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<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 8783482" data-attributes="member: 6680772"><p>I've looked around and have found exactly zero hits for English discussion about 1st edition. Which is a little funny, because it came out in 1989, and there was a whole lotta Internet between that and 2008 when 2.0 came out. But no, a mention by Andy Kitkowski in 2003 blog post, an RPG.net post in 2007 mentioning the Lodoss War connection, but no actual gameplay discussion.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The katana is so blase to the designers of Sword World that in three core rulebooks, containing weapons from all over the world, it doesn't get even one mention. But then, there is a <em>veneer</em> of exoticness to the setting. I mean, the book <em>writes</em> "<em>hajimari no ken</em>" for the Three Swords, but says that this is <em>pronounced</em> "Swords of Genesis." (lit. <em>soozu obu jeneshisu</em>). So I can see them refraining from putting clearly Japanese cultural markers in the game, not because of realism, but just for consistency. (In the replay I've read, the characters are naturally completely Japanese, even bowing when saying thanks.)</p><p></p><p>Okay, this is pretty far afield, so I'm putting it in spoiler blocks, but you've hit on something of a pet peeve with the popular perception of <em>kirisute-gomen</em>, the putative right of samurai to behead commoners. (It's also copy-paste of another post I made long ago on another forum, so please don't take it as directly addressing you, [USER=7025997]@Blue Orange[/USER].)</p><p>[SPOILER="A little Japanese history..."]</p><p>[A} samurai cutting down a peasant for a slight provocation....never happened. When I say "never" I mean, it wasn't the done thing by law abiding samurai living their lives. Samurai who cut down peasants for no reason were psychopaths and murderers -- they were definitely <em>not</em> sanctioned by the domains and the Shogunate. The <em>kirisute-gomen</em> was permission by the samurai, as a representative of the Shogunate (as all samurai were) to render summary judgment in the event a person challenged the authority of the Shogunate (represented in the person of the samurai). It was <em>not</em> carte blanche to kill commoners at will.</p><p></p><p>A samurai who did <em>burei-uchi</em> (striking for insult) was required to immediately go to the local authorities and report his action in writing. His sword would then be confiscated as evidence. He would be under house arrest for at least 20 days while the matter was investigated. He required one witness to attest that the matter was grave enough to merit <em>burei-uchi</em>. If he did not fulfill the above conditions, he was beheaded. He was not given the honorable execution of <em>seppuku</em>, but beheaded as a criminal. His property would be confiscated and his family would lose [samurai] status. Even if he did fulfill all the conditions, if the investigation found that <em>burei-uchi</em> was not warranted (because the samurai instigated the altercation, or because it was felt the offense could have been beared, etc), he still faced punishment ranging from demotion from rank, to stripping of [samurai] status, to being ordered to commit <em>seppuku</em>.</p><p></p><p>If the samurai drew his sword for <em>burei-uchi</em>, but his intended target escaped, he could be charged and punished for needlessly drawing his sword and causing a disturbance. Further, the commoner in question had an absolute right of self-defense, and if he in turn killed the samurai he would not be punished. And in the event that the <em>burei-uchi</em> was successful, and found justified, there was still a chance that the samurai in question would find himself in hot water with the domain in which it happened, and while he might not be punished, there would be non-legal repercussions.</p><p></p><p>As a result, there are very, very few, if any, records of samurai using the kirisute-gomen.[/SPOILER]</p><p></p><p></p><p>There is certainly that. And change comes slowly in Japan in any case. But, (and I'm kinda skipping ahead to the next section here), it <em>does </em>say of the "good peoples", "while these people are basically of a warm and peaceful nature, after many long years of war, there are an increasing number of individuals who have warlike personalities." And of the Barbaros, it writes, "While most consider the good peoples as the finest treats, and try to capture and eat them, there are some starting to appear who have warm and peaceful personalities." Monster and monster-adjacent PC races were introduced in supplements late in 2.0's life, and it's expected that similar races will released for 2.5 eventually, as well.