is a Japanese mixed-genre

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

product, based on an oriental

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...

RPG '' Tenra Bansho'',

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

RPG ''Terra the Gunslinger'', and post-apocalypse

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...

RPG '' Angel Gear''. All three of the original games were designed by Jun'ichi Inoue.

Concept

The setting is based after the intercontinental war between two continents: Tenra (similar to a high-magic

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

) and Terra (similar to a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

). After the war, the world was changed by the influence of great culture clash between oriental and occidental nations. The game starts from that point, after the two cultures have had some time to intermingle. That's when the mysterious alien "Angels" arrive, great psychic/magical creatures with strange and unknowable motives. The basic setup of the game is two radical cultures joining together to fight off an alien invasion. There are over 40

character class In tabletop games and video games, a character class is a job or profession commonly used to differentiate the abilities of different game characters. In role-playing games (RPGs), character classes aggregate several abilities and aptitudes, ...

es based on oriental and western cultures in basic rulebook, which include ''houshi'' ( buddhist monk), ''Jinguuke'' (

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

's agent belonging to the ''Jinguuke'' clan),

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

, onmyouji,

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

, ''Yoroi-nori'' (

pilot),

gunslinger Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

and

private eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

, rocket ranger (member of US Army's special

airborne forces Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in ai ...

), saloon girl and steam mage. To emphasize the cultural mashup, classes are mixable: One could create a ninja gunfighter, a Taoist Sorcerer Catholic priest, a kugutsu (living doll) saloon girl, and so on. Oriental and western characters fight against the angels that are arch-foes of humankind together. The game is using the Standard RPG System, a ruleset also used for ''

Alshard is a Japanese role-playing game designed by Jun'ichi Inoue and FarEast Amusement Research. It was released in July 2002. The current, version 1.5, known as was published in July 2005. It is a fantasy role-playing game with mechanical items lik ...

'', ''

Alshard Gaia is a Japanese role-playing game designed by Jun'ichi Inoue and FarEast Amusement Research. It was released in July 2002. The current, version 1.5, known as was published in July 2005. It is a fantasy role-playing game with mechanical items l ...

'' and ''Kaze no Stigma RPG'' There are variances for character generation, and there are additional extra rules for things like Fate and Asura, the latter meaning, in this context, the possibility of becoming evil.

Differences from source material

The world as imagined in the original ''Tenra Bansho'' game (1996–1997) and the original ''Terra the Gunslinger'' game was a huge planet with contained Tenra's "Japan" to the East, Terra's "USA" to the West. Tenra originally makes reference to the continent of India to Tenra's East. In ''Tenra War'', this world is reconfigured so that the lands of Tenra are to the "South", the lands of Terra are to the "North", and they exist together in one giant

Ringworld ''Ringworld'' is a 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. ''Ringworld'' tells the story of Louis Wu and his companions on a mission to the Ringworld, a ...

-like structure.

List of products

*''Tenra War'', basic rulebook,

Enterbrain , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on 30 January 1987 as . Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strategy ...

, *''Lost Heaven'', supplement,

External links

Tenra War official site

Angel Gear RPG
{{in lang, ja
Chienthanky RPG
Japanese role-playing games Science fiction role-playing games Fantasy role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 2007

Concept

Differences from source material

List of products

See also

External links