This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Author Topic: Japanese-flavored superhero game?  (Read 2007 times)

BoxCrayonTales

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • B
  • Posts: 3313
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« on: April 17, 2015, 11:12:50 PM »
Are there any specifically Japanese-flavored superhero games? Something that lets you play power rangers, magical girls, monster tamers, mech pilots and so on in the same team? How well do other superhero games model these genres?
« Last Edit: April 18, 2015, 12:20:27 AM by BoxCrayonTales »

Skywalker

  • Ron Hates On Zebra
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3636
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2015, 04:10:14 AM »
Double Cross is capable of this, though it's less of an RPG flavoured with Japanese superhero archetypes and more of a genuine Japanese superhero RPG that can include those archetypes.

For a fantasy RPG (which also happens to be Japanese) with those archetypes, Tenra Bansho Zero is worth looking into as well.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2015, 04:23:17 AM by Skywalker »

tuypo1

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1071
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2015, 04:38:09 AM »
you may want to look into a few of the anime themed ones although i have never read any of those so they may well be ill suited for combat focused games.
If your having tier problems i feel bad for you son i got 99 problems but caster supremacy aint 1.

Apology's if there is no punctuation in the above post its probably my autism making me forget.

Dirk Remmecke

  • DrachenMeister
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1885
    • https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/58354395/record-of-dragon-war-ein-manga-fantasy-rpg
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2015, 06:31:20 AM »
BESM was surprisingly capable of handling superheroes. I never used it on that power level personally (all I did was generic, Lodoss War-style fantasy) but fellow BESM-philes swear on it.
BESM characters are built (point buy) from "attributes" (= feats, special abilities) that are effects-based, eg "Massive Damage" buys a fighting style/skill/ability that dishes out more damage than a typical attack, and it's the player's job to define source - is it a magical ray or bolt, or a holy sword, or a secret kung fu kick? All "attributes" come in 6 levels, with the highest levels firmly in super territory.
The beauty of BESM was that it was possible to "nest" attributes in others. You could buy the attribute "Own A Big Mecha" for 4 points and received 20 points for building the mecha stats and capabilities from the same attribute list as your character. So you could give the mecha the ability "Massive Damage" instead. The term "mecha" was just a placeholder, it could be any kind of vehicle, from Kaneda's motor bike to Iron Man's armor to the Millennium Falcon.
Spells were built in the same fashion.

I turned my back on BESM because I found it too crunchy on the GM side. Monster stats were as complex as character stats (as they were built, you guessed it, using the same rules) and I didn't need to know that green slimes had the defect "Cannot Talk" that gave them 2 build points for more attributes - especially when monsters could be built from any number of points the GM deemed fit.

I never tried OVA but from a read-through it seems like a more freeform spiritual successor of BESM.
Swords & Wizardry & Manga ... oh my.
(Beware. This is a Kickstarter link.)

tuypo1

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1071
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2015, 06:54:10 AM »
Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;826453
Monster stats were as complex as character stats (as they were built, you guessed it, using the same rules)

for me thats a plus i dont know what the rest of the gm crunch is like but i am a huge fan of monsters that use the same rules as characters (in the sense of how they are built they dont need to have as many points or whatever), i wont abandon a game just because of separated monsters but its a pretty huge tick in the cons category that could easily push something from good to bad in my eyes
« Last Edit: April 18, 2015, 06:57:32 AM by tuypo1 »
If your having tier problems i feel bad for you son i got 99 problems but caster supremacy aint 1.

Apology's if there is no punctuation in the above post its probably my autism making me forget.

Cave Bear

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 596
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2015, 06:57:18 AM »
Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;826453
BESM was surprisingly capable of handling superheroes. I never used it on that power level personally (all I did was generic, Lodoss War-style fantasy) but fellow BESM-philes swear on it.
BESM characters are built (point buy) from "attributes" (= feats, special abilities) that are effects-based, eg "Massive Damage" buys a fighting style/skill/ability that dishes out more damage than a typical attack, and it's the player's job to define source - is it a magical ray or bolt, or a holy sword, or a secret kung fu kick? All "attributes" come in 6 levels, with the highest levels firmly in super territory.
The beauty of BESM was that it was possible to "nest" attributes in others. You could buy the attribute "Own A Big Mecha" for 4 points and received 20 points for building the mecha stats and capabilities from the same attribute list as your character. So you could give the mecha the ability "Massive Damage" instead. The term "mecha" was just a placeholder, it could be any kind of vehicle, from Kaneda's motor bike to Iron Man's armor to the Millennium Falcon.
Spells were built in the same fashion.

