Darkest Soul: Zero Act and Act One

What's all this? Well, I've finally started running a game of Tenra Bansho Zero, a short-form Japanese RPG that's been recently translated into English by Andy Kitkowski. I've written a couple articles drawing from it, both here and here, and it's finally time that I relay some of my actual-play experience with the system. Spoiler alert: it's awesome.

How to Win an RPG: the GM's Side

Before reading this, you probably want to read the preceding post, which is about the same topic, but from the player's side. I'm continuing from there, outlining what Tenra Bansho Zero has to say about winning the game on the GM's side. It's a bit of a different objective list, and it combines lethally (in a good way) with the players' objectives.

How to Win an RPG: the Player's Side

So, I've got ahold of a pre-release copy of Tenra Bansho Zero, a newly-localized Japanese RPG that's going into publication in January. Let me say this: it is phenomenal. As one RPG.net poster described it, it's a "best hits" of the past decade of RPGs, and it was made in 1997! (Well, there were a few updates introduced three years later, but the bulk of the game is still 15 years old.) There's something very early on that really caught my attention, though. In the opening to the game, it outlines a very simple idea: there is a way to "win" an RPG, and it has to do with making the experience great...