TBZ: Guardians of Green River, Acts 2-4

After not being able to meet up last week, we got together on Tuesday for the second half of our Tenra game. First half here.

• Chris plays Crimson Lotus, a male Phoenix Order Buddhist monk who has lived in Green River for several years.
• John plays Honjo Yoshino, a female samurai and high-ranking member of the Iron Fist Mercenary Company.
• Sean plays Omayu the Worm, an annelidist doctor of indeterminate gender (possibly female), who's lived on the outskirts of Green River for many years.

Act Two: Winter of Discontent

It's the middle of Winter, and a light dusting of snow covers the village. The long-house that now serves as the mercenaries’ quarters is warm and cosy inside, with those not on duty relaxing, drinking, and enjoying the company of the more willing village girls. Honjo talks to Captain Souma about the company's plans for the future. The Captain is considering staying on as the village's protector rather than leaving in the Spring. The village elder's granddaughter is delivering another jar of sake, but Goroyoshi, one of the kijin mercenaries, grabs her by the wrist and asks her to keep him warm. Crimson Lotus happens to be walking past, and makes a speech about the responsibilities of guests and hosts. The mercenaries stop and look at him, the message sinking in to some of them. Captain Souma tells Goroyoshi to let the girl go. 

The village men hold a rather cramped meeting in Elder Kobunta's new lodgings to discuss the situation. The mercenaries have been consuming large amounts of food and drink; although the stores will last, they will have little surplus until the next harvest, and the sake may run out entirely. Some of the village men are worried about their daughters spending time with the mercenaries, and the chaos caused by so many idle warriors. Omayu the Worm suggests putting a curfew on the village women, and enforcing it with an armed militia of villagers. Crimson Lotus suggests another path - instead of treating the mercenaries as honoured guests, why not officially make them a part of the community? If mercenaries have been besmirching the honour of the village girls, then they should be invited to preserve the family's honour through marriage. In return, the villagers gain even closer bonds with the warriors, and Green River gains a second source of income if some of the mercenaries go away to war during the campaign season.


This scene was the pivot-point that put paid to 90% of my remaining scenario notes. I had to scramble to rewrite and re-cast. My original plan had been for the mercenaries to become more and more of a nuisance, until they started to cause serious problems.

Originally, the Final Boss was going to be Captain Souma himself, as he became a tyrannical despot ruling the village with a literal Iron Fist. Having the village open up and welcome him and his men in this new way, making them a valued part of the community, played up to the Captain's desire to stay and rule the village while sidestepping the problem of the village wanting to be rid of the mercenaries.

It was a subtle redirection of the story's energy, which completely removed almost all of the tension I was attempting to build between the villagers and the mercenaries!


As Winter draws long, Tsubo uses his Kimen Armour to help build a new barracks and a palisade around the village. Honjo makes sure that the villagers and mercenaries work on the project together, growing closer through shared labour and achievement.

Crimson Lotus, Honjo, Omayu, and Captain Souma discuss marriages over a game of Mah Jongg. Honjo, who thinks of the Captain as her soul-mate, proposes to him on the spot. Unfortunately for her, the Captain does not return her affection; practically speaking, a samurai cannot bear him an heir, and it would be more politically beneficial for him to marry Old Kobunta's granddaughter and legitimise his aspiration to rule the village. Many of the other mercenaries are marrying and settling into their new families.


I suppose I could have changed the tension-lines somewhat - after all, many of the Iron Fist are kijin with mechanica bodyparts, and that's something a new family may not easily accept. Also, some of these guys are professional soldiers who may not have the urge to settle down. That said, most of the girls getting married were the ones who'd already begun courting the soldiers, so I guess it wouldn't have come to much anyway.


Act Three: The Fruits of Resentment

Spring has come, and life in the village is looking rosy. Omayu is deep in the woods looking for medicines when she hears a scream! She finds the village girl Onatsu running barefoot through the woods, her kimono showing signs of cuts from bladed claws. Two kijin mercenaries, Goroyoshi and Juroyoshi, soon appear running after her. She tells Omayu that they tried to sieze her while she was bathing, but she managed to get away. Crimson Lotus and Honjo both enter the scene. Honjo orders them back to the village for disciplinary action, but they are sick of placid village life and are spoiling for a fight. Omayu tells Onatsuto turn around and close her eyes, and unleashes a volley of Talonfang needles at the pair. Honjo engages Goroyoshi, and Crimson Lotus disarms Juroyoshi. The two kijin are quickly defeated.

