NewEdo is a refreshing cure for a tired cyberpunk genre | RPG Review 

i have some friends that moved to japan after college and they said that crime certainly happens a lot, just often times the cops dont do anything or ignore it so "no crime is recorded" as happening because they literally dont report it. Also crimes to foreigners are especially ignored. So it could part that and also part that historically even like yakuza arent fighting TOO often. theres way more threats levied before criminal violence takes place.

Kinda cool to see priority buy chargen in another RPG than Shadowrun. Pretty clear inspiration here.

thanks Mateo! NewEdo has been favorably compared to Shadowrun, noting that the mechanics don't get in the way of gameplay as often as in SR. Games run smoothly with no lookup charts etc., in a refreshing change!

@@nikoteardrop4904 NewEdo is like a combination of Legend of the Five Rings and Shadowrun, but without the latter's grinding system complexity. I couldn't have designed NewEdo without taking cues from SR, and I hope SR players will find NewEdo familiar without being derivative.

That problem you have with your players is a major problem in the hobby. It's the reason why video games are the most popular form of gaming in the world- people don't have to read a long instruction manual! But that's too bad that your players are like that. I feel your pain.

@DaveThaumavore yeah, I don't get it because I love reading rpg books, and games are way more fun generally once you do. Plus, I find the average Rpg book not so hard to digest. I guess that's what separates players and Gms in most cases.

NewEdo falls squarely in the "medium crunch" category, and there is quite a bit to absorb, especially for new players not familiar with Trait + Skill dicepool games. I've found that among new players who shy away from crunch, those who really enjoy character creation and customization are most likely to put in the work necessary to enjoy NewEdo. The game, at its core, was designed to allow for a ton of character creativity (structured on balanced systems). Crunch aint for everybody, but dice goblins are in for a treat... Thanks for your thoughts!

@@DaveThaumavorePeople lack of the attention spam to read a single book in a year.

It’s actually how I felt and they also didn’t bother to ask when to show up, they absolutely wanted everything to be done for them, character creation, math etc. I got so tired of it so I quit. I just play War and Skirmish games with my one good friend these days.

ah thanks very much for the insightful comment and kind words!

Confirmed, Salty is awesome.

@@DaveThaumavore @MarioReischer aw thanks you guys!

Yeah, the whole "Empire never did a colonialism, but is now being colonized by the West(TM)" strikes me as potentially playing into some very problematic territory, what with denialism of Japanese war crimes being A Thing. Honestly, I'd have just made this a secondary fantasy world inspired by Japanese history and culture, would solve a lot of problems!

Lol, right? like... then why did they call in an Empire?

From the sound of things I'd assume the diversion point, besides, y'know. Magic. Is a policy akin to the real world sakoku never ending. So no massive influx of Westernization and moderation, no Meiji Restoration... at least not in the way it happened in our world where Emperor Meiji took the reigns and dramatically modernized Japan. No sudden need to get 'social' with the neighbors to ensure Japan can stand on even footing with the Western powers and be taken seriously. As to why they called it an Empire in the book... some of it's different terminology in East versus West. The Japanese Imperial household has been an imperial house for a VERY long time as they themselves see it. Like. The current Imperial dynasty has been in power since 660 BC... per them any way. So connecting that colonialism is something of a misnomer. Japan didn't really get into European style colonialism until the late 19th century. So those historical tropes tend to carry over to scifi and fantasy media however, and Japanese inspired nations are almost invariably ruled by emperors and empresses... as are Chinese inspired locations, for similar reasons. As to why the language works out like that... some of it's the fault of Western explorers and diplomats too. In Japanese the title of the Emperor is Tennō, (天皇) which you can more literally translate as 'Heavenly Sovereign'. That just doesn't translate well to standard European titles of nobility just to start imho. Further if you were a European explorer coming home after a long voyage, would you rather tell your liege that you made contact with the Emperor of all China? Or the King of China? Considering a lot of these explorers relied on the funding and rewards from Royal patrons, I'd suspect they trended towards sexier language to keep the gold and silver coming. Then of course when the Japanese start getting official translations and started taking an influence on how their land and it's ruler was referred to... why wouldn't you ensure the Son of Heaven is referred to in foreign tongues by the most respectful terms possible? He's not some mere king! We can go past the linguistics to dissect the differences between Japanese, Chinese and mainstay European feudalism, but I think that's mildly overkill. Any way, connecting the use of those traditional terms to refer to the Japanese sovereign or a Japanese styled sovereign with the denial of Japanese war crimes in an alternate history where Japan stayed closed off and isolated, like it did for a lot of our real world history? Seems like a bit of a stretch.

​@@iiiiitsmagreta1240I've followed New Edo since Kickstarter and honestly same. If they just made it an alternate world it would make it way less confusing too. As it is it feels like trying to do way too mucj at once. I also don't like making a setting where everything is basically fine, because then why have stories set there? Stories need conflict.

