So the Japanese Goblin Slayer RPG is getting a translation

[TristramEvans]

Yen Press To Publish English Goblin Slayer Tabletop RPG in Early 2022

Yen Press has announced that it is publishing an English version of the Goblin Slayer Tabletop RPG releasing in Early 2022.

www.siliconera.com

Obviously the anime has gotten a (rather overblown) reputation because of the shocks in the first episode, but otherwise the series is kinda of a typical post-D&D Japanese RPG videogame-esque setting. It's RPG influences are actually pretty blatant in the show, where it's implied the Gods of the world are in fact role-players who decide events with dice rolls.

the TTRPG is actually pretty popular over in Japan with a few expansions....don't know if we'll see any of those get translations as well, but it does seem like an odd choice to make the leap to the English world what with the anime's notoriety (from what I understand it's against the rules to even mention the show on certain other forums).

 

[ScytheSong]

Goblin Slayer is one of those odd ones. The setting is "fantasy fucking Vietnam," but only one character seems to notice it -- the rest think they're in a high fantasy campaign. I've been watching the anime and the "abridged" version both, and, well, there isn't much that is outside of bog-standard D&D. I'm given to understand that this is the first time that the mechanics of Japan's answer to D&D (Sword Adventures?) have been translated into English, so that might be a draw.

 

[TristramEvans]

Sword World was the system forming the basis for Record of the Lodoss War, IIRC. If so, it's got a pretty hefty pedigree

 

[burbles]

I'm given to understand that this is the first time that the mechanics of Japan's answer to D&D (Sword Adventures?) have been translated into English, so that might be a draw.

Slight correction, I believe its Sword World (not Sword Adventures).

As I understand it Sword World (v2.5) was published in three volumes (each around 200 pages), but Goblin Slayer RPG comes as one 400+ page book and has had one supplement published. Goblin Slayer RPG is based upon the Sword World chassis, but has been tweaked to match the Goblin World universe (eg adventurers have 10 levels matching Porcelain (or was it ceramic) -> Platinum etc..

An attempt was made to fan translate Sword World 2.0, (try googling Sword world wiki), but I only think they completed the first book.

Yes I'm sorry, I'm a weibu regarding Japan, Japanes anime and Japanese RPG's. Still going 'SQUEEEEE' over a week after the announcement.

 

[TristramEvans]

IIRC, Sword World came about in the first place because Japan's hobby community was starting to get exposed to D&D but it was impossible at the time to get polyhedrals in Japan without prohibitive import fees, so somebody essentially whipped up a D&D version that only required D6''s.

 

[TristramEvans]

I guess my main question is if Sword World 2.0/The Goblin Slayer RPG is presented in the format of many other Japanese RPGs, where the rules are explained largely in the form of a "let's play"? I've always been somewhat enamoured of that approach.

 

[ScytheSong]

Yeah. Sword World is the correct title of the "parent" RPG.

I know that there's an entire genre of fiction in Japanese that are basically novelized and illustrated Actual Play reports, of which Record of Lodoss War is the ur-example. I used to go to conventions more than a dozen years ago now, and the consistent rumor was that one of the Lodoss players got a D&D set at a Westercon after playing in a con game, and that he wrote up an after-action report to explain what was going on to his friends back in Japan.

 

[Voros]

I watched a few episodes of Goblin Slayer and it was too bog standard anime with all the usual tropes for me.

I'd rather that we were getting a translation of Sword World itself, or the Record of Lodoss rpg which I believe is also Sword World.

 

[TristramEvans]

I watched a few episodes of Goblin Slayer and it was too bog standard anime with all the usual tropes for me.

I think that was the major appeal of it, honestly. In a market oversaturated with Isekei and slice of life romances and "gimmick" fantasy, Goblin Slayer is just a dude who kills goblins, and occasionally other stuff.

"Anime comfort food" , if you will.

