RōNIN

RōNIN is a retro sci-fi tabletop RPG where you take on the role of a problem solver for hire, navigating your way through the violent, neon-soaked streets of Chicago, working on contracts from a variety of employers, from ordinary citizens to vast megacorps, to acquire fame and fortune in a city that’s under constant threat from a remnant of the US government controlled by a cult whose goal is the total enslavement of humanity.

Conceived by Aaron Alexander with contributions from Snowman, Brined Porkchop, and Mildra the Monk, RōNIN features gun battles, car chases, espionage, scandals, virtual worlds, backroom deals, and social engineering to complete your contracts and make as much loot as possible.

So will you apply yourself, make bank, and expose secrets that will shake up Chicago and beyond?  Or will you become another body for the meat wagon to take to the morgue?

RōNIN takes place in Chicago circa 2038 AD — an urban playground of violence and vice lined with neon lights.  It is a combination of advanced technology that has perfected the virtual realm with the style and aesthetics of the 1980s.  Getting around in Chicago unarmed is akin to playing Russian roulette and will often result in someone ending up parting with their valuables or worse, part of a crime scene, but with the right attitude, skills, weapons, and will to succeed, you’ll be the very thing the muggers and murderers will tell horror stories about.

The game operates on a standalone 2d10 system where strategy and a little bit of luck will be needed to obtain the right clues, extract information from witnesses and enemies, smooth talk businessmen, celebrities, and socialites, or deliver punishment to anyone foolish enough to take arms against you.  Each session of RōNIN is never the same; one session will have you solve cases, another session will have you work a room to convince powerful people to spill their secrets to you, or there will be a session where you’ll have to raid a housing project that is built like a fortress. 

If you wish to give RōNIN a try, we have a free 44-page quickstart available for download where you can pick one of five RōNIN to do contract work within a small part of the Hawthorne district, a suburban enclave adjacent to the city of Chicago that at one point was the stomping grounds of Al Capone in the 1920s.  

Recently this district has been reclaimed from a Mexican drug cartel based in Durango that the Federal Union is funding and now between an uneasy ceasefire between the Cartel and the Martellotta Crime Family, a school district plagued by inhuman social experiments of the past, and minor league gangers jockeying for position, one in particular looking to make a major move beyond their usual loansharking racket, this could present a lot of opportunities for a RōNIN as a proving ground to make a name for themselves and put together a nice resume for bigger contractors in the future.