[L5R] How we run a samurai drama

How Legend of the Five Rings 5e triumphs at running social drama

Legend of the Five Rings 5e is perhaps the best system for running and playing social drama that I've encountered so far. The rules have a lot of thought put into them even if they suffer from the usual problems when treading new territory.
 

The core book's greatest problem is that it isn't very good at conveying how its rules are best played. This means most new groups end up using the basic rules and ignoring many of the interesting minutiae hidden in skill descriptions and implied in conflict rules.

(And playing like this is completely fine! Our group has been happily using the Skills' and Rings' base descriptions for years, improvising the rest. It's only recently me and one other player have been deep-reading the rules and delving into the potential this game has.)

In this post (or series of posts) I'll do my best to share insight and advice on how to run interesting samurai drama from our groups four year campaign.


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How to use and not to use Shuji: spreading rumours and other social shenanigans

I was running a social intrigue when one of my players asked if his character deliver a hidden message. I did what I usually do: told him a test difficulty according to what felt right when another player asked: "Why can he deliver a message with an action roll when I've bought a Shuji to be able to do it?"

In the moment, had a quick discussion, made a ruling that felt fair to everyone and moved on. But this encouraged me to later read the rules with greater focus:

Our issue is part of a greater problem in TTRPG system complexity:

 

If the game has a separate ability for doing X, can anyone attempt it without buying it?

L5R 5e actually has solved this, though the book doesn't really tell you that: reading through the Core Rulebook's Shuji section, I discovered that many, perhaps even most important, social techniques don't give new actions but new uses for Opportunities. They give latitude to Courtiers, so they can achieve more with one action roll.

Take our group's favourite Shuji, Cadence (the ability to send hidden messages): during an Intrigue or other Social scene I'd rule that any samurai can make a Scheme action to attempt sending a hidden message with Air+Courtesy/Performance (or other applicable skill).

With Cadence, however, you can send a hidden message while you're addressing the court on some other issue. With the right Shuji and enought Opportunities you can send a hidden message, spread a rumour* and speak for your cause, all in one action.

Without the right Shuji, achieving all of this might take three actions over three turns.

*In my first draft I referred to the Shuji Whispers of the Court. Now I checked the actual text and this Shuji actually creates an action instead of giving Opportunity uses to other actions. Oh well.

 

What about Kata?

Kata, or Combat Techniques, have more of these "Buy this Technique to create a new action" compared to the social side. At the first glance, this seems like a problem or an oversight, (no matter what system and what game you are running, eventually there's a combat situation where a player asks "How do I grapple?") but here I believe the answer lies in the fiction, or the Rokugani culture:

The Rokugani society is very traditional with many lessons and techniques harkening back to the time of the Kami. (Fields of Victory supplement writes that the Akodo Military School's curriculum is very close to how Akodo One-Eye originally taught his warriors).

This means the style of "free for all, all tricks allowed" fighting is almost unheard of and frowned upon among the samurai.

Touching someone is seen as intimate or distasteful, so to answer my players question about grappling: no, the samurai aren't taught to grapple. Not unless they've been taught the Badger clan's Sumai techniques.

(How does one restrain a combatant then? Challenge them into a duel. Or use a jitte.)

Optional rule: Improvised technique

Many players like being inventive and many player character samurai have more unorthodox ways of thinking compared to their peers.

If a character's player wants to attempt something the GM feels might or should be a technique, the character can improvise:

Spend a Void Point and tell the GM what you want to achieve. The GM tells the player which Skill and Ring to use and decides on a TN. The base TN should generally be at least 1 point higher than the standard Strike.

If the PC is a Lion, Crane or Phoenix, they might suffer a Trivial breach of Honor for not trusting the teachings of their ancestors. 

What’s in a Name?

Hey, this space has been quiet for a couple of weeks. I got employed so most of my headspace has been occupied with learning the ropes of the new job. I've mostly acclimated by now, so while I won't try to match my earlier posting schedule, I'll post whenever I have some time to write.

To get the ball rolling again, here's a ramble about how I named this blog.  

Why is this blog called the Rambling Marionette?

Well, I needed a quirky, fun name for the blog and I brainstormed some suggestions with my spouse during this one car ride and the Rambling Marionette was good enough.

