Before tackling the review of Musha Shugyo together, I would like to thank the author Luca De Marini and the publishing house Acchiappasogni for providing us with a physical copy of their product.

If you are interested in purchasing it, I would like to point out that the product currently on the publisher’s store on offer at 25 euros has been updated to a new version with the name Dragon Fighter Advanced Musha Shugyo. You can find the revised edition in the same store, in the physical version at the same price; if you are interested in the digital-only copy, you can find it for 12 euros. I would also like to point out the possibility of having the dedicated soundtrack for 12 euros.

For clarity, we will deal with the first edition, but we will point out any changes in the new updated edition.

Arcade Games as Inspiration

Musha Shugyo, from the very first moments, takes clear inspiration from fighting games and series like Street Fighter or films like Bloodsport. The game can be played alone or in a group, choosing one of the many modes provided that we will talk about later. It comes in a solid cardboard box, which contains all the game material:

• The Core Manual
• 2 6-sided dice
• 10 pre-filled character sheets in bookmark format
• 2 technical sheets
• 55 illustrated cards with the special move schemes
• 24 yellow Combo Point tokens
• 48 red Life Point tokens

Musha Shugyo‘s Protagonists

You have spent your youth training. You have perfected your martial arts to the point where you have nothing left to learn from your master. Now is the time to embark on your pilgrimage, the journey that will lead you to hone your skills and forge your own techniques. To find your Way of combat, you will have to rely on your own strength…

This is the incipit that opens the manual, which perfectly introduces the mood of the game and its purposes. But like any self-respecting RPG, if you do not want to use one of the 10 pre-compiled characters you can download a blank sheet directly from the site and proceed with the creation of your PG. This process can also be done through the dedicated app.

After you have decided on your character’s name and added the image to which a special space is reserved, it is time to distribute 7 points between the three characteristics: Rapidity (RA), Attack (AT) and Defense (DE). The only restriction is to assign at least 1 point to Speed.

• In the Advanced version, the points to be distributed increase to 12 and the characteristics become 5. To those already indicated (called External Characteristics) are added Willpower (VO) and Balance (EQ), called Internal Characteristics.

It’s a good idea to imagine the character as a whole, thinking about his history, motivations, goals and, above all, the fighting style.

Special Points and Martial Techniques

We have already emphasized at the beginning of the review how Musha Shugyo is a game focused on arcade-style combat. There is the possibility of performing special moves, called Super Techniques. To perform them, it is necessary to accumulate energy, mana, ki or aura, like in classic fighting video games. To perform a Super Technique, the character will earn Special Points (SP) by chaining attacks, inflicting huge damage in the same attack or suffering great wounds. And these are just a few examples.

• In the Advanced manual, the character has only one way to obtain Special Points, choosing from a list of 6 possibilities: Frantic, Furious, Spiritual, Inflexible, Untouchable and Obstinate.

For the game, it is less important whether the characters are armed or not. In many arcade games, the characters have a weapon and they fight without considering the fight in realistic terms. In Musha Shugyo for the purposes of the game mechanics, the important thing is to know who wins and to imagine a fantastic and amazing fight.

We said that each character has their fighting style and will therefore use Special Techniques, special martial arts strikes that exploit the fighter’s internal energy. This type of techniques can be used in combat without particular limitations. Their cost in Action Points is higher than that of normal attacks (kicks and punches, to be clear) but they are, obviously, also more effective.

Each Special Technique has some peculiar effect, highlighted in terms of gameplay by a Symbol that identifies an automatic consequence in case the Technique hits. Sometimes the Symbols have cumulative effects, like in the combos of arcade fighting games!

Fighting in Musha Shugyo

The focal point of this game is the combat. In fact the Characters will face numerous adversaries on their way to their goal. The fights in Musha Shugyo are designed in turns, one against one. To decide who goes first, it must be remembered that at the beginning of the fight, each Character obtains Action Points (AP) equal to his Speed. Then the player must carry out a Test by rolling a 6-sided die, adding the result to the Speed value. The person who gets the highest value is the first to act.

