Friday, April 1, 2022

TOTAL PARTY KILL THE RPG

This summer Bedrock Games releases its most daring and ambitious roleplaying game yet: Total Party Kill. 

No Time for Stories When you're Dead!

In Total Party Kill the GM gains experience and levels up, as players run for their lives. The gamemaster advances by sending his armies of monsters, NPCs, traps and world ending relics against the player characters. His goal is to slaughter them to the last. Each PC he kills earns the GM Experience and increases the power at his fingertips. In this world, the dungeon comes to you!

Player characters do not advance in level or power in Total Party Kill, but they have one slender, ray of hope: become the GM. The first player to survive 10 sessions, gets to be the next Gamemaster, casting the prior GM back into the hell pit of player characters. And if more than one PC should make it to 10 sessions alive, the GM seat is determined by death match! 

Comes complete with: 

-Loaded dice 

-Complete progression tables for the GM, from newb to that than which nothing greater can be conceived 

-A rich setting, replete with detailed locations and fully fleshed out NPCs that the players will be too dead to explore 

-The hobby's first universal game system made entirely from all the most popular RPGs with the serial numbers filed off: compatible with EVERYTHING! 

-Roaming dungeon rules! 

-Death and dying rules, with an entire Five Stages of Grief mechanic  

-Unified Field Theory   

-Not one, but two, dirge composition tool-kits 

-Two complete adventures: "Big Foot is Angry Kills Everyone!" and "The Entire Party Gets Eaten by a Dragon!"

-More exclamation marks than a silent film!  

-Even more exclamation marks!!!!!  

The Perfect System  

The system for Total Party Kill has been gruelingly playtested by the hobby's 13 most ruthless  GMs. We hired a team of over 100 mathematicians, scientists and engineers to serve as design consultants. Our outer space rules were reviewed by 8 astronauts from NASA. Doctors, nurses, bus drivers, day care providers, deep cover CIA operatives and big foot were all paid to provide valuable insight so we could make the most authentic and believable RPG imagined. 

The result was a system so perfect it shattered our understanding of physics (and cryptozoology). Each rule was painstakingly crafted to grant the GM as much power as possible that he might veto any unforeseen player successes. In order to survive, the player's choices and dice rolls must be unambiguously decisive. 

Total Party Kill was also skillfully worded to maximize marketing potential. We put SEO first and foremost. From book to webpage this is a game designed for blatant self promotion and profit. The index is a massive list of search engine key words and the foreword takes pains to thank all of the most prominent RPG influencers in the hobby. Our sidebars are all inflammatory remarks meant to go viral.  

And it has something for everyone. Whether you like rules light, rules heavy, old-school, new school, narrative mechanics, pure dungeon crawls, hyper-realistic play, cinematic genre emulation, functional systems, linear railroads, sandboxes, broken systems, hex crawls, settings that appeal to your particular religious and political views or settings that attack those views relentlessly, TPK is your game in every situation. We got you covered! 

And it is flame resistant too! There are lines of text in the rules to support arguments for any playstyle or RPG worldview, so no matter what gaming perspective you bring, the rules support your position, whatever that position is, in any flame war you choose to engage in on gaming forums. This game puts an end to RPG forum butt-hurt once and for all. We've even included a handy list of topics to get those flame wars started! 

Coming this summer 2022. We broke reality to make you a better game!



Monday, March 7, 2022

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK: FIRST IMPRESSION

I finally had a chance to watch The Many Saints of Newark. Based on what I heard, my expectations were low, but it was a pleasant surprise. I am sure I will need to watch it many more times to really settle on an opinion about it. On the first viewing, I quite enjoyed it. I found it more cohesive than I had heard. I also liked some of the unexpected turns, and enjoyed the new characters they introduced. While the early announcements, posters and trailers were a little misleading (making it seem that Tony Soprano was more central), I think it was a good choice to make him an important side character rather than center the film on him (and it will make an sequel where he does take center stage feel more believable (because we've had a solid introduction to young Tony). 

Overall I thought they did a much better job than I had anticipated. This is the kind of movie that could have easily failed on multiple levels (especially being a television show brought to the big screen). But I think they made a lot of good choices. 

