31 Days / 31 Characters - AKI RUSH

Some Japanese Tabletop RPGs are intrinsically 'Japanese'; understanding and appreciating the premise of these games requires knowledge of and an affinity for Japan's culture and storytelling devices.

Others are just universally freaking AWESOME! 

Imagine a setting that combines Cyberpunk, Giant Robots, NASCAR Racing, and Space Travel. Sounds like a fun premise for a game, right? 

Character: Aki Rush

AKA: 'Go Psycho' (a pun on the Japanese word 'Saiko' meaning Maximum or Ultimate)

Player: I forgot his name. A friend I'd made through work I believe. So sorry I can't recall. 

System: Mobile Racer Championship

Additional rules from Metal Head, Mekton, and Cyberpunk. See Origins for details. 

 

Nature: Short Campaign: The Off-world Colonies 5000.

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein

Circa: 2010-2011. I think. Pretty sure.

Origins: Mobile Racer Championships is an RPG that came out in monthly installments published in Hobby Japan Co. LTD's RPG Magazine from sometime in 1997 to sometime in 1998. Unfortunately I don't have exact dates in this respect. I have several issues featuring the game but sadly no where near all of them (More on that in a moment). Each installment added to and expanded both the rules and the setting.

Mobile Racer Championships logo scanned from the April 1998 issue of RPG Magazine, No. 96

Recolored by me.

I loved everything about the concept and the artwork inspired me even further. I really wanted to run the game but I was unable to find all the issues I needed to create a complete game. Luckily, I noticed many similarities between the system and setting and that of the Japanese TRPG Metal Head, also from Hobby Japan. Hmm. On further examination, MRC seems like it might be a spin-off of Metal Head's post-corporate war milieu. With the help of some friends I was able to splice Metal Head into Mobile Racer Championships, filling any gaps with the first editions of R. Talsorian's Mekton and Cyberpunk. 

Backstory: Following the death of his father in a racetrack accident, a very young Aki wanted nothing to do with mecha, racing, or his father's legacy as an Off-World Colonies Champion. That's until he was 18 and received a message from his dad's old partner and mechanic Tetsuo Smithson which said that the senior Rush's death was no accident! Instead, he was murdered in connection to the father's service during The Corporate Frame War. Aki didn't even know his dad had served in the war!

Aki took a year off from school, traveled to the Colony World where Tetsuo was located and spent the next year learning everything he could about Mobile Racing. Meeting two other Frame Drivers with connections to the situation, the four men and a female manager formed a racing team to solve the mystery and win The Off-World Colonies 5000!

Overview: Following the Corporate Frame War, the Earth, the Solar System, and the various Off-World Colonies were divided up among the remaining major Megacorporations, Humanity found itself in a situation not unlike that post World War I, with lots of trained pilots and their planes but no real use for them. Far too many qualified Frame Pilots and Mobile Frames (Mecha) were still around with nothing for them to do. This lead to many people trying to find work and doing so as Deep Sea Miners, Construction Workers, Firefighters, Mercenaries, and Colonial Militia. Even so, unemployment and Mobile Frame crimes became rampant.

To remedy this situation, a group of Sports Entertainment Megacorporate concerns created the sport of Mobile Racing; high speed contests were former 'Heavy Soldier' Battle Frames are converted into fast moving, agile Racer Frames to outrun and outgun each other to the delight of fans across Human Space. 

25 years later...

The campaign started en media res, with the three PC Drivers and their Mobile Racers blazing down a racetrack on a desolate moon (desolate except for the hundreds of fans cheering from the seats above the track). Rolling randomly for their positions, Aki 'Go Psycho' Rush was the furthest ahead of his team but third place out of a dozen on the course. Through some seriously tricky and 'visually' exciting maneuvers, two of the PCs moved into position to block attackers from targeting Aki. Aki went full throttle and straight up tackled the second place Racer INTO the first place Racer, badly damaging both. Unfortunately, his Mech was also damaged, allowing the fourth place Racer to get really close. The two then competed to finish the final lap first, with Rush just barely crossing the line ahead of his opponent. 

