Fight The Fighting Game RPG
Fight The Fighting Game RPG
Fight The Fighting Game RPG
Dedication
Fight! is dedicated to Mark Buczek, the games first and most fervent
supporter.
I pray that he continues to guide the game from his new post.
I know youre still playing with us, Mark.
Peace.
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................6
What is the Fighting Game Genre?............................................................................................................................7
Reading This Book...................................................................................................................................................9
Gaming and Metagaming.......................................................................................................................................10
The Basics of Role-Playing......................................................................................................................................11
1. Character Generation...................................................................................................................................13
2. Skills...............................................................................................................................................................31
Basics of the Skill System.......................................................................................................................................31
Assigning Difficulty Levels......................................................................................................................................31
Critical Successes, Mixed Successes, and Fumbles....................................................................................................32
Skill vs. Skill...........................................................................................................................................................33
Skills Without Skill Levels.......................................................................................................................................34
Combat Skills........................................................................................................................................................34
Non-Combat Skills (Mechanical)..............................................................................................................................34
Non-Combat Skills (Narrative)................................................................................................................................34
Skill Descriptions...................................................................................................................................................35
Combat Skills........................................................................................................................................................35
Why No Offensive Skills?........................................................................................................................................36
Mechanical Skills....................................................................................................................................................37
Narrative Skills......................................................................................................................................................40
Action Sequences..................................................................................................................................................46
Developing an Action Sequence..............................................................................................................................46
Resolving an Action Sequence.................................................................................................................................47
Example of an Action Sequence..............................................................................................................................47
Using Action Sequences in the Story.......................................................................................................................49
Earning Glory for an Action Sequence......................................................................................................................49
Definitions............................................................................................................................................................77
Basic Moves..........................................................................................................................................................78
Sweeps.................................................................................................................................................................78
Basic Throws.........................................................................................................................................................78
Basic Taunts..........................................................................................................................................................79
Special Moves........................................................................................................................................................79
Move Levels and Controller Motions........................................................................................................................80
5. Combat.........................................................................................................................................................119
Staging Combat...................................................................................................................................................119
Combat Sequence................................................................................................................................................120
Die Sizes..............................................................................................................................................................120
Fighting Spirit in Combat......................................................................................................................................121
Metagaming Fighting Spirit..................................................................................................................................122
Initiative..............................................................................................................................................................122
Rolling Initiative and Control.................................................................................................................................123
Simultaneous Initiative.........................................................................................................................................124
Summary of Simultaneous Initiative Procedure......................................................................................................125
Example of Resolving Simultaneous Initiative........................................................................................................126
Handling Initiative and Control for Multiple Characters...........................................................................................126
On Your Turn........................................................................................................................................................127
Movement...........................................................................................................................................................127
Movement Summary............................................................................................................................................130
Resolving an Attack..............................................................................................................................................130
Control................................................................................................................................................................130
Rolling to Hit an Opponent....................................................................................................................................131
Rolling an Attack..................................................................................................................................................132
Results of a Successful Attack................................................................................................................................132
After Everyone Has Acted.....................................................................................................................................133
Combos...............................................................................................................................................................133
100% Combos and Infinite Combos........................................................................................................................134
Generating Long Combos......................................................................................................................................135
Defending Against An Attack.................................................................................................................................135
Evasion................................................................................................................................................................135
Tactics.................................................................................................................................................................136
Dashes and Back Dashes.......................................................................................................................................139
Effects of a Successful Attack................................................................................................................................139
Damage..............................................................................................................................................................139
Why Random Damage Rolls?................................................................................................................................140
Hit Stun...............................................................................................................................................................141
Simplifying Hit Stun.............................................................................................................................................141
Knock Back..........................................................................................................................................................141
Knock Down........................................................................................................................................................142
Breakfalls and Tech Rolls.......................................................................................................................................143
Stunning.............................................................................................................................................................143
Other Combat Actions..........................................................................................................................................144
Environmental Hazards........................................................................................................................................145
Effects of Environmental Hazards..........................................................................................................................147
Walls and Ring-Outs.............................................................................................................................................148
Effects of Walls and Ring-Outs..............................................................................................................................149
Simplified Walls and Ring-Outs.............................................................................................................................151
Defeat, Death, and Healing...................................................................................................................................151
Optional Rules for Slower Recovery.......................................................................................................................152
Team Combat......................................................................................................................................................152
One in a Million
The Human Body is the Most Powerful
Weapon in the Universe
Superpowered
The Supernatural and Super Science
Drama and Melodrama
Fighting is Life
Glory and Ego Matter
Combat is Unavoidable
One in a Million: The main characters in the fighting
game genre are not just excellent martial artists.
They are the very best martial artists in the world,
perhaps even the greatest fighters in the universe.
Thus, the rules make a distinction between the
player characters (and the most important nonplayer characters) and every other character in the
campaign. These distinctive characters are called
Fighters in the game. Even the Fighters that serve a
more comedic role in the story, or who have less
serious motivations for being involved in the events
of the campaign, are (perhaps inexplicably or
incongruously) among the most powerful martial
artists in the world.
Whether or not the rest of the world knows how
powerful the Fighters in the game are varies from
campaign to campaign. In some games, the
Fighters are veritable celebrities, while in others the
level of their personal power remains unknown.
The Human Body is the Most Powerful Weapon in
the Universe: While there is no question that
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1. Character Generation
This chapter contains basic details on all the
elements that make up a character for Fight! Follow
these steps to establish the framework of a Fighter
character, and then consult Chapters 2, 3, and 4 for
more details regarding Skills, Qualities, and Special
Moves.
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move around a lot, or spend a lot of time jumping?
Does the character have an unusal stance when he
fights?
Training Background: What events led to the
character learning martial arts? More importantly,
where, how, and why did he develop his skill to
become one of the very best in the world (even if he
does not know or believe that to be the case)? Was
he trained by a reclusive master to fulfill a great
destiny? Was he a soldier who proved to be a natural
in unarmed combat? Did he learn to fight to right a
great wrong to his family and his drive brought him
to excellence? Does he practice a particular style
designed to defeat a great evil?
Reason for Fighting: This is the most important
element of concept to keep the character involved in
the events of the campaign. Whether the character
fights to be the best, or to seek vengeance, or to
save someone he loves, his reason for fighting in
general says much about his philosophy of life in the
fighting game genre. For many characters, fighting
is a metaphor for life itself. Therefore, knowing why
someone chooses to fight as a way to find meaning
in ones life says much about the character. This one
category basically defines a characters core
personality and in some ways guides the previous
three categories.
As you continue to develop the concept, further
questions about the characters background arise.
Where is he from? What is his personality? His
interests? Here are some additional questions to
consider for your character. Answering these
questions is not essential, but it can add a lot to a
character. Much of this information can be found
for many characters in fighting video games, so
there are ample sources for inspiration.
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Blood Types
Type A: People with blood type A are calm, selfassured, a bit quiet around others, and often
committed to personal excellence. This is a
good blood type for the dedicated warrior who
fights to perfect his body and his art.
Type B: People with blood type B are friendly,
individualistic, and often enthusiastic. This
blood type corresponds to friendly, fun-loving,
outgoing, and/or silly types of characters.
While the hero of the most serious fighting
game stories will not be blood type B, his
bumbling buddy or desperate girlfriend might
be.
Type O: People with blood type O are social
people, open-minded, committed, and selfconfident. It is an excellent default blood
type for many characters.
Type AB: People with blood type AB share
characteristics from other blood types, creating
an iconoclastic personality with competing
personality traits. Such a character may be
inconsistent, unpredictable, or deceptive in
their behavior. This is a good blood type for
many villainous characters.
