The Era of Change: Find Your Place

That sounds like a fantastic idea. Kyoto is also a place I have heard of in a few mangas *coughSkipBeat!cough* and is one I would like starting out in.

If we do have it start infront of the cafe like mentioned above, I am already planning how to introduce my guy. Ha. ;P

School is your enemy. Work is mine. Pretty soon it will be school and work... Why is sleep required??!?
 
Stupid sleep, causing problems all up in my grill. Psh.

I do like the idea of starting in front of the cafe, and it is not specified as to where it is, so therefore it could be in Kyoto. It would give each character, I think, a reason to be there.
 
Another idea for a starting point that might make more sense with all of the travellers is a major port.

Honestly would have to do some more research but I think (and stress the think part) that Nagasaki would be a suitable location if Ed-er I mean Tokyo is not. Also is this pre or post First Sino-Japanese War? While it is not over all important, it is handy to have a rough timeframe that the game takes place in simply for the sake of what the political, and therefore social, climate is like.

Anyway working on something a bit... differant then the rest of the characters.

EDIT: Note better ports would actually be Yokohama or Yokosuka.
 
I never thought of using a port... That could definitely work, whether the extremists are based there strategically or not. If we end up with any foreign characters, that would make a good starting point as well. The only issue I see is my ignorance on where the railways were at. Loooong transportation segments in roleplays and even in literature are hard to maintain and write. Everyone gets bored and wants the action to start. Just a though.


Haha, I swear I studied Japanese history, timeline, etc. before I posted the idea. I suck so bad at history that it isn't even funny. I know that Tokyo was once Edo, but I can't remember when it was changed, and I can't remember when this roleplay falls in relation to the war. I will definitely go re-study after my research paper is turned in Friday night. Possibly before, knowing how badly I procrastinate. Thanks for your ideas, man, and I am excited to see this "different" character of yours!
 
I am lame and do no research. I just go with the flow and correct things as needed when others point it out. -.-; I am bad. Whoops.

It is fantastic that you are doing all this though!
 
I never do much research either ^^; I tend to suck royally at it. To be honest, watching the Kenshin series is probably the closest I've come to research... X.x

Mind you I do know what not to talk about so it's all good!
 
Edo was renamed Tokyo in 1868 and corrisponded with the end of the fedual era, however it wasn't until 1889 when Tokyo City was formed that it even so much resembled what it is today. It was that year that the Capital moved to Tokyo from Kyoto offically, from 1868 till then it was simply a site of an imperial palace.

Rail lines are something I am still looking up.

The Samurai Rebellion to take Tokyo wouldn't happen to be the Satsuma Rebellion though, would it? It's the one that is (badly) featured in that Tom Cruise gone native movie... Or is it prior to that as the samurai were essentially wiped out due to it's outcome? If it was the uprising mentioned then that would suggest the setting somewhere in the early to mid 1880s.

... I try to hard to be mostly accurate with things so I'll point this out now. The game is labeled as fantasy, not historical. As such things are however you want them to be. For instance if this was historical I would be more worried as any man of 21 years was conscripted for a 4 year active period followed by a 3 year reserve period. Meaning my character would have to be older if he was Japanese.
 
It is fantasy because there will be ridiculous occurances throughout the roleplay that don't correspond whatsoever with what is historically accurate but are added for the lolz. I like ridiculous lolz.

Historical Stuff to Completely Ignore Due to the Post Below This One (unless you like learning, in which case, go ahead and read.)

[SPOILI][SPOILI]
First of all; false. Emperor Meiji was moved to Edo on November 6th, 1868. It was renamed Tokyo, and from that point on it was the capital, although more than likely it did grow in size after that point. The capital was wherever the Emperor was/ wanted it to be, although the government was technically an oligarchy and the emperor didn't directly control Japan.

The draft was initiated in 1872-3 and mostly drew from the poorer population who could not pay the 270 yen required to be exemption fee. Yes, the Samurai Rebellion I mentioned was the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877-8. This roleplay occurs after Takamori Saigo led the Rebellion with an army of samurai and failed miserably because of the new, inexperienced but massive conscripted Imperial Army that had access to gun while the samurai mainly relied on their swords. It probably didn't help Saigo's army that most of them were student-samurai from his own teaching establishments; I'm not sure, but they were probably young and just as inexperienced as the boys in the Imperial Army. Anyways, I remember that the original year of this roleplay was anywhere from 1880-1881. There ya go. [/SPOILI]

All that aside, the specifics of the time period were written so that players might have an easier time deciding what their characters' lives might be like, not to be strict and specific. After all, this is supposed to be fun, and most fun things do not require a shit ton of careful research and stepping on eggshells to make sure your characters fit into the time period. Why do you think true historical roleplays are rare? Because most of the time it's impossible to please the creator of the RP and the other players, and it ends up screwing with a person's head. Fun is more fun.

