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Ryuutama

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“At one point in their lives, everyone embarks upon an exciting journey…”

Ryuutama means “Dragon’s Egg”: Travelers go on a journey, and their stories are recorded by mysterious dragon-people observers called Ryuujin. The Ryuujin then feed the essence of the stories to the Seasonal Dragons, which gives them strength, helps them grow, and this in turn renews the world.

Ryuutama is a Japanese tabletop role-playing game, now translated into English. The original author is Atsuhiro Okada, a lifelong gamer who works in a “Tabletop Gaming Cafe” in Tokyo, the first of its kind in the country. He wrote this game to bring new people into tabletop role-playing, as well as to provide a heartwarming experience which other games at the time did not.

Ryuutama calls itself a “Natural Fantasy RPG”. It is a fantasy role-playing game set in a western medieval-style setting. The conceit of this setting is that at one point, in everyone’s lives, people get this intense feeling of wanderlust. They put their daily lives on hold and travel the world with new-found companions. They find out more about the world, and at the same time learn about themselves.

Ryuutama emphasizes travel, exploration, community, friendship, harmony and growth. There is also a “Console RPG-like” combat system: But while combat certainly happens, it’s not the central focus of the game. Adventures usually involve traveling from one town to another, packing gear, crafting items, cooking and sharing along the way; getting lost, meeting people and (sometimes cute) monsters along the way; braving the elements and trying to set camp properly.

Ryuutama is a game that gives off a “feelgood”, or in Japanese, “Honobono” feel. The feeling of the game is like a Hayao Miyazaki anime: While there is adventure and excitement, there is also a warm sense of wonder, exploration, and companionship (versus an emphasis on violence and extreme action).

To play Ryuuutama, you need a few friends, some multi-sided dice, some pencils and paper, and an open heart. One person will take on the role of the Ryuujin or “Dragon-Person”, the person who creates the scenario and guides the other players (this is also called a Game Master or “GM”). The other players will take on the roles of the Travelers, creating characters and engaging in exciting adventures in a world created by the players.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Juho Pohjalainen.
Author 5 books348 followers
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September 12, 2019
Looks like a pretty solid set of rules for a game revolving around journey and comfort rather than battle and hardships - though it can manage those too. I'll see if I could run a little of it with friends and then rate it based on that experience.
Profile Image for Eddy.
Author 96 books51 followers
August 22, 2018
A charming, lightweight RPG. A neat bit of tech, though, is the GM character. By choosing which dragon watches over the party, the GM not only provides a benevolent NPC, but also subtly tweaks the game with a set of powers and rules changes. It's a neat way to package house rules while giving players a mentor and ally.
Profile Image for Aaron S.
69 reviews1 follower
December 12, 2018
Rating represents this book as a tool: it's ease of use, excellent organization, and simplicity. Rating does NOT represent my thoughts on the system itself, and I have not played the game in question at this time.


Ryuutama is probably the best organized and easy to read rpg system book I've read. It is separated into four "seasons" which is both thematic for the book and easy to remember where information is kept. The writing is extremely clear and focused, with numerous examples throughout and even a number of cute little illustrations to demonstrate different mechanics. This book is a great option for someone with no experience with rpgs. Experienced players of rpgs will breeze through this book very quickly and be able to retain most of the information, making it very quick to start playing.
Profile Image for Santiago.
369 reviews49 followers
April 23, 2023
Me gustó un montón y ahora me dan ganas de dirigir una partida.
Profile Image for Alejandro Alatorre.
2 reviews
July 3, 2024
Hermoso libro con bastante amor detrás de su creación. Cuanta con un sistema sencillo y solido en su mayoría, pero si hay que poner especial cuidado al dirigir aventuras con el, en especial la parte del Ryujin
Profile Image for Spherushi.
5 reviews1 follower
September 23, 2018
This is a really lovely RPG book. The art is cute and evocative, the structure is well thought out with two chapters that might interest both players and GM and two containing rules only the GM needs to know and there are some concepts in there, one wont find in RPGs more common in the west.

The one thing that sets Ryuutama apart from other games, is the Ryuujin, a character played by the GM. The choice of Ryuujin sets the tone for the game and conveys the intent of the story. There are four types of Ryuujin to choose from (green, blue, red, black), each one lending itself to a different type of story. For example, green is the default dragon for beginners, best for tales of adventure and travel, whereas black is a dragon that signifies a darker story, maybe one of betrayal or intrigue. How much interaction the Ryuujin gets with the player characters can vary on the dragon as well. In general, the Ryuujin are designed to give especially newer GMs an easy tool to support the player characters if things go south, while never taking away the spotlight from them.

