Kamigakari - An experimental game with a JRPG
Tokyo Majin. Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Blue Seed. Bleach. Blassreiter. Kamen Rider. Guyver.
In no particular order, these are all obvious inspirations for a JRPG that I recently found a translation for: Kamigakari. Drawing heavily from Japanese mythos (both ancient and modern), Kamigakari is a game focused on what they term as "Awakened," or souls infused with a "shard" of original divinity. These shards transform animals and plants into the awakened spirits that have been known variably as gods, youkai, spirits, and fae, as well as numerous other names throughout history and across the globe. They transform humans (and similar beings) into "Godhunters", people capable of transcendent feats of magical power. In a world born of quintessential "essence," those with a shard are able to manipulate this substance to achieve feats of sorcery, inhuman martial prowess, henshin-style transformation, and more.
The shards also give rise to a false god known as an "Aramitama." Born from the aggregate malice of humanity, these dark spirits exist without form until they are able to form a covenant with a mortal soul. Using their power to fulfill a wish, they eventually devour the soul of their contractor, stealing their body in order to pursue more souls. Should they devour enough, they will transform into an "Avatar of Ruin," and then the world will end.
* * * *
That's a brief overview for a game I've just started reading. For those who are unfamiliar, Japanese tabletop games, while not entirely unlike their western counterparts, are a bit different because of the gaming culture in Japan. Centered around episodic stories that mirror the sorts of things you're likely to see in Anime and local serials, Kamigakari is the story of "magical girls," "Henshin heroes," "demon swordsmen," and many other supernatural people who are hiding in plain sight, defending the world from horrors that mankind cannot possibly face themselves. Their motives run the gamut from altruistic to selfish, and they come from all walks of life, but they are (at least tennuously) united in their struggle.
Kamigakari sets itself apart from some of its contemporaries with a unique (but still relatively simple) dice mechanic/resource system that is lightweight but also makes for hopefully cinematic battles where players have to work their way up to their most powerful abilities. At its core, Kamigakari is just 2d6+stat, but what differentiates it is the "spirit pool," a dice pool refreshed every scene (or every round of combat) that the player can trade dice into and out of to modify their rolls. This smooths the role of chance in your actions, but also provides your resource management system. "Talents" (the game's term for special abilities) are activated by expending dice from your spirit pool (sometimes any dice, sometimes specific numbers) in order to activate their effects.
Naturally, this would be a learning experience for everyone involved. I'm only reading this now myself, and I wouldn't expect any of the other players to be familiar with this, only recently, fan-translated material. Luckily the game comes with a diverse array of pre-generated character archetypes just waiting for a name and face to applied to customize them to a player's liking, though I'm not unwilling to entertain the idea of an enterprising individual trying to create their own character.
I'm opening this thread to see if there's any interest around here in trying something this daring with me. Obviously, this undertaking would be a little challenging because nobody is innately familiar with the material, but I think it could also be a really cool and unique experience. I've tossed around several ideas for the sort of games I'd be interested in starting for the new year, but this one, I think, has the potential to be something special, and allows for me to explore the sort of stories that I've always enjoyed from the land of the rising sun.
I'd love to hear what people think. While a sound-off for interest is nice, it's never quite as helpful as a more thoughtful reply or, better yet, questions.
-Norwood