The Land of the Rising Sun - Japan in your TTRPG
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- We go and take a look at the Japanese culture, focusing on their Edo period, and why and how you can make use of the characteristics, flair, and uniqueness of the Japanese culture in your tabletop role-playing game whether you use them directly, all take aspects of them to build your own unique culture in your world.
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Let us know what aspects about Japanese culture you have used in your role-playing game in the comments below!
Guy I have to tell you, I loved my history classes in school already, but I think you would be excellent teaching an online course of some kind. Focus on tabletop gaming aside, you have an excellent delivery and you always provide engaging content.
Imagine how many kids he could help to read and write their own stories.
My wife is Japanese and I'm running a rokugan campaign based on Sailor Moon for her.
She's a samurai, a yojimbo (bodyguard) for a noble shugenja (priest). There's even a talking cat with a unicorn horn! There's a mysterious masked lady wizard that fills the tuxedo mask role.
They're fighting Oni and demons trying to thwart the dark queen from summoning Fu Leng, the evilest kami.
It's fun because I can just threaten more than just death. A consequence that results in their honor being lowered is more than often enough motivation to hook the characters into plots.
This video is really good! Great information and entertaining.
Tokugawa didn't really create Edo Japan. He just kind of was able to insert himself at the top. The war was really won by Oda Nobanaga and the system was created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Incidentally Japan would have been starkly different if Oda wasn't assassinated. Oda wanted to have open ports for foreign trade, supported practice of Christianity, and definitely wouldn't support a rigid caste (he not only gave a lowly peasant a high position in the military [Hideyoshi] but also a slave to a Dutch priest was given status of samurai [Yusuke]).
You are correct, well, as correct as one can be for history! Nobanaga was very much the true mastermind, but as you pointed out - assassinated for his 'gaijin' ideas (although that was probably the 'reason' given, when in actual fact it was just a power grab). When I make these videos, it's meant to inspire and encourage research rather than be a complete history. Having said that - please never stop sharing information! We are all here to learn!
@@HowtobeaGreatGM In that vain than, a game based on Date Masamune's expedition (well, he funded it) to Rome could be an interesting idea for an adventure or two. Instead of having the players be brought to Japan, have Japan brought to the players (so to speak).
The Shimabara Rebellion could be another cool setting. Peasants and ronin rising up against over taxation. Supposedly foreigners were helping the rebels. Though the Dutch were definitely helping the government.
Or perhaps a game set at the end of an Edo like period when foreign influences are reshaping Japan social and political landscape which leads into one last civil war.
Honestly, the way that the Japanese culture is described immediately reminds me of Elves. I imagine they would strongly embrace tradition and forgo owning many processions, but what they do own would be exceedingly expensive. The immediate idea I get is a wood/high Elven styled society up in the trees where actual living space would be sparce, thus an Elven Lord who had a hall that could hold even 50 individuals would be considered extravagant.
I might have to muse on that, as thus far I've imagined a Norse style renaissance era setting where Humans and Dwarf folk have basically co-existed as a society of artisans and had once been a warrior based society that prided itself on community. To protect itself from the other realms it erected immensely huge magical wards that effectively allowed themselves to separate their Kingdom from the other realms by a immense Prismatic Wall, only accessable by trading stations so that other nations would be forced to bend the knee (given that some of the more hostile nations were giants or giant kind, quite literally) to negotiate on even terms. The inciting incident? A colossal thunderstorm lasting an entire week devastated the wall and all the wizards and sorcery went missing in the chaos that followed, forcing a society that had transitioned from a Jarl based to a more mercantile focused society to be forced to engage with a world that has strongly different values to they.
I think my favorite festival in Japan was a local one, right around my neighborhood.
Out near Oji Station, the Oji neighborhood celebrates New Year's Eve with a parade of fox masks. All the mask vendors set up stalls on the streets, local crafts stores turn into fox mask stores for the night, all the usual festival foods show up, of course, and local stores serve sake to whoever wants some.
All the various who's-who of the Oji community - your officials, your Shinto priests, dance troupes from the local schools, everyone - dons Inari fox masks and costumes of all sorts, and they parade with that incredible Japanese folk music of drums and bells, all the way to Oji Shrine for the first prayers of the new year.
The entire procession is meant to imitate the parades that were held, some still believe, by actual Inari fox spirits who used to be seen quite regularly in the fields around what is now Oji, at least until most of the original trees were cut down however long ago, and marching to Oji Shrine (where a magic well in which the Inari fox spirits lived is once thought to have stood) in this way, complete with a Fox King and Fox Queen, is meant to honor them.
It was always a wonderful experience.
Can you do a deep dive into (India) Indian culture, society, and mythology?
Guy 🌸 I just love to listen to your rambleing - and all the facts and tips too, ofcourse, but today the random spontaneous perhaps non-scripted rambleing is what inspired me the most!
"Do not fall into the trap of thinking"......OK I'm good.