 

[Kobayashi]

I would have like to have a Made in Abyss rpg adaptation as it really takes the "dungeoncrawling/wilderness adventure" tropes in a very interesting direction.

But well, if it paves the way for more tranlations of japanese rpgs, I'm all in.

 

[ScytheSong]

Speaking of translations of Japanese RPG's, I own and love Golden Sky Stories. I introduced my two older daughters to rpgs with it, and while the first run through was rough (how did we get from "shapeshifting animals helping their human neighbors" to "generational combat between warring factions of woodland creatures"? I'm still not sure...), we've had fun as a family with it.

 

[Simlasa]

I would have like to have a Made in Abyss rpg adaptation as it really takes the "dungeoncrawling/wilderness adventure" tropes in a very interesting direction.

But well, if it paves the way for more tranlations of japanese rpgs, I'm all in.

Apparently, this rpg's setting is inspired by MiA... at least, the comments for it are where I first heard of MiA and got me started watching it.
Haven't bought or played it yet.

 

[EmperorNorton]

Sword World was the system forming the basis for Record of the Lodoss War, IIRC. If so, it's got a pretty hefty pedigree

From what I remember, original Lodoss replays were a D&D campaign, but when they wanted to officially release the setting they made Sword World and switched their games for replays to it as well.

I could be misremembering though.

 

[TNMalt]

Only saw a couple of episodes, but the first was the darkest. A bit of an over the top way to show that goblins deserve the murderhoboing from goblin slayer.

 

[TristramEvans]

Only saw a couple of episodes, but the first was the darkest. A bit of an over the top way to show that goblins deserve the murderhoboing from goblin slayer.

Yeah, the first was superdark just to make a point. Some might say unnecessarily over the top, but having grown up in the days of early 90's anime, it really didn't phase me a bit. I guess I didnt realize how tame modern anime had become until the reaction to Goblin Slayer happened. After that, there's occasional dark stuff, but overall the show has far less extreme content than Game of Thrones. It just "got a reputation"

 

[Paradigm Shaft]

I actually really liked the anime. It sanitised some of the manga's more unsavoury excesses. I really love the idea of the Goblin Slayer. He is so hyper-focused to the point of autism and I find that really charming. And Goblins in this setting truly do deserve death, so there's no moralising about the ethics of killing baby goblins. They are basically magical, horrifying vermin.

 

[TNMalt]

I agree. I remember some of the anime from the 90s and after thinking about it, it goes farther than the stuff today. In the 90s, just another Tuesday.

 

[TNMalt]

And to add. About time we got an English translation of the Sword World system.

 

[Dyrnwyn]

I agree. I remember some of the anime from the 90s and after thinking about it, it goes farther than the stuff today. In the 90s, just another Tuesday.

And this was before video stores knew what it was much of the time, too. One that I frequented would put things like Wicked City next to Disney movies because hey, animation is for kids, right?

 

[TNMalt]

Heh. All the video stores I went to were able to avoid doing that.

 

[Necrozius]

I read the manga, not seen the Anime. I can see why people think it is controversial.

As I mentioned in the 5e thread, I kind of like how they made character LEVELS diegetic (ie, actually part of the setting, perceivable and mentioned in-character).

The tonal shifts in the story are pretty hilarious. One minute it is really, really grim (hard R gore and implied nudity/rape) then the next it's the usual light-hearted anime love comedy stuff. So bizarre.

 

[Ralph Dula]

The tonal shifts in the story are pretty hilarious. One minute it is really, really grim (hard R gore and implied nudity/rape) then the next it's the usual light-hearted anime love comedy stuff. So bizarre.

I’m moving stuff around as we prepare for flooding, and a little while ago I found a box of several hundred manhua I bought back in the day to practice my Chinese with. Most of them are one series, a fantasy series which has a tone on par with the Power Rangers, except that every fifty issues or so one of the two protagonists tries to rape the other protagonist’s girlfriend.



