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whisperwind1
2018-03-10, 08:41 PM
Hi all,

So I'm a huge Sengoku Period buff, mostly thanks to Koei's various games on the subject (basically Samurai Warriors and Nobunaga's Ambition), and I've wanted to run a game set during that time for years now. I'm currently toying with launching an official campaign with my group, but i'm unsure on how to proceed. I'll just lay out some ideas i had for the game, and hopefully you guys can provide advice on how to bring it all together!

1) It would be a "romantic realism" style of game, very similar to the Nobunaga's Ambition series (in fact i intend to use the portraits from those games as visual aides). No one's a superhero and there isn't any magic, but people can definitely be larger-than-life. I also want to incorporate the cinematic drama elements from stuff like Samurai Warriors and Nioh, namely the battles and campaigns.

2) From the outset this will be an alternate history, in that the PCs are able to alter the course of events. I intend to allow a lot of freedom in regards to how their actions affect the historical narrative. That said, i'll still keep events as they happened if they logically still could (IE if the PCs don't interact with the Oda, Nobunaga's conquest plays out as it did IRL).

3) I want to maintain a sense of time passing, with the PCs aging in real-time in-game. Not quite sure how I could effectively do that however. I was thinking of running "arcs" based on their military campaigns, interspersed with mention of time passing. I definitely expect politics and downtime stuff to factor in the game, so maybe those could also be abstracted. My overall goal is for the campaign to feel like it didn't take a year in-game (because realistically it couldn't).

4) I wouldn't have a "plot" beyond the general course of history, and basically want to run it as a bit of a sandbox. I'll react to what the PCs want to do and will have NPC clans do the same. The theoretical end of the game would be when unification is achieved, and I definitely want the PCs to have a hand in it. If they don't personally play conqueror, then i'd have the actions of the Three Conquerors serve as a general plot direction.

5) I thought it would be really cool to let the PCs pick and choose which clan they collectively serve. I figure they start as junior retainers (this isn't a game about scrubs after all), but otherwise, I leave the choice up to them. My only concern here is which clans to make available at game start. None of my players are well versed in Feudal Japanese history, so I'm wondering if i should just stick to the "main character" clans (Oda, Tokugawa, Mori etc..). Alternatively i could make certain interesting smaller clans available (Sanada, Tachibana and such) in addition to the big ones.

6) I don't know exactly what date I should commence the campaign. Like I said, I want it to feel like a story that spans the entire Period, ideally following the PCs from their youth to old age (i might let them play the children of their characters though). Tentative starting places would be the Battle of Kawanakajima, The Kai-Suruga-Sagami Alliance, the Battle of Okehazama. I want a date that lets the PCs interact with as many of the period's big names as possible.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Andor13
2018-03-10, 09:41 PM
Samurai aren't the only PC possibilities in the Sengoku era. Sohei and Yamabushi have at least the social status and martial prowess of low rank Samurai. Also remember that society is not as rigidly stratified as it becomes during the Edo era. Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself was the son of an ashigaru.

Of course that just makes things more complex for you. :smallsmile:

I think the key would be to figure out what unifies the PCs. (Ideally by asking the players what they WANT to unify them.) Sengoku era politics are... complex, and very fluid. Everybody allies with, betrays, and fights with everybody else. Even having them all in the same clan isn't enough to ensure unity, hell making them all siblings isn't enough. Figure out what they want to do, protect a favorite village, prove the superiority of their sword school, see their clan thrive, protect Hongan-ji Kennyo, whatever, and build the campaign from there.

whisperwind1
2018-03-10, 10:33 PM
Samurai aren't the only PC possibilities in the Sengoku era. Sohei and Yamabushi have at least the social status and martial prowess of low rank Samurai. Also remember that society is not as rigidly stratified as it becomes during the Edo era. Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself was the son of an ashigaru.

Of course that just makes things more complex for you. :smallsmile:


Oh I don't mind that at all though. If people want to play as a Sohei or even a ninja, i'll let them. But its an interesting thing you mentioned about a unifying factor. I suppose I was just relying on them being PCs and a rule of no PvP. I'm actually not sure what could motivate them lol.

FreddyNoNose
2018-03-10, 10:35 PM
Check out the bushido rules. They have a cool way to do battles for characters.

Mechalich
2018-03-10, 11:02 PM
This is actually an eponymously titled Sengoku RPG that may fit well for this purpose, and is extremely well-researched.

whisperwind1
2018-03-10, 11:27 PM
This is actually an eponymously titled Sengoku RPG that may fit well for this purpose, and is extremely well-researched.

Is there now? I was planning on using True20 myself, since it offers a lot of customization.

Martin Greywolf
2018-03-11, 04:05 PM
My advice is based on your players not being Japan history buffs.

First of all, be very sure they want to play this game. For someone not in love with the period in question, a game like this can be very, very boring. Especially if you insist on stuff like proper protocol, misoginy and racism, and especially especially is you will lovingly describ the exact process for a tea ceremony for 40 minutes.

Second issue links with the first. You and I know who Nobunaga is, and are excited to find out how his life will pan out in this alternate history. Your players... aren't. Probably. That means you really need to focus on your NPCs and make players invested in what happens to them - since there is no magic system to explore and no superhuman feats possible, this is about the only thing you can use to bring them in further.

Oh, and don't forget the firearms. People always forget the firearms and it annoys me. *cough* Kingdom Come: Deliverance *cough*

whisperwind1
2018-03-11, 04:43 PM
My advice is based on your players not being Japan history buffs.

First of all, be very sure they want to play this game. For someone not in love with the period in question, a game like this can be very, very boring. Especially if you insist on stuff like proper protocol, misoginy and racism, and especially especially is you will lovingly describ the exact process for a tea ceremony for 40 minutes.

Second issue links with the first. You and I know who Nobunaga is, and are excited to find out how his life will pan out in this alternate history. Your players... aren't. Probably. That means you really need to focus on your NPCs and make players invested in what happens to them - since there is no magic system to explore and no superhuman feats possible, this is about the only thing you can use to bring them in further.


For sure. When I said it was going to be "romantic realism", I essentially mean i'm glossing over the misogyny, racism and stringent protocol, and have things be more cinematic (the way they are in Samurai Warriors). Also, while i do love tea ceremonies, i'll definitely not spend 40 mins on one lol.

For the second one, I see what you mean, of my players, only one guy seems super interested in the basic idea. The rest would need convincing. That said, I am confident in my ability to craft compelling NPCs, so hopefully they will find cause to be invested by talking to them. I was planning on giving the major figures personalities informed by popular conception/Nobunaga's Ambition anyway, so they should hopefully be quite distinct.

Notafish
2018-03-11, 05:52 PM
If your players aren't knowledgeable about the time period, having some direction rather than a sandbox (at least to start) might be good. I'm passingly familiar with the period, but /i'd want to have some expectations about what shape the campaign would have before going in. At the very least I'd want to have consensus as to whether the goal would be to alter the course of major events, have an adventure with the Sengoku period in the background, or to help the historical events play out as recorded. I'd expect the actual campaign would be a combination of the three, but as a player I'd want to have general expectations like these established prior to the campaign. If your players are not particularly opinionated, you might need to get a little more specific in your pitch.

I'm also never entirely sure what people mean by "sandbox," but as a player I'd want the GM to start off with an adventure hook even if we'd have more freedom in later sessions. It seems like there are a lot of possibilities for adventures in this period, but as a player I tend to be reactive -- "The Oda clan have kidnapped your daimyo's son; what do you do?" will give me more direction than, "You're a retainer to Matsudaira Hirotada, a young daimyo locked in a war with the Oda. What do you do?"

whisperwind1
2018-03-11, 10:09 PM
I'm also never entirely sure what people mean by "sandbox," but as a player I'd want the GM to start off with an adventure hook even if we'd have more freedom in later sessions. It seems like there are a lot of possibilities for adventures in this period, but as a player I tend to be reactive -- "The Oda clan have kidnapped your daimyo's son; what do you do?" will give me more direction than, "You're a retainer to Matsudaira Hirotada, a young daimyo locked in a war with the Oda. What do you do?"

That's very true, direction would be good for players unfamiliar with the time period. One thing I do want to keep though is the party choosing which clan to serve. naturally this would be done before the first session, but their choice would change not just the culture of the organization they serve, but what types of adventures they may have. Being retainers for the Uesugi likely means more campaigns and internal consolidation, whereas retainers of the Hojo would likely be more protectionist in nature.

Notafish
2018-03-17, 03:20 AM
That's very true, direction would be good for players unfamiliar with the time period. One thing I do want to keep though is the party choosing which clan to serve. naturally this would be done before the first session, but their choice would change not just the culture of the organization they serve, but what types of adventures they may have. Being retainers for the Uesugi likely means more campaigns and internal consolidation, whereas retainers of the Hojo would likely be more protectionist in nature.

Maybe present a selection of clans to the group, along with descriptions of the expected culture/campaign direction? Good luck with the planning; I hope the campaign goes well!

Andor13
2018-03-17, 08:43 AM
Is there now? I was planning on using True20 myself, since it offers a lot of customization.

Hah! I was going to mention Sengoku, and then thought that, since you hadn't mentioned a different system, you knew and were using it. I would strongly recommend that you pick up a copy and then give it to your players to skim. Even if you don't use it as a game system the book is like a crash course in Sengoku era technology, customs, culture, and history. There are some conversion notes at the back of the book, but since they reference AD&D they are slightly out of date.

System wise there is also Bushido (not personally familiar with it), Legend of the 5 Rings (good system, highly lethal though, and geared for fantasy), and I think someone made a game based on Usagi Yojimobo for Swords and Samurai style gaming.

GungHo
2018-03-19, 10:52 AM
Oh, and don't forget the firearms. People always forget the firearms and it annoys me. *cough* Kingdom Come: Deliverance *cough*
Yep, especially considering how much tanegashima changed warfare once they figured out volley fire and how to protect their matches in the rain. It went from "give your simpletons this and pray they don't shoot your horses" to "give these to your best guys, they don't even need their spears any more" over the course of a battle.

The Jack
2018-03-20, 11:28 AM
I apologies in advance for my post, i've just had prior bad experience with a DM who apparently "knew a lot" about the period. Please don't take this as personal.

I don't know what system you're planning for, but one thing that really is a problem with japanese campaigns is how people fall for so many misinformation traps and how they extrapolate things terribly. I recently read oriental adventures for 3.5, and the monster section seemed great and rather researched (it exceeds my knowledge) but the custom classes, the Katana/Wakazashi being miracle weapons costing hundreds and being the only honourable weapons for duels (whilst the odachi/Nagamaki were in the normal price range) and other errors (I had a DM who had some very strange ideas on how the naginata could/couldn't be used recently) all that ****... it's infuriating.

Since you're going for a cinimatic setting rather than a magical fantasy one... you've still got a lot to watch out for.

Shinobi were spies like anywhere else. Ninjato weren't a thing (though the literal translation works)
Seppuku was rare as an apologetic suicide, it was quite common in executing people of rank.
Sohei or Japanese warrior monks are cool and underrated. They had their own monkly rivalries but for the most part could join any clan (or rebel) in war with the right incentive.
Try encourage your players to get on the advancement track as a samurai. They want their superiors to notice them on the battlefield. Paying to look good is as important as improving your protection and arsenal.