Saturday, March 16, 2024

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...

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31 Days / 31 Characters - JIN'HOKO

Tenchi Muyo! is a Sci-Fi/Space Opera Harem Comedy franchise created by Masaki Kajishima that first appeared as a six episode OVA (Original Video Animation) series in Japan in 1992. The title translates to 'No Need for Tenchi', with Tenchi Masaki being the titular character. His name is also a play on words translating to 'Heaven and Earth', such that the series could also be called 'No Need for Heaven and Earth'. 




Since 1992 the franchise has produced four additional OVA series, three multi-season Anime television shows, three animated feature films, two Manga series, and numerous novels as well as light novels, some published in Japan and some produced by an American publishing company here in the U.S. There have been several spin-offs as well, including Magical Girl Pretty Sammy, Photon: The Idiot Adventures, and Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure (itself a partial parody of Evangelion). The Magnificent World of El-Hazard, a seeming unrelated series, is revealed through the course of its OVA to also be connected to the 'Tenchiverse'.

One of the more popular spin-offs, which has spawned a TV series, an OVA series, a Manga, and a string of light novels, is called Tenchi Muyo! GXP. In 2012 the Anime aired on Adult Swim in the US and elsewhere. It follows the adventures of unlucky Earth boy Seina Yamada, who is mistakenly recruited into the interplanetary law enforcement agency known as the Galaxy Police. Keep this in mind for later. 

In Japan, a TRPG set in the Tenchi Muyo! universe was produced for the multi-genre/setting game MAGIUS. The main book and three supplements came out between 1995 and 1996. Guardians of Order put out a Tenchi Muyo! RPG and 'Resource' Book in 2000. This was followed by a GM Screen and sourcebooks for two of the television shows, Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo.


The Tenchi Muyo! RPG products using MAGIUS by Fujimi Shobo


The Tenchi Muyo! RPG products by Guardians of Order


Tenchi Muyo! is a franchise very near and dear to me. Not only am I a really big fan of it but also because it's how I met my ex-wife.

We met when she came into the Japanese Pop Culture Entertainment related retail store where I was working. She came in that day looking for the latest installment of Tenchi Muyo!. The thing was, Selina really knew her stuff and had been aware of the first OVA series even before it came out in America. As a result, she was unsure what was available in the US already and what hadn't yet been released here. We ended up talking quite a bit, bonding over our mutual love of Tenchi and company. About a year later we got together outside of work to watch some Anime and the rest is history [and just about the best ten years of my life].*

Cool story but what does this have to do with a character for the 31 Days/31 Characters Challenge? Well...


The first Galaxy Police we encounter in the Tenchi Muyo! universe:
Mihoshi (kneeling) and Kiyone (standing)


At some point prior to 2002 I told Selina about an idea that had come to me, a really cool concept for a Tenchi Muyo! Anime, Manga, or maybe a TRPG campaign; Ginga Keisatsu Muyo! or 'No Need for The Galaxy Police!'. Selina liked the idea but said it would probably go over better as a game than as a Japanese series. Most fans prefer their 'Tenchi' be Earth related. I figured she was probably right. Sure enough a couple years later Studio AIC released the newest installment of the Tenchi Muyo franchise, Tenchi Muyo GXP!. 


Tenchi Muyo! GXP


The game concept stuck with me however, even after Selina and I parted ways, and sometime around 2010(?) I ran a one-shot session of Ginga Keisatsu Muyo at a Pop Culture convention with a large Anime/Manga presence (though it wasn't an Anime Convention). The most memorable and exciting character was Jin'Hoko...




Character: Jin'Hoko

AKA: Detective First Class, Jin

Player: Nikki

System: Teenagers from Outer Space, 1st Edition, with my 'Advanced TFOS' houserules. 

I have a special surprise for you all down below in the 'Game Info' section. Keeping reading!
 
Nature: One-Shot: Ginga Keisatsu Muyo! No Need for the Galaxy Police!

