Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

I am an admitted bit of a geek and used to play D&D a bunch when I was a kid. My three older kids (ages 10, 12 and 13.5) just found my old piles of D&D and AD&D books that have not been touched in 25 years and have been having a blast trying to learn and play the game.

I am thinking that since we all love Usagi Yojimbo so much, maybe I will get a copy of the UY role-playing game.

Now I know that we all truly love UY but how is the game as a RPG? I would love some honest feedback on whether it is a lot of fun to play along the lines of D&D or not. My kids and I all love Samurai movies and doing Taekwondo together and I really wish that there was a Samurai-based RPG set in Japan in the 1500-s-1700 time frame. Does this game kind of fit that description?

Curious is any of you have played it and what you thought relative to the old AD&D/D&D stuff.

Thanks,
Buck

I haven't played the UY rpg, but if you're looking for a solid samurai game you could try Legend of the 5 Rings from AEG.

longshot wrote:I haven't played the UY rpg, but if you're looking for a solid samurai game you could try Legend of the 5 Rings from AEG.

I had not heard of that one. Looked it up and it sounds great. Also saw that there is an AD&D-like RPG called Oriental Adventures with Samurai, Ninja, etc classes. That one might be a great mix of D&D and Samurai.

Thanks for opening this door for me!

Oriental Adventures was actually part of the original AD&D line by Gary Gygax.... I think. I have the book somewhere, but found this online - http://www.geekhero.org/ADnDFE/files/AD ... ntures.PDF

This might help also... http://rpggeek.com/rpgsetting/532/kara-tur

I've played Oriental Adventures and 5 Rings. Between the two I like 5 Rings more - it has a richer background, and a good set of mechanics.

I've played both games, 5 Rings has more traditional Japanese elements and scenarios than the D&D fantasy elements of Oriental Adventures but both were fun to play.

Will have to track down a copy of UY game though I really don't play much anymore.

Interested to hear any reviews of this as well...hubby is still an RPG fan (old D&D and others) though little time for it nowadays!

pleiades3 wrote:Interested to hear any reviews of this as well...hubby is still an RPG fan (old D&D and others) though little time for it nowadays!

Sounds like a good Man! I have not yet picked up a copy of the Usagi RPG but it is on my wish list!

Heya Buck, I'm wondering if you ever got around to running that RPG with your kids. I've yet to play the UYRPG, but I own it (several versions). I've played both Oriental Adventures, and Legend of the Five Rings. I prefer the AD&D system. The L5R system is nice, but I'm not the biggest fan of the setting. Rokugan falls short of the more historical setting I crave. I'd like to know how your games have gone, if you care to share.

I recently stumbled upon a pair of books by Tadashi Ehara.

http://www.amazon.com/Daimyo-1867-Samur ... 124%2C160_

http://www.amazon.com/Shogun-Daimyo-Mil ... 124%2C160_

It's also available as a PDF on the drivethrurpg sites:
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/847 ... yo-of-1867

While these books are more inclined toward a game like Sengoku, they're really good sources of collected information about the feudal era, exactly what a gamer might need to help infuse some realism into a historical Japanese setting. At the very least, they're fantastic reference reading. If anyone wants to use these for UY, you can easily transliterate Date over to Hikiji, and any of the deposed/defeated northern lords to Mifune, and so on, and so forth for Stan's other named lords.