Tenra Bansho Zero is one of the most influential games I have ever read. Its translated titled ("All Things Under Heaven and Earth") is literally what I named this blog after... and I have also never played a full game of it.
We'll get back to why in a minute.
But.
In so many ways, this one game has defined my tastes. At one point, I gave my very nice copy to Pau Villarreal of The Warning. Well, I don't know if she got it. I sent it via the mail, and have to hope it got there. I figured she'd like the setting and it would get her imagination pumped. Hopefully I was right, but we'll never know. Ironically enough, the giving away of this book began an era of reading and investigation into the BR/OSR... which is coming to an end, as I picked up another copy. Not the fancy one. You can't find that one for a reasonable price, not anymore. Pau's got it, and I hope she's enjoying it, assuming she kept it.
The heart of TBZ is The Aiki-Kiai-Karma system. Each character has three Fates, which are these really open-ended statements of character, such as "Emotion: Hatred of Lord Kutuwara", or "My sword is the answer". Very open-ended, very simple stuff. Whenever you do something awesome with these Fates that everyone else likes, they can give you Aiki chits. You can spend Aiki, but it's not very powerful. However, if you wait until a good moment, you can convert Aiki into Kiai, which functionally does the same thing as Aiki, but you get a ton more of it. Like, 5x-6x more. Tons. If you spend Kiai, it gets marked as Karma. If you accumulate 108 Karma you became an Asura, a demon who is utterly incapable of change. And you then hand your character sheet to the GM, who then uses him to torment the other players.
It cannot be understated how much fun this one little system is. Players handing each other chits, which they then have to hoard in order to be of use, and then have to be careful about spending, is... there's nothing like it. There just isn't. People begin to lean into what the other players like, creating a feedback loop where everyone slowly gets more and more into their character. This enthusiasm transmutes into power in the game... and can lead to tragedy. There's something so layered, so genuine, so beautiful, about this loop. No other game comes close to it. Burning Wheel gets close, and Crescendo gets closer yet, but nothing beats the immediacy and depth of Tenra Bansho Zero.
The setting book is also the single best setting book I've ever read. Ever. It is a blanket of loose ends, open spaces, unsaid things, and tragedies. There's tons of mundane details in here, all of which are just right. It is the only setting book I've ever read that justifies its existence, and we'll get back to why that is in a second, as well.
That's two grenades. Jeez.
The setting book is short, sweet, and knows exactly how much information to dole out. I could probably make scenarios out of this sucker for years.
Two and a half grenades!
Let's pull one now! Why did I give the game away? To a person who doesn't know me? Well, simply put: I couldn't figure out a way to pitch it to people! The hyper Asian setting is not something that actually appealed to my players at the time. The mechanics are great, but we had Burning Wheel, which scratches a very specific itch, and we now have Crescendo, which scratches that itch better. TBZ is not a campaign game. The mechanics aren't suited to it, period. The changes are so deliberately rapid that you shouldn't necessarily make sequels with the same characters. I didn't have anyone who needed just a quick pick-me-up.
So I gave it away. Like I said, I hoped Pau would get something out of the setting book.
After that, a funny thing happened: I started to slowly investigate the BR/NU/O-SR. I kinda figured I could find something to pick up the "adventure game" niche that TBZ so nicely filled, which Burning Wheel and Crescendo so definitely don't. And... well... I didn't, overall. I got ACKSII and 1e and Wight-Box, which is actually pretty good! Not to mention the Into the Odd family of games! I love them and will use them! But... they didn't scratch the itch. Not the very specific itch that was slowly developing: a game I could sorta pour myself into, and bring out for short bursts, with people either willing to take a chance or okay with just doing a one-shot. And, honestly, I wanted to give this incredible game another chance.
So. I picked it up again. I am just going to go and make a scenario, walk into my workplace, hand them the character sheets, and tell them they're playing. They'll play, because they're bored and we have nothing else to do at some very particular hours. And we'll play. And we'll have a blast. I know we will, because they trust my taste and are just bored enough. Just.
And then I’ll do it again.
And again.
Maybe that’s the point. After years of circling this game—giving it away, hunting for something that could replace it, finally buying it back—I’m done waiting for the perfect table or the perfect pitch. Tenra Bansho Zero has already shaped how I think about play, about character, about the quiet tragedy of becoming something you can’t take back. Now I just want to see what happens when other people get their hands on those chits and those Fates.
I’ll throw it at my coworkers.
I’ll throw it at my kids. And if it works even half as well as I remember it working on the page, I’ll finally stop treating this game like a secret I was never quite ready to share.
Onward!
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