Has anyone ever been interested in what kinds of RPG's are published in Japan? I've just started finding out. TRPG's (or Tabletalk Role Playing Games to differentiate them from RPG's which are computer games) are very obscure in Japan. They are rules lite so you get into the game very quickly and are heavily influenced by manga.
The more popular North American games have been adapted into Japanese language versions. D&D, GURPS, Call of Cthulhu and even the World of Darkness have all been translated into Japanese with Japanese-only supplements created for each line. My favourite on my want list is Hiei-zan Enjou (Mount Hiei Burns) - a full Call of Cthulhu rulebook (not a supplement) set in feudal Japan.
One of the more interesting original Japanese RPG's include Yuuyake Koyake (trans. "Sunset"), the “Heartwarming Role-Playing”. It is a diceless TRPG about henge, animals that take human form (think Kitsune). They live on the edge of a town in rural Japan and must make connections with people in the town by helping them out. By forming connections, the characters get what they need to use their special powers necessary to accomplish harder tasks. I don't know how they resolve conflicts since the section on fighting basically says "don't fight" (you lose connections and thus powers, by fighting with others). Definitely not angsty world of darkness stuff. It even has a supplement entitled Mononoke Koyake which expands its world by allowing players to take on the roles of ghosts, skin-riders and even aliens.
When I saw this, I began thinking of how good a resources this game would be for something like the upcoming Changeling: the Lost. Think about Japanese Changelings and you might see Kitsune, Kappa, Oni and Yuki-Onna as I do. Just something to think about for the future.
The more popular North American games have been adapted into Japanese language versions. D&D, GURPS, Call of Cthulhu and even the World of Darkness have all been translated into Japanese with Japanese-only supplements created for each line. My favourite on my want list is Hiei-zan Enjou (Mount Hiei Burns) - a full Call of Cthulhu rulebook (not a supplement) set in feudal Japan.
One of the more interesting original Japanese RPG's include Yuuyake Koyake (trans. "Sunset"), the “Heartwarming Role-Playing”. It is a diceless TRPG about henge, animals that take human form (think Kitsune). They live on the edge of a town in rural Japan and must make connections with people in the town by helping them out. By forming connections, the characters get what they need to use their special powers necessary to accomplish harder tasks. I don't know how they resolve conflicts since the section on fighting basically says "don't fight" (you lose connections and thus powers, by fighting with others). Definitely not angsty world of darkness stuff. It even has a supplement entitled Mononoke Koyake which expands its world by allowing players to take on the roles of ghosts, skin-riders and even aliens.
When I saw this, I began thinking of how good a resources this game would be for something like the upcoming Changeling: the Lost. Think about Japanese Changelings and you might see Kitsune, Kappa, Oni and Yuki-Onna as I do. Just something to think about for the future.
1 comment:
Good Stuff!
Can you tell me if these WoD books only for Japan exist in nWoD?
Now that I red your blog post, it came to my mind how's RPG in other Asian countries, like China and India. Or even Korea and Tailand.
My best female friend lived in a monastery in Taiwan for a while, but returned soon; she plays RPG, but I never heard her mentioning anything about RPG there. Maybe she had few time to see things like that, but I'm curious now. Gonna ask her.
- Maelstromo in the WW forums
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