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein

Circa: 2010(?)

Not entirely positive if it was 2009, 2010, or 2011. 

Origins: I kinda gave away the origins of this game and character earlier in the post but I'll get more specific about Officer Jin'Hoko herself:

More often than not I create Pre-Gens when running games at conventions. When doing so I always leave room for the player to customize their PC, name them, and come up with a bit of background.

A cool gal named Nikki picked the Wau Officer and called her Jin, later changing it to Jin'Hoko. The Wau are a species of intelligent, humanoid felines resembling lions. She used the extra points I gave out to raise her 'Blaster' Knack and asked me if she could switch out or add a custom Power called 'Blaster-Fu' which I'll discuss later. Of course I said yes, replacing another Power on the character sheet. Her background was kind of made-up as she went along but it ended up being absolutely excellent. 




Backstory: Officer Jin'Hoko is First Class Detective of the Galaxy Police, the interstellar law enforcement division of the Galaxy Federation. She had served as a loyal, dedicated, and efficient police-being for sometime prior to the game's incident. At least, that's what the records show. The truth is not too different but often leaves out her reckless use of her GP Blasters when apprehending Space Pirates.

We additionally learn that Jin'Hoko's family were once profitable merchants who'd been preyed upon by the Space Pirate Cometia to the point where they couldn't stay in business. Jin initially applied to the Galaxy Academy in order to support her family and someday defeat Cometia.  

In this adventure, she gets her chance.


Emblem of the Galaxy Police


Overview: Galaxy Police Officers Hikari and Kumonosu are having lunch at a space station 'drive-in' diner when they receive a call from their precinct, the infamous Space Pirate Cometia is attacking a freighter in the vicinity of Diaspora! The two Officers immediately take off in their Patrol Ship and head for the incident. Hikari, a relatively recent graduate of the Galaxy Police Academy suggests they call for back-up as Cometia and her vessel, the Dragon Riot, are ranked among the most dangerous criminals in outer space. Kumonosu agrees. 

Hearing their request, GP Detective First Class Jin'Hoko and Special Investigator Chikao Arakane - with her robot sidekick 'Chiru-B1' - respond and fly to the scene of the crime at top speed. As their three ships arrive, the Transport/Freighter is burning and listing while a spikey, odd looking spacecraft tries to land on it and presumably board the merchant ship. 

The Galaxy Police [PCs], over the course of the session, discover that the freighter was actually a getaway vessel of another group of pirates and Cometia was trying to stop them from escaping with a fabulous treasure. The treasure included a royal relic belonging to a Great House of the Jurai Empire, one connected to Officer Hikari's family.

Things get further confused and complicated over the next three hours as Jin'Hoko and her allies learn Cometia was created and controlled by a bio-engineering genius turned Crime Boss/Pirate Queen. Her early 'career' as a Space Pirate was the villain commanding her to commit acts of piracy. Freed from this a few years back, Cometia has been trying to make up for what she'd been forced to do by hunting down other Pirates. 


Left to Right:

Detective Jin'Hoko, Rookie Officer Hikari, Chiru-B1
Special Investigator Chikao, and Veteran Officer Kumonosu.


The grand finale had the entire PC group plus Cometia fighting the Pirate Queen and her horde of crazy Space Pirates throughout her hideout/headquarters/starship which had a trans-dimensional M.C. Escher floorplan. 

Highlights:

Cometia manages to board the freighter and begins attacking the people on board (who are pirates but this isn't known to the PCs yet). Jin'Hoko and Special Investigator Chikao enter the cargo ship from a different airlock and Jin'Hoko runs up a wall, then launches herself at Cometia. The Wau badass slams the notorious Space Pirate into a bulkhead rolling a Crit! Nikki then said Jin'Hoko opens up on Cometia with her two Blasters at point blank and rolled, Criting AGAIN! 

