Utgardloki
Mongoose
So last night I am randomly flipping through the channels, and come to an episode of Inuyasha, a cartoon about demon hunters in feudal Japan. (I know I am violently oversimplifying here, but onward.) And the thought came to me that this could be a good RPG setting, and that if I were to run a game set in this universe, Runequest seems to be the best system for it, although perhaps a few tricks could be borrowed from the Exalted game.
I don't know if I will ever run an "Inuyahsa-Universe" game, but I thought I'd start a topic because the feedback could be helpful for any other RuneQuest game I started. If I did run such a game, it probably would be as part of a larger campaign, with the Inuyasha Universe being one "place" where the PCs could travel.
Thoughts:
* Inuyasha, Kagome and the like would be NPCs whom the PC's may or probably would never meet. PC's might be "the next generation" after the TV show characters faded from the scene, or they could make a tangential appearence, being too busy to get involved in the PC's adventure. Unless, of course, you actually want to run a game with these characters as pregens, it's best to make keep the major characters of a TV series out of the PCs' way.
* Starting level would be rather high. Demons in this setting are powerful and feared, and only the most elite of humans could hope to challenge them. (How Kagome manages to stay alive is a mystery, but it can only be assumed that she has plot immunity.) Starting PCs would probably either be Master or Hero level, or else the focus of the campaign would be shifted significantly away from confronting demons.
* I don't recall any mention of runes in the Inuyasha series. One could perhaps use the Runecasting skills without runes, except for requiring training to duplicate the equivalent of finding and integrating a rune. Finding an instructor is like finding the the rune; integration of the rune is like being initiated by the instructor; learning the first spell comes from training provided by the instructor. If the character fails the Persistence test required to "integrate/initiate", that student may not attempt to become initiated again from that same instructor until he permanently gains at least one point of POW, but he may try to learn from any other instructors he can find. An icon or relic might increase the success and potency of a characters magic.
* Most magic would probably be divine or sorcery. Divine magic would be based on the Shinto religion. Sorcery might be reserved for those with special blood, whether descended from a demon or other supernatural ancestor. I am not sure how sorcerers could be integrated with non-sorcerers in a party.
* The demons are each idiosyncratic and unique. They frequently take mortal lovers, so there are half-demons as well, although the odds of a half-demon surviving the violent demon culture to adulthood are not very good. Each demon has his own unique powers and attributes, so there probably would not be one set of stats -- the GM should just create a unique creature with whatever attributes fit for the plot purpose.
* I like to have a little guidance for NPCs and monsters however, so perhaps as a default principle, demons can have their basic stats rolled on 5D6, and half-demons with 4D6. Most demons will have some skills above 100%, perhaps the following table would be appropriate for "best skills" for Demons: D100 => 01-10: 60% + 4D10; 11-50: 100% + 1D100; 51-73: 200% + 1D100; 74-84: 300% + 1D100; 85-90: 400% + 1D100; 91-94: 500% + 1D100; 95-97: 600% + 1D100; 98-99: 700% + 1D100; 00: 800% + 2D100. (I think that usually, the GM would want to just set the best skills where they should be for the plot, but this is my off-the-cuff idea for skill distribution, based on the idea that the demons are immortals who have plenty of time to practice.) Each demon will have a primary power, but may also have other powers, spells, skills, etc.
* The Inuyasha Universe is also populated with other supernatural creatures. Any creature fitting into an "oriental-themed" setting would be appropriate here. Monsters drawn from Japanese legend are especially appropriate. Monsters are subtle and tricky, and seldom interact with humans. When they do, things usually go badly for one or the other, usually the humans.
* The "PCs" of the Inuyasha Universe are a strange bunch. The PC party might be as strange as the cast of the TV show, which include:
1. Inuyasha, a half-demon,
2. Kagome, a time traveller from the 1990s,,
3. Shippo, a kitsune spellcaster
4. Miroku, a monk with a wind tunnel in his palm,
5. Sango, a demon-slayer with skin-tight leather armor and a giant boomerang and a cat-demon steed/familiar
I think I wouldn't allow a PC party to be THIS wierd. Because Runequest does not seem to have a good mechanism to balance human vs nonhuman characters, I'd probably restrict PCs to being humans. It might be appropriate to allow humans to have one "super-power" like Miroku's wind tunnel, perhaps as their Heroic Ability. Such a "super-power" should come with a significant drawback.
