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Dairun Cates
2009-11-04, 07:07 PM
So, something I've mentioned in a few places is that one of my classes this semester requires me to write up an entire functioning role-playing system that is original and fully-functional (complete with the trimmings).

I decided on the topic before I even signed up for the class though. Pirates vs. Ninjas. There was a brief attempt to make something of it on the homebrew boards a while back, but nothing came of it. I decided well before this class that I was going to actually do the project that time forgot.

Why? Because quite frankly there aren't enough humorous systems out there, and my inner Risus GM demands the clichéness.

Besides, who hasn't wanted to be a swashbuckling rogue or a stealthy assassin at some point. Pirates and Ninjas are so heavily ingrained in the pop culture psyche that they've managed to evolve well past their original concept. This game is about those extremes taken to their most ridiculous level in a world that takes it entirely serious.

This has been in the "conceptual/note-taking stage" for a while, but I thought it was finally time to write some things down, and get some input. I've already gotten various opinions here and there, but I always thought a lot of the people on the homebrew boards around here had some really insightful opinions.

Content coming in the next few hours as I type it.

Enjoy!

UPDATES:
November 5, 2009- Added Evadinja abilities and information. Also, added a potential new faction to the Ninjas.

November 6, 2009- Slight change to "Fakinja" name. Finished Arrcrobat Faction. Changed Body's Natural Damage Reduction to Half Body Score. Added skill check rules. Fixed a typo in character creation. You start with 16 attribute points. Uploaded the Craftsmen faction.

November 7, 2009- Added 4 new factions to the list (1 ninja/pirate, 2 wanderer). Summaries pending. Fixed a few typos. Some of the general Pirate, Ninja, Wanderer skills may need rebalancing compared to the flavorful faction abilities. Next factions will be a Ninja one, followed by a Pirate one, followed by a Wanderer one. I will continue this process throughout the project.

November 9th, 2009-Added a new Level 1 Evadinja ability. Changed name of Incoming Medical Ninja faction to "Dr. Inja". Finished up Hitinja for now. Abilities will need balancing and they will need more level 1 techniques.

November 25th, 2009- Finally got around to writing down the Charrismatic Lords. Not entirely satisfied with them (Although, they do have the most expensive ability in the game). Adjusted costs on a few abilities for other things. Will probably be replacing Five-Fold Crippling Palm Strike soon as it should belong under Dr. Inja. Changed Mad Scientists to Alchemists at suggestion of teacher to fit theme more. Added a section for clarifying the rules on buffs and debuffs stacking. Removed United We Are Awesome! from Charrismatic Lords when I realized it's more of a "Luckies" ability. Clarified some stuff in the skills section. Added the Luckies faction.

December 2nd, 2009- HUGE UPDATE today. Added a first pass of six new factions (two of each side). The Rokinja, Shoninja, Charreographers, Gunnars, Wandering Minstrels, and Alchemists. Also added a section on Items with some basic item abilities. Monster section added. How to make them and 6 monsters themselves (Zombie, Fire Imp, Bear, Lightning Oni, T-rex, The Kraken). A rather big balancing and tweaking wave is coming up to adjust a few moves (specifically life cost which is coming out a bit high for most characters). Attributes changed to 10 exp per level (had that one for a while, but forgot to post the fix).

December 5th, 2009- Balancing changes, changed abilities cost for learning. Added sample characters. Added a point about ties in the dice section.

December 7th, 2009- Added new sample character, Clockwork Brew (an alchemist). Probably will add some new abilities to the existing factions later today. New skills for Shoninja, Rokinja, and Gunnars.

December 8th, 2009- Change to awesome points roll bonus. Added 3 new Charreographer abilities. 2 more coming later.

December 10th, 2009- Finished up the new abilities for all the factions. Will probably need a little more rebalancing. However, some of them are really fun. Dr. Inja are next and likely to be followed by Drunkarrds and Drunken Masters (We needed more Body based factions anyway). Charrismatic Lord gained some new abilities that are pretty powerful and fun. One gives the Charrismatic Lord a lot more solo power as well. Removed Five-Fold Crippling Palm from generic Ninja skills (It's a Dr. Inja skill now) and added a new one that actually gives the Ninjas a reason to sneak. Added a section on natural healing rate to clarify how Life regain works. Finished up Dr. Inja. Minstrels now have a theme song ability. Changed a slight thing in combat. Attacks are written before reaction rolls.

December 11th, 2009- Finished up Drunkards. Yeah, they can't hit very well, and they can't dodge very well, and they're very susceptible to will checks, but you really shouldn't screw with anyone that can throw a house at you and get over 25 damage reduction without going out of their own factions abilities.

December 19th, 2009- Drunken Masters Added. A LOT of small adjustments made to abilities over the weekend.

January 12th, 2010- HUGE moves and rules adjustment coming. Rule of 10 slightly changed/made clearer. Attacks do 1 damage minimum now. Ebb and Flow (Evadinja 5) now has no limit to the number of times it can be used a turn. Stamp on the Ground (Arrcrobat 2) negates dodge bonuses when it hits now. One with the materials (Craftsmen 3) is declared after it hits and Made for Me (Craftsmen 5) only adds a +2 to damage or damage reduction to all attacks with the item. Small adjustments to hitinja life costs. Huge buff to Ellipsis Swing (it auto counts for the requirement to crit for awesome points). Not to be trifled with (Charrismatic Lord 4) now doesn't count as damage reduction and reduces will based attacks' damage. Chance for a Big Reversal (Lucky 4) can be used 1 turn later now and Turn of Luck (Lucky 5) now cost a mere 1 awesome point, but now specifically only last until the end of the Lucky's next attack action. Minor changes to Shoninja life cost. Slight life change and rewording on Rokinja skills. A severe reduction in the cost of some Gunnar skills. Minor tweaks to Charreographer costs. Slight change to That's the Stuff (Alchemist 1). Life tweaks to a few Minstrel skills and removed awesome point cost from Nightengale Requiem and boosted the auto-damage to 1/5th the sacrificed Life. Thunder Oni lost precision and some Life (had WAY too much for an encounter tier monster) and 3 DR. Identify the Faults (Dr. Inja 1) now takes 1 turn. Slight verification on Unlocking Potential (Dr. Inja 2). Stumbling Punch (Drunkarrd 2) taken down to a +1 to hit. The True Mead (Drunkarrd 4) no longer gives bonus Life. Drunken Satori (Drunken Master 4) doesn't give extra Life either. *Hic* to the Future (Drunken Master 5) works with Read the Foe now and can be used to avoid reaction interruption. Raw damage of guns changed to half of precision. Agile Rejuvenation (Evadinja 2) buffed to 2 life per dodge. Severe changes to the cost on a few level 5 skills. Added Big Zombie Monster.

February 14th- Added ability to use Cannons to Gunnars (including firing their own allies out of cannons). Craftsmen (true to their name) can now craft items and a couple of other new abilities.

February 17th- The Evadinja got a HUGE buff in their ability to do damage.

February 28th- Arrcrobats, Luckies, and Hitinja got a few new useful abilities.

May 3rd- Been doing minor tweaks over the last couple of months. Added a new gambler and added a huge mass of new content today.

May 4th- Added some new NPCs. Adjusted projectile shots down to precision or will range (the distance was actually longer than most non level 5 ranged attacks on average).

May 5th- New Charrreographer skill. Pose and Explode. 2 new Drunkarrds skills. Quite the Kick! and Molasses Strawman. Changed up Looking for Me, slightly.

May 7th- Was hoping to finish up Carpentarrs for final presentation for today, but had a stomach ache. Did get Feykinja done, though.

May 18th- Added Internet Yatagarasu and Joke monster tier.

May 19th- Carpentarrs finally up. Time to work on fixing up Wandering Minstrels and a couple of other factions.

July 6th- Why Am I still updating this part? I should either remove the older entries or just stop entirely. Wandering Minstrels and Rokinja got a bunch of new abilities.

September 15th- Lot of stuff has happened. New abilities, 2 new factions. Lots of fun stuff. Check it out.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-04, 07:08 PM
Legal Information:By making use of this Work (tentatively titled but not limited to protection under the name "Pirates v. Ninjas), You agree to use the Work only in a non-commercial capacity and to attribute ownership to the author of the work according to the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Deed as listed here (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)

WE GOT A WEBSITE! (pvnrpg.com)

Table of Contents:

I. World Backstory (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7254874#post7254874)

II. Setting (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7254881#post7254881)
-Ninja Factions
-Ninja Culture
-Pirate Culture
-Pirate Factions
-Wanderer Culture
-Wanderer Factions
-The Three Legendary Heroes:
The Great Ninja Hero, Ellipsis:
The Dreaded Pirate, Two-Eyed Pete:
The Eternal Wanderer, The Raven:

III. The System (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7254895#post7254895)
-Attributes
-The Dice
-Awesome Points
-The Rule of 10
-The Kurosawa Corollary
-Death
-Abilities
-Combat
-Skill Checks
-Creation and Advancing the Character
-On Buffs and Debuffs
-Non-Factioned Abilities:
Ninja Abilities
Pirate Abilities
Wanderer Abilities

IV. Ninja Factions:
-Evadinja (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7264105#post7264105)
-Hitinja (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7282714#post7282714)
-Shoninja (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426588#post7426588)
-Rokinja (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426634&posted=1#post7426634)
-Dr. Inja (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7472570#post7472570)
-Feykinja (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8447200#post8447200)
-Equinja (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8988118#post8988118)

V. Pirate Factions:
-Arrcrobats (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7265283#post7265283)
-Charrismatic Lords (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7379385#post7379385)
-Gunnars (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426659&posted=1#post7426659)
-Charreographers (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426674#post7426674)
-Drunkarrds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7481623#post7481623)
-Carpentarrs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8521376#post8521376)
-Burglars (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10037301#post10037301)

VI. Wanderer Factions:
-Craftsmen (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7267323#post7267323)
-Luckies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7383088#post7383088)
-Alchemists (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426709#post7426709)
-Wandering Minstrels (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426761&posted=1#post7426761)
-Drunken Masters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7535902#post7535902)
-Gamblers (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8274817#post8274817)
-Weapon Masters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8967953#post8967953)

VII. Items (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426790&posted=1#post7426790)

VIII. Monsters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426825&posted=1#post7426825)

Mooks:
-Zombies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426847&posted=1#post7426847)
-Fire Imp (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426868#post7426868)
-Pirate Zombies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8424947#post8424947)

Encounters:
-Bear (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426889#post7426889)
-Thunder Oni (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426910&posted=1#post7426910)
-Big Zombie (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7683874#post7683874)
-Giant Tiger Shrimp (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8424052#post8424052)
-Giant Pistol Shrimp (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8424117&posted=1#post8424117)
-Velociraptor (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8424786&posted=1#post8424786)
-THE Bear (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8424887#post8424887)
-Mermaids/Men (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8425063&posted=1#post8425063)
-Fire Oni (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8434463#post8434463)
-Tengu (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8484082#post8484082)


Bosses:
-T-Rex (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426934&posted=1#post7426934)
-The Kraken (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7426959#post7426959)
-Ninjasaurus-Rex (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8424824#post8424824)
-Pyranisaurus-Rex (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8424846#post8424846)
-Monstrous Whale (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8425029&posted=1#post8425029)
-Siren (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8425092&posted=1#post8425092)
-Great Tengu (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8484089&posted=1#post8484089)
-Yatagarasu (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8615676#post8615676)

Joke:
-Internet Yatagarasu (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8518327#post8518327)

IX. Example Characters
-Deadly Death (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7443793#post7443793)
-Captain Killshot (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7443817#post7443817)
-Black Cat (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7443849#post7443849)
-Clockwork Brew (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7452290#post7452290)
-Raquel Roll of the Infinite Musical Mastery (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8425387#post8425387)
-"Beef Cake" Jacobs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8425494#post8425494)
-Featherfoot Peterson (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8425622&posted=1#post8425622)
-Fiery Vengeance (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8430044#post8430044)
-Calming Tides (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8430203#post8430203)
-Rock Solid (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8430816#post8430816)
-Hitinja Students (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8430853&posted=1#post8430853)
-Mockingbird Blues (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8430938#post8430938)
-Dancing Gemini (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8432691#post8432691)
-Drunken Disciples (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8432779&posted=1#post8432779)
-Chemical Burn (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8432995&posted=1#post8432995)
-"Strong Arm" Johansen (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8433378#post8433378)
-Captain Haddock (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8569973#post8569973)
-Scott Pilgrim (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9224496#post9224496)

X. Flaws
Flaws (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7498185#post7498185)

XII. Misc:
-Gambling for the Bored and Adventurous (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8424036#post8424036)

Dairun Cates
2009-11-04, 07:09 PM
World Backstory:
Every universe has that one rule.

That's not to say that there's more than one rule (It's almost certainly guaranteed), but every universe that ever has and ever will exist has one rule that defines it and defines how it runs.

For some universes, that rule is that good and evil are in constant opposition. Other universes could care less about moral philosophy and are merely based around the unbiased eye of science. Universes based around imagination. Universe based around rigid numbers and logic. Universes based on multiple religious beliefs. There's even Universes that base themselves around the rule that men in purple pointy hats and pajamas wielding a stick are the most powerful form of evolution. Undoubtedly, these universes would make little to no sense to each other if they ever met. But every universe takes its one rule seriously.

For one universe, that even the Gods dare not speak of, that rule is simply as follows: "Pirates and Ninjas were born to fight".

No one knows exactly what it is that draws Ninjas and Pirates to fight each other, but they have fought harshly since the dawn of time. Some believe that it's because of cultural difference in opinions. While Ninjas are cold, logical, and live by codes, Pirates live a life of wild abandon, freedom, and impulsiveness. Others believe that it's because the first two beings to exist in the universe were the first pirate and ninja and one merely told an insult so harsh that it led to an eternal blood feud.

Historically, the world was a blood bath. The two sides fought eternally, taking no prisoners. No one was safe from the violent and ferocious wave of war.

Eventually, people grew tired of the constant fighting and began forsaking the way of the pirate and the ninja. These people, believing in a middle path or no path at all, called themselves the Wanderers. By growing large enough, the Pirates and Ninjas were forced to form peace treaties and cease fires or threaten being overwhelmed by the Wanderers.

And so, civil society knew a shaky peace for over 1,000 years. However, all peaces are temporary and this was no exception.

Just 30 years ago, an Artifact was discovered. An artifact that was believed to be a piece of the Gods themselves. This artifact was simply known as "The Takara". The Ninjas believed that touching the Takara would lead to ultimate enlightenment. The Pirates believed that touching the Takara would lead to one hell of a buzz. Fighting was inevitable.

A great Wanderer, known only as the Raven, came up with a quick solution. A fighting tournament would be held to determine which side was more worthy of the Takara.

The tournament went on for days.

In the end, only a pirate named Two-eyed Pete, and a ninja named Ellipsis remained. These were two people of such immeasurable power that all modern Pirate and Ninja techniques descend from their fighting styles.

Their fight was supposed to be the determining factor on which side would control the Takara, but something unusual happened. Neither opponent showed up for the fight.

A quick search of the premises revealed that the Takara was nowhere to be found. Neither was Two-Eyed Pete, Ellipsis, or the Raven. The Pirates blamed Ellipsis. The Ninjas blamed Two-Eyed Pete. The Wanderers blamed the failure on The Raven.

The full-scale war between the Pirates and the Ninjas resumed. Nations were torn apart and people were forced to ally with one side or the other.

Ever since then, neither of the three has been seen, except for some obscure rumors. Various theories on what happened have been presented, but none of these have stopped the fighting. Did one of the three members steal the Takara? Did a different party take the Takara and cause the disappearance of 3 powerful warriors? Were The Raven, Ellipsis, and Two-Eyed Pete all working together?

Who knows?

WHO CARES!?

While some individuals still seek out the Takara and the Legendary Three Warriors, a good number of people have decided to use the situation to their advantage. With a world in chaos, the opportunity for adventure and profit is great. For a young adventurer, there are monsters to fight, treasure to find, fame to gain, and ultimate power to be found.

This is the world of Pirates vs. Ninjas.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-04, 07:10 PM
Setting:

Pirates, Ninjas, And Wanderers:
There are three factions in Pirates vs. Ninjas. Which one your character belongs to will generally determine which stance your character takes on life. Ninja Society values honor, order, laws, and tradition while Pirates value freedom and fun over anything else. The Wanderers seek to either find a balance between these two cultures, or just flat out don't care.

Some people may mistake this as a choice that other systems call "alignment". Despite general leanings towards tradition and freedom, both Pirates and Ninja society generally support the war and have their fair share of both good and evil heroes. There are even wicked Wanderers who seek to use the fighting between the Pirates and Ninjas for profit, and seek to prolong the war.

One might also assume that Pirates, Ninjas, and Wanderers cannot be in the same party. This is simply not true.

While the entire world is at war, there are still those that are not taking part. With so many people at war, the jobs of digging up hidden treasures and finding hidden techniques have gone without notice. Despite their differences, no Pirate or Ninjas is entirely immune to the draw of treasure and more power.

A good number of Pirates and Ninjas have realized the advantage of having members of opposing factions on their teams. There are certain places and things that both sides can go to and do that the other side cannot. They're just too handy not to have around. There are still arguments over methods, but a lot of these arguments merely amount to nothing more than friendly rivalry when long-time comrades are concerned.

So, for the most part, the majority of people generally do not care about the war. They grew up in peacetime, and they're not going to let some artifact they never had a chance of getting get in the way of long time relationships.

Just don't show your "comrades" or the techniques he taught you to your buddies within your faction. They might not take to it as kindly.

Even barring that, the Wanderers have no problems hiring Ninjas AND Pirates. Even the most hardened Ninjas and Pirates tend to honor their contracts, no matter who they have to work with. Ninja society tells you to never let emotions get to far in the way of the job. Pirate society is too greedy to let some "stick up butt" ninja to get in the way of a quick buck.

So, there is very little keeping the average ninja from working with the average pirate. Only the biggest extremists would rather die, and those extremists that are generally strong enough to live long enough to get to any position of power are generally powerful enough to not need friends.


Ninja Culture:

Naming Conventions: While Ninjas have normal names like Hiro, Daisuke, and Bethany, Ninjas prefer to give themselves professional names based on their skills and killing methods. This can lead to very cool sounding or very stupid sounding code names. For every "Invisible Dart" or "Acrobatic Drop", there's a "Flypaper Pornography" or "Surprise Necksnap".

Attitudes:Ninjas are raised at a young age to idealize tradition and honor. Ninjas also tend to focus on the perfection of the mind and body and take great pride in difficult and sometimes deadly training. They tend to dislike Pirate's slack attitudes and a general willingness to fight dirty.

Progression in Ninja society is usually based on Mission success and accomplishments that help the whole. Ninjas are also frequently promoted based on the number of techniques they know. An optimal ruler should be flexible in battle.

A Ninja will usually favor precision over damage in combat and prefers to reserve his endurance efficiently. If they can't outsmart their opponent, they have failed as a ninja. They also prefer to avoid damage entirely than to absorb it. Because of this, Ninjas tend to train more heavily in the Precision and Agility stats then Body and Will.

Territories: Ninja controlled cities are generally very organized in nature. This goes along with their ethos of tradition, honor, and law. While Ninjas have their own personalities. There is a reverence for the establishment and a general idea of the group over the individual. Ninja cities are ruthlessly efficient, but also have some of the strictest laws.


Ninja Factions:

Evadinja: A more traditional sort of Ninja, the Evadinja prefer moving quickly and dodging blows to hurting their foes. Their teachings center around increased mobility and stealth. Evadinja tend to be arrogant of their skill. If you can't be hit, it doesn't matter how little damage you deal. You will eventually win. Of course, the average Evandinja has the stamina of asthmatic toddler, but none of them would ever admit that. Still, being the school that invented the ability to run on water (a technique that most ninjas feel is a powerful weapon against pirates), they have garnered some respect from their peers.

Rokinja: An incredibly new school of Ninja that focused on the usage of musical instruments as a device for assassination. While a lot of young ninja have joined this school for the opportunity to blow someone's head off with a guitar solo, the actual masters of this school put up a very calm appearance. While not heavily respected, the Rokinja have gotten a little bit of reputation from a few notable assassins. With a style where you literally can't see the attacks, it becomes difficult for people to dodge and who doesn't enjoy a good facemelter?

Shoninja: The Shoninja are the school the other ninja just refuse to talk about. Proving themselves to be everything a Ninja generally isn't, Shoninja are closer to pirates than Ninjas. They're loud, boorish, and rely on inner-strength and power over stealth and tactics. Still, they've gained a reputation for a certain amount of blunt efficiency. Their power and ability to damage their foes is greater than most pirate schools of combat and may even be a match for the strongest ones. Combined with their school's secret ninja techniques (each of which is quite powerful), nothing can stop them once in full force. If only they wouldn't stop screwing up the other Ninjas' stealth checks.

Hitinja: Another old school of ninja combat, the Hitinja focus on brutal accuracy. While not as dodgey as their brothers the Evadinja, the Hitinja rarely, if ever, miss their target. An experienced Hitinja can disarm an opponent and slit his throat in a matter of seconds. The Hitinja also have a number of brutal techniques that can penetrate even the strongest pirate defenses and even knock out a foe in one hit. Not a group to be trifled with.

Feykinja: The Feykinja are a rather mysterious group of Ninjas who focus on Illusions and perceptions. What they lack in power, agility, or precision, they more than make up for in control. Due to a pretty heavy lack of damaging moves, Feykinja are more likely than others to spread out into other schools. This gives them a reputation of being wayward vagabonds among the ninjas, but every young ninja would be lying if he said he didn't envy some of their more powerful techniques.

Shadinja: One of the few surviving Ninja school that existed before Ellipsis, the Shadinja are an ancient order that focus on the usage of shadows to their advantage. They were once a feared and powerful group. That was until some stupid pirate discovered that you could use an eyepatch to see in the dark and negate a good 90% of their skills. Forced to restructure how they fought, the Shadinja are back and ready to show the world what they can really do.

Dr. inja: Medical Ninjas that use their advanced knowledge of the body to help heal it or harm it.


Pirate Culture:

Naming Conventions: Pirates prefer to pick nicknames based on outstanding physical attributes or accomplishments. This is usually a way of bragging to other pirates, but nicknames can also be chosen by fellow crewmates and be derogatory in extreme circumstances. "Iron Leg Johnson", "Swift Hands Phil", and "Runaway Jim" are all possible pirate names. Due to the commonness of the attribute, there are nearly hundreds of "Peg-legged ____" or "One-eyed _____". It's not recommended if a pirate wants respect.

Attitudes:Pirates are free spirits at nature. They enjoy partying, the breeze on their face, treasure, adventure, and everything that comes with it. Of course, this leads to a clash with Ninja society, which is very orderly and structured.

Pirates prefer small groups to large organizations. Pirate rankings are almost always determined by the Leader's ability to either inspire trust or fear in his crew. Whether it's because he can beat up everyone on his ship, or because he's actually competent is often a big debate. Despite their more smaller groups, Pirates are not without organization. A well-trained crew knows their parts in and out and with more intimacy, and (although, high-ranking Ninjas are remiss to admit it) with a lot better understanding than most ninjas in high positions. A close-knit crew is a terrifying thing to behold.

Pirates prefer to fight with Panache and Flare. They take hits and they deal them out with explosive results. A battle is won with a man's spirit and the fire of his heart, and with nothing else. A smart pirate is not entirely uncommon, but it's far better to be brave. Pirates generally favor the Body and Will stats over Precision and Agility.

Territories:Pirates are nomadic by nature and don't like to stay in one place. Their territory is wherever they call home that week or the open seas. The Pirate controlled cities that do exist are mostly dens of thieves. Very little organization. The strongest guy in town usually rules with an iron fist. Laws are thrown out with reckless abandon. If someone manages to run a respectable business in a pirate town and actually get customers to pay, he is a fearsome man to be reckoned with.


Pirate Factions:

Arrcrobats: When people talk about agile and daring swashbucklers, they're talking about Arrcrobats. Arrcrobats love to use their surroundings to their advantage and can turn any terrain or item into a deadly weapon. Arrcrobats value flexibility and momentum above everything else in combat. In most pirate crews, Arrcrobats find themselves being the second in command or even the leader. Although,they're not against job where their sizeable agility is in demand.

The Charrismatic Lord: The Charrismatic Lords are the natural leaders of the Pirate factions. They focus their talents on commanding groups of people effectively. Legend even has it that some Lords can negate the Kurosawa Corollary. Great liars and leaders, Charrismatic Lords almost always find themselves as captains. Don't let the fact that they spend most of their time organizing their crew fool you though. Charrismatic Lords are accomplished swordsmen that use their rapier wit to help sharpen the edge of their actual rapier. Insult Sword-fighting Anyone?

Gunnars: When most people think of the Gunnars, they think of accuracy and precision mixed with speed. Gunnars know their projectile weapons like the back of their hand, and many fighters fear them for their ability to keep their distance. What people often forget is that Gunnars are also accomplished mechanics and will often be the one keeping the engine running on a pirate ship. They LOVE tinkering and inventing. As a matter of fact, the majority of the members of G&W (the head Engineering Guild) are Gunnars themselves. It's a true shame to the style if a Gunnar didn't make his own gun.

Drunkarrds: Drunkards are a rather unusual group of Pirate. Unlike the Drunken Masters of the wanderers, Drunkarrds prefer to use their love of the brew in a more direct way. A true Drunkarrd has a near infinite tolerance for pain and super human strength. They make excellent workers on a ship. Sure. They're not the brightest burning lamps in the shed, but who's going to argue when they can lift a cannon over their head?

Charreographers: A group that formed in order to counter the deadly arts of the Rokinja, the Charreographers are a group of pirates that have learned to use dance as a weapon against their foes. They have been affectionately named "Fops" by their peers, but apart from the Charristmatic Lords, no one can organize a crew better. Besides, the jokes usually stop when two Charreographers take down a foe in perfect symmetry.

Carpentarrs: Not much here. Summary coming. They're way different from Craftsmen in the sense that they're the Pirate equivalent of supernatural doctors. Yes. They make peg legs.


Wanderer Culture:

Naming Conventions: Wanderers mostly have normal names like "John". This is because Wanderers, more than anyone else, are likely to take up traditional jobs that are required for a stable town and economy. This doesn't mean they aren't extraordinary. Due to the laws of the universe, EVERYONE is extraordinary at something. This goes without saying. There's no need for John the shopkeep to have a nickname. Everyone already knows John makes the best chairs in town that stay intact when the rest of the tavern burns down. He doesn't need a nickname. Everyone knows which John you're talking about.

The Wanderers that do decide to go out and travel are still prone to nicknames though. There's no real rhyme or reason on their names though. It just whatever they feel like calling themselves. The Raven got his nickname for his general cleverness and his constant moving from town to town. It's just something that stuck.

Attitudes:Wanderer attitudes come in 2 flavors. Balance and Apathy. Some Wanderers want to change the laws of the world. They see truth in both the paths of the Ninjas and the Pirates and even go so far as to see similarities. They may be onto something. As free as Pirates are, they still like to stick to the idea of "honor amongst thieves" and can be unshakably loyal to their companions. On the other hand, Ninjas with all their law and tradition, love the thrill of a job and the acquirement of a new treasure or technique. These Wanderers want to see the war between the two sides end, or even want to ascend to that impossible concept, the Ninja-Pirate.

Other Wanderers just don't give a crap. This isn't so much Apathy as necessity. Society doesn't run well in extremes and middle of the road average Joes are necessary for the world to run. As mentioned before, everyone in this universe is extraordinary at something, but not everyone feels the need to apply it to war or adventure. These people are content with having kids, owning stores, or just wandering the world taking in its beauty without having to worry about anything complex.

Of course, people in this last group can often be incredibly powerful to survive the harsh atmosphere of the world and find themselves frequently caught up in conflicts as Wandering strangers. Sometimes they'll end up helping Pirates. Sometimes they'll end up helping Ninjas. It all really depends on the circumstances and who gives the Wanderer some food and a bed (or who has the more attractive people).

Territories: The Wanderers originally did just that. Wander. However, a good majority of them live in what most people would call normal cities. Pirates and Ninjas are allowed to come and go through the city as they please, but very frequently choose not to settle down in these cities for a lack of satisfaction for their own principles. They're too organic for Ninjas' liking, and they're too quiet for Pirates' liking. These range from trade outposts to full-blown kingdoms.

Although, oddly, a lot of farmboys in these towns seem to take up the mantle of "adventurer". It's a weird phenomena that no one can really explain.


Wanderer Factions:

Drunken Masters: A bit different from the Drunkarrds, Drunken Masters prefer to use their love of alcohol to increase their agility, flexibility, and unpredictability. They've mastered the entire thing into a fighting art that is as ridiculous as it is deadly. Ninjas desire their arts for their potency and grace, but are often unwilling to put up with the ridiculous techniques and training to learn it while Drunkarrds just are too drunk to care.

Wandering Minstrels: A good portion of Ninja know of the Rokinja, but what the majority of them don't know is that the style was inspired by the Wandering Minstrels of the Wanderers. The Wandering Minstrels are powerful foes that use their soothing voice to weave tales, control minds, and bolster allies. While some people find them silly, their arts can be quite deadly in application. Needless to say, large-scale fights between Rokinja, Charreographers, and Wandering Minstrels are as epic as they are musical.

Craftsmen: A common school studied by peasants and commoners. The Craftsmen are a united group that believe in doing one thing and doing it well. They craft. While not a very combat-oriented group, the Craftsmen are well-respected by almost everyone. Those that don't respect them quickly learn to do so the hard way. A vast majority of goods are made by Craftsmen. Piss one off, and you may find yourself in a leaky boat. On top of that, older Craftsmen seem to have the supernatural power to become powerful when in their store or tavern.

Luckies: Not particularly talented or smart, no one can really tell if someone is a Lucky or just an idiot until it's too late. Luckies don't so much as train as choose to relax and enjoy themselves. Some believe this puts the Luckies in tune with the true nature of the universe, but the Luckies think that's too complicated to bother with. Whether it's intentional or not, Luckies are incredibly powerful and have the ability to turn the tide of probability itself. Fate demands that they survive.

Gamblers: Well-loved friends of pirates and enemies of their pocket books. Gamblers have a soft-spot for games and love to challenge opponents to them whenever they can. Some may think that this would make them lousy combatants, but their loves of games of chance has given them a rare insight into combat. Masters of hidden and thrown weapons and risky gambits, gamblers are one of the most unusual things anyone could hope to fight. God help you if he's a Lucky and a Gambler.

Cowboys: No summary yet, but you knew they were coming.

Alchemists: Men of Science beyond the mechanical realm of Gunnars seekers of immortality and great powers. They use potions and salves to cure any ailment and give their friends or themselves fantastic powers. Alchemists are well known for their ability to hit opponents with all sorts of elemental attacks.



The Three Legendary Heroes:
The Raven, Ellipsis, and Two-Eyed Pete are legends and should be treated as such. It's unlikely any of your players will ever meet these VERY formidable foes. Still, players and GMs being like they are, the temptation will be there. If the temptation proves too great, the following should be used as a baseline for their stats.

-Body, Will, Precision, and Agility are all at an 11 (yes, they go to 11 even though the stats are capped at 10).

-Since they founded all modern styles, they will inevitably know every technique in their group except custom techniques for the players

This is just a baseline though, and does not represent their full power. Each of the these people is powerful enough to turn a war on their own. A group of rookie adventurers should be little challenge for them, and the only way they should be seeing a victory against them is if one of them is going easy on the party.

Ye have been warned.

The Great Ninja Hero, Ellipsis:
There is rarely an argument to Ellipsis' skill, and those that dared found themselves quickly silenced. In the time that Ellipsis was active, he founded over 100 schools for training Ninjas. Each of them with a different style. Ellipsis is considered to be a grandmaster of them all.

As previously mentioned, Ninjas gain their professional name based on how they kill their foes or their technique. Both of these are accurate for Ellipsis, who is famous for two things. First, no one has ever heard Ellipsis speak and lived to tell the tale. Secondly, Ellipsis' victims never get to utter a word or hear a sound before they are dead. Thus, Ellipsis's name became "..." to represent a silence so quiet it could not even have a sound to name it. Of course, this was a pain for young ninja to pronounce. So, everyone started pronouncing it Ellipsis.

As can be expected, there isn't much known about Ellipsis. He never let down his guard, never spoke, and never opened up to anyone. Anyone that Ellipsis may have given this information to is either loyal enough to not talk or dead. All that's known is that Ellipsis never failed a job in his time as a professional and that he was a warrior with no peer in skill except maybe the other two heroes.

This doesn't keep the rumors from coming though. Some people believe Ellipsis is a mute. Others believe his tongue was cut out at a young age by a Pirate and he picked up the life of a Ninja to vow revenge. Others still believe that Ellipsis isn't actually a human but a raw manifestation of the Universe's ninja energies.

Perhaps the most interesting rumor, though, is that Ellipsis was not a he at all, but rather a she.

There's no real way to substantiate the claim, but small whispers have spread that Ellipsis was really a woman, and chose to conceal her identity.

Ninja society is far from sexist, but it can be a little too traditional at times. While there have been plenty of accomplished Female ninja throughout history, their roles have been less violent and physical then men. These great women of Ninja history are respected for their accomplishments, but some Kunoichi (female ninja) feel that traditions can be constraining. Some villages even go as far to not teach proper assassination techniques to female members. While this tradition is incredibly uncommon nowadays, it still exists, and certainly would've been more popular when Ellipsis was born.

Ellipsis' parents might have chosen to conceal her identity in an attempt to avoid such detection in the village she was brought up in. It was literally a choice of meeting her destiny as the ultimate ninja or showing her identity. Like all truly destined heroes, she made her choice to follow a path to greatness. If true, this rumor would explain Ellipsis' permanent silence and refusal to open up. Either of these would've revealed her identity as a woman at some point and might have change her destiny if the wrong people found out.

Regardless of what's true, Ellipsis hasn't shown up since the disappearance of the Takara, and it's doubtful he/she will show up again. So, his/her full story will have to remain a mystery.


The Dreaded Pirate, Two-Eyed Pete:
Two-eye Pete is everything every pirate wants to be. He's charming, he's talented, he's athletic, he's clever, and he can outdrink an entire tavern. His very will shakes the foundation of the Earth.

His rather unusual nickname is one of great respect and a rather big insight into his psyche. Two-eyed Pete does indeed have both of his eyes intact. However, most people wouldn't know this from meeting him. Most of the time when Two-Eyed Pete shows up in public, he is seen wearing an eyepatch. For the longest time in his career, people thought this was because he had lost that eye. The truth came out when he fought an opponent that looked like he might defeat Two-eyed Pete (known then as just Hard Luck Pete). It looked certain that Pete had been defeated when he removed the eyepatch to reveal a healthy eye. Pete had only been wearing the eyepatch as a handicap to his foe. Without depth perception, he was significantly handicapped. His foe, a man named "Swift Hands Mackenzie", had proven himself worthy of a true fight. He was quickly and soundly defeated by Two-eyed Pete, who gained his new nickname at the same time.

Two-eyed Pete continued this style of fighting up until his disappearance. Some people have even provided as little of a challenge that Pete felt it necessary to wear a blindfold.

While not as thoughtful or clever as the other two great heroes, Two-Eyed Pete is still surprisingly clever and quite the inventor. While he is responsible for some of the more obnoxious and boorish techniques out there, a lot of people forget that Pete also founded G&W (Goggles and Wrench. The guild responsible for the invention of steam hydraulics).

Eternally attractive, Two-eyed Pete found himself with no shortage of potential lovers of both sexes, but there is no record of Pete having any significant other. Baffled as to why, some Pirate's believe that behind such a great man, there may have been an even greater woman or even man. Others just choose to believe that romance got in the way of his spirit of adventure. Others still believe that Pete had his heart broken as a young boy and swore never to love again. Regardless, his face is still used as an advertising symbol for many.

G&W has continued to run fine even after the disappearance of their leader. Some say that some of the older members of the Guild even known of Two-eyed Pete's whereabouts. If they do. No one's telling.

The Eternal Wanderer, The Raven:
Of the Legendary three heroes, The Raven commands the least and most respect simultaneously. This is mostly because of his absolute refusal to interfere in matters of politics or war.

A true symbol of what made the Wanderers get their name in the first place, The Raven was a simple man who liked simple pleasures and preferred to not stay too long in one place. He showed the most public face of the three, but had an aura about him of normalcy that meant that most people did not know they had even met the Raven. He wasn't one to flaunt his identity.

As a matter of fact, the majority of the Raven's fights have been against people who have mistaken him for a dull and powerless vagabond. Even now, some people believe that the Raven that suggested the idea of the tournament for the Takara was not the real one, and that somewhere, the real Raven is flying from town to town enjoying himself.

The few times The Raven has interfered in what he called "smaller affairs" have been momentous victories. From taking out a Crime Boss to taking down an army with a force consisting of poorly armed peasants, the Raven is the very essence of a master tactician, while still a competent enough warrior to take an army on by himself. Amazingly enough, despite his importance in these events few people still know what he looks like.

This, of course, made it a shock when The Raven showed up and suggested the tournament that would cause the second great Ninja/Pirate war. If anyone else had suggested it though, it's likely no one would have listened. Considering his reputation, some even believed that he planned this war and still has even greater plans for the world at large. Sinister plans to take over the world.

...Or he could be enjoying a beer at a local tavern in a small Hamlet. You never know.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-04, 07:12 PM
System Information:

Attributes:

There are four base attributes and 2 derived attributes in Pirates vs. Ninjas. These numbers affect numerous abilities, your life total, your ability to hit, your ability to dodge, your ability to take a hit, etc. They are the very basis of your character and what he/she can do. They are as follows:

Physical Attributes:
Body- This is your stat that effects how healthy and well-built you are. It helps to determine your Life total and how well you do physical tasks that require strength or resistance. Players also reduce all damage taken from attacks by their body score divided in half (rounded down) and do damage on basic 0 cost attacks equal to half their body (rounded up).

Agility- Your character's physical agility. This determines how well you preform acrobatic and fine motor tests. This stat is also used to determine your reaction, and is used the vast majority of the time to dodge attacks.

Mental Attributes:
Precision- This stat represents your ability to perceive the world around you and to act accurately on it. This attribute represents your ability to notice things, piece facts together, your general intelligence that is not gained through abilities or experience, and your ability to hit your foes. It also helps to determine your reaction attribute. Half of this stat rounded up is also the character's raw damage with guns.

Will- Your force of your personality. Your soul. That extra bit that can't quite be explained. This is your will. Your will represents your social capability and charm, your ability to resist certain mental effects, and your ability to keep it together when every other one of your attributes fails. This stat is the very forcefulness of your soul. It is also used to help determine your life total.

Derived Attributes:
Life- Your life total is equal to your (body + will) * 10. This represents your total energy. It's not only your health points, but what you use to charge your special attacks as well. The more life you have, the more often you can use bigger and flashier attacks.

Reaction- This stat is the average of your agility and precision (rounded up). This is rolled every turn to determine what order players act in, in the round.

All attributes except Life are CAPPED at 10. The only exceptions to this are extreme (Gods, the Three Legendary Heroes, Aspects of the universe itself), and should not effect the average player.


The Dice:

All dice rolls in Ninjas vs. Pirates are handled by 2 six-sided dice. There are no automatic successes, automatic failures, or critical hits (except in the case of Awesome Points).

Since stats and bonuses are capped at 10, this does mean that there is ALWAYS a chance for a character with a minimum 1 bonus to defeat an opponent with a capped 10 bonus. However, the chances of a one person rolling a 2 on 2d6 and the other rolling a 12 on 2d6 is roughly 1 in 1000.

Ties should be rerolled.

Damage is handled automatically by abilities.


Awesome Points:

Every character has a fate or a destiny. Sometimes, this path can shine through anything and causes the character to become more than the sum of their scores. These points allow the character to do very amazing things in the face of adversity.

Awesome Points allow a character to:
-Add a +2 bonus per point spent to a roll that can break a total 10 modifier. Assume a minimum +1 modifier on a roll BEFORE adding this bonus (So, the minimum roll for 1 awesome point is at a +3 total). Capped at a +6 (3 Awesome points).

-Declare an automatic success on a roll for 5 Awesome Points (this will be the minimum success if the player could not achieve it otherwise). If an automatic to hit and defense are declared, the defense wins.

-Turn a roll of 12 or an Automatic Success on an attack roll into a critical hit that does double damage for 1 Awesome Point

-Power some high level abilities.

-Allow a player to edit a scene in some minor way. (ie. Claim they have an old contact in town, make the chandelier above them loose so it can drop on people, etc).

-Go first in a turn.

-Gain the usage of a known non-passive untrained ability on an item without the Life penalty for 1 combat.

-Increase an attribute score by 1 until next action per point spent. Maximum +3. This count towards the maximum +6 bonus if combined with the +2 bonus.

-Gain 10 Life instantly.

-Do 10 extra damage on an attack.

-Interpose for an ally within reasonable distance.

These can be earned one of two ways. Great failure or great success.

Great failure means that a player voluntarily takes a set-back when it is inconvenient. At any time, a player can declare that they automatically fail on a roll. This MUST be declared before the roll is made, unless the player succeeded otherwise and still chooses to fail. The GM may choose to give the player an extra awesome point if the situation merits it.

The player then gains a number of Awesome points that are dictated by Karma to balance the act out. These rolls should ALWAYS be for the benefit of making the story more interesting and increasing the enjoyment of the game. Screwing over your fellow players intentionally should not gain awesome points. The number of points rewarded are up to the GM, but the general guidelines for handing them out should be as follows.

1 point- The player suffers a moderate set-back (intentionally takes a decent hit they could have easily dodged, fails a check they should have made that would've helped them significantly, etc.). This usually makes the character look like a fool, sets up for a bit of comedy, but doesn't have a lasting impact past the scene. Example: A player fumbles his awesome super attack against a mundane mook that he can normally 1-shot and suffers a decent Life drain from the attack's requirement.

2 points- The players suffers a major set-back. This is the same as the 1-point version, but to a larger extreme. This represents more long term problems. This includes intentionally taking a hit that equals at least 50% of their max hp, failing a crucial roll, or letting a villain pull off his major attack that cripples the character in some way. Example: A character lets a villain put him under the effects of an illusion.

3 points- The players suffers a severe set-back. The results of this should be long term for a player. The results of this intentional failure should put a character effectively out of a combat, force them to lose a contact, get banished from a city, get captured by the villains. Example: A player botches a stealth roll and gets caught by the entire town guard and becomes a wanted man.

4 points- The player suffers a CATASTROPHIC set-back. This is the absolute limit. Nothing short of putting the character's very existence on the line should get this award. This includes failing a roll that knocks a character down to 0 life in one hit in a death duel, failing to sense that the villain is lying about what he wants the magical mcguffin for and giving it to him, and anything else that puts that character in absolute mortal danger but advances the plot.

If a player tries to abuse this method to gain too many awesome points, he or she should feel free to award less or stop rewarding them entirely until the player spends some of them. The point is not to hoard 20 of them and 1 shot the boss.

The second Method of gaining Awesome points is to do something awesome. This should include the player using abilities together in some way that drops everyone else's jaws at the table. The player should still roll for it, but if they pull it off, they should get a number of awesome points to compensate for the risk.

Gm's should determine what to give their players on an individual basis, but the general rule of thumb should be.

1 point- Kinda cool. It breaks from the boredom, but it's not particularly too amazing. Minor stunts like back-flips off of trees into diving attacks.

2 points- Cool stunt. This should be something fairly new and original and really set or make a scene. A cool speech, a super acrobatic stunt that defies this universe's very small grasp on gravity, something that all the players enjoy.

3 points- Absolutely amazing. This should be jaw-droppingly cool, get the entire table laughing or watching. The kind of move that steals the entire scene. A shining moment of awesomeness. Something that players will talk about all session.

4 points- Mind-blowing. This is the absolute pinnacle. It should be something the players have never done before and will likely never do again. This is the kind of moment that players talk about even in different campaigns and never forget. These are those once in a campaign amazing super moments. Use this reward sparingly.


The Rule of 10:

As said before. All stats and bonuses are capped at 10 (without the inclusion of Awesome points to enhance the roll). With some accurate attacks and abilities, it's possible to get a roll's effective modifier or attribute score above 10. Instead of dropping the score down, there's a way to give the player a bonus for their efforts.

In the case of a roll to hit with or dodge an attack, just use the effective modifier as long as the difference between the scores is less than 10.

Should the difference between the two rolls be more than 10, set the difference at 10 and take the extra bonuses left over and multiply it by 5. If it's a to-hit roll, the attack gains this much extra damage. If it's a dodge roll, the attack is reduced in damage by twice that number if it should hit.

In the case of a roll to give or resist a special effect like an illusion, any extra bonuses are applied as follows. If the attacker has the bonus, he gets to apply the effect to an extra target for each point over 10. If the defender has the bonus, he gives the effect of his roll to an extra target for each point over 10. This isn't too useful in resisting an initial effect, but if the entire party is under an effect, this can pull them out by his own pure force of will.

Outside of combat, a player may get a bonus on a certain skill roll from abilities that sets him over 10. At this point, it is up to the GM what happens, but the effect should either extend to extra targets equal to the number (in the case of something like a Jump check), give extra information (in the case of knowledge checks), or give an extra unintended positive side-effect all based on how far the check went over 10.

For abilities that use a stat as a determining factor to damage or number of hits or some other effect (like Bullet Dance or Torrential Hurricane Strike or Royal Flush), cap the stat at 10 unless awesome points are used to raise it above 10.

If Body or Will is taken over 10 with abilities, the user still gains life from the attribute increase unless otherwise specified.


The Kurosawa Corollary:
It's one of the basic rules of the universe. When a large number of enemies outnumber a force severely, the smaller force will become more powerful. This has allowed 1 pirate to beat a hoard of 100 ninja, and vice-versa. Needless to say, most people prefer to send a small number of skilled assassins to fight skilled foes, rather than a large gank squad. Some people are still dumb enough to try it, but most people learn their lesson after the first attempt.

To simulate this powerful effect, there is one simple rule.

For every time a force outnumbers a smaller force by a factor of 2, that force takes an external -1 penalty to ALL ROLLS.

So, if a force is outnumbered 2 to 1. The larger force is at a -1 to all rolls. If they are instead outnumbered 4 to 1, the larger force is at a -2 to all rolls. 8 times their size, and their at a -3. Always round up to the next penalty for this effect. So, a pirate surrounded by 100 ninjas is giving a total -7 to all of the surrounding ninjas' rolls down to a minimum of 1. If he's anywhere near their skill level, he should be able to take down the majority of them before getting tired.

It should also be noted that when a force outnumbers another force 16 to 1 or greater, the foes in that force will fall in 1 hit to the enemy forces' blows, the force rolls 1 roll at the LOWEST score in the group for dodge or hit, the number of targets the opponent can target per attack is increased by their highest primary attribute. This is doubled for every time the force is doubled after that. So, 1000 to 1 force may find themselves more than decimated by 1 mildly talented ninja.

This, of course, does include the players. They are not exceptions to this rule. If 4 players outnumber 1 boss of skill equal to theirs, all the players are at a -2 to all rolls. Something to think about before getting a bunch of allies to gank 1 ninja.

There are ways to negate the Corollary. A few abilities allow characters to offset the effect temporarily. Also, a player can choose to challenge a foe to a 1 on 1 match. If the opponent accepts and the player's allies honor it, the corollary is broken unless someone breaks the challenge's rules. This is regardless of whether the allies are fighting anything in the background.


Death:

Death is shockingly uncommon in Pirates vs. Ninjas. Both Pirates and Ninjas prefer a live hostage to a dead one. They're just more fun to mess with, and dead men don't give away military secrets. So, there's some kind of unspoken pact. You don't kill a person unless they asked for it.

Of course, monsters in the outlying areas don't honor this pact, but you at least know the super powerful ninja that defeats your entire party won't stab you while you're unconscious. Just take you prisoner.

Of course, Death still happens. Some people hate each other too much to live. When a Pirate and a Ninja hate each other very much and it's dramatically appropriate, something beautiful happens. It's called a Death Duel.

The word duel is misleading. This can happen between 2 opponents or 2 opposing armies or even an army vs. 1 man. The only condition is that both sides agree to it ahead of time with the other side's life as the stake.

At this point, combat becomes deadly. If a character is knocked down, an opponent merely needs to go over to the fallen foe and finish the job with one last attack that automatically hits. Of course, an opponent doesn't HAVE to kill at this point, but there's little reason to declare a Death Duel if you do not want the opponent dead.

Wounds in a Death Duel are more severe then ones in a regular duel. These are intended to kill a victim and hurt him in the worst way possible with a precision that wandering monsters don't have. If an opponent is knocked out and doesn't get medical attention (even if the opponent left him or her alive) they will surely die if not attended to in minutes. Even if they survive after this, the wounds heals at a tenth their normal rate, and most healing abilities cannot speed up this process.

Maybe you'll think twice before you REALLY want to kill that rival.


Abilities:
Abilities are the base unit of character progression in Pirates vs. Ninjas. These cover passive bonuses and special attacks alike. They literally ARE your character.

Characters will receive experience at the end of each session. This is used to eventually train in abilities or to increase their attribute scores when they have the time to focus (in other words, not in the middle of a dungeon or a government official's house).

Abilities are given levels. These represent the difficulty of learning the ability and its general power-level. They level from 1-6.

Level 1 abilities are simple little exercises that are on instruction manuals anywhere and anyone can learn.

Level 2 abilities are abilities that require a little bit of physical training, but anyone that knows the ability can teach it to you.

Level 3 abilities are similar to level 2 abilities, but level 3 ninja abilities require the insight of a full-blown teacher and not just some smuck.

Level 4 abilities are difficult abilities that absolutely require a master of the style to learn. They are also the pinnacle that a member of an opposing side can learn. So, pirates can only learn up to level 4 Ninja and Wanderer abilities, but only a Pirate can learn a level 5 or 6 pirate ability.

Level 5 The ultimate attack that defines a style of fighting. These are usually named after the people that invented it and are only known by a handful of people. These make excellent quest rewards.

Level 6 A frightening technique that can shake nations. Only the most powerful of individuals can learn these. These are generally reserved for powerful bosses, powerful monsters, or the three legendary heroes. Players will generally never get one of these, and if they do, you can be sure they went on a LONG quest to learn it.

Abilities are formatted as such.
Ability Name (The name of the ability)
Ability Level (The level and side it belongs to. Ie. Ninja 2)
Life Cost: (The amount of Life this ability takes to use. Some abilities are passive and take none)
Description: (What the ability does.)

So, an example ability would be.
Water Walking
Ninja 1
Life Cost: 1/turn
Description: When this ability to active, the user can walk and run on water at their normal speed as if it were solid ground.


Combat:

Combat is fairly simple in Ninjas vs. Pirates. Once combat has been declared, players quickly write down the attack they will be using in the first round on a sheet of paper. Once this has been written, it cannot be changed. all people involved roll their reaction. The person with the highest reaction goes first that turn. If there is a tie. Use the LOWER overall reaction score for the purposes of determining who goes first.

Players then are given one action for moving and one action for attacking or doing something of similar complexity. Much like other systems, this extra action can be used to move farther. Characters can move a number of squares equal to the higher of their agility or body times 2. So, a character with a 2 agility and 4 body would move 8 squares in an action.

A player with a higher reaction can hold their turn. At any point during someone else's turn, they can interrupt that turn and take their FULL turn. The other player then finishes his or her turn. This often means that faster opponents can hit their opponent before they can even attack and then move out of the way of the attack before it even hits. If the opponent does not have a ranged attack prepared, they may have wasted their turn. If multiple people interrupt, the person with the highest reaction goes first.

Attacking is resolved (unless otherwise noted) by rolling precision vs. agility. If the attack hits, the opponent take the damage from the attack minus their damage reduction (usually half their body, rounded down). An attack cannot do less than 1 damage. If the attacker has no attack abilities, treat the attack as a 0 life cost ability that does half of their body score (round up) in damage unless it is with a gun (then use half of precision rounded up).

Players can use as many abilities as they want in a turn as long as they can pay for them. The only exception is attack abilities. Players only can use one at a time. However, there are abilities that can supplement attacks. So, they can use an ability to walk on water, run straight up a wall, hit their opponent with an attack, increase their damage on the attack, and absorb the counterattack. It might cost more Life than it's worth though.

If a player spends more Life than they have left on their attack action, they do not go below 0. Instead, the turn goes through as normal and then the player falls unconscious. This is often a great way to get one last super powerful attack off.

Repeat the process each turn by writing down the attack for the round and then rolling reaction.

Combat ends when either everyone on one side goes unconscious, one side runs away, or the sides don't want to attack each other any more. Unconscious characters will remain so until they are awoken by being given some medical or healing attention or given 1 hour rest.


Skill Checks:

Pirates vs. Ninjas has no skill checks. Some abilities give a bonus on certain skill checks, but they usually won't cover everything. People that wish to accomplish a task simply roll the most appropriate attribute score for the task at hand. So:

Body- Resisting harsh weather, holding your liquor, lifting a cheapskate by his collar, etc.

Agility- Acrobatic stunts, slipping between bars, dodging, cheating at cards, etc.

Precision- Playing darts, lock-picking, fixing devices, spotting enemies, etc.

Will- Convincing others to join your causes, resisting mental effects, resisting temptation, etc.

Skill checks are either done versus other players or NPCs or against a target number. In the case of a roll-off between players, highest number wins. Ties are ties and should either be called ties or rolled again, depending on the scenario.

Target numbers are numbers players have to hit on a skill. GMs should determine the DCs based on the difficulty of the task. A general rule of thumb is:
3-Impossible to fail
6-Easy. Even a child can do it
9-Average joe makes it about half the time.
12- A decent challenge for a professional
15- A decent challenge for a master
18- A severe challenge for a master
21- Impossible for a Master. Nearly impossible for someone with a 10. A decent challenge for the 3 legendary heroes.

Keep in mind, for physical challenges, this is a universe where most people can jump at least 10 feet up in the air from a standing jump. Players with decent physical stats should frequently be performing amazing stunts. Lower the physical target numbers from your universe accordingly. When in doubt, let the players do something cool.

Pirates vs. Ninjas doesn't typically cover character intelligence. Intelligence is a complicated thing that can't be expressed in a number. Even Two-Eyed Pete was a genius in his own boorish way. He was just smart in a way that was VERY different from Ellipsis and the Raven.

For knowledge checks, players should use their own in-character knowledge. If it makes sense for a character to know something from their background, he should feel free to tell them. This should cover most things, but for those cases where the players want to see if they know anything about an obscure legend or want to try to figure out complex math they've never studied, the GM should use Precision as the general intelligence stat.

Keep in mind that abilities that give bonuses to skill checks do not stack. A pirate who has abilities for sailing and tactics can use one or the other in a naval battle.

For the record, stealth checks happen with agility. Attacking out of stealth gives the opponent a -2 to dodge, and can give surprise rounds if they're taken off-guard.



Creation and Advancing the Character:

Characters start with 16 attribute points and 40 experience points. Distribute the attribute points among the attribute (remembering to put at least 1 point in each score). This should cause all attributes to average out to a score of 4 (above average). Spend the rest of the experience points on raising attributes or learning abilities. Character will be able to learn more abilities and raise their attributes after character creation with experience points.

Characters should gain anywhere from 1-3 experience points after each session depending on the difficulty of the challenges presented. 1 being a cakewalk, 2 being moderately challenging, and 3 being a huge undertaking. GM's should also feel free to give an extra experience point for good role-playing, being entertaining, coming up with a clever idea, or meeting a major character goal. So, the most exp a character should expect to get is around 5 (difficult session, major goal met, and a GM reward for good roleplaying or otherwise). Characters can then either spend these experience points on raising their Attributes, Learning new abilities, or Mastering Artifacts.

In order to raise an attribute score, a character must have a significant period to train or have a good reason they've been working on that score. It costs 10 experience points to raise an attribute.

Ability costs are based on which philosophy your character prescribes to.

Pirates and Ninjas can learn abilities from their side and Wanderer abilities at a cost of 2 experience points per level. Add 1 point per level to opposing factions (ie. Ninjas learn level 2 pirate skills at 6 points).

Wanderers also learn their skills at 2 experience points per level and learn either pirate or ninja skills at .5 points per level (round down). (So, a level 3 pirate ability costs 7 and a Level 4 costs 10)

Finally, Ninjas vs. Pirates tends to obscure money and ownership. Mundane items don't need rules for who owns them or bought them. Some pirate will probably just steal it in a session anyway. However, major artifacts of power that the characters may find or get rewarded as a job well-done are a different matter.

Artifact items give characters access to abilities that they normally would have to train for. They do this at twice the Life cost that they would normally have. If there's a passive ability on the weapon, it cannot be used without training. Abilities on artifacts are trained for at half the cost it would take to learn them. At this point, the passive abilities can be used and abilities with Life costs will use normal life cost. If an artifact contains a level 5 or higher skill from a side other than your own, you can still train for it. This is the only time a Pirate can use a high level Ninja skill and vice-versa. The trade-off is that Artifacts can be stolen, disarmed, or temporarily lost. GM's should not permenantly take away artifacts a character has invested in without reimbursing the experience points spent. If a character already knows a skill on an artifact, he or she uses it freely with no bonus or penalty.

Remember. Before a character can learn a new ability, they will need to find an appropriate way of learning the ability and the time to train in it. This may mean a pirate finding a sympathetic Ninja master to teach him.


On Buffs and Debuffs:

As a rule of thumb, Buffs and Debuffs all stack. However, one target can only take a buff or debuff from a specific ability once unless the ability states otherwise. So, a target can ONLY lose 2 Body and 2 Agility from Five-Fold Crippling Palm in a given combat. However, if a Charrismatic Lord uses a Moment of Weakness to give the opponent a further -1 to agility for the turn, the opponent is at a -3 to agility from his or her natural attribute score.

Same thing with Buffs. An Evadinja can't use Ninjas Don't Get Hit more than once to stack more than a +2 to dodge. However, an Evadinja CAN use Ninjas Don't Get Hit AND Infinite Reflexes to get a cumulative +6. However, if there's an attack coming that Evadinja feels is worth 10 Life points AND a turn to add that +6 to dodge to, Then he or she likely angered the wrong Pirate.

So, if someone really wished to debuff a foe into oblivion or boost an ally to Godliness, then it will require multiple allies working in tandem. So, you'll need to ask yourself whether it's worth 5 turns worth of moves and a whole boatload of Life to hit with that one attack.

It should also be noted that when an ability buffs the damage of an attack, it only does this for the first hit in multiple hit attacks like Tap Storm, Bullet Dance, or 1,000 Tiny Needles. If the player wishes to do extra damage on extra hits, they should pay the cost for the ability on each hit. If the ability is a passive damage buff, it can only be applied once per ability but applies if the character gains an extra attack action.


Natural Healing:

While there are ways to actively heal characters in Pirates vs. Ninjas, it's far less important than in other systems. Characters start each day at full life. They heal back to full at the beginning of each scene.

This essentially means that any time that the characters can get around 10 minutes of rest (that means no active skill checks or movement), they heal back to full again. For the most part, unless the group is constantly under attack, they can heal between each battle and challenge. However, if a character finds him or herself in a situation of constant and extended danger, they would be wise to conserve their energy as efficiently as possible.


Movement:

As stated before, a character's move speed is expressed as 2 times the higher of their body and agility in squares for a turn. This assumes that the player has a hex or square map for use. The unit of squares can be used for either military scale battles or personal ones. If the city is a battlefield, then each square can be upwards of a mile.

However, for the most part, squares are represented as 1 meter in length each and a turn is represented as around 2 seconds. Yes. This does mean that Pirates and Ninjas with either a 10 agility or body are running approximately 10 meters a second in combat. Movement can't go past 20 squares a round without abilities.

Outside of combat, the character's run speed is doubled. So, characters in Pirates vs. Ninjas can sprint up to 20 m/s (22 in the case of the legendary heroes).

If a character wishes to jump, they may jump vertically a number of meters equal to a quarter of his move speed and horizontally a number of feet equal to half his move speed. Double this on a running jump (consecutive horizontal jumps are running jumps).

A character may also climb or swim at a quarter of their move speed.

So, a Pirate with 4 body and agility can move 8 meters in a round, jump vertically 2 meters (4 on a running jump), jump horizontally 4 squares (8 on a running jump), and swim and climb at 2 meters.



Do I Need a Weapon?:

Characters in Pirates vs. Ninjas are all about their skills and not their weapons. Still, some abilities require a weapon in the Pirate or Ninja's hand to work. If a character is completely disarmed, these abilities become impossible to use without an ability that compensates. For the most part, techniques just call for A weapon.

In order to tell if a technique needs a weapon, read the description. If a weapon or necessary item is mentioned in the description, then it needs a weapon. Logically, almost every ability from the Rokinja and Gunnars requires a musical instrument and a gun respectively.

Anything else is left up to the judgement of the GM.


Non-Factioned Abilities:
The following are some of the basic Ninja, Pirate, and Wanderer abilities that belong to no style. They are merely here to illustrate generally how abilities work until I start fleshing out the factions.

Ninja Abilities:

Like the Wind
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Like the Wind is the phrase that all Ninjas use to describe their uncanny ability to sneak. When rolling Agility for a Stealth check, the Ninja is at a +2 to the roll. People wishing to see or hear the ninja will have to roll a Precision roll higher than their check. The Ninja is also considered trained in all forms of stealth.

The Forbidden Pouch
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
All Ninjas know of at least one place to hide a weapon on their person that no one will bother looking. Ninjas that have this ability are always considered to have a conceal kunai (a small throwing knife) on their person, even when searched for all weapons. This gives the ninja the ability to use melee abilities when completely disarmed or most throwing abilities at least once. If they lose this weapon after revealing it though, they are out of secret weapons. There's only one Forbidden Pouch.

Shuriken Split
Ninja 3
Cost: 3 per target
Ninjas are master throwers and have learned to hit multiple targets with their deadly weapon, the Shuriken. This attack can hit any visible opponent within 20 squares as long as there is a straight line to hit the opponent in. The Ninja can throw, in one swift motion, a Shuriken at a number of targets equal to up to half of his or her agility score (round up). So, a ninja with a 6 agility can hit up to 3 characters as long as they are within 10 squares of his character. This attack does 10 damage.

Cold-Blooded Assassin
Ninja 4
Cost: 15
This is one of the most common Ninja abilities, but also one of the most difficult. The Ninja that uses this ability can only use it when attack an enemy that is unaware of his presence (either via stealth check or both blindness and deafness). The opponent still gets an agility roll (at any minuses for stealth), but this attack does more damage than most attacks. This attack does 30 damage.

Strike Like Lightning
Ninja 5
Cost: 20
Invented by the Ninja of the same name, Strike Like Lightning is one of the Ninja's most deadly and risky techniques and has become a staple amongst Ninja everywhere. Invoking the skill of this technique, a Ninja moves with such stupendous speed that He or She gets 2 Attack actions that round (which can be 2 different attacks). Used too much, this attack holds a great risk of wearing the Ninja out before they can finish an opponent off. Used with proper timing and with the right techniques, this can turn the tides of a difficult battle.


Pirate Abilities:

Sail the Seas
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
All Pirates are master Sailors. It's rare to see a Pirate who can't handle himself on a boat. Pirates with this technique gain a +2 on all attribute check to Sail a Boat or having any knowledge pertaining to Sailing. Pirates without this check might be able to figure out the basic, but definitely won't be experienced enough to run a bigger boat like a Galleon or Navigate.

The Secret of The Patch
Pirate 2
Cost: Passive
Unknown to most Ninjas, Pirates know that Ninjas love the dark and have come up with a clever counter for it. This counter is The Secret of The Patch. Wearing an Eyepatch is terrible for depth perception. However, the eye that remains under the eyepatch gains AMAZING nightvision. Pirates who start an encounter with an Eyepatch on and this ability take a -1 to precision while the eyepatch is on. However, if anything causes the pirate to lose visibility because of low-light or absolute darkness, he can take the eyepatch off and remove all penalties for seeing in the dark. Wearing an eyepatch without this ability gives no darkvision and a -2 to perception.

