Game Idea: Cat Dreams, a RPG inspired by Studio Ghibli

As part of this year's Creative Pay It Forward, I promised my friend Jovan an rpg.
This is her request.

"They say if a cat asks you to follow him, you should never hestitate.

They never ask twice."

- Mikko

Neko Yume
Every now and then, for reasons they alone would know, a cat would walk up to a person, stare at him or her until the person noticed, then walk off, stopping after a few feet to check if the person was following.  If the person was curious enough to follow, it is said the cat would lead you down through alleyways, corridors and unfamiliar paths until finally you are brought to a place where you are needed.

Cats, they say, know the secret passages that exist between rooms.  Between cities.  Between worlds.   They are feisty and always watching for reasons we will never truly completely understand.  They can be completely care-free with not a single concern for your own activity, then suddenly demanding of your affections within the same hour.  Many people have offered tips and guides on how to care for cats.

But none of them have ever told you, that if a Cat offers to lead you somewhere.  You should follow.  Because if you don't you would have lost the chance of a lifetime.

Cat Dreams  is a Studio Ghibli-inspired RPG.
This game is created without permission nor attempts to claim ownership of Studio Ghibli's works.  This game is merely a fan-creation that I feel captures the wonder and joy Ghibli movies share and translates it into a playable game that others can enjoy.

In this game, the player portrays a girl or guy who has been chosen by a Cat.  The Cat leads the guy or girl somewhere where he or she is needed.  And the player's choices can determine what events shall transpire, how they will unfold, and how the journey will end.

For this game, no Game Master or Narrator is necessary.  Instead, the player only needs a character sheet (you can just copy the suggested sheet below), a pencil, a six-sided die and a single deck of cards.  The deck of cards will be used to generate the events that unfold as the player takes the journey.  And in the end, will challenge the player to resolve the journey for a happy ending.  What if the player fails?  That will be revealed below.
Unlike most games, in Cat Dreams, you do not have to fill up a detailed character sheet.  Instead, you simply have to come up with a character who has a particular dream.  The character can be of any age, gender, or social class, but definitely must have a particular want which seems impossible or unlikely to ever be achieved.

The best way to think of one is to complete the sentence,  "I want...."  This can be something as fantastical as "I want to be able to fly," or something as dramatic as "I want my dying mother to get better."  What this want is can help shape what kind of game you will be having.  More serious or somber wants will end up creating a game which explores a heavier emotional dream.  Interesting and exciting wants will be the roots of a fun adventurous dream.

Once you are done with that, you are actually ready to play!  But let me explain how the system works so you grasp the nuts and bolts of this game first.  In this game, the dice and the cards are BOTH used to resolve challenges.  Most challenges are resolved using the cards alone.  The dice comes in whenever the character has to "try again."  You see, in Ghibli movies, the lead character rarely really fails unless it is a major dramatically appropriate moment.  This system tries to match that feel.

Hope is the Trait that is important whenever the character tries to do something positive which is not being contested or opposed by someone.  Trying to find a dropped earring, following the trail of a lazy firefly, or climbing a wall are examples of actions that are tested by Hope.

Strength is the Trait that is important whenever the action of the character is being opposed by other characters.  Running from one rooftop to the others is just a Hope action.  But if you're doing this while being chased by soldiers, then it becomes a Strength action.    Trying to talk and convince the living stone wall to let you pass is also a Strength action.  Don't look at this as physical actions.  Look at this more as when the character's strength of conviction and determination are key to succeeding in the task.

Fear is the Trait that tries to make things more difficult for you.  In many ways, Fear stops you because you allow it to.   While there are instances when Failure cannot be avoided, during all Strength tasks, the target you have to beat is based on what you have currently in Fear.   Don't worry, this will get clearer soon.  But know that what you have here in Fear, is what makes your Strength action a challenge.

Note: Given how most Ghibli stories focus on a single protagonist, this game assumes you are playing solo.  If there is enough feed back, I can write up the rules for group play.

The game requires a deck of cards.  The cards should be a standard 52-card deck with the four suits (Hearts, Spades, Clubs and Diamonds) and  no Jokers.  Just remove the Jokers if your deck includes them.    Hope resonates with Hearts cards.   Strength resonates with Spades.  Fear resonates with Clubs.  A card is worth only one point if the drawn card does not resonate with the Action.  It is worth its face value if the drawn card matches.

