For Day 4 this year we're talking about the most memorable NPC. I never miss the chance to sing the praises of Ryuutama, and I'm not letting this one pass me by. This game--described as Miyazaki's Oregon Trail--is all about the journey and making it from point A to point B..you know the stuff we usually skip over in modern D&D. It originated in Japan where it is very popular--as is Tunnels and Trolls if you haven't heard--but that's not why you called. An indy group KickStarted English translation released a very sturdy and pleasing to look at core book with a couple of free online supplements. There is said to be another hard cover supplement to come--not group funded--but it seems to have slowed, and I'm not sure of the current status, but I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for any update I can get.
One of the most unique features of Ryuutama is that the GM has a character called a Ryuujin. This character has its own character sheet, abilities, and experience chart. Being an older guy, the Ryuujin reminded me a lot of the "Dungeon Master" character in the old D&D cartoon except depending on how you handle her, she can be more proactive. My Ryuujin was a female green dragon named KiraKira which was the Japanese word for Glitter--again if you're old, you may remember Glitter was the name of the pixie in the 80's cartoon, Kidd Video.
So, these Ryuujin can take many different forms. Their true form is a dragon. I made KiraKira to be a green dragon which is the most 'classic adventures' of the lot. You could choose Red, Blue, or Black who have their own unique focus. The Ryuujin have at least two other forms--the first can be anything mundane that the PCs interact with. KiraKira was an articulate pixie marionette with blue green hair. The second form is a horned-humanoid with wings--Kirakira was a girl with blue green eyes and hair. Her hair was long enough to cover the horns and she kept her wings as hidden as she could. The final form is a dragon of over ten meters long. As the Ryuujin continues to grow one of her powers is either to appear as a brand new character with no memory who joins the party or to possess and control a different NPC. KiraKira possessed a young archaeologist named Akiko who also had blue green hair.
In theory, I actually have never liked having a GM player character, but in fact, due to being short of players, I've had to run one or more several times. Ryuutama is the first game I've ever played that had one built into the rules. KiraKira was most memorable because I played as her from October 2016 up until May of 2017. She grew with the party and I was able to do session recaps, teach the players, and somewhat railroad them without railroading them as to how to continue the plot all through her eyes. She helped the party through the difficult journey portion of the game--which really is a lot like Oregon Trail and far more dangerous than the actual enemies--and eventually, once she possessed Akiko she was able to give more physical help. I ran with her up until the max level where even more abilities opened up. The party really seemed to like her. After what ended up being the most epic battle we would have in the campaign, I had her disappear to be replaced with a new Red Ryuujin, but that was around the time my players had problems making the sessions. I lost the plot, let KiraKira come back for one more blow-out dungeon crawl and then put the campaign on hiatus where it has since remained. She'll always be a memorable NPC for me.
P.S. In the Japanese rules I could always bring KiraKira back to lead a new party of adventurers but I should have a paper signed by all my players to confirm how many sessions we played. Now is that just cute or what? You can learn more about Ryuutama here: http://kotohi.com/ryuutama/
I don't know which anime these drawings really come from, but they were all re-purposed to be KiraKira...and the last one is Akiko.
One of the most unique features of Ryuutama is that the GM has a character called a Ryuujin. This character has its own character sheet, abilities, and experience chart. Being an older guy, the Ryuujin reminded me a lot of the "Dungeon Master" character in the old D&D cartoon except depending on how you handle her, she can be more proactive. My Ryuujin was a female green dragon named KiraKira which was the Japanese word for Glitter--again if you're old, you may remember Glitter was the name of the pixie in the 80's cartoon, Kidd Video.
So, these Ryuujin can take many different forms. Their true form is a dragon. I made KiraKira to be a green dragon which is the most 'classic adventures' of the lot. You could choose Red, Blue, or Black who have their own unique focus. The Ryuujin have at least two other forms--the first can be anything mundane that the PCs interact with. KiraKira was an articulate pixie marionette with blue green hair. The second form is a horned-humanoid with wings--Kirakira was a girl with blue green eyes and hair. Her hair was long enough to cover the horns and she kept her wings as hidden as she could. The final form is a dragon of over ten meters long. As the Ryuujin continues to grow one of her powers is either to appear as a brand new character with no memory who joins the party or to possess and control a different NPC. KiraKira possessed a young archaeologist named Akiko who also had blue green hair.
In theory, I actually have never liked having a GM player character, but in fact, due to being short of players, I've had to run one or more several times. Ryuutama is the first game I've ever played that had one built into the rules. KiraKira was most memorable because I played as her from October 2016 up until May of 2017. She grew with the party and I was able to do session recaps, teach the players, and somewhat railroad them without railroading them as to how to continue the plot all through her eyes. She helped the party through the difficult journey portion of the game--which really is a lot like Oregon Trail and far more dangerous than the actual enemies--and eventually, once she possessed Akiko she was able to give more physical help. I ran with her up until the max level where even more abilities opened up. The party really seemed to like her. After what ended up being the most epic battle we would have in the campaign, I had her disappear to be replaced with a new Red Ryuujin, but that was around the time my players had problems making the sessions. I lost the plot, let KiraKira come back for one more blow-out dungeon crawl and then put the campaign on hiatus where it has since remained. She'll always be a memorable NPC for me.
P.S. In the Japanese rules I could always bring KiraKira back to lead a new party of adventurers but I should have a paper signed by all my players to confirm how many sessions we played. Now is that just cute or what? You can learn more about Ryuutama here: http://kotohi.com/ryuutama/
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