TEXT: ひきこもり
  （Hikikomori）
  A Solo RPG Thing
  (And a 24-Hour RPG)
  By Ewen Cluney
  Cause I'm busy with me, myself and I
  Can't be understood by someone I don't know to well
  So I'm shutting out the whole world just to play Nintendo
  I've got these games but I'm afraid you can't join me
   – Millencolin, “Bullion”
  1
  
  Introduction
  The term hikikomori refers to a phenomenon that’s become a problem in 
  Japan,  where  adolescents  and  young  adults  (mostly  but  not  entirely 
  guys) start seeking social isolation, shying away from normal human 
  contact as much as possible in favor of hiding in their rooms. Some of 
  them have hobbies that keep them busy, while others just stare at the 
  ceiling. I could try to go into detail about this, but (1) this is a 
  24-hour RPG and as of 2:20 p.m. PST on Monday, June 12, 2006 I’m on 
  the clock, and (2) I’d probably screw it up, especially since a lot of 
  my sense of what a  hikikomori is like comes from the novel  NHK ni 
  Youkoso (“Welcome  to  the  NHK”)  by  Tatsuhiro  Takimoto  (which  I 
  recommend reading for reference… if you happen to be able to read 
  Japanese). For some info on the subject that’s somewhat better than 
  anything I could write, either do a Google search, or look here:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori
  Jhonen Vasquez’ comic Jhonny The Homicidal Maniac probably played into 
  this a little bit too, especially with the imaginary friends.
  Anyway, this game is a “solo RPG,” which admittedly is kind of an 
  oxymoron.  But  I  figured  that  if  I’m  going  to  make  a  game  about 
  antisocial shut-ins, it ought to be a game you could play by yourself. 
  In this game you’ll be rolling dice (you’ll need plenty of ten-sided 
  dice)  and  following  instructions  to  generate  events,  making  some 
  choices about those and rolling a few more dice, and then writing a 
  fictional diary entry based on the results. Out of necessity it’s not 
  as  open-ended  as  a  normal  RPG,  but  then  it’s  mostly  a  writing 
  exercise. You can write on paper, type them up, or put them in a blog. 
  Needless to say I’m curious what the results will be like, but you can 
  do whatever you want with them.
  By  default,  the  game  ends  after  your  character  goes  through  seven 
  unusually eventful days. One of the ways in which it’s like a typical 
  RPG is that there isn’t any particular way to “win.” If you want 
  your character to get out of his rut and rejoin society, or stay the 
  same, or kill himself, or whatever, you can try to steer him that way, 
  but a lot of stuff will come down to how the dice fall. The real game 
  is turning all this nonsense into coherent writing.
  2
  
  Hikikomori Creation
  The  first  step  is  to  come  up  with  your  hikikomori  character  as  a 
  starting point. While the hikikomori phenomenon is most common in Japan 
  (there’s  supposedly  at  least  50,000  there),  similar  things  are 
  happening  in  South  Korea,  Taiwan,  and  Hong  Kong,  and  it’s  not 
  unthinkable for it to happen in any post-industrial country. So, your 
  character doesn’t have to be Japanese if you don’t want him to be. 
  “He” also doesn’t necessarily have to be a guy, though hikikomori 
  are mostly male in real life. Hell, have him be an androgynous alien 
  with psychic powers if that’s really what you want. Whoever, whatever 
  he is, come up with as many or as few biographical details as you wish; 
  you’re the one who has to write about this guy.
  You start with a stat called Hope, which begins at 3d10. Write it down 
  wherever you’re planning to write things down, but like everything 
  else, you should write it down in such a way that you can erase/change 
  it later.
  Next, you need to get some Traits. These are 
  various  “things”  that  affect  your 
  character’s life, and they’re the meat of 
  the game. Some are good, some are bad, and 
  some are a bit of both, depending. Look at 
  the table below; pick one that you like, and 
  then roll 1d10 twice to get two more. If you 
  wind up with the same one twice, roll again 
  until you get one that isn’t a duplicate. 
  Refer to the Traits section for instructions 
  on what you do to initialize each Trait. Most 
  traits start with a rating of 3d10.
  You can gain additional Traits and have your existing Traits change 
  their ratings and such over the course of the game, though you have 
  little control over this. Although you can’t have more than one of the 
  same Trait at the start of the game, you can if you gain them during 
  the game, though they have to be different instances. If you have an 
  Obsessive Hobby and gain another Obsessive Hobby, they should be for 
  two different hobbies.
  3
  1-2
  Obsessive Hobby
  3
  Rescuer
  4
  Imaginary Friend
  5
  Perversion
  6
  Suicidal Thoughts
  7
  Vice
  8
  Delusion
  9
  Health Problem
  10
  Real Friend
  
