Shadow Scar: How would ST Forge run it?
Rob Wieland is back from Gen Con with a new role playing game boxed set and a way to play one of his favorite party games at the same time.
Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go
Shadow Scar wears its Japanese animation influences on its kimono sleeve - Image by R. Talsorian Games
If you don’t already know, our Head Honcho Ric is a huge anime nerd. How huge? He made me italicize every time I used the word anime in this article on pain of death*. While I was at Gen Con, I got a chance to stop by the R. Talsorian Games booth. You likely know them as the Cyberpunk folks and their big release for that game was the Cyberpunk Edgerunner Jumpstart Kit which allows players to play in the world of the Netflix anime series set during the timeframe of the Cyberpunk 2077 video game.
Many of the games that have come out of R. Talsorian have worn anime influences on their sleeves. Cyberpunk drew elements from Bubblegum Crisis and Mekton was their high flying mecha game that stood in contrast to the grittier giant stompy robots of Battletech. So it didn’t surprise me that their newest title, Shadow Scar, featured a lot of heavy influences from the genre.
The original game was successful enough to spawn several expansions and even a big event comic style crossover at the end of the original cycle. There’s also an excellent adaptation for mobile and PC games that is a great way to learn how to play different characters and find teams that work well together. A new edition came out in 2022 that tweaked some decks and updated the artwork to reflect the different era each hero was from. Anyone who enjoys superhero lore should check out the company’s podcasts which digs into the fake comic company that created all these characters.
Saving The World One OVA At A Time
Shadow Scar puts players in the roles as agents charged with the defense of a multiversal setting called The Mosaic. During a conflict that lasted for a hundred years, the goddess Izanami was corrupted by the Ruler of the Dead. Her husband banished her from their home realm but put the countless other worlds part of the Mosaic in peril by doing so. The monsters called Yokai now infiltrate those other worlds to cause the chaos and destruction commanded by the corrupt goddess. Six ninja clans banded together as the Shadow Scar Agency to leap from world to world to use their martial arts mastery, stealth techniques and ninja magic to keep the yokai from taking Izanami’s vengeance out on innocent worlds.
Not only do the agents have to fight the demons, they also have to keep the truth from leaking out into the other worlds. If they don’t, witnesses might seek out a rival organization that teaches people to tear holes in reality rather than the quiet methods used by the agency. These holes remain open and offer easy gateways for yokai to travel between worlds. The agents have to spend time convincing people what they saw wasn’t what they saw which gives a chance for players who love to spin tall tales a chance to shine. If they fail, the Agency sends in a clean up crew and the agents will get home to face some disapproving words from their superiors.
The worlds include a span of genres like the Japanese inspired fantasy homeworld and the shining city of the future. The system keeps things simple and fast playing so your group can focus on leaping across film noir rooftops or backflipping over giant steampunk mecha. There are two adventures currently available: Mask of the Green Demon in the Starter Set and Eyes In The Darkness, which was the Free RPG Day promotion in June. Eyes In The Darkness is available for free at DriveThru RPG for anyone who wants to check this game out on their own without risking too much of an investment
Add Some Channel A To The Mix
The worlds included in the boxed set are a good start but hopping from dimension to dimension, Spider-Verse style, is one of the big appeals of this game for me. Anyone with a decent sized anime library is probably already thinking about the worlds they want to visit as badass multiversal ninja assassins. I want to fight yokai in Wild West saloons, haunted mansions and settings where little kids battle each other with adorable monsters contained in portable containers. To generate these other worlds, I would use my favorite anime based game of all time, Channel A.
Players are dealt a handful of cards that each have a word or title element on them. At the start of the round, the Producer chooses two elements that they want to see in a show. The players then assemble a title from the cards in their hand and pitch the show to the Producer. If their show gets greenlit, they get the points in the round.
For example, the elements might be “cooking” and “mecha” so I might assemble “Blazing Heart Psycho V” from my hand and pitch it as a show about mind controlled mecha soldiers who pass the time in between their tense missions by cooking elaborate dishes and telling war stories.
Every time I've played this game, my friends and I have come up with half a dozen titles that we would love to not just watch but buy merchandise for and go see the movie. I’ve joked about writing some of them into RPG settings but I feel like Shadow Scar is the game where I could flesh out these worlds. The cooking scenes from Blazing Heart Psycho V would let players reveal bits of their character history to each other before the attack alarm goes off and everyone has to suit up to destroy a giant yokai.
Shadow Scar has an incredible premie and simple rules that make shifting genres each week a breeze. Don’t feel limited by the ones in the game. Tell us what anime worlds you would want to visit in the comments!
*Okay, not actual death. But definitely some death glares.
Rob Wieland is an author, game designer and professional nerd. You can find him on X and Bluesky @robowieland and on YouTube as the host of Theatre Of The Mind Players, the Actual Play show that plays everything besides Dungeons & Dragons!