</p><p></p><p>I don't feel this has anything to do with social change, but just comes from the need for content, and player interest asking for it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 8783482, member: 6680772"] I've looked around and have found exactly zero hits for English discussion about 1st edition. Which is a little funny, because it came out in 1989, and there was a whole lotta Internet between that and 2008 when 2.0 came out. But no, a mention by Andy Kitkowski in 2003 blog post, an RPG.net post in 2007 mentioning the Lodoss War connection, but no actual gameplay discussion. The katana is so blase to the designers of Sword World that in three core rulebooks, containing weapons from all over the world, it doesn't get even one mention. But then, there is a [I]veneer[/I] of exoticness to the setting. I mean, the book [I]writes[/I] "[I]hajimari no ken[/I]" for the Three Swords, but says that this is [I]pronounced[/I] "Swords of Genesis." (lit. [I]soozu obu jeneshisu[/I]). So I can see them refraining from putting clearly Japanese cultural markers in the game, not because of realism, but just for consistency. (In the replay I've read, the characters are naturally completely Japanese, even bowing when saying thanks.) Okay, this is pretty far afield, so I'm putting it in spoiler blocks, but you've hit on something of a pet peeve with the popular perception of [I]kirisute-gomen[/I], the putative right of samurai to behead commoners. (It's also copy-paste of another post I made long ago on another forum, so please don't take it as directly addressing you, [USER=7025997]@Blue Orange[/USER].) [SPOILER="A little Japanese history..."] [A} samurai cutting down a peasant for a slight provocation....never happened. When I say "never" I mean, it wasn't the done thing by law abiding samurai living their lives. Samurai who cut down peasants for no reason were psychopaths and murderers -- they were definitely [I]not[/I] sanctioned by the domains and the Shogunate. The [I]kirisute-gomen[/I] was permission by the samurai, as a representative of the Shogunate (as all samurai were) to render summary judgment in the event a person challenged the authority of the Shogunate (represented in the person of the samurai). It was [I]not[/I] carte blanche to kill commoners at will. A samurai who did [I]burei-uchi[/I] (striking for insult) was required to immediately go to the local authorities and report his action in writing. His sword would then be confiscated as evidence. He would be under house arrest for at least 20 days while the matter was investigated. He required one witness to attest that the matter was grave enough to merit [I]burei-uchi[/I]. If he did not fulfill the above conditions, he was beheaded. He was not given the honorable execution of [I]seppuku[/I], but beheaded as a criminal. His property would be confiscated and his family would lose [samurai] status. Even if he did fulfill all the conditions, if the investigation found that [I]burei-uchi[/I] was not warranted (because the samurai instigated the altercation, or because it was felt the offense could have been beared, etc), he still faced punishment ranging from demotion from rank, to stripping of [samurai] status, to being ordered to commit [I]seppuku[/I]. If the samurai drew his sword for [I]burei-uchi[/I], but his intended target escaped, he could be charged and punished for needlessly drawing his sword and causing a disturbance. Further, the commoner in question had an absolute right of self-defense, and if he in turn killed the samurai he would not be punished. And in the event that the [I]burei-uchi[/I] was successful, and found justified, there was still a chance that the samurai in question would find himself in hot water with the domain in which it happened, and while he might not be punished, there would be non-legal repercussions. As a result, there are very, very few, if any, records of samurai using the kirisute-gomen.[/SPOILER] There is certainly that. And change comes slowly in Japan in any case. But, (and I'm kinda skipping ahead to the next section here), it [I]does [/I]say of the "good peoples", "while these people are basically of a warm and peaceful nature, after many long years of war, there are an increasing number of individuals who have warlike personalities." And of the Barbaros, it writes, "While most consider the good peoples as the finest treats, and try to capture and eat them, there are some starting to appear who have warm and peaceful personalities." Monster and monster-adjacent PC races were introduced in supplements late in 2.0's life, and it's expected that similar races will released for 2.5 eventually, as well. I don't feel this has anything to do with social change, but just comes from the need for content, and player interest asking for it. [/QUOTE]
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