The win results in a massive payout to a local bookie who then gives the team some key information that leads them to the next clue or revelation. This became the basic pattern; win a race or do a favor for a contact, get a clue, and learn the next piece of puzzle. Sometimes they'd have to sneak in to a place to help someone, that would give them a clue, then they'd have to hurry back to the track in time for the next race. Mixing it up were little character development moments between the various Player Characters and NPCs. 

Unfortunately, the campaign ended on a cliffhanger, with the PC team finding Aki's father alive but in Suspended Animation for some nefarious purpose. So bummed we never got to the end of the story.

  

The Highlights:

Aki and the gang didn't win every race and when they lost they had to get creative in order to accomplish their goals. After losing on race to an attractive female competitor, the team's bad boy/smooth talker tried distracting her so Aki could sneak into her Mobile Racer and download a map from it. He stops just before doing it, walks back to where the  race winner and his pal are talking, and he confesses their scheme to her. He also apologizes profusely, leaving his buddy dumbfounded and her amused. 

She asks why they need the map, Aki tells her honestly, and she decides to just give it to him. She then kisses his cheek before sashaying away. Aki turns red while the 'ladies man' dies of embarrassment. Sooo Anime. 

In another session Aki is sure to lose, lagging behind the lead Racer with his speed dropping due to a busted leg. Using another member of his squad as a jumping off point, Aki hops up and then leaps his Mech through the air to land on top of the Racer ahead of him. Aki's Mech basically rides the other one piggyback, then tumbles off to cross the finish line first. Hilarious and nail biting at the same time.

Game Info:

Ugh. I can't find any of my notes for this. Haven't been able to for years and trust me, I've looked. I'd love to run another Mobile Racer Championships campaign. I could probably convert it over to my homebrew Mecha System Variant game but I'd be missing one key component. THE key component to be honest. 

The game had a mechanic for figuring out who was in what place in the race at the end of the first lap. Then, you would take action to speed up, overtake another racer, attack another racer, and other moves. There was a also a neat 'speed resource management' system to figure out who would win purely by speed and driving. Of course, every action taken by PCs and major NPCs would throw this calculation off, which was the point. 

Notes:

The players loved the setting so much they participated in its world-building. One guy kept designing racetracks. A couple of them kept coming up with Megacorporation logos to sponsor decals on the mecha like tthose all over modern race cars. The lot of them kept suggesting other civilian/commercial uses for the Mobile Frames. Everywhere we went the player would say the farms must have Farming Frames, the news channels should use News Satellite Frames, the Cyberpunk city had to have Sanitation Frames, etc.Very fun. 

Legacy:

I haven't tried to run MRC game in 12 years or so. Not being able to recall the racing mechanics is a big part of why. If I could figure out or find a system that gives the same feel of speed, tension, and excitement as the original game I would definitely give it another go. 

Ho there fellow adventurer! Journey with me to the world of Forcelia and traverse the continent of Alecrast as to reach the Western City-States known as The Ten Children. Our guide throughout these perilous lands will be none other than BOON BRUSHBORN! Verily! 

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Barking Alien

Brain Purge

My brain constantly generates ideas for games. Campaign concepts, plots, characters, equipment, locales, and more are forever trickling from the recesses of my mind like light but unending rain. 

Every so often that persistent drizzle turns into a deluge. When this happens, the rivers that carry my creations from my head out to my hands (so that I may write, type, or illustrate the things I'm imagining) overflow. The thoughts flood through me and I become very frustrated, anxious, and even depressed knowing that little of this monsoon of gaming goodness is ever going to see the light of day. 

It's too much, coming too fast, and usually the ideas flowing in these instances are too high concept, too odd to find an audience. The flooding rivers do not aid the drought plagued villages. They drown them. 

I've been experiencing this phenomena for the past few weeks and it's getting to me. Even more so with recent gaming frustrations and opportunities that simply aren't helping. 

This time is different from such phases in the past as I have an awesome girlfriend who gave me a bang-on suggestion. She said that when similar thoughts and feelings come to her she writes them down. All of them. Stream of consciousness style. She gets them out of her head and on to paper or screen where she can actually analyze their worth and they aren't taking up valuable mental real estate. 