That’s basically it, but here’s a longer and more interesting version I came up with after I had already picked up the name:

Names have power - even if you, my hypothetical readers, might not even glance at the name on top of the page, I know that the name will affect how I personally view this blog. So I wanted a name that both means something to me and resembles the style and themes I wish the blog to have.

Rambling

Here’s the Merriam-Webster definition for the word “rambling”:

(Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rambling)

This blog will stray from subject to subject. I tend to ramble when talking about things that interest me, and while I have a bad habit of over-editing my writing, it’s not something I wish for my posts here. I want to write about a broad range of topics tangentially related to RPG’s, get excited about one subject and then another.

I also like hiking and general wandering in the woods, around my neighbourhood and any interesting locales, so it’s a plus that the name reflects on that as well!

Marionette

My gaming circles have this joke that all of my games feature creepy dolls in some way or another. And they’re mostly correct.

Personally I don’t think I have any particular interest in puppets, creepy or not, but perhaps they spring from some subconcious thing or memory I’ve yet to process.

Anyway, “Rambling Doll/Puppet” felt too short, unbalanced, while Marionette evokes a picture of a marionette, with its strings cut, wandering alone in the woods. Perfect! Maybe I’ll commission some art of it, if I ever decide to put any money into this project.

(Another potential name for this blog was “No Strings Attached”. My spouse didn’t find that name funny, but I like that it survives as a potential visual gag.)

How do you name stuff when you need names?

[Play Report] Year in Red session 2

 

 

I've had a busy week have another chapter of my Red Markets retrospective. This time I'm trying a different way to write my thoughts as end notes.

Please let me know if you like it better than the other way of doing it! 

-- 

Second session in our Year in Red campaign. This time the crew decided to invest into the negotiations.*

Instead of looking for more jobs, they researched and manipulated the few they knew about.

And when they negotiated with Max Security, Blue Diamond enclave's head of security, they aced it and got Expenses covered.

Max was worried about raiders attacking from Enterprise area. A merchant caravan had recently gone missing, most likely to raiders, so Max hires the crew to take them out. And recover the supply, if convenient.

They locate the caravan easily enough and find it looted. There are two sets of tracks: a bigger group moving north and a lone, bleeding person moving south. They split with our ex-soldier and hunter going to scout the raider camp and the latent, fenceman and doctor going to find the survivor.

Survivor had fled a mob of C's to a warehouse, where the rescue party soon gets trapped after they accidentally lure another mob in. They soon realise that only the latent has any firearms, so they are outnumbered and almost useless against the dead. Fenceman tries to buy the doctor some time to open another door, but the doctor does not have skills to pick nor force it open. In the end, the latent manages to save the day.

Meanwhile our ex-soldier uses his steward contacts to hack a call to the raiders' laptop. He's noticed that one of their prisoners is about to go Vector and uses it as a leverage to intimidate the raiders. His banter buys the hunter enough time to sneak in. The Vet snipes the raider leader (who had been guarding the roof) and the hunter intimidates the rest into submission. Raider's are taken as prisoners so they can be executed properly at the enclave.

This time they were well compensated for the job well done and they opened Max Security's job line. This Job went very well for them, but they did generate some bad blood with a rival Crew that might come bite them in the back soon.

--

Notes from 2025:

* Negotiations are an interesting part of Red Markets: Job Rewards are not set, instead they're determined by a minigame, where the PC Negotiator (helped by other PC's) plays tug-o-war with an NPC. In theory I really like the idea: it represents the reality of current-day freelancer market (well, the time RM came out. Currently, at least where I live, most freelancers have very little space to negotiate their prices). The Negotiation scenes were also very entertaining in RPPR's Brutalists campaign, so I looked forward to running them.

In practise, at least in my game, they weren't as well received. My players saw them as a mandatory road bump before the actual fun part: the Job. I also felt that the GM's toolbox didn't have much variety: in our campaign, our players fumbled the first negotiation, then played maybe one or two "as intended" before they cracked the code and knew how to get the best possible result every time.

Apparently others have shared my experience and the coming 2nd edition is trying something else.
 

[Play Report] Year in Red campaign session 1

 

Our campaign begins with us getting our bearings, reason for the campaign's time limit and the first Job: "And Now, the Weather". I was running two other campaigns concurrently with this one, so I wanted to make my job as a GM as easy as possible.

