Okko: The Cycle of Fire by Hub

I've been reading Okko for a while now. I've been waiting for this volume to come out for what seems like years. Part of the problem is that it's a translated comic so even when it looks like it's ready, it may not be. Okko follows the path of a samurai turned ronin who is actually a monster hunter that travels with a drunken monk, Noshin,  and a fellow warrior, Noburo, who is apparently half-oni or something of that nature. They have a bit of a follower, Tikku, with them who joined them in volume one. As each Cycle comes and goes, the cast ages. At this point, Okko has suffered the loss of a hand and is mighty gray haired.

The art by Hub continues to be highly visually engaging. He uses a lot of smooth lines and great use of colors to capture the mood and elements of the setting he's created. The story? For me it wasn't the best. A little too much is revealed after the fact. It all fits into the setting and the world as presented mind you but continues to push Pajan into chaos.

Just when I thought it was getting good, the Cycle ends with the promise of one final Cycle to come, ominously named the Cycle of Emptiness.

Would I suggest people buy and read this?

Yes.

While Samurai tales are easy to find and have a rich history in comics and film, having 'mythic' elements to them like the recent movie, 47 Ronin did, are more rare. Mind you I'm not saying you can't find a thousand movies based on Ancient China mind you where the magic and monsters are fast and furious, but for me, actual Samurai action that has supernatural elements to them that are assumed part of the landscape? Not so much.

In addition, the visual designs are simply nice to look at. Because in this book Okko is a guardsman at a wedding, and is part of a huge cast of guards, we see a lot of different characters and a lot of different stations. It's all well told visually and would make a fantastic movie.

For me, because I'm a fan of Legend of the Five Rings and am always looking for some 'Appendix N' style inspiration, this is a great volume. For me it doesn't hit the story high notes that previous volumes have, but that may just be the nature of it's place in the series and it could all be clearer when the Cycle of Emptiness comes out.

In terms of world building, I find it more enjoyable. For example, readers have come to know Okko through multiple volumes here. He's got a certain reputation among various clans and specific people, but to the common folk who may just be studying at a university or 'official' history? He essentially doesnt' exist. No matter how awesome his adventurers, he's just a 'lowly' ronin.

Another nice bit is the various ways magic interact. Okko needs some time to restore an old scroll that has been burned and needs the aid of a fire elemental, such a being is prohibited by others in the area and there is much talk and compromise reached. But that leads to other issues where other factions think that the fire caused by the elemental are committed by a third party. Conflict and misunderstandings are rife in this volume which provide more fuel for the action.

In terms of role playing? Yeah, Okko and his group of allies, as ronin, fit perfectly as player characters. There is a scene where Tikku is caught kissing the bride to be of a noble. That noble goes mad with rage and tries to kill him. Okko cuts him down with little thought or regard as to what will happen to the country at that point.

That's so player character I say.

Another think I like, and it fits in well with the timing, is that Okko and his allies are competent. Even with the whole of a nation after them, they're able to lay low for years. All too often it seems that 'murder mystery' style games are able to resolve issues without having access to the tools and science that we have today, but using the same methodology. Maddening. None of that nonsense here. Part of the problem with some of the higher magic settings is that it's just too easy to bring out the CSI Waterdeep without having to do any actual leg work.

There's also a nice symmetry in the haunting by the shade Okko killed. Being such a powerful swordsman, Okko cut his foe in half from head to crotch. The left side haunts the flirty bride while the right side haunts the father, urging him to slay Okko. It's a great visual that you might not catch the first time you read it.

Okko Cycle of Fire was a long wait and it'll be a long one till the next cycle. It's currently available from Amazon for under $15 bones.

And Thus Dieth Legend of the Five RIngs

One of the things I've tried to do more in 2014 is play more.


My friends at the end of 2013 had just seen the movie 47 Ronin and loved the visuals, sound, action, and other bits.


This lead them to play Legend of the Five Rings.


I got in one game as a Scorpion Samurai and was promptly killed, but life is hard in the Empire so I took it in stride. In honor or a recently deceased director of the kung fu genre, I made my next character a Dragon Monk and was anxious to play again.


Then the weather turned against me after driving my mom all around the city so I didn't go that week.


Then my sister was in town and...


And then we had some more crappy weather in Chicago...


So long story short, I've missed three games and during that time +Tom Wright , the GM of the game decided that the awesome bits of 47 Ronin weren't translating well to the game.