I love this idea. 

So here are the [primary] campaign concepts that have come to me and won't leave me alone. I keep coming up with material for these while other thoughts for other games and other game ideas themselves (literally dozens upon dozens) come and go at break neck speed. 

Idea #1. Monster Trainers in a Medieval Fantasy World

Inspired By:

As I've mentioned before I'm not a big fan of traditional Dungeons and Dragons style RPGs or settings but I do like them a bit more when they contain a twist. My own D&D-But-Not setting seems like a Fantasy game but really it's not, being structured and styled more like a Superhero campaign. 

The recent announcements of a new Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, a plethora of Western-Style Fantasy Anime and Manga, and the release of Creatures, an artbook of incredible imaginary beasts by Rei Yamamura has me imagining a setting in which Monsters are more than threats in a dungeon. 

Imagine a Medieval Fantasy society were Monsters are EVERYTHING! They are sources of food, clothing, and magical ingredients, hazards in the wilderness and the dark places of the world, but also part of the family. They work on the farm, herd and protect livestock (which may or may not also be Monsters), and sleep at the foot of our beds at night.

It would be mixture of Dungeons & Dragons, Monster Hunter, and Pokemon. I am really loving this idea but I am pretty sure practically no one I currently game with would be into it. 

Idea #2. Wares Blade - Medieval Fantasy with Giant Robots

Inspired By:

I've been wanting to run a new Wares Blade campaign ever since I first learned about the Reboot Project. Check out the webpage! Now, with the introduction of the awesome miniatures depicted above - incidentally called, 'WARES LEGION' - the desire has only doubled. 

The thing is, I can't get those minis at this time and I have no interest in a tactical war game even if it's Wares Blade based. A tabletop (or 'tabletalk' in Japan) Role Playing Game though, yes, that is something I am definitely interested in and these minis just massively inspire me and give me added enthusiasm for a game concept I've liked for many years now. 

Again, as I pointed out in Idea #1, I am intrigued by Wizard and Warrior Fantasy if you can put a good enough spin on it. Being the major Mecha fan that I am, adding them to Fantasy absolutely has me on board. 

Idea #3. Space Battleship Yamato Universe 

Inspired By:

Here is an idea I've had for ages that has recently returned with the tumble of other campaign possibilities tormenting...I mean...occurring to me of late.

Based on the Manga and Anime classic by Reji Mastumoto and Yoshinobu Nishizaki, Space Battleship Yamato, better known in the US as 'Star Blazers', is the story of a war in the future between the United Nations of Earth and the Great Gamilas Empire. Gamilas initiated the conflict by launching radioactive meteor bombs at the Earth, the impact of which will result in the extinction of the Human race in one year's time unless the crew of the UNCF Yamato can find the radiation neutralizing Cosmo DNA on the distant planet of Iscandar.

My love of Space Battleship Yamato could easily be the subject of a future Thorough Thursdays entry (and probably will be). I loved coming home from school each day in time to catch the American translation (Star Blazers). At the end of every episode, the number of days the Earth had left before everyone was dead would appear on the bottom of the screen. Intense!

A campaign of this may at first seem like a more military focused Star Trek, but with it's World War II allegories, Metaphysical 70s Sci-Fi, and distinct visual design, it reminds me more of Space:1999 meets the original version of Battlestar Galactica.

I think this could be very cool. 

Idea #4. Metal Head - Anime Outer Space Cyberpunk 

Inspired By:

Cyberpunk is a genre I haven't visited in a long time. At least, not directly. With my formative teen years of pop culture consumption and gaming having taken place in the 1980s, Cyberpunk is like salt and pepper, it gets added to everything out of habit. 

While my Traveller games see a lot of Cyberpunk influence, they are not Cyberpunk; Traveller remains very much the Hard Science/Space Opera game of Traveller no matter how many megacorporations and cybernetic mercenaries I throw in. 

What I am talking about here is closer to the Japanese TRPG Metal Head. Instead of a Space Adventure game with cyber-technology added in as a bit of spice, this is a Cyberpunk game that answers the question, "What the heck is up with Blade Runner's 'Off-World Colonies'. Where are Humanity's space programs at in the worlds of Ghost in the Shell or Cyberpunk 2077? 