Lock, Stock, and Stab
Pirate 3
Cost: 4
A fun little pirate attack where the Pirate takes his love of firepower and his love of stabbing and combines them into one fierce attack. The Pirate makes an attack at a -2 to precision, to stab the target Ninja right through. If he connects, the Ninja is stuck helpless on his sword while he shoots the Ninja at point blank range. Resolve this attack with 1 attack roll. If it hits, the Target Ninja takes two attacks at 10 damage each.

Watch Ye Flank
Pirate 4
Cost: 6
Pirates are excellent back-stabbers. When a Pirate and his Allies stand across from each other while facing an enemy, they can pull off a team-attack against their opponent. Both Pirates must hold actions for the same turn and act at the same reaction time. At this point, they act simultaneously, and the Ninja, unable to cover his back takes massive damage. Both Pirates gain 15 damage on whatever attack they use against that opponent.

Salty Peter's Hidden Arsenal
Pirate 5
Cost: 10
A legendary attack invented by Salty Peter (an explosive toting mad-man). A potent technique, but one that most Pirates tend to avoid for its ridiculous side-effect. This attack does 30 fire damage to everyone within 8 squares of the attacker as he blows up an entire explosive arsenal he has hidden under his coat. Roll Precision at a +2. However, the attacker also takes half of the damage automatically. Not to be used within range of allies.


Wanderer Abilities:

Well-Traveled Man
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
Wanderers are just that. Men and Women who Wander from town to town. Those that do this their entire lives pick up little bits of local history here and there. Wanderers with this ability gain a +2 on any Precision rolls to recognize hidden Lores, Local Histories, Rumors, or Legends.

Just a Guy
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Some Wanderers just look way too average for their own good. Wanderers with this advantage gain a +2 on Will rolls to avoid being spotted if they are recognizable. This is great for avoiding detection by local authorities when you're a wanted man. Furthermore, in combat with monsters, Monsters will only attack this Wanderer if he's the most obvious target. If a target of equal or similar threat presents itself, the monster will just ignore the Wanderer.

The True Middle
Wanderer 3
Cost: 3/turn
The Wanderer of the middle path has realized that the boundary between Pirate and Ninja is paper thin and learns to bend between that boundary at will. By activating this ability, the Wanderer takes 5 less damage from all Pirate and Ninja attacks until his next turn.

Aura of Significance
Wanderer 4
Cost: 16 per turn
Some Wanderers have a mystifying presence about them. Something about them gives off a great and powerful aura of importance. By sacrificing their attack AND move action for the turn, everyone grows afraid of the Wanderer. As a supernatural ability, no one will be able to attack the Wanderer directly (AOEs can still hit if the wanderer is not the direct target) and takes a -2 on all attack rolls to hit his or her allies for that turn.

Pirate-Ninja Form
Wanderer 5
Cost: 35 Life and 1 Awesome Point
An absolutely terrifying attack invented by The Raven, himself. Some consider this attack to even be blasphemy against the Universe itself. One of the most devastating attacks that ANY Wanderer can learn, but it comes with a severe risk. This attack touches into the impossible for just a moment and transforms the user into a Ninja-Pirate. Activated as a regular power after an attack action. The Wanderer disappears for 2 whole turns entirely. He or she then reappears the next turn anywhere that his or her character can see. From here, the Pirate-Ninja launches an assault of firepower and shurikens on one target within 100 squares that annihilate the target. This attack is resolved at a +4 to the attack and does 50 damage of ANY type to the opponent. Combined with other abilities that inflict extra damage, this can be a guaranteed 1-hit KO wonder move. If this attack should somehow miss though, the universe backfires on the target and knocks them out immediately at 0 Life and the user will not be able to wake up for a day regardless of any method used.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-04, 07:13 PM
That should be the space I need for now. I'm done reserving messages. Feel free to reply after this.

tribble
2009-11-04, 07:25 PM
That should be the space I need for now. I'm done reserving messages. Feel free to reply after this.

ah, I wondered what was with those empty posts.

Godskook
2009-11-04, 08:20 PM
This, this is awesome.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-04, 08:23 PM
This, this is awesome.

Wait till I get to the factions of Ninjas and Pirates.

Temotei
2009-11-04, 08:33 PM
Huzzah! Go pirates! :smallbiggrin:

Dairun Cates
2009-11-05, 12:01 AM
Basic Information uploaded on Ninja, Pirate, and Wanderer culture. Now to move onto the 3 Legendary Warriors.

Edit: Legendary Warriors finished. Now onto System mechanics and factions.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-05, 04:41 PM
A good portion of the combat has been updated. Should be enough to start commenting on and getting an idea of how the system works.

Edit: Finished up the first few factions and some of the universal Pirate/Ninja/Wanderer Abilities. They will need some severe balancing, but they're out there for now. And yes, I know that Pirate-Ninja Form is a stupidly powerful and inefficient nuke attack compared to the other Level 5's. I just needed to show off an attack that uses Awesome points, and this one will seem a little less awesome when you see some of the defensive abilities, and then awesome again when you see some of the supplemental ones.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-06, 04:09 AM
I bring you the first Full faction and it's abilities. Note: These will need some balancing in the long run, but I wanted to get them down. Any comments on general usage are appreciated.

Note to self: These trees probably need a couple more fun "flavor abilities" like Arrcrobats and Craftsmen.

The Evadinja:
Summary: The Evadinja Style is one of the earliest schools founded by Ellipsis. Students of this discipline focus on their agility and dodge their foes with lightning reflexes.While not as aggressive as other Ninja schools, the Evadinja still hold their share of offensive arts and focus on the counterattack techniques for hurting their foes.

High level Evadinja are known for their ability to dodge anything, move on anything, and even, in some cases, teleport.

History: Ellipsis founded the Evadinja 50 years ago in order to answer the age old question: "Can a ninja evade his own shadow?" While few people know if Ellipsis ever found his answer, the school was quite successful and continues to be prosper to the this day as one of the most influential schools of Ninja.

The current Grand Master of the Evadinja is Ebbin Flow. Like most Grand Masters, his name is a symbol of his fighting power. In combat, Ebbin is known primarily for his ability to avoid even the most impossible to dodge hits. His signature move takes attacks thrown at him and turns them into deadly weapons against his foes. Not one to land the first punch, Ebbin is a very calm and patient master and will smile to anyone he meets.

Unless that person is a Pirate.

Ebbin is one of the most staunch anti-Pirate Ninjas around and will do everything in his power to make sure that no Pirates enter his Dojo or learn any of the Ninja's secret attacks. He hates the cheap scrolls on the market and tutors that have allowed Pirates to learn the Evadinja's most famous move, the Water Walk.

Attribute Scores: Dedicated Evadinja focus their attributes into Agility. The vast majority of their skills rely on it.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Mountain Goat Stride
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Evadinja are masters of movement. They've learned to keep their speed, even in the roughest terrain. Mud, Sand, Rocky Cliffs. Nothing stops the Evadinja from his or her target. Evadinja gain a +2 on agility checks for climbing and moving through terrain that would slow them down.

Water Walk
Ninja 1
Cost: 1/turn
When this ability is active, the user can walk and run on water at their normal speed as if it were solid ground. The water is treated as a flat plain in terms of terrain unless the water is severely disturbed.

Quickstep
Ninja 1
Cost: 1
Even the most basic Evadinja has mastered the ability to move quicker than other Ninjas and uses his great agility to give himself momentum while dodging. This technique is used by Evadinja to get a little bit extra movement. Whenever an Evadinja is attacked and dodges, the Evadinja may spend 1 life point to move 1 square in whatever direction he desires. There is no limit to the number of times he may do this as long as he keeps dodging attacks.

Winding Arc Punch
Ninja 1
Cost: 2
A very basic and weak technique that allows the Ninja to throw his momentum into a single arcing punch. This attack does 5 damage or the Ninja's agility score. Whichever is higher.


Level 2:

Agile Rejuvination
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
It's no secret that the Evadinja lack the stamina of other fighters. However, a good Evadinja makes up for this by using his constant momentum to get his adrenaline pumping and to keep him up for just a little bit longer. For every attack the Evadinja dodges, he gains back 2 life points.

Up the Walls
Ninja 2
Cost: 1/turn
The well-trained Evadinja has learned that Gravity is merely a theory and not to be paid too much attention to. Evadinja with this ability can run up any solid surface up to a 90 degree angle. The Evadinja can keep doing this over multiple turns, but must move his FULL movement to keep the bonus over multiple rounds. Otherwise, the Evadinja will lose momentum and fall.

Rubber Sole
Ninja 2
Cost: 1/turn
The Evadinja has learned to jump great distances both vertically and horizontally in order to reach places that others dare not go. When active, the Rubber Sole doubles the Evadinja's jump distance. This does not up move speed, merely jumping speed.

Read the Foe
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Whenver an Evadinja writes down his attack action at the beginning of the round, he can choose to also write down the name of a target and the attack he thinks that target will use. When the target attacks, if the Evadinja was right, the Evadinja gets a +2 to hit and to dodge against the target for the turn. If the Evadinja was wrong, he instead takes a -1 to hit and dodge against that target.

Ninjas Don't Get Hit!
Ninja 2
Cost: 6
A common chant for Ninja teachers to yell at young ninja students when they complain an attack just cannot be dodged. By reminding himself of the horrible trauma of his teacher hitting him before yelling this chant, the Evadinja focuses more on the battle and gains a +2 to all dodges until the end of turn.

Counter Blow
Ninja 2
Cost: 3
The Evadinja are masters of counters. This attack can only be used against an opponent that has attacked the Evadinja this turn. Whether they hit the Evadinja or not, the Evadinja swings around with a melee attack and counters the foe for 15 damage.


Level 3:

Winding Arc Kick
Ninja 3
Cost: 3
A logical extension of the Winding Arc Punch. The Winding Arc kick is a much more powerful attack with a nasty surprise for its foes. If the attack should miss, the Evadinja can use the momentum of the attack to keep his body moving. This attack does 10 damage. If the attack misses, the Evadinja gains a +1 to his agility for the remainder of the turn.

Blossom Elevator
Ninja 3
Cost: 3/turn
The Evadinja learned through their constant training how to shift their weight to become almost weightless. Whenever an Evadinja uses this ability, he can stand on and jump off of anything as long as the object is physical and can be seen by the naked eye and he will be treated as having no weight by the object. This means that an Evadinja using the Blossom Elevator can run on falling leaves, wall jump off of a flipping coin in the air, or even jump off the back of a bird.

Rub Some Cheetah's Blood On It
Ninja 3
Cost: 2/turn
The Evadinja have learned to go incredibly fast. Faster than the eye can sometimes follow. Evadinja that use this ability will double ALL of their movements until the end of the turn (including ones from other Abilities).


Level 4:

Storm of Counters
Ninja 4
Cost: 8
The Evadinja have learned to counter any attack known to man and do so with ruthless efficiency. This ability is activated as the Evadinja's attack action. Anytime, until the Evadinja's next attack action, an attack misses the Evadinja, the Evadinja can make an immediate counterattack at the same range using their Precision as the to hit. If this attack hits. It does 10 damage. There is no limit to the number of extra hits this attack can provide.

Infinite Reflexes
Ninja 4
Cost: 4
The Evadinja have learned the art of timing and know that sometimes, you just have to dodge that omega death attack. The Evadinja can choose to take their attack action and use this ability. Until the end of turn, the Evadinja is at a +4 to all dodges.

Torrential Hurricane Strike
Ninja 4
Cost: 10
Even the Evadinja realize that sometimes there is a need for damage. The Torrential Hurricane Strike is the experienced Evadinja's way of dealing with tough foes. By using all of their built up speed and momentum, the Evadinja focuses all of their speed into one knockout blow. This melee attack does 5 damage for every effective point in agility the Evadinja has, but the Evadinja's Agility is effectively a 1 until their next action if the attack lands.

The Cork in the River
Ninja 4
Cost: 10
The Evadinja has come to learn that force is as much of a weapon for one's opponent as it is for oneself. By turning an opponent's force into a weapon against the opponent, the Evadinja can inflict massive damage. This attack starts out doing 10 damage. For every buff the opponent has been effected by since his last action (defined as any ability that gives beneficial effects to attributes, hit, damage, damage reduction, or dodge, but not Life), this attack does an additional 5 damage. Battle-long buffs such as the Drunkards Mead abilities and the Gunnar's Eagle Eye ability always count as being on.


Level 5:

Dimensional Tango
Ninja 5
Cost: 10
Named after a great Evadinja who was believed to be able to literally dance through dimensions. This was his ultimate technique. While very simple in concept, it is ruthlessly efficient in nature. The Dimensional Tango allows an Evadinja to Teleport instantaneously to anywhere he could theorhetically move in one action if gravity or solid matter weren't an issue. This does NOT take up the Evadinja's move action for the turn. Furthermore, this movement is instantaneous, silent, and gives no visible clue. So, a hiding Ninja can use this to sneak right past a place where it would be difficult to remain hidden. Furthermore, targets attacked at the end of a teleport are at a -2 to their dodge because of surprise. It is important to note, however, that Dimensional Tango lost his life by teleporting right into the middle of a wall that he was sure was a room. If an Evadinja teleports into solid matter, he will take an amount of damage at the discretion of the GM.

Ebb and Flow
Ninja 5
Cost: 15
Ebbin Flow's ultimate technique. By becoming one with his motions and truly becoming like the Ebb and Flow of water, he has become able to take any attack without injury and launch it back at his foe with greater force. Ebb and Flow takes a character's attack action for the round, but activates at the beginning of the round. As soon as anyone attacks this character and misses, the player can choose to use his stored up action and turn the attack back on the attacker. The attack hits using precision but does twice the damage that the original attack would've done. Quite the nasty result. If the player is attacked multiple times in a round, this attack can be activated multiple times, evoking the Life cost each time it is used.

Master of Small Techniques
Ninja 5
Cost: 2 Awesome Points
The constant metaphor of the Evadinja is the calm stream. The greatest mountain is eventually worn down from even the calmest stream. To reflect this, the Evadinja have mastered the simplest techniques to brutal perfection. When an Evadinja activates this ability, he or she focuses on the philosophy of the calm river and doubles the raw damage of all level 1 and 2 abilities for the remainder of the scene. Any supplemental damage is not doubled, but these abilities can still critically hit.

Corporate M
2009-11-06, 11:05 AM
This would be great to do with my friends. I think it's awesome and you should get a grade of >9000 :smallbiggrin:

Two of my friends would be perfect drunkards and getting pissed at me "wasting the booze" to use as efficient fuel source for my tanks and robotic gatling guns. (Cause I love the engineer of TF2, and that's so the gunnar pirate..)

And some of our friends don't like eachother, cause my girlfriend's a ninja girl. (Albeit a Hitinja, or "Narutard" I was going to call it..)

But then the gunnar would make an excellent addition to any ninja group as he comes up with new and exciting biological terrorism. What better way to leave your rival ninja clan shamed then to slip a whole lot of "Corporate M's special OJ" into their normal juice? A grand mixture of large amounts of citric acid mixed with pottasium benzoate, pre-heated at 300 degrees, and the net result is so much Carcinogen (a product found in GAMMA RADIATION!) that they end up glowing like light brights and can never be stealthy again!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsKQj7iz5rA

I act alot like this engineer actually in rpgs or on TF2.. lawlz.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-06, 12:26 PM
The Arrcrobats:
Summary: The Arrcrobats are a very agile group of pirates that use their surroundings to their complete advantage. They believe in a very improvisational style of fighting that allows them to catch their opponents off-guard.

High Level Arrcrobats can use their wacky antics to inflict extra damage, tumble through the air, and catch their opponents off-guard.

History: The Arrcrobats actually come from an argument about Two-Eyed Pete. When people tried to discover the secret of his unbeatable fighting style, two popular theories arose. One side believed that it came from Two-Eyed Pete's love for acrobatic feats. The other believed it came from his Rapier shart wit. The first group became the Arrcrobats, the later group became the Charrismatic Lords.

The current leader, and founder of the Arrcrobat style is Rollin' Flynn, known for his quick tumbles and mid-air antics. Flynn is a bit of a show-off and never passes up a chance to show his stuff (especially in front of ladies he finds particularly attractive). He's also best friends with the founder of the Charrismatic Lords, One-Word Jack. Despite being prone to random bouts of arguments that have led to many towns crumbling to the ground, there's no doubt in the minds of any Arrcrobat or Charrismatic Lord that the two would come to each other's aid if there were ever a dire need.

...And no, it has not occurred to any of the Great Pirate Lords that the Arrcrobats are incredibly similar to ninjas in some very obvious aspects.

Attribute Scores: Arrcrobats are agile by nature and will logically want Agility to be a high score. Arrcrobats also use Precision primarily for their crazy attacks.

Level 1:

Daredevil Spirit
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Even the most basic Arrcrobat knows that a spirit of adventure and fun is key to victory. Where most men see a rope, Arrcrobats see an opportunity for greatness. Arrcrobats with this Ability get a +2 to their agility for the purposes of acrobatic stunts and death-defying acts.

Slippery Frame
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Arrcrobats are masters at avoiding capture, but should they find themselves tied up or held hostage, there's no need to fear. The Arrcrobat will use his thin frame and flexibility to get out. The Arrcrobat with this Ability gains a +2 to escape his capture. Whether it's being tied up by rope, held down by a group of guards, or shoved in a prison. As long as there is SOME opening, the Arrcrobat gets this bonus (no bonus if he's locked in a CLOSED safe).

Wind in Yer Sails
Pirate 1
Cost: 2
An incredibly swift strike that Arrcrobats can do in the blink of an eye even if they started out doing a different attack. The Wind in Yer Sails has two extraordinary abilities. First, the Arrcrobat can do this attack so fast that he can do it without planning. This attack may ALWAYS be substituted for the attack ability the Arrcrobat chose that round. Second, if the Arrcrobat is interrupted by someone with a higher initiative, he can interrupt their turn as soon as they declare their move action and hit them with this attack. This attack does 5 damage.

Watch Yer' Step
Pirate 1
Cost: 2
Arrcrobats use their unpredictable style to catch their opponents off guard in ANY situation. This attack lands at a -2 to precision and does 5 damage, but if it hits, it also puts the opponent at a -1 agility until his next action.


Level 2:

Stamp On the Ground
Pirate 2
Cost: 6
There's always a flaw in the terrain. Whether it's a loose board, a tangling vine, or a small hole in the ground. The Arrcrobat knows how to abuse the terrain to his advantage. By spending his attack action, the Arrcrobat can shuffle his foot and roll precision at a -6 to hit. If he manages to hit, the opponent trips and loses his or her entire next turn. Any active buffs to rolls to dodge are negated until the next turn as well.

Tumblin' Fool
Pirate 2
Cost: Passive
Arrcrobats are master tumblers and can move past even the most impenetrable defense. The Master Arrcrobat spins and turns through even the thickest crowd. Arrcrobats that have mastered this ability can move through non-ally squares as if they were unoccupied. Normally, opponents must move around their enemy's squares. This ability also allows Arrcrobats to move through crowds at normal speed.

Improvised Master
Pirate 2
Cost: Passive
Arrcrobats are NEVER unarmed. If an ability calls for a weapon of some kind, the Arrcrobat can quickly fashion one out of a nearby object. As long as the object used fulfills the basic function of the weapon in question, the Arrcrobat can use it without penalty.

Off the Walls
Pirate 2
Cost: 1
A rather quick and potent attack. Whenever the Arrcrobat is next to a physical wall, he can use the wall to bound off for a moderately powerful strike. This attack does 10 damage.

Egg Em' On
Pirate 2
Cost: Passive
Arrcrobats are masters of taunting and egging on their foes. When an opponent tries to hit an Arrcrobat, they have to put extra effort into it. Sometimes, this can tire the foe out all the faster. Whenever any attack misses an Arrcrobat, the opponent loses an additional point of life from the attack.


Level 3:

Whoopsie!
Pirate 3
Cost: 8
Arrcrobats are masters of misdirection and can often appear to be where they are not. With a quick side-step, an enemy can be brought to hit a target he did not expect. Whenever the Arrcrobat is attacked and missed, he may use this Ability instead to switch places with an adjacent person. He can also use this ability automatically on willing allied units without the need to dodge. The attack instead attacks the replaced unit.

Run and Gun
Pirate 3
Cost: 2
Arrcrobats are always on the move and can be bother to stop to attack. Arrcrobats that use this ability can focus to attack in the middle of a move action and continue the rest of their move action as if they had not attacked.

The Chandelier Trick
Pirate 3
Cost: 6
The most circumstantial move in the entire Arrcrobat's arsenal, and yet, almost none of them can resist learning it. As everyone knows, if there's a weighted object on the end of a rope or string. All an Arrcrobat needs is to cut the rope and use the object to propell him upwards while the object comes crashing down. This ability can only be used when there is an object of at least 50 pounds suspended by a rope or string. When used, this attack will hit anyone directly under the object at a -2 to their dodge. The Arrcrobat will also go sky-rocketing towards the original location of the object. This attack does 25 damage.

Do-see-do!
Pirate 3
Cost: 6
Arrcrobats can use ANYTHING as a weapon. This includes their allies. Whenever an adjacent ally attacks with a melee attack, the Arrcrobat can use his delayed turn to grab the ally by the ankles and swing them at the opponent. This causes the ally's attack to go off at a +2 to hit and a +10 to damage. Arrcrobats can also just use an ally as a weapon without the attack. This attack only does 10 damage and has no bonus to damage, but it's hilarious. The Arrcrobats Body score must be at least HALF of the Body score of the person he is trying to swing.

Use What You Have!
Pirate 3
Cost: 7
A common mantra among Arrcrobats. The Arrcrobats love to use their surroundings and anything on hand to cause mayhem. When an Arrcrobat uses this ability, they pick up a random item in the scene and break it against their foes. This attack does 15 damage and can have a range of up to twice the Arrcrobat's body score.


Level 4:

Feint and Switch
Pirate 4
Cost: 8
An Arrcrobat favorite, the Feint and Switch revolves around quick hands and trickery. When ever the Arrcrobat attacks, he can apply this trick to his attack. By pretending to aim at one target and switching to another target in range, he manages to catch two opponents off guard. The Arrcrobat gets a +2 bonus to his attack, while the opponent that was feinted (ie. Not attacked) staggers a bit and suffers a -2 to his dodge from every other attack until the end of the round.

The High Ground +1
Pirate 4
Cost: Passive
The Arrcrobat can balance on anything. There's no terrain that's difficult for him to move on. Anytime an Arrcrobat ends up on difficult terrain that he can physically stand on (ie. Not water or lava), he suffers no effects from the terrain. Furthermore, the Arrcrobat has a +1 on all combat rolls against someone on such terrain.

Backflip Back Kick
Pirate 4
Cost: 10
The Arrcrobat has master a tricky little attack where he flips over an opponent in Melee and hits them on their exposed backside. When using this attack, the Arrcrobat moves through the opponent and 20 damage with agility used as the roll to hit.

Give it Another Shot!
Pirate 4
Cost: 10
Arrcrobats are masters at goading their foes and irritating them to the point of bad decisions. The Arrcrobat with this move can, at any time they have not attacked that round and have been missed by an attack, spend their attack action to immediately force the opponent that missed them to use the same attack again against them. If the attack comes with an awesome point cost that the user cannot pay, the user attempts to pay for the attack as best as they can and the attack fails to go off. Unconscious people can not be goaded into attacking again.



Level 5:

Rollin' Thunder
Pirate 5
Cost: 15
A very potent and potentially dangerous attack. The Arrcrobat uses his momentum and death defying stunts to channel damage directly into his attack. This attack can be activated when the Arrcrobat makes some kind of death defying feat where he moves at least 10 feet (Whether it's swinging on a rope, being shot out of a cannon, or diving from 100 feet up). This damage does 5 damage for every 2 squares the Arrcrobat moves in that round. The Arrcrobat can only apply this up to his move speed. So, a 10 agility Arrcrobat can move 20 squares in a turn, or do 50 damage with this attack if he moves the full distance. This attack need not be a straight line, but there should be some kind of continuous motion that keeps the Arrcrobat at full speed (swinging on a rope or running across walls work. Jumping directly off a wall and switching directions doesn't work). If this attack misses, the Arrcrobat takes half the damage he would have dealt (round down). The raw damage of Rolling Thunder is capped at 100 damage.

Fleetfoot Barrage
Pirate 5
Cost: 20
Invented by the infamous Jonas Fleetfoot, this is an attack that rivals the Rolling Thunder in damage output. By applying this attack, the Arrcrobat can let forth a barrage of quick acrobatic assaults. This ability allows an Arrcrobat to make a number of attacks up to his Agility score. For every 2 attacks he takes after the first, the Arrcrobat suffers a -1 to accuracy on all the attacks (up to a -4 at 9 attacks). Roll Precision to hit. Roll for every attack and, for every attack that hits, the Arrcrobat does 10 damage. Any abilities that augment an attack have to be spent on every extra attack they want to augment.

Man of Awesome
Pirate 5
Cost: Passive
A favorite of Two-Eyed Pete himself. This isn't so much an attack as a philosophy. Dare to be Daring. Dare to be stupid. Those that risk it all are rewarded. Every time the Arrcrobat gets an Awesome point from an amazing stunt done during an attack, the Arrcrobat does 5 extra damage on the attack for each Awesome point he earned (so up to 20 extra damage).

One Man Double Team
Cost: 20
Pirate 5
The Arrcrobat has learned to move at such blinding speeds that he can appear to be in more than one place at once. When attacking an opponent with this attack, the Arrcrobat appears on both sides of an opponent and does 30 damage using his agility as the roll to hit. For the purposes of this attack and any additional abilities, the Arrcrobat is considered to be 2 people and flanking, but does not count as an extra person towards the Kurosawa corollary. This attack can not be interrupted by a higher reaction.

CarpeGuitarrem
2009-11-06, 04:10 PM
This is awesome. Filled with awesome. You rock. The system is very nice, and the setting is fluffalicious/flufftastic/fluffsome. :smallbiggrin:

Dairun Cates
2009-11-06, 04:37 PM
Glad you and Corporate M like it.

I forgot to put this above, but part of my research for this system is to ask people what they'd like to be able to do as a Ninja, Pirate, or Wanderer. There's
a lot of wonderful little jokes and references I can make with these, and the more abilities I add in, the better. But I'm only human. People often have ideas that I don't think of or forgot.

The Secret of the Eye Patch Ability is actually a recommendation of one of my professors, and he also contributed the inspiration from one of the more interesting Gunnar skills (Let's you go always go first on the first turn of combat).

So, any fighting styles, abilities, monsters, techniques, etc you'd like to be able to do if you ever played this game?

Dairun Cates
2009-11-06, 07:45 PM
This one might need some more fleshing out later, but they have some hilariously powerful passive and active abilities... If you can get one to teach you. Bet you'll never mess with NPCs again.

The Craftsmen:
Summary: Craftsmen are the shopkeeps and artisans of Ninjas vs. Pirates. While their ability trees are not forbidden from being taken by PCs, they are primarily designed to be an NPC class. Still, as has already been mentioned, everyone is amazing at something in Pirates vs. Ninjas, and the beloved artisans are no exceptions.

High Level Artisans can craft goods of mythical calibur. Even the most mundane items can become indestructible in the hands of a Craftsman. Craftsmen also hold the near supernatural ability to become combat monstrosities in their own store/forge/workshop.

History: An ancient order of artisans that have been around since the beginning of the Wanderers and some say even longer. The Craftsmen hold a considerable amount of clout and respect with Pirates, Ninjas, and Wanderers alike. This might have something to do with the fact that 90% of the world's manufactured goods are made by the Craftsmen. Without them, the economy (and the world, by extension) would just crash.

So, there's an obvious ceasefire on Craftsmen. Not that there needed to be one. Annoying one Craftsmen annoys them all. They are a tight knit group and don't take attacks on their ilk lightly. Anyone who steals from a Craftsmen shopkeep will very likely find themselves without any way of purchasing goods for the next 100 years.

There is no current leader of the Craftsmen. Their structure is much more similar to some secret societies that try to control the world, and some even believe that that's what they are. Regardless, every Craftsman and woman is a welcome member to a benevolent brotherhood.

Craftsmen do keep apprentices to teach their craft to. Whatever secrets the Craftsmen know about the world, they don't teach to their apprentices until they become full-blown masters though. So, no use bribing them for market secrets.

All Craftsmen, apprentices and masters, keep the Craftsmen emblem embossed on some article of clothing or item that identifies them. This isn't so much for bragging as a warning to anyone that wishes to trifle with the Craftsmen.

Attribute Scores: Precision is an absolute must for a Craftsmen. The process of crafting is a very delicate endeavor, and a slight mistake can destroy a project that has taken weeks to craft. Craftsmen also enjoy a fair share on the Body stat. Being able to lift and move workshop items is handy. Although, there are always assistants for that. Will is also common for the ability to barter for a fair price.

Level 1:

Trade Secret
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
Every Craftsmen knows a trade and knows its secrets. It's necessary for making an excellent product. Any Craftsmen that takes Trade Secret has a specific trade they focus in. Woodwork, Metallurgy, Armor-smithing, Weapon-smithing, etc. The Craftsman picks one and takes a +2 to all checks involving that trade. If a Craftsman wants more than one trade, he will need to take this Ability multiple times.

Jury Rig
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
Craftsmen aren't just crafters, they're crafty. Even with the minimal required objects, a craftsmen can make a functioning item. While it is mundane in nature, it should still do the job. Items made this way will inevitably fall apart and need to be replaced. Items will still need some kind of rationale on how they're made (it doesn't matter if McGuyver could do it, you'll need to tell me how you made a sword out of a plastic cup and a rubber band).

Appraiser's Eye
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
Craftsmen have an eye for quality and admire a fellow Craftsman's handiwork. They cannot be fooled by some smart mouth thief looking to make a quick buck. Craftsmen gain a +2 on all checks to identity the overall quality and worth of any idea they can admire up close for at least a minute. This bonus increases by an extra +1 if the object has the Craftsmen's seal on it, since they've undoubtedly seen the technique before.

The Debt Collector
Wanderer 1
Cost: 2
The Wanderers take their debts seriously and do not take it lightly when someone does not pay them. When the Craftsmen is attacking a person who specifically has a bounty on his head from the Craftsmen guild for oustanding debts unpaid, the Craftsmen can punch this person in the head for 15 damage.


Level 2:

Indestructible Quality
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Craftsmen can make objects that just won't be destroyed. When a Craftsmen with this ability makes an object within his trade and is given at least a decent version of a workshop, the object becomes indestructible to anything but artifact weaponry. This includes anything an artisan would make. A carpenter can literally make a house that won't catch fire with chairs that won't break.

Firm Handshake
Wander 2
Cost: Passive
No matter who you are, you would be a fool to double-cross a Craftsman. They know how to enforce their deals. Whenever anyone makes a deal with a Craftsman with this ability and shakes on it, that deal becomes a fact. The Craftsman WILL deliver on his end, and the other end better be damned sure it delivers on its end. If anyone breaks such an agreement with a Craftsman, the Craftsman uses his network of Craftsmen to track someone down. As long as they are in a civilized region, the Craftsman can and will find them. Travel time is the only expense. Furthermore, characters that willing break this deal will be abandoned by the fates themselves and be at a cumulative -1 to all rolls against anyone that respects the Craftsmen. Finally, a Craftsmen with the Level 5 skill Infinite Sword Jobs treats any location where the deal-breaker can be found as his home location. This drops if the Craftsmen gets his end of the bargain or drops the grudge.

Fatal Flaw
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Some Craftsmen make weapons of incredible power. In order to ensure that these weapons don't fall in the wrong hands, they leave intentional flaws in their work that can destroy their work if it needs to. Craftsmen with this ability can destroy any item they created with a simple touch.

Calloused Hands
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Wanderers are tough artisans that have to get their hands constantly dirty. Their hands tell the tale of a life of hard work. Their hands are tough. Because of this, Craftsmen with this ability do 1 extra damage on all attacks that use the Craftsmen's bare hands. Also, if somehow an opponent chooses to attack a Craftsmen's hands, then their hands also have 1 extra DR for the purpose of the attack.


Level 3:

The Commonwealth
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
Craftsmen take care of their friends and fellow Craftsmen. Craftsmen with this ability have spent their time with their fellow Craftsmen and earned their trust. This ability ensures that a Craftsmen will never go poor or out of business except in extreme cases. Should a Craftsmen find himself without any money or resources, the guild will keep him on his feet. Effectively, characters with this ability, will never go poor, without drinks, or find themselves without a bed to sleep in. It may not be the best quality, but the Craftsmen also don't also skimp on what's necessary. The caveat is, of course, that Craftsmen with this ability will be expected to pay the Guild back someday in someway (but this usually means quests with loot for PCs), or to even help another Craftsmen in a time of need.

Hammer Meet Nail
Wanderer 3
Cost: 6
Much like Craftsmen know how to make an object well, they also know how to destroy it. Craftsmen with this ability make a hit at -2 to precision against items held by an enemy or Target Number 10 for stationary objects. If the object has not been made Indestructible by Indestructible Quality, it will be instantly destroyed in a manner of the Craftsmen's desire (ie. Fracture how he wishes). If it is Indestructible in Quality. It can still be destroyed, but it takes 3 successful hits at -2 to precision or a target number 15 for stationary objects. Artifacts cannot be destroyed in this manner.

Blue Collar Edge
Wanderer 3
Cost: 9
Beneath even the gentlest Craftsmen's demeanor lies the fangs of a cobra, read to strike. Craftsmen with this ability craft even their non-weapon items with hidden edges and points that can be used to harm a foe. When the Craftsmen attacks with ANY item they have created, they roll at a -2 to hit and do 20 damage. If the item is designed to be a weapon, remove the penalty to hit, but only do 15 damage. This attack can also be thrown up to twice the Craftsmen's body score (provided he or she can physically lift it and throw it). Needless to say, the Craftsmen will need to pick up the object before using it again.


Level 4:

Find The Seam
Wanderer 4
Cost: 8
Everything has a flaw. Even the best Craftsmen items. Craftsmen are excellent at finding flaws in anything. When a craftsmen uses this ability with another attack, this ability negates ANY and ALL reduction of damage that player currently has. This includes personal abilities, Natural damage reduction from armor and gadgets, and anything else that might reduce the potency of the blow.

One with the Materials
Wanderer 4
Cost: 3
Every Craftsman has a favorite material. Whether it is wood, iron, or fancy meteorite metal that only shows up once in a thousand years. The Craftsmen that takes this ability picks such a material, and has such an intimate understanding of it that he can push it beyond its limits. As long as the Craftsmen is wielding a weapon made of this material, he can activate this ability on any attack to increase its damage by 5. If he is instead wearing an object made of the material, he can use this ability to reduce the damage by 5 on an attack. He makes this decision AFTER the attack hits.

Armor Shattering Blow
Wanderer 4
Cost: 8
Craftsmen have realized one truly horrific truth. Armor can only save you from those that don't know its secrets. When a craftsmen with this ability hits a foe with armor on (defined as anything that gives any damage reduction that does not use the target's own natural physical form to give it) the Craftsmen crumples the armor and the force causes the attack to do extra damage. Treat as a melee attack that does 30 damage. This attack does not damage those without armor.


Level 5:

Infinite Sword Jobs
Wanderer 5
Cost: 20
Craftsmen are NOT to be trifled with in their store or forge. Many Pirates and Ninjas have learned this lesson the hard way thanks to Infinite Sword Jobs. This ability takes an attack action and does nothing on the turn it is activated. However, on the next turn, the effects of this ability activate and last until the end of battle. A Craftsmen's forge is his home turf. He has mastered it. This ability gives +4 to all combat skill checks and a permanent 5 Damage reduction for the Craftsmen for the entire battle. Finally, no one can escape the Forge by any means while the Craftsmen has this ability up unless he wishes to let them. Only an artifact of great power can break this rule. This ability will only go down before the end of the battle if the Craftsmen is knocked unconscious or decides to let it drop.

Made for Me
Wanderer 5
Cost: Passive
This isn't so much an ability as a pact between a man and his master work. When a Craftsmen takes this ability, he has created an object specifically for his own hand. This object is perfect for him, and gives a permanent +2 to appropriate rolls as long as he wields it. It does not give the bonus to anyone else. If it is a weapon, it gives +2 to hit to attacks that use that specific weapon. If it is clothing, it gives a +2 to dodge. If it is a chair, it gives a +2 to comfiness and beating drunken jackasses within an inch of their life. A GM might also approve a extraordinary special ability in the case of special items that don't work. A suit of armor might give 2 permanent Damage reduction, a gem of power might give a permenant +2 to damage on a weapon it's embedded in, or a pair of shoes might give the user 50% more move speed. Objects with this ability applied to it are also treated as having the "Indestructible Quality" ability on them.

Godcraft
Wanderer 5
Cost: Passive
While no one knows where all artifacts come from a good portion of them can be traced to the Craftsmen guild. The most talented and trained craftsmen are capable of making artifacts of great power. However, this is a VERY time consuming effort. When a Craftsmen takes this ability, he gains 1 craft point a week. He or she also gains 1 craft point after every game session. A Craftsmen can then create artifacts out of the item abilities listed in the item abilities section. Calculate the cost of the item as twice the total levels of the item abilities involved. If the item is consumable and gives the abilities permenantly, it costs 4 times the total levels instead. GMs may choose to restrict higher level abilities or force the Craftsmen to find rare ingredients to make the item.

Artifact Shattering Blow
Wanderer 5
Cost: 20
The Craftsmen can create, and the Craftsmen can destroy. The Craftsmen with this ability destroys an item in a violent attack of pure destruction. This can destroy all but the most powerful artifacts. Take the total level of the abilities on the item. This attack does 10 damage for each level of ability. If the attack hits, the item is destroyed, otherwise, the item stay intact. If an item does not have abilities, this attack cannot be used. The Craftsmen must be wielding or using the item to destroy it (he or she cannot use this attack on the weapon the opponent is wielding without stealing it first).

Forevernade
2009-11-06, 08:50 PM
Very cool and well thought out!
I will probably play a variant of this later - keep up the good work!

Jolly Steve
2009-11-06, 10:50 PM
It's difficult to give feedback without having the question and the marking criteria.

(if you have posted them then :smallredface:).

Isak
2009-11-07, 01:27 AM
I LOVE this.

I might have to talk my group into trying it someday! Can't wait to see more of the factions put up!

chiasaur11
2009-11-07, 01:52 AM
Looks good, but I have to ask:

How would you stat out Dr. McNinja in this system?

Dairun Cates
2009-11-07, 03:51 AM
It's difficult to give feedback without having the question and the marking criteria.

(if you have posted them then :smallredface:).

I kinda have. I more want general feedback on the system in general. While I haven't gotten everything up yet, there should be a general idea of how the system runs. Also, I love ideas for new abilities. So, to reiterate it in the form of two sets of questions:

1. How do you like the system? Is it easy to understand? Are there enough options, too many, too little? Do the abilities feel mostly balanced (some will look better when I introduce other ones like the Craftmen's ability to break Damage Reduction, but whether they look balanced is still insightful)? Are the abilities interesting? Is there enough role-playing fluff to the setting to get you interested and excited about it?

2. What would you want to be able to do as a Ninja, Pirate, or Wanderer? What would you want to fight? What kind of themes would you like to see (cliches of the respective genres)?

I want to make this pretty expansive, and I haven't written out the entire world and it's factions yet. So now's a good way to get ideas in.


Looks good, but I have to ask:

How would you stat out Dr. McNinja in this system?

Well, he's hardly an amateur. So, you wouldn't be getting a full McNinja at the beginning. You'd want to focus in Precision and Will since his strong suits seem to be mental over physical. Although, all of his attribute are far from bad. So, he'd probably come out EVENTUALLY (ie. By the end of a long campaign) at something like a:

Body: 5
Agility: 5

Precision: 7
Will: 6

As for abilities. He'd probably split between the Hitinja abilities and the abilities for Medical ninja (which I haven't thought of a name or a faction summary for, but they're the next in planning and have some cool abilities I've planned that are right up the Doc's alley). The rest is role-playing, getting a Wanderer Cowboy sidekick, taming a Gorilla as a secretary, hiring a colorist, and riding the first dinosaur you see.

Although, thanks for indirectly reminding me to include Cowboys.

Oh, and Shamrock Shurikens would have to be a custom technique invented by the player.

Edit: This does also show me that I might need to lower the cost on raising attributes a bit. While the lower end scores aren't too bad, the higher end ones takes too long. Assuming you started with the 6 and 7 from your starting points, it would take 76 experience points to raise the stats to what they're required. With those kinds of points, you could buy all the techniques of most factions. So, I either need to lower costs a bit or rethink how many points you should get a session.

Jolly Steve
2009-11-07, 06:03 AM
I kinda have.

I had another look and I still couldn't find it :smalleek:


I more want general feedback on the system in general.

It'd be close to impossible to give useful feedback without knowing anything about the course. Is it game design? Creative writing? Something else? Do you have to write a pen-and-paper RPG? Any game? Any non-computer game? Are the people who mark it going to be familiar with RPGs and the 'pirates vs ninjas' meme?

Mangles
2009-11-07, 07:18 AM
Just suggesting an ability here for your drunkard. Since he would have a lot of rum on him (probably anyway) some sort of area affect fire damage as he pours the rum on himself and lights himself up and punches ninjas. Everyone knows ninjas can't get you if your on fire!

Dairun Cates
2009-11-07, 02:12 PM
It'd be close to impossible to give useful feedback without knowing anything about the course. Is it game design? Creative writing? Something else? Do you have to write a pen-and-paper RPG? Any game? Any non-computer game? Are the people who mark it going to be familiar with RPGs and the 'pirates vs ninjas' meme?

I was actually more going with the fact that you should forget that I'm doing this for a grade. My studies are actually in interactive design and game theory. The class is on the history of role-playing games and their evolution. So, yes. This is exactly the assignment. Make a fully functional tabletop RPG that's at least 20 pages long (but I'm a grad student. So, the expectation are a bit longer for me), and this thing's probably going to be WAY longer when its finished.

Even if it weren't, I'd still be doing this though. I've been planning it for a while. This way, I just have a bit of a deadline to get some of it done. This might even be something I release to the public someday, or use as the basis for something I will release to the public. I've got a friend in intellectual property law, and I know generally what I need to do for that kind of release. I've even already got minor expansions in mind for the system.

So, the questions I'm asking literally are the merits of the system itself. The questions I listed are what I'd generally like to be answered. I want to know what you thing of the system as an RPG on the whole and what kind of abilities you'd like to have or places you'd like to go in a world like this one.

I'm just asking for some minor ideas really. I've started working on entire factions because of 1 sentence someone told me before. So, I really do get a lot of input out of even minor statements like "I want a peg leg" or "I want to kill a giant crab with a musical number".

Short version: Ignore the fact that this is technically a school assignment. He expects me to do a little beta-testing. Let me worry about things on the school end. I already have enough written down to ace this assignment.


Just suggesting an ability here for your drunkard. Since he would have a lot of rum on him (probably anyway) some sort of area affect fire damage as he pours the rum on himself and lights himself up and punches ninjas. Everyone knows ninjas can't get you if your on fire!

Would you believe I already had this planned?

Krazddndfreek
2009-11-07, 04:11 PM
Just wondering, its supposed to be nigh impossible to have a 10 in an ability. Or at least in RP terms, right? But you have 16 points to distribute amongst your ability scores in the beginning allowing for people to have an array that looks like this:

Body: 1
Agility: 10
Precision: 4
Will: 1

So you could start out with 10 in one and have either average in all your other stats or above average in one. Seems a little bit wrong there. Maybe you could make higher ability score buys more expensive? Or even make a starting cap as well (6 seems like a good number). Or you could just lower the amount of starting points, 12 could be good in this respect, because as long as you have to have at least one, the highest you could get in any score is nine. Although, in RP terms, this is kind of awkward and you could end up with all of your players doing that.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-07, 05:53 PM
Just wondering, its supposed to be nigh impossible to have a 10 in an ability. Or at least in RP terms, right? But you have 16 points to distribute amongst your ability scores in the beginning allowing for people to have an array that looks like this:

Body: 1
Agility: 10
Precision: 4
Will: 1

So you could start out with 10 in one and have either average in all your other stats or above average in one. Seems a little bit wrong there. Maybe you could make higher ability score buys more expensive? Or even make a starting cap as well (6 seems like a good number). Or you could just lower the amount of starting points, 12 could be good in this respect, because as long as you have to have at least one, the highest you could get in any score is nine. Although, in RP terms, this is kind of awkward and you could end up with all of your players doing that.

That build would also have 20 Life points and a mere average +4 to hit. Furthermore, using most attacks for a few turns would literally knock you unconscious. Switch the 4 over to a body score, and you'd have 50 hp, but you'd almost never hit anything. Yes, it's entirely intentional that you can start with a 10 in a stat. It's generally a really bad idea. Sure, you can spend your first oh... 24 experience points to raise your other scores to average, but that's 24 also leaves you with a nice 6 points left over to actually buy abilities. So... Enjoy your 1 level 3 ability.

Anyone with any mildly accurate ability to is going to hit you after a few tries and knock you out in one blow.

Compare to someone who chose to take a mere 8 in their favorite ability. With an 8, 4, 2, 2.

That character has double the Life points of the previous one and double the staying power. The statistics for them to dodge also go down, but not by 50%.

Also, as mentioned, a 2 is below average. It's not average. So, the character you proposed blacks out from drinking apple juice and couldn't convince the average peasant that the sky is blue.

I'd also like to point out that there are abilities that use your will score as the attack stat and defense. So, your dodgey ninja still gets 1 shot by just about ANY Feykinja.

There might need to be tweaking to the cost for attribute gains (since it is pretty cheap to raise low one but expensive to raise high ones), but having a 10 in something at the beginning is not a Gift from God and nowhere near optimum.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-09, 04:38 PM
The Hitinja:
Summary: One of the few remaining schools before the advent of the many schools of Ellipsis. The Hitinja are master assassins with perfect perception and precision. While they lack some of the flashy moves of other schools, the Hitinja make up for it with pure skill. If a Hitinja can't hit it, it can't be hit.

High Level Hitinja can hit objects with absolutely brutal accuracy at insane ranges.

History: The Hitinja are one of the oldest schools in the Ninja arts. Some even whisper of rumors that the Hitinja have existed since the dawn of time. Despite not being one of the schools founded by him, Ellipsis spent a considerable amount of time at the school's head branch and with the current Grand Master, Blade of the Infinitesimal. Some even say that Blade has heard the voice of Ellipsis. Although, if it were true, he'd never admit to it.

The Hitinja, being as old as they are, hold on tightly to their code of honor as Ninjas. While they still kill public figures in their sleep for money like all Ninjas, the Hitinja believe heavily in honoring jobs they've been hired to do even in the face of certain death. Hitinjas will also avoid attacking lesser opponents if they can avoid it. Finally, Hitinjas avoid involving innocent bystanders in their jobs.

While most ninja vaguely try to follow these rules as guidelines, the Hitinja take it to heart. While they prefer not to, a true Hitinja would rather work with an honest pirate, than a corrupt Ninja.

Hitinja are not stupid though. Being some of the most perceptive ninjas, Hitinja are also some of the smartest. Without massively damaging abilities or the ability to dodge as well as the Evadinja, the Hitinja need it.

Attribute Scores: Hitinja require a high precision score. Everything they do relies on their ability to hit things as precisely as possible. Everything else is fair game for the Hitinja. Although, like a lot of ninja, they prefer agility over body and will.

Level 1:

Keenest Eye
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Hitinja are immensely perceptive by nature. In order to hit something, they must know every detail about it. Hitinja with this ability get a +2 to Precision to notice small details. Hidden doors, slight defects in the surface of a coin, painting forgeries, or even mundane disguises. This doesn't help them spot enemy stealth checks.

Precise Cut
Ninja 1
Cost: 2
Hitinja are accurate. Even their most basic swings of their swords help them eviscerate their foes. This basic attack does 5 damage and hits at a +2 to precision.

Deadly Slice
Ninja 1
Cost: 2
Hitinja sometimes have to sacrifice accuracy for power to cut through their foes armor with their sword. This attack hits at a -4 to hit but hits for 15 damage.


Level 2:

Delaying Fall
Ninja 2
Cost: 4
A clever trick the Hitinja like to use. Hitinja can hit objects with such razor sharp attacks that the universe does not realize the object has taken damage yet. The Hitinja can delay the effect of an attack as long as he or she can perceive the target in some manner. For opponents, this means a delay of damage. For objects like trees, this means a delay before they fall.

Thread the Needle
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Hitinja are masters at throwing. A tiny hole is like a giant gaping chasm to them. As long as the projectile can fit through the hole the Hitinja is trying to throw it through, the Hitinja can throw any object through as size hole as if it weren't even there.

Nowhere to Run
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Hitinja can see for much farther than their other ninja brethren and keep their accuracy at insane distances. Hitinja with this ability double the range of any thrown or ranged attacks.

Nowhere to Hide
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Hitinja can find a way to get around cover. Even if it requires ludicrous arcs of attacks that require complex trigonometry. Normally, if an opponent is covered by another object, you cannot hit that opponent without firing through the object or getting a different angle. As long as there is some angle that the Hitinja could see the opponent with a clear line of sight from (ie. Not in a concealed box), the Hitinja ignores any such effects of cover.

Vital Distraction
Ninja 2
Cost: 3
Hitinja are masters at exposing weakspots, but forcing their foes to block their attacks, the Hitinja leaves an opening for his or her allies. The Hitinja attempts to distract at opponent at a -2 to precision. If they hit, all attacks against that target until his or her next action will do 5 extra damage.

Eight Slain In One Stroke
Ninja 2
Cost: 7
The Hitinja are Deadly assassins that can destroy multiple foes at once. In one lightning swing the Hitinja hits all enemies surrounding him at a -2 to hit for 10 damage. Furthermore, the quickness of this attack causes a brief moment of blurred vision in the victims and gives a -1 to precision until the end of turn to all targets it hits.


Level 3:

Pierce the Veil
Ninja 3
Cost: 3/turn
Hitinja have sharp eyes and can see through even the darkest night. By focusing their energies, nothing can darken their vision. This technique allows Hitinja to see through ALL darkness. While less efficient than the Pirate's technique Secret of the Patch, this has the advantage of not causing an external -1 precision penalty.

Horizon Throw
Ninja 3
Cost: 8
While the art of throwing a knife or kunai is nothing magical, the Hitinja has taken it to impossible perfection and beauty and can throw it farther and with more accuracy than anyone else. This attack does 15 damage and has a range of 50 squares with no penalty to accuracy for distance.

Point Blank Measures
Ninja 3
Cost: Passive
Hitinja are masters of accuracy. Anyone dumb enough to get close to a Hitinja soon learns their true prowess. Hitinja with this ability have a +1 to precision rolls to hit opponents with ranged attacks as long as they are within 3 squares.

Breathe and Focus
Ninja 3
Cost: 8
Hitinjas can take their time to aim to become even more accurate than they already are. By standing completely still and taking a -2 to dodge for the remainder of the turn, a Hitinja can gain a +4 to precision for his attacks during the round.


Level 4:

Fate-bending Slice
Ninja 4
Cost: 8
One of the more deadly attacks in the Hitinja's arsenal. This attack hits all but the most dodgy foes. This melee attack rolls to hit at a +4 to accuracy and does 10 damage.

100 Tiny Needles
Ninja 4
Cost: 8
The Hitinja knows the bodies of his opponent and knows where to hit for the most damage, even with the smallest object. The Hitinja throws a barrage of poisonous needles equal to double his Precision score as one attack. The needles can be split amongst any number of viable targets in range. Each needle does 1 damage that cannot be reduced by ANY damage reduction. This attack has a range of 10 squares.

1,000 Tiny Needles
Ninja 4
Cost: 10
As per the ability 100 Tiny Needles, but it hits every enemy in the 10 square attack range for half of the maximum number of needles (round up). This does not include allies.

Lord of Parries
Ninja 4
Cost: 8
The Hitinja often aren't the fastest ninja and just can't move their feet fast enough to dodge. So, to compensate, the Hitinja developed a technique of perfect parrying that would allow them to overcome this deficiency. When a Hitinja activates this abilities, he uses his effective precision score -2 instead of his agility to dodge. While this isn't exactly effective for small attacks, this ability is greatly effective at surviving one big attack or numerous little ones.


Level 5:

1,000,000 Tiny Needles
Ninja 5
Cost: 20
Named after the Hitinja master, Tiny Needles. As per the 1,000 Tiny Needles ability, but it does a number of needles equal to double their precision score, and hits every enemy within 30 squares of the attacker.

Infinitesimal Blade
Ninja 5
Cost: 2 Awesome Points and 30 Life
The technique invented by Blade of the Infinitesimal, and a technique that ALL who know of it fear greatly. The Hitinja that learns this attack becomes so accurate as to know how to take down ANY foe in 1 hit regardless of size or power. It's even said that when Master Blade does this technique, he can cut between the atoms that make up the individual he is attacking. This attack resolves at a -6 to precision to hit. If this attack hits, the opponent gets to make a body check equal to the precision roll to not instantaneously fall down to 0 Life (or die in a Death Duel). If Awesome points are used to make this instantly hit, treat the roll as if the player had rolled a 12 on the dice for the sake of the Body check.

The Cost of Power
Ninja 5
Cost: 2 Life per 5 damage per attack
This isn't so much a technique as an extension of the Hitinja's natural ability. By focusing his accuracy into the power of his swing, the Hitinja can hit his opponent for even more damage by aiming for his vital points. For every -1 to precision the Hitinja voluntarily takes on a damaging attack that require precision to hit he adds 5 damage to the attack. This can take an attack down to a 1 to hit minimum. When applied to multiple hit attacks like 100 tiny needles the -1 only adds the damage to one attack but applies to all of them. This cannot be used on auto hits like awesome point expenditure or the Ellipsis Swing.

The Ellipsis Swing
Ninja 5
Cost: 2 Awesome Points and 20 Life
A very potent technique that emulates the attacking style of Ellipsis himself. Only taught to Blade of the Infinitesimal and a few worthy students. While not as powerful as the actual attack by Ellipsis himself, this attack NEVER misses. Do not roll to hit with this attack. Assume it hits. You can spend an awesome point to make this a critical hit. This attack does 10 Damage.

CarpeGuitarrem
2009-11-10, 08:19 PM
Two things that might be interesting to incorporate...

Samurai: they're the sworn enemies of ninjas, and they are probably on not-too-great terms with pirates either. It would be fun to see abilities that key against both of them.

Monks: or some sort of martial-arts master, maybe exiled ninjas or reformed pirates could come into this group.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-11, 12:14 AM
Two things that might be interesting to incorporate...

Samurai: they're the sworn enemies of ninjas, and they are probably on not-too-great terms with pirates either. It would be fun to see abilities that key against both of them.

Monks: or some sort of martial-arts master, maybe exiled ninjas or reformed pirates could come into this group.

Monks: Kinda covered with Drunken Masters

Samurai: Planning it for later. Possible expansion. Pirates gets Vikings to compensate.

Ichneumon
2009-11-11, 01:19 AM
I like this a lot. The idea is fun and well thought through. I love the way you have include the "1 ninja is stronger than 10 ninjas"-thing.

Forevernade
2009-11-11, 06:41 AM
Monks: Kinda covered with Drunken Masters

Samurai: Planning it for later. Possible expansion. Pirates gets Vikings to compensate.

Oh no.... Vikings are a different team to Pirates, they don't go hand in hand.
And Samurai aren't friends with ninjas either, they are a separate team.
COMPLETELY different... *mutter mutter*

Dairun Cates
2009-11-11, 02:40 PM
Oh no.... Vikings are a different team to Pirates, they don't go hand in hand.
And Samurai aren't friends with ninjas either, they are a separate team.
COMPLETELY different... *mutter mutter*

That's the point. Vague and minor alliances in the face of a greater enemy. Otherwise, I'd just make Samurai actual ninjas and vikings actual pirates.

But yeah. There's some key thematic differences.

Cracklord
2009-11-11, 03:02 PM
You should do some variation of templates. For instance:
Cannibal viking/ninja/pirate/samurai
cowoy viking/ninja/pirate/samurai

Also, there should be titles that give you abilities, earned through quests or whatever, that you can spend points on at specific circumstances. Sheriff, king, being knighted, even doctor or professor, and probably some variant of priest as well.

Yes, not really consistent, but think about how awesome a cannibal viking who also happens to be a sheriff would be. Or a Harvard professor cowboy ninja. Or a preacher samurai. Or a... well, you get the idea.

Incidentally, how would one create Sir Francis Drake, biggest pirate of them all?

Corporate M
2009-11-12, 01:09 PM
Oh no.... Vikings are a different team to Pirates, they don't go hand in hand.
And Samurai aren't friends with ninjas either, they are a separate team.
COMPLETELY different... *mutter mutter*
Samurai: Lawful stupid
Pirates: Chaotic stupid
Ninja: Neutral stupid

All we're missing is a good and evil stupid to complete the five color wheel. Possibly wizards (evil stupid) and priests (good stupid).

Monk would probably just be a subclass of priest. You know, if you don't want to heal all day.. Knight would also be a subpriest with more combat oriented abilities and could use slashing weapons. (AD&D joke..)

Samurai would have the weaboo.. err.. "oriental adventures" classes like shugenja and wujen as subclasses. Lawlz. It could get very complicated and resemble D&D too much over a freeform rpg. I think it's fine the way it is. Not that I would mind seeing an adventuring party of several different aligned characters. I'd be the samurai arguing I'm lawful because I stick to MY code. Not the code of the bushido, or the nation, or the church.. And give my kitty cat face when I lie, cheat, steal, and break my so called code cause I'll be like "my code says anything goes for me, but not for you cause you suck : 3"

IE: Evil becomes lawful when you just stick "code" and "honor" infront of everything. Thus probably being more of a ronin.. XP

Dairun Cates
2009-11-12, 03:45 PM
Incidentally, how would one create Sir Francis Drake, biggest pirate of them all?

Wait till I actually finish the Charrismatic Lords. While I haven't actually worked out ship combat yet, the Charrismatic Lords cover wise-cracking, politically-saavy, charismatic leaders quite nicely. The rest is really just making someone who's smarter than they are physical.


Various Miscellany.
Yeah. I'm REALLY avoid getting too bogged down here. I'm really trying for a fairly simple system that still has deep mechanics. Deviating too much really ruins the spirit of it.

The idea is to make ridiculous pirates and ninjas fight each other and have a nice middle ground in the wanderers. The focus really is on the Pirates and Ninjas with the Wanderers just being an option for someone who wants to remain neutral. Even the Wanderers fit well into the theme of ridiculous feats of mental, physical, and charismatic prowess.

Anything I've statted out here, I can really point out as a reference to something in Pirate or Ninja "literature" (films, books, anime, comics, etc.) with a few exceptions in the wanderers that were thrown in for flavor (The Luckies are such an example).

That's actually the major component of why I don't want to do Vikings and Samurai just yet. They've got their own films and genre, but they're actually quite different in a number of cases from Ninja and Pirate films (A little less in the case of samurai since the "ninja films" in question are usually Kurosawa). Adding them is a RATIONAL idea, but it also VASTLY changes the atmosphere by adding them. So, I kinda want to get this main universe down before I expand it.

Also, I'll probably be cutting a number of factions that don't fit in eventually for that exact reason (I'm already looking at cutting Mad Scientists and saving Cowboys for the Vikings vs. Samurai thing since they're practically a sub-genre of their own).

As for alignment, the reference to alignment was a mild tongue-in-cheek explanation mixed with a bit of understanding for D&D 3.5 people. Ninjas fit widely into the realm of Lawful, Pirates fit widely into the realm of chaotic, and Wanderers fit widely into the realm of Neutral. That doesn't mean you should use them as exact measures of behavior, and I definitely don't care about Good vs. Evil. This is a world of profiteers, politicians, great war heroes, and explorers. The line between good and evil is very vague in some cases. Evil shows up in every faction as often as good does, but 90% of people are mostly neutral.

Also, no Wizards. Ever.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-25, 05:22 AM
We're back, and with a semi-favorite of my own RP group, the Charrismatic Lords. This one's a rather fun one with a lot of abilities, but I think I'll need to revisit it tomorrow. Some of the abilities are crazy powerful and need some balancing, and there feels like there's something missing from this faction.

The Charrismatic Lords:
Summary: The Charrismatic Lords are almost blasphemers to the very laws of the universe. Despite the Kurosawa corollary, they use their allies to great effect. Whether it's bolstering their allies, coordinating their troops, or using the style's infamous Rapier Wit style to damage their foes with an insult, the Charrismatic Lords are great leaders that know there's danger in numbers.

High Level Charrismatic Lords can buff allies, debuff enemies, damage with their will scores, and even negate the Kurosawa corollary on some of their allies.

History: As previously mentioned, the Charrismatic Lords are one of the two factions formed in order to imitate the style of Two-Eyed Pete. While the Arrcrobats focus on agility and quick footwork, the Charrismatic Lords work on cunning and quick wit.

The Charrismatic Lords are a well-organized group of Pirate leaders with One-Word Jack as the head of all the Charrismatic Lords. One-Word Jack earned his named for his near supernatural ability to defeat powerful with a mere word. While still not as big of a show-off as Flynn, One-Word Jack still likes to go out of his way to impress the women he finds attractive. Instead of physical feats though, he uses his silver tongue to woo their hearts with words. Rollin' Flynn of the Arrcrobats is his best friend, and even though they argue constantly, their rivalry is merely a friendly one and would never escalate to violence.

Attribute Scores: A great leader should be well-balanced and not ignore any attribute, but most of all, he should be Charrismatic. Charrismatic Lords use their Will score to great use, whether it's to deliver rousing speeches or keep their men inspired. The Lords frequently have high precision scores to help them accurately perceive the situations and come up with a battle plan.

Level 1:

Tactical Genius
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Charrismatic Lords must know the ins and outs of Military tactics in order to compensate for their large numbers. The Charrismatic Lord with this skill gains a +2 to all checks to come up with and see through battlefield strategies.

On My Signal!
Pirate 1
Cost: 4
The Charrismatic Lords are excellent tacticians that can increase the competence of their crew. If a Charrismatic Lord sacrifices his move and attack actions for a turn, he can use this ability to give one ally that can hear him a +2 to all checks for the turn.

The Bull's Red Cape
Pirate 1
Cost: 2
Charrismatic Lords are excellent at antagonizing opponents. By using their attack action to use this ability, the Charrismatic Lord can force an opponent to make an opposed Will check. If the Charrismatic Lord wins, the opponent will be forced to attack the Charrismatic Lord until someone else hits the opponent. If the opponent was trying to run, they attack instead.

A Moment of Weakness
Pirate 1
Cost: 2
Charrismatic Lords can trick an opponent into attacking them all out and use that moment to their advantage. When a Charrismatic Lord with this ability is attacked, he can invoke it to give the opponent a +2 to precision for that attack. Essentially, this is the Charrismatic Lord leaving an opening. However, the opponent takes a -1 to their agility until their next action.

Ye Olde Mum Joke
Pirate 1
Cost: 1
Charrismatic Lords' insults are so potent to actually deal lethal damage. Charrismatic Lords that use this attack deal a scathing insult that deals half of their Will in damage (round up). This attack is resolved as an opposed Will check from the opponent. This damage cannot be reduced by damage reduction. The opponent MUST speak the same language to be effected by this ability.


Level 2:

Silver Tongue
Pirate 2
Cost: Passive
Charrismatic Lords, above all else, must be charming. Their legendary way with words can incite wars or declare peace in seconds. Charrismatic Lords gain a +2 to skill checks to charm, intimidate, or reason with an opponent.

Everyone Stand Together!
Pirate 2
Cost: 4/turn
Charrismatic Lords work well in groups. By grouping together, the crew members can easily protect each other. Every ally that is standing adjacent to the Charrismatic Lord when he uses this ability gains a +1 to all dodges. The Charrismatic Lord does not get this benefit.

Coordinated Assault
Pirate 2
Cost: 5
Charrismatic Lords use precise timing to increase the potency of attacks. By taking their turn at the same time as an ally and using this ability, the Charrismatic Lord uses his attack action to amplify the damage of his ally's attack. Add 10 damage to the base damage of the attack. If the attack does multiple hits, only apply it to 1 hit.

