Blood & Honor

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1970
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Blood & Honor

Unread post by 1970 »

Could you run a TMNT-style game using Rifts Japan? I was originally going to focus a game on the Yakuza, but I can do organized crime just about anywhere (and am trying to with the NGR and possibly Heroes Unlimited). Ninjas, though, are another matter. I never really get to play with ninja. I recently reacquainted myself with the original TMNT comic series, plus some of the IDW stuff they've been putting out and that equals plenty of awesome. I don't necessarily want to run TMNT & Other Strangeness and I do want to use Rifts Japan because I've had it forever and have been looking for a replacement for Legend of the Five Rings as my go to samurai-style game.

My idea right now it to have characters from the New Empire forced to travel to The Republic of Japan to retrieve a stolen object of power or other significance. My first thought is a Greater or Greatest Rune Katana, but a religious object could be substituted without too much trouble.

Another idea is to have the remnants of a destroyed ninja clan fight to cleanse their honor and avenge their fallen comrades. These ninja could be Mystic Ninja or ninja from The Republic, so long as they're on their own and fighting against something.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I'm going to read further to get a better idea of what I may potentially getting myself into.
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by Nekira Sudacne »

I don't see why you couldn't add in TMNT to Rifts Japan, just increase the number of mutant animals and make (for the republic and H-brand) various animal ears and other monster-ish Cyber implants be popular and fashionable so mutants can blend in easier as well.
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1970
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by 1970 »

Nekira Sudacne wrote:I don't see why you couldn't add in TMNT to Rifts Japan, just increase the number of mutant animals and make (for the republic and H-brand) various animal ears and other monster-ish Cyber implants be popular and fashionable so mutants can blend in easier as well.


That's a really cool idea; it sounds very authentic for the location as well. Thanks!
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by eliakon »

Nekira Sudacne wrote:I don't see why you couldn't add in TMNT to Rifts Japan, just increase the number of mutant animals and make (for the republic and H-brand) various animal ears and other monster-ish Cyber implants be popular and fashionable so mutants can blend in easier as well.

Mutant Animals are easy to justify too.
We know that there were a ton of them in use in the Golden Age, at least in space (MiO). And someone was making them...
...why not Japan.
Add in their cyber-prep culture and long fascination with catgirls and what not and presto...
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by 1970 »

eliakon wrote:
Nekira Sudacne wrote:I don't see why you couldn't add in TMNT to Rifts Japan, just increase the number of mutant animals and make (for the republic and H-brand) various animal ears and other monster-ish Cyber implants be popular and fashionable so mutants can blend in easier as well.

Mutant Animals are easy to justify too.
We know that there were a ton of them in use in the Golden Age, at least in space (MiO). And someone was making them...
...why not Japan.
Add in their cyber-prep culture and long fascination with catgirls and what not and presto...


This too makes lots of sense. I'll have to breeze up on Mutants in Orbit; I never read much past the mutant bugs back when I got it, and never got to the Rifts portion. Time to rectify that. Thanks!
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by RockJock »

Years and years ago we had a Japan game with various versions of Japanese subcultures being fairly prominent. This included cyber cat girl ninjas and basically a group of Pleasure Bunnies. I'm not saying I'm proud of that game, but it worked lol.
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by SolCannibal »

RockJock wrote:Years and years ago we had a Japan game with various versions of Japanese subcultures being fairly prominent. This included cyber cat girl ninjas and basically a group of Pleasure Bunnies. I'm not saying I'm proud of that game, but it worked lol.


Not particularly shameful either - you can bet one japanese animation studio or other hass done much, much worse in real life. Sometimes repeatedly. :-P

But seriously we have this nowadays. Can you imagine how much weirder can be the Republic of Japan, that is basically 2098's Hiroshima prefecture & environs ported back to Rifts Earth, what, 15-20 before Aftermath?

How about some good, old inter-clan conflict? Naruto meets Ninja Scroll meets Romeo & Juliet or whatever you feel like mashing up for fun. :lol:

As an aside, Ninja's Scroll plot is one that could easily be ported over to a much more advanced setting. Ninja master returned from the demon realms to empower his old buddies, make a big heist that will sour trade relations between two (or more) nations and finance their own coup/revolution? How is that not appropriate for Rifts?
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

The main use I got out of Rifts Japan was part of a campaign where I had The Foot Clan in North America.
Worked pretty well.
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by RockJock »

I think one of the Dinosaur Swamp books has tribal groups based on old colleges/football teams, so Japan having crazy holdovers to animes series seems to make perfect sense.
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by SolCannibal »

RockJock wrote:I think one of the Dinosaur Swamp books has tribal groups based on old colleges/football teams, so Japan having crazy holdovers to animes series seems to make perfect sense.


And now i'm thinking of how the japanese are crazy about baseball and if this love could somehow end up colouring some post-apocalyptic melee or dueling schools, blending with Kendo, bats being used like canes to hide blades.

Or some weird mind melter developing a "psy bat", that causes less damage than the sword, but deflect or outright reflect psychic or magic attacks with an aimed strike.

Also, for all of you who have Pantheons of Megaverse, i had to bring this up.
I'm absolutely not making up that stuff, yes, it is for real, i kid you not. :eek: 8)
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by Curbludgeon »

It's cultural appropriation out the in-yō, but I could see having a clan of ninja readopting the Komusō monk appearance to travel around the New Empire, while adapting some elements of baseball such as team affiliations on the side of the tengai and making the shakuhachi (which was reportedly used as a bludgeon as well as a flute) more bat-like.
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Re: Blood & Honor

Unread post by SolCannibal »

Hmmm, what kind of psychic variants can be found in Rifts Earth's Japan? Thinking that some sort of Mind Mage/Mind Melter kind of ascetic might fit nicely, Mystics even more so, i guess.

Shifters as buddhist priests whose mind acesses higher planes/states of being and impose their spiritual authority on lesser beings or supernatural creatures is definitely something i have toyed with in past games.

But going back into a previous idea - Mazda is a real life company that gives all the excuse you could ever need to surprise your players with an answer of the persian gods to Angrar Robotics, in the Republic of Japan to boot, Hiroshima being its place of founding and center. :wink:
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