Back in the village, Juroyoshi and Goroyoshi are cast out. Gotoyoshi suggests that any other dissatisfied people should come with them. Honjo makes a speech, reminding everyone of what they have built and gained by staying in Green River, and persuades the other mercenaries to stay. The two outcasts leave under a cloud of bitterness and resentment.


This was a very short Act, where I basically cut to the chase and presented the most provocative scene I had in an attempt to get a passionate response out of the PCs. As it was, the offending mercenaries had to insist on a fight, rather than meekly surrendering and being escorted back to town for disciplinary action.

I was hoping the scene in the woods would be a good chance for Omayu to shine, as her player was a little quieter than the other two. It didn't quite work out that way since they both bought into the scene; although she protected the girl, concealed the annelids from her, and unleashed a barrage of highly effective needles, the other two got to share the combat glory.


Act Four: A Harvest of Swords

Late in the Spring, the two exiled kijin return, guiding an advance force from the neighbouring province. The force consists of three Kimen Armours and nearly two hundred footsoldiers, and is led by the Armour-Hunting scion of a noble house.

As the force assembles on the far side of the rice paddies, Crimson Lotus walks out to parlay. He tries to persuade the commander to leave the village alone, but is roundly ignored. The commander signals the advance, but Crimson Lotus uses the Binding Prayer of Acala to stop the lead Kimen Armour from moving. He has to fight off a wave of footsoldiers and an attack by Juroyoshi and Goroyoshi, until Honjo runs down from the palisade to help. Between them, the two defeat the traitorous kijin, and Honjo stops to finish them off.

Soon, Armour bombardment has rendered the village's wall useless, and the mercenaries of Green River flow across the fields to meet their enemy. Tsubo and Captain Souma fight the enemy Armours, while the kijin mercenaries prove their worth against the rank-and-file soldiers. Omayu arrives just in time to engage the enemy commander alongside Honjo and Crimson Lotus. Honjo takes him on blade to blade, gaining the upper hand. Omayu ran in, attacking with her unexpected Talonfang Bugs at the last second to inflict a grievous wound on the commander!

The enemy lord summons all of his strength to strike Omayu down, but Honjo steps in front of the blow and takes it full-force. With both of their lives on the line, Honjo prepares to unleash a flurry of attacks which will mean the end for one of them. However, the commander succumbs to a volley of Spirit Burst attacks from Crimson Lotus, and falls dead. The monk topples one of the remaining Kimen Armours with a spare fireball.

With their commander dead, the rest of the enemy force is soon routed. Green River stands victorious, a shining success of harmony between farmers and soldiers.

Epilogue

While Captain Souma is on his way to becoming the legitimate head of the village, Honjo Yoshino takes on the role of "sortie captain," leading the fighting men away from home during the campaign season.

Crimson Lotus, having struggled with the practicality of behaving peacefully in a world at war, renounced his vow of pacifism and is considering joining the Ebon Mountain sect.

Omayu the Worm still lives in her hut on the edge of town, but has a more active role in the community dealing with the injuries of farmers and soldiers alike.


Well, to put it mildly, the game went in a direction I had not anticipated! This was a playtest of the scenario concept, using the notes I'd worked out up to this point; I wanted to test it out before refining the details. It's a good thing I did, because it has a few issues.

I'm concerned that there's not enough dramatic tension, especially in the earlier Acts. Indeed, I deliberately set it up so that things would start out looking great, and slowly go downhill as time went on. However, a lot of the early scenes are just two people talking about stuff. I'm not entirely sure if the players just weren't expecting that type of in-character, RP-heavy gameplay, because they didn't tend to engage with each other all that much with in-character conversations. There was some (the monk espoused philosophy quite frequently), but some of the scenes were more like one or two sentences followed by an awkward silence.

Perhaps I didn't communicate this aspect of the game clearly enough, but Tenra runs on characterisation. By portraying your character in a strong and vibrant manner (rather than a considered and subtle manner), you earn Aiki which you use to overcome opposition later on. It's like a Kabuki play in this regard - even the audience up the back needs to have a clear idea of what your character is about.