  Gameplay
  In this game you go through seven days in the life of your hikikomori. 
  Each day you get to pick three actions to attempt, and three of your 
  Traits will be trying to exert some kind of influence over you.
  Rolling Dice
  Throughout the game you’ll be rolling lots of ten-sided dice to see 
  what happens. Sometimes the game will ask you to simply roll a d10 and 
  look at the result. Other times it will ask you to roll the dice of 
  your Hope or of a Trait. And sometimes it’ll ask that you roll the 
  dice  of  two  different  things  and  compare  them;  this  is  called  an 
  “opposed roll,” and the margin by which one exceeds the other is 
  usually important.
  Their Actions
  Go through your Traits, roll their dice, and organize them from highest 
  to  lowest.  The  three  with  the highest rolls are the ones that act 
  during that day. For each of these, look at the Trait Actions section 
  of their entry in the Traits section. If you have more than ten Traits, 
  get rid of the ones in excess of ten that roll lowest.
  Your Actions
  Each day, you get to try to do three things. You can pick  Generic 
  Actions or Trait-Specific Actions, in any combination. Generic actions 
  are listed below, and Trait-Specific Actions are listed in the Traits 
  section under the “Player Actions” section of each Trait description. 
  In both cases, some of these can be used to counter actions brought 
  against you by your Traits.
  Also, a given action can only be used once per day. The only exception 
  is if you have two or more of the same Trait. If you have two Imaginary 
  Friends, you can use the Placate action twice in one day, once on each 
  of them.
  Narrating
  Once you have all your actions and results figured out for that day, 
  it’s time to write your diary entry. The system is just meant to give 
  you an outline and some cues; it’s up to you to flesh things out and 
  give narrative weight and so on to what comes out of all the charts and 
  numbers and rolling.
  I haven’t actually tested this out yet (it being a 24-hour RPG and 
  all), so it’s hard to give much in the way of tips, but one thing I 
  4
  
  will point out is that when you erase a Trait and later wind up gaining 
  another of the same kind of Trait, you can treat it as though whatever 
  it was went away and came back. So, say that Izumi, the girl who keeps 
  bugging you to go outside (a Rescuer), finally got scared away by your 
  lolicon fetish.  If  you  go  with  the  Do  Nothing  action  you  wind  up 
  getting a new Rescuer trait, in the story you can treat it as though 
  Izumi decided to come back. (And if the Rescuer archetype is different, 
  well,  it  means  she’s  changed  her  attitude,  and  maybe  something 
  happened to her in the meantime.)
  Also, while you have to determine the actions of your Traits first and 
  then those you take yourself, you can narrate them in any order you 
  like.
  The End
  At the end of your seven simulated days, look at your character’s Hope.
  If it’s gotten down to zero dice, he’s lost all hope and will never 
  recover. If you want him to commit suicide you can go that route, but 
  any remaining Rescuers and Real Friends have a chance to intervene as 
  usual. Otherwise he’ll just waste away until he runs out of relatives 
  to leech off of.
  If it’s gotten up to ten or more dice, he’s “cured” of being a 
  hikikomori, and moves on with his life.
  If it’s between 1 and 9, roll your Hope dice and look at the following 
  table.
  1-9
  Nothing changes, and you feel thoroughly hopeless do to 
  anything about it.
  10-19
  Nothing changes. 
  20-29
  Nothing changes, though it might some day.
  30-39
  You’re able to take some baby steps out of that door, and 
  some day you might get further.
  40-49
  You’re still a very unsocial person, but you’ve found a way 
  to live that suits you.
  50-65
  Being around people still bugs you a bit, but you can manage a 
  relatively normal life as long as you can have some quiet time 
  now and then.
  66-79
  You feel completely lost, but you now know that the answers 
  lie outside your room.
  80-89
  You can finally move on. You’re not sure what you want to do 
  with your life, but you’re not about to give up.
  5
  
  90+
  You can finally move on. You figure out what you want to do 
  with your life, what will make you happy, better than most 
  people do, and you go do it.
  Once you have all that figured out, write an epilogue. Once you’ve 
  done  that,  take  a  moment  to  pull  yourself  back  into  reality  as 
  thoroughly as you can. Even if you’ve been thinking about things you 
  might not have ordinarily, you are who you were before you started. Now 
  think about how you can make your life better. It’s in the rules of 
  the game so you have to do it.
  Generic Actions
  Do Nothing
  You decide to do nothing at all. You lie on the floor and stare at the 
  ceiling. Or the wall. Or some other convenient inanimate object. It’s 
  boring. Roll 1d10:
  1
  You gain a new, unpleasant Trait. Roll 1d10:
  1-4
  Delusion
  5-8
  Imaginary Friend
  9-10
  Suicidal Thoughts
  2-9
  Yup. Nothing happens.
  10
  Someone knocks on the door. Roll 1d10:
  1-5
  You hide until they go away.
  6-8
  You open the door and have a very awkward conversation.
  9
  Gain a Rescuer.
  10
  Gain a Real Friend.
  Go Outside
  Somehow you decide to try going outside, albeit at a time when there 
  aren’t  too  many  other  people  around.  This  action  refers  to 
  specifically going outside in order to go outside; you do not have to 
  use it in order to use other actions that send you outdoors. You have 
  to make a Hope roll and get a result of at least 25 to make it outside. 
  Once you’re outside, roll 1d10, add the number of your current hope 
  dice (i.e., if you have 4d10 Hope, roll 1d10+4, not 5d10), and check 
  the table below:
  1-2
  You encounter someone you knew from before you became a 
  hikikomori and flee in terror. Lose one die of Hope.
  3-8
  At most you’re able to go stop by a store or two to buy some 
  things while avoiding eye contact before you head back home.
  6
  