I had a lot more thoughts about it (it took me nearly 40 minutes to express them all in the podcast below). Listen to find out what I thought of the movie. Hopefully in the coming days or weeks I will watch it again and give more thoughts. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

STRANGE NEW ENGLAND RPG

For the past several months I have been working on a variation of Strange Tales of Songling set in New England. It will use the same basic system (and there should be cross-compatibility between the two games) but offer a very different type of setting. It draws on a broad range of influences, local paranormal accounts and history, psychological horror, religious horror and local legends. 

It is also influenced by a ton of classic horror movies. There is always a lot of horror in my other RPGs and that is because I mainly GM'd horror campaigns and was a huge horror fanatic growing up. That was one of the reasons I started the horror express discussions on the podcast (hopefully we will start doing those again soon). This will be influenced by a range of movies, everything from the Exorcist and the Howling to Jacob's Ladder and Carnival of Lost Souls. And there is a lot of old silent horror movie influence as well. Nosferatu was one of the fist horror movies I saw as a kid, and I like movies like the Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera. I think the one common thread of the film influences is they are for the most part, films made prior to 2000. I am not as interested in recent horror movies and that is pretty clear I think in the setting material (nothing wrong with more recent movies, there are some I like, I just have less interest in new films in general).  

There is also an X-Files and cryptic element to the setting (a lot of it is structured around local anomaly and paranormal accounts: things like the Dover Demon, the Bridgewater Triangle and the story of Doc Benton). I like to read books about weird local accounts and urban legends, so a lot of that is going to be in here. 

Like Strange Tales, Strange New England has four paths (tailored to the setting), but it takes a slightly different approach to magic. Presently the paths are: Exorcist, Spirit Medium, Charlatan and Combatant (will get more into those in future posts). It also includes a corruption mechanic similar to powers checks from the old Ravenloft line (it is influenced a lot by Ravenloft but also by the game The Esoterrorists, and the Orrorsh material for TORG). The campaign structure is similar to Strange Tales of Songling, with an adventure for each level, but it is more a blend of sandbox and monster of the week: where the players get to pick what they want to investigate that adventure. 

I have been play testing since October as I develop the setting and the mechanics. There are some key concepts I am trying to hash out and refine (and I will talk more about those As the weeks and months unfold after they crystalize more). 

In terms of tone, this is a genuine horror game, where the stakes are pretty high (I think about as high as you can make them). But it is a nice blend because I think one of the reasons people sometimes have difficulty with horror in RPGs is they feel the need to always hit that horror note. My approach is, when you can, definitely go for that, but you also need to allow for fun and other moods (both for contrast but also to allow for the horror t even work). This is a topic I will hopefully be blogging more about as well. 

There isn't any concrete timeline on this one. I have other projects working their way through the pipeline before this one comes out. But my plan is to take a slow-brew development approach to this one like I have for the past several projects. 

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

DIRTY HARRY CONVERSATIONS

I hope to have more updates on Sons of Lady 87 and to start posting the remaining chapters of Profound Masters of Ogre Gate soon (and post some thoughts in general in the near future). Right now I am busy editing so want to post some stuff we've been doing on the podcast. 

Adam and I talked about Dirty Harry movies the past couple of months (these are the first four---will add The Dead Pool to this post when we get to that one). I love the  Dirty Harry movies. The first one remains a truly great film: well crafted and stunning to this day. For me the others are fun movies (all vary in degree of how well they are made but they all are films I enjoy watching). These were always on TV when I was a kid so they were something most people were familiar with. Recently I did a re-watch over the summer in order of release date and that led to my conversation with Adam. 

Listen to the episodes below to hear our opinions on each entry in the series: 


Sunday, January 30, 2022

LADY 87 CAMPAIGN BOOK

 Folks may have noticed I have been on something of a break here. I should be back with the remainder of the Profound Masters posts followed by news of a new game I am working on. But in the mean time I wanted to share the cover art of our the Lady 87 campaign book. I started work on this in 2017 I believe (basically been running that as my chief campaign from then to very recently). We are just working on the final edits, and hope to be getting into layout soon. This impressive cover was done by Jackie Musto, and captures a vibe somewhere between The Crippled Avengers and the Killer Constable. For those who haven't seen my posts on it, the Lady 87 campaign book is a wuxia campaign set in the prefecture of Fan Xu, within the criminal shadow empire of Lady 87. The players get to be the bad guys in this one: 