Whenever you are doing an Action which requires a draw, you will pull out three cards  and lay them face-down in each appropriate area.  You can choose which cards go where, so long as you have not looked at the cards.   These cards now will represent the results of the action.

So assuming you draw the 8th of Hearts in a Hope action, you have 8 for your Hope for that action.
If you drew the 8th of Spades instead for Hope, however, you only have 1 for Hope.

Hope Actions have a difficulty to match to overcome.  Typically Hope actions automatically succeed, but in some instances, the story might require a higher value for Hope.  If this value is not reached, you can Try Again (See below)

Strength Actions must be equal or greater than Fear to succeed.  You can add the value of your Hope if the Strength card happens to be a red card.  If the value is not matched, you can Try Again (see below).

After cards are dealt, and an Action is resolved, all cards are discarded save for the Fear card.  The Fear card is removed from play.

If a face card is drawn instead (Knight, King or Queen), a new NPC enters the scene.  If the Face card is in the Hope, the character is an ally and will help you accomplish a task.   If the Face card is in Strength, it can be an Ally or an Enemy depending on whether or not the suit is red (Ally) or black (Enemy).  An Enemy in Strength means the Enemy helps you, for now (usually a henchman or a usually dangerous character choosing to help you instead).   Face cards do not have a value, but are considered to always succeed unless the story otherwise says so.


If the Face card is in Fear, however, then your story will have an Antagonist.  And every time a Face card with a Spade or Club appears, it will now represents that same enemy.  Antagonists always have a value of 8.

Try Again
If you did not have enough Hope, Strength, or Combined Hope and Strength to beat either the difficulty or Fear (when appropriate), you can Try Again.  When you Try Again, you discard your Hope and Strength card, and draw two new cards.  You then roll the six-sided die and can add it to the new result, but if you choose to do so, you must discard a third card from the deck.


Once the deck is depleted, the story will come to an end.

Running a Story
The Cat has brought you to a place you need to be at.   This is somewhere where you can achieve your "I want..."  At the start, however, that might not seem apparent.  To determine the setting of your story, roll the six-sided die three times, with each roll generating a keyword from the table below.

The First Visit into the Dream

Die result	First Keyword	Second Keyword	Character
1	Magical	Forest	Meeting a Lost Princess
2	Mysterious	Town	Cursed by a Witch
3	Dangerous	Underwater Ship	Encountering a Kind Spirit
4	Hidden	Steampunk City	Challenged by a Stranger
5	Moving	Island	With your younger sibling
6	Quiet	Castle In the Sky	Finding a magical artifact

With the beginnings of your story now set, the adventure begins!
Draw a number of cards equal to how many scenes you want your Neko Yume Journey to last.  A standard Journey is ten scenes long.  You can however opt for shorter (I recommend no less than five) or longer scenes (No more than fifteen).  Each card represents a scene in the Journey as defined by the table below.  Use the keywords to piece together an interesting narrative.  Note that at this time, the cards you have drawn have determined key scenes, but are not yet arranged in any order.