Thankfully I only have the electronic version of Legend of the Five Rings as if I'd purchased the physical copy specifically for the game I'd be a little peeved. It's an expensive book after all and space at the old apartment is still at a premium.


Now they're going with a combo New World of Darkness bit. Sigh.


The perils of modern gaming.

The passing of a Kung Fu Icon Run Run Shaw

Blogger apparently ate my post so this is a report.  Or a prepost? Anyway...
As reported by New York times, NPR, and other sources, the 106 year old media master, Run Run Shaw, has passed.

I'm not a film scholar. I grew up one of those dumb kids who was 'reached' by the 'Kung Fu' that Run Run Shaw brought over many times in many movies.

Some of my favorites are below. Things to remember though. One, is these were often done on a low budget. Two, they have a different perspective than most Westernized films. At least most of them. Three, they're from a different time and period.

Fists of Fury: I could just go, "Bruce Lee" and that would make it one of my favorite movies. But that's nonsense. As old as I am, I was born in 1971 so I was maybe 1 year old when this first came out. There are a ton of m'eh versions of this movie out in terms of transfer but I hear this one isn't too bad but if you're looking for a definitive version, I hear searching Amazon.UK is your better bet.

Fists of Fury is one of those simple movies where Bruce's character is told, "Honor your promise and don't fight" but hey, he discovers that his working environment is not what is seems and so must break his promise! This movie is over forty years old and it still brings the Wushu.


Five Fingers of Death: Also known as King Boxer. Another one from 1972. One of the 'fun' things about this movie is it's one of the first ones I remember with a 'secret' technique aka the Iron Fist or Iron Palm, depending on your translation. It's got a LOT of fighting and well, if Kung Fu is your thing...


Looking up his movies, I think I may be running into some directed by the sons but were ones that I enjoyed so I'm springing them up here.


The 36th Chamber of Shaolin: Thinking that the Shaolin Monks and the mystic elements associated with them? This is one of the movies that would make a good starting point to see where all of that came from 1978! Here we have some kindly wise old masters and the outsider who wishes to learn their secrets to take the fight back against corruption! Heck, this one is even on blu ray.


There are a lot more but again, no scholar, just someone who enjoyed a lot of these films, but saw them when he was a younger man and honestly can't remember most of them. They turn into a blur of kung fu with angry students, wise old masters, and the deadly arts of hand to hand combat!


But there is one that he is an unaccredited producer of...

Blade Runner: Yup, this one has all sorts of editions including a four disk edition and a blu ray.  I myself had one of those ultimate edition things that was sadly destroyed in a move. Verily that sucketh!

With my buddies getting ready to run more Legends of the Five Rings, or L5R, I think that instead of the next Samurai I was going to do, a crab who actually tried to be sociable, it's time to review the Dragon and see if I can monkey up a monk for Friday.


What about the rest of wushu fans out there? Any particular favorites jump to the forefront? Any particular stories about Shaw that you think people should know about? Share the

Kung Fu Panda 2

Sometimes there's a little touch of serendipity. For example, right around Christmas, Amazon had Kung Fu Panda 1 and Kung Fu Panda 2 on sale in the digital format. I snagged both of them for like $5.99 each as opposed to the almost $10 they are now.


I saw serendipity because I had no clue that I'd be playing in a Legends of the Five Rings game, which was brought about by seeing the movie 47 Ronin. Sometimes things just hit in cycles. Mind you, while I love Wuxia style games, Legends of the Five Rings is generally more of a samurai game. I'm not saying it's impossible to make a monk style character.


If I'm recalling correctly, the Dragon have their own clan for it, and there are some skills and advantages that allow you to at least be competent in it. I believe the Dragon monks even breath fire if they survive long enough. But it's been a long time since I was a master of the game system and 4th edition is still calling me to read it more and more.


Anyway, I enjoyed the original Kung Fu Panda. I dug the sound track, the visuals, and the story. The folks at DreamWorks tend to make a good movie in my opinion.


I was not disappointed in Kung Fu Panda 2. It helps that it's an animated film. By doing so, the company is able to overcome issues that plague many historical based productions like HBO's Rome. Anyone remember that it was supposed to be the sheer cost of the sets, the huge cast and the awesome costumes that doomed it to being only two season? Going the animated route allowed the creators of Kung Fu Panda to also play around with the imaging.