Saturday, January 22, 2022

HAIL TO THE KING

When I first got into heavy metal, it was roughly 1989-90, which means I was coming in at the tail end of 80s  metal and about to see a massive shift in the musical culture within the next couple of years. One of the first bands I discovered on my own was King Diamond. Back then there were catalogs put out by record companies where you could sign up to get tapes every month, and in one of those catalogs I saw an ad for King Diamond's The Eye. I knew nothing about the band or the man, but it described The Eye as King Diamond's masterpiece, with a picture of him in full make-up. And something about the look, the album cover and the word 'masterpiece' stuck in my brain. 

I decided to buy a King Diamond album, but the only one I found at the record store was something called Conspiracy. For those who don't know, Conspiracy is a follow-up to their previous album Them, and it is a sequel. King Diamond albums each tell a horror story. And so this was like coming into a horror franchise on the second film. But the story was, at least in my opinion, gripping and well-constructed enough (blending music and story in a concept album is not easy), that it made me want to learn more. And by the two-minute mark of Conspiracy, I was absolutely hooked on King Diamond. 

You can hear the full album HERE. And this is the point that sold me on King Diamond. That had everything I wanted in my entertainment at the time. 

If you've never listened to King Diamond (and from here on out I will speak of King Diamond as a person, rather than collective band, simply because his persona is so central to it), or if you've only heard snippets of his screeching falsetto, the first thing to understand, is he is not for everyone. King Diamond is unique, and you either get King Diamond and like what he does, or you just can't. I have never once converted anyone to King Diamond. They always liked him from the beginning or they detested him and never changed his mind. My hope is to explain why I think King Diamond (and by extension Merciful Fate) is deserving of acclaim in the metal world. I should state, I am more of an old school King Diamond fan. I listen to the newer records too, but I think my metal brain stopped developing around 1996, and to me the period I am most interested in is from Fatal Portrait to The Spider's Lullaby. 

It is impossible to talk about King Diamond without also talking about Merciful Fate, and it is sometimes hard to draw a distinction between the two projects because King Diamond himself is such a force in both. For me, the key distinction is largely in the guitar work (Andy LaRocque's playing really gives King Diamond, the band, a distinct sound). Overall there is more flourish and precision in King Diamond on the guitar front, but I love the guitar sound of Merciful Fate. The riffs are both outstanding and were more attainable for me as a player than trying to emulate LaRocque (who always struck me as more virtuoso and neoclassical in style). But even on the guitar front, you still had Michael Denner from Merciful Fate on the first couple of King Diamond albums. The other big distinction is by the time of Abigail, King Diamond albums tell a complete story (a portion of Fatal Portrait tells a story, but the whole album doesn't). Merciful Fate I think is also a bit more raw, slightly more aggressive. There are other differences as well. But the point is it is a somewhat confusing distinction and one I found dizzying when I learned that King Diamond had been in another band. 

Before I even knew that Merciful Fate was a thing, I went through King Diamond's catalog to that point. I started with Abigail, because someone had told me, when they learned I liked Conspiracy, that it was considered on of his best albums. I followed with Them and The Eye. The Eye, I think, has generally been on of his more low regarded albums from that era but I had a fondness for it. 

I discovered Merciful Fate after the compilation album A Dangerous Meeting was released in 1992. This combined some of the greatest hits of Merciful Fate and King Diamond....which confused me even more. I wasn't always clear if I was hearing Merciful Fate or if it was a King Diamond song I didn't know (and I wasn't much of a sleeve reader either at the time, I just listened to the music). But this eventually led me to albums like Don't Break the Oath, Melissa and In the Shadows (the latter was something of a re-union album that came out in 1993, and quite a good one in my opinion). 

One thing I immediately noticed when I shared King Diamond with other people, was the reactions to his music were always strong. If I shared the song Abigail with folks, some were into it right from those opening riffs (in my opinion this song has one of the best riffs in metal ever written). Others would chuckle, or wince. And it comes down to the fundamental sound of King Diamond. Which I will try to explain. 

