How do I run a game like Akame ga Kill while still keeping my players interested?
Pile on all of the gore, sex, gory sex, and other depraved shit all in the first session, throw in some ridiculous overpowered magical items, and force in some weak love interests with a horde of waifu characters and they'll be hooked.
Haven't seen the show, but I saw the Toonami promo.
>>43530688
Your basically spot on. In the manga it just keeps trying to out edge itself. OVER AND OVER AND OVER! I mean jesus!
is esdese or whatever her name is still alive?
>>43530611
Make each death significant.
See, that's a thing most people forget. It's not about the quantity of the blood and gore and depravity, because it becomes cartoonish later. It's about the quality of it.
Let's say...To give an example, there's a town ruled by a corrupt cardinal who uses the people as his slaves. Just telling the players that isn't going to affect them. Instead, have one of the girls in the cardinal's retinue be a lovely, genuinely dedicated acolyte who wants nothing more than to serve the people. Later, the evil cardinal turns her into his brainwashed fuck-slave.
You need to introduce nice people before yanking it all away. If everyone is an asshole, there's nothing entertaining. More, you need the usual stuff like good soldiers being sent to their terrible death, conflicted Teigu-wielders, and all the other melodrama that makes for cheap thrills.
Generally, I'd prefer to avoid the whole sex and gore thing happening very often. Too much becomes boring, fast. It's why being kicked in the balls hurts more when someone tells you how small they are, first.
Sort of like what happens to the flamethrower guy's family. They don't just have to live with the loss, they get raped to death at his grave.
>>43530755
sounds sub par and painful to watch/read.
>>43530611
I tried to do it (without calling it as such,) and it failed miserably mostly because my party was full of absolute idiots.
They tended to be alright with the general plot, but asking everyone to be sneaky was really too much to handle.
Someone playing a Paladin of Liberation, for example screamed out "ASSASSINS ARE COMING" when the team was beginning and operation and fucked plans from both players and myself.
I found it to be a setting beyond me, but I'm a rookie GM.
>>43530938
It's so edgy that if you try to pick up the book, you get a paper cut.And then raped.
>>43530992
sounds....fun. I think I'll pass.
>>43530955
I'm curious as to why you'd have a Paladin (Even as CG Paladin) along for an operation like that.
>>43530938
The main appeal of the manga is that it deliberately tries to shoot down all the stuff you'd see in a shonen series. The villains don't recur, they just die. There are no power levels, there's just "I have this artifact, and I have one special gimmick with it." (The artifacts are also quite well balanced, surprisingly enough.)
Also, all the absurdly over-the-top villains get a chance to indulge their depravity blah blah blah. Really, it's more of a palate cleanser than anything. It's the series for misanthropes or contrarians who just dislike all the stuff they watched/read as kids.
I mean, that's basically how you have to look at it, in context.
>>43530910
>Make each death significant.
>Sort of like what happens to the flamethrower guy's family. They don't just have to live with the loss, they get raped to death at his grave.
Oh I am laffin
>>43531025
>There are no power levels
There plainly are though.
>>43531025
> (The artifacts are also quite well balanced, surprisingly enough.)
The one-hit-kill superkatana is NOT balanced with the other weapons, which are substantially shittier. "A headband that allows you to read minds" is not equal to "I hit you once, and you fucking die."
>>43531025
yeah but palate cleansers aren't tasty or enjoyable.
>>43531088
You might be right, but it's refreshing. Like, we've seen so many stories where the heroes win, a perverse mind occasionally wants misery porn. You know? It takes all kinds.
I do think that the main reason to read it is "Because I fucking hate shonen battle-manga."
>>43531077
But that's the perfect example. You can't be killed by the instant-death weapon if she can't hit you with it. It can't hack through the Kamen Rider armor the protagonist and the other guy get, for instance.
>>43531119
well as long as the people who want it enjoy it, I've got no problem with it. I won't be watching/reading.
>>43531077
Oh yes it is. Now I haven't seen the series but the headband clearly allows for "I can read your every move so I have perfect evade" which is a foolproof counter for one-hit kill.
Until of course the sword wielder goes for the cliche of attacking without thinking.