I turned my back on BESM because I found it too crunchy on the GM side. Monster stats were as complex as character stats (as they were built, you guessed it, using the same rules) and I didn't need to know that green slimes had the defect "Cannot Talk" that gave them 2 build points for more attributes - especially when monsters could be built from any number of points the GM deemed fit.

I never tried OVA but from a read-through it seems like a more freeform spiritual successor of BESM.


I first came across this system when I saw the Tenchi Muyo RPG in a hobby shop back when I was in high school.
I've always wanted to play this one.

Korgul

  • Newbie
  • *
  • K
  • Posts: 38
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2015, 09:40:54 AM »
If I recall correctly, OVA  have all the type of character you described in the sample PG section. I never played it. It appears to be quite rules light, with easy character creation.

Online there's a game called Tokyo heroes sentai that claim to be all about magical girl, power rangers and giant robot. But I think it looks like it's incomplete, forgotten, and quite metagamey-narrativistic.

Besm is quite similar to many classics super rpg, and  I think most classic supers rpg can do Manga superheroes quite well.

IggytheBorg

  • 1E or Die
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • I
  • Posts: 104
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2015, 09:47:22 AM »
Rifts Japan combined with Heroes Unlimited could give you what you want, but maybe in a roundabout way. You might have to use the Conversion Book One for some of the superpowers as well. Might not be worth the investment, but there's some cool stuff in there.

Gabriel2

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • G
  • Posts: 1018
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2015, 10:05:08 AM »
You're looking for one of the editions of BESM.  

Although, I personally don't think it handles mecha worth a damn.
 

yabaziou

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 529
  • I am currently creating my own rpg settings
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2015, 10:25:44 AM »
Robotech by Palladium Books allows you to play a Veritech pilot. Even if it is no longer published, Macross II by the same publisher, allows you to play a Valkyrie pilot.

I think thses games are out of print but they are also mecha oriented : Heavy Gear and Mekton.

There is also an (out of print) Bubblegum Crisis RPG.
My Tumblr blog : http://yabaziou.tumblr.com/

Currently reading : 13th Age, Cypher System, Polaris

Currently planning : Project Scourge : the battle for the Soul of Mankind using 13th Age

Currently playing : The Chronicles of the Devouring Lands using D&D 5.

The Butcher

  • Cyborg Shock Trooper
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7183
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2015, 10:31:20 AM »
There was a RPG magazine in Brazil back in the day and the people who wrote it also wrote a sentai RPG (sentai TV shows were huge in Brazil back in the 1980s. Go figure) called Defensores de Tóquio (literally, "Defenders of Tokyo"). I never did check it out because the magazine was crap and I figured the game would be crap too, but still, there it is.

crkrueger

  • Hulk in the Vineyard
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12559
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #11 on: April 18, 2015, 01:39:59 PM »
Black Tokyo, if all the PCs don't mind being Hentai victims.
Even the the "cutting edge" storygamers for all their talk of narrative, plot, and drama are fucking obsessed with the god damned rules they use. - Estar

Yes, Sean Connery's thumb does indeed do megadamage. - Spinachcat

Isuldur is a badass because he stopped Sauron with a broken sword, but Iluvatar is the badass because he stopped Sauron with a hobbit. -Malleus Arianorum

"Tangency Edition" D&D would have no classes or races, but 17 genders to choose from. -TristramEvans

remial

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • r
  • Posts: 321
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #12 on: April 18, 2015, 07:20:24 PM »
a game I just got a copy of via being a backer on kickstarter is Valor.  it enables you to design your own special attacks and defenses via a number of options.

I'll second BESM and Double Cross.  Especially as BESM went on to be the foundation for the Supers RPGs Silver Age Sentinels and The Authority (covering Warren Ellis's run on the series).

I will also add that Mutants and Masterminds had a Mecha and Magic book to cover the more anime feel aspects of the supers genre.

There was a Dragonball Z RPG that had 3 books from R. Talsorian, which was a lot of fun.

and for a more freeform style, I was in a group that was using the Over the Edge RPG for an anything goes Ranma 1/2 -esque game.

tuypo1

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1071
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #13 on: April 18, 2015, 08:09:04 PM »
Quote from: CRKrueger;826526
Black Tokyo, if all the PCs don't mind being Hentai victims.


damit i spent ages trying to come up with a black tokyo joke that fit and you just came right out and made it still funny with a joke that only half worked

im jealous
If your having tier problems i feel bad for you son i got 99 problems but caster supremacy aint 1.

Apology's if there is no punctuation in the above post its probably my autism making me forget.

Skywalker

  • Ron Hates On Zebra
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3636
Japanese-flavored superhero game?
« Reply #14 on: April 19, 2015, 04:04:01 PM »
FWIW I would recommend OVA over BESM. However, I would recommend "your favourite generic system" over either of those as neither has any real anime flavour embedded in it.