Bishonen Chivalry: A Romantic Anime-themed OSR Project

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Doc Sammy

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Alright, I am currently drafting a rough manuscript for an old-school tabletop role-playing game in the vein of OD&D in terms of mechanical design (with some modern conveniences, of course) but with a unique style and aesthetic derived from anime, particularly yaoi anime and other romantic and melodramatic fare, as well as darker, more violent seinen stuff as well (along with shonen action-adventure). Major influences include Saint Seiya and Ouran High School Host Club (on the aesthetic side), Berserk and Hellsing (both aesthetically and thematically), and the Final Fantasy games (on the overall themes of adventure side, as well as in terms of aesthetics).

There is also a set of themes inherent in Bishonen Chivalry, even if there is no defined setting per se. Themes include beauty, chivalry, valor, romance, love, heroism, melodrama, tragedy and tragic romances, honor, and idealistic, beautiful heroes trying to survive in a cynical and grimdark world.

The base default setting is a vague Medieval fantasy sandbox setting, with beautiful anime-esque protagonists adventuring, surviving, and seeking love, truth, beauty, and glory in a dark and Gothic world. Of course, you can adjust the themes to fit other settings and I may release supplements that support other settings as well.

Players are assumed to be anime-styled males, though you can play as a female as well. Nothing says that these tragic romances have to be yaoi-themed, they can also be yuri-themed or straight as well. Now, bear in mind, and this is very important, while love and tragic romance are core parts of the game's themes, explicit sex is strongly discouraged and I won't have it in my games that I run (I may be weird, but I am not THAT weird).

Now that the obligatory disclaimer is out of the way, let's focus on the rough outline for character creation I have.

First off, we will be using the six core ability scores from D&D for now.

Races are limited to human for now. Elves, Dwarves, and the like are limited to NPC's and monsters.

There are three core classes (Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric) with other classes and sub-classes to be featured in later updates and supplements.

The game's engine will run entirely on d6's, with the typical D20 being replaced with 3d6's and Armor Class ascending instead of descending. Also, I may incorporate a target number system similar to BESM and GURPS.

Stronghold building will be present at higher levels of play. It may not be key to the themes of this game, but it's a mechanic I sort of like.

This is just a rough outline of what I have already written. As my rough manuscript develops further, I will share more of it.

Feedback is much appreciated, even if it's just a outlined concept for now. If anyone wants to collaborate on this with me, whether it be in fine-tuning the mechanics or helping develop fluff and a setting, I would appreciate that as well.
 
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Cool. I admit that the only "fantasy" Anime that I'm familiar with are Dragon Quest/Warrior, Record of Lodoss War and Escaflowne. Shows how old I am, I guess.

I love love LOVE old school fantasy Anime art. Or Japanese artists' illustrations for NES games back in the 80s.
 
You can sell this to the BESM audience. I am surprised there is no anime fantasy.

BTW, why not steal the BESM system? Uh, I mean, be inspired by it?

If you are using a 3D6 system, you run into 2 issues: (1) your stats and skills bonuses are very important, and all your math surrounds WTF happens when people roll 10 or 11, (2) your game now involves math.

Also, why use OD&D classes? The classes should be deeply anime inspired.

BTW, I keep reading it as Bishonen Cavalry.

If you go with Chivarly, then we're talking Arthurian inspired, aka a more civilized society, thus more social aspects are part of gameplay.

Tell us MUCH more about your ideas.
 
You can sell this to the BESM audience. I am surprised there is no anime fantasy.

Well, there's Anima, though it specifically says that it's "Beyond Fantasy"
Anima-RPG-Core-Book-570x670.jpg
 
You can sell this to the BESM audience. I am surprised there is no anime fantasy.

BTW, why not steal the BESM system? Uh, I mean, be inspired by it?

Most anime fantasy for decades stemmed from Record of Lodoss War, which was the writer's home B/X D&D campaign in manga and anime form. Due to licensing problems, they ended up making a clone of B/X D&D which was the Lodoss War RPG. It has only been the rise of popularity in anime and manga which has allowed any crossover beyond that.
 
I never heard of the Anima or Lodoss War RPG. Any good? Anything notably "anime" about the mechanics???
 
I never heard of the Anima or Lodoss War RPG. Any good? Anything notably "anime" about the mechanics???
The Lodoss War RPG was only available in Japan and has never been translated into English, so I do not know much about the mechanics except that they are close to B/X D&D. The illustrations are incredible, though.

I'd heard of Anima, but I didn't know it was anime based.
 
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