MAGIC AND MACHINERY

A slight change of plans.

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am going to be easing up on the theme of Anime/Manga gaming and just posting whatever I feel like talking about, including Anime/Manga gaming if indeed the mood strikes me.

 

With the generally lackluster response and interest in the subject however, I am loosing steam and my thoughts are drifting to other ideas. I've mentioned this before, it's how my head works.

 

So for now, I did want to show off one of my favorite Japanese Table Top RPGS. A mix of Dungeons and Dragons and Battletech - Medieval Fantasy crossed with Giant Robots. Lord of the Rings + Pacific Rim =

 

WARES BLADE

  

   

Clockwise from Upper Left;

Wares Blade - 1st Edition Boxed Set (1988),
Wares Blade 'The Renewal' - 2nd Edition Boxed Set (1995-97)

Wares Blade D20 Rulebook (2008), Fan art from one of dozens of Wares Blade blog sites

Wares Blade - Wares 1092 Tactical/Strategy Game for the Playstation (1997)

Wares Blade 'Ryude Knight' Resin Model Kit (2000),
One of the many Wares Blade setting novels (2003)

Center: Wares Blade Fold Out Poster From 'RPG' Magazine (1994)

 

 

The cover of the May 1991 issue of one of my favorite Japanese gaming magazines, entitled simply and elegantly enough 'RPG Magazine'. This is probably one of the first issues I ever purchased and it is still in mint condition. The feature article is of course, Wares Blade.

Rules

In its original form the game plays like a modified and slightly streamlined version of the original Battletech game, with PCs handled in a system most closely akin to Call of Cthulhu (Basic Role Playing system) meets D&D.

Magic

Magic is somewhat akin to Ars Magica crossed with Runequest. There are schools of magic, known as 'Gates', that correspond to various elements. The eight Gates are Earth, Fire, Metal, Moon, Sun, Water, Wind, and Wood. There is a ninth Gate that isn't directly connected to any of the elements called the 'Outer Gate', often referred to as the Out Gate. It deals with simple magic that doesn't fall under the auspices of the other domains.

Interestingly, the Undead are tied to the Earth Gate, since the dead are buried in the Earth. Dwarves are usually of the Earth or Metal Gate, leading many to distrust them and view them as having contact with Necromancers. Dragons, most of them anyway, are connected to the Fire Gate and Shapeshifters with the Moon.

Mana, known as Renpo in the game, is everywhere and in all things, although the type/Gate of the Renpo is dependant on the thing you are referring to. Mountains contain mainly Earth and Metal Gate Renpo while the Ocean contains mainly Water and perhaps some Wood.

Ware Stones are rare mystical rocks (more minerals than gems or crystals) that contain and focus Renpo. Wizards often wear jewelry and carry foci embedded with these stones to assist  them with spell casting. The stones are required to create any kind of permanent magic item, including the 12-18 foot battle armors known as the Machine Soldiers.

Original Wares Blade illustration by Qu-Ro-Quro
  

Machinery

Machine Soldiers are the giant robots that give this otherwise traditional fantasy game its rather specific twist. There are many kinds of Machine Soldiers and indeed, 'Machine Soldier' is perhaps the least impressive of them. Those that existed in the time of the 'Old Dynasty Empire' were far more amazing than the ones being built in the setting's present (Wares 1092) and are called Ryude Knights. Between the artifact-like Ryude Knights and the cheap, 'modern' copy Machine Soldiers are the Machine Knights, which are either of superior, modern craftsmanship or are partially made from the remains of a damaged Ryude Knight.

Geography and Setting

Map of The Ahanic Western Continent
from The Wares 1092 Artbook and Sourcebook

Modified by me. I removed the Japanese place names
and intend to rewrite them in English.

 

The physical setting is called Ahan, also known as 'The World of Wares' (in reference to the importance of the Renpo stones). Only the Ahanic Western Continent is fully fleshed out in the original game, with the East being a 'land of spirits'. At one point, we do learn of a Human and Elven land whose people resemble the Celts and Gauls mixed together. The land in questions sits on the border between the Western Continent and the Eastern spirit lands. The country itself, 'Farthest Ki'Dein', is somewhat like Ireland or Scotland.

The center of the Western Continent is called Kedamon, a land of demons and monsters that also houses the ruins of the Old Dynasty Empire. It is mainly desert and in some areas borders haunted Jungles and woodlands prone to terrible storms. 

At the continent's Western most edges are the kingdoms most player characters would call home. These include many 'holy sites', places of historical, cultural and spiritual importance to the people of Ahan. There are few if any gods remaining, as apparently most of them were killed in a war between the Old Dynasty Empire and the heavens which resulted in the demon infested wasteland in the middle of the continent. Instead, the people worship spirits and spirtual places. These locations are often fought over by various factions and are one of the key sources of conflict in the Wares Blade setting.

There is a lot more I can tell you but for now this will do.

I am disappointed in the turn out for this month but at the same time, I realize not everyone is going to get jazzed about something so foreign (pun intended) to their experience.

Next up...I'm not sure.

AD
Barking Alien