interest check [Interest Check] [OVA: Anime RPG] Anime School Life Meets Rune Factory

[KaeCozy]

Greetings and Good Morning

I'm somewhat new on this site and haven't really found anything as of that has caught my interest, so I thought I might dabble with running a game instead. I'm not new to RPGs or PbP and if you wanna get to know me a bit, my introduction thread is over here.

Anyway, recently I purchased a few bundles of game books online and one of them is a game called OVA: The Anime Roleplaying Game which, as the title suggest, is a d6 RPG with an anime-specific thematic. The general bit is that you roll 2d6, take the highest, then add modifiers from Abilities and Weaknesses you choose for your character, and comparing it against a Difficulty Number (DN). There's some other tiddly-bits in the details, but that is generally how most things work, so its on the rules-lite end of the gaming spectrum, but still robust enough to require some careful thought when it comes to creating characters, progression, and acting things out.

I have a few different game ideas in mind for this, but the most prominent one is presently 'anime high school/university life' meets 'Rune Factory / Stardew Valley'. Kind of a cottagecore Harry Potter vibe, but this is, like, the Japanese Hogwarts or something and the whole world is fantasy rather than split between regular people and wizards. Most of the game will focus on your time at school attending classes (both mundane and fantastical), getting involved in clubs (ditto), dealing with all the drama of being a student (find a rival, fall in love, be the best there over was, all that jazz), and then spending your free time (after school, weekends and days off) exploring the campus, nearby town(s) and the surrounding countryside. And of course, with regular mini-plots and story arcs to keep you on your toes. This is not going to be a high-octane action adventure, but rather more along the lines of a slice-of-life drama-com. There might be some combat, but mostly you'll be encouraged to deal with situations in other ways. Less My Hero Academia, more Little Witch Academia.

For the sake of clarity, since I own the PDF version of this book, I would be providing an undownloadable, unprintable copy for player use via my Drive, so buying the book won't be necessary.

So, any interest in something like this?

[Malkavian Grin]

Little Witch Academia was absolutely adorable, so a game in that vein would be neat.

My only concern is players not having enough "things to do" in a slice-of-life style game. I feel that things with more action-based plots tend to be easier to push forward, but are not the only way to game.

What do you foresee being the sorts of events happening that would involve PCs? Examples that don't give away your plots are fine. 🙂 I.E. how is class/club handled? Just simple RP back and forth a few times, or will there be a mechanical element to go with it?

[hakootoko]

I'm interested.

[KaeCozy]

On 9/19/2023 at 1:51 PM, Malkavian Grin said:

Little Witch Academia was absolutely adorable, so a game in that vein would be neat.

My only concern is players not having enough "things to do" in a slice-of-life style game. I feel that things with more action-based plots tend to be easier to push forward, but are not the only way to game.

What do you foresee being the sorts of events happening that would involve PCs? Examples that don't give away your plots are fine. 🙂 I.E. how is class/club handled? Just simple RP back and forth a few times, or will there be a mechanical element to go with it?

If it helps, I might suggest putting aside the term 'slice-of-life' try to think of it more like a 'peaceful fantasy life simulator'.

I'll endeavor to provide some hypothetical examples off the top of my head. And yes, the mechanics will of course factor in. This isn't a freeform game, just a rules-lite one. Success and failures on challenging tasks will still be very real and most of the time a mix of dice results and your own creativity and ingenuity.

Classes will be GM-led and school life will be the main focus of the game. I'll play the part of the instructor/professor, as well as other NPCs (faculty, class peers, and upperclass students, townsfolk, etc.), but they won't all simply be faceless background characters. Rather, many will be unique characters with their own personalities, goals, and motivations, so interacting and dealing with other people will be a regular happening. Typical (and not so typical) anime high school drama will likely ensue.

Classes themselves will vary and range from basic courses to fantastical ones. Some will be required, others will be electives. Some will be more active, while some will be more passive. You'll be able to react to lectures, participate in regular challenges (questions, solving problems, etc.), activities (labs, demonstrations, etc.), and sometimes you might even have homework. There will be quizzes and tests, and you'll be graded based on performance, participation and so on. And if you perform particularly well, there might even be accolades with actual, tangible rewards attached to them. Maybe you have the opportunity to get a better dorm. Maybe there's a cash prize. Maybe you get to pick a special class that not everyone has the chance to study.

Clubs will function similarly. You'll be able to join however many you want and have time for and each club will have its own events and activities you can participate in. The DIY club would let you get your craft on, the exploration club might have geocaching or stamp-collecting 'quests', and the student council will plan and execute school events like the culture festival and such. In addition, there might be club standing, as well as the ability to play more active roles in the clubs and personal rewards for accomplishing tasks.

Meanwhile, the town and countryside will be fairly big and immersive, with all kinds of places to explore and visit, as well as their own events and potential 'quests'. Maybe there's a clothing boutique, a farmer's market, a museum, a shrine. Maybe there's a festival coming that you can enter your prized familiar into a beauty contest. Maybe there's a goblin trader who is too scared to visit town and needs your help to overcome his fear and help him get a shop set up.

Last but not least, in addition to being a student, you're also a person with your own life, goals, and motivations, and in fact, character progression is going to be largely based on achieving goals rather than overcoming encounters or specific challenges. Maybe you want to start an item shop business, or maybe you want to be a private eye and you spend your off-time looking for mysteries to solve. Maybe you heard about this old ruin somewhere in the nearby mountains and you want to go explore it. Maybe you just really love camping, so every weekend you go off in search of fun new places to camp or new campfire dishes to cook. Or maybe you want to learn an instrument and start your own band. I dunno! Surprise me~

In conclusion, this is the kind of game where should probably be more worried about there being too much to do and not enough time in your day to do it all.

[Eagleheart]

I'm definitely interested.

[SMARTAgentKC]

I have interest in this too