​ hey folks in this thread, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion about the setting. NewEdo is, other than its name, not intended in any way to be an alternate depiction of real world Japan. The book doesn't mention Japan or any IRL people or events. It is a fantasy world inspired by Japan, with a timeline that may feel somewhat familiar to history geeks but is not analogous. Dave's comment about the Empire never invading anyone was likely founded on parts of the book describing the nation's recent inward-facing-ness / intentional isolation, but I have no illusions about what 'empire' means and wasn't trying to suggest they were particularly peaceable. And, there is no corporate colonialism in the book either - corporations are kept under the heel of the Courts, though they do push their luck. I guess the problem here is a thoughtful but limited review glossing over and/or confusing some key points about the setting - no fault of Dave's, given scope, but I did feel it worth attempting to clarify here!

the big differentiator from NewEdo and "-punk" games are its themes of aspiration and change. The way that plays out at the table somewhat answers your question. The game world is set at a series of inflection points - between tradition and technology, duty and self determination, etc. - and the whole "belief defines reality" thing means that whatever tenet or concept grows in popular belief or trust will be reinforced by that belief. PCs are meant to take sides in that debate, pushing for a future where technology doesn't impugn on tradition, or one where science overtakes superstition, pushing back the monsters at the edges of civilization. The game's various Factions (touched on briefly in the video) are major players fostering one or another of those tenets, giving structure to PCs' motivations - when you choose to play a character from a certain Faction, you understand that your politics will be assumed to be X or Y (though you may change that as you play). The Factions battle each other (politically, financially, literally) and other major players (foreign powers, uncivilized threats, non-Faction influences) to push their agenda, hoping to shape the future. So adventures will have acute goals like any adventure game, but also aggregate ones that create a broader story arc that should result in the PCs having a tangible effect on the future of their setting.

For example, you may hear of a wetwork (cybernetics) specialist who is performing augmentation installations that result in the psychotic break of their patients. Most tables will want to shut down that lab as an adventure. But depending on your Faction, you could try to spin the situation for various outcomes that help your cause: maybe you let him continue operating, and record all the negative effects of his technological hubris, pointing out that unfettered futurism risks our humanity. Alternately, you might shut him down then find another specialist to develop a piece of technology to repair the damage your villain has done, proving to the population that technology isn't evil and can cause more good than harm. There's a dozen story spectrums other than the debate over technology so that's just an example, but hopefully this shows how the setting makes it easier to build world-affecting story arcs that give continuity to whatever nightly adventures your players enjoy getting up to.

author here! thanks for picking up a copy, and I hope you enjoy the game!

A fair criticism. NewEdo actually began as NewToronto (my home at the time), and was only re-skinned as NewEdo after I spent extensive time in Japan. It's hard to light up players' imaginations with "like Toronto, but flashier" because most people can't picture Toronto. Tokyo, on the other hand, needs no introduction. Players fill in the details of the world without having to be led to them, making the storyteller's job easier (though noting that the Tokyo of imagination is pretty damn different than the Tokyo of reality haha). If you like the underlying paradigm of belief defining reality, the meta behind that is to make room for other geographies / settings where local belief has created very different realities - including, possibly, Toronto ha. Thanks for taking the time to watch and consider NewEdo!

@@newedorpg3328 I'm still looking into it if I might get it for the system and the utopian ideas. New Toronto or New Amsterdam do sound interesting.

Agreed :D

L5R had a strong influence on the Faction & Path structure of the game, so your players will be familiar with the concept!

I've read the book, and I definitely had similar concerns at first, but I think his comparison to star wars is an apt one. Augmentations (cybernetics) play a fairly significant role in the game, and while magic *can* do all the stuff you'd expect magic to do, it also has unique interactions with tech. The crime thing was confusing at first for me too, but it becomes clear pretty quickly that the world is about as violent as ours is in terms of police brutality, gang violence, and corporate malfeasance. While "mega corps" aren't a thing, the corporations play a big role in the politics of the setting, buying off and taking advantage of politicians to their advantage. Basically, the book says towards the end of the world building chapter that the world isn't a cyberpunk dystopia *yet* but that that is still a very real direction the world can go in. This conceit lets the world have cute little cafe's, and parks, and all the trappings of life you'd expect in a modern urban landscape, but puts all of that under threat from corporate, political, or criminal elements. You aren't likely to see corporate military in the world, but you ARE likely to see corporate propaganda spread, and since the world is shaped by people's beliefs, that propaganda can be more effective than a military invasion. This also means that you aren't likely to go on a killing spree to end a corporation's control over your district or something, you'll instead take action to ensure that their schemes are foiled, and the phone don't buy what they're selling (either literally or metaphorically) to keep your neighborhood safe.

