So, I've been putting way too much work into this.
First off comes the core game, and right after I'll upload Chuunibyou: the Arm-Grabbing, the expansion-cum-Player's Guide. I very nearly didn't write it because Japan lacks familiarity for a lot of players, but it was fun to write and there's some stuff I like in there.
As always, feedback is welcome (though we've already gone through "Japanophilia is overly specific" and "the view of fedoras is too caricatured" before), and really, any interest whatsoever is appreciated from the bottom of my heart. I don't think I can describe how flattered I'd be if someone playtested it.
And here's Chuunibyou: the Arm-Grabbing. It's firmly a beta as of now, though it should be perfectly playable - my main concerns are about balance, and that's usually fixable by listening to a bit of feedback. There's a bit of a whopper of a section about Japan in the beginning, but I felt it was necessary to provide context and make it playable for a lot of people.
>>43965223
Hey, awesome, I didn't think you were still working on this. Bump for some good work. One of these days I'll run a playtest, I just have to get my group back together.
>>43965843
Christ, it's always good to know there's someone who likes it. Cheers for the support.
>>43965223
First time I hear of this. Laughing my ass off
Gud Job Anon!
>>43965223
Holy fuck this is a thing. Good job anon, I'm impressed.
>>43966032
>>43966087
This is why I write this shit. If there's anything that catches your attention (for example something seeming unbalanced from the way it's written), just throw it at me and I'll run it through in practice with my own group.
Just going to help this up to the top this once.
Oh lord, I'm so glad I got to this thread before it died! I was literally about to go to bed. This is glorious, Anon! Thank you so very much!
Assuming you are really the creator of this thing, here's a question one player asked me at a point and which I was ashamed to not be able to answer (it's a tiny nitpicky kind of thing but I guess it's exactly within the spirit of the game): can a Revenge-Fantasy driven Fedora use their Edge to pull out TWO Desert Eagles at once and shoot them simultaneously? Would there be a mechanical difference? Because I never thought about it before but once my player mentioned it, I had to admit that did sound like the kind of idiotic power-fantasy a tryhard loser with a gun fetish would like to be able to pull off.
Thoughts?
>>43965223
I'll need to take the time to read the expansion. Holy damn, this just keeps getting better and better. 71 pages. Dude, you should release this thing like Engine Heart, I'd pay for that in book form.
>>43965223
This should be required reading before you can post on this site.
>>43969486
Just off the top of my head, I'd say it would be calculated as two attacks, one at -2 dice pool and one at -2 dice pool and +2 difficulty.It's not balanced at all, since I really should have thought of that, but if you're ever going to playtest it, you can give feedback. If it's unbalanced, you should be able to tweak the difficulty modifiers and dice penalties until it feels like it works.
>>43969567
>>43969751
I genuflect in gratitude.
I was actually thinking of trying to find some drawfags to do some art and publish it as a proper PDF, but it didn't seem like the kind of thing I could manage to rope them into.
>>43969486
>>43970161
Two simultaneous attacks, that is.
>>43965241
I got to find some way to introduce either mecha or magical girls into this thing, preferably both.
>>43970243
The point of it is to portray a depressing workaday Japan, and as such I was never planning on introducing anything that would break that (or imply that there was any real truth to fedora delusions), but it's your choice what to do with the game if you're willing to homebrew/kitbash.
>>43970243
I'm guessing a mecha would be something a Japanese Crusty-One would end up building in their garage while on a drug and frustration fueled binge. It'd have homing missiles and lasers and a beam-sword, but turn into a statue or something whenever too many normal people look at it, fueling further frustration.
>>43965241
>a beta
>>43970348
Crusty Ones sound like a nice way of introducing elements into the game which would normally be too over the top for its themes, while at the same time playing to them since the whole idea is to emphasize just how pathetic these people are.
>>43970677
I can confirm that. Becoming a Crusty One is a way for a fedora to completely embrace their Edge-fueled delusions while shutting themselves completely off from commonly accepted reality (whereas other forms of graduation include some form of acceptance that they're wrong), and as such they have both the power and the drive to do things like that.
The GM has complete freedom to homebrew Crusty One powers, too. That's really how it's supposed to be, as Crusty Ones are kind of a big deal metaplot-wise.
>>43970677
>>43970751
There's something deliciously absurd about the image of a Crusty One driving a mecha which could be literally stopped as easily as a regular person looked at it, but the players are still going to have an epic fight against it in some remote parking lot because their chuuni obsession with battle anime forces them to acknowledge it as a threat requiring an epic fight.
>>43970834
I don't have any rules yet for how mundane observers affect Edge effects (aside from the two entries in the Japanophilia powers), but seeing as Crusty One powers are all going to be written by the GM, they should feel free to wing it.
The general rule of thumb I've been using is that if it's too good to be true - that is, it removes most or all mundane resistance without any entertaining possibility of embarrassing failure - it collapses as soon as it's in public view. A few mundanes can witness it without any effect, but it's all or nothing due to the way Edge works - if there are more than a five-six normal people observing an effect of that caliber, it collapses completely right away (likely leaving the user in an interesting situation if it's a mecha).
>>43971425
>(likely leaving the user in an interesting situation if it's a mecha).
I'm assuming either falling from a great height or dressed up in a lot of cardboard boxes, flailing around and making missile sounds.
>>43971491
The latter just became my favorite method, especially if it's got "Gundam" written on the front in marker.
>>43970243
>>43970336
It's actually interesting how Japanese culture's larger tolerance of superstition than Western culture (and the average otaku's further detachment from reality compared to a Western loser) might influence the development of Channels among the Chuunibyuo, since they're tapping into the local collective subconscious. I imagine it's only a matter of time until Evil Eye types develop a 6 Edge channel involving putting a curse on someone they don't like, for example (naturally involving an exceedingly drawn out ritual performed in a dark place, a drop of their target's blood and an atrocious mishmash of mystic looking symbolism). It's a staple of the Japanese schoolgirl's crazy alienation fantasy, and the Japanese, especially teenagers, are surprisingly wary of that kind of thing. Fueled by Edge, such a curse might contain real power.
Or a Misogyny Channel involving turning a woman into an anime-esque "waifu", complete with subtle (and disturbing) physical changes to make her "cuter" and "sexier" at the same time.
Or using Japanophilia to instantly master the martial arts...
>>43971877
>Or using Japanophilia to instantly master the martial arts...
Sounds more like a Western thing, desu.
