Courtroom Drama RPG ‘Justicar’ Brings Phoenix Wright Style Hijinks to the Tabletop
Do you not get to shout OBJECTION in your life often enough? The new courtroom drama RPG Justicar wants to fix that.
Courtroom Dramas offer us all a delicious fiction. They’re an exciting lie we bite into, so we can taste a world of sudden plot twists and reveals – perhaps the most savory lie of them all is that with hard work and determination, truth and justice will win the day. It changes a room full of one puzzled guy in a robe and a dedicated court reporter into an imposing scene full of shouting.
And now, you can bring that experience to your tabletop game. Have you ever wanted to have a trial in an RPG but weren’t sure how you’d manage it? Justicar, Kickstarting now, has some ideas on how to pull that off. And it all starts by making the game GMless…take a look.
Justicar – A Mystery Game Of Courtroom Drama
Designed by Nevyn Holmes (GUN&SLINGER, Kitchen Knightmares), Justicar is a role-playing game about romanticized courtroom drama, intrigue, and comedy inspired by the likes of Phoenix Wright and My Cousin Vinny.
Players each embody a unique key Role as they collaboratively tell the story of a crime and its mysteries. After crafting a conspiracy-theory-style crime web with intentional plot holes, players will roleplay through the trial proceedings as they play together to uncover the truth of what really happened.
So how does it all work out? The game offers guidance for its different roles, and helps the four players figure out the mystery together. If you’ve never played a GMless game before, one of the hallmarks of this style of RPG is how it sets the players up to discover the story together. In a GMless RPG you play to find those magic moments when another player at your table shouts “ooh, I know what happens next, what if it was–” and then it goes from there. They give you a grasp for how a story is a living, breathing thing that you all collectively manage.
In Justicar, players are working to uncover the truth of a mystery you’ve outlined together. You start by following steps to decide on your story’s tone and create a crime web with a few plot holes together. During play, you roleplay in the courtroom and in flashbacks to establish facts and tell lies, to make the story and truth change together.
It’s loose, but guided, and collaboration is constantly encouraged.
Each of the 4 roles in Justicar take on a unique perspective of the case. While every player has the shared goal of telling an interesting story, the characters have their own motives and ways to affect the truth.
Back Justicar on Kickstarter
Want to see Justicar in action for yourself?
Now get out there and uncover the truth – if you can handle the truth!