I thought the interlocking systems were pretty cool, but complexity is a completely subjective personal preference.

the systems have about the same crunch as oWoD, with one additional trick thrown in (the Fate Card) that really elevates gameplay. The mechanics of the game reinforce the setting/theme, by tying PCs to their Legend and their Fate. But, ya, there's some crunch there that isn't for everyone!

Yes, it is very much left up to the players and the GM to work out. Things that may be encapsulated in traditional 'downtime activities' in other systems tend to fall under the Background system. Players can work on building new relations and networking to improve their contacts or followers, do misc work or make investments to try and earn wealth etc. Past that, adventure structure really depends on the type of game the players and dm want to play. It could be straight to the plot via mechanics like Contacts being able to "I know a guy" to get you to where you need to go or using some of the various skill features to achieve goals.

the plot hooks will evoke the non-punk-vibe of NewEdo, meaning it has lots of stories that don't revolve around a greedy corporation or an oppressive police state. There's lots in there to adapt to whatever modern setting you might be running (assuming you've got the imagination room for a bit of mysticism!)

[copy/pasted from a similar question above] the big differentiator from NewEdo and "-punk" games are its themes of aspiration and change. The way that plays out at the table somewhat answers your question. The game world is set at a series of inflection points - between tradition and technology, duty and self determination, etc. - and the whole "belief defines reality" thing means that whatever tenet or concept grows in popular belief or trust will be reinforced by that belief. PCs are meant to take sides in that debate, pushing for a future where technology doesn't impugn on tradition, or one where science overtakes superstition, pushing back the monsters at the edges of civilization. The game's various Factions (touched on briefly in the video) are major players fostering one or another of those tenets, giving structure to PCs' motivations - when you choose to play a character from a certain Faction, you understand that your politics will be assumed to be X or Y (though you may change that as you play). The Factions battle each other (politically, financially, literally) and other major players (foreign powers, uncivilized threats, non-Faction influences) to push their agenda, hoping to shape the future. So adventures will have acute goals like any adventure game, but also aggregate ones that create a broader story arc that should result in the PCs having a tangible effect on the future of their setting. For example, you may hear of a wetwork (cybernetics) specialist who is performing augmentation installations that result in the psychotic break of their patients. Most tables will want to shut down that lab as an adventure. But depending on your Faction, you could try to spin the situation for various outcomes that help your cause: maybe you let him continue operating, and record all the negative effects of his technological hubris, pointing out that unfettered futurism risks our humanity. Alternately, you might shut him down then find another specialist to develop a piece of technology to repair the damage your villain has done, proving to the population that technology isn't evil and can cause more good than harm. There's a dozen story spectrums other than the debate over technology so that's just an example, but hopefully this shows how the setting makes it easier to build world-affecting story arcs that give continuity to whatever nightly adventures your players enjoy getting up to.

While up for debate, I always say there isn't much "punk" in NewEdo. It's a game about shaping the future rather than just surviving gritty nights. That has some knock on effects on your plots in the game, but players seem to find it a refreshing change.

@@newedorpg3328 Punk is usually about some sort of a struggle against authority, so, it seems like NewEdo isn't really all that punk? More cybercore? That being said, from what i understand, it doesn't really consider itself cyberpunk? To be fair, a lot of "...-punk" words is used to describe aesthetics (which is weird, cause there is a "...-core" style of words for that). What it kinda seems like to me is that cyberpunk genre nowadays doesn't have enough of that punk. LIke, not enough "fighting against oppression" and "style over realism". (kinda why cy_borg rpg's rule about how selling out is effectively end of a character is quite cool).

Solarpunk can fit quite well into the "punk" theme of "fighting against oppression". Plus, solarpunk, as an aesthetic and also as a concept is quite anti-capitalist, cause it's against climate change and such, so ig a ttrpg about people trying to fight corporations which are sucking the life out of the planet could be a thing

@@Alex-cq1zr you're 100% right, NewEdo isn't a punk game (hence Dave's title screen ha). While it shares some neon aesthetics with cyberpunk, NewEdo's themes are the differentiating factor - those being aspiration and change rather than rebellion against repression. We've been calling it 'mythotech' to differentiate from cyberpunk, which it gets lumped in with because of a shared setting. But just as horror and fantasy might occasionally share a setting (as an example), the industry delineates between those two based on their themes. I wanted to create a modern, urban, stylish game that didn't rely on -punk themes, and wrote a game, including mechanics, that support those different themes. This is a neon city that doesn't hate you. But, as answered elsewhere in this comment section and extensively in various interviews, etc., that lack of oppression doesn't mean there's nothing to do in NewEdo. You just (usually) won't have a gun to the back of your head while doing it.