Set in 2150 (and later in future editions), Metal Head is a game where you can explore the classic themes of Cyberpunk - the effect of rampant technological advancement on Human society, the nature of what it means to be Human in the face of uploading your persona to an Artificial Intelligence, and so on - while also investigating how our curiosity and drive will forever push us to expand our understanding of the universe.

This is one case where the inspirational images I've chosen don't really do it justice. I have so many visions of what this would be that I had trouble distilling them into a single frame. It's Love, Death, and Robots, Blade Runner, Altered Carbon, Ghost in the Shell, Bubblegum Crisis, and so many other high tech dystopian genre greats crossbred with the limitless hope of space travel. 

Idea #5. Middle School Kids vs. Things That Go Bump in The Night

Inspired By:

One idea I have that comes and goes from time to time is a Comedic Horror game primarily based around the Japanese Tabletalk RPG (are you seeing a theme here? Me too) Peekaboo Horror. The basic premise is that you play pre-teen/elementary school kids fighting ghosts and supernaturals monsters in your neighborhood. The twist on this that makes the game unique is that each player plays two characters, an Innocent (the kid) and a Boo, or Spooky (a spirit or other paranormal entity). 

In my few previous times running this game I had the players play each others Boos. In other words: John plays his Kid and Cindy's Boo. Ryan plays his Kid and John's Boo. Cindy plays her Kid and Ryan's Boo. That kind of thing. 

The idea has come back to me again and that is largely due to the announcement of Stranger Things Series 3, a new Ghostbusters film in 2020, and some recent discussions with friends of mine from high school about our old Ghostbusters RPG campaign. 

Like Fantasy, Horror is not a genre I enjoy generally speaking but if mixed with Comedy and leaned more toward Quirk/Creepy and less toward Gore/Shock, I find it can be a really fun and rewarding gaming experience. 

There are other ideas but these are the ones I keep coming back to.

Truth be told, I started this post days ago and my mind has calmed down quite a bit. As a result, I am able to think a bit more clearly and there may be one additional game concept that has occurred to me and may just be the one I will use for a new Gamemastering opportunity.

The idea is...

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Barking Alien

Thorough Thursdays : CYBERPUNK

This Thorough Thursdays entry was supposed to have gone out yesterday, but I came down with a terrible cold, and forgot to publish it. Gomen nasai!

Prior to this post, I have only tagged three posts with the label Cyberpunk.

Those posts refer to the Cyberpunk 2013/2020 Role Playing Game by R. Talsorian Games and the genre as a whole respectively.

Three posts labeled Cyberpunk by a Science Fiction fan who loves the concepts of artificial intelligence, robots, and Anime/Manga.

That's just wrong.

I first discovered the term Cyberpunk through my uncle, a brilliant fellow and an avid reader of Science Fiction. He was especially interested in SF works that address changes in Human nature, culture, and thought brought upon us by advancements in technology.

After reading a number of novels in the genre he recommended them to me, namely Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind by Walter Jon Williams, Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson, and Blood Music by Greg Bear.

I became quite a fan myself, and since I am influenced as much by cinema as literary works, I became further inspired by the film Blade Runner, and the often underrated TV series Max Headroom.

This all lead me to the R. Talsorian Games RPG Cyberpunk 2013, and its follow up, Cyberpunk 2020. I ran a lot of 2020, often altering it a bit to reflect more of a Blade Runner setting and feel. I also tried my hand at Shadowrun, 2300 AD, and other games with significant Cyberpunk elements.

Around 1990 I discovered the Japanese RPG Metal Head, a Cyberpunk RPG that also included space travel, mecha, and other elements that really appealed to me. I ran a few games of that as well.

Many of my Traveller campaigns contain heavy Cyberpunk influences in the way technology and corporate culture interact with the people of Charted Space and the Third Galactic Imperium. . 

Cyberpunk is a strange genre. It really should be jarring, thought provoking social commentary and sometimes it is, but it is just as easily an excuse for technology-porn, and non-stop action.