Ye Mum Still Be Large!
Pirate 2
Cost: 3
This attack is the same as Ye Olde Mum Joke but deals the Pirate's full Will score in damage instead of half.

All Hands on Deck!
Pirate 2
Cost: 4/turn
Charrismatic Lords must be able to keep their crew organized. When the Charrismatic Lord uses this ability while on his ship, all allies that can hear the Captain either gain a +1 to sailing skill checks or a +1 to precision with the ship's weapons (Captain's choice each round).

The Never-Ending Burn
Pirate 2
Cost: 2
A rather unusual technique, the Charrismatic Lord chooses to focus on one opponent like an impudent child teasing an unpopular kid. The Charrismatic Lord lays down an insult on his opponent with an opposed Will roll. If successful, the object of the insult takes 2 damage that cannot be reduced by damage reduction every turn until the Charrismatic Lord is unconscious or can no longer be seen AND heard. The opponent must be able to understand the insult to take the damage.


Level 3:

Intimidatin' Posture
Pirate 3
Cost: 6
Charrismatic Lords are not just respected by their men, they're feared by everyone else. A Charrismatic Lord can use his attack action to use this ability. He selects one target and makes an opposed Will save. If the target fails, he or she takes a -2 to dodge until his or her next action.

"Inspirational Speech"
Pirate 3
Cost: 4
Charrismatic Lords sometimes have to use tough love in order to get results. This ability does 5 damage (no damage reduction) to a willing ally, but gives them a +2 on any one skill roll to avoid an effect (dodge, see through an illusion, resist an insult from another Charrismatic Lord, etc).

So Be Ye Face!
Pirate 3
Cost: 6
By truly focusing on the insult, Charrismatic Lords can deliver a truly devastating blow to the ego. Same as Ye Olde Mum Joke, but Will is rolled for the Charrismatic Lord at a -2 and the damage is double the Charrismatic Lord's Will score. As always, this attack does no damage if the target cannot understand it.

Break Their Groove!
Pirate 3
Cost: 9
Charrismatic Lords not only know how to rally units, but to distract enemy units. By spending his attack action, the Charrismatic Lord gives all enemies within hearing range a -1 to all rolls for the remainder of the round.

The Wit's Rapier
Pirate 3
Cost: 6
Even Charrismatic Lords have to occasionally use brute force. The Charrismatic Lord pretends to tell a joke. The only difference is that the punchline is a violent stab through the chest with his weapon. This attack gives a +1 to Precision and does 15 damage. This attack does NOT need the opponent to understand the joke to work.


Level 4:

The L Bomb
Pirate 4
Cost: 20
There's an insult that only the Charrismatic Lords know that they dare not speak. It strikes fear in the heart of any true pirate and even insults the Wanderers and Ninjas. When this word is uttered, all entities that can hear the word (including allies) and understand it must make an opposed Will save against the Charrismatic Lord's Will. Anyone that fails the save takes 10 damage that cannot be reduced by any damage reduction. Even if they make the save, they take a -1 to all rolls for the remainder of the turn.

There's No I in Team!
Pirate 4
Cost: 2/turn
Charrismatic Lords inspire admiration in their crew. Any of these men would lay down their lives for their Captain. While this ability is active, ANY adjacent ally can interpose for the Charrismatic Lord by switching places with him at any time. If the attack misses the new target, it misses both of them.

There is an I in Captain!
Pirate 4
Cost: 4
A good Captain can draw strength from the wills of his men. The Charrismatic Lords can do it quite literally. When this ability is activated, any NAMED ally that can perceive the Charrismatic Lord can voluntarily take 5 damage and give that amount in life points to the user of this ability. This cannot take the Charrismatic Lord over his maximum Life Point Total.

Thine Drill Penetrates the Wave!
Pirate 4
Cost: 12
The Charrismatic Lord delivers a stirring speech and rallies his troops to greatness. Ignited by their fiery passion, all allies that are not the Charismatic Lord deal 5 extra damage when they attack for the remainder of the turn. For multi-hit attacks, this only adds to the first attack.

Not to Be Trifled With
Pirate 4
Cost: 20
The Charrismatic Lord gives off a massive and fearsome presence that strikes fear in the hearts of all his foes. When the Charrismatic Lord takes this stance, ALL attacks coming from his foes aimed at ANY of his allies do 5 less damage until his next turn. This is not considered damage reduction. It reduces the damage of the actual attack. This can reduce even will based attacks, and makes crits do 10 less damage. This still cannot reduce damage below 1.


Level 5:

One Word Insult
Pirate 5
Cost: 20
One-Word Jack's infamous technique. The Charrismatic Lord that masters this technique can shatter the very psyche of his opponent with a single word. What's even more disturbing is that the very intonation and gesture of this technique is sufficient to do damage (meaning it can do damage to even people or creatures that don't understand the word but can hear it). Even then, this is difficult and quite inaccurate, but the results are astounding. This attack resolves as an Opposed Will roll with a -4 to the Charrismatic Lord's Will. However, This attack does an outstanding 5 times the Charrismatic Lord's Will in damage that cannot be reduced by any damage reduction.

The Perfect Strategy
Pirate 5
Cost: 50
Invented by a very dull-witted Lord named Perfect Strategy Peter, Peter assumed that there had to be a way to overcome quick Ninja foes that could not be hit. His solution? Swing again. Somehow, he made it work. When a Charrismatic Lord activates this ability as his attack action, ALL of his allies that can hear him can attack immediately without spending an attack action. They can also attack with an ability NOT written as their attack ability for this round. No matter how many extra attacks the Charrismatic Lord gets in a turn, this ability can only be used once a turn.

Fast Numbers' Negation
Pirate 5
Cost: Variable
A Charrismatic Lord by the name of Fast Numbers Scarlet discovered a shocking revelation. With the right methods, the Kurosawa corollary could be negated for a brief stint of time. In the hands of a master strategist, this was enough. By spending an attack action calculating the angles, a Charrismatic Lord can recreate this effect. This ability can effect a number of target allies equal to the average of the Pirate's Will and Perception rounded down. The Charrismatic Lord cannot be one of these targets. This ability starts out at a cost of 10 life. A second target can be effected in the same turn for an additional 5 cost. All targets after that have a cost of 5 life. So, effecting 4 targets costs 25 life. These targeted allies remove the external penalty the Kurosawa Corollary gives to all rolls until the end of the turn.

Nightmare of Legends
Pirate 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 20 Life
The Charrismatic Lord is a legendary man that strikes fear in the hearts of others just by the mention of his name. When the Charrismatic Lord activates this ability, his monstrous reputation frightens his foe. The Charrismatic Lord may pick one target. The Charrismatic Lord now takes 10 less damage against that Target until the end of battle even if the attacks go through damage reduction (minimum 1 damage on each attack).

Jan Mattys
2009-11-25, 05:42 AM
You, Sir, just win at the Internets.

Hat off. This is awesometastic :smallbiggrin:

dsmiles
2009-11-25, 10:15 AM
Do you mean:

Pirates

Yarrrrr!
http://www.reapermini.com/graphics/gallery/4/03211_G.jpg


versus

Ninjas

Hyaaa!
http://www.reapermini.com/graphics/gallery/4/03210_G.jpg


:smallwink:

Dairun Cates
2009-11-25, 11:12 AM
Well, not ALL of them practice such poor dental hygiene, but yeah. That's about right.

Dairun Cates
2009-11-25, 07:19 PM
Here they are. The maddeningly powerful Luckies. Their abilities absolutely dwarf any of the other factions in sheer magnitude and power. A Lucky at full tilt is truly impossible to kill... Of course, since most of these abilities have stupid high costs, the average lucky will just seem like an incompetent rube 90% of the time. Oh well.. There's always that 1 in 10 battle.

Will probably need some rebalancing.

Luckies:
Summary: The Luckies are a rather mysterious group, even to the Wanderers. The Luckies act as a true testament to the rule that "anyone can do at least one thing amazingly well". Most Luckies are incompetent, unfit, and uneducated. For all intensive purposes, they are below the curve, but Fate has somehow conspired that they are worthy of higher destinies, and what a Lucky lacks in talent, he more than makes up for in sheer Luck.

High Level Luckies (if such a term can be deemed appropriate) are capable of just about anything they put their minds to. Their seemingly infinite luck puts them as Jacks of All Trades that can turn the tides of battle without warning or effort. In short, they live up to their name.

History: No one knows where the Luckies come from. One does not train to be a Lucky, and they certainly don't have any kind of organization. To even call the Luckies a faction is somewhat of a misnomer. They have no organization, and indeed no masters. Luckies just seem to show up when they are needed.

As a matter of fact, no one can even be sure when they've met a Lucky. There's no obvious mystical signs, and the Luckies themselves rarely, if ever, know that they are Luckies. The only indication is when a Lucky is put into severe peril, their true natures seem to shine through. Even then, the effects are often subtle, and it becomes debatable whether that branch really was just there at the right time to catch their fall or whether fate itself conspired to put the branch there. After all, even a non-Lucky has lucky moments.

This, of course, means that for players, there's almost no one to train these techniques. They must come naturally to the user. So, players wishing to start taking abilities from this tree after character creation should either have a powerful destiny that needs to be fulfilled or have a good backstory reason of why their latent abilities had not shown up until this point.

This is not to say that there aren't powerful Luckies out there. They exist, and they constantly change the events of history. It's just that almost no one knows who they are. That's just their Luck.

Attribute Scores: No one attribute score is important to a Lucky. Luckies come in all varieties. Of course, a lot of Luckies tend to have high Wills. A strong fate often comes to those with a strong force of personality.

Level 1:

Beginner's Luck
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
Sometimes inspiration comes to a Lucky at just the right time and allows them to pull off tasks they otherwise wouldn't be able to. Just don't ask the Lucky how they did it. You may not like the answer. Luckies with this ability gain a +2 AND proficiency on one skill roll per day that they have no proficiency in.

What Goes Around...
Wanderer 1
Cost: 1
Hitting a Lucky can often be difficult. Even if you manage it, sometimes you'll wish you hadn't. When a Lucky is hit by an opponent, the Lucky can spend 1 Life point on his next attack against that target to gain a +1 to hit.

...Comes Around
Wanderer 1
Cost: 1
Luckies will land their attacks eventually as long as they keep trying. No matter how bad of an idea it may be. Whenever a Lucky misses with an attack or effect, this effect kicks in. By repeating the same attack against the same target, the Lucky gains a +1 cumulative bonus PER TIME he missed. This has no cap. To activate this bonus costs 1 Life point each time he invokes it. A Lucky MUST attack the same opponent with the same attack EVERY turn to keep this bonus. Delaying for even 1 turn drops the bonus. When the Lucky hits, the bonus is lost.

WATCH OUT!
Wanderer 1
Cost: 3
When a Lucky suffers bad luck, it has the effect of bringing down people with him. When a Lucky uses this ability, he trips up in some way and suffers a -2 to all rolls until his next action. However, one opponent of his choice suffers a -1 to all rolls as a result of these actions until the Lucky's next action as well. The Lucky does not need to use this ability during his or her turn, and does not need to be able to perceive the opponent he is targeting. Only the player needs to know of the target's existence.


Level 2:

One in a Million
Wanderer 2
Cost: 4
Some shots have a One in a Million chance of hitting. However, Luckies themselves are One in a Million. To them, it's more like One in Ten. This ranged attack resolves at -8 to hit and has a range of 10 squares. However, if this attack hits, it does 30 damage to the target.

Last Minute Save
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Sometimes, the strangest things come in to save the Lucky at the last second. Whenever an attack hits a Lucky, the Lucky activates this ability and something blocks a large blunt of the attack. This gives the Lucky 20 damage reduction for just this one attack.

Second Chance
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Luckies can pull through in even the most peculiar and unlikely situations. When a Lucky is defending from an attack the Lucky can spend an Awesome point before rolling to defend to roll 2 rolls for the defense and take the better of the two.

Right Time, Right Place
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Luckies have the innate ability to show up where they're needed. Whenever an ally is in danger, if the Lucky is not previous occupied with another fight or something else that has grabbed their full attention (like being captured or holding the lever that keeps a dam from exploding), the Lucky can spend an awesome point to stumble into the scene. The player should give a rationale of how their character stumbled in, but nothing short of absolutely impossible logic is out of bounds.

The Truth of 13
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Many people fear many different numbers for fear of bad luck. 13 is one of the worst. However, a true lucky brings in both the bad luck and the good into their being. Whenver a Lucky with this ability rolls a natural roll of a 12, the roll is treated as a 13 instead. Furthermore, if a Lucky with this ability rolls a natural roll of two 1's, they can spend 3 awesome points to turn it into a roll of 13 (this does not count as a critical hit though).


Level 3:

Trip and a Miss
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
Bad luck is almost always followed by Good luck. What looks like a failure to some can be a saving grace. Once a day, when a Lucky fails to hit with an attack, instead of merely missing, the Luck tripped up in some way and never used it. This means that any life drained by the attack does not happen.

Lucky Guess
Wanderer 3
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Luckies seem to always know the right way to go or the right hand to pick. When a Lucky is presented with a choice (a fork in the road, high/low dice roll, a set of doors), he or she can spend 1 Awesome Point to pick the MOST correct decision. The most correct solution does not always equate victory.

Second Wind
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
Luckies always seem to get up after anything. Once per day, the Lucky with this ability can gain 20 Life instantly as a free action.

There's No F In Way
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
Even the worst luck can turn into a blessing for the Lucky, and the worst luck of those that try to destroy the lucky gets worse. Fate bends around the lucky any time someone rolls a natural roll of two 1's some twist of fate happens to cause great fortune or misfortune at the will of the Lucky. This will either heal 5 Life or cause 5 automatic damage that damage reduction does not reduce. This damage cannot crit or be augmented.


Level 4:

Path of Least Resistance
Wanderer 4
Cost: 6
Some Luckies prefer a pacifistic approach to violence. Still, when they do decide to take action, it catches their foes off guard. If a Lucky spends an entire turn doing nothing, he can activate this ability. This ability gives a +4 to the Lucky's next roll to hit with an attack.

Chance for a Big Reversal
Wanderer 4
Cost: 20
Whenever a Lucky is actually hit with an attack, he can often turn his setback into his opponent's defeat. The Lucky uses his Luck to twist the attack's effects back on his foe. The more force you use against the Lucky, the more fate's going to hurt you back. This attack does 20 damage base, and does half of the original attack's damage as extra damage. If the altered attack is less than the damage of the original attack, it does the original attack's damage instead. This attack can be used up to 1 turn after the Lucky was hit. If the Lucky calls this attack on the turn he is hit, it happens at the same time as the opponent's and goes off even if he or she is knocked below 0 because of the attack. It's range is the range of the attack that hit the Lucky.

Do The Impossible!
Wanderer 4
Cost: 15
Some attacks are just doomed from the beginning. The Lucky must call on all of their luck to deliver the finishing blow in an impossible way. This attack hits at a -10 to hit. However, should it somehow hit, this attack does 15 damage for every effective point in agility the opponent has (before Kurosawa corollary).



Level 5:

The Love of a Lucky
Wanderer 5
Cost: Passive
Part of a famous saying about Luckies. The full phrase "Friendship is the love of a Lucky". When a Lucky deeply cares for his friends, he can push them to levels that even the Charrismatic Lords couldn't dream about. Luckies with this ability may freely spend their own Awesome points on behalf of their allies. This includes ANY of their non-attack abilities that require an awesome point to activate.

Awesomer than Awesome!
Wanderer 5
Cost: Passive
Luckies have stronger fates than other men, and when fate itself intervenes to help, it does more so than with any other person. Whenever a Lucky with this ability does an action that would give at least 2 Awesome points, the Lucky gains 1 extra Awesome Point.

Turn of Luck
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Nothing will stop a Lucky. Not a lack of talent, not a lack of skill, and not the entire world trying to stop him. When a Lucky starts his turn, calculate all the minuses (save the Kurosawa Corollary) that have been accumulated on him. Upon activating this ability, treat his or her minuses as bonuses until the end of his or her next attack action. So, if he was currently suffering a -4 to precision from other abilities, it becomes a +4. The minuses from the Lucky's own abilities do not count for this (ie. One in a Million is still a -8 to precision).

Luck of the Ancients
Wanderer 5
Cost: 3 Awesome Points and 40 Life
A true Lucky's luck is absolutely infinite and unfathomable. This attack sets forth a series of infinitely impossible events that destroy the Lucky's foes and give impossible blessings to his allies. All enemies that are within 200 squares of any of the Lucky's allies (even if they're not in the same room or within sight of the Lucky). Resolve this attack at a +4 to hit. Any enemy that's hit with the attack takes 40 damage. On top of that, ALL of the Lucky's allies (save the Lucky himself) heal back 20 Life points.

The Limits of Mortals
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Lucky is truly a frightening beast with the power of the gods that can break the limits of any other mortal. Whenver a Lucky with this ability confirms a critical hit (a natural roll of 12 and 1 awesome point spent), the Lucky can spend one extra awesome point to triple the damage instead of doubling it.

Lucky's Last Stand
Wanderer 5
Cost: Passive
When all else fails, the universe will align itself for the lucky. Any time the Lucky with this ability is downed by an enemy attack and not the cost of their attacks, the Lucky can take one last attack action at the enemy that attacked them. This takes place after the Lucky is unconscious and out of pure luck. This attack action cannot revive the Lucky back to consciousness.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 08:17 PM
The next 6 factions are pretty unbalanced and definitely not finished (they only have 2 attacks per level), but I finished up a huge chunk for the final project the last few days for tonight's due date. I figured I might as well post them. Although, I'm thinking most attacks are going to get a HUGE decrease in Life cost. There's also a few minor changes to the system.

The Shoninja

Summary: To describe the Shoninja as “unorthodox” would be quite the understatement. To describe the Shoninja as the black sheep of the ninja clans would be closer to the truth but still a bit of an understatement. To call the Shoninja loud and boorish ninja that couldn't stealth their way out of a paper bag but can knock out any ninja in 1-hit that calls them on it would be dead on the money. The Shoninja use the inner energy that powers every living thing to an extraordinary effect. Rather than focus it into stealth, technique, or precision, the Shoninja channel it into pure force of will and raw damage output. Their techniques are unusual, but you can't argue with results (as much as some ninjas try).

High level Shoninja are all about raw damage and flashy effects. Their attacks are very pirate like in nature with their own ninja twist. One of the most powerful techniques of the school actually allows a Shoninja to clone him or herself.

History: The Shoninja are the absolute youngest school of Ninja and have only been around for a mere 10 years. In that time, they've managed to build quite the reputation; not all of it good. Based around the very uncommon belief that true ninja power comes from the soul and not techniques, the Shoninja developed techniques trying to tap their very own life essence for the invention of new and powerful techniques. They succeeded, but almost every Shoninja technqiue is loud or lets off bright amounts of energy that completely ruin their ability to sneak.

The founder is a rather dim-witted 20 year old ninja by the name of Burning Soul. Amazingly enough, this means that Burning Soul founded the Shoninja when he was 10. Some ninja are baffled by this fact, especially considering Burning Soul's tendency to forgo paperwork and ninja council meetings. However, people deep in the organization know the true secret to its success, Burning Soul's best friend, Mien Mai Shadow.

As dumb as Burning Soul is, Mien Mai is a tactical and organizational genius. At 21 years of age, she's possibly one of the most accomplished ninja ever at such a young age, rivaling even Ellipsis himself in some areas, but oddly enough, almost no one outside of the Shoninja knows of her existence. Perhaps it's a desire to stay hidden like a true ninja or perhaps she wants her good friend to get all the fame.

The Shoninja are generally mocked as a rather poor excuse of a ninja school, and most ninja would prefer to not deal with them. Even some of the most lenient faction leaders are wary of them, and for good reason. Burning Soul does whatever he feels like and there are rumors of him even working closely with pirates. Still, they've managed to keep their niche in the ninja arts by managing to turn around some very lost battles. So, as much as the other ninjas hate it, they've had to rely on the Shoninja before, and it will inevitably happen again.

Attribute Scores: Shoninja are known for their excessively high will scores. They specialize in resisting certain effects and use their wills to pull themselves out of sticky situations. Shoninja also like high body scores to power their expensive abilities and high precision scores to make sure their inefficient, but damaging moves hit.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Fire of My Soul
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
The Shoninja are forceful spirits by nature and can break through the mental blocks that keep them from greatness. Shoninja gain a +2 to resist intimidation or persuasion checks that would make the Shoninja forsake his own allies or personal values.

The Fist of Justice
Ninja 1
Cost: 3
Other ninja just call this a basic punch, but the Shoninja have put their heart and soul into mastering it to impressive results. Their fists glow with radiant energy as they lay the righteous smackdown on their foes. This attack does 10 damage and cannot be concealed by a stealth check.

Inefficiency Kick!
Ninja 1
Cost: 25
The Shoninja channels his energy into a powerful blow of the foot that wastes more energy than it does in damage. While it's one of the most powerful low level techniques around, it is easily the most inefficient. This attack does 20 damage.


Level 2:

Call Your Shots
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
The Shoninja believe that the secret to victory is passionate speech and a soul of fire. This might explain why they believe that calling out the names of their attacks to their opponents is a good idea. Anytime a Shoninja calls out loud and clearly the name of his attack before the round starts, he gains a +1 to hit on that attack. Of course, this also gives anyone that knows what that attack does plenty of time to prepare for it.

Strike the Forbidden Zone
Ninja 2
Cost: 12
Even the ninja have limits to what they'll do for efficiency. A groin kick is definitely one of those boundaries. No such luck for the Shoninja. This attack does 25 damage to male opponents that do not have sufficient protection and a mere 5 to female opponents. Whether this works on monsters is a case by case basis and should be at the GM's discretion.

Hot-Blooded Hoodlum
Ninja 2
Cost: 10
The Shoninja can create a veil of his or her life energy that damages anyone that tries to touch him. Anytime someone makes physical contact with the Shoninja for the remainder of the battle or until the Shoninja is knocked out, the person that made contact takes damage equal to the Shoninja's Will score. For the purposes of this attack, physical contact is defined as the targets body touching the user's body. So, weapon attacks don't count, but unarmed attacks from either the user or the target do. Also, while the Shoninja's attacks are not augmented, his unarmed attacks do his Will damage minimum. This requires an attack action to activate.


Level 3:

You Cannot Hide Your True Self
Ninja 3
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Shoninja are, oddly enough, good judges of character. They believe in righteousness and the fire of a person's soul. By spending an awesome point, they can reveal a person's true nature without a perception check. With one look, they can tell if their target is truly wicked, whether they are a pirate, ninja, or wanderer, and a general idea of what that person wants the most in the world.

Justice Barrage
Ninja 3
Cost: 15
The Shoninja love channeling their energies into really powerful attacks, but what's better than 1 powerful attack? How about 3? The Shoninja unleashes a barrage of 3 attacks with one roll at a -4 to hit with all of them. Each hit does 15 damage.

If I Go Down, I'm Taking You With Me!
Ninja 3
Cost: 2 awesome points
When it comes down to it, a Shoninja will lay down his or her life for what he or she believes in. The Shoninja embraces his foe and explodes himself and the target in a violent explosion of his life energy. This attack knocks the user immediately down to 0 Life, but does damage equal to double the life the Shoninja had left. Roll precision to hit.

Steely Gaze of the Heart
Ninja 3
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Sometimes, fear is a Shoninjas greatest weapon. By staring down an opponent with a righteous fury, the Shoninja makes an opposed will check against a target of their choice that they can see. If they succeed, the Shoninja gains a +4 to hit on their next attack against that target.


Level 4:

For My Fallen Comrades
Ninja 4
Cost: Passive
Shoninja care deeply for their companions and can't stand to see them hurt. Every time a named ally falls in battle, the Shoninja gains a +1 on his attacks and dodge rolls against the target that took out their ally. Double the number of allies for each +1 bonus after the first. So, a +2 requires only 2 allies to fall in battle. A +3 requires 4 allies. A +4 requires 8 allies. Etc. This bonus is permanent for the battle and doesn't go away if the ally gets back up. However, one ally can only count for this bonus once.

Loud as Hades Lightning Assassination
Ninja 4
Cost: 30
Constantly derided as one of the worst techniques ever developed, the Loud as Hades Lightning Assassination (or LAH-LA for short) summons the Shoninja's very life force into his hand for a massive and powerful attack. Too bad it also takes a turn to charge up. This attack does a massive 50 damage but has some huge drawbacks. First, the attack takes a turn to charge wherein the character can do NOTHING but charge the attack. They cannot even move. Secondly, the attack is so loud that it can be heard from half a mile away and lights up the Shoninja's hand like a Christmas light. EVERYONE within seeing distance will see the attack coming. Third, this attack burns the user's hand badly. While this won't keep anyone from wielding a weapon, it does keep the Shoninja from using the attack a second time on that hand. So, this attack can only be used twice a battle (once if you only have one arm. Three times if you have a secret mutated arm), and cannot be used in other battles in the day unless the wound is tended to. Despite all this, it's a very potent technique for when you just need to hurt someone.

The Power of Friends
Ninja 4
Cost: 15
The Shoninja relies on his friends for strength and can feel their wills for him to succeed. This attack starts by doing 20 damage, but any of the character's named allies can sacrifice 5 life to make the attack do 5 more damage for each ally that sacrifices life. The allies must be conscious and aware of the attack.


Level 5:

Me and My Shadow
Ninja 5
Cost: 10
A risky, but very brutal technique developed by the shadow queen of the Shoninja herself. Early on, she realized that she'd need to be able to be multiple places at the same time to keep up with all of their paperwork. Out of necessity, she developed this technique that allows the user to make dozens of clones of him or herself. It was immediately refined for battle by a bunch of enthusiastic young Shoninja. Once this technique is activated, the player can split their character into any number of exact clones of him or herself. Each clone has the abilities and memories of the original. The only caveat is that the remaining Life points the character has must be split amongst these clones. So, a person is capped at a number of clones equal to their maximum life – 10 with each clone at a pathetic 1 life each. The character does not die unless all clones die and all clones automatically rejoin the main body when defeated. An important thing to remember is that making multiple copies of yourself DOES invoke the Kurosawa Corollary and that two clones at half your remaining HP might not be as effective as 1 person when you start taking a -1 for outnumbering your foe 2 to 1. If a clone uses an attack that drops the clone to 0, the remaining cost is immediately taken out of the other clones before the attack goes off and the clone rejoins the body after the attack. The total HP of the clones combined can never exceed the character's max HP. Passive healing abilities like Light Speed Metabolism only effect 1 clone at a time (the healing is still split among them).

Burning Soul
Ninja 5
Cost: Passive
The technique that founded the very school of the Shoninja and made Burning Soul the powerful ninja he is today. The power of the Burning Soul is to tap the very limits of the ninja's Life Force. Everytime the Shoninja takes damage, he gains a secondary Life pool equal to half the damage he took. This life pool only last through the Shoninja's next turn, but can be used to power his abilities instead of his own actual life force. This means that a Shoninja that takes 50 damage gets 25 life points to spend on his abilities for the entire next turn. That particular Shoninja may be almost unconscious, but he'll sure go out in a blaze of glory. If this second life pool is not used within a turn of getting the extra life point, these points are gone. They do not add to his actual life score.

Passion Rising
Ninja 5
Cost: Passive
The Shoninja have monstrous endurance fueled by their never-ending passion. Some Shoninja have seem to have a force of power that goes even beyond their bodies and wills. Some call it fate. Some call it friendship. Either way, it means more Life. Shoninja with this ability have 20 more maximum life than what their attributes give them.

Raging Digit
Ninja 5
Cost: 40
The Shoninja challenges his foes and channels his will into his fist for one awesome attack that obliterates even the most resilient foes in a torrent of powerful Life energy. This attack does 25 damage + 5 times the Shoninja's Will stat. The Shoninja also picks an element when they take this attack. This attack is considered to be that Element for the purposes of damage.

Dearest Friends
Ninja 5
Cost: Variable Awesome Points
The Shoninja has learned to trust in those around him or her and has even formed pacts with the wild beasts of the world. This gives the Shoninja a potent ally in times of great strife. When the Shoninja spends a full turn doing the Summoning ritual, he or she can spend up to 5 awesome points to summon a great beast (or maybe not so great). The beast can take any animal form from a slug to a weasel to a turtle. For calculating stats, assume X = the number of awesome points spent. The creature gets the following stats and abilities. Anything not covered should be determined by the player and approved by the GM.

Favored Attribute (this is the attribute that the player determines is the creature's specialty): 2X-1 (For 1 awesome point. Just assume a 2).
Other Attributes: X+1
Natural Damage Reduction: 2X
Life and Reaction: Determine Normally.
Height: about X^2 feet.
Attack 1 (Basic Melee Attack): Cost- (2X) Range- (2X-2, Minimum 1) Damage (5X)
Attack 2 (AOE Melee Attack): Cost- (3X) AOE- All enemies within (2X-3, Minimum 1) squares of the summoned creature. Damage (5X).
Attack 3 (Projectile Attack): Cost- (3X-2) Range- (5X) Damage- (4X)

This may also be used to summon close friends and allies of the characters that have agreed to make the pact with the character. The summoned character must be willing, and the awesome points required depend on the character's total Character Points. This is subject to GM's decision, but for the most part, the total awesome points required should be equal to the character's total character points divided by 30 (round down, minimum 1). Remember. Summoned character count towards the Kurosawa corollary.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 08:23 PM
The Rokinja

Summary: Rokinja are skillful assassins that have learned to use the art of music to destroy their foes. While silly sounding to some, the art is well-respected and deadly. Imagine just enjoying a meal and some atmospheric music one second and being dead the next. Whether famous musical artists or just lowly street performers, behind each musical instrument could be a Rokinja playing it.

High level Rokinja can use their musical instruments to create often near invisible attacks to destroy a foe. While not as powerful as other attacks. They can be difficult to avoid.

History: While the Rokinja school itself is fairly new, the art of using musical instruments is ancient in nature. Certain levels of it have been met with more success than others. Using the strings of a guitar to fire daggers at a foe without them noticing? Effective. Stabbing the same guy with the guitar? Not so much.

The current faction of the Rokinja were founded by Kill Harmonic, an elderly gentlemen who keeps at least a dozen instruments on him at all times from a guitar down to a grasswhistle. Kill Harmonic doesn't spend much time in the school's walls though. As the founder of a school that is quite effective at killing Pirates in bars, Kill Harmonic finds himself being hired to do a lot of jobs across the Ninja nations. As such, he's always on the road.

The students of the Rokinja school practice their art until they master it to ridiculous perfection. No one plays a musical instrument better than them, deadly or otherwise.

While often a bit slower in movement than other schools, the Rokinja are excellent at espionage and infiltration. A good number of Rokinja have managed to pass themselves off as musicians for numerous pirate ships for years and are waiting to fulfill their assignments. This could have to do with the fact that a good number of pirates don't know the Rokinja exist and the Rokinja would like to keep it that way.

Attribute Scores: Rokinja requires a high Will score to play their instruments effectively. They also prefer a good precision score to an agility score to make sure their attacks are going to hit. Although, a good agility could make for a faster guitar solo.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Born to Rock
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Rokinja are master musicians. True virtuosos, they can play any instrument, no matter how weird. They gain a +2 to any check to play any musical instrument.

Background Music
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Rokinja can use their musical arts to hide their identity and location. Rokinja can use their will instead of agility for stealth checks when it would be appropriate for the Rokinja to use his music playing as a way to blend into the background or go unnoticed (busy street corners, bars, festivals, etc).

El Kabong!
Ninja 1
Cost: 1
The Rokinja reels back and gives his foe a good whack with his or her instrument and breaks it over the target's head. This attack does 10 damage, but breaks the instrument if it is not Indestructible Quality.

Music to My Ears
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Rokinja have an ear for music, but that's not all. Rokinja have great ears for spying as well. Rokinja with this ability gain a +2 to Precision to listen to conversations from a distance.

Powerful Lungs
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Rokinja that master wind instruments have eerily perfect control over their lungs and breathing. An ability that is more useful than some ninja would like to admit. Rokinja with this ability gain a +2 to Body to hold their breath, fake death, or yell loudly.


Level 2:

Perfect Tuning
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Rokinja have mastered their instruments so well that they can use them for other attacks as well. Rokinja with this ability may channel any attack into a musical instrument and treat the musical instrument like the required weapon. Note that too many melee attacks with your guitar is bound to break it.

Deadly Discord
Ninja 2
Cost: 3
The most basic attack of the Rokinja, they slip a tiny knife into their palm and use the strings of an instrument to propell it into the victim up to 8 squares away. This attack does 10 damage and hits at a -1, but requires the target to make an opposed precision roll against the user's agility to notice where the attack came from.

Musical Mastermind
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Rokinja have mastered their instruments and have learned to play a tune by ear. The Rokinja with this ability can recreate any song they've heard all the way through at least once and play it by ear.

Loco-Motion Wave
Ninja 2
Cost: 3
By aiming their weapon at the ground and playing as loud as possible, the Rokinja have learned to propel themselves in rather random directions. If the Rokinja starts his move action on the ground, the Rokinja can use this ability to launch him or herself a number of squares equal to the Rokinja's Will in a straight line in any direction.

Even Great Bounties Die Frequently
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Rokinja assassins have learned to communicate with each other through just music. This allows them to pass messages without visual or verbal communication. Any Rokinja with this ability can communicate with another Rokinja with this ability through song alone.

One Man Band
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Rokinja have trained to use their instruments as tools as well as instruments. Rokinja with this ability can use their instruments to mimic basic non-weapon tools for their mission. For instance, a harmonica and a string could make a grappling hook, guitar picks could be caltrops, or drum can be used to mimic a barrel.


Level 3:

The High G
Ninja 3
Cost: 7
Even better Rokinja can hurt their foes with only their instruments. The very sounds of a shrill note can shatter the psyche of those that hear it. Rokinja that use this ability make an opposed will check against all opponents that can hear it at a -2. If it succeeds. It does 10 damage that damage reduction cannot reduce.

Fear the Reaper
Ninja 3
Cost: 4
Rokinja have learned to use their instruments as deadly melee weapons. A guitar string can just as easily be a choking wire. A harmonica can be used as a sap. A people can always just fall on someone. This attack does 15 damage.

The Sound of Silence
Ninja 3
Cost: 10/turn
The Rokinja have mastered all that is sound and can use their sizeable skill to cancel. The Rokinja with this ability can use this ability to play a wicked tune that cancels ALL sound until his or her next action. This does not count as an attack action. Attacks that use the Rokinja's music cannot be used during this time.

Heavy Metal
Ninja 3
Cost: 5/turn
The Rokinja have mastered a melody of such dark depths and weight that it slows down their foes. When the Rokinja use this ability with their attack action, all enemies for that turn have half their move speed.

String Em' Up
Ninja 3
Cost: 7
The Rokinja have mastered their assassin art. By taking the strings of one of their instruments and wrapping them tautly around their foe and playing one single note that resonates with the target, they can crush their opponents. Roll an opposed Will check against the target's body. If the attack succeeds, the opponent takes 15 damage that damage cannot reduce. The attack is considered a melee attack for range.

Soul of Rock
Ninja 3
Cost: 10
The music inside the Rokinja give them power to resist the advances of their foes. When a Rokinja chooses to spend his or her full round on this ability, he or she can activate this attack and gain 15 Damage Reduction for that round.


Level 4:

Power Chord
Ninja 4
Cost: 10
The Rokinja know a chord on their instruments that is very potent. This chord weakens its target's will with how amazing it is. The Rokinja makes an opposed will check at a -3. If they succeed, the target loses 2 will for the rest of the battle.

Power Slide
Ninja 4
Cost: 12
The Rokinja have learned a rather unusual technique, by building up charging speed, they can take down multiple foes in a row with one musical blast. The Rokinja that uses this ability starts by running in a line, any opponents that pass within 2 squares of the Rokinja in the middle of this move are effected. The Rokinja makes an opposed will check at a -2 and does 15 damage to each target that cannot be reduced by damage reduction.

Take it to Eleven!
Ninja 4
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 25 Cost
The Rokinja takes his playing to the next level and inspires his allies to great heights. All allies and the Rokinja gain 1 Will until the end of battle (including the Life that comes with it). This takes an attack action.

Bright Tiger
Ninja 4
Cost: 3/Turn
The Rokinja's soul is filled with more music than a human soul can take. To delve deeper into this potent power is also to shorten one's life but reach closer to the true spirit of rock. When a Rokinja activates this buff, they do 5 extra damage on every musical attack. However, once activated, the spirit of the Bright Tiger cannot be silenced. Once used, this buff MUST be used every turn until the end of the battle. If the user should fall unconscious, the buff will continue to do damage.

Lightning Fingers
Ninja 4
Cost: 10
Not every musician uses their Will to power their attacks. Some Rokinja rely on precise finger training and technique to play their song. While the song lacks the soul of the Willful Rokinja, these Rokinja have pulled some frightening feats. Masters of this technique roll precision at a -2 against any target that can hear's Will. If successful, this attack does 20 damage that damage reduction cannot reduce.


Level 5:

Kill Harmonic
Ninja 5
Cost: 20
The ultimate Rokinja assassination technique. The instrument of the Rokinja belts out a musical note that destroys every last foe before him or her. The Rokinja makes an opposed will check at a -4. Every enemy that fails the check that can hear the chord takes 20 damage that damage reduction cannot reduce.

The Final Countdown
Ninja 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 20 Life
The most powerful melody comes from a great crescendo. This is the ultimate musical technique, but by the time most people realize it, it is too late for them. This attack starts out by doing a measly 2 damage on an opposed will roll to anyone that can hear it. However, the true power of this attack is that the user can continue to use it each turn without life or awesome point cost as long as he or she is not interrupted by taking damage. The damage of the attack doubles each round it is up. This means that a Rokinja that keeps from getting hit can potentially create a sound so powerful it could destroy the Kraken in 1 hit. Of course, this isn't likely as the Kraken is a poor music critic and is not fond of ANY damage it takes. If the user takes damage while playing, they start back at 2 damage for the first hit. If the Rokinja gains an extra attack action from something like Share the Spotlight, Lightning Stroke, or Perfect Strategy, the extra attack does NOT cause the damage of the attack to go up.

The Face-Melter
Ninja 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 20 Life
The Rokinja plays a rapid fire solo of pure skill that melts his opponent's face off. The Rokinja makes a Will check at -3 versus his Opponent's Body. If the opponent fails the check, he loses 3 body score immediately. This cannot knock the opponent below 1 Body.

Call the Ensemble
Ninja 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point + 5 Life/Attacker
The Rokinja understands better than anyone else the need to work together to defeat a powerful foe. The Wills of the many shall outpower the Will of the few. A solo may be potent, but only when the whole band works together will justice be served. When the Rokinja calls out this attack, everyone that has not attacked that turn can immediately drop their attack action and join the ensemble on the Rokinja's initiative. Regardless of whether they are trained in a musical instrument or not, everyone that joins starts playing an instrument in unison with the attack. The Rokinja pays 5 Life for each attacker joining in, and makes an opposed Will roll against the target. If the victim fails, they take twice the total Will scores of the entire ensemble in damage that damage reduction cannot reduce.

God of Rock
Ninja 5
Cost: 3 Awesome Points
Rokinja can feel the soul of all music within their bodies, screaming loudly along with the beating of their heart. Some Rokinja have learned to tap into this power. When a Rokinja activates this potent buff, he or she gains an inhuman playing speed that dazzles and frightens foes. Until the battles ends or the Rokinja goes unconscious, the Rokinja gains a +1 to hit on all musical attacks, gains a 5 DR against musical attacks (even the ones that don't allow DR), does 5 more damage on each musical attack, +2 to move speed, and gains the ability to make a second musical attack each round (as per the Lightning Stroke ability) at a cost of 15 life + the second attack's cost.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 08:29 PM
The Gunnars

Summary: Gunnars prefer to let their pistols do the talking, and they speak loudly. Gunnars are magnificent attacker that uses their precise shots and rapid fire to eviscerate their foes. Most of them are also accomplished mechanics since they need to be able to fix and repair their own guns.

High Level Gunnars can fire accurately and with many attacks a round. They can draw their weapons with lightning speed, and some of them can even fix and create machines.

History: Pirates and guns go together in sweet harmony and always have, but the Gunnars have taken it to a new level. With a combination of scientific knowledge and experimentation, they have pushed their usage of the gun to its out-limits. In the process, they invented some pretty nifty things too.

The Gunnars have been around forever, but they've drastically changed in the last 40 years. Originally just a group that fired guns with reckless abandon, the Gunnars are now some of the most methodical pirates. This is almost entirely thanks to the guild G&W (Goggles and Wrench) which is responsible for the invention of the steam hydraulics along with various mechanical advancements. Since then, Gunnars have been known just as much as mechanics as they have been crackshots.

Their official leader is a man known as Crackshot Buck Williams, a well-versed Gunnar who could shoot the hair off the back of a fly at 200 yards. However, some view the current head of G&W, Tinkerin' Tim Daughtery, as the true leader of the Gunnars. While the debate is heated, neither of the actual men seem to care. Crackshot is too busy improving his art to care if anyone thinks he's not the real leader and Tinkerin' Tim is too enraptured by his inventions to notice anyone's mentioned his name.

Ultimately, both men are viewed with great respect. Crackshot has been the hero of quite a few battles himself, and Tinkerin' Tim has pushed Pirate science to a point where it's making Ninja society nervous. Having good boats and ruling the seas was fine for the Ninjas, but the second the Pirates were able to take to the skies thanks to Tinkerin' Tim's genius, the ninjas started to take note. No matter who you consider the leader of the group, no good pirate ship is complete without a Gunnar.

Attribute Scores: Gunnars need both precision and agility. Precision to fire their guns properly and repair them, and agility to make multiple attacks and pull off ridiculous stunts.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Mistarr Good Wrench
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Gunnars are master mechanics and know their way around anything mechanical. Gunnars gain a +2 to any check to fix mechanical objects.

Double Tap
Pirate 1
Cost: 2
The Gunnars always make sure to fire twice at a target they intend to kill. The Gunnar rolls precision once to fire a volley of 2 shots up to 20 squares away and does 5 damage twice if he hits.

Spin to Win
Pirate 1
Cost: 1
Gunnars know how to twirl this guns in an impressive display. By delaying their attack until the very last action in the turn, the Gunnar can spin their guns impressively and throw their foes off guard. This stunt gives the opponent a -1 to the opponent's dodge on the Gunnars attack. The Gunnar can't already be going last in the turn to use this.


Level 2:

Keep Your Grip
Pirate 2
Cost: 6
Gunnars are expert shots that can even shoot the weapon out of an opponents hand. Gunnars fire against an opponent's agility with a -6 to precision (-4 for large weapons). If they hit, the opponent drops his weapon. Picking it back up takes no real time, but if an ally can get to it before the opponent does, he may have nothing to fight back with.

Mechanical Genius
Pirate 2
Cost: Passive
The Gunnars are brilliant mechanics and can reverse engineer devices that would baffle others. Whenever a Gunnar comes against a piece of technology that he or she does not know what it does, they can spend a day examining it. If the technology is not completely new to them (an artifact or something that uses a new type of science), the Gunnar can reproduce it with the right materials and time.

Black Powder Leap
Pirate 2
Cost: 2
The Gunnar has learned to use his or her guns to change the trajectory of his jump by firing a barrage of shots. This ability has 3 uses. It can be used to increase a jump by 5 squares, it can be used to stall a character in mid-air for 1 turn, or it can be used to allow the character to move horizontally while falling as if they were on the ground.


Level 3:

Cross Arm Draw
Pirate 3
Cost: Passive
Gunnars have learned through testing that drawing your weapon with the opposite hand allows you to draw your weapon significantly faster. Gunnars with this ability always go first in the first round of combat unless it was a surprise attack or someone spends an awesome point to go first.

Bullet Dance
Pirate 3
Cost: 8
The Gunnar loves to show off with a fancy set of shots over the shoulder and behind the back. The Gunnar rolls only one attack roll at a -2 to precision but makes a number of attacks equal to his Agility score. Each of these attacks does 5 damage. This attack has a range of 10. These attacks can be used on different targets.

Whip it!
Pirate 3
Cost: 4
The Gunnar knows all ways to use a Gun in combat, even as a bludgeoning weapon. The Gunnar flips around and beats his opponent in the head with the gun's handle. This attack does 15 damage.

La' Croiux Missile Spam
Pirate 3
Cost: 12
Sometimes the best solution is just to throw as many explosive devices at the problem as possible. When the Gunnar uses this attack, he unleashes every explosive he has on his person (even if it doesn't ever seem to hit). This attack hits at a -2 to precision. This hits up to 15 squares away and hits everything in a 8 square radius. This attack does 15 damage.

Cannon Training
Pirate 3
Cost: 5
The cannon is the quintessential Gunnar weapon. Something about its raw power just makes people appreciate it all the more. What people DON'T know is that using a cannon well actually requires quite a bit of training and experience. Gunnar's with this ability can use any cannon. The cost for this ability represents the life cost to load and fire the cannon. Mundane cannons do 25 damage. It also takes 2 full turns worth of moves to reload a cannon (3 people in tandem can fire a cannon every round if they're spending 5 life each, but it only costs 5 life total for one person loading it). If a person is not trained in this ability, it instead takes twice the turns and life to use a cannon. Cannons have an average range of around 50 squares. More powerful cannons can do more damage and cost the same life to fire, but often are too big to move from their position.

Canonical Team-up
Pirate 3
Cost: 12
Another Cannon technique. Some Cannoneers have learned to load cannons in a slightly different way. This method allows the Gunnar to fire willing allies (or unwilling corpses) out of the cannon. This technique has 2 benefits. First, this allows the Gunnars to move his or her ally up to 20 squares from the cannon. Secondly, if the ally lands in the same square as an opponent, the ally gets to add 20 damage to their next attack if they use it on that opponent at the moment of impact. If the person fired out of the cannon does not or cannot attack, use the Gunnar's precision and do a flat 20 damage on the attack.


Level 4:

Triple Tap
Pirate 4
Cost: 7
If two shots won't take them down, 3 will. The Gunnar rolls precision once to fire a volley of 3 shots up to 10 squares away at a -2 to hit. If he hits, he does 10 damage 3 times.

Point Blank Shotgun
Pirate 4
Cost: 8
Guns hurt. They hurt even more when jammed in your gut and fired. This melee range attack with a gun does 20 damage.

Submachine Fun
Pirate 4
Cost: 10
Gunnars have recently discovered how to make guns that fire very VERY fast. Only they know how to wield these effectively. This attack hits at a range of 10 squares in a 4 square radius. Anyone hit by this attack takes 15 damage.

Eagle Eye
Pirate 4
Cost: 7
Some Gunnar's keep a special lens to help their aim. By spending an entire turn to set it up, the Gunnar gains a +2 to Precision for the rest of combat, but suffers a -1 to agility as they cannot see as many attacks coming. This ability cannot lower agility below 1.


Level 5:

Crackshot Trickshot
Pirate 5
Cost: 20
Crackshot's favorite trick, this attack actually works best with another attacker or another trick up the Gunnar's sleeve. This attack is fired with a precision roll. However, the Gunnar fires in a way that the attack's actual damage delays until the Gunnar's next attack. While two precision rolls are required, the two attacks are treated as the same attack for the purpose of piercing Damage Reduction. This attack does 30 damage.

Tinkerin' Fool
Pirate 5
Cost: Passive
Tinkerin' Tim is a fan of inventions that help out an ally in need. These have lead to some brilliant inventions and some horrible flops. When the Gunnar takes this ability, he gain 10 character points for the purpose of creating an item that mimics an ability known by one of his allies (Effectively, 1 level 5 pirate ability). Point costs for Ninja skills still count (they're harder to understand). This allows that ally access to the ability for free. However, the double life cost for using abilities off of items still counts, and the characters cannot use passives off the item without spending points. When done with the invention, the Gunnar can tear it apart and gain the character points back to invent something else. This can be used on multiple inventions and can be taken more than once to get more character points for the purposes of invention.

Bullet #9
Pirate 5
Cost: 20
Some Gunnars have discovered a new bullet formula that, when fired, a beam of explosive energy blows down everything in its path. This attack takes one move action to prep and does 30 damage to everything in a straight line for 100 squares. Any mundane objects in the way of this shot are instantly incinerated.

Overdrive
Pirate 5
Cost: Variable
Well-trained Gunnars know how to unleash an unstoppable barrage of bullets. Upon activating Overdrive, a Gunnar can unleash any number of attack with 10 range each. The damage for these attacks is the average of the Gunnar's agility and precision (round up). Each attack costs the number of attacks that have been activated that turn. So, 1 attack costs 1, 2 attacks cost 3 (1+2), and 3 attacks cost 6 (1+2+3). Roll for every attack.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 08:32 PM
The Charreographers

Summary: The Charreographers are an unusual group of Pirates that use dance and perfect timing to annihilate their foes. It all sounds very funny until you are danced to death by a pair of Charreographers.

High Level Charreographers can team up with other allies for awesome synchronized attacks or to end the whole thing in a dance number.

History: The Charreographers were borne out of one single thought. Why can't Pirates kill with dance? Admitedly, it's a weird thought, but no one's laughing now.

The Charreographers are rather unusual in the Pirate world. They don't fill any specific role on any ship, but anyone could be a Charreographer. What's stranger is that once one Pirate on a ship has become a Charreographer, the others on the ship will inevitably follow.

Their leader is the agile ex-Arrcrobat, Twinkle Toes Benjamin. No one can dance as well as Twinkle Toes and few are dumb enough to try. Twinkle Toes treats the Charreographers more like a religion than a faction though. He wants his disciples to go out and spread the word as best as they can. He wants them to dance their hearts out.

Attribute Scores: Charreographers usually need a high Will to get across the interpretation of their dance. Although, a high agility helps to pull off those really confusing stunts.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Dancin' Fool
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Charreographers are excellent dancers and train constantly to get better. Charreographers get a +2 on all skill checks that can be solved with dancing.

1-2-3
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Charreographers have the unusual ability to time their attacks so some of them become more potent at the cost of other one's becoming less so. If the Charregrapher voluntarily takes a -1 to hit on one turn, he or she gain a +1 to hit on the next turn. This sacrifice must be made before the attack is rolled and the character must attack on both turns. He or she cannot do an action that doesn't require a to-hit roll to negate the minus.

Softshoe Sidestep
Pirate 1
Cost: 1
The Charreographer is an excellent Trickster. With this attack, he quickly grabs an enemy hits them quickly in the middle of a swing and proceeds to switch places with them. This attack does 5 damage.


Level 2:

All Together Now!
Pirate 2
Cost: 2
The Charreographer moves in time with his allies and times his attacks perfectly in sync with theirs. He gains an extra 5 damage on his next attack as long as the attack is done on the same reaction time as another ally.

Morse Diplomacy
Pirate 2
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Charreographer are excellent diplomats when they want to be. Whenever a Charreographer tries to make a diplomacy, intimidation, or any other kind of social skill check, he or she can use this ability to do it with a dance number instead of words.

En Passant!
Pirate 2
Cost: 4
The Charreographer can pirouette his way right into the thick of battle. This attack allows the Charreographer to sweep his leg around him in a full 360 degree arc. All adjacent enemies take 10 damage.


Level 3:

Step-Ball-Kick!
Pirate 3
Cost: 5
A very basic attack that uses the Charreographer's dance moves to hurt the opponent. This attack does 15 damage.

Double Up!
Pirate 3
Cost: 5
This is a rather unusual attack that requires the specific condition that another character with this ability must use it on the same turn for it to activate. This attack does 15 damage for every Charreographer that joins in. All activations are treated as 1 attack. Use the highest attack total to hit.

Charreographed Violence
Pirate 3
Cost: Passive
Charreographers are masters at feeling the rhythm of attacks. They use their amazing dodging skill to fake out their opponents. Charreographers with this ability ALWAYS look like they take damage from Physical attacks even when they do not. While not powerful on its own, this can confuse opponents on how much damage they have done and make the Charreographer look more powerful than he or she actually is.

Footloose and Fancy Free!
Pirate 3
Cost: 8
This attack is an unusual favorite of the Charreographers. It requires the Charreographer have an adjacent and willing ally to jump off of. Using their back as a platform to bounce off of, the Charreographer soars through the air and does 20 damage to an enemy within jumping range at a -1 to hit.


Level 4:

Tap Storm
Pirate 4
Cost: 12
This attack activates a sensation in all crew members within melee range of the target the Charreographer is attacking. Everyone, moved by the music moves to attack at the same time. The initial hit from the Charreographer does 10 damage, and all allies adjacent to the enemy attack for free for a 10 damage attack.

The Thriller
Pirate 4
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 10 Life
The Charreographer can enrapture others in his dance. The Charreographer makes an opposed Will check at a -4. If the opponent fails. They lose their next two turns as they dance along with the Charreographer. They are also at a -2 to dodges.

Language of the Heart
Pirate 4
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 20 Life
The Charreographer knows that dance is the language of the heart. The Charreographer changes the mind of his opponent with his dance. This attack allows a player to turn one encounter level monster or one unnamed human to his or her side for that combat. Resolve as an opposed Will check at a -4 to Will.

Pose and Explode
Pirate 4
Cost: Variable
Charreographers sometimes become slaves to the beating of their own hearts. They sync with their inner awesomeness and it bleeds through their very being. Because of this, their mortal forms cannot contain it. Anytime a Charreographer with this skill gains a number of awesome points from a stunt or attack action, the Charreographer can choose to let it out in a 3 square radius explosion on top of the point of the attack or the Charreographer himself instead of gaining any of the awesome points. All enemies in this area must make a 15 agility check or take 15 damage for every awesome point the Charreographer burned. The Charreographer must spend ALL of the awesome points they gained or none of them.


Level 5:

Twinkle Two-Step
Pirate 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 30 Life
The Twinkle Two-Step is a step so simple anyone can learn it, and does. The Twinkle Two-step does 1 hit for every ally regardless of range the Charreographer has as they all chip in to the deadly dance. The Charreographer DOES count as an ally for his own attack. Use agility to hit instead of precision. Roll each person's hit separately. Each hit does 15 damage.

Caribbean Airship
Pirate 5
Cost: 2 Awesome Points and 30 Life
The Ultimate Showstopper. Treat exactly as the Thriller, but it hits all opponents that can see the dance. The penalty to Dodge is also raised to a -4

Dance Dimension X
Pirate 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 25 Life
The Charreographer uses an attack action and pulls all the other Charreographers together and opens the Forbidden Dance Dimension. All characters with a Charreography skill gain +2 Will and 5 damage on all Charreography attacks until the end of combat. The benefits do not include the HP everyone would normally get from increased Will. However, the Max HP is increased should they find a way to heal it.

Summon the Groupies
Pirate 5
Cost: 2 Awesome Points and 15 Life
The Charreographer summons bystanders from the surrounding area to join his or her cause. The Charreographer is joined by a number of bystanders up to HALF of his or her will (round up). This move takes a full turn. On the next turn the Bystanders come in on the beat of the player's reaction time. Each Bystander should have a 3 in every stat (save will, which is a 7). They also know every Charreography move the head Charreographer knows. Any abilities that require awesome points can be spent by the Charreographer. Finally, all of the groupies only count as 1 person to the Kurosawa Corollary since they are so in sync. However, each one only has 30 Life and does not count towards the Double Up or Tap Storm or Twinkle Two-Step abilities.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 08:37 PM
Alchemists

Summary: Alchemists are scientists that believe in a more chemical power than their Gunnar/Mechanic associates. While a Gunnar tries to solve practical problems with a practical approach (ie. Build a gun and shoot the guard), the Alchemists are after more lofty goals in the name of Science. Specifically, a good number of Alchemists are looking for the secret to immortality. This, of course, does not keep them from being excellent combatants as well. Alchemists use their knowledge of chemicals and the compounds that make up every living thing to do that flashy bit of damage.

High level Alchemist can unleash torrential barrages of explosive chemical concoctions. This creates the possibility for a rather unusual variety of attacks.

History: The Alchemists are as old as the Wanderers themselves and belong to the “balance the paths” philosophy of Wanderer. More specifically, they believed that they could obtain immortality by finding the fine line between the two and becoming the Mythical Ninja-Pirate.

Current day Alchemists are a little more practical (barely) and just as eccentric. Alchemists love elixirs and potions. They love mixing them, they love selling them, and they definitely love using them. If there's a problem an alchemist can't solve with a liquid, then it's time for the Alchemist to move onto topic creams.

The Academy for the Progression of Human Excellence is the main branch of the Alchemists and is filled primarily with researchers and grad students trying to find the next great thing. While they don't necessarily have a head researcher, everyone will tip a respectable nod towards The Immortal Man for any traveler asking to see the best researcher they can find.

The Immortal Man is named as such because he's estimated to be around 80 years old, but looks like he's 25 and hasn't aged in years. Despite claims from himself that he's truly not immortal, a lot of the alchemist community believes he truly has found the compound for immortality and either isn't sharing it, or forgot to write it down. As such, he's a fairly useful source for information on the world before the Takara.

Attribute Scores: Alchemists don't necessarily need any one skill over the other, but a high precisions helps when working with sensitive compounds or fragile lab equipment.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Dihydrogen Monoxide Expert
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
The very base ability of any good Alchemist is to know how to mix various potions and concoctions. While this ability does not grant the ability to create any supernatural potions, this ability gives a +2 to checks to research them or concoct minor potions and elixirs like beers, water purifiers, metal-eating acids, etc.

Me Make You Boom!
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
Alchemists are also inherently good demolitions experts. A potion placed in the right (or wrong) place can make all the difference. Alchemists with this ability gain a +2 to all checks to create and place potions for the purposes of demolitions. This does not include precision for attack rolls.

That's the Stuff
Wanderer 1
Cost: 2
Alchemists understand how to make a brew that'll make someone smarter, stronger, faster, or just all around better. By spending an attack action, the Alchemist can craft a potion that will boost 1 attribute of the Alchemist's choosing by 1 for 1 turn. The Alchemist or his allies do not need to drink this on the turn it is brewed (which can be done as part of the Alchemist's move action), but it becomes unstable if unused in the combat. Drinking a potion can be done once a turn per character and takes no action. This does not give the HP from increased Body or Will.

Chemical Balance
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
Alchemists have to know how to carry various potions and vials at the same time without dropping them in combat. An Alchemist with this ability can carry a number of brewed potions in his hands equal to his agility score without having to drop one or pass it off. Normally the Alchemist can only carry 2 (1 for each hand). With or without this ability, the Alchemist is considered to have the required ingredients to mix the potions on his person via a series of belts and pouches on his clothing.

Elemental Salve
Wanderer 1
Cost: 2
Alchemists are masters of the elements and can imbue attacks with elemental power. Pick 1 element when the Alchemist takes this ability. The Alchemist can spend 2 Life at any time to make any attack that element. Furthermore, the Alchemist can spend a turn to brew up a potion of any other element or their own element that can be spread on a weapon to make its next attack any element of the Alchemist's choosing.


Level 2:

Burn Baby Burn
Wanderer 2
Cost: 4
The Alchemist can concoct potions of various chemical backgrounds. When he or she uses this, he creates a potion of a pure element and flings it at his foe. This can be anything from the common fire to the less common love to the extremely uncommon metaphysical philosophy elements. This attack hits up to 8 squares from the alchemist and does 10 damage of any type of the Alchemist's choosing.

Rocket Sauce
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1
The Alchemist loves to create potions that give a person that extra kick. This potion allows its drinker to double his or her move jump speed for a turn (stacking with any other movement abilities) but has the distinct problem of making any move action a jump while the potion is active (no walking).

Got Your Weakness
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Alchemists are men of science and have documented the weaknesses of every monster they've encountered. Whenever an Alchemist fights a monster that he or she does not know of any weaknesses of, they can spend 2 turns looking it up in their reference book. This reveals all elemental weaknesses and any other likely plans of attack.

Brew Tosser
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Alchemist allies depend on the Alchemist being able to pass his potions on to them on a moments notice. They can't be bothered to always be adjacent to him. Alchemists can normally pass potions and items to allies as a free action, but the Alchemist that masters this skill has mastered his throwing to the point that he can toss potions to any ally within 5 squares without using an action. The ally must be conscious to receive this benefit.


Level 3:

KABOOM!
Wanderer 3
Cost: 8
The Alchemists are excellent demolition experts as well. Using their chemical knowledge, they can craft quick and effective bombs that explode in a huge fiery explosions. This attack can be thrown 8 squares, hits a 5 square radius, and does 10 fire damage to everything in the explosion.

Here! Drink This!
Wanderer 3
Cost: 10
The Alchemist has learned to make unusual brews that can make an individual more of a Pirate or more of a Ninja. Or so they claim. In reality, all this potion does is either give the user a +2 to body and will at the cost of -2 agility and precision or vice-versa until the end of battle to whomever drinks it. This cannot lower an attribute below 1 and cannot raise it above 10.

Nectar of the Gods
Wanderer 3
Cost: 5
The Alchemist spends a turn and concocts a brew that cures any minor physical ailments that do not have a direct effect on combat (like a hangover, dehydration, hunger) and gives back 10 Life when drank. This brew goes bad if it is not drunk in the scene its made in.

Chamomile and Honey
Wanderer 3
Cost: 10
The Alchemist knows a great cure for Insomnia. When this potion is brewed, anyone that doesn't make a Body check of 15 falls immediately into a deep sleep. The participant must drink all of it though. So, forcing down their throat is unlikely to work. However, slipping it in their Tea might.

Chemical Breakdown
Wanderer 3
Cost: 5
The Wanderer can brew up a potion to break down an opponent's resistance to one element. When an opponent is hit with this potion, the target takes 5 more damage from all attacks of an element of the Alchemist's choosing.

Build Up Your Resistances
Wanderer 3
Cost: 10
The Wanderer can also brew up a potion for drinking that can raise resistances to the elements. Whenever anyone drinks this potion, they take 5 less damage from an element of the Alchemist's choosing until the end of battle.


Level 4:

Chain Reaction
Wanderer 4
Cost: 10
The Alchemist has learned some pretty ridiculous chemical brews and knows how to combine them for explosive effect. The Alchemist using this attack takes out two potions and throws them at the same target. The chemicals then reaction and explode on top of that opponent. This attack hits at a +2, has a range of 8 squares, and does 15 damage of any element. Furthermore, if they target does not move out of the square on their next turn, they continue to take 10 more damage a turn until they do.

Equivalent Exchange
Wanderer 4
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 10 Life
Alchemists are masters of Chemical balance and reorganizing the very make-up of items. Using his potions and chemical expertise, the Alchemist can change one item into another. When this ability is used, the Alchemist can take a mundane object or several mundane objects and transform them into something of equal mass and make-up. So, a tree can be made into a small boat, but it can't be made into a full-blown Caravel or a metal sword. Artifacts and Indestructible quality are uneffected. The mass of the object that can be changed is limited to the size of a large statue. Larger objects should require more awesome points.

Equal and Opposite Reaction
Wanderer 4
Cost: 5
The Alchemist knows a few tricks of desperation and is willing to get right in the thick of it if he has to. This attack does 30 damage to the opponent if it hits. However, regardless of whether it hits, both opponents are knocked back 4 squares and the user of the ability takes 15 damage.

Jack of All Planes
Wanderer 4
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Alchemist knows how to shape the very field that his or her battles take place on. By using his attack action, the Alchemist can physically change a major aspect of the battlefield's environment to his or her choosing. This effect can vary from covering the ground in ice to increase speed while already moving to covering the ground in difficult to navigate stone spikes to covering the area in fire that does 5 damage to every living thing each turn.


Level 5:

Explodomania
Wanderer 5
Cost: 30
The Alchemist knows how to make one hell of a bomb, and he's not afraid to use it. The Alchemist crafts a potion that explodes in a 6 square radius when broken. This potion can be thrown 8 squares and does 25 damage. It also continues to do 5 damage to any opponents hit every turn after the initial explosion as the chemicals in the potion eat away their skin and clothes. This needs significant water to wash off and will otherwise continue to eat away at an opponent's life until they are unconscious.

The Immortality Equation
Wanderer 5
Cost: 30
Many have tried to recreate The Immortal Man's legendary and miraculous potion. None have succeeded, but some people have stumbled upon a temporary solution. When an alchemist brews this tonic, whomever drinks it becomes completely invulnerable to damage until their next action (damage taken from life drain to use abilities does not count).