>>43530793
She'll never die.
>>43530611
OP, Akame ga Kill couldn't even keep its readers interested.
>>43531141
>I can read your every move so I have perfect evade
Unless the person attacking is just plain faster than the mind reader.
It genuinely doesn't matter if you can see it coming if you are physically incapable of countering it.
>>43530611Liru is best waifu.
>>43531119
It's like you're lapping shit straight out of the toilet, find out that you don't like the taste of that shit, and then mosey on over to theedgier, more maturetoilet in the next stall over.
>>43531077
That thing is. If you're not alive it has no effect on you, if it can't penetrate armor, it has no effect. If you're immune to poisons, it has no effect. I may be getting media mixed up, but if you slice off where she cut you before it seeps, it has no effect.
>>43531265I can't explain why, but I still liked Seryu the best. I won't defend myself either.
>>43531249
True, but abilities where mind reading is central are never written that way. They're always one step ahead and ready to counter you the moment you act.
>>43531025
>The villains don't recur, they just die.
Esdeath.
>There are no power levels, there's just "I have this artifact, and I have one special gimmick with it."
Again, Esdeath is specifically stated to have a powerlevel of an army of thousands. Budoh was stated to be near her equal. Powerlevels between fighters is discussed constantly.
>(The artifacts are also quite well balanced, surprisingly enough.)
Pumpkin.
It had some promise at the beginning when the plot was about actual assassins, but when it turned into teigu fights, it just became your standard battle shonen, just with more clown rape and grimdark.
>>43531338
Also when it burned through its antagonists too quick and had to introduce a whole new faction. It's incredibly typical shounen, it's just edgy about it.
>>43531405
Considering they actually die they had to do something.
Its biggest problem is it goes on too long. Ironically, the anime is the best for this as it ends on a logical note and leaves Esdeath as dead, whom is the best girl in the show.
>>43530611
>while still keeping my players interested?
Impossible. Under all the edge and gore AKG is a painfully boring shlock.
But if you wanna do this:
>Make each death significant.
AKA the part the mangu failed to do.
>>43531546
I personally think that a great way to do things is to get used to each town first. You can't just blitz into the place and kill everyone, you need to do groundwork, explore, and plan out the assassination.
So it's perfect chance to introduce a lot of characters. For instance, if you're going to attack a cult stronghold, there are innocent women, virtuously suffering peasants, young men who are bursting with pride at being part of the new order, and so on. All the while, the players are plotting how to undermine things, so they can make an end-run for their assassination target.
Play up the terror and sheer disbelief of the people as the world comes crumbling down around them. They're fighting to defend their Lord/their God, and to them you're faceless terrors in the night. It's even worse if they know who you are, because they can't BELIEVE that you're attacking them.
Like, everyone has their own internal life. Even hideously awful people can't be awful all the time. If the Baron is a shithead, maybe his son is a decent person who simply doesn't consider 'commoners' human. (So he's awful in a different way, but innocent otherwise.) When you kill Dad, he's going to get torn to pieces by the mob. It's even worse if he has a virgin daughter or something, because this girl will swear vengeance or be gang-raped to death.
And so on!
>>43531660
Shadowrun: the middle anime ages?
![yuyuyu-5-heroes[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/IsaWTlM.jpg "yuyuyu-5-heroes[1].jpg")
>>43530611
Use the writer's other work instead
>>43532594
>looks like a cute magical girl story
Okay, let me guess; everyone dies horribly.
>>43532594
fuck yeah
>>43532716
fuck you
>>43532716
>everyone dies horribly
No.
Also I didn't know it was made by the same writer. Partially explains why I liked both I suppose. I'd like Yuki Yuna a lot more if they didn't wait until like episode eight to explain WHAT THE FUCK THE TAISHA ARE.
>>43532754
Lately, that's been the case in 90% of shows (pretty much everything not named Precure)
>>43532716
Quite the oppositeEveryone else is dead except their little fantasy world.
>>43533322
Yeah, i already googled the plot and it was exactly what i expected.
>>43530611
Make a Basilisk RPG with shittier plot and magical items.
