orbitalflower

D&D's influence on KONOSUBA

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In this article, I propose that anime and light novel series KONOSUBA (Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!; God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World) was inspired directly by Dungeons & Dragons, in particular late AD&D 2nd edition circa 1996.

Context

It is known that several Dungeons & Dragons books were translated into Japanese, including AD&D 2nd edition and D&D 3rd edition. Most Japanese RPG stories are inspired indirectly by D&D via other video games and anime, notably Final Fantasy (1987). However, Konosuba draws heavily from aspects of D&D that rarely appear in Japanese video RPGs.

Konosuba would not be the first Japanese novel based on a tabletop RPG. Record of Lodoss War (1988) was based specifically on a Dungeons & Dragons game record.

Characters

Megumin

Explosion!

AD&D 2nd edition expansion Player’s Option: Spells & Magic actually made it possible to construct a custom wizard class that only knows one specific type of magic, has trouble learning new spells, can only cast one extremely powerful spell per day, has to chant dramatically to cast it, and collapses at the end.

The cover of that same book features a wizard attacking a castle with a massive fireball.

Crimson Demon

Megumin is a koumazoku, or crimson demon, a race resembling humans except for red eyes and a talent for magic. This closely describes a D&D race known as the tiefling, at least as it appears from its creation in AD&D 2nd edition until D&D 3rd edition (1994-2008). Tieflings looked radically different from 4th edition onward.

Koumazoku would be a good localisation for “tiefling”. Both the prefix “ko” and suffix “-ling” are diminutives referring to children (e.g. koneko, meaning kitten, and “duckling”). “Mazoku” meaning “demon” matches the tiefling’s origin as descended from demons, while “tief”, German for “deep”, refers to their origins in the “lower planes” during the 90s when “demon” and “hell” were forbidden in D&D publications.

Chomusuke

Wizards in D&D can have a familiar. A third edition ability called Improved Familiar allows a wizard to acquire a Fiendish familiar, such as a part-demon black cat instead of a regular one.

Tiny dragon

In season 2, Megumin meets a tiny dragon. These exist in D&D, known as pseudodragons. A third edition feat called Improved Familiar allows a wizard to acquire a pseudodragon as a familiar.

Archwizard

See the appendix to this article for rules on a hypothetical archwizard advanced class.

Aqua

Level 21

Dungeons & Dragons typically caps out at level 20. Levels 21 and up are reserved for exceptional characters, such as deities. Deities often have exceptionally high ability scores.

Turn Undead

Clerics in D&D have the specific ability Turn Undead, which forces undead to flee and destroys weak undead. This ability originates in D&D is rarely copied by video games, which generally take the more logical approach of making anti-undead magic one of the cleric’s spells.

Purification

The first-level cleric spell purify food and drink cleans impure water. It has a maximum effect of one cubic foot per level (for Aqua, that’s 21 cubic feet), meaning that to purify an entire lake she would have to cast the spell repeatedly.

In the series, Aqua can purify water at will simply by touch and even does it by accident. This is a reasonable power for a goddess of water.

Sacred Break Spell

Removing a curse is trivial for a high-level priest. In AD&D 2nd edition it’s done with the third-level spell remove curse, while in 3rd edition curses can be removed with the 5th-level break enchantment.

Blessing

Aqua’s minor buff spell “Blessing” assists party members in combat. This is similar to D&D’s bless, a cleric spell with that effect.

Nature’s Beauty

The AD&D 2nd edition expansion Player’s Option: Spells & Magic introduced orison, a very low-level cleric spell that performs minor effects similar to the 2e wizard spell cantrip or the 3e wizard spell prestidigitation.

Mending

In season 2, Aqua repairs a torn piece of paper. This is the capability of mending, a low-level D&D spell. In D&D 3rd edition it’s available to clerics as well as wizards; in AD&D 2nd edition it’s a wizard-exclusive power. In either case it can repair a paper torn in two, but not paper torn into shreds.

Create Water

A first-level cleric spell, create water. The AD&D 2nd expansion Player’s Option: Spells & Magic, there exists a spell tsunami, available to clerics of water, which summons a massive wave of water capable of destroying even stone city fortifications.