For example, we discover more about the Dragon Warrior's background. To all viewers, it's obvious that Po is adopted since you know, his father is not a giant panda but to Po it comes as a surprise. By using what I'll call 'traditional' or carton style imagery it clearly cuts the scenes that are memory and those that happen in the here and now. It works well.


The story hits several of the 'standard' bits. We have a little bonding between the members of the original Five and Po. We have some great 'kung fu' moments. We have moments where the opposition seems entirely too powerful and that it will take a miracle to overcome. Oh yeah, and chase scenes. We get several of these and some of them very entertaining visually like where Po and the Five are disguised as a dancing dragon for a festival and 'eat' their enemies and well, they don't come out the front end.


There is also a bit too much of the 'drama' key for me. Mind you, it's not an overwhelming thing. There are some tragic elements added to Po's background, which for the purpose of the movie, work fine, but the added little 'extra' at the end, that hit the drama key for me. Worse then that though, is the supposed sequel isn't supposed to be out until Christmas 2015. Thankfully there is an actual carton series that doesn't do a bad job of capturing some of the fun although the animation in that has nothing on the movies.


I'll be discussing some specifics of the movie below and things that inspired me from the movie so if you don't want any specific spoilers, read no further.


1. The nemesis effect: I'm not quite sure that is the actual specific name but in short, when you hear a destiny you don't like and go about changing it only to have the exact thing you didn't want to happen, happen. In this case, the foe, Shen, a peacock, is a chemist of sorts who sees a new future for the powders used to make fire works but a seer foresees that a panda will stop him. Shen's solution? Kill all the panda. Doesn't work though as Po winds up being sent off to a far away place and due to his location, becomes the dragon warrior, the only one capable of stopping Shen.


Mind you, that's the 'easy' way. It's similar to the original Batman movie with Jack playing the Joker. Joker in that movie at least, kills Bat's parents, Bat's and thug fight, thug gets turned into Joker and final showdown happens!


One of my favorites though is a little more subtle. It's a Viking tale. Powerful warrior goes to see how he'll die. He's told it's his horse. He's like, "My hose?" Kills the horse. Goes out and does all sorts of Viking things. Years later finds the skull of his horse and is like, "Whose killing who!" and kicks the skull aside, disturbing the poisonous snake beneath it who bites and kills the Viking.


2. Its a Wonderful World after all. I can't speak for Jack's acting chops. I'm entertained by his music mind you, but he really hasn't wowed me in any movies. Here though, maybe because it's animated or maybe because it's a character Jack would never have the ability to play in an actual movie, he does a great job. Now when I say great, what I appreciate is that Po is first and foremost, a fan of kung fu. He is a destined warrior and is an important part of the 'hero' food chain but he loves where he's at. He loves and can't believe his luck to work with the Five. When he meets other legendary characters, he's awed and thrilled to be working with them at the same time. It's a refreshing change of pace of heroism from some of the more cynical and standard batons of grim soldier that are so common these days. Po is fun.


3. Big Things: Po and the Five and the other masters are not your standard people. While we're not talking about Dragon Ball Z levels of power or anything, they are capable of dodging multiple arrows while fighting multiple opponents while leaping about and engaging in combat sequences that are visually appealing. This includes say, gang piling ships at the entrance of a river to prevent Shen and his canons from leaving the city and conquering China. This bigger than life effort only works short term mind you, but it does work and it's an impressive bit.


When you have characters that are capable of doing great things, like in L5R perhaps some of the more magical classes, let them shine. Let those points spent in advantages and specializations come to the forefront.


4. Character moments: One of the things that's easy to overlook in the movie, is that Po continues to bond with the others in the setting. This doesn't only include the Five, but also his master and his father. These moments of character allow the character to be more than just a set of awesome abilities.


When I was regularly running, I tried to make the characters lives interesting with numerous NPCs, interactions with lots of people, and enough things going on in the character's lives, that going to a dungeon and fighting might not be the most important thing, but countered that by having things in the dungeon that they'd need. Mind you my 'dungeons' used to be much smaller than the common monstrosities out now and might have even resembled some of those in 4e where things might be 'grouped' into mini-dungeons for specific things for the characters to do or get.


