Running a Samurai Campaign

[GamerAse]

So I've been toying with the idea of running a Samurai-themed campaign for a while now, and I've been looking for the adequate setting to do so. When I think "Samurai", I think Akira Kurosawa's movies, and partially Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns (which were pretty much Samurai movies with revolvers for katanas, IMHO).

What I mean by this is that I'm looking for a setting that lets me run a different sort of combat: less hack-and-slash and more of "conflict through resourcefulness" or even willpower. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, see the selection process when interviewing the applicants in Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai". They don't test their combat skills, but rather see if they can enter a room while managing not to get clubbed on the head by someone concealed at the entrance.

I've been recommended Dogs in the Vineyard's conflict resolution mechanic, and while it would probably work for direct confrontations, it is not quite what I had in mind, so I'm looking for alternatives.

Does anyone know of any systems that would fit the description?

[BWR]

The situational awareness thing is basically just a Sense Motive check, possibly a Spot/Perception check in d20 terms. Uncanny dodge to not be flat-footed. Any d20 game can be run to rely more on resourcefulness, communication and less on direct combat.

If you want non-d20 stuff, Legend of the Five Rings is the one that immediately leaps to mind. Sure, it has tons of magic and monsters in the setting, but you can easily ignore all magic and just run the game without any supernatural elements. Apart from that it's basically the samurai drama game. Combat is quick and deadly, and the situational awareness is handled by the system's equivalent of Spot, and the mass combat skill can be used for similar situations. The setting works very well for the typical samurai drama: lots of political trouble, intrigue, duty vs. honor vs. loyalty etc. When combat does happen, it's usually quick, brutal and deadly.

(and Kurosawa's movies were Westerns with swords; spaghetti westerns were not samurai movies with guns)

[Ravens_cry]

I happen to have in my possession an old eighties role playing game, Bushido. It could be what you are looking for.

[GamerAse]

The situational awareness thing is basically just a Sense Motive check, possibly a Spot/Perception check in d20 terms. Uncanny dodge to not be flat-footed. Any d20 game can be run to rely more on resourcefulness, communication and less on direct combat.

It's less about having a system that "supports" those interactions as it is having mechanics that motivate players to do them. And combat in d20 is nothing like what I have in mind for a Samurai-themed campaign: what I want to get through is that if two people draw their blades, one of them will most likely die / be severely maimed, with a single slash. D20 combat is fundamentally different from this.

If you want non-d20 stuff, Legend of the Five Rings is the one that immediately leaps to mind. Sure, it has tons of magic and monsters in the setting, but you can easily ignore all magic and just run the game without any supernatural elements. Apart from that it's basically the samurai drama game. Combat is quick and deadly, and the situational awareness is handled by the system's equivalent of Spot, and the mass combat skill can be used for similar situations. The setting works very well for the typical samurai drama: lots of political trouble, intrigue, duty vs. honor vs. loyalty etc. When combat does happen, it's usually quick, brutal and deadly.

That last part about the combat intrigued me, I'll look into it. I've read their setting, but I didn't analyze the mechanics.

(and Kurosawa's movies were Westerns with swords; spaghetti westerns were not samurai movies with guns)

I specifically mentioned Sergio Leone's work for a reason. A Fistful of Dollars is a carbon copy of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, and another great example as far as Westerns go is John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven, a remake of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. But this is probably a discussion for another thread

I happen to have in my possession an old eighties role playing game, Bushido. It could be what you are looking for.

I will look into it, thank you for the suggestion!

[Rhynn]

The Riddle of Steel has awesome mechanics for running chanbara combat, especially if you get The Flower of Battle. Too bad it's really damn hard to get.

Two unarmored men with katanas facing off and trying to out-draw the other (stealing/buying initiative in TROS) is going to end up with one of them losing a limb or getting killed, pretty much every time. Fighting is all about tactics and choosing the right tricks at the right times, and for unarmored combatants, it's terribly dangerous. For armored combatants (plenty of those in Kurosawa movies), it's only really dangerous...

As an extra bonus, TROS has a mechanic where, if neither combatant is willing to make the first move (e.g. they're both waiting for their opponent to attack so that they can parry and counter, killing the attacker; cf. Kyuzo's duel in Seven Samurai), they can use the Intimidate skill to try to force their opponent into making the first move... perfect for samurai showdowns.


There's also Sengoku, which is a pretty good RPG, but nothing spectacular.


Aside: samurai movies and spaghetti westerns had a weird relationship. The whole samurai movie genre was sort of inspired by early westerns (lone wanderers, etc.; there's even a gunslinger in Yojimbo), but then several westerns were made directly ripping off samurai movies (A Fistfull of Dollars, The Magnificent Seven), and then they got even weirder by just combining them (Red Sun), and then it just got postmodern with Sukiyaki Western Django...

