D&D 5E I Am One of the Few Who Plays D&D in Japan

[Gnarl45]

[MENTION=6854]Ren[/MENTION]: It's not just Japan!

But you should ask around if people want to try D&D. If Japan is anything like the other countries I've been to, they don't play D&D because they never heard of it.

 

[ren1999]

Pretty much everyone commenting on this has some good advice. Of course, I have been promoting D&D to mostly system engineers who can understand it. You may have read my previous comments where 2 players quit. Well I got them back to the table after explaining 0 hit points and the use of Medicine Kits. My party consists of 2 women and 2 men. They are all big name RPG video game directors. No name dropping. But if they continue to enjoy the game using the English language, I am sure Wizards will be getting some big money. My comments about the books are mostly derived from them. The game mechanics are good but the next prints of the 3 books need strict organization alphabetically with more summary tables. And spell list summaries are vital. My little Game Tracker is organized the way the books need to be. I came to Japan from Seattle, so you can almost see how this happened.

http://dnd5.weebly.com

 

[Agamon]

My party consists of 2 women and 2 men. They are all big name RPG video game directors. No name dropping.

No need to confirm or deny, but I'm imagining playing D&D with Shigeru Miyamoto. That would be totally awesome.

 

[Boarstorm]

Several RPG's have been coming to the US from Japan.

• Gundam Senkai was supposed to, but translation issues caused a failure.
• Golden Sky Stories successfully kickstarted. I got a peek at it; I don't care for diceless, but the translation is a top notch English edition that has used the Japanese art and presents a cogent translation
• RPG Enterprise (ルールブツク) got fan translated and released in PDF.
• Ryuutama - Natural Fantasy Role-Playing Game funded on kickstarter.
• Tenra Bansho Zero also funded on KS for an English edition.

There are others, but those are the ones that come to mind.

I believe Double Cross is an import as well.

 

[Will Doyle]

When I was living in Japan in the 80s, we visited the local school where my mum was teaching English. Every single kid in the class, boys and girls, pulled out copies of Tunnels & Trolls at lunch break and played solidly until classes began again. It was awesome to see. I think Tunnels and Trolls may have been a bit of craze there for a while - perhaps even predating D&D.

 

[Mallus]

It already starts with the name of the game. "Dragon" does evoke a very different image for people in Asia than for us. Or take the Devils/Demons. Baator and Celestia in D&D are inspired by Dantes Divine Comedy and while most players here have not read it, this book has shaped our culture and our understanding of Heaven and Hell is still based a bit on it. People in Asia will have a very different concept of those things as well.

Japanese popular culture (manga, anime, video games) has been full of explicitly Western fantasy elements for a very long time now. Western-style knights, demons, and dragons are staples there. It's not all ronin and oni. Far from it.

Take any Dragon Quest game, or any number of anime as examples. You could start with a current one, Rage of Bahamut: Genesis (based, apparently, on a popular collectible card game). One of the main characters is "Jeanne d'Arc", leader of the "Orleans Knights". The bad guys include "Lucifer" & "Azazel". There are angels, and faux-European cities. Heck, one of the protagonists is named after Sergio Leone -- complete with appropriate musical cues.

Sure, Japanese media make a crazy hash out of these Western elements, but no more so than your average D&D campaign.

Unfamiliarity, or a lack of resonance, can't explain pen-and-paper RPGs unpopularity in Japan (and it's specifically PnP RPGS... CRPGs featuring Western fantasy stuff are, again staples).

 

[Dargrimm]

I've been in Japan for over 10 years now and I haven't been able to find a single person who plays (or even knows about) D&D.

Here most RPG experiences are limited to video games.

Still looking for a group to play with but I've almost given up. I'm still buying D&D books for the pure pleasure of reading them, and making characters that will never get to be played.

 

[the Jester]

Still looking for a group to play with but I've almost given up.

If you can't find gamers, create them.

Caveat: You must be willing to DM for this to work.

 

[dd.stevenson]

I've been in Japan for over 10 years now and I haven't been able to find a single person who plays (or even knows about) D&D.

Here most RPG experiences are limited to video games.

Still looking for a group to play with but I've almost given up. I'm still buying D&D books for the pure pleasure of reading them, and making characters that will never get to be played.

Weird--that's been the opposite of my experience. Of course, I play D&D almost exclusively online: I highly doubt I'll ever find a group of role players in close physical proximity to my house.

 

[Dargrimm]

Weird--that's been the opposite of my experience. Of course, I play D&D almost exclusively online: I highly doubt I'll ever find a group of role players in close physical proximity to my house.

How do you find players? And how do you do play online? I would love to know!
I guess if I was living in a big city I might be able to find players, but in my town is impossible...