5. Visual Style: This one can be hard to pull off. I mentioned that my friends started the L5R game because they were inspired by 47 Ronin. Part of that was just how cool it looked. Kung Fu Panda has a lot of moments of visual 'stunts' and great action sequences. These things make it appealing. Doing so while just describing it can be a touch more difficult, so don't be afraid to steal visuals and even sounds when you can. There are some songs, like the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack where if I play the Anvil of Crom, from the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack, of which there is apparently a three disk version now, most of the players know that the big fight is getting ready to come down, or if I play The Siege of Camylarde, which is actually a different song in its original classic name, from the soundtrack of Excalibur, which is no longer available apparently but the blu ray is like $10 bones. Go figure.


Anyway, it doesn't necessarily have to be a 'visual' style, but if your words can enforce the themes and conflicts without any need for print outs or sounds, all the better, but don't be afraid to use those other resources when they're out there.


Kung Fu Panda 2 is a fun movie and while it gives some maturation to the main character, at the end of the film he's still jumping into the air in awe that he gets to fight alongside the legends of kung fu.

First Game of 2014: L5R

I may have mentioned that I don't play RPG's as much as I would like to and that one of my goals in 2014 was to play more.

I spoke with my buddies a few weeks ago and they were talking Iron Kingdoms. I was like well, I know the setting from the old d20 books and the table top game, but don't have any of the new stuff. No problem, come on by early and we'll hash something out.

Talked to them before coming over and bam! It'd be changed to Legend of the Five Rings by AEG .

This is what I'm talking about when I mention the inspiration part of movies, books, and comics. The fact that a group of these guys went to see the movie and were so entranced by it, by the sound track, the visuals, the scenery, the background, and themes, that they said, "You know, that game of Iron Kingdoms we were going to play? That we discussed? That the GM has been prepping for months? Yeah, screw that game. It's time to get my Samurai on!"

For me it was good because I've also been getting a samurai fix form Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog where he's been posting about playing games of Ronin, a skirmish level miniature game by Osprey.

And man, I have the PDF. It's a huge thing being over 400 pages. And it's a gorgeous book. I really need to break down one day and buy the hardcover because while my Toshiba Thrive is still working, either I'm getting old and that 10.1 screen isn't doing it anymore, or more likely, like 99.9% of PDF's, it's the book with no regard given to being read in any other format than the print version.

Because it's so graphic heavy and so tight in text, it's not necessarily a pleasant experience reading it in standard format so you can increase the size of the text and make it easier on the eyes, but then it's not a page per 'sheet' or screen view if you will. That could just be me being crazy and suffering some OCD or something though.

Anyway, one of my friends did a Crane, another one a Dragon, another a Crab, and I picked Scorpion. We all picked Samurai, no courtiers or monks or ninjas or other weirdness.

Character creation wasn't bad. The whole five rings with four of them broken into two traits per ring and then the skills and schools and advantages and potential disadvantages took me less than an hour.

Speaking of disadvantages, in Legend of the Five Rings, how many people max those out? I didn't know if we were going to be playing again or what type of campaign it was going to be so didn't even bother with them and buffed up a few skills and picked a few advantages.

The GM ran something where we ran into the children of the emperor in a tavern full of semi-shady characters. There were some great interactions there with some notable NPC's and some people falling into the disadvantages like lechery or devoted to the spirits right away.

We followed along with the Emperor's children on a pilgrimage and well, long story short, two of the three were apparently killed, as were two of the players, in this case myself and +Sergio Rivera at the hands of +Tom Wright. I say apparently because the other players didn't stick around to see what happened, and while we were definitely outclassed, Legend of the Five Rings, at least story wise, has a long history of "No, that didn't actually happen see.", much like the old dime movies back in the day.

I've got a little less than a week to make my next character and I'm thinking of either another Scorpion or perhaps a ronin. The thing about ronin though, us unlike other game systems, unless it's changed dramatically, which it may, L5R is all about the clans so if you go ronin, you're really screwed at a character level.

Anyone have any Legend of the Five Rings advice out there? Any good sites I should be noting down and looking at? Help a poor man out here!

Okko The Cycle of Air by Hub

As my unpaid time off is getting ready to come to a close, I thought I should hit on the last book of Okko that is currently available, Okko, the cycle of Air, by Hub, publishing by Archaia.

