Blade World
Welcome to BLADE WORLD! A game of exciting adventure that you can have with your friends, using nothing but your mutual cognitions - a multi-user shared hallucination that will while away the lazy hours while building all sorts of skills in the magical realm of Folderia. (What skills? Very important ones... Probably Understanding and Charm.)
While you are welcome to use Blade World as a stand in for tHe WoRlD's MoSt PoPuLaR rOlE-pLaYiNg GaMe, there are or will be Monads which are meant to portray a Blade World adventure. Before you start one of these, check out the material below.
You will have a secondary character, with FOUR PARTS! Don't worry - this won't take long. You can even make a scene out of creating these characters, if you want.
- Your Character's RACE. Currently, there are SIX races available. If you can't pick, roll a D6!
- Human - You have probably met some of these in real life!
- Dwarf - Short, stout and tough, often grumpy and famed for their beards!
- Elf - Tall, graceful, and nigh-immortal, wise but emotionally reserved!
- Half-elf - The child of a Human and an Elf, you are tragically torn between two worlds while having all the benefits of both Human and Elf!
- Grass-Runner - Short, wily, and talented at infiltration, burglary and cooking. And good at running! Original species - do not steal!
- Kobold - Furry humanoids with dog heads and excellent smelling. Often looked down-upon by others.
- Your Character's CLASS. Currently, there are SIX classes available! Take note of their equipment, but it's just for flavor! If you can't pick, roll a D6!
- Fighter - A bold and powerful person at arms. Whether leader, follower or member of the team, the Fighter is a good person to put in front. Uses a MIGHTY WEAPON and a set of STRONG ARMOR.
- Bard - A charming and amusing figure, bards combine style and panache with a rather flexible set of simple magics. Notorious for interpersonal drama and aesthetic performance. Uses a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT and a SHARP WEAPON.
- Ranger - A roamer of the wilderness, rangers are often gruff but know the ways of nature and living things quite profoundly. Likely to hold dramatic secrets. Uses an ANIMAL COMPANION and a RANGED WEAPON.
- Thief - Someone who specializes in acquisition of valuable goods through the secret ingredient of CRIME! Tends to overcome their worst impulses... but will it be too late? Uses a THIEF'S TOOL and a SNEAKY WEAPON.
- Sage - Someone whose scholarly studies have unlocked the secrets of the universe... and those of magic! But can you survive to do what must be done? Uses a MAGICAL FOCUS and a STAFF OF POWER.
- Priest - Someone dedicated to the service of others, including the highest powers of all... the gods! Often pure and sweet, may sometimes be shabby concealing a heart of shining gold. Uses a HOLY SYMBOL and a BLUNT WEAPON.
- Your Character's NAME. You will have to provide this yourself. I believe in you. (If you're stuck: Try spelling your character's name backwards by syllables! Example -> Hitomi -> Hi to mi -> Mitohi – it's fun and easy!)
- Your Character's PERSONALITY! Optional; can simply be 'doing what you would do.' If you want a cue, roll a D10 and consult this list:
- Calculating
- Gregarious
- Hotblooded
- Studious
- Taciturn
- Pious
- Heartfelt
- Ambitious
- Proud
- Can't be bothered
The Blade World Monads are written as if there is a single "narrator" GM, who is speaking the actions as well as setting the scene. Blade World Monads will lend themselves to having a unified voice for the GM, or having an NPC who is the purported GM who everyone's responding to. You can also use the more familiar round-robin method, if you prefer; Blade World supports this distributed play style! (In the real world TTRPG scene, shared GMing/GMless games are often kind of indie but are well known.)
You are also welcome to assume that Hitomi Mandai herself is GMing for you – even if I the player am not available! If you use the Hitomi Mandai option –
- Remember, she's a facilitating NPC! The cards are written to be in a "Hitomi voice" to some extent, but you're the stars! She won't play favorites. (Feel free to adapt the dialogue if another player is taking the role of the GM. You can assume having a photocopy of her module notes.)
- Hitomi can GM at the following locations (will be updated as necessary) - SEES-affiliated areas; the Cardboard Dragon
- If you use Hitomi as your GM: please @mail Hitomi who played in the session, because she will have technically now met all of you! A link to the log would be awesome, as would any truly fantastic highlights.
OPTIONAL - You may want to make note of your character and track their progress and story... or just have "Bob the Elf" who your character whips out if Blade World's on the menu. Various items and power-ups can be part of the character's story, as can exciting mishaps and other, non-itemized rewards!
ALSO OPTIONAL - if you are interested in creating a Blade World Monad, feel free! I would appreciate if you hit me (Hitomi) up, of course.
FUN TRIVIA - Blade World is a bonafide, Monafied, Personafied version of Sword World, an RPG that emerged in Japan because AD&D's corporate owners did not successfully license the game line. You can read more about Sword World here, including a link to the fruits of an English translation project: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_World_RPG
TTRPGs, often defined as "Table Talk RPGs" due to computer RPGs somewhat predating them, are fairly widespread in Japan, although a particular very prominent American game is not well known, nor are other innovative American TTRPGs such as the World of Darkness, Exalted, Rifts, and GURPS lines of RPGs. Call of Cthulhu is commonly known in the Japanese scene-- the on-grid equivalent is Klarkash-Ton, which has a substantially different emphasis and will not necessarily provide you with a "cheat sheet" to Persona 2. However, this can explain tertiary references from enthusiast media if the need should arise.
Blade World (and most Japanese RPGs) use two six-sided dice for most rolls, rather than the more familiar D10s and D20s. [1]
- ↑ this is true actually