When I was writing up the scenario concept, I pretty much had it in mind that, with the power of hard scene framing, the GM can direct the flow of the game. You present the players with a situation, and it's mostly their job to show how their characters react to that situation. It's a pretty railroady approach, which runs counter to my usual flexible GMing style, and the brittleness of a nailed-down script was made clear when the group came up with a solution to the major problem in the scenario, rather than just reacting to it.

Unfortunately most of my late-game tension-building and hard-choice scenes got taken off the table by the monk's social engineering in Act Two. I am wondering if it would be better if there were more tense scenes earlier on, but then again I'm wondering how a different group would approach the same scenario.

All in all, I think the Guardians of Green River would need a serious overhaul to make a useful scenario supplement. I have some other, newer, and more flexible ideas that I think I'll probably develop instead. If the new approach works, I may return to Green River and redesign it from the ground up.

This is the second Tenra game I've run, and it's the second one in which no PCs were injured. Well, Honjo took a blow in the boss fight, but that was purely voluntary so she could tick her Dead Box and gain bonus dice. If the PCs have Kiai on hand, it seems to be trivially easy to stack in enough dice that you'll overwhelm the opposition, and if you roll badly you can buy up to 1 Success to make sure you hit them. I may have to consider exposing Bosses to the PCs early on, just to prove how bad-ass they are, and how unbeatable they are without Kiai.

It worries me, what will happen in a Final Boss Fight if all the PCs run out of Kiai. It seems like they would have no hope of winning at that point, and they wouldn't have enough time to regroup and regain Kiai. Downer ending?

TBZ: Guardians of Green River, Acts 0 & 1

I'm running a Tenra Bansho Zero scenario at a local games venue, The Mad Lounge. I was writing it up, and got to the point where I really needed to actually run it to see where it worked and where it didn't. If it plays out alright, I'll refine it and create a good version for public distribution.

The scenario's built for four characters, but I only ended up with three players. We organised to meet up on a couple of weeknights, so it will take two 3-4 hour sessions to get through the whole scenario.

• Chris plays Crimson Lotus, a male Phoenix Order Buddhist monk who has lived in Green River for several years.
• John plays Honjo Yoshino, a female samurai and high-ranking member of the Iron Fist Mercenary Company.
• Sean plays Omayu the Worm, an annelidist doctor of indeterminate gender (possibly female), who's lived on the outskirts of Green River for many years.

Zero Act

Omayu the Worm has long lived near the village of Green River, with a small house on the edge of the woods. After the last war, bandits and deserters began slowly amassing in the hills, until one day they attack and loot the village. Omayu sees two bandits threatening a pair of villagers near the river, including a young woman, Onatsu, whom Omayu feels oddly connected to. Omayu calmly asks if the bandits need medical assistance, but the ruffians demand food and supplies. The annelidist distracts them from the villagers by inviting them to her hut, which they ransack before fleeing.

Omayu's Destiny is Goal: Make the village a safe place to live.

A week or so later, having emerged victorious from the recent war, the Iron Fist mercenary company travels through the hills on their way to their next battlefield. As they descend into the valley, they see enemy soldiers from the last battle attacking and looting the small farming community of Green River. The place reminds samurai Honjo Yoshino so much of her own lost home that she immediately suggests to Captain Souma that they save the villagers. Souma seems amused; their contract has ended, after all, and these men are no longer their enemies. However, he is inclined to defeat the looters for some reason, perhaps as a goodwill gesture towards their former patron, and orders the company to protect the village.

Honjo's Destiny is Goal: Protect the village.

The Buddhist monk Crimson Lotus has lived in Green River for several years, preaching peace and harmony amid war and strife. Now, after driving away a group of bandits, the Iron Fist mercenary company stands arrayed at the edge of the village. The village elders offer their thanks and their hospitality, inviting the mercenaries to winter here. The entire village kneels and bows, apart from the monk who stands off to one side and inclines his head as a gesture of respect. Crimson Lotus feels a deep sense of unease about the flashy samurai standing beside the mercenary commander, but keeps his thoughts to himself for now.

Crimson Lotus' Destiny is Goal: Maintain harmony within the village.


The unplayed character, a Kijin mercenary, does have a Destiny that isn't just about the village. Otherwise, the Destinies are all fairly similar, just with different wording. It would be nice to maybe mix them up a bit more, and tie people more strongly into courses of action that will provoke drama.