While I appreciate the freedom of choice Red Markets and other Job-based games (such as Blades in the Dark) offer, I find it frustrating and taxing to prepare several missions with the knowledge that my players might only play one or two of them. So I used both official and fanmade content as much as I was able.

(BitD eventually became easy enough to run that I could mostly improvize the actual Scores, but Red Market's proved crunchy and heavy enough that I couldn't just wing appropriate challenges.)

Not much to say about the session itself. Our group was still new to the system, our characters, and each other; and this was a basic Job to familiarize ourselves with it.

--

We begin our game in Blue Diamond, a fortified casino on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Our crew has been bolstered by two additional takers:

HK, a somewhat psychopatic hunter-scavenger, and the Man, a dudesque former Fenceman.


I set the scene in a New Year's Party thrown by the enclave's leaders. There's food, better quality moonshine and someone even dared to launch a firework. Our crew happens to hear a drunken rant by someone from marketing. They claim that every known and reachable casino has been emptied and the enclave cannot support itself on tourism. Blue Diamond will last a year, if they're lucky.

Next morning our crew, the Diamond Dogs, makes a decision: they'll have to speed up their retirement plans. And find a Job.

--- 

They hear about two potential Jobs: a group of Recession rich people are hiring guides for a Z-safari and a reclusive climatologist wants a crew to tag some casualties. The Crew loathes the idea of babysitting some rich kids, so they begin negotiations with Dr Hamilton for the tagging job.

Felicia, their negotiator fails Leadership critically (and I roll 2 for length). They barely manage to agree on market price.

Anyway, it's all they have.

The Job seems simple enough: RFID tag some casualties and lead them to a nearby Stampede. Hamilton has even located some C's conveniently in torpor. (This is a fan-made scenario by Oiharkin.)

 
On the way they scavenge a fallen Ubiq balloon, which doubles their pay.

When they arrive at the site, an abandoned small convenience store, our vet Salty Dog scouts the area. He sees that the C's are not in torpor but bound by bear traps. He also deduces someone lives in the mall, and uses his military attitude and the threat of the stampede to convince the small group of enclavists to leave.

Then our Hunter and Latent get to work tagging and freeing the bound C's, while the Man and Felicia search and loot the mall. ("We're retrieving your belongings", they tell the enclavers").

Then it's simple enough job to evade the Stampede and return home.

Back home was when the Horror began. Their pay wasn't enough to cover most of their Upkeep and some had to neglect their Dependents. They resolve to loot more on the next Job. (We skipped one Leg with an Interlude. Apparently this is not happening again!)

Regardless, we liked this somewhat depressing first Job and economical desperation was what I used to sell this campaign to my players. Still, I'm resolved to offer more risks and more rewards next time we play.

--

We also fleshed out our enclave a bit more: there are three rough factions in Blue Diamond. The original Employees, Gamblers that could not get out and Migrants, who arrived later. The Enclaves birth was very chaotic as it's original owner established a short dictatorship before dying in muddy circumstances (he either went insane, had an accident or was killed. Or all three). Now the enclave is ruled by a loose council consisting of former management, organized criminals and other vital personnel.


Our Crew has one native rival gang of Takers: the High Rollas are a group of adrenaline junkies that traded gambling to Taker work. There's also at least one enclaved casino in the area, and the two are not on their most friendly terms.

[L5R] Murder at the Lantern Castle: Background, NPC's and Advice

 

Map of the Lantern Castle or "Vartiolyhdyn linnake" in Finnish. Made with Wonderdraft. 

 

Monday's adventure seed was actually my current campaign's first adventure. Our player characters were accompanied by the various members of the conspiracy, which gave them a personal stake in the events

See Monday's post for the Challenge/Focus/Strike for this adventure.

Running this adventure

• In my game the players each received two Downtime Actions each day and a third if they wanted to act during the night (with a Fitness check to see if they were Exhausted next day or not). Depending on what the player wanted to achieve, each Action could've been a separate scene, one or two rolls, or just a brief description of what happens. Strife and Fatigue reset in between days.

  We also had a loose calendar of courtly events, such as plays, hunting expedition, poetry recitations, duel tournaments, even a mock-battle which we played in free play or using the Intrigue, Duel and Mass Combat rules.