While answering these questions will provide a
wealth of information about the character, the
Director may ask for more information. These
additional facts are more directly intended to
provide story hooks, as well as to help situate the
character in the specific world setting that the
Director has designed. Many players will freely offer
detailed accounts of their charactersbackgrounds,
but for those who are less inclined, it helps to have
some specific questions or categories for the player
to address. The Director is free to come up with his
Designing a Character
All Player Characters (PCs) and most important
Non-Player Characters (NPCs) are considered to be
Fighters. This means that they are among a select
group of the most powerful martial artists in the
setting (though the scale of that setting might be a
city, the world, or the whole universe). In terms of
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the game rules, Fighters are far more powerful than
other people, able to defeat hordes of lesser
combatants, perform unbelievable feats of physical
and possibly mystical ability, and only find a true
challenge in martial combat against another of their
kind. These are the movers and shakers of the
campaign setting: the noblest of heroes and the
darkest of villains.
Each Fighter character is defined by a number of
traits:
Basic Qualities: These three characteristics are
Strength, Speed, and Stamina. They describe the
characters basic physical capabilities and, to a lesser
extent, certain elements of his fighting style. They
are defined at character creation and can never be
changed.
Qualities: These traits encompass a wide variety of
generally advantageous aspects of the character.
Many of them describe a characters appearance,
but they also include connections to the larger
world, important items or contacts, and even
powerful supernatural abilities for use outside of
combat.
Weaknesses: These traits encompass a variety of
disadvantages afflicting the character. Many of
them describe psychological limitations, while
others describe appearance or other liabilities.
There are even some Weaknesses that relate to
combat ability. No character is required to take
Weaknesses, but doing so allows a character to
select additional Qualities.
Quirks: These traits are elements of a characters
personality that often impose minor restrictions on
the actions of a character. However, they are not as
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making ability in combat. It is used for many
purposes in combat. Fighting Spirit can make attacks
faster and more accurate, defenses more sure, and
combos longer. It has many other uses in combat as
well.
Basic Qualities
from opponents.
The three Basic Qualities are rated between 1 and
2, with a 0 being average for a Fighter (though not
necessarily average for a regular human).
A character may choose to have any two Basic
Qualities at 1, while the third remains 0.
Alternatively, a character may choose to have one
Basic Quality at 2, one at 1, and the remaining one
at 0. This permits nine different character
archetypes.
Example 1: Wayne is creating a character. As he
has in mind a fairly stereotypical hero character,
he decides to choose Strength 1, Speed 0, and
Stamina 1. This character hits hard and resists
damage well, but is not especially fast.
Example 2: Christine is creating her character. She
has a different stereotype in mind: the ultra-fast
female fighter who may not hit hard but hits often.
She chooses Strength 1, Speed 2, and Stamina 0.
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strikes first, so she assigns both points of Speed to
Initiative. She fills in the character sheet with Speed
2, and then circles the word Initiative next to it.
Example 2: Jens character is also a stereotypical
fast female fighter with a Speed of 2. However, her
character is not only fast, but capable of significant
combo attacks as well. She assigns one point of
Speed to Initiative and the other to Control. She fills
in the character sheet with Speed 2, and then circles
both the words Control and Initiative next to it.
Example 3: Jen and Christines Fighters are soon to
meet one of the Directors NPCs named Blood Fist.
Blood Fist has Strength 2, Speed 1, and Stamina 0.
The Director decided to record the characters
negative Speed as an Initiative penalty. Blood Fist
may not move fast, but he still knows how to put
together a Combo when he has to. The Director
records Speed 1, and then circles the word
Initiative next to it.
The effect of having a positive or negative Basic
Quality is determined by the die size used in certain
situations in combat. A description of how die sizes
work can be found at the beginning of Chapter 6.
Positive Strength adds one or two die sizes to the
damage of attacks. Negative Strength subtracts
one die size from the damage of attacks.
Positive Speed with a focus on Initiative adds one or
two die sizes to the characters Initiative rolls in
combat. Negative Speed with a focus on Initiative
subtracts one die size from the characters Initiative
rolls in combat. Regardless of the characters base
die size as determined by Speed, Initiative can still
be increased with Fighting Spirit as usual (see
Initiative and Control in the Combat chapter).
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loses a Weakness. Furthermore, some Weaknesses may be extremely difficult or impossible to lose.
Quirks are a lesser form of Weakness, usually defined by specific personality traits that compel the character
to behave in certain ways in certain situations. They limit the character in small ways, but not to the same
degree as a Weakness. Their primary purpose is as a guide to role-playing the character. Some example
Quirks are Brutal, Impulsive, or Suspicious.
Every character is encouraged to take one or two Quirks to help further define his personality. If a character
instead chooses three to five Quirks, the combined Quirks count as a Weakness, making the character
eligible to choose another Quality.
If a player role-plays his Quirks to such a degree that he deliberately hinders his character in the course of a story,
the Director can choose to award the character a Story Point (see Story Points in Chapter 3, the Qualities chapter).
Finally, a character does not have to take all four Qualities (or more than four, if Weaknesses have increased
his available total above four). Instead, a Quality can be exchanged for three additional points of NonCombat Skills, two points of Fighting Spirit, or a single point in a Combat Skill. However, all characters must
choose at least one Quality at character creation.
The descriptions of all Qualities, Weaknesses, and Traits can be found in Chapter 3.
The majority of the Qualities and Weaknesses in the game have nothing to do with combat or fighting ability. Instead,
these elements of the character are intended to develop the character beyond his identity as a Fighter. Many of them deal
with social interactions: either additional resources in the form of equipment or information available to the character or
improved abilities to impress or persuade other people the character encounters. As they gain new Qualities by advancing
in Power Level, a character can expand his network of contacts and allies.
However, the rules do not require a character to have any more than a single Quality. This can allow a character to instead
trade all of his extra Qualities for significantly greater Combat Skills and/or Fighting Spirit, choices that directly improve a
characters ability in a fight.
The Director should note the choices his players make when they make and advance their characters. Are they spending
all of their Qualities on Connections, Influence, and Followers? This indicates that the characters interactions with NPCs
are important to the group and a story full of non-stop fight scenes will probably not be as interesting to them. On the
other hand, if the players characters all have only a single Quality, and many of those are combat-related, the players are
indicating that combat is most fun to them, and the Director should plan stories accordingly.
Many groups, though, probably have players who fit into both of these categories, suggesting that the Director needs to
find a balance in writing stories that are character-driven and ones that are action-packed. In any case, the Qualities the
player chooses for his character can be a useful guideline for the Director.
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Skills
example, a character cannot spend five NonCombat Skill points on Combat Skills or vice versa.
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Choosing Combat Skills at Power Level 1
A player can distribute the five points available for Combat Skills in whatever way he wishes. However,
there are some mechanical considerations to keep in mind that are not immediately apparent without
some familiarity with the combat rules.
A Combo Skill of 1 has no effect. The actual level of this Skill determines the maximum number of hits
that can be strung together into a single attack, and thus a character needs at least 2 levels of this Skill to
be able to use it. In a sense, one must spend two Combat Skill points to acquire the ability to do
Combos.
Ki Skill is useful even with only a single level. However, its primary use in combat is to determine the
damage of Special Moves with the Ranged Element. Therefore, a character without Ranged moves does
not need to have the Ki Skill. On the other hand, a Power Level 1 character can only spend up to three
points in any one Skill. The damage of a Ranged Special Move is the same for Ki 1-3. This means that the
main incentive for choosing a Ki Skill higher than 1 is to speed advancement in the Skill at higher Power
Levels.
A level of 1 in any of the defensive Skills is extremely limited. There are very few instances in the combat
system in which that level will be able to block or avoid an attack. Therefore, it is worthwhile to consider
putting two or even three Combat Skill points in at least one of the three defensive Skills at Power Level
1. While the character will be less flexible in his defenses to start, he will actually have a chance to avoid
some attacks. If the player chooses to put at least two Skill points in two different defensive Skills, the
best pair is Defense and Evasion, as these two Skills can be used together.