I was about to say something since Nikki really shouldn't have made that second roll. This was technically her taking two actions. Everyone at the table just stared at Nikki with their jaws having dropped and then started clapping or shouting 'Yeah!' and so we went with it. Furthermore, Crits in Teenagers from Outer Space are actually kind of bad. The rules are you don't just succeed or even really succeed but you Super-Duper-Over-Succeed. Jin ends up blowing Cometia through the ships hull and - FLOOSH! - explosive decompression! Chiru-B1 rushes to help Chikao while Hikari and Kumonosu race to save Jin'Hoko. Meanwhile, a badly injured Cometia shook her fist and shouted at Jin (which no one could hear through the soundless void of space). 

In the final battle Jin uses her heightened sense of smell in concert with her Blaster-Fu ability to shoot a bunch of Pirate goons to her right, left, and behind her or her friends without directly looking at them. She would often pair up with other PCs, creating some really cool and different combos based on her partner at the time. One of my favorites was right before facing the Pirate Queen Big Bad when Jin and Hikari work together. Hikari is revealed to be part Royal Blooded Jurai and possessed a variation of Tenchi's Light Hawk Wings power. Hikari absorbed blasts from Jin'Hoko's pistols and used the energy to fire off a barrage of light bolts - basically releasing two dozen baseball-sized photon torpedoes. Jin's idea. 
 

The notorious but actually reluctant Space Pirate Cometia!


Game Info:

The one-shot I ran used my own 'Advanced TFOS' variant of the Teenagers from Outer Space game but I thought it would be fun to try and build Jin'Hoko in the game Space Ship Story, the Japanese indie Space Opera TRPG I mentioned in my previous post. SSS seems perfect for this sort of setting and character. Let's see how this goes...

First, I think Detective Jin'Hoko's Classes would be Gunner and Officer. At first I thought Gunner/Neighbor because Neighbor is used to represent alien characters and Jin is a Wau, a species of lion-like humanoids. The thing is, other than her physical prowess and supernormal sense of smell, Jin wasn't particularly 'alien' in her personality, mindset, or story. I gave her a bonus +1 to Senses here when smelling for trouble. I could use to bump up her Physical Body stat though. Hmm.

As mentioned in my prior entry, PCs start with two Specialty Skills (one from each Class) and five additional skills, one of which must be Class based and one must be a Support Skill. The rest can be made up of any combination of Class and Support. For Jin'Hoko I chose:

Cooperative Attack (Officer Specialty Skill)
Interference (Gunner Specialty Skill)
Investigate (Support Skill)
Military Tactics (Officer Class Skill)
Pilot (Support Skill)
Shooter (Gunner Class Skill)
Twin Barrel (Gunner Class Skill)

One of her Skills is custom - Twin Barrels. I created a virtually identical ability for the TFOS version so I just gave it to her here. It would qualify as a Gunner Class Skill. 

I assume her Intercomp (a combination Communicator/Personal Computer) is in the form of the Galaxy Police Watch. In the Animation there is also a sensor in it that can detect lifeforms but here I'm going to say hers doesn't have that. During the game that kind of thing was usually left up to Officer Hikari and the robot Chiru-B1.

The last thing I'd like to point out is under Special Items - The Control Cube. This is an item from the Tenchi Muyo! universe that looks like a faintly glowing, blue or red plastic cube about the size of a softball. The Control Cube is an extradimensional device that is capable of holding a number of items within it. By twisting and turning it (like a Rubik's Cube) the user can pull out the equipment they need. 




Notes:

Jin'Hoko's name is a play on 'Raion no hōkō' which means 'lion's roar'.

As noted, Jin is a Wau, a humanoid feline species resembling lions. Numerous characters of this species have appeared in the various Tenchi series and the Wau are noted to be long standing members of the Galaxy Federation. 

Jin'Hoko was inspired by the Wau we'd seen before but also M'Ress from Star Trek: The Animated Series. Nikki admitted to thinking about her when making the character. 