These are not rules that lend themselves to every story idea though. Ryuutamas player characters are not godlike heroes, but normal people embarking on a journey to see the world and grow as humans. It can support darker stories, and stories about human relationships, but it is probably best suited for light-hearted stories built around a sense of wonder for the world.
Profile Image for Abigail.
Author 1 book20 followers
May 11, 2020
I first heard about this game when I was looking for some real play videos for Golden Sky Stories, and once I looked into it more, I was so enchanted and ordered the physical book, English translation. It is beautiful. The spells, characters, and monsters are so cute and the little aside comments are absolutely charming. But, what I also like about it, is that it really seems focused on helping new GMs. I have never GMed a game before, so to have everything laid out in a way that was so easy--and really took the time to explain even things that might seem obvious to more experienced players, was such a boon. I love that it provided so many easy steps to explain gameplay as well as samples of what that would look like in-game. It even has tips for story structure to help new GMs know how to handle things like game length, story length, and general story pace. I also love how simple it is. I've played DnD a few times, but there is always so much to keep track of while playing. With a much simpler combat system and a focus on the story and people however, Ryuutama seems likely to avoid many of those problems. I'll be playing my first game of this soon and am looking forward to it to a huge degree.
Profile Image for Jesse Slater.
131 reviews3 followers
December 28, 2017
With RPG books, the review ends up being twofold: the book itself and the game.

The book here is gorgeous. The English translators did a great job ensuring the charm of the Japanese original was maintained. The formatting is excellent, information easy to read and find. The art is beautiful and evocative. It just screams, "Let's play! Let's play right now!" The rules are clear and the fluff, which is designed to be more suggestive than dogmatic, is inspiring of the style of game it wants to help you play.

The game itself is great fun. While an 'unusual' RPG (described as "Miyazaki's Oregon Trail"), I would actually recommend this to first time roleplayers as well. The mechanics are creative, but simple. The combat is a great reflection of this: a straightforward Final Fantasy-inspired system. Our table, who expected combat to be shallow--as it isn't the focus of the game--greatly enjoyed the amount of storytelling in combat that we managed. Not bogged down by rules, the creativity flowed.

This is one of my go-to recommendations.
Profile Image for Ken Ringwald.
40 reviews2 followers
January 15, 2021
This book caught me eye during a kickstarter to fund its translation and printing. I backed it then, years ago, but then it sat on my shelf as I played other games.

At the end of 2020, I was looking for a more reflective game and Ryuutama came to mind. I opened the book and fell in love with this game. It's wonderful. It knows what kind of stories it's trying to tell and provides really useful guidance to get there. It also has lovely art that's reminiscent of 90s console role-playing games, certain manga, or Miyazaki films.

Many role-playing games (like Dungeons and Dragons, the best known example) are laid out roughly like technical manuals. They are designed to be references at the table, but they're not always laid out in the most intuitive way for a first time reader. Ryuutama excels at presentation and organization. There's a short introduction to the game and the different player options at the start, so you have a frame of reference. Then, the rules are organized into chapters named after seasons. Spring covers character creation with notes on how to simplify things for first-time players or short games. Summer covers the majority of the rules for journeys and combat. Fall covers more game master (GM) focused rules and the way that the game master gets a character (kind of) to participate in the story, too. Winter includes monsters for the players to encounter.

As a bonus, on the physical book, the sides of the pages are color coded to go with the seasonal theme. This logical organization plus the color coding makes it easy to find rules and information.

As for the actual rules, they're pretty simple. Characters have stats with dice ranging from a four-sided die to (usually) a ten sided die. Dice with more sides reflect being better at skills or attributes. When challenges come up, players roll a couple dice to beat a threshold number. That's it. It's pretty quick to understand and to teach.

There are some fun wrinkles to the rules like how rolling a fumble gives you a resource to do better on later rolls. The game is pretty transparent about why the rules function as they do and even has a Q&A section at the end to handle common rules questions.

Much of the game's page count is dedicated to travel and weather. Ryuutama deliberately doesn't have 200 pages of setting information and encourages the GM to make the world with their players. The combat section is relatively short, too, and functions very much like a 16-bit Final Fantasy game in a charming way. The most important part of the Ryuutama world is that, at least once in their life, every person goes on a journey. The player characters are people on that journey together.

This emphasis on moving through nature and experiencing new places is not too common in RPGs. I've read a lot of RPGs and it's a breath of fresh air that makes me excited to run the game. I've only run it for one person so far, but it turns out that the rules work pretty well for single player character games, too. I'm excited to run more of it in the coming year.

