Sorry about fewer updates than usual this week; Real Life and Day Job calling. PART II - RULEBOOK (pages 5-20)
I have been working on some Groknard stuff, though. Coming up is that closer look at STAGFF, and this week I started translating Tsukuda's Enterprise, the Japanese TRPG introduced previously. As I dig into it deeper, Enterprise is turning out to be quite interesting. It takes its position as the first real Japanese-language RPG very seriously, and spends a great deal of time (and precision) imparting the the basics and history of roleplaying games to its reader to an even greater degree than seen in TSR's Basic D&D. It makes no assumptions and often draws distinctions between the RPG and the simulation wargame (already quite popular in Japan at the time), and references western games such as D&D, Tunnels & Trolls, DragonQuest and Traveller. The rulebook is deceptively small. With virtually no illustrations, it manages to squeeze a great deal of RPG concepts and rules for the game into its 20 kana/kanji typeset pages.
I was mostly correct with my initial perceptions of the game: the mechanic is 2d10 roll under attribute for many task resolutions with some percentile rolls; characters have five basic attributes, with rules provided for PSY (Psionic) and a few other special abilities; Alignment is an an important trait for use with encounters with NPC characters; and there are no rules for starships or starship combat, with adventures mostly limited to landing party type missions.
I was mistaken on a few things. There are rules for race, skills and custom character creation. The rules are structured in such a way as to support a "basic" game that consists of using the pre-generated characters and their cards in the adventure included with the game. But the rulebook also stresses that the real fun continues when players create their own characters, and game masters create their own scenarios, and provides plenty of guidelines for doing so.
Oh, and those Alignments? Very cool: Logical Good, Logical Bad, Neutral, Emotional Good, Emotional Bad. Very Star Trek!
In terms of both its familiar SF setting setting and its execution, Enterprise seems to have been the perfect introduction to Japanese audiences for tabletop RPGs. But as I said previously, I'm not altogether certain it made much of an impact at all especially in comparison to the soon-to-come translated imports of Tunnels & Trolls and Traveller, later domestic TRPGs such as Roads to Lord and Sword World, and the very Japanese concept of published replays (example role-playing sessions in book form).
With that, here's the Table of Contents for the Enterprise Rule Book, to give you a better idea of what all the game covered:
PART I - GUIDE TO ROLE PLAYING (pages 1-4)
1. To Start
2. Contents of Game
3. Progress of game
4. Characters
4.1 Strength(physical strength)
4.2 Dexterity (deftness)
4.3 IQ
4.4 Charisma
4.5 Luck (fate)
4-1 Personality/makeup of Character
-1 Race
-2 Alignment
4-2 Trait and bonus of each numerical value
4-3 Equipment
5. Specialities (specific abilities)
5-1 Types
5-2 Mechanic Repair (repair ability)
5-3 Medical Talent
5-4 Science Talent
5-5 PSY Talent (ESP)
5-6 Limitations of PSY
6. Character Creation
7. Adventure
7-1 Movement
7-2 Movement and Time
7-3 Instant Actions and Time
7-4 Normal Actions and Time
7-5 Combat and Time
7-6 Master's option (time)
7-7 How to Resolve Type and Results of Actions
7-8 Limitations of Actions
7-9 Master's Options (Actions)
8. Encounters (Encounters and Combat)
8-1 Master's Characters
8-1 Alignment Check
8-1 Combat
8-1 Firefights (shooting)
8-1 Hand-to-Hand Combat
8-1 Master's Options
9. Equipment List
10. Alien List
11. Creating Scenarios
11-1 Maps
11-2 Numbered Squares
11-3 Enemies
11-4 Master's Characters
11-5 Missions
11-6 Conditions
11-7 About the Creation of Scenarios
11-8 Before Beginning the Game
12. Master's Reference
Thursday, February 5, 2009
More on the Enterprise JTRPG (1983)
Monday, January 26, 2009
Enterprise, the 1983 Japanese Star Trek RPG
ENTERPRISE - ROLE PLAY GAME IN STAR TREK (Japanese)
Manufacturer: Tsukuda Hobby
Designer: Tama Yutaka (多摩豊)
Set #: HG-014-R
Format: Boxed Set
Year: 1983
MSRP: ¥3,000
Enterprise - Role Play Game in Star Trek was a Japanese roleplaying game that, despite an impressive history of firsts, is not widely known in the western world. It was the first Japanese domestic RPG (note: RPGs in Japan are generally known as Table-Talk RPGs, or simply TRPG, to distinguish them from computer-based RPGs). It was Tsukuda Hobby's first entry into tabletop roleplaying games, alongside the wargames that they were already publishing. And as Enterprise was based on an official license from Paramount/Tohokushinsha for Star Trek, it was the first Japanese RPG based on a licensed property.
