The Mountain Witch (4/27/2024)

GM: Sean Nittner
Payers: Karen Twelves, Dale Hostman, Matthew Klein
System: The Mountain Witch

Karen and I had been talking about playing some of the early indie games that we either never played or just felt nostalgic for. Dale and Matthew were interested so we started up a game of Mountain Witch.

Premise

As you watch the night sky start to gray over a sea of clouds, you recall the events that brought you to the icy slopes of Mount Fuji. As a ronin, you were used to a hard and lonely life, traveling from village to village, looking for whatever employment you could find. So naturally, when you were approached this time you quickly accepted the offer, not fully realizing what you were getting into. Now you find yourself far from help, preparing for an assault on O-Yanma, the Mountain Witch himself. At your side is a group of men you neither know nor want to know – a group of men who all carry a similar story to yourself. Who knows what the dawn of this day will bring?

Preparing for the Game

Mountain Witch is a no-prep kind of game, but there was there was a lot I wanted to internalize before play started. I wanted three things ready before the game:

Read all the rules over, focusing on character creation, dark fates, resolution mechanics, degrees of success, trust (this is big), damage, dueling, and the chapter structure.

Created a random campaign generator (based on Lasers & Feelings) to give O-Yanma a little more specificity and give the players a hand in creating the foe they would face. O-Yanma, The Mountain Witch:

Create a list of threats to throw into the game. This is generally my favorite way to prepare for games. Create a list of all kinds of things that can go wrong and draw from them during play. In retrospect, I can say that used almost all of them. Here’s what I came up with (taken from the book):

Getting started

We rolled up the reason for the mission (from above) and found that the Mountain Witch wants o control the Legendary Hero Tenshin Yoshiko which will end the Edo period.

Character Creation

How did you let yourself get pulled into this mess? Oh yes, the money. Lots of money. You were told that there was a sum of money for the men that defeated the Witch, a sum large enough to set you up for a long time. A sum large enough to finally let you settle down and forget this endless drifting.

Funny though, the first thought that popped into your head–”If somebody doesn’t make it, that’s just more money for me.” What was also funny was your second thought–”I’m sure everyone else is thinking the same thing.”

We read aloud the premise and started creating ronin together. Here’s what my amazing friends came up with:

Saito Kajiwara (he/him), played by Dale

• Zodiac sign: Dog (honest and loyal)
• Abilities: Aware of his surroundings “Dog Sense”.
• Why are you a ronin: His lord was manipulated into committing seppuku—but he did not follow suit. He gave up his wakizashi after failing his lord.
• Why do you need the money: To support the small fishing villages he grew up in—one of his lord’s domain—he sees this as some restoration of his honor…
• Dark Fate: ???

Ito Jun (she/her), played by Matthew

• Zodiac sign: Horse (independent and hard workers)
• Abiliies: Love or hate: strong impressions
• Why are you a ronin: Killed her master
• Why do you need the money: Fled without anything but what we were carrying.
• Dark Fate: ???

Ito Jiro (he/him), played by Karen

• Zodiac: The Tiger (stubborn, hot-headed, selfish, and slightly mean)
• Abilities: can plow through obstacles
• Why are you a ronin: family obligation
• Why do you need the money: start a new life far away fro here.
• Dark Fate: ???

On the Water

We started the ronin on a small fishing boat on their way to Mt. Fuji as they experienced the first of sign of O-Yanma’s wrath. The wind suddenly became a torrent and giant goldfish began slamming in to the bow of the boat, at first just jolting it but after a time beginning to damage the hull.

The ronin unfurled the sales to catch the wind, slashed at the fish with their swords and looked for the closest place to land their little boat, if not the most convenient one. Their success was marginal. They made it to the shore but the ship was driftwood by the time they arrived. The one thing they had was a net full of giant goldfish.

Flashback

On the shore, we cut back to the ronin gathering just before the mission. In a small hut they waited while Tenshin Yoshiko’s honor guard first inspected the cottage and deeming it safe, signaled the legendary war hero to enter.

She held a giant satchel of coin and dropped it on a table in front of them. “This is yours if you can kill my brother, Tenshin O-Yanma, The Mountain Witch”. She wore the Tenshin medalion (the symbol of the monkey) that they knew O-Yanma would as well.

She took one coin from the stack and tossed it to them. “A little something to get you started.”

Jiro took the coin as his little sister agreed to the deal. I’m the dim light of the cottage we could she that Jun also carried a monkey medallion.

Pants

The shore they were on had no easy path above. There was a way around the mountain that Kajiwara found. It entered a cave, he could tell was inhabited by something that lived in the dark. An option, but not a good one.

After some time a small band heard their efforts and approached from above. “Hey, looks like you’re stuck down there,” said Natsu the bandit leader.

Negotiations were tough. The ronin had little to offer, but the bandits above knew if it came to a fight, they’d all be cut down. Best choice was to leave them below and stay safe. But wow, did those fish look good! The agree to help them up for the fish…all of them.

The bandits had no rope to lower down to them so they huddled and made a plan “But they are MY pants! Why don’t you give up yours?”

“Because I’m the leader. I’ve got the sword so I make the rules. Give me your pants.”

