Mists of Akuma may be the Meiji – Punk post-apocalypse RPG setting you never knew that you needed. The game enlists your character in the tragic tale that is Soburin, offering a dizzying array of possible cultural hooks to embrace.
Just perusing the setting material can fill an afternoon without even getting down to the minutiae of each section. An impressive amount of work and care went into the creation of this work, including easy to read type giving those who worked on or contributed to the book due credit, which is a nice touch. Some people may be turned off by the enormous weight of this tome, but the table of contents clearly spells out the location of what you need. In addition, the table of contents let's you navigate to the part of the setting you are most interested in, whether it be background or crunch. An impressive amount of work went into creating Mists of Akuma.
Setting
The setting takes place on the continent of Soburin, an Eastern themed land that lies beyond the Great Divide, keeping Soburin and the rest of the world (mostly) apart. This changed in what is known as the War of Kaiyo; a war brought to the shores of Soburin by the flying gunships of Ceramia. An end to the war and the destruction of the world did not immediately free Soburin.
It took decades for the restoration of local rule, but this did not prevent the empire from descending into further trouble due to political ambition and the reappearance of the titular Mists of Akuma. These ancient mists appear and disappear at random, leaving monsters and chaos in their wake. The steam technology of the gaijin still exists as well and players have access to it. Just remember ownership of such has repercussions. Culture is very important as you might imagine and has mechanical as well as social consequences.
System
There is a great deal of crunch in Mists of Akuma. The balance between setting and system will satisfy players and games masters alike. Instead of creating new mechanics to the 5E system, Mists of Akuma adds in local flavor in the form of races, sub-classes, classes, backgrounds, and spells. Culture is a skill that players can invest in, which makes absolute sense for the setting. Players have access to an array of inhuman playable races, including the bokemono and kappa. Among the new backgrounds is one known as Disgraced Amputee. This may be my favorite as it offers the player a chance to play a character with complex social stigmas as well as a physical disability. All of the new crunch supports the overall theme well.
Final Thoughts
Mists of Akuma is a dense work of art that pours some of our assumptions from history and gaming into a blender, giving it a good spin. It blends a base "translation" of history, cultural conflict and some gaming tropes, offering an extrapolation of a structured society trying to survive the end of the world. Mists of Akuma is not perfect of course.
The art, while consistently good, is a bit uneven in style. It can also take a while to figure out the adventurers' place in society, though the extensive clan information eases this a bit. With so much information it may be a bit hard to figure out where to start. My advice is to just pick your spot and work from there; don't try and swallow it all at once. These small quibbles do not detract from Mists of Akuma. Absolutely recommend this to anyone seeking a non-traditional game world.
contributed by Sean Hillman
Just perusing the setting material can fill an afternoon without even getting down to the minutiae of each section. An impressive amount of work and care went into the creation of this work, including easy to read type giving those who worked on or contributed to the book due credit, which is a nice touch. Some people may be turned off by the enormous weight of this tome, but the table of contents clearly spells out the location of what you need. In addition, the table of contents let's you navigate to the part of the setting you are most interested in, whether it be background or crunch. An impressive amount of work went into creating Mists of Akuma.
Setting
The setting takes place on the continent of Soburin, an Eastern themed land that lies beyond the Great Divide, keeping Soburin and the rest of the world (mostly) apart. This changed in what is known as the War of Kaiyo; a war brought to the shores of Soburin by the flying gunships of Ceramia. An end to the war and the destruction of the world did not immediately free Soburin.
It took decades for the restoration of local rule, but this did not prevent the empire from descending into further trouble due to political ambition and the reappearance of the titular Mists of Akuma. These ancient mists appear and disappear at random, leaving monsters and chaos in their wake. The steam technology of the gaijin still exists as well and players have access to it. Just remember ownership of such has repercussions. Culture is very important as you might imagine and has mechanical as well as social consequences.
System
There is a great deal of crunch in Mists of Akuma. The balance between setting and system will satisfy players and games masters alike. Instead of creating new mechanics to the 5E system, Mists of Akuma adds in local flavor in the form of races, sub-classes, classes, backgrounds, and spells. Culture is a skill that players can invest in, which makes absolute sense for the setting. Players have access to an array of inhuman playable races, including the bokemono and kappa. Among the new backgrounds is one known as Disgraced Amputee. This may be my favorite as it offers the player a chance to play a character with complex social stigmas as well as a physical disability. All of the new crunch supports the overall theme well.
Final Thoughts
Mists of Akuma is a dense work of art that pours some of our assumptions from history and gaming into a blender, giving it a good spin. It blends a base "translation" of history, cultural conflict and some gaming tropes, offering an extrapolation of a structured society trying to survive the end of the world. Mists of Akuma is not perfect of course.
The art, while consistently good, is a bit uneven in style. It can also take a while to figure out the adventurers' place in society, though the extensive clan information eases this a bit. With so much information it may be a bit hard to figure out where to start. My advice is to just pick your spot and work from there; don't try and swallow it all at once. These small quibbles do not detract from Mists of Akuma. Absolutely recommend this to anyone seeking a non-traditional game world.
contributed by Sean Hillman