Nikki did an amazing job of playing Detective Jin'Hoko as both 'Action Hero out for Vengence' and someone with a bit of a moral quandary. Jin grew up believing the Space Pirate Cometia to be the 'boogeyman' who attacked her family's ships and ruining their livelihood. To find out it might have been this Pirate Queen villain and her cronies, that Cometia might be on the side of good, turned Jin's world (galaxy?) upside down. She (Nikki) really played it well. 

Legacy:

Unfortunately, I haven't thought about this character in a long time. In fact, I haven't thought about the Tenchi Muyo franchise in quite. That's a shame. It is certainly one of my all time favorite universes. 

Perhaps it deserves a rewatch...




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Thursday, March 7, 2024

Devastator Cannon Irradiation to Warp Gate...Fire!

Welcome to the far future universe of...




February, the traditionally emotionally charged month of utter chaos for me was emotionally charged and filled with utter chaos this year. Who could have predicted this? Who I ask you?!?

Anyway, now that that's over...

Space Ship Story is a Japanese Space Opera TRPG written by game designer 'Hatta' (obviously a pen name) and distributed by Dato Honpo, a small, independent publisher. In an unusual move by a Japanese TRPG company, Dato Honpo made both a Physical Version and a PDF/Electronic Version available upon release. I was so intrigued by the ad copy for this game that I bought the PDF back in 2021 when it was on sale on Conos (the Japanese equivalent of DriveThruRPG).  . 

Unfortunately, I had neither the ability nor time to dedicate myself to fully translating the game and having so many side projects (as I always do), Space Ship Story fell by the wayside. Recently, thanks to improved access to Japanese language translation programs, helpful native speakers, and Japanese websites where they transcribe 'actual play' sessions, I have been able to get a mostly complete understanding of this very neat little RPG. 

Here's a rundown...




Setting

At some point in the distant future Humanity has spread out into space and colonized numerous planets. Eventually, an all-powerful Galactic Empire was founded that controlled countless worlds with its tyrannical outlook and fantastic technology. It was the victim of its own hubris however when its scientists invented and tested a Time Machine. The activation of this device twisted and snapped the Time/Space Continuum, causing bizarre anomalies and making FTL travel nearly impossible for centuries. The Galactic Empire collapsed as a result. 

Now, a literally unknown number of years later when time and memory finally had meaning once again, interstellar commerce, law enforcement, and many other interactions between the various peoples of the stars are handled by the Galactic Trade Association

Emblem for the Galactic Trade Association by me.


Although the GTA began restoring major trade routes, there are still unexplored areas of space on the outskirts facing attacks by pirates, invading aliens, and remaining Imperial holdouts. In order to investigate these regions of danger, the Galactic Trade Association sought a daredevil new profession, the Adventurer! Adventurers are beings willing to brave the long lost and unexplored planets of Outer Space in hopes of bringing peace and prosperity to the cosmos.  

Mechanics

The game works as follows: Judgement rolls are made by rolling two 6-sided dice (2D6), adding a character’s relevant Ability Score to an appropriate Skill and adding any modification from Equipment or Location (see below). The goal is to meet or beat a Target Number determined by the difficulty of the action as determined by the Gamemaster. Pretty simple and classic RPG faire, right?

A natural roll of a 7 indicates a Critical effect (referred to in the rules as Critical 7). If the total of the roll beats the Target Number you have a Critical Success on your hands. If you don't meet the target difficulty it becomes a Critical Failure

PCs have a resource called Singularity, a sort of 'Hero Point' that turns any roll into a Critical Success. Every Player Character starts each session with 1 and can be awarded additional Singularity points during play. 

 Characters

There are eight Character Classes: Fighter (Close Combat), Gunner (Ranged Combat), Tank (Able to take a lot of damage), Scout (A sort of Rogue/Ninja type), Tech (Engineer/Mad Scientist), Officer (Leader/Coordinator), Psycho (A being with Psychic Powers), and Neighbor (a Non-Human. An Alien or Robot PC).