A lot of RPGs have a pretty vague game-mastering chapter, but Ryuutama has three involved examples of play that are extremely helpful. (This idea, often called "replays" is more common in Japanese table top/table talk games,) It also has practical guidance on planning sessions and includes worksheets. This matches how I like to prepare for games anyways, so it was really appreciated. The worksheets are a great reminder to keep things moving and include evocative details (like something for each of the five senses) for the different scenes in the game.

I know I'm gushing about this game but I love it. I haven't got to some of the aspects like the gamemaster's Ryuutama character, but I have to stop somewhere.

It was out of print for a while but is available again as of January 2021 in hardcover at Indie Press Revolution. Honestly, I can't recommend Ryuutama highly enough. It's going to be my go-to fantasy game going forward.
451 reviews3 followers
October 31, 2020
Ryuutama is fantastic. It's a fantasy setting taking it's tropes more from Final Fantasy and Studio Ghibli instead of stock western european Tolkien-esque fantasy. It's a fresh look at a genre that is otherwise very much.. played out in tabletop roleplaying.

Do you want fantasy that focuses on a journey? Do you want an emphasis on exploration, discovery, and narrative over murdering stuff? Ryuutama may be for you.

Ryuutama's mechanics are pretty simple and easy to pick up. There is a large emphasis on roleplaying between characters and building the story as you go. The trials and tribulations of inclement weather and the vagaries of the road make up the bulk of the game. Also dragons. Dragons and their scions the Ryuujin are the keepers of stories and history. Every person must make a long pilgrimage once in their life and these pilgrimages are ripe for journeys. The GM takes on the role of a Ryuujin who has taken a special interest in the party. The Ryuujin is there to give the GM ways to effect the journey in a more organic manner but also with limits. The Ryuujin's abilities are powered by its own life force and it can die through over-using them. The Ryuujin can even take human form and join the party. Though, to avoid the pitfalls of DMPC I think the Ryuujin should be enigmatic and somewhat rare, myself. The Ryuujin does have a certain paternal relationship with the PCs and most of its abilities are geared toward powering them up and protecting them but good stories have conflict so I think the Ryuujin just as often steers its travelers in to danger and drama.

It has character classes and abilities for those classes. There's a lot of standard fantasy monsters. Most monsters have chains where there are weak, medium, and strong versions which evokes old Final Fantasy games where recolored monster designs would pop up as super powered versions of old monsters. There are combat rules and each traveler will have at least one weapon but violent conflict resolution isn't really the focus. Most of the moments are built by character interaction and roleplaying.

The interior art is wonderful and evocative of the game's themes and the media it draws upon. The binding is great. It reads quickly and has a wonderful conversational tone. Oftentimes, games try to adopt a legalese sort of writing as they are a series of rules and concepts. Ryuutama talks to you like a person. This is a wonderful product and it plays similarly enough to D&D that it could replace it if you want something like.. grueling.
Profile Image for Matthew J..
Author 3 books9 followers
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July 9, 2025
I have to admit, I'm pretty torn on this one. On the one hand, anime/manga/JRPGs just aren't my bag. On the other, I kinda like the idea of a more chill, almost relaxing game. But I'm not sure things really come together here.
This feels like a game that should be fairly "rules-light," but instead almost comes off like FATE or something, where if you want to do anything, "they're a mechanic for that." This probably wouldn't be a problem after a while, as most of the mechanics seem like the sort thing that quickly fade into the background (I played the original Deadlands, and it eventually started to become second nature, so anything is possible). I'm just worry that the game will feel a bit too regimented. The author states many times that the die roll shouldn't be the end of it, that the results should spark players and GM alike to explore what the roll results mean. But...I don't know. Also, the addition of the GM-run character, which comes off somewhat like The Dungeon Master from the old D&D cartoon, is something. Something good? Something bad? Definitely something.
There isn't really a setting presented in the book. There's just a vague "vibe" to the whole thing that will be familiar to folks who've watched much 80s anime, especially Studio Ghibli and that sort of thing. It's a mellow, slightly dreamy, Medieval/Renaissance pseudo-Europe, with fantastical elements kicking around.
While I'm still not sure how I fell about the game, as written, I definitely found reading the book an enjoyable experience, and I think I'll be taking several ideas to mix into other games.
This is one I'd very much like to play in, with the right, like-minded crew, and someone with a better head for mechanics than I have running things.
One definite complaint, though; the book references future supplements several times, and to the best of my knowledge there have never been any. And this game has been out for a long time. Apparently there's a lot of fan support. And I think there was a lot of support for it in its original Japanese. But I don't think anything else official came out for it in English. I could be wrong. But I can't find anything.
Profile Image for Jess.
165 reviews30 followers
July 13, 2020
I have the English edition translated in 2015. The fantasy world of Ryuutama is really easy to love and fun to play in. This player's guide/ monster manual is absolutely adorable, and 13 sessions later this game has been great. We have 4 player characters, and our GM chose the black dragon (Kuro-Ryuu, winter magic, intrigue and mysteries). I would highly recommend this tabletop RPG (especially now, when playing long-distance via Discord or other apps is preferable during plague) to new players and experienced players (Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, etc.) alike. It's much simpler in some ways but also offers more ways for players to contribute to the creation of their world and add to the GM's stories. You even get to decide what objects are available on the field of battle and use them however you can imagine.
Profile Image for Fernando Fitch.
110 reviews3 followers
December 6, 2023
Nice RPG book. They have some fantastic ideas. For example, the GM officially has a character - the Ryuujin - basically a magic guardian dragon thing that watches over the party and helps out now and again. The Ryuujin can actually gain levels and new abilities. I also like the combat system. It's simple and straightforward, but can allow for satisfying cinematic combat. The only reason I didn't give this book a full 5 stars is because it's a little bit too cutesy-anime for my personal taste, but with that minor preference aside this is a great RPG book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Alexander Lenz.
Author 7 books1 follower
September 8, 2025
Had some fun sessions playing it with friends. It takes time to decouple yourself in ways of story and telling from typical fantasy to a more balanced travellogue but its really nice. Also you can start your day off wrong by sleeping badly and far too few games incorporate this quintessential age 30+ experience xD
Profile Image for Peter.
511 reviews2 followers
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March 8, 2021
Game looks very interesting.
Can't really rate the book before I've tried playing a session with the system.

