What Japanese/Samurai RPGs have poeple played? What are their good and bad points?

I GMed Bushido (printed 1981) by Fantasy Games Unlimited, for many years and has always remained an all time favourite RPG. You roll for what social class you are born into, which determines your starting gear. You can then select a character class and gain more gear (except for ninja, you must be born a ninja, it can not be chosen:cool: ). It uses a D20 system with a difference. 1 is good, 20 is bad. I believe there is enough skills in the basic game, but you can make your skills (GM approved of course). The one down side was that there where not many suppliments.

Boxed set - includes:

Book 1: "The Heroes of Nippon" - the players book, contains all the information needed to generate and run characters. 80 pages.

Book 2: "The Land of Nippon" - the Gamesmaster's book, contains all the information needed to develop your own version of Nippon. Also includes introductory scenario - "An Evening at the Inn of Restful Sleep". 48 pages.

Gamesmaster's screen (useful charts).

Map of the land of Nippon.

Blank Character Record Sheet.

It is still available for $16 (I am not sure if this is an old site):
http://www.fantasygamesunlimited.net/shop/?cart=58945&cat=3"

I have also GMed Legend of the Five Rings (1E), another great game.

TT.

Steampunk Musha is the coolest Japanese-ish RPG I can't figure out how to run.

I second Doc Rotwangs statement above, although I know how to run it

Steampunk Musha is SteamPunk/Western/Samurai, but it's very heavily Japanese in feel. Like, maybe the guy who wrote it actually read a travel guide or something.

Doc Rot: It's really easy, you stats are your dicepool and your skills are your Target Number for the dice. Hard actions require a more than one success. I'm guessing you also have the Iron Gauntlets core right? If you don't have it already, get it.

You can also directly convert it to GD3, if you can understand that game:)

I have played lots of Bushido, Oriental Adventures and Legend of the Five Rings (all editions) and I would rank L5R 1e as my favorite.

I like L5R because Rokugan (the setting) is not Japan and their culture is not Japanese, its easy to shut down gamers who can't leave their "vast knowledge" at the door and just have fun with katanas, ninjas and goofy color coded clans.    That was harder to do with Bushido and often required me to break out the "shut the fuck up" stick at too many games.  

Chargen in L5R 1e is short and sweet:
1) Pick Fighter (Bushi) or Magic User (Shugenja)
2) Pick one of the 8 Clans or go Ronin
3) Write down your 1st Rank School goodies (Skills, Spells, Stats and Abilities)
4) Spend points on Stats and Skills
5) Pick Ads / Disads if you like
6) Whip up a Personality and History
7) Go Adventure!

Most of all, I like L5R 1e because its insanely lethal so players who like their characters will actually use combat as a last resort.   This makes the social aspects of the game more considered than otherwise.   L5R 3e toned down the lethality so it loses my vote.

Quote from: KrakaJak;279924Doc Rot: It's really easy, you stats are your dicepool and your skills are your Target Number for the dice. ....

I don't mean the rules; I mean the feel.

Quote from: KrakaLakaLakaMaJakYou can also directly convert it to GD3, if you can understand that game:)

Hey, dude, I just got it tonight.  Slow your ponies!

The RuneQuest supplement - Land of Ninjas (I think that was the name) - wasn't bad. I don't usually go for the oriental rp stuff, but it had a few good ideas. Someone here should know it much better than I do. All I have left are foggy memories from almost 20 years ago.

It's RQ, but with ninjas and samurai.

Quote from: Spinachcat;279929I have played lots of Bushido, Oriental Adventures and Legend of the Five Rings (all editions) and I would rank L5R 1e as my favorite.

I think the reason I like Bushido so much, is due to the length of time I GM'ed it. It is the longest RPG I have played/GM'ed. I guess it grew on me and my friends (the old campaign still gets a mention occassionally).

I must admit I liked L5R 1E as well. There was heaps of suppliments, modules, maps, novels etc, which helps us busy family-guy GMs when creating adventures

TT.

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!I don't mean the rules; I mean the feel.

Ahhh....I think I had the same problem. The "That's cool, now what do I DO with it?"

I just sort of bit an adventure off Star Wars. Save a Princess from an evil invader. Just you, a six-shooter, your katana and steam-powered robot assassins.

Bushido (1980)
Land of the Rising Sun (1980)
Oriental Adventures (1985)
GURPS Japan
Legend of the Five Rings (1997)
Usagi Yojimbo (1997)
Sengoku (1999)
The Blossoms Are Falling (2007)

L5R and OA aren't really in Japan, but there are many similarities.

Quote from: jhkim;280195Bushido (1980)
Land of the Rising Sun (1980)
Oriental Adventures (1985)
GURPS Japan
Legend of the Five Rings (1997)
Usagi Yojimbo (1997)
Sengoku (1999)
The Blossoms Are Falling (2007)

L5R and OA aren't really in Japan, but there are many similarities.

Have you played all of these games? If so, lucky you.

If that's merely a list of known samurai games, you forgot to mention one... he he

Hm, he skipped Land of Ninja but someone else mentioned it.

Does Ninjas and Superspies count? (A stretch, I'd think.)

Well, and now let's answer the questions.

Quote from: Terrible Tim;279904What Japanese/Samurai RPGs have poeple played?

I have played RuneQuest Land of Ninja, GURPS Japan, and just yesterday, Sanguine Usagi Yojimbo.

QuoteWhat are their good and bad points?

Well, I'll start saying the obvious: RuneQuest Land of Ninja and GURPS Japan are just RuneQuest and GURPS with samurai. And it shows. I always liked RuneQuest and GURPS and lot, but nowadays I'm not so eager to GM them as I was. I miss tactical options in RuneQuest (you can only attack and defend, attack and defend). GURPS works very well in actual play, but creating a character is a chore, and when the characters got experience I had the feeling we were creating the characters again. GURPS offers more tactical options than RuneQuest, but not much more, unless you are willing to use GURPS Martial Arts, which adds a lot of crunch.

Other than that, the sourcebooks themselves, RQ Land of Ninja and GURPS Japan are gorgeous (especially RQ Land of Ninja), whatever system you use, I recommend them along with Sengoku (another great RPG resource for samurai gaming).

As I said, yesterday we had our first session of Sanguine Usagi Yojimbo, we created characters and played a little bit. So far, it was great, despite we were very tired. On paper the game looked great and in actual play it did deliver. When I have some time I'll write how it was, suffice to say that Sanguine Usagi Yojimbo has become my go-to game for samurai gaming, and one of my favorite RPGs of all time.

Quote from: Elliot Wilen;280202Hm, he skipped Land of Ninja but someone else mentioned it.

Hm, I didn't realize he hadn't mentioned RQ Land of Ninja, you're right. In every case, the game I was thinking about is the one in my signature , Sanguine Usagi Yojimbo.

Quote from: KrakaJak;280185Ahhh....I think I had the same problem. The "That's cool, now what do I DO with it?"

Aye.

QuoteI just sort of bit an adventure off Star Wars.

I like this expression and will use it myself.

QuoteSave a Princess from an evil invader. Just you, a six-shooter, your katana and steam-powered robot assassins.

So...Whtacher sayin' is, "Hey, Doc!, don't over-think this jazz, just play with the toys in the box"?

Quote from: Claudius;280210Hm, I didn't realize he hadn't mentioned RQ Land of Ninja, you're right. In every case, the game I was thinking about is the one in my signature , Sanguine Usagi Yojimbo.

How is Sanguine Usagi Yojimbo different from...Usagi Yojimbo?

Are they two entirely different systems?