Fighter, Gunner, Tank, Scout.


The player picks two Class and combines the Ability Scores on the Class 'Template' to get your Ability Score Set. You can also choose the same Class twice and double down on your character type is you desire. In addition to Ability Scores, each Class gives the PC a Class 'Special Skill' and gives them access to a variety of Class Skills that you can pick from, most of which aren't really skills so much as special talents or feats. You can also take skills from a collection of Support Skills. 


Neighbor (Robot), Tech, Officer, Psycho, and Neighbor (Alien).


The whole concept is both really easy and pretty intuitive. Want to make a Jedi Knight? Fighter + Psycho. Starfleet Engineer? Maybe Officer + Tech. A friend of mine used Tech + Neighbor to create an R2-D2/Astromech type robot. 

In addition to your two Class Skills (one for each Class chosen) you pick 5 additional skills which, as mentioned above, are comprised of Class and Support Skills. You must have at least one Class Skill and one Support Skill but other than that, any combination is allowed. 

For example, you could have:


After getting your skills together, the PC grabs some Equipment. Equipment comes in three forms: Items, Weapons, and Armor. A PC may have as many Items as their Intelligence Score and as much Weapons and Armor as their Body +2. 

Let's jump over to the game's namesake element...

Spaceships

In the tradition of many prior Space Opera TRPGs, your group's Spaceship is their home, means of travel, best weapon and defense, and heck, practically a member of the family. 



Each player gets to decide on two components that are installed on their crew's Spaceship. These items are derived from a list of 16 'parts' that give benefits/bonuses to the PCs when on board or when fighting ship-to-ship battles. You can have things like a Medical Pod that can restore Body and Mental Power or a Prison/Brig capable of holding a captured Space Pirate or Monster. Other choices include Dining Room/Mess Hall, Library, and a Virtual Theatre. 

As an aside, FTL Travel is achieved in an interesting way in the Space Ship Story 'setting'; a big tube on the front of your vessel (reminiscent of the Wave Motion Gun from Space Battleship Yamato), known as a Devastator Cannon, fires a beam so powerful it tears a whole in Space/Time. How's that for epic? The starship then travels through the wormhole it created and fires again to re-enter our reality.

Crew, Followers, and other NPCs

NPCs and how they are handled in the game is an element I find particularly interesting. During an interview with the game's creator, Mr. Hatta, he mentioned that one of the key inspirations for the game was an idea he had for 'One Piece in Space'. In each Space Ship Story scenario you are expected to meet at least one NPC that becomes or is revealed to be an enemy, an ally, a old acquaintance, or even a new crew member. Think about that last one. It means that not only are the PCs likely to be picking up NPC followers along the way but this concept creates a built in way to add new players to your campaign with relative ease.

Gamemaster Tools

There are some really intriguing bits here but I haven't completely finished translating this section. There are pages covering scenario and villain design, as well a really neat idea called Master Points.

These points, based on the number of PCs and their overall experience level, can be spent by the GM to perform certain 'cheat code' actions. It seems a little like Threat from Star Trek Adventures [and other 2D20 system games]. Examples include spending 1 MP to re-roll an NPC's Judgement Roll or to create a 'Singularity' Critical Success.

In closing...
 
Space Ship Story feels like something I myself might have created. While all the parts fit together like a well made Gunpla model, its really an expertly assembled kitbash. The individual parts seem to have come from a bunch of other kits and then reworked to form a cohesive new product. 

The Character Creation rules resemble the Templates of Last Unicorn Games' Star Trek RPG (the ICON System). The basic die mechanic is essentially classic Traveller. The Master Points remind me of Threat from Star Trek Adventures as noted above. It has a Drama/Hero Point mechanic, albeit with a twist. 

