A solid supplement for the Usagi Yojimbo Roleplaying Game. Dungeons & Dragons GMs may also want to check this one out.

Review Originally Published December 28th, 2000

Usagi Yojimbo: Monsters! is, obviously, the monsters supplement for the Usagi Yojimbo Roleplaying Game – adapting fourteen supernatural creatures from the Usagi comic book for use.

Although there are only fourteen creatures in this slim little pamphlet (making the total cost only slightly less than a buck a monster), the value is here: Each monster receives a two to three page write-up, including behavior, special powers, a summary of their appearances in Usagi comics, and an adventure seed. Although the adventure seeds are often simplistic, and occasionally nothing more than fodder for a single encounter (rather than a full-fledged adventure), this is still rather nice.

The other thing I like about this product is the opening introduction – which gives the background on Japanese monsters and how this is interpreted in the Usagi universe (providing a consistent, underlying mythos to the rest of the material).

There are three really annoying things about this product:

Annoying Thing #1: A half dozen pages are taken up by a completely random section of rules which should’ve been included in the core rulebook. We know they should’ve been included in the core rulebook for two reasons: First, whenever you get a random selection of miscellaneous rules in the very first supplement released for a game, you know that those pages were cut from the main rulebook. Second, one of the things included in this book is the Goat species – which was actually used in the core rulebook to describe an NPC. Whoops.

Annoying Thing #2: Conversion notes are included for FUDGE and D20. That isn’t the annoying thing (I’ll discuss these a more in a second), though. The annoying thing is this: Stats are included in these conversions for the kitsune. Unfortunately, the kitsune is not one of the monsters included in this product – we are informed that the kitsune was a special promotional monster which was published in an unnamed magazine. The kitsune should’ve been in this book. The fact it isn’t, is annoying.

Annoying Thing #3: The book was obviously rushed through the editorial process – typos and grammatical errors abound. The most egregious one I found was this: “Sutras can be written to render a person invisible to spirits and supernatural monsters or they can be written to render the object or person invisible to them.” Since that’s a rule, I’m more than a little annoyed. Very sloppy.

Back to the conversion notes: These are actually very nice, transforming what would otherwise be a fairly narrow supplement into a broadly useful one. I heartily recommend that D&D GMs, in particular, pick this book up: The monsters are well done and come with a lot of support, and should add some nice spice to your campaign.

Usagi Yojimbo GMs would, I think, be remiss in giving this product a pass. The price is a little steep, but the material is fairly solid solid.

Style: 3
Substance: 3

Grade: B

Title: Usagi Yojimbo: Monsters!
Authors: Jared Smith
Company: Gold Rush Games
Line: Usagi Yojimbo
Price: $12.00
ISBN: 1-890305-09-X
Production Code: U101
Pages: 48

I’ve always been disappointed in this review. I didn’t do a good enough job explaining WHY I liked the stuff that I liked about it, which creates a lopsided and overly negative impression. I can’t properly fix that at the moment because it’s been 20+ years since I used this book, but I will say that I was sincere when I recommended it. It’s a slim volume, but filled with meaty, useful material.

Is it weird that this one review still bugs me even after all these years? I don’t think so. Creators grow from their mistakes. This was a miss, but one that serves as a touchstone that has made the reviews I’ve written since better.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

S. & B. ask:

In the Dragon Heist Remix, what should I do if the PCs head to the Brandath Crypts and find the secret door leading to the vault doors early? My players found the references to the Cassalanters being interested in the Brandath Crypts at the converted windmill, went to check it out, and found the secret door. If they find the Vault this way, couldn’t they figure out how to open it without ever getting the Stone of Golorr and skip straight to the end of the campaign?

Converted Windmill → Crypt isn’t even the speed run of Dragon Heist. My players jumped directly from “the Zhentarim are interested in his mom’s necklace” → “we should check out his mom’s crypt” before they’d even gone to Trollskull Manor. They actually missed the check to find the secret passage in Lady Alethea’s Crypt by one point.

This created a huge payoff when they came back to the crypt at the end of the campaign: “Wait… we were standing right on top of it?!”

One thing you may notice is that the Brandath Crypts in the Alexandrian Remix of Dragon Heist are much more elaborate than those in the original adventure.

Here’s the original map:

And the revised map:

This is partly for lore reasons (demonstrating the long history of the Brandaths), but also because it places the Vault under ablative shielding. The PCs will

• Need to figure out the Crypt is involved.
• Need to find the secret door.
• Once through the secret door, find the opened secret compartment from which the Cassalanters took the Eye. (This is a red herring that can cause groups to stop looking, particularly if they come from the converted windmill: “Oh. This is where they found what they came here for.”)
• Need to find the second hidden passage behind the illusion.
• Need to figure out how to open the Vault. (Without direct access to a legend lore spell through the Stone of Golorr, so they’ll either need to call in a favor or get clever.)

You know how you use the Three Clue Rule to create robust connections? This is basically the exact opposite of that: We’re deliberately designing a chain of fragile connections, with the high expectation that at least one of these chains will break, turning the PCs away (but also rewarding them later with the cool, “We were so close!” reveal).

Okay, but what if the chain doesn’t break, the PCs do all of those things, and they get into the Vault “early”?

100% let it happen. And then play to find out.

First, your players are going to think this is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to them at the gaming table. I guarantee it. Plus, they’re going to trust you implicitly as a GM for the rest of eternity. On top of that, just think about the story they’re going to have to tell other D&D players?

In my opinion, even if you had to throw out the rest of the campaign, it would still be worth it.

It’ll be like my players telling the story of how they beat the Tomb of Horrors by casting locate object on their stolen stuff, drilling a hole through the wall, and using gaseous form to loot the treasury. Except on steroids.

If you’ve ever wanted to run a campaign that your player will remember forever, this is how you do it. My wife still talks about another campaign where she convinced the rest of her group to unexpectedly double back, confront the secret villainess, and completely derailed the Epic Quest™ the PCs were supposed to be embarking on.

But also, if you’re running the Dragon Heist Remix, you won’t have to throw out the rest of the campaign, because, second, the rest of the campaign is still in motion.

One of the great things about prepping situations instead of plots and then actively playing those situations is that, even when those situations go in a completely unexpected direction… you can just keep playing.

You’ve found the money. What do you do with it? How do you get it out of the Vault? These questions are often trivialized at the end of a Dragon Heist campaign because the PCs have taken some factions off the board and made alliances with others. But if they breach the vault early, all of these factions will still be fully active and likely mysterious to the PCs.

To take an easy example, the Cassalanters still need this money to save their kids. Just because the money isn’t in the Vault any more doesn’t mean that the Cassalanters aren’t still going to be trying to get their hands on it.

The Stone of Golorr is still in play. Even if the Stone is no longer required to find Neverember’s stolen money, it’s still a pretty big deal in its own right. It’s a powerful artifact filled with secrets and capable of incredible things. Most or all of the people who were looking for it will still be looking for it!

In other words, the Grand Game is still very much in play. And there can be some absolutely fascinating stuff that comes out of the PCs suddenly being flush with a small fortune while still pursuing the Stone of Golorr:

• How does their wealth change their relationship with the various factions?
• What resources can they purchase to further their goals?
• If they use the money for unrelated purchases, what are the consequences?

Flow with what’s happening and keep actively playing the situation. The Remix gives you the tools you need to keep reacting and keep playing.

In “How the Remix Works,” for example, there’s a simple checklist for the GM to follow as a default option:

1. Are the PCs looking for a lead to one of the Eyes? If yes, pick a Faction Outpost and point them at it.

2. Did the PCs just piss off one of the Factions? If yes, pick a Faction Response Team and have them target the PCs.

3. Are the PCs floundering and don’t know what to do next? If yes, pick a Faction Response Team and have them targe the PCs. (If you’re not sure how they might target the PCs, just have them show up and try to kill them.)

Repeat until the campaign is done.

What’s notable is that even with a huge curveball like “they opened the Vault at the beginning of the campaign,” this checklist still just… works.

Here’s a few key questions to think about, though:

• Who knows that the PCs have the money / know the location of the Vault? (This includes both “friendly” and villainous factions.)
• What do they do about that? (Try to steal it? Ask for a donation? Recommend that they return it to the city government?)
• As the PCs spend the money, what happens as a result of their purchases?

The other thing to think about is how the instigating action / scenario hook for the Grand Game might shift as a result of the PCs’ altered trajectory.

In the campaign as written, the assumption is that the PCs are known for rescuing Renaer and are also known to operate out of Trollskull Manor. Therefore, Dalakhar goes looking for them at Trollskull Manor and gets blown up in the fireball.

If the PCs are instead known to have somehow gotten access to the Vault, then maybe Dalakhar is actually coming to Trollskull Manor with a message from Neverember about the money. The message could actually be found on his body after the explosion. (This could result in Neverember being more directly active in the Grand Game, an option we’ve previously discussed.)

You might also have one or more factions (e.g., the Gralhunds) assume that if the PCs got access to the Vault, it must mean that they have the Stone of Golorr! Maybe the PCs find themselves under nimblewright surveillance! Maybe Emmek Frewn and his wererats get recruited to help keep tabs on them.

If you were running a prepped plot, then the PCs skipping to the end would break all your prep. But the Dragon Heist Remix reorganized the plot into a toybox. The Vault and the treasure inside it are positioned as a natural goal for the campaign, but they’re ultimately still positioned as toys: If the PCs pull them out and starting playing with them a little “early,” it doesn’t stop you – or them! – from continuing to play with all of the other toys!

Go to Ask the Alexandrian #1

Although it’s a little over fifty years old now, the roleplaying game is an incredibly new medium in the grand scale of things. Even compared to film, it’s just a little baby that’s only just barely coming into its maturity. This is particularly true because roleplaying games are radically different from all previous mediums.

This is true of all mediums, of course, but the notable thing about every pre-RPG medium is that the audience was fundamentally a passive recipient: The creator(s) created a story, painting, or film and then the audience in some way observed what had been created. Exceptions to this division between creator and audience were not unknown, but were extremely limited.

In an RPG, of course, the players are both creators AND audience at the same time. It’s just a fundamentally different activity to anything that had come before. So if you met someone who had never seen a comic book or a film before before you might say, “Well, it’s like reading a book with pictures” or “It’s like watching a play, but the actors’ performances are recorded.” But if someone asks, “A roleplaying game? What’s that?” people often find themselves struggling to really explain what it is we’re actually doing on a Friday night. There’s no easy analog to something people are already familiar with. If you’ve never played an RPG, then you’ve never done anything like it.

So we could begin with a technical definition:

A roleplaying game is a game in which the mechanical decisions made by the player are directly associated to the decisions of the character they’re playing, such that playing the game is inherently making decisions as if you were your character (i.e., roleplaying).

But while this definition might be useful in clearly distinguishing an RPG from a board game or storytelling game or graphic novel, it’s probably not very illuminating to someone just trying to figure out the basic concept.

A ROLEPLAYING GAME IS…

So let’s instead look at some practical answers to, “A roleplaying game? What’s what?”

The shortest effective description I’ve found is:

“It’s like an improvised audio book drama, with each player pretending to be a character and one player, the Game Master, describing the world. You can say that your character is going to try to do anything you can imagine, and then you and the Game Master will use the rules of the game to figure out what happens.”

I used to say “radio drama,” which I believe I got from John Tynes and Greg Stolze. But recently I’ve found most people have no idea what a “radio drama” is, so it’s pretty easy to get detoured into a completely separate explanation of what those are (and the end result still doesn’t give them a clear picture of what an RPG is).

Even with  the swap to “audio book drama,” though, this explanation may not land with everyone. So another approach might be:

“Video game RPGs like Elder Scrolls or Final Fantasy were actually based on tabletop roleplaying games. The two big differences are that you play entirely in your imagination and there’s a Game Master who describes the world and uses the rules to figure out what happens next. The cool thing is that this means you can have your character go almost anywhere and try to do anything you can imagine: You’re not limited to what the game programmers predetermined you could or should do.”

There’s an almost limitless number of metaphors you can extrapolate from, and the one that works best will really depend on who you’re talking to, what they’re already familiar with, and what they’re most passionate about.

Of course, we could also attempt a more direct approach with a more literal description of what actually happens at the gaming table:

When a group is playing a roleplaying game, they are imagining a fictional scene: That might be the bridge of a starcruiser, the dungeons of a vampire lord, or the neon-soaked alleys of Hong Kong in the 1980’s. One of the players is the Game Master. They describe the fictional scene: The red alert alarm klaxons on the bridge; the flickering torchlight illuminating the dungeon; or the Triad gang members who’ve just blocked the alley exit.

Each of the other players has a character that they’re playing in this scene. They might be a space smuggler trying to bluff her way past Imperial cruisers; a heroic knight trying to rescue the princess; or an honest cop stuck in a corrupt department.

Once the Game Master describes what their characters see, the players announce what they want their characters to do. The Game Master can then use the rules of the game to figure out what happens: If the cop wants to punch one of the Triads in the face, can he land the blow? And, if so, what happens to the Triad? How do the other Triads react?

The only way to find out is by playing the game!

Of course, there are a bunch of RPGs that won’t fit this “traditional” mold. Solo RPGs without GMs, for example. If it’s relevant to the conversation, use a description that matches the game you’re trying to explain. But, generally speaking, if you’re trying to explain to someone what a motion picture is, you don’t need to immediately try to make them understand the differences between feature films, syndicated sitcoms, mini-series, and made for TV movies.

Speaking of film, one of the great things about joining the hobby today is that you don’t need to actually play an RPG to see what it looks like. So you’re final option for explaining to someone what an RPG to say:

Here’s a link to the middle of an episode of a Critical Role/ Dimension 20 / whatever actual play seems best. Watch five to fifteen minutes and you’ll have a pretty good idea what we’re going to be doing Friday night.

(I recommend not just linking to the beginning of an episode because there’s often a bunch of introductory folderol that isn’t actually playing the game. Try to give them a timestamp to some meaty examples of play, ideally featuring a healthy dose of the rules actually being used / dice being rolled.)

The point, of course, is that there’s no One True way of explaining what an RPG is, any more than there’s One True Way of playing them.

An excellent adaptation of its source material which, unfortunately, doesn’t offer much to anyone who isn’t already a fan of the comic book.

Review Originally Published December 28th, 2000

Usagi Yojimbo is a truly excellent comic book created by Stan Sakai. The title character is an anthropomorphized version of the historical Miyamoto Musashi. In other words: Usagi Yojimbo is a humanoid rabbit whose fictional exploits draw a sizable portion of their inspiration from the life of a 17th century Japanese samurai.

The Usagi Yojimbo Roleplaying Game, authored by Greg Stolze (a game designer whose past credits – including Unknown Armies – speak for themselves), is an adaptation of Usagi’s world for all of us gaming fanatics.

SYSTEM

The system used for Usagi Yojimbo is a modified version of the generic Fuzion engine – also used in Sengoku (also published by Gold Rush Games), Bubblegum Crisis, Armored Trooper Votoms, and Champions: New Millennium (among others). You can learn more about the basic Fuzion system from the Fuzion Labs website.

There are two significant changes to the basic system in Usagi, both of which are carried out very nicely:

First, the character creation process has been boiled down to a simple, three step process – with each step modifying a set of basic attributes and skills which are given to each character:

1. Pick a Species (bat, cat, rabbit, mole, etc. – anthropomorphic, remember?).

2. Pick a Job (bounty hunter, bodyguard, gambler, retainer, etc.).

3. Divide 10 extra points among skills in order to customize your character.

This Job/Species system could easily be mistaken for a traditional, D&D-style Class/Race system – but you shouldn’t do that. The system in Usagi is not a class system, but rather an archetype system. Unlike the rigid definitions of a class system, an archetype system is loose and open: The goal of a class system is to protect the niche of each character (a wizard has a very different role than a fighter); whereas the goal of an archetype system is nothing more than to simplify the character creation process. Instead of figuring out which skills you need to be an effective messenger, the system designer has done the work for you.

The other major modification to the system is in the combat mechanics. Stolze has designed an elegant combat system designed to convey the feel and spirit of a samurai duel.

As in almost any other combat game you care to name, initiative determines who goes first. This person chooses a target. At this point, though, something a little different happens – because in Usagi Yojimbo it is not just the attacker, but also the defender, who gets to take an action.

It works like this: Both combatants secretly choose one of three strategies – Total Attack, Cautious Attack, or Total Defense. Both combatants then reveal their choice of strategy simultaneously (Stolze suggests using standard playing cards to do this effectively). Now, depending on which strategies were chosen, combat can go one of several ways. For example, if both combatants chose Total Attack, then they both roll their combat roles (Combat + Weapon Skill + roll of dice), but whoever succeeds does double the normal damage.

The only restriction to this is that the person who initiated the attack cannot choose Total Defense as a strategy (since that would mean they weren’t initiating the attack). Other than that, both attacker and defender behave identically – a rather radical change from the normal methodology in combat system design (in which the roles of attacker and defender are very distinct), which provides a unique – and highly worthwhile – dynamic to the system.

There are a few more twists to it, including an optional system for handling unarmed combat which is similarly unique in its approach, but that’s the core of it.

In practice this process really shines – giving a feel to the mechanics which does a very nice job of mirroring the feel of samurai duels in fiction (including, of course, Usagi Yojimbo).

STRENGTHS

The primary strength of Usagi has already been discussed at length: Stolze has adapted the Fuzion engine to give the game an extremely simple, yet also extremely attractive, system. Both character creation and combat are not only dynamic systems, but simple ones. Excellent stuff all around.

A couple of other things are worth mentioning, though: First, a one page system reference chart is included. I love these things, and wish more games had them. This one, in particular, is extremely effective – summarizing every last element of the game system. Far too often you’ll get “reference charts” – usually on GM screens – which reference every knick-knack in the game except the rules you actually use on a regular basis. Usagi avoids this nicely.

Second, the book contains a number of appendices – which, as a general rule, contain extremely useful information: A timeline for the Usagi universe; a character index for the comic; one of the best “gamer’s glossaries” for Japanese I’ve seen (largely helped, no doubt, by the fact it’s based in the Japanese which occasionally crops up in the Usagi comic; and, finally, a FUDGE conversion for the game system.

Finally, the book is rounded out by a short Usagi story by Stan Sakai, “Hebi”. Nice stuff.

WEAKNESSES

Unfortunately, there are two major flaws with the Usagi Yojimbo game – and they both take their toll on what would otherwise be an exceptional game.

First, the layout leaves much to be desired. Although the book’s illustrations are helped greatly in quality by the fact they are drawn from the Usagi comic book, they also come complete with word balloons. The effect, along with some other questionable lay-out choices, give the entire book a cluttered, inaccessible feel – which is, at the same time, scattered in its focus. One of the worst moments of this layout comes in a chart which lays out the major samurai clans in Usagi’s world – which, unfortunately, looks like it was designed to be a butterfly ballot in Florida.

Second, and far more troubling, is the fundamental lack of world reference material to be found in the book. It is essentially constrained to a timeline (which is not generally useful in any sense of the word) and a chapter discussing the major characters which have appeared in the Usagi comic (which is further flawed in that it doesn’t provide coverage of several usual suspects). The GM is basically left on their own when it comes to filling in the actual gaming environment of ancient Japan.

CONCLUSION

The Usagi Yojimbo Roleplaying Game is an excellent adaptation of its source material. Unfortunately, its varied weaknesses mean that it isn’t going to do anything for anyone who isn’t already a fan of the source material. The lack of any serious world reference material is particularly distressing – particularly when contrasted against the wealth of what would be essentially identical material in Gold Rush’s Sengoku game.

In short: Fans of Usagi Yojimbo might want to flip through this one to see if it offers them anything of interest. Anybody else should definitely give it a pass.

Actually, let me modify that conclusion in one way: System nuts might want to check this one out just to take a look at the combat system which Stolze has set up. The strategy system – which gives the system a true claim to fame – is almost a cap-system: It would be easy to pop it off of Fuzion and onto any standard combat system in the industry. If you’re tired of just rolling dice during combat, this might be worth your time.

Style: 4
Substance: 3

Grade: B

Title: Usagi Yojimbo Roleplaying Game
Authors: Greg Stolze
Company: Gold Rush Games
Line: Usagi Yojimbo
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 1-890305-02-2
Production Code: U100
Pages: 96

Originally Posted: 2000/12/28

I’m old enough that when someone says “furry” what I think of is stuff like Usagi Yojimbo and Cerebus. It’s interesting how a fetish-driven fanbase has really driven the whole anthropomorphic genre into a niche of a niche.

Conversely, it’s remarkable the degree to which D&D 3rd Edition rehabilitated the whole concept of class-based RPGs. Used to be everyone who left D&D to play other RPGs would collectively sigh with relief at never needing to play a class-based system with all of its silly limitations again. Now classes clearly rule the roost.

Review: Usagi Yojimbo – Monsters!

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

DISCUSSING
In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 40E: A Final Questioning

Tor was able to quickly explain the situation and turn the children over to the custody of the watchmen. He decided, however, to claim that he had rescued them from the Temple of the Rat God instead of the Temple of Ebon Hand. (He was already concerned about them delving into the dangerous depths of the former; he didn’t think adding the dangers of the latter was a good idea.)

Meanwhile, the others were loading up the carts. Tee and Nasira drove those over to the Ghostly Minstrel, where they met with Tor and presented the paving stones to Tellith. She was delighted when they showed her how they worked, and they quickly made arrangements to get them installed as the front steps of the inn.

These magical paving stones are a pretty minor detail in the campaign journal here, and you won’t see them suddenly play some huge and significant role later on.

But I love them so much.

I originally added the paving stones to the Temple of the Ebon Hand because I had the idle thought that people arriving via sewer tunnel would be kinda gross. A prestidigitation spell would solve the problem, and the form factor — schlupping the sewer waste back down into the sewers — just made sense.

The others quieted and Tee walked through the wall. As she passed onto the white marble, the floor suddenly glowed brightly and the filth of the sewer was drawn away from her body, down through the illusionary wall, and into the sewer channel beyond.

“That’s handy.” Tee smiled, pleased that her clothes weren’t going to be ruined by the sewer after all. But she was concerned about the light, so she levitated up (with one last schlurping noise) and worked her way along the ceiling.

I never imagined that the PCs would be interested in looting the paving stones. It was, after all, a minor magical effect packaged into a huge form factor. But when the players had the idea of gifting the stones to the Ghostly Minstrel, it was a truly inspired thought.

(I don’t actually recall exactly which player first had the idea. In fact, I didn’t even remember it a few hours after the session, which is why it’s not recorded in the journal.)

The stones were, in fact, installed in front of the inn. And almost every single time the PCs comes home, they make a point of standing on the stones so that the blood and gore and sludge can all be whisked away. I also make a point of occasionally mentioning other delvers arriving at the Ghostly Minstrel and taking advantage of the stones.

As such, these stones have become an ever-present memorial to their accomplishments. They’re also a permanent feature in Ptolus now; a constant reminder, albeit a minor one, that the PCs actions have meaning and can transform the world around them.

Which goes a long way towards explaining why I love it when the PCs loot infrastructure — not for its monetary value, but because it can be repurposed. It shows that the players have become invested in the setting. I love seeing what they build, and I also love the tangible trophies of their exploits being a living part of the campaign.

Of course, not all of this infrastructure needs to be magical or even structural. Looting décor is also a common variant: In my first D&D 3^rd Edition campaign, an elemental cleric named Talbar (played by the same player who created Agnarr) had a bag of holding dedicated exclusively to beautiful antique furniture he was collecting to furnish the temple he was planning to build.

When the players start laying down roots, all kinds of interesting things can grow.

Campaign Journal: Session 41A – Running the Campaign: TBD
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index