Every time the boyfriend comes along, there’s a fight (sometimes lasting several issues) and then they go on adventuring like nothing happened, until the next attempted rape occurs.

 

[Korgoth]

Only saw a couple of episodes, but the first was the darkest. A bit of an over the top way to show that goblins deserve the murderhoboing from goblin slayer.

I might try the series out again then if the 1st episode is the darkest bit. I mean I get the setting may be dark and harsh but I've no desire to see rape portrayed on screen. And this coming from a self avowed non woke gamer.

 

[Luca]

Yeah, the first episode is the worst by far. There's a few other disturbing bits here and there but nothing as strong.
It could have been a more interesting work if it tried to develop some of the themes it implies here and there, but alas... all we get is the cool dude slaughtering goblinoids.

 

[TristramEvans]

I read the manga, not seen the Anime. I can see why people think it is controversial.

From what I've heard, the manga is worse than the anime, but the original light novels that both were based on doesn't have any of that stuff.

 

[Simlasa]

all we get is the cool dude slaughtering goblinoids.

There's more to it than that... the main POV character being the 'cleric', her learning the ropes of the trade and how the whole 'adventurer' system works. It's not all explained in a big info dump, but it's not bog-standard D&D... instead it's a bit like how Earthdawn took D&D's tropes and hung them on a consistent framework that makes some sort of sense.

 

[Voros]

From what I've heard, the manga is worse than the anime, but the original light novels that both were based on doesn't have any of that stuff.

That's an odd additon and I would guess says a lot about the presumed audience.

Either way, GS struck me as mediocre and too conventional compared to the likes of Berzerk or Ichii the Killer.

I've said it before but even the craziest anime pales in comparison of the extremes of 70s Japanese exploitation films. There at least though it is often done with style and even wit.

For me the bigger issue with a lot of this content in anime is the tone is distinctly adolescent.

 

[TristramEvans]

There's more to it than that... the main POV character being the 'cleric', her learning the ropes of the trade and how the whole 'adventurer' system works. It's not all explained in a big info dump, but it's not bog-standard D&D... instead it's a bit like how Earthdawn took D&D's tropes and hung them on a consistent framework that makes some sort of sense.

It's similar to Overlord in that sense, but a bit less grounded. Goblin Slayer is basically a world where, like Earthdawn, these tropes exist because of the way the world was created and developed. In Overlord, the world was more of a gritty low-magic fantasy setting ala Game of Thrones whose history was "infected" by elements seeping over from this virtual gameworld hundreds of years in the past when it was first invaded by Players, and adapted their cultures around these new elements as best they could.

 

[Voros]

Oh and reading the actual link, oh boy, Giant Rats!! Can't wait...

 

[Torque2100]

I am pretty excited for this since I love the Goblin Slayer series and I have a soft spot for Fantasy Heartbreakers. It's kind of sad how many great RPGs have been able to flourish in non-English speaking markets: Dracoch och Demoner, Sword World etc. that will likely never see the light of day in the Anglosphere due to DnD's global hegemony.

 

[Chris Brady]

Goblin Slayer is one of those odd ones. The setting is "fantasy fucking Vietnam," but only one character seems to notice it -- the rest think they're in a high fantasy campaign. I've been watching the anime and the "abridged" version both, and, well, there isn't much that is outside of bog-standard D&D. I'm given to understand that this is the first time that the mechanics of Japan's answer to D&D (Sword Adventures?) have been translated into English, so that might be a draw.

The problem I had is how the story doesn't know what Goblins are. Are they a threat? Or not? If yes, then why send newbie parties to face them to their death with a mentor. If they're not, Goblin Slayer is a sad pathetic loser who is wasting his tactical talents. The whole point of the show is about a broken man relearning to accept people in his life again. It's a good story, but the world built around him needs more work.

 

[TristramEvans]

The problem I had is how the story doesn't know what Goblins are. Are they a threat? Or not?

Yes, I think the first episode makes it very clear that they are.