I am honestly loving this game. It just works. It's fun. The combination of one of my favorite approaches to Character Creation with the really cool way the game treats the Spaceship has totally won me over. I also see it having a lot of potential to work with other genres. For example, this approach to Classes would make for much more enticing Fantasy Characters, at least for me.

That's all for now. More to come...




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I would like to acknowledge the passing of the immeasurably talented and influential Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dr. Slump, Dragonball, and Dragonball Z. Mr. Toriyama died on March 1st at the age of 68.

Rest in Peace.











Sunday, February 11, 2024

31 Days / 31 Characters - ICHIKO YORUHIME

While going through my old RPG notes and files for the 31 Day Character Challenge I came across a folder on my computer containing information on a Japanese TRPG I hadn't thought about in a long while: The Adventures of Horai Academy!!

I'd forgotten how much I fricking love this game! In celebration of rediscovering an old favorite, I thought I'd honor HA with a 31/31 write-up of my favorite character from the one and only campaign I've run of it (so far)...


Character: Ichiko Yoruhime

AKA:  Princess Night, Madame Vice-President

Player: Erica

System: The Adventures of Horai Academy!!, 1st Edition
 
Nature: Short Campaign: The Save The World After School Club

To say 'Short Campaign' here is a bit inaccurate, at least by my usual standards. There were about 6 sessions of this game as it was difficult to get the participants together due to scheduling conflicts (See below).

It was less a campaign and more like a series of related one-shots. The events of prior sessions were in the continuity of those that followed but often had little bearing on the next adventure. The characters did grow in terms of character/role-play as well as mechanically, though I didn't really explore anyone's backstory as I normally would.

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein

Circa: 1994

Origins: Around 1990 I kept seeing ads for The Adventures of Horai Academy! in the Japanese tabletop gaming magazine Fujimi Shobo, Japan's Dragon Magazine. It was always in the same magazines that featured  Cregurian ads in them as I recall. I was totally fascinated by these ads, largely thanks to the art, and I eventually discovered the ads were for a Play-by-Mail game (also like Cregurian). 

About a year or so later a friend who could read Japanese and had similar interests checked out the latest adverstisment with me and we were surprised to learn it was announcing a tabletop RPG based on the PBM. Instead of The Adventures of Horai Academy!, we were looking at The Adventures of Horai Academy!!. One exclamation point for the PBM and two for the TRPG. I was already in love. 

Sometime in 1994 I was able to get a rough translation of the rules from another friend teaching Japanese and Japanese studies at a private school. I think. It's been a while. Anyway, it wasn't rough in that the translation wasn't accurate but rather in the fact that the rules weren't complete. She didn't translate the entire rulebook but instead she and some of her students worked out the key elements: Character Creation, Basic Background, Judging Actions, and a few other bits. 

Gathering up a few more players, we decided to try and run a campaign. *Sigh* We never got past 6 sessions. Our lives, the players' lives that is, were all kinds of crazy at the time. We simply couldn't get the gang together easily or all that often. Let me tell you, that sucked. This is a great game, it was a fantastic campaign, and had some seriously wonderful characters. My favorite being Ichiko Yoruhime. 




Backstory: Ichiko Yoruhime (ee-Chee-ko Yo-roo-hee-May) grew up in a suburb of Nagasaki, Japan. As a toddler, Ichiko had an ear infection that turned into a life threatening situation. Thankfully, she survived but ever since she experiences a ringing in her left ear whenever there is a sufficiently loud sound nearby, though it can also be triggered by her own voice if she shouts or screams. She learned to avoid noise and she herself become a generally quiet person. 

Oh yes, then they are the voices. 

Another side effect of her illness and recovery was that Ichiko would periodically hear strange whispers. She practiced listening to them and eventually became convinced they were the voices of the deceased; ghosts chattering away in the shadows. She told her parents and teachers but they chalked it up to her being a lonely child who played by herself and had a vivid imagination. Smart enough to realize telling others would go no where, or worse get her in trouble, Ichiko turned her attention towards investigating and understanding the paranormal all on her own. 