Resurrection

A standard cleric capability in D&D. The cleric spells raise dead (5th level) and resurrection (7th level) bring a character back to life.

It is stated that Aqua can return a body to life even if it is a skeleton (true of resurrection, but not raise dead), but not if the body is completely destroyed (possible under D&D third edition’s true resurrection).

Consecrated ground

Aqua turns undead in the graveyard and then places a barrier preventing or discouraging the banished spirits from returning there. A few D&D spells match this: consecrate (D&D 3e), hallow (D&D 3e), and sanctify (AD&D 2e’s Tome of Magic).

Warding circle

When Aqua allows the lich to pass on, she draws a magic circle which it later turns out is causing creatures to leave the dungeon. This resembles antipathy/sympathy, a high level AD&D spell which creates a zone from which creatures will flee. That said, antipathy/sympathy is a wizard spell.

Demon trap

Aqua traps a succubus in a circle when it comes to visit Kazuma. This is a capability of protection from evil, a cleric spell which draws a circle impassable by demons to keep them out (or, alternatively, keep them in). It blocks mental control by demons also. Generally, one needs to create such a circle before summoning a demon.

Detect Undead

Aqua demonstrates the ability to sense undead. Although detect undead is a wizard-only spell in AD&D 2nd edition, a variant ability in Player’s Option: Spells & Magic allows priests to use it.

Darkness

Crusader

The crusader class appears by that name in the AD&D 2nd edition expansion Player’s Option: Spells & Magic. It is essentially a variant kind of paladin which lacks the ability to Turn Undead.

Follower of Eris

Crusaders, like paladins in D&D, are generally followers of a deity. They’re specifically described as soldier-priests.

Stamina

In the season 2 opening, the party runs for less than a mile and become exhausted - all except Darkness. This makes sense in D&D where the same stat, Constitution, is used for both hit points and running stamina. Darkness appears to have extremely high hit points, which is difficult to achieve in AD&D, and explains why she keeps throwing herself in front of attacks.

Adamantine armour

Adamantine is an exceptionally hard metal used to craft weapons and armour in D&D. Darkness states that her armour is made from this metal.

Lalatina

The name Darkness happens to be a spell in D&D, which tieflings are able to cast (see Megumin).

“Lalatina” resembles the Japanese puratina, meaning “platinum”, and with similarity to “paladin”.

Crapuma

Steeeeeeal!

Pick Pockets is a thief-exclusive skill in AD&D. It’s not a magical move in AD&D, but the basis is there.

Although Kazuma is officially of the Adventurer class, or boukensha, his use of Steal and other skills marks him as a kind of Thief. This complements the others in a traditional party of four: warrior, priest, mage and thief.

Sneak

Hide in Shadows and Move Silently are thief-exclusive skills in AD&D.

Armour

Kazuma buys a suit of full plate, but literally can’t move in it. Thieves in AD&D aren’t proficient in heavy armour, and literally can’t wear it. Rogues in 3rd edition can technically wear it, but only with massive penalties.

Katana

Kazuma has a katana made, but is far too clumsy with it and has it cut down to a shorter sword. This makes sense if he’s a thief-type character, who in AD&D is proficient with short swords but not long swords.

Wiz

Drain Touch

Wiz’s ability Drain Touch absorbs life from a target, and is described as a lich skill. Liches in D&D don’t have an innate drain touch (they do have paralyze touch), but as powerful wizards they do have vampiric touch, a third level necromancy spell which absorbs hit points.

A general trope in D&D is that necromancy magic is shunned, which explains why Drain Touch is considered a lich skill, and why Kazuma is shunned for using it.

Teleport

In the fight with Mobile Fortress Destroyer, Wiz teleports away an exploding orb. This matches the effect of the AD&D 2nd edition spell vanish, which teleports away an object. However, teleporting in AD&D has poor accuracy and a high risk of error. The spell vanish doesn’t appear in D&D 3rd edition.

Lich

D&D invented the lich, a high-level wizard who becomes undead. It has since spread to countless other games, of course.

World elements

Creatures

Powerful slimes

At the end of season 2, Kazuma believes slimes are a weak enemy, a trope from the Dragon Quest series. Darkness corrects him: in this world, slimes are frequently lethal. This is the status quo in Dungeons & Dragons.