Act One: Blissful Autumn

Some of the mercenaries suffered minor injuries in the skirmish. Souma sends Honjo to escort the injured men to see Omayu the Worm. The two exchange a couple of words, and Honjo leaves the men there to get fixed up. Omayu uses medicines and potions rather than reveal her annelids.

Honjo checks out the village, directing mercenaries to go on patrol or keep watch. She notices a group of children following her about, but ignores them. She runs into Crimson Lotus doing morning exercises, and they verbally spar a little. Honjo has no use for religion, and Crimson Lotus is uneasy about the samurai. They play go; Honjo wins, despite not having played before. Crimson Lotus is infuriatingly gracious in defeat. The village children decide that she's okay with them.

A few nights later, there's a big harvest festival with singing, dancing, eating, and drinking! Honjo is worried that, now the harvest's in, the bandits will take this opportunity to attack. She puts most of the men on watch, and patrols the village herself. Omayu takes a bowl of rice and some sake and lurks in the shadows at the edge of town. Fearing that the annelidist will be attacked, Honjo stalks her and keeps close watch.

Crimson Lotus talks to some of the villagers. Some of the men are worried about their daughters being seduced by mercenaries. Crimson Lotus says that virtue untested is no true virtue, but that does little to ease their minds!

Omayu witnesses Onatsu being harassed by an amorous and drunken mercenary, and goes to her rescue. Crimson Lotus and Omayu talk with the village elder, Old Kobunta, about the mercenary presence. The old man thinks that the Iron Fist have, by and large, been a boon for the community. Honjo watches from the shadows.

Late at night, after the festival has wound down, Honjo is still on patrol. She sees suspicious shadows moving near the rice shed, and follows them into an alleyway between buildings. Crimson Lotus just happens to be passing as the bandits near the front of the shed; he greets them, and their leader decides to try and take him hostage, failing to notice the dull flare of soulgems behind him signalling Honjo's samurai transformation.

Honjo cuts down a couple of bandits in the alley, while four try to subdue the monk. Crimson Lotus counters all of their attacks, knocking the swords from their hands without wounding them. Honjo comes up behind the group and scares them off. Crimson Lotus trips one and puts his foot on his chest, and uses the Binding Prayer to stop another from running. The other two flee across the bridge, where they are met by other mercenaries on patrol.

Omayu turns up in time to treat the wounded. Crimson Lotus questions the prisoners, using the threat of leaving and having Honjo question them instead. They reveal the location of their camp, but point out that it will be moved soon if the raiding party doesn't return.

Honjo mobilises the Iron Fist and they fall upon the remaining bandits, wiping them out.

Act Two Preview

The bandits are defeated, but the mercenaries remain. As the winter draws on, will the situation become increasingly problematic?

We didn't actually run that final battle between the mercenaries and the bandits; it was pretty much taken as read that a heavily-depleted and hungry group of deserters would be no match for a well-equipped elite mercenary force.

I may need to revise some of the early scenes in Act One that are basically just two characters talking without much impetus to actually interact with each other. Either that, or I need to make it clearer that scenes like this are for demonstrating emotions, impressions, relationships and such - to express your character and develop their relationships through roleplay.

The game went pretty well though, and I think the players enjoyed it. The first session went for about three hours. A lot of time was taken up by rules explanations and figuring out how things worked. Nobody wanted to spend Kiai, for example, until they figured out how Fates are used to reduce Karma. In Act One, we just had a couple of points of Aiki being spent as Kiai to avoid any Karma gain!

With a four hour slot booked for next week, and with everybody now familiar with the basics of the system, we should have no trouble finishing the game in session two.

>>> Acts 2 to 4

TBZ: The Oni of Yamaguchi, Act 4

• Barb plays Daigo, an Oni Mercenary Assassin.
• Rohin plays Kobe Takeshi, a Half-Oni Playboy Swordsman Aristocrat.

Death of a Lord

The evening after the communal dinner, Takeshi and Daigo were alone in Takeshi's private apartments. They heard a hue and cry from the castle proper; an alarm was raised, along with a ruckus. Shortly, the apartment door was flung open by Takeshi's brother Seijurou, accompanied by Hyouma the Seeker and a cohort of soldiers. Seijurou informed them that Lord Kobe had been assassinated, and he was arresting them both - Daigo for performing the assassination, and Takeshi for conspiracy. The two went along quietly, and were soon secured in the cells beneath the keep.

