7 samurai

[Daxos232]

I'm thinking about a quick campaign to do with my group that can be finished in a couple sessions. I was watching akira kurosawa's 7 samurai and I want to do that with my group. I'm debating whether or not to pick up runequest land of the samurai for the additional content. Would it be worth picking up?

[Baron]

I have "Land of Ninja" for RQ, and I like it very much. I think it's well-worth the purchase.

[soltakss]

Yes, Land of Samurai is well worth picking up.

I think it is set earlier than the 7 Samurai period, but for those of us who don't know all the ins and outs of Nippon (including me) that shouldn't matter.

[GianniVacca]

I'm thinking about a quick campaign to do with my group that can be finished in a couple sessions. I was watching akira kurosawa's 7 samurai and I want to do that with my group. I'm debating whether or not to pick up runequest land of the samurai for the additional content. Would it be worth picking up?

Well... If it is a "quick campaign" to be finished "in a couple sessions" then maybe you needn't buy anything. Watching the film several times should be enough :-)

The film itself takes place in Warring States Period Japan (16th century Japan) so using Land of the Samurai by Mongoose would be completely anachronistic (that particular book details 8th to 12th century Japan). On the other hand Land of Ninja by Avalon Hill/Games Workshop, although not being set in a particular time frame, is more of a 17th century Japan setting, so it would function better. My personal advice would be using the fantastically accurate Sengoku by GRG, which is set exactly in that time period. It shouldn't prove difficult to adapt to BRP.

Edited August 23, 2010 by GianniVacca

[rust]

I'm thinking about a quick campaign to do with my group that can be finished in a couple sessions. I was watching akira kurosawa's 7 samurai and I want to do that with my group. I'm debating whether or not to pick up runequest land of the samurai for the additional content. Would it be worth picking up?

In my view, not really.

If you want to use the Seven Samurai as the model for a short campaign, all the characters of

the setting are ronin (masterless samurai), almost as much outside of the Japanese society as

the bandits they fight, so you do not need much information about the Japanese society. The

weapons used, sword, bow and musket, also do not need additional information.

I think you could save the money for the supplement and visit your local library instead, looking

for a book or two about the Sengoku period, and some potentially interesting and useful infor-

mation can also be found here:

http://www.samurai-archives.com/

[Daxos232]

The film itself takes place in Warring States Period Japan (16th century Japan) so using Land of the Samurai by Mongoose would be completely anachronistic (that particular book details 8th to 12th century Japan). On the other hand Land of Ninja by Avalon Hill/Games Workshop, although not being set in a particular time frame, is more of a 17th century Japan setting, so it would function better. My personal advice would be using the fantastically accurate Sengoku by GRG, which is set exactly in that time period. It shouldn't prove difficult to adapt to BRP.

I don't intend to make it exactly like the film, and my PC's probably could care less how historically accurate it is. They don't know jack about Japanese history but I thought that if "Land of the Samurai" had some interesting concepts/gameplay features or mechanics that fit the "samurai" setting I wouldn't mind picking it up.

Does it have anything about Buddhism/Shintoism, or Japanese mythology or fantasy?

[rust]

Does it have anything about Buddhism/Shintoism, or Japanese mythology or fantasy?

You could take a look at the preview:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=55776&filters=0_0_40050_0

[GianniVacca]

I don't intend to make it exactly like the film, and my PC's probably could care less how historically accurate it is. They don't know jack about Japanese history

In that case you can just make things up as you go... provided you've seen enough Chanbara films, or read enough samurai manga or Usagi Yojimbo comics.

but I thought that if "Land of the Samurai" had some interesting concepts/gameplay features or mechanics that fit the "samurai" setting I wouldn't mind picking it up.

Does it have anything about Buddhism/Shintoism, or Japanese mythology or fantasy?

Frankly, as much as I usually like Loz' works, this one is so-and-so; the chapters about religion & magic are (in my view) a big disappointment.

As for the other chapter: The gazetteer is unusable for playing in the 16th century. The description of the Heian period does not fit at all with the violent anarchy of Sengoku Japan. The chargen rules are specifically tailored for MRQ.