To me, in terms of direct gaming inspiration, this one is probably the weakest. It's not that there aren't some great battles. It's not that there aren't some great turn arounds. It's not that we don't get to see a little more of the setting and how those in higher positions are probably more tighhtly bound by society than those who are wanderers and ronin like Okko.

Rather, it's that the action takes place because of an individual demon hunter that has come for Okko's giant friend. This brings the action straight to the characters and for once, the characters are completely outmatched. They only win through a bit of luck thanks to their youngest member.

While as a GM you may be tempted to 'ass kick' the players every now and again to put them in their place, there better be a hell of a good reason or story behind it. At almost every level, as the GM, you can always flatten the characters. Going out of the way to do so is pointless. And because this is book three of a five book series, we only get vague hints as to why Okko and his friend were hunted in the first place so it feels very incomplete.

Art, overall story, theme, and background details that pop out all make it worth having in terms of reading the series for itself, but in terms of developing some action around the activities, the previous two volumes probably fill that role better.

Okko the Cycle of Earth by Hub

The second book in the Okko graphic novel series, Okko, the Cycle Of Earth, continues the travels of the demon hunter Okko and his motley band of allies.  The illustrations are strong, crisp whil still having tons of detail. The setting comes alive under the artist here and the feel of the setting is made clear through careful placement of little details.

The story line here works fantastic for a RPG and could be lifted whole cloth. In short, I highly recommend anyone running Oriental Adventurers, Legends of the Five Rings, or other manner of games where a little Samurai Sunday attitude is called for, look it over. This isn't to say that a standard fantasy game of Dungeons and Dragons couldn't swipe the plot by changing a few things.

The book starts off with an introduction to a city. The youngest of their group, Tikku, acts as our outsider. Because he is not well versed or travelled, his mentor must inform him, and through him, the audience of the importance of places and events going on around them.

For example, in the city they are at, it's a celebration for the first day of winter. Floats are carried on the streets, dragons manned by multiple people dance around, masks are worn and "every kind of outlandishness is allowed."  We discover that Bakuyaku's nicnmake is "Black Poweder City" because the seven monastery range has a lot of despotis of the stuff around them.

Okko himself becomes involved in greater events by having a man seek him out and die in front of him from an assassin's attack. His ally, Noburo, seeks to hunt down the assassin, but during the celebration, the tightly wound city with all of its masked inhabitants makes this a difficult task.

In looking at such a set up for your own campaigns, this is one of the reasons its good to have a calendar of the holidays and what those holidays mean. If people are all out celebrating in the streets and the streets are crowded with floats and other obsticales, it can make for a more challenging race against individuals that are seeking to escape. It also makes things more colorful and takes away some of the 'generic' that some settings can suffer from as they all seem so similiar.

Now on the hunt for the assassins and for the person that was identified by the slain courier, Okko begins wandering the Seven Monstary Range looking for the Raven Mon. This allows the characters to learn about the setting and details of background even as they suffer some random encounters.  It also provides some background on the senior monk as he used to be a student at one of the monastaries.

This is another useful trick when a player has information in his background about where he came from and what he did. Some players put it there for active use, some to just have a grounding part of their characters. the players will generally give you a good idea of what they'd like done with that information and pulling a little of it into the game when appropriate is never a back idea.

One of the things the monks encounter is an oracle who provides information, but that information relates to what they are seeking only on the very edges of that mission. This is a fairly standard method of providing some information, to not hand out the exact answers that are sought, but to provide perhaps more details to the overall scheme of what the players may be involved in.

Inthis instance, no search could be complete without visiting all seven monastary's, and only at the end, learning that "An eight exists, perched atop the roof of the world. There dwells an order of illuminators in their hands ap riceless collection of books! nly the powerful and the prvileged few have access to this immense source of knowledge... or even know of its existence..."

That bit right there does a few things. It takes the knowledge that is commonly known, that there are seven schools, and expands it. It then names the location, the location of which, is known to their guide as "oneo f the highest mountaints known to man! I know none fool enough to dare is heights. And I do not know the path." This bit of player knowledge is like having a player talk about a demon inhabited realm or a blasted wasteland. It may add a little more inherent danger in the trip, but overall, it's not going to stop the players from going there.

Here though, the author provides some hope in the form of the Sanctuary of the 47 Geysers. By placing these unlikely found but named locations throughout the book, the author is cementing the setting. By allowing the players to visit these locations that are few and out of the way, he is providing color and character to the landscape. This is a useful trick for any game master and not every encounter has to end in a fight. The wonder of the setting should also strike the characters as much as the monsters.