[BWR]

Aside: samurai movies and spaghetti westerns had a weird relationship. The whole samurai movie genre was sort of inspired by early westerns (lone wanderers, etc.; there's even a gunslinger in Yojimbo), but then several westerns were made directly ripping off samurai movies (A Fistfull of Dollars, The Magnificent Seven), and then they got even weirder by just combining them (Red Sun), and then it just got postmodern with Sukiyaki Western Django...

Red Sun was pretty meh, but it had Toshiro Mifune in it, and Mifune makes everything good. Added bonus, we got to see him throwing Charles Bronson about.
And SWD was pure awesome. When the girl and I first started watching we wondered why everyone was speaking English (pretty good English as far as Japanese are concerned but still heavily accented). Then we realized why: because it worked perfectly. It was the greatest mixing of Eastern and Western (hah) genres we've seen, even edging out Jade Warrior.

[GreenZ]

I will personally suggest the L5R RPG. A d10 RPG in an eastern-style feudal era setting with a large emphasis on Samurai.

Called shots not only exist but are potent, a swift slice across the neck can kill as easily as twice the same blow across the body. Even a non-killing blow can disable people, as injuries give penalties to physical actions; a knife from the darkness does not always kill but it almost always cripples the target. Striking first is an important thing.

Arguments can be settled with words or swords to first blood, the winning Samurai is 'proven' correct by heavenly mandate. This means that fighting over simple arguments is risky, the possibility of not striking first can mean that even a simple problem turns into something much bigger.

Debates even has it's own system of 'combat'; skills much like those used for combat are used for debates and discussions. Awareness of an enemy ninja looking to take your life is not the same as Awareness of political situations and can each lead to a person's demise in different ways.

Finally, money and experience are not always the main goal. Samurai are provided for by their lords and seek Honor, Status, and Glory. Impressing a court with a regaling tale about how your friend killed a half-dozen Naga bare handed can earn just as much glory and status as actually killing those naga; it all depends on who hears it and how the story is told.

[GamerAse]

The Riddle of Steel has awesome mechanics for running chanbara combat, especially if you get The Flower of Battle. Too bad it's really damn hard to get.

Two unarmored men with katanas facing off and trying to out-draw the other (stealing/buying initiative in TROS) is going to end up with one of them losing a limb or getting killed, pretty much every time. Fighting is all about tactics and choosing the right tricks at the right times, and for unarmored combatants, it's terribly dangerous. For armored combatants (plenty of those in Kurosawa movies), it's only really dangerous...

As an extra bonus, TROS has a mechanic where, if neither combatant is willing to make the first move (e.g. they're both waiting for their opponent to attack so that they can parry and counter, killing the attacker; cf. Kyuzo's duel in Seven Samurai), they can use the Intimidate skill to try to force their opponent into making the first move... perfect for samurai showdowns.


There's also Sengoku, which is a pretty good RPG, but nothing spectacular.


Aside: samurai movies and spaghetti westerns had a weird relationship. The whole samurai movie genre was sort of inspired by early westerns (lone wanderers, etc.; there's even a gunslinger in Yojimbo), but then several westerns were made directly ripping off samurai movies (A Fistfull of Dollars, The Magnificent Seven), and then they got even weirder by just combining them (Red Sun), and then it just got postmodern with Sukiyaki Western Django...

The Riddle of Steel sounds exactly like what I wanted. I'll have to see if I can get my hands on it. I've looked into Sengoku, but it's not what I'm looking for.

I will personally suggest the L5R RPG. A d10 RPG in an eastern-style feudal era setting with a large emphasis on Samurai.

Called shots not only exist but are potent, a swift slice across the neck can kill as easily as twice the same blow across the body. Even a non-killing blow can disable people, as injuries give penalties to physical actions; a knife from the darkness does not always kill but it almost always cripples the target. Striking first is an important thing.

Arguments can be settled with words or swords to first blood, the winning Samurai is 'proven' correct by heavenly mandate. This means that fighting over simple arguments is risky, the possibility of not striking first can mean that even a simple problem turns into something much bigger.

Debates even has it's own system of 'combat'; skills much like those used for combat are used for debates and discussions. Awareness of an enemy ninja looking to take your life is not the same as Awareness of political situations and can each lead to a person's demise in different ways.

Finally, money and experience are not always the main goal. Samurai are provided for by their lords and seek Honor, Status, and Glory. Impressing a court with a regaling tale about how your friend killed a half-dozen Naga bare handed can earn just as much glory and status as actually killing those naga; it all depends on who hears it and how the story is told.

I read a lot of L5R today, and it works to an extent.... but the most interesting part of it is the setting, which I don't really need. Other than that, the wounds mechanic doesn't work for me.

[Janus]

Samurai campaign? It's simple, really. Every time a PC makes a mistake, s/he has to commit ritual sui-

Akira Kurosawa's movies

Oh. Never mind.

--
If you can't get Riddle of Steel, you might take a look at Blade of the Iron Throne: http://www.ironthronepublishing.com/ I understand they borrowed a lot of stuff from TROS.