force that uses people's lives as an energy source
How's the gameplay?: 10k Swords uses a 2d6 system, though unlike something like PBTA you're often going against defined targets, rather than the usual 1-6, 7-9, 10+ system that those games tend to use. 10k swords is actually a fairly complex game all things considered, and has a very in-depth character creation process, wherein you'll choose your character's fighting style, ideology, items, origins, etc, to fully flesh them out. The combat resembles something like Exalted, and if you've played that you'll quickly pick up how the negotiations and combat function.
What's the setting (If any) like?: 10k Swords' setting is its biggest draw, its a "Gothic Tropical" setting, effectively combining the aesthetics of the early post-colonial 3rd world with the European gothic to create a world that feels rotten to its core and in desperate need of change. One of the primary hooks of the setting is that the gentry of the world created a nuke analogue and used it to destroy heaven, putting the fate of mankind in the hands of the 1% and leaving the rest of the people to rot. This same empire wages endless war against those they view as lesser, because in this world energy is made by burning people alive and extracting their karma.
What's the tone?: I'd most compare it to something like Disco Elysium, its a dreadful and dark world, everything is dreary, everyone's depressed, and it all smells vaguely of fish and cigarette smoke, but there's a materialistic hope of improvement and revolution over everything, and a faith in the nature of humanity (Or, the lack thereof) to do whats right at the end of the day
Number of Players: 3-5 players is optimal
Malleability: You probably could use this for a more 'standard' wuxia setting, but you'd be doing yourself a huge disservice, the setting is the draw of the game here
Resources: There's an official character organizer on google sheets and other QOL stuff for online play
I was excited for this one, and i wasn't disappointed! If you ended up not liking the direction Gubat Banwa took like I did, this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but its pretty close