Brew Fest
Wanderer 5
Cost: Passive
Alchemists are masterful and speedy brewers that can whip up an elixir or cure in the blink of an eye. The most skilled ones are even faster than that. An Alchemist with this ability can whip up 2 Potions in a turn. However, the user must wait 2 turns after using this ability before using it again, and the Alchemist can still only drink 1 potion and throw 1 potion a turn.

The Absolute Zero Equation
Wanderer 5
Cost: 30
Alchemists aren't just good at setting things on fire. Some Alchemists are experts of the cold as well. When an Alchemist rolls precision and hits with this potion with an 8 range, the target is frozen solid in a block of ice. The victim immediately makes a 15 body check, if they succeed, they break out on their next turn. If not, they must waste their turns until they make the body check or someone breaks them out. While encased in ice, the character takes no damage. Anyone wishing to break them out must do 50 damage to the ice barrier. Fire type damage counts as doubled for the purpose of breaking someone out. This is an unstable equation and melts after a couple of minutes and quite instantaneously when it does. Furthermore, this ice block will typically break after too much violent movement. This means that this is ultimately a good stall technique but a poor ability for kidnapping foes.

Liquid Thunder
Wanderer 5
Cost: 20
The Alchemists have found a frightening concoction that lets out a thunderous burst of sound and horrible secondary effects when violently shaken or upon impacting on an object. Upon throwing this attack anywhere within a range of 10 squares, do the following. Anyone next to the blast is at a -2 to avoid any other effects of the blast. Anyone within 2 squares of the blast make a Body check of 9. If the target fails, they are deafened for the battle (-2 to precision to hear hidden targets and -2 to dodge, immune to sound attacks). Then, anyone within 4 squares makes an agility or body check of 12 or is knocked down and drops any weapons or items they are holding at the time(requiring a move action to get up and grab the weapon next turn). Anyone within 8 squares rolls agility against the Alchemist's precision. If they fail, they take 20 damage from the concussive shockwave and shattering glass. Finally, anyone within 12 squares of the attack is automatically knocked 2 squares away from the origin of the blast automatically. This attack will cause objects lighter than a man to explode outwards from the explosion. Needless to say, most Alchemists think long and hard before using this one.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 08:46 PM
Wandering Minstrels

Summary: The Wandering Minstrels are musicians that use their voice as a deadly weapon. Unlike the Rokinja, they need no weapon to belt out their beautiful and powerful attacks.

High level Wandering Minstrels can sing their foes to death, mind control opponents, or even heal their allies.

History: The Wanderering Minstrels have been around since before the Wanderers officially existed, and inspired the very arts of the Rokinja (although the Rokinja won't openly admit it). They're a rather mysterious group that's spread all across the world, and many fear them.

Their leader is a man known as Nightingale, a man in his mid-40's with a beautiful harmonic voice. Considering the bird theme, many have speculated that Nightingale is either related to the Raven some way or even might be him in disguise.

The Wandering Minstrels are mostly a good group. There are very few corrupt Minstrels that use their power for evil. Instead, they use their beautiful voices to inspire and bolster people to a level of greatness.

Attribute Scores: The Wandering Minstrels will take whatever God gave them but require a high will to pull off some of their better moves.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Voice Like Butter
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
The Wandering Minstrels are master vocalists and have practiced their art. This can be used either for singing or fooling others. Wandering Minstrels get a +2 to all checks to sing or disguise their voice as someone else's.

Beautiful Inspiration
Wanderer 1
Cost: 3
The Minstrel can use his voice to inspire others to a greater level. The Minstrel sings an inspirational tune and inspires the target with a +1 bonus on one skill check or attribute check. This does stack with other skill bonuses and the Minstrel cannot target himself.

Unchained Avian
Wanderer 1
Cost: 2
The Minstrel sings of beauty, love, and freedom. Every turn the Minstrel sings, this song gives a +2 to Will to all party members (minus the Life) until the Minstrel's next action. This does not target the Minstrel.

Rainbow Connection
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
The Minstrel shares a special bond with their friends that cannot be broken. However, some people are closer to the Minstrel's heart than others. When a Minstrel learns this ability, they pick one person they have a strong connection to. The Minstrel, unable to stand this person in pain grows righteous fury to strike back. Anytime the Minstrel is conscious and sees that character take damage from an enemy attack, they gain a +1 to hit that target on their next attack. Should said character die or make the Minstrel no longer trust them, the Minstrel must wait a year before picking someone else to apply it to.


Level 2:

Shrill Pitch
Wanderer 2
Cost: 2
The Wandering Minstrel sings a shrill note that damages the ears of everyone that can hear it for 2 damage. This attack is resolved as an opposed will check and cannot be reduced by any damage reduction.

Beautiful Vibratto
Wanderer 2
Cost: 10/turn
The Minstrel sings a beautiful beautiful Vibrant tune and heals all allies for 5 damage every turn he uses this.

Croon at the Moon
Wanderer 2
Cost: 5
The Minstrel is a master of emotional control. With his powerful and talent vocals, the Minstrel can make an opponent make an opposed Will check at a -2 to Will to make one opponent feel a general emotion of his choosing. This effect only lasts for that scene or until the target cannot see the Minstrel anymore. This does not control the character's actions. So, you can make a character afraid, but they will still attack if they're not a coward. You can make a character have feelings of love for you, but they won't necessarily do what you say. This is more effective in helping control the flow of diplomacy and effecting subtle tricks.

Song of the Forest Lord
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
The Minstrel knows that music slays the savage beast and has a voice that calms even the most wild animal. The Minstrel with this ability gains a +1 to use their song abilities against non-sentient, non-boss tier animals.

Voice of an Angel
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
The Minstrels have beautiful heart-warming voices that bring peace and inspiration to all. When a Minstrel with this ability makes a first impression with a character, unless the character has an excellent reason otherwise, the character will have a generally friendly attitude towards the character. Of course, the player can still ruin this relationship later, but it's a good way to get in the door.

Voice of a Devil
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Not all Minstrels are good guys. Some Minstrels use their abilities for more devlish purposes. Whenever a Minstrel with this ability knocks out an opponent with a song ability, the victim suffers horrible nightmares until they wake up.


Level 3:

Mr. Exploder
Wanderer 3
Cost: 10
The Minstrel belts a note that blows his opponent's mind, literally. Make an opposed will check at a -3. If the opponent fails, he or she is at a -1 to Will and Precision until the end of battle. This cannot lower Precision and Will below 1.

Shatter the Glass
Wanderer 3
Cost: 8
This is a rather unusual ability, but useful nonetheless. The Minstrel hits a high note that shatters just about anything. This ability can be used to target any one object not currently held by an opponent and shatter it instantly. Anything short of a steel wall, a boat, or a house, is fair game. Unlike the Craftmen's Hammer Meet Nail, this attack does not have precision (the object just shaters) and cannot destroy something of indestructible quality.

Split the Heavens
Wanderer 3
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
This is one of the Minstrel's more unusual abilities. The Minstrel has a beautiful and clear voice that causes even the sky itself to cry or smile on a moments notice. With a simple melody or refrain, the Minstrel can control the weather and change the conditions around him (provided something unnatural isn't causing the weather). This only effects a half mile radius around the Minstrel.

Ye Olde Song That Continues into the Abyss
Wanderer 3
Cost: 5/turn
The Wanderer knows a frustrating never-ending song that gets on the nerves of their opponent. The Minstrel makes an opposed Will check against all foes at a -2. While in effect, this ability makes all of the opponent's attribute scores effectively 1 lower (without the Life loss from the loss of Body or Will unless their life is above their max Life after the adjustment). However, if this move continues to be used each turn, the Wanderer gains a cumulative +1 to the opposed Will roll for each turn this move has been used. If the Wanderer stops for any turns, this bonus stops.

Eternal Diva
Wanderer 3
Cost: 8/turn
The Minstrel is the center of the team and a beacon to all. This can sometimes give the Minstrel an ego. Instead of taking the full blunt of damage, the Minstrel chooses to take it out on their friends. Whenever a Minstrel activate this ability, the Minstrel can let a willing conscious ally take half of the damage of the attack that the Minstrel would've taken. The damage inflicted by the Minstrel from this attack cannot be negated with damage reduction.

Dirge of Absolute Sorrow
Wanderer 3
Cost: 20
The Minstrel sings of joy, but the Minstrel also sings of pure sorrow. By singing out the absolute torment of the Minstrel's soul, the Minstrel makes an opposed Will save against all that can hear it (including allies). If a target fails, they take 15 damage that damage reduction cannot reduce. Furthermore, if this attack succeeds in dealing damage even once, the victim's move speed is halved on any turn in the same combat that this ability is used as their motivation is sucked away.


Level 4:

Ready Freddy? Go!
Wanderer 4
Cost: 10
Much like the Rokinja, the Minstrels realize that the best song builds from a crescendo. The Minstrel starts by singing. He continues to do this for 2 full turns. On the beginning of the third turn, he releases the effect and give his allies a +4 to all checks for the round. The Minstrel must remain conscious for the effect to work. This effect does not help the Minstrel.

Who Wants to Live Forever?
Wanderer 4
Cost: 5
The Wandering Minstrel can sing a song of sorrow and joy that hurts both him and his opponent as he strains his vocal chords to their limit. This attack does 25 damage to a target on an opposed will check that no damage reduction can reduce. However, the Minstrel himself takes 10 damage from the attack that damage reduction cannot reduce.

Sweet Lullaby
Wanderer 4
Cost: 15
The Wandering Minstrel has a sweet voice that soothes everyone into a gentle slumber. Everyone except the Minstrel that can hear must roll Will. The Minstrel rolls Will at a -2. Anyone that fails the check immediately falls asleep. This sleep is not special in any way and will be broken by any kind of loud or violent action near the sleep (like attacking them, trying to take something out of their hands, speaking too loud, etc.)

MONTAGE!
Wanderer 4
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Wandering Minstrel is the master of fast segways as they sing a song to hasten the passage of time. Whenever a task calls for a long arduous process, the Wandering Minstrel can make it seem like it passes in the blink of an eye. What this actually does is allow the players to (at GM's discretion) skip an obstacle that the party could logically defeat without combat. Play resumes after a quick musical montage and the job is done. Entire quests cannot be skipped this way, but this can be used to skip minor things like walking back to a town and the random encounters that may occur or build a house or sneak into Ninja Council HQ undetected even with your horrible stealth checks (Getting out is another issue). This can also be used to lessen the time needed to train. 1 weeks training can be done in a day. Finally, if used to prepare for some major challenge, instigating a montage before it to prepare for a major challenge, one player can gain a +1 to any attribute for the purposes of that challenge.

Cue Theme Song!
Wanderer 4
Cost: 10/turn
A favorite of showboats everywhere, the Wandering Minstrel has the power to summon his own theme song and inspire himself to great heights. While this ability is up, the Minstrel gains a +5 to damage on all attacks, a +5 to damage reduction, a +1 Will (without the Life gain), a +1 to all skill checks, and he or she cannot stealth or hide his/her attacks from anything short of a completely deaf person.

Nature Calls
Wanderer 4
Cost: 15
The Wandering Minstrel has a sweet sultry voice that calls the animals of the wild to his or her aid. By singing this song, the Minstrel can bring these animal allies to attack. Make a Will check against the target's agility. If this succeeds, the attack does 25 damage. However, this attack can only be used in an area that conceivably has a large population of animals.


Level 5:

Nightingale Requiem
Wanderer 5
Cost: Variable
The Nightingale's final song is one of beauty that inspire his allies to righteous fervor. The singer of this song loses all of their remaining Life and goes to 0 Life. However, all conscious allies that can hear the song gain life equal to 1/2 the life lost (round up). All enemies take damage equal to 1/5th of the life sacrificed (round up) automatically as well. This damage cannot be reduced by damage reduction.

Musical Mind Control
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 20 Life
The Minstrel has such a beautiful voice that he or she can control the very minds of those that listen to him or her. Make an opposed Will check at a -3. If the opponent fails, that opponent falls under the singer's control and must perform the tasks he or she desires as long as he or she keeps singing. The singer makes another opposed roll every time he or she commands the subject to do something after the first action at the same -3. If he or she ever fails, the mind control is dropped. The target must be able to understand the singer.

Mass Media Music Mind Control Medley
Wanderer 5
Cost: 2 Awesome points and 30 Life
Much like the Musical Mind Control, the Wanderer knows how to control and coordinate the masses. This ability resolves at the same -3 to Will but controls all targets that can hear and understand it. There are three caveats with this version though. The first is that the controlled tasks cannot be used to make the victims do a task that would put them in severe mortal danger that they would not already willingly do (ie. No "attack the Kraken" or "Jump in a bottomless pit" but "dance in place" or "block that guy's path" is okay). The second is that the command must be the same for everyone (although, it can be made vague. Stop the fire or steal for me are legitimate commands). The third is that victims under the sway of the melodies hypnotic sway gain a +2 to all checks to perform the task commanded. Victims can voluntarily fall under the control of the effect to gain the bonuses.

Share the Spotlight
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Wandering Minstrels understand better than anyone that at any point, the cosmic spotlight could rest on their shoulders. Being the ultimate team players, the Wandering Minstrel with this technique chooses to share his or her time in the spotlight. When a Wandering Minstrel uses this attack ability, he or she spends 1 Awesome Point and the cost of any attack that any ally has to instantly make that ally attack with that attack for free, whether they have acted this turn or not. The Wandering Minstrel can also use this ability to give an ally an extra move action instead.

Pollyanna
Wanderer 5
Cost: 2 Awesome Points
True happiness and peace cannot be destroyed or resisted. The Wandering Minstrel with this ability sings of joy and happiness. When such a song is song, all must pay attention. When a Wandering Minstrel uses this attack by declaring it out loud before reaction is rolled, they spend their full turn. However, during this turn, no one may make ANY attack actions that do any non personal damage. Any continuing attacks that do damage are canceled. Any other attack actions are legitimate.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 08:51 PM
Items

Abilities on Items:

Items contain abilities just like characters. Characters that pick up artifacts with abilities can use some of the abilities immediately upon picking the weapon up. Before training, if the ability has a cost, a character can use it, but the cost will be doubled. Passive abilities cannot be used.

A character can train and learn to use the abilities off an item effectively. By spending a number of character points equal to half the amount that would be required to train those abilities normally (rounded up), the character can use the abilities on the artifact. The character can train in one ability on the artifact at a time if he or she chooses. So, if there's one particular ability the player wants, he or she can train in that one first.

Character points spent towards training an ability off an item are subtracted from the cost of the actual ability should the player decide to learn it without the weapon. Item specific abilities are bought at the base cost for a character (2 times ability level and then halved for being on the item).

Items can also be consumable and give permanent abilities as well. The cost of gaining abilities off of an item like this comes at the full cost of the abilities since the item cannot be lost. The advantage to this is that a character can learn an ability without a teacher and can potentially learn abilities that he or she would not have been able to otherwise (a level 5 ability from an opposing group or an item specific ability). This can be used to give characters supernatural abilities they wouldn't be able to get from regular faction abilities like stretching their limbs to ridiculous lengths or setting their fists on fire.

Of course, learning abilities like this is potentially powerful and is therefore done purely at the discretion of the GM and all character creation item purchases should be accepted by the GM.

Items that do not grant abilities through training (mundane ships, houses, etc.) are considered mundane and should be acquired through roleplaying.


Item Specific Abilities:
The following are some sample abilities that can be granted by items specifically.

Level 1:

Elemental Fury
Item 1
Cost: 1 per attack
This item is imbued with a particular element to such a powerful level that it can channel it into or even as a weapon. The item becomes sheathed in that element and the attack that this ability is used on gains that element as its descriptor. For the most part, this is harmless and for flavor, but some monsters take more damage from specific sources of damage and some abilities make enemies vulnerable to specific types of attacks. Also, a fire sword could be used to burn a rope or a lightning dagger could power a generator in a pinch. Common elements are Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, Lightning, etc. Less common elements are Love, Hate, Good, Evil, Math, etc.

Item Finder
Item 1
Cost: Passive
This item has the supernatural ability to point towards other items of a certain nature. For instance, a good artifact dousing rod can point towards water. There's also items that can lead towards the nearest deposit of gold or gems. This ability cannot be used to track people. So, an item that finds alcohol is fine, but an item that find loose members of the opposite sex is not.


Level 2:

Hidden Lore Manual
Item 2
Cost: Passive
This item contains copious amounts of hidden lore about a very specific skill such as history of an area. Training with this item means taking the time to reading it and knowing what to reference when you need to glean information from it. This item gives a +1 to a very specific skill (in other words, local history, operating large ships, dirty jokes, but not something like moving your body). The character that has read this is considered capable in that skill as well as long as he or she still has the item for reference.

Crazy Speedy
Item 2
Cost: Passive
This item is fast, very fast. While the trained user uses this item, they gain 2 squares to their base movement.


Level 3:

Extended Reach
Item 3
Cost: 1 per 2 squares
This item is capable of extending itself out to infinity as long as the user is willing to pay for it. This item can extend in battle and increase a character's melee attack range. This item will extend as many squares as the user wishes at a cost of 1 life per 2 squares extended. This is still a solid object. So, if other objects are in the way, a character may not be able to hit someone far away, even if they have the energy for the reach unless they can cut through the objects. For instance, in a dense forest, the trees might get in the way.

Specific Protection
Item 3
Cost: Passive
This item is imbued against the elements and gives the user a protection against it. This item protects against a very specific type of damage and reduces all attacks of that kind of damage by 5. Examples of specific elements include raw elements like Fire or Electricity or certain materials like wood or a rare weapon material.


Level 4:

Ninja/Pirate/Wanderer Killer
Item 4
Cost: Passive
This item was forged in the fires of war and has grown to hate a specific target. Pick one of the three sides (Pirate, Ninja, or Wanderer). This item does 5 extra damage on all attacks to that side.

Projectile Shots
Item 4
Cost: 5 per attack
This item is sheathed in energy, much like the Elemental Fury ability, but this item can be used to make ranged attacks with a melee weapon made of pure energy. This can be used to either make a melee attack at a range or be used to make ranged attacks with a melee weapon. Either way, this does not have the defect that Extended Reach does. This weapon attacks in straight bolts and cuts instantly through most mundane materials like wood. The maximum range of the bolts is the character's precision or will stat in squares (whichever is higher).


Level 5:

Life Drinker
Item 5
Cost: Passive
This item gives some of the damage the user does in his attacks back to his life total. For every 10 actual damage the character does in an attack (round up), the item gives back 1 Life. However, in AOE attacks. Each hit only gives half the life (round up).

Flying Item
Item 5
Cost: 3/turn
This item is capable of giving the user flight like a bird. While this ability is on, the can move with perfect acrobatic grace in the air.

General Protection
Item 5
Cost: Passive
This item gives protection like the Specific Protection ability but applies it to something much more common and general like bludgeoning trauma, sword damage, energy damage, damage from a specific side, etc. This reduces damage by 5.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 08:55 PM
Monsters:

Tired of Pirates and Ninjas? Try T-Rexes and Krakens!

The Ninjas vs. Pirates universe doesn't just contain Ninjas, Pirates, and Wanderers. They'd all have to be vegetarians or cannibals if it did. No, there are monsters in the world at large as well, and they are as legendary, powerful, and amazing as the people of the world. Dinosaurs, Demons, Sea Monsters, Flying Beasts, and powerful creatures roam the lands, but even a squirrel can be a formidable foe in the right region.

This small book couldn't hope to contain every possibility that your mind could come up with. Just know that if it would be totally awesome if a Ninja or Pirate fought it, it's fair game. Since creating balanced monsters can be difficult, this section is here to give rules for creating your own monsters and how to test their general power levels along with a few example monsters.


The Tiers of Mosnters:

Not all monsters can be the Kraken. If they were, the Kraken wouldn't be so special. That doesn't mean that some monsters shouldn't be awesome. Every time your players fight a monster or group of monsters, they should be smiling and having fun. Neither a Zombie horde nor a swarm of wasps are particularly hard for a well-trained Pirate or Ninja to take out, but the Zombies are a lot more fun. So, every monster should be fun and interesting in its own way.

That said, monsters should generally be separated into 3 groups of combatants:

Mooks: These are the monsters your players will take out in one hit. They'll usually fight swarms of them. These cover zombies, giant bats, imps, Kappas, etc.

Encounters: These are the monsters that would give any one individual of the group a challenge if they had to fight it alone. Monsters that are a match for the average player character. These cover Banshees, Sirens, Small Dragons, Bears, Onis, Sirens, Nuckelavees, etc.

Bosses: These are the big ones. These are encounters that should challenge the entire party with one of them out. These are usually, but don't have to be, massive in scale. These cover creatures from a wide scale and include T-rexes, the Jörmungandr, Japanese Style Gods, Basans, a Yuki-Onna (with excellent snow control), etc.

Joke: This is a bit of a misnomer. The Joke tier monsters can be of varying power and could normally belong to any of the other tiers. However, monsters in this tier have the distinction of being patently ridiculous and having no excuse being in any campaign that tries to have ANY serious tone. Best used for 1-shots, trying to confuse the players, or for an over-the-top group. Use as the final boss to a campaign at your own risk.

Keep these tiers of monsters in mind, and it'll help to know how to go about creating them. Mooks should have lower ability scores and near absent Life totals while bosses should be powerful and have massive life totals.


Creating Monsters:

Creating monsters is just like creating characters. They have the same four derived stats as everything else in the game (Body, Agility, Precision, and Will). They even have their own abilities that they can learn. Since there's no experience points rewarded for monster kills in this game, there's no measure for how good they should be, but the levels of their skills and how many of them they have compared to your players combined with their attribute scores should tell you how much of a challenge they will be.

The two biggest differences between monsters and player characters are reach and Life totals. Monsters can be bigger than one square. Normally characters can only attack the squares next to them in melee. Larger creatures can reach farther though. While not perfect, a general rule of thumb is to give creatures a reach on melee attacks equal to half their longest dimension on the board(rounded up). So, the average T-rex will take up around 5 squares by 5 squares on the board (It's a small T-rex and their feet are most of the space they're taking up. The real thing is huge. So, the T-rex can attack anywhere within 3 squares of it without moving.

The second factor is Life. Based on the tier of monster creation, monsters should either have less or more HP than the players.

Mooks should have half to even as low as a tenth the life their scores would give them depending on how fast you want them to go down. For instance, a zombie with 1 will and a 6 body (a meaty zombie) would have maybe 35 life, but could have as little as 7 if you wanted the players to take on a hundred of them back to back.

Encounters should have either equal life to what their abilities would give them or up to double. So, a bear with 2 will and an 8 body might have 100 life while a Large Oni with a 2 will and a 10 body might have as much as 240 Life. Once again, this depends on whether you want the party to fight one of them or a 2-5 of them.

Bosses are massive and should have anywhere from double their normal life to tens times it in some rare scenarios. A T-rex with a 4 will and a 10 body would have 280 Life while the Kraken, with it's massive size, 4 will, and 10 body would have upwards of 700-1400 life depending on how many people you want to be required to take it down (Consequently, the Kraken also has a pathetic 1 Agility and a 2 Precision. So even WITH the Kurosawa Corollary, he's not hard to dodge and hit).


Creating Abilities:

Abilities in Pirates vs. Ninjas aren't that hard to figure out. The average melee attack should do 5 damage a level and cost the one and a half times the level in Life. If the ability does more damage, it should gain around -1 to hit per extra 5 damage. If it does less damage, give it a +1 bonus to accuracy for every -5 damage.

After that, if the attack is ranged in nature add up to 100% of the original cost to the total (depending on the range. Short range should be a couple extra life. Hitting from a ridiculous length should double the cost). If the attack hits two targets, double the cost. If it hits more than 2 targets, triple it. So, a ranged attack that hits up to 10 targets for 15 damage from 100 squares away should generally cost around 12 Life a shot (damage equivalent to a level 3 skill [3 points] + 200% the initial cost for multiple targets + 100% for long range). Extra abilities beyond this should either bump the attack up in level or increase the cost significantly.

Non-attack abilities are a bit harder to determine. Figure out how much of an impact the ability has on combat. Minor impacts or very circumstantial abilities should be level 1 or 2 and cost a few life a turn. Moderate impacts or abilities that will come in handy often should be around level 3 and are often passive or cost a significant chunk of life for a major benefit. Abilities that will almost always come up should be level 4 or 5 and are either passive or cost a large portion of hp once or 3-10 hp a round to keep up. So, being able to see in the dark is maybe a level 2 ability, being able to regenerate in water is a level 3 ability, and being able to fly is a level 4 or 5 ability.

Mooks will tend to do a little less damage while Bosses and higher level Encounters will tend to do more damage than these examples.

Also, feel free to modify existing abilities to suit your needs. Why make a new ability for water walking when one already exists?

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 08:59 PM
Zombie
Tier: Mook
Descrption: Humanoids that have died and been infected to be mindless brain-eaters.
Life: 13
Reaction: 2

Body 4
Agility 1
Precision 2
Will 1

Notes: Zombies are exceedingly slow and only move 2 squares a round instead of 8.

Abilities:

Level 1

Zombie Trip (Cost 1): The zombie trips and falls on one target in melee for 10 damage. However, if the zombie misses, it must spend a turn getting back up.

Hungry for Brains (Passive): Zombies can smell the living and are better at tracking them than you would expect. Zombies get a +2 precision to notice living things via their sense of smell.


Level 3

Zombie Bite (Cost 4): This attack resolves at a -1 to hit and does 15 damage. However, if it knocks an opponent below 0 Life, they must make a body check of 15 or become a Zombie as well.


Level 5

Too Stupid to Notice (Passive): Zombies are bafflingly dumb and immune to all insults, diplomacy, or illusions.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 09:02 PM
Fire Imp
Tier: Mook
Description: Small red annoying creatures with fire for their blood and tiny pitchforks.
Life: 30
Reaction: 5

Body 2
Agility 6
Precision 4
Will 4

Notes: Fire imps are made of fire and channel it readily. They take 10 less damage from all fire and heat based attacks but take 10 more damage from all water/ice and cold based attacks.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Imp Poke (Cost 2): This attack resolves at a +4 to hit but does a mere 2 damage.


Level 2:

Scitter Scitter (Cost 5): Imps are smaller and flexible. They can squirm themselves out of anything. Imps gain a +4 to checks to escape imprisonment of some kind when they use this.


Level 3:

Temporary Flight (2/turn): Imps have small wings that give them the ability of limited flight. They cannot get more than a couple of feet off the ground, but they avoid all terrain.

Fireball (Cost 5): The imp fires a fireball with its power that does 15 fire damage at a range of 10 squares.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 09:07 PM
Bear
Tier: Encounter
Description: Giant Mammals view big mouth, terrifying speed, and huge paws.
Life: 100
Reaction: 4

Body 8
Agility 4
Precision 4
Will 2

Abilities:
Level 1:

Good Climber (Passive): The Bear gains a +2 to all climb checks.


Level 3:

Bear Claw (Cost 3): This attack does 15 damage.


Level 4:

Bear Rush (Cost 8): The bear uses the force of a charge to trample it's foes and claw them mercilessly. This attack can only be done if the bear charged the target in a straight line, but does 25 damage.

Crazy Rage (Variable): The bear goes into a crazy rage in order to do more damage. For every 5 life sacrificed, the next attack that successfully hits will do 5 extra damage.


Level 5:

Thick Fat (Passive): Bears have a thick coat that reduces all damage from all physical or energy based attacks by 5.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 09:11 PM
Thunder Oni
Tier: Encounter
Description: Giant Ogre like monsters that carry a club and have powerful lightning fields around them.
Life: 180
Reaction: 2

Body 10
Agility 2
Precision 2
Will 2

Notes: Thunder Onis channel raw electrical energy and take 25 less damage from electrical based attacks. Onis, unlike most monsters can talk and are extremely vulnerable to psychological attacks and insults.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Oni Swing (Cost 2): This attack does 15 damage but rolls to hit at a -2


Level 2:

Batter Up (Cost 5): The Oni uses it's massive strength to hit the opponent for 20 damage at a -2 to hit. The opponent flies back a number of squares equal to half the damage they took.


Level 3:

Quick Swing (Cost 6): The Oni tries for accuracy and hits for 10 damage at a +2 to hit.

Lightning Field (Cost 10): This attack does 15 lightning damage to everyone adjacent to the Oni.

Lightning Bolt (Cost 6): The Oni throws a bolt of lightning within 10 squares and does 15 lightning damage.


Level 4:

Lightning Swing (Cost 12): This attack swing super quick for a +2 to hit and does 20 lightning damage.


Level 5:

Big and Burly (Passive): Onis are tough and take 3 less damage from all physical attacks (For a total of 7 damage reduction when at full body).

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 09:15 PM
T-Rex
Tier: Boss
Description: A large scaly lizard with a long tail, a mean bite, and short arms.
Life: 280
Reaction: 5

Body 10
Agility 2
Precision 4
Will 4

Abilities:
Level 1:

Tail Swipe (Cost 8): The T-rex swings its tail at a -1 to hit and hits everyone in range for 10 damage.


Level 2:

Chomp Chomp (Cost 8): The T-rex bite an opponent for 15 damage.


Level 3:

Step on It! (Passive): Everything that's in the T-rexes way when it makes a move action must make an agility check of 10 or be stomped on when it moves for 5 damage.


Level 4:

Mighty Leap (Cost 20): The T-rex leaps into the air and lands with a terrible force. Everything within 10 squares of the T-rex takes 30 damage.


Level 5:

Bite and Hold (Cost 25): The T-rex bites a victim at a -2 for 40 damage. The victim is caught in the T-rex's mouth and unable to move until they can beat the T-rex in an opposed check against its body with either their body or agility score. The T-rex cannot bite while something is in it's mouth.

Small Brain No Good For Think-Making (Passive): T-rexes are immune to all mental effects save irritation.

Scaly Hide (Passive): T-Rexes take 5 less damage from all attacks.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 09:19 PM
The Kraken:
Tier: Boss
Description: A Colossal and Legendary sea monster that has dozens of tentacles, a beak, and can swallow ships whole.
Life: 700
Reaction: 2

Body: 10
Agility: 1
Precision: 2
Will: 4

Note: The Kraken is waterborne will always fight in the middle of a large body of salt water. It cannot appear out of the water.

Abilities:
Level 2:

Tentacle Slap (Cost 5): The Kraken does a basic attack and slaps a foe with its tentacle for 15 damage.


Level 3:

Fear the Beak! (Cost 15): Few Pirates get to see the Kraken's frightening maw, and fewer have lived to tell the tale. Resolve the attack at a -4 to hit. This attack does 50 damage.

Fling Them! (Cost 15): This attack does 20 damage and hits at a -2, but if it hits, the Kraken flings the target 20 squares in a random direction into the middle of the ocean.


Level 4:

Break the Ship (Cost 20): The Kraken can destroy a major section of a ship with a single attack. Any ship smaller than a fully-crewed pirate ship will be instantly shattered. Pirate ships can take 3 such attacks before sinking. Ships of “Indestructible Quality” (see Craftsmen) can survive 8 such attacks.

Sweep the Deck (Cost 30): The Kraken can sweep one of its massive tentacles across the deck and hit every single target within it's massive reach. All targets within 100 squares take 20 damage.


Level 5:

Scales of a God (Passive): The Kraken takes 10 less damage from all attacks.

Tentacle Barrage (Cost 50): The Kraken can use all of its tentacles above the water to unleash 8 melee attacks that do 20 damage each when they hit.

Finish the Extras (Cost 100): The Kraken is vicious and isn't afraid to use it's full might against a target. Any character that doesn't specifically have a name before this attack is declared (ie. Not important enough for the GM or players to name) but is actively fighting the Kraken is taken immediately down to an unconscious state. If this is used a second time. Every one of those extras is killed.

Darksword
2009-12-02, 09:24 PM
I realy love these new additions. What i like most is just the feel. It is a nice game that has a lot of different style. The rules are very simple but characters have a lot customization.
One question though
You have to pick a fraction (like rockninja) and you can't change it, correct?

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 09:31 PM
I realy love these new additions. What i like most is just the feel. It is a nice game that has a lot of different style. The rules are very simple but characters have a lot customization.
One question though
You have to pick a fraction (like rockninja) and you can't change it, correct?

Not at all. You're free to take skills from any faction (even Ninjas taking skills from Pirates). The faction you're in more effects the people you know, have contacts with, and can learn techniques from the most easily. You can definitely change factions over time though. Your character may just disagree with the traditionalism of the Evadinja too much and choose to start working for the Rokinja on the side.

Pirates are even more obvious. The factions are constantly integrated on ships and constantly working together. So, a Gunnar may become more of a Charreographer or Arrcrobat over time.

It's just there to give an anchor point on your character and a starting point to write up a backstory. Your starting faction will often effect your personality.

The only thing that won't change is whether you're a Pirate, Ninja, or Wanderer. That's the person you are deep down, and that's why you can't learn level 5 skills outside of that side. You just don't have the mental capacity for it.

Also...

A question for everyone reading this:
I have some sample characters stated up. Would you be interested in me posting them so you can get an idea of what a character looks like and plays like in actual play?

dentrag2
2009-12-02, 10:49 PM
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-02, 11:45 PM
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

Is that for the proposed question or just the thread in general?

dentrag2
2009-12-03, 10:34 AM
Both, actually.

Darksword
2009-12-03, 05:33 PM
I would love to see them. Also for the monsters I take it that the abilities are one that all monsters of that type have. Otherwise I like this system and I might give it a go during a gaming secsion.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-03, 05:52 PM
I would love to see them. Also for the monsters I take it that the abilities are one that all monsters of that type have. Otherwise I like this system and I might give it a go during a gaming secsion.

Typically, yeah. If you don't feel like making your own monsters for the players, that's what they're there for.

You can feel free to use them as a basis and mold encounters from there though. I realize there's a lot of different zombies (determined on size and whether they sprint or are even sentient) and bears (black to grizzly to ninja bear) out there. So, there's nothing wrong with giving them extra abilities. There's no CR system here. So, the only rationale for encounter difficulty is them being as hard as you want them to be for your players. Considering the strong possibility of a couple of bad rolls in a row and the typical length of combat once someone throws a level 5, I recommend erring on the side of caution unless your group likes constant character death.

I'll probably post the example characters later after some slight adjustments to powers and life costs (so I don't have to update them again later).

Also, I should PROBABLY make the Kraken immune to Infinitesimal Blade. It'd be a bit silly if someone actually managed to 1-shot it (although, at a 10 body, it's not likely, even with an auto-hit. It's a 16 body check max and that's not hard for the Kraken to make).

Dairun Cates
2009-12-05, 07:09 PM
Here's some sample characters. They don't have much in the way of cross faction abilities but show how a character can look when built.

Deadly Death
Side: Ninja
Faction: Hitinja
Age: 14

Life: 50
Reaction: 6

Body 3
Agility 4
Precision 7
Will 2

Abilities:
Level 1:
Water Walking (Ninja, Cost 1/turn): Walk on Water as if it were solid.
Like the Wind (Ninja, Passive): +2 to Stealth Checks
Keenest Eye (Ninja, Passive): +2 to Notice Small details

Level 2:
Delaying Fall (Ninja, Cost 4): Delay the damage of any attack.
Deadly Discord (Ninja, Cost 4): 10 Damage, -1 to hit. 12 precision to see where it came from.

Level 3:
Justice Barrage (Ninja, Cost 15): 3 hits at -4 to hit for 15 damage each.

Level 4:

Level 5:
Infinitesimal Blade (Ninja, Cost 1 Awesome Point, 30 Life): Hit at a -6 to hit. If the opponent fails a dodge and body check equal to the roll. He immediately goes unconscious.
Cost of Power (Ninja, 1 per 5 damage): Sacrifice -2 on a hit to get a +5 to damage for each -2 sacrificed.

Description: Deadly Death is a young ninja just starting out in the Hitinja trying to make a name for himself. His best friend, a Shoninja, taught him a cool move so he can do some more damage with his Hitinja training. He also practices Guitar on the side but isn't very good at it. He hates pirates with a passion, and wants to take down a big pirate so he can prove himself to his teachers. Deadly Death is a 40-point starting character.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-05, 07:14 PM
Captain Killshot
Side: Pirate
Faction: Gunnar
Age: 30

Life: 60
Reaction: 6

Body 4
Agility 6
Precision 6
Will 2

Abilities:
Level 1:
Double Tap (Pirate, Cost 4): Two shots. 20 square range. One to hit roll. 5 damage each.
Tactical Genius (Pirate, Passive): +2 to Tactical rolls

Level 2:
Triple Tap (Pirate, Cost 12): 3 shots. 20 square range. One to hit roll 10 damage each.
Keep Your Grip (Pirate, Cost 6): -6 to hit to disarm an opponent.

Level 3:
Cross Arm Draw (Pirate, Passive): Go first in first combat round
Bullet Dance (Pirate, Cost 12): -2 to hit. Number of hits equal to agility score. 5 damage each.

Level 4:
Point Blank Shotgun (Pirate, Cost 8): Melee range shot. 20 damage.
Submachine Fun (Pirate, Cost 10): Range 10, 4 square radius, 15 damage

Level 5:
Crackshot Trickshot (Pirate, Cost 20): 1 Shot. 30 damage. 20 range. Delays damage until next hit. Both stack as one hit.
Rollin' Thunder (Pirate, Cost 20): Do 5 damage for every 2 squares moved. Take half damage on a miss.

Description: Captain Killshot is the captain of a successful naval vessel. He's one of the few Captains out there that isn't a Charrismatic Lord. He's an expert Gunnar, but doesn't have much time for that mechanical stuff all the other Gunnars are into. He hates Ninjas with a passion. Captain Killshot is an experienced character at 80 points.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-05, 07:21 PM
Black Cat
Side: Wanderer
Faction: Lucky
Age: 25

Life: 100
Reaction: 5

Body 5
Agility 5
Precision 5
Will 5

Abilities:
Level 1:
Beginner's Luck (Wanderer, Passive): +2 to one skill roll a day.
What Goes Around... (Wanderer , Cost 1): If lucky is hit, +1 to hit that opponent next turn.
...Comes Around (Wanderer , Cost 1): +1 to hit each time the same attack misses the same target.
WATCH OUT! (Wanderer, Cost 3): Lucky trips and takes a -2 to all rolls. However, opponent of choice takes -1 to all rolls until Lucky's next action.

Level 2:
One in a Million (Wanderer, Cost 4): -8 to hit. 10 square range. 30 Damage.
Second Chance (Wanderer, 1 Awesome Point): Spend an Awesome Point to roll 2 defenses and take the better one.

Level 3:
Trip and a Miss (Wanderer, Passive): Once a day, take back an attack that missed and don't spend the Life cost.
Lucky Guess (Wanderer, 1 Awesome Point): Guess the most right outcome in a choice.
Second Wind (Wanderer, Passive): Gain 20 life once a day.

Level 4:
Path of Least Resistance (Wanderer, Cost 6): Do nothing for a turn. Gain a +4 to hit on the next turn.
Chance for a Big Reversal (Wanderer, Cost 20): 20 damage + half the damage dealt to the Lucky when a Lucky is hit.


Level 5:
Awesomer than Awesome! (Wanderer, Passive): Gain an addition Awesome point when you gain at least 2.
Turn of Luck (Wanderer, 1 Awesome Point and 20 Life): Treat all minuses as a bonus for one round.
Luck of the Ancients (Wanderer, 3 Awesome Points and 40 Life): +4 to hit. 40 damage to all enemies. 20 healing to all allies.

Description: Black Cat is a natural born lucky and is known by his name for the bad luck that occurs when others cross his path. Not much is known about him other than he's a laid back guy that wanderers from town to town. Black Cat is an extremely powerful character at 120 character points and is the kind that would make for a boss for beginner players.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-05, 07:25 PM
Some slight changes to life costs on some abilities (and a little bit to damage).

The cost of learning abilities has been changes (specifically reduced for other sides).

Sample characters posted.

Ties on dice rolls verified in The Dice.

Cieyrin
2009-12-06, 03:22 PM
Here I was thinking a beginning character probably wouldn't have much in the way of high level abilities, having level 3s at most. Guess I was wrong in this instance.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-06, 04:06 PM
Here I was thinking a beginning character probably wouldn't have much in the way of high level abilities, having level 3s at most. Guess I was wrong in this instance.
Well, some will and some won't. Honestly, I did Deadly Death because I needed examples for the Beta and these ones were easy to type up and I had 10 more pages to finish before the night was done. I could make a lot more complex character given about 15 minutes now. But yeah, you can focus in a high level skills. It's not always a good idea though.

In case you haven't noticed, Level 5's are funny in that they're VERY life inefficient and often require a bunch of a path's lower level skills or high attribute scores to be effective.

For instance, Rollin' Thunder (Arrcrobat) is really only effective with either at least an 8 agility or Rub some Cheetah's blood on it, and enough creativity to make a huge several meter stunt. Me and My Shadow (Shoninja) requires high life and several GOOD low level skills to utilize effectively. Infinite Sword Jobs (Craftsmen) requires someone be in your store or forge for it to work.

Deadly Death is probably not too typical of a character. He's just one possibility.

I envision characters having multiple build set-ups. Some will try to be nuke bots and focus on their attributes and high level skills and others will focus on a lot of low level skills and having the right one for the right occasion.

The nuke bots will take guys down in a hit but will burn through their life fast and often have trouble dealing with groups without the use of an AoE while the people with a lot of low level ones will burn through their own Life a lot more efficiently while they whittle their foe down.

Really, the biggest separation is that agility based characters will tend to dodge more and hit less and want to focus on lower level abilities so they don't knock themselves unconscious and the nuke bots will want to be accurate and have high precision. Characters with high Body and Will will want a lot of supplemental abilities to buff themselves up like mad (bonuses to hit, bonuses to dodge, higher Damage reduction, etc.) since they have the Life to keep it up consistently.

Ask yourself. Do you want to be crafty, powerful, or hard to kill?

So yes. Deadly Death's got them, but he's not very good with them... YET.

So yeah. You're allowed to have level 5's early on, but it's not wise to focus entirely in them. They're your nuke buttons and your last minute saves. If you miss with them, the Life cost is DEVASTATING. On the other hand, some of the lower level skills can do decent damage for significantly less drain when comparing drain versus damage as a percentage.

Still, it's a legitimate build, and it's probably the better one for Hitinja since they focus in hitting foes accurately. Deadly Death just REALLY shouldn't underestimate that Pirate with something like 10 level 1 and 2 skills each and a couple of level 3's. Those guys can be ridiculous if done right.

Sorry for the long explanation for such a simple statement, but I thought I'd give some explanation into my design process.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-07, 03:16 AM
Here's an example of a starting character that DOESN'T start with a level 4 or 5 skill and chooses for focusing on more small level skills. It's also a test of the new costs for cross-side skills and how they work out. He doesn't have quite as much damage potential as some of the earlier characters, but he's still very flexible. He's also an incredibly skill based character and would shine in times where a group needs to do some research.

Although, considering that AVERAGE starting Life is supposed to be 80, I probably should make some meatier characters. Probably just means I should finish up the Drunkarrds for Pirate's next faction. That should guarantee a nice 100+ life character.

Clockwork Brew
Side: Wanderer
Faction: Alchemist
Age: 19

Life: 60
Reaction: 5

Body 2
Agility 3
Precision 7
Will 4

Abilities:
Level 1:
Dihydrogen Monoxide Expert (Wanderer, Passive): Gain a +2 to all chemistry checks
Mistarr Good Wrench (Pirate, Passive): Gain a +2 to all mechanics checks
Keenest Eye (Ninja, Passive): Gain a +2 to Notice Small Details.
Appraiser's Eye (Wanderer, Passive): +2 to identify quality of an item. +1 if it has a Craftman's seal.

Level 2:
Burn Baby Burn (Wanderer, Cost 4): 3 range, 10 damage, element type of Alchemist's choosing
Triple Tap (Pirate, Cost 12): 20 range, 3 shots, 10 damage each.
Mechanical Genius (Pirate, Passive): Reverse engineer and create technology

Level 3:
Hammer Meet Nail (Wanderer, Cost 6): Destroy items how you want with a precision check.
Here! Drink This! (Wanderer, Cost 10): Either gain +2 body/will or precision/agility at the cost of -2 to the other set.
KABOOM! (Wanderer, Cost 8): 10 damage, 8 range, 5 square radius AOE.

Level 4:
N/A

Level 5:
N/A

Description: While most Alchemists are men of Science, Clockwork Brew (or C.B. for short) takes it more seriously than most. He believes in a standard he calls "The True Science", a mix between all Scientific disciplines that will lead to the ultimate secrets of the universe itself. C.B. found research with his fellow Alchemists a little restrictive and chose to move out on his own. After opening his own lab in the small port town of Grogston, he became acquainted with the local Gunnars who agreed quite a bit more with his own theory of Science. They taught him the way of machines and their repair. Since then, he's been trying to get his hands on a powerful local artifact called the Realm Core that he believes will propel his research forward. While not the most hardened adventurer, his incredible eye for detail and mechanical AND chemical skills could prove valuable to an adventuring party.

Clockwork Brew is a basic 40 point starting character. While skilled and educated, he still has a bit to learn and lacks the knowledge of history that some older Wanderers do. He lacks a level 5 skills but makes up for it in strong skill training and a small variety of support and ranged skills. His Gunnar skills give him some significant damage output when he needs it. Worse comes to worst, he can use Here! Drink This! to give him 40 more hp at the cost of his agility score and some of his accuracy.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-07, 07:29 PM
Huge ability update for Shoninjas, Rokinjas, and Gunnars. Check their posts for at least 1 new skill added to each level. Charreographers, Alchemists, and Wandering Minstrels updates coming later tonight. Some new factions even later tonight if I have the time.

Milskidasith
2009-12-07, 08:00 PM
I don't see the point of the rule of 10 with abilities. Why do all that complicated math? Make the stats naturally cap at 10, fine, but if it's an attack with +4 precision and you have 10, just have it be a 14 instead of giving an equivalent penalty. It's exactly the same either way (a -4 on the enemy or a +4 on you averages out to the same) but is less complicated to explain.

Then again, your system seems to make it nearly impossible to actually get high stats, so the rule of 10 would probably never come up anyway.

EDIT: Also, Tinkarran fool (is that how it's spelled?) is somewhat overpowered, considering you can get any pirate 5 ability you want with it, so it's basically like being able to change your abilities on the fly.

EDIT X2: Also, in response to damage efficiency, in combat damage ratio is irrelevant. It's damage spread that matters. A 50 damage 30 cost power is more effective in combat than a 10 damage 2 cost power, because the spread is so much more (+20 compared to +8). Because it's all about getting your opponent to zero as fast as possible, it doesn't matter if you are efficient about it, because if he's dead, you're not.

To use an analogy (and the reason I recognized this), if you are playing an FPS, and one teammate goes 50 kills and 20 deaths and another goes 5 kills and no deaths, the 50/20 player is better because he provides a much better buffer if the enemy is killing the rest of his teammates. The same applies here. If you and your opponent both have 80 health, then dealing 50 damage at the cost of 30 means he is down 20 compared to you, rather than being down by less if you use a more efficient power.

banthesun
2009-12-07, 08:27 PM
I love this system so friggen much! Is there any chance of getting it set up on these forums at any point?

Also, you reffered to Arrcrobats as ninjas in the first line of their description.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-07, 09:52 PM
I don't see the point of the rule of 10 with abilities. Why do all that complicated math? Make the stats naturally cap at 10, fine, but if it's an attack with +4 precision and you have 10, just have it be a 14 instead of giving an equivalent penalty. It's exactly the same either way (a -4 on the enemy or a +4 on you averages out to the same) but is less complicated to explain.

It caps specifically because a 1 (minimum) can beat a 10 (maximum) on a 1 in 1296 chance before awesome points are applied. Not likely to happen at all, but still a chance.

Also, capping it help keep things from getting TOO buff heavy and makes balancing easier on this end. The buffs become unimportant after a certain statistical number.


Then again, your system seems to make it nearly impossible to actually get high stats, so the rule of 10 would probably never come up anyway.

It can happen with enough buffs to a stat. Evadinja can easily get over a 10 dodge, but it costs a lot of Life to do it. If the opponent has a low precision, it could easily come up. You're right. It's not going to happen often, but there should be a rule for when it does.


EDIT: Also, Tinkarran fool (is that how it's spelled?) is somewhat overpowered, considering you can get any pirate 5 ability you want with it, so it's basically like being able to change your abilities on the fly.

It also specifically says that it creates an ITEM, and the rules on using abilities off of items is a bit different (Ie. It costs twice as much to use without character points put in it). You could train in it, but those points are essentially a waste if the Gunnar tears the item down. I'll look at it though and at least clarify that.

Edit: Yeah. I see where the confusion on that was. Fixed.


EDIT X2: Also, in response to damage efficiency, in combat damage ratio is irrelevant. It's damage spread that matters. A 50 damage 30 cost power is more effective in combat than a 10 damage 2 cost power, because the spread is so much more (+20 compared to +8). Because it's all about getting your opponent to zero as fast as possible, it doesn't matter if you are efficient about it, because if he's dead, you're not.

To use an analogy (and the reason I recognized this), if you are playing an FPS, and one teammate goes 50 kills and 20 deaths and another goes 5 kills and no deaths, the 50/20 player is better because he provides a much better buffer if the enemy is killing the rest of his teammates. The same applies here. If you and your opponent both have 80 health, then dealing 50 damage at the cost of 30 means he is down 20 compared to you, rather than being down by less if you use a more efficient power.

You're forgetting one small thing. Missing. It happens. High level characters still miss equal level characters FREQUENTLY.

If two people miss each other on an attack and 1 does 0 damage for 30 life and one does 0 damage for 1 life, the guy with the 1 life drain is a lot better off. That's what I mean by efficiency. If you're only hitting someone half the time, Spending 60 life to do 50 damage is not feasible. He's down to 30 and you're down to 20. The opponent can then take you out with a lower level skill.

The other thing to consider is multiple opponents. If you're fighting 4 opponents at 40 Life each. Using that level 5 4 times will knock them all out, but it would require 120 life to do so. On the other hand, if you abuse their lower to hit and use low level abilities to take out the first couple of guys before they're likely to hit you and choose to take them out with 2 attacks that do 25 each for 10 Life, you can take them down for 20 life each. Assuming you nuke the last 2, you've only spent 100. Take it down to 3 attacks that do 15 each for 5 each. It goes down to 80.

Finally, there's no point to spend 30 life on a 50 damage attack when the opponent has 10 life left. You're just damaging yourself more than the opponent.

I've run some test combats, and this is a lot different from D&D's mentality. Muscling your way through can end a combat in 1 turn, but it can also screw you over entirely.

In other words, yeah. The level 5's are awesome, but you BETTER make sure you hit when you use them.


I love this system so friggen much! Is there any chance of getting it set up on these forums at any point?

Also, you reffered to Arrcrobats as ninjas in the first line of their description.

I'll actually be asking people to test this in the next couple of weeks. So yeah. Absolutely.

Also, thanks for the grammatical catch.

Milskidasith
2009-12-07, 10:21 PM
It caps specifically because a 1 (minimum) can beat a 10 (maximum) on a 1 in 1296 chance before awesome points are applied. Not likely to happen at all, but still a chance.

Also, capping it help keep things from getting TOO buff heavy and makes balancing easier on this end. The buffs become unimportant after a certain statistical number.

Buffs still matter just as much. If you have 10 in a stat and your opponent has 10, getting a +9 to you or a -9 to your enemy is the same, it's just more complicated to subtract. Furthermore, the design concept of "it's possible, but really rare, to have a newbie hit a master" is a bad one, and should be discarded. Your method of game design is confusing for no mechanical benefit that couldn't be accomplished with "base stats don't go above 10 or below 1, buffs can raise them above that, and if one player rolls a 2 and the other rolls a 12, the 12 wins." There, a newbie can win and the math is now a lot easier.


It can happen with enough buffs to a stat. Evadinja can easily get over a 10 dodge, but it costs a lot of Life to do it. If the opponent has a low precision, it could easily come up. You're right. It's not going to happen often, but there should be a rule for when it does.

The problem is your rule is overtly complex for the same thing as just allowing buffs to stack like in most games.



It also specifically says that it creates an ITEM, and the rules on using abilities off of items is a bit different (Ie. It costs twice as much to use without character points put in it). You could train in it, but those points are essentially a waste if the Gunnar tears the item down. I'll look at it though and at least clarify that.

Ah, that makes it less broken.



You're forgetting one small thing. Missing. It happens. High level characters still miss equal level characters FREQUENTLY.

Does not matter, I'll explain why in a second.


If two people miss each other on an attack and 1 does 0 damage for 30 life and one does 0 damage for 1 life, the guy with the 1 life drain is a lot better off. That's what I mean by efficiency. If you're only hitting someone half the time, Spending 60 life to do 50 damage is not feasible. He's down to 30 and you're down to 20. The opponent can then take you out with a lower level skill.

Actually, you're wrong here as well. If you are hitting somebody half the time, you're still looking for the better spread, not better efficiency. Granted, one example I gave had a worse spread, but a 50 damage 20 cost move that hits half the time is still better than spending your HP on a 20 damage 8 cost move that hits half the time (+10 compared to +4 spread.)


The other thing to consider is multiple opponents. If you're fighting 4 opponents at 40 Life each. Using that level 5 4 times will knock them all out, but it would require 120 life to do so. On the other hand, if you abuse their lower to hit and use low level abilities to take out the first couple of guys before they're likely to hit you and choose to take them out with 2 attacks that do 25 each for 10 Life, you can take them down for 20 life each. Assuming you nuke the last 2, you've only spent 100. Take it down to 3 attacks that do 15 each for 5 each. It goes down to 80.

So you're argument for why efficiency is better is if you use massive overkill? That's fallatical logic; by the same reasoning, I could say that if the enemy had DR 40, there's no point in using anything but the big hitting skills. The edge case where you are fighting a bunch of mooks doesn't change that, in general, spread is always better than efficiency.


Finally, there's no point to spend 30 life on a 50 damage attack when the opponent has 10 life left. You're just damaging yourself more than the opponent.

Did I ever say there was? Please don't use the strawman fallacy. I simply stated that if you were fighting an opponent with the same amount of health as you, it is always better to use your bigger moves with more spread, while you seem to think slow and efficient pays off. (Slow and efficient would pay off if you never got hit, but as long as you are, you want the spread.) If you are hitting somebody for overkill, you aren't getting the same spread as if your attack does full damage.

To put it simply, the argument you are presenting here is like saying that level 1 spells are better than level 9 spells in D&D because you get more of them and if you fight level 1 goblins they're dead with no save either way, but you don't have as much power if you use your 9th level spells. While that's true, it's an edge case that shouldn't be considered.


I've run some test combats, and this is a lot different from D&D's mentality. Muscling your way through can end a combat in 1 turn, but it can also screw you over entirely.

Not if you can do the math, which I've done. Efficient moves are, barring edge cases where you don't have an AoE attack fighting multiple enemies and/or the enemies have such low HP that your high power moves are overkill, the higher spread moves beat efficiency every time. Efficiency doesn't matter in combat; speed does.


In other words, yeah. The level 5's are awesome, but you BETTER make sure you hit when you use them.

As long as you aren't absurdly inaccurate and you aren't fighting absurdly inaccurate foes, the higher spread powers will always beat the more efficient, slower powers.[/QUOTE]

Dairun Cates
2009-12-08, 12:09 AM
On the Rule of 10 Thing:


Buffs still matter just as much. If you have 10 in a stat and your opponent has 10, getting a +9 to you or a -9 to your enemy is the same, it's just more complicated to subtract. Furthermore, the design concept of "it's possible, but really rare, to have a newbie hit a master" is a bad one, and should be discarded. Your method of game design is confusing for no mechanical benefit that couldn't be accomplished with "base stats don't go above 10 or below 1, buffs can raise them above that, and if one player rolls a 2 and the other rolls a 12, the 12 wins." There, a newbie can win and the math is now a lot easier.

The problem is your rule is overtly complex for the same thing as just allowing buffs to stack like in most games.

Let me try this again. There's multiple design reasons for the rule of 10.

For the most part, getting over a 10 is pointless, as you've said. However:

1. It's there to give a bonus to someone who does decide to get a stat over 10. If a character uses accurate abilities and focuses in them, it's possible to get the difference between the two rolls to be more than 10. A Hitinja with a 7 precision using Fate-bending slice versus an opponent with a 2 agility is hitting at a 15 versus a 2. The character gets a bonus 15 damage for exceeding this. Admitedly, the dodge bonus is substantially less. Take an Evadinja with a +8 to dodge on top of their 7 agility because they REALLY don't want the guy with a 4 precision to hit him with his Doom move. It's a bit overkill in this case, but if the opponent decides to spend 4 awesome points to raise his hit back up to a 5 or just spend the last point and auto-hit, he has a conceivable chance to hit even that 10, but the Evadinja is getting 10 DR from the attack for it.

2. It keeps skills from getting too high up. Part of the problem with some skill based systems is that someone with too many skill checks eventually can get so good at a skill that there's no way to ever conceivably fail. There's some things that no amount of training is going to prepare you for. That's what the 18-20 DC skill checks are for. The chance of a 12 making a 20 is significantly better than a 10 making it.

3. As said, there's a small chance of a 1 hitting a 10. It keeps someone from being completely invincible without putting in Critical auto hits. The 1 in a lot shot adds some flavor. There's a 1 in 8000 chance of a triple 20 in D&D too, but there's still a rule for it (even if it's mostly just homebrewed by every GM in the universe). The big deal is though that if you NEED to hit that guy, you can spend awesome points. A +3 to hit from awesome is enough to make it conceivable to hit (4 vs. 10), but if you do the opponent takes a little less damage if he really is that dodgey. There's little reason for the opponent to spend Awesome points when rolling unless he either wants to absolutely ensure success by breaking to 11.

4. If you don't cap things, players will do what they can to push it. This is more of why the 10 cap exists for stats in general though.

5. It also means that there's always a chance of a 13 failing. This is about the skill level where I wanted there to always be a chance of failure.

6. The 10 gives a nice even number to balance things around for bonuses and penalties. A 1 is a minor effect without being insubstantial, a 2 is a moderate one, a 3 is a major one, and 4+ is incredibly severe and should only be necessary in severe cases.

7. If a team REALLY works together on 1 guy and manages to get a lot of buffs on one guy, and a lot of debuffs on the other one, it comes ups even WHEN the Kurosawa Corollary is in effect.

There's a couple of other reasons, but I don't have my notes with me.

Honestly, as you said, it won't come up often in basic Pirate vs. Ninja combat. It's there for when it does an things with really uneven stats like monsters (who DO have 10's).

So, the short of it is, a newbie can hit a master on either a REALLY small chance after spending awesome. It keeps characters from completely forgoing precision and just using auto-hits to hit dodgey opponents. And it's somewhat important in fighting some of the higher level monsters and REALLY high level human campaign bosses.

This isn't much advantage, but it also doesn't come up often, like you said. For 95% of play, you just need to roll your numbers. It's there for when it does.

Besides, subtracting the amount over 10 from the other guy or subtracting the difference when both go over 10 isn't THAT complex. You're just subtracting instead of adding. That's just an opinion though. It's my design choice, and until some beta-testing shows that it's too complex for a large number of people, I like how it is.

On the Damage thing:

As for the second point about damage, I won't go quote by quote on this one, but...


Also, in response to damage efficiency, in combat damage ratio is irrelevant. It's damage spread that matters.

This quote gave me the impression that you believed that using higher damage moves is ALWAYS the best choice. That's mostly what I was refuting here. There are absolutely reasons to have lower level attacks and to use them.

I'm not saying that you should use high level moves sometimes. If you're almost guaranteed to hit (you have a high precision and the opponent has a low agility), then it definitely is better. However, if the two are similar (like a 4 vs. a 4) there are certain times where it is better to do the high level attack and certain times where it's better to do the low level attack. It depends on the opponents other stats.

DR is actually a good reason to go higher damage, but there's levels of it. The typical 2 DR that most characters are going to have is insubstantial for most non level 1 attacks. Currently, the best DR someone can get without artifacts and items (which can be disarmed and removed) is around 15 (5 from body and 10 from the Craftsmen buff and the generic wanderer buff). This is nice, but the person DOES have to spend Life to maintain it. So, this should be calculated in. Still, I agree, generally, you should blast the big DR guys for 3 reasons. You do more damage past the DR, they likely have way higher Life than you, and they likely have a low agility which means they're easy to hit. The highest possible DR will get higher. If someone manages to put up 50 DR SOMEHOW you should either let them burn their Life stopping your attacks or BLAST them with a 100 damage Rollin' Thunder (there's a way to do it) or a DR penetrating super attack.

On the other hand, if you're a character with a high agility and a low precision (like 2), you won't hit the 4 average guy quite as often. The guy probably wasn't going to hit you with his 4 precision versus your 7 or 8, but you blow through most of your Life by using the big guns and not hitting. You may hit less with the lower damage abilities, but you won't burn yourself out so much that you WILL fall down when the 1 hit does get you.

Let's say you're high Body or Will and have a massive Life but a subpar Agility AND Precision (2 each). You'll still hit decently, and you'll probably be better off using high damage abilities again the average guy, but you're never going to hit the dodgey guys. Even a character with 140 Life isn't going to be able to stand up much longer than 3 turns if he blows his Life on his super attacks. So, you're probably better buffing your DR so the enemies have to use their level 5 to hurt you significantly. They'll burn through their Life, and you can use an accurate low level attack that will likely either knock them out by the time you hit because they're low on life from nuking you, or will keep them from using another Level 5 and keep them from doing any significant damage.

Let's say you're REALLY dodgey AND precise (6/6 and 2/2). Well, you'll have less Life. 30 Life on one attack is a GOOD portion of your life. The enemy is draining himself from his own attacks, but 50 damage puts you at 10 hp (killable by most level 2 and 3 abilities) after 1 attack that you probably WILL hit with, but it's far from guaranteed. However, you can use winning the reaction roll to your advantage and use it to get out of the way of someone's attacks before they swing meaning they can't even hit you. Then they either have to use their ranged attacks (which cost more Life) or wait until they manage to win reaction. Even then, they're likely to hit you once in maybe 5 turns. You save Life by using cheaper moves so you CAN stay up when that 1 hit DOES come in, and you can whittle them down slowly as their own attacks drain them from missing and you do around 10 damage a round to them. After 5 rounds, they may have done more damage to you in their 1 attack that hit, but you'll be using less life. So, they may do 20 to you from a level 4 over and over, but they've burned 32 drain while you've only burned 10. Assuming you hit 3 out of 5 times. They're at 1/10th (8) of their life while you're at 1/4th (10). One more hit from you, and they go down. They'll need an average of 5 to take you down though. On the other hand, if you blasted that 50 damage from the beginning, you only have 10 hp left to deal with. You have to manage to do 30 damage with 10 life in an average of 4 turns before the other guy hits you again. Not impossible, but unlikely.

And then there's stuff like the debuffs from some of the lower level skills (like the Arccrobat debuffs on some of their lower level attacks) and the defects with higher level attack (going unconscious with Pirate Ninja Form, Taking half damage on a miss with Rollin' Thunder, 1 Turn of Focus for LAHLA).

You can build a character that SHOULD be using high level attacks all the time, and every character SHOULD be using them at least some of the time, but not every character is going to want to forgo all low level skills for the high level ones, and that's what I intended from the start. There's multiple ways to build the characters. Either taking more damage per point of damage you do but taking guys down fast or taking guys down by forcing them to wear themselves out and using lower cost abilities to do similar damage over a larger number of turns. Both sides have their risks. The blaster guy is screwed if he misses with his big nuke and the dodgey guy is screwed if he gets hit twice in a row. Both are possibilities you'll need to deal with though.

That's what I mean by the moves being more efficient. You take less damage per damage you deal from using them than the higher level techniques. I never said they were BETTER. There's definitely times to use Level 5's and there's a reason they cost 5 times level 1 skills.

One More Question:
You obviously read through MOST of the system though. So, what do you think about it otherwise? Like it? Hate it? Is it something you would play if the rule of 10 wasn't as complex? There's some things I'm not going to change because I know some of the other abilities that are coming up and how they balance with other things, but I still appreciate the feedback even if I don't sound otherwise. It gives me a different viewpoint.

