Review of Daisho

Let’s make this clear at the outset: Deep7 makes great games. Daisho is no exception. Deep7 also knows how to put together simple products that don’t seem simple, but have just enough depth to make them worthwhile. Again, Daisho is a terrific example of how they work their magic.

Deep7’s 1PG line has been around for a while now. These are uncomplicated roleplaying games whose rules are so straightforward that they fit right on the character sheet. It doesn’t get much simpler than that, and 1PGs have been produced to emulate WWII movies, Bondian spy adventures, horror flicks, and more. Daisho wants to bring the samurai film to life with minimum fuss. Though the game requires a bit more in terms of meat than some previous 1PG releases, it succeeds admirably.

To be certain, Daisho is no Sengoku, but it’s not trying to be. The 13 pages of Daisho contain everything needed to play, including a handful of scenarios. There’s no way a package this slender is going to provide the extraordinary amount of detail Sengoku (or Bushido, or Land of the Rising Sun) provides, nor does Daisho even try. The 1PG series has always hit the high notes of whatever genre the individual games have tried to emulate, and Daisho does the same. The rules are there to duplicate the “whirlwind of blades” feel of samurai and ninja characters, and there’s a bit on poisons, too to make things interesting. And because someone will want to do it sooner or later, the game is set up to allow two combatants to battle only with their wills, without ever crossing steel.

This attention to the staples of samurai fiction necessarily means that Daisho has a bit more in the rules area than some earlier 1PG games. This doesn’t mean voluminous extras; the above-mentioned conventions are covered in a single page. Daisho may be slightly beefier than other 1PGs, but only just.

As with previous 1PG releases, though, the included scenarios go a long way toward reinforcing the genre atmosphere. The half-dozen adventures, meant to run in a single session, from character generation to completion, are a diverse lot; there’s comedy, action, even supernatural horror. There’s a little something in the Daisho scenarios for any taste. GMs with a compulsive need for maps and page upon page of information will balk at the bare bones presentation of these tales, but those who understand and appreciate the design philosophy of Deep7’s 1PGs will have no trouble. These games aren’t meant for rules-gluttons, but for those who just want to play. Right now.

Deep7 hasn’t stepped wrong once with their 1PG series. Daisho is another terrific addition to a line that sets an admirably modest goal and exceeds it handily. While the industry trend seems to be the release of ever larger, ever more ponderous tomes crammed with extraneous detail, Deep7 continues to release elegant bits of work like Daisho: light on the specifics, but able to handle the important stuff very well. Anyone looking for terrific gaming value need look no further than Daisho, or any of its 1PG cousins.