Book itself is a delicious hardcover, the insides being very pretty, full of cute drawings and beautiful art.
Profile Image for Nicolas Ronvel.
476 reviews6 followers
January 5, 2014
Arrivé comme cadeau de noel suite au crowdfunding qui a permis son édition, Ryuutama a parfaitement comblé mes envies, et a été dévoré en quelques jours.

Ce n'est pas un jeu que je proposerai à une table "aguerrie", mais je compte bien utiliser ce jeu en famille. Le côté "bon" du jeu me plaît, ses règles simples, mais qui utilisent quand même des dés spéciaux (et ça fait pour moi partie du JDR ces dés spéciaux) aussi.

Au niveau lecture, ce livre est facile à lire. L'organisation est sans faute, on n'a pas à faire d'incessants sauts en avant ou en arrière. Mais surtout, le point excellent que j'aimerai revoir, ce sont les concepts "par page". Chaque page propose quelque chose, et les seules fois où l'on a besoin d'avoir plus de pages, c'est parfaitement découpé. Une mise en page exemplaire.

Enfin, les notes de traduction et de conception, qui permettent de voir l'idée directrice du jeu selon l'auteur, et également les spécificités culturelles décryptées par l'équipe de traduction, sont un ajout très important.

Une réussite, à transformer en essai en jeu.
Profile Image for Tatiana Alejandra de Castro Pérez.
680 reviews24 followers
March 24, 2024
Este juego de rol es una auténtica maravilla para los novatos en el rol porque da muchísimos consejos y herramientas, tanto para directores como para jugadores.

La idea de las partidas es viajar y conocer tanto la naturaleza como poblaciones e ir ayudando a la gente. Es un juego amable, lleno de maravillas y oportunidades de ser buenas personas. Te dejará con el corazón calentito, aunque tenga la opción de meter tramas más oscuras y adultas.
Profile Image for Garrett Henke.
164 reviews
December 19, 2025
Light, beautiful, and airy - Ryuutama is a stunning RPG in terms of its simplicity while maintaining a degree of depth and originality. I absolutely tore through this book over 5 days and completely fell in love with it. It is unfortunate that there will very likely never be any additional supplements for it, but that might actually ruin its perfection. As it stands, Ryuutama is the perfect book to just throw in a bag and play over a few glasses of wine with friends.
Profile Image for Christopher.
965 reviews8 followers
August 9, 2016
Charming travel-focused game with clear mechanics bound together in a beautiful book full of colorful setting details (and the tools to help you build your own).
Profile Image for Adam.
309 reviews68 followers
October 21, 2024
I just wish there was a larger community for this game.
Profile Image for Marc J. Miarnau.
29 reviews10 followers
January 17, 2016
Tengo unas ganas enormes de jugarlo. Cuando haga una primera partida actualizaré este apartado.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

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