• My NPCs were mostly doing stuff behind the scenes, but occasionally I used "NPC interruptions" for when they sought out one or more of the PC's to roleplay a scene.

• I recommend that this adventure is one of the many things happening in the Court. For example, my players had to find rogue spirits, and try to achieve their Giris and Ninjos. Relevance of the conspiracy "grew" slowly: it began as a bunch of strange, half-heard meetings, accidentally hurtful choices of art, and other "coincidences" that the PC's witnessed while doing other stuff. Only later in the Winter Court this adventure grew in importance to be the main focus of our campaign 

• The fact this adventure involves samurai from so many different clans should be presented as a big twist around the midway of the adventure.

What did the commander do in my campaign?

Our game's target and villain was Akodo Ninsei, an esteemed and successful commander with a reputation for needless cruelty that even some of the Lion found inconvenient.

Twenty years before our adventure Akodo Ninsei had conquered a castle from a famous Crane duelist, the Gray Heron and taken his family hostage. The Heron had been away in Otosan Uchi during the attack, and now had to stay in the capital to try free his family through diplomacy and imperial intervention, while his troops kept the castle under siege.

The Emperor eventually declared that the matter would be settled with a duel: the Gray Heron against Ninsei younger brother, Akodo Hiro. While the duel was only for first blood, Ninsei sent a secret message to Heron, claiming that and "accident" would happen to his family unless he dies in the duel.

Meanwhile in the castle, Ninsei claims honor and tradition forbids him from releasing his hostages, but he encourages them to escape during the night through a gap in the patrol routes. Naturally he has no intention of honouring this, and Heron's family falls to Lion arrows upon reaching the outer courtyard.

In the aftermath, Crane decided to cut their losses while Lion's courtiers managed to hide Ninsei's dishonorable actions to happenstance and regrettable, but inevitable chaos of conflict. Those affected and hurt by the events were left to nurse their grudges in silence - as is the way of the samurai.

 

How the conspiracy plots to hurt Ninsei

It's not enough for the conspirators just to kill Ninsei. They want to enrage and humiliate him, expose his guilt and dishonorable actions to the court, and then kill him in a way that makes it impossible to implicate just one person.

Killing his reputation

Here's some examples on what the conspirators might to do expose Ninsei's crimes to the court:

• A courtier (Doji Aemi in my game) puts up a play (or joins another courtier's play), persuades the troupe to act out the events of the Gray Heron's demise.
• During the dueling tournament the conspirators agree on the two finalists in advance and try to make sure they win their other matches. In the final duel the two act out Hiro's and the Heron's duel (if there's a shugenja in attendance, one of them might even almost lethally wound themself).
• During a mock-battle one conspirator dresses as the Gray Heron or even Akodo Hiro, defeats another commander in a duel and salutes and/or challenges Ninsei, then disappears.
• A shugenja might summon illusions of the Gray Heron's ghost to haunt the castle.

 During Intrigues the group's goal is to inflict Strife on Ninsei and cause him to Unmask in ways that either showcase his brutal nature or admit to the accusations implied against him.

When Ninsei's reputation has been sullied (or the PC's have almost caught the group), they me on to the assassination:

If the conspiracy has been mostly successful, one of the group reveals their identity to Ninsei in a private letter, then tries to incite him to attack them during a gathering of the court or other public event. When this happens, every other member of the conspiracy rushes to defend them and slay Ninsei in the process. Then they together try to convince the court of the righteousness of their actions.

If the conspiracy has been less successful, the group will approach Ninsei during the night to kill him in his sleep. Each will "accidentally" leave something implicating to be found on the crime scene.

In both cases they hope that the Lion Clan cannot demand justice because doing so would offend too many Great Clans. 

--- 

The key characters of my version of the adventure:

Akodo Ninsei, the Retired Commander 

Stats: Venerable Provincial Daimyo (Core p. 315)

Demeanour: Wrathful (Fire +2, Air -2)

Ninjo: Finish his memoirs. 

Advantages&Disadvantages:

• Master Strategist
• Disdain for Compassion 

Background and Motive: As far as Ninsei is concerned, the events described above are ancient history. He has since retired from active command, having earned a cushy lordship position near the bustling Beiden Pass.

