CHOROGAIDEN or Eldritch Story (チョロ外伝) is a tabletop rpg involving classic Japanese horror combined with eldritch mysteries.
Why did the local art gallery start displaying fleshy sculptures? Who is the stitch-faced lady that lives in the cave down by the beach? Why do people avoid the lighthouse?Discover and solve these sinister cases as the world begins to bubble and boil. Something beyond reason is out there and if the players aren’t careful it might notice their meddling in its plans.
The intrinsic Pool and Eyescape system ensure the horror rapidly increases as the player’s succeed in meddling in forces beyond their understanding, success that could mean their end as the Eyes begin to open.
You should know, NeonRot recently launched the Kickstarter for Chorogaiden: Sunflower.
Chorogaiden is probably my favorite indie horror ttrpg right now so please consider checking it out and supporting the artist. I can't sing its praises enough, and can't wait to play it here in Japan for the harvest season.
new game add-on release!! asano's store for chorogaiden by neonrot (a super cool j-horror style ttrpg) created for chorogaiden jam. it's free on itch!
Welcome to Asano's Store, a run down konbini in the quiet part of town. The chips are stale, the beer is cheap and lukewarm, and you are pretty sure that can of pineapple by the front window has been there since at least 1982. Most of the other windows have been papered over. The sole proprietor, Asano-san, hums the same tune over and over while sweeping ineffectively over the grimy linoleum. You have discovered a new sensation of hungry and queasy at the same time.
I recently got to read through Chorogaiden, and I think folks here may dig it.
Chorogaiden is a 36 page occult horror ttrpg done in a sludgy, low-fi art style. If you're familiar with World Of Horror, it is very, VERY World Of Horror-y in tone and presentation, but with a more loose, story-first approach to its mechanics.
In Chorogaiden, the players and GM work to build an extremely haunted little town that's on the verge of waking up something eldritch and evil, and then the players explore the town and try to avert a weird-horror apocalypse.
Dice rolls are conducted by spending d12s from a player's pool, adding them together, and only gaining one of them back on a successful roll. This gives the game a feeling of attrition, and is paired with a doom track that is incremented by rolling certain numbers and which progresses the game towards that aforementioned apocalypse.
A lot of what makes Chorogaiden work is the GM, as the game relies on a slow escalation of stakes and revelations to make the story feel compelling. GMs that click with the Junji Ito vibes will sort of naturally know how to progress and escalate. GMs that don't, or that are used to much more structured games, might struggle.
However, for GMs that do like slow-burn horror, and improv, and just enough mechanics to really freewheel without the system flying apart, this might be a dream game.
The author, neonrot, also has a wide body of other work---most with a similar sludgy, arcane feeling---so if you're interested in yokai, esoteric card games, or cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers there might be something to check out there as well.
A japanese horror ttrpg inspired by world of horror and itou junji.
I had a pretty rad experience adapting Plastiboo's Vermis into a TTRPG but using a modified version of Chorogaiden's ruleset. My players were absolutely smitten, completely in love with the environment and world building. It was more than enough to carry the game and inspire my players to stay engaged. Adapting characters like the Frog Knight into NPCs was extremely easy and telling the story was as fun for me as it was for my players to interact with.
I got about halfway through the first book, just past the Silver Swamps. They're already haunted by what they've experienced, so I'm m pretty eager to finish it and see how the players handle it. Then I'd love to find some way to adapt Vermis 2: Mists and Mirrors with some greater artistic liberties.
If you haven't, I really really recommend checking out the Hollow Press page for each book. Even if you never adapt them they're easily the most beautiful and some of the best written visual novels I've ever owned.
I'll be taking part in Neonrot's Chorogaiden Jam. This will be the first time that I've ever published a scenario, and encourage you to participate as well.
A game jam from 2025-03-21 to 2025-04-21 hosted by NeonRot. The Eyes see all. Greetings investigators, have you always wanted to create some
Chorogaiden is genuinely one of the best rules-lite horror ttrpgs I've ever played that fits seamlessly with any ideas you may have for Delta Green. After some play testing, I'm in love with the system and class mechanics and may be adapting some of my projects to fit into it in the future.
A japanese horror ttrpg inspired by world of horror and itou junji.
