Golden Sky Stories Review

GOLDEN SKY STORIES Stephanie takes us through Golden Sky Stories; one of the most popular Tabletop RPGs in Japan, and whose English translation got Kickstarted earlier this year The playground rings with the shrieking of a small raccoon, her paws caught beneath the lid of a lunchbox. All she ever wanted was just to get her nose inside for a small whiff of the yumminess.

Alas, she hadn’t counted on a young rabbit jumping down upon the lid with all his might. How could she?!

The lunchbox wasn’t hers! What if its poor owner starved? They were soon joined by their bird friend. “Whose lunchbox is it?” he enquired. Helpless to answer, the three set out on a search to the nearby village, determined to find the owner, whoever they might be.

We’re playing Golden Sky Stories, the English translation of Yuuyake Koyake, from Ryo Kamiya, the creator of Maid. Fresh off its Kickstarter, it’s promoted as heart warming and non-violent. A game of everyday lives viewed through the lens of a childlike magical creature. They are henge, shapeshifters and friends of the old gods. Each player takes the role of a different animal, shifting between their true form and the shape of a never-ageing child. With

Stephanie Jackson

unique personalities, strengths and weaknesses, they are bound together by one shared purpose – to help the townspeople they have lived nearby for so many years.

There are six different henge. There is the fox – proud, calm, close to the gods; the raccoon – mischievous, bewitching, skilled at changing form; the cat – selfish, sneaky and perceptive; the dog – friendly, closest to people – a bridge between henge and human; the rabbit

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Fresh off its Kickstarter, it’s promoted as heart warming and non-violent. A game of everyday lives viewed through the lens of a childlike magical creature.”

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Stephanie has danced in a world of make-believe since she was a child, growing up in New Zealand. This included writing stories, theatresports, masses of videogames … somehow managing to avoid the world of tabletop roleplaying altogether.

After moving to London, she was introduced to the world of tabletop by a friend three years ago. Since then, she has embraced it fully and is an active member within the London indie gaming scene.

She is a strong proponent of bringing roleplaying greater visibility, as she believes the hobby has both a lot to gain and to offer to a wider range of demographics. She’s grateful that storygames found her.

– wildly affectionate, desperately seeking relationships left and right; the bird – swept up in its own world and dreams far above the town.

Each player chooses their henge and then creates their character, with three basic powers unique to their animal, and up to three additional weaknesses, complete with associated powers. For example, as a weakness, a cat can choose to be unable to swim.

This comes with the associated power of extreme acrobatic ability.

Mechanically, this provides a good balance for your character, but also creates great roleplay potential, with your cat intermittently leaping from trees and roofs with ease and then screeching with terror when being pushed into a puddle. “Alors!

My paw has become soggy!”

The narrator will then guide the henge through the story, setting and closing each scene in addition to introducing challenges for individual characters and playing the role of the townspeople. The town itself is perfect for the game – served by one solitary train per day, it is complete with rice fields, orchards, shrines to the old gods … and peopled by folk both old and young, with differing levels of belief in the old ways. Many younger

people will eye these strange beings with suspicion, while older people are well familiar with the stories and grateful for the henge.

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Relationships... play a huge role in the game.”

Relationships with these people and with each other play a huge role in the game. Initially, each character has a connection with each player and also the town as a whole. The type of relationship is primarily for roleplay purposes, but the strength of that relationship has direct consequences on the abilities of your character throughout the game. As

such, you are encouraged to interact with others as much as possible.

As each scene is closed, all characters are granted Wonder and Feelings based on the quantity of relationships possessed by their character. They also have the ability to strengthen their relationships with those characters they have interacted with during that scene.

Wonder is purely magical. Each power has a set number of Wonder to use. In this way the game is able to pace the strength of the powers that can be used – saving those with the greatest effect for end-game scenes.

Feelings, on the other hand, are used for interacting with characters, building new connections.

It’s not just about powers – there are also instances where you may simply want to do something a little bit tricky – for example, swiping a sack of apples from beneath a watchful farmer’s nose. “Alright,” declares the narrator, “I think that’ll be a little bit difficult for you. You’re not exactly subtle.” How many Feelings will you put forth? Decide and then reveal your tokens. If it’s enough, you succeed. If you just didn’t invest yourself enough you’ll be slinking off with your tail between your legs.

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Not just with the narrator, you may find yourself in a direct conflict with another player. My cat has just lied to the smug, superior fox … trembling for fear of whether I will be believed or not, I hide

Along the way we reunite an elderly man, who is clearly dying, with his estranged son.

Golden Sky Stories is beautiful.

It’s kind, magical, cheeky … our characters are both flawed and lovable. It’s the nicest game I’ve ever played and that’s no insult.

After the game is over, we just have to give each other a hug. It feels like the most natural thing in the world.

Love.

12 Feelings in my hands. The fox and I both open our hands to reveal … he hasn’t bothered putting even one token up against me! I suppose I just cared far more than he did.

There’s so much emotion and variety in this game. Problems faced by the townspeople are limited only by perceptions of what everyday people face in life.

In our first game, we eventually find the little girl who owned the lunchbox. Frightened and trapped up a tree, we sit with her and comfort her until she’s ready to come down. Along the way, we confront a scary police officer from

Tokyo who seems exceptionally bothered by small children running around with animal ears and tails.

Our second game feels much more serious. We steal apples, destroy sweet displays in candy stores, send a shopkeeper’s daughter into a tirade of tears … and rush around trying to fix our own damage.

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CREDITS EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Anita Murray & Noirin Curran DESIGN & LAYOUT

Stephanie Jackson PROOF-READERS

Anita Murray & Charles Dunne