  9
  You encounter someone you knew from before you became a 
  hikikomori, and manage to hold an actual conversation.
  Roll 1d10:
  1-4
  You talk for a little while and go your separate ways.
  6-7
  It turns out you have some common interests; gain a Real
  Friend.
  8-9
  That person decides to be a nuisance. Gain a Rescuer.
  10
  That person somehow makes you feel better about 
  yourself,
  even if it’s only though how pathetic they are
  themselves. Gain a die of Hope.
  10-11
  You buy a few things you need and are surprised to find 
  yourself enjoying walking around the shopping district. If you 
  have a Delusion, Imaginary Friend, Perversion, Suicidal 
  Thoughts, or a Vice, you can choose to reduce one of these by 
  one die.
  12-15
  You spend some pleasant time outside of the house, and, 
  surprisingly, the fresh air does you some good. If you have a 
  Health Problem, reduce it by up to two dice.
  16+
  You experience something transcendent about the stars in the 
  sky. Or whatever. Gain a die of Hope. 
  Suicide Attempt
  You decide to try to kill yourself. If you have any Rescuers and/or 
  Real Friends, roll the trait dice for each of them. If any get a result 
  of 14 or more, they discover your attempt and try to get you to stop it.
  Make a Hope roll. If any of your Rescuers or Real Friends manage to 
  intervene, add their trait dice to the roll.
  •
  If the result is 4 or less you actually go through it and the 
  game is over.
  •
  If the result is 5-10, you hurt yourself but don’t actually die.
  •
  If the result is 11-16, you get the means to kill yourself ready 
  but don’t actually do it.
  •
  If the result is 17 or higher, you can’t bring yourself to do it 
  at all, even if you’re not sure what it is that’s holding you 
  back.
  7
  
  Waste Time
  You indulge in pointless activities of some kind. You play video games, 
  read manga, watch TV, masturbate, or something equally unproductive. 
  Make a Hope roll:
  1-4
  You’re severely depressed by the meaninglessness of it all. 
  Lose a die of Hope.
  5-8
  You get a little too entranced by the thing you’re using to 
  waste time. You gain either an Obsessive Hobby or Perversion, or 
  add a die to an existing one (your choice). 
  9+
  Yep. You kill some time, and maybe think about where your life 
  is at. That is all.
  8
  
  Traits
  This section is in some ways the meat of the game; it gives you all of 
  the various Traits, and everything that they can do and everything that 
  you can do with them.
  Delusion
  Your mind is starting to get messed up, and you’ve begun to believe 
  things that aren’t real, dangerous things.
  Initialization
  If the nature of your Delusion was specified by some other rule, you 
  have to go with that. Otherwise you can pick whichever of the three you 
  like, which in turn determines its starting trait dice:
  •
  Paranoid (3d10): You’re convinced that someone or something is 
  out to get you.
  •
  Messianic  (4d10): You’re  convinced  that  you’re  destined  for 
  some kind of greatness.
  •
  Illogical  (2d10): You’re  convinced  of  something  that’s  just 
  screwy  and  nonsensical,  which  leads  you  to  acquire  some  odd 
  habits.
  Player Actions
  Attempt to Overcome
  You have a sneaking suspicion that something is wrong, and you try to 
  do something about it. Make a contested roll between your Hope and your 
  Delusion.
  Hope wins 
  by 12+
  You get over it, and feel better for doing so. Eliminate 
  your Delusion trait, and gain a die of Hope.
  Hope wins 
  by 8+
  Back to sanity, but you’re still kind of depressed. 
  Eliminate your Delusion trait.
  Hope wins 
  by 4+
  Sanity takes hold somewhat. Reduce your Delusion trait 
  by one die.
  Tie
  You remain ignorant. Nothing changes.
  Delusion 
  wins by 4+
  You’re still a nutbar, and that’s all there is to it.
  Delusion 
  wins by 8+
  You’re out there, and the way events are unfolding 
  makes your tiny little mind a depressing place to be. 
  Lose a die of Hope.
  Delusion 
  It backfires; you wind up getting even deeper into crazy 
  9
  
  wins by 12+
  town. Your Delusion gains a die.
  Trait Actions
  When your Delusion tries to act on you, it tries to get you to do 
  something  crazy.  Make  an  opposed  roll  between  your  Hope  and  your 
  Delusion. If your Hope wins by 10, the Delusion is destroyed. If your 
  Hope wins by 5, the Delusion loses a die. If the Delusion wins, things 
  get interesting:
  Hope Wins 
  by 10+
  Sanity takes hold; eliminate this Delusion entirely.
  Hope Wins 
  by 5-9
  Sanity has a say in what’s going on. Reduce the 
  Delusion by one die.
  Hope wins 
  by 0-4
  You decide to hold back.
  Delusion 
  Wins by 1-4
  You go do something crazy. People mock you, and you go 
  home.
  Delusion 
  Wins by 5-9
  You go do something crazy. People mock you, and you get 
  discouraged. Lose a die of Hope.
  Delusion 
  Wins by 10-
  14
  You go do something pretty out there, and someone 
  notices and gets worried. If you have a Rescuer, she 
  gains a die. If you don’t have a Rescuer, you do now.
  Delusion 
  wins by 15+
  You go outside and do something so completely insane 
  that it winds up in the newspapers… and you get away 
  with it and it feels great. Your Delusion gains a die.
  Health Problem
  Staying in your room all the time just isn’t good for your health, in 
  any number of ways, and you’re starting to show it in some fashion. 
  Maybe you’ve got an actual illness, maybe it’s psychosomatic, maybe 
  it’s  malnutrition,  or  maybe  some  hereditary  health  condition  has 
  kicked in and is being made worse by your lifestyle. Regardless, it’s 
  here and it’s a problem.
  Initialization
  Decide what the health problem is, and then decide what your character 
  thinks it is (assuming he even notices it). It starts with 3 dice.
  10
  
