Quote from: Elliot Wilen;372925Had a brief go at The Blossoms are Falling...never got past group campaign discussion/chargen. Not sure why. But aside from general reservations about BW, I was also somewhat put off by the fact that the game's hype makes a big deal about being set in the Heian period...and then in execution, it introduces anachronisms from later periods.

Yeah, the MRQ Japan book (Land of the Samurai?) does exactly the same.

I'd love to run a game in the Heian period, just to deny my PCs their much-loved katanas, and drink their tears.

Quote from: brettmb;372964FYI, there's also a diceless version.

Interesting.  I've downloaded the Active Exploits Diceless system PDF, and I'll look into it.

Quote from: beeber;373108how about rifts japan?

To be honest, I think it's one of the best Rifts books overall. I like the contrast between the high-tech Republic and the tradition-bound Empire, which in a way captures part of what Japan tick, which is the tension between Old and New.

That, and Dragon 'Borgs. With tail-mounted particle beam cannons.

God, I miss Rifts.

Quote from: CRKrueger;373109Interesting that no one thought L5R had a good feel for Japan.  Never played it, but thought that was one of the great things about it, even if you didn't like the world.

L5R is to Japan, as the Hyborian Age is to Earth. It avoids the traps of verisimilitude by being openly fictional. It's not by any stretch a bad idea, but it just didn't grab me at the time -- I find the White Wolf splat-like spread of clans slightly irksome.

This, and it's not even complete.

Pendragon crossed with the Genpei war is a match made in heaven.

Quote from: noisms;373219This, and it's not even complete.
 
Pendragon crossed with the Genpei war is a match made in heaven.

That looks awesome so far.  It's nice to see an earlier period get coverage.

Quote from: Nicephorus;373250That looks awesome so far.  It's nice to see an earlier period get coverage.

It was made by a regular here at therpgsite, though I forget who. Whoever it was, kudos.

Quote from: The Butcher;373174To be honest, I think it's one of the best Rifts books overall. I like the contrast between the high-tech Republic and the tradition-bound Empire, which in a way captures part of what Japan tick, which is the tension between Old and New.

That, and Dragon 'Borgs. With tail-mounted particle beam cannons.

Yup, it very cleverly addressed a fundamental issue for that kind of game: you want to show Japan as both a high-tech mecha-awesome superfuture setting, and as old-school samurai japanese myth adventure.  Very cleverly done.
Ironically, for reasons particular to my campaign its probably one of the settings I plan to change the most in my current game.

QuoteGod, I miss Rifts.

It hasn't gone anywhere, you know. Its right there, waiting for you.

RPGPundit

Quote from: noisms;373219This, and it's not even complete.

Pendragon crossed with the Genpei war is a match made in heaven.

Wow. That is pure awesome, with a bucket of awesomesauce poured on top of it.

For the setting info, Sengoku and RQ Land of Ninja.

For the system, Sanguine Usagi Yojimbo, hands down. It's the best chanbara RPG ever.

Quote from: RPGPundit;373614It hasn't gone anywhere, you know. Its right there, waiting for you.

I know, I know. This is probably derailing the thread, and may yet deserve a thread of its own, but every time I get excited with Rifts again, I crack open the book, start making a character... and the excitement grinds to a halt.

I'm looking for a system that better suits my preferences, and right now FATE 3.0 (by way of SBA) looks good. Needs more testing, though.

Tadashi @ Different Worlds just published a new book on Daimyo of 1867
Samurai Warlords of Shogun Japan @ http://www.diffworlds.com/daimyo_of_1867.htm in case anyone's interested.  I hope to get a peek at it next week when we have dinner.

Quote from: The Butcher;374076

I know, I know. This is probably derailing the thread, and may yet deserve a thread of its own, but every time I get excited with Rifts again, I crack open the book, start making a character... and the excitement grinds to a halt.

I'm looking for a system that better suits my preferences, and right now FATE 3.0 (by way of SBA) looks good. Needs more testing, though.

What's so hard about making a character?
The only hassle are the skills, and there's plenty of ways of shortening those down considerably (check out my alternate skill system over in the Pundit's forum for one example).

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;374728What's so hard about making a character?

Skills (flipping back and forth, often more than one book), bonuses (Hand to Hand skill + physical skills + OCC/RCC + race + implants + etc.) and gear (guns, damage, range, payload; armor, MDC, skill penalties, built-in stuff; vehicles, speed, range, MDC by location, etc.) are the chief offenders.

I have no huge gripe with the Palladium system, just several small ones which add up in a most annoying manner. Trust me, I have a decent tolerance for wonky systems (I play and run Savage Worlds all the time, for pity's sake) and I'm generally opposed to conversions (I feel system is often part of the game's "flavor" and some things inevitably are lost on translation). The only way I could run Rifts, even back in the day, was with a lot of handwaving (which I'm told is precisely how KS does it).

Anyway, your fix for the skill system (link) is intriguing. Though I dislike keeping the old skills as "sub-skills"; I'll have to do something else with the OCC skills... and maybe give the sundry bonuses a similar treatment, with a few broad "combat skills" maybe? I'll give it some thought...

Edit: Shit, talk about derailing a thread. I apologize.

Well, feel free to start a new one on this subject...

RPGPundit