Korean Folklore and Mythology in Tabletop RPGs: Minki Lee and Nine Heavens Press
Date: 11/24/2025
Time: 4:00-5:30 PM Los Angeles Time
Location: Zoom
Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jG0iCVMwReG-xktk-_nNTQ
Please join Chosŏn History Society for an online conversation with Minki Lee, the lead writer and project manager of Nine Heavens Press, which has published two East Asian and Korean folkore-inspired tabletop RPGs, Undying Corruption and The Black Market Guide to Immortality. Nine Heavens Press represents a group of Korean and Asian diaspora creators with experience in the animation, game, and comics industries.
The Black Market Guide to Immortality is a 5e/Pathfinder 2e sourcebook focusing on the gods of the Iseung region and the pursuit of godhood and immortality by cultivators. It delves into both elements from the cultivation genre of fantasy and the spiritual values and workings of the world. (For more information: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/nine-heavens-press/black-market-guide-to-immortality-a-5e-pf2e-sourcebook)
Undying Corruption, which was launched in 2023, is a 5e adventure path book. Players take the role of exorcists who must uncover a frightful conspiracy at the heart of the fantasy realm of Danguk, a country based on Korean folklore and history. Its creators drew on deep research and personal experience into Korean native mythology and shamanism (a 3000 year old religion) to build this unique adventure. (For more information: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nineheavenspress/undying-corruption-a-korean-5e-adventure)
Featuring:
Speaker: Minki Kim
Minki Kim acts as project manager and head writer for Nine Heavens Press, a TTRPG publishing circle focusing on storytelling inspired by East Asian folklore. Nine Heavens Press has successfully printed its first 5e campaign book, Undying Corruption, and has crowdfunded its second, The Black Market Guide to Immortality.
Moderator: Sixiang Wang
Sixiang Wang is a faculty member in UCLA's Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. He teaches courses on traditional Korean culture and premodern history.
Discussions will cover the cultural and historical inspirations for the gameplay and artwork in The Black Market and Undying Corruption, the creative and research process involved in creating these two projects, and the creators' motivations for integrating Korea and East Asian-themed content into table-top gaming. We will also hear about potential future projects from Nine Heavens Press.