The nice chapter is the one about creatures, but I reckon that wouldn't fit with a gritty ronin campaign either.

[Daxos232]

You could take a look at the preview:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/produc...rs=0_0_40050_0

Thanks for that link, it was very helpful. It doesn't look like there is that much content for the mythologies and religion. What about RuneQuest Vikings? Is that any better?

My other campaign idea was to recreate something like Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead".

[soltakss]

RuneQuest Vikings? Not that good for a Japanese campaign, to be honest.

It is good for a Vikings campaign, though. I haven't read "Eaters of the Dead" but I have heard about it and Vikings would fit it very well.

There is a new Vikings book coming out for MRQ2 and a new Mythic Iceland book coming out for BRP, so we will have a lot of Vikings material out fairly soon.

[rust]

What about RuneQuest Vikings? Is that any better?

In my opinion it is one of the best RuneQuest supplements ever.

[Atgxtg]

I don't intend to make it exactly like the film, and my PC's probably could care less how historically accurate it is. They don't know jack about Japanese history but I thought that if "Land of the Samurai" had some interesting concepts/gameplay features or mechanics that fit the "samurai" setting I wouldn't mind picking it up.

If you group "don't know jack" about feudal Japanease culutre as well as histrory, you might be better off doing what Hollywood did and adapt the story to a different setting that the players will be more familar with. I'd advise against buying any sorcebook for a one shot adventure. If, however you want to get into a Samurai campaign, however by all means go for it.

One major hurdle with Samuarri campaigns is that it is very easy for players to get themselves killed due to the social differences between fedual Japan and modern Western Culture.

What about RuneQuest Vikings? Is that any better?

That Land of the Ninja? Yes. But it is obviously a very different culutre.

I agree with rust that RQ Vikings is among the best RQ3 supplments. IMO it is the best non-Glorantha RQ supplment, although considering the competion it deserse higher praise than that.

Land of the Ninja, on the other hand, is a bit disappointing. There are a lot of blank spaces, and it looks like it isn7t quite complete. Franskly, I doubt it was playested. It is surprising too, since the author, Bob Charette, was one of ther guys behind Bushido, and RPG that needed two books and a small typeface to squeeze in all the info. LoN is playable, but you reallywill want to do more research on the culutre. Ironically, what makes LoN look so disappointing is comparing it to Vikings. Land of the Ninja simply comes up inferior to Vikings across the board. Vikings is more detailed, gives a better feel for the setting, gives a better treatment on the religion and magic, has better "monster desciptions" (a shame, since Ninja needs the desciptionsa more; gamers are more familar with the monsters in Vikings since they are mostly staples of fantasy fiction and RPGS), and better/more adventures.

[Verderer]

Another vote for Sengoku. The background material (history, customs, society etc. etc.) alone is well worth the money. Wonderful stuff. And the system it uses, a modified Fuzion (I think), is pretty good. Maybe a little better for chanbara type of gaming than RQ, because it uses okuden and other special maneuvres for different fencing/martial arts schools, making each feel a bit different and special. So instead of generic martial arts, ninja fight differently from samurai, and samurai of different schools use different special techniques, and so on.

[HierophantX]

I would also recommend Sengoku for all the reasons mentioned. I periodically toss the book at my son when he doesn't understand something he's reading about in Usagi or some samurai manga.

RQ Vikings is one of my favorite supplements of all time and the best for Vikings I think, (and I'm comparing it to Land of the Giants and Saxons! for Pendragon, GURPS Vikings and that green book for ADnD. Though some of the Ivinian-themed Harn supplements are worth looking at also. And I'll post my review of the new Vikings book as soon as I acquire it (later today) and have a chance to meditate.

[Mugen]

As others said, Sengoku is the best possible source of knowledge you could find on the subject for a RPG. As far as I know, the only error in the book is where the author speaks of two possible writings for "yamabushi", each referring to a different kind of monk.

Land of Ninja may be helpful if you plan on using RQ3 magic system.

If you read french, a RPG named "Tenga" is scheduled for this year. Even though I didn't read nor played it, I know its author, and I am very confident on the quality of his work.