Milskidasith
2009-12-08, 12:27 AM
On the Rule of 10 Thing:



Let me try this again. There's multiple design reasons for the rule of 10.

For the most part, getting over a 10 is pointless, as you've said. However:

1. It's there to give a bonus to someone who does decide to get a stat over 10. If a character uses accurate abilities and focuses in them, it's possible to get the difference between the two rolls to be more than 10. A Hitinja with a 7 precision using Fate-bending slice versus an opponent with a 2 agility is hitting at a 15 versus a 2. The character gets a bonus 15 damage for exceeding this. Admitedly, the dodge bonus is substantially less. Take an Evadinja with a +8 to dodge on top of their 7 agility because they REALLY don't want the guy with a 4 precision to hit him with his Doom move. It's a bit overkill in this case, but if the opponent decides to spend 4 awesome points to raise his hit back up to a 5 or just spend the last point and auto-hit, he has a conceivable chance to hit even that 10, but the Evadinja is getting 10 DR from the attack for it.

2. It keeps skills from getting too high up. Part of the problem with some skill based systems is that someone with too many skill checks eventually can get so good at a skill that there's no way to ever conceivably fail. There's some things that no amount of training is going to prepare you for. That's what the 18-20 DC skill checks are for. The chance of a 12 making a 20 is significantly better than a 10 making it.

3. As said, there's a small chance of a 1 hitting a 10. It keeps someone from being completely invincible without putting in Critical auto hits. The 1 in a lot shot adds some flavor. There's a 1 in 8000 chance of a triple 20 in D&D too, but there's still a rule for it (even if it's mostly just homebrewed by every GM in the universe). The big deal is though that if you NEED to hit that guy, you can spend awesome points. A +3 to hit from awesome is enough to make it conceivable to hit (4 vs. 10), but if you do the opponent takes a little less damage if he really is that dodgey. There's little reason for the opponent to spend Awesome points when rolling unless he either wants to absolutely ensure success by breaking to 11.

4. If you don't cap things, players will do what they can to push it. This is more of why the 10 cap exists for stats in general though.

5. It also means that there's always a chance of a 13 failing. This is about the skill level where I wanted there to always be a chance of failure.

6. The 10 gives a nice even number to balance things around for bonuses and penalties. A 1 is a minor effect without being insubstantial, a 2 is a moderate one, a 3 is a major one, and 4+ is incredibly severe and should only be necessary in severe cases.

7. If a team REALLY works together on 1 guy and manages to get a lot of buffs on one guy, and a lot of debuffs on the other one, it comes ups even WHEN the Kurosawa Corollary is in effect.

There's a couple of other reasons, but I don't have my notes with me.

Honestly, as you said, it won't come up often in basic Pirate vs. Ninja combat. It's there for when it does an things with really uneven stats like monsters (who DO have 10's).

So, the short of it is, a newbie can hit a master on either a REALLY small chance after spending awesome. It keeps characters from completely forgoing precision and just using auto-hits to hit dodgey opponents. And it's somewhat important in fighting some of the higher level monsters and REALLY high level human campaign bosses.

This isn't much advantage, but it also doesn't come up often, like you said. For 95% of play, you just need to roll your numbers. It's there for when it does.

Besides, subtracting the amount over 10 from the other guy or subtracting the difference when both go over 10 isn't THAT complex. You're just subtracting instead of adding. That's just an opinion though. It's my design choice, and until some beta-testing shows that it's too complex for a large number of people, I like how it is.

Subtraction instead of addition is generally a bad thing when dealing with bonuses. Turning bonuses into debuffs on the enemy is more complicated that strictly necessary. Still, it seems as if you won't change your mind. However, I will point out that Awesome Points are way too weak for being called awesome. Getting a +1 to hit isn't really all that awesome, and even a +4, which you get for doing an earth shatteringly awesome move, is only a slight increase in your chance to hit if you can't hit already; a lucky person would be able to make up for not having awesome points just by sheer luck.


This quote gave me the impression that you believed that using higher damage moves is ALWAYS the best choice. That's mostly what I was refuting here. There are absolutely reasons to have lower level attacks and to use them.


They are always better when the damage spread is better. Damage ratio is utterly unimportant unless the opponent is not fighting back at all.


I'm not saying that you should use high level moves sometimes. If you're almost guaranteed to hit (you have a high precision and the opponent has a low agility), then it definitely is better. However, if the two are similar (like a 4 vs. a 4) there are certain times where it is better to do the high level attack and certain times where it's better to do the low level attack. It depends on the opponents other stats.

The better damage spread is always better. What that is depends on the situation, but efficiency is entirely irrelevant (when you have an extremely low chance of hitting, efficient attacks give the best spread, but that is correlation, not causation.)



DR is actually a good reason to go higher damage, but there's levels of it. The typical 2 DR that most characters are going to have is insubstantial for most non level 1 attacks. Currently, the best DR someone can get without artifacts and items (which can be disarmed and removed) is around 15 (5 from body and 10 from the Craftsmen buff and the generic wanderer buff). This is nice, but the person DOES have to spend Life to maintain it. So, this should be calculated in. Still, I agree, generally, you should blast the big DR guys for 3 reasons. You do more damage past the DR, they likely have way higher Life than you, and they likely have a low agility which means they're easy to hit. The highest possible DR will get higher. If someone manages to put up 50 DR SOMEHOW you should either let them burn their Life stopping your attacks or BLAST them with a 100 damage Rollin' Thunder (there's a way to do it) or a DR penetrating super attack.

Yes, DR values aren't that high, but they are still high enough to negate even the efficiency advantage of many weaker attacks if you stack it, let alone the spread issue.


On the other hand, if you're a character with a high agility and a low precision (like 2), you won't hit the 4 average guy quite as often. The guy probably wasn't going to hit you with his 4 precision versus your 7 or 8, but you blow through most of your Life by using the big guns and not hitting. You may hit less with the lower damage abilities, but you won't burn yourself out so much that you WILL fall down when the 1 hit does get you.

This is actually a problem with the system: if you massively boost your chance to dodge, then you can't hit and it's literally better to sit around and do nothing (or throw a regular attack; there has to be something that doesn't cost life to use, but I don't recall seeing it. Since when were ninjas winded by just punching people?). If you massively boost your chance to hit, then it's always better to use your high power moves (unless they can't hit for full damage). The system is too granular; unless you are average and fighting average opponents, you're either going to be blasting away with bug guns or waiting around because you'd kill yourself faster than the enemy can by attacking.


That's what I mean by the moves being more efficient. You take less damage per damage you deal from using them than the higher level techniques. I never said they were BETTER. There's definitely times to use Level 5's and there's a reason they cost 5 times level 1 skills.


The problem is that being efficient doesn't necessarily mean your enemies will get killed faster. Spread is still king, because if you have low HP and use low spread attacks, you'll get whittled down by high accuracy attacks (which, against dodgy characters, have a better spread).


One More Question:
You obviously read through MOST of the system though. So, what do you think about it otherwise? Like it? Hate it? Is it something you would play if the rule of 10 wasn't as complex? There's some things I'm not going to change because I know some of the other abilities that are coming up and how they balance with other things, but I still appreciate the feedback even if I don't sound otherwise. It gives me a different viewpoint.

It looks good, but it's even more granular than Dungeons and Dragons. You're either always hitting or always missing, and it's rarely inbetween.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-08, 12:44 AM
It looks good, but it's even more granular than Dungeons and Dragons. You're either always hitting or always missing, and it's rarely inbetween.

Yeah. I am trying to avoid that, and we seem disagree on some basic design philosophy, but that's fine really. I haven't been seeing as much granularity with the tests and numbers I've been running, but I may be off. That's entirely why I'm testing this over the next few months and doing this as the final workshop project for my MFA. It gives me the time and extra viewpoints to fix things like this. There's bound to be some things that aren't going to work in practice and some things that will work better in practice.

To cover a few things you brought up though...

Awesome Points: There's a lot of other things they do. These are generally the more powerful uses of them. The base to hit is more of a desperation move than anything. The ability to crit, go first in a turn, edit scenes, and such are a bit better. Still, I might improving the roll bonus to a +2 that caps at 3 awesome points (so it doesn't remove the effectiveness of the auto-hit). A 7 versus a 10 is definitely a little more fair though. If memory serves, that gives you a roughly 30% chance to hit a foe like that.

Base Damage: It's half your body stat rounded up (covered in attributes). It's not a whole hell of a lot and gets negated by most body based DR, but it's there, and it helps in tight situations. You can also have a bunch of attack buffs to help it that might be cheaper than actually using a level 1 if you did it right.

Also, what do you think of the reaction mechanic?

And of course, is there any faction you'd like to see?

Edit: AH! The Base damage was actually in Combat. No wonder you were confused.

Double Edit: And I slightly missed this statement, but the idea between having too much dodge and having too much precision is entirely the point. Having a stat that's so high almost no one can resist you in that stat comes with the consequences of being incredibly weak in something else. Because of this, a 7 is generally the highest you have a stat at start and be practical without spending starting points on attributes, and even then, the average starting hero score of 4 isn't going to be impossible to beat you. Also, there's a reason there's a few abilities that use will and agility as the to hit stat.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-10, 06:50 AM
The Dr. Inja:
Summary: The Dr. Inja are masters of studying the human body and the inner workings of every living thing. While not as precise as their Hitinja brethren, they make up for it in a better knowledge of where to strike for the most damage. Even better than that, Dr. Inja not only know how to break the human body, but how to fix it as well and even make it better than it was before.

High Level Dr. Inja can heal wounds, remove crippling debuffs, add their own powerful debuffs and buffs, and hit an opponent in just the way to make them feel it.

History: The Dr. Inja started out as a necessity in the realities of war and ended up as some of the most educated and influential Ninjas out there.

The Dr. Inja have been around since anyone still alive can remember and the true histories of their origins have long been lost to various lost archives and the treasure hordes of many a pirate. The most popular theory is that the Dr. Inja started out as Hitinja and decided to push their craft to the next level. It's not hard to see why. While they lack some of the impossible accuracy of the Hitinja, the Dr. Inja have numerous techniques that even the Hitinja can only dream about.

Still, it's not hard to imagine why they exist. With the average Ninja's squishy exterior compared to the average pirate, having someone around that can fix those wounds is a valuable ally indeed. Because of this, the Dr. Inja have always been quite influential in Ninja circles. However, one thing truly keeps the Dr. Inja from being the most powerful Ninja faction. A pesky little thing called the Dr. Inja Oath.

Sometime at the beginning of the creation of the Dr. Inja, someone decided that the powers of the Dr. Inja were too great to be abused and created an oath to bind this. It was declared that a Dr. Inja would not harm an innocent bystander in combat, would only kill an opponent out of self-defense and necessity, and would heal those that needed it. The Dr. Inja's role was to heal, not destroy.

Of course, since Pirate's sometimes need healing too, this causes a bit of trouble in some Ninja circles. Nowadays, not everyone obeys the Dr. Inja Oath, and despite the typical Ninja belief of honoring codes, most Ninja prefer it that way. Still, there are quite a few that keep the true tradition of the Dr. Inja alive, and even though their views could be seen as treason, a number of these people have found themselves in seats of power nonetheless.

One such man is the current leader of the Dr. Inja, Surgical Precision. A calm and methodical man, Surgical Precision abides entirely by the Dr. Inja Oath and will only fight an opponent when it is absolutely necessary. Even then, he has never killed a foe, and he intends to keep it that way.

Surgical Precision is also one of the most lenient Ninja leaders. He has been known to help anyone that has entered his office doors that truly desire help, Pirate or not. Ironically enough, he's also one of the Ninja leaders least likely to reveal the secrets of his higher level techniques. The true powers of the Dr. Inja are indeed powerful and should not be used in the hands of one that cannot be completely trusted with them.

Attribute Scores: As expected, Dr. Inja require a certain level of Precision to pull off some of their best abilities. Seeing as they lack the accuracy of the moves of the Hitinja, some might even argue that they need it MORE than the average Hitinja. Dr. Inja are also known for having perfect physical and mental health as well though. So, Dr. Inja with high Body and Will scores are far from uncommon.

Level 1:

Take the Oath!
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Dr. Inja understand the inner workings of the bodies and its every intricacy. Dr. Injas use this ability to help heal their patients. Any Dr. Inja with this ability gains a +2 on all checks involving medical procedures or understanding the human body.

Sum up the Patient
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
The Dr. Inja knows how to compare the health of patients to each other. Once a round, by spending his attack action to observe, the Dr. Inja can observe a target and compare one attribute of that score to another living target (including possibly the Dr. Inja). So, a Dr. Inja can see whether a specific enemy has a higher or lower attribute than another. This should also give a general idea to severity. If a Dr. Inja compares a character with a 2 body to a character with an 6 body, he or she should analyze the target with 2 body as having a much lower body stat.

Identify the Faults
Ninja 1
Cost: 2
The Dr. Inja is an expert at spotting weaknesses in even the most fit individuals. By spending a turn observing the motions of a target and not using his attack action, the Dr. Inja can gain 10 damage on his next attack against that target by aiming for a slight weakness in their motions. Pay the cost before taking the turn off. If the process is interrupted, the life must be paid again and another turn must be spent observing.

An Apple a Day
Ninja 1
Cost: 2
What started as a joke on an old phrase turned into a legitimate attack. The Dr. Inja pulls an apple out of his coat and pelts and opponent up to 6 squares away with it for 5 damage.


Level 2:

Know the Form
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
The Dr. Inja have mastered the body and know its various injured states in every frame. A Dr. Inja with this ability can look at one opponent a turn and determine if that person is above half Life, below half life, or below a quarter of his or her life maximum life total.

The Strength of a Doctor
Ninja 2
Cost: 3
The first step to learning the body's secrets is to master one's own body. Dr. Injas are in the pinnacle of health. By focusing their energies, they can become super strong for a short period of time. When a Dr. Inja uses this ability, he or she gain a +4 to Body for the purposes of feats of strength until his or her next turn.

Unlocking Potential
Ninja 2
Cost: 6
The Dr. Inja can unlock possibilities in himself or others. By taking an attack action to strike a power point, the Dr. Inja raises 1 attribute of his choice by 1 for the remainder of combat. This can be used on a target once for each attribute.

Perfect Bill of Health
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Dr. Inja have to keep their bodies in perfect shape to ensure that they do not become ill in the process of helping their patients. Dr. Injas with this ability gain a +2 on body checks to avoid debilatating effects like loss in attributes and blindness.


Level 3:

Hypersensitive Pressure Point Touch
Ninja 3
Cost: 10
The Dr. Inja know how to inflict the most pain on their foes. When a Dr. Inja hits an opponent with a Precision roll, they hit a nerve cluster on the opponent that makes them hypersensitive to pain. Until the end of combat, this opponent takes a -5 on all Damage Reduction. This cannot reduce Damage Reduction below 0.

Disabling Nerve Strike
Ninja 3
Cost: 20
The Dr. Inja understand the nervous system's connections to each muscle in the body. By striking a specific pressure point, the Dr. Inja can render a body part incapable of use for a short period of time. Roll precision at a -4 against the target's body score. If the attack hits, a limb of the user's choice is disabled for the remainder of combat. If a leg is disabled, the attacker can only move and jump at half speed and their agility is reduced by 2 for the sake of dodging (this cannot lower it below 1). If both legs are disabled, the opponent can only move 1 square around and only by dragging their body by their arms their agility is reduced by another 2 for the sake of dodging (if it goes down to 1 the opponent does not go unconscious). Disabling an arm removes that arm as being usable. Heavy two handed weapons can no longer be wielded and they take a -1 to hit with any physical attacks. Furthermore, the character's body is reduced by 2 for the purpose of strength checks. If both arms are disabled, the opponent cannot wield any weapons, is at another -2 to body for strength attacks, and often can no longer attack unless they have moves that allow them to kick, headbutt, or sing their opponent into submission. Further penalties should be assessed by the GM. If all body parts are disabled, the opponent should consider surrender.

Restorative Nerve Strike
Ninja 3
Cost: 8
The Dr. Inja that knows how to break the body also knows how to fix it. By striking a nerve on a willing ally, the Dr. Inja can remove 1 debilatating effect off the target. This can include any penalties to attributes, disabled limbs, blindness, deafness, or the like but cannot remove death or unconsciousness. This can also be used to remove one buff off of an enemy at a -2 to precision.

Daily Check-up
Ninja 3
Cost: 8
The Dr. Inja can quickly patch up moderate wounds in battle. When the Dr. Inja uses his attack action to do this action, the target heals 15 Life. This CAN be used on the Dr. Inja.

Stupefying Kick
Ninja 3
Cost: 16
Many people are often shocked how little they are prepared to get punted in the head by the Dr. Inja's heavy boot. By kicking the opponent just right, the Dr. Inja literally knocks the sense out of them. This attack rolls at a -2 to precision and only does 10 damage, but also knocks off 1 Precision and Will from the opponent until the end of combat.


Level 4:

Five-fold Crippling Palm
Ninja 4
Cost: 20
This is an attack made with a -4 to Precision against a targets Body roll. If the Ninja successfully exceeds the Pirate's body roll, then the Pirate's Body and Agility score are reduced by 2 for the remainder of combat. This makes the Pirate, among other things, lose 20 maximum Life, 1 damage reduction, 2 dodge, and 1 reaction. This effect cannot stack with itself, but can stack with other similar effects.

Empathic Treatment
Ninja 4
Cost: Passive
The true Dr. Inja will do anything to help the patient, even if it means taking on the burden of the injury itself. By taking on the responsibility of the problem, the Dr. Inja gets to know it and knows better how to cure it. Using this ancient technique that swaps the Life energies of the Dr. Inja and his patient, the Dr. Inja can heal the wounds of an ally by taking them instead. This can be done for any injury short of Death. So, a Dr. Inja with this ability can take away Life drain, debuffs to stats, and even things like blindness. This technique requires the Dr. Inja to be able to touch the patient and take the attack action for the turn.

The 1,000 Pressure Points
Ninja 4
Cost: 9
The Dr. Inja knows the location of all 1,000 of the bodies pressure points. Attacking these can cause immense pain and damage to the victim even with something as small as a needle. Roll precision at a -2 to hit. This attack does 25 damage.

Blinding Temple Strike
Ninja 4
Cost: 15
The Dr. Inja can give a powerful blow to the opponent's temple that temporarily blinds the foe. Roll precision at a -4 against Agility. If the target can then not make a 15 body check, they are blinded for a number of rounds equal to how much they failed the Body check by. While blinded, an opponent is at a -4 to agility to dodge and precision to hit or recognize stealth checks and cannot take any actions that require sight. Targets can only target squares they've perceived by their sense of hearing or by instructions from allies. When in doubt, make a precision check of 12 to hear the location of a foe.


Level 5:

The Ripple of Life
Ninja 5
Cost: 15
The Dr. Inja knows that life spreads like a ripple in the pond. The slightest vibration can cause a meltdown of the body. Dr. Inja with this technique are capable of hitting enemies by merely hitting an object they are touching without harming the object. Whether it's punching a tree their foe is standing on or punching them through a hostage or even harming their foe from behind a steel wall or even smashing a rock without harming a fly in the way of the attack, the power of the ripple will find them. The ground, air, and water don't count as objects for the sake of this ability, but everything else is fair game. There are 3 major effects of this attack. First, if the opponent is wearing some kind of armor or item to give him or her damage reduction, this is negated. Second, if the "opponent" to be hit is an inanimate object that is not indestructible quality or better, it is destroyed. Third, only the target of the attack is harmed by the attack no matter how many objects the attack goes through (hitting the last man in a chain of people holding hands does not hurt anyone else in the chain). Resolve the hit at a -2 to precision. This attack does 30 damage.

Surgical Precision
Ninja 5
Cost: 20
The true believer of the Dr. Inja Oath does not believe in killing his or her foes. Surgical Precision invented this attack to ensure that he would never have to kill a living thing. This attack can only be used when the Dr. Inja has been challenged to a Death Duel or is fighting a monster that intends to kill him. This attack hits at a -2 to precision and does 50 damage. However, the Dr. Inja takes special care to hit his foe without hitting any vital parts of the body. While the wounds still take a while to heal, the damage from this attack cannot kill an opponent. This can also be used on monsters (since monsters always mean to kill) but only does 40 damage as their physical bodies are different from humans.

Perfect Form
Ninja 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 10 Life
The Dr. Inja is the pinnacle of physical and mental health, and his body and soul can snap back from anything. When the Dr. Inja activates this ability, any and all debilitating effects on the Dr. Inja's person go away. This cures everything from illness to attribute debuffs to effects like deafness and blindness. This cannot help Life drain or the effects of the Kurosawa Corollary. Effects that come from artifacts or unnatural means (such as engineered diseases or alchemist poisons) may not be cured by this.

Lightspeed Metabolism
Ninja 5
Cost: Passive
Dr. Injas have learned to recover fast from the damages they cannot instantly cure. By keeping their bodies in peak condition, the Dr. Inja have gained the ability to regenerate 4 Life automatically each round in combat. This effect is slower out of combat at a mere 5 Life a minute. The Dr. Inja can of course just rest to re-energize outside of combat, but it comes in handy for those times when the Dr. Inja needs to do something while his allies rest. The Dr. Inja must be conscious for this ability to work.

No Wound Too Great
Ninja 5
Cost: 10
The Dr. Inja knows that his allies are relying on him to get them out alive. So, the Dr. Inja have developed a technique for patching up their allies quick. This action takes both the move and attack action for the Dr. Inja this round and the Dr. Inja must be able to touch the subject (The Dr. Inja can be the subject). However, the recipient heals 30 life. This can only be used on each target once before they rest to heal their Life. This cannot speed up the after battle healing process of Lethal wounds from a Death Duel. Those need proper care and first aid. Although, it can be used to keep someone alive in that Death Duel.

banthesun
2009-12-10, 08:24 AM
The Strength of a Doctor
Ninja 2
Cost: 5
The first step to learning the body's secrets is to master one's own body. Dr. Injas are in the pinnacle of health. By focusing their energies, they can become super strong for a short period of time. When a Dr. Inja uses this ability, he or she gain a +4 to Body for the purposes of feats of strength until his or her next turn.

'cos you're totally not encouraging us to be Dr McNinja... (http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=17&issue=1)

Dairun Cates
2009-12-10, 01:07 PM
'cos you're totally not encouraging us to be Dr McNinja... (http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=17&issue=1)

Hey. I mentioned somewhere that 90% of these abilities are some subtle reference to something. It wouldn't be a very good Medical style ninja ability if there weren't SOME Dr. McNinja references in there. I was serious though. If you want to make Dr. McNinja (although, I support making new characters), you will have to look for a sizeable amount of abilities not taught by this faction. Most of his actual Ninja stuff is regular or Hitinja style stuff. There's only a handful of times where his Doctor training gets used to amplify his Ninja abilities (like a certain poor Zombie or said vending machine).

EDIT: Besides, if every reference was me telling you to play a character, you'd have to be playing the Guy about a minute into this trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB66laScBPU) every time you used The Ripple of Life.

banthesun
2009-12-10, 07:26 PM
I never said there was anyting wrong about it... :smallbiggrin:

Dairun Cates
2009-12-11, 05:04 PM
Dr. Injas are finished for now. Now to move onto Drunkarrds. Here's a fun faction. Buff your body stat into oblivion and laugh like a lunatic with your crazy high Life total. They also have probably the most abilities of any faction, but a good number of them are variations on other skills.

Next up are Drunken Master, or as I like to call them, Finesse Drunks.

The Drunkarrds:
Summary: The Drunkarrds are the muscles and brute force of the Pirate Kingdom. Drunkarrds take their love of ridiculous feats of strength and Mead and use it to push their power to new levels. On a Pirate ship, Drunkarrds often do all the heavy lifting.

High Level Drunkarrds can drink quickly, buff themselves with their favorite drink, lift heavy objects, and resist damaging attacks with increased Damage Reduction.

History: All Pirates love Mead to some extent. Drunkarrds don't just love Mead though. They cannot thrive without it. It is the very essence of their being. A number of opponents have learned the hard way not to take a Drunkarrd's brew.

The Drunkarrds aren't exactly an organized faction. Even if half of them were smart enough to stay organized, they could never stay sober long enough to do it. Thus, the Drunkarrds rival the Luckies for most unconnected faction. Drunkarrds often develop techniques on their own, and what they do learn from better Drunkarrds, they usually learn in the bar by complete accident.

That's not to say that the Drunkarrds don't have figures of significant note like the Luckies though. Far from it. While Drunkarrds are horrible leaders, Drunkarrds are excellent soldiers and fighters. A number of Drunkarrds have managed to take on hundreds of skilled opponents at once with their powerful builds and ridiculous resilience.

Once such figure of note is Steel Liver Scott. Steel Liver first gained infamy by not only winning the drinking contest at a local festival, but drinking the entire festival out of Mead entirely. Needless to say, taverns soon learned to fear him as he would manage to drink their entire inventory. Also needless to say, Steel Liver Scott is a powerful opponent who is rarely sober enough to tell the difference between friend and foe. Some have even gone as far as to call him a force of nature. On the rare occasions where he is sentient enough to think though, he has proven a valuable ally to the Pirate war. His most famous accomplishment being when he ripped a town's clock tower out of the ground and beat down 100 foes with it in 1 swing.

Attribute Scores: There's one stat that ALL Drunkarrds at least need a decent score in, and that's Body. Constant alcoholic abuse can become quickly hazardous to the Drunkarrd's health, and they need to be able to withstand constantly poisoning themselves on a day to day basis to be able to survive. Still, until before they picked up the style of the infinite refilling mug, every Drunkarrd was a normal person. Their remaining attributes could be anywhere else.

Level 1:

Stone-Cold Sober
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Years of alcoholic abuse has made the Drunkarrds resilient to all sorts of chemicals. The Drunkarrd with this ability has a permenant +2 to resist all kinds of poisons and foreign agents in his or her body. This DEFINITELY includes alcohol.

The Mead of Staggering
Pirate 1
Cost: 5
The Drunkarrd keeps a number of brews on him at all times. Some of these give special effects to the Drunkarrds when he or she consumes them. The Drunkarrd can drink 1 drink a round. This does not use an action. The Mead of Staggering gives the Drunkarrd a +2 to body at the cost of a -2 to Agility. The Drunkarrd must have at least a 3 agility to use this.

The Mead of Blurred Vision
Pirate 1
Cost: 5
The Drunkarrd keeps a number of brews on him at all times. Some of these give special effects to the Drunkarrds when he or she consumes them. The Drunkarrd can drink 1 drink a round. This does not use an action. The Mead of Blurred vision gives the Drunkarrds a +2 to body at the cost of a -2 to precision. The Drunkarrd must have at least a 3 precision to use this.

The Mead of Dull Wits
Pirate 1
Cost: 5
The Drunkarrd keeps a number of brews on him at all times. Some of these give special effects to the Drunkarrds when he or she consumes them. The Drunkarrd can drink 1 drink a round. This does not use an action. The Mead of Dull Wits gives the Drunkarrd a +2 to body at the cost of a -2 to Will. The Drunkarrd must have at least a 3 will to use this.

Spit In Their Face!
Pirate 1
Cost: 1
As an attack action, the Drunkarrd sprays alcohol all over an adjacent opponent. This attack causes the opponent to take 5 damage from the next fire attack that hits them.


Level 2:

Speed Chugger
Pirate 2
Cost: Passive
Drunkarrds have learned to drink super fast. This ability allows the Drunkarrds to do two drinking actions a turn. This can include an alchemist's potions.

Stumbling Punch
Pirate 2
Cost: 4
Drunkarrds are rarely graceful, but this fact can catch many opponents off guard. The Drunkarrds that uses this ability attacks with an unbalanced punch that catches the opponent off guard. Roll at a +1 to hit. This attack does 10 damage.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot!
Pirate 2
Cost: 5/turn
The Drunkarrds love to show off. When a Drunkarrd activates this ability, he gains 5 damage reduction for remainder of the turn.

Let's Find a Rock
Pirate 2
Cost: 6
The Drunkarrd finds a big object and chucks it at one opponent. The damage of this attack is based on the size of the object. This attack does damage equal to the check required to lift the object. The Object can be thrown a distance equal to the number of squares the Drunkarrd exceeded the check to lift it (minimum 1). If the object is bigger than 1 square, give the attack a +1 to hit from the pure size of it.

Bar Fightin' Genius
Pirate 2
Cost: Passive
Drunkarrds are at home in the tavern. Whenever a Drunkarrd is in a bar fight, he gains a +1 to hit and dodge rolls.


Level 3:

Liquor Rain
Pirate 3
Cost: 10
The Drunkarrd DEFINITELY brought enough to share with the class. The Drunkarrd explodes on of his precious kegs of alcohol into a fine mist. Anyone within 10 squares of the Drunkarrds is automatically effected. Everyone in this field (including the Drunkarrd) takes 5 more damage from fire based attacks until the end of combat.

Arm Wrestle the Kraken
Pirate 3
Cost: 3/turn
The Drunkarrd have great and powerful bodies, but even greater than their resilience is their unexplainable strength. While a Drunkarrd has this ability on, he or she can break the rule of 10 for the purposes of strength checks to lift objects. This means that his or her effective body score for lifting can go over 10.

Take a Cannonball to the Gut
Pirate 3
Cost: 2/turn
The Drunkarrds have amazing and superhuman resilience. While the Drunkarrd has this ability on, he or she can break the rule of 10 for the purpose of body score to determine natural Damage Reduction.

Punch a God
Pirate 3
Cost: Passive
The Drunkarrds are amazingly potent at their attacks. With this ability, the Drunkarrd can break the rule of 10 for the purpose of body score to determine raw damage of natural attacks.

Molotov!
Pirate 3
Cost: 6
The Drunkarrds hate to waste booze, but they will if they have to. The Drunkarrd makes a quick and dirty Molotov Cocktail and throws it at 1 target up to 6 squares away. That target takes 15 fire damage. This also burns anything in the square.

I'm Gonna Bop You Good!
Pirate 3
Cost: 6
The Drunkarrds put all their weight into their attacks. When a Drunkarrd uses this ability to punch his foes, he also throws his own natural strength into it. This attack does 10 damage PLUS the Drunkarrd's natural damage on an attack (half their body score, rounded up).

Quite the Kick!
Pirate 3
Cost: Passive
Drunkarrds are quite the retainers of spare energy. Whenever a Drunkarrd with this ability uses an awesome point to gain life back, he gains back 15 life instead of 10.

Molasses Strawman
Pirate 3
Cost: 10
Drunkarrds are so hardy that otherwise awesome attacks may get lost in their bulk. When a Drunkarrds prepares this as his attack action for the turn, the Drunkarrd can choose to activate this after being successfully hit with a melee attack. The Drunkarrd then makes a Body Check versus the foe's agility or body (keep in mind Body is capped at 10 in this case without awesome points). If successful, the opponent is grabbed by whatever they used to attack this foe. Furthermore, until they make an opposed agility or body check versus the Drunkarrd's body, the Drunkarrd holds on for dear life and the target cannot move, takes a -2 to dodges, and cannot attack with whatever was grabbed. The Drunkarrd can move, but the target comes with them. If the Drunkarrd grabs a weapon, the target can choose to drop it. However, the Drunkarrd is not obliged to give it back. While grappling a foe, the Drunkarrd can only attack this opponent with basic attack (half body, rounded up), but gains a +2 to hit. Teleportation can escape this.


Level 4:

The True Mead
Pirate 4
Cost: 10
The Drunkarrd always has a favorite Mead that they are immune to the adverse effects of. This Mead gives a +2 to Body for the remainder of combat without any penalties. This does not give the extra +20 life for gaining 2 body.

At Least It Came Out His Mouth
Pirate 4
Cost: 6
The Drunkarrd's breath is so saturated with Mead that he can light a match and belch into it for a giant fireball of death. This hits 5 squares around the Drunkarrd and does 15 fire damage to everyone in the blast. Roll +2 precision to hit. The Drunkarrd is counted as in the blast for this attack.

Drink to Your Health
Pirate 4
Cost: Passive
The Drunkarrds gain nourishment from their alcohol. Once a battle, the Drunkarrd can spend a drinking action to gain back 15 Life.


Level 5:

Perfect Physical Clarity
Pirate 5
Cost: 15
The Drunkarrd's body has become so resistant that they can, with a bit of focus shut their bodies out entirely from altering factors. When a Drunkarrd spends a full turn to use this ability, the Drunkarrd removes all positive and negative modifiers to his attribute scores (including the ones from his own drinking skills). Until the end of battle, the Drunkarrd cannot be effected by ANY modification to his raw attribute scores at all. He can still gain bonuses and penalties to things like hit and dodge, but his raw attribute scores cannot be changed by any means. Furthermore, the Drunkarrd gains 10 life anytime while this is active when someone tries to debuff his attributes.

Healthy as a 10 Story Ox
Pirate 5
Cost: Passive
Drunkarrds have managed to put so much poison in their bodies over the years that their bodies have actually become even more healthy than they initially seem from fighting it. Drunkarrds with this ability gain 20 more max Life.

Steel Liver and Steel Body
Pirate 5
Cost: 12/turn
Invented by Steel Liver Scott himself, this technique makes the Drunkarrd an indestructible force. When activated, the Drunkarrd's body becomes resistant to all outside physical presences. The Drunkarrds gains a 15 Damage Reduction until his next action.

The Grand Slam
Pirate 5
Cost: 30
This is the Drunkarrd's ultimate display of Strength. The Drunkarrd summons all of his Super Strength to lift things he could not previously lift and swings this object around effortlessly to hit his foes. The Drunkarrd can now lift an object that is up to his current effective body score for lifting in length (in squares) and swing it at all his foes like an AoE. This attack hits all opponents within Melee range of this weapon as the Drunkarrd swings it around. This attack hits at a +2 from its sheer size and does 30 damage. The Drunkarrd drops the item after this attack if it did not shatter.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-14, 04:28 AM
Adding this at the recommendation, suggestion, and begging of some of my players. Besides, every good point buy system needs them, I suppose...

Flaws:
Sometimes, a character isn't just the sum of all of his awesome abilities. Sometimes, there's more to a character that can't be summed up as just a personality trait. Sometimes, a character is blind or missing an arm.

Still, the universe tries to make everyone equal and compensates these poor individuals for their suffering. The points given back usually don't anywhere near compensate for the flaw itself, but it's still a nice consolation. MOST flaws should range from 1-5 points. Only extreme cases should go over this (like blindness).

Characters can take flaws to gain extra character points they desperately need (or maybe they just like being flawed). Still, this can help flesh out a character and give them some interesting plot hooks. It should be noted that a flaw should give some kind of mechanical penalty. Anything else is just role-playing. So, having an old injury is a flaw. Hating Mead is not (unless it somehow keeps you from functioning properly in society).

The maximum number of points a character can get from flaws is equal to 1/4th their current character point total (before flaws). So, for most starting characters, this means 10 points.

Flaws are not sorted in any particular order for now. The points they give are in parenthesis. I'll add more as I think of them. If a flaw no longer suits a character, they can buy it back with the same number of points it gave. Although, some will need a good story reason to remove. Blindness doesn't just go away because you want it to.

Flaws List:

Blind (10): Blind characters have learned to adjust to their blindness and don't take nearly the penalty everyone else does. However, for them, it is permanent. -2 to Precision for hit and Agility for Dodge. Immune to darkness and visual effects. +1 precision to listen checks.

Missing Eye (4): Characters with this flaw have lost an eye but not both. This gives a -1 to precision to hit and spot objects or people. This also generally prevents the use of abilities like Secret of the Patch since the character is blinded.

Deaf (5): -1 Agility for dodge. Auto-fail listen checks. Must make a 10 precision check to read lips. Immune to verbal or sound based effects. +1 to Spot checks.

Focused Attribute (2 or 4): Reduce an attribute by 2 for some MAJOR aspect of the ability (like spotting for precision, acrobatics for agility, resistance for body, or diplomacy for will). Reduce by 4 instead for 4 points. Ability must be at least one after the minus is added.

Missing Limb (5): See effect of disabled nerve strike. Adding a prosthetic requires buying back this defect.

Dim-witted (1): This character is a bit slow. The character may not even attempt knowledge based skills they are not trained in (ie. Have a skill bonus ability in).

Clumsy (2): This character is prone to horrible trips and falls. Once per session, the GM may make a character auto-fail some kind of agility check. This can either take the form of an inconvenient stumble that doesn't kill the player but puts them in a tough predicament (falling off a 40 foot high bridge or spilling a bar patron's drink at a bad time). Or this can be used to force a player to re-roll a dodge roll and take the worse result once a session (this cannot be negated with an awesome point reroll).

Greedy (1): Some characters lust after treasure way more than others. A character with this flaw takes a -2 to all will checks to resist Diplomacy, Bluffs, or otherwise when considerable wealth or an item of considerable power is offered or promised to the character.

Reckless (2): Your character is incredibly arrogant and refuses to back down from any fight. You character will never run from a fight by his own free will. Other characters will need to drag him after he or she is unconscious to get him or her away. This character gains a +2 to will to avoid fear. However, if this character should ever retreat for ANY reason, they immediately forfeit all awesome points and will need to do one stunt that would normally give an awesome point to start gaining them again.

Phobia (1): Your character is severely afraid of something. In order to attack it or move past the phobia, the character must make a 12 Will save every round. The character will also do anything to avoid their phobia even if they have a high enough will to frequently face their fears.

Addiction (2): Characters in Pirates vs. Ninjas are often characters of excess, but even some characters are worse than that. This character is addicted to some act or substance. If he or she goes prolonged time without it, they start taking penalties to all of their attribute scores. For instance, an Alcoholic that goes a couple of days without a drink suffers a -1 to attributes. Going a week without, he or she suffers a -2. Going 2 weeks and he's at a -3 and is likely a gibbering mess. Also, much like Greedy, characters suffer a -2 to will checks to persuade when offered their vice.

Extreme Honor (2): Your character doesn't believe in backing down and will ALWAYS accept a Death Duel or a challenge for a 1 on 1 Duel to negate the Kurosawa Corollary when given the chance. They can still run (unless they are reckless), but they cannot refuse the initial offer.

Code (1): Your character has a very strict Code of ethics that is not covered by another flaw. The character writes out this code. Should they ever willingly break it, they will take a -1 to all rolls until they fix their misdeed. Should they break it unwillingly or unknowingly, they still must try to make amends, if they can, at all cost.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-19, 07:17 PM
Here's those finessed Drunks, I promised.

The Drunken Masters:
Summary: The Drunken Masters follow a similar theme to the Drunkarrds, but with different results entirely. While the Drunkarrds focus on their bodies, Drunken Masters focus on a more finesse and mental game. The alcohol, instead of being something to toughen the frame, is used as something to loosen it.

High Level Drunken Masters can buff themselves (trading their bodies score for other buffs, think effectively while drunk, and fight with a fighting style that is as unpredictable as it is ridiculous.

History: The Drunken Masters are an ancient brotherhood that believes that the path to true power lies somewhere in the mind and body loosening properties of Alcohol. Some people believe that by embracing a Pirate's Decadence and a Ninja's studious techniques, the Drunken Masters have become true Pirate Ninjas. Others just think they're Alcoholics with a really good excuse.

Drunken Mastery is as old as someone has been able to pick up a mug and drink from it. Some people just seem to do some tasks better while drunk. However, the official faction has amazingly only existed for around 100 years. This is mostly due to the fact that, much like the Drunkarrds, getting a bunch of alcohol addicts to organize is like Herding Cats (A popular Ninja Game of Skill infamous for its difficulty).

Drunken Mastery has gone through a lot of leaders. Unlike the Drunkarrds, Drunken Masters aren't really resilient to their favorite beverage, and years of Alcohol abuse generally catches up to them. This leads to a great deal of Drunken Masters dying at young ages.

The current Drunken Master leader is a man known as the Drunken Seer, trained by the previous master, Inebriated Baboon. He's gained his title for a certain amount of clarity and a great amount of wisdom that he shows while blind stinking drunk. No one's entirely sure where this comes from, but it's definitely there. On rare occasions, he's predicted important and disaster-ridden events. So, while he rarely says or does much, when he does, people tend to listen.

Despite a somewhat rocky reputation, some villages enjoy the employment of the Drunken Masters. Much like Drunkarrds, a lot of them are just willing to work for a bottle of the local brew, but unlike the Drunkarrds, a number of them are capable of actually accomplishing difficult tasks while Drunk. So, while a Drunkarrd is good for moving a boulder, a Drunken Master is good for building a house. The fact that they're Wanderers and naturally neutral also helps.

Attribute Scores: Unlike Drunkarrds, Drunken Masters often don't have the best body scores. Their constant Alcohol abuse without the steel liver of the Drunkarrds has made a number of them physically weak. However, Drunken Masters make up for this by being masterfully quick, willful, and precise. A Drunken Master could be a master of any of these or even all of them.

Level 1:

Taster's Choice
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
Drunken Masters have discerning tastebuds and prefer to only drink the finest brews. Because of this, they've developed a natural talent for tasting. A Drunken Master can take a quick taste of a substance, food, or drink, and can tell certain details of it by the taste (where it's from, what it is, what it does, etc). The Drunken Master gains a +2 to precision for these checks.

Fist of My Head, Foot of my Crotch!
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
The Drunken Master has an impetuous style that doesn't care about appearances or conventions of fighting. While fighting with this ability, the Drunken Master can use any part of his body for an unarmed attack to replace any part of his body for an unarmed attack. So, what used to be a punch can now be done as a headbutt. While not often useful, this can catch opponents off guard or allow the Drunken master to attack in a grapple easily or whenever almost all his limbs are disabled.

I-KE!
Wanderer 1
Cost: 4
The Wanderer takes a free action to take a quick chug of his favorite drink and gains a +1 to either Will, Precision, or Agility at the cost of 1 Body for the rest of Combat.

Face to Foot Style
Wanderer 1
Cost: 1
The Drunken Master learns early on to improvise and learns this basic attack. By swinging up for a punch, but throwing his head forward, the Drunken Master delivers a deadly spinning headbutt that does 10 damage. However, the Drunken Master lands on the ground after using this attack. He or she must spend his or her move action next turn to get up.


Level 2:

I'm Better When I'm Drunk
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
The Drunken Master has some skill or profession that he or she is trained in that he or she does better while hitting a perfect level of inebriation. Pick ONE skill the Drunken Master is trained in (ie. has an ability that gives a +2 bonus to a check). The Drunken Master has a further +1 to this check while Drunk.

Drunken Clarity
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
The Drunken Master is an unusual breed. While they are continually Drunk, they manage to maintain a level of clarity that others cannot. Their minds continue to work at full capacity. They may slur a bit, but the Drunken Master suffers no penalties to his knowledge or perceptions while Drunk.

Dirty Footwork
Wanderer 2
Cost: 5
The Drunken Masters don't believe in fighting fair. Once you're dead, you're dead. There's no honor in a corpse. The Drunken Master uses his feet to kick up a chunk of dirt into his opponent's eyes. Roll agility to hit with this attack at a -2. If this hits, the opponent is blinded until his next action as he attempts to get dirt out of his eyes.

KAMPAI!
Wanderer 2
Cost: 5
The Drunken Master learns to hone all 5 of his senses through the use of alcohol. When drinking this brew, the Drunken Master gain a +1 to Precision, Will, and Agility until the end of the battle at the cost of 2 Body.

Pop Goes the Master!
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
The Drunken Master knows how to catch his opponent off guard. Whenever getting up off the ground, the Drunken Master gains a +1 to hit for any melee attack made while getting up from the ground or a sitting position.


Level 3:

Imperfect Balance
Wanderer 3
Cost: 4
The Drunken Master is a professional at misdirection. Make an opposed will check against an opponent when attack him or her in Melee. If you succeed, you gain a +2 to hit with that attack. If you fail, you merely lose the life spent to use the ability.

Ring the Barrel!
Wanderer 3
Cost: 6
The Drunken Master creates a ring around an opponent's head with his arms and spins them like crazy. This attack does 15 damage, hits at a -2 to hit, and gives the opponent a -1 to dodges for the rest of the turn if it hits.

Monkey on your Back
Wanderer 3
Cost: 10 Life
The Drunken Masters are masters of grappling and holding their opponent in place. When they use this ability. Roll opposed agility rolls. If the Drunken Master wins, the opponent is grappled. While grappled, the Drunken Master can only attack with basic attacks while grappling for 5 damage. The victim cannot move and can only attack the Drunken Master with basic attacks while grappled for 5 damage as well. The victim is also at a -4 to all dodges. Any attacks aimed at the victim or Drunken Master by someone outside the grapple will hit both of them. Attacks that are thrown at the Drunken Master by the victim hit at a +4 to hit. Teleportation or spending a full turn to succeed in another opposed agility check can escape this.

Violent Awakening
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
Drunken Masters are somehow always on their guard, even when asleep. If someone tries to attack this character in their sleep, they wake up and attack out of reflex. Give the Drunken Master a surprise round against the opponent.


Level 4:

Drunken Satori
Wanderer 4
Cost: 12
The Masters of the Drunken Arts push this abilities to one final level. The Drunken Master gains a Further +1 to Agility, Precision, and Will until the end of combat with no penalty to their body score. This does not give the extra 10 Life for the extra Will.

Quit Hitting Yourself!
Wanderer 4
Cost: 10
A nasty ability that Drunken Masters use. By using misdirection, a Drunken Master tricks his foe into hitting himself with a raw attack at full power. Roll Agility to hit at a -2. Do damage equal to the opponent's Body Score times 5 to the opponent.

Looking for Me?
Wanderer 4
Cost: 8
Drunken Masters are also Master Tricksters. A Drunken Master that uses this ability may use his or her Will at a -2 to dodge for the turn instead of his or her agility as they use their wits to dodge instead of agility.

THRUST OF VICTORY!
Wanderer 4
Cost: 15
This is an attack the Drunken Masters know that demoralizes their opponent like crazy. Roll precision to hit at a -2. If it hits, the opponent takes 20 damage and loses 1 Will.


Level 5:

Monkey See, Monkey Do!
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The final technique invented by the Inebriated Baboon. The Drunken Master has gained such mastery and flexibility with his body that he can mimic the attack of others effortlessly by seeing them. If anyone uses an attack in combat that the Drunken Master doesn't know, he can attempt to use this ability to mimic that ability for 1 attack. If the attack is level 4 or less, he can do this without problem. If it's a level 5 ability, it will require a 12 precision check to notice the nature of the attack. If it's a Level 6 ability, it will require a 15 check or higher to pull this off. This check is can only be done once per time the attack has gone off. The Drunken Master still has to pay for the cost of the ability and the cost of this ability for every turn he wants to use that technique, but he only needs to make the check once in combat. The Drunken Master forgets how he did this technique after the end of the combat.

*Hic* to the Future
Wanderer 5
Cost: 10
The Drunken Seer's famous technique. The Drunken Master, while in his Drunken stupor can perceive his opponents movement so fast that even he can know what the next attack is before even his opponent does. While in the portion of combat where characters are writing down their attacks for the round, the Drunken Master can activate this ability to look what an opponent has written down for his or her attack and exactly what it does. This doesn't give any bonuses, but can often let the Drunken Master set him or herself up in the right way to resist the attack. The Drunken Master cannot also be taken by surprise or be considered off his guard on this round or be interrupted on the reaction of his attack.

Monkey Gatling Assault
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome point and 30 Life
The Drunken Master has learned to use his entire body as a weapon in a quick succession of blows that is as potent as it is frightening. The Drunken Master assaults his foe with a series of 6 blows (one for each arm and leg, his head, and his chest). This is landed in the time it takes to land 1 blow. Roll to precision to hit with each attack. Each hit does 15 damage each and is counted as a different attack for each hit. If every hit lands, the opponent is also dizzied and thrown off guard. As a result, the opponent is at a -2 to Agility for the rest of combat and loses their next attack action.

The Boat Floats in Water
Wanderer 5
Cost: Passive
The Drunken Master has achieved a form of perfection and strength through countless hours of training. The perfect balance between inebriation and sobriety has left the Drunken Master with an unpredictable amount of health. Drunken Masters with this ability have 20 more Max Life.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-20, 06:14 AM
Had the first test session tonight. Some things to note for the future:

-Bullet #9 was too weak as a full turn delay. It now just takes up a Move Action to load. Otherwise, it works as expected.

-Drunkarrds with their high HP are incredibly hard to kill with damage. Both characters fighting were AOE heavy characters that are fairly inefficient in their Life usage, but the Drunkarrd nearly knocked out two character of equal point level with just the pure atrophy from hitting him. This is as expected but may have worked TOO well. The abilities may need a slight Life cost increase to compensate. May change when players use more debuff heavy things. Still, it's good to note. 160 Life is a LOT.

-Zombies worked beautifully. In large hoardes, they go down like dominos and make for stunting. However, they CAN wear the players down if they go for special attacks. One actually almost killed one player. Specifically, it was one of the last two zombies. Also, Zombies won't take damage from basic attacks from MOST characters. This is as expected, but it seems a bit silly at times.

-Guns should have a raw damage other than half of body score. Seems a bit weird that a gunner with low body does less raw damage.

-Bears hurt.

-High level Arrcrobats are pretty effective, but combat proves that some classes need more intermediate level attack abilities. Even as a 100 point character, he was forced to run because he could no longer do significant damage at 13 Life without knocking himself out.

-Setting fluff works well with characters. Players got well into character.

-Drain causes players to fall down a little quick for their own good. May just be because the 3 player characters were very heavy Life users though.

-2 vs. 2 combat ran decently well.

-Kurosawa corollary worked as intended and didn't feel too awkward. May change when players outnumber a character enough for a -3 though.

-Drunkarrds can hit to save their lives most of the time, even with a +2 boost to hit.

-Test town of Grogston is a good starting point for characters. May have to make official setting material.

-Turn-based buff abilities like Theme music drain a character REALLY fast. This was expected, but it wasn't expected to only take like 3 attacks.

-Eagle Eye doesn't mention that you need at least a 2 agility to use it. It's a minor effect though, and may stay as is.

-Bartenders should get their bars made by Craftsmen if they want to stay in business.

-Bullet #9 does not care for most petty obstacles.

-Literacy. Is it common or uncommon in Pirates vs. Ninjas. This question needs to be answered.

-Characters seem to average 2 actual attack abilities at 40 points. Even with flaws.

-Attributes seem to work well as is, although, might want to buff starting attribute scores to 5 each. Although, this would create a LOT of starting characters with 10's and this could be bad.

-Some factions are severely lacking in actual attacks.

-Writing down attacks before reactions was interesting and changed combat a few times. However, hard to tell full effect when TWO players have Call Your Shots and use it constantly.

-Character buffing seems to be balanced by the fact that fully buffing a character either takes more life than it's worth or takes too many turns. Drunkarrds seem to be an exception. However, Drunkarrds "Over 10" body abilities probably need to be buffed a bit. 3 extra damage on regular attacks and 2 extra natural DR isn't a lot. Lifting one works fine.

-Insert more skill checks in sessions.

-Combat is fun and decently fast paced. However, short-hand versions of high level character is absolutely required if you want their sheets to be under 3 pages long.

-Emphasize stealth in some upcoming test session to test how well or poorly it works.

-Create quick reference card for Awesome Points usages.

-+2 to rolls for awesome points feels about right.

Moff Chumley
2009-12-20, 02:12 PM
Ah, so THIS is why there haven't been any new HtPBLaMs recently. :smallbiggrin:

Dairun Cates
2009-12-20, 02:16 PM
Ah, so THIS is why there haven't been any new HtPBLaMs recently. :smallbiggrin:

Actually, that would be the conglomeration of all the projects I was working on. I had another one of those "10 hours in the lab a day" kind of semesters. But seeing as this was ONE of those projects, technically that's true.

Dairun Cates
2009-12-31, 03:04 PM
Some More Notes from Another Play Session:
-Drunkarrds are working out fairly well they manage to keep their job of lasting long, but Stumbling Punch may need an increase in life cost or a decrease in accuracy.

-Evadinja are still a bit weak. Ebb and Flow may need to have no limit to the number of times it can go off, and agile rejuvenation may need to be buffed to 2 Life. They can still get hit by decently precise characters with accurate attacks frequently. This will need to be fixed.

-Gunnars have come out being glass cannons above anything else. This is about as expected. Point Blank Shotgun is nice.

-Artifact items work decently well at high levels. Opens up for some interesting play choices.

-Infinite Sword Jobs is EXTREMELY potent, but it needs to be for it to make sense as a skill.

-T-rexes work decently as bosses. 4 80 point characters exhausted MOST of their Life fighting 1. T-rex got Agility knocked down to 2. I have NO IDEA why it was a 6. I must've been drunk or something.

Dairun Cates
2010-01-11, 06:08 PM
Yet more notes before a massive overhaul of skills, abilities, and such:
-Drunken satori needs adjustment. Should not give the extra Life from the extra will or should cost 20 instead.

-Nerf life on higher Life bad guys. 240 is decent for a boss, but not good for encounter monsters.

-Possibly nerf the life on the groupies for summon the groupies. This isn't definite yet, but 30 seems like a lot. Wasn't able to test them out too much.

-DR needs adjustment. 10 DR is a LOT for a monster to have without having life cost each turn. Nothing short of a level 3 hurts them and it's usually more life cost than it's worth. Nerf "natural" DRs a bit to maybe 2 per level. Drunkarrds is probably fine since it requires something like 24 Life a round to get his maximum DR up and working.

-Look at Life cost on Looking for Me? and analyze if it's too cheap. For some characters, this can be upwards of a +4-5 for dodges for a mere 5 Life a turn. Making it better than some Evadinja skills.

-Forgot to give Drunken Masters a Level 5 passive ability that gives them 20 extra Life. OOPS! Will be added in next skill update.

-Previous factions need more skills and attacks to differentiate each other. Also, Arrcrobats and Evadinja need more damage based moves.

-HUGE Loophole with Final Countdown and Damage boosting moves found that may need sealing in the future.

-Nightengale Requiem shouldn't have an awesome point cost and damage probably needs to be buffed up. Currently does too little damage.

-Rokinja blow through Life stupidly fast, but can be REALLY scary.

-Characters based on buffing other characters can be frightening.

-Add more turn long attribute buffing skills for buff maniacs. If someone let's you live the 5 turns to buff yourself to 11's, they deserve what's coming.

-Possible Life boosts and damage boosts from spending awesome points.

-Some level 5's need to cost less. They're just too expensive.

-Drunken Master Level 5 for anticipating moves might need buffing.

-Charreographers mostly work as expected.

-Gunnars need more agility based moves. Bullet dance is nice, but it's not enough to require a high agility.

-Attacks should do a minimum 1 damage when hit.

-Bullet Dance needs to be reduced in cost. Average damage per use is around 18 for agility based Gunnars. Kinda meh for 12 cost.

-Possibly some level 1 attack abilities need to cost 0 life. They're weak enough that they usually do 2-3 damage per hit.

Dairun Cates
2010-01-13, 05:17 AM
HUGE update today, but some of you may not have noticed. I did a HUGE rebalancing of a lot of the abilities in the game and changed a couple of core game rules. Check the news post in the first post for the full details. On top of that, I have a new monster (and about 20 new example characters if you want to see them).

I'll probably be doing a major overhaul and giving the current factions a significant number of new abilities. Some factions lack attack abilities (like the Arrcrobats) and some lack flexibility of how to play them (Like the Drunkarrds). I aim to fix that. THEN you can expect the Feykinja, Carpentarrs, and Gamblers next. And yes, the Gamblers WILL be different from the Luckies. However, there will be a nice synergy between them.

Also, got a slightly new monster for you. This is one of the zombie variants. This is a bigger beefier zombie intended to be an encounter on its own.

BIG Zombie
Tier: Encounter
Descrption: Huge zombies that charge down groups of trespassers. They are monstrous in size and take significantly more damage to take down.

Life: 80
Reaction: 2

Body 6
Agility 1
Precision 2
Will 2

Notes: Big Zombies move at normal speed and have a melee attack reach of 2 squares.

Abilities:

Level 1

Zombie Trip (Cost 1): The zombie trips and falls on one target in melee for 10 damage. However, if the zombie misses, it must spend a turn getting back up.

Hungry for Brains (Passive): Zombies can smell the living and are better at tracking them than you would expect. Zombies get a +2 precision to notice living things via their sense of smell.


Level 3

Zombie Bite (Cost 4): This attack resolves at a -1 to hit and does 15 damage. However, if it knocks an opponent below 0 Life, they must make a body check of 15 or become a Zombie as well.


Level 4

Toss and Throw (Cost 12): Big Zombies have monstrous builds and can lift very heavy objects. The Big Zombie throws a large and heavy object up to 10 squares away and hits everything in a 2 square radius. The size of the object also makes it hit at a +1 to hit. This attack does 20 damage if it hit.


Level 5

Too Stupid to Notice (Passive): Zombies are bafflingly dumb and immune to all insults, diplomacy, or illusions.

Thump! (Cost 15): The Zombie charges forward in a straight line. Anything that passes within attack range takes 20 damage.

THUMP!!! (Cost 20): The Zombie charges up an attack until end of turn. Any targets adjacent at the end of the turn take 30 damage.

Dairun Cates
2010-02-08, 05:39 AM
Been a while. Updated new abilities for Hitinja, Luckies, Shoninja, Gunnars, Wandering Minstrels, Rokinja, and Alchemists. I have other stuff written up for all the factions, I just need to get around to typing it out. Also, Monkey on your Back changed a bit. Probably will change it again to either remove the awesome point cost or make it auto-hit.

Cataphract
2010-02-08, 05:44 AM
So, something I've mentioned in a few places is that one of my classes this semester requires me to write up an entire functioning role-playing system that is original and fully-functional (complete with the trimmings).

Excuse me...

Where do you study...?

Sign me up!

Dairun Cates
2010-02-13, 06:01 AM
Excuse me...

Where do you study...?

Sign me up!

A university that has a degree plan that focuses on game studies and new media. Definitely something you have to love A LOT to study though. Having to actually write papers on something and play games for assignments REALLY sucks the fun out of it.

Dairun Cates
2010-03-14, 04:21 AM
There's been a few new abilities and some life cost balancing since the last time I posted, check the news for more details.

Also, Fair warning. I'm currently working on a few more abilities, 3 new factions, and then making a simplified version for an open beta test I will be doing soon. If you're interested, feel free to send me a PM.

Dairun Cates
2010-04-11, 04:41 PM
It's been a while, but I finally got around to writing up what I have on the new factions. Here's the first one: the Gamblers.

Gamblers:
Summary: There are two side to every coin, and for every genuinely lucky idiot, there's a maniacal gambler genius manipulating the odds. Gamblers choose to play by numbers, complex equations, and often outright cheating to win their games of chance. They bring this same spirit to the battle field.

High Level Gamblers are masterminds at heart. They use their skills to manipulate odds and control the flow of battle. While their moves are risky, the pay-offs are amazing.

History: Gamblers are often mistaken for Luckies. Contrary to common public knowledge, the Gamblers are not aimless wanderers like their Lucky counterparts. While Luckies are individuals that are just genuinely gifted by fate and often unaware of their talent, the Gamblers are a very tightly nit group that practices their skills to perfection before using them on unsuspecting victims.

As a matter of fact, the Gamblers have a hidden guild that rivals even the Craftsmen in size and possibly power. This guild has no formal names to avoid detection by outsiders. Gamblers merely refer to it as "the Guild". The Guild is rarely mentioned outside of the Gamblers themselves and for good reason. Gamblers that reveal the existence of the Guild face being removed from the Guild and then their mortal existence (usually in that order).

The Guild exists for one purpose and one purpose alone. The accumulation of money, riches, and power through the use of games of chance. Gamblers that actively work in the Guild can expect to pay dues to the Guild itself but gain the advantage of a network of excellent spies and con men that can back up their most recent gamble. Gamblers that choose not to actively participate in the Guild can expect to be targeted by members of the Guild and face chances that even the best of Gamblers can't always turn in their favor. Needless to say, most Gamblers choose to pay their dues.

The Gamblers run in a hierarchy of cells that feed slowly to the top. Successfully pulling in large amounts of money and influence to the Guild can often result in promotion. With promotion often comes the acquirement of a new code name to reflect the Gambler's status. After one successful job, a Gambler could find himself changing his call sign from "Two of Clubs" or "Crapshoot" to "Trips" or "Snake Eyes".

At the very top is the master of the Guild, Ace of Spades. Not a lot is known about this mythical man. Ace of Spades has been said to have never lost a single game of chance, and gained leadership from the previous leader "Royal Flush" after winning in a life or death gamble. Even the highest ranking members of the Guild don't know much more than this. Either way, it's certain that he or she is a person to be feared.

Attribute Scores: A good Gambler needs three things. Brains, Guts, and Luck. In order to acquire brains, a Gambler should have a high precision score. In order to acquire Guts, a Gambler should have a high will. In order to acquire Luck, a Gambler should pray his GM lets him take Lucky skills after character creation.

Level 1:

Playing the Odds
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
Gamblers are masters of games of chance. Whenever a Gambler plays a game of chance, he gains a +2 on all checks to play the game (whether it is a game of Will or Precision).

Cheating the Odds
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
On top of being masters of the basic mechanics of a game, Gamblers are also masters of breaking the rules without being caught. However, the best cheats require help. Whenever a Gambler plays a game of chance with another Gambler with this skill within earshot, he gains an additional +1 to games of chance that stacks with Playing the Odds.

Pointless End
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
A true Master Gambler will bet anything in the pursuit of winning. Nothing is truly sacred; even the Gambler's life. That said, a true Gambler has been said to embrace true death. Whenever an ally dies in a death duel, a Gambler can choose to die in the ally's place, revealing the entire events up to said event to all be part of an elaborate master plan (even if it's only the Gambler taking the participant's place).

Roulette Draw
Wanderer 1
Cost: 3
Gamblers have numerous unusual weapons. The Roulette Revolver is one of them. This attack normally does 5 damage with a 10 square range. However, should the Gambler roll a natural roll of 12, the damage on the attack will double again after applying the x2 multiplier to the attack's critical damage.


Level 2:

Chaos Bullet
Wanderer 2
Cost: 4
Gamblers have learned from Gunnars and Alchemists a couple of tricks in the development of their techniques. Gamblers have gone where neither faction will go and have attempted to harness chaos itself as a weapon. When this bullet is loaded into a weapon and fired, roll 3 six-sided dice for the damage. It has 8 range.

Raise the Odds
Wanderer 2
Cost: Variable
The Gambler knows how to raise the stakes to get more bang for his buck on his attack. Whenever attacking an opponent with an effective dodge higher than the gambler's to hit, but before awesome points are spent, calculate the difference. The Gambler can choose to spend 5 more life for each point of difference. If the attack hits, it does double the life sacrificed extra on the attack.

Point Man
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Gamblers often let others run in front of them to create a distraction. When an ally goes before the gambler in combat, they can voluntarily take a -2 on their to hit against a target to give the Gambler a +1 to hit that target on their attack in that same turn. Ally must have at least an effective 3 to hit against the target for this to work.


Level 3:

Walk the Line
Wanderer 3
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Gambler knows how to manipulate his weapons for greater accuracy and damage, but this advantage comes with a high rate of failure. Whenever a Gambler spends an awesome point, he rolls 1 d6 dice instead of two. Whatever this one dice rolls, the result doubles (So, a 2 becomes a 4, and a 5 becomes a 10). If the player chooses to re-roll, this effect only effects the first roll. An additional awesome point will need to be spent to apply this to a re-roll. However, a rolling a 1 or 6 does count as rolling a natural roll of 12 or 2.

Ro Sham Blow!
Wanderer 3
Cost: 6
Wanderer's use unpredictable motions to throw their opponents off guard. However, these moves, when seen through are easy to block. When hitting with this attack, playing a game of rock paper scissors with the target. On a win, this attack does 30 damage. On a loss, this attack does 0 damage. On a tie, this attack does 15 damage.

Nine In Ten
Wanderer 3
Cost: 6
The Gamblers understand that with great gain comes great risk. This attack hits a target from 8 squares away at a +2 to hit for 20 damage. However, if this attack misses, the attacker takes the fully damage of the attack himself.