Giant frogs

Giant frogs with their ability to swallow humans appear as far back as the AD&D 1st edition Monster Manual. This ability was infamous enough to appear in a sketch of the giant frog in the D&D 5th edition Monster Manual (2014), which, although published after the Konosuba light novel, appeared before the Konosuba anime (2016).

Wall mimic

In one dungeon, Kazuma detects a mimic in the direction of a treasure chest. It revealed that the chest is normal, and the wall behind it is the mimic.

In nearly every game where mimics appear, they are disguised exclusively as treasure chests. However, in D&D they’re shapechangers capable of assuming the form of anything stone or wood. In early D&D sources, before the treasure chest form was established, mimics were described as mimicking dungeon walls.

Other

Bell of truth

The D&D spell zone of truth prevents someone from lying. A magic item can easily be created to replicate the effect.

Character sheets

D&D characters typically act as if they’re aware of the measurement of their own stats, which are recorded by the player on a sheet of paper.

Advanced classes

D&D is not the only game to feature advanced versions of existing classes, but the concept as it is used in Konosuba closely matches the version which appears in AD&D 2nd edition.

Classes in AD&D have ability score prerequisites: you must have a certain Strength, Intelligence or whatever to take this class. More powerful classes have multiple high prerequisites so that they remain rare. You do not need a certain level or skill to qualify for such a class, only to be born with the correct numbers, so it’s possible to be a member of such a rare class and still be completely incompetent.

D&D 3rd edition completely changed this system. Prestige classes no longer use ability score prerequisites, but generally require something like seven levels in another standard class. D&D 4th edition prestige paths require ten standard levels. Both would rule out Megumin (canonically level 6 archwizard).

Counter-evidence

A few details are inconsistent with Konosuba as a D&D game.

Level 30 NPC

An NPC describes himself as a newbie of “only level 30”, In a videogame RPG, level 30 is low level; in D&D, it’s epic, deity-level power.

Luck stat

Luck isn’t a standard ability score in D&D.

Devil King

The Devil King, or Maou, is an especially Japanese RPG trope. D&D’s demons and devils live in an alternate realm, and generally only enter the human world when summoned by a spellcaster. They don’t rule kingdoms in the world of men.

However, there is at least once exception: the World of Greyhawk D&D setting has a demon king called Iuz the Old.

Appendix: Advanced classes

Archwizard

Assume you have access to Player’s Option: Spells & Magic. Your goal is to construct a character class so broken that it can defeat any enemy in one hit. It doesn’t matter if you can only do it one day, collapse at the end, because you can just rest and do it again the next day.

You spend your 40 points as follows:

Oops, we spent 67 points! Lets offset it with 27 points of penalties that don’t matter:

Now, when we reach level 3 we research a new spell, explosion, which is exactly like fireball except awesomer. We’re researching a new spell instead of just learning fireball because it’s one level too high for us to learn, but we get a one-level research bonus on NEW spells.

We’re still one level too low to actually cast explosion, but if we use the spell points system we can get around that by spending double the normal amount of MP. We’ll only be able to cast it once per day, but that’s fine, because we only get our 1-4 level bonus once per day too.

Now boost the level even further with the following:

  1. Make explosion our Signature Spell, adding +2 caster levels to the damage and range
  2. Spend an additional 200% MP to add +4 caster levels
  3. Accept a prolonged casting time for a discount of 25% MP
  4. Make our character a tiefling for the extra +1 Int to squeeze out another bonus point of MP

Now at level 3 we can cast fireball… I mean explosion as a 10th-13th level wizard… once, and it’ll take ten minutes but it’ll kill everything. At level 4 we’re casting as an 11th-14th level wizard but it’ll only take less than a minute of loud chanting.

Lastly, use the Spell Fatigue rules to recover MP faster to do this again. The drawback is that every casting of explosion immediately renders the archwizard unable to stand.

Archpriest

Since the wizard’s player is min/maxing their class, the priest may as well make theirs. Starting with 120 points:

Then to balance:

You now have a regular priest, but awesomer. Also, it’s the DM’s character so it’s a level 21 deity.