Yume no Bushi - Dream of the Warrior

A potentially unhealthy obsession with Role Playing in my teenage years saw me either screwing every game to an Oriental slant or playing Bushido. Along side this became an ‘sub’ obsession with the Japanese equivalent of Spaghetti Westerns – the Chanbarra movie. Big characters, loads of extras dying in spectacular ways (remember way before digital special effects the Japanese movie industry were using slightly unethical ways to portray gore. The least offensive method being using animal intestines wrapped in gut put around the actors bodies and being sliced through by semi live blades!), a real emphasis (although like spag westerns these got somewhat blurred) on right versus wrong and spectacularly brutal and quick sword work. There was little of the theatrical leaps and ‘unrealistic’ fight scenes of Chinese entertainment (don’t get me wrong I love these movies), the fights were quick, if they lasted any length it is because the hero is fighting lots of people, or the two characters are waiting for an opening to strike.

I’ve always wanted an excuse to write a set of rules that specifically represents these films. The Steve Barber 42mm samurai gave me that excuse.

– Yume no Bushi introduction

Designer: Rich Jones
Status: In Print
Contents: Available online (11-page PDF)

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