Hearts	Meaning	Diamonds	Meaning
Ace	Explore, Hope: 1	Ace	Play with locals, Hope: 2
2	Get Lost, Hope: 2	2	Glimpse of family back in real world.  Shuffle back 2 cards.
3	Meet Nice Townsfolk, Hope: 1	3	Argument with locals, Fear challenge.
4	Try interesting food, Hope: 1	4	Confront someone everyone else fears.  Fear challenge.
5	Dead end, Hope: 3	5	Ate something you shouldn’t have, Hope: 5
6	Get Lost, Hope: 3	6	Cursed! Discard next Hope card.
7	Make new friends.  Shuffle back up to 7 discarded cards.	7	Good Night’s Rest. Shuffle back up to 7 discarded cards.
8	Pretends to be from here, Hope: 2	8	Can’t Sleep.  Discard next Strength card.
9	Learns more about place, Hope: 1	9	Good breakfast! If next Fear is Face card, discard and draw again.
10	See’s glimpse of Antagonist, Hope: 2	10	Missing home.  Next Fear challenge has one six-sided die bonus.
Jack	Friend offers to guide you.  Card not discarded.  Will auto succeed next challenge.	Jack	Transformation!  Friend reveals he was an animal you met.  Recover all discarded Hearts.
Queen	Authority figure welcomes you.  Reshuffle all cards back to deck.	Queen	Transformation!  You have become someone of Authority in the setting!  Recover all discarded Spades.
King	Deus Ex Machina: Next Fear Challenge auto succeed.	King	Transformation! The setting has changed.  Roll six-sided dice twice to generate new location.
Spades		Clubs
Ace	Twist:  Way home is closed.  Hope: 6	Ace	Threat of Discovery!  Fear Challenge.
2	Thank you.  Someone is grateful for what you’ve done.  Reshuffle back all Diamonds.	2	Disguise fails! Fear Challenge.
3	Mistaken Identity: Fear challenge or identity mistaken until last three cards of Journey.	3	Cursed! Fear Challenge or next Heart Face card is discarded.
4	I can do this!  Resolve grows.  Reshuffle 4 discarded cards back into deck.	4	Scary monster chases you!  Fear Challenge or discard five cards.
5	Twist!  Friend is actually Antagonist in Disguise.  Fear Challenge.	5	Riddle too tough.  Fear Challenge or discard ten cards.
6	Safe Journey, Hope: 1	6	Horribly Lost, Hope: 10 or discard five cards.
7	Antagonist not really evil.  Explains his side.  Reshuffle up to 7 discarded cards.	7	Antagonist Forgives you.   Reshuffle up to 7 discarded cards.
8	Running on unsafe path, Hope: 5	8	The long wait.  Hope: 4
9	Console crying companion, Hope: 2	9	Magical Curse/Spell can be Broken.  Fear Challenge.
10	Homesickness strikes.  Fear challenge.	10	Friend badly injured.  Next red Face card discarded.
Jack	Friend disappears.  Discard next Strength card and draw again.	Jack	Imprisoned by Antagonist.  Fear Challenge or remove 3 random Story Cards.
Queen	Authority figure thanks you.  Reshuffle all Hearts and Diamonds into deck.	Queen	Antagonist gloats.  Fear Challenge or discard ten cards.
King	Invitation to go home: Hope 8 or game ends early.	King	Sacrifice.  You die to prove you care.  Fear Challenge to be revived after or game over.

Build the Neko Yume Journey
Choose one of the drawn cards, set it down as the Start of the Journey (Which is card #1).    Build the story now connecting the  First Visit to the first card, and be sure to suggest connections to the "I want.."  As you shape the story of each card, when you reach a good point in the narrative, accomplish the listed challenge in the table.

Example:  As Mikko follows the cat, the cat leads her through a door and the next thing she knows, she is in a Moving Steampunk City and encounters a Kind Spirit.  "You!" the Spirit tells her, "I was looking for a new Carrier."  The Spirit was made of Steam and could only travel around safely if carried by a Carrier.  Mikko realized this was a chance to explore a whole new world.  An adventure!

Of the cards draw, the player picks 9 of Hearts as the first card.  The Spirit begins to weep, dropping steaming tears all over Mikko's shoulder.  "Oh I hate this.  I wish I could explore the world.  But I never had legs like you servants do."  Mikko tries to console the Spirit, suggesting that steam can float.  She remembers how hot air balloons work and suggests, "Why don't we build you a balloon to float in?"  Mikko now starts the Hope: 2 challenge, drawing three cards and hoping she has enough Hope to pass it.  If not, she can Try Again.

With each challenge, continue the narrative as appropriate.  Some cards require certain penalties or bonuses after a challenge is accomplished.  Keep in mind, at any point in time that you run out of cards in your deck, the story comes to an end.  (See Out of Cards, below)


Build the narrative as you choose each card.  One approach is to NOT read the meaning of the cards first and just choose what the next step of the Journey is, then read the meaning and make it work.  That makes the game a fun narrative challenge as well.

Whenever the cards call for a new character, feel free to invent an appropriate character for the setting.  If you feel stuck, here's a table you can roll in to randomly generate new characters.

One	Animal	Does not Talk	Speaks in Riddles
Two	Animated Object	Eats a Lot	Recognizes Humans
Three	Elemental/Magical	Says only one word	Knows about Journey
Four	Human	Annoying	Works for Antagonist
Five	Spirit	Scary	Can Fly
Six	Combine two	Helpful	Can change shape

Out of Cards

If at any time you run out of cards, sadly that means the Story comes to an abrupt end.
Your character suddenly sits up and finds herself in her own bed.  A cat stares at her from the window, then very calmly, and nonchalantly, walks away.

The dream is over.

So there you have it!
All this needs now is a good soundtrack. :-)