Haha Due to the abrupt closure of the previous thread by mods here: http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=24342, this thread is for continued discussion of the hyper-asian RPG Tenra Bansho Zero, the second RPG to be translated from Japanese to English.

Anyway, back to discussion. The last update on the KS is that the final PDFs should be due this week or next and then its off to the printer. Woot

What anime or Japanese movie or TV are people watching to inspire their TBZ games? The list in the rulebook had some good movies that I have not yet seen, such as Shinobi. It even had a good example of a Annelidist with their magical tapeworms

Also, for completeness, a thread started due to its highly successful Kickstarter can be found here: http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=23789. The website can be found here: http://tenra-rpg.com.

Quote from: Skywalker;605979What anime or Japanese movie or TV are people watching to inspire their TBZ games?

Samurai Champloo!

Kitkowski even statted the "heroes" up! Although, no Fuu :confused:

Although somehow lacking as entertainment, I found Samurai 7 very in line with TBZ.

Could we include Manga? Hishashi Sakaguchi's Ikkyu is a compendium of all things Buddhist, with excellent examples of how the Phoenix Order / Ebon Mountain / Bright Lotus sects can be presented.

Quote from: Frundsberg;606006Could we include Manga? Hishashi Sakaguchi's Ikkyu is a compendium of all things Buddhist, with excellent examples of how the Phoenix Order / Ebon Mountain / Bright Lotus sects can be presented.

Definitely. I actually found Okko by Hub (though he's French) to be closest to TBZ than any thing else I have seen

Quote from: Skywalker;606008Definitely. I actually found Okko by Hub (though he's French) to be closest to TBZ than any thing else I have seen

Don't tell me. I have seen for years those Okko books standing on the shelves of my local store without buying them and now they are nowhere to be found. I'll have to resort to Amazon.

Edit: I've just ordered them!

Due to a post-apoc themed gaming party on the 21st, I'm trying to find a way to marry Tenra Bansho Zero to Getter Robo Armageddon.

(incidentally TBZ description of karma finally made parts of that series to make sense)

Basilisk is a great example of how both annelidists and ninja (and perhaps samurai/shiki) would work in Tenra.

For examples of Tenra style robots,cyborgs and big weapons, Samurai 7 is a great example of Tenra style warfare.

Quote from: Frundsberg;606012Don't tell me. I have seen for years those Okko books standing on the shelves of my local store without buying them and now they are nowhere to be found. I'll have to resort to Amazon.

Edit: I've just ordered them!

Its less gonzo than some of the anime equivalents, retaining the gritty hardboiled vibe of good Samurai movies, but it is set in a fantasy world like historic Japan much like the sample setting in the TBZ rulebook.

It has Onmyoji, Yoroi Armour, Kongohki, Samurai (normal Samurai), Shinto Priests etc

Is it a regular RPG, though? Does it involve narrative game mechanics and the like? Are you the co-author of a story in this game? Is there a paragraph explaining "what is role playing" and could you quote it to us?

Quote from: Benoist;606151Is it a regular RPG, though? Does it involve narrative game mechanics and the like? Are you the co-author of a story in this game? Is there a paragraph explaining "what is role playing" and could you quote it to us?

You mean, storygame RPGs like TSR's Classic Marvel Super Heroes? Karma is an insidious storygame mechanic, I tell ya.  +40 karma for gloating, very swine like.

Japanese TRPG authors have literally no awareness of either our OSR or Storygame RPG movements here.

Quote from: vytzka;606022Due to a post-apoc themed gaming party on the 21st, I'm trying to find a way to marry Tenra Bansho Zero to Getter Robo Armageddon.

(incidentally TBZ description of karma finally made parts of that series to make sense)

I look forward to your developments, especially since I loves me hot blooded shonen mecha action.

Quote from: Kaiu Keiichi;606152You mean, storygame RPGs like TSR's Classic Marvel Super Heroes? Karma is an insidious storygame mechanic, I tell ya.  +40 karma for gloating, very swine like.

Fuck you. It's a serious question.

Quote from: Kaiu Keiichi;606152Japanese TRPG authors have literally no awareness of either our OSR or Storygame RPG movements here.

It's neither here nor there. I don't give a shit whether they give names to games like we do or not. My questions are still unanswered: is it what we here call a regular RPG? Does it involve narrative mechanics? Is the goal of this game to tell a story? Is there a "what is role playing" pitch in the book, and could you please quote it here? Thank you.

Quote from: Benoist;606151Is it a regular RPG, though? Does it involve narrative game mechanics and the like? Are you the co-author of a story in this game? Is there a paragraph explaining "what is role playing" and could you quote it to us?

I am no longer sure what that means on these forums any more, to be honest.

FWIW I set out a pretty detailed run down of the game on the last thread and most people agreed that it was a traditional RPG for the most part, with some narrative mechanics. Feel free to trawl back through that thread.

Short Version:

Storygame - No

RPG with (pretty heavy) Narrative mechanics, yes.

As we would classify them, Ben, I'd say it's about 50/50.

Quote from: Skywalker;606156I am no longer sure what that means on these forums any more, to be honest.

Is the purpose of this game world and/or genre emulation, immersion, or something else? Is it to immerse in the game world as your character, with the rules basically describing what your character can do in the world, or is it a game where you are the co-author of a story, with mechanics that allow you to influence the flow of the game outside of your character, e.g. narrative mechanics? Is the role of game master or referee standard, e.g. the word of the game master is law, you can modify the rules, the rules are infeoded to you, not the reverse, or is it constrained by specific actions GMs can and cannot do during the course of the game?

Is it a regular RPG according to Pundit's landmarks?

Quote from: Skywalker;606156FWIW I set out a pretty detailed run down of the game on the last thread and most people agreed that it was a traditional RPG for the most part, with a few narrative mechanics. Feel free to trawl back through that thread.

What are those few narrative mechanics? Are they, in fact, few, or are they pervasive throughout the work?