Not so very long ago... okay, maybe a year or so ago... I posted a review of Tenra Basho Zero on this very forum. I noted, among many other things, that the american translators were not shy about admitting their Swine credentials and how they not merely translated the game, but in fact added their own interpretations to the translation, and how that made it difficult to judge just how Storygame it was originally.  

We are going to revisit that in a moment.

A few months ago I picked up a game called FEAR, which I intend to review some day as well. It too is a Japanese RPG translated into English.  This time by the Indie PRess Revolution.  While there are no comments about translator liberties, the game is shockingly similar to Tenra Basho Zero in several key ways.  

While TBZ uses the Kabuki Play for its format, FEAR appears to use episodic manga/anime, and many of the mechanics are quite meta, relying on at-table action to inform the characters.

LIke TBZ you permanently lose your character for being too awesome during the adventure.  WHile TBZ focused on xp, and karma/action points as the mechanism, FEAR has a mechanism of syncing with the source of your powers. Every scene you are in, and every use of powers, drives this score up. THat's right: Simply playing the game puts you closer to the edge, man. Better to sit there and just watch, and avoid participating entirely.

Like TBZ the primary way to avoid this fate is to burn/replace your relationships frequently.

There are enough mechanical similarities that I actually thought they might have been designed by the same person.

But no: All I can see is both are from Japan, and both were translated by storygamers. Damn swine, bringing me my fix of new and strange games from exotic foreign lands, the bastards.


Now, aside from the fact that apparently the ONLY people translating games from exotic foreign lands are storygamers (why?! Is it a swine thing?), I'm rather curious as to how much influence the swine have on the game's original design, or if they are cherry picking swine like games (literal story games, designed to recreate teh story experience from other media).  Are there cooler versions of Japanese RPGs that they aren't bringing us because they are swine?

Damn it all, I demand answers!

No idea, but damn that sucks.

I think you are referring to Double Cross and its translated by Ver Blue Amusement and sold via IPR only. VBA has no connection to the translators of TBZ or the indie/forge/swine scene.

Their website is here: http://www.ver-blue-amusement.com.

Its translation of Double Cross is, by all accounts I have seen, accurate to the Japanese original text. It's also the best selling RPG in Japan, which is probably why it was chosen for translation.

I am not surprised that there are similarities to TBZ given it was a landmark RPG in Japan sometime earlier, and published by the same company (FEAR). It's a bit like identifying similarities between AD&D2e and Alternity.

If you want a Japanese RPG that is less story gamey then your best bet at the moment is Ryuutama, which has an old school D&D vibe mixed with heartwarming Miyazaki themes. It is translated by at least one person behind TBZ though, so that may not meet your criteria.

I'm guessing the reason is that there's a tiny group, with connections, and the pre-requisite language skills.  In other words, only Storygamers are doing the translating because no one else has both an interest and the skills to do so.

Interestingly Ryuutama doesnt feel storygamish.

The gameplay is about the travels and the story that develops from those travels. Rather than telling a story about your travels.

Least that is how the early proto translation samples I got read. Wether or not that changed later? Dont know yet.

Really liked the idea od the DM having a character that basically followed the party around recording what they did and occasionally secretly helping from the bushes, levelling up based on the partys progress and eventually able to potentially join.

Quote from: Spike;902262Now, aside from the fact that apparently the ONLY people translating games from exotic foreign lands are storygamers (why?! Is it a swine thing?)

It's probably because new wave of gamers constantly seeks new ways and possibilities, rather than settle for MY GAME:the satisfaction.

Actually, I concurr with Skywalker here. To the best of my knowledge, F.E.A.R is the name of one of the authors of Double Cross, which is a RPG in the traditionnal term (I might have miss something in my reading of the corebook, but I think that a TPK is possible). Unless you are speaking of the F.E.A.R video game ! The Lois game mechanic fits neatly in the anime convention.

Ryuutama, a game which I have played, is also a traditionnal RPG (and it is also translated in French hence my knowledge of it) and Andy K of Storygames and Maid fame is involved in its english translation.

Quote from: JesterRaiin;902292It's probably because new wave of gamers constantly seeks new ways and possibilities, rather than settle for MY GAME:the satisfaction.

FWIW Double Cross is 15 years old. Tenra Bansho Zero is almost 20 years old. The English translations are more recent but the original games were a thing even before the concept of Story Games was even a thing in the US.

Quote from: Skywalker;902323FWIW Double Cross is 15 years old. Tenra Bansho Zero is almost 20 years old. The English translations are more recent but the original games were a thing even before the concept of Story Games was even a thing in the US.