Around morning, they were visited by a Buddhist monk to see to their last rites, as their execution was planned for noon. Winter Sutra informed them that he had been observing Seijurou and Hyouma, and it was apparent that they had been expecting Lord Kobe's death; other priests were watching them still. He bade them not to worry too much; by noon, he expected to have more evidence.

Under the bright noonday sun, the two were led from the cells to the open space in front of the castle gates. With bound hands, Daigo was pushed to his knees to await beheading by daikatana. Takeshi was presented with a small lacquer table with the accoutrements of ritual suicide; his brother Seijurou stood by as his second to behead him when the time came. But first, the charges were made public. Daigo was to be executed first, but as the executioner raised the blade, a voice from within the castle called for a halt!

Lord Kobe stepped into view, accompanied by Winter Sutra and a small group of guards! He accused Seijurou of having plotted with Hyouma to assassinate him; the faked assassination had caused the conspirators to reveal themselves. Winter Sutra tossed a bag of gold to the ground - the intercepted payment meant for the assassin, evidence of the pair's involvement.

Seijurou stood frozen, realising that this meant the end for him. Rather than surrendering meekly, he began to draw his sword. Takeshi used the seppuku shortsword to sever Daigo's bonds, and Winter Sutra tossed their weapons to them just in time for Takeshi to parry his brother's blade! Daigo fired on Hyouma, winging him as general chaos broke out. Daigo moved in to engage Seijurou in melee, allowing Takeshi to break off and pursue the hated Hyouma. The onmyoji conjured a combat shikigami in the shape of an oni warrior, but Takeshi's blade shredded it into evaporating strips of paper.

Meanwhile, Daigo unleashed his full fury, cutting down Seijurou in a flurry of blinding blows. Takeshi pursued Hyouma, pushing him against the castle wall and forcing him to drop and surrender. Takeshi dearly wanted to end the life of the evil sorcerer, but in the end his vow to not kill won over. Daigo had rallied the soldiers to open fire on White Cloud, Hyouma's permanent shikigami which was flying in, but to no avail. Once Hyouma surrendered, they forced him to call off White Cloud under threat of immediate execution.

Epilogue

The day was won; Seijurou lay dead, and Hyouma was taken into custody, with execution likely in his near future. With the true conspirators revealed, their attempt to stir up the people agains the oni died with them. If anything, tales of Daigo's cunning and loyalty will do much for the acceptance of oni in Yamaguchi.

Daigo decided to serve the Kobe household, and become an ambassador between the humans and the oni. Having regained his home and found a worthy companion,

Takeshi decided it was time to shape up and work towards becoming a good lord, for when he eventually inherits the province.


We had a bit of difficulty at the start of the final session. I tried to get a sense of how the players wanted to approach things, but they had some problems figuring out the right plan; Takeshi wanted to just charge in and start hacking, but his player wanted him to be talked out of that approach I think, and they had some difficulty figuring out how they could ensure finding actual proof of the conspiracy. I could have taken the reins on this one, but I didn't want to seem like I was railroading or pushing my own ideas on the players too much.

Once they sorted out the plan, though, it went very smoothly, just as recorded in the session log. With Winter Sutra's help, they set it up so Lord Kobe would appear to be assassinated, but he actually went into hiding. Thinking their plan had worked, the conspirators moved quickly to secure their hold on power, take the "assassin" into custody, and send off the final payment... Actually, thinking back now, arresting the assassin and sending the payment doesn't make a lot of sense, but there ya go! ^_^; Maybe they were paying off the fixer, so they didn't get a reputation in the underworld of stiffing those they did business with. Or something. Or they weren't sure that Daigo was the actual assassin, so they arrested him as a scapegoat and sent the payment to cover their bases.

Anyway, it worked, and the final conflict was pretty good too. I could probably have upped the bad guys' stats a little given the amount of Kiai they were facing, but I didn't want to overpower the PCs. Having gone through it once, I now have a better idea for next time!

TBZ: The Oni of Yamaguchi, Act 3

• Barb plays Daigo, an Oni Mercenary Assassin.
• Rohin plays Kobe Takeshi, a Half-Oni Playboy Swordsman Aristocrat.