King of Clubs
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
The Gambler is a master of matching and upping the ante. When a Gambler is attacked by an opponent, if he can match the raw damage of the attack with an attack of his own on the next, then the gambler automatically gains 7 damage on that attack as long as the person that attacked the gambler is one of the targets.

Royal 10's
Wanderer 3
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Some Gamblers can rise to the occasion and pull off levels that border on human perfection. When a Gambler activates this ability at the beginning of a turn, one of his raw attribute scores is treated as a 10 for the remainder of the turn (no life gain from Will or Body). However, during this time, the Gambler does half damage and takes double damage.


Level 4:

Monetary Storm
Wanderer 4
Cost: 12
Every decision in life is a coin flip, the Gambler takes this a bit too literally and fires a barrage of coins at his foe. For every point in Will that the Gambler has, fire 1 coin. For every one that comes up heads, this attack does 5 damage. Combine all the damage of all the coins as if it was one attack. So, a result of 4 heads would do 20 damage. This attack has a range of 8 squares.

Queen of Hearts
Wanderer 4
Cost: 12
Love is cruel and love is kind. So is Lady Luck. What is beneficial one minute becomes a crutch the next. Hitting the very life vein of an individual can lead to newly found life or newly found deathh. Whenever a Gambler uses this attack, flip a coin, if heads, this attack does 25 damage to the targets. If tails, it heals 25 life instead. This attack has 8 range and cannot be used to revive unconscious allies. It CAN be used on the Gambler.

Play to Your Strengths
Wanderer 4
Cost: 10
Gamblers know how to play to their strengths, but this comes at the cost of taking bigger hits when they fail. By using this ability, the Gambler double their bonuses to dodge (anything that's not their raw agility score) until their next turn. However, they take double damage when hit.

Jack of Diamonds
Wanderer 4
Cost: 15 Life
The more money a person has, the more they have to lose. The Gambler knows how to use this to destroy their victim. Roll precision. If this attack hits. Do 15 damage for every item a character has on their person that gives an ability or bonus to the character.

Even the Playing Field
Wanderer 4
Cost: Passive
Gamblers are masters of using weaknesses as strengths. Because of this, high level Gamblers have learned to use staggering odds against them in their favor. A Gamblers with this ability gains a +1 to all combat rolls when he or she is the last one left on his side in combat.


Level 5:

There is no Luck, Only Skill!
Wanderer 5
Cost: Variable Awesome Points
The motto of the Gambler, the Gambler that takes to motto completely to heart has the skill and brains to manipulate fate itself. Whenever ANYONE spends one or more awesome points on an action, the Gambler can spend double the awesome points spent to negate the action the awesome points were spent for. However, the awesome points the original character spent are still spent. Furthermore, once spent, that character can not spend action points for that kind of action until their next turn. So, if the character was using an awesome point to gain a +2 to hit or 10 life, they would lose that benefit and would be unable to spend an awesome point to regain life or a bonus to hit until their next turn. Should this be used to negate an attack, the targeted player merely does not attack that turn. Their gun misfires or some other horrible trick of the gambler goes off.

Double or Nothing
Wanderer 5
Cost: Passive
Gamblers are masters of unlikely gambits. Every time a Gambler uses awesome points for anything, he can flip a coin. If he or she can call the result, the effect of the awesome point expenditure doubles. For attacks, this doubles the number of targets effected. The Gambler can continue to double the effect after the coin flip as many times as they wish. The maximum +6 bonus to hit still applies, but all other uses are fair game. This can also be used when using an attack that requires more than 1 awesome point. By spending half of the required points for the attack to go off (round up), the character can gamble on the attack going off. If they fail the coin flip, the attack fails. If it succeeds, the attack goes through without a hitch.

Ace of Spades
Wanderer 5
Cost: 4 Awesome Points
The ultimate gambler is willing to make the ultimate gamble. Whenever a gambler uses this attack, roll a precision to hit a target that the Gambler can perceive. If this attack hits. Flip a coin, if the player calls it successfully, the target is instantly rendered unconscious for the rest of the day. If the unsuccessful, the Gambler suffers the fate instead. If used in a death duel, the result is death for the loser of the Gamble.

Wildcard
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
When writing down his attack during the Gambler can choose to write down any number of attack. However, for every level 5 attack, the gambler must write down a level 1 attack, and for every level 4 attack, the gambler must write down a level 2 attack. Pick a number for each attack. When attacking a target, the target picks one of the numbers. Whichever number the target picks is the attack that the player uses. However, the cost of the attack is halved for the Gambler (round down). This includes awesome point cost.

Royal Flush
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Life is like a game of cards. The Gambler can manipulate a battle like he can a hand of cards. For this attack, use a deck of cards (players should supply this for their GM's). Roll precision to hit first. If the attack hits, the Gambler plays one hand of Poker with the Jokers in the deck (draw five cards, discard once). If the character has an agility of at least 5, they "hide 1 card up their sleeve" and draw 6 cards to make a hand of 5 cards. If they have an agility of 9, they can draw 7 cards to make a hand of 5 cards. Depending on the hand, the player does damage as noted below:
Nothing: 1
High Card Jack or Higher: 2
One Pair: 5
Two Pair: 10
Three of a Kind: 20
Straight: 40
Flush: 60
Full House: 100
Four of a Kind: Instant KO
Straight Flush: Instant KO and Gain 2 Awesome Points
Royal Flush or Five of a Kind: Instant KO and Gain 6 Awesome Points

Most Boss Monsters are immune to Instant KO. In this case, do 150 damage for an instant KO.

Royal Sevens Cut
Wanderer 5
Cost: 20
The well-versed Gambler has learned to fully envelop himself in chaos and release a potentially devastating attack. The closer he reaches the heart of chaos and luck itself, the more this attack does. This melee attack is very special. If the unmodified roll for this attack is a 7, the attack does 50 damage. For every number the dice roll is away from 7, decrease the damage by 5. So, an 8 does 45 damage while a 12 and 2 do 25 damage each. Note: if an awesome point is spent to crit on a 12, the attack only does 50 damage.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 03:20 PM
I'm going to upload some monsters, NPCs, and a few other things before uploading the Feykinja faction (which is going through the last few stages).

The following is actually an interesting way to handle Gambling checks that my group found. It allows for some scene tension without throwing the skill checks away entirely. This requires a deck of bicycle cards. Remove the jokers.

For the record, this can work for poker too by having the extra cards be extra cards to make a hand (like 7 card stud), but blackjack is just a bit more hilarious.

Gambling for the Bored and Adventurous:
Some players aren't huge fans of just rolling a gambling check (precision or will, depending on the game, plus any bonuses from Gambler or Lucky abilities). So, the following is a way to simulate a more authentic cheating/lucky idiot kind of gambling.

Deal out a black jack hand (2 cards). Then, roll a gambling check for each participant. For every 6 made on the check, deal the player an extra card. For REALLY talented gamblers, this will typically mean 2-3 cards or 4 cards on a really lucky roll. From here on out, at any time, the extra cards in the player's hand can be switched out for any cards in the black jack hand. The player keeps the cards they switched out. This represents the player's ability to either use sleight of hand/cheating, strategy, or luck to their advantage (in the case of cheating, it's the literal cards up your sleeves).

Players can still hit and stay like in regular black jack. Face cards are worth 10. Aces are worth 1 or 11. Highest hand without going over 21 wins. In the case of a tie, keep the cards up the sleeve and deal another hand.

In a typical game, the trick is going to be for players to be the LAST person that can't make 21. With the number of cards running around, making 21 on a hand becomes incredibly easy. However, switching out too many cards will eventually lead to all the cards up your sleeve being 10's, face cards, or other inconvenient cards. Because of this, skill AND luck are actually required to win while still giving the player an advantage for making a good check.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 03:24 PM
Giant Tiger Shrimp
Tier: Encounter
Description: The Giant Tiger Shrimp is a monstrously large crustacean that typically wanders the more dangerous beaches of the world. This monster has massive claws that is balls like fists and can punch at blindingly fast speeds. Adventurers beware. Take them down fast or suffer the wrath of the Giant Tiger shrimp's Galactic Punch.

Life: 120
Reaction: 3

Body 10
Agility 2
Precision 4
Will 2

Abilities:
Level 1

Light Jab (Cost 5): The Tiger Shrimp Reels backs and quickly smacks all foes with its massive claws for 10 damage to all enemies within 2 squares of it.


Level 3

Amphibian (Passive)- This creature works equally well above and below water.

Scitter Scitter (Passive)- This creature is nervous and can fit in holes half the size it normally would have.

Tiger Punch (Cost 10)- The Tiger Shrimp Reels back and punches 1 foe in front of it for 25 damage.


Level 4:

Earthquake (Cost 15)- The Tiger Shrimp punches the ground with an earth-shattering force. It hits all opponents within 10 squares of the Tiger shrimp for 20 damage.


Level 5:

Meteor Punch (Cost 40)- The Tiger Shrimp jumps up and disappears for 1 turn. This attack hits at a -4 to hit. The Tiger Shrimp comes down at the end of the next turn with a meteor strapped to its fist. It hits 1 target it can see for 100 damage.

Galactic Punch (Cost 80)- Same as Meteor Punch only it hits 20 squares around the Tiger Shrimp and its target. (It also probably leaves a huge crater in the ground)

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 03:38 PM
Giant Pistol Shrimp
Tier: Encounter
Description: Giant Pistol Shrimp are deadly large crustaceans (about the size of a horse) that wander the most deadly beaches of the world. The Giant Pistol Shrimp has massive claws that it can click together at blinding speed in order to release concussive sound bursts that can stun and harm its foes.

Life: 80
Reaction: 6

Body 6
Agility 4
Precision 8
Will 2

Abilities:
Level 1

Claw Smack (Cost 1): The Pistol Shrimp Reels backs and whacks the foe with its massive claw for 10 damage.


Level 3

Amphibian (Passive)- This creature works equally well above and below water.

Scitter Scitter (Passive)- This creature is nervous and can fit in holes half the size it normally would have.

Pistol Shot (Cost 10)- This attack fires up to 30 squares and does 15 damage. The victim must also make a Body check of 12 or lose their next turn and take -2 to all dodges until their next turn.


Level 4:

Sonic Burst (Cost 15)- As per the Pistol shot attack but hits everything within 20 squares of the Pistol Shrimp.


Level 5:

Hyper Shot (Cost 30)- The Pistol Shrimp spends 1 full turn charging this up. This attack goes off on its next attack. This attack does 50 damage and knocks the foe unconscious if they do not succeed a 12 body check.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-03, 05:07 PM
This... is sheer awesome.

HOWEVER.
My duty as a perfectionist requires that I point this out: on the thirteenth post of the thread, on the very first page:

Ebbin is one of the most staunch anti-Pirate Ninjas around and will do everything in his power to make sure that no Pirates enter his Dojo or learn any of the Ninja's secret attacks. He hates the cheap scrolls on the market and tutors that have allowed Pirates to learn the Evandinja's most famous move, the Water Walk.
Shouldn't that be Evadinja?

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 05:16 PM
This... is sheer awesome.

HOWEVER.
My duty as a perfectionist requires that I point this out: on the thirteenth post of the thread, on the very first page:

Shouldn't that be Evadinja?

Indeed it should. It was a common spelling mistake I made a lot when typing out the beginning stuff. Don't know why. I thought I got MOST of it. Thanks for the catch.

I actually gotta turn in a "near-finished" version of this by the end of the week. So, I'm adding in some of the monsters I've been using in the beta test campaign and will be getting in the Carpentarrs and Feykinja (finally).

Lix Lorn
2010-05-03, 05:19 PM
(Curtsey)
Glad to help. I shall read through the rest of the thread beyond where I got to... eventually.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 05:23 PM
Velociraptor
Tier: Encounter
Descrption: Velociraptors are vicious dinosaurs about the size of a horse that hunt in packs, they love to use their mob tactics to defeat their foes.

Life: 100
Reaction: 4

Body 6
Agility 4
Precision 4
Will 4

Abilities:
Level 1

Tail Swipe (Cost 4): The raptor swings its tail and hits everyone adjacent to it for 10 damage.

Follow the Scent(Passive): Raptors are excellent hunters and can smell their prey. Raptors gain a +2 to precision to spot prey.


Level 2

Raptor Claw (Cost 6): The raptor swings its might claws and hits one adjacent target for 15 damage.


Level 3

Raptor Leap (Cost 10): The raptor leaps forward up to 10 squares and viciously attacks its prey with its hind legs and claws. This attack does 20 damage.

Light Bones (Passive): Raptors have hollow bones and take no damage when they fall. Raptors suffer no damage or penalties when falling from large heights.


Level 4

Watch Ye Raptor Flank (Cost 8)- This attack is similar to the Pirate Ability “Watch Ye Flank”. If two raptors surround an opponent on opposite sides, they can use this ability to add 15 extra damage to their attack if they go at the same time. The difference is that they don't have to be in melee range to use this.


Level 5

Raptor Mob Tactics (Passive)- Raptors are vicious hunters that know how to fight together with ruthless efficiency. For every OTHER raptor that is conscious and nearby when a Raptor attacks, all the Raptor's attacks gain 1 damage.

Raptor Maul (Cost 20)- The Raptor unleashes its full rage and attacks at a -2 to hit and does 30 damage. However, the victim of this attack must make an opposed body check against the raptor if this hits. If they do not succeed, the target is pinned down and the raptor can will automatically hit with this attack until the target makes the body check.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 05:29 PM
These next two monsters are real beasts. Not to be trifled with if your party is under 80 points each and ill-prepared.

Ninjasaurus-Rex
Tier: Boss
Description: A T-rex that has frighteningly learned the ways of the ninja. Unlike their dumber more instinctive brethren, the Ninja-Saurus Rex is capable complex thinking and understands language. It still cannot speak. Ultimately, this beast a far more powerful foe than its mundane variety.

Life: 280
Reaction: 5

Body 10
Agility 5
Precision 5
Will 4

Abilities:
Level 1:

Like the Wind (Passive): The Ninjasaurus-Rex is shockingly stealth and gains a +2 to hide checks.

Precision Tail Swipe (Cost 10): The Ninjasaurus-Rex swings its tail with great accuracy and hits everyone in range for 10 damage.


Level 2:

Chomp Chomp (Cost 8): The Ninjasaurus-Rex bites an opponent for 15 damage.


Level 3:

Step on It! (Passive): Everything that's in the Ninjasaurus-Rex's way when it makes a move action must make an agility check of 10 or be stomped on when it moves for 5 damage.


Level 4:
Super Mighty Leap (Cost 25): The Ninjasaurus-Rex leaps into the air with frightening results and disappears from sight. It then collides with the ground on its reaction on the next turn at an almost incalculable speed. This hits everything within 40 squares of the Ninjasaurus-Rex for 30 damage.

Cold-Blooded Rex-ssassin (Cost 20): The Ninja Rex is a master of precise strikes and can hit a target from stealth for 40 damage.

Level 5:
Inervating Bite (Cost 35): The Ninjasaurus-Rex bites a victim at a -2 for 40 damage. However, this precision bite has been calculated to destroy stronger prey. The Victim must make a 12 body check or fall unconscious instantly.

Not So Scaly Hide (Passive): Ninjasaurus-Rexes have less potent hides than other T-rexes. They've stripped off their scales for improved mobility. Ninja Rexes take 2 less damage, but also gain a +2 agility for the sake of complex acrobatic maneuvers and movement. Also, their move speed is doubled.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 05:34 PM
What's worse than a Ninja T-Rex?

Pyranisaurus-Rex
Tier: Boss
Description: A Pi-rex that has discovered the joys of Piracy. They are more difficult to hit and more damaging than their other variety T-rexes at the cost of lots of accuracy. However, they have great force of will to make up for it. They are commonly seen wearing large pirate hats and eye patches (although, no one really know how they got them).

Life: 360
Reaction: 2

Body 10
Agility 2
Precision 2
Will 8

Abilities:
Level 1:
Super Tail Swipe (Cost 10): The Pi-rex swings its tail around it for massive damage at a -2 to hit. All targets within range take 15 damage if hit.

Level 2:
Chomp Chomp CHOMP!(Cost 12): The T-rex bite an opponent at a -1 to hit for 20 damage.

Level 3:
Step on It! (Passive): Everything that's in the T-rexes way when it makes a move action must make an agility check of 10 or be stomped on when it moves for 5 damage.

Fire Breath (Cost 12): The Pi-rex has a fiery temper and soul and has a fiery belly to match. The Pi-rex can breath fire on a target within 10 squares for 25 damage.

Level 4:
Explodosaurus (Cost 30): The Pi-rex cannot jump well. Instead, the Pi-rex has evolved the ability to explode outwards its own body heat in an incendiary explosion. Everything within 20 squares of the T-rex takes 30 fire damage. Furthermore, even if this attack misses, all targets must make a Body Check of 12 or take an additional 10 damage from the force of the heat.

Level 5:
Pirate Bite (Cost 35): The Pi-rex is a frightening, powerful creature. This attack hits at a -2 to hit. However, if it hits, this attack does 60 damage. Furthermore, anyone that witnesses this attack should it hit must make a 12 will check or gain a -1 on all rolls against the Pi-rex for the rest of combat because of fear.

Super Scaly Hide (Passive): Pi-rexes have even scalier hides than normal. They take 10 less damage from attacks and cannot fall down from having its stats fall below 1. However, their moves speed is HALF the normal speed of a T-rex because of it and they take a -2 to agility for acrobatics and movement tricks.

Pirex SMASH! (Passive): Pi-rexes don't understand insults, but that doesn't keep it from angering them. Anytime they are victim to a verbal damage. The Pi-rex gains a +2 to hit and +10 damage against that target for 1 attack. They will attack this target if they can. They are still immune to all other mental effect except irritation.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-03, 05:39 PM
I want a pet dinosaur with an eyepatch. ♥♥♥♥♥♥

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 05:42 PM
A bit of a running gag in the beta campaign. Figured I'd go ahead and post it in case someone wants a more powerful bear.

THE Bear
Tier: Encounter
Description: A legendary bear that has been attacked, beaten, and abused by several adventurers. Despite it all, this bear has survived all of that and keeps coming back for more. Highly territorial and holds a heavy grudge against all that cross it.

Life: 140
Reaction: 4

Body 10
Agility 4
Precision 4
Will 4

Abilities:
Level 1:
Good Climber (Passive): The Bear gains a +2 to all climb checks.

Level 3:
Bear Claw (Cost 3): This attack does 15 damage.

Level 4:
THE Bear Rush (Cost 8): The bear uses the force of a charge to trample it's foes and claw them mercilessly. This attack can only be done if the bear charged the target in a straight line, but does 25 damage. The Bear can also push the target the full length of the charge until it hits a solid object. This does no extra damage but moves the target.

Frantic Maulings (Cost 8): The bear, angered by the presence of multiple targets attacks all foes within 2 squares of it for 15 damage.

Crazy Rage (Variable): The bear goes into a crazy rage in order to do more damage. For every 5 life sacrificed, the next attack that successfully hits will do 5 extra damage.

Level 5:
Thick Fat (Passive): Bears have a thick coat that reduces all damage from all physical or energy based attacks by 5.

Survivor (Passive): This Bear has survived a lot of horrible pain and without the assistance of others. This bear gains a +1 to combat rolls as long as it is alone.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-03, 05:45 PM
Bear Claw just has me singing Albukurke in my head. XD

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 05:46 PM
I want a pet dinosaur with an eyepatch. ♥♥♥♥♥♥

Careful. It took an entire team of 4 100 point characters on a speeding bookmobile (yes. You read that right) to knock this thing out. And even then, it was mostly a tie that just ended in their favor.



Bear Claw just has me singing Albukurke in my head. XD


THE Bear is NEVER out of Bear Claws... Although, he has the weasels too.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-03, 05:49 PM
SO what you're saying is, I give it superintelligence and then I can be IT'S pet. That works for me.

...you got the reference.
I think I'm in love.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 05:50 PM
Pirate Zombies
Tier: Mook
Description: Zombies that have been spliced with Pirate Essence for increased damage.

Life: 30
Reaction: 1

Body 3
Agility 1
Precision 1
Will 3

Abilities:
Level 1
Zombie Trip (Cost 1): The zombie trips and falls on one target in melee for 10 damage. However, if the zombie misses, it must spend a turn getting back up.

Hungry for Brains (Passive): Zombies can smell the living and are better at tracking them than you would expect. Zombies get a +2 precision to notice living things via their sense of smell.

Level 3
Zombie Bite (Cost 4): This attack resolves at a -1 to hit and does 15 damage. However, if it knocks an opponent below 0 Life, they must make a body check of 15 or become a Zombie as well.

Zombie Gunnar (Cost 6): The Zombies have guns and can fire them up to 8 squares away for 15 damage.


Level 5
Too Stupid to Notice (Passive): Zombies are bafflingly dumb and immune to all insults, diplomacy, or illusions.

Last One Standing (Passive): Pirate Zombies work better in groups. When attacking, Pirate zombies can all attack simultaneously for extra bonuses to hit. For 1 zombie, the attack gets a +1 to hit. For 2 extra zombies, it's a +2. Double for each +1 to hit after that.

Ready to Burst (Passive): Pirate Zombies are weak to fire from all the alcohol they have drank when they were alive. If sucessfully hit with a fire attack, the zombie explodes for half of its remaining life in fire damage for all targets within 5 squares of it. Target Agility roll 12 to avoid the damage.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 05:54 PM
SO what you're saying is, I give it superintelligence and then I can be IT'S pet. That works for me.

...you got the reference.
I think I'm in love.

1. As long as you don't mind being the pet to something that typically explodes in an incendiary fireball of death when it dies.

2. I'd be a bit ashamed if I didn't. Weird Al's pretty classic nerd humor music, and, in case you haven't noticed, 90% of the non-monster abilities' names are a reference to something. Even a few of the NPCs and major characters are shameless "homages" to characters that inspire the factions.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-03, 05:58 PM
I'd bring it back somehow. I'm too high level to be stopped by the difference in the game systems. 8D

Heh, true. XD

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 06:00 PM
Monstrous Whale
Tier: Boss
Description: An absolutely massive whale that swallows entire Galleons for breakfast. Only a handful are known to exist. The Life listed below is only the amount required to get it to run away. Killing one would require a lot more firepower.

Life: 320
Reaction: 1

Body 10
Agility 1
Precision 1
Will 6

Abilities:
Level 1:
Good Swimmer, Bad Runner (Cost 8): Monstrous Whales move twice what their normal move speed would be in water, but can only move 1 square a turn on land.

Level 2:
Tornado Breath (Cost 8): The Whale opens its maws and exhales. All opponents within 20 squares must make a 10 body check or get knocked off their ship.

Level 3:
Ramming Speed (Passive): Monstrous Whales are Massive. Any turn the whale moves, any people on ships it passes must make a 10 agility check or take 10 damage.

Level 4:
Cargo Storm (Cost 20): Monstrous Whales occasionally have to eject the ships they've eaten, out of their blow hole. When the monstrous whale does this action, random bits of ships are scattered everywhere. All targets within sight of the Monstrous Whale must make are hit for 30 damage if it hits.

Level 5:
Swallow Whole (Cost 50): The Monstrous Whale starts inhaling the ship its attacking. If the whale is not knocked out in the next 2 turns, the Whale is knocked unconscious. However, all attacks automatically hit the whale during this time. If successfully, the ship and crew are swallowed whole.

Small Brain No Good For Think-Making (Passive): Monstrous Whales are immune to all mental effects save irritation.

Super Blubber (Passive): Monstrous Whales take 5 less damage from all attacks and are immune to falling unconscious from status changes.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 06:05 PM
Mermaid/men
Tier: Encounter
Description: Half Maiden/Half Fish. All murderous death of the seas. Found out to sea, luring sailors to their deaths.
Life: 110
Reaction: 5

Body 3
Agility 6
Precision 3
Will 8

Abilities:
Level 1:
Swim Like a Fish (Passive): Mermaids swims at normal move speed but move at half speed on land.

Level 3:
Tail Slap (Cost 3): Mermaids have tails that allow them to slap their foes for 15 damage.

Level 4:
Trident Stab (Cost 5): Mermaids carry might tridents that allow them to stab their foes for 20 damage.

Lightning Strike (Cost 10): Mermaids have the ability to fire lightning out of their tridents. This flies in a straight line for 100 squares. Any entity in the line of the attack takes 20 damage. Roll precision to hit.


Level 5:
Ridiculous Sex Appeal (Passive): Mermaids have a certain mystical appeal, when attack by people that would be reasonably attracted to them, the opponent takes a permenant -2 to hit them.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 06:09 PM
Siren
Tier: Boss
Description: More powerful version of Mermaids that use their song to hypnotize their foes.
Life: 140
Reaction: 5

Body 4
Agility 6
Precision 4
Will 10

Abilities:
Level 1:
Swim Like a Fish (Passive): Mermaids swims at normal move speed but move at half speed on land.

Level 3:
Tail Slap (Cost 3): Mermaids have tails that allow them to slap their foes for 15 damage.

Beautiful Serenade (Cost 15): The Siren belts out a beautiful song and heals all allies for 10 life.

Level 4:
Trident Stab (Cost 5): Mermaids carry might tridents that allow them to stab their foes for 20 damage.

Lightning Strike (Cost 10): Mermaids have the ability to fire lightning out of their tridents. This flies in a straight line for 100 squares. Any entity in the line of the attack takes 20 damage. Roll precision to hit.

Level 5:
Ridiculous Sex Appeal (Passive): Mermaids have a certain mystical appeal, when attack by people that would be reasonably attracted to them, the opponent takes a permenant -2 to hit them.

Melodic Mind Control (Cost: 20): Sirens have the ability to sway the hearts of men with their song. Make an opposed Will check against a male character at a -2. If this succeeds. The target must perform one action of the Siren's choosing. On successive turns, the Siren can make more commands, but must make a Will check each time at the same -2. If the target ever succeeds, the control is broken.

Pacify Armies (Cost 30): Sirens give out a beautiful song. Make an opposed Will check at -4. Anyone that fails loses their entire turn as they are helpless to listen to the song. Furthermore, all agility is at a -2 for the purposes of dodging.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 06:50 PM
And now for some example NPCs. These characters may have changed from their original states in the campaign slightly. These are just the raw notes I have on some characters. Some might need an ability added or removed to be a fair fight to your group.

Furthermore, most of the later characters are missing abilities for skills and defects (ie. trained skills). This is because these NPCs were meant for combat. If they need Sail the Seas, Like the Wind, or even Born to Rock to fit into the scene. Go ahead and give it to them. Furthermore, if a character needs to be clumsy for a scene or vulnerable to a specific tactic, add it as necessary.

Ability costs and effects may be slightly inaccurate as a number of these characters were made BEFORE adjustments to said skills. These will be fixed as I can get time to check them.

Raquel Roll of the Infinite Musical Mastery
Side: Ninja
Faction: Rokinja
Age: 21

Life: 100
Reaction: 3

Body 3
Agility 3
Precision 3
Will 7

Abilities:
Level 1:
Born to Rock (Ninja, Passive): +2 to all checks playing musical instruments.
Daredevil Spirit (Pirate, Passive): +2 to all acrobatic stunt checks.
El Kabong! (Ninja, Cost 2): Break instrument over opponents head for 10 damage.

Level 2:
Perfect Tuning (Ninja, Passive): Use instruments as weapons in non-musical attacks.
Improvised Master (Pirate, Passive): Use anything as an improvised weapon without penalty.
Deadly Discord (Ninja, Cost 3): 10 damage. -1 to hit. 8 range. 12 precision check to see where attack came from.
Musical Mastermind (Ninja, Passive): Can play songs heard once by ear.

Level 3:
So Be Ye Face! (Pirate, Cost 6): Opposed Will check at -2 to one target. Double your will in damage if successful. Attack not reduced by damage reduction.

Level 4:
Take it to Eleven! (Ninja, Cost 1 Awesome Point and 25): Attack action. All allies and Rokinja gain +1 to Will and the 10 extra Life that comes with it.

Who Wants to Live Forever? (Wanderer, Cost 5): Does 25 damage Damage Reduction cannot reduce on opposed Will check. However, user takes an additional 10 damage regardless of whether the attack hits or not.

Items:
Cape (On My Signal)- 4 Cost. +2 to all checks for one ally.

Flaws:
Extreme Honor (2)
Reckless (2)
Code (1): Become the Greatest
Focused Attribute (4): -4 Will for Diplomacy
Greedy (1)

Description: Raquel Roll of the Infinite Musical Mastery is a starving Rokinja musician who goes from town to town doing odd jobs to pay for living costs with her Drunkarrd associate, Beef Cake Jacobs. She suffers from quite a bit of bad luck and frequently has her jobs stolen by other adventurers because of her constant lateness to gigs and meetings. She wields a large number of instruments that she's crudely fashioned out of mundane objects as her main weapons. Beef Cake holds onto most of these for her.

Raquel and her associate Jacobs are designed for 40 point starting characters to fight.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 07:04 PM
"Beef Cake" Jacobs
Side: Pirate
Faction: Drunkarrd
Age: 28

Life: 100
Reaction: 3

Body 7
Agility 3
Precision 3
Will 3

Abilities:
Level 1:
Stone-Cold Sober (Pirate, Passive): +2 to resist poisons and foreign agents.
The Mead of Dull Wits, Staggering, and Blurred Vision (Pirate, Cost 5): Three abilities. Drunkarrd can drink 1 drink a round without action. Gives +2 Body for -2 Agility, Precision, or Will.
Spit In Their Face! (Pirate, Cost 1): Attack action on opponent. Opponent takes 5 damage from next fire attack.

Level 2:
Speed Chugger (Pirate, Passive): Drink 2 drinks a round.

Level 3:
Molotov! (Pirate, Cost 6): 5 range. Roll precision. 15 fire damage. Sets square on fire.
Arm Wrestle the Kraken (Pirate, Cost 5/turn): Body can exceed 10 for purpose of lifting objects.

Level 4:
The True Mead (Pirate, Cost 10): +2 to Body until end of combat. Drinking action. Do not gain extra life for extra body.

Level 5:
The Grand Slam (Pirate, Cost 30): Pick up an object equal in length of squares to a Body check. Swing object around you at a +2 to hit for 30 damage to every enemy in range.

Flaws:
Addiction (2): Alcohol
Code (1): Follow Raquel
Clumsy (2)

Description: "Beef Cake" Jacobs is the Drunkarrd associate of Raquel Roll of the Infinite Musical Mastery. While not the brightest tool in the shed, he is nonetheless loyal and always willing to lay down his life for her. He is known for his sturdiness and ability to take all but the most deadly hits and shrug it off.

The most common phrase used to describe Beef Cake by his foes is, "Nuke it from orbit".

Jacobs along with Raquel are intended to fight starting 40 point characters.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-03, 07:24 PM
Featherfoot Peterson
Side: Pirate
Faction: Arrcrobat
Age: 32

Life: 80
Reaction: 5

Body 4
Agility 7
Precision 3
Will 4

Abilities:
Level 1:
Daredevil Spirit (Pirate, Passive): +2 to Agility for acrobatic stunts.
Slippery Frame (Pirate, Passive): +2 to avoid capture or being bound.
Wind in Yer Sails (Pirate, Cost 2): Can replace any attack written down on any turn. Also can interrupt an attack interrupt. Does 5 damage.
Mountain Goat Stride (Ninja, Passive): +2 to walk on difficult terrain
Water Walk (Ninja, Cost 1/turn): Walk on Water at full speed

Level 2:
Agile Rejuvination (Ninja, Passive): Gain 2 life back when dodging an attack.
Up the Walls (Ninja, Cost 1/turn): Run up walls.
Rubber Sole (Ninja, Cost 1/turn): Double jump distance.
Improvised Master (Pirate, Passive): Use anything as a weapon without penalty.
Off the Walls (Pirate, Cost 1): 10 damage. Must be used next to a wall.

Level 3:
Whoopsie! (Pirate, Cost 6): When missed, can be used to force person to attack adjacent target instead.
Run and Gun (Pirate, Cost 2): Can attack during movement instead of before or after.
The Chandelier Trick (Pirate, Cost 6): -2 to target dodge. 25 damage. Requires 50 object on end of rope or string. User ends up at top of rope.
Rub Some Cheetah's Blood On It (Ninja, 2/turn): Double move speed.

Level 4:
The High Ground +1 (Pirate, Passive): Gain +1 to combat rolls against targets on trick terrain.

Level 5:
Rollin' Thunder (Pirate, Cost 15): Does 5 damage per 2 squares moved in attack. Take half damage of attack when missing.
Fleetfoot Barrage (Pirate, Cost 25): Attack up to Agility time at a -1 per 2 attacks. 10 damage for each hit.

Items:

Flaws:
Greedy (1)
Reckless (2)
Addiction (2): Adrenaline
Extreme Honor (2)
Code (1): Only take challenging jobs
Focused Attribute (2): Body: Resistance.

Description: Featherfoot Peterson is a mercenary Arrcrobat for hire that lives for the thrill of adventure. He'll only take jobs he considers a challenge and will do them solo with glee in his eyes.

Featherfoot Peterson is a boss for starting 40 point characters.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 02:17 PM
Fiery Vengeance
Side: Ninja
Faction: Dr. Inja/Shoninja
Age: 26

Life: 120
Reaction: 4

Body 6
Agility 2
Precision 4
Will 6

Aibilities:
Level 1:
Elemental Fury: Fire (Item, Cost 1): Spend 1 life to make any attack fire based.
An Apple a Day (Ninja, Cost 2): Throw an apple 4 squares for 5 damage.

Level 2:
Hot-Blooded Hoodlum (Ninja, Cost 10): Spend an attack action. Do Will damage every time an opponent touches you.

Level 3:
Horizon Throw (Ninja, Cost 6): 50 range. 15 damage.

Level 4:
Projectile Shots (Item, Cost 5): Make melee attacks projectile in nature for up to Will or Precision distance.

Level 5:
Life Drinker (Item, Passive): Gain back 1/5 damage done as Life. Round down.
Flying Item (Item, 3/turn): Character can fly.
Lightspeed Metabolism (Ninja, Passive): Gain back 5 Life a turn
Raging Digit (Ninja, Cost 40): 25 + 5*Will damage.

Flaws:
Reckless (2)

Description: Fiery Vengeance is a low level Shoninja/Dr. Inja that has swallowed a magical elixir that has given him the powers of fire itself. Because of this, he is wanted by the local Veil authorities for damage to the city. He has two other associates: Rock Solid and Calming Tides. He is the more brash and excitable of the three, much like Fire itself.

Fiery Vengeance is an excellent encounter for 40 point characters by himself or for 60-80 point characters with his team. Fiery Vengeance is also an example of a character that has permanently learned skills from the consumption of an item.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 02:40 PM
Calming Tides
Side: Ninja
Faction: Evadinja
Age: 35

Life: 70
Reaction: 6

Body: 3
Agility: 8
Precision: 3
Will: 4

Abilities:
Level 1:
Elemental Fury: Water (Item, Cost 1): Make attacks Water based.
What Goes Around... (Wanderer, Cost 1): Gain a +1 to hit a target that hit you this round.
...Comes Around (Wanderer, Cost 1): Gain a cumulative +1 to hit when using the same attack to hit the same target each turn.

Level 2:
Agile Rejuvenation (Ninja, Passive): Gain 2 Life each time you dodge.
Read the Foe (Ninja, Passive): Gain a +2 on to hit and dodge against a foe when you correctly guess their next move. If wrong, take a -1 to hit and dodge on that target instead.
Ninjas Don't Get Hit! (Ninja, Cost 6): Gain a +2 to dodges until the end of turn.

Level 3:
Bullet Dance (Pirate, Cost 8): -2 precision to hit. 10 range. Do agility number of attacks at once for 5 damage each.
Cross Arm Draw (Pirate, Passive): Automatically go first on first round of combat.
Horizon Throw (Ninja, Cost 6): 50 range. 15 damage.
Second Wind (Wanderer, Passive): Gain 20 Life back once a day.

Level 4:
Drunken Satori (Wanderer, Cost 10): Gain +1 to Will, Precision, and Agility until end of Combat. Do not gain Life for Will.

Level 5:
Ebb and Flow (Ninja, Cost 15): Deal an attack immediately back at a target at double damage when missed. Can activate multiple times a turn.

Flaws:
Addiction (2): Alcohol
Focused Attribute (4): Agility: Acrobatics

Description: Calming Tides is the more rational of the elemental vandals in Veil city. A dedicated Evadinja, he has taken "flowing like water" to a new level. Calm, level-headed, and practical.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 04:16 PM
Rock Solid
Side: Pirate
Faction: Drunkarrd
Age: 40

Life: 160
Reaction: 2

Body: 8
Agility: 2
Precision: 2
Will: 6

Abilities:
Level 1:
Precise Cut (Ninja, Cost 2): 5 damage. +2 to hit.
Elemental Fury: Earth (Item, Cost 1): Change an attack to Earth Element.

Level 2:
Stumbling Punch (Pirate, Cost 4): 10 Damage. +1 to hit.
Let's Find a Rock (Pirate, Cost 6): Lift a heavy object. Body check required to lift it is damage. Amount check is succeeded by is range. +1 to hit if object is larger than a meter across.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot! (Pirate, Cost 5): Gain 5 DR for the turn.

Level 3:
Hammer Meet Nail (Wanderer, Cost 6): Destroy an object the way you want to.

Level 4:
For My Fallen Comrades (Ninja, Passive): Gain a +1 to all combat rolls for fallen comrades. +1 for 1, +2 for 2, +3 for 4, etc.

Level 5:
General Protection: Bludgeoning (Item, Passive): 5 DR for damage type.
Steel Liver and Steel Body (Pirate, Cost 12): Gain 15 DR for the turn.
Healthy as a 10 Story Ox (Pirate, Passive): +20 Max Life

Description: Dim-witted, slow, and stubborn, Rock Solid is the Drunkarrd strong man of the elemental vandals. He uses his massive strength and pain tolerance to outlast his foes.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 04:22 PM
Hitinja Students
Side: Ninja
Faction: Hitinja
Age: 14

Life: 50
Reaction: 6

Body 3
Agility 4
Precision 7
Will 2

Abilities:
Level 1:
Water Walking (Ninja, Cost 1/turn): Walk on Water as if it were solid.
Like the Wind (Ninja, Passive): +2 to Stealth Checks
Keenest Eye (Ninja, Passive): +2 to Notice Small details
Precise Cut (Ninja, Cost 2): +2 to hit, 5 damage.

Level 2:
Delaying Fall (Ninja, Cost 4): Delay the damage of any attack.
Agile Rejuvenation (Ninja, Passive): +1 Life per dodge.

Level 3:
Horizon Throw (Ninja, Cost 6): 15 damage, 100 range

Level 4:
Drunken Satori (Wanderer, Cost 10): +1 precision, agility, and will till end of battle.

Level 5:
Cost of Power (Ninja, 1 per 5 damage): Sacrifice -2 on a hit to get a +5 to damage for each -2 sacrificed.

Description: A generic group of Hitinja students. Decent minions for a bigger foe.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 04:34 PM
Mockingbird Blues
Side: Wanderer
Faction: Wandering Minstrel
Age: 29

Life: 120
Reaction: 4

Body 3
Agility 4
Precision 3
Will 9

Abilities:
Level 2:
Beautiful Vibratto (Wanderer, Cost 10): Heal 5 Life to all Allies.

Level 3:
Second Wind (Wanderer, Passive): Gain back 20 Life once a day.

Level 4:
Power Chord (Ninja, Cost 12): Opposed Will at -2. -2 to Will if successful.
Take it to Eleven! (Ninja, Cost 1 Awesome Point and 25): Everyone gains +1 Will, including 10 Life.
Cue Theme Song! (Wanderer, Cost 10): Gain +1 Will (without Life), +5 damage and damage reduction, +1 to skill checks for 1 turn.
Tap Storm (Pirate, Cost 12): Attack and cause all allies adjacent to target to attack instantly as well for free. 10 Damage per attack.
There is an I in Captain! (Pirate, Cost 4): All conscious named allies can willingly give up 5 life to give it to the user of this skill.

Level 5:
Musical Mind Control (Wanderer, Cost 1 Awesome Point and 20): Opposed Will at -4. If successful control target character until they break free.

Level 6:
True Mass Media Music Mind Control Medley (Wanderer, 2 Awesome Points and 30): Opposed Will at -4 to all targets that can hear. Gain control of all that fail. Unlike normal Mass Media Music Mind Control Medley, the controlled targets CAN be used for combat purposes.

Description: Mockingbird Blues is a powerful musician that uses his ability to mind control others to keep armies of loyal followers around him at all times. When all else fails, he drains his allies of their life to keep himself up.

Mockingbird Blues has a level 6 ability. Level 6 abilities are the ORIGINAL version of skills as their original user used them. The are like their Level 5 counterparts, but often much more powerful in some subtle way. In this case, the mass controlled minions can be used for combat.

banthesun
2010-05-04, 07:17 PM
There isn't a way I wouldn't love this, but I'm a little concerned about the lack of ninja enemies, the Tengu and Kitsune for example. Is this a situation where we should be using the rules for monster creation and our own initiative?

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 08:08 PM
There isn't a way I wouldn't love this, but I'm a little concerned about the lack of ninja enemies, the Tengu and Kitsune for example. Is this a situation where we should be using the rules for monster creation and our own initiative?

For the most part, it's an issue of this is where the beta testing group has been most of the time. Every NPC and Monster is something my actual beta groups have fought or interacted with. They were mostly in Pirate territory for the first half, and the dinosaurs and bears are mostly neutral.

Hard to run into ninja bosses when 2-3 of the sessions have happened over the open seas. Amusingly enough, the Shrimp were fought on land thanks to a player flooding a trade route on accident. One of those situations where the higher point characters had an impact on the lower point ones.

On the flip side, most bosses have actually been wanderers or ninjas. So, the monsters haven't shown up, but save for a couple of people they keep fighting, the Ninjas have been getting more love on that front. The campaign mid-boss was actually a 200 point attempted copy by an Alchemist to recreate Burning Soul himself.

Although, Tengus were in the planning stages anyway. I've got a nice hunk of bad guys up my sleeve for when they head back near Veil (a large Ninja town). I DO need to update the Fire Oni variant on the Thunder Oni though. They act slightly different (more damage, less accuracy).

But hey. If you want to actually attempt to make some monsters of your own for this thing, I'm all ears. I'm really still in the process of world-building this world. Every time I add a faction, the nature of the world changes pretty heavily.

General rule of thumb for non level 5 player abilities is 5 damage a level (the Level 5's get expensive but also tend to break this cap), while monsters depend on the tier. Mooks stick at 5 per level at most and most of their Level 5's are passive. Most they generally do in one attack is 20. Encounters can go up to double the damage (including life cost). Things like the Thunder Oni and such can get to the 30-40 range. Bosses range from double to skies the limit, but mostly stick with around 10 damage a level. They tend to have more AOE and instant pain though.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 08:23 PM
Dancing Gemini
Side: Pirate
Faction: Charreographer
Age: 27

Life: 80
Reaciton: 5

Body: 2
Agility: 6
Precision: 3
Will: 7

Abilities:
Level 1:
Softshoe Sidestep (Pirate, Cost 1): Switches places with target. 5 damage.

Level 2:
Stumbling Punch (Pirate, Cost 4): 10 damage. +1 to hit.
En Passant! (Pirate, Cost 4): 10 damage to adjacent allies.
All Together Now! (Pirate, Cost 2): 5 damage extra to an attack when done on the same reaction as an ally.

Level 3:
Step-Ball-Kick! (Pirate, Cost 4): 10 damage.
Charreographed Violence (Pirate, Passive): Opponents always think they've hit you.

Level 4:
Watch Ye Flank (Pirate, Cost 6): 15 extra damage on an attack when flanking an opponent and attacking the same time as another ally activating this attack.

Level 5:
Twin Sense (Custom, Passive): You share a life force with another person. Any damage done can be passed off to another one as long as the one taking damage is conscious.
Dance Dimension X (Pirate, Cost 1 Awesome Point and 25): +2 Will and +5 damage to all Charreographers for rest of battle.
Summon the Groupies (Pirate, 1 Awesome Point and 30 Life): Summon half your will in 30 Life groupies with 3 in all stats except Will (which is a 7). They count as 1 person for Kurosawa.

Description: Twin Charreographers of amazing skill that are attempting to defraud Port Arrthur with a fake "Drunken Satori" super juice. Use their amazing Charreography skills to fake Drunken mastery.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 08:33 PM
Drunken Disciples
Side: Pirates
Faction: Arrcrobats
Age: 22

Life: 70
Reaction: 5

Body 3
Agility 6
Precision 3
Will 4

Abilities:
Level 1:
Daredevil Spirit (Pirate, Passive): +2 to acrobatic checks
Wind in Yer Sails (Pirate, Cost 2): 5 damage. Can interrupt reaction interrupts. Can replace active move written on card.
A Moment of Weakness (Pirate, Cost 2): Give opponent +2 on one attack to give them a -1 to agility until their next action.

Level 2:
Improvised Master (Pirate, Passive): Can use any item as a weapon.
Tumblin' Fool (Pirate, Passive): Can move through enemy squares and crowds at full speeds.

Level 3:
Whoopsie! (Pirate, Cost 6): Use when missed with an attack. Attack aims at adjacent target.
Do-see-do! (Pirate, Cost 6): Use an ally and swing them. Give ally +2 to hit and 15 extra damage on the attack. Can only swing if your body is at least half of theirs.

Level 4:
Feint and Switch (Pirate, Cost 8): Gain a +2 to hit one target and give a -2 to another target until end of round.

Items:
Drunken Satori Juice
Gives Drunken Satori and Thrust of Victory. Highly Addictive. Requires refills.
(10 life: +1 to Will, Precision, Agility; 20 life: -2 to hit. If it hits, the opponent takes 20 damage and loses 1 Will. )

Description: Poor Arrcrobats that have been fooled into thinking they were training with Drunken Satori while getting addicted to a fake serum.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 09:02 PM
Chemical Burn
Side: Wanderer
Faction: Alchemist
Age: 38

Life 130
Reaction 5

Body 4
Agility 3
Precision 7
Will 7

Abilities:
Level 1:
Chemical Balance (Wanderer, Passive): Hold up to your agility number of mixed potions.

Level 2:
Burn Baby Burn (Wanderer, Cost 4): 3 range. 10 damage. Any element.
Brew Tosser (Wanderer, Passive): Can toss potions up to 5 squares.

Level 3:
Liquor Rain (Pirate, Cost 10): All people within 10 squares take 10 more damage from fire attacks until washed off or end of battle. Includes user.
Here! Drink This! (Wanderer, Cost 10): Either gives a +2 Body/Will for -2 Agility/Precision or vice versa.

Level 4:
Drunken Satori (Wanderer, Cost 10): +1 to Agility, Precision, and Will until end of battle.

Level 5:
Explodomania (Wanderer, Cost 30): 8 range. 6 square radius. 25 fire damage. +5 damage every turn until cleaned or end of battle.
The Immortality Equation (Wanderer, Cost 30): Gives complete immunity to damage for non self-inflicted damage for 1 turn.
Brew Fest (Wanderer, Passive): Can brew 2 potions in 1 turn. Must wait 2 turns before using again.
The Boat Floats in Water (Wanderer, Passive): +20 Max Life.

Description: A high point character that works for the Essential Alchemist, an alchemist bent on stealing the essences of the elements and great warriors around the world and bottling it in a potion. Works with his associate "Strong Arm" Johansen to form a frightening team.

Chemical Burn combined with his associate is a good battle for 80 point veteran characters.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-04, 09:59 PM
“Strong Arm” Johannsen
Side: Pirate
Faction: Drunkarrd
Age: 35

Life 110
Reaction 4

Body 6
Agility 3
Precision 4
Will 3

Abilities:
Level 1:
The Mead of Staggering, Blurred Vision, and Dull Wits (Pirate, Cost 5): 3 abilities. +2 body for -2 Will, agility, or precision until end of battle. Takes drinking action.

Level 2:
Speed Chugger (Pirate, Passive): Can take 2 drinking actions a turn.
The Strength of a Doctor (Ninja, Cost 3): +4 to Body for lifting for a turn.
Let's Find a Rock (Pirate, Cost 6): Lift an object. Damage = check to lift. Distance = amount check is exceeded. +1 to hit if object is larger than a meter across.
Bar Fightin' Genius (Pirate, Passive): +1 to hit/dodge in bars.
Everyone Stand Together! (Pirate, Cost 4): +1 dodge to adjacent allies.

Level 3:
Arm Wrestle the Kraken (Pirate, Cost 3): Body can exceed 10 for lifting.
Take a Cannonball to the Gut (Pirate, Cost 2): Body can exceed 10 for Damage Reduction.
Punch a God (Pirate, Passive): Body can exceed 10 for natural attack damage.
I'm Gonna Bop You Good! (Pirate, Cost 6): 10 damage + natural unarmed attack damage.

Level 4:
The True Mead (Pirate, Cost 10): +2 body until end of battle.

Level 5:
Healthy as a 10 Story Ox (Pirate, Passive): +20 Max Life
The Grand Slam (Pirate, Cost 30): Lift object up to a body check in meters long. Swing around you for 30 damage to all enemies in range.

Description: Chemical Burn's ally. A strong hard to kill Drunkarrd with ridiculous strength. He supports Chemical Burn and Chemical Burn uses the Immortality Equation on him for devastating effect.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-05, 02:22 AM
Been meaning to put this one up for a while, but had to find my notes. The Fire variation on Onis. More damage. Even LESS accuracy.

Fire Oni
Tier: Encounter
Description: Giant Ogre like monsters that carry a club and have powerful fire auras around them.

Life: 180
Reaction: 2

Body 10
Agility 2
Precision 2
Will 2

Notes: Fire Onis channel raw fire and take 25 less damage from fire based attacks. Onis, unlike most monsters can talk and are extremely vulnerable to psychological attacks and insults.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Oni Swing (Cost 2): This attack does 15 damage but rolls to hit at a -2


Level 2:

Batter Up (Cost 5): The Oni uses it's massive strength to hit the opponent for 20 damage at a -2 to hit. The opponent flies back a number of squares equal to half the damage they took.


Level 3:

Strong Swing (Cost 8): The Oni tries for accuracy and hits for 20 damage.

Flame Field (Cost 10): This attack does 15 fire damage to everyone adjacent to the Oni.

Fire Bolt (Cost 8): The Oni throws a bolt of fire within 10 squares at a -1 to hit and do 20 fire damage.


Level 4:

Blazing Swing (Cost 16): This attack swing super powerful swing for 30 fire damage.


Level 5:

Big and Burly (Passive): Onis are tough and take 3 less damage from all physical attacks (For a total of 7 damage reduction when at full body).

Lix Lorn
2010-05-05, 11:15 AM
Notes: Thunder Onis channel raw fire and take 25 less damage from fire based attacks. Onis, unlike most monsters can talk and are extremely vulnerable to psychological attacks and insults.
Uh. Huh? XD

Dairun Cates
2010-05-05, 01:19 PM
Uh. Huh? XD

They use the same template of stuff. Used the old one rather than completely rewrite it. Problem fixed.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-07, 02:15 AM
Weren't scared of Ninjas enough? Too bad. The Feykinja are battlefield controllers to the extreme. They're not likely going to finish a foe off and suffer the life and awesome point expenditure of a Dr. Inja and Lucky combined, but they're frightening in full force. Although, you'll be hard-pressed to keep a combat going for the 10 turns required for one Feykinja to get up to full scary strength. Still, they seem like they'll handle well in a group or with a REALLY smart player using the Kurosawa corollary in their favor. All in all, one of the more fun factions to stat out to date.

Also, I finally get to make an MS Paint Adventures reference.

Feykinja:
Summary: Ninjas are all about hiding, control, and perceptions. Feykinjas achieve this through illusions and planning rather than through physical accomplishment.

High Level Feykinjas masterfully control the battlefield both psychologically AND physically. Feykinja don't have as many damaging attacks as other factions and rely on traps and clever tricks to do their damage for them.

History: No one knows when the Feykinja came into being. There are arguments, of course, but no side can provide solid evidence. All anyone really knows is that one day, before people even realized it, they were a vital part of ninja society. Some even theorize that the original Feykinja were Gods that came down from the heavens to give the Ninja an invincible weapon against their pirate foes. The common belief is that the Feykinja existed before the coming of Ellipsis since there are references in stories to Feykinja existing during the great wars, but even this may just be an illusion.

Because of this, the Feykinja are possibly some of the most mysterious ninja, and that's saying something in a group that prides itself on its mystery. Even their motifs and goals are a mystery to members inside and outside of their brotherhood.

Feykinja can be some of the greatest heroes or villains alike. Some have been blood-thirsty loners that assassinate nation leaders for their own machiavellian ambitions while others can be charismatic and thoughtful team leaders that use their smarts to put their team at an advantage in otherwise unfathomable odds. Others can seem like completely normal people or even act at times like a Wanderer or Pirate, playing horrible tricksters rather than honorable warriors. Their personalities literally cross the entire spectrum.

Finding a Feykinja school is nearly impossible and an excellent entrance exam to becoming a Hitinja. This is partially because the Feykinja are that good at their craft, and mostly because, for the most part, physical Feykinja schools don't exist. Feykinja have a habit of finding each other when they need help or training.

Feykinja will claim they don't have a leader. This doesn't keep people from speculating. There have rumors of a powerful Feykinja named The Ugly Truth that leads large numbers of Feykinja in some ultimate goal. However, there's no proof of his or her existence, and the very notion and name sounds like some big joke by a Feykinja that thinks he's funnier than he actually is.

In short, nothing is certain with the Feykinja, even their own existence.

Attribute Scores: Feykinja require Will scores for the purposes of maintaining their illusions. A high precision is also common territory with their tactics based fighting style. If a Feykinja needs training in Body or Agility, then they are likely doing something wrong as they should not be getting hit.

Level 1:

Master of 1,000 Faces
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Feykinja are masters of disguise. They can take on the faces, guises, and emotions of others, even their voice. A Feykinja with this ability gains a +2 to all disguise checks.

Don't Fear the Reaper
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Feykinja recognize their own craft at work. They gain a +1 to Will to see through illusions.

Your Lies are Weak!
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Lie detection comes with the territory of being a Feykinja. Feykinja with this ability gain a +2 to precision tell if someone is lying to them.

Abra Kadabra!
Ninja 1
Cost: 1
Feykinja know that they need to master small illusions before they can master big ones. The Feykinja with this ability can create an illusion that fits in his or her hand. The illusion seems perfect until someone else tries to touch it. It then immediately disappears.


Level 2:

Trickster Spirit
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Feykinja are fancy liars at their hearts. Mastering the mundane tricks is necessary in learning the more advanced illusions. Feykinja with this skill gain a +2 to lying or bluffing to their opponent.

Did You Just Hit Puberty?
Ninja 2
Cost: 1/turn
Illusions are not just visual. Feykinja can fake sound as well. When a Feykinja uses this ability. They can change their voice to any voice they wish, even their enemy's.

Uncanny Copy
Ninja 2
Cost: 10
Feykinja can look like anyone they wish when they have mastered their disguise capabilities. When a Feykinja uses this skill, they can become exactly like a target they have seen before. They will effectively take on that physical form no matter how much scrutiny is given to them. This does not effect their voice. Also, this illusion can be seen through by someone seeing it declaring and succeeding on an opposed Will check.

Nightmare Fuel
Ninja 2
Cost: 3
The Feykinja is capable of making nightmarish visions appear before his opponent. These can frighten the foe into submission. Make an opposed will check at a -4. This attack does 10 damage that damage reduction cannot reduce. This can effect animals that do not understand language.

Well-Crafted Lie
Ninja 2
Cost: 5
The Feykinja is a master of illusions and can make any visual illusions they want. When a Feykinja uses this attack action, they can make an illusion up to their Will in squares large. Anyone viewing this can make an opposed Will check against the Feykinja to see through the illusion. The Feykinja gains a +2 on this check as long as the illusion is believable to the viewer. This can be used in tandem with the Piper's Bait without using an additional attack action. The illusion persists as long as the Feykinja wishes. The victim can continue to try to see through this illusion once every other turn after their first attempt.

The Piper's Bait
Ninja 2
Cost: 5
The Feykinja can fake sounds as well. When using this attack action, the Feykinja can create a realistic sound of his choosing. Anyone hearing this can make an opposed Will check against the illusion. The Feykinja gets a +2 to this check as long as the illusion is believable to the listener. This can be used in tandom with Well-Crafted Lie without using an additional attack action. The illusion persists as long as the Feykinja wishes. The victim can continue to try to see through this illusion once every other turn after their first attempt.


Level 3:

Me, Myself, And I
Ninja 3
Cost: 10
Inspired by the Shoninja skill of a similar name, this technique does not actually make physical copies of the Feykinja. Instead, the Feykinja makes up to half of their Will of images of the Feykinja (round up). The player then decides which one is real and writes it down. From there, the images can act independent of the Feykinja and do anything the Feykinja wishes without life cost, this cannot have any physical effect on the world. Even insults from these images will not do damage. When physically hit (not by music attacks or insults), the clones disappear instantly. The opponent succeeding an opposed Will check at a -2 will reveal which image is the real one. They can only attempt this once.

Absolute Darkness
Ninja 3
Cost: 12/turn
Feykinja realize that people rely on sight more than any other sense. When a Feykinja activates this ability, everything within 50 squares of the Feykinja is shrouded in a cloud of darkness, including the Feykinja, his enemies, and his allies. Anyone that cannot see in the dark is effectively blinded and at a -4 to hit and dodge.

LOGGED!
Ninja 3
Cost: 6
Feykinja are masters at misdirection. Whenever any attack misses a Feykinja, they can activate this ability and use the ancient substitution technique to change places with a visible object that the Feykinja is capable of lifting. This can be a log, a chair, a vial, or even a wild animal. The reality is that the character has been attacking this object the whole time.

Fake Out!
Ninja 3
Cost: 6
Surprise is a Feykinja's greatest weapon. Feykinja can create the illusions of fake attacks to throw their opponents off guard. The Feykinja makes an opposed Will check at a -2 on an attack action. If they succeed. The opponent, instantly moves 4 squares in any direction of their choosing in an attempt to dodge.

It Be a Trap!
Ninja 3
Cost: 10
Named after the famous last words of the famous Charrismatic Lord Captain "Squidley" Eckbear before being annihilated by 10 of these attacks activating simultaneously. The Feykinja can place a number of near invisible traps for his opponent to fall in. When spending an attack action, the Feykinja places a trap within their current precision squares of their current location without anyone noticing. Should anyone enter this square, the trap will be released on the helpless foe. When resolving the attack, the opponent is at a -2 to agility. This attack does 20 damage. Furthermore, should the attack hit, the opponent remains at a -1 to agility until their next turn. More than one trap can be stacked on the same spot. Only close scrutiny can reveal a trap. Make an opposed roll against the Feykinja's precision if an attack action is spent checking a square. If they succeed, the trap is spotted.


Level 4:

Change of Scenery
Ninja 4
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Feykinja are masters of manipulating their surroundings and others perceptions of it. By spending an attack action, the Feykinja can shift reality to another location that he or she has visited before. This new location exists for all physical purposes (ie. if its a forest, the trees physically exist, if it's on fire, the fire hurts 5 damage a round). However, this new location does not contain any of the emotional or metaphysical connections to that place (ie. Infinite Swords Jobs or Bar Fightin' Genius bonuses). This new location persists until the end of combat or until the Feykinja consciously lets it go. It's important to note when using Change of Scenery, all targets of the illusion must be standing or lying on solid ground when the illusion is activated.

Are You Sure About That?
Ninja 4
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Feykinja are masters of misdirection and of bending the perceptions of distance. Whenever a Feykinja is attacked by an opponent and missed, the Feykinja can choose to spend an awesome point and aim the attack at any visible target instead with the same attack roll. The opponent then attacks that target instead.

Concealed Assault
Ninja 4
Cost: 12
The Feykinja is a master at hiding his attacks as something harmless. When the Feykinja throws this attack, he hides it as an illusion. The opponent is treated as surprised by this attack and takes a -2 to their agility for the attack. This attack does 20 damage and has an 8 square range.

The Midnight Crew
Ninja 4
Cost: 20/turn
The Feykinja doesn't only effect himself, but his allies as well. The Feykinja projects an image that makes their foes believe him and his allies are frightening demons. Before anyone can attack the Feykinja or his allies, they must succeed an opposing Will check against the target with the target at a -2 to Will. If they fail, they fail to attack out of fear and waste their attack action (but do not lose the life or awesome points). This takes a full turn and does not protect against the splash of AOE attacks.


Level 5:

Welcome to my World!
Ninja 5
Cost: 2 Awesome Points
The Feykinja can shift reality as they please, and force others into their own madness. When a Feykinja makes eye contact with a target, they can spend their turn to pull the two of them into a battleground of the Feykinja's choosing. The Feykinja only governs the physical nature of the plain. The laws of physics are unchanged. From there, the Feykinja and the victim fight until one of them is unconscious. The two combatants are completely separated from their allies for all effects and the kurosawa corollary. Regardless of the outcome, this all happens in the blink of an eye and combat resumes where it left off.

Nullifying Hypnosis
Ninja 5
Cost: Variable
The Feykinja is a master of tricking his foes into destroying their own attacks. Anytime an opponent uses an attack that the Feykinja has learned, the Feykinja can spend either the cost of the attack or an awesome point to completely negate the attack after the life and awesome points have been spent. The opponent thinks that Feykinja is actively nullifying their attacks, but the reality is that they are being hypnotized into making mistakes in their movements. The opponent must be able to make eye contact of some kind.

The Last Illusion
Ninja 5
Cost: 3 Awesome Points and 40 Life
In order to create true illusions, a Feykinja must know how to tear them down and reach right into the truth itself. Even the most trained Feykinja can find this difficult and may never achieve it. The Feykinja that has mastered this skill has seen their own true self, everything good and evil, and accepted it. Thus, the last illusion can be removed. The Feykinja reveals their true self to the world in its full nightmarish form. When a Feykinja activates this skill, they gain +1 to all attribute scores (without the HP gain), 5 life regeneration a turn, 5 DR, and +5 to all their damage until the end of combat.

Welcome to My Nightmare
Ninja 5
Cost: 2 Awesome Points and 30 Life
The Feykinja is capable of unleashing a torrent of terror on his or her foe. He reads right into the victim's mind and finds their worst possible nightmare and projects it to them. Make an opposed Will check at a -4. If the check succeeds, the target takes a -2 to all attributes until the end of combat. This lowers the victim's max life, but they do not directly lose life from it.

Follow My Lead!
Ninja 5
Cost: 30
Contrary to popular belief, this is not a Charreographer skill, but the Charreographers would like to get their hands on it. The Feykinja with this ability stares into the eyes of their opponent and makes an opposed Will check at a -3. If they succeed, the victim is hypnotized into following their every move. Until the victim succeeds on a Will check, they move on the same reaction as the Feykinja and follow their every move perfectly. If the Feykinja walks 10 squares to the right, so does the victim. If the Feykinja uses an attack, the victim uses the same attack with the same life cost in the same direction. Anything else the Feykinja does, the victim follows. The Feykinja must keep eye contact for this to work, but the opponent cannot close their eyes while this is in effect. Many pirates have learned the hard way not to fight Feykinja next to cliffs or water.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-07, 03:51 AM
And suddenly we can make Itachi with these rules. XD


Finding a Feykinja school is nearly impossible and an excellent entrance exam to becoming a Hitinja.
...huh?

Dairun Cates
2010-05-07, 04:29 AM
And suddenly we can make Itachi with these rules. XD
...Or Johan from Monster if you're feeling especially cruel.

But yeah. I wanted Feykinja to be very tactical in how they're played. A lot of focus on the other factions is around doing a lot of damage or dodging really well. So, I thought I'd throw some things in that encourage a slower more methodical play.

Amusingly enough, they came out a bit more as tricksters than expected. Mischief is more than likely.

Also, I fear the inevitable Final Countdown/Midnight Crew team ups.

Although, I really should get a few more Body and Agility based factions or abilities in. Precision and Will have been winning out like crazy as the most commonly buffed stats in beta testing.


...huh?