Ninsei is most concerned with finishing his memoirs before retiring to some monastery, remembered as one of the Lion's respected heroes.

Portraying Ninsei: At the start of the adventure Ninsei is sure of his position and doesn't expect danger: he's still fit enough to win a duel, and he's certain he can handle any shinobi who might try to take his life. He will present himself as calm, confident and even unsure on why there would be a plot against him.

As the attacks on his reputation build up, he grows more impatient, angry, and commandeering. His unmaskings are violent, explosive and aggressive.

Doji Aemi, the Esteemed Crane

Stats: Seasoned Courtier (Core p.313)

Demeanour: Numb (+1 Air/Water/Fire/Earth, -2 Void)

Ninjo: Assassinate Akodo Ninsei's reputation and then the man himself. 

Advantages&Disadvantages: 

• Kuge Lineage 
• Colorblind

Background and Motive: Doji Aemi was the Gray Heron's elder child, and the only known survivor of the family's massacre. Her clan has urged her to move past her trauma, not seeing enough political gain on pursuing it any further. Aemi has pretended to obey her clan's wish and visibly has become the perfect Crane: courteous, beautiful and precise.

Despite her flawless facade she hasn't been able to let go of her grudge. This winter, seeing her chance, she has cashed in every favour she has gathered, contacted other people hurt by Ninsei has hatched this plan for revenge.

Aemi knows that whether she succeeds or fails she will be punished by her clan. If the conspiracy is threatened, she is intends to take all responsibility and end her life rather than return to her old life.

Portraying Aemi: Aemi presents herself as the perfect Crane: courteous, demure, and always ready with the perfect gift or favour. She will offer her aid to the PC's and others disconnected to the conspiracy, helping with poetry, giving gifting advice. Her help is always spot on, but hidden with subtle jabs towards Ninsei.

When Aemi unmasks, her facade of perfect control shatters: she reveals how driven she is by her revenge.

Bayushi Taheiji, the Observant Scholar

Stats: Loyal Bushi with Trickster Template (Core p. 312)

Demeanour: Obnoxious (+2 Water, -2 Earth)

Ninjo: Help Doji Aemi. 

Advantages&Disadvantages: 

• True Love (Brotherly love towards Doji Aemi)
• Out of his Depths 

Background and Motive: Bayushi Taheiji was the Heron's younger child, believed dead and adopted by the Scorpion. He learned of his heritage only recently and sought out his sister Doji Aemi. Taheiji hasn't revealed his identity to her yet, nor the fact that he's more concerned for Aemi's wellbeing than revenge.

Portraying Taheiji: Taheiji is good at seeming like he knows more than he does, like he has the upper hand, like he's holding some hidden weapon right over your throat. He speaks little, allowing his opponent to speak themself to their grave.

When Taheiji unmasks, he reveals that he's a juggler trying to keep too many balls in the air. He speaks little, because he's not that elonguent with words. Ultimately he doesn't care about the conspiracy or hurting Ninsei, he just wants to save his sister. 

Mozu the Ronin (Akodo Hiro)

Stats: Skillful Ronin (Core p. 316)

Demeanour: Distant (+1 Earth/Fire, -2 Void)

Ninjo: Make Akodo Ninsei understand what he did to Mozu. 

Advantages&Disadvantages:

• Seasoned killer
• Jaded  

Background and Motive: Formerly Akodo Hiro, Ninsei's younger brother, was an aspiring duelist who greatly admired the Gray Heron. He was shocked by the Heron's death in the duel, and while something seemed off in the match, he was able to accept it as part of the risks of duelling. His victory over the older Crane won him great esteem and fame, and for some years he revelled in his success, but eventually he found out about the truth behind his victory: the Gray Heron had been coerced to lose.

This shattered Hiro's world: he fled his clan, abandoned his name and became the ronin Mozu. Aemi found Mozu through happenstance (or fate). While Mozu has since ceased believing in justice, he agreed to Aemi's plan due to some lingering sense of guilt - and for the chance to meet his uncle after so many years.

 Portraying Mozu: Mozu doesn't need to act: he has witnessed and done too much to believe in a samurai's honor. He's jaded, cynical and opportunistic: he wants to believe that even this conspiracy is just a way to get food and lodgings for the winter.