When Okko does meet the samurai that the courier died trying to name, the meeting is like oil and water. Okko, being considered a ronin and an outsider of the standard civilization of his time, is not necessarily respected in the manner that other Samurai are. This happens in role playing games all the time as adventurers are generally not land owners and only have themselves to be responsible to. This allows them to do and say things that might get say, a farmer a trip to the gallows but to which an adventurer might reply, "Do you really want me to kill the garrison and leave you vulnerable to the giants in the area?"

When the whole group comes under attack, the monk is taken out in the first volley of the assault. This is something to remember for the Game Master when playing monsters that have intelligence or tactics. In pre-4th edition games, the wisdom is go for the spellcasters.  Nothing like a group of fire balls or turning efforts on the undead to quickly undermine a horde of minions and monsters. To counter this, don't act like the monsters are stupid. If a lich, an undead spellcaster, is among the villains, he's going to know exactly how powerful an opposing spell caster is and want that creature dead.

Eventually, when they do find the forbidden libraries, they discover that they are there too late. The library has been ransacked and its men killed. What they learn though, is that their enemies started off as healers but seeing the land plunged into such deep war, decided that they should be the ones to rule as they could, using their forbidden studies, control the dead of all the clans. With the land in such a constant state of warefare, they are not left wanting for raw supplies.

This is part of the appeal of running a campaign during a time of trouble. If everything is normal and the characters are merely looters, then their overall impact on the setting, as great as it may be, is one of the outsider. If on the other hand, the setting is alive and thriving with its own series of conflicts, things that no one adventurer will be able to solve, then it allows them to gather into different places and impact the setting in different ways. They are not necessarily merely dungeon crawling, but choosing sides in a multi-angled war. If they choose to do so. After all, with so many dying on the battlefield, that just means more empty castles for looting right?

The whole thing comes to a conclussion as Okko and his allies hold down an old fort against the legions of undead and their spellcasting masters.  It has very much the feel of a Seven Samurai, a group of skilled individuals against a horde of nameless enemies. Okko and his allies are only able to claim victory though the use of a surgecial strike against the leaders of the undead.

Which is something that the Game Master has to look out for. Unless you're dealing with a group of brand new players, the characters will often go after the puppeter, not the puppets. You have to be ready with appropriate challenging counters if the villains are clver enough to have them. If your bad guys aren't expecting a scrying, teleportation, assassination attack, then you're not playing at mid-high levels of D&D with thinking villains. Prepare and defend appropriately, but don't provide everyone the exact same type of defense. Vary things up. Provide differences.

Okko the Cycle of Earth provides investigation, strained alliances, exploration, and combat against dark masters insistant that their rule would be better for the land then those currently ruling.

Okko: the Cycle of Water by Hub

While at Gen Con this year, one of the things I picked up was Okko, the Cycle of Earth and the Cycle of Air, both by Hub, sold through the Archaia both. They had a deal where it was buy one get one free and as these are sturdy hardcovers, the cover price of $19.95 seemed more than fair for two of them. I was so enthralled with them, that I immediately ordered the the Cycle of Water, which was waiting for me by the time I made it back to Chicago.

I'd heard of Okko before. Thinking back on it, it was during my numerous trips to Games Plus where I first saw it, but it was in a miniature game format there. The figures always looked interesting but since I wasn't playing anything that would require them, and I have a ton, perhaps more, or miniatures, I always passed on them.

But reading? Hell, I could read that with no problem, especially in a graphic novel format.

So what is Okko about? A group of, well, they're not all quite friends, but allies in some aspects with Okko, the demon queller, serving as the master of the group, go about Pajan, that is not a misspelling, and take care of demons and other supernatural entities.

After reading the thee graphic novels, I am more fist shaking at the skies then before that I didn't have material such as this to inspire my Oriental Adventurers and Legend of the Five Rings games.

In the first volume, The Cycle of Water, which by the way, I'm going to start spolier alerts now so read no further if you wish to remain unaware of what's coming....

Anyway, in the first collection, Okko and his friend Noburo, an oversized warrior who always has a red demonic mask on, is visiting Little Carp, a young Geisha, who Noburo informs her, is preganent. During the night, the house is attacked and Little Carp taken away. Here we see something resembling a hencheman coming into play as Tikku offers his service to Okko if he will rescue his sister, Little Carp.