Background
ConSim (conflict simulation) wargames were already popular in Japan in the early 80s, published by Tsukuda, Bandai and other hobby publishers. Tsukuda had their "Hobby Simulation Game SF Series" which included 1982's Star Trek: The Invasion of Klingon Empire (HG-009), a strategic wargame similar to Task Force Games' Federation Space; two Star Wars games, Death Star (HG-005) and Hoth (HG-010); and various titles based on the Gundam and Xabungle anime universes. Enterprise would be the first of the series to be designated as a "role play game".
Although Enterprise was the first domestic RPG released in this format, it was technically preceded by Donkey Commando, a tactical level science fiction minigame featuring character stats, published in the Japanese Tactics magazine in 1982. At the time, western RPG titles such as Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller were known by many Japanese gamers, but it wouldn't be until 1984 that these games would actually be imported by companies such as Hobby Japan, and later be localized for Japanese hobbyists. In the meantime, computer-based RPGs were already beginning to gain interest, and Japanese designers were starting to create their own tabletop RPGs.
The first original TRPG came after Enterprise, and was another science fiction title called Star Quest (Tsukuda HG-032-R). Interestingly, it was written by Ed Lipsett, an American expert on Japan and author of the wonderful 1979 Spacefarers' Guide series from Phoenix Games, which served as a starting point for Star Quest. The first Japanese translations of Traveller were starting to appear and gain popularity, and Tsukuda was eager to have their own competing product in place. Star Quest was similar in concept to Traveller, but utilized a d1000 mechanic (roll 3 d10: designate one as the 100 value, one as the 10 value, and the last as the 1 value, to get a result from 001 to 1000). Around the same time, Tsukuda released the first domestic fantasy TRPG, Roads to Load (HG-030-R). All of these games set the stage for TRPGs in Japan -- imported and domestic, licensed and original -- which would become increasingly popular well into the early 90s.
It's impossible for me to know how much of an impact Enterprise made at the time (I suspect that it wasn't very much), but it is nevertheless interesting to note that it was a Star Trek RPG that started the ball rolling in Japan. I should also note that the game was written by Tama Yutaka, a pioneer in the early Japanese gaming industry. He was a founding member of the Keio University HQ Simulation Game Club, graduated in 1984 (he designed Enterprise while in school), co-edited (with Hitoshi Yasuda, translator/author of the Hobby Japan Traveller) the Japanese version of the UK publication Warlock - The Fighting Fantasy Magazine, was author and translator of numerous gaming texts and articles, and is even credited with some early PC adventure games. Sadly, Mr. Yutaka passed away in 1997 at the age of 35.
ENTERPRISE - Contents
Like most Japanese publications and boxed games, the quality of the components of Enterprise was exceptional. It came packed in a brilliantly colored hard cardboard box (8.5" x 11.5" x 1.5") featuring Kirk, Spock and McCoy on the front; and a black and white rear cover with a description of the game, pictures of some of the character cards and their stats, and a list of the game components, as follows:
ENTERPRISE - Game Mechanics
At this point, there's not a great deal I can say about the game itself as I've yet to translate it. I've done this kind of work before (see my translation of Bandai's 1982 Mothra vs Godzilla wargame), but I'm by no means a Japanese expert, and translating games is a time-consuming process. I do plan to do so (2 months?), so keep checking back!
Having said that, here's what I can tell from a glance. It appears that the mechanic is roll 2d10 under attribute for many task resolutions, as well as some percentile rolls. Each character has five basic attributes: Strength (1-18, which also acts as HP), Dexterity (3-18), IQ (10-18), Charisma (10-18) and Luck (3-18). Rules are provided for a PSY (Psionic) characteristic, but it's not listed on any of the cards. Characters are also provided a space for Special Abilities, and assigned an Alignment (Lawful Good, Lawful Bad, Neutral, Erratic Bad, Erratic Good) that is cross-referenced with an opposing character's alignment to determine CH and IQ modifiers to opposed tasks.
Hand-to-Hand combat appears to simply be ST-ST to cross-reference and determine the % required to roll under. There are only about 10 small tables, so the game doesn't appear to be at all complex. There do not seem to be any rules for class, skills, XP and possibly not even for character creation. I don't see anything for starships or starship combat, and the adventure itself appears to be completely landing party based.
For now, Enterprise appears to be mostly a curiosity, especially to those accustomed to more sophisticated (and English!) RPG systems. Nevertheless, I thought it was important to at least get it documented.
And, if nothing else, the next time someone tries to trick you when asking "How many licensed Star Trek RPGs were there?" (expecting you to forget Heritage, and answer "3"), you can turn the table on them and say "5!"
TRPG Chronology
Wikipedia Japan entry on Tama Yutaka
TRPG Library
