Tenra Bansho Zero: Thoughts?

[virgil]

I've heard about this game, but like all other RPGs, there's no way to discern quality from official reviews. Have any of you guys managed to see this game, in action or even the rules?

I've found a couple handouts that try to give a summary of the rules; but other than buying it, getting a proper look is difficult.

[Sakuya Izayoi]

Mechanically, it resolves fairly similar to World of Darkness.

In play, I find it starts to resemble indie concoctions like Burning Wheel or Dogs in the Vineyard, yet it predates them. The setting is very cool, and makes it easier for people who are more familiar with anime or Japanese video games than they are Tolkien or Vance to grasp it quickly and come up with character ideas.

[Mask_De_H]

I have a PDF of the rules, but I haven't cracked it open in a while.

The action resolution system has dicepools with varying Hit numbers and Target Numbers, which is a thing.

Combat has a reverse death spiral effect, where you get better the more wounds you take. There's also a separate HP track that determines how long you stay in the fight. Death is player-side: you can raise your death flag for a large bonus but if you run out of HP, you're done.

It's a point buy system with your points acting like Dresden Files refresh; if you go over a certain limit, you're a MCPC. Templates are in the chargen section, but they're questionably balanced.

There's a very Japanese way to tie characters together and come up with basic concepts via rolling on charts (think Maid).

You get Fate Points for doing cool stuff, but players who aren't directly in the scene (the game has blocking like a play) can give players in the scene FP like Munchhausen. I'm not sure, but I think that turns into XP/Morality points of you spend them.

The setting is magitech feudalism with Japanese ghosty bits. Noble born kids ride totally not!Evas and souls power gunblades and shit. It's an alternate kitchen sink setting if you're down with anime.

[OgreBattle]

Any more thoughts on it?

I like the setting and character archetypes, but wonder what combat is like in play.

[Dogbert]

Japanese RPG systems are usually like their music... both stuck in the early eighties.

The setting feels a bit like "Rifts goes anime" which is good as long as you don't mind the occasional squick.

While I'm usually all for dipping into other games to see what I can learn from them Game Design-wise, I think I learned long ago everything the 80s had to teach me.

I'd definitely buy a systemless version, though.

[Mask_De_H]

There's a setting book that came with the Kickstarter and it's pretty damn in-depth: the best thing would be to keep the Drama Points and the background chart from the system, then port the setting to your system or heartbreaker of choice.

Shadowrun 4th might actually be a good fit, off the top of my head.

[silva]

Ressurecting to ask how people experience went with the game. Im considering playing it again. Had just a single session but found it interesting. At the surface it looks a pretty trad rpg, but it has some neat "new age" shit under the surface.

Edit: this blog nailed some of the cool things Im talking about here.

[Nihnoz]

The advancement mechanics are broken but it doesn't matter because it's a oneshot game.

[noblebright]

I've played this a few times, and MC'd it once. In hindsight, I feel that the game is more like two separate games: a surprisingly modern (for its time period) rules-light narrative game, and an old-school, broken-as-hell crunchfest combat system.

Pretty much all of the prior criticisms of the game so far are correct. However, if you're into adolescent anime power fantasy, and don't mind liberal use of gentleman's agreements to hold the game together, it's a fairly enjoyable ride.

I can provide a more in-depth review if people are interested.

[silva]

Thanks for the info, folks.

And yes, I would be pretty much interested in a more in-depth impression, if you dont mind.

[noblebright]

Tenra Bansho Zero (TBZ) was originally released in 1998 by a Manga author/artist Junichi Inoue. 14 years later, the translated version was finally released, after a $129K push from Kickstarter. This long gap between its development and its US release date can contribute to a strange sense of dissonance, where some parts of the game (ie, all the combat mechanics) seem amazingly primitive compared to some of the other systems. That's because this game is almost old enough to get married, even though it just got released in English.

TBZ, like most old games, has no concept of CR or any sort of baseline for what reasonable opposition is. In fact, the game is explicitly biased towards a benevolent dictator model. We'll see this repeatedly throughout the book.

Introduction
The introduction is pretty typical of RPGs, with a "What is roleplaying" section, some cultural notes, and a glossary. There are a few differences though. The introduction immediately starts implying that TBZ is designed to be a railroad, and the players are there to enjoy the ride. Under a section labeled "GM's Powers and Abilities," we're straight-up told that one of the MC's abilities is "Cancelling the Effect of Another Player's Action". This is on page EIGHT. The MC gets the explicit right to say "Fuck You" to anything that would get you off of his train to story-town.

Core Mechanics
TBZ is fundamentally a d6 variable TN dice-pool system. There are 7 stats, which control how many dice are rolled for checks. Stats are on a 1-10 scale at character creation, but can exceed 10 during play. Skills are on a 0-4 scale, and set the TN for checks. 0 means "can't be used untrained", 1 means "untrained", and 4 means "badass". It is possible (with MC permission) to get to skill 5, which breaks the game right in half. A die that rolls equal to or under the TN is a success in this system. A character with stat 7 and skill 3 rolls 7 dice, with all dice that roll 3 or less being successes.

Drama System:
Stapled to the task resolution mechanic is a separate rules-light drama/xp system, based on "aiki", "fate", "karma" and "kiai" points. These terms make more sense in Japanese, but just confuse the shit out of non-Japanese speakers. This is also probably the only system worth salvaging from the book.

Karma is a rough total of a character's current XP expenditure, and has a hard cap of 108 points. This is meant to put a limit on the game's power level (*spoiler* it doesn't really work). Going over 108 makes your character an NPC.

"kiai" is basically spendable XP. It can be used on permanent things like increasing stats and skills, or it can be used for temporary things like boosting rolls or taking extra actions. Any kiai spent gets added to the Karma total.

"Aiki" is the equivalent of Drama Points in various other rules-lite RPGs, given when a player role-plays well. It is used for various meta-game actions, like declaring that a character is at some location, but its primary use is conversion into kiai. Aiki is gained from other players and the MC for roleplaying your fates well.

"Fates" are dramatic tags like "hates bullies". These are treated as specialized skills, but have their own level-up mechanic. They're used for three things: invoking one gets you a point of aiki, filtering aiki through one converts aiki to a much greater amount of kiai, and burning them reduces your effective Karma total. This last one is important, because it keeps your munchkin-ass character under the 108 point Karma cap. Fates themselves also have a limit based on how much Karma a character has. Low Karma characters have fewer and lower-level fates than high Karma characters.
It's notable that any player can assign fates to a character (with permission if it's not yours).

The basic economic cycle in TBZ is:
1. Get Aiki via playing your fates and generally being awesome.
2. Cash in Aiki for Kiai
3. Spend Kiai for bennies, and accumulate Karma
4. Increased Karma allows for more/stronger Fates
5a. More fates gives more opportunities to gain Aiki in play
5b. Stronger fates give better kiai per aiki returns, and reduce effective Karma more when burned

The drama system is pretty slick for such an old game. It lets characters gain power through stated goals, which is also a ready-made list of hooks for the MC. The game also moderately rewards players for accepting fates from other players (if you make your own fate, you burn aiki. If another player gives you a fate, they give you the aiki instead of burning it). By setting a hard Karma limit, it also encourages players to alter the things their character cares about, reducing stagnation and one-dimensional characters.

Next time: Character Creation

[silva]

Thanks for the impression, noblebright. I had the same overall impression from my first (and only) session so far: a pretty trad (and somewhat convoluted) central resolution coupled with some very fun "new school" bits and twists like the "relationship map" and the introduction of new elements to scenes by players.

Take your time, but please try to finish the review if possible.