Nariko's Treasure
A Mount and Blade Warband Gekokujo Adventure
In 16th century Japan, war is all that most people know. Deep into the hundred year civil war, the Sengoku Jidai, one girl suddenly finds home burned to the ground and her father dead. With only one place to turn, she sets out on a journey that will lead her through all Japan, in triumph and in chains.
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Follow her story and that of her companions as they search for a mysterious treasure entrusted to Nariko's late father, a treasure that has the ability to change the destiny of the whole land.
Watch Episode One
Key Characters
Nariko
Daughter of a locally famous blacksmith in Hakata, Matsunaga Masanori. When her father is killed and her home destroyed, she becomes responsible for an Imperial Treasure her father had been protecting. Now she just has to find it, applying her charm and determination to bring her quest to a successful end.
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Ujiie
A client and friend of Nariko's father, and the only person she knows well enough to turn to when disaster strikes. Ujiee knows something of her father's past, and plenty about how to wield a sword, both topics on which he instructs Nariko and her companions.
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Mari
An impoverished but skilled warrior woman, scraping living on the roads of Kyushu. After Nariko lets slip about the treasure, she forces her way into Nariko's company as a soldier of fortune.
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Kojiro
A man of a high lineage that no longer holds sway, he fought as a common ronin until captured into slavery by pirates. Luckily for him, Nariko's vengeance against pirates sets him free, and without many other options, he brings his sword to fight for his new liberator.
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Fun Facts!
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Nariko's Treasure was challenging to write because I'd never written an anime before.
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I had planned this series for almost a year before actually making it, creating a custom version of the Gekokujo mod that speeds up gameplay, planning story elements, and rehearsing early-game sequences to make sure it all started off in the direction I wanted. With Mount and Blade Bannerlord threatening to one day come out, I finally decided I needed to actually make something!
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The main change I made to the mod was to increase the damage of all weapons by about 50%. This placed damage levels at a point where a single blow with a large weapon will kill most unarmored enemies, but not so high that armour doesn't matter. I added the ability to fire gunpowder weapons from horseback (and then made it Nariko's trademark style to show it off), and made all gunpowder weapons reload a little slower. I reduced the morale penalty to your party for having lots of troops, allowing the player to have similar party sizes to the Lords. Finally I doubled how long food items last for, again to help support large parties in the late game.
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The direct inspiration for the style of the dialogue was Valkyria Chronicles, although the general history of JRPGs has plenty of other similar examples, and what I used is actually more inspired by Grandia. It was Valkryia Chronicles that made me realise I could actually use the style to make improved cutscenes without huge effort.
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Before starting I tried to come up with alternate stories that could have a male protagonist instead, to save me having to do a female voice. But in the end I was so sure that the one I wanted to go with depended on the main character being female that I just had to roll with it. Doesn't sound too bad I think!
Related Patreon Treasure:
HD Art, including the character faces, thumbs and incidental images
Script collection