Ten Years In The Making...
Is WAAAY Too Long!
But still...
For a long while now, nearly as long as I've had this blog, I've been aware of and interested in an RPG project called BREAK!!
Well, it turns out a Kickstarter for the release of the BREAK!! rulebook is starting very soon and I'd be VERY surprised if this didn't get funded and freakin' quick!
Created by author Reynaldo Madriñan and artist 'Grey Wizard', BREAK!! is a Tabletop RPG inspired by Japanese Anime and Video Games that seems to have been in development for a least a decade. It uses multiple die type (Booo!) but mostly D20 and D12.
Characters are essentially defined by a Calling, an archetype not unlike a Template or Class in other RPGs but broader as I understand it. Each Calling gives the PC a framework or outline structure while also providing a wide array of options that enable the player to customize their characters. In addition, PCs have a Species, a Trait, a Quirk, Equipment, and all the things you'd expect to see in a 'Classic' or 'Old School' RPG.
For the GM there is a ton of setting material, from locations and monsters, to magic and technology, and many other things with which to create adventures and campaigns. In addition, and most interesting to me, are guidelines you can use to create stuff all your own. Tools for adding my own components? I do love that. Remember that this is a game with Anime/Manga/Computer Games inspirations. In addition to Goblins, Wizards, and trap filled Dungeons, you'll also see Mecha, adorable Witches with Rocket-Powered Brooms, and bizarre terrain frozen in Day Time, Night Time, The Past, or The Future.
This is a game I've been extremely curious about for, as noted above, an especially long time. I've checked back regularly, watched the YouTube videos on Character and Adversary Creation, and signed up for the mailing list. That last part is how I found out about the Kickstarter Pre-Launch and I have to admit, I was surprised.
After so many years of following the project with no completion in sight, the idea that BREAK!! might actually come out wasn't something I consciously considered. The website was fun to check in with, the art is awesome and inspiring, but the thought, 'I can't wait until I can buy this!' hadn't seriously occurred to me since waaay before the height of the Pandemic. I viewed the game as something akin to actively developing vaporware.
Now it might actual come out and I'm both excited and more than a little nervous. I don't need a Fantasy RPG but I do like the aesthetic and Anime/Video Game elements. I don't like Multiple Die Type systems (why do games I am initially excited about keep using all the dice?! So rude!) but I think I could mine the ideas in this for other systems, making it a fantastic resource.
All that aside, I want to see this! I really do. I just want to see what a decade of work on a single product can achieve. Having worked on pet projects of my own for decades, I know how difficult it can be to finally say you're done.
I am amazed not only by the effort and talent showcased here but seriously inspired by whomever said..."OK, it's finished."
I will be supporting this and I will keep you posted on how things go.
AD
Barking Alien
Okay, so I've ordered myself a copy of BREAK!! as a Christmas present to myself (don't tell anyone) and I was wondering why you never took to it? It looks rather dense for my tastes (and a massive - all-in - core rulebook), but also really engaging and inspirational. From what I've read, it seems well written and I'm really hooked on the idea of running an anime-inspired game.
ReplyDeleteWell, first of all, as you say yourself, it is rather dense. It's a tad too rules heavy for me, especially for a game that is meant to have an Anime/Manga and JRPG feel. I find that the games that best capture the Japanese Pop Culture Entertainment vibe for me are those that have generally simpler mechanics.
DeleteOutside of that, I found combat curious but ultimately a little unsatifying. It is tactical like some of the crunchier modern Fantasy games but also too brief. I know that sounds strange, especially coming from me (a guy who likes really fast moving fights). In BREAK!! you do damage in small numbers, yet opponents have few hit points. One of two successful hits and you've defeated even medium-tough enemies. Just as the fight gets interesting, it's over.
Finally, a lot of it feels too tied to its setting and not enough of an open, flexible design. If you're looking for a neat world and a game to go with it this could be for you. If like me you're looking for a collection of tools for building your own world, this might not work for what you want.
Thank you for this. It was the setting as much as anything that caught my eye (although frequent references to it being "old school" certainly helped), but the more I learn about it - as I await my copy's arrival - the more I wonder if it might be too old school, with rules mechanics for everything!
DeleteIn the meantime, do you have any suggestions for other anime-inspired fantasy and/or science fiction RPG systems (with the potential to run long-term campaigns, with character improvement rules etc) that I should also check out?
Ah, the Hoiy Grail of TRPGs! A game with a true Anime/Manga feel that isn't written in Japanese. lol
DeleteBefore I get into that, I want to be clear that while BREAK!! isn't for me, I can totally see it appealing to a great many gamers. It is a good game, really good, just not what I am looking for.
The most Japanese TRPG that has ever TRPGed in Japan is Sword World, coming out officially translated into English FINALLY sometime next year (I believe). However, this is the current version - 2.5 Deluxe - and it is crunchier than beer battered, deep fried firewood. The setting and supplemental material are a gold mine of great idea but system-wise, you guessed, really not my thing.
There is this fascinating (to me at least) phenomenon in Japanese gaming that goes something like this: If Japanese creators are trying to emulate Western games, they overdue it [a little] on the crunch. They enjoy doing so too and the fans of those games love that crunch.
When Japanese TRPG designers create wholly [or largely] Japanese game concepts, they tend to go simpler and even a bit outside-the-box. Examples include Meteor City - Star Rainy Days, Tokyo Ghost Research, and some of the Dice Fiction games like Uncle Gap.
Aside from games like the original Mekton and Mekton II, Teenagers from Outer Space, and some great indie stuff on Itch.Io, I am hard-pressed to recommend a Roleplaying Game that really grasps the Anime/Manga vibe and puts it into an effective, long term set of rule mechanics.
This is [in part] why I discuss TRPGs from Japan so often. They're just different enough to function at a task that is hard for those outside the culture to accomplish.
I'm pretty sure a factor in my sudden interest in "anime fantasy gaming" was hearing of the launch of Sword World (because of its connections to one of my favourite shows, Record of Lodoss War), but when I downloaded the preview I was horrified by the heavy crunch on display.
DeleteThat's why I went looking for other systems and, along the way, was reminded of the existence of Break!!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and thoughts on this topic; it's one of the reasons I so enjoy your blog, when you're talking about games and systems that are either totally unknown to me or I've only heard of in vague, urban myth-style whispers.