Maid RPG is out in the world, which is exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. My biggest hurdle–getting the actual translation done–is totally out of the way, but there’s still a fair amount of stuff to do. In particular, there are three things I’m working on, with vastly varying degrees of urgency, that will be available for free on the website, and one more thing that Andy is probably going to put together when he has time:

• Errata: I spent basically two days going over the book looking for errors. Little stuff like that drives me totally crazy. Thankfully errors that actually affect the game rules were few and far between, but we’ll hopefully be turning everyone’s lists of corrections into a proper errata file soon. Regardless, this’ll be integrated into the second printing, which will be for sale (and at the rate things are going, disappear shortly thereafter) in about 2 weeks.
• Quickstart: After prodding from a Brazilian guy in the comments on this blog, I’ve started working on quickstart rules for Maid RPG. I’m thinking of calling it a “Trainee Edition,” or something similarly thematic but punchier. It’s kind of a low priority at the moment, and I want to commission some original artwork to go with it, but it’s coming along nicely so far. It will include six pre-made maids (each with one thing you customize with a die roll), the basic gameplay rules, a sample master and mansion, the basic Contemporary Random Event table, and original scenario (called “You Can Be Replaced”) by yours truly. In short, it will follow the rough mold of the quickstarts White Wolf does, but with the added fun of being able to run random event-driven sessions with.
• Nun-Approved File: I might have to think of a better title (it’s a reference to a Monty Python sketch where a nun says, “I prefer the dirty version”), but this is basically a collection of all the stuff we changed or removed for the English version. Some of it was too obscure (like, things where there’s almost no information in English, and in some cases not even that much in Japanese), some of it was just hard to translate in a usable fashion, and some of it a bit too squicky. (For example, several entries in the item table were sex toys). This will have all of that stuff for your… enjoyment.
• Free Scenarios: There were five scenarios that didn’t make it into the printed rulebook, basically because we had to drop something to get the layout done. Admittedly, we put the scenarios we thought were the cream of the crop into the actual book, but there’s still some entertaining stuff here.
  • Farewell Master: The Master is a girl who is in line to the throne. If the maids don’t do something, their beloved mistress will be sent to a convent through foul play, never to return!
  • The Master Has Amnesia?!: Robbers broke into the mansion about a month ago. The Master is finally recovering, but he can remember very few details of what happened, and very little of anything aside from his own status.
  • Secret Base: The Master is convinced that he’s a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. He’s wrong, but there is something of a mystery waiting to be solved.
  • Tales of Suspense: The Master, Kira Tsukishima, will be starting high school in April. He’s the only child of Yoichiro Tsukishima, and he’ll be the next leader of the Tsukishima Zaibatsu. Since Kira’s high school is far away from the main house, he’s now living with some maids in a villa located a mere 5-minute walk from the campus. The main house has sent a butler, Haru Amajiri. However, Haru is more than she seems, and the maids will have to unravel the mystery before it’s too late.
  • Until the Master Is Born: The “Black Tea King,” Sir Lepton, sleeps eternally. The news spreads through England like wildfire, and his mansion and all of his assets will become someone’s inheritance. His adopted daughter Natalie sinks into an abyss of grief. Julio, Sir Lepton’s real son, has come to claim the inheritance as his own. With Julio intent on taking the mansion, what will become of Natalie and the maids?

What They’re Saying About Maid RPG
For a while now I’ve been making a hobby of Googling “Maid RPG” to see what comes up, plus checking the trackbacks on this blog entirely too often. Here are some of the things people have said about Maid RPG on the internet.

“What kind of faggotry is this?”
— Anonymous, Who Does Not Forgive

“Being thoroughly disgusted with Maid RPG – then being unable to get it out of my head (or dreams) all weekend”
— Tony Dowler, Who may yet give in at some point

“I think I’d rather not be exposed to that, thanks.”
— The RPG Pundit, whose full quote was more graphic

“But my favorite pick of the con so far is the Maid RPG – The first Japanese tabletop RPG to be translated into English in which you play anime maids competing to gain the Master’s favor all the while sabotaging each other and dealing with bizarro random events? Abso-fricking-lutely hilarious. This is a comedy game that perfectly captures anime tropes. In fact, I defy anyone to play this game and NOT produce a perfect anime story. Tons of fun, playable with no prep, a joy to read (I laughed out loud just about every page), and just well done all around.”
— John Marron, shilling better than I could hope to

“Damnit, Japan.”
— ThePirate, who has underestimated how weird the human race really is

“It’s a Japanese game and you play maids in it. Yeah, totally not for everybody, but as I read through the book last night I couldn’t go a couple of pages without coming across some idea for a game that I wanted to run.”
— Chris Helton, who is enjoying the book even though Jonathan Thompson didn’t get a copy

“Don’t act like you don’t want to be the little girl.”
— Edward, who people don’t seem to like on 4chan for some reason

“Holy frak. Someone hold me. I’m scared.”
— Celestial Lord, easily disturbed

“Of course we’d all download the pdf instead of paying for it despite your friends efforts.”
“And not because we have low scruples and morals, but because we don’t want to be seen purchasing a book about how to play a game of pretending to be Moe-Moe Maids in public.”
— Anonymous, being a cheapskate

“Ecchi na no wa ikenai to omoimasu!”
— Mahoro, with a helpful reminder

“can i play as a schizophrenic black guy that can summon ufos?”
— Anonymous, missing the point

“chers amis. l’heure est grave. Un homme poilu, fan des tentacules, capable de parler la langue aquatique de cthulhu dans un verre de bière, tenté par les choses sanguinolentes, gluantes et indicibles … viendrait d’être détrôné par un homme jambu, fan de costumes de soubrettes, capable de créer des mimiques de manga avec sa t^)ete, tenté par les choses sales, avec des grands yeux ets des proportions improbables”
— Kirdinn, mentioning something about tentacles

“E’ un gdr completo basato su elementi piuttosto casuali. Tra l’altro leggo che ci saranno anche le regole per fare i “maggiordomi” (Pg maschi).”
— Rosiel, saying something in Italian, I think

“Knowing my gaming group, this would quickly descend into ball-gag and dog-collar territory pretty quickly (we’re a twisted bunch of sicko, I won’t candy-coat it), but in the hands of the right kind of people, this could be really fun.”
— Yellow Menace, who may enjoy Maid a little too much

“Holy crap. I just looked at the website for this game, and I think it wins the award for ‘Game I Most Never Want to Play.'”
— Zomben, who knows what he doesn’t want