Maid RPG: A Questionable Legacy
There comes a time in every gamer’s life when they have been all the heroes. When they have attacked and dethroned all the gods and managed to save the world. When they must look around and ask themselves what to do next. For those gamers, there is Maid RPG.
To say that Maid RPG is a unique take on the tabletop roleplaying game format is an understatement. Originally published in Japan in 2004, it was the first Japanese TTRPG to reach western shores. When it was translated and released in the West in 2008, it brought with it a distinctly Japanese take on the genre and the hobby.
Some of it good. Some of it very weird.
What is Maid RPG?
Maid RPG was the first Japanese tabletop game to be officially translated and released in English. Ryo Kamiya, who went on to create the stunning and relaxing Golden Sky Stories in 2014, designed a game that let players take on the most stressful and difficult role in all of anime – a maid.
When I talked about my love of tabletop games before, I intentionally left this gem off the list because I knew it would be a whole article just to dive into this one.
The Game Master takes on the role of the Master of the house and sets out tasks and encounters that may or may not quickly derail into shenanigans as the various maids in the house (represented by both Players and Non-Player Characters) vie for the favour of the Master. Rolls are determined by rolling a number of six-sided dice and the results are used to drive the story forward.
As with any tabletop game, there are certain supplies you’ll need to take part, but the rulebook is also pretty explicit in what you won’t need:
Characters have six attributes that determine dice rolls and give an idea of how they will be roleplayed. The book also includes numerous tables to help flesh out characters, providing archetypes, uniform details, special abilities, and, of course, perversions. You even can play as monster-girls, because why not?
Gameplay is of a semi-cooperative nature. Players take on the role of maids vying for the affection of the Master of the house, but they must also keep the house running smoothly. This might mean completing a mundane but necessary list of chores, discovering the secret passages beneath the mansion that lead to a cultist cabal, or stopping a group of aliens that have landed on the front garden. Any of these are possible and will require teamwork to overcome.
Tongue Firmly in Cheek
Maid RPG knows what it is. The rulebook is filled front to back with tropes and clichés and awkward references to tentacle monsters. It is written from the point of view of the designer’s maid, Kokorono, and she will occasionally refer to him with barely contained tsundere energy. The introduction contains this fun little tidbit:
As is expected of the genre, there is an amount of sexual content within the rules, specifically in the form the optional Seduction rules and Perversion table, but the rules also encourage players and GMs to keep this content firmly in the PG to PG-13 region and ensuring that everything is agreed upon by everyone else at the table. Lecherous behaviour is expected but never rewarded. It is a game of absurdity and is not intended to be taken seriously.
The tabletop gaming scene is still a small market in Japan and Maid RPG was the very first Japanese game to be translated into English, barely beating out Tenra Bansho Zero for the honour. Maid RPG is probably not the best example, but it does have that special place in history and in our hearts.
As the rulebook states, “I’m pretty sure there is no other game quite like this one. And that’s important… Maybe.”
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