RPG Talk: Upcoming Game Books, Part 3
So, I lied to you. I said there were three upcoming products that I was strongly looking forward to, and I keep coming up with more. At the moment, I'm up to five. So, I've gone back and edited the original entry to say "five" in case someone goes back and reads it later (My hubris knows no bounds!), and I'll be doing these little capsule posts for a bit longer. Now, for number three...
Tenra Bansho Zero - This will be the first Japanese tabletop rpg ever to be translated into English. The mover and shaker behind this is Andy Kitkowski (zigguratbuilder), a gamer, writer, reviewer, translator, and all-around cool guy who is fluent in Japanese and loves Japanese roleplaying games. Translating Tenra Bansho Zero is very much a labor of love for Andy, as the process itself is laborious, and the probability of it actually being profitable is very low. Of course, my hope is that it explodes beyond his wildest dreams, giving him not only success on this game, but the impetus to translate more games in the future.
In Japan, the game is published by F.E.A.R., one of the largest rpg publishers in the country. The setting of the game is something of a polyglot of science fiction and fantasy anime tropes, with cybernetic samurai and taoist summoners fighting alongside adolescents in giant mecha and ninja who gain powers from implanting magic beads in their bodies. The art I've seen for the game is also quite beautiful, if you like manga. The structure of the game is what really makes it interesting, though. Once character creation is done, it's designed to be played as an entire campaign-level story arc in a single 4-6 hour game session, with a structure modeled after that of a kabuki play. That just tickles my fancy in a completely cool way.
Along with the official website and Andy's livejournal, a great source of information on the game (and on Japanese rpgs in general) is the interview with Andy conducted by Mike Montesa at the fantastic Godzilla Gaming Podcast.
Tenra Bansho Zero - This will be the first Japanese tabletop rpg ever to be translated into English. The mover and shaker behind this is Andy Kitkowski (zigguratbuilder), a gamer, writer, reviewer, translator, and all-around cool guy who is fluent in Japanese and loves Japanese roleplaying games. Translating Tenra Bansho Zero is very much a labor of love for Andy, as the process itself is laborious, and the probability of it actually being profitable is very low. Of course, my hope is that it explodes beyond his wildest dreams, giving him not only success on this game, but the impetus to translate more games in the future.
In Japan, the game is published by F.E.A.R., one of the largest rpg publishers in the country. The setting of the game is something of a polyglot of science fiction and fantasy anime tropes, with cybernetic samurai and taoist summoners fighting alongside adolescents in giant mecha and ninja who gain powers from implanting magic beads in their bodies. The art I've seen for the game is also quite beautiful, if you like manga. The structure of the game is what really makes it interesting, though. Once character creation is done, it's designed to be played as an entire campaign-level story arc in a single 4-6 hour game session, with a structure modeled after that of a kabuki play. That just tickles my fancy in a completely cool way.
Along with the official website and Andy's livejournal, a great source of information on the game (and on Japanese rpgs in general) is the interview with Andy conducted by Mike Montesa at the fantastic Godzilla Gaming Podcast.