Oriental Adventures is Western Fantasy
This is a very short one but something that I feel isn't said enough. Oriental Adventures (and all RPG products like it - made by Westerners to tell adventures set in the backdrop of fantasy Asia) is Western fantasy. These stories are Western fantasies of Asia and Asian peoples and cultures, and they are Western fantasies of themselves (in highlighting what they foolishly believe the West is not). Real Asian Fantasy (TM) is written by Asian people. Define "Asian" as you will - I believe Westerners who've lived and grown in Asia to be capable of writing Real Asian Fantasy. Western Fantasies (of Asia) transport the player to a world that is superficially different (ignoring the deeper differences of culture and perspective) and revels in exoticizing those superficial differences. See The Mahasarpa Campaign . It does not explore South Asian perspectives on duty and community, but instead continues to play in the sandbox of temple looting and treasure-driven advent