Shounen without Master

Shounen without Master
About exactly two years ago, some people talked about how well shounen anime would work using SWM. I'm a little late to the party, but I've been on the hunt for a suitable rpg system for telling satisfying shounen stories for a long while now, and SWM would do it excellently.

The entire game would work, as is (with only some rare genres demanding a swap of tones). I do believe, however, that shonen tales would need at least the addition of Epidiah Ravachol's Ritual of the Ceaseless Tale and Ritual of the Grudge (both from #GammaThrones linked at the end of this post ) as well as the following ritual. Other thematic suggestions for using tricks/rituals/tales/phases follow the Ritual of the Next Power-up.

Ritual of the Next Power-up
In a shonen game, craft your Feats Heroic to not only characterize your character, but also to trace the steps of their developing levels of power throughout entire saga arcs. Since you may only use a single Feat Heroic once per session, you may use this ritual only once per session.

When your shonen is ready to manifest a new level of power, employ one of your Feats Heroic and resolve the dice as usual, but showcase a new aspect or manifestation of your style, form, power, species, gimmick, etc. Boldly announce the new manifestation, technique, or transformation using a unique evocative name, ideally in theme with your character’s other named manifestations.

Cross off the used Feat Heroic, but write the name of the new manifestation on your list of named. This new manifestation is now a part of your identity and available to you in the future whenever the need arises.
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In addition to what I see as the vital rituals above, a shonen game would also likely benefit from the following:
—the World Phase of #GammaThrones , if needed.
—frequent use of the Respite phase, the Ritual of Interlocution, and the Ritual of the Companion.
—Shonen stories should strongly encourage Shonen Players to frequently and freely add elements to their lists of named to enmesh their shonen in vast webs of characters (possibly including frequent use of Born in Fire as an Overtrick).
—Liberal use of Trooping and Scale ideas.
—Maybe use of the Ritual of the Binding Clan/Ritual of Nakama (described below).
—Finally, shonen stories usually need a ritual for flashbacks or other sorts of freeze-frame access to sudden dramatic motivation. This could work as a normal Discovery phase, but it is more poignant if it comes up immediately amidst the dangers of a Perilous Phase, with added dramatic weight of being the thing that makes the difference. Maybe the Ritual of the Backward Glance (described below).

Ritual of the Backward Glance
Whenever you employ the Ritual of the Telling Blow by standing to difinitively cast your dice, you may also invoke the Ritual of the Backward Glance by dramatically highlighting a brief flashback to a poignant moment or relationship in your shonen's, or the story's, past that has bearing on the present. If your roll results in a stymie, Moral, or Mystery, you may record one significant name from your flashback on your list of named.

Ritual of the Binding Clan/Ritual of Nakama
If all players agree, the shonen may be members of a shared crew, clan, family, guild, monastic order, or any other community can write that clan on their list of named. Each individual may remove it from their list, but the existence, culture, and philosophy of the clan itself is protected by the affordances and constraints as long as it remains on any shonen’s list of named.

Each session, the clan and its immediate situation is treated as a thread at the start of the game. Write and resolve the clan’s thread as either a dramatic question like a Mystery, or a Moral the clan aims to instill in its members.

Finally, members of the clan may choose a shared trick for the clan that works like an Overtrick for shonen whose list of named includes the clan. Good options for Clan Tricks are Compact, Undenied (with a Feat Heroic for each tone written for the clan, available to all clan members), as well as Haven, Ill Fate, Doom, or Born in Fire.

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As an example of how some shonen stories would work with SWM, One Piece would play wonderfully with the vital three rituals stated at the top, and the story would largely be comprised of Tales of Friendship (same effect as Romance), of New Beginnings, of High Adventure, of Teamwork (like High Adventure but with the Ritual of the Companion), of Wonder, of Fabulous Treasure, of Intrigue, of Pirates, etc. on into later Tales of Dangerous Seas, of Marines, of Giants, of Tragedy, etc.

DBZ stories meanwhile would thrive on the Ritual of the Grudge and the Ritual of the Next Power-up, the method for extending conflicts beyond single scenes (the Ritual of Duels and Dogfights from Starward) and the story would largely be comprised of Tales of Contests, Championships, and Mysteries, with frequent use of tricks such as Born in Fire, Adroit Prowess, and Unparalleled.

Andy Hauge, Tim Franzke, Nathan Black