  Player Actions
  Seek Help
  If you’re smart you’ll go see a doctor. Except that means leaving the 
  house and going to a hospital, where there are always lots of people. 
  Sick people no less. Make a Hope roll; if the result is less than 8, 
  you decide to stay home. If it’s between 8 and 14, you go to a drug 
  store and get some medicine, reducing the Health Problem by one die. If 
  the result is 15 or higher, you’re able to actually go see a doctor, 
  and the problem gets fixes (remove the Health Problem trait entirely).
  Suffer
  You  give  in  to  the  pain  your  condition  is  causing  and  sit  there 
  suffering.  Make  an  opposed  roll  between  your  Hope  and  your  Health 
  Problem. If your Health Problem wins, it gains one die. If your Hope 
  wins, your Health Problem loses a die. 
  Trait Actions
  A Health Problem will attempt to do one of two things, depending on how 
  many dice it has.
  If it has 4 or fewer dice, it will Cause Pain. Roll the trait dice; if 
  the result is 14 or higher, the 
  Health Problem gains a die. If the result is 20 or higher, you also 
  lose a die of Hope.
  If it has 5 or more dice, it will Cause an Emergency. This means that 
  your condition has become serious enough that you wind up being rushed 
  to the hospital. The emergency takes up all of your actions for that 
  day, both the ones you specify and the ones that come from your Traits. 
  The next day your Health Problem is gone, but you lose a die of Hope.
  11
  
  Imaginary Friend
  There’s someone who likes to talk to you, and they aren’t quite real. 
  It might be something purely out of your imagination, or it might be 
  that your home appliances have begun talking to you.
  Initialization
  Write “Imaginary Friend 3d10” and a brief description of what your 
  Imaginary Friend is like. Roll 1d10, and re-roll anything above a 6, to 
  determine your imaginary friend’s starting Demeanor.
  What follows is the scale for Demeanor, a value that determines an 
  Imaginary Friend’s general attitude towards you. Certain actions can 
  influence the Demeanor, pushing it up or down, which in turn influences 
  how the Imaginary Friend it acts when it tries to influence on you. The 
  higher the Demeanor value, the nicer they are. If it gets too low… you 
  could be in trouble.
  1
  Murderous
  6
  Indifferent
  2
  Furious
  7
  Pleased
  3
  Angry
  8
  Productive
  4
  Paranoid
  9
  Happy
  5
  Depressing
  10 Ecstatic
  Player Actions
  Attempt to Banish
  Make a Hope roll, then roll the Imaginary Friend’s trait dice. If your 
  Hope roll is higher by at least 4 points, erase the Imaginary Friend 
  and gain one die of Hope. If the Imaginary Friend’s roll is higher by 
  5  points  or  more,  lose  one  die  of  Hope,  and  reduce  the  Imaginary 
  Friend’s base Demeanor by 1, or by 2 if its roll is higher by 10 
  points or more.
  Conversation
  You decide to hold a conversation with your imaginary friend. Not a 
  good sign. Go to the “What It Does” section to figure out what it 
  says to you.
  12
  
  Placate
  You attempt to make your Imaginary Friend play nice with kind words 
  (“You know Mr. Toaster, the toast you make really is the best toast 
  I’ve ever had!”). Roll 1d10:
  1
  He’s not buying it. In fact he’s mortally offended! Your 
  imaginary friend’s Demeanor goes down by 2, and it gains one 
  trait die.
  2-5
  Your imaginary friend ignores your supplications and continues 
  going about its business.
  6-9
  Make a Hope roll and a trait roll. If the Hope roll exceeds the 
  trait roll, the Imaginary Friend’s Demeanor goes up by 1. If the 
  trait roll is higher, it goes down by 1.
  10
  Your Imaginary Friend listens to you attentively. Its demeanor 
  either goes up to 7, or rises by 2 points, whichever is higher.
  Trait Actions
  An Imaginary Friend can only influence you by talking to you. What it 
  aims for depends on its current Demeanor.
  1
  Tries to get you to commit suicide. Make a Hope roll against the 
  Imaginary Friend’s trait dice. If it gets a better result, 
  perform the Suicide Attempt Generic Action. If it gets you to 
  try but the suicide attempt fails, you lose a die of Hope.
  2-3
  Starts making threats, really gruesome stuff that 
  4
  Starts whispering about bad people who want to hurt you, or that 
  the water contains evil chemicals, or something. Make an opposed 
  roll, your Hope against the IF’s trait dice. If it wins, you 
  gain a Delusion (Paranoid) and it gains another die.
  5
  Your imaginary friend seems to want to get you down. 
  6
  Still talking to you, and not necessarily when you want it to, 
  but not saying anything that messes with you. Roll 1d10; on a 1-
  5 its Demeanor goes down by 1, on a 6-10 it goes up by 1.
  7-8
  Surprisingly, your IF starts encouraging you. Make a trait roll; 
  if the result is 16 or higher, you gain a die of Hope, and your 
  IF’s Demeanor goes up by 1.
  9
  Your IF just loves you for some reason, and is actively trying 
  to put you on the right path. Make a trait roll; if the result 
  is 10 or higher, you gain a die of Hope.
  10
  Your IF loves you a little too much. Make a trait roll; if it’s 
  16 or higher you gain a new Delusion (Messianic).
  13
  
