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Golden Sky Stories
[978-0-9899043-1-5]
$10.00
Publisher: Star Line Publishing
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by Brian P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 11/15/2014 15:48:57

This is definitely the cutest RPG I've ever read.

I've had Golden Sky Stories--夕焼け小焼け (yuuyake koyake, "sunset") in the original, which is the name of a song that plays over town speakers in Japan at the end of the day--for a long while. I kickstarted it a year and a half ago and got the final version six months ago, and have barely looked at it since then. It turns out that was a mistake, because this might be my favorite non-traditional RPG ever.

When I say traditional there, I'm not talking about the trad vs. indie RPG divide, but rather about its focus. Golden Sky Stories is about playing henge (変化, "shapeshifter"), animals that can turn into humans. Or partially into humans, since it's often easier for them if they leave their tails and ears showing. They live in a small town in the Japanese countryside, and they help people with their problems. Not major problems, like murders or political strife, but small things. Two children who've had a falling out. A lost kitten. Someone who's moving away and is scared to say goodbye. That kind of thing. It's slice of life media, the game.

The description of the kind of town that a game should take place in really stuck out to me, because I lived in a small town in the mountains of Hiroshima Prefecture for three years that would have been perfect for this. So when I read:

--"Only a single rail line passes through it. A two-car train comes every hour, and no more. In front of the station are a row of shops not seen anywhere else. Many of the roads around the town are narrow, too small for cars to pass. Some of them are mere dirt paths, used by cats and rabbits more than people. You can see open fields here and there. The rice paddies outnumber the houses. If you look into the distance, you'll see only mountains and trees. Narrow rivers flow from mountains, from ponds, gathering into one big river. The water flows in, the water flows away."

...my main thought was that that's actually more connected than Kitahiroshima was, because we didn't have a train line. Twenty thousand people spread out over fifty square miles of wooded mountains, where the children went to school on a raised path through the rice fields, the parents worked in the local stores or in the aluminum plant, and the grandparents farmed rice and tended traditional shops. The kind of place where I could easily believe there were henge out there, at twilight when the sun went down behind the mountains.

Mechanically, the game is quite simple. Each character chooses a henge type, from rabbits to birds to foxes, and gains powers based on Japanese associations with that animal, in addition to being able to take Weaknesses to gain extra powers. For example, birds can create wind, foxes can have a shrine dedicated to them, and rabbits can make mochi. Each henge has four attributes that determine how they interact with the world. Adult is for being serious and using technology, Child is for emotional connections, Animal is for senses or using the abilities of one's animal form, and Henge is for supernatural power. The attribute is compared to a difficulty, and if high enough, whatever you're doing is successful. No dice are used.

To make up for low attributes, there are three spendable currencies that increase their values for single checks. Two of these are derived from Connections, representing ties to other people, places, or supernatural beings. Connections have various types, like Rivalry, Like, Admirae, and so on, and each henge is connected to the other henge and the town itself. The Connections then become Wonder, which represents supernatural power used to fuel the henge's mystical abilities and is drawn from Connections from the henge to others, and Feelings, which are used to increase attributes for checks and is drawn from Connections to the henge from others. The third is Dreams, which are awarded by players to each other or to the narrator (or from the narrator to players) when they do things that are cute, heartwarming, clever, or funny. Unlike the other two, Dreams are used to increase Connections, not directly on powers or attributes.

In a great bit of mechanical convergence, humans don't have Wonder, they can only use Feelings to increase their tests, which means that they can't do things on their own. They need others to reach out to them to give them the strength to carry on, which ties perfectly into the themes of the game.

There's a lot of discussion about the kinds of games that Golden Sky Stories is designed for, and the example of play is about two children who are close friends, but were made fun of for holding hands on the way home from school, and the tanuki Riko and cat Kuromu's attempt to reconcile them. As it points out, for the majority of people, violence plays very little part in their daily problem solving, especially in the various small difficulties that arise in life. The basic structure for a game is:

--"Someone is troubled by something."

There's rarely a dark lord that we can quest to slay when we've had a falling out with our friends, but it can certainly seem as bad when it's our problem.

I'm usually a very mechanics-focused, crunchy RPG kind of guy, so I expected that I'd like the background of Golden Sky Stories but not be interested in playing it. The main reason I kickstarted it was interest in Japanese cultural products and nostalgia from having lived in Japan. Now that I've read it, though, I really want to play. Heartwarming slice of life is probably my favorite genre of anime, and I love the way this game is focused on evoking that kind of feeling. This is a great addition to RPG shelf.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Golden Sky Stories
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