Autore Topic: [English] KaGaymatsu: What is it?  (Letto 8383 volte)

[English] KaGaymatsu: What is it?
« il: 2013-07-19 10:46:38 »
I want to introduce you to one of my favorite hack, written by me: "KaGaymatsu"


What's KaGaymatsu?

KaGaymatsu is an hack based on the game Kagematsu by Danielle Lewon.

I'm not going into detail about how the original game works: buy it and play it, it's great! ^_^

Exactly like Kagematsu, my hack is a game about love, trust and strong feelings.
Except… it's about male homosexuality.


Japan 16th century.

There is ONE very special place in the world (a mountain, a temple, an island, a castle, a cave, a volcano) where a lot of men live. These men can be monks, warriors, artist, artisans, etc…
All of them live together here because they're "Guardians".
There are no women, here: only men are sent to this place to complete their sacred task.
This place is mystical: it is intended to seal off some kind of evil and supernatural threat.
This place is the only defense against it, and its very existence is a secret.

Why the Guardians don't fight the threat?
Guardians are somehow linked to the threat: it's up to players to decide how exactly.
Some examples: a visible mark, threat stole their shadows, it runs in the bloodline of resident families, etc.
So, Guardians cannot even try to rebel to their destiny by fighting the Threat or fleeing: that's very important to make the game work.


One day, in this hidden place, comes, by chance, a ronin: *Kagematsu*.
And here we can start with the game.


The game plays exactly like the original game, with these exceptions.

- Instead of the Women, of course, players will take the role of Men of the Village, or Guardians. They're not required to be homosexuals: play whatever kind of man you like. The game works in the same way (exactly in the same way as the Women are not forced to fall in love with the Ronin in the original game!).

- It is not necessarily obvious that the Ronin has the skills or strength to defeat the Threat.

- When the Threat appears (for the "3 shadow dice" rule), let the Threat more and more aware of the presence of the Ronin.

- Of course, there's no way to "Tell Kagematsu you're carrying his child"! Switch it to: "Tell everyone about their relationship".

- The game works best if all players assume that, in the fictional context, homosexuality is something you'll have to hide or at least keep private. This is a sacred place, with only men, bound by honor to a sacred task: any distraction is seen as a sign of weakness and frowned upon.

- Ronin must be played by a female player or male homosexual player (or, at the very least, by a very open-minded male player).


*A few notes to get the best from this game:*

Play passionately.

Do not play too cold and distant Ronins.

Do not mock players' signs of unease: I played with heterosexual male players that needed time to cope with the idea of their character having the hots for another male character. Respect that.

Play on the feeling of transgression: Guardians are breaking two sets of social rules… they're both crossing expect gender norm boundaries AND their sacred oath to free themselves (and the rest of the world) of the Threat.

When someone gets The Promise, the Guardian believes that the Ronin has a chance to make it!

The game works mechanically the same way of the original game, trust the "Signs of Affection" path! It's flavor, however, can be quite different (as in: "as hot as the original, but in a different way").
 
« Ultima modifica: 2013-10-04 19:12:47 da Manuela Soriani »
Co-Creatrice di DILEMMA. Amante del GWEP. Non mettetemi in difficoltà con ambientazioni storiche. Il mio amore per Kagematsu/KaGaymatsu tocca le stelle.