28 What free RPG or what
non-English RPG did you enjoy most? Give details.
I've already talked a
bunch about free RPGs on this blog, since I'm into the OSR's DIY and
give it away free or cheap philosophy. And I don't think I've played
in a non-English RPG, despite my living overseas for the past 16
years. So let me tell you about one I probably should have played.
When I was a junior in
college, I had a crush on Naomi Matsumoto. The crush never went
anywhere, since it was one-sided, but we did become good friends and
still keep in contact today. One of the reasons I liked her was that
she was also a gamer, and she played Sword World.
You've probably heard
about Sword World. It was made by the guys who made the Record of
Lodoss War anime (which, if you've seen it, you know is pretty much
D&D). I guess the story is that one of the creators studied in
the U.S. and became a fan of D&D. Although the Mentzer box sets
were translated into Japanese and sold there (I still kick myself for
not picking up the Basic Set in nihongo when I had the chance), he
had no RPG resources when he got home, so he and his buddies sort of
reconstructed D&D from his memories and played it. They
published the record of their campaign, it became popular, and was
turned into an anime. And they published their home brew as Sword
World.
Despite living in Japan
for a decade, I never found a copy of Sword World to pick up, and
never thought to order one over the internet. I guess I still could.
Shipping from Japan to Korea is cheap. Of course, if I were to
order it today, it would just languish on my bookshelf. I really
should have picked it up when I was still single and in Japan.
I always wished Sword World would have been translated into English. (That and earlier editions of Das Schwarze Auge.) I recall there being a project to translate DAS into English on the Internet, though I don't know if it was ever finished.
ReplyDeleteI have a Swedish roleplaying book, Drachar och Demonar, given to me by a pal who is a native Swede. The artwork and layout are absolutely gorgeous, even if I'll never be able to play it.