Any thoughts, observations, comments?
I don't know if I will ever run an "Inuyahsa-Universe" game, but I thought I'd start a topic because the feedback could be helpful for any other RuneQuest game I started. If I did run such a game, it probably would be as part of a larger campaign, with the Inuyasha Universe being one "place" where the PCs could travel.
Thoughts:
* Inuyasha, Kagome and the like would be NPCs whom the PC's may or probably would never meet. PC's might be "the next generation" after the TV show characters faded from the scene, or they could make a tangential appearence, being too busy to get involved in the PC's adventure. Unless, of course, you actually want to run a game with these characters as pregens, it's best to make keep the major characters of a TV series out of the PCs' way.
* Starting level would be rather high. Demons in this setting are powerful and feared, and only the most elite of humans could hope to challenge them. (How Kagome manages to stay alive is a mystery, but it can only be assumed that she has plot immunity.) Starting PCs would probably either be Master or Hero level, or else the focus of the campaign would be shifted significantly away from confronting demons.
* I don't recall any mention of runes in the Inuyasha series. One could perhaps use the Runecasting skills without runes, except for requiring training to duplicate the equivalent of finding and integrating a rune. Finding an instructor is like finding the the rune; integration of the rune is like being initiated by the instructor; learning the first spell comes from training provided by the instructor. If the character fails the Persistence test required to "integrate/initiate", that student may not attempt to become initiated again from that same instructor until he permanently gains at least one point of POW, but he may try to learn from any other instructors he can find. An icon or relic might increase the success and potency of a characters magic.
* Most magic would probably be divine or sorcery. Divine magic would be based on the Shinto religion. Sorcery might be reserved for those with special blood, whether descended from a demon or other supernatural ancestor. I am not sure how sorcerers could be integrated with non-sorcerers in a party.
* The demons are each idiosyncratic and unique. They frequently take mortal lovers, so there are half-demons as well, although the odds of a half-demon surviving the violent demon culture to adulthood are not very good. Each demon has his own unique powers and attributes, so there probably would not be one set of stats -- the GM should just create a unique creature with whatever attributes fit for the plot purpose.
* I like to have a little guidance for NPCs and monsters however, so perhaps as a default principle, demons can have their basic stats rolled on 5D6, and half-demons with 4D6. Most demons will have some skills above 100%, perhaps the following table would be appropriate for "best skills" for Demons: D100 => 01-10: 60% + 4D10; 11-50: 100% + 1D100; 51-73: 200% + 1D100; 74-84: 300% + 1D100; 85-90: 400% + 1D100; 91-94: 500% + 1D100; 95-97: 600% + 1D100; 98-99: 700% + 1D100; 00: 800% + 2D100. (I think that usually, the GM would want to just set the best skills where they should be for the plot, but this is my off-the-cuff idea for skill distribution, based on the idea that the demons are immortals who have plenty of time to practice.) Each demon will have a primary power, but may also have other powers, spells, skills, etc.
* The Inuyasha Universe is also populated with other supernatural creatures. Any creature fitting into an "oriental-themed" setting would be appropriate here. Monsters drawn from Japanese legend are especially appropriate. Monsters are subtle and tricky, and seldom interact with humans. When they do, things usually go badly for one or the other, usually the humans.
* The "PCs" of the Inuyasha Universe are a strange bunch. The PC party might be as strange as the cast of the TV show, which include:
1. Inuyasha, a half-demon,
2. Kagome, a time traveller from the 1990s,,
3. Shippo, a kitsune spellcaster
4. Miroku, a monk with a wind tunnel in his palm,
5. Sango, a demon-slayer with skin-tight leather armor and a giant boomerang and a cat-demon steed/familiar
I think I wouldn't allow a PC party to be THIS wierd. Because Runequest does not seem to have a good mechanism to balance human vs nonhuman characters, I'd probably restrict PCs to being humans. It might be appropriate to allow humans to have one "super-power" like Miroku's wind tunnel, perhaps as their Heroic Ability. Such a "super-power" should come with a significant drawback.
Any thoughts, observations, comments?