When Mozu unmasks his long-buried feelings rise up to the surface: he might reveal the shame he feels towards Ninsei's former actions, the grudge formed from the future he abandoned, or the guilt he feels towards Aemi. He might take drastic action if the plan advances too slowly for his tastes or show that the courageous and honorable Lion isn't completely dead - depending on how he's pushed. 

 

Other Conspirators 

These NPC's were not integral to the plot, but had close ties to my PCs. I recommend you add, remove or modify conspirators to suit your player party. In the best case scenario every PC knows someone involved in the conspiracy. They will provide avenues to find information and show a sympathetic side to the group that a traditional party will at first see as the clear villains.

 

Moto Khubilai, the Hopeful Wanderer

Stats: Loyal Bushi with Socialite Template (Core p. 312)

Demeanour: Emotional (Earth +2, Fire -2)

Advantages&Disadvantages: 

• Creative Problem-Solver 
• Gaijin Appearance

Background and Motive: Moto Khubilai had always been fascinated with Rokugan, and wanted to work towards integrating his clan to the other Great Clans. Khubilai worked as an Unicorn liaison and negotiator to Akodo Ninsei's retinue during the siege, and he was trapped in the castle when the Crane army set up their siege.

Khubilai spent great effort to ensure that the hostages were treated as well as their station demanded and that their and the Lion occupier's relations remained civil. As the siege went on and the hostages grew increasingly desperate in their imprisonment, Ninsei encouraged Khubilai to smuggle them out. It was Khubilai's sincere words that persuaded the Gray Heron's family to escape and it was Khubilai, who first realized the trap he had led them.

This incident soured Khubilai's reputation with both Lion and the Crane, and he was sent to preside over the Great Sand Road instead. Now Aemi has persuaded him to return and help her ruin Ninsei's reputation.

Yasuki Kako, the Cynical Merchant

Stats: Seasoned Courtier with the Sage Template (Core p. 313)

Demeanour: Ambitious (+2 Fire, -2 Water)

Advantages&Disadvantages: 

• Shrewd Merchant 
• Maimed Leg 

Background and Motive: Yasuki Kako worked as a messenger during Akodo Ninsei's siege. It was she who delivered Ninsei's veiled threat to the Gray Heron, as well as delivering the Emperor's decision back to the besieged castle.

Unfortunately Kako came to deliver the message during a particularly chaotic attack: a stray arrow hit her horse and her leg was permanently wounded. She blames Ninsei for shattering her hopes and dreams and now intends to make sure Ninsei never achieves his goals.

 

Isawa Kurumi, the Inquisitive Shugenja 

Stats: Scholarly Shugenja (Core p. 314)

Demeanour: Shrewd (+2 Air, -2 Fire)

Advantages&Disadvantages: 

• Analytical Mind
• Soft hearted

Background and Motive: Isawa Kurumi has no horse in this race. She's a fairly-skilled shugenja with a taste for playing politics, who befriended Doji Aemi in some earlier Winter Court.

Aemi won Kurumi's loyalty by performing some favours for her that are not relevant in this adventure. Her part of the conspiracy was to summon a snowstorm that forced the different groups of this adventure to spend the winter in the Lantern Castle - thus giving the group the time and privacy needed to execute their plan.

With her part done Kurumi is bored. She's not nearly as good in the court as she believes, so she could be the weak link that allows the PCs to learn more about what's happening.

When I ran this adventure my group was first asked to deal with three rogue spirits that had gotten loose in the castle. They only learned about the conspiracy when following various people they suspected of being possessed. Kurumi was more involved in that adventure and acted as a link between the two going-ons. 

 

[L5R] C/F/S: Murder at the Lantern Castle

Here's an adventure hook for the Legend of the Five Rings RPG. I ran this with the Fifth edition, though I guess it works with any edition.

My adventure took place in the Lantern Castle, a small Lion clan fortification guarding their end of the Beiden Pass, where the PC's and a colourful group of other people spent an impromptu Winter Court as they all got trapped in the pass due to bad weather and an unfortunate avalanche. (These conditions were actually engineered by the Conspiracy to isolate their target and to provide a plausible reason for every conspirator to be present.)

This adventure is basically Murder on the Orient Express - but in a samurai drama instead of a train! It's social and intrigue-heavy, so I recommend connecting both the conspirators and the target to the PC's to make this a more interesting dilemma than a simple Whodunnit.

