Tabletop RPGs have an underrated advantage versus other forms of gaming art: reality. While these games will always require some level of imagination, the experience itself requires real elements that the player directly interacts with. The roll of a dice, the presence of other players, hardbound books containing loads of lore, all of it a series of haptic feedbacks for your experience. I’m always fascinated when a TTRPG takes full advantage of the fact that it’s in the real world to tell a story.
This samurai RPG approaches that in an incredibly innovative way.
Samurai: Five Stones by Pinayu is a solo journaling TTRPG wherein the player builds the story of a samurai through five stones. You can acquire these stones from anywhere in the world. Cracked pieces of concrete crag, mossy stones damp with lakeside wet, and smooth obsidian glistening in the dark tell the tale of your samurai. Instead of DnD classes, the stones as you build the story, noting down characteristics such as shape, color and texture.
The sampler page gives us a good idea of how this runs. Outside my house, I looked around for some choice looking stones for the first part of our story: a rivalry. I found a medium-sized slab, light gray and oval, its surface eroded by the elements. This meant the samurai confronted Tomoe, a student from the same dojo who stuns with beauty and swiftness. By the riverside, my samurai clashes with Tomoe, but they are too evenly matched. Unbeknownst to both, a mysterious observer saw it all happen.
I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t take too much modifying to become an enemies-to-lovers story (bonus points for queer love). All that from a rock, which in-universe of your story, existed in that space. And with more rocks than there are DnD races, you’re bound to craft a unique story.
You can check out Samurai: Five Stones on itch.io here!
You know what else rocks? The Wargamer Discord, which has some of the best tabletop fans this side of the internet pond! I’m not apologizing for the pun.
Source: Wargamer
