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Bushido (role-playing game)
Encyclopedia
Bushido is a Samurai
role-playing game
set in Feudal Japan, originally designed by Robert N. Charrette
and Paul R. Hume and published originally by Tyr Games then Phoenix Games and subsequently by Fantasy Games Unlimited
. The setting for the game is a land called Nippon
and characters adventure in this heroic, mythic and fantastic analogue of Japan
's past.
It is thematically based on Chanbara movies, such as those made by Akira Kurosawa
, in which the heroes are modestly superhuman but not extraordinarily so.
, a tri-fold screen, a character sheet
, Book I, The Heroes of Nippon, the Players Guidebook and Book II, The Land of Nippon, the Gamesmaster's Guidebook. All illustrations in the original boxed set are copyright by Robert N. Charrette. The game is now sold as a single book in which the two original books are combined (otherwise unaltered).
As with most role-playing games, Bushido players use characters defined by a series of attributes, skills, professions and levels. The professions are Bushi (fighters), Budoka (martial artists), Yakuza
(gangsters), Ninja
, Shugenja
(Taoist-style wizards) and Gakusho (priests, either Buddhist or Shinto
). Character progression is implemented by both down-time training and level advancement. There are only six character levels, an unusually small number in role-playing games.
Social aspects are very important in the game. Each character is randomly assigned at birth to a class in the strict feudal hierarchy of Nippon - Samurai
, various commoner
classes, and Eta
. For level advancement, honour
able behaviour and loyal
service to the character's social group (the local lord, the ninja clan, the temple, the gang, etc.) are as important as defeating enemies in battle.
The Bushido system is dice-based, most important rolls being made with a twenty-sided (d20) die. Although the rules system is relatively simple, the cultural setting, the deadliness of combat, and the need to preserve and build the character's honour score encourage role-playing and reduce "hack 'n' slash" tendencies. The gamemaster can use the various social obligations of the characters to create dilemmas which cannot necessarily be overcome by violence.
Shugenja and Gakusho can use magic but it is relatively weak in comparison with many role-playing games. The social focus of the game also works to suppress the power of magic-users. At the discretion of the gamemaster, supernatural monster
s may feature in the game, greatly increasing the importance of magic-users.
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
set in Feudal Japan, originally designed by Robert N. Charrette
Robert N. Charrette
Robert N. Charrette has worked as a graphic artist, game designer, art director, commercial sculptor, and author. He co-wrote, with Paul Hume, Bushido, Aftermath!, and Daredevils for Fantasy Games Unlimited. Other works include FASA’s BattleTech and Shadowrun series which he co-designed along...
and Paul R. Hume and published originally by Tyr Games then Phoenix Games and subsequently by Fantasy Games Unlimited
Fantasy Games Unlimited
Fantasy Games Unlimited, often referred to as just FGU, is a publishing house for both table-top and role-playing games. They have no in-house design teams and rely on submitted material from outside talent.-History:...
. The setting for the game is a land called Nippon
Nippon
Nippon is a native name for Japan, more formal than Nihon.Nippon can also refer to:-Company names:All of the following companies are based in Japan.*Nikon *Nippon Telegraph and Telephone...
and characters adventure in this heroic, mythic and fantastic analogue of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's past.
It is thematically based on Chanbara movies, such as those made by Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, in which the heroes are modestly superhuman but not extraordinarily so.
Overview
The Bushido role-playing game was originally published in 1979 by Tyr Games but was more widely released in 1980 by Phoenix Games as a boxed set. This edition included a map of NipponNippon
Nippon is a native name for Japan, more formal than Nihon.Nippon can also refer to:-Company names:All of the following companies are based in Japan.*Nikon *Nippon Telegraph and Telephone...
, a tri-fold screen, a character sheet
Character sheet
A character sheet is a record of a player character in a role-playing game, including whatever details, notes, game statistics, and background information a player would need during a play session. Character sheets can be found in use in both traditional and action role-playing games...
, Book I, The Heroes of Nippon, the Players Guidebook and Book II, The Land of Nippon, the Gamesmaster's Guidebook. All illustrations in the original boxed set are copyright by Robert N. Charrette. The game is now sold as a single book in which the two original books are combined (otherwise unaltered).
As with most role-playing games, Bushido players use characters defined by a series of attributes, skills, professions and levels. The professions are Bushi (fighters), Budoka (martial artists), Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
(gangsters), Ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
, Shugenja
Shugenja
Shugenja were the 7th century practitioners of the Japanese religion of Shugendō. They were sometimes known as yamabushi, incorrectly translated as "mountain warriors", "warrior priests", "bandit monks", etc., though warrior priests or warrior monks are correctly termed sōhei in...