Another interesting option is to either mix and match time periods (after all, your fantasy cultures are similar to, but are NOT typically just Ancient Japan), or to have multiple different cultures based on different time periods.
Want civilization 1 to borrow from the court struggles between the royal family and the Fujuwara? Go for it.
Want the next to be inspired by the "Country Samurai?" Go nuts.
Want one culture to be based on the Ainu, complete with pet bears? Sweet.
What's that? You want your party to spend the night in a noble family's house and be caught off-guard by Yamato period dating rituals, and the cult of beauty? How devious...
Just remember you should probably be using the honor stat and allowing honor checks in such situations as the above courting scenario, and that the weapons of choice absolutely varied from period to period. Yari, for instance, were popular for quite a while, and katanas only found favor when they had to use differential hardening to make up for less-than-ideal steel.
....Also, gonna throw my guess in: if we're talking 5e races only, I'm guessing either orc, hobgoblin, or, weirdly enough, dwarf..
Much of the pageantry of sumo, from my reading, comes from it's origins as a religious activity. I also have been led to believe that the banning of sumo was in response to the power of the religious sector.
Sumo was also known as apart of samurais martial training so they probably also ban it to restrict the power of the samurais as well.
Hey Guy, I’m busy I aint got time to sit here and watch the whole video! As I watch the whole video!
I love the multi-character perspectives. It mixes things up nicely and adds to entertainment value, plus it lets you show off your awesome talent for character voices!
Newly appointed Daimyo:
"I don't think the shogun likes me, because I'm pretty certain this is the city dump."
Another amazing and really fun video! Thank you! Regarding Japan, Shogun and so on, I would like to share this information, as I think they could be useful as plot, atmosphere and so on.
All the Daymos must go to the Capital usually every 2 years (if I remember well), with all their courts. For prestige and honor, the daymo spent a lot of resourses for this travel, a truly display of power all around the Country.. but…. it was a great Shogun idea! With less financial power, none daymo can build a great army to made a rebellion!
Al the Daymo family must live in the capital. This was imposed to the Daymo's sons.
Positive: the son are well educated, they can build good relation with other powerful member of other clans
Negative: well, the sons live under Shogun eyes...if the father try any action against the Shogun, the son can be used for blackmail…
Regarding Castle I suggest to mention Shogun Castle in Kyoto. Undr pavment there is a lot of small bell; none can walk through it in silence (Shogun was a little bit paranoid?)
I'm not mothertongue, hope you can understand.
Regarding the race who fits this coulture in a fantasy game, I quote Hobgoblin! A War focused race united under a great leader who now live in peace, but with a subtle, thin form of violence covered by etiquette and ceremonies
This gave me an idea for a reskin of the swarmkeeper ranger. What if you used Shikigami as your swarm? Instead of bugs or fey, just use those little Japanese paper dolls
That intro is me every time I attempt an accent. Also this was a wonderful overview of the culture 😊 in my campaign my fey culture is inspired by the Edo and Heian periods.
One of the things about the food in Japan and oriental countries is that it is less about flavor and more about the texture of the food. There is very little sugary food in Japan.
Original food yes, western food has still made significant inroads.
I like how less than 1% of the video was about Japan in games and most was just a cultural lesson.
I have people called the Roki in my world, named after the first emperor who split them off from the Roke during the liberation war. Over 800 years have passed since then, and now the Roke, who live in the mountains overlooking the desert, have taken on aspects of arabic cultures as they expanded into said desert and founded a new religion based on the phases of the moon (The war was more propoganda than battling, and so the Roke were left as outcasts from the Roki, and so eventually sought to cast aside any and all Roki teachings, leading to a culture that grew ever distincter from their people of origin). The Roki on the otherhand took coastal land and dense marshes, mining terrible quality Iron since, unknown to them at the time, the desert yielded many secrets... and treasures. When the Norheim peoples attacked the Roki, the Roki became so desperate for arms and armor they turned to the people they once shunned. This trade relationship started off shaky and mutually at blade's end, but the threat of both the desert dwelling Rashiad who learned to use the desert's strong winds to their advantage, and the cold bellied Norheimers becoming prevelant, old enemies formed a new alliance to survive.
My Roki have aspects of Japanese culture, but I also borrowed aspects of native american cultures to better match the lands the Roki inhabit. Thanks to very little infighting and a steady food supply, the Roki have not evolved as a mirror image of Japan. An example of aspects I borrowed is the idea everything has a spirit. The Roki believe ownership of an object instills part of a person's soul into that object, and so greed brings about a weak spirit. Vandalism is akin to assault because of this belief, and gifts of anything but food are WAY to personal a gift as you are quite literally gifting part of your soul to that person. Personal objects stay within a family, and merchants keep a technicality of law that means they do not own their products, but rather a mercantile entity owns their products so as not to impart part of their soul into their property. Business' in turn are ALWAYS group efforts, and because food is the only thing really traded between individuals, cooking is a VERY strong aspect of Roki culture. Eventually, it evolved into impressive dishes being offered, and being judged harshly on one's cooking talent.