In the mountains in Summer, snow sits only on the highest peaks, and wildflowers bloom in the pass. On the narrow trail that leads to Yamashiro, the mountain castle and capital of Yamaguchi, there is a particular bend in the road that affords a spectacular view of the city. On this bend is a small traveller's rest; not much more than a small hut, although the vendor serves noodles and tea to travellers. Two such travellers approach and take a seat on the long bench; a finely dressed swordsman, and a rougher-looking oni. The vendor brings them food and drink, and then discretely withdraws. Over their bowls of noodles, Takeshi and Daigo consider their options. Takeshi plans to simply walk into the castle and confront the mysterious onmyoji, as he's certain the sorcerer is behind all of this. Daigo manages to persuade him that caution may be a better approach, possibly by making enquiries with someone Takeshi knows in the town. Takeshi recalls a monk, Winter Sutra, who often acts as an advisor to his father the lord. The two decide to split up to avoid drawing attention - Takeshi waits in the pine forest outside the city, while Daigo looks for Winter Sutra.

Asking at the local temple, Daigo discovers that Winter Sutra is at the castle. At the castle gate, Daigo's knowledge of the monk's name (and the general leniency towards oni) mean that he is able to persuade one of the gate guards to seek out the monk with a request for a meeting. The guard soon returns with Winter Sutra, and Daigo takes him aside, explaining the assassination plot and of Takeshi's return to the mountain city. Daigo also asks for Winter Sutra's opinion of the onmyoji, but Winter Sutra opts to meet with Takeshi in the forest before sharing too much information.

Daigo and Winter Sutra return to Takeshi's secluded forest hideaway, where Winter Sutra fills them in on the onmyoji, Hyouma the Seeker, who is apparently consumed with a hunger for knowledge. He is also rumoured to have a permanent shikigami named White Cloud, which Winter Sutra may once have seen flying across the sky deep in the mountains. Takeshi's brother Seijurou is acting as Hyouma's patron, having invited him to court. They decide to ask Winter Sutra to return to the castle and inform Lord Kobe of the assassination plot. He does so, returning the next morning to inform them that the Lord has increased his security, but it has done nothing to reveal the true villain. Takeshi and Daigo decide to go to the castle in an attempt to provoke a response or otherwise discern the true nature of the situation.

At the castle, the group attends a private audience with Lord Kobe. He welcomes his son home, but wishes it were under happier circumstances. Takeshi introduces Daigo as the person who informed him of the assassination plot. Daigo surprises everyone in the room by announcing that he had not only been offered the job, but accepted it - as a ploy to prevent an alternative assassin being hired. He presented the unspent 20 ryo deposit as proof of this, impressing the Lord with his cunning and loyalty. Takeshi, declaring Daigo to be even more devious than himself, immediately offered the mercenary a position as his bodyguard. All that remained was to discuss ways they could cause the perpetrator to reveal themselves. Although they had two good suspects in the oni-hating Seijurou and the power-hungry Hyouma, they could not be certain that it was actually one of these two who had hired the assassin.They decided to have everyone attend the evening meal, and see if they could gauge a reaction to Daigo's presence.

While Daigo was more interested in the pork buns, Takeshi kept a close eye on his brother and Hyouma as they entered the room. No stranger to his brother's moods, he read Seijurou like a book - undisguised contempt towards Takeshi, which started to extend to Daigo as well - but then, a brief flicker of doubt, of cogs turning… as though he'd just thought of a good reason for Daigo to be there; a brief smile almost touching his lips as he considered the cleverness of this ploy to get close to the target perhaps? Hyouma's ice-like expression barely changed, but as his discerning eye swept the room, Takeshi saw how he took special notice of Daigo and seemed to be making the subtlest of mental calculations. It was in that moment that Takeshi vowed to himself that the sorcerer must die. Dinner proceeded without major incident, presided over by a weary and sad-looking Lord Kobe.

Coming Up
Laying a trap for the conspirators?
Vengeance and blood!
The Final Confrontation!

Another enjoyable session, even if the players were both a little tired or brain-fried. I tried to be more forthcoming with Aiki this time, and we did get through quite a few scenes. By the end, Daigo had 12 Aiki (I'd given him three to shift his Emotion Matrix results), and in the Intermission he pared back to only a single Fate at 5 dots (Goal: Kill those who put out the contract on Lord Kobe). In hindsight, I probably should have suggested a Fate - Goal: Protect Takeshi, but I didn't think of it at the time. His player rolled just above average, and gained 62 Kiai for a total of 63 going into the final Act! Takeshi only got 27 Kiai by comparison, but I still think it's gearing up for an explosive finale.