@@newedorpg3328 Idk if that's my style of game, but it might be worth checking out.

the game's biggest mechanical influences were SR, L5R and oWoD. I attempted to clean up a lot of the chaff from SR, making the game run smoother/quicker. It also largely does way with the hacking minigame problem that a lot of SR editions have - tech in NewEdo is "analog futuristic" like star wars - when you want to hack something, you've gotta break into a secure physical area first to access an isolated system, etc (meaning the whole team is involved). Some major differences from SR are: 1) thematics; NewEdo isn't a punk game at all, it is a game about change and aspiration; 2) augmentations do not hinder your sanity / humanity nor do they interfere with your ability to cast magic (do both!); 3) the Fate Card system is totally unique, and ties character/player choices to the actual mechanics or stats of your PC

see my reply under @kroeghe's comment below (or above...) for a bit more detail on this thought. Personal violence exists below the level of your standard cyberpunk dystopia, where murder is cheap and common, but it isn't absent from the setting.

someone taught me this over the weekend and I love it, because yes, exactly!

yes, mixed with Legend of the Five Rings ha

Yes.

The book is written very casually, like a conversation with the author over a beer. Helps break up the crunch.

Yeah, I hope more people are able to get their hands on this one.

me too! ha, thanks for the support!

SR was definitely an influence on the game, but I made sure that your choice of race/lineage/physical form wasn't on the priority table, to open up more RP without penalizing players concerned with optimization. Also, NewEdo runs a lot smoother than SR (noting, of course, that some people love how SR runs). The biggest differentiator, though, is the themes of the game. As Dave says, NewEdo isn't cyberpunk. It shares the neon urban vibe of cyberpunk games, but its themes are those of change and aspiration, rather than rebellion and angst. Just because your city is neon, doesn't mean it has to be dystopian. That may not be for everyone, but it's certainly a change of pace!

City of Mist creators are actually working on a myth-tech version of their game called "Tokyo - otherscape", with some updates to the core mechanics. Backed the Kickstarter a few months ago, waiting for the full release to read all the materials.

Not as bad as Shadowrun but yeah, it’s got some complexity.

if you're familiar with either (most) L5R systems, or oWoD, this is about the same crunch as those. But it aint a rules lite game, that's for sure!

thanks for taking a chance!

that is bang on

it's definitely a character focused game, with the crunch front-loaded into options for players!

Agreed.

The biggest difference from SR's priority is that your race/lineage/form isn't on NewEdo's priority, so you can make RP appropriate choices without feeling so forced with your race optimization.

@@newedorpg3328 which is brilliant.

Thanks Rex!

Ah sorry, yes, those bookmark tokens were a kickstarter exclusive. Dave must have got one of the last ones. I hope you're not too disappointed and that you're enjoying the book!

The book is really good. I like it.@@newedorpg3328

ah, ya, characters in NewEdo are intentionally larger than life. The Legend and Fate Card systems build mechanics around the concept of belief defining reality, and are the structure by which PCs become awesome. They're great for providing character motivation, but result in heroic (or anti-hero) characters for sure.

Well, it says there's no violence in one part of the book, but the vast majority of the book describes a world of potential violence. This will mostly come from conflict between the factions.

the primary source of conflict is the Factions system, where various forces are vying to shape the future of what people believe (since belief defines reality). Personal violence, rather than crime in aggregate, is more rare than in a typical -punk style dystopia, and problems are still solvable with a sword. Monsters (beyond the playable Lineages) exist and can threaten the peace of the city. Foreign actors linger on the periphery, waiting to puncture the protective bubble of the inward-facing Empire. The lack of dystopian hyperviolence creates a setting where violent choices have consequences beyond having to purchase more ammo, but the game isn't supposed to comprise only poetry writing and interpretive dance (at least, not exclusively...). Imagine a futuristic feudal setting, where laws are strict and crime is rare, but there's ample room for conflict to arise.

dice goblins love NewEdo, it's just science

The book and game world are wholly fantastical, not an alternate timeline. It is only inspired by reality.

Dont run away so early, Salty has released a more simple character sheet that i believe is on the salty games website

NewEdo isn't a "punk" game at all! It shares the neon urban setting, but its themes are very different - aspiration versus rebellion, hope instead of oppression, etc. That isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's a change from the genre tropes.

Pretending?

@@newedorpg3328 im talking about the goofy intro showing the glitches

@@Lantern_Light anyone who wasnt poor and played on PC knew it was a gem from the jump. I didn't need an Anime to show me that like y'all.

No clue what that is.

It was released before Kamigawa ;)

@@DaveThaumavore a “new kamigawa” magic the gathering set and setting, has some similar qualities but as I watched the video fully NewEdo has it’s own unique theme

@@gnoblin2528 they've got similar aesthetics, but you've nailed it, the themes are very different than common cyberpunk-y tropes.