>>43530688
I wonder what could be done to fix this series. I've got a few ideas:
>Make Night Raid assassins: This one should be obvious since it descends into your typical battle shounen. Each character could represent a different style of assassination. First is pure stealth, second is the use of disguises, third is sniping, fourth is clever use of poisons, fifth is information warfare, sixth is ensuring there are no witnesses by killing everyone in the room.
>Make Night Raid anti-heroic. Show don't tell. They're one of the many cells of the resistance where unruly members who are too useful to kick out but a threat to the resistance's reputation are reassigned to. One Jaeger member fled into the empire for safety since he believes that cells like Night Raid will be destroyed once the war is over.
>Tatsumi: Cut out that self-insert.
>Akame: Should be the protagonist of the series (it's fucking named after her). The newest member who wanted to join but was almost barred because she's great at killing but not the whole 'no witnesses' thing. They accept her in after she spies on them, beats them to a job and ensures that there are no witnesses by killing everyone in the room.
>Lubbock: A nominal hero. He was a drug dealer who accidentally helped out the resistance and found out that he could get a lot of sex from pretty women from his accidental heroism. He then joined solely for this selfish reason (and it did not stop him from making money off drugs). His knowledge of chemistry allows him to create incredibly potent poisons ranging from near instant death to death 2 days later so he's already escaped before the target died. Tatsumi's girl magnet nature is transferred to him (he's in a sexual relationship with the other female members of Night Raid and they are all willing to share), except it isn't because he uses drugs to get women to lust after him.
>>43531302
So the writing is shitty, is what you're saying.
>>43533870
>Should be the protagonist of the series
She is. Tatsumi is only used to introduce things to the audience.There's a reason he dies.
>>43533870
>make Lubbock my personal self-insert instead of Tatsumi being a generic self-insert
>>43533870
>Mine: Largely unchanged. However, play up her assholery including some flashbacks of being a very bad boss when she was a sergeant.
>Leone: The information gatherer and largely a non-fighter. She is incredibly smug and manipulative, often using the tangled web of political alliances and vendettas to kill her targets. Has a large superiority complex, claiming that her kills are the cleanest because they're done by someone else with no knowledge of being incited by her. One of her crueler moments is getting some random child to kill a politician by lying to him about a gun being a toy despite knowing that it will result in the kids execution.
>Sheele: A disguise user. Her cuteness is shown to be an act.
>Chelsea: Also a disguise user who replaces Sheele. A nasty thief, a jerk and definitely not a team player. Will often manipulate other team members, steal from innocents and leave civilians to die.
>Bulat: The least competent of the assassins due to almost always taking the time to taunt, gloat and belittle his opponent. Rather childish as well due to throwing temper tantrums when things don't go his way. Still a homosexual but he's depraved and a homosexual separately. Gets killed by Lubbock after finding out about him drugging women to have sex with him and refuses Lubbock's offer to let him use the drugs to have sex with men.
>Susanoo: As a robot, he's completely devoid of empathy and doesn't care about his allies.
>>43534223
>>Leone: The information gatherer and largely a non-fighter. She is incredibly smug and manipulative, often using the tangled web of political alliances and vendettas to kill her targets. Has a large superiority complex, claiming that her kills are the cleanest because they're done by someone else with no knowledge of being incited by her. One of her crueler moments is getting some random child to kill a politician by lying to him about a gun being a toy despite knowing that it will result in the kids execution.
were we reading the same mangu
>>43533870
>>43534223
Anon this sounds terrible, and worse than the actual manga/anime.
>>43534253
I think you and I may have been, but not him. His ideas... well they're not any good and kind of reek of wanting a generic sameness of a different flavor. Still, they are his ideas to make.
>>43534223
>The Jaegers: Unlike Night Raid they are straight up fighters.