Sorry for the Ramble... I guess what I am getting at is use influences, take aspects, but don't mirror them, run with them your own way, but in a respectful manner.
Sorry i'm two years late but just had to comment on this, I actually never found mochi to be all that chewy and if it is I've never noticed but then again I've only ate the boxed mochi you can get in the US so I may never know :p
Wait, what did you say? I fell into a trap.
Data, data, what's the difference?
One is my name, the other is not.
Shayne Sangster Brett Steiner is that you?
There should be a around the world travel program with Guy and his boyfriend
Boosting vid for algorithm
So any idea to do Chinese culture?
I mean they seem to have very little coverage even in Kara-Tur's Kung-Fu movie-inspired fantasy (even then most of what I read feels like Japan's monasteries---mainly sectarian conflict and Sohei as armed retinue--rather than martial art schools). Granted Kara-Tur--both the OA and the fluff book--was written before Chinese pop culture became widespread (there are Shaw brothers and Bruce Lee, but not the type to depict armies, government, and society compared to Chambara), even Romance of the Three Kingdoms* would be experienced through either Dynasty Warriors (a Japanese game) and Total War (a British studio) for many potential writers.
* Yeah, they might have books but there is problem with lack of visual representation (think Sweden's poorly made Lion taxidermy due to lack of visual reference).
The entire island they traveled to is populated by the oriental adventures cultures. The seafaring Sodrar dwarves I made have samurai styled armor/history/junk ships.
Oriental Adventures campaign books are really good to reference too!
That's a great Mako.
Personally I feel that Japan and "Totally not Japan" equivalents in TTRPGs tend to get either boring or cringey as the more stereotypical "weeb" arch types often just tout it as: "Best civilization eva!" where its basically a utopia and everything is better (especially the warriors) which just makes me wonder why the party is even there to stop X villain if the warriors are better then us in every way and the society is more or less unaffected. This happening 9 out of 10 times i went there in a game has left a very sour taste in my mouth.
I'm sure people have done it justice without becoming an eye rolling cringe fest but every time i hear "We're going to a mysterious land to the East" i can feel my very skeleton trying to escape from what is probably going to be the "anime-ized" version of Japan, overblown flashy abilities and op magic swords included.
I'd rather go literally anywhere else then another "Japan" setting when there's dozens of other cultures and civilizations to be explored
Ironically, Kara-Tur TRIED it but it get cringey when it put Japanese terms like gaijin and I think in one module even suggested playing a local samurai in fantasy China.
It was 80’s but the problem carrried over in forgotten realms, like west gate Chinatown (published for 4E in 2000’s and Marsember for 3E before thsf) having samurai even if contemporary works did try to tell players that samurai is Japanese.
Keep in mind Japan is in a prime location of every kind of natural disasters imaginable including several active volcanos nearby and people of Japan lived in a tight spaces and lived a minimalist lifestyle and over billions people lived in Japan so Japan while majestic is a dangerous place to be then again so many places around the world is dangerous in some forms or another.
Dramatized DM story for the first ad of the vid spot on RUclips. Lmao
Are you going to cover Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and the Shinto beliefs in a future video?
Sad this video came out the day the current edition of Legend of the 5 Rings has been confirmed as a dead game along with FFGs other Rpgs :(
Your detective has a Texas kind of accent . I think in order to convincingly pull one of those off you are going to need some sort of wide brimmed hat, usually curled up at the sides and punched down on top. And, I think they really liked wearing their credentials on their lapel in the form of a stamped out metal, six-pointed star... . I mean, if I'm not mistaken.
It is definitely Southern US, I heard southern Georgia as well
Retire that character.
Aww
I had a hearty chuckle at the start of the video, it really reminded me of the accents I would used when attempting to trope as a lore giver who didn't actually know what he was talking about. Indeed, there are a lot of "masters" across the globe that are fake masters that wax liqurial and adhere strongly to tradition, be it swords men, artisans, martial artists and so fourth. I imagine that is the primary downfall of Japanese martial arts as it priotises perceived tradition and castle system over improvement. Indeed the act of nobility was merely pretending to be more important and having the wealth to back it up; if people by large didn't believe in the system, the system would fall apart. I mean, what more proof do we need then European HEMA focused primarily on sword play, when it wasn't particularly important at all for war in the time period compared to the superior qualities of the Polearm? Even daggers were much more useful against armour. People sucker themselves into illusions all the time because people of stern stature talk with such conviction.
I can see why Guy rambling in peudo Japanese might be considered offensive to some, but personally I find it hilarious poke at he serious master trope. XD
Why?
Intro was kinda racist lol
The accents are extremely distracting
??? Does this ever end? O ya... when i switch channels!!!
This gave me an idea for a reskin of the swarmkeeper ranger. What if you used Shikigami as your swarm? Instead of bugs or fey, just use those little Japanese paper dolls