How many Cyberpunk stories have cybernetics? Most, if not virtually (pun intended) all.

How many Cyberpunk stories feature 'punk'? Not many.

Punk is traditionally a social movement born out of the frustration and angst of the working class. It bucks tradition, corporate culture, and celebrates freedom, non-conformity, and the establishment through acts of counter-culture rebellion.

Does Cyberpunk actually do that?

As noted, sometimes it does, but other times the main characters of Cyberpunk stories end up working with, or at the very least within, the confines of the established authories to take down other interests who aren't all that different in the grander scheme of things. For example, Major Motoko Kusanagi of Ghost in the Shell isn't some punk rebel trying to stick it to the man, but rather a kind of police officer - She is the man! Well...you know what I mean.

Wouldn't a true Cyberpunk hero, or heroine have no cybernetics, avoid the 'net', and try to dismantle the oppressive culture of megacorporate government control? Are Shadowrunners really Cyberpunk if they go on runs for one megacorporate patron against another? That's just facilitating the situation, not rebelling against it, which is the real definition of punk. 

For a time it seemed that Cyberpunk in the classic sense had fallen out of favor. Real world scientific advancements had shown that biological, not mechanical, improvements were the logical next step. Also, things stated to look less dystopian, and an oppressive corporate culture less likely to prevail. 

Now, things have swung back the other way. Between the current world political and social climates darkening yet again, and improvements in the fields of prosthetics and virtual reality, the outlook for our future seems more Cyberpunk then ever. Is it just a coincidence that Blade Runner is getting a sequel now, and they finally put together a live action Ghost in the Shell film (crappy and poorly handled as it was)?

Recently Age of Ravens started a Cyberpunk retrospective of sorts as part of his History of RPGs series. One of the podcasts he's involved with, Play on Target, released a recent episode covering Cyberpunk gaming as well. Check them out won't you?

In the end, I am going to say I am a fan of Cyberpunk, especially its presentation in games, Anime/Manga, movies, and television. At the same time, I see it in a fashion similar to how I see Fantasy. It's a guilty pleasure for me this genre, since I don't feel like most of the Cyberpunk we see is truly what Cyberpunk is, or what it could be. The Cyberpunk we get is over-the-top, sensationalized Cyberpunk, and that's the opposite of what Cyberpunk should be.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

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Barking Alien

Bored On The Fourth of July

So yesterday was July 4th (Happy US Independence Day to my fellow Americans by the way) and I had originally planned on getting together with my group and running either a make up session of our normal Champions game (which I cancelled last Saturday to spend the day with my awesome girlfriend who is awesome. Have I mentioned how awesome she is?) or a one shot of something to gage interest in what to run once the Champions game ends.




As it turned out, I was late to our little get together due to putting the final touches on a scenario for Metal Head, a Japanese TRPG I've had in my collection for ages and I've really wanted to play again but haven't in years and years.

When I arrive, the guys are already there and we begin our usual ritual of pre-game bs and catching up when low and behold another of my players arrives who I thought was going to make it. So it's Dave, Marcus, Ray and myself. Not everyone but not bad. Champions is out because Lee wasn't able to attend and his PC and Ray's were involved in something big that it didn't feel right addressing without him there. Metal Head it was.

Only, it wasn't...

Before we could even get started making up characters, it was 4:00 pm or so and we somehow got into a conversation about D&D and the different editions and I should have known at that point everything was going to go to hell. Before I realized what was happening Dave was saying we should play my version of D&D because its so different from regular D&D, etc, etc. So what do we end up doing? Playing my D&D-But-Not game. I ran what was perhaps the lamest scenario I have ever run. I am almost a little embarrassed by it.




So after a good 5 hours of it, the adventure came to an end and I'm sure the look of relief was obvious on my face.

We spent the last half hour to forty-five minutes taking about what to run next after Champions and I confessed to the group that I was having difficulty deciding. I also brought up my feelings that I am in an Art Film mood and this group is a Blockbuster audience. They mostly agreed, with Marcus going so far as to say, "Sorry, I can't do deep".

In the end though I think I actually came up with a good idea and a result of that discussion. More on that later...

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Barking Alien