  Obsessive Hobby
  You have some weird little hobby that you’re completely obsessed with, 
  and which lets you take up lots of time and possibly a decent amount of 
  your parents’ money.
  Initialization
  Decide what your hobby is. If you’re really lost, roll on the table 
  below. Note what the hobby is, and its starting rating of 3d10.
  1
  Anime
  2
  Manga
  3
  Hentai Games
  4
  Plastic Figures
  5
  Plastic Models
  6
  Trains
  7
  Military Simulation
  8
  Drawing
  9
  Video Games
  10
  Music
  Player Actions
  Resist
  You try to get away from this hobby, and get rid of the stuff around 
  your room that’s so tempting. Make an opposed roll between your Hope 
  and your Obsessive Hobby.
  Hope wins 
  by 12+
  You get over it, and feel better for doing so. Eliminate 
  your Obsessive Hobby trait, and gain a die of Hope.
  Hope wins 
  by 8+
  You get over it, but miss it sometimes. Eliminate your 
  Obsessive Hobby trait.
  Hope wins 
  by 4+
  You wind up deciding to ease off of it. Reduce your 
  Obsessive Hobby trait by one die.
  Tie
  You hem and haw about it. Nothing changes.
  Hobby wins 
  by 4+
  You decide to keep at it after all.
  Hobby wins 
  by 8+
  You decide to keep at it, and feel helpless to stop. Lose 
  a die of Hope.
  Hobby wins 
  by 12+
  You decide to keep at it, and wind up becoming more mired 
  in this hobby. Your Obsessive Hobby trait goes up by one 
  die.
  14
  
  Share
  You decide to try to share your Obsessive Hobby with someone you know; 
  this person has to be represented by a Rescuer or Real Friend trait. 
  Make an opposed roll between the two traits.
  Person wins 
  by 12+
  They think your hobby is stupid, and tell you as much. 
  It’s depressing. Lose two dice from your Obsessive 
  Hobby trait.
  Person wins 
  by 8+
  They think your hobby is stupid and say so. It’s a 
  little discouraging. Reduce your Obsessive Hobby trait 
  by one die.
  Person wins 
  by 4+
  They think your hobby is uninteresting.
  Tie
  They think your hobby is okay, but aren’t personally 
  interested.
  Hobby wins 
  by 4+
  They think your hobby is kind of neat, but aren’t 
  personally interested.
  Hobby wins 
  by 8+
  They think your hobby is awesome, but something they 
  couldn’t do themselves. You gain a die to your 
  Obsessive Hobby trait.
  Hobby wins 
  by 12+
  They’re won over by your hobby’s charms. If the person 
  was a Rescuer, they become a Real Friend instead. 
  Regardless, you gain a die to your Obsessive Hobby 
  trait.
  Use For Good
  Indulging in your hobby or trying to get others interested is much 
  easier than trying to use it for something that benefits others, but 
  it’s worth a try. Roll your Hope and trait, and  add them together. 
  Then check the following table.
  You can only use this action once for a given Obsessive Hobby.
  1-10
  You get really discouraged; reduce your Hope by one die.
  11-20
  It doesn’t work out. You get discouraged; reduce both your 
  Hope and your Obsessive Hobby by one die.
  21-30
  It kind of works, but nothing that changes your life.
  31-40
  You make some orphans happy or something, and feel all warm 
  and fuzzy inside. Increase your Obsessive Hobby by one die.
  41+
  You truly touch some lives, in a way that makes you reevaluate 
  your life. Increase your Obsessive Hobby and your Hope by one 
  die.
  15
  
