in the dream, I was recruiting a player(an IRL friend I play with) & another player (an IRL friend who died a couple years ago) dropped in & was like, I already have my concept

& fuck he would have been perfect for it

anyway all of this is right out of my dream

the campaign is called Dig More Graves, a reference to the Buddhist proverb "if you set out on a journey of revenge, dig two graves"

it's set in a sort of... off-Sengoku Japan

where there are anachronisms, including youkai/demons & tenshin, "celestial messengers" living among the humans

but it's. a little Gensokyo, a little Battle Angel Alita, a little Blue-Eyed Samurai

where a brutal samurai retainer of a distant, powerful daimyo has, recently, slaughtered people the PCs care about

& they encounter one another while trying to track him down

and, like Gunm/Battle Angel Alita, they really only know the basics any uneducated person would know about the world they live in

& slowly, tracking this guy down gets players & characters alike a glimpse behind the curtain

why are there yokai? why are their tenshin? what do the inaccuracies in their expectations versus the reality of their world mean?

& the tone and general blood-spattered mess of it all are where it's more like Blue-Eye Samurai

and just... fuck, this goes so hard, I really want to run this, but I also very definitely do NOT have time

& also I don't know what system this goes in. some system in which you do not get piles of HP as you level, because it is essential to the feel that death could be one good sword-swing away

maybe WoD, maybe PBtA

oh damn this does indeed go hard

RIGHT?

& like. I didn't come up with ANY of that while awake

& this isn't even everything, because I know what's going on behind the scenes, I just don't want to say in case I do run this at some point, I don't want to spoil potential players

(fun fact: you could play a yokai & it would not spoil you for any of the mysteries. 99% of the yokai also don't know.)

(you could play a tenshi but they mostly know the answer to like. 33-50% of the big mysteries. not as fun.)

also, with the likelihood of PC death, you could easily bring in a new PC, because there is no shortage of new people who also want this samurai dead

making a backup lineup of 10 characters at the start is not only acceptable it's encouraged

this sounds so baller

superfine: 100%!

so, one of my current games is a Sith Academy game, & I had all my players start with 2 characters for just that reason

& even though none of the "primary" characters have died yet (many secondaries have), just the consciousness of having backup characters changes the way people play

makes them both more cautious AND more reckless. it changes the understood shape of the story & the understood stakes of the game.

also, thinking about level of magic this game would have available to starting players

more than anything we claim Miyamoto Musashi did

less than a Hashira breathing technique from Demon Slayer

Very much digging that idea.

I'm gonna have to do it at some point. but I don't know when, I don't have the time.

/grumble

Tenra Bansho Zero: Heaven and Earth Edition by Kotod...

a rules set and setting for this for your consideration

kami help me, I have started worldbuilding

not sure if I'll be using TBZ or not - it looks rad but it doesn't quite fit some of the things I want to do - but I'm working on narrative stuff now anyway

the shogunate, the geography, etc

out of curiosity, was toldness the current player you were recruiting?

nope!

mmkay. it seemed like particularly his style

I have now, in the waking world, recruited him for it.

superfine TeaMergency arashimikata possibly therealbliss or dastonyth maybe taking a crack at this starting in August-ish, if you're interested

I'm not sure I'd have the funds or energy to be in two campaigns at once, but if our current one ends while this one is still running I'd definitely be interested!

I've never tabletopped except for a few hours before LMAO. But if my online class ends...

no idea if I will have time for another game but definitely potentially interested

superfine: so far this would not be a paid game, so no worries on that score!

hmmm I will consider!

slides in here to express my interest

So far this is the strongest possible for my new Wednesday evening game in July or August. if TeaMergency can make it, I already have a totally full party (if that schedule works - it's not the ONLY possible day, just the most likely day)

also if you want to use WOD for this, i have a physical copy of the changing breeds book for asian shapeshifters

i'd be happy to take it apart and scan it in for you!

I already have A Source for that, but I appreciate you!

(if WoD, I am probably using the base rules but effectively making my own splatbook for the worldbuilding)

of course!! anytime :3

not me maybe already putting a pinboard together for my character ideas lmfao

hue hue hue

Hi hello yes, Wed is good, bearing in mind I've barely tabletopped

Going to have to slap my hand away from making not!Mizu

then that gives me 6-7 people who are at least tentatively interested. I will set up a Discord server for further discussion At Some Point In The Next Few Weeks once I am more sure of when I will have time to start, etc.