This is a standard of some stories where the characters have the action brought to them. If the players are sitting around too much, doing too much role playing with the weapon smith and the tavern keeper, have something happen. Force them to engage the setting.

During the investigation to find Little Carp, we are given some glimpses into the setting. This includes visiting Tagakka Uchi, the port of the hundred Morays, and upon that, a trip to the Red Lotus, "the most infamous and dangerous casino in the city.". We also get to see what sets this setting apart from merely being 'Japan' with some misspellings in the form of a demonic water creature that Okko has killed, a summoning of a water spirit, and a combat 'Bunraku', a so called 'puppet' which is actually similiar to a giant robot piloted from within.

Okko and his allies manage to do a lot of investigating in a little time at the Red Lotus. This involves looking around the massive casino, finding secret passages, and finding an abaitor pit in the heart of the casino. One of the things that happens though, is that their 'stealth' is blown early because Noburo, being a masked giant of a man, is quite easy to spot and quite distinctive.

This is something that the GM should keep in mind with the players in his own game. While some players, especially those of rogues or rangers, prefer to stay out of the limelight with dirty grimy cloaks, the fighters, paladin, clerics, and mages, often have very distinctive clothing, weapons, and reputations. If the players are looking for information by those on the run, and they carry such distinguishing marks with them, make things a little more difficult for them.

The next thrust of the adventure takes place on an island. In fantasy role playing games, islands work fantastic to provide some weird things because they are isolated from the main land and can have vastly different rules and structures. In this case, Here, the island is ruled by the Satorror Clan, the rulers of the northern archipelagoes. An ancient, and supposedly dead clan...

The author makes good use of the characters here in providing more challenges and more story.

The drunken monk for example, seeks spiritual guideance, but in exchange, must rebuild the temple left to rot.

The warrior Okko himself, tests out the head samurai here and manages to get a look around the compound.

The giant manages to fit in with the other commoners, finding out details of what else is happening.

Tikku, being new to the whole thing of being an adventurer, does some unofficial scouting of his own and gets a brand upon his forehead of the thief. This brand is a permanent mark and is noted on in later issues. When looking at the cost of failure, I've mentioned before that death does not have to be the only alternative. Having something happen that marks the players, is one way to move the story forward with a complication, but still move the story forward. Perhaps the mark is common and everyone knows it. Perhaps the mark is more obscure and only a select group of people know of it.

In a game like Hero, this would be a distinctive feature and be worth points. In GURPS, or at least the last version I played, while it's still a distinctive feature, earning one during game play provides no points. In class and level based games, such earned scars and marks often do not have any game play mechanics to them but the role playing opportunities can be huge. If nothing else, they are a point of conversation starters for those various nights adventurerers spend at the taverns.

Another twist is that in the battle between the giant and the puppet, our giant masked warrior finds even his strength isn't enough to overcome a giant robot and has to use different tactics. In 4e, some skill checks to provide ideas on how to beat a puppet, even a combat one, might lead to what happens in the comic. In this case, it's a chase to wear the driver down, and then a sneak attack to knock the puppter off a ledge and crush the drivers inside the machine. While 4e skill checks can be some what odious at times, the ability to do things that only combat mechanics would result in failure, is a nice change of pace and does allow the players to use a larger variety of skills.

In the end, it turns out that the enemies Okko faces are a pair of pennagolans (in D&D they're the vampire undead creatures that are just heads with organs) who seek to create a child. To do so, they needed a woman that was already preganent because of their undead nature.

After Okko and his comrades defeat the undead, Okko reads up on the notes of the Lady of the house and discovers their ties to the Red Lotus, and where they originally came from. By putting the details in the back, the author allows the characters to pursue the information at their own leisure. In D&D or other action oriented games, this is a fine possibility, while in a game like Call of Cthulhu, whose nature is mostly centered around investigation, it might be better to have those documents found earlier.

Okko brings together a varied cast of characters in a manner that would work well for any role playing game. By making them demon hunters, the Game Master can avoid a lot of the whole clan and hnor issue that can drag down  certain aspects of OA style games and focus on the demon hunting and exploring a setting different than the standards.

If you're running a fantasy game, especially something like Legend of the Five Rings, Okko is a visual inspiration with a solid story running through it.