King Diamond isn't just a metal singer, he is a performer, an actor, a storyteller. Listening to King Diamond you will get a range of tones, spanning countless horror movies, everything from the old Hammer Films to stuff like the Shining and Night of the Demons, or even Gremlins. He is a horror singer for horror fans. That includes the transgressive stuff that shocks and revolts parents, but also includes the winking humor and powerful atmospherics. It isn't just one note or one shade of gray. There is a variety in terms of the musical content and in terms of the voices King Diamond employs. And those voices, you either find them endearing or grating. I don't think there is a lot of in between. This is one of the chief things I loved about Kind Diamond when I first heard conspiracy: it scared exactly the way Evil Dead II scared me. Now that movie is frightening and funny in equal measure and the humor almost makes it more scary. To me, that is King Diamond, he uses doses of humor, and other tones, to help set up the horror. And he has a very good command of the horror genre as a lyricist. 

He also uses very different vocal techniques and voices. Going from high pitched falsetto, to gurgles and goblins voices to sounding like a demon from the pit of hell. Like everything else in the music there is a range. There are also distant sounds, almost like characters, that you come to understand are in his tool box. And when he uses them, you know what he is trying to convey by them. 

The other thing that makes King Diamond work for me, is his warm sense of melody. King Diamond writes stunning melodies, that have a classic feel to them (and classic here means very pre-metal). Some of his choruses' almost remind me of 50s and 60s pop and rock music. But that is juxtaposed against more harsh and dissonant moments. 

And again I think this reflects the tone variety he uses in his voice. It is that movement from harsh, to sweet, from funny to scary, that makes it all come together for me. I think it is a highly cinematic and charismatic presentation. And there is thought behind it. It doesn't feel random. 

I think that last part is also important. With King Diamond, I felt like he took each album very seriously and he took his performance, very seriously. It may sound silly at times, but if you pay attention to what he is doing, there are very few people who can reliably sing the way he does, in the many voices he does. 

The final thing that I always loved about King Diamond was the enthusiasm. It felt like total comithtemnt to the project. And the music is fun. Don't get me wrong, it is often written in minor keys, it is dark, but you always have a sense King Diamond is thoroughly enjoying himself. He reminds me of great horror movie villain actors like Vincent Price. You can really see in this in a song like Halloween or No Presents for Christmas (very few metal acts have given us great holiday anthems like King Diamond). 





Monday, December 6, 2021

PROFOUND MASTERS OF OGRE GATE: NEW TECHNIQUES BOTH EVIL AND PROFOUND

This is part of an ongoing blog series where I post material from the Profound Masters of Ogre Gate document. Here I will be posting a new ritual, new profound techniques and new Evil Kung Fu. Some material in this section may appear in other books (I tried to remove any that made their way into supplements or modules): when this is the case, the text in the official release is usually more up-to-date and accurate. You can see the first entry for this series HERE

Many techniques migrated from this document to the Lady Eighty Seven book because it includes key characters who were going to be in the Profound Master's Book. There will be about 30 new profound techniques in the Lady Eighty Seven book in total. 

 

NEW RITUAL

 

Create Paper Talisman of Demon Commanding (TN 7): This creates a fu scroll that can be pinned to a demon, spirit or similar creature to control it. To make one, simply render the characters for control onto a narrow strip of paper. The talisman can then be pinned on a creature with a successful Arm Strike roll. Then roll 3d10 against the Creatures resolve. On a Success it falls under the command of the person who pinned it (effect remains until scroll is removed). On a Failure understands the user’s intent and acts accordingly. 

 

NEW PROFOUND TECHNIQUES 

 

BLADES OF GRASS

Skill: Survival (Any Relevant) against Evade

Type: Normal 

Qi: 9

 

You kneel and touch the grass with your finger tips, sending a ripple that causes them to sprout violently into spearing blades. 

 

Roll Survival Skill against the Evade of all in the affected area. On a Success, everyone caught in the effected area takes 2d10 Open Damage plus 2 Extra Wounds. This affects an area 1,000 feet per Qi level. 


CHANGE

Skill: Endurance against TN 7

Type: Normal

Qi: 12

 

You transform into another shape, be it creature, object or spirit. 

 

Make an Endurance Roll against TN 7. On a success you transform into the desired shape. 

 

This technique can be taken multiple times. Each time you may select and customize one new shape. All changes must meet with GM approval but can be virtually anything, allowing characters to alter their size, form, etc. 

 

DEVASTATING STRIKE OF THUNDERING CRANE

Skill: Arm Strike

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

Your draw back and wind up a powerful strike causing your right fist to become a weapon of heaven, a force of nature that plows through foe’s defenses and knocks them senseless. 

 

Make an Arm Strike Roll against Parry. On a success you do 8d10 Open Damage (ignore capping limits) and the target must make an Endurance Roll (TN 7) or be knocked out instantly for 2 rounds. 

 

In order to successfully counter Devastating Strike of the Thundering Crane, targets must succeed twice on their roll. Anyone who fails to counter in this way takes additional damage equal to half their Max Wounds. 

 

Using this technique throws you off balance, imposing a -4 to your Parry for 1 full round. This knock-out effect only works on targets one or more Qi rank lower than you. 

 

FIRES OF THE MERCIFUL HEART

Skill: Meditation against Resolve

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

You enter a brief state of meditation with your right arm extended high and cause peoples’ hearts to brim with heat until their body catches fire. However the flames are tempered by the compassion of Hen-Shi, leading to a restful healing state rather than death. 

 

Make a Meditation Skill Roll against the Resolve of up to 20 targets within a 300 foot area. On a success they each take 5d10 fire damage plus 2 Extra wounds. On a Total Success they take 5d10 plus 3 Extra wounds. Anyone incapacitated by the damage, does not begin to die. Instead they fall asleep, healing 1 wound every minute and awaken an hour later with a sense of calm and peace. 

 

THE FURIOUS FOOT OF ZHAN

Skill: Leg Strike against Parry

Type: Normal

Qi: 13

 

You leap into the air and bring your heel high. It lights with blazing light and strikes your foes like a crashing star, dragging you behind for the ride. 

 

Make a Leg Strike against up to 30 Targets. On a success you smash into them with your heel, delivering normal leg striking damage plus 5 Extra wounds. Alternatively, you can focus this technique on a single target for normal damage plus 13 Extra Wounds. 

 

THE GENTLE WHISPER OF THE BIAN

Skill: Heavy Melee

Type: Normal 

Qi: 7

 

You tap your Bian against a hard surface, causing it to hum. The sound builds and makes your next attack with the weapon devastating. 

 

Make a Heavy Melee roll against any hard surface TN 6 (adjusted if the surface is in motion or difficult to strike). On a success the Bian hums and for the next two rounds anyone it hits takes 12 Extra Wounds and experiences debilitating pain (Endurance Roll TN 6 to not suffer a -1d10 Skill penalty each round for two rounds). 

 

IRON HEARTED SEAL 

Skill: Endurance against Resolve

Type: Normal

Qi: 20

 

You concentrate with your body and mind, flowing Qi energy from your body to create a force field around a person or group of people, trapping them with a seal imbued with your life energy. 

 

Roll Endurance against the Resolve of your targets. If you keep them in place for twenty minutes and succeed, they are trapped by the force field for a period of time determined by the seal. The strength of the seal is set by your life energy. For every point of Hardiness you imbue into the seal, it traps them for 1 decade. This Hardiness is restored to your when the seal is broken. 

 

This takes twenty minutes to perform. 

 

IRON HEART REVERSAL

Skill: Endurance against attack roll

Type: Counter

Qi: 12

 

When someone strikes you with a weapon or unarmed attack your heart released a surge of Qi that pulls the person against your body and flows back into them with devastating effect. 

 

Make an Endurance Roll against any melee or unarmed attack. If you succeed the weapon strikes true, delivering half the normal amount of damage it normally would against you but the attacker is frozen and unable to act for 1 round as a flood of red energy rages through your body and flows into them delivering 3d10 Damage plus 10 Extra Wounds. On a Total Success the Iron Heart Reversal delivers 3d10 plus 20 Extra wounds. 

 

KING VIPER’S ARMS OF THE SLOW BURNING VOLANO

Skill: Arm Strike

Type: Normal

Qi: 8

 

Red and black energy course through your arm as you strike, causing your skin to turn pumice-like and hot. Your strikes devastate enemies and burn their flesh. 

 

Make an Arm Strike Roll against Parry. On a success do 8d10 Open Damage. Each 10 result adds 3 Extra Wounds instead of the usual 1. In addition anyone wounded by the attack burns and takes 3d10 Fire Damage starting the next round. 

 

KICK OF THE FALLING MOUNTAIN

Skill: Leg Strike against Parry

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

You bring your heel above your head and bring it down upon your foe like an Axe Kick, but with enough force to drive them to the ground. 

 

This does 10d10 open Damage and allows you to attempt a free second Leg Strike to hold the person to the ground as a Restrain or do an additional 3d10 damage (if you Restrain, each round you may continue to attempt to hold it with a free Leg Strike). Note that this functions like normal Restraining except you use your Leg Strike skill and can make a free attempt each round until you fail. 

 

ONE-HUNDRED OXEN

Skill: Muscle TN 6

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

Your body surges with an potent flow of Qi energy, allowing you to perform incredible feats of strength. 

 

As a move action you make a Muscle Roll TN 6. On a Success you are incredibly strong for the next ten minutes. This gives you several benefits. The first is you temporarily gain Beast Strength (x10), meaning you multiply your base lift for the purposes of lifting or moving heavy objects by ten. In addition you range for any thrown weapon is also multiplied by ten. Finally during this time any melee or thrown ranged attack you make does 5 Extra Wounds. However if you perform any additional Kung Fu Techniques, the effect immediately stops. 

 

THE PIERCING EYES OF JOYOUS JIAN

Skill: Divination against Stealth

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

Your eyes glow with Qi Energy as you read into the specifics of your Target’s aura, their very life energy revealing its secrets to you.

 

This affects up to one Target of your choice per Qi Level. You must be able to see them. On a Success you learn about the Target’s abilities in one category per Qi Level. Examples of these categories include Qi Level, Skill Ranks, Emotions, Combat Techniques, Kung Fu Techniques, etc.

 

THE REBOUNDING BIAN OF KUN LAO

Skill: Heavy Melee against Evade

Type: Normal 

Qi: 8

 

You hurl your Bian at a foe, which strikes with bone cracking force and rebounds against another target (then another, and another, and so on).  

 

Make a Heavy Melee attack roll against the target’s Evade. If it succeeds does Normal Damage plus 6 Extra Wounds then rebounds and strikes another foe. You can hit up to 9 targets (make a single attack and damage roll for all).  

 

ROBES OF STEEL

Skill: Light Melee against Parry

Type: Normal

Qi: 8

 

You spin, letting your robes twirl against you foes like slashing blades. 

 

Make a Light Melee roll against the Parry of everyone in a 100 Foot Radius. On a success you do 6d10 Open Damage against those of Equal or Greater Qi Rank. Against anyone fewer Qi ranks than you, you deliver 6d10 Open Damage plus 1 Extra Wound and leave permanent scars wherever you wish due to the deep and rough wounds it inflicts. 

 

SHADOW DANCE

Skill: Meditation TN 6

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

You enter a meditative dance state, shaping nearby shadows into protective guardians who absorb the attacks of your enemies. 

 

Make a Meditation TN 6 Skill Roll. On a Success you summon up to 5 Shadow Guardians who can each stand and protect one person by absorbing wounds from attacks. On a Total Success you summon up to 6 Shadow Guardians. The Shadow Guardians last for three rounds, getting progressively weaker each round. The first round they absorb up to 3 Wounds, the second Round they absorb up to 2 wounds, and the third round they absorb up to 1 wound.  If the Shadows take full damage they dissipate from the player. 

 

SPINNING STRIKE OF THE BIAN

Skill: Heavy Melee against Parry

Type: Normal

Qi: 11

 

You spin and twirl your Bian, then crack your foe with a reverberating strike. 

 

Make a Heavy Melee skill roll against Parry. On a success you hit a target and do normal damage plus 10 Extra Wounds. Every Round after that for three rounds they continue to shake and take 5 wounds. This can be stopped on a successful Meditation roll TN 10. 

 

RIDE OF THE SPIRITED SWORD

Skill: Athletics

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

This technique allows you to ride any sword, spear or similar weapon.  

 

With a Successful Athletics roll you can step onto and ride your sword for an hour. You step onto and ride it through the air using your Athletics skill for any maneuvers. If the weapon in question is a spirited blade that animates on and attacks on its own, then this adds +3 to its Evade and Parry score. You can attack while riding the sword. 

 

STEEL-SHAPING STRIKES 

Skill: Any melee against Parry (blunt weapon required)

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

You inflict a ringing series of sharp, controlled blows against your foes, like an artisan shaping metal upon an anvil. This technique allows you to make a total of four attacks (plus one per 5 ranks of Qi, round down), distributed among any number of targets you can reach as part of your movement. Each of these attacks is made at a +2d10 accuracy bonus and inflicts 1 Extra Wound.

 

SWIFT PUNCH OF THUNDERING CRANE

Skill: Arm Strike against Parry

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

You infuse your left arm with a flowing blue energy, granting it speed and grace to slip through the defenses of hardened enemies and land punishing blows.

 

Make an Arm Strike roll against the Parry of up to 1 target per rank of Qi (provided they are within reach). On a successful attack you deal normal damage damage plus an additional 5 wounds. In addition, your strikes cause internal damage that cause 1 additional wound each round after (until they are healed with a Neigong Technique or through a Meditation TN 7 roll). 

 

If anyone attempts to counter this technique and fails to do so, they suffer 10 additional wounds instead of 10. 

 

TRIPPING SPEAR OF EMO CHENG

Skill: Heavy Melee

Type: Normal

Qi: 8

 

You leap into the air and throw your spear to the ground where it twirls and roves through opponents, striking their legs out from under them. 

 

Make a Heavy Melee roll against the Parry of a number of targets equal to your Qi rank. On a Success you do normal damage plus 3 Extra Wounds, plus they must roll Athletics TN 7 or be tripped to the ground. On a Total Success they take -1d10 to Speed for the next hour.

 

TURNING SPEAR OF EMO CHENG

Skill: Heavy Melee

Type: Counter

Qi: 10

 

You block an incoming melee attack and rotate your spear so quickly it steals the weapon and sends it flying against any opponent of your choice. 

 

Make a Heavy Melee Skill roll against the attack. On a success you stop the attack and let the weapon fly at an opponent doing normal damage plus 11 Extra Wounds. On a Total Success you can hit two opponents with the attack. If you fail then the weapon still strikes you but with more force, doing an additional 3 wounds. 

 

TORTOISE HOLDS UP THE SKY

Skill: Muscle

Type: Normal 

Qi: 8

 

You cover yourself with an unbreakable shell of Qi. Its magnificent radiance can compel any who view it to attack you and with each attack it the power of the shell increases until it bursts back at your enemies. 

 

On a Success you create a shimmering shell of light that causes any attacks that would hit you to strike the shell instead. This shell remains and protects you until it is broken, you release it, or a number of rounds equal to your Qi pass. On a Total Success the shell’s magnificence also causes those who view it to attack you. When this occurs, roll another Muscle against the Resolve of every enemy in a 100 foot area. If the result beats their Resolve, they must attempt to attack you if possible.

 

The shell has a Hardiness of 6 and Integrity Rating equal to your Qi rank(meaning it can withstand 8 wounds before it breaks if you are Qi rank 8). Every attack against you powers the shell further and further. You can release the power as a Move on your turn in a blast that only hits targets of your choosing (roll Muscle against the Evade of all chosen targets within a 100 foot radius). The damage is equal to 2d10 plus 2 Extra Wounds per attack that hit the shell. However if it is broken before you choose to release it, then the energy lashes out uncontrollably and strikes everyone within the 100 foot radius (excluding yourself).

 

NEW EVIL TECHNIQUES

 

DEEP PALM OF KUN LAO

Skill: Arm Strike against Parry

Type: Normal

Qi: 10

 

You clutch your foe and suck the life from their body, absorbing their Qi energy for your own use. 

 

Make an Arm Strike Roll against Parry. On a success you clutch the target and their Qi is drawn into your body as if by a powerful wind. The person is also stuck against you and cannot move except with a Muscle TN 9 Roll. Every round they are held by your palm, you draw in 3 ranks of Qi which they recover at a rate of 1 per day. Every rank you draw in can add +1 Extra Wound to a future attack you make. 

 

If you drain a person to 0 Qi, they die. Two people attempting to use this technique against each other automatically triggers a Qi Duel. 

 

EYE TAKING PALM

Skill: Arm Strike against Resolve

Type: Normal

Qi: 12

 

You open your hand and suck out a person’s eyes from a distance. 

 

Make an Arm Strike against Resolve at -1d10 penalty. If you succeed for two consecutive rounds, the target’s eyes are ripped from their sockets and land in your hands. Only works on targets Qi rank lower than you. 


HEART-SEEKING ARROW TIP

Skill: Small Ranged against Evade

Type: Normal

Qi: 11

You speak a curse on someone’s name as you shoot her, imbuing the projectile with a terrible power. You must know your Target’s full name in order to use this technique.

 

It functions exactly like a normal shot of its type, but on a successful Damage Roll, the projectile embeds in the Target’s flesh and burrows its way to her heart. Each hour, the Target loses one Rank of Qi as the projectile passes through her body, disrupting its natural order. When her Qi reaches 0, the missile reaches her heart, and she dies.

 

There are very few ways to cure this lethal technique. First, you may rescind your curse at any time, immediately stopping its advance. Secondly, a physician(the Surgery Expertise in Medicine is required) can attempt a TN9 Medicine Skill Roll to remove the object. However, on a failure, the condition is accelerated to a loss of 2 Qi Ranks per hour. Though, more brutally, they could remove the limb which the projectile struck. Once the projectile is removed, the lost Qi Ranks naturally recover at a rate of 1 per hour.


LIGHTNING LANCE

Skill: Heavy Melee against Evade

Type: Normal

Qi: 8

 

Your Long Reach Weapon briefly becomes a flash of lightning, rapidly piercing through foes in its path.

 

Your weapon travels as a bolt of lightning in a straight line for 400ft. Roll Heavy Melee once and apply that result to the Evade of all potential Targets to determine who is struck. Those hit take 8d10 damage and are stunned for one round. After the technique, your weapon returns to you in its normal condition.

 

PROJECT PERSONA

Skill: Meditation against Wits

Type: Normal

Qi: 7

 

You meditate and project your personality onto another person, causing them to believe they are you. 

 

Make a Meditation against the Wits of a single target. On a success the person adopts your complete personality for as long as you meditate. On a Total Success the effect lasts for 1 full day after your meditation ends. The person is not under your control. They simply behave as you would in all situations. 

 

QIGONG PALM

Skill: Arm Strike against Evade

Type: Normal

Qi: 9

 

You open you hand and unleash a powerful stream of red Qi energy that strikes multiple foes and alters their weight. 

 

Make an Arm Strike Roll against up to 6 targets. Anyone hit must make a Mediation Roll against TN 9 or their bodyweight shifts according to your desires for ten minutes. This could mean they get incredibly heavy and suffer -3d10 penalties to skills like speed, or they could become very light and float. However you adjust the weight, the appropriate mechanical affect should take effect. 

 

SPEAR OF RIGHTEOUS MIGHT

Skill: Heavy Melee TN6

Type: Normal

Qi: 8

 

You channel your Qi energy through your Long Reach Weapon, causing it to glow a brilliant golden color and making it truly feel like an extension of yourself.

 

For a number of rounds equal to your Qi Rank, the weapon’s damage becomes 7d10 Open. On a Total Success, it also inflicts 2 Extra Wounds on all successful attacks.

 

If you hit someone with the weapon in this state (you need not inflict any damage), he finds it impossible to tell a direct lie, or any falsehood, until the damage effect above wears off.

 

SWORD OF THE INVERTED HEART

Skill: Medium Melee against Evade

Type: Normal 

Qi: 11

 

You let loose a shadowy black sword that dissolves into mist as it hits the target’s chest leaving only faint dark lines as it implants evil intentions of your devising. 

 

Make a Medium Melee roll against the Evade of your target. If you succeed the sword strikes and infiltrates their heart, allowing you to implant a strong overriding and evil change of personality. This is so potent they must pass a 3d10 Resolve test hourly to resist it. 

 

The sword can be purged on a successful TN 10 Meditation roll (which the person can make once a week). But most people do not know they are afflicted with this technique as it is not widely known.