If yes, then why send newbie parties to face them to their death with a mentor.

People underestimated them, to their detriment.

 

[ScytheSong]

The problem I had is how the story doesn't know what Goblins are. Are they a threat? Or not? If yes, then why send newbie parties to face them to their death with a mentor. If they're not, Goblin Slayer is a sad pathetic loser who is wasting his tactical talents. The whole point of the show is about a broken man relearning to accept people in his life again. It's a good story, but the world built around him needs more work.

To slightly contradict Tristram, the level of threat of the goblins doesn't really hit home until about the fifth or sixth episode, when it's revealed that the goblins are attacking safe areas while the "adventurers" are going after larger, actually less dangerous, monsters. If you're being destroyed from within by rats, the lions out on the savanna are less of a problem than you think they are. There's also an implication that someone or something is siccing the goblins on Water Town above the level of the Goblin Champion.

 

[AsenRG]

Yeah, the first episode is the worst by far. There's a few other disturbing bits here and there but nothing as strong.
It could have been a more interesting work if it tried to develop some of the themes it implies here and there, but alas... all we get is the cool dude slaughtering goblinoids.

Well, D&D was an inspiration, right?

 

[Korgoth]

I've said it before but even the craziest anime pales in comparison of the extremes of 70s Japanese exploitation films. There at least though it is often done with style and even wit.

It seems to me entire "Pinku" genre of Japanese films is the birth of "perversion themed entertainment" in Japanese popular/wide-spread media. From their we eventually ended up with Hentai and eventually Goblin Slayer S01E01.

It's always kind of fascinated but also shocked me how such an outwardly conservative and polite/don't rock the boat society can have such perverted forms of entertainment. A real dichotomy.

I'd arm-chair psycho-analyzed this as the society is so focused around social conformity and harmony, that when some sort of taboo fantasy material emerges it's all the more extreme because of the "repression" in the day to day world.

It's similar to Overlord in that sense, but a bit less grounded. Goblin Slayer is basically a world where, like Earthdawn, these tropes exist because of the way the world was created and developed. In Overlord, the world was more of a gritty low-magic fantasy setting ala Game of Thrones whose history was "infected" by elements seeping over from this virtual gameworld hundreds of years in the past when it was first invaded by Players, and adapted their cultures around these new elements as best they could.

Is this "Overlord" you speak of a JRPG, Manga, Anime, Lite-Novel? I've not heard of it before.

 

[Psychopomp]

From what I've heard, the manga is worse than the anime, but the original light novels that both were based on doesn't have any of that stuff.

I can confirm - I got interested via the manga, and eventually switched to the light novels. Goblin Slayer is actually the only light novel series I collect and follow. In the light novels, it's presented less as opportunities for T&A, and more as another one of the dire consequences of underestimating goblins or letting a local nest get strong enough to go raiding. There's a lot more fade-to-black and "we don't need to discuss what happened to her after that." I'm reminded more of how history texts will mention that one of the spoils vikings would take home from raids were thrall-wives, but not go into what that meant.

Also, the novels incorporate the PTSD element of capture by or loss to goblins more, both directly and indirectly. They make more clear that Sword Mistress isn't just afraid of goblins, but rather while she stuck a sword in the last Demon King, the mere thought of goblins turns her back into a 16 year old captive in their caves. Waaaaaay in volume 8 or 9, while visiting the grave of the wizard girl from that first mission, Priestess confides in High Elf Archer that, despite them having been in the capital city for a week, she hasn't gone to visit Martial Artist in the temple she joined to recover in, because Priestess is still afraid to confront what happened to them.

Basically, the more visual the medium, the less the 'goblins want our women' element is played as horror and the more its played as an excuse for titillation, hence the controversy.

The problem I had is how the story doesn't know what Goblins are. Are they a threat? Or not? If yes, then why send newbie parties to face them to their death with a mentor. If they're not, Goblin Slayer is a sad pathetic loser who is wasting his tactical talents. The whole point of the show is about a broken man relearning to accept people in his life again. It's a good story, but the world built around him needs more work.

