Kamen Rider-inspired Japanese TTRPG Coming to Kickstarter This November
LionWing is excited to announce that we will be bringing the English version of the hit Japanese tabletop roleplaying game Convictor Drive: Armored by Grief to Kickstarter on November 1st!
Convictor Drive is a superhero/tokusatsu-inspired TTRPG from the team behind Picaresque Roman that features action-packed combat and roleplaying, an original d10 system, beautiful anime art, and a slew of unique and engaging gameplay mechanics.
OVERVIEW
The world is changing, and nowhere is it changing faster than in the Yokohama Zone. In this prototypal city, established by the Japanese government as a test bed for the burgeoning science of mechatronics, the citizens enjoy everything from drone delivery to AI assistants. But technology is only as benevolent as those who use it. Thanks to the deadly exoframes and sophisticated hacking tools that mechatronics also makes possible, crime is undergoing its own renaissance, and the law is struggling to keep up. That's where you come in.
In Convictor Drive, you'll create and roleplay an employee of DRIVE Private Security, a company established by no less than the father of mechatronics himself, Mr. Aitani. Equipped with energy-generating nanomachines, your characters can transform into their custom Convictors, the most advanced exoframes in the world, and fight for what's right.
Piloting a Convictor isn't something that just anyone can do. Only those who have suffered loss and still feel the pain of it can will their bodies to power the Convictors and turn the regrets of their past into justice for the present.
GAMEPLAY
Criminal masterminds are sneaky sorts. It's never as simple as just deciding to bring them to justice. Fortunately, your pilots have the skills and the determination to unmask even the most subtle mastermind during the Investigation Phase.
With the culprit a mystery, your pilots need to do the legwork by solving problems in the Zone, such as subduing rowdy gangs and tracking down missing people. They'll do this by taking on missions in which they roll a number of 10-sided dice equal to their chosen Job Skill and count up how many of them rolled a 5 or higher—in other words, a success. If they rolled enough successes, the mission gets done.
Players can earn extra dice for their pilots by having clever roleplay ideas or by finding ways for their Convictors' special functions to be of aid. If they still can't succeed, this doesn't mean all hope is lost—they'll get to try again, and this time their fellow pilots can help. However, failure gives the enemy more time to muster their forces for the final fight.
By completing missions, the players earn Intel Cards, each one offering another clue towards the identity of the mastermind and their sinister goal. Collecting enough of these will eventually allow them to take on the evildoer with their Convictors in the Climax Phase.
Combat in Convictor Drive is easy to learn yet rewarding to master. It takes place on a 3-by-3 grid, with one axis representing height. Pilots can customize their Convictors to go for height advantage with flight units, swiftly close the distance to the enemy with rollers, or hunker down and hold their position against any assault. Friends and foes alike have separate armor ratings against MAT (material) and ENG (energy) attacks; when anyone attacks, their dice must meet or beat the armor rating that matches the weapon used. Target your enemy's weak points, gain an advantage through positioning, or just bring overwhelming firepower to bear—it's your choice as a player.
Convictors may fall in battle, but it's at those times the pilots can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. By using a pilot's special "Convictor Drive" ability, they can unleash a final game-changing attack before leaving it up to their allies to finish the fight.
CLASSES
The Convictor exoframes that players get to pilot come in a few varieties. There are the heavily armored Strength-type Convictors that are built for brawling; the lightweight, ultra-swift Runner-types built for movement; the deadly Shooter-types meant for long-range threat engagement; and the well-rounded Adept-types that can do a little bit of everything. Each model can be customized with different head, arm, torso, and leg parts in addition to weapons, and it's up to the players to decide how to outfit their frame in a way that best fits the problem.
INFLUENCES
Convictor Drive has been influenced by a number of superhero TV shows and anime series. Franchises like Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and My Hero Academia can all be felt in the game's theme, visual tone, and gameplay approach.
ENGLISH RELEASE
Convictor Drive debuted at number 1 for the month of May 2019 on the Yellow Submarine sales charts (Japan's leading sales reporter for tabletop games), illustrating how well-received it was in Japan! Because of this, we'll be presenting a faithful reproduction of the book's Japanese release but with all new art from the game's lead illustrator Temi! The Japanese release had art from a variety of artists and styles, so we decided to standardize all the art just as we did for our last TTRPG release, Picaresque Roman.
LANDER PAGE
You can view the campaign's sign-up page here.
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