Open her graduation from middle school, the Yoruhime household received a letter from the exclusive private high school Horai Academy, including a full scholarship to attend and stay at the dormitory. In her second year she joined the Save The World After School Club and at some point in her third year became the club's Vice-President. 


Private High School Horai Academy
School Emblem/Patch


Overview: The premise of the campaign was simple; the PCs were members of the Save The World After School Club at the prestigious Horai Academy on the island nation of Utsuhojima. Once a week the club would meet and attempt to thwart the would-be world conquering organization known as HAVOC. 

The rules indicate that each Player Character can have between 1 and 4 clubs, so we decided the Save The World After School Club had to be on everyone's list of extracurricular activities. The clubs' meetings would constitute the game sessions (referred to hereafter as Episodes). Skills and knowledge obtained from ones other clubs would assist the group by giving each PC a different field of expertise when facing off against HAVOC's nefarious schemes. 

In the first two episodes, the STWAS Club had an NPC President with one of the PCs serving as Vice-President. Starting in Episode 3, the NPC had graduated and the PC Vice-President was now the club President. The players voted for Ichiko to be the Vice-President.

In addition to both the player and the character being a quick thinker and very clever, Yoruhime contributed quite a lot to the club's various missions. She was an excellent detective, often went unnoticed by teachers and fellow students, and was knowledgeable about the supernatural. She could even cast a few spells.

The player described her as 'a combination of Scooby-Doo's Velma Dinkley and DC Comics' John Constantine'.

Highlights:

Ichiko Yoruhime was a surprisingly layered and nuanced character. She was played as intelligent, very capable, yet realistically flawed. Her childhood experiences and odd abilities made her feel a step removed from the rest of the world and a smidge closer to the hereafter than is common for the living. Ichiko hadn't died from the infection of her early years but came back to the world with the ability to hear the dead. Why? What is it all mean? Was she supposed to have died and somehow cheated the reaper? Did the Kami send her back as a representative to speak for the forgotten? 

We didn't get the chance to delve deep into these questions but Erica, the player, always had them running through her mind when portraying Yoruhime. This game the character a distant, 'lost in thought' or distracted look. She was often 'in her own world', focused on deciphering a lost runic language or trying to figure out a spell or opening enchanted locks. She was not anti-social but nor was she social. She made friend but often by accident, never going out of her way to do so. 

She was also great at solving mysteries, casting incantations, or charging in to help with a smart and quickly formed plan. Her being completely oblivious to social niceties, romantic intentions, and other heavy emotions didn't mean she was ineffective in the game. Her benefits obvious, her flaws more subtle. Watching Erica play as Ichiko was like watching an extremely well written Anime with a highly talented voice actor. 


The independent island nation of Utsuhojima


Game Info:

Here is Ichiko Yoruhime's Character Sheet based on a translation of the sheet for the unofficial Doujinshi 3rd Edition of The Adventures of Horai Academy!! that came out in 2020.

The information and numbers are based on the aforementioned latest version of the game and written up as if she were a starting PC. The reason for this is that I was testing out the new character creation system and might want to use her as an NPC when I run the game in the future. If I had the original Character Sheet for Ichiko it would should a few raised scores and other adjustments.
 
Her Date of Birth is based on the character in the original campaign and would of course have to be changed if using her in a contemporary game.




The Advantages and Disadvantages in the 'Notes' section are a new addition to the game that weren't in the older version I ran. I updated Yoruhime to the current rules, adapting many of her talents and personality quirks using these bonus favorable and unfavorable elements. 

Regarding Hideout and Sewer Tribe: Yoruhime found an abandoned office and set of rooms in an unused part of the sewer tunnels behind the school. She converted the office into her own private study for occult research. She is quite familiar with the Horai Academy sewers and can use them as a short cut in some instances.