Again, the further you get from the visual medium, the more this is fleshed out and the better the world-building. The goblins are probably natives of the green moon that periodically get summoned to the world by agents of evil in need of minions, and have gotten loose...but no one's absolutely sure. They are absolutely a threat as their numbers grow and they learn more tactics through observation, but they are explicitly a local problem of the poorer villages and towns. Ergo, there's no big rewards and thus no incentive for more advanced adventurers to go after them. Adventuring is very clearly a mercenary profession in the world of Goblin Slayer, and hero adventurers are the exception, not the rule. So while it would be in the public interest for capable adventurers to periodically clear out small goblin nests as soon as they're reported, no one's paying money worth the bother, so it's left to the newbies desperate enough for any jobs, even though it might actually be too dangerous to do so. And the guild as a larger organization is fine with that, as there's always more newbies to throw at the quests for a few silver, no matter how much it hurts Guild Girl (and presumably other involved clerks) to do so.

Goblin Slayer is a good dark fantasy RPG based story in the manga (I haven't tried the anime yet, so I can't speak to it) but it is much better in the light novels, above and beyond the usual "the book is always better" trope.

 

[TristramEvans]

It seems to me entire "Pinku" genre of Japanese films is the birth of "perversion themed entertainment" in Japanese popular/wide-spread media. From their we eventually ended up with Hentai and eventually Goblin Slayer S01E01.

It's always kind of fascinated but also shocked me how such an outwardly conservative and polite/don't rock the boat society can have such perverted forms of entertainment. A real dichotomy.

I'd arm-chair psycho-analyzed this as the society is so focused around social conformity and harmony, that when some sort of taboo fantasy material emerges it's all the more extreme because of the "repression" in the day to day world.



Is this "Overlord" you speak of a JRPG, Manga, Anime, Lite-Novel? I've not heard of it before.

Light novels primarily, but it's had 3 seasons of an anime adapting the first 8 novels (with season 4 and a film on the way) and I think there's also a manga adaption being done.



It's a very dark comedy about a guy who lives in a dystopic future as a low totem-pole office worker with no social life who finds escape and friendship in a popular complex virtual reality MMO, where he plays an evil Lich king. Him and his new found friends form a guild, all of monsters, and create a home base that is a vast tomb populated by monstrous NPCs that they programmed. Over time, one by one his friends leave, until the MMO announces it's finally shutting it's servers down after ten years, and he ends up the last one there on the final day, lamenting the loss.

And right when the game is meant to shut down, he suddenly finds that he is unable to log off, stuck in the body of a Lich, the NPCs populating the tomb have become sentient, and worship him as a God, and the entire tomb has somehow been transported to an actual living fantasy world. Not knowing what else to do, he decides to just keep roleplaying his character as best he can, while he sort of inadvertently gets caught up in a scheme to take over the world, due to his minions constantly misinterpreting him, as they are convinced he is a divine, genius, supervillain, and he's really just this dork terrified they'll catch on he has no idea what he's doing.

Luckily for him (and unlucky for the fantasy world he's found himself in), as he's retained all the abilities he earned achieving the highest level in the MMO, he's ridiculously powerful, in fact even the weakest NPC in the tomb is far beyond anything in the (relatively gritty, low magic) world they encounter;

Imagine dropping Doctor Doom and an army of supervillains he's put together into Game of Thrones.

From there it is basically a fantasy epic from the PoV of the Dark Lord, who deep down is just this geeky Japanese office worker trying to fake being impressive.

 

[AsenRG]

Light novels primarily, but it's had 3 seasons of an anime adapting the first 8 novels (with season 4 and a film on the way) and I think there's also a manga adaption being done.