The Character’s turn is made of 3 phases: Preparation, Attack and Conclusion. During the Preparation, the character gets Action Points equal to their Speed ​​plus those they have not spent in previous turns. In the Attack, the character can attack or move by choosing which actions to perform, as long as they have enough AP available. In the Conclusion phase the Protagonist gives up the Turn by choice or due to lack of AP and it will then be up to the opponent to act.

To attack, the Character must make a Test, the result of the roll of the 6-sided die is added to the Attack score. The defender must make a similar Test adding his Defense score. If the attacker’s result is higher than the defender’s one the blow hits and the attack hits. A normal Attack hit inflicts Damage equal to AT + the result of the Attack Test performed but subtracting the target’s DE value.

If the die rolls a 6, the Test is considered a Critical Result and counts as an 8.

The game, like all arcade fighting games, features countermoves, throws, jumps and dodges; all rules are well explained in the chapter dedicated to combat.

Game Modes

As I said at the beginning of the review, Musha Shugyo offers a lot of game modes, listed and explained in chapter 4 of the manual. To give you an overview of what the system provides, I list them here, summarizing them.

Single Player Mode:

• Diary Mode: This involves keeping a real diary where writing the character’s path as a martial arts master; a sort of long story, like a journaling game.
• Tournament Mode: This mode involves facing 8 Characters as opponents, just like in a real tournament.
• Kumite Mode: Not dissimilar to the tournament, it involves only one round per opponent but the reserve of life points dwindles with each fight.
• Challenge Mode: In this mode, you don’t roll the dice to fight: the results of the Protagonist’s and opponent’s Tests have fixed values.

Two Player Mode:

• Random Encounter: Like Journal Mode, it shares narrative authority between players by assigning it in turns from one scene to the next.
• Guided Adventure: This Mode involves one Player managing their Character and the other being the Guide. This last Player is responsible for creating the plot of the adventure that the main character will experience.

Multiplayer Mode:

• Multiplayer Guided Mode: similar to Guided Adventure, but there is more than one Character.
• Multiplayer Tournament Mode: In this Mode, Musha Shugyo becomes like a typical party game and there is no maximum possible number of Players.

Consult the Oracle

Especially when playing alone, there may be a need to have some reference points. During the adventure, it is possible to consult the Oracle to find the compass in a situation and make the way of the Character more unpredictable.

To consult the Oracle, you must ask a question about the events the Character is experiencing and make a Test. The result determines the outcome of the response according to the following scheme.

If the result is 1, there is nothing to be done. The place will be the wrong one, and no one will have any information of any kind, so it will be a waste of time. When the result is 2, the outcome will still be negative, but it will present the Character with a difficulty to face, perhaps an opponent. Even a 3 on the die brings a negative outcome, even if not completely: perhaps it could be enough to convince someone to reveal what they know. If the result is 4, 5 and 6 the test is a success with different degrees, to be modulated with the situation the Character is facing.

• In the Advanced version this chapter has been expanded, introducing a series of variants. In the Story mode, we find some information about the function of the Guide (name of the narrator in this game), who will be able to evaluate the response based on the story played.

Musha Shugyo Aesthetics Review

From a purely aesthetic point of view, Musha Shugyo is quite spartan, especially additional materials. The cards with the special moves are difficult to read even if the quality is within the standard of many board games. The manual of the basic version is a 35-page volume on glossy paper bounded with a metal staple; it is not much, overall. Even the illustrations by Daniele Orlandini, Daniele Ciciriello, Alex Irzaqi and Davide Quaroni, perfectly in theme with the mood of the game, are lost a bit given the low print quality.

The two-column layout and clear font make the manual easy to read. Clarity that is lost in the Advanced version, due to the decidedly bright colors.

Musha Shugyo Review Conclusions

Dedicated to fans of the fighting genre, Musha Shugyo certainly has interesting elements, even if it is strongly oriented towards a very specific type of game. Surely the upgrade to the Advanced version adds material and possibilities, in addition to detailing the mechanics and dynamics of the game in a more precise way.

In my opinion, the product is perhaps a little pricey compared to the quality of the materials. However, if you are nostalgic for arcade fighting games, then Musha Shugyo is the game for you.

If you enjoyed this review of Musha Shugyo, stay tuned for more tabletop RPGs!