(Taoist-style wizards) and Gakusho (priests, either Buddhist or Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
). Character progression is implemented by both down-time training and level advancement. There are only six character levels, an unusually small number in role-playing games.
Social aspects are very important in the game. Each character is randomly assigned at birth to a class in the strict feudal hierarchy of Nippon - Samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
, various commoner
Commoner
In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Therefore, any member of the Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince Harry of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title,...
classes, and Eta
Burakumin
are a Japanese social minority group. The burakumin are one of the main minority groups in Japan, along with the Ainu of Hokkaidō, the Ryukyuans of Okinawa and Japanese residents of Korean and Chinese descent....
. For level advancement, honour
Honour
Honour or honor is an abstract concept entailing a perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects both the social standing and the self-evaluation of an individual or corporate body such as a family, school, regiment or nation...
able behaviour and loyal
Loyal
Loyal may refer to:* The concept of loyalty* Ben Loyal, a mountain in Sutherland* Loyal , an album from New Zealand musician Dave Dobbyn* Investec LOYAL, a racing yacht* Some places named Loyal in the United States:** Loyal, Oklahoma...
service to the character's social group (the local lord, the ninja clan, the temple, the gang, etc.) are as important as defeating enemies in battle.
The Bushido system is dice-based, most important rolls being made with a twenty-sided (d20) die. Although the rules system is relatively simple, the cultural setting, the deadliness of combat, and the need to preserve and build the character's honour score encourage role-playing and reduce "hack 'n' slash" tendencies. The gamemaster can use the various social obligations of the characters to create dilemmas which cannot necessarily be overcome by violence.
Shugenja and Gakusho can use magic but it is relatively weak in comparison with many role-playing games. The social focus of the game also works to suppress the power of magic-users. At the discretion of the gamemaster, supernatural monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
s may feature in the game, greatly increasing the importance of magic-users.
Supplements published for Bushido
- Valley of the Mists by Robert N. Charrette, Published by Fantasy Games Unlimited
- Takishido's Debt by Steve Bell, Published by Fantasy Games Unlimited
- Ninja - Shadows Over Nippon Published by Fantasy Games Unlimited
- Adventures in White DwarfWhite Dwarf (magazine)White Dwarf is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop. Initially covering a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction role-playing and board games, particularly the role playing games Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest and Traveller...
#47 (Kwaidan by Oliver Johnson and Dave Morris) - Articles in White Dwarf #57 (Ninjas), #85 (Entertainers)
Other Oriental-themed role-playing games
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and published in 1980 by Fantasy Games UnlimitedFantasy Games UnlimitedFantasy Games Unlimited, often referred to as just FGU, is a publishing house for both table-top and role-playing games. They have no in-house design teams and rely on submitted material from outside talent.-History:... - Oriental AdventuresOriental AdventuresOriental Adventures is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
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role-playing game, produced in 1985 by Gary GygaxGary GygaxErnest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
's TSR, Inc.TSR, Inc.Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc.... - Land of Ninja: published simultaneously in 1987 in the USA by Avalon HillAvalon HillAvalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
and in the UK by Games WorkshopGames WorkshopGames Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
(but each edition having its own cover art) Land of Ninja was a supplement for the third edition of RuneQuestRuneQuestRuneQuest is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 1978 by Chaosium, created by Steve Perrin and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of Glorantha. RuneQuest was notable for its original gaming system and for its verisimilitude in adhering to an original fantasy world...
, but set in a both mythological and historical Japan. - Legend of the Five RingsLegend of the Five RingsLegend of the Five Rings is a fictional setting created by the John Wick and published by Alderac Entertainment Group in 1995. The setting primarily involves the fictional country of Rokugan, though some additional areas and cultures have been discussed. Rokugan is based roughly on feudal Japan...
: a role-playing game and accompanying collectible card gameCollectible card gamethumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
, produced in 1995 by Alderac Entertainment GroupAlderac Entertainment GroupAlderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California...
. - SengokuSengoku (role-playing game)Sengoku: Chanbara Roleplaying in Feudal Japan is a Samurai role-playing game, created by Anthony J. Bryant and Mark Arsenault and published by Gold Rush Games. The setting for the game is 16th century Japan. The tone can be realistic, heroic as in Akira Kurosawa films, or superheroic as in many...
: produced in 1999 by Gold Rush Games. - Oriental AdventuresOriental AdventuresOriental Adventures is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
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. - Ruins and Ronin: Produced by Mike Davison, a Medieval/Fantasy themed role-playing game set in a Japanese cultural setting.