Sunday 16 January 2022

Not Quite Review Corner: Jiangshi: Blood In The Banquet Hall (Wet Ink Games)

 


OK, I do have a Solo Ops post written and ready to go, but this arrived on Friday and I just cannot wait to talk about it.

Jiansghi: Blood in the Banquet Hall is a Kickstarter from way, way back in the mist-shrouded Before Times - that is, before COVID and before the UK's exit from the EU - with an original projected physical release of Nov 2020 (or Oct 2020 for the .pdf version). It funded on its first day and has gone from strength to strength ever since. I spotted it during the campaign and Tweeted about it, backed it to .pdf level and later upped my pledge to physical.

Time makes a mock of us all, and especially enjoys poking fun at Kickstarter release dates. It wasn't until late last year that the physical went out, and what with COVID and other shipping issues I didn't get my copy until this week.

O boy o boy o boy!


Mr. Vampire, Sammo Hung, courtesy of Eureka

It's no secret I love horror, and vampire films, and things that go argh! in the night. So when something floated into view that, on closer inspection, not only fulfilled all of those wants but also gave me something very close to Bookhounds of London, another of my fave settings, I had to give this a shot. Above all else, I particularly loved the thought of being able to play a kind of Mr. Vampire hybrid, except rather than being exorcists operating a funeral parlor your characters are owners/operators of a Chinese restaurant. What's not to like?

Physically this is a very beautiful product, with evocative art both color and otherwise. The central board operates as a time tracker and organizer, showing you where you are and what you ought to be doing at each given step in the process. You, the characters, each have a sheet with all kinds of stuff showing you what you might be able to do, how well you can do it, what you have to do it with, and so on. The board's in the center, your characters on the periphery, and the whole thing operates like a Catherine wheel of options, spinning like a top and throwing off sparks.

I really want to see this in play. In my minds eye it looks like a restaurant place setting, with the main dish in the center and each person's plate at the periphery, as we all sample the available options.

As the restaurant's owners/operators, your primary duty is to keep the restaurant running because the restaurant, that shared responsibility, is what keeps the family together. If if fails, then everything, including the family, falls apart. 

In order to do that you need to accomplish tasks, everything from keeping the place clean to cooking and serving to bribing the cops to a dozen and one different things, and if you fail in one task then it will be harder to accomplish the next. A cascading failure is always on the horizon, and it's your responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen.

Meanwhile each of you have your individual hopes and dreams that you're trying to fulfil, independent of any obligations you might have to your family. Balancing your personal needs against the needs of the family is what keeps your character going, and just like the restaurant there are plenty of obstacles that might prevent you from fulfilling those personal needs.

As if all that wasn't bad enough there are vampires, the dreaded Jiangshi, lurking in the shadows and making things much, much worse for everyone involved. If the characters fall under their influence then they become sick, and so find their daily tasks that much more difficult. Become infected with their disease and you might become a Jianghsi yourself, turning against the family and making their lives much more difficult. 

Mechanically all this is accomplished via cards and dice, and played through in Scenes which represent the passing phases of the day. Morning, when everything is prepped. Afternoon when food service starts. Evening, when the Jiangshi make their presence known, and Dead of Night, when the restaurant shuts and the Jiangshi's power is at its peak. 

In each Scene one or more characters will have stuff to do, and how well they achieve their goals determines plot progression. The characters only have 6 working hours in the day to distribute between the various tasks, and if they've been infected by Jiangshi or the restaurant has accumulated Neglect, both of which is represented by cards on the board or on the character sheet, then they won't be operating at full strength. That means they have less time, fewer options, which makes it more difficult to accomplish tasks. Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold ... 

It's easy to see how, even without the Jiangshi, if the characters are selfish and devote more time to their personal goals than they do to the shared goal of the restaurant, the family will fall apart. The Jiangshi is an added stressor, one they really don't need, but if they band together the family has a chance. A good chance? Eh ... 

It's a d8 system, low being bad news, 5-6 being success with consequences, 7-8 being critical success. A roll of 4 is especially awful because 4, the Death number, cancels out a success. Therefore it's possible to roll 0, if you roll only one success in your pool and accumulate one or more 4s. A result of 0 is a critical fail, with nasty consequences. You can accumulate bonuses and extra dice if everything's going well, but if Neglect or infection has blocked off those options then it's just you, the dice, and a famished Jiangshi waiting for you to let your guard down.

While it's very definitely a horror game the true nightmare isn't so much that dusty bloodsucker lurking in the shadows. The nightmare is the collective failure of the family. If the family fails, then everything falls apart and the game - the story - is over. That lends this narrative - and it is a narrative far more than it is a game - a personal punch that RPGs like it lack.

Consider Bookhounds of London. There the central conceit is the Bookstore, which all the characters operate and possibly also own. If one character fails or falls, that doesn't really affect the Bookstore, because ultimately in that game the Store is simply an excuse for the characters to be together as a group. It serves the same function as Delta Green or Ordo Veritatis. It provides flavor and shared backstory, but has no real influence in play and will survive even if the characters fall. 

That isn't the case here. The characters are together as a group and the restaurant is the proof of their group solidarity. If the restaurant is failing, that's because the group is unravelling. If the restaurant goes under, that's proof that the family has disintegrated. In short, the Store is more than an excuse for the characters to coexist; the Store is evidence that the characters are successfully coexisting. 

You might have noticed that, unlike, say, Troubleshooters, I've had nothing to quibble about so far. Nor will I quibble. This is a solid, well-thought-out and well-designed product. Nothing here to make me go Eeek! or question why an image indicates one thing and the text another. Designers Banana Chan and Sen-Foong Lim, with their horde of co-conspirators, have put together something that's beautiful, functional, and inspirational.

Together with the board, cards, dice, character sheets and other bits come two very interesting books. The first, the main game book, includes everything you need to play the game and also a brilliant explanation of the setting, its history, Gods, Qui, religion, vampires and other supernatural creatures, and plenty more besides. The second book, Haunted Tales, includes eighteen horrifying scenarios for you and your group ranging from historic to modern day, with side orders of Mexican, Filipino, Jewish, African American and Islamic stories, each with their own particular supernatural problems and concerns.

There's a lot to love, and I hope you'll love it as much as I. 

Want to know more? Hop over here!   

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