Much grumbling from several of the bandits later, a rope (made of tied together pants) was lowered to the ronin “send up the fish first”.

And for a moment it looked like the bandits might just steal the fish and leave them stranded, but a mix of fear*, respect, and curiosity guided Natau’s hand.

Mostly fear, they were all pretty sure Jiro would find a way to kill them if they didn’t fulfill their end of the bargain.

The helped the ronin to the cliff top above and left them quickly. As they departed Natsu took a goldfish from a top the pile and passed it to the samurai “to get you started.”

Beginning the Trek

We recalled that Yoshiko had given them a map that would lead to the top of the mountain (Dale added that as one his abilities), but only Kajiwara could make sense of it. He found a path through the woods and they started to climb. Jun suffers from migraines in the sun so the looked for shade beneath a forest canopy. As they walked the saw bits of white hair that had been caught in the branches of the trees, so high up it must have come from someone seven feet tall!

After a difficult day of sailing and hiking they ronin made camp in the woods. They heard wolves howling in the distance so Kajiwara took the first watch…

A Visitor

While he was watching the fire and staying alert Kajiwara saw a figure walking through the woods toward him. A woman with long black hair, dressed in a kimono, and seemingly undaunted by this dangerous place. She entered the small grove and the discussed just how dangerous this place was, though she didn’t seem to think she was in any danger herself. For just a moment as the flames flickered between them, Kajiwara thought he saw the shadow of cat instead of a human behind her.

She invited him back to her home where it would be safe. When he stood up to approach her he found himself inside the home, the woman in a bath with her head just above the water inviting hm to relax and help himself to some tea.

Back at Camp

Jun and Jiro woke to find Kajiwara missing, but the sounds of the wolves were getting closer. The drew their swords and went back to back to face an enemy that seemed to be all around them.

The wolves attacked and the two siblings fended them off as best they could. Jun buried her katana in one of the wolves and so when she was attacked she had to raise her wakizashi in defense and the blade was caught in the creatures ferocious maw (Matthew wrote “wolf bitten wakizashi” on his character sheet).

Tie & Mutual Strike

There is a rule the Mountain Witch that if the result is a tie, usually it’s a stalemate and nothing happens. However the player has the option to call for a mutual strike (“Au-Uchi”) where both sides succeed at their task. This can be a moment of sacrifice to accomplish a great deed or simply pushing for your goals without concern for your own well-being.

Kajiwara examined his surroundings. He didn’t know how he was transported to the woman’s cottage, but he was not going to fall under her spell. He raised and Katana and dropped it to sever her head. His blade landed in a fallen log of the forest, just outside the camp where his friends were being attacked. He turned to help them, and pounced (like a cat) into the fray!

(Mechanically Hime, the cat wanted to ensorcell Kajiwara to keep him trapped as her plaything. He wanted to escape. We ruled that he made it out, but he was now haunted by her and carried her aspect).

With their friend joining them in the fight, the ronin were able to fend off the wolves and send them running back into the woods, licking their wounds.

Yoshi and Ukyo

In the morning, when they continued their trek the ronin met several travelers on the road. The first was the bandits, who seemed like they had gotten into a fight, and were keeping their distance.

The second were two brothers dressed in red cloaks and black hats. One had a sword at his side, the other prayer beads. The seemed friendly and wanted to travel on the road together.

Ukyo, the priest, told them the were heading up the road to a Shinto shrine to observe the solar eclipse which would happen tomorrow morning.

For a time, the bandits, the ronin, and the brothers walked together. Sakura, one of the bandits who had given up her pants the previous day, seemed to have found some, though these were stained with blood, from the way she walked without wincing, it was probably someone else’s.

A Friendly Duel

After walking for some time, Jiro began to warm up to Sakura, who seemed to also dislike her boss Natsu (having to give up her pants was just part of it).

Yoshi was also intrigued by the ronin. He asked them questions about their practice, and when they came to a large clearing, goaded them until Jun agreed to a duel. First she tried to play a dirty trick to get out of really fighting, but Yoshi was too fast and leveled his blade just inches from her face. He was spoiling for a chance to stretch his wings.

The duel was a friendly, but serious one. The two sword fighters circled each other testing the other’s defenses. When Jun finally went for a thrust, Yoshi leapt over her with an incredible feat of acrobatics and had a sword to her back…but he backed off so she could turn and face him. He really wanted a fair fight. Jun bowed and conceded he was the better duelist…but that she also would learn his bird stance style!

The bandits had taken some bets on the fight and Jiro realized he might have an in. He offered Sakura the single gold coin they had as a token of good will and to ensure some loyalty knowing there was more where than came from if she helped. Sakura accepted the coin gladly and then in a sudden act, pulled the sword from Natsu’s side. “I’ve got the coin. I make the rules!”

Arrival at the Shrine

In late afternoon, the day bitterly cold despite the sun, the motley party arrived at the shrine. The bandits decided they would find other lodging for the night, but the ronin and the brothers passed through the three gates to enter the shrine itself. The statue of two lions flaked the door and inside they could see several other travelers and pilgrims gathered, surrounding a towering figure with stark white hair.

Pictures taken from the end of the game, so a few more abilities have been added and trust was changed, but otherwise, these are pretty close to how they started.