>Dr Stylish: In this version, he is aged up to around 70 years old. The first Teigu creator who had a realization and turned good, (his establishing moment is stealing a job from Night Raid but then waiving the fee) except he didn't and arguably became worse. Before, he was the developer of the Teigu's and just tried to do what he was good at (unfortunately making weapons) now he's a brutal vigilante. Formerly a member of the resistance but unlike other examples he was simple kicked out instead of reassigned to the deniable cells due to being Lawful Stupid. For example, there was a situation where a larger resistance army was in the precarious position of facing a smaller empire army. The smaller army would die if it fought, the bigger army wouldn't survive later battles if it fought and because of that, both armies decided to parley. He sabotaged the negotiations due to a code of never compromising with evil and caused the smaller army to get wiped out while the bigger army got wiped out later. Wears a mask that shows his expressions. Whenever he's about to do something cruel to someone it has a smile that is made of barbed wire.
>Esdeath: Give her a tendency towards Stupid Evil. At one point she takes the time to go through the army making a last stand despite knowing that they're stalling for a messenger and at another point tortures people who surrendered and were promised mercy, causing opponents to fight to the death instead. She also gets crippled for a long period by Syura after he uses a field device that shuts down Teigu's.
>Bols: Largely the same. After Syura finds out about him being a happily married man Syura targets Bols family and hangs them above a fire so that the water in their bodies would start to boil. Bols doesn't make it in time to save his family but does manage to kill Syura. It get's implied later that he commits suicide.
>>43530611
You run a Drifters game instead.
>>43534441
Sorry, pretend that all mentions of Syura are Stylish instead.
>Seryu: Dr. Stylish's granddaughter, in flashbacks it is shown that he was a very poor grandfather who tried to taught her how to torture people and killed all ability to consider the circumstances of people's behavior. Gets killed when Stylish takes control of her Teigu and then makes it eat her bite by bite.
>Wave: A veteran, who quit the military, found that he couldn't function outside of a military setting and then re-joined. Has many character tics such as constantly grasping for a weapon when his hands are empty and always marching instead of walking normally. Gets killed by Bulat but when taunted about how he's dying all he can say is "Good Riddance".
>Kurome: Left the same.
>Run: Left the same.
>>43534585
>>43534441
>>43534223
>>43533870
>tfw you accidentally walk right into someone's autism field
>>43534585
>Kurome: Formerly a member of a resistance cell but left based on the belief that once the fighting is over those cells will either be destroyed or reassigned to the most out of the way places.
>Age up the characters from teenagers to young adults.
>>43531025
Strangely enough I preferred the anime for cutting out most of that retarded bullshit that happened in the manga as so many times I had to stop and ask myself " wtf am I reading? this shit is bananas!" Then again hearing characters occasionally talk about power levels and leveling up or high level dangerbeasts sometimes felt like they were in a game and somehow actively knew it, so being actively more edgy compared to the last guy felt more like a dickwaving competition than anything else at the end of it. It's dumb, but the kind of dumb that makes me want to see how it ends.
>>43531077
I personally liked the juggling balls the clown used the best. It's basically an endless supply of magical hand grenades. You have your choice of deaths: Gravity, extra-crispy, or electricity. As long as you're holding on to one, you get the other orbs back. How could you not like that?
Why didn't the guy with the ring that could control liquid(I forgot his name) just use it to rip out all of Bulat's blood in their fight?
>>43535993
I think he wanted to die. Or he needed to mix some water with his blood to control it. Or he was just really proud of his poison trick.
But really, it's a mango where character death is used for a cheap emotional kick, so of course everyone is going to act retarded.
>>43535993
You know he didn't use it on his own blood until he was cut open, despite his entire plan being based upon using his then poisoned blood. So he likely couldn't have used it on fluids within a person's body, not even his own.
>>43536090
>But really, it's a mango where character death is used for a cheap emotional kick, so of course everyone is going to act retarded.
I'm not going to defend Akame ga Kill as it's badly written shit, but I'll give credit where it is due: the series isn't afraid to kill off major characters and more or less deactivates plot armor. The cheap kills are the one thing it has going in its favor.
>>43535993
>Why didn't the guy with the ring that could control liquid(I forgot his name)
Liver. Not River, Liver (the official romaji confirmed it). Yeah, don't ask me how that works.
>>43530755
>In the manga it just keeps trying to out edge itself. OVER AND OVER AND OVER!
Meet Dog.
>>43530938
It is.
>>43536288
That actually sounds like a fairly reasonable explanation.