Words I get, the message not so much. Help me out here, buddy - I can't decide which among many conclusions I might draw from your words is the correct one.

Quote from: JesterRaiin;902326Words I get, the message not so much. Help me out here, buddy - I can't decide which among many conclusions I might draw from your words is the correct one.

I wasn't disagreeing with you. I just find it odd to call games that are 15-20 years old as "new wave", though you would certainly be correct to call them so when they came out

Quote from: Skywalker;902328I wasn't disagreeing with you. I just find it odd to call games that are 15-20 years old as "new wave", though you would certainly be correct to call them so when they came out

Aaaah, I understand now, thanks.

For the record, I wasn't addressing games themselves, I said gameRs - while that comment was, of course, merely a joke, I'd risk the statement that modern generation of players really is kind of, hmmm, "restless"? It's far from uncommon to hear that "youngsters" constantly leap from one game to another, try their strengths at new systems and settings.

Quote from: JesterRaiin;902329Aaaah, I understand now, thanks.

For the record, I wasn't addressing games themselves, I said gameRs - while that comment was, of course, merely a joke, I'd risk the statement that modern generation of players really is kind of, hmmm, "restless"? It's far from uncommon to hear that "youngsters" constantly leap from one game to another, try their strengths at new systems and settings.

I'm not sure if that's because the modern generation are restless, or because the modern generation has a wider array of RPGs to try out than we did back in our college days.  It used to be, to try out some new game that's just come out ("What the heck is this 'Earthdawn' thing?"), I'd have to lay out $40 at the FLGS to find out what's going on.  These days it seems like you just need to slip down $10 for a pdf that you can download from where-ever you are, read up on the bus, and have a new game to play by Friday.  There's more games, they're cheaper (at least in pdf) and more portable than before.

Quote from: jcfiala;902363I'm not sure if that's because the modern generation are restless, or because the modern generation has a wider array of RPGs to try out than we did back in our college days.  It used to be, to try out some new game that's just come out ("What the heck is this 'Earthdawn' thing?"), I'd have to lay out $40 at the FLGS to find out what's going on.  These days it seems like you just need to slip down $10 for a pdf that you can download from where-ever you are, read up on the bus, and have a new game to play by Friday.  There's more games, they're cheaper (at least in pdf) and more portable than before.

That's an interesting way to put things. I can't say for sure how things are, but there might be some truth to that. After all, other forms of entertainment aren't free of same thing - people listen to more, read more, watch more, and the byproduct is a certain level of shallowness - things considered "big" at some point, rarely survive a decade or two.

Hmmmm...

Quote from: Skywalker;902323FWIW Double Cross is 15 years old. Tenra Bansho Zero is almost 20 years old. The English translations are more recent but the original games were a thing even before the concept of Story Games was even a thing in the US.

Well, the first version of Sorcerer is from 1996, but I think we can safely exclude the idea they've somehow influenced each other:D.

Quote from: Skywalker;902328I wasn't disagreeing with you. I just find it odd to call games that are 15-20 years old as "new wave", though you would certainly be correct to call them so when they came out

It is odd, isn't it:)?

Quote from: JesterRaiin;902329Aaaah, I understand now, thanks.

For the record, I wasn't addressing games themselves, I said gameRs - while that comment was, of course, merely a joke, I'd risk the statement that modern generation of players really is kind of, hmmm, "restless"? It's far from uncommon to hear that "youngsters" constantly leap from one game to another, try their strengths at new systems and settings.

Of course we are...

Quote from: jcfiala;902363I'm not sure if that's because the modern generation are restless, or because the modern generation has a wider array of RPGs to try out than we did back in our college days.  It used to be, to try out some new game that's just come out ("What the heck is this 'Earthdawn' thing?"), I'd have to lay out $40 at the FLGS to find out what's going on.  These days it seems like you just need to slip down $10 for a pdf that you can download from where-ever you are, read up on the bus, and have a new game to play by Friday.  There's more games, they're cheaper (at least in pdf) and more portable than before.

...and here's why. It's a strength;).
Also, with the number of campaigns I'm running and playing in at the same time, I have space for both a long-running game or two, and a more episodic one.

I've seen several other Japanese tabletop RPGs being translated into English by the fan community.

For example, Meikyuu Kingdom, and also Nechronica. The designer for the former game also made the Kantai Collection ("KanColle") tabletop game. The creator of Lodoss created the RPG Grancrest. There's also Monotone Museum, built using the SRS system, which is apparently an RPG engine similar to OpenD6 or the d20 System. There's also a partial (lacking the setting information) translation of Night Wizard Third Edition.