  Trait Actions
  The major problem with an Obsessive Hobby is that it takes up so much 
  time. Whenever it tries to act on you, make a trait roll:
  1-9
  Nothing happens.
  9-18
  You indulge in it a bit; lose one of your regular actions for 
  that day.
  19+
  You indulge in it a lot; lose two of your regular actions for 
  that day, and the trait gains a die.
  Perversion
  You have an obsession with something at least somewhat unsavory. We’ll 
  leave  it  up  to  your  imagination  what  exactly  it  is,  but  if  your 
  character is Japanese, lolicon is a likely candidate. You scum.
  Initialization
  Decide what your character is perverted about. No, you can’t be just 
  generically perverted. It’s  supposed to be something that makes the 
  player  personally  uncomfortable  and  induces  self-loathing  in  the 
  character. And something that can be indulged in alone. It starts off 
  at 3d10, or if you come up with something you find particularly gross 
  you can set it at 4d10 if you wish.
  Player Actions
  Indulge
  You throw up your hands and give in to your perversion. Make a trait 
  roll and look at the result on the following table:
  1-4
  You think perverted thoughts for a while, and get it out of 
  your system.
  5-8
  You look at pictures on the internet for a while.
  9-12
  You look at pictures on the internet for a while, and feel 
  guilty
  13-
  16
  You download several gigs of pictures off the internet, and 
  feel like scum for doing it. Make a Hope roll; if it’s less 
  than the Perversion trait die result, lose one die of Hope and 
  add one die to your Perversion.
  16-
  20
  You actually go outside with the intention of doing something 
  relating to your Perversion for real. You fail, and get mildly 
  depressed.
  21-
  24
  You actually go outside with the intention of doing something 
  relating to your Perversion for real. You chicken out and feel 
  ashamed. Lose one die of Hope.
  16
  
  25+
  You actually go outside with the intention of doing something 
  relating to your Perversion for real. You succeed, possibly 
  more than you’d like. Add one die to your Perversion trait.
  Suppress
  Knowing that what you want is perverted and wrong, you try to beat it 
  down. Make an opposed roll between your Hope and Perversion. If your 
  Hope wins by 5 or more, reduce your Perversion by one die. If it wins 
  by 10 or more, remove the Perversion entirely. If it loses by 6 or 
  more, use the Perversion die result on the Indulge table above.
  Trait Actions
  When your perversion rises to the fore on its own, you get the urge to 
  do  something  related  to  it  out  of  nowhere,  possibly  something 
  problematic  or  dangerous.  Choose  whether  you  want  to  Indulge  or 
  Suppress the urge, and resolve the action as per the player actions 
  above.
  Real Friend
  At least in terms of being a flesh and blood human being, you have a 
  “real” friend, though this person is probably at least as much of a 
  misfit  as  you  are.  They  don’t  usually  care  about  whether  or  not 
  you’re a hikikomori, except insofar as it affects them.
  Initialization: Roll  on  the  table  below  to  determine  what  kind  of 
  friend you’ve made, which in turn determines the starting dice for the 
  Real Friend trait.
  1-3
  Otaku (3d10): Your friend is someone who has an obsession with 
  something. Anime/manga type stuff would be the cliché, but 
  there are also otaku obsessed with trains, computers, military 
  simulation, and so on.
  4-6
  NEET (2d10): This is short for “Not in Education, Employment, 
  or Training.” In essence, your friend is just like you, but 
  somewhat more sociable.
  7-8
  Freeter (2d10): Though ostensibly an adult, your friend hasn’t 
  really gone to college, and works an assortment of part-time 
  jobs to get by.
  9-10
  Loser (1d10): Your friend is just plain unpopular and inept. 
  Maybe you have them around to make yourself feel better?
  17
  
  Player Actions
  Abuse
  Sometimes you just want to be mean to someone, and shove them away. 
  Make a trait roll; if the result is 9 or less, reduce the Real Friend 
  trait by one die, and if it’s 4 or less eliminate it entirely.
  Rely On
  When you’ve got something that’s causing trouble, sometimes you can 
  call on a friend to help. While Rescuers do this automatically, getting 
  it out of a friend is a little harder. Roll on your Real Friend trait 
  dice; if the result is between 12 and 16 you can add half (rounded 
  down) your Real Friend dice to a Hope roll. If the result is 17 or 
  higher you can add all of the dice. In either case, if the Hope roll 
  succeeds at whatever it was you were trying to do, the Real Friend 
  trait gains a die.
  Trait Actions
  When a Real Friend acts on you, it means he has something he wants to 
  bug about you. Roll the Real Friend’s trait dice:
  1-5
  Your friend manages to do something that convinces him that he 
  doesn’t deserve to be your friend. Remove the Real Friend 
  trait.
  6-10
  Your friend asks you for something trivial. He doesn’t really 
  mind if you refuse.
  11-
  15
  Your friend asks something moderately involved of you. You can 
  accept or refuse; if you accept, the Real Friend trait gains a 
  die, and if you refuse it loses a die. 
  16-
  20
  Your friend is having a crisis of his own. Make a Hope roll; if 
  you roll less than 12, you can’t bring yourself to do anything 
  and you lose the Real Friend trait. If you roll a 12 or more, 
  you’ll help out; Real Friend gains a die and your Hope gains a 
  die as well.
  21-
  25
  You somehow manage to make your friend’s life better. Your 
  Real Friend trait and your Hope each gain a die.
  26+
  Your friend outgrows you. He gets a real job, finds a girl, or 
  something similar. Lose the Real Friend trait.
  18
  