Hitinjas get a lot of abilities for good eye sight and a keen eye to details along with their ridiculous precision scores.

So, prerequisites for becoming a Hitinja are a good eye and an attention to details. If you can FIND a Feykinja school (something that mostly doesn't exist), you're either good enough to lie your way past the entrance qualifications or have an eye good enough to spot something you really shouldn't be able to (which should auto-pass any entrance qualifications). Think of it as a ninja Snipe hunt.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-07, 04:33 AM
Ah, well, my anime knowledge doesn't go further than Naruto, FMA, Sailor Moon and a liddle bit of Bleach.

Aaah. I thought that might be it, but it was a little confusing.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-07, 09:37 AM
Ah, well, my anime knowledge doesn't go further than Naruto, FMA, Sailor Moon and a liddle bit of Bleach.

Aaah. I thought that might be it, but it was a little confusing.

Let's put it this way. Johan Liebert is the posterchild for one of the most horrifying tropes (that's actually him on the side). (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompleteMonster) A quick trip to the anime and manga section of that page doesn't even BEGIN to document the horrible things he does. Amusingly enough, he basically gets foiled by the ultimate good guy that's still completely believable, the doctor that saved his life and actually believes in the Hippocratic Oath. He spends a good portion of the series wondering whether its truly right to take a human life, no matter how evil a person is.

Really. It could get its own page on the trope alone as the monster anime is essentially 74 episodes of how evil and how good human beings can be.

But yeah. I draw some inspiration for moves from a lot of different places. Some of them obvious, (http://drmcninja.com/) some of them not so obvious, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxfim0mzXPQ) and some of them downright obscure. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJxqZXIxc6E)

Some of the moves really do become more hilarious when you know where they're from (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1af_0pPxNe8) though.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-07, 12:11 PM
You gave a TVTropes link... why would you do that..?
(Shivers, only just escaped)

Dairun Cates
2010-05-08, 03:22 PM
WHOO! Project got an A from the Dean of my university. Now I'm just making it for fun and profit. Going to finish giving new abilities to some of the factions (especially Alchemists and Wandering Minstrels), and then I'll post up the Carpentarrs by next week for proper beta-testing and rocket-punching goodness.


You gave a TVTropes link... why would you do that..?
(Shivers, only just escaped)

...Because I'm capable of breaking away from it when I need to, and want to torture everyone else. I've studied half of the legitimate tropes in literature anyway. So, a lot of them I already know reducing my click time. It's just a matter of whether I want Code Geass spoilers or not. Cracked articles are the ones that kill me.

But really I did it just to give an example. Like I've said, save for maybe the craftsmen, I can show at least one character in popular culture that is a good example of a faction (and Craftsmen are even easy if you count the old man in the cave from Legend of Zelda or Hephaestus, God of the Forge). Itachi is more of the "oooh swirly eyes ninja" kind of Feykinja. Johan is the "shoot yourself. Life is meaningless and you know it" kind of Feykinja. Of course, every Trickster character ever is best described as a Feykinja currently. So, there's that.

Note for any players reading: Alchemist additions are happening as I'm typing this. Should be a number of new abilities to check out.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-13, 04:09 AM
Tengu
Tier: Encounter
Description: Half-bird/Half-men that are potent swordsmen and clever tricksters. They have kite like wings that can give them flight. They carry powerful swords and magic fans that can grow noses and create gale force winds (although, the nose thing gets rarely used in combat).

Life: 100
Reaction: 7

Body 3
Agility 7
Precision 6
Will 6

Notes: Tengu are sentient creatures capable of language and thought. They are also arrogant and highly susceptible to insults and trickery. Anyone insulting or attempting to trick a Tengu gains a +2 on the check.

Abilities:
Level 1:
Tengu Trickster (Passive): Despite being highly susceptible to tricks themselves, Tengu naturally love playing tricks. They gain a +2 to any check to play a trick on an unsuspecting human.

Well-Balanced (Passive): Tengu are agile and have an impeccable sense of balance. They gain a +2 to all balance checks.

Level 2:
Tengu Morph (Cost 10): Tengu also have human forms and are capable of faking the mannerisms of men. When a Tengu uses this ability, it looks exactly like a human until it reveals itself otherwise.

Level 3:
Tengu Speed (Passive): Tengu are agile and quick. Much like Cross Arm Draw, Tengu go first in the first round of combat.

Gale Force Winds(Cost 5): Tengu have magic fans that can blow their foes away. The Tengu picks 1 target within 10 squares. If the target fails to make a 12 agility or body check, the target is blown back 8 squares. If the target hits a large object or ally while being blown back, the target takes 10 damage.

Tengu Cut (Cost 4): A basic sword slice from the Tengu. This attack does 15 damage.

Level 4:
Tengu Slice (Cost 10): Similar to the Tengu's level 5 stroke, this attack can only be used against opponents that go after the Tengu. The Tengu catches the target off-balance and does 25 damage as long as the target goes after the Tengu's reaction.

Tengu Whirlwind (Cost 10): The Tengu calls upon his magic fan to deal a powerful gale force blow. This attack does 20 damage and has a range of 10 squares.

Level 5:
Tengu Stroke (Cost 25): Tengu have trained to become master swordsmen and have honed their art. Their first attack is usually their most deadly. The Tengu unsheaths its sword at lightning speed and cuts their foe for 50 damage. This can only be done on the first turn and if the Tengu goes before his target.

Hurricane Slice (Cost 30): The Tengu combines the powers of his sword and fan to create a massive violent hurricane on his foes. This attack hits a 5 square radius area for 30 damage with a 10 range. People hits by this attack are also blown back 2 squares away from the center of the blast.

Blinding Fly-by (Cost 20): The Tengu moves past his foe with lightning speed and cuts them down. This attack hits with a +2 to hit, can be used during a move action instead of before or after, and does 30 damage.

Flight (Cost 3/turn): Tengu can use their kite like wings to fly through the air.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-13, 04:12 AM
Great Tengu
Tier: Boss
Description: A slightly larger and much more powerful Tengu that has traded trickery and lies for brutal combat precision. They seek talented warriors to teach the arts of war to. They will typically fight 1 on 1 if challenged and will fight with honor and fairness.

Life: 220
Reaction: 8

Body 4
Agility 8
Precision 7
Will 7

Notes: Great Tengu, unlike their lesser brethren are not tricksters and do not suffer their penalties to being tricked or insulted. Furthermore, if a Great Tengu is beaten in 1 on 1 combat, it may choose to give its sword to the victor. This sword contains the Tengu Stroke ability from regular Tengu and can only be used if the ability is taught by a Great Tengu or Tengu. It counts as a level 5 ability on the item.

Abilities:
Level 1:
Well-Balanced (Passive): Great Tengu are agile and have an impeccable sense of balance. They gain a +2 to all balance checks.

Level 2:
Tengu Morph (Cost 10): Great Tengu also have human forms and are capable of faking the mannerisms of men. When a Great Tengu uses this ability, it looks exactly like a human until it reveals itself otherwise. The Great Tengu's form is significantly less human than regular tengu and typically comes with a very long nose.

A Simple Stroke (Cost 3): Great Tengu have mastered the small techniques as well as the powerful. The Great Tengu cuts its opponent for 10 damage.

Level 3:
Tengu Speed (Passive): Great Tengu are agile and quick. Much like Cross Arm Draw, Tengu go first in the first round of combat.

Gale Force Winds(Cost 10): Great Tengu have magic fans that can blow their foes away. The Great Tengu picks 1 target within 10 squares. If the target fails to make a 15 agility or body check, the target is blown back 10 squares. If the target hits a large object or ally while being blown back, the target takes 15 damage.

Tengu Cut (Cost 8): A basic sword slice from the Great Tengu. This attack does 20 damage.

Level 4:
Great Tengu Blade (Cost 15): Similar to the Great Tengu's level 5 stroke, this attack can only be used against opponents that go after the Tengu. The Tengu catches the target off-balance and does 30 damage as long as the target goes after the Tengu's reaction.

Tengu Whirlwind (Cost 15): The Great Tengu calls upon his magic fan to deal a powerful gale force blow. This attack does 25 damage and has a range of 20 squares.

Level 5:
Great Tengu Stroke (Cost 50): Great Tengu have mastered their spectacular art of the sword to a masterful level. This attack can only be used on the first turn, and if the Great Tengu goes before the opponent it attacks. This attack does 70 damage if it hits. If the target takes any damage from this attack, then the target must also make a 12 body check or immediately fall unconscious.

Thyphoon Slice (Cost 40): The Great Tengu combines the powers of his sword and fan to create the ultimate wind attack. This attack hits in a 10 square radius around the Great Tengu for 40 damage. People hits by this attack are also blown back 5 squares away from the Great Tengu.

Lightning Teleport (Cost 25): The Tengu moves past his foe with lightning speed and cuts them down. This attack hits with a +2 to hit, can be used during a move action instead of before or after, and does 35 damage.

Flight (Cost 3/turn): Great Tengu can use their kite like wings to fly through the air.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-13, 06:44 AM
Oooh, aven. I like them very much. 8D

Dairun Cates
2010-05-18, 06:25 PM
I've got a couple of new monsters in the works, but I don't want to spoil them for my players. However, when researching one of them, I got some really dumb and contrary research from the internet and decided that what the internet thinks a Yatagarasu is needs to be made some kind of horrible joke monster.

The idea was so amusing, and I've been tempted make a few similar joke monsters that I've decided they're essentially getting their own tier of encounters.

This is the result.

Internet Yatagarasu
Tier: Joke (Encounter)
Description: A three-legged raven that runs around in fields kicking at rocks and irritating random travelers with its loud mocking voice. Some have even been known to wear a pair of three-legged shorts and a shirt. They've never been seen in groups, but this may because no one wants to go near ONE of them to begin with, much less two. It's possible that the Yatagarasu is too annoying even for itself.

Life: 80
Reaction: 5

Body 3
Agility 5
Precision 5
Will 5

Notes: Internet Yatagarasu are not to be mistaken for the frightening and savage Yatagarasu. While the Yatagarasu is a fearful monster, the Internet Yatagarasu is a mere annoyance.

Abilities:
Level 1:
Hidden Third Leg (Cost 1): Internet Yatagarasu have often been mistaken for regular old crows or ravens, and some people even say they don't have a third leg to begin with. This is because the Internet Yatagarasu has the supernatural ability to hide its third leg in its feathery coat at will to trick others into thinking it's a normal bird. The Internet Yatagarasu appears as a normal bird when using this ability.


Level 2:

Incomprehensible Noise (Passive): Yatagarasu release a song that grates on even the most patient adventurer's nerves. Yatagarasus' Will scores are treated as 2 higher for the purpose of using any of their Will based attacks. However, they are at a -1 to Will for all other purposes (save Life).

Juked! (Cost 1): Internet Yatagarasu dance with an unusual movement. When an attack misses an Internet Yatagarasu, it can spend 1 life to move 1 square of its choosing.

Dive Bomb! (Cost 1): The Internet Yatagarasu suicidally dive bombs its target for 15 damage, but takes half of the damage dealt (round down) as a result.

Never-ending Annoyance (Passive): Internet Yatagarasu are exhausting to fight. Whenever an attack misses the Internet Yatagarasu, the opponent that used the attack takes an additional point of drain from the attack.


Level 3:

YA YA YA YA YA YA! (Cost 10): Internet Yatagarasu can belt out a song that has been known to literally make ears bleed. Everyone that can hear the Internet Yatagarasu must make an opposed Will check or take 10 damage that no damage reduction can ignore.

Side Kick! (Cost 5): Internet Yatagarasu are masters of some mysterious game called football. No one knows how this game is played or where the Internet Yatagarasu picked it up, but it seems to involve the bird launching rocks at its opponents head with its feet. The Yatagarasu gives a powerful kick to a rock on the ground and hits a target within 8 squares for 15 damage.


Level 4:

SHUT UP! (Passive): The Internet Yatagarasu is infuriating with its never-ending and yammering song. Whenever ANYONE selects an attack and an Internet Yatagarasu is within hearing range, all targets must attack the Internet Yatagarasu if possible. Only targets truly out of range may attack other targets. This includes any targets that may be "on the Internet Yatagarasu's side. Other Internet Yatagarasu are immune to this.

Rapid Fire Pecking (Cost 8): The Yatagarasu can reel back and lay into its opponent with a deadly barrage of attacks with its beak. When this attack hits, the Yatagarasu does 6 attacks for 5 damage each.

Richochet Shot! (Cost 12): The Yatagarasu hits a rock off the head of an opponent and uses its excellent ball control to launch the rock immediately at another target. Each target must be with 8 squares of the Internet Yatagarasu but both take 20 damage if hit. The second attack does not go off if the first misses.


Level 5:

Annoying Little &%*^#*! (Cost 10): The Yatagarasu is capable of attacking people in a way to stun and confuse them. Whenever a Yatagarasu hits with this attack, the Internet Yatagarasu deals 5 damage and the opponent loses their next attack action. If hit by multiple Internet Yatagarasu, the opponent only loses one attack action, these cannot stack.

Interrupting Crow! (Cost 10): The Yatagarasu can break the concentration of its foes by swooping in and screaming in a target's ears. The Yatagarasu can use this ability once a turn to negate any verbal based attack or actions with its loud shriek. This takes no actions.

Illusory Flying Masked Raven Tricycle Shot! (Cost 30): The Yatagarasu spends one full turn showing off its amazing ball controlling skills to the opponent by bouncing a rock between its three feet. At the very end of the turn, the Yatagarasu launches the rock into the air and give an acrobatic kick at one target within 12 squares. The rock hits the opponent at a +2 to hit and does 40 damage of any element type.

Black Swan Song (Variable): The Internet Yatagarasu lets out one large deep bellow before falling unconscious. This attack automatically knocks the Internet Yatagarasu out, but everyone that hears it must make a Body Check of 12 or be deafened for an hour.

Flight (Cost 3/turn): Internet Yatagarasu are birds and can fly.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-19, 05:58 AM
What's better than a new monster? A new faction! The Carpentarrs are finally here and ready to make prosthetic limbs cool again. Where else in Pirates vs. Ninjas can you Rocket Punch?

By the time this is posted, this faction is not likely finished, but I wanted to get a few things written down here. There definitely feels like there could be more abilities here. So, I'll work on those after I get some other things done.

I'm honestly really curious what people think of this group. Something feels off, but I really like the concept.

Carpentarrs:
Summary: Carpentarrs are natural survivors. Poor Pirates that have lost one or more limbs and replaced them with shockingly effective prosthetic limbs with some amazing hidden attacks.

High Level Carpentarrs can use their limbs themselves as potent weapons, craft usable prosthetic limbs for other allies, do a bit of healing, and unleash a shocking array of attacks.

History: What do you get when you mix Gunnar Technology and Craftsman quality? You get the first Carpentarr arm that wasn't a basic hook.

Carpentarrs have historically been Pirates that learned to fight with their natural disadvantages (ie. missing limbs, eyes, and other body parts). Up until the creation of G&W (the Gunnar Guild), Carpentarrs relied on well made hook hands and peg legs. These are great for intimidation and style, but not as good for fighting and basic motor skills. So, the Carpentarrs worked alongside G&W when they were just starting out to make working prosthetic limbs that would combine the Gunnars' metal working skills and their newly found knowledge of steam hydraulics. The effects were shockingly potent. The Carpentarrs then got the help of the Craftsmen to hone their skills.

Ultimately, G&W got bored and left the production of limbs to the Carpentarrs while they worked on new technologies. Eventually, the Gunnars all but forgot the major secrets of creating Carpentarr limbs. The Carpentarrs, however, needing them to survive, perfected the art even further. The Carpentarr arms and legs are something the Gunnars at G&W wish they could get their hands on. Despite this, the Gunnars and Carpentarrs are still on friendly terms and collborate on a number of invention ideas. The Carpentarrs ultimately bring a refreshing and interesting point of view to the table and a certain blue collar skill that some Gunnars lack.

Carpentarrs are called such, not because of an excellent ability to build houses (that is still craftsmen territory), but as a pun on their original peg legs and hook hands that were made of wood. Other Carpentarrs even replaced eyes and other body parts with wood.

The Carpentarr faction is a lot like the Lucky faction in that a lot of people have Carpentarr limbs, but actually identify with a second faction. Carpentarrs can easily be Charrismatic Lords or Drunkarrds (although, Gunnars and Arrcrobats are less common).

Still, there are organized Carpentarrs. They make most of their money making prosthetic limbs for adventuring Carpentarrs that don't have the time to make their own or new amputees without the know-how and skill. It's far more common than you'd think in a world with live T-rexes. Furthermore, they can fill in emergency rolls as ship medics, mechanics, and strong arms in a pinch.

A number of Carpentarrs choose to hide their fake limbs so as not to be seen as weak or to surprise their foes with some of their attacks. Because of this, some people could be working with a Carpentarr for years and not realize it.

Attribute Scores: While the Carpentarr's prostetic limbs do not give a penalty on precision or agility, some of their attacks remove these and give them a penalty for the missing limb. As such, a number of Carpentarrs choose to keep these high to help with the inevitable minuses. However, others choose to accept their weakness and focus on a high body and will instead.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Got Your Nose!
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Carpentarrs have, through necessity, learned to craft their own prosthetic limbs. They can make a peg leg or hook hand that can negate the penalties of a missing limb (minus small motor skills) in minutes. However, the complex mechanical limbs that the Carpentarrs are known for are much more difficult. Each of these takes a week to make. Carpentarrs without Craftsmen friends would be wise to keep extra arms around as these limbs are not indestructible quality without the Craftsmen ability of the same name used on the materials.

Steel Heart
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Carpentarrs often have portions of their torso covered in a light sheet of metal to help support their limbs. This gives them a slightly tougher body. When calculating Damage Reduction for Carpentarrs with this ability, round up half of body instead of down.

Hidden Compartment
Pirate 1
Cost: Passive
Carpentarrs can keep small hollowed out spaces in their prosthetic limbs for hiding various items. This compartment is small, but is hard to find without someone knowing it is there. Make a 15 precision check to spot it while checking a person if you don't know they have a prosthetic limb (12 if you know it's prosthetic. 9 if you know there's a compartment). This compartment can hold handheld size items.

Hand Gun
Pirate 1
Cost: 2
Carpentarrs have developed small short range guns in their prosthetic hands. The Carpentarr can aim this by pointing his finger and clicking his thumb. This attack does 10 damage at a range of 4 and because of the shocking nature of it, the opponent rolls agility at a -2 to dodge. However, this gun only holds one round and requires a full round to reload. Both hands can hold this if they are prosthetic. This attack requires a hand shaped attachment on the arm at the time.

I Challenge You to A Duel!
Pirate 1
Cost: 2
Carpentarrs often have hard metal hands and can use them to hit their opponents for significant damage. The Carpentarr that uses this ability removes his hand and slaps his opponent hard with this attack. This attack does 10 damage, but hits at a -2 to hit as the opponent often sees it coming.


Level 2:

Capping Hook
Pirate 2
Cost: 2
The Carpentarr can, once a turn, replace one of his limb attachments. This ability gives the Carpentarr a grappling hook attachment. This attachment can fire off a hook and grab an object up to 10 squares away. The Carpentarr can then immediately pull himself towards the target it grappled onto. This can also be handy for swinging across pits. This attachment cannot grasp weapons or be used for attacks.

Swift "Hands"
Pirate 2
Cost: Passive
Carpentarrs often have to replace body part attachments while fighting. Switching hands or legs can be time consuming and can normally only be done once a round (before or after the full round of actions). A Carpentarr with this ability has fast hands and may switch out their hand attachments as many times a round as they wish. Leg attachments still can only be switched once a round.

Piston Strike
Pirate 2
Cost: 5
Carpentarrs can charge their fake limbs. The Carpentarr that uses this attack spends one attack action charging up his attack in one of his limbs. Any turn after that, the Carpentarr can unleash this melee attack. This steam piston powered melee strike does 20 damage.

Concealed Sword
Pirate 2
Cost: 3
The Carpentarr can, once a turn, replace one of his limb attachments. This attachment conceals a short saber in one of the Carpentarr's limbs. The Carpentarr can jut this sword out of his wrist, hand, foot, or leg at will for a quick attack. This attack does 10 damage, but gives the opponent a -1 to dodge it.


Level 3:

Steam-powered Mayhem
Pirate 3
Cost: Passive
Carpentarrs' mechanical arms are powered by steam hydraulics and springs. Some Carpentarrs have set their limbs so they can store the power of their melee attacks for later attacks. Whenever a Carpentarr makes a melee attack, they can choose to hold back and do 5 less damage. The Carpentarr can keep storing damage like this. When the Carpentarr chooses, they can choose to unleash the damage they have stored up in any melee attack. This must be declared before to hit is rolled and is wasted if the attack misses. Furthermore, attacks with a base damage less than or equal to 5 cannot be stored, and the damage stored in this ability goes away at the end of the battle.

Extendo Arms
Pirate 3
Cost: 3
Carpentarrs often attach their hands and feet onto chains in their fake arms that allow them to reach further and then come back. When a Carpentarr makes a melee attack, he or she can use this ability to make the attack at a range. However, the Carpentarr suffers a -1 to hit for every square of reach after the first. The Carpentarrs range is limited to as many squares as it takes to effectively put him or her at +1 to hit.

Mega Cannon Arm
Pirate 3
Cost: 6
Once a turn, Carpentarrs can replace their limb attachments. This attachment is a miniature cannon that the Carpentarr has learned to load and fire. These cannons are smaller and do less damage and have less range, but can be moved around with the Carpentarr. The Cannon does 20 damage and has a 15 range. However, once fired, this takes a full turn to reload. Carpentarrs cannot use this limb for basic grasping or melee attacks while this attachment is on.

Makeshift Medic
Pirate 3
Cost: 5
Carpentarrs have learned emergency first aid and how to cauterize wounds. This ability allows the Carpentarr to spend an attack action healing an ally for 15 Life. However, these procedures are fairly temporary and the pain of the procedure will kick in after the fight. Every time this attack was used on an ally during battle, the ally will lose 10 life immediately after the battle. This isn't too bad with some rest, but can cause problems if one battle or situation happens before the party can rest. Furthermore, this may knock a party member out immediately after the battle.

Spring Legs
Pirate 3
Cost: 2/turn
The Carpentarr can, once a turn, replace one of his limb attachments. This leg attachment allows the Carpentarr to quadruple his vertical jump, but comes at the cost of being unable to stand still while this attachment is active. If the Carpentarr does not move at least 4 squares in a turn, he falls down.

Everyone Loves Mr. Explodo-Hand!
Pirate 3
Cost: 10
The Carpentarr can, once a turn, replace one of his limb attachments. While usually a hand, this attachment can also be a foot. The Carpentarrs have learned to put an explosive payload in one of their prosthetic hand attachments. When the Carpentarr hits with this melee attack against a target, everything within 5 squares of the of the hit opponent must make an agility check against the Carpentarr's to hit roll. The person that takes the initial hit takes 30 damage while everyone else in the blast takes 20 damage. If the Carpentarr is inside this blast (and he usually will be), he takes 10 damage as recoil from the explosion. Once exploded, that appendage cannot be used for the Explodo-Hand for the remainder of battle.


Level 4:

Rocket Digit!
Pirate 4
Cost: 15
The Shoninja aren't the only ones with Raging Digits. Carpentarrs with this skill have loaded an explosive load into one or more of their limbs. The Carpentarr can then spend an attack action firing off this limb at blazing speeds. This attack hits a single target up to 10 squares away for 40 damage. However, the Carpentarr takes the penalties listed in the Dr. Inja skill Disabling Nerve Strike for the missing limb until it is reattached. Unlike attachments, this launches the full limb and must be replaced before new attchments can be used on that limb. This takes a full turn to reattach and that limb cannot be used for Rocket Digit again until the payload is reloaded (usually between battles).

Steam Release
Pirate 4
Cost: 15
The Carpentarr builds up a lot of steam and heat while fighting. This needs to be vented off from time to time. The wise Carpentarr chooses to vent it in his opponents face. When a Carpentarr chooses to unleash this attack in his opponent's face, the Carpentarr does 5 damage for every round he has attacked with a Carpentarr attack or an unarmed attack with that prosthetic limb. Furthermore, this melee attack forces the opponent to make a body check of 15 to avoid the damage instead of an agility check. This damage resets after each battle and use of this ability.

Not So Hollow Leg
Pirate 4
Cost: 12
The Carpentarr can, once a turn, replace one of his leg attachments. When a Carpentarr is using this attachment, his or her movement speed is halved and they sink when they attempt to swim. However, these leg attachments do a massive 30 damage per kick.

Burning Hook Shot
Pirate 4
Cost: 12
The Carpentarr can, once a turn, replace one of his limb attachments. When a Carpentar is using this attachment, they have a red hot hook attached to their hand. They can fire this hook in a straight line for up to 8 squares. If this attack hits a target, the target takes 20 damage from the scalding heat of the hook and must make an opposed body check with the Carpentarr or be immediately drawn next to the Carpentarr.

This is my SHOTGUN!
Pirate 4
Cost: 10
The Carpentarr can, once a turn, replace one of his limb attachments. With this attachment, the Carpentarr grabs an opponents face at a -2 to hit and does 30 damage by discharging a shotgun slug right into it. However, this attachment, like Hand Gun, requires reloading and requires a full round to reload.


Level 5:

The Last Bomb
Pirate 5
Cost: 20
Despite their best efforts, the Carpentarrs have not been able to replace a lost eye. The best they can manage is a very realistic facsimile. However, some Carpentarrs have taken advantage of this and have used the "extra space" to hide a secret weapon. In the Carpentarr's eye socket lies a small, but powerful concealed bomb that the Carpentarr can light and throw up to 10 squares away. This bomb explodes at a +2 to hit for 40 damage to everyone in a 5 square radius. However, Carpentarrs with this ability are obviously missing an eye and depth perception and therefore have a permenant -1 precision to hit and spot checks. Furthermore, this attack can only be used once a battle unless the Carpentarr is blind and has replaced both eyes with this ability (and do you REALLY want the blind guy sling super powerful explosives?).

Loaded Assault
Pirate 5
Cost: 20
This is often the last desperation attack of a good Carpentarr. The Carpentarr takes all of their hidden weapons in their fake arms and limbs and fires them all at once. Take any number of Carpentarr attack skills the Carpentarr knows. The Carpentarr can unload everything they have with each of these attacks against a target. This attack does 20 damage at a 10 square range plus 5 damage for each attack he or she chooses to unload (this attack does not count). However, this blows all reserves in these attacks (even the ones that don't need reloading). The Carpentarr will need to spend a move action reloading every attack he or she wishes to use after releasing this attack before it can be used again. Keep in mind, that in cases like Rocket Punch and Cost Me an Arm and A Leg, "unloading the attack" counts as losing the limb or destroying it. So, higher end skills should be added to this attack at the user's precaution. Each individual attack only counts once, but unloads all limbs (so both hand guns count for 5 damage to the attack, but this attack unloads both).

Bane of Ninjas and Wanderers
Pirate 5
Cost: Passive
Carpentarrs sometimes get their hands on special materials that burn the skins of Wanderers or Ninjas. Pick one faction (either Wanderers or Ninjas). You make one of your prosthetic limbs out of this material. All attacks dealt to that faction with this limb permanently do 5 extra damage to that faction. This ability can be take multiple times to apply to multiple limbs or factions. Typically only unarmed attacks and Carpentarr attacks will apply for this bonus.

Cost Me an Arm and a Leg
Pirate 5
Cost: 20
Sometimes, a Carpentarr just has to sacrifice it all for the chance to take his opponent down. The Carpentarr pushes one of his fake limbs to their limits and delivers a shattering blow that does 50 damage to his opponent if it hits. However, upon impact, the limb shatters and takes a full day to fix. The attachment that was on when the limb was used is unusable along with its ability until it is fixed.

Carpentarr, My Love!
Pirate 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 15 Life
The Carpentarrs have a secret invention that even the Gunnars and Craftsmen don't know about; the steel heart. This fiery powerful engine in the Carpentarr's chest keeps him alive. Its power can also be briefly unleashed for great power. This attack does 50 damage to everyone within 6 squares of the Carpentarr. However, once activated, the Carpentarr takes a -1 to all attributes until the end of the scene (including the Life loss that comes with it). Unlike other debuffs, this one can not be cured, purged, or otherwise removed. It is a penalty for ripping open your own life force. Furthermore, further uses give an ADDITIONAL -1 to all attributes each time it is used in battle. If an attribute would hit 0 from this, the user is knocked unconscious after use.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-19, 06:15 AM
That's pretty awesome!

Typo, I assume:
Not So Hollow Leg
Pirate 4
Cost: 12
The Carpentarr can, once a turn, replace one of his hand attachments. When a Carpentarr is using this attachment, his or her movement speed is halved and they sink when they attempt to swim. However, these leg attachments do a massive 30 damage per kick.
Hand or leg?

Mangles
2010-05-19, 06:44 AM
This is a huge project and I'm happy to say you have done an awesome job on it. If this ever gets produced I will gladly pay for it.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-19, 01:45 PM
That's pretty awesome!

Typo, I assume:
Hand or leg?

Leg in that case. Most them can actually be used on either (although the hand is a better choice most of the time). Some of those abilities need some formatting and spelling changes.


This is a huge project and I'm happy to say you have done an awesome job on it. If this ever gets produced I will gladly pay for it.

Thanks. Glad you like it.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-19, 02:29 PM
I just asked cause it said leg once and hand the other time, despite having leg in the title.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-19, 02:58 PM
I just asked cause it said leg once and hand the other time, despite having leg in the title.

Oh. I know. That was a typo. Fixed it. Didn't mean to insinuate you were wrong.

Thanks for the catch again.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-19, 03:46 PM
Don't worry, I wasn't clear.
Happy to help! I don't know balance, but I can do grammar. XD

Dairun Cates
2010-05-19, 05:10 PM
Don't worry, I wasn't clear.
Happy to help! I don't know balance, but I can do grammar. XD

Believe me. I understand. Balance has not been easy.

The Carpentarrs actually took a while because of their stupidly powerful abilities at low Life cost. There's doubtlessly some abilities that will need nerfing. Carpentarr, My Love (level 5, added 10 minutes ago) scares me a lot for its potential to MURDER an encounter. Of course, it cripples the Carpentarr like crazy until he can rest, but there are probably some clever ways around it (I can think of one Wanderer based solution as long as you can spend an awesome point a turn).

Lix Lorn
2010-05-19, 05:17 PM
Whoah. I dunno if it's balanced, but it's certainly very cool. XD

Dairun Cates
2010-05-19, 06:04 PM
Huh... So, I knew some factions were heavily lacking in abilities and that I needed to revisit some factions for overhauling, but I was shocked to find that some of the factions my beta-players love the most and find the most interesting actually have a small number of abilities. Matter of fact, I was pretty shocked at what was actually the lowest. Here's a current list in order.

Number of Faction abilities:
Charrismatic Lords: 25
Carpentarrs: 25
Drunkarrds: 25 (21 w/ redundancy of meads and "body over 10" abilities)
Feykinja: 24
Alchemists: 24
Dr. Inja: 22
Luckies: 22
Hitinja: 21
Arrcrobats: 21
Drunken Masters: 21
Gamblers: 20
Gunnars: 20
Evadinja: 20
Craftsmen: 18
Shoninja: 18
Charreographers: 18
Wanderering Minstrels: 18
Rokinja: 16

Total: 378

That's right. Rokinja, one of the more flavorful factions are actually a whole 5 abilities behind the current average (21). Not only that, but over a quarter of the factions don't effectively have 4 abilities for each ability level.

I knew I needed to focus on the earlier factions more, but this shows me exactly where to focus my attention now. Looks like the musical factions are getting buffed first (which is convenient, because Wandering Minstrels already have plans for them).

Although, amusingly enough, there are now exactly (counting items and generic factionless) 404 abilities that can be used by player characters at the moment. Happy File Not Found day, I guess.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-21, 12:48 PM
Yeah. So, I got slightly bored last night and whipped up a nice little graphical illustration for you guys. Basically, while it's REALLY hard to find characters that only belong to one faction (because major characters in stories have DEPTH and multiple facets) here's a nice handy reference of characters of varying popularities that exemplify the style of each faction.

So, now, if you're explaining a faction to someone else, you can have a nice example of a character that practically IS that faction.

Some of these comparisons work better than others. In some cases, I tried to avoid incredibly obvious examples just to provide an alternate interpretation, and in others, I had trouble finding characters that perfectly fit certain factions because of a common lack of some trait. So, some of these may be weird, but they fit. I also tried to varying the sources in tastes from a little more obscure but better fits to less obscure but less appropriate. Although, almost all of these examples are from video games or animation of some kind. This is because characters in these tend to stress the ridiculous and over the top more.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/Dairun/FactionComparison1.jpg

From Left to Right.
Ninjas:
Evadinja: Spike Speigel from Cowboy Bebop
Hitinja: Goemon from Lupin III
Shoninja: Domon Kasshu from G Gundam
Rokinja: Eddie Riggs from Brutal Legend
Dr. Inja: Dr. McNinja from Dr. McNinja
Feykinja: Aizen from Bleach

Wanderers:
Craftsmen: Craft Lawrence from Spice and Wolf
Luckies: Justy Ueki Tylor from The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Alchemists: Minnie May from Gunsmith Cats
Wandering Minstrels: The Music Mesiter from Batman Brave and the Bold
Drunken Masters: Jackie Chan playing the main character in Legend of Drunken Master
Gamblers: Akagi from Akagi

Pirates:
Arrcrobat: Claire Stanfield from Baccano
Charrismatic Lord: Captain Harlock from Captain Harlock
Gunnars: Noel Vermillion
Drunkarrds: Suika Ibuki from Touhou
Charreographer: Ulala from Space Channel 5
Carpentarr: Frankie from One Piece


Fun Notes:
-Drunkarrds, Arrcrobats, and Alchemists actually gave me the most trouble. Despite being incredibly common character types and descriptions, it's decently hard to find an example of the stereotype of each of these factions that's not a better example of another faction.

-Characters that get strong and near indestructible while drunk that are WELL-KNOWN are pretty hard to find (especially off the top of my head). Suika actually fits the bill, but unless you know about the character, you wouldn't guess she's a Drunkarrd from looking at her.

-Ditto with Acrobatic STUNT based fighters and Alchemists. Pretty much any of the main characters from Atelier Iris fits Alchemists PERFECTLY. They sling potions and wield the elements themselves as their weapons. Not to mention they LOOK the part. Unfortunately, more common version of magic potion slingers are hard to come by. So, I stuck with the bombs and chemical demolitionist angle.

-Claire Stanfield is actually a PERFECT example of an Arrcrobat, but he may be a bit obscure since Baccano is a critically acclaimed anime that's never really been advertised or shown on TV. Still, watching this guy fight once will make you get it. I also considered showing one of the Errol Flynn characters or Pirates of the Caribbean characters, but they either belonged better to another faction or I couldn't find a good picture. Basically, agile fighters are easy to find, acrobatic stunt based fighters, not so much.

-Alternate Lucky example is Milfiel Sakuraba from Galaxy Angel since I wanted a few more female examples to change things up a bit, but she's REALLY hard to find a good picture of, and Tylor's probably a better example of the mental philosophy (even if he is a bit obscure).

-Similarly, finding gunners isn't hard. Over half the characters in anything that wield guns are gonna be Gunnars. So, I went a bit more obscure and went for something that represents a very well-trained Gunnar's style a bit more. Don't believe me. Watch this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxLZqYCnwfY) or even better THIS. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mLqGjaQlko&feature=related)

-Despite not making anything, Craft Lawrence probably fits the mentality of a Craftsmen Guild character better than anyone in anything. Make money, honor contracts, and get creative when you have to.

-Almost put Axel from Disgaea 2 as a Rokinja until I remembered he uses his guitar for a grand total of 2-3 moves and almost never to do damage. Also, those awesome musical assassins from Kung Fu Hustle are also Rokinja, but finding a good picture of them would LITERALLY be impossible.

-Actually don't like Aizen much as a character, but he was the best example that wasn't a Naruto character (which felt like cheating for Ninja factions and felt wrong when they fit NON ninja factions).

-The Heavy from Team Fortress 2 is pretty much a Drunkarrd/Gunnar and is awesome. Sandvich anyone?

-Jackie Chan is the only live-action example, because 1. finding other POPULAR Drunken Masters is pretty ridiculously hard. Seriously, Drunken characters are easy, but one's that do awesome martial arts while drunk are not. 2. Seeing as a good 60% of the Drunken Master moves are based either vaguely or obviously around things he does in the movie, felt almost wrong not to put him as the example.

-No duh. Kamina is a Charristmatic Lord, but Harlock's the original, old school example. Gotta pay homage to your roots.

-I almost just considered saying the entire Touhou Games for Gunnars since Overdrive IS the Danmaku/Bullet Hell skill, but I felt that was cheating.

DracoDei
2010-05-21, 02:15 PM
Also, those awesome musical assassins from Kung Fu Hustle are also Rokinja, but finding a good picture of them would LITERALLY be impossible.

Never seen that movie. There is probably fan art of them somewhere (unless they turn themselves into pure sound in which case you should have just linked to the appropriate file on Grooveshark or You Tube, and even then there might be fan-music)... it is probably part of my optimistic disposition at this moment that I am going to guess that only 50% of it is pornographic. Whether or not it is GOOD art is another question entirely, and knowing what it IS without it being labeled might be difficult or impossible.


EDIT: Couple of thoughts on un-factioned abilities.
Lock, Stock, and Stab <- Does this ONLY work against ninja's? It mentions "ninjas" in the description, rather than "enemies".
Sail the Seas <- I think there should be a higher level add on that turns you into a walking GPS due to inherent navigational abilities... pass out drunk, get kidnapped by ninjas who blindfold you, plug your ears with wax, drip some sleeping poison in your mouth to make sure you stay down long enough, put you in a barrel, take an evasive course over the roof-tops to a waiting get-away carriage where they drive like mad on an equally confusing course...and you wake up 36 hours later still knowing where you are to within +/-50 feet. Not going to come up much, even if you make it a continuous passive skill, but I think it might have enough "cool factor".

Dairun Cates
2010-05-21, 03:40 PM
Never seen that movie. There is probably fan art of them somewhere (unless they turn themselves into pure sound in which case you should have just linked to the appropriate file on Grooveshark or You Tube, and even then there might be fan-music)... it is probably part of my optimistic disposition at this moment that I am going to guess that only 50% of it is pornographic. Whether or not it is GOOD art is another question entirely, and knowing what it IS without it being labeled might be difficult or impossible.


EDIT: Couple of thoughts on un-factioned abilities.
Lock, Stock, and Stab <- Does this ONLY work against ninja's? It mentions "ninjas" in the description, rather than "enemies".
Sail the Seas <- I think there should be a higher level add on that turns you into a walking GPS due to inherent navigational abilities... pass out drunk, get kidnapped by ninjas who blindfold you, plug your ears with wax, drip some sleeping poison in your mouth to make sure you stay down long enough, put you in a barrel, take an evasive course over the roof-tops to a waiting get-away carriage where they drive like mad on an equally confusing course...and you wake up 36 hours later still knowing where you are to within +/-50 feet. Got going to come up much, even if you make it a continuous passive skill, but I think it might have enough "cool factor".

Okay. In order.

1. The problem with the assassins from Kung Fu Hustle is this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=102jJCjTbdY) It's a bit dark here, but you only see their faces for maybe like a minute in the whole thing even when it has good brightness settings, and you never get their names, but they kill people with music. It's pretty awesome. So yeah. Kinda impossible to get ANY good picture of them. It's still a memorable scene.

2. Nah. Lock, Stock, and Stab and the like says ninja because it was my way of not over-using the word target at first. It's just ASSUMED that pirate moves are most likely to get used on Ninjas and vice-versa. Unless something specifies only Pirate, Ninja, or Wanderer (which is like 3 ability, and two of them just give more damage to one faction and the last gives DR to pirate and ninja attacks), it can be used on anyone.

3. Sounds interesting. I'll have to look into adding that in as a high level passive. Maybe add it as a Charrismatic Lord skill (although, they seem to have plenty enough).

Hope that answers your questions and thanks for the input.

Dairun Cates
2010-05-26, 02:32 AM
If anyone's going to be in Dallas for A-kon, we're currently writing up some basic sample characters and trying to write up a module for running a couple of demo games at the gaming rooms. At the very least, I have some friends from out of state that one of my players will be doing a one-shot for.

Anyway, if anyone's going to be there, let me know and we can possibly set up a time to try the system out.

paddyfool
2010-05-26, 04:40 AM
I'd have been tempted to propose "Captain Haddock" for the Drunkarrds... although he'd have me keelhauled for calling him a pirate ("blistering blue barnacles!"). And to maybe suggest Douglas Fairbanks' classic role (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016654/) for the Arrcrobat.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-26, 05:23 AM
Someone stat up Captain Haddock. Please. <3

Dairun Cates
2010-05-26, 05:19 PM
I'd have been tempted to propose "Captain Haddock" for the Drunkarrds... although he'd have me keelhauled for calling him a pirate ("blistering blue barnacles!"). And to maybe suggest Douglas Fairbanks' classic role (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016654/) for the Arrcrobat.

He almost seems more like a Charrismatic Lord/Drunkarrds Mix than a pure Drunkarrd. Also, are we sure he gets his awesome from his alcoholism?

Also, amusingly enough, Errol Flynn was the original inspiration. Although, old pirate movies and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies provided some inspiration as well.


Someone stat up Captain Haddock. Please. <3

Oh. You mean something like this?

Captain Haddock
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/Dairun/1067617-captain_haddock_large.jpg
Side: Pirate
Faction: Drunkarrd
Age: 50
Points: 120

Life: 140
Reaction: 3

Body 6
Agility 3
Precision 3
Will 6

Abilities:
Level 1:
The Mead of Staggering (Pirate, Cost 5): Gain +2 Body at the cost of 2 Agility until end of combat
The Mead of Blurred Vision (Pirate, Cost 5): Gain +2 Body at the cost of 2 precision.
Stone-Cold Sober (Pirate, Passive): Gain a +2 to resistance against poisons and other foreign agents.
Fist of My Head, Foot of my Crotch! (Wanderer, Passive): Use unarmed attacks with any part of the body.
Double Tap (Pirate, Cost 2): Fire twice for 5 damage each. Range 20 squares.
The Bull's Red Cape (Pirate, Cost 2): Opposed Will check at a -2. If successful, target must attack user until hit by someone else.
Sail the Seas (Pirate, Passive): +2 to Sailing Checks.

Level 2:
Speed Chugger (Pirate, Passive): Drink 2 Drinking actions a turn.
Stumbling Punch (Pirate, Cost 4): 10 damage. +1 to hit.
Improvised Master (Pirate, Passive): Can use anything as a weapon as long as it meets basic requirements.
All Hands on Deck! (Pirate, Cost 4/turn): +1 to precision on ships weapons or sail checks for all allies on ship.


Level 3:
Punch a God (Pirate, Passive): Exceed rule of 10 for body score for natural damage.
I'm Gonna Bop You Good! (Pirate, Cost 6): 10 damage + natural unarmed attack damage.
Quite the Kick! (Pirate, Passive): Gain 15 life per awesome point instead of 10.
So Be Ye Face! (Pirate, Cost 6): Opposed Will check at a -2. Deals damage equal to double the Will score.
The Wit's Rapier (Pirate, Cost 6): Say an insult. +1 to hit, 15 physical damage.


Level 4:
The True Mead (Pirate, Cost 10): +2 Body until end of combat on a drinking action (no life gain).
Drink to Your Health (Pirate, Passive): Gain 10 life for free once a battle as a drinking action.
The L Bomb (Pirate, Cost 20): Opposed Will check to everyone, 10 damage if failed. -1 to all rolls until end of turn for all targets that can hear it regardless.
Not to Be Trifled With (Pirate, Cost 20): -5 damage from all attack for all allies until end of turn.

Level 5:
Healthy as a 10 Story Ox (Pirate, Passive): +20 Max Life
One Word Insult (Pirate, Cost 20): 5 times will damage at on an opposed will roll at a -4 to will.

Flaws:
Addiction (2): Alcohol
Clumsy (2)
Dim-witted (1)
Reckless (2)
Code (1): Captain's Code
Focused Attribute (4): Will (Diplomacy)

Description: Sadly enough, the most I remember of Tin Tin is watching the Cartoon on HBO when I was like 8 (which is a time I don't remember a lot of things), but based on some quick research, this should be a reasonable 120 point version of the Captain (which would put him near the end of the series as a powerful and seasoned character). He's not particularly powerful in the damage department, and his attributes are fairly low for a 120 point character, but he's pretty beefy and can take some hits. He's also got a HUGE variety of skills that are mostly split between Charrismatic Lord and Drunkarrd. He's not very smart, but he knows his way around a ship and can be resourceful when he needs to.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-26, 05:21 PM
Will you marry me? <3
XD

Dairun Cates
2010-05-26, 05:23 PM
Will you marry me? <3
XD

I take it you approve then.

Lix Lorn
2010-05-26, 05:32 PM
Very much. XD

paddyfool
2010-05-26, 08:05 PM
Also, amusingly enough, Errol Flynn was the original inspiration. Although, old pirate movies and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies provided some inspiration as well.


Ah, but Dougie made a better pirate even than Errol. Here, have ten minutes of classic and acrobatic piracy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul-B-Jq7JBc&feature=related), courtesy of the film world's first action hero and the first king of Hollywood, Douglas Fairbanks.

Kaje
2010-05-30, 04:33 PM
My god, you can be a steampunk cyborg pirate. Or a pirate of Penzance! This is so many kinds of awesome.

Grimtina
2010-05-30, 06:22 PM
Are you going to put this all on a website for easier reference? I'd like to run a game or two with this, here or at other sites and maybe offline but in one thread it is a bit too confusing.

Kiroth6
2010-05-30, 10:18 PM
Dairun can't answer right now because he's just finishing up moving and heading to A-Kon in Dallas. However, he is planning on getting a website set up. He'll be back after the play tests at A-kon so he should be able to give a more definite answer then.

Grimtina
2010-05-31, 07:06 AM
Yay, thanks :smallsmile:

Dairun Cates
2010-05-31, 11:38 PM
Dairun can't answer right now because he's just finishing up moving and heading to A-Kon in Dallas. However, he is planning on getting a website set up. He'll be back after the play tests at A-kon so he should be able to give a more definite answer then.

Actually, Kiroth was under the impression I wouldn't have my internet up by A-kon. SURPRISE!

Yeah. We're planning a website for this at the moment. We're looking into website maintenance costs and trying to find a solution that'll fit our budget while we work on this. Fax also offered some space on his wiki to store it for the time being, and I might take him up on that if I have the time to edit things together for a wiki. Until we find a more permanent home though, this and my computer are the only places you'll find the full thing.

If you're REALLY interested, I can send a copy of my open office document. It doesn't help as much as you'd think (as I find the spoiler tags easier to navigate myself), but you can use the find function on it.

...And if you're REALLY REALLY interested, I can send you the release form and hook you and your group up as beta testers so you can give me some direct feedback on the system.

Although, I'm a bit curious. Is there anything in particular that needs organizing with the table of contents on the first page, because I've been using that for my purposes of finding things and it's served me pretty well. It's not terribly difficult to add another header or subsection while waiting for us to get the website up.

Edit: And if anyone has advice on webservice hosts, I'm all ears.

Grimtina
2010-06-01, 02:05 PM
It is probably just my bad eyes that's the problem. I always have trouble finding stuff on forums, it is less a problem on websites.

What do you need in a website? Maybe I could put it on my server until you find something better.

And yeah, I'd love to beta test this. I have a tabletop group crazy to test stuff like this (we just beta tested a German space pirates rpg) and this would make a good online game as well.

Dairun Cates
2010-06-02, 07:37 PM
My Beta GM for A-kon informed me that I forgot to put this Mother Plucker up on the site.

Yatagarasu
Tier: Boss
Description: A monstrous 3-legged Raven that is said to be sent as a messenger from the Gods. Some legends even say the Raven keeps one as a pet as a joke on his name.

Life: 240
Reaction: 7

Body 6
Agility 7
Precision 6
Will 6

Note: While there are smaller varieties, when an adventurer references the Yatagarasu with any kind of respect, they're probably talking about this one. About 2/3rds the size of a T-rex. The Yatagarasu also takes a -4 to all dodges if its grounded in some way and can no longer fly.

Abilities:
Level 1:

Tricky Frame (Passive): Despite it's size, the Yatagarasu is quite agile and slippery. The Yatagarasu gains a +2 to avoid capture or being held in place.


Level 2:

Acrobatic Flier (Passive): Yatagarasu are master fliers despite their size and can duck and weave through all but the smallest holes for it. Whenever a Yatagarasu must fly through a thick area like a forest, as long as there is SOME room for it to move, the Yatagarasu can fly through.

Super Speedy Escape (Passive): When using both move actions to move in a round, the Yatagarasu moves at 3 move actions instead of 2.

Dark Sight (Passive): While not perfect, the Yatagarasu can see in the dark without any penalties. In regular darkness, the Yatagarasu suffers no penalties. In absolute darkness, or the kind caused by an abilty, the Yatagarasu can see the location of targets and suffers only a -1 to precision.


Level 3:

Beak Grapple (Cost 10): The Yatagarasu attacks to hit. If the Yatagarasu hits, it makes an opposed Body check against the target. Once grappled, the target can attack the Yatagarasu but cannot move. They can spend their move action attempting to escape, but after the initial body check, the check is made at a -2 to the victim's body. Up to 2 targets can be grappled at once.

Wing Slap (Cost 15): The Yatagarasu's wings are powerful and allow it hits its foes for massive damage. This attack hits a 2 x 2 square area in melee range and does 15 damage to everything in that area on a successful hit.

Beak Peck (Cost 10): The Yatagarasu reels back and hits an opponent with its beak. This deal 20 damage.


Level 4:

Rending Claws (Cost 15): The Yatagarasu flies at its prey and starts tearing it apart with its three taloned legs. This attack does 30 damage.

Heart-Shattering Call (Cost 15): The Yatagarasu lets out a frightening call to all that can hear it. On an attack action, make opposed Will checks against the Yatagarasu. Anyone that fails it takes a -2 on all rolls against the Yatagarasu for the next 2 turns.


Level 5:

Raven Dive (Cost 20): The Yatagarasu moves past its target while attacking simultaneously. This attack can be done in the middle of a move action and does 35 damage.

Gale Force Wings (Cost 20): The Yatagarasu flaps its wings with massive power and generates a gale force tornado in front of it. This hits 3 square width line in front of the Yatagarasu and does 30 damage to anyone that fails an agility check. Furthermore, all people that fail are blown back 10 squares.

Gravity is Not Your Friend (Cost 20): The Yatagarasu can only use this attack if the target is grappled and if the Yatagarasu is in the air. From there, the Yatagarasu drops the target from up high and gravity and the solid ground do the rest. Unless someone can specifically stop the effect of the fall, the target drops to the ground and must make a 15 agility check or take 50 damage. If they succeed, they still take 25 unless they have some way to break their fall.

Flight (Cost 3/turn): Yatagarasu can use their powerful wings to fly. This is more representative of complex flight. Just gliding from place to place with minimal wing flapping does not require life cost.

Makiru
2010-06-03, 01:01 AM
Just so you know, I am willing to help run the booth/table/whatever if you guys need a break or something or really want to go to a panel.

Dairun Cates
2010-06-03, 02:44 AM
Well, finished up about 12 sample characters for people to play or work from if they don't have the time to roll up characters. Only 6 factions total though (2 characters for each). We'll just have to see how things go from here. I should probably print out Captain Haddock for the hell of it in case someone wants to fight him.


Just so you know, I am willing to help run the booth/table/whatever if you guys need a break or something or really want to go to a panel.

Well, since we didn't get in in time to be industry guests or get a table, the idea is essentially to either take a table next to the RPG shops or in the tabletop RPG room and see if we can't get a few people to join in. In short, we don't exactly have a "table time". So, we'll just see how things go. At the very least, we have a game with some of the guys from the LARP that's going to happen one of the nights. Should be interesting.

Thanks for the offer though.

tordirycgoyust
2010-06-04, 01:15 PM
2 questions. First what is your licence going to be like (you mentioned a friend was going to do that for you but one`d think you`d have an idea of what you want). Second, for people homebrewing in this system it would be nice to have a bit about general balance (eg. damage/life@given level, life/awesome point, etc.).

Love this system-it would be perect for a naruto game, though your setting rocks enough that I´m not sure I would play another.

tordirycgoyust
2010-06-05, 02:12 AM
Just noticed this.

PWN
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Dairun Cates
2010-06-07, 02:53 AM
Back from A-Kon. Up next, ability rebalancing and adding new abilities to old factions.


2 questions. First what is your licence going to be like (you mentioned a friend was going to do that for you but one`d think you`d have an idea of what you want). Second, for people homebrewing in this system it would be nice to have a bit about general balance (eg. damage/life@given level, life/awesome point, etc.).

Love this system-it would be perect for a naruto game, though your setting rocks enough that I´m not sure I would play another.

SEMI-LEGAL MUMBO JUMBO STARTS HERE:

Obviously, you shouldn't quote me on this, and I'd really have to discuss the finer points with her, but if memory serves, we're looking at going with a creative commons license on this, at least until it's published.

What that means, in short, is that what I posted online is free to be distributed and modified for non-commercial means as long as credit is given to the original creator and the modified content follows the same license. It's similar to the OGL but has the distinct difference of not allowing commercial variations (at least for now). Once again though, this isn't set in stone, but we are ultimately aiming for building a community on this so we actually have traffic to the site. So, we don't exactly want to stifle the creative process and ideas of our fans and supporters. There's just a lot of small factors to consider first. How we handle community feedback and such. Still, I have no doubt we'll make things work out well for you guys in the end.

Basically, don't fear the word license here. It's for making sure that I can eventually publish this. We're definitely not trying to stifle anyone or rip them off here, just making sure someone else can't pick this up and claim it as their own or I can't be sued for listening to feedback.

In short, we're not aiming to try to trick you guys. So, don't worry too much about it. Worst anyone's probably going to have to deal with is signing a release form if they want to beta-test for the full thing so I can't be sued for using their feedback.

SEMI-LEGAL MUMBO JUMBO ENDS HERE!

As for your other question about balance, it gets a bit weird, and I'll even admit there are mistakes here and there, but it would takes a lot of text that I don't have time to type at the moment. So, the INCREDIBLY short version goes something like this.

Damage: 5 damage a level (except level 5's). Damage can increase if a restrictive condition is added.

Life and awesome point cost: Typically around 1-3 for level 1's. 2-5 for level 2's. 4-8 for level threes. Around 7-15 for level 4's. Level 5's just typically cost 2/3rds of the damage potential (lower fraction for lower damage, higher fraction for higher damage). Add or subtract a couple of life points for accuracy bonuses/penalties, ranged attacks, positive/negative side-effects, and other similar modifiers. Multiply base cost by around 1.5 for LARGE AOE attacks. Abilities typically get an awesome point cost when one use of the ability can typically change the tide of a battle or end it entirely (like instant knock-out capabilities or REALLY debilitating debuffs). No matter how inaccurate.

For monsters, lower the damage by as much as 5 per level for mooks, raise it by about 5 per level for encounter monsters, and raise it around 10 a level for bosses. Scale life accordingly. Max Life for bosses has already been discussed, but for clarity. Half to a tenth of their natural life for mooks. Full to double for encounters. Double to 5 times their natural life for Bosses (5x should be reserved for things like the Kraken).

When in doubt, find the closest ability to yours (like point blank shotgun for 20 damage level 4's) and compare it. Tweak as necessary. If no similar ability exists, consider how the ability effects other FACTIONS and whether they can counter it. Things like darkness abilities with few counters need heavy cost to dissuade overuse. Level 1's are supposed to be useable as well as level 5's.

Also, for sending players against monsters. Most encounter monsters are balanced for 60-80 point characters (ie. 1 60-80 point character will take ONE down half the time). Play to your party's weaknesses and strengths otherwise. For adventurer/human characters. Stick to slightly lower than the party for light encoutners and either 10-20 points higher for boss parties to up to double point cost for single bosses (although, that depends a LOT of the party size. 1 single boss is not recommended for a party of 6).

Hope that helps a bit.

As for the setting. We're building it as we go along, but you'll love some of the new additions when I get around to writing them up (hint: The Gunnars guild G&W has airships in their higher up rankings and there are actually old villages that don't know the Pirate/Ninja war end/started up again).


Just noticed this.

PWN
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Heh. Never noticed that. We've been looking for a new title (to avoid copyright issues). That might be something to work with.

All in all, glad you like the system.

EDIT: Oh, and we only got 1 game in, but watching new players learn the system gave me a lot of insight and ideas. Possibly more on that later.

Dairun Cates
2010-06-07, 10:43 PM
Alright guys. Creative Commons license is done. Here's the incredibly short and simple version.

By making use of this Work (tentatively titled but not limited to protection under the name "Pirates v. Ninjas), You agree to use the Work only in a non-commercial capacity and to attribute ownership to the author of the work according to the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Deed as listed here. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)

The link gives the short and sweet version of the license and puts what we've been saying in writing. Homebrew away without fear.

tordirycgoyust
2010-06-07, 10:46 PM
Thanks. I have a friend who GMs a PBP Naruto game with a from scratch homebrew system that has become very cumbersome and I offered to find/build a new system and my first question was derived from legal concerns about storing this system's rules on the forums they play on. My second question answers the concern that many players in this game create new powers on a regular basis and the necessity of a tool for creating reasonable powers has become apparent.
That these concerns are more universal than this on game and a lack of time to post changed my questions a bit.

Third question! Could you create an "epic handbook"? This would be for those long, high-powered campaigns where level six abilities and 11+ attributes start being attractive (if only to GMs looking for ways to keep players challenged).

Dairun Cates
2010-06-07, 11:07 PM
Thanks. I have a friend who GMs a PBP Naruto game with a from scratch homebrew system that has become very cumbersome and I offered to find/build a new system and my first question was derived from legal concerns about storing this system's rules on the forums they play on. My second question answers the concern that many players in this game create new powers on a regular basis and the necessity of a tool for creating reasonable powers has become apparent.
That these concerns are more universal than this on game and a lack of time to post changed my questions a bit.

Third question! Could you create an "epic handbook"? This would be for those long, high-powered campaigns where level six abilities and 11+ attributes start being attractive (if only to GMs looking for ways to keep players challenged).

1. Yeah. Like I said, our aim isn't to scare off the community. We practically need the indie crowd to get any leeway and maintain any kind of actual base of users. So, obviously, a restrictive license would be deadly. Just needed the creative commons license to ensure protection of the IP. No problem using the system. Heck, give me a link if you do, I'd like to see how it goes.

2. I could get a bit more specific on powers, but for the most part, you have to wing it. Otherwise, half of the powers are easily flavor texted towards something new. Raging Digit itself really can cover any unarmed attack. So, if you wanted it as a headbutt instead, it can work. If you don't mind a page of theory on balance though, I can give you a pretty succinct explanation of how I decide life costs and ability levels. There's a bit of guesswork in there, but there really is a science to it. From there, it's really up to you whether you want to just post those guidelines or get some people you trust to keep things balanced.

3. Actually, the beta campaign is essentially an extremely accelerated regular campaign. Both sides (the 40 point and 80 point characters) have gained over 40 points from their original totals in something like 8 sessions each. So, the higher end character have hit the 120 point region about now, and that's where things start getting to the weird end of scaling. A group of four 120 point characters actually can take on a 250 point character pretty handily. Also, amusingly enough, I realized that the Kraken is definitely no match for two well-made 150 point adventurers. It'll need some buffing if it wants to be the "Pirates vs. Ninjas Tarrasque analog".

So yeah. The balancing on epic is currently in the works. For the most part, you just have to tweak balance a bit as GM and realize that 150 damage in a turn on a non-crit becomes possible at that point, but I could definitely throw together some guidelines on higher level play.

Matter of fact, best advice for characters over 90 points. Don't throw one boss at them unless it's a monster with a LOT of Life like a Ninjasaurus Rex or Great Tengu.

Anything else of any particular concern?

Kaje
2010-06-08, 12:06 AM
Any ideas for a different, more copyrightable name?

Dairun Cates
2010-06-08, 12:39 AM
Any ideas for a different, more copyrightable name?

Figuring out a way to throw the word Wanderers in there somewhere. It makes it a LOT more distinguishable and less generic. So something like tordirycgoyust's "Pirates, Wanderers, Ninjas" would actually do it. It just needs to be distinguishable enough from other Pirates vs. Ninjas brand names.

Amusingly enough Pirates vs. Ninjas is actually available since it's been abandoned, but it's also a hard copyright to maintain since it's generic.

Nothing final though.

Lix Lorn
2010-06-08, 07:24 AM
Sea and Shadow: Pirates Vs Ninjas

Kaje
2010-06-08, 03:43 PM
Shipwrecks & Shuriken

Dairun Cates
2010-06-08, 05:30 PM
Shipwrecks & Shuriken

Sea and Shadow: Pirates Vs Ninjas

Heh. Don't remember announcing a contest, but I suppose a little outsourcing never hurt anyone.

IcarusWings
2010-06-09, 01:23 AM
Shiver me' Shurikens: Pirates VS Ninjas

Dairun Cates
2010-06-16, 02:32 AM
Well, I promised I'd do it, and here it is, a huge rebalancing of a few overpowered moves and some rebuffing on some weaker ones. Here's the FULL fix log.

Fix Log:
Fixed some minor wording issues.
Should add a section on each ability for Weapons and whether they're needed or not and which one.
Range and cost of Shuriken Split reduced.
Clarification on Rubber Sole\
Increased Life Cost of Torrential Hurrican Strike
Whoopise! Life Cost increased
Cost of Fleetfoot Barrage reduced
Infinite Sword Jobs “any attribute for hit and dodge” rule removed.
Find the Seam Cost increased.
Blue Collar Edge cost slightly increased.
Considering Life Cost increase to Hammer Meet Nail, but staying the same for now.
Slight Life increase to Eight Slain in One Stroke.
Increase in Cost to Pierce the Veil
Increase in Cost to Horizon Throw
Increase in Cost for Breathe and Focus
Increase in Cost AND damage for 100 tiny needles
Decrease in Cost for 1,000 tiny needles, buff in damage. Ditto for 1,000,000 Tiny Needles.
Awesome Point cost for Infinitesimal Blade increased by 1
Penalty of Cost of Power decreased, but Cost increased
Awesome Point Cost of Ellipsis Swing increased
Removed Will penalty from Bull's Red Cape.
Slight Cost increase to Use What you Have
Fixed a weird wording problem on Fast Numbers Negation.
Cost of Fist of justice decreased.
Cost and Damage of If I Go Down I'm Taking You With Me increased.
Cost of Canonical Team-up increased
Range of Triple Tap decreased
Cost of Eagle Eye decreased in light of being inferior to True Mead and Drunken Satori
Elemental tag added to chain reaction. Cost decreased
Life decrease on El Kabong!
Buffed invisibility of Deadly Discord
Removed instant KO ability from Power Chord. Decreased Cost.
Decreased minus to will check and instant KO condition from Face-Melter
Increase to cost of Step-Ball-Kick since it didn't require a weapon.
Increase in damage and cost for Double Up!
Slight increase in cost to Footloose and Fancy Free
Change in cost to Summon the Groupies
Decrease in cost to Beautiful Inspiration
Lowered difficulty and instant KO status of Mr. Exploder. Also decreased Cost.
Increased cost of Shatter the glass
Removed life cost from Split the Heavens
Decrease in cost of Ready Freddy? Go!
Decrease in difficulty for Musical Mind Control and Mass Media Musical Mind Control to -3
Extended reach decreased to 2 squares of extra reach per life spent.
Increase in damage required per life gain for Life drinker and halfed life gain for AOE, but life gain now rounds up.
An Apple a Day range increased to 6
Increased bonus on Perfect Bill of Health to +2
Decrease in Stupefying Kick cost.
Removed Instant KO from Five-Fold Crippling Palm
Slight increase in cost to 1,000 pressure points
Surgical Precision can now effect monsters all the time for less damage.
Life gain of lightspeed metabolism increased to 4 from 2
Molotov increased to 6 squares.
Added a life gain subability to Perfect Physical Clarity
Dirty Footwork blinds until next action.
Increase in cost to imperfect balance.
Increased in cost of Drunken Satori
Me, Myself, and I gives a -2 to the opponents on spotting will check.
Increase in cost of Absolute Darkness.
Follow My Lead Penalty reduced to a -3
Increased cost of Hand Gun
Increase in cost of Piston strike.
Increase in cost of Extendo Arms
Slight cost increase to Mega Cannon Arm
Slight cost increase to Spring Legs
Range of Loaded Assault Increased


A lot, isn't it?