These first important decisions already begin to define the fighting style of the character. A character
with Ranged attacks has fewer points to spend on defenses and so must manage positioning more
carefully. A character with two or three points in Combo is setting himself up for an aggressive style of
play that will rely on high Initiative and Control. A character who chooses neither of these options will
probably have moderately sound defenses in exchange for offensive flexibility
Special Moves
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exception of Level 2 (L2) moves, which cost 3 Move Points rather than 2 points. Most Special Moves are L3,
L4, or L5
A character must spend all 10 points on Special Moves. However, with each Special Move generally costing
3, 4, or 5 points, there is a possibility that only 1 or 2 points will be left over. In this case, these remaining
points can be spent on Non-Combat Skills instead. They cannot be saved.
Example 1: Waynes Fighter is a traditional combatant with three Special Moves. Two of these Special
Moves are Level 3 (L3), while his final move is Level 4 (L4). This costs 10 points (3+3+4).
Example 2: Jens Fighter has simpler moves. All three of her starting Special Moves are L3. This only totals 9
points, so the remaining point can be spent on a Non-Combat Skill.
Total
Glory
Power
Level
Super
Moves
Combat
Bonuses
DET
Full
Defense
Life
Bar
Fighting
Spirit
0-25
+1
30
10
26-50
+2
40
20
51-100
+2
50
30
101-175
3/2
+3
60
40
176-250
4/2
+3
70
55
251-350
5/2
+4
80
70
351-500
6/3
+4
90
85
501+
7/3
+5
100
100
Power Level
A Fighter characters overall power, especially in
combat, is determined by his Power Level. Power
Level functions in many ways like the concept of
level in other role-playing games. All characters
begin at Power Level 1. As they gain Glory through
the events of the campaign, they advance in Power
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Level as listed on the chart above, they immediately advance in Power Level. However, the Director can
restrict a character from advancing in Power Level until the end of a session or the end of an adventure. A
character normally will not advance in Power Level during the middle of a combat, as spending all the
choices to advance the character would disrupt the narrative of the combat. However, the Director is free to
allow this if he wishes, if he thinks the characters sudden power boost will make for a better story. Perhaps
he might allow an immediate increase in Fighting Spirit or Life Bar, or allow him access to a new Special
Move that the player had prepared in advance.
When a character advances in Power Level, he gains another 3 points to be spent on Combat Skills, another
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10 points to spend on Non-Combat Skills, and
another 10 points to spend on Special Moves.
With the 10 points available for Special Moves, the
character must acquire at least one new Special
Move or Super Move (if permitted by his Power
Level and the campaign guidelines). If the character
cannot or does not wish to spend exactly 10 points
on new Special Moves, the remainder not spent on
Special Moves can be either added to Non-Combat
Skills or to Fighting Spirit on a 1-for-1 basis, to the
Combo Skill at a cost of 3 points per point of Combo,
or they can be saved for next level.
A player can decide that his characters Special
Move list is complete. At this point, he is no longer
obligated to spend Move Points on new Special
Moves and can instead spend those points on NonCombat Skills, Fighting Spirit, or the Combo Skill, as
noted above. However, the character can never
again acquire more Special Moves or Super Moves.
If the campaign includes Super Moves, a character
cannot close his Move List until after Power Level
3 when the character acquires his first Super Move.
Finally, at each even Power Level, at the Directors
discretion, a character can gain a new Quality or lose
a Weakness. These cannot be Basic Qualities, which
never change.
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For example, a
Power Level 5
character
can
normally have up to
10 levels in any Skill,
except for Defense,
Evasion,
and
Tactics,
which
cannot be higher
than 4 according to
the Power Level
chart
(and
of
course,
Combo
never has an upper
limit
for
any
character).
Full Defense: When
a character uses the
Full Defense option
in combat, his
Defense Total is
increased by the
amount listed here.
A higher Power
Level character can
make better use of
this tactic.
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additional points are added to his new base Fighting
Spirit when the character advances in Power Level.
Earning Glory
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If a character is fighting
in a tournament fight or
some other situation in
which the best of a
series
of
rounds
determines the winner
(such as the best 2 out
of 3), record each
characters Glory total
for each round of the
conflict. Each character
earns Glory only for
their personal best round. The remaining Glory from
other rounds is ignored.
Example: Koichiro battles the fearsome Blood Fist
in a best 2-out-of-3 tournament. In the first round,
Koichiro handily defeats Blood Fist, earning 17 Glory.
Blood Fist earns 10. In the second round, Blood Fist
rallies and defeats Koichiro, earning 12 Glory to
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Koichiros 11. In the final round, however, Koichiro
bests the villain, earning 15 Glory to Blood Fists 13.
Thus, Koichiro would earn 17 Glory (his total from
round 1) and Blood Fist would earn 13 (from round
3). Note that Blood Fist still used his highest total,
even though he lost the specific round in question.
If the combatants are of unequal Power Levels, the
higher-level character receives a fraction of the
normal Glory earned equal to the ratio of the
characters Power Levels. The lower level character
does not earn extra Glory for fighting a higher-level
opponent. For simplicity, this rule should only be
invoked in one-on-one confrontations.
Glory earned in fights against Thugs is tallied
normally for the whole combat, and then divided by
3 (rounding up). The Dramatic Combat sub-system
has many options that have special Glory bonuses
attached to them when used successfully. Action
Sequences sometimes earn a small amount of Glory,
according to a specific formula (see Chapter 2).
While Special Moves and Combos are the primary
ways in which characters earn Glory, there are other
ways to gain (and lose) Glory as well. The chart on
the next page indicates these situations.
In general, all characters will earn more Glory than
they ever lose. However, if a character should
happen to lose enough Glory to reduce his Power
Level, he does not lose any of the benefits gained
from the higher Power Level (including new Special
Moves, Skills, Bonuses, Life Bar, and Fighting Spirit),
but ntil the character regains sufficient Glory to
regain his former Power Level, he is considered to
be the lower Power Level for all effects based
specifically on Power Level, especially the use of
Fighting Spirit in combat.
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Additional Glory Awards Chart
Defeating another Fighter (ie., reduce to O life Bar)
Good role-playing
Accepting a challenge
-5
Character Stunned
-1
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opponents, its possible for a character to advance a full Power Level every single story. However, a better
balance between combat and adventuring (investigation, interaction, interpersonal relationships, training
journeys, etc.) will likely yield a slower rate of advancement. If a group played weekly sessions, with each
character having some opportunity for Glory in combat every session or every other session, while still
working towards the climax of some greater plot, it should take less than one year to progress from Power
Level 1 to Power Level 8.
If the Director feels advancement is too fast or too slow, it is a simple matter to adjust the frequency of
combat. Decreasing combats is often much easier from a story perspective, but in a game such as Fight!,
where the characters are highly focused on, well, fighting, combat cannot be ignored for long. Both
Dramatic Combat scenes and especially Thug Thrashing scenes offer opportunities for full fight scenes
without significant Glory earned. Adding combats requires some sort of context within the larger narrative,
but in the fighting game genre, it should be ridiculously easy to come up with a premise for a throwdown.
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2
2. Skills
Difficulty Level
Trivial
Average
Challenging
12
Very Difficult
16
Generally Impossible
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For ease of play, the Director may rule that a
character with a few levels in a Skill can ignore
rolling to resolve Trivial tasks. After all, any
character with 3 or more levels in a Skill will not fail
any normal attempt to accomplish a Trivial task; this
presumption can also be extended to characters
with only one or two levels in most cases.
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opposite of a critical success. The effects are up to
the Director, but something simply awful (yet
dramatically interesting) should occur. While
accomplishing this specific task should be a failure, a
fumble should not de-rail the story or make it
impossible for the character to act. Like a critical
success, a fumble should be used to enhance the
drama of the story, not be an arbitrary penalty for
bad die rolls.
