The Yakuza Series, Sandbox and Setting Density

The North American PS2 cover
of the original game.

The Yakuza videogame series, or Ryu Ga Gotoku (Like A Dragon) in its original Japanese title, is a SEGA-produced beat 'em up/sandbox. Originally confined to the Playstation console for a long time, it has since seen the first three chronological entries (or rather, the remakes of two of them) ported to PC. This is how I finally got to play these games since I haven't owned a Sony home console since the PS2 days. This has allowed me to since experience Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 (the remakes of the original two games) and the prequel Yakuza 0. As one would expect, the Yakuza series is a beat 'em up/adventure/sandbox game about the seedy Japanese criminal underground and the world of the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza. At least on paper because this is a series which is truly the king of mood whiplash, going from a hard biting crime drama full of drugs and murder to silly side stories about remote car racing or helping a young woman become better at her job when said job is being a dominatrix in an S&M club where she's too nice and polite for her own good. Yakuza is fucking weird.

The real standout element of these games, at least to me (beside hilariously surreal sub-stories) has been its setting, the fictional Kamurocho which is a fictional counterpart to Kabukicho. The interesting about Kamurocho, as a setting for an open world game, are two factors: one, its really damn small and two it return in every game as the story continues ranging from the 1980 of Yakuza Zero to the 2000 of Yakuza and forward into the 2010 and beyond as the series continues. Most open world games tend to go for truly massive scale or at least an attempt at faking it. In addition, most open world videogames usually go for a completely different map with each incarnation of the series to keep exploring fresh. Yakuza, however, completely and utterly sidestep this concept with Kamurocho. While the map does change slowly over time due to the place being renovated and rebuilt (as well as game and engine tweak) as well as adding other areas or places to explore, Kamurocho itself is a mostly static place when it come to its size and shape. The businesses obviously change location once in a while with each iteration of it but this is a fairly natural consequence of life in Tokyo as buildings are brought down, renovated and business change place. With its key streets, features and staple in place from Yakuza 0 to Yakuza 6, Kamurocho may yet be one of the most fleshed out and realized videogame settings out there. While the stories can get goofy and the protagonist ability to dispatch various punks and thugs border on the absurd, the location themselves feel very grounded.

Density Of Details

Kamurocho's oldest map chronologically
in Yakuza Zero (1988)

Kamurocho is very small by sandbox standards. If Tokyo as a whole was a hexcrawl, then it would be but a single hex. The difference is that Kamurocho feels rather 'lived in' and not just because it sometimes looks old and like crap, especially its back alleys. Every store, building, office and more displays a unique appearance of flashing neon signs. Every building is unique, even if due to gameplay limitations only a sparse few can be entered per game. One interesting aspect is that even in the mere few city blocks which forms Kamurocho, one can get a very different 'feel' from their environment, with the main streets such as constantly lit by neon and abuzz with people feeling quite different from the cramped Champion District, which is nothing but super cramped old buildings, back alleys and tiny bar. In addition to all this, there are added details such as the various restaurants which naturally do the locations: those which can be entered by Kiryu (the protagonist) all have their own unique menu of food and drinks, unless its a chain restaurant in which case the menu will be the same across Kamurocho or even other places which can be visited such as Sotenbori.

Another detail of the Yakuza series which is both budget-saving as much as it add to the setting is the fact that, since the world which the protagonists inhabit is so small, they are bound to constantly run into action in the same locations. From random encounter of thugs and drunks as one walk by them to side quest and story missions, there are only so many street corners and buildings in Kamurocho. As one plays through Yakuza, both a single game and sequels, there will slowly form a tapestry of stories which unfolded in certain locale. In any other game, a location called 'Park 3' where homeless people gather would be rather forgettable as a dime a dozen city location that looks like shit. However, in Yakuza 1, when a cutscene occurs there I am reminded that in Zero, more than a decade ago in-universe, this was a location of a quest where some bums want booze and turns you into an errand boy. This may seem innocuous or not-so-noteworthy but within the context of Yakuza Zero the information they give set the protagonist further along the path of starting the story of said game proper and uncover the mysteries of its plot. Playing through a few Yakuza games slowly build a sense of familiarity with Kamurocho, turning even empty backlot into places where some story, no matter how minor, may have happened. For another example, the South eastern parts of Kamurocho are fairly barren streets in mosr games, lacking any major plot location or more than a single diner or a single mini-game location. Yet even an area which seem devoid of content is not, because these streets were the location of other side stories which began elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Is such a small scope setting suited to all tabletop campaigns? Obviously not. However there a few things to learn from Kamurocho. While a location in a campaign may initially just be randomly generated (and that's fine), the small and tightly knit Kamurocho make me ask: "Why create a new location if you don't need it?". Perhaps the next time players are chasing a goblin infestation or trying to corner a thieves band, their enemies run back into a known location which has been previously visited by the players. Describe the same old alleys. There is something to be said about the familiar and it slowly but surely build the setting into its own character. Why create new locations which are described in crude terms once when one can slowly build on top of a pre-existing setting? Of course, it doesn't mean that the setting can't change over time: it will, absolutely. New buildings pop up, old buildings are torn down. People move in, people move out. New criminals enter an area and cut their turf in new ways. However, with a solid foundation of recurring locations it make people, in my opinion, care more.

Game Concept: Monster Slayers(?)

Oh look, its yet another Amateur Dungeoneer post where Bob Something outline a pretty cool concept for a game and odds are end up never running it. That's my life people: too many unbaked ideas and even those that I do end up baking there is a good chance I'll never run them. Especially what with being (as of writing this) busy with both urban fantasy and my attempts at learning to run modern D&D just for the sake of it. Granted once I'm happy with that one and got a good-sized group that mean the JRPG game will start so...wish me luck?

I'm a guy with too many ideas for games and not enough time. Some people claim they got groups running weekly or twice a week and have been running and playing in multiple games for years on end. Me? I ain't so lucky because I can't align my schedule with anybody and it fucking sucks. Anyway enough ranting into the void of the internet.

Monster-Slaying Videogame/Anime

The God Eater 3 cover.

There's a certain genre that's been present in videogame and anime which I find is quite gameable as a concept. This is the genre found in the likes of God Eater, Attack on Titan, Kabaneri, Terraformars or even the likes of Persona 3, Symphogear or even X-COM (for a non-Japanese partial example). These are the 'monster slaying organizations' and its very much a genre when it come to anime and videogame. The key elements of the genre are:

• Humanity is under siege from some force, which is (usually) monsters of some kind.
• This battle is near hopeless, with humanity constantly losing ground or achieving at best some kind of stalemate to fight another day. The overall tone is either bleak or one of defiance. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light...."
• There is an established organization which hunt and destroy these beings. This organization is a useful plot device to justify why humanity has access to gears and the infrastructure to even put up a fight.
• In Japanese media, the characters are teenagers because that's just what anime does. Usually there's some in-setting justification. Which brings up the next point.
• Often the characters are enhanced in some form, possibly at the cost of their humanity and/or lifespan. There is often a risk of some form of corruption.

Its both a very specific genre but also one which has quite a bit of breathing space within the concept to allow for some interesting elements. What we have is a pre-existing, built-in reason to fight monsters and risk one's life. There is also a built-in method to allow characters to join together and even have something akin to hirelings (in this case, rookie squad members) and an easy way in for replacement characters when someone dies. Now in anime, usually the protagonist has impossibly thick plot armor but in tabletop this doesn't apply and make things more interesting.

The concept itself is quite interesting while at the same time very much drawing from similar roots to the many games I've ran before, ranging from Dungeons & Dragons (hunt and fight monsters, get loot) to Dark Heresy (investigation, horror, madness and dying to keep the light alive) to Adeptus Evangelion (same thing but with more anime and giant robots!) and of course that mecha game I ran last year. In many ways it is the non-mecha successor to that game, refining on what did and did not work there.

Game Concept

Playing God Eater Resurrection and XCOM2 has really given me ideas on what I'd want to do with such a game and how it might work and play out. The above points are more or less unchanged, with the following additions:

• The character's weapons are somewhat ridiculous, making use of the admittedly insane imagery found in the likes of God Eater, Monster Hunter or even RWBY (even if that show is garbage and has some of the dumbest shit ever). These are big, stupid impractical weapons driven purely by a juvenile sense of 'cool' and that is okay. Its the point.
• The initial batch of weapons are semi mass-produced and while they function off the same absurd principles which the monsters (and the player character) abilities use, the initial batch of weapons are relatively basic mechanical contraptions which can be produced in enough quantities to allow a squad to be armed and for any new character to get his or her starting weapon.
• More powerful and/or unique weapons fill a role similar to magic items and are created from the remain of monsters, intertwining their flesh and/or essence with technology to create a more powerful weapon. These weapons could end up 'locked' to a player character but I'm not sure yet.
• Weapons make use of the mode-switching found in God Eater and the likes. By default, this could be ranged and melee but I could see other options such as a mix of melee or ranged with a shield mode or maybe even a mode that become a static weapon emplacement.
• Basic abilities (granted what count as these is still up for debate) are simply part of the characters while more advanced abilities and even gear require resources harvested off monsters. Presumably this would mean adding a small 'tithe' to a squad's action as some of it is donated to their organization both for a mixture of research, fueling as well as making a small stockpile so other squads (or even the same squad) can use it later.

Character classes (or their equivalent) would probably be built more around fighting style rather than something closer to Fighter/Mage/Thief even if there might be an option or two more geared toward skills, I suppose. In general, each character should be at least able to do the basic stuff and hold their own against the weakest enemies when separated from the group.

Monster Design

One clear deviancy from the more bare bone, basic statblock of (most) OSR games is that I'd take more cues from the more abstracted or crunch-heavy statblock of monsters found in games like D&D 4e or 5e, with abilities less geared toward being basic and more being about what that technique does within the limited confine of a battle. This wouldn't be for every monster of course, but anything big enough to be a decent challenge to a squad is going to have more going for it than just an attack bonus and some damage.

The Shin Megami Tensei Franchise and Tabletop RPG

Something I've been wondering now that I've gone on a serious Shin Megami Tensei binge is: why don't we see people in the tabletop RPG circles talk of that franchise? Especially around the OSR this is a bit puzzling as there is a lot in the Shin Megami Tensei that can be ported wholesale or used as inspiration. However it hit me that its very likely a sizable chunk of the OSR blogosphere is a bit too old to have gotten into that franchise. While it is an old JRPG franchise it has only (officially) made its way in the western world in the past decade or so which would explain why grognards who haven't touched a console since the SNES era wouldn't know of it. Which is unfortunate.

The cover to the original game for the
Famicom (NES)

Shin Mega-what?

Now maybe I'm wrong and short-sighted to assume people don't know about it. But my gut tells me that, with its niche status in an already increasingly niche market (classic-styled JRPG aren't really found among AAA productions who tend to favor action-RPG or games-with-RPG-elements) and its rather underground status until relatively recently.

The Shin Megami Tensei franchise is a series of vaguely-connected Japanese RPG produced by Atlus, with the first game in the series, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, being released in 1987. That game was based off a Japanese Cyberpunk/Fantasy novel called Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani. There was a direct sequel, a spinoff and a remake/re imagining and these games formed the core of the franchise's identity as a whole. Where (most) JRPG of the time focused on fantasy worlds, Megami Tensei focused on the then-present and near-future, blending science fiction and urban fantasy.

One look at the plot and setting and you can immediately tell why these games never made it to the United States in the 1980: focused on demon summoning, the occult and post apocalyptic themes it was just way too saucy and controversial for the Western World. The fact that God is a recurring antagonist in those games and Satan is sometimes on your side didn't help. With its strong occult themes, darker and more mature themes and tackling of religious and philosophical matters this was just a game that was never going to get  chance outside of Japan. No one wanted to touch and with good reasons.

This is God/YHVH and HE is (usually)
not your friend.

The SMT franchise is also a bit of a predecessor and ancestor to the Pokémon games, as a central game concept is the summoning of Demons to serve you. These demons have a variety of trait, skills, elemental weaknesses and resistances. They can be recruited to your cause by talking to them in combat and negotiating. Demons don't level up as fast your human character(s) and as such must be fused together, sacrificing both of them but creating a new and more powerful demon who can inherit the skills of the demons sacrificed in the fusion. The exact details and mechanics of this has changed a lot over the years.

This is a sprawling franchise and talking about each individual game is impossible but I'll try to give quick descriptions of (some of) those legally available in English for those interested:

• Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne: The first mainline SMT available outside of Japan and forever made infamous for featuring Dante from Devil May Cry! The world end, creating a nightmarish post apocalyptic world full of demons. Your character is transformed into a half-Demon and left to puzzle out wtf is going on. The game is fairly low on dialogue and very harsh, creating this foreboding sense of utter loneliness and isolation.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey: A game which should have been the fourth game in the franchise but was eventually called a spinoff. SMT:SJ draws inspiration from American action and horror movies with the classic SMT formula. You play a marine sent to Antarctica  as part of a team hoping to reverse an anomaly which will end the world.
• Shin Megami Tensei IV: After years of spinoffs, SMT IV is released for the Nintendo 3DS. Unlike the other games it take place in a (mostly) peaceful, pastoral medieval-ish world and....yeah obviously ten minutes in you'll notice a suspiciously high amount of technology around indicating things are not what they seem.
• Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse: A spinoff/side-story/alternate telling of SMT IV.
• Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 1 and 2: These games are a duology meant to be two games played back to back. More post apocalyptic weirdness which is hard to explain without spoiling quite a bit. This one has no recruitable demons and focus on your party members more like a classical JRPG.
• Devil Summoners: Soul Hackers: You play as a hacker in a near-future (for the '90, anyway) city. This is by far one of the oldest and most 'retro' of the legally-available SMT titles as it is a remake of a 1997 Sega Saturn game for the 3DS.

Those who are already aware of this franchise history know I'm leaving out a very, very famous and popular spinoff series. One which has become so popular it has eclipsed the mainline series all around the world. A series which needs no introduction to anyone vaguely into JRPG and/or anime: Persona. The Persona series is an SMT spinoff but it has become so different in style, tone and concepts that it isn't covered by this basic guide.

Gameable Material

There is a lot to take from the SMT franchise, so here's a few key points I would definitely take note of and make sure to include if I was to run an SMT-inspired game:

• Law vs Chaos (and Neutral) Alignment: With so many cues from tabletop RPG, it is no surprise that SMT features an alignment system in most games which can vary from an actual game mechanic to simply which side you choose which affect your ending and maybe final boss encounter. Law is usually associated with YHVH while Chaos is associated with Satan. The Neutral routes range from anything between balance-of-both-sides to the main character giving the middle finger to both sides and siding with humanity. If one like their Moorcockian-ish cosmic struggle, then the SMT alignment should be appealing.
• Its a monster mash: In SMT, just about every creature from myth and pop culture exist, implied to possibly be made manifest and born from the human psyche. Its the kind of world where Oni, ghosts, angels, Cthulhu and Thor can meet. And most likely fight, too.
• The Setting(s): From modern day Tokyo with demons to the future to the past to post-apocalyptic cybernetic hellscapes the SMT settings are always interesting, especially the post-apoc ones. Good for sandboxing and exploration.
• Reaction Tables and Talking: An SMT-inspired game would definitely benefit from a reaction table, as some demons are more likely to want to have a chat with you while others will want to rip your face off. Sometimes it is a matter of alignment (yours and the demon) and sometimes it depend on other factors. Demon negotiation make for a valid random encounter, as not every encounter is combat-related: some demons will want or give info as well as items. Of course, if something goes poorly then the fight is one.
• Its Hard: The older the SMT the harder it gets. These games have punishing combat and, infamously, quite a bit of Save-or-Die type spells.

Silent Legions: Quaint, Quiet Little Town, Part 2

The month of October is the month of horror. And so we begin this month with the second part of something started last month. Mostly just some random ideas and leftovers from last time to kick start more coherent ones...maybe? Who knows: if one is channeling Twin Peaks you have to learn to make stuff up on the go.

Will there be more to the series beyond this?
Time will tell...

Allies and Enemies
D12	Ordinary People	Supernatural Forces
1	A crazy, cooky (possibly pirate) radio host that believe there is a conspiracy. Unfortunately what they think is wrong.	An evil, shapeless force of aggression and malevolence that tear people and animal apart. Likely not the true mastermind.
2	A local cop that’s way over their head and seem to have trouble recognizing the supernatural.	A beast in the woods, which is nearly impossible to see due to some truly exotic camouflage, be it biological or supernatural. Roll again on Supernatural Forces for its true master.
3	A hunter who lives in the woods and only come to town for a drink and supplies. Has seen some...things in the woods.	An angry, evil old person who cast a long, twisted shadow and has flies around them. Their words twist the heart and souls of all pure people.
4	The local priest who has some pretty….unusual beliefs. Can be a weirdo or malevolent depending on role.	A conspiracy of strange men that nobody seem to recall the names of or where they come from: they've just always been at the diner and nobody asked.
5	A crazy survivalist who think the government and/or aliens are out there and about to take over the world.	Your own reflection out to kill you for past sins, real or imagined. It is an agent of a force of dark reflection and antagonism.
6	A weird old lady with a garden full of unusual, possibly deadly plants. She can be a helpful healer or someone out to poison you.	The past itself, in the form of murderous shades and past wrongs out to kill those who have made the wrong choices, possibly leading the world to it's doom. Roll again on Supernatural Forces for what it is trying to stop.
7	The local weirdo who is into new age stuff, yoga and maybe vivisection depending if they are an ally or foe.	A cult of demon-worshipers (or any thing eldritch, evil and supernatural) and their summoned minions.
8	A local tough guy who can knock you on your ass. Has a lot of personal problems behind the bluster.	A vile substance and corruption seeping from the ground which give people visions at the cost of their sanity. It seek to consume the minds. Roll again on Supernatural Forces for its true master.
9	The sheriff who think every outsider is out to cause problems. Even as an ally, he doesn't like you.	Seemingly FBI agents with blank, forgettable faces.  Roll on Ordinary People for the one attempting to expose them.
10	Local serial killer: if an ally, they've been killing people possessed or controlled by a supernatural evil.	Nothing. Maybe? You're not sure, there has to be something but you can't seem to ever truly perceive it. Roll on Ordinary People for its apparent agent.
11	The local doctor and/or psychiatrist. If an enemy, they will try to gaslight and manipulate their foe.	A wise, if foreboding figure (man or woman, young or old, pick what fit) which speak in cryptic warnings and prophecies of doom. Seemingly an ally against something else. Roll again on Supernatural Forces.
12	The local drunk. May or may not be something else entirely.

JRPG Musing and Rambles: White Mages and Black Mages

When it come to imagining JRPG-style magic, it's fairly clear which image to me in my head: the iconic Black Mage and White Mage of the Final Fantasy series. As such (and given their root in D&D, as we'll see) they form the basis of all magic for my yet-unnamed project/maybe setting.

The White Mage and Black Mage from FF Tactics. Or, as they
were called in English initially: Priest and Wizard. On the nose, huh?

These two are very heavily rooted in the D&D origins of the first game, with the Black Mage having a wizard's hat and throwing around fire and lightning and the White Mage being more clerical in appearance and being able to heal and raise the dead. These two are stand in for the Magic-User and Cleric or at least began life as such. That said I've wanted to explore these two a bit more and see if there isn't more to them than simply a 1:1 use of these iconic classes.

This is the result and I admit it's a bit less rooted in D&D and more in some loose mixture of various Asian philosophies and myths crossed with various other ideas. That said, first, a retrospective of these two classes.

Origin and Evolution

These two classes were introduced as early as the first game of the entire series, Final Fantasy: As it's been stated, these two are the FF1 equivalent of the Magic-User and Cleric, with a small distinction: the White Mage is rather 'squishy' compared to the heavily-armored D&D Cleric, who is less of a holy man or monk and more of a battle-hardened crusader. That said the ancestry of the Cleric into the White Mage is made quite obvious not only from the spell list but also the fact that it primarily use blunt weapons. Otherwise these two are clear and direct stand-in from their D&D counterparts, with the exception of a simplified spell list which mostly revolves around combat usage. However this most likely can be charted to the limitations of the NES. The only noteworthy offensive spell of the White Mage is the endgame spell Holy which further cement them as stand-in for Clerics.

Final Fantasy II does not feature the faceless characters the player name to assemble their party and, rather, has individuals who are assigned the classes. While there is no major Black Mage in term of being a direct representative of the class, the White Mage class is represent by Minwu. While his overall stats and spell-list is rather typical of the White Mages, his middle eastern-mixed-with-oriental imagery make him a stark contrast to the previous White Mage with it's clerical robes which seem far more 'western' in design and imagery.

And then Final Fantasy III happened...

Spell list Changes

If one was to make a complete description of the history of both classes in Final Fantasy the post would be far too long and boring: that said, you can read here and here if one is interested in the fully detailed history of these two classes in the never-ending Final Fantasy series.

Final Fantasy III started minute but noticeable changes for the two classes, which in no small part was due to it being the game which returned the job system and began it's long evolution which would lead to games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Bravely Default. However the spell list is where it start to get interesting from here on out. Here's a few samples from how these two magic types change over the years:

• Final Fantasy III: White Mages gain the spell Haste (previously held by Black Mages), which continue their trend of being support-oriented but now they not only cast defensive buff they also cast buff which are offensive-by-proxy. They also gain Aero as an offensive elemental spell, previously something only the purview of Black Magic and Teleport as a party support. They can also turn people into Toad, which later will generally be seen more as a Black Magic thing (reference to Polymorph, perhaps?) On the other hand, Black Magic just keep expanding it's repertoire primarily composed of either direct offensive spells or status effect-inflicting spells.
• Meanwhile, FF3 incorporate the now famous Summon magic. Which is neither White Magic nor Black Magic.
• Final Fantasy V: Of particular note is the new category called Time Magic' which is its own category. The spell Haste find a new home as it become the iconic spell of the Time Mage. While it primarily control the passage of time, Time Magic has a few offensive spells in the form of Meteor and Banish as well as Demi which cut HP in half. These spells are sometimes later known as 'Gravity' spells. Hm, I wonder why....

As Final Fantasy went on to enter a different era (where classes mattered less and less), the distinction between White, Black and Time magic become muddled and frankly utterly meaningless without a class with a specific combat role to assign it to. Still, a few interesting details from the latter eras:

• Elements: Earth, Water and Wind would be on-and-off being a 'main' element in the games. Generally speaking, the only three elements which ever have a consistent role (as offensive spells for the Black Mage) are Fire, Lightning and Ice. Personally I find it interesting three of the classical elements are relegated to a near second-fiddle role.
• Magic spells and skills would often be reshuffled on game basis, with variations of the same damage-causing elemental spells and some one off but ultimately they aren't really worth the analysis.

My Take on It

White Magic and Black Magic are two sides of the same coin: the mystical power to control reality. While one is generally associated by common folks with being the healer's path and the other the-path-of-crazy-people-throwing-fireballs the reality is a bit more complex, especially once one remove the cultural associations of each magic type. It's not about good and evil, light and darkness but rather stasis/preservation and chaos/change.

'White Magic' has a hard time creating because it's ability is to reinforce what already exist. It does have some capacity to change the world around it but it's changes are invariably incremental or slight alterations to nature. It will speed up healing and, at higher levels, allow one to regrow a lost arm. However it cannot turn one's arms into wings, for example. It is the magic of healing and 'buff', with its only 'debuff' being the undoing of a change created by magic itself. Those who turn to the darker side of White Magic are necromancers: able to sustain existence even when life has left the body. This is the corrupting side of White Magic as it's power can allow one to keep going even when they should have died.

'Black Magic' is wilder and more chaotic and focus on change, which it is able to create quickly and in a more flashy manner: its elemental damage spells, for example, are more often than not done via brute-forcing natural laws and causing a blast of inflamed air or sudden electrical discharge. Black Magic can alter others (just like White Magic can reinforce) but these sudden and violent changes make it ill-suited for healing which is why the repertoire include poisoning spells, petrification and changing someone into a toad. It is much more external and is weaker at casting spells which affect internal/personal change unless the change is violent, chaotic, detrimental or just plain weird. Black Magic's darker side is more obvious and well known but also the least drastic as it's more of a change in application than unlocking twisted forms of magic.

Culturally there would be a logical reasoning as to why the White Magic is more associated with the divine while in reality neither is more divine or unnatural: there would be much historical precedent, as history goes on, that Black Magic (being inherently tied to chaotic changes) is seen as the other: alternating between a state of being a secondary but equally important part of religious beliefs to being almost wiped out due to the threat it represent to becoming something with a more scholarly bent as ancient secrets and once-forgotten lores are rediscovered and studied by sages and scholars. Of course, this would be primarily for the human or humans stand-in.

So how would one do a 'Trapped-In-an-MMORPG' game, anyway?

In this cancerous mess of a post, the idea of the now-infamous 'trapped in an MMORPG' cliché of modern Light Novels and anime was outlined as being a potential concept for a game. While it has zero value to the old guard of grognards, to me it seem like an idea with interesting hybridization of very old school and very new school ideas: the kind of game concept which would appeal to the people my age or younger, in other words, those I game with. This is not a post to convince any veterans that it's a good idea. I'm well aware it has no appeal to those unfamiliar with MMORPG and modern video games and anime. Not that I blame anyone, a lot of things are pretty crummy these days.

Game Design Conceits

Obviously, a lot of MMORPG and video games elements are ill-suited to tabletops. Therefore we have to make some assumptions about what kind of video game this would be to allow a functional tabletop campaign to happen within it.

• The game most likely is ridiculously technologically advanced in order to work, therefore the implied setting is futuristic. Think less current video game and 'MMORPG holodeck'.
• The game is more likely geared toward action-RPG and/or third-person style action games and shooters (albeit from a first person view for the character) like Dark Souls, Warframe, the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer or TERA online than an interface-based MMORPG like Everquest or World of Warcraft. The players are inside the game, after all, using their minds to simulate the body's movements.
• The game very likely allow a more complex environment interaction than current videogames, allowing players to pick up environmental objects and move them. Doors can be closed, blocked by crates and objects can be stacked. In other words, anything short of destroying walls which limit the map itself is theorically allowed, at least within a dungeon.
• Towns likely have built-in safeties which render objects indestructible and unmovable. Same for NPC. This is to prevent players from breaking the hub areas and 'griefing'.
• Character death now mean player death, as per the cliche of 'trapped in an MMO death game' stories.

Mission-Based Gameplay

In my head, the game which would be best suited as an inspiration is not even a classical MMORPG: it's Warframe. Now I'm biased because it's what I've been playing for a month and it's really damn good, but nonetheless, there's a lot of good which come from a mission-based structure. This is not to say the open areas where players can roam don't exist but in many ways they are boring, antiquated empty areas where the only quests are 'go kill bears and bring me their asses'. Fetch quests sucks!

The fact each mission is labelled in what type it is BEFORE starting (and the fact that, in sandbox play, players can easily find them) mean that pre-mission preparation is not only a factor but a clear gameplay element. The mission blurs give hint of what enemies are inside and so what gear, powers, spells or whatever to equip.

Dungeon Missions

Dungeon Missions would form one of the 'core' mission types and are those best suited to the tabletop medium, as they themselves originally evolved from the tabletop roots. A dungeon in this definition is an 'instance' where a group of players enter. Under my current game design ideas, Dungeon Missions=/=Map Missions (I'll get back to 'Map Missions' in a moment): a dungeon is less open, more room-and-corridor-based and the environment is just as important as the monsters. There are dead ends and secret rooms. The game would use advanced procedural generation to create these dungeons but obviously, in real life, it would be a mix of random tables and GM crafting a suitable dungeon.

• Dungeon Treasure Hunt: Explore the dungeon and recover X amount of loot found in chest. This is different from 'dropped loot' from random enemies, as the chest is a distinct (glowing) in-game object.
• Dungeon Assassination: Explore the dungeon and find the boss inside and kill it.
• Dungeon Extermination: Explore the dungeon and wipe X specific enemies.
• Quest Dungeon: A major dungeon with elements of multiple mission types with a major boss at the end. Much more massive in size.

Map Missions

These are different from dungeons in their structure: larger rooms, more interconnected, little to no dead-end and no secrets. These are more similar to the maps you'd find in Warframe. They are designed to allow players and enemies to split up/regroup on a need and for prolonged battles.

• Defense: Hold out for X turns against enemies and prevent whatever you are defending from being destroyed.
• Escort: Similar to defense but with different map layout, you need escort a convoy from area A to B.
• Skirmish: There's a pre-set number of enemies in the map. Kill them all.
• Assassination: Like Skirmish, but you need to kill a boss to complete it.
• Monster Hunt: Like assassination, but with a bigger map and a huge boss at the end. Has more players in it than the usual party size, meaning it's a good place to bring NPC players (by that I mean someone playing the game who is an NPC, not an NPC in the videogame itself).

Exploration Missions

It's here that the 'holodeck' nature of the game come in, as nothing in real-life would ever have something of this scope (or at least have it and be good): Exploration missions are small hexcrawls where the players are expected to camp in-game. Given they are trapped in the game, this mean they are vulnerable when sleeping.

• Reconaissance: A 'small'-ish hexcrawl for a normal-sized group. It's an instance meaning only the goup can enter.
• Exploration: Every few days (or maybe weeks) or so, the game world will automatically generate a new hexcrawl area that multiple groups can enter and everything, be it resources or loot, is up for grab. This is a PVP mode, meaning player-versus-player. Considering death in the game is permanent, this is some serious stuff.

Knowledge Of The Game

While the players may be trapped inside the game, meaning they can't check the game's wiki, having to rely on purely in-game data (read: stuff in their sheet and game document), the more people play the more the exact stats of certain monsters and items will be known. Understanding the 'meta game' is an important element, as it will allow the players to prepare their loadout for the mission ahead. This also mean that manually acquiring the information is required, even if it mean just hanging in town asking other players what they know of X. Beta testers may still be in the game but this carry a risk: that things were changed between the beta and current version.

Random Elements?!

A certain level of chaos and GM flexing their creative muscles is still required: if everything was 100% planned out it would make for a boring game. As such the game has a certain amount of procedural generated 'special content' which has a small % chance of appearing in certain areas of certain missions. These are the 'funny rolls' on the random encounter table, these things which only happen on certain rolls and which may make the players crap their pants and run away from the encounter.

Players Interacting

One thing to remember is that the game world is currently full of other human beings equally trapped in this mess. People will panic, go crazy and worse. While the game world has static elements, such as merchant NPC standing still day and night, most of the Non-Player Characters of the campaign will be just as much individuals with names and lives as in any game.

Hirelings

Or 'noobs'! A good source of hirelings are other players trapped in the game who are lower level: being unskilled in the game and/or unable to grasp the more complex and deadly gameplay of higher levels and being afraid to die they tend to gather around good players and defer to their authority and skill.

Crafters

Some people will simply decide 'fuck it' and wait out to be freed from the game. In the meantime they will level up their crafting skills and make a living gathering materials for other players and crafting them new gear. These people form the core of the in-game economy, as in-game NPC invariably only sell the most basic of items which quickly become worthless.

Guilds, Conquest and PVP

In time, players will gather into 'guilds' which offer in-game benefits. The non-player guilds will become enemy or ally factions as the game shift into the 'domain management' of higher levels as players gather more and more resources to build themselves an in-game guild base. First a small building then eventually a fortress of some kind. Other guilds can attempt to invade these bases and steal their resources. Crafters not hanging in the town where combat is disabled will be found inside those, having access to the guild's vault (an actual, physical place in this game).

The Conquest mode affect the game's overworld: there are small towns scattered across the world, which factions can conquer and/or protect to gain additional resources. This mean that, rather than having to face some orc horde or hobgoblin army the invader are other players and their summoned NPC soldiers, 'built' using their guild hall and it's resources.

Silent Legions: Quaint, Quiet Little Town, Part 1

I've just finished replaying Alan Wake and while it is rather lacking in the 'gaming' department it was still a worthwhile experience. Normally I'd be a bit harsh on games which try to be lighter on gameplay and heavier in the story content (in spite of being a fan of Metal Gear, go figure) but Alan Wake manage to really sell itself when it come to the world and story, especially on the part of doing eldritch mind-screwing horror without entirely resorting (only) to the usual cavalcade of Lovecraftian names, ideas and creatures: if there was one video game I'd recommend any Silent Legions Game Masters it would be Alan Wake. Granted, the game has been removed from the Steam market so anyone interested may have to resort to legally dubious means of obtaining the game unless one is willing to track down a physical copy of the Xbox version.

Let's just say he's not having a good day right now...

Alan Wake is very much the child of Twin Peaks, which makes it the younger brother to The X-Files. There's a certain something which is appealing about the concept of the somewhat isolated (north) American small town where seemingly bizarre things happen. Perhaps it's because they seem like the last dark and unknowable spots in an increasingly connected and known world: odd places away from the greater whole of civilization with a deeply entrenched history intertwined in the location and people. This sense of deeper, more connected history and local culture is alien to us city-dwelling folks and can appear, shall we say, creepy at times. It's fairly easy to take these utterly mundane places and start imagining some terrifying secret to it. They also tend to follow a 'two word' format:

D12	First Word	Second Word
1	Night	Springs
2	Mirror
3	Twin	Vale
4	Summer
5	Dark	Lake
6	Winter
7	Midnight	Peaks
8	Light
9	Daybreak	Fort
10	Spring
11	Crow	Grove
12	Dusk

Of course, supernatural happenings and fictional nature or not, the place invariably has some real-world history tied into it for an added layer to make it seem like a believable place which could exist somewhere. In general these stories are set in the United States (especially the New England region or the Appalachian) but such towns can (and do) exist in Canada too, especially the less populated and wilder provinces such as the 'middle Provinces' (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba), the rural parts of Ontario and Québec or the more remote and less-known-internationally provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. If one feel like adding extra cold, there's Alaska and the coldest Canadian provinces (and the northest parts of Québec and Labrador).

Any of these areas breed isolation and a foreboding sense of of 'not being welcomed' for city-folks. These places are smaller, closer-knit communities, almost like an anachronism or atavism to those used to the anonymous masses of the larger cities and the quaint boredom of suburbs. There is also the sense that such villages are isolated islands of civilization in the deep, dark wilderness, with bears, cougars and maybe some rampaging moose. It may sound silly but at night, when you're alone in those woods, it can get lonely and terrifying. If you fall in the dark nobody will ever find you.

These are all perfectly mundane and rational dangers. But what about these dangers which aren't mundane? What if there's really something out there? Or what if there's something in there in the village too. What if it's not just paranoia and isolation?

D6	Investigator’s Hook	Traveller’s Hook
1	A missing person case is what brings you and your colleagues to this town.	Someone or something destroys your car and maybe attack you/your family while you are on a visit.
2	Someone who has been missing for 2d10 years reappear. They haven’t aged a day.	Someone or something keep leaving cryptic messages warning you to avoid a certain thing.
3	Cryptic visions have led you or a colleague to this place. You must untangle their meaning.	The local are way too damn nice. You wake up to find you are suddenly married to someone in town you’ve never met.
4	A sociologist, archeologist or someone similar has gone missing. Their last whereabouts were studying the this town.	Someone in town keep saying you/your friends/your family is a long-lost relative of a local figure.
5	The town has vanished into thin air 1d4 decades ago. When you go there investigating something, it apparently still exist and never disappeared.	According to the locals you’ve been visiting this place for years and they have in depth memories of your misadventures. You don’t.
6	You wake up covered in blood, weapon in hand with the wall smeared with your writing saying how you ‘stopped the calamity’. Nobody knows what this mean, you don’t remember and the locals want your head.	A strange man has been stalking you/your family. Just when you’re about to confront him/you think he’s about to attack you...he is killed by an unknown force and leaves a cryptic warning to you with his dying breath.