It was also a great moment when Daigo, who throughout has been telling Takeshi that he turned the assassination job down, and that they'd better hurry to the capital before the real assassin got there, revealed that he'd actually taken the job, while sitting no more than ten metres away from the "target"! XD There were so many raised eyebrows, and the guards hiding behind the paper screen suddenly went on high alert! XD

>>> Act 4

TBZ: The Oni of Yamaguchi, Act 2

• Barb plays Daigo, an Oni Mercenary Assassin.
• Rohin plays Kobe Takeshi, a Half-Oni Playboy Swordsman Aristocrat.

Journeying into the foothills by the back-roads, the oni assassin Daigo and the half-oni aristocrat Takeshi came across a small group of farmers with a large hand-cart stuck in the mud. Although the peasants were terrified, Takeshi offered them a drink and Daigo helped them push the cart out of the rut. The two travellers then left without further ado, leaving the farmers somewhat astonished and relieved!

The two were passing across a rugged, stony ridge just before sunset when they were attacked by an almost entirely mechanical kijin with an unreasonable hatred for oni! A fierce battle ensued, ending in a furious final exchange where Takeshi cut the massive machine-man down. With his final breath, the cyborg said he could not forgive the oni for destroying his body...

Making camp in a sheltered spot on the hilltop, the two were joined after dark by a wandering Ebon Mountain monk. He chatted for a while with Takeshi who had first watch, asking about their purpose in the capital, to which Takeshi responded evasively.

Awoken for his watch, Daigo spoke somewhat brusquely to the monk, asking what he was doing here. The monk said he was on a pilgrimage, to which Daigo retorted, "Well you're not moving very fast!" After that, the night passed in silence... In the morning, Daigo grabbed Takeshi around the mouth and dragged him away before the monk woke up.

Coming Up

Yamashiro, the Mountain Castle!
Who was it that put out a contract on Lord Kobe's life?
Will the webs of intrigue be untangled, pulled aside, or simply cut through?

>>> Act 3

TBZ: The Oni of Yamaguchi, Act 0 & 1

I ran our first session of Tenra Bansho Zero tonight! It went pretty well, with the players enjoying the system and exploring their characters as we slowly got to grips with the game. A brief rundown of the session follows.

• Barb plays Daigo, an Oni Mercenary Assassin.
• Rohin plays Kobe Takeshi, a Half-Oni Playboy Swordsman Aristocrat.

Intro

The small rural province of Yamaguchi is bordered on three sides by mountains, with the sea to the south. It is ruled by Lord Kobe Masamori, whom it is said has a soft spot for the oni people. However, many of the common folk feel uneasy at tales of an oni village hidden somewhere in the mountains.

Zero Act

It is Spring, and the cherry-blossoms fall over the castle at Yamashiro. Kobe Takeshi, the hornless half-oni, womanising swordsman, and younger bastard son of Lord Kobe, is called before his father. With regret, the lord advises his son to leave Yamashiro castle, as he fears times are about to become dangerous for Takeshi. Granted a substantial sum, Takeshi returns to his room to pack. He has a brief run-in with his half-brother Seijurou, and Seijurou's new acquaintance - a mysterious onmyoji with cold eyes, with whom Takeshi feels an odd sense of deja-vu. He leaves the castle that has been his home for the past sixteen years, his heart empty with longing for somewhere to belong.

Later, in the port town of Kawaguchi, the oni mercenary and assassin Daigo calls on his underworld contact Blind Bunshichi, having heard of a job on offer. Bunshichi (not actually blind, but with a reputation for forgetting faces and for turning a blind eye) passes on an important contract - the life of Lord Kobe Masamori, worth 40 gold ryo. Daigo accepts, and leaves with half the money up front, breathing a sigh of relief to be out of Bunshichi's dingy shop - the man has a way of making one feel uneasy...