Morph Bark
2010-06-16, 05:55 AM
Considering you have ninjas, pirates and zombies, I don't suppose there's any room for robots? :smallbiggrin:

IcarusWings
2010-06-16, 10:12 AM
Considering you have ninjas, pirates and zombies, I don't suppose there's any room for robots? :smallbiggrin:

And cowboys, spartans and vampires :smallbiggrin:

Dairun Cates
2010-06-16, 11:36 AM
Considering you have ninjas, pirates and zombies, I don't suppose there's any room for robots? :smallbiggrin:

Been considering them as a few abilities for Gunnars. So the thought has crossed my mind.

EDIT: Specifically, in the beta campaign, G&W is a pretty important group in the sense that it makes a lot of devices, including robots. So, it makes sense to give them abilities as such.


And cowboys, spartans and vampires :smallbiggrin:

Cowboys have been considered, but they're currently delegated with the whole Viking vs. Samurai thing. Spartans and Vampires... I'm not so sure about. That'll be up to you GM if you really want to see that. I tend to avoid getting too clustered with theme. Except for the dinosaurs (which are mostly there because of their universal appeal), everything else tends to stick thematically to either pirate or ninja film genres.

Observer
2010-06-22, 06:21 PM
Considering you have ninjas, pirates and zombies, I don't suppose there's any room for robots? :smallbiggrin:
Take a look at the Carpentarrs. Steampunk, wooden, pirate cyborgs? That's only a little bit of creative character fluff away from having stats for robots.

paddyfool
2010-06-23, 07:23 AM
Vikings are practically pirates. Ninja cyborgs are familiar to all players of beat-em-ups. Cowboys have a devoted following.

If you were to add one more class to each faction, my suggestions would be Viking Bersarrrkar, Cyberninja and Cowboy.

Morph Bark
2010-06-23, 08:11 AM
It could be possible to throw in a dash of Vampires vs. Werewolves. Vampirates? Wereninjas? Werepirates? The last two could be Wanderer factions that can exchange their Wanderer abilities for ninja or pirate ones at night, perhaps.

Aside from the Versuses that have already been shown... the only one left that comes to mind is Dwarves versus Elves, but I would assume you don't want that in here. Unless you would adapt those to fit.

paddyfool
2010-06-23, 08:29 AM
Actually, there exists some truly horrible tweenie fiction about Vampirates. (I therefore suggest staying well away from that concept.)

Morph Bark
2010-06-23, 08:48 AM
Actually, there exists some truly horrible tweenie fiction about Vampirates. (I therefore suggest staying well away from that concept.)

Existing horrible stuff shouldn't limit one's creativity. Besides, this project could make it so there's also some good fiction about vampirates.

And yes I am aware there is a comic by that name.

Observer
2010-06-23, 02:50 PM
My guess would be that a vampire would have something like a non-item version of Life-Drinker, combined with a load of flaws like Phobia(Garlic), Addiction(Blood), etc. Any common vampire flaw that can't be crafted from the current set of flaws in the system can easily be worked out with a DM.

Dairun Cates
2010-06-24, 04:44 PM
Here. I was bored. So, I made some signature pictures for each of the legendary three heroes. Not perfect, but something amusing while I work on some new abilities. Might do some for each faction or more quotes from each Legendary hero later (although, I can only maybe get 2 more ways of typing out pure silence for Ellipsis).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/Dairun/TwoEyedPeteSignature.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/Dairun/RavenSignature2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/Dairun/EllipsisSignature.jpg

Anyway, if you want to show your Pirate vs. Ninja love. Now you can.

EDIT: Touched up the Raven one slightly. More legible with white text.

Dairun Cates
2010-07-07, 02:39 AM
UPDATE TIME:

Well, after a quick break for some GM'ing and notes, I'm back to making new factions and info. The first new one coming later in the week is a Wanderer faction called "The Weapon Masters". It may sound generic, but they have some pretty fun abilities planned, including one that gives a +2 to being noticed and makes monsters attack you more frequently. The Ninja will be getting Equinja (mounted combat fighters) and Pirates will be getting Burglars (essentially thieves, cutpurses, and pickpockets).

BUT FIRST!

I'm updating some of the old factions that lack a lot of moves with new moves since some are quite far behind in number from the newer factions (there's a pretty big difference in some factions). First two are done. Wandering Minstrels have 9 new moves and Rokinja have 11 new moves. Check them out when you can. There's some pretty fun new stuff in there. The new abilities are:

Wandering Minstrels:
Level 1:
Rainbow Connection

Level 2:
Song of the Forest Lord
Voice of an Angel
Voice of a Devil

Level 3:
Eternal Diva
Dirge of Absolute Sorrow

Level 4:
Nature Calls

Level 5:
Share the Spotlight
Pollyanna

Rokinja:
Level 1:
Music to My Ears
Powerful Lungs

Level 2:
Loco-Motion Wave
Even Great Bounties Die Frequently
One Man Band

Level 3:
String Em' Up
Soul of Rock

Level 4:
Bright Tiger
Lightning Fingers

Level 5:
Call the Ensemble
God of Rock

Any more notes on the new abilities for old factions will be in this post.

Also, a question for those that actually read the backstory stuff: Are there any parts of the backstory, world, or factions you'd personally like to see fleshed out a bit more? I wanna work a bit more on fluff here and there.

Makiru
2010-07-07, 09:34 PM
Thought I'd bring this up, but you've had at least one shout out on another thread from someone that presumably isn't part of the beta group.

Pirates vs. Ninjas: Catch the Magic.

Also, updates are awesome, but that really should have gone without saying.

Dairun Cates
2010-07-07, 09:57 PM
Thought I'd bring this up, but you've had at least one shout out on another thread from someone that presumably isn't part of the beta group.

Pirates vs. Ninjas: Catch the Magic.

Can't seem to find it, would it be possible to get a link?

Makiru
2010-07-07, 11:03 PM
Can't seem to find it, would it be possible to get a link?

"For your viewing pleasure" (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8863147&postcount=41)

Kaje
2010-07-07, 11:09 PM
Yeah, that's me. I tend to take any opportunity to plug the games I'm really interested in.

Makiru
2010-07-08, 01:27 AM
Charreographers and Wandering Minstrels could stand to use a bit more backstory.

Also, you mistakenly put down Ellipsis's gender in the Evadinja background. You might want to fix that, unless that was your intention.

Observer
2010-07-08, 02:39 PM
Also, you mistakenly put down Ellipsis's gender in the Evadinja background. You might want to fix that, unless that was your intention.

Ellipsis's gender is also referred to as a "he" all throughout his backstory. I don't think his gender is supposed to be a mystery.

Makiru
2010-07-08, 04:13 PM
Ellipsis's gender is also referred to as a "he" all throughout his backstory. I don't think his gender is supposed to be a mystery.

It's also referred to as a she as well. That's the big rumor: nobody knows for sure. Regardless, there probably doesn't need to be a change in that case.

Lix Lorn
2010-07-08, 05:00 PM
Ellipsis's gender is also referred to as a "he" all throughout his backstory. I don't think his gender is supposed to be a mystery.
Or is that what she wants you to think?

Makiru
2010-07-08, 08:50 PM
I just noticed something: You still haven't worked on the Shadinja in the faction list. Probably would be a good thing to know if that faction's still going to be created in the future.

Dairun Cates
2010-07-20, 09:01 PM
What's that? A new Wanderer Faction? OH SNAP!

Done for now. GOD these guys have way too many abilities, but they're not broad enough to get two factions. Some of these will either need to be removed or moved to other factions. Actually, quite a few of these work well in other factions. It's an excuse to have weapons in other factions.

Weapons Masters:
Summary: Weapons Masters, as their name suggests, are all about Weapon Mastery and the usage of Weapons for Deadly Techniques and precision.

High Level Weapons Masters learn to not only use their favorite weapon, but multiple weapons and styles to form an effective and flexible fighting style that can become appropriate for any encounter.

History: The Weapon Masters are the ultimate in Wanderer combatants, and whenever a Wanderer city needs guards to help keep the city safe from Pirates and Ninjas, the Weapon Masters are usually the first on the job.

The history of the Weapon Masters is as old as the Wanderers themselves. When the Wanderers split off from the Pirates and the Ninjas they sought a new way of life. They brought their combat expertise over from both sides and applied it to making sure the Pirates and Ninjas would respect their way of life.

Eventually, as the Pirates and Ninjas learned to leave the Wanderers alone, the other Wanderer factions began to emerge to provide goods and services to the city. This lead to the Wanderers eventually managing to culturally integrate themselves into Pirate and Ninjas societies alike.

However, the Weapon Masters did not disappear. They still exist and in large numbers. Just like their other Wanderers brethren, they have also melded decently into Pirate and Ninja society. Their techniques have been sought by both sides for their power and both sides hire them as mercenaries and teachers. Some even say that the Hitinja flat out ripped off a number of the Weapon Masters' skills. The Hintinja would never admit this though.

Nowadays, the majority of Weapon Masters are Wanderer kids that got tired of a peaceful life and sought adventure. This is not true of all Weapon Masters though. Polite Weapon Master society is currently split between two warring factions, The Sword and The Shield.

The Sword is a guild of Weapon Master mercenaries for hire that enjoy the thrills of war and wish to see the current conflict between Pirates and Ninjas continue.

The Shield, conversely, is a society of peaceful Weapon Masters that wish to see the war end and have been working behind the scenes to continually ease peaceful relations between the Pirates and Ninjas.

The Sword and The Shield are constantly in conflict with each other and while they don't actively fight in the streets, it's safe to say that a Weapon Master belonging to either would be careful to watch his back, lest it have a sword through it.

The Sword is led a man known only as The Dragon. The Shield is led by a peaceful man known as The Unstoppable Spirit. Not much is known about these mysterious men or the company they keep, but it is known that they have fought before. No one knows how these fights have ended, but should one ever seal permanent victory over the other, it would drastically change the face of the world.


Attribute Scores: Weapon Masters use a lot of attack abilities that require a good precision to ensure a hit. However, Weapon Masters also have a number of abilities that use their body score. Both of these are valuable.

Level 1:

The Master's Signature
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
The Weapon Master knows the handling of his weapon in and out. A well-trained master can even carve his or her initials into the clothes of his opponent without them noticing. The Weapon Master with this ability gains a +2 to checks to use his or her weapon for small flourishes or stunts with his or her weapons.

Zen Archer
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
While it's less common, some Weapon Masters do choose to master the art of the bow. There's a certain grace and speed about it that strikes fear in the hearts of many. With this ability, any ability that uses a gun or thrown weapon can be done with a bow.

Steadfast and Never Moving
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
The Weapon Masters frequently have to face down terrors that would make other men quake. Whenever a Weapon Master fails a Will check to avoid being intimidated or frightened, his physical state will not show it. His voice will still stutter if he chooses to talk, and the Weapon Master may still choose to run in fear, but he will do so with grace, dignity, and a steady hand.

How do you carry all of those?
Wanderer 1
Cost: Passive
The question most asked of Weapons Masters with a lot of weapons on hand. The Weapon Master with this ability has a +2 to body checks for the sake of carrying weapons without dropping them or slowing down.


Level 2:

Legendary Status
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Weapons Masters are known far and wide for their great deeds and skill. A Weapon Master with this skill has earned their reputation and gains a +2 on Will to use their notoriety to get others to notice them. Furthermore, whenever said Weapon Master is in combat with a monster, the monster will sense their true nature and attack. Unless there is a more obvious target to the monster, the monster will always attack the Weapon Master first. Weapon Masters with this ability and Just a Guy can voluntarily switch between Legendary Status and Just a Guy, but must have one on at all times, and can't negate the penalties (ie. No using Just a Guy to not get attacked, but using Legendary Status for everyone to recognize you while you fight).

Eye for Quality
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
Weapon Masters know weapons in and out. They can spot quality from a distance, and they can even see a weapon's true potential. The Weapon Master with this skill can tell if a weapon is indestructible quality just by a glance. Furthermore, he or she can instantly tell if a weapon has any powers, abilities, or curses locked inside of it just by looking at it.

Absolute Precision Stance
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1
Weapon Masters know a variety of stances to alter their combat tactics in subtle ways. By paying the cost and switching into this stance at the beginning of a combat round, the Weapon Master changes their own capabilities to meet the fight ahead. This stance gives the Weapon Master a +1 to all to hit rolls and a -1 to all dodges for the round as long as the Weapon Master is using a Weapon. Only one stance may be used a turn.

Cautious Parry Stance
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1
Weapon Masters know a variety of stances to alter their combat tactics in subtle ways. By paying the cost and switching into this stance at the beginning of a combat round, the Weapon Master changes their own capabilities to meet the fight ahead. This stance gives the Weapon Master a +1 to all dodge rolls and a -1 to all to hit rolls for the round as long as the Weapon Master is using a Weapon. Only one stance may be used a turn.

Steadfast Bull Stance
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1
Weapon Masters know a variety of stances to alter their combat tactics in subtle ways. By paying the cost and switching into this stance at the beginning of a combat round, the Weapon Master changes their own capabilities to meet the fight ahead. This stance gives the Weapon Master a -1 to all dodge and to hit rolls for the round, but gives a +2 to all rolls to resist body and will effects as he stands his ground. Requires Weapon Master to be wielding a Weapon. Only one stance may be used a turn.

Reckless Assault Stance
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1
Weapon Masters know a variety of stances to alter their combat tactics in subtle ways. By paying the cost and switching into this stance at the beginning of a combat round, the Weapon Master changes their own capabilities to meet the fight ahead. This stance gives the Weapon Master +5 to the damage to weapon attacks for that round but also gives a -2 dodges for the turn as long as the Weapon Master is using a Weapon and the Weapon Master attacks. Only one stance may be used a turn.

Overwhelming Power Stance
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1
Weapon Masters know a variety of stances to alter their combat tactics in subtle ways. By paying the cost and switching into this stance at the beginning of a combat round, the Weapon Master changes their own capabilities to meet the fight ahead. This stance gives the Weapon Master a +5 to the damage of his weapon attacks for the round but also gives a -2 to hit for his attacks during that turn as long as the Weapon Master is using a Weapon and the Weapon Master attacks. Only one stance may be used a turn.

Cautious Turtle Stance
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1
Weapon Masters know a variety of stances to alter their combat tactics in subtle ways. By paying the cost and switching into this stance at the beginning of a combat round, the Weapon Master changes their own capabilities to meet the fight ahead. This stance gives the Weapon Master a -5 to the damage on his attacks for the round, but gives a +2 to dodge as long as the Weapon Master is using a Weapon and the Weapon Master attacks. Only one stance may be used a turn.

Graceful Strike Stance
Wanderer 2
Cost: 1
Weapon Masters know a variety of stances to alter their combat tactics in subtle ways. By paying the cost and switching into this stance at the beginning of a combat round, the Weapon Master changes their own capabilities to meet the fight ahead. This stance gives the Weapon Master a -5 to the damage on his attacks for the round, but gives a +2 to hit for all attacks in the round as long as the Weapon Master is using a Weapon and the Weapon Master attacks. Only one stance may be used a turn.

Never Unarmed
Wanderer 2
Cost: Passive
The smart Weapon Master is never without back-up weapons or a weapon in hand. The Weapon Master that has this technique can switch between individual weapons on their person or within reach without any kind of action or movement required. This means that unless all of the Weapon Master's weapons are stolen, broken, or lost, then the Weapon Master is never truly unarmed. This also means that the Weapon Master can switch weapons in mid-action seamlessly for any benefit this might give.


Level 3:

Fists Don't Cut
Wanderer 3
Cost: 3
The name of this technique is a reminder that no matter how talented a warrior is without a weapon, a weapon will inevitably do more damage in the right hands. Weapon Masters know how to make their strikes count. When a Weapon Master uses this ability to augment a weapon attack, that attack does 5 more damage.

Flying Beam Slice
Wanderer 3
Cost: 5
Weapon Masters are one with their weapons. Since the vast majority of Weapon Masters prefer melee weapons, many of them have learned how to channel their life force into a powerful projectile slash. When a Weapon Master uses this technique, they let out a projectile, beam, or slash of light from their weapon that has 10 range and does 15 damage.

Shockwave Slam
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
Some Weapon Masters have an inhuman power about them that can knock the wind out of their opponents. Anytime a Weapon Master knocks off at least a quarter of a target's maximum life (round up) in one hit, the Weapon Master can choose to knock said target back a number of squares away from the original attack equal to the Weapon Master's body score.

Shockwave Launcher
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
Some Weapon Master have the power to use their massive strength to know only knock their opponents back, but in the air as well. The Weapon Master with this ability can choose to knock a target a number of squares vertically in the air equal to the Weapon Master's body score when the target takes more than a quarter of their maximum life in one hit.

Ground Quake
Wanderer 3
Cost: 8
The Weapon Master can channel their powerful strikes at the ground. Whenever a Weapon Master uses this attack, he slams his weapon into the ground and gives everyone a frightening quake. Roll an opposed body check against the body score against everyone within 4 squares of the attack's agility. This does not effect people that are not on the ground. If they fail, they take 10 damage and fall down. They must spend a move action to get back up.

Soul Saber
Wanderer 3
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Weapon Master himself is a weapon of great power, and from within his own soul, he can summon a weapon of great power to crush his foes. When the Weapon Master uses this ability, he summons a weapon made of pure energy that cannot be stolen or broken. This weapon otherwise has no unusual powers or ability and meets the basic requirements of the weapon it imitates.

Weapon of Choice
Wanderer 3
Cost: 3
Some Weapon Masters have one specific weapon that they've trained forever with. This Weapon is special, and the Weapon Master has a bond with it. As such, the character knows the ins and outs of this weapon and puts it to excellent use. The Weapon Master can use this ability to gain a +1 on a dodge or to hit roll. This ability must be activated for every attack. If said weapon is lost or broken, the character must trained with another weapon for a month before gaining back the benefits of this ability.

Once Cut, Never Shy
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
Weapon Masters know pain. Every Weapon Master's suffered a lethal wound at some point. Some Weapon Masters come back from it stronger and harder to kill. The Weapon Master picks a category of weapons (such as swords, clubs, arrows, etc.) and gains a permenant +3 Damage Reduction from any attacks made with this category of weapons.

Incredibly Awkward Weapon Stance
Wanderer 3
Cost: Passive
The Weapon Master has learned to hold his weapons in unusual stance and poses. Whether it be his mouth or an the fold of an elbow, everything is a potential way to hold his weapon. This ability comes with three advantages. The first is that this allows the Weapon Master to hold his weapon in any way that is still physically possible. In cases where the Weapon Master is crippled or restricted in movement, this can mean the difference between using an attack and not being able to. Secondly, the Weapon Master can hold a number of Weapons equal to half his agility (rounded up) + 2 at a time. Finally, whenever anyone misses the Weapon Master with a melee attack, they take 1 damage as they're grazed by one of the Weapon Master's more unusually placed weapons. However, if the Weapon Master ever rolls a natural roll of a 2 on an attack roll, he also takes 1 damage as he pokes himself with one of his weapons by accident. The damage from this grazing is not an attack as such cannot be buffed by abilities to enhance damage.

Return to Me, My Loyal Steel!
Wanderer 3
Cost: 10
Weapon Masters know how to trick their foes with their weapon attacks. Whether it's by curving the weapon or a hidden string, the Weapon master can make their weapons return to them. When a Weapon Master uses this thrown weapon attack with 6 range, roll precision to hit. If it hits, nothing special happens and the attack does 15 damage. However, if the attack misses, it comes back the next turn with the same bonuses as the previous turn and attacks the target again if he or she is still in range. At this point, the target takes a -1 on their dodge against the attack. This second attack is automatic and does not take life cost for the second attack or an attack action.



Level 4:

Dance of the Twin Blades
Wanderer 4
Cost: 5
Charreographers aren't the only ones that know how to dance. The Weapon Master knows the grace and fluid motions of combat all too well. The Weapon Master with this ability pulls out 2 weapons and gives a rapid fire flurry of spinning attacks that tear the foe apart. When a Weapon Master lands with this attack, the Weapon Master can choose to immediately attack again with the same attack at a -1 to hit. After each successful hit, the Weapon Master can attack again at a cumulative -1 for each new attack. If any attack misses, the chain ends. Each attack does 10 damage.

Desperate Struggle
Wanderer 4
Cost: 10
The Weapon Master often finds herself in a desperate situation that calls for all of the Weapon Master's focus. Thankfully, the Weapon Master is best at the end of the fight. Whenever a Weapon Master is below a quarter of her maximum life total, the Weapon Master may use this weapon melee attack and summon all of her reserves to deal 30 damage.

Heart-Crushing Bludgeon
Wanderer 4
Cost: 15
The Weapon Masters needed a way to cripple their foes with their powerful strikes. So, they mastered this techniques. This basic melee attack does 20 damage as the weapon master hits the foe with a blunt weapon or the blunt side of their weapon, but if the Weapon Master has a higher body score than the target, this attack inflicts a -1 to the target's body score as it crushes their physical form with the force of the blow.

Naginata Whirlwind
Wanderer 4
Cost: 15
Sometimes, a Weapon Master just needs as much reach as possible. This technique allows a Weapon Master to extend her reach to its limit. The Weapon Master unleashes a rapid and devastating swing of her weapon to strike down multiple foes at once. This melee AOE hits all enemies within 3 squares of the user for 20 damage.

Shuriken Eclipse
Wanderer 4
Cost: 12
A weapon attack for Masters of thrown weapons. This attack is named because of its fabled ability to block out the sun to those that are unlucky enough to be targeted by it. The Weapon Master jumps in the air and unleashes a seemingly endless barrage of thrown weapons. This attack has a range of 10 squares and does 30 damage. This attack does have the problem of completely disarming the Weapon master of all their thrown weapons. The Weapon Master will need to go to the effected square and spend a turn in it picking up the weapons before this attack or any other thrown weapon attack can be used again.

Falling Sky Drop
Wanderer 4
Cost: 15
Gravity is your friend. The Weapon Master has learned to use momentum and gravity to their advantage. When the Weapon Master uses this aerial weapon technique, she launches herself skyward into the air with a jump action and comes crashing down for 25 damage + 1 damage per vertical square she fell from (capped at 25 squares). If this attack misses, the Weapon Master takes damage equal to the number of squares she fell and must spend a turn removing her weapon from the ground. If the vertical drop is longer than the Weapon Master can move in a turn, this attack will take multiple turns.


Level 5:

Gather the Forces
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point and 20 Life
The Weapon Masters are not all loners. They can also be great generals that lead troops into battle. The Weapon Master with this ability calls all of his allies together for a powerful charge. When the Weapon Master uses this attack equivalent action, all of his named allies gain +5 damage on their attacks every round until the end of battle.

Unstoppable Spirit
Wanderer 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Weapon Master's attacks are so powerful and potent that they can actually hit multiple targets in one powerful swipe of the sword. Whenever a weapon attack finishes an opponent, the Weapon Master with this ability can immediately spend 1 awesome point and the cost of the original attack to take 1 step and attack another target. If the Weapon Master takes out another target, they may keep using this ability so long as they have awesome points to spare.

Endless Bloodlust
Wanderer 5
Cost: Passive
Not all Weapon Masters are calm and collected. Some fight to satiate a deep and bottomless bloodlust that would otherwise drive them mad. The sight of blood in battle drives the Weapon Master into a frenzy. For every target the Weapon Master takes down in a combat, the Weapon Master gains a +2 damage to weapon attacks. This bonus caps at +10 damage after 5 targets taken down.

Fight Like a Demon
Wanderer 5
Cost: 5 Life per 5 damage
The Weapon's Master does whatever must be done to take down powerful foes. Sometimes, the only option is to fight like a demon and finish the fight in one strike. When a Weapon Master uses this ability to augment a weapon attack's damage, the Weapon Master's next weapon attack does 5 extra damage for every 5 damage the Weapon Master chooses to take. This damage is capped at half of the Weapon Master's maximum life total.

Even God Will Be Cut
Wanderer 5
Cost: 25
The Weapon Master is a master of overcoming overwhelming odds as well. When the impossible looms in front of the Weapon Master, the only option is to push on through with conviction and dedication. This melee weapon attack normally does 30 damage. However, if the opponent is at least 20 character points (before flaws) more experienced that the Weapon Master or the Weapon Master is fighting alone/the last member of their party standing, add 10 damage to the attack for 50 damage total for fighting a more experienced foe while alone. If both conditions are met, and the opponent also has over 60 more character points than the character, this attack does 75 damage instead. If all those conditions are met and the character has more than double the Weapon Master's character points (before flaws), then this attack does 100 damage. For Monsters treat Boss Tier monsters (or reasonably powerful Encounter tier monsters) as 20 character points higher unless the monster is obviously significantly more powerful, then the attack does 75 damage. One of a kind monsters like the Kraken take 100 damage attack.

The Dragon Emerges
Wanderer 5
Cost: 3 Awesome Points
The Weapon Master can call forth great power, but it comes at great cost. Forcing the body to cause more damage also means it becomes more prone to damage itself. When this buff is activated, all weapon attacks made by the weapon master do 15 more damage until the end of battle. However, the Weapon Master himself also takes 10 more damage from any attack in the process.

Observer
2010-07-21, 06:29 PM
Did a test build with the weapon master. I've gotta say, it seems like they can do really nasty things with just basic attacks.

Dairun Cates
2010-07-23, 12:36 PM
HOLY SHEBISCUITS! Is it really 2 factions in a week? Not yet. Just wanted to get some things on paper and on the forums first. Expect it done in the next couple of days, along with some balance fixes and rewrites for weapons masters. Probably going to fix a few other abilities too that'll need some looking over in retrospect of new abilities.

Equinja:
Summary: Equinja are master riders capable of riding or piloting animals or vehicles to ridiculous effect. Equinja skills are all about teamwork and mobility.

High Level Equinja can use wild animals as mounts, give movement bonuses to said mounts, and use their rides to gives themselves unusual and powerful maneuvers.

History: The Equinja are natural scouts of the Ninja territories. With their lightning speed and maneuverability, they are completely invaluable for the transfer of items and information. Considering G&W's advancements in steam ships and even the rumored airships, this is an important thing to have in the war against pirates.

The Equinja were originally a smaller school of the Evadinja. Thus, there can be drawn some comparison between their love for high speed movement and the Evadinjas'. Many of the Equinja still practice in Evadinja schools to hone their mastery of their rides further and the two factions are mostly still on good terms.

It's no secret that Ebbin Flow, the grandmaster of the Evadinja, despises the Shoninja. He considers them a poisoning to the grand tradition of Ninja as silent skilled assassins. They're loud, boorish, over-confident, and worst of all, remarkably similar to pirates. He even went as far as to blame the recent movement of Rokinja and claimed that they would do the same to the other factions. After all, all that loud attitude had to come from somewhere.

However, when Ebbin Flow took the time to publicly chastise Burning Soul, the grandmaster of the Shoninja, the Equinja grandmaster Midnight Rider chose not to side with his long-time Evadinja ally, but with the Shoninja leader.

Midnight Rider saw something in the Shoninja that the Equinja themselves valued more highly than anything else; loyalty and companionship. While their tactics were not traditional, Midnight Rider saw a group of young ninjas that truly cared for their brethren and would do anything to make sure everyone got out alive.

Needless to say, Ebbin Flow didn't take too kindly to this and hasn't spoken to Midnight Rider since. The rest of the Evadinja don't forget their ties to the Equinja as easily though and will freely teach their allies. Just don't bring up "the traitors" in front of Ebbin Flow himself.

There is one group that hates the Equinja more than Ebbin Flow though, and that's the Gunnars. While the Equinja started out as mere riders of animals, some Equinja got it in his head a few years back that all the stuff that Gunnars were working on was nice and would make a good mount. As such, a few dedicated Equinja decided to salvage whatever they could find and toiled endlessly on reverse engineering the Gunnar's technology. The results were overwhelmingly successful.

While not as elegant as Gunnar technology, the Equinja managed to change it to their own ends. They quickly made their own steam-powered vehicles and some Equinja started to find that they were even faster than their favorite mounts. The most advanced Gunnar technology, such as the fabled airships of G&W, hasn't been duplicated yet, but the Equinja have managed to put their own spin on things.

There's even rumors that the Equinja have managed to invent personal motorized bicycles. These vehicles are elegant, fast, dangerous, and perfect for the Equinja. If such a thing were true, the Equinja would definitely be a force to be reckoned with.


Attribute Scores: Agility and Body are the Equinja's primary stats. The Equinja will need at least one of these at a decent level in order to ride a lot of animals as ride checks can use either of these. Body represents a general ability to hold on while agility represents an Equinja's general ability to perform complex maneuvers.

Level 1:

Born in the Saddle
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Equinja were born to ride. It's in their blood. It's in their very being. The Equinja with this skill gains a +2 to all agility or body checks to riding animals or vehicles, holding on, or doing any tricks. While riding a mount, the rider gains the move speed of the animal or vehicle he is riding and gains access to any special move abilities (such as flight) as long as he pays the cost. Everything else is based on the Equinja's abilities. The Equinja can use any attack abilities like normal while on a mount.

Break it in!
Ninja 1
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Equinja love to acquire new mounts. Some Equinja will even go so far as to try to train wild animals for the purposes of riding them. When an Equinja with this ability knocks a wild animal unconscious or otherwise subdues them, the Equinja can spend an awesome point and attempt to break it in with an opposed body or agility check (whichever is higher for both sides). The Equinja must have an agility or body score of at least half the monster's effective body to attempt this. Furthermore, the monster must have at least half of the Equinja's body score to carry them. Most animals that pose little threat should be treated as a straight check. Encounter tiered enemies that are at least the size of a human should be treated as having an effective +2 body for carrying and the ride check for breaking it in. Boss Tiered Monsters should gain a +4 effective body, and legendary monsters like the Kraken should either be immune to this ability or gain a +8. Trained mounts need not be broken in, and sentient monsters cannot be broken in (although, they can willingly let the Equinja treat them as a mount). If the Equinja fails the check, the can continue to spend awesome points to keep retrying.

Quick Side-swipe
Ninja 1
Cost: 1
The Equinja is a master of using his ride as a weapon. When using this melee attack, the Equinja rams a target with his ride and does damage equal to the Ride's body score. For mechanical rides, assume a body score between 6 (for small vehicles) and 10 (for large multi-person vehicles).

Look Ma! No Hands!
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Whether it be because of a natural understanding between the Equinja and his mount or a jury rigged system for his vehicle, the Equinja are master riders that are capable of riding their vehicles without their hands being attached most of the time. An Equinja with this ability is capable of carrying something in each hand while riding a ride.

Perfect Momentum
Ninja 1
Cost: 2
Equinja are at their best when constantly moving and can do amazing things when they nail all their stunts. The Equinja can use this ability to gain a +1 to hit on the round as long as he hit with an attack last round.

T-Rex Whisperer
Ninja 1
Cost: Passive
Equinja are one with their animal mounts and can understand their inner emotions. Equinja with this ability can understand the thoughts of any mount they've broken in. While not directly talking, this has the same impact. The Equinja can just sense the mount's thoughts, emotions, and feelings and can communicate his own to the mount. This is primarily used to get animals to follow lengthy commands.


Level 2:

The Ghost in the Machine
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
While the Equinja started out riding animals, some felt themselves drawn to the cold steel machines the Gunnars built. They called out to them. These Equinja are capable of feeling the souls inside of machines and inanimate vehicles and tapping into their inner powers. Equinja with this ability can treat any non-living vehicle or ride as a mount for the purposes of their Equinja powers. For larger vehicles (like ships), the GM may decide that the vehicle has too high of a "body score" to use as a ride. For instance, a pirate ship might have an effective body of 14, thus requiring an effective 7 agility or body to treat as a ride. For the purposes of carrying multiple passengers on the ride, common sense applies. A cart should be able to carry multiple people without issue and no party members should be too heavy for a ship.

Stripped Down Chasis
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Equinja know that a proper physical form and build is required to ride some of the more wily and outrageous mounts. However, this often comes at the cost of being unable to ride the lighter mounts. So, some Equinja learned to shift their weight for riding. The Equinja with this ability is treated as having a 1 Body for the purposes of weight on a mount.

Twitch Reflexes
Ninja 2
Cost: Passive
Equinja's have inhuman reaction times that go beyond the abilities of their body and mind. Equinja's with this ability have a permenant +1 to the reaction stat. Should their reaction somehow go over 10, their bonus does allow an 11 reaction, but the Equinja will win all ties on reaction (instead of lowest natural reaction winning).

Ride the Currents
Ninja 2
Cost: 2
Equinja are willing to use anything to speed themselves up, even if it means using the force of an attack to propel themselves forward. Whenever an Equinja with this ability dodges an AOE attack, the Equinja can use this ability to move immediately to the nearest edge of said attack without spending any kind of action.

Crash the Gates
Ninja 2
Cost: 4
The Equinja's rides are sturdy and durable. This gives the Equinja the courage to charge head first. The Equinja starts by moving in a straight line of at least 2 squares towards a target and then ends their move by ramming the target for 15 damage. The move action for this must be an absolutely straight line. If something is in the Equinja's way, they must move through it or jump over it.

Drive By!
Ninja 2
Cost: 6
During this attack, the Equinja can move through enemy squares freely. This attack happens during the Equinja's move action. Any enemy square the Equinja passes through during this attack, the Equinja can attack. The attack does 5 damage to every target it hits.

Ninja Express
Ninja 2
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Equinja are the delivery men of the Ninja kingdoms. Nothing is outside their range when everything is riding on them. The Equinja with this ability can spend an awesome point whenever making a lengthy trip. No matter the location, the Equinja can make the trip in a day maximum as long as they can physically make it there to begin with. This won't speed up the Equinja's party, but it can allow an Equinja to deliver an emergency message or package.


Level 3:

Together We Ride
Ninja 3
Cost: Passive
Not all Equinja are lone wolves. Many Equinja love to use their abilities to help their allies along and give them a boost in movement. Equinja with this ability can carry multiple passengers on animal mounts (vehicles can normally carry multiple passengers up to a logical point). Any passenger gains the benefits of the mount's movement and any Equinja abilities that give bonuses based on the Equinja's mount. The passenger's movement action must be the same as the Equinja's. A mount can carry any number of passengers at a time as long as the total body score of the riders does not exceed twice the mount's effective body.

Hit the Nitro!
Ninja 3
Cost: Passive
The Equinja and his ride are one and the same. Whatever happens to the ride happens to the Equinja. Equinja with this ability have a special link with their ride. Any movement-based ability (such as Rub Some Cheetah's Blood on It or Up the Walls) can be used by the Equinja to effect any mount or vehicle he is riding at the time.

Split Second Shift
Ninja 3
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Equinja know that flexibility is the key to combat mastery. A proper Equinja must be ready to stop on a dime or take a new turn at a moment's notice. As such, the Equinja have a near inhuman capability to switch up their tactics instantly. By spending an awesome point, the Equinja can change what attack they have written down for the turn at any time during their turn.

Catch Some Air
Ninja 3
Cost: 10
The Equinja can't give up the chance to jump off a ramp and soar through the skies. Any turn the Equinja manages to jump his ride off a ramp or a ramp equivalent in a straight line, the Equinja can hit a single target in this straight line for 25 damage.

Perfect Donut
Ninja 3
Cost: 9
The Equinja is a master of fancy maneuvers. Perhaps one of the favorites of the Equinja is a perfect 360 degree turn that whips the ride around and hits everyone around it. When the Equinja use this attack, he attacks everyone within 2 square for 15 damage.

Hit, Stall, Spin
Ninja 3
Cost: 6
The Equinja love using their rides for maximum carnage. When an Equinja attack with their ride using this attack, the target is hit with the front wheel or legs of the ride takes 15 damage and then is knocked back 5 squares as the Equinja has the ride rev up to maximum speed.

Rev Your Engines
Ninja 3
Cost: 3
The Equinja knows how to push his ride to its absolute limits. When using this move, the Equinja can make his ride move 3 times its normal speed as long as the mount moves in a completely straight line for the round.


Level 4:

Equinja Kick!
Ninja 4
Cost: 9
The name may be simple, but the results are awe inspiring. The Equinja with this skill realizes that the spirit of the ride lies in the rider's soul and the soul of his ride, not in the physical act of riding itself. The Rider calls upon the spirit of the ride and channels it into the very essence of his attack. The Equinja launches himself into the air and comes crashing down with a thunderous jump kick that channels the spirit of the ride into his very attack. The Equinja rolls to hit as precision as usual, but deals 10 + his agility score + his body score in damage.

Let the Ride Take Over
Ninja 4
Cost: 8
The Equinja are one with their rides. They feel every motion in their souls and gain a perfect unity with their precious mounts. The Equinja would even trust their ride with their very life. When riding a vehicle with an actual agility score (most animals), the Equinja can use this ability to use the ride's agility for dodging instead of her own for the turn.

Knight of Fire
Ninja 4
Cost: 10
The Equinja can rev up his engines and his soul to the point of setting ablaze everything around him. The Equinja uses this ability before making her move action for the turn. Every square the Equinja touches during her move action is set on fire creating a wall of fire in the trail. This wall is 10 feet high and automatically does 10 damage to everything that touches it. A target can take this damage multiple times if they pass through multiple effected squares.

Not So Noble Sacrifice
Ninja 4
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
The Equinja put a great trust in their rides and their rides put a great trust in them. Any ride would be willing to sacrifice itself for its master. As such, the Equinja has the ability to make the penultimate sacrifice with this ability. Whenever an Equinja is attacked by an ability and it hits, the Equinja can spend 1 Awesome Point and have the vehicle interpose the attack instead. When the Equinja does this, the ride is knocked immediately unconscious and will require a days rest to get back up. In the case of non-living mounts, the vehicle is broken and will require a days worth of work to fix. The Equinja must be conscious to use this ability. Also, it's fair to note that destroying an Equinja's vehicle removes their ability to use most abilities in the Equinja set and it's unlikely that an Equinja will be carrying more than one ride at any time due to their size.

Nothing Gonna Break My Stride
Ninja 4
Cost: 5 Life or 1 Awesome Point
Nothing stops an Equinja in motion. Nothing. When an Equinja finds a barrier in front of her, there's no choice but to go through it, and the Equinja does so with ease. Whenever an Equinja comes up against a physical wall, the Equinja can use this ability to burst through the wall. If the wall has any damaging properties (like fire), the Equinja still takes it, but anyone following does not. For regular walls, pay 5 life per wall. For indestructible quality walls, pay an awesome point.

You Shall Not Pass!
Ninja 4
Cost: 10
The Equinja is a master of controlling the motions of others. When the Equinja uses this attack ability, she runs circles around the opponent and freezes them in their place. To use this ability, the Equinja must be adjacent to the opponent at some time during their move action and the Equinja must make an opposed agility check against the opponent at a -2. If the opponent fails, the opponent cannot move at all on their next turn.


Level 5:

Wear the Scarf
Ninja 5
Cost: Passive
Style is very important to Equinja. A lot of Ninja don't understand this deep-seeded desire for fashion and appearance, but the Equinja understand it all too well. The best way to take down a foe is by striking them with awe. If the opponent believes that their opponent is more powerful than them, then even the toughest opponent can crumble. The Equinja with this ability has an awesome mannerism, article clothing, or some other stylistic flourish that he loves to use constantly. This makes others believe that the Equinja is more awesome than he may actually be. Equinja with this ability start every session with 2 extra awesome points. These points must be spent in the same session or they are lost.

Be the Ride
Ninja 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Equinja need a ride in order to pull off their best moves. Unfortunately, try as they may, there's just some places where their rides cannot go. A horse is not often welcome indoors and some rides just might be too large to fit indoors. This is when the Equinja's secret weapon comes in handy. Using the best in Equinja and stolen Gunnar technology, the Equinja have managed to create a stealthy suit of wheels and gears similar to a Carpentarr's limbs. When the Equinja uses these devices in just the right way, the Equinja can become a steam-powered vehicle/ninja hybrid for as long as they wish. While in this form, the Equinja acts as a ride for the purposes of all attacks, but does not lose the ability to use non-ride based attacks. Furthermore, the Equinja gains an additional +1 to ride checks on top of any other bonuses and can even carry passengers as per a regular ride (using the Equinja's body score). Finally, while using this ability, the Equinja gains a +4 to his move speed, and all movement altering abilities (rub some cheetah's blood on it, blossom elevator, flight, Nothing Gonna Break My Stride!, etc.) cost 1 less life to use (minimum 1).

Be the Rider
Ninja 5
Cost: 2 Awesome Points
The same technology that allows an Equinja to become their own ride can be applied to the Equinja's allies as well with interesting results. Like Be the Ride, this makes the targeted willing ally turn into a ride with the same properties as that move. However, as the target is not trained with the equipment used, it has some unique side effects. The target this ability is used on is effectively taken out of the scene as they can no longer attack and do not count towards the Kurosawa Corollary. Instead, the Equinja gains a +1 to the highest attribute of the target this ability was used on (in case of ties, target decides which stat to buff), and gains access to one ability the ride knows of the ride's choosing when he is using this ride.

Beat The Clock
Ninja 5
Cost: 1 Awesome Point
Sometimes you have to kick things up a notch. The Equinja knows this better than anyone else. It's not enough to be fast, but to also have control as well. When an Equinja uses this buff, the Equinja gains 2 move actions a turn until the end of combat. This doesn't just double the Equinja's movement though. Moves that take up a move action or the Equinja's full turn only take up one of these move actions. The Equinja can also move, attack, and then move again. Furthermore, any buffs on one move action carry over to the second move action. This allows for some impressive and frightening maneuverability.

Faster Than Light
Ninja 5
Cost: 25
The Equinja and his ride are equals in the eyes of the Equinja. Whether it be a horse, a raptor, a Yatagarasu, or even a humble cart, all rides are the Equinja's comrades in arms. The Equinja brings skill while the ride brings power. Only by working together can the Equinja's true potential be revealed. When the Equinja uses this ability, the Equinja moves at what seems to be impossible speeds and rapidly destroys his foe with hundreds of light speed attacks that combine into one powerful blow. The range of this attack is effectively infinite as long as the Equinja can see the target and the ride can physical fit in the location where the target is. Furthermore, the Equinja makes a ride check to hit (without Born in the Saddle) instead of precision. This attack does 40 damage.


Mach Speed Hurricane
Ninja 5
Cost: 25
The Equinja can move so fast on his mount that he can churn the very winds themselves up into a frenzy. The Equinja activates this attack before moving for the turn. He then uses his movement to attempt to make a circle. If he succeeds, he causes a tornado in that square. The Equinja rolls precision against everyone in the tornado to hit them with debris for 25 damage. Everyone in the Tornado must also make a 15 body check to avoid being thrown 10 squares into the air by the force of the winds. This Tornado lasts until the end of turn and continues to harm/fling anyone that enters it for its duration.

Kaje
2010-07-24, 12:21 AM
Ninja Bikers!

Observer
2010-07-27, 10:11 PM
Overall, some nice stuff. Can't wait to see the Equinja level 5's and the rest of their abilities, along with their fluff.

Makiru
2010-07-28, 01:14 AM
Two quick questions:

1. What all is involved in making a ride check and what situations would it be needed, besides using attacks?

2. Break It In seems confusingly worded. Does the initial "taming" check have to be body vs. body or agility vs. agility, or can it potentially be body vs. agility? All the power says is that the check is whichever is higher for both sides, which makes me think it has to be X vs. X / Y vs. Y and if you have a bad agility and the monster doesn't, too bad for you.

Popertop
2010-08-03, 01:45 AM
wow, to be honest, at first I didn't think I would like your story that much, but really like it a lot. Very clever choice of name for the legendary ninja.

I'm still enthralled by the mystery of the Tanaka, I might use it in my campaign.
;)

Makiru
2010-08-21, 03:58 PM
Late post is late, but we haven't really used the plot regarding the Takara much in the beta test. We only recently really got involved in the mystery of the pirate-ninja war, but I won't go into any further details in that regard.

Also, new Weapon Master power if you haven't seen it yet, under Lv. 3.

Dairun Cates
2010-08-23, 12:22 PM
Also, THIS (http://www.pvnrpg.com) is the reason updates have been slow recently (and yes, DEAR GOD, I will be updating that theme).

Also, we have a horribly fictional self-promotional viral twitter account now. (http://twitter.com/CaptainPegnose) CaptainPegnose got a follower in the first 5 minutes of joining and then promptly lost it with his swarthy charm.

Edit: Blog Posts start tomorrow.

Double Edit: First Article is up. Time to work on the wiki.

Dairun Cates
2010-08-25, 09:27 PM
Here's another hero for you that was posted on the blog as part of Well-Loved Hero Wednesday. There's a second super secret character on the blog for people that want to see more of this. (http://pvnrpg.com)

After seeing the movie, I just HAD to build him. There may be some tweaking that needs to be done, but I'm fairly satisfied with it.

I'll get back on the Equinja later in the week.

Scott Pilgrim
http://pvnrpg.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/scott_pilgrim-300x203.jpg
Side: Ninja
Faction: Evadinja
Age: 23
Points: 120

Life: 100
Reaction: 7

Body 2
Agility 8
Precision 4
Will 6

Abilities:
Level 1:
Quickstep (Cost 1): Move 1 square for free when an attack misses you.
Winding Arc Punch (Cost 1): Do your agility score or 5 damage (whichever is higher).
What Goes Around… (Cost 1): Gain +1 to hit target that hit you this turn.

Level 2:
Agile Rejuvination (Passive): +2 Life when dodging an attack
Rubber Sole (Cost 1): Double jump distance
Ninjas Don’t Get Hit! (Cost 6): Gain +2 dodge for the turn.
Counter Blow (Cost 3): Counter an attack against yourself for 15 damage.
Read the Foe (Passive): Gain +2 against all rolls on a target if you can guess their next move, -1 to all rolls if not.

Level 3:
The High G (Cost 7): -2 to opposed will. All opponents takes 10 damage that damage reduction cannot reduce.
Second Wind (Passive): Gain back 20 life once a day.

Level 4:
Infinite Reflexes (Cost 4): +6 dodges until end of turn but cannot do any other action.
Storm of Counters (Cost 8): Counterattack all missed attacks at you for 10 damage for the turn.

Level 5:
Ebb and Flow (Cost 15): Deal double the damage back of an attack that misses you.
Pasison Rising (Passive): +20 Max Life
Raging Digit (Cost 40): 20 damage + 5*Will of Rock element.

Flaws:
Reckless (2)
Focused Attribute (2): Will, Charisma

Description: Scott Pilgrim, despite all his Shonen antics and super-powered punches is actually a well-versed Evadinja. In his fights, he uses clever counter attacks and his speed to take down his opponents. Of course, when that fails, he pulls out the trickery with his decently high Will score. While he has trouble making friends, he’s quite the accomplished trickster and manipulator. His low body reflects his general lack of ability to take a hit, but his will and second wind always let’s him get up.

Makiru
2010-09-11, 02:14 PM
Giving the topic a well-intentioned bump. Equinja are on the way as I write this.

TechnOkami
2010-09-11, 03:34 PM
To this I say: Vikings, eat pirates and s*** ninjas.

Fingerlessfist
2010-09-12, 12:12 AM
loving this thread so far, even though i'm a pirate person myself.

Kiroth6
2010-09-12, 06:26 PM
sure it's ninjas, pirates can't fly
ninjas FTW!!!!

I'm sure the airship Gunnars would disagree.

Observer
2010-09-14, 11:24 PM
I'm sure the airship Gunnars would disagree.

Everything flies when Gunnars are around. The real issue there is whether the air time is intentional or not, and how much gunpowder got involved along the way. Any stories of ninjas flying are probably due to a gunnar shooting them with (or out of) something. Or a flying item that all sides can have access to.

That is, of course, assuming some jerk of an equinja isn't riding a yatagarasu or other flying ride (such as hi-jacked airships, or any of the other possible shenanigans-ridden gunnar inventions).

Also: Equinja. So beautiful. So situational.

Dairun Cates
2010-09-15, 12:45 AM
Equinja are done for now. I'll probably be doing a full ability overhaul after the Burglars (the next pirate faction). Overall, they're a nice middle point between the damaging Ninja factions and the skill-based Ninja factions. Their biggest advantage is probably their ability to move party members at super fast speeds.

Also, who doesn't love riding a teleporting death T-rex that can whip up tornadoes?

EDIT: By the way, for anyone new here, there's more setting stuff and a few extra abilities on the website and blog linked in my signature. Visit it if you enjoy what I've posted here.

Makiru
2010-09-15, 08:40 PM
Looking at Beat the Clock, I'm reminded of one time when you said that the Lvl.5 abilities cross faction had some scary combinations that didn't matter since the moves would never be used together. I imagine you know what I'm getting at: who wants to take >700 damage in one hit?

Otherwise, lovely. I'll probably be eating my words when they're kicking my butt in the next session, but, oh well.

Kiroth6
2010-09-17, 11:26 AM
I'm really loving the recent update on pvnrpg, especially the advise to GMs. Given our group's habit of destroying ships, its a good idea to warn gms about the risks. It's really nice to know what to look out and what to potentially house rule for in allowing your players over the top moves. It still allows GMs the option to be creative in undertaking the challenge of dealing with equinja. I wish I had this sort of advice when I was trying to gm Exalted.

Observer
2010-09-19, 12:49 PM
Given our group's habit of destroying ships, its a good idea to warn gms about the risks.

Hey, ship-destruction has saved us a few times. Including that time that a blind opponent fell into the hole caused by SOMEONE missing on a Rolling Thunder attempt.

Makiru
2010-09-19, 03:37 PM
Hey, ship-destruction has saved us a few times. Including that time that a blind opponent fell into the hole caused by SOMEONE missing on a Rolling Thunder attempt.

I want to see you try performing an orbital drop into a cloud of darkness and actually hit the human sized target that is built around dodging. It isn't that easy, you know.

Morph Bark
2010-09-19, 04:15 PM
Considering it is Talk Like A Pirate Day: what holidays will this world have?

Dairun Cates
2010-09-19, 09:16 PM
Considering it is Talk Like A Pirate Day: what holidays will this world have?

Well, Captain Pegnose (http://twitter.com/CaptainPegnose) has mostly been complaining for most of the day, but I have done a few things here and there for Talk Like a Pirate Day.

As for holidays, they're mostly local festivals and celebrations for certain things. Ale festivals are a dime a dozen in Pirate towns. Everyone celebrates their home town's brew at some point. There's also frequent celebrations for major victories and the such. Ninja towns tend to celebrate a little less loudly and tend to have more ceremonies and days of remembrance. Holidays for respecting the Dead and such. Wanderer towns fits anywhere and everywhere inbetween.

As for specific national or worldwide holidays, I haven't considered it as much. It's a bit hard to coordinate those things in a world where the best method of delivering messages is a REALLY fast ninjas on a horse. Still, I wouldn't doubt that some haven't occurred somewhere.

Siosilvar
2010-09-19, 09:52 PM
As for specific national or worldwide holidays, I haven't considered it as much. It's a bit hard to coordinate those things in a world where the best method of delivering messages is a REALLY fast ninjas on a horse. Still, I wouldn't doubt that some haven't occurred somewhere.

If the ninja is faster than the horse, what then?

...

Do you get ninjas running across the backs of a line of galloping horses?

Dairun Cates
2010-09-19, 10:47 PM
If the ninja is faster than the horse, what then?

...

Do you get ninjas running across the backs of a line of galloping horses?

Read the entry on Equinjas. Especially, Ninja Express (one of the abilities). Nuff' said.

Kiroth6
2010-09-20, 10:30 AM
If the ninja is faster than the horse, what then?

...

Do you get ninjas running across the backs of a line of galloping horses?

The summary on the equinjas also says that the rider gives a bonus to the mount. So presumably the mount becomes faster due to the influence of the rider. As Dairun noted, Ninja Express (Level 2) will definitely allow you to run across the backs of a line of galloping horses.

Dairun Cates
2010-09-20, 03:19 PM
The summary on the equinjas also says that the rider gives a bonus to the mount. So presumably the mount becomes faster due to the influence of the rider. As Dairun noted, Ninja Express (Level 2) will definitely allow you to run across the backs of a line of galloping horses.

Actually, it's specifically Hit the Nitro that allows you to gain those abilities on a mount, but seeing as the majority of your attacks REQUIRE a mount, you'd be silly not to take it.

Maxios
2010-09-20, 08:05 PM
Very good system. Perhaps you could write a sample adventure, or something for PvP play.

Dairun Cates
2010-09-21, 11:08 AM
Very good system. Perhaps you could write a sample adventure, or something for PvP play.

There's a few adventure seeds on the website that aren't listed here, but no full campaigns. I could definitely consider doing a full adventure at some point though.

Not sure what you want for a PvP thing though. Ie. I'm not sure what you'd want me to add other than you make a couple of teams of characters, get a GM for awesome point handing out (or start at a total if you want to forgo the GM), and pound on each other. It's pretty simple like that.

Observer
2010-09-22, 02:03 AM
Yep. PvP is basically what you get from most encounters anyway. A good portion of the beta campaign's encounters were against groups of NPCs statted using the standard character rules listed here. Monsters add for some fun flavor to the world, but your biggest threat will probably end up being other pirates, wanderers, and ninja.

Also, beware of Equinja trolling. They're good at it.

Dairun Cates
2010-09-23, 02:04 AM
Yep. PvP is basically what you get from most encounters anyway. A good portion of the beta campaign's encounters were against groups of NPCs statted using the standard character rules listed here. Monsters add for some fun flavor to the world, but your biggest threat will probably end up being other pirates, wanderers, and ninja.

Also, beware of Equinja trolling. They're good at it.

This is actually very true, but I could still put something up in the future to give GMs and players some basic team building tactics to avoid letting some characters and villains get steamrolled. There's actually somewhat of a fine art to it. Sending 1 villain against 6 players, even with the Kurosawa corollary, isn't going to go well most of the time unless you know how to counter a lot of tactics without negating them entirely.

Also, Well-Loved Hero Wednesday is up on pvnrpg.com (2 hours late, I know), but I decided to do Sokka from Avatar this week. Check it out if you like Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Kiroth6
2010-10-11, 10:15 PM
Well if you want a sample forum adventure, he has one in the MSPaint forums. (http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread.php?32251-Pirates-vs.-Ninjas-RPG-The-Forum-Adventure)

I could also tell you some stories about some of our beta testing adventures but I'm not sure if that's what your asking for.

Maxios
2010-10-20, 02:31 PM
"casts ressurect thread"

Best test adventure info would be good too.

Dairun Cates
2010-10-20, 07:45 PM
"casts ressurect thread"

Best test adventure info would be good too.

I'm a bit confused. Do you just want stories from what's happened in the beta test or just some of the interesting balancing details and strategies that emerged from it?

Maxios
2010-10-22, 04:14 PM
Some possibile stories and info would be helpfl. Thanks

Observer
2010-10-25, 12:34 AM
Some possibile stories and info would be helpfl. Thanks

I have a few to share. What kind of stories would you like to hear? Insane shenanigans? Times when everything went poorly for us but still ended up awesome? Low point parties? Medium-point parties? High point parties? Nearing-the-threshold-of-epic parties?

We've had quite a few memorable moments in the nearly a year that this thing has been in Beta tests, so I'll need some point to open fire with.

Kiroth6
2010-10-25, 01:06 AM
We have two sets of characters in our beta testing group. Since PvN allows characters to cross class pretty easily, I'll list our groups names, main factions and a brief description of our play style.

The PCs


Frederick Forge: Craftsman. Gentleman Craftsman of Words and Maker of the Reading Railroad, an indestructible steam train/car that serves as his Craftsman's forge and gets the party from place to place. Party Tank and alternative damage dealer.

Dr. Raptorstrike: Dr. Inja. Sardonic Doctor of many talents. Alternatively the party healer and buffer, glass cannon or secondary tank depending on the circumstance.

Tallahassee Rose: Lucky: A dodgy, brawling, adrenaline junkie gypsy.

******** Ned:Gunnarr: An ill-tempered gun-toting pirate who often sets both friends and enemies on fire with explosions and wide swaths of gunfire.

So we were tracking down this guy called the Essential Alchemist who was acting as an arms dealer in the area and causing a lot of trouble.
We had a lead to a town called Killfrost and had a choice to take a safer but longer path or a ridiculously dangerous short cut. Tallahassee, being an adrenaline junkie, insisted that the party take the ridiculously dangerous path.

Not long into the trip, the train has to stop because of a fallen tree on the road. Thinking something is up, the party sends out Tallahassee to check things out. She makes the precision check and warns the party just before the monsters attack. Eight raptors pop out of the woodwork and attack the party. We scribble our actions on our cards, roll our reactions and the battle gets underway.

Maxios
2010-10-25, 11:18 AM
Observer: Any story would be helpful

Kiroth: Thanks! That's a good story!

Observer
2010-10-25, 09:40 PM
Well, I might as well start this off by naming a character and rattling off the stories they have brought. So, let's start with the low point party, since Kiroth6 has already named the high-point party. (By the way, I play Raptor Strike in that group. A Dr. Inja / Shoninja. More on him later.)

When you talk about our lower point party, there are two names that are bound to appear. So, to start off my stories, I will say a few things about the face of the low point party. The Rokinja whose name and attitude are cannot be done justice in a text format such as this. I mean the One, the Only (thank God), the Awesome

Indigar VanSplosion!

Why did I do that?

Anyway, Indigar is your standard rock star. A list of addiction flaws a mile long, inversely proportional to the guy's precision score. The guy has a following, though, and not even Sirens have managed to resist his charms (thanks to freak dice rolls). We've even run into a fangirl problem. Specifically, one very obsessed fan-girl named "Thousand Cuts" who thinks the party's Wandering Minstrel is going out with the target of her, well, obsession.

The low-point party's standard tactic is, when they want to try being smart, to load Indigar with enough offensive teamwork buffs to rip out a decent portion of someone's life, and then just launch him into a Power Slide that, as time has gone on, has been combined with things such as Liquid Thunder and Pose And Explode, as well as the ability that he just acquired the level 6 version of: "God of Rock".

While going on the road to KillFrost, the safer route compared to the one Tallahassee took the high points on, the party encountered a T-Rex. In a moment that let this Rokinja shine, VanSplosion jumped onto the monster's back and started performing the Final Countdown. When buffed by the rest of the party, it wasn't much of an issue for him to keep dodging and dealing exponential damage.

This character has taught us beta testers a few things. 1: Power Chord is a deadly ability, and if a Rokinja manages to hit you with it you might as well give up on avoiding damage from the guy. 2: Even a character as awesome as this may end up having trouble if the player is having a hard time coming up with stunts. 3: Nothing stops Indigar from trying to pursue the Siren that got away.

Seriously. Its like some kind of fanfiction of Moby **** where Ahab never lost his leg, was a rock star instead, and the author is trying to, forgive the pun, ship him with the Siren that attacked his ship with a whale.

...Probably should have known that book's title would get filtered.

Maxios
2010-10-25, 09:43 PM
Awesome. That's a pretty good story!

Kiroth6
2010-10-25, 11:04 PM
Continuation of previous post.

Sorry I didn't finish this

Suprise! Raptors Attack

Six raptors attack Tallahassee and two attack Ned with deadly dinosaur hit coordination. Kurosawa corollary puts them at a -1. Tallahassee dodges most of the attacks but the ones that take off a quarter of her life. Ned starts shooting but gets pretty mauled. This pisses Ned off so he decides to use Black Powder Leap to get away and blows up the raptors around him. The raptors and Tallahassee. This draws off most of the raptors who maul Ned into unconsciousness.

Raptor Strike comes up with a quick plan to boost the party and creates a some clones with Me and My Shadow. While Forge is hurling damaging insults at the raptors, the clones run out suicidally, heal Ned and Tallahassee and burn themselves out before the turn is up. Ned gets up, flips the raptors the bird and knocks himself out with another Black Powder leap. Two raptors survive and run into the cart to attack Forge and Raptor Strike.

Raptor Strike exits out the window and Forge activates Infinite Sword Jobs trapping the remaining raptors and essentially ending the fight.

And that's how we got a brand new pair of raptor pets.

Makiru
2010-10-25, 11:59 PM
I didn't join the beta test until about halfway through, which would probably be why my characters weren't put in the list. I'll just put them down as a general idea and let the others handle the storytelling (my memory isn't always the best for these sort of things). I've mostly just been playing the factions that had been new at the time to help Dariun find any kinks.

Low-Point:
Cannonball Carl: Drunkarrd who specializes in Rollin' Thunder. Had both shins chopped off for learning Rub Some Cheetah's Blood On It through very blatant theft and replaced them with pegs. Claims to fame include being as dense as a brick, breaking ships with his face and subsequently forgetting how to do so much damage in one hit (Rollin' Thunder got a damage cap due to me), being easily insulted into unconsciousness, throwing tanks at people, outrunning a motorcycle, and being the only person in his group that doesn't have an alcohol addiction.

High-Point:
One With Nothing: Feykinja infiltrator. So good at creating false identities, he actually forgot his real one (until recently). Backstory-wise, he'd actually been tailing the group for most of the adventure in disguise, including Frederick Forge's assistant, Kyle Crucible. He'd been hired out to kidnap Tallahassee, and he spends months ingratiating himself with the target. Naturally, another Feykinja kidnaps her before he makes his move and he joins the group to get her back and get revenge on his employer, the head of the Gambler's guild. Notable feats include fighting said guild head on two different occasions in the OWN Zone (and getting himself knocked well below -100 life both times), trolling people to such an extent that ****head Ned actually regarded him as a friend, and mind-controlling the Weasel King to punch its summoner...twice.

Maxios
2010-10-26, 04:50 PM
Alright. Thanks :smallbiggrin:
These are some good stories

Observer
2010-10-26, 11:25 PM
Dammit, Makiru, I was going to get to Carl!

Anyway, next up on the list of characters from the beta is a person who my own character in the low point party firmly believes is the most idiotic creature ever created. This... THING represents the greatest terror that ninjas have presented to what little sanity the world has left. I speak, as my fellow testers will have guessed by now, of the man-child known as...

DEAREST FRIEND

Ever thought what the combined stupidity of every shonen action hero ever would be like? This is it. He has turned team fights into free-for-alls, is responsible for the Level 5 "Dearest Friends", and is definitive proof that, no matter how bad the character's stats may seem, good roleplaying can and normally will make the character a force to be reckoned with.

For the basic crunch, this little monster is a Shoninja/Lucky that just tends to out-tank most opposition thanks to a high will score and both Lucky abilities and lucky dice rolls. His favored attacks, when he's not distracted from combat by making snow men, have been "Strike the Forbidden Zone" and "Justice Barrage", normally going for the groin-kick first. This counters his main motivation for combat, which is that he fights people because if he wins that means they are his friend, right?

He's also the party's main user of "Bull's Red Cape", which capitalizes on the character's naturally annoying qualities.

Now that you know a bit more about him, here's a few of his accomplishments. (You'll see what I meant about the lucky rolls thing) In no particular order, he has: Tried to sneak into a guarded office while yelling "SNEAK SNEAK SNEAK" and succeeded, Get kidnapped then escape the kidnapper when said kidnapper threw him out of a window while attempting interrogation, establish a rivalry with the local paper boy named Timmy, and did I mention that at least half of his uses of Dearest Friends has been so that he can fight what he summons or team up with it against everyone including his own teammates.

He's also managed to come to the conclusion that the lucky known as "Black Cat" must be him from the future. "Black Cat" has also come to believe this when the two met and came up with this idea. Everyone else in the party has figured out that this is just those two being total idiots. There has also been a rumor that he is the long lost son of a particular Drunkarrd that I will no doubt summarize in a later post. Or Kiroth6 can do it, since that Drunkarrd is her character after all.