  Rescuer
  Someone has taken it upon themselves to save you from your hikikomori-
  ness. 
  Initialization
  First, roll 1d10 on the little table below to determine the rescuer’s 
  general archetype. This also determines the starting trait dice.
  1-
  5
  Coaxing (3d10): This person, who may be from one of those new 
  volunteer organizations, is going to try to gently coax you out, 
  and knows better than to push you too far.
  6-
  9
  Crusader (2d10): This person has some deep-rooted need to get you 
  out of hiding at all costs, and doesn’t want to take no for an 
  answer.
  10
  Hypocrite (1d10): This person mostly just wants to associate with 
  someone who’s even more worthless and fucked up than themselves.
  Player Actions
  Ignore
  You emphatically ignore your Rescuer, and hope they’ll go away. Make a 
  roll on your Rescuer trait dice:
  1-7
  She gets discouraged; reduce your Rescuer trait by one die.
  8-16
  She keeps at it. Nothing happens.
  17+
  She only gets more determined. Increase your Rescuer trait by 
  one die.
  Probe
  You try to figure out why this person is doing what they’re doing. 
  This is where the archetype comes into play. Roll your Rescuer trait 
  dice,  and  follow  the  instructions  below.  This  action  can  only  be 
  performed once on a given Rescuer.
  •
  Coaxing: If the result is 9 or less, she gets discouraged and 
  loses one die. If the result is 10 to 14, she turns out to be a 
  very nice person who’s helping out of the kindness of her heart. 
  If the result is 15 or more, her story is inspiring and you gain 
  a die of Hope. 
  •
  Crusader: If  the  result  is  8  or  less,  your  Rescuer  gets 
  discouraged  and  loses  one  die.  If  the  result  is  9-13,  she 
  explains her intentions in no uncertain terms. If the result is 
  14+, she explains herself and gains one die.
  19
  
  •
  Hypocrite: If the result is 7 or less, your rescuer is revealed 
  as a hypocrite. You can choose to either send her packing (get 
  rid of this Rescuer trait) or convert her into a Real Friend 
  trait (you pick the type; dice are as per the new Trait). If the 
  result is 8 or more, she manages to deflect your questions or lie 
  convincingly.
  Rely On
  When another trait is trying to do something that hurts you, you can 
  choose to add your Rescuer’s dice to your Hope, but this automatically 
  adds one die to the Rescuer trait.
  Scare Away
  You deliberately try to do something scary and freakish to get your 
  would-be rescuer to leave you alone. Pick one of your other Traits—
  anything except Rescuer or Real Friend—and make an opposed roll between 
  this Rescuer’s dice and that Trait’s dice.
  Trait 
  wins by 
  10+
  Your rescuer is terrified and leaves, never to return. Or at 
  least she decides you’re just not worth it. Emboldened by 
  this victory, you raise the trait you used by one die.
  Trait 
  wins by 
  5-9
  Your rescuer is disheartened, but doesn’t give up just yet. 
  The Rescuer trait loses one die. If this pushes it down to 
  zero, then she really does go away.
  Trait 
  wins by 
  1-4
  Your rescuer is a bit weirded out, but still just as 
  determined.
  Tie
  Nothing happens.
  Rescuer 
  wins by 
  1-4
  Your rescuer is nonplussed.
  Rescuer 
  wins by 
  5-9
  Things backfire; your rescuer becomes that much more 
  determined. Add one die to your Rescuer trait.
  Rescuer 
  wins by 
  10+
  Things backfire badly; your rescuer becomes that much more 
  determined (add another die to the Rescuer trait), and she 
  shames you over the trait enough to force you to fix it 
  somewhat (reduce that trait by one die).
  20
  
  Trait Actions
  A Rescuer’s goal is, of course, to get you out of hiding. Roll your 
  Hope and Rescuer dice and add them together, and check the following 
  table. No, you can’t combine this action with a Rely On.
  1-8
  In her efforts to make you reform yourself, your Rescuer 
  manages to make you feel like shit. Lose a die of Hope.
  9-16
  Your Rescuer manages to annoy the hell out of you, and you try 
  to drive her off. Lose one die from your Rescuer trait.
  17-24
  Your Rescuer’s efforts to cheer you up don’t do a lot.
  25-32
  You feel a little better about yourself. Gain a die of Hope.
  33+
  You feel better about yourself, and your Rescuer is encouraged 
  to keep trying. Both your Hope and your Rescuer trait gain a 
  die.
  Suicidal Thoughts
  Something has you thinking about killing yourself. Granted, you hardly 
  ever go outside of the house, and it seems more and more like no one 
  would notice.
  Initialization
  Suicidal  Thoughts’  base  trait  level  is  3d10.  While  you  have  this 
  Trait, at the beginning of each day you must take some time to write 
  down a possible method of suicide.
  Player Actions
  Cheer Up
  You’re going to try to convince yourself that life isn’t that bad and 
  you don’t need to kill yourself. Make an opposed roll between your 
  Hope and your Suicidal Thoughts. If Hope wins by 8 or more, Suicidal 
  Thoughts loses a die. If Suicidal Thoughts wins by 10 or more, you lose 
  a die of Hope.
  Trait Actions
  When  your  Suicidal  Thoughts  come  to  the  fore,  naturally  you  start 
  seriously considering committing suicide. Make an opposed roll between 
  your Hope and Suicidal Thoughts; if the Suicidal Thoughts wins, perform 
  the Suicide Attempt general action as usual.
  21
  
  Vice
  You’ve gotten into something that you probably shouldn’t have, some 
  kind  of  vice.  As  a  hikikomori  this  means  something  you  can  do 
  privately, which probably means some kind of drug, legal or otherwise. 
  Initialization
  Come up with a vice, preferably something that is by all accounts a 
  pretty stupid thing to do. It starts at a rating of 3d10, or 4d10 if 
  you think you’ve picked something especially addictive.
  Player Actions
  Call It Quits
  It  takes  a  lot  of  strength  to  quit  the  habit,  which  makes  that 
  something very hard for you to do. Make an opposed roll between your 
  Hope and your Vice.
  Hope wins 
  by 10+
  In an incredible display of mental strength, you’re 
  able to quite your Vice, cold turkey. Remove the Vice 
  and gain a die of Hope.
  Hope wins 
  by 5+
  It’s going to take some time to do this, but you’re 
  getting there. Lose one die from your Vice.
  Either wins 
  by 0-4
  You’re not getting anywhere, but at least you’re 
  trying.
  Vice wins 
  by 5+
  You manage to get off of it for a little while before 
  relapsing. Lose a die of Hope.
  Vice wins 
  by 10+
  You can’t bring yourself to stop, even for a few hours. 
  Lose a die of Hope, and add a die to your Vice.
  Indulge and Forget
  You try to use your Vice as a way to blot out other things that are 
  bothering you in your life. Pick any one trait, and roll that trait’s 
  dice against your Vice. If your Vice wins by 5 points, that trait loses 
  a die. If it wins by 8 or more, your Vice also gains a die.
  22
  
  Trait Actions
  Your Vice commands you to indulge, regardless of the cost. Make an 
  opposed roll between your Hope and Vice.
  Vice wins 
  by 12+
  You indulge your Vice way too much. Your Vice gains a die, 
  and you get a Health Problem related to it. If you already 
  have a Health Problem from your Vice, it gains a die 
  instead.
  Vice wins 
  by 8+
  You indulge your Vice a lot, and get even more hooked. 
  Your Vice gains a die.
  Vice wins 
  by 4+
  You indulge your Vice and it’s really time-consuming. 
  Lose one of your actions for today.
  Tie
  You indulge in your Vice, but at least you’re taking it 
  easy.
  Hope wins 
  by 4+
  You resist your Vice, but you spend a long time being 
  tempted.
  Hope wins 
  by 8+
  You resist your Vice, and are on the mend. The Vice loses 
  one die.
  Hope wins 
  by 12+
  You resist your Vice, and are getting over it. The Vice 
  loses two dice.
  23
  
  Afterword
  I  first  heard  about  hikikomori from  the  manga  version  of  NHK  ni 
  Youkoso, of which I’ve since read the original novel as well. As far 
  as I can tell Takimoto is a moody writer (and in the afterword he 
  complained that he got massive writer’s block after he wrote it), but 
  he  is  not  himself  a  hikikomori.  I  have  read  some  articles  on  the 
  subject (and not just on Wikipedia), but this game definitely has more 
  to do with the novel. A real hikikomori’s week is probably much less 
  eventful, and involves less insanity. I could try to engage in social 
  commentary and other nonsense here, but as an American who’s spent a 
  whole  two  weeks  on  Japanese  soil,  I  hardly  feel  qualified.  From  a 
  thematic standpoint, I mostly wanted to make a game that could convey a 
  sense of isolation and helplessness. And insanity. You get the idea.
  I came up with the idea of trying this as a solo RPG-esque thingy 
  before I’d heard of Jeff Moore’s suggestion of doing solo RPGs that 
  was posted to 1KM1KT, and messing around with the thing in the back of 
  GURPS Basic Set Third Edition and a few Choose Your Own Adventure books 
  is the extent of my experience with such things. This thing wound up 
  having  some  of  those  in,  and a tiny bit of… something else (CCGs 
  maybe?).  Is  having  gobs  of  tables  normal  for  this  kind  of  thing? 
  Anyway, a friend of mine suggested doing a hikikomori RPG with multiple 
  players that played different elements of the shut-in’s personality. 
  Aside from the fact that I liked the ideas I’d come up with already, 
  I’m pretty sure that kind of thing has been done before. Maybe some 
  other time.
  Anyway, I made a point of not writing anything down as per the 24-Hour 
  RPG’s “no pre-planning” rule, except I think I wound up having a lot 
  of it in my head before I started. It helps that I first came up the 
  idea for a hikikomori game just over 6 months ago. Next time I think 
  I’ll try to start without even a concept in mind… In any case, I 
  wound up finishing it fairly quickly, though I see plenty of room for 
  working on it more, with more Traits and Actions, and given them new 
  ways to interact. I had an evil thought about doing a similar game 
  where you play a game designer, but that way lies madness.
  Ewen Cluney
  http://neko-rpg.blogspot.com/
  P.S.: Yes, the choice of fonts is intentional.
  P.P.S.: Nyo.
  24
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Hikikomori/Hikikomori Corebook.pdf