 

[Play Report] Introduction to Red Markets & Year in Red campaign

 

Around 2017-2018 I ran a campaign of Red Markets, the economic horror game with zombies by Caleb Stokes of the RPPR fame. The game had a lot of ideas I found (and still find) interesting, and while I had some problems with the system, I also had a lot of fun with the campaign.

So far I’ve never picked up the system again, but now and again I spot it in my bookshelf and spend a while daydreaming about a potential second campaign.

Back when I was running the game, I used to write sort play summaries for the game’s Facebook group. Now I hear there’s a second edition on it’s way, so I’ll share these reports here with occasional commentary from the present me.

So, what is Red Markets?

Red Markets is a game of economic horror: it’s set in the near-future, there has been a (partial) zombie apocalypse - and your PC still has rent to pay.

In the publisher’s own words:

In Red Markets, characters risk their lives trading between the massive quarantine zones containing a zombie outbreak and the remains of civilization. They are Takers: mercenary entrepreneurs unwilling to accept their abandonment. Bound together into competing crews, each seeks to profit from mankind’s near-extinction before it claims them. They must hustle, scheme, and scam as hard as they fight if they hope to survive the competing factions and undead hordes the GM throws at them.
Takers that are quick, clever, or brutal enough might live to see retirement in a safe zone, but many discover too late that the cycle of poverty proves harder to escape than the hordes of undead.
Red Markets uses the traditional zombie genre to tell a story about surviving on the wrong end of the economy. It’s cut-throat capitalism with its knife on your neck. 

Source: Hebanon Games

Red Markets has been on my mind recently, because I have a growing interest in games with overt political messages. This game wants to be critical of modern Capitalism, but ultimately cannot imagine or offer an alternative to it. (The game actually supports the modern lie of lie of “anyone can make it big if they work hard enough”!) 

I have more on this thought, but I’ll save it for a later post.

The Year in Red Campaign

Back in 2017 I was finishing my thesis and actually had time to run more than one game simultaneously.

The campaign’s premise was simple: the Takers (game’s term for the PC party) learn that their community faces disaster after twelve months. They have one year to find the means and funds to abandon ship, hopefully to a better life than what they had now.

Each month the PC’s took on one Job and after maximum of twelve jobs they would either retire or perish with their enclave.

Clear end point both kept the Campaign’s scope from growing too big (as we were generally able to complete each Job within one session) and encouraged my players to balance out saving their money and using it to improve their PC’s.

I’ll share more in later posts, now lets move on to…

Session Zero

Yesterday we had the Session 0 of my campaign, Year in Red. We began with creating the Enclave our PC’s lived in and worked from: my players wanted to set their enclave somewhere urban, yet remote, and eventually we settled on a fortified casino in Las Vegas. Apparently the enclave is made up from people too stubborn to leave the Mojave Desert. (Yeah, I'm gonna take a lot of inspiration from Fallout: New Vegas.)

So far the enclave has managed to survive by trading high-grade alcohol and other luxuries looted from Sin City to other enclaves, but by the game's beginning the supply is about to run dry: the Takers reckon' their home has about a year before it collapses.

We are going to play for 12 sessions, each session being one month. The Taker's need to meet their retirement goals, or they will fall with their enclave.

So far our group has

• A doctor with Crusader sympathies. He actually made it to Recession, but jumped fence so he could study the Blight better. And be with his mostly-Latent family.
• An ex-scout soldier that still upholds the martial law. Secretly a Steward.
• A short-tempered Latent mostly here to kill Casualties.

(Commentary from 2025: Blight is the game’s name for the zombie virus, with Casualties referring to traditional slow zombies and Latents being infected people who were somehow able to retain their minds. Recession means the remaining US Government, while Stewards are its undercover agents. Crusaders are a group of medical professionals obsessed with studying the virus.)
Plus one player was absent, so he'll roll his character later.

We chose the Bust mode, but without most of the optional Bust-rules. (C2025: Meaning the more action-y game mode vs. Lethal and gritty.) As our group is mostly new to Red Markets, we'll play a session or two without No Budget, No Buy before giving it a try - we're intrigued by it, but we need to get a better feel for the system.