Here's the materials I read and attempted to summarize. Go read them if it will make you feel better. Had I the free time, I could have taken three hours and found more legitimate sources, but I really do have a research paper to finish.

[SPOILI]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernization_of_Japanese_Military_1868-1931

http://web.uvic.ca/ehnorman/PDFs/Soldier Peasant2.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_period

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2130.html

http://academic.csuohio.edu/makelaa...es Together a Life of the Enigmatic Meiji.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Meiji[/SPOILI]

Now let's get back to the fun stuff, shall we? :3 No need to worry about specifics. If you must stick to historical correctness for your character, you can always use creativity and slyness to find a way for your character to avoid the conscription, eh?

P.S./ Edit: Your conscription facts are wrong, railway info is easy to find if you look hard enough, and I am too lazy to find more facts right now.[/SPOILI]
 
New Note: In the light of recent events, I've figured out it will be impossible to balance historical reality with small bits of humorously misplaced elements of fantasy and modern times. I think I shall deem this a roleplay of complete random ridiculousness. It shall be ridiculous because very little that we do will be historically correct in the least.

So Soulhallow, your character should definitely have a club. I'm envisioning a club with, like, traditional japanese instruments playing modern songs...

And beatboxing monks? I don't know, but that's the kind of oddness I'm thinking about.

It would be funny to have a character that almost completely fits into the historical frame that is always like "What... is this? Where am I?"

Any character. Any power. A clash of history and ridiculousness!

Ready, and... go.

Oh yeah, and the plot will remain almost the same. There has to be some kind of structure, even if the content itself is weird.
 
So... Anime mishmash? Like Kenshin meets some modern slice-of-life meets magic and explosions?

Maybe minus the magic part cos I'm not sure I'm reading that right. Still sounds like a random chuck-everything-together could be fun though :3 Also, beatboxing monks conjures up the image of those warrior monks from Doctor Who: Tooth and Claw... but with beatboxing while doing their weird martial arts stuff.
 
Bahaha magic like the kind where everyone wonders if a person has superpowers because they seem to be everywhere at once, but the answer is never discovered xD That kind of magic. "Wtf" magic, if you will.

But yeah; kind of like a mishmash, though the setting will be vaguely historical. That's what will make it really strange, maybe.
 
Then please can you provided a good reference for the matter of conscription? I went with the first I found, but another after searching around has stated that it was every male between the ages of 17 and 40 for a 3 active duty followed by 2 active reserve followed by 2 more in the reserves but in an inactive stand by. Not trying to come off as an ass, just trying to get my facts right.

EDIT: I would assume that the former is more accurate simply due to the case of Conscription in the US at the time was similar and we played a big part in opening them up.
 
I understand; you must be a history person, one of the only types of person I have never been, no matter how interesting history may be.

[SPOILI]I know that Japan, in that time, modeled their army not after the US army but after the French army (and eventually got help from Prussia-- they brought in some German military advisors). The US, specifically Matthew Perry, may have force-opened a few Japanese ports, but that did not open up the hearts of the Japanese people. We were seen as rather barbaric and selfish, I think, kind of like how we are seen now; out to make the US successful and maybe, perhaps, if it was convenient, do some good in the world (or what we thought was good.)

You have to get really lucky to find in-depth historical shit online. Basic Japanese history is everywhere, but if you want to know specifically about the draft, I would go to a library (one of those buildings with lots of books... weird, right?). Or buy one off Amazon. As far as I can see, though, you have the facts correct this time concerned the draft.

Wikipedia might be ridiculously incorrect at times, but if you follow enough leads and check to see if their citations are legitimate, you can figure out if you're learning the truth or something written by a bored thirteen-year-old otaku that think they know everything without ever reading a history book.

This was one of the sources cited on one of the wiki articles (I totally just typed 'parties' instead of 'articles'... wtf xD).

http://www.amazon.com/Soldiers-Sun-Rise-Imperial-Japanese/dp/0679753036

Searched it on the net at several other places; it's legit.

Here's a less-legit link, purely informational, not strictly Japanese but you might enjoy it anyways. It corresponds with almost every other article I've read.

http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/C/o/Conscription.htm

As far as I have read, this is gold. Read it. The most relative stuff starts on page 524.

http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Periodicals/De/pdf/65_04_08.pdf

That's all for now. If you have any other questions or anything, PM me.[/SPOILI]
 
I feel like I've missed something here organisation-wise. Probably just me though.

*chomps on the corner of the topic*
 
You're not missing anything, really. Everything's the same; crazy mish-mash of random stuff.

I have another freaking paper to write... What's with all these damn papers?
 
Ugh, I hate School!! Take up so much time doing my work, and then i have no time to RP. And Great research, lots of stuff to start with and get more accurate role play. If only i could just be lazy this time of the year....Unfortunately i haven't had internet for awhile and i've been getting my grades from failing to passing.