Though largely invisible to most people (See below), Ichiko definitely knows how to get everyone's attention. When frustrated at being ignored or just desperately needing to communicate vital information, she will slam one of her heavy [, likely cursed] books against a table or wall and simply but loudly says, 'Listen here'. Ichiko gets the attention of everyone in earshot, though it usually causes her a little in pain and a ringing in her own ear. 

Using the Nickname/Username 'Princess Night', Ichiko interacts with other paranormal enthusiasts on Horai Academy's secret internet message boards. This was inspired by the RPGs Cyberpunk 2013 and Shadowrun. Most people do not know who Princess Night is.

Clever and intelligent as she is, Ichiko is a bit of a Thrill Seeker but will never admit to it. As soon as danger appears, Yoruhime runs right at it. The player made the character seem brave but also tragic and dark when she reveals she charges into trouble to save the people she deems are more deserving of life then she is (which seems to be almost everyone in her eyes). 

This leads to Unimpressive. Ichiko Yoruhime is often overlooked, with people walking by her and hardly noticing she was there at all. In fact, when Ichiko does interact with people, the majority of them don't call their original meeting and often can't recognize her face from their previous encounter. This is partially self-induced; Ichiko goes out of her way to stay quiet and prefers to be alone. Her odd ability to hear phantom voices gives her an off-putting vibe.

Notes:

Ichiko is a female Japanese name meaning 'First Child' or more specifically 'First Daughter'. 
Yoru means 'Night', while 'Hime' means 'Princess'. Her family name is therefore Night
 Princess.

As noted above, Ichiko as a Player Character was both role-play heavy AND action/combat effective. Often these days it seems like players think you can only create a character who is one or the other. Erica proved that isn't the case.

What I haven't really addressed up until now is the fact that the campaign had definite  Romantic Comedy undertones. Most of the comedy centered on the preposterous nature of Horai Academy and its students, as well as the insane plots of HAVOC. All were over-the-top, needlessly complex, and/or too dependent on everything going 'just so'. The main members of the group were intelligent and capable but also prone to in-fighting and chasing their own agendas. 

The female leader of HAVOC had eyes for our PC Club President. He in turn becomes increasingly interested in Ichiko. She doesn't register this at all until about Episode 4 or 5 when he dances with her as a way to move through an extravagant party. The two also team-up a couple times before and after this, with each coming to the other rescue in different situations. Our Ninja guy was kind of interested in the Tomboy/Sports Fanatic but she was interested in an NPC, the sister of one of the villains. 

It's revealed in Episode 4 that HAVOC stands for Horai Academy Villainy Club. They're a club that meets once a week on the same day as the Save The World After School Club and tries to conquer the planet.

Legacy:

Well now...

This post was long and I'm really sorry about that but honestly it's taken me days to edit the original version. Seriously, I could've easily written a lot more. 

Having recently rekindled my interest in this game and after pouring over the fan made Third Edition, I am INCREDIBLY excited to try running it again. I haven't felt this inspired or excited about a new game in a long while. The real trick, as with many of my favorite niche games, will be finding a group that 'gets it'. 




We shall see. 

Now...put your hands on your head and step away from the bioengineered adorable mascot spaceship! You're under arrest and JIN'HOKO of the Galaxy Police is going to read you your rights!

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Saturday, February 10, 2024

Dragon Dance!

Gong Hei Fat Choi!



Wow but there are a lot of ways to write that! Each of China's regional languages and their variants has a different way of pronouncing and spelling the phrase, which literally translates to 'Wishing You Prosperity'.

I tend to go with the Cantonese pronunciation I've been most exposed to. Sometimes I spell 'Choi' as 'Choy' but generally I use the same phrase the same way every year. 

This year is extra cool for us geeky gamer types as it is the Year of the Dragon and Dragons are pretty damn cool.




Happy Lunar New Year everyone!

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