Maybe I should actually introduce myself,,

[Macula]

Greetings fellow adventurers
My name is Macula, and I'm a universal geek, collecting Doctor Who, Monster High, Transformers, Anime and cult movie stuff, and of course, Heroquest.
Having bought, traded for, or been gifted all the new stuff, I'm using the hobby to reteach myself mini painting, focussing on storytelling through detail, as well as emulating the systems very simple style as a way to tighten my technical writing, so you'll see lots of rulestuff, and hopefully, some new quests when I'm comfortable enough with it all.

I also do 3d modelling, and will be releasing all my herostuff designs in a single block that on cults3d, basically because I can increase the price whenever i drop more stuff in, but those that bought it when it's just a door will get everything else free.

I work with Chinese scifi and fantasty authors to get their stuff in English, used to help run lots of anime conventions, and am probably some flavour of neurospicy.

Lovely to meet you all.

[Kurgan]

Welcome to the community!

[Daedalus]

Happy to have you join Inn! Since you mentioned working with Chinese-speaking authors, I gotta wonder out-loud, do you speak Mandarin? I'm curious because I had spent time in Taiwan and even played on-the-fly Hero Quest with one of my students after private English lessons.

[Macula]

do you speak Mandarin? I'm curious because I had spent time in Taiwan and even played on-the-fly Hero Quest with one of my students after private English lessons.

一点点，
但是台湾文也中国文不同 (龙 v 龍)
在中国， 我没有很多奇幻迷朋友.

Western fantasy isn't super popular in mainland China (hence why i know more about where they want to go with the monk side). I have a few friends out there who play 40k, but there's definitely a big culture difference once it hits dragons and swords.

We mainly deal with mainland writers, and theres all these different levels of cultural, social, and ethnic differentiation, and Taiwan's history is.. complex to say the least.

[Kurgan]

Yeah, without getting political, we know there's strong censorship pressure in mainland China (more's the pity on top of everything else). Taiwan, being independent may have their own situation, so it's interesting to hear always about HQ experiences around the world!

[Macula]

OK.. that feels pretty out of the blue, and has taken me about 3 days to want to address.
I was mainly pointing out there's A LOT of cultural differences between Taiwan and PRC, and actually the protracted string of occupations TW has faced (including by imperial Japan, The KMT, and they're not all happy about the TDC presence)
If anyone wants to come discuss lived experience of China, and the damage that a particularly American led Sinophobia is having not just on people in the PRC, but people of Chinese heritage across the world, come find me on twitter.
I'm mainly here to talk about little plastic elves and skeletons.

There's a very specific fantasy tradition in China, which is reliant on Xia heroes, and has a far more accepting(?) attitude towards spirits, and 'Strange creatures". It's why things like starwars have had such a hard time making a huge impact there, because rehashed Kurosawa with pewpew lazers doesnt strike as novel or unique in a country raised on Jin Yong, Water Margin, and MoDao ZuShi.

[Daedalus]

You're absolutely right that we are here for Hero Quest, though derailing happens. I'm also happy that the Inn is accessible across the world, even if HQ's fantasy tone isn't preferred where rich traditions are already long-established.

Games Workshop has a presence in Taiwan, as well. From the small community that I saw, both fantasy and 40K were popular, probably because it was war gaming. Magic the Gathering was also played. The main barrier to games was lack of leisure time, as studying after school was heavily expected and ubiquitous.

I had left before the Avalon Hill HeroQuest was released, but I kind of doubt it made it into the boardgame shops of Taiwan. On the other hand, I had seen Betrayal at House on the Hill there, so maybe I'm wrong. Both English and Mandarin boardgames were available, so it's possible, at least. But like you pointed out, western sword and sorcery doesn't have much space to gain acceptance in Chinese culture.