View attachment 35161

It's a very dark comedy about a guy who lives in a dystopic future as a low totem-pole office worker with no social life who finds escape and friendship in a popular complex virtual reality MMO, where he plays an evil Lich king. Him and his new found friends form a guild, all of monsters, and create a home base that is a vast tomb populated by monstrous NPCs that they programmed. Over time, one by one his friends leave, until the MMO announces it's finally shutting it's servers down after ten years, and he ends up the last one there on the final day, lamenting the loss.

And right when the game is meant to shut down, he suddenly finds that he is unable to log off, stuck in the body of a Lich, the NPCs populating the tomb have become sentient, and worship him as a God, and the entire tomb has someone been transported to an actual living fantasy world. Not knowing what else to do, he decides to just keep roleplaying his character as best he can, while he sort of inadvertently get's caught up in a scheme to take over the world, due to his minions constantly misinterpreting him, as they are convinced he is a divine, genius, supervillain, and he's really just this dork terrified they'll catch on he has no idea what he's doing.

Luckily for him (and unlucky for the fantasy world he's found himself in), as he's retained all the abilities he earned achieving the highest level in the MMO, he's ridiculously powerful, in fact even the weakest NPC in the tomb is far beyond anything in the (relatively gritty, low magic) world they encounter; Imagine dropping Doctor Doom and an army of supervillains he's put together into Game of Thrones.

From there it is basically a fantasy epic from the PoV of the Dark Lord, who deep down is just this geeky Japanese office worker trying to fake being impressive.

So, all it tells me it's isekai?

 

[AsenRG]

It seems to me entire "Pinku" genre of Japanese films is the birth of "perversion themed entertainment" in Japanese popular/wide-spread media. From their we eventually ended up with Hentai and eventually Goblin Slayer S01E01.

It's always kind of fascinated but also shocked me how such an outwardly conservative and polite/don't rock the boat society can have such perverted forms of entertainment. A real dichotomy.

I'd arm-chair psycho-analyzed this as the society is so focused around social conformity and harmony, that when some sort of taboo fantasy material emerges it's all the more extreme because of the "repression" in the day to day world.

I always believed that it's the official explanation.

 

[Voros]

It seems to me entire "Pinku" genre of Japanese films is the birth of "perversion themed entertainment" in Japanese popular/wide-spread media. From their we eventually ended up with Hentai and eventually Goblin Slayer S01E01.

It's always kind of fascinated but also shocked me how such an outwardly conservative and polite/don't rock the boat society can have such perverted forms of entertainment. A real dichotomy.

I'd arm-chair psycho-analyzed this as the society is so focused around social conformity and harmony, that when some sort of taboo fantasy material emerges it's all the more extreme because of the "repression" in the day to day world.



Is this "Overlord" you speak of a JRPG, Manga, Anime, Lite-Novel? I've not heard of it before.

Yeah, although Japanese literature and art going quite far back (at least 19th century if not earlier) deals with sexuality, violence and other taboo subjects much more forthrightly than a lot of 'mainstream' Western art.

And while we now associate the Japanese with repression and conformity a lot of their history is marked by licentiousness, disorder and violence. So to some degree the Japanese just seem to have a distinct sensibilty, probably shaped by their history, like all of us.

Those transgressive currents are definitely there in the West but seem to be more often swept under the rug until the 60s. I'd also note the Spanish produce particularly frank erotic and violent art, both before and after Franco.

Similarly, the Hong Kong CAT III films of the 80s and the US exploitation films of the 70s also seem to be some kind of cultural explosion of the id, a reaction to or just unleashing of the repressed.

China is actually moving right now to retroactively censor Hong Kong films so I hope someone is smuggling out the negatives of those CAT III films for posterity!

And at the same time it is notably Westerners who tend to gravitate to the transgressive in anime itself so one could argue how representative it is of Japanese culture as a whole.

From my understanding (perhaps from the excellent Anime Enyclopedia) anime like Overfiend were bigger hits in the West than within Japan itself and often end up being even made with Westerners as its main audience. I've heard the same thing about Goblin Slayer.