Act One

Early Summer. Beside the main road running through Yamaguchi sits a large tea-house; almost an inn, it boasts an upper storey, and a large common room. It is run by an obasan and staffed by several young ladies, two of whom are drinking plum wine with the young well-dressed swordsman. At a nearby table, a small group of footsoldiers drink and talk loudly. A shadow darkens the door as a traveller enters - a large man in the clothing of a warrior, but with a subtly decorated oni cape. The soldiers fall quiet and mutter to themselves, while the young swordsman nods to the newcomer. The oni orders food and drink, but as he begins to eat his pickled vegetables the soldiers stand and circle behind him. The oni offers them a pickled radish, but their leader ignores him and loudly says, "I've heard Lord Kobe is soft on oni, but for one to just walk in here!" They continue to heap scorn on the traveller, incidentally badmouthing the lord for his lenience on the oni, until the young swordsman speaks up.

Claiming to be the son of Lord Kobe, he asks the soldiers to leave the oni be. Taken aback, the leader demands proof, and is reasonably convinced by the house mon stamped on the swordsman's soulgem shortsword. Nevertheless, he's gone a bit too far, and claims he doesn't fully believe the boy. As his family has been insulted at least twice by this time, Takeshi challenges the captain to a duel. Unable to back down, the soldier agrees and they take the fight outside. It only takes a couple of exchanges until the captain is defeated, falling to his knees in surrender. Takeshi goes back inside to talk with the oni, and the remaining soldiers help their captain limp away.

"Are you really the son of Lord Kobe?" asks Daigo. "What do you think of this plot to assassinate him?" Daigo claims that the story is all over the countryside, but Takeshi of course hadn't heard of it and is shocked by the news. Daigo claims he was offered the contract, but refused because Lord Kobe is kind to the oni people. Instead, he decided to travel until he could find someone who would pay him to assassinate the person responsible for the contract, thus stopping any other potential assassins from being paid for the job. Daigo's hoping Takeshi or his father might be willing to pay for this. Takeshi suspects his half-brother Seijurou, or the mysterious onmyoji. As Takeshi's money-box has been sadly depleted by a couple of months of partying on the road, the two decide to pair up and head towards the capital, Yamashiro.

Coming Up
Danger on the road?
Confrontations at the Capital?
The True Enemy Revealed?

>>> Act 2

Tenra Bansho Zero: First Thoughts

In mid-to-late 2012, I got into the Tenra Bansho Zero Kickstarter in a big way. I'd only been following it for a couple of years of its seven year English adaptation journey, so I had time to get excited without running out of steam waiting the whole seven years!

Since I put in for one of the advance copies, I got to start reading the game earlier than most, and began diligently reporting any proof-reading errors I found. +Andy Kitkowski, the game's translator, ended up recruiting me to collate all of the errors people were reporting, which turned into a massive undertaking for a couple of weeks! It was worth it, though, just in being able to see a much more polished version of the book emerge. It doesn't hurt that my name's in the credits now, too!

My advance copy arrived on 15 Oct 2012!

What originally drew me to the game? Well, it's a sci-fi version of the Japanese Warring States (Sengoku) period, with over-the-top samurai action, mecha, cyborgs, ninja, onmyou mystics, set on an alien world during a period of constant war. There's a whole lot more information over on the TBZ website and blog. So, the sheer style and visuals of the game were enough to pique my interest.

But then, there's the system. I read a lot of forum posts and blog articles, gleaning information about how the game actually runs. There are a lot of really cool-sounding features - that the game is set up to resemble a Kabuki play; that characters get more powerful as they become injured; and, especially, the Karma system.

Karma in Buddhism is bad; it represents attachment to the material world. If you become too attached, you lose yourself and become a monster who will destroy everything they care about - an Asura.

Karma is tied into many parts of TBZ's system. Firstly, you build your character out of Karma; the more powerful your character, the more Karma they start with. When you play the game, doing cool stuff or roleplaying well nets you Aiki chits. During the intermissions between Acts, you turn Aiki into Kiai, which is a currency you can use to boost your performance or do various other tricks during play. The catch is, when you spend Kiai it accumulates and turns into Karma. If you end an Intermission with more than 108 Karma, you become an Asura and are relegated to NPC status.

Luckily, there's a way to reduce Karma too. Characters have Fates, which are things they care about or ways of feeling - goals, taboos, relationships, quirks. As the game progresses, you can increase your Fate ratings. If you need to lose some Karma, you can choose to discard or rewrite a Fate; you either don't care about it any more, or you're changing your mind. Severing these connections to Fates reduces Karma, but also changes the character's outlook on the world.

How does it actually all run during play? I'm glad you asked! The next few posts will be a series of session reports from our first TBZ game - The Oni of Yamaguchi.