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Skills Without Skill Levels
Combat Skills
Defense
Evasion
Tactics
Combo
Ki
Agility
Climactic Super Move
Gadgeteering
Magic
Power
Psychic
Reaffirm Purpose
Realize Potential
Stance Evaluation
Thug Thrashing
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Knowledge
Lockpicking
Lost in the Crowd
Meditation
Occupation
Perception
Performance
Presence
Property Damage
Receive Wisdom
Sense Ki
Shadowing
Sleight of Hand
Smooth Talking
Specialization
Spirituality
Stealth
Street Society
Technological Aptitude
The Fighting World
Zen State
2
can succeed at all with the skill check. For example,
it is reasonable to assume that any character could
attempt a Perception Skill check or a Smooth
Talking Skill check. However, a character without
Draw Ki would not be able to attempt a skill check
without levels in that Skill. The Occupation Skill can
often be used as a replacement in many cases where
a character lacks a particular skill (see the
description of the Occupation Skill below).
If the Director does allow a character to make a skill
check without any levels in the appropriate Skill, the
check is made by rolling a d10 and adding nothing.
However, if the Director rules that the task is
impossible without Skill levels, the character
automatically fails.
Skill Descriptions
The following sections contain descriptions of all the
Skills in the game. For convenience, all the Skills,
combat, mechanical, and narrative, have been listed
alphabetically in their own sections.
Despite the unusual nature of many of the Skills in
the game, new additions to the list should not really
be necessary. If a Skill appears to be missing, it is
likely that it could be resolved with an appropriate
Occupation, Knowledge, Presence, Smooth Talking,
or Specialization roll.
The three Basic Qualities are also listed here as
Skills. In addition to using Basic Qualities to modify
other skill checks, the numeric value of a Basic
Quality can be used as a Skill for a skill check. For
relatively easy feats that are still not guaranteed
success, a DL of 4 should be used. For more
prodigious feats, the DL should be 8. For miraculous
feats, the DL should be 12.
Combat Skills
Combo: This Skill represents the Fighters ability to
accurately string attacks together in combination.
In the combat system, it limits the maximum
number of hits in a single Combo (which means it
must be at least level 2 to be used). Like all combat
Skills, it has little or no narrative application outside
of the combat system. Unlike all other Skills, this
Skill is not limited to level 10; it has no upper limit
(though it has a practical limit of 23, the highest
possible Control in a single turn).
Defense: This important combat Skill is absolutely
required for any character that wants to succeed in
combat. While there are three different defensive
Skills, this particular one is always considered the
default mode of defending oneself. If circumstances
do not permit the use of Evasion or Tactics, Defense
is used. Thus, it is an important Skill for all
characters. It specifically measures the characters
ability to block attacks, as well as the knowledge of
when to block, when to move, and when to attack.
Like all combat Skills, it has little or no narrative
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application outside of the combat system.
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taking
Mechanical Skills
Agility: This Skill is usually used only when facing
Thugs. It is used to dodge their ranged attacks,
even gunfire, with impressive evasion techniques,
flips and dodges, and extraordinary luck. Like many
of the conventions of the fighting game genre, it is
not intended to be a realistic skill. This Skill can
also be used as a defensive option in Dramatic
Combat against Thugs.
Climactic Super Move: This special Skill represents
the ability of a character to pull out powerfully
destructive techniques, but only when they are
losing. Such attacks are usually accompanied by
flashes, explosions, and huge changes to the
immediate environment (physically and perhaps
spiritually as well). Its main use is for Dramatic
Combat, but the Director may allow a Climactic
Super Move skill check in desperate non-combat
situations, such as destroying an ancient magical
monolith before it summons enough power to
destroy the world. In this way, it is like the Property
Damage Skill, though this Skill (as the name
suggests) only works in climactic situations and can
generate much more impressive effects.
be at least 2 levels).
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The secondary Skills required for Gadgeteering are:
Ki (understood as Gadgetry), Thug Thrashing,
Climactic Super Move, Property Damage, Endure
Great Hardship, Awareness, and Perception. Note
that this Skill is to be distinguished from Gadgetry,
which is simply an alternative name for the Ki Skill.
Magic: This special Skill requires a character to also
possess the Quality of the same name before taking
levels. Furthermore, this Skill also requires the other
secondary Skills listed below to be at a level equal to
1/2 (round up) of the Magic skill level (thus, Magic 4
requires all related Skills to be at least 2 levels). This
Skill represents mastery of sorcery and magical
powers. In game terms, this Skill allows the
character to do almost anything, limited only by the
Director. The Director simply assigns a DL to
determine the difficulty in knowing and being able
to use the right power in the present situation (with
lower DLs when it facilitates moving the story
forward). This Skill requires significant Director
adjudication, though it is intended to be the most
powerful of the Skills of its type (i.e., Magic, Psychic,
and Gadgeteering) and it helps to better define
many character concepts.
It also increases
opportunities to use non-combat powers.
Example: Yasa, expert explorer and burgeoning
master sorcerer, is traveling the depths of the earth
looking for the mystical entrance to the lost shrine
of the Itagaki-Ryu. Realizing she is lost, she draws
upon her magical techniques to find her way. The
Director sets the DL at 10, though Yasas Magic Skill
is only a 2. Still, she manages to roll a 9, giving her a
total of 11. A series of tiny, twinkling lights suddenly
appears leading down a pathway Yasa had not
noticed before and the journey continues.
The secondary Skills required for Magic are: Ki,
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level (thus, Psychic 4 requires all related Skills to be
at least 2 levels). This Skill represents an array of
useful psionic abilities. In game terms, it allows the
character to do almost anything, limited only by the
very specific category of special effects defined as
psychic powers. The Director simply assigns a DL
to determine the difficulty in knowing and being
able to use the right power in the present situation
(with lower DLs when it facilitates moving the story
forward). This Skill requires significant Director
adjudication to keep it focused on psychic abilities,
but it helps to better define many character
concepts, as well as increasing opportunities to use
non-combat powers.
Example: Therese is one of the greatest psychic
minds of the 18th century. But at the moment, she
has no idea where the blessed kensai will be born.
She decides to use her precognitive powers.
Therese has Psychic 7. However, the Director thinks
this would push the limits of even her powers, so he
sets the DL at 16. Thereses player rolls an 8, which
is only a 15. Her powers failed her, but the Director
decides to give her a vision anyway as a clue.
The secondary Skills required for Psychic are: Ki,
Meditation, Property Damage, Sense Ki, Zen State,
and Grim Determination.
Reaffirm Purpose: A character with this Skill needs
to define a purpose, which can be vague or
extremely specific, and which stays the same for the
life of the character. It is the characters overarching
motivation in life. Thus, it should not be something
that can be accomplished easily or ever, or it must
be something that would still inspire the character
even after it was accomplished. Examples might
include being the best fighter in the world, defeating
a worldwide evil organization, or killing every
member of a family line.
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the opponent in game terms (though it might). The
level of the move is equal to the Realize Potential
skill check divided by 3 (round up). This new move
costs the character nothing, but it can only be used
against that specific opponent.
This particular use of the Skill should normally be
done only once or twice during a campaign, but if
the campaign centers on characters constantly
training in new techniques and rivalries are fierce
and commonplace, this rule could be invoked more
frequently.
Stance Evaluation: A character with this Skill is
familiar with many different martial art styles and
can detect them simply from a fighters stance. A
successful roll might allow knowledge of some of
the Elements of an opponents Special Moves. For
every 4 points rolled on a Stance Evaluation Skill
check (round down), the character may ask the
Director if his opponent possesses a Special Move
with a specific Element built into it. For example,
with a skill check result of 12, the player might ask
the Director, Does my opponent possess Special
Moves with the Interrupt, Throw, or Ranged
Elements? The Director must answer truthfully
(though this always up to his own discretion, based
on the needs of the story!).
Thug Thrashing: This Skill represents a characters
proficiency in fighting multiple opponents at once.
To a lesser degree, it also measures a characters
simple street-fighting prowess apart from stylized
technique. Characters with high Thug Thrashing
Skill know how to use the environment, body
positioning, and special techniques to rapidly
engage opponents at close range. This Skill
drastically increases a fighters combat effectiveness
in Thug Thrashing Combat.
Narrative Skills
Acrobatics: This Skill allows the character to leap,
flip, vault, and tumble as an accomplished gymnast
or circus acrobat. It can be used to navigate difficult
terrain or achieve greater heights with vertical leaps.
For example, a character being chased through back
alleys could use the Athletics Skill to leap over
fences, or he could use the Acrobatics Skill to leap
up to a fire escape leading to the roof. This Skill can
also be used as an option to avoid ranged attacks
from thugs or as a defensive option in Dramatic
Combat.
Animal Handling: This Skill is used for training
animals, commanding animals, and dealing with
unfriendly or wild animals. Skill checks might be
used to teach an animal a basic trick, to command
an animal to do something it would normally be
unwilling to do, or as an interaction Skill with nondomesticated or hostile animals.
Athletics: This Skill is used for athletic feats,
especially difficult, over-the-top feats. Skill checks
against Athletics should be made for most athletic
endeavors (though see Fast Reflexes and Speed for
other similar skill checks). Some examples would be
climbing a rock wall, jumping from one rooftop to
another, or even the ninja trope of leaping from
tree-top to tree-top and running along thin tree
branches. The relationship between Acrobatics and
Athletics is up to the Directors discretion.
Generally, Acrobatics is used for athletic activities
that require exceptional training and/or physical
ability. Athletics makes a better default Skill for
skill checks regarding bodily action. Athletics can
also be used in Dramatic Combat.
Awareness: This is a passive perception Skill. It
reflects a characters general awareness of the world
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around him at all times. It is not a danger sense (see
the Skill of that name); instead, it is used to
determine whether or not someone perceives
something interesting or important when they are
not specifically looking for it. The Director could call
for Awareness Skill checks anytime the characters
have a chance to notice something important in a
scene when they are not actively looking (or he can
just allow the character with the highest Awareness
Skill to notice).
Call Forth Wisdom: This Skill does not measure the
characters intelligence; rather, it expresses his
intuition about people and the world. It also
includes a solid base of philosophical advice to give
to others. In situations where a characters insight
into life, people, or the universe could help him in his
present context, a successful Call Forth Wisdom Skill
check should award the character a Story Point to be
applied to the present situation. This Skill can also
be used to challenge the power of spirits in Dramatic
Combat.
Cooking: This Skill allows a character to make
pleasing food that is creative, functional, or artistic
as the needs demand, but which always tastes good.
The Skill may have very limited application in a
story, but the genre has a number of characters that
are distinguished by their exceptionally good or bad
cooking ability (see the Cooking Quirk for the latter).
Perhaps the Director could require a Cooking Skill
check to make a positive impression on an
important person in a formal dinner setting.
Danger Sense: This Skill serves the very specific
function of being an active or passive sense for
danger. If the character is about to be ambushed,
the Director could make a Danger Sense roll before
describing the ambush. If a character suspected he
was walking into a bad situation, the player could
request a Danger Sense Skill check, which the
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punishment of the body, such characters can
continue to function. Skill checks for Endure Great
Hardship can be used to resist torture or
extraordinary damage like falling off a rooftop. It is
also used in Dramatic Combat.
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Skill checks could allow faster healing (if the
Director is imposing any sort of time restraints on
healing Life Bar), a bonus on another roll such as Call
Forth Wisdom or Grim Determination, or perhaps
even a Story Point to be used for some immediate
spiritual benefit in the story. Other game benefits of
this state are up to the Director. It can also be used
occasionally in Dramatic Combat.
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good at using their training to break things. This
Skill could be used to burst down a door, or even a
wall, at the Directors discretion. It could also be
used to destroy a car or truck with ones bare hands.
This is a Skill of wretched excess, meant for
explosive good descriptive use in a story, not
realism. It is also used in Dramatic Combat.
Receive Wisdom: This unusual Skill allows the
character to get insights into strange pieces of
advice they might come across. This might be in the
form of the words of a mentor or mysterious
stranger or in deciphering a riddle on an ancient
temple wall. If the Receive Wisdom Skill check is
successful, the character gains one or more Story
Points (Directors discretion) to be applied to the
problem or situation at hand.
The difference between this Skill and Call Forth
Wisdom is that Receive Wisdom can only be used
when the character encounters wisdom from
another; for example, from a wizened old master, an
ancient prophecy, or an encoded riddle. Call Forth
Wisdom suggests that the character already
possesses a body of wisdom that can be
remembered when needed to apply to a problem at
hand or instead shared with others. However, Call
Forth Wisdom does not help with the interpretation
of wisdom found in other sources.
Sense Ki: This Skill allows the character to sense the
power of ki around them, in his immediate
environment and in the people nearby. A successful
skill check determines whether or not enough ki is
available in the area to manipulate and perhaps how
the ki might best be harnessed and used. It might
also be used to detect the presence of powerful
hostile ki, perhaps including the presence of
powerful ki-using opponents hiding in the area. A
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the better result is used and the Director should
apply some additional benefit based on the
circumstances. A character can have multiple
Specializations on the same or on different Skills.
Speed: The Speed Basic Quality can be used in skill
checks when bodily agility, flexibility, and physical
speed of movement are involved. Actions involving
fast reflexes are covered by the Skill of the same
name instead. A Speed skill check could determine
the winner of a foot race or as part of an Action
Sequence to resolve a chase through the streets,
along with Athletics and other Skills.
Spirituality: This Skill covers a characters
knowledge and attunement with the deeply
supernatural. It could be rolled to determine a
characters knowledge of the occult, old legends, or
rituals of great power. It also includes knowledge of
religion. It does not provide the character with any
actual magical ability (which is covered by the Magic
Skill). This Skill can also protect the character from
the attacks of spirits in Dramatic Combat.
Stamina: It is unlikely that the Stamina Basic
Quality would need to be rolled as a Skill very often.
However, it could be used to determine a characters
resistance to a powerful disease, drug, or illness,
how quickly a character recovers while in the
hospital, or whether or not a character could run for
hours without stopping.
Stealth: This Skill is the ability to move quietly and
hide well in available cover. Its uses are fairly
obvious: hiding from pursuers, maintaining a hidden
position while hiding from another person, or
sneaking past security guards. This Skill is often
used in Skill vs. Skill checks with Perception and
Alertness. Ninja characters will often have high
levels of this Skill.
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intuitive awareness of the realms of the spirit
around him. It could be used as a sort of spiritual
danger sense to avoid being possessed by a
demon, or it could be used to achieve a spiritual
state in which it may be possible to call spirits or
travel to other planes, all subject to the Directors
discretion and the needs of the story.
Action Sequences
An Action Sequence is a special series of skill checks
used to resolve an entire scene. It is used when a
single skill check would not be adequate to account
for the tension involved and usually (but not
necessarily) when multiple participants are involved
and the action in question requires speed, finesse, or
both.
Thus, the Action Sequence sub-system of the skill
system allows for a more dynamic way to adjudicate
competitive action scenes. It can be used for chases
on foot or in vehicles, computer hacking, an
infiltration into a secure facility with active security
forces, or a debate or negotiation between
competing factions. Any situation in which two
parties are competing through skill use and in which
a single die roll fails to capture the intricacy or
potential drama and excitement of the situation
could be resolved with these rules.
The use of Action Sequences is optional. The
Director can describe a situation and simply require
appropriate skill checks. These rules are intended to
provide some structure to fuel imagination,
encourage the use of more Skills and more creative
use of Skills, inject some additional random danger
into an event, and/or just to speed along a scene to
get to more exciting or more important parts of the
story.
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Deduction, and Technological Aptitude.
It should be noted that many stereotypical
characters in the source material might not be good
at many different kinds of Action Sequences aside
from chases and fighting through security forces!
There are two kinds of Action Sequences: Standard
and Contested. In a Standard Action Sequence, the
characters compete against a static DL determined
by the Director. All skill checks are made against the
same DL.
The Difficulty Level is based on the challenge of the
Action Sequence. For an easy Action Sequence, the
DL is 8. For a moderate Action Sequence, the DL is
12. For a difficult Action Sequence, the DL is 16. If a
character uses a Skill that is not on the Skill List, the
DL is increased by 4. The characters fail a Standard
Action Sequence if they fail a number of skill checks
equal to the Action Goal before succeeding at the
same number of skill checks.
In a Contested Action Sequence, the characters are
competing against other characters, whether an
NPC Fighter, a group of Fighters, or a Thug group. In
this case, the skill check of one of the PCs is rolled
against the skill check of one of the NPCs. Whoever
wins the check earns a success towards the
Sequences Action Goal. A tie roll does not earn a
success for either side. If a character chooses a Skill
that is not on the Skill List, the opponent gains a +4
on their skill check. When one side achieves
successes equal to the Action Goal, that side has
won the Action Sequence.
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way into the inner labs of the sinister Akira
Corporation. The Director chooses to resolve the
infiltration as an Action Sequence before having the
heroes reach the climactic fights against the
corporations most powerful forces.
The player characters are Cannon, the ninja Sho,
and the elemental warrior Koichiro. The Director
decides to use the Skill List of Thug Thrashing,
Property Damage, Athletics, and Stealth. While this
is the same as the example provided above, the
Director has decided to not tell the players the Skill
List. This Standard Action Sequence has an Action
Goal of 4 and a Difficulty Level of 8.
The Director describes the building the heroes are
invading and gives them a chance to think about
their approach after telling them that he plans to
resolve this as an Action Sequence.
Shos player chooses to go first and chooses Stealth.
He describes their entrance through an external air
duct, and even describes various other labs they see
on their way through the facility. He rolls a total of
10, easily scoring the 1st success towards the Action
Goal.
Cannons player goes next and chooses Athletics.
Cannons player suggests that the team needed to
navigate through a trap-laden gauntlet to get to the
inner portion of the labs. The Director likes this idea
and adds some additional details. Another high roll
of 9 and the team is halfway to their goal (though
they do not know that).
Koichiros player decides that a direct route straight
to the masterminds lab would speed things along,
so he chooses to use his Climactic Super Move. He
describes an enormous blast of electrical energy
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Using Action Sequences in the Story
The rules for Action Sequences are meant as a
shorthand way to generate a dramatic
situation worth playing through, but without
the necessary prep time or play time to resolve
in a more detailed fashion. The abstraction in
the narrative also allows ones imagination to
create more interesting scenes than a series of
skill checks alone might provide.
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3. Qualities, Weaknesses,
and Quirks
This chapter provides descriptions for all of the
Qualities, Weaknesses, and Quirks available to a
character. It also contains rules for the use of Story
Points, a flexible resource that allows players to
manipulate die rolls and circumstances in the story
for their own benefit.
The rules for acquiring Qualities, Weaknesses, and
Quirks are also summarized here, as well as some
recommendations about the use of certain traits in
certain campaigns. Some of these traits specifically
reference the metagame of Fight!: the
hypothetical video game on which the campaign is
based and the engagement of the players of that
video game. Not all campaigns will want to break
this fourth wall, and as such, these traits should be
strictly moderated by the Director.
Choosing Qualities
A character begins with four Qualities at Power
Level 1. He can gain additional Qualities by
choosing Weaknesses; each Weakness chosen allows
an additional Quality. As noted in Chapter 1, the
character can also choose less than four Qualities in
exchange for additional Skills or Fighting Spirit, but
all characters must choose at least one Quality.
At Power Level 2, and every subsequent evennumbered Power Level, the character either gains a
new Quality or, with the Directors permission, loses
an existing Weakness.
In regard to choosing Qualities, Weaknesses, and
Quirks, not every aspect of a character needs to be
defined by these traits. The character may need
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have effects on combat as well.
Many of the Qualities and Weaknesses below
mention interaction skills. This is a general term
to represent any skill check that applies to social
interactions: any attempt to charm, deceive,
seduce, persuade, intimidate, or placate another
character. It does not apply to any specific set of
skills; the Director determines what constitutes the
use of an interaction skill.
Some Qualities are specifically defined as
appearance Qualities. A character with three
appearance Qualities may stack the bonuses and
receive an additional +1 on interaction skill checks
on top of the total. Attractive and Dashing (for male
characters) and Attractive and Beautiful (for female
characters) only count as one Quality for this
calculation. For example, a male character has the
following qualities: Attractive, Dashing, Bishounen,
and Sharp Dressed. Attractive and Dashing give a +
2 bonus on interaction skill checks involving female
characters. Bishounen gives a +1 bonus on all
interaction skill checks. Sharp Dressed gives a +1
bonus on all interaction skill checks (and +2 in
certain circumstances). Thus, in most interaction
skill checks involving female characters, the
character would receive a +5 bonus (+2, +1, +1, and +
1 for having three appearance Qualities).
As another example, a female character has the
following qualities: Attractive, Sexy, and Cute. Each
of the three Qualities individually gives a +1 bonus
on interaction skill checks involving male characters.
Thus, for all interaction skill checks involving male
characters, the character would receive a +4 bonus
(+1, +1, +1, and +1 for having three appearance
Qualities).
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Choosing Qualities, Weaknesses,
and Traits for NPCs
When designing opponents for the PCs to face, the
Director should strive to be fair when choosing Qualities
and Weaknesses for the NPCs. For example, if the
players have designed Fighters with Qualities like
Attractive, Connections, Influence, and Fame, then in
general it would be inappropriate for the Director to
make an NPC Fighter with a number of Weaknesses
that will have no effect on the single fight scene in
which the character is featured, and then to exchange
most of the characters many Quality choices for
additional Combat Skills and Fighting Spirit. The
players Quality choices have indicated a desire for
stories that involve more than endless fight scenes as a
way to advance the plot, and the Director has
responded by throwing a monster at them with little
depth and a host of serious Weaknesses that will never
manifest during his short time on stage.
The reverse is also true: if the player characters are the
ones who are the thinly-developed combat monsters,
then the Director should not bother with detailed
creations with interesting backgrounds and varied
resources at their disposal when they are just going to
end up as defeated victims at the PCs feet.
Exceptions exist. Sometimes the Director intends an
opponent to be a brutal force that forces the player
characters to work hard in order to defeat him, and
sometimes a well-developed villain will get a second
chance to use his extensive resources after being
soundly defeated by the protagonists of the story.
Qualities
Attractive
Beautiful (females only)
Big
Bishounen (males only)
Buxom (females only)
Charming
Connections
Cute (females only)
Dashing (males only)
Driven
Fame
Power
Followers
Powerful Item
Friend
Gadgeteering Psychic
Reputation
Genius
Great Destiny Sensei
Sexy (females only)
Gun Expert
Immortal Being Sharp Dressed (males only)
Short
Influence
Suggestive Attire (females only)
Intelligent
Tall
Intimidating
Technique
Light
Theme Music
Lucky
Tomboy (females only)
Magic
Wealth
Mobility
Weapon Expert
Pet
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Quirks
Weaknesses
Amnesia
Annoying Voice
Bad Reputation
Code
Curse
Dangerous Job
Dark Side
Dependence
Doomed
Dull Personality
Duty Bound
Fanatic
Fearsome Appearance
Fragile Self-Image
Glass Jaw
Haunted
Honorable
Hunted
Obsession
Phobia
Physical Handicap
Poorly Drawn
Ritual
Significant Other
Style Weakness
Thick
Ugly
Unattractive
Unintelligent
Unlucky
Vow
Warped
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Age
Arrogant
Attitude
Brutal
Bumbling Friend
Clueless
Cooking
Dead Serious
Demure
Disgraced
Distinctive Appearance
Fan Service (females
only)
Glutton
Greedy
Immature
Impulsive
In Love
Lecherous
Loves Combat
Nosebleeds (males
only)
Pacifist
Reckless
Revenge
Rivalry
Scarred
Secret
Short-Tempered
Suspicious
Unworldly
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Buxom, Fan Service, and Suggestive Attire: All in the Eye of the Beholder
Some groups of players may have problems with the Qualities Buxom and Suggestive Attire and the Quirk Fan Service. They make specific game
allowances for certain common genre conventions about female characters in fighting video games, but some groups might find them offensive.
Other groups may not take offense to these game elements, but may instead just
find them silly. If either case applies, they should be removed from the list of
available options for characters.
In games in which Buxom, Fan Service, and Suggestive Attire
are allowed (which is the default assumption of the rules),
it must be emphasized that what constitutes buxom,
fan service, and/or suggestive attire must be
understood from the perspective of the specific
campaign setting in which they are used. In the
case of more unusual campaign settings, these
elements may represent more extreme notions.
For example, in a campaign setting in which all
the Fighters are buxom athletes, a character
with the Buxom Quality must be buxom
even by comparison to the other Fighters in
the campaign in order to take this Quality.
Similarly, in a campaign set in the world of
supermodel martial artists fighting solely
in their lingerie (a ridiculous concept for a
fighting game to be sure!), the characters
should not all take the Suggestive Attire
Quality, as such attire is normal for this
campaign setting. In such a setting, a
character that did take the Suggestive Attire
Quality must be quite scantily clad indeed.
In theory, the opposite extreme might be true,
but the Director should be cautious about
allowing the same game effects to apply. For
example, in a campaign in which all the Fighters are
male except for one female, whose fighting attire
happens to show a little cleavage, one could make the
case that any or all of the three Qualities under discussion
could apply to this character in that setting. However, this is
not the intent of the rules as written.
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Quality Descriptions
This section describes all of the Qualities in the
game. They are listed alphabetically. It should be
noted that some Qualities require other Qualities as
prerequisites and that some Qualities are restricted
to male or female characters.
Attractive: This appearance Quality represents
generic good looks that are recognizable as such but
not outstanding in any regard. This is a fairly
common Quality for heroic characters. It is also
extremely common that female characters in the
source material (heroic or villainous) have at least
this level of attractiveness. This Quality gives a +1
bonus on interaction skill checks when dealing with
the opposite sex.
Beautiful: (females only) This appearance Quality is
the highest level of appearance traits for female
characters. The Attractive Quality is a prerequisite
for this Quality. Such characters possess a sort of
virginal, pure, and/or untouchable beauty. A
character with the Beautiful Quality gets a +2 bonus
on interaction skill checks when dealing with the
opposite sex. This replaces the +1 bonus for the
Attractive Quality.
Big: A character with this Quality is huge. He is
often as broad as he is tall and covered with bulky
muscles or fat. Sometimes the character is tall as
well. The characters proportions are definitely
beyond human. This Trait is often possessed by
wrestlers and bruisers who rely more on force than
technique.
The character receives 1 damage from all attacks in
combat (minimum 1) and also receives a +1 to his
Stun Threshold. By moving into Range 0, the
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totally unrealistically) about as they fight. This
implausible physical characteristic has no purpose in
the video game other than providing gratuitous fan
service, attracting the attention of male players.
Thus, a Buxom character receives +2 on interaction
skill checks when dealing with males.
The down side of this Quality is that such characters
will also have to deal with men speaking directly to
their chests, the accosting hands of horny old and
young men and, in darker campaigns, unusually
bleak treatment at the hands of lecherous villains. A
player can allow her character to willingly suffer this
negative attention during a story to earn a Story
Point.
If the character spends one Story Point at the start
of a combat, then male opponents are so enthralled
by the characters unnatural poetry in motion that
they suffer a one die size penalty on Control (not
Initiative) on the first turn in which they fight a
Buxom opponent.
Charming: The character has a likeable personality.
He may be charming, charismatic, funny, inspiring,
nice, or all of the above. This Quality has nothing to
do with the characters appearance. As a result of his
disposition, the character receives a +1 on all
interaction skill checks.
Connections: The character has a number of
contacts and connections he can draw upon. These
might be because the character is wealthy, or
politically influential, or a well-connected celebrity.
Similarly, the characters connections might be
criminal contacts or friends and allies from a temple
or martial arts school. During a story, the character
can spend a Story Point to draw upon these
resources. This might take the form of allies to
provide assistance or a distraction, access to a
restricted site or event, or information that would
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bonus, its use in combat can have a dramatic effect.
Because of this, this should be reserved for
appropriately climactic confrontations.
Fame: The character is famous. This might be a
limited form of fame, such as within a specific
subculture, but is generally intended to represent
widespread acclaim. This Quality also means that
the character is liked (i.e., famous, not infamous).
By spending a Story Point, the character can benefit
from his Fame, by getting help from perfect
strangers or access to exclusive events. Fame
should be allowed to accomplish powerful effects,
but the player can also choose to willingly
inconvenience his character during a story on
account of his Fame in order to earn a Story Point.
Followers: This character has a fairly large group of
followers at his beck and call. These might be
members of a street gang the character leads,
corporate security, personal bodyguards, a fawning
fan club, or the like. By spending a Story Point, the
character can use these Followers for his purposes,
such as performing errands or gathering
information.
While the Followers may be
considered combat-trained (e.g., street thugs or
soldiers), this Quality cannot provide people who
can fight in place of the character. They serve only
in a support role. If appropriate, the Director could
consider the Followers a Thug group in combat.
Friend: A character with this Quality possesses a
devoted friend, who is almost always much more
subdued than the character himself, and hardly ever
a Fighter. This Friend supports the character, cheers
him on, helps him out as he is able to, and points out
things the character might miss. By spending a
Story Point, the player can use this Quality to
essentially get a story assist from the Director: the
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dramatic and portentous. What
occurs should clearly be
related to the characters
destiny and should also
further it towards
completion (which may
or may not happen in
the course of the
campaign).
Gun Expert: This Quality
is not as common in the
source material, as guns
are rarely a part of
martial arts combat.
However, this Quality
represents a high
degree of skill with
modern firearms. Despite
the word expert in the
title, this is an appropriate Quality
for any character who has had formal
military training, especially in some
branch of elite forces. Given the
highly abstract nature of the gun rules
in the game, this Quality gives a +3
bonus on any skill check related to
firearms. If appropriate for the
campaign, the Director should allow
characters with this Quality to pull off
amazing action-movie stunts with
guns, often accompanied by graceful
acrobatics.
In a campaign set in a world
without guns (e.g., a fantasy or
historical
setting),
the
Director may permit this
Quality for use with primitive
ranged weapons such as
bows. Note, however,
Immortal
Being:
T
h
i
s
supernatural
Quality means
that the character
will never die of old
age and cannot be
permanently
killed.
Obviously, the Director should
restrict this Quality to appropriate
character concepts. Due to the very
loose nature of killing and death in the
rules, the specifics of this Quality are largely
up to the Director and the events of the story
and campaign. While death is rarely
permanent for any character in Fight! who
still has a useful role to play in
the plot as a whole, Immortal
Beings should have opportunities to
flaunt their inability to be killed and/or
return from their non-permanent deaths
more quickly (often re-appearing
at a critical moment).
For
example, it would not be
inappropriate for the Director to
deliberately kill the Immortal
character, just to allow the character to
re-appear when he is most needed or
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when the story would benefit the most.
The player may choose to spend a Story Point to do
something fatal without serious consequence (such
as escape by leaping out of a 70th-story window).
The player may choose to do this without spending
a Story Point, but the Director may choose to
impose some temporary hardship as a result (for
example, in the above situation, perhaps the
character needs to wait an hour before his limbs realign from the impact).
Influence: This Quality represents the ability to
manipulate and/or control a group of people or a
sub-culture. For example, a character may have
Influence in the criminal underworld, or in mass
media, or in the halls of political power, or over a
particular school or style of martial arts. A character
with this Quality must define the nature of his
Influence and this Quality can be taken more than
once to represent other areas of Influence. By
spending a Story Point, a player can make use of his
Influence to get favors, assistance, or information.
This Quality is similar to both Connections and
Followers. Connections applies to personal, largely
peer relations in a group. Followers are underlings
personally and specifically committed to the
character. Influence is an abstract authority,
potentially over a large group, but without any
personal relationship or loyalty. Influence may gain
the character a favor, but it doesnt mean the one
granting the favor likes or even knows the character.
Intelligent: The character is very intelligent and
probably also very well educated. As a result, the
character receives a +2 on any skill check in which
the Director determines his impressive intelligence
would be a factor.
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circumstances in his favor, far more extreme or
implausible events can (and should) happen. Finally,
during a story, this character will also have general
good luck at the Directors discretion. If the
character spends a Story Point to manifest his good
luck in combat, then some or all of the characters
three skill re-rolls for the session can also be used in
combat to re-roll any roll.
Magic: This Quality is a combination of both a
Quality and a Skill. Taking this Quality is a
prerequisite for taking the Magic Skill (see the Skill
description in Chapter 2). A character with this
powerful Quality is capable of creating almost any
supernatural effect imaginable, limited solely by his
level of skill.
Sometimes effects may be
instantaneous, other times they may be great
rituals, but there are no theoretical limits (beyond
the Directors discretion and the needs of the story
and the campaign) to what the character can
potentially do.
Mobility: This character can move swiftly and with
great control. Because of this, when the character
moves 2 Ranges and then attacks, he can choose to
simply take a 2 penalty to Accuracy instead of
spending 1 FS. If the character also possesses the
Big Quality, there is instead no penalty to Accuracy,
but the movement costs 1 FS (rather than 2 FS, as is
normally required for Big characters).
Pet: This Quality represents an animal or creature
that accompanies the character. The choice of
animal is up to the player, but this Quality is
intended to represent unusual animals such as
highly intelligent dogs, panthers, bears, or birds of
prey, or else supernatural companions such as
demons or spirits. The more mundane the choice
of pet (e.g., a cat or small dog), the more likely that
it is an extraordinary member of its species.
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ranged attack) are simply designed as normal
Special Moves. In fact, a characters Special Moves
may include several powers without the character
taking this Quality. This Quality (and its Skill) is only
necessary if the character can use the Power in
flexible ways outside of combat.
Powerful Item: This Quality represents a specific
item that the character possesses. It may be a
specific piece of high-tech equipment, or it may be
an ancient magical artifact. While such an item may
have combat applications (e.g., a magic sword), any
game effects related to combat should be built as
normal as Special Moves. In fact, a character with a
magic sword (for example) that does nothing but
give him combat abilities does not need this Quality.
Its abilities are wholly represented by the characters
Special Moves.
The player and Director must define the noncombat abilities and limits of the Powerful Item.
During the course of the story, a player can spend a
Story Point to activate those abilities. This Quality
can also represent access to a powerful place, such
as an extradimensional fount of mystical energy,
access to a high-tech lab, a personal arena suffused
with the Fighters own ki energy, or the seat of
power of a kingdom or nation.
Psychic: This Quality is a combination of both a
Quality and a Skill. Taking this Quality is a
prerequisite for taking the Psychic Skill (see the Skill
description in Chapter 2). A character with this
Quality is capable of effecting any superpower
broadly defined as a mental, psychic, or psionic
ability, limited solely by his skill level and the
Directors discretion.
Reputation: A character with this Quality has some
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three of the Attractive, Cute, and Sexy Qualities.
Sexy characters receive a +1 bonus on interaction
skills when dealing with males, which stacks with
other appearance Qualities.
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Skill to defend against attacks made by this
character receive a +1 bonus to Defense Totals.
Technique: This special Quality requires permission
from the Director. A Technique is a special ability
useable by the character that is not available to any
other Fighter character in the campaign. The form
of this special ability is an optional rule for combat
that applies only to the character. For example, the
default combat rules do not allow a character to
combine a moving Evade with Defense (which is
called an Aerial Block in a fighting game). In a
campaign using the default combat rules, a
character could take the Technique Quality and use
the rule for Aerial Blocking for his character.
The Director must approve all Techniques, as some
rules are far more powerful than others. If a player
wanted a particularly powerful Technique, the
Director may allow it at the cost of more than one
Quality. The default rules for Fight! in this book do
not have many rules options suitable for the
Technique Quality. Future supplements will contain
many more options, or the Director can create his
own.
Theme Music: This Quality is a metagame Quality
and thus requires the Directors permission. In
fighting games, the soundtrack played while the
character is fighting may be exceptionally exciting,
well written or memorable. This Quality has combat
effects. The strong positive vibe of the characters
soundtrack is inspiring enough to allow him to
automatically recover Fighting Spirit equal to his
Power Level every full 10-count of combat. Thus,
the character would recover Fighting Spirit when the
time count dropped to 89 or less, and then again
when it dropped to 79 or less, and so on.
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involving primitive ranged weapons such as bows
(which is the province of the Gun Expert Quality).
Weakness Descriptions
This section describes all of the Weaknesses in the
game. They are listed alphabetically. Remember
that the Director has a responsibility to make sure
that Weaknesses actually have an effect on the
game. A Weakness that never comes into play is not
a Weakness.
Amnesia: The character does not remember his
past. How much he has lost or whether he will ever
regain his memory is up to the player and the
Director. This gives them both significant freedom
to alter the characters understanding of himself to
best suit the campaigns story, though the Director
should do this with the interests of the player in
mind.
Annoying Voice: This Weakness is a metagame
Weakness and thus requires Director permission.
The voice acting in fighting games (especially after
dubbing for localization) often leaves much to be
desired. Secondary heroes and comedic sidekicks
often have loud, nasal, or silly voices. The character
with this Weakness has one of these voices.
Because of the characters ridiculous voice, the
hypothetical players mock the character. The
character loses 1 Glory point every session of play
and has a -1 penalty on all his interaction skill
checks.
Bad Reputation: The character has a bad reputation
that may or may not be accurate. Regardless of
whether or not it is accurate, people treat the
character accordingly and expect him to behave in a
certain way. This may mean, for example, that
people expect him to be a delinquent who is always
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rather not do, get thrown into dangerous situations,
and be involved in frequent fights, usually (but not
solely) of the Thug Thrashing variety. This Weakness
often contributes significantly to establishing an
entire character concept. The job must be a genuine
liability to the character, not just an excuse for
comparatively easy extra Glory during stories.
Dark Side: Usually, this Weakness would only be
taken by a heroic character (though the Director
might permit a villainous character to have a really,
really Dark Side). Despite the characters noble
nature, he possesses an evil side that he may or may
not be aware of. Under the right circumstance,
always at critical moments, his Dark Side may come
to the fore, causing the character to do destructive
or reprehensible things. The character also may or
may not be aware of what he has done during the
dark time.
The Director may choose to develop some sort of
sliding scale for the characters loss of control,
informing the player that circumstances have
pushed the character another step closer to losing
control, thereby allowing the character the chance
to act in such a way as to regain it, or he may just
impose it on the character when dramatically
appropriate. The control and/or elimination of the
Dark Side is often a driving motive for the character.
Dependence: The character with this Weakness is
dependent on something else to survive. This could
be a dependency or addiction to a substance, but in
this case, it would need to be a profoundly deep
addiction and/or a very dangerous substance to
qualify (e.g., a character who smokes does not
qualify for this Weakness in most cases). The
Dependence might instead be to something else for
a non-human character. An amphibious being may
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what he is a Fanatic about. This should be
something fairly significant. It also should not fall
under the purview of Obsession or Vow. Fanaticism
usually relates to an ideal, philosophical or religious
system, or lifestyle. The player and Director must
work together to define the typical behaviