HOLY ORDER OF WARES!!!

Did everyone hear the news? No?!? Well lemme lay it on you...

WARES BLADE is coming to the United States in ENGLISH! 

Sorry it's taken me so long to post this but I've been in a deep dive down the rabbit hole of Japanese TRPGs lately and it took awhile to find my way back up to the surface. I've got so much I want to talk about! Ah, but first...

On March 12th, LionWing Publishing announced via a 'Showcase' stream and the attached video that they'll be doing a Kickstarter in 2025 for an English Language translation of Wares Blade. This is the classic Japanese TRPG of Magic and Machinery that I've mentioned on this blog many times now (click the Wares Blade tag below). Check out this announcement statement on LionWing's website.

I can't tell you how excited I am. I've literally been waiting for Wares Blade in English since I first found out about the game in 1988. This is news I never expected to hear. It's kind of incredible. Almost hard to believe. What's next? Life discovered on another planet in our Solar System? Some distant relative I've never heard of left me a million dollars? After 'Wares Blade coming to the USA in English' I'm ready for anything!

It seems this is part of what they intend to be a line of games; collectively called 'Legends of Japan' (not the most creative name but it works), focused on Japanese Tabletop Roleplaying Games of that market's early era. Well, sort of. Not so early that they were largely just importing and translating US games and not so late that JTRPGs were regularly produced, distributed, and sold all over Japan and available through JTRPG dedicated websites. Wares Blade is pretty much the perfect example of a game that fits within this category. Others might include Gear Antique, Metalhead, Peekaboo (aka Peekaboo Horror), SATASUPE, and of course Sword World. 

Curiously...

The image they used to announce their endeavor is the cover of

'The Renewal', the 2nd Edition of the Wares Blade TRPG.

Here's the full version.

Expect more coverage of this as I learn more. Until then...

AD

Barking Alien

UPDATE: I got the chance to chat with Bradley of LionWing Publishing on their livestream last night (03/19/2024 10:00 pm EST) about Wares Blade and their other upcoming projects. It was very interesting and informative.

Also, Bradley gave a shout out to my blog, saying he'd checked out Barking Alien while doing research on Wares Blade. So cool!

You can check out the stream here.

BREAK!! On Through To The Other Side

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

Je Cherche Aventure!

I first discovered Herge's intrepid young journalist Tintin when I was about 14, though possibly a bit before. 

A friend of the family, who had two young boys of his own, had purchased several Franco-Belgian comic books for his sons and The Adventures of Tintin was among them. When we saw each other I got to read their copies and was swept away by the clever and imaginative journeys of the heroic ginger haired youth, his dog Snowy, the coarse but bold Captain Haddock, and the many other eclectic characters they encountered. 

Their sweeping capers to far off lands and even the Moon influenced our time in the playgrounds of New York's Central Park; we pretended to be searching for buried treasure, being chased by spies, or trying to save a priceless artifact from an evil organization of master criminals, all while climbing ladders, sliding down slides, and crawling about in a stone fort shaped construction. 

Already into RPGs, I took some of what I'd seen in the Tintin stories and wove it together with other influences into a genre best described as, 'Globetrotting Heroes'. Not Superheroes, not really Spies, yet more than Kids-Solving Mysteries in the vein of Scooby-Doo and Mystery Incorporated, Globetrotting Heroes aren't even always heroes in the traditional sense. What they share is the tropes of being experts at something or other, basically good at heart even when they might be burglars or mercenaries by trade, and their desire to solve travel the world solving mysteries. 

Examples of this genre aside from Tintin include, at least in my opinion, Spirou & Fantasio, Indiana Jones, Lupin III (the Anime/Manga series), and perhaps even Johnny Quest. 

While I have never actually run a game in this genre full on, the concepts and feel of these types of stories have made their way into many of the campaigns I have created. My Top Secret and other Espionage games often feel more like Lupin III, Tintin, or Blake and Mortimer (another Franco-Belgian title) then they do the works of Ian Fleming or Tom Clancy (otherwise they more closely resemble Get Smart). 

Likewise I feel that if I were to run Tales from the Loop for any extended period it would become one part Stranger Things, one part the Goonies, and one part...OK, something akin to Scooby and the Gang.*

The crux of this post is that although the idea of world-spanning, teen to adult mystery solving do-gooders has always been a big draw for me, I've never found the game that quite does the concept justice. There is no Tintin or Lupin the 3rd Role-Playing Game.

Until now (I think I may have buried the lead)...

The Troubleshooters is an upcoming RPG from Swedish game producer and publisher Helmgast, currently on Kickstarter with 15 days to go as of this post.

The game is already funded and the first stretch goals have been met, enabling the company to produce a Director's Screen (the GM is called the 'Director of Operations') and Dinosaurs will be included in the corebook so your investigators can unlock the secret of a lost world (if they so desire).

Modiphius, the publisher of such awesome games as Star Trek Adventures and Tales from the Loop, will be either publishing or distributing the game for the UK and American market and whenever they're involved in a project I feel that much better about it. 

As should be evident from this writing I am extremely excited for this game and I plan on putting up a number of posts about it once I get a hold of the rules (even Beta Test ones as I did for ALIEN). What would I do with such a game? How much Science Fiction/Fantasy should there be in a setting like this? Will I use the default setting (an alternative 1960s) or something a bit different (like the 1920s and 30s of Tintin)? 

What will you do with it?

These and other subjects are just rife for discussion and I hope you'll join me in doing so. 

That's all for now. 

Au revoir mes amis!

AD
Barking Alien

Machine Head

Recently I discovered that one of the fellows I game with pretty regularly has developed a brand spanking new Anime/Manga themed Mecha Tabletop RPG and put it up on Kickstarter.

Art from Beamswords and Bazookas

By Jeffery Chen

It's called Beamswords & Bazookas and it is already full funded! Woohoo! That said, if you want to contribute to the coming awesoneness, the Kickstarter has 10 days left to go as of this post date. Click on the game's title. 

I don't participate in Kickstarters very often. First, I don't have that much disposable income. Second, I contributed to a few early on that didn't pan out and I don't like how I end up feeling when that happens. I don't gamble. The thrill of a maybe is not a thrill for me.

I am more than happy to buy a thing I want when it comes out. Heck, if I really love it I might buy a second copy so I don't wear the book out reading it. Asking me to pay the cost (or more) of a game before it comes out, in the hopes that it will, ehhh, not for me.

For me to partake in this kind of endeavor, I have to deeply, sincerely believe in and want to support the concept and/or its creator. 

This is why I absolutely backed Beamswords & Bazookas. 

Even if the guy making it wasn't a cool dude I happen to know personally, the fact is that there just aren't enough great Giant Robot Role Playing Games on the market.

Are there any?

I mean there's Battletech and Mechwarrior but those are to Giant Robots what the AMC Pacer is to automobiles. Yes, a Pacer is a car, but it can only barely do the things you buy a car to do.

Then there's...um...there's...well damn. 

The greats of the genre, Heavy Gear, Jovian Chronicles, and Mekton are all out of print. Mekton being a very special case. Remember that thing about backing Kickstarters that don't come to fruition? Disappointment, thy name is Mekton. 

The Mekton Zero Kickstarter was effectively funded in 2013. In 2018, one year after the last prior update, Mekton creator Mike Pondsmith issued a statement of which this is an excerpt:

"While I still intend to finish Mekton Zero, I have come to the conclusion that it is not fair for me to continue to commit the time and money you have invested in this project any longer, or to make you wait until I wrap Mekton Zero up.

Therefore I'm going to REFUND everyone who has committed money to this project (and who hasn't already taken advantage of our previous buy out offer). We are in the process right now of setting this up (via Paypal) and sending out refunds to all of you. If you no longer have a Paypal account or have changed email addresses, please contact us through this site and let us know to make other arrangements.

We WILL finish Mekton Zero, but since how long that will take is indeterminate (due to all these other commitments), I feel this is the best option for now.

However, when Zero finishes, EVERYONE who has still been committed to the project will still receive their copies of the book, their figures, their t-shirts, their bumper stickers and all the other paraphernalia that we planned. This is the only fair thing to do for our fans who have faithfully stuck with us through the long haul."

It is now 2019 and there is no sign that Mekton Zero is coming anytime soon. Things went from promise and excitement, to stall tactics, to excuses, to an honest but disappointing message of accepting responsibility that I appreciate but still ends in no new Mekton. 

Where does that leave us Japanese Mecha fans who want a good Role Playing Game?

Well, I'm putting my money on Beamswords & Bazookas. Literally. 

Oh, did I mention I am going to get to test it out in a week or so?

Let you guys know how it goes? Will do.

AD
Barking Alien

Out of This World

Great Geks of the Galaxy! It's already the 15th of September!

So much for being inspired to blog more.

No, that's not right, I am inspired to blog. I've just let the time get away from me. 

While Indie Adam considers what kind of deep meaning, hippie-trippy RPG campaign will work best in the coming year, Mainstream Adam* is thinking about Space Opera Science Fiction once more.

I've been playing a lot of No Man's Sky...

I've talked about it before but for those of you who may not be familiar with it, No Man's Sky is a Space Opera Science Fiction, Action-Adventure computer and video game created by the independent studio Hello Games.

In the game you are an explorer traveling through a procedurally generated open universe of literally hundreds of millions of planets. The game can be played by different people in different ways by choosing to focus on one or more of the games key themes:

Combat

You can dedicate your time to battling space pirates, kill monstrous creatures, or destroy the robotic sentinels that appear on worlds throughout No Man's Sky's galaxies (yes, plural). Mine, craft, buy, sell, and trade to upgrade your personal and shipboard weapons, defenses, speed, etc. 

Of the four intelligent alien species in the game, the Vy'Keen are the warrior culture who most value fighting as a means of getting what they want.

Exploration

You can earn Units and Nanite Clusters (two of the game universe's three currencies) by discovering new star systems, new worlds, scanning the creatures and plants that live on them as well as other elements. In addition, there are secrets to the various species and the nature of the Sentinels and the mysterious Atlas that can only be found by looking around and interacting with the artifacts and ruins you find scattered across the cosmos.

The Korvax, an intelligent species of cybernetic, or perhaps robotic lifeforms are the pioneers of Science and Discover in the game.

Trade

Nothing can be accomplished without money and resources. The game enables you to mine for minerals, plant material, and even chemicals and gases. These are used to keep you alive, powering your exosuit, multi-tool, and starship. They can also be used to build devices, bases, and vehicles to aid in the other aforementioned aspects of the game. 

The diminutive Gek, a reptilian alien species and my favorite of the four starfaring sentients are all about trade. 

Survival

The universe of No Man's Sky is dangerous. Toxic, freezing, and scorching atmospheres, deadly poison spores, quick striking pirate starfighters, and other hazards lurk across the stars. No matter how else you play you must also survive to Fight, Explore, and Trade another day.

The fourth species, the Travellers, are the ultimate survivors, or at least their memories and works will live on for eons...

No Man's Sky Next (see below) adds a fifth intelligent lifeform, The Anomaly, who appear for all intents and purposes to be Humans, but that has not been officially confirmed. Little information about them is available at this time. 

My Science Frigate, the GDV-101s Inquiring Mind

coming through an asteroid field and into orbit around

Yuki-Onna, in the Ame-No-Koyane Antares System

The game has had a few updates since its original release two years ago, with the latest a major content release known as No Man's Sky Next. I played the game when it first came out and again somewhere around the second update. Now, with Next, I have returned once again and I am loving it like never before. 

I am also getting very inspired. I want to get back to Science Fiction.

Not just any type of Science Fiction but Space Opera style SF similar to that of No Man's Sky. The adventures of brave but lonely space explorers roaming the cosmos in search of wealth, glory, and knowledge. The next planet you land on may hold a score big enough to retire on or the answer to questions about the very nature of the universe.

Now I just need a game that can handle that. Easy peasy, right?

Certainly I could do it with any number of games, with Traveller and Star Frontiers coming to mind immediately. When playing No Man's Sky I often find myself thinking about my old games of Star Frontiers. The look of things, the types of missions you take and 'quests' you get all feel very Star Frontiers to me. If Star Frontiers had better sentient species it would be No Man's Sky. 

It just so happens however that there is a game on Kickstarter right now (only a few days left to go!) called Free Spacer that seems right on the money (unless of course your advanced society no longer uses it).

What makes Free Spacer so well suited for a No Man's Sky type setting?

A big part of the No Man's Sky is the resource management and crafting aspects that work so well in computer and video games but rarely show up in American tabletop RPGs.

Free Spacer makes this a key part of the game play. There is a very interesting (and more than slightly complex) relationship between the in-game management of the PC crew, their starship, the items, materials, and information they buy, sell, and exchange, and the rule mechanics for bonuses to skills and various actions. 

I love a little resource management in my Science Fiction. It is something I found overwhelming in Traveller if you play it by the book but of course I never did that. Instead I simplified things and created a smoother, quicker, and much easier way of handling funds, resources, and the like that my players really get a kick out of. 

Other aspects of Free Spacer that sound intriguing include the options for 'world-building' the universe, which involves player and the Gamemaster collaboration, the way you can reward good Role Playing to power-up your character and the ship, and a host of other nifty ideas.

Here's a First Look at Free Spacer by Adam Koebel, co-designer of Dungeon World. Check it out but be ready to sit through some very youtube-content-poster moments. Still and all, quite informative and definitely made me want to see more of Free Spacer.

I am a little under the weather, so I am going to call it a day here on Space Station Samulayo Sigma. The Kickstarter is linked further up in the post.

Take care and safe travels,

AD
Barking Alien

RPGaDay Challenge 2017 - Day 29

Close to the end my friends. What the heck will I talk about next month?

I haven't backed very many projects on Kickstarter. Funds for me are often tight, or practically non-existent during certain stretches of the year, and I simply can't afford to spend money on a thing that might not happen. 

Of the ones I have backed, I think only two have come to fruition so far.

That sucks, and makes me less likely to join a Kickstarter in the future.

Conceptually, it's a great idea - Fans of a concept give money to the concept's creators before any product has been produced so that the product can be produced to the best of the ability, and available funds of those working on it. 

Cool. Awesome. And, if you don't reach the desired goal, or you do and nothing comes of it, what then? I'm looking at you Mekton Zero.

Golden Sky Stories, and Spirit of '77 are probably two of the few I've sponsored, and the only ones to put a book in my hand. That's it. Just two.

Bleh. Kickstarter.

Just make a game. If you already made it, and it sounds cool, and isn't super expensive, I'll buy it. 

That's what I did for The Googly Eyed Primetime Puppet Show. 

I didn't want to make a site for maybe making the book. I wanted to make the book. So I did. Perfect? Maybe not, but done and the price? I like to think so. 

AD
Barking Alien

RPGaDay Challenge 2015 - Day 2

I don't back a lot of things on Kickstarter.

The primary reason is that I have a fairly tight budget, and I have to be somewhat choosey about how, and where I spend my entertainment dollars.

The second reason is that while there are quite a lot of games on Kickstarter that sound intriguing, intriguing pitches do not guarantee good games. I still like to browse in book stores, comic book shops, and my friendly local game spot. I want to see it, and feel it before I buy it. I'm kind of old fashioned that way.

That said, I have backed a handful of items on Kickstarter over the last couple of years. The one I am most pleased to have donated to?

Easy. Golden Sky Stories.

I've mentioned the game here before, although I certainly haven't done it justice in terms of going over what makes it so great, why I like it so much, and all the amazing things you can do with it. Hmmm. I'm thinking it's an excellent candidate for the Thorough Thursdays treatment.

Simple, easy to learn, play, and get into for the right mindset. If you are a fan of the murder-hobo model of gaming, then this game is not for you. If you have kids, or are a kid at heart, this one is a must have. The Kickstarter did a fine job of keeping the fans, and supporters updated on the games progress, gave behind the scenes notes, and even used the extra money from donates to go beyond the normal Stretch Goals of a pin, or a t-shirt (although damn, I'd love a t-shirt), and right into development for spin-off games, supplements and additional material.

The first of those additional material books is already available in PDF form on DriveThruRPG, and Indie Press Revolution. It is entitled The Colors of The Sky. 

I am really looking forward to seeing what else they are able to produce for it. I hope to get the chance to play it with some of the kids in the Sunday classes at the Tutoring Center sometime in the Fall.

AD
Barking Alien

I'm On A Mission From God

Yeah, technically the Blues Brothers was 1980,

but who is going to tell Jake and Elwood?

 

Not me. I ain't no jive turkey.

There are only 17 hours left as of this post to get down with your bad self and back this funky-fly RPG!

You dig it? Outta sight!

AD
Barking Alien

East Meets West Meets East

Not too many responses lately. Views seem high for some posts, low for others. Curious. Is my look at Anime/Manga gaming overstaying its welcome? I hope not. I haven't really gotten to the best parts yet.

While there are a number of other American Anime/Manga games (Random Anime, Anima, Beyond Fantasy - at least to some extent), not to mention supplements of an Anime/Manga nature for several generic systems (D20 Mecha, GURPS Mecha, etc.), none of them really 'get it' the way Mekton, TFOS, BESM and OVA do/did.

Now, I would like to point out a few titles that get it largely because they are it.

The following games are rather unique in that they were originally published only in Japan but have since been translated into English and American versions have been (or will soon be) released.

The first of these games is already out and currently available (although I don't know if hardcopy books are still available. You may have to get it in PDF format. Don't quote me. I have both the PDF and an actual book but I got mine a while ago). The other two have had successful Kickstarters and I am eagerly awaiting them.

Without further adieu...

MAID IN JAPAN

  

 

 

MAID, The Role Playing Game was created by Ryo Kamiya and translated into English by Ewen Cheney. It is the first Japanese table-top, pencil and paper and dice RPG ever translated into English. If you don't know who Ewen Cheney is, you are missing out. Seriously. You are denying yourself one of the great pleasures in life. OK, maybe that's laying it on a bit thick but he is a really nice person and one of the most talented independant game designers I've encountered. Translating Japanese RPGs is just one of his miraculous skills. Check out his blog at Yaruki Zero Games.

 

Back to MAID...

MAID is a really peculiar creature. It has an Anime/Manga feel to it and is obviously inspired by a certain Japanese cultural theme that often appears in their animation and comics. At the same time, it is a theme that is so very Japanese that I think it is hard for many people to comprehend what to do with the game if they aren't already familiar with the genre it's taping into.

 

You play a maid - a female employee/indentured servant (or at least that's how it sometimes seems in the genre) living and working in the household of a NPC 'Master'. Now the household may be anything from a castle in Victorian era France, a Smart-Mansion estate on the moon of Altair IV, or a palatial home in the mountains of modern day Japan. Likewise, the Master may be a young boy just learning about girls, an eccentric scientist conducting mad experiments, or a wizard charged with protecting the kingdom from an evil warlock.

 

The maids (there are rules for making a Butler too I recall), get involved in all sorts of wacky Anime shenanigans, all the while attempting to win the Master's favor. The game can really be played in a number of 'modes' however, with the Japanese Anime/Manga sitcom, a sort of randomly rolled scenario style of play, or a romantic competition to win the Master's heart/favor being most prominent.

 

The thing about Maid is, it can be enjoyed immensely as easily as it can be misunderstood and passed over. An entry over at D20 Source (of all places) has a terrific recounting of playing Maid and why everyone* should give it a try at least once.

 

I ran it at a convention years back and had a total blast. One group was all guys and it was as awful as it was hilarious. The much more amazing session was nearly all female players and it was as funny, sweet, charming and action packed as I could have hoped for.

 

***

MORE THINGS IN HEAVEN AND EARTH 

 

 

Tenra Bansho Zero fits into the category of 'Storytelling Game' but certainly one heavy on action. It is set in a milieu self described as "Hyper-Asian Fantasy". Taking place on a far flung world sometime in the distant future, the Sengoku (Feudal/Warring States) period of Japanese history is essentially repeating itself. This time around, the battles are being fought with technologically advanced weaponry, magical mecha, taoist sorcerers and super-human samurai warriors.

 

The game focuses on the characters and their backgrounds as well as their destiny world of Tenra. Players get bonus points by acting in character and entertaining the other players. The points can spent to boost powers and gain new abilities. While it sounds similar to experience points the way I'm describing it, well, it is and it isn't. Creativity, focus and buy-in and comraderie is directly rewarded in the game. It is also possible to misspend/abuse your points (in essence) and lose control of your character as they spiral down in darkness.

 

The game is very theatrical, utilizing Scenes, Acts, Intermissions and Coming Attractions as components of play. Similar to a film or play, an entire story or campaign can be played out in its entirety within a single 4-6 hour gaming session. It's one part regular RPG and one part Microscope I suppose.

 

Tenra Bansho Zero was created, designed, written, and largely illustrated by the popular Japanese game designer Junichi Inoue and F.E.A.R. (A Japanese RPG, board game and light novel publishing company whose acronym stands for a Japanese Far East Amusement Research). It has been translated into English and published by Kotodama Heavy Industries, in cooperation with F.E.A.R., and is now available on PDF through RPGnow. A successful Kickstarter ended in September of last year and as such, a physical book should be available soon (if it isn't already - I hear mixed information on this subject).

 

The title, Tenra Bansho, basically refers to 'Tales of Heaven and Earth'.

 

***

 

SUNSET MEMORIES

  

 

 

Golden Sky Stories, originally titled Yuuyake Koyake** in Japan, is an upcoming Japanese RPG translation from none other than Ewen Cheney and his independant publishing venture Star Line Publishing (which he developed with Mike Stevens and others). Golden Sky Stories was created by Ryo Kamiya, creator of MAID, The RPG.

 

Golden Sky Stories is a heartwarming role-playing game centered around telling the type of tales you might see in a Hayao Miyazaki movie.

 

Player Characters take on the role of henge (pronounced "hen-gay"), animals with a small amount of spiritual/magical power, most notably the ability to temporarily take on human form. Your henge live in a small, rural Japanese towns where they try to help ordinary people solve problems and become friends.

 

The game is resource based and diceless with a simple and interesting approach to its mechanics that I find intriguing if just because they are so different from what one usually encounters. The real beauty of this game however is in its concept. Like many of the games I am most interested in these days, Golden Sky Stories turns 360 degrees away from the default motivations of most old school RPGs to explore the idea of simply helping people in need with normal, everyday issues. For example, the game has no combat rules, because this isn't about fighting and violence helps no one in the world of Golden Sky Stories.

 

While there is no way that even my best group would make this their regular RPG campaign choice, it is a wonderful change of scenery from the deadly serious, or even deadly humorous, games that most of us play. I think it would make a great convention game and I am really eager to try it out with my students at the learning center on Sundays.

 

This game ended its Kickstarter this past May, far exceeding its goal. Ewen has already announced working on two supplemental products that I find absolutely fascinating.

 

One is a translation of some of the additional material for the Japanese game that enables players to play characters beyond henge, from demons to aliens, ghosts to kappa.

 

The other is an original setting, created by Mr. Cheney, entitled Faerie Skies, which utilizes the Golden Sky Stories concept and applies it to Faerie Folklore of the West (specifically England, Ireland and Scotland). Can you guess who is ridiculously excited for these? Yep! I can't fool you guys.

 

***

 

Well, that's it for this segment. Next up, some Japanese RPGs from Japan. How they work, what makes them different and what cool gaming ideas we Westerners can stea...er...benefit from.

 

AD

Barking Alien

 

*OK, not everyone. Nothing works for everybody but I can guarantee you'll never know for sure if you don't like something if you never try it.

 

**Yuuyake Koyake is translated by Ewen Cheney, a skilled Japanese translator, as Golden Sky Stories. Yuuyake refers to the red colored sky at sunset and koyake is kind of the orange or golden sunset sky. There is a Japanese song by the same name used to signal to children that school is over and it is time to go home.

 

As such, I originally translated the title as Sunset Story or, with a bit of artistic license, Sunset Memories.

 

 

 

Direct To Video

For many years here in the West, a film or program that went 'Direct to Video' was viewed as something of low budget and poor quality. Very often these were 'B Movies', insufficient in technical or artistic expertise to consider being released in theatres.

In Japan, Original Video Animation, or OVAs as they are commonly known, are made for video (originally VHS but now DVD and Blu-Ray) productions that are akin to a long episode or a short film. Often, each release is part of a series and forms a complete story arc at the end.

The benefit of OVA productions is that, while they do not have the budget of a feature film, they often have the budget of a 12 to 24 episode TV show, spent on a smaller number of slightly longer episodes. The end result is that OVAs are usually of high quality, quite the opposite of the stigma of their American counterparts.

A number of very popular animated series got their start as OVAs. Another benefit of the OVA for the Japanese animation companies is that they can create a short series, say, 6 half hour or 3 forty-five minute episodes, and see how the customers respond. If the series is popular it may prompt the company to make another, longer series, a film (less common) or a TV series (quite common).

Among the most popular and famous OVAs are Bubblegum Crisis, Mobile Suit Gundam: 0083 Stardust Memory, Tenchi Muyo, Record of The Lodoss War (a must for any Dungeons and Dragons fan but more on that in another post) and the amazing Otaku No Video.

What does this brief lesson about the Japanese animation industry have to do with gaming? Well, I could actually go in a dozen different directions with it but the truth of the matter is I am continuing my discussion of Anime/Manga themed RPGs created in the West. So, without further ado...

The Original Edition (front cover) mounted on the back cover of the upcoming New Edition (proposed front cover).

(Thanks to a little photoshopping by me).

OVA, originally subtitled 'Original Versatile Anime' Role Playing Game (a pun of sorts on the definition of OVA I gave above), was published in 2006 and written by a fellow named Clay Gardner, a nice chap who I have heard speak on a number of podcasts.

While Big Eyes, Small Mouth grabbed the Anime/Manga gamers attention and held it tightly for sometime, I always felt this game was actually closer to being what BESM wanted to be. It was simple, flexible and while there was a little crunch, it was easy crunch. Compare biting down on a mouthful of Jolly Ranchers to a mouthful of Life Cereal. Both are crunchy, but the experience is very different. OVA is like Life (how's that for a sales pitch)*.

Character creation is fairly easy and freeform, with a good deal of what you can and can't choose dependant upon the setting your group has decided to use for your game. Like BESM, OVA is a not-quite-generic generic system and can be used for anything and everything you might come across while perusing the Anime shelf at your local DVD rental shop for on Netflix. Basically, a conversation with your GM is probably the single most important part of forming your character.

During character creation, the idea is to end up with a Zero sum of bonuses and penalties after determining the type of character you want to play that fits in with the campaign. This is sometimes called 'Zeroing' (at least I remember hearing that term for this and similar systems). When deciding what special abilities and weaknesses a...let's say...'Jungle Cat Clan Ninja' has, you might have an advantage ability like Agile +1, Arrogant, a -1 drawback/weakness, Fear of Fire at -2 and Quick +2. The end result of the pluses and minuses is zero.

The basic mechanic of the game is also relatively simple. You start with a basic roll of 2d6, higher numbers are better. Abilities add dice, weaknesses subtract dice. The end result is a dice pool. When multiple dice come up with the same number (doubles, triples, whatever) they are added together. The exception to this rule are 1s, which are not added together.

So for example, let's say Jungle Cat Clan Ninja Nekuko throws her 'Cat Claw Strike' at a member of the rival Dark Cloud Sky Ninja Clan. Nekuko's player rolls 2d6, adds her Quick +2 for two extra dice and another die for her special attack (she has Cat Claw Strike +1 on her sheet). The pool consists of a total of 5 dice. If she rolls 2,3,4,5 and 5, then the player got a 10 (5+5). That roll is then matched against a difficulty or another player (or NPC's) roll. Highest roll wins.

I owned the original edition of this game and, although I don't believe I ever ran or played it, I do remember creating a character or two. The Kickstarter for a new edition ended on June 17th, having surpassed its goal and reaching all nine of its stretch goals! Wow. Pretty impressive.

The new edition might be a tad crunchier in combat than I recall or I may not be remembering all the rules from the original 100% perfectly. I may have to give the new edition a look see.

AD
Barking Alien

*Back in the mid-90s there was a commercial on Japanese television for a video game console which consistently had my friends and I laughing our heads off. I wish I could remember the name of the product.

It would usually begin with a normal Japanese male doing something like fishing on a boat, playing baseball or jogging in the park. Then he would either pull out or suddenly be handed (by an unknown, unseen person located somewhere off camera) a controller and look up to see a TV screen with the game playing on it, regardless of where he was (so it would appear in the boat, on the ground of the baseball field or on a bench in the park).

Some hazard or  minor tragedy would befall this young man's onscreen avatar, the game character, and than the camera would show it having actually happened to him. The best was the fishing one IMHO, in which the fish pulls him off the boat and into the water. The fellow then climbs back into the boat and shouts the game's catchphrase while holding a cartridge:

"It's Like Life!"

How in the name of Mt. Fuji is it 'like life'? Never in my life have I been yanked off a boat while fishing, hit by a pitch to the point of being knocked unconscious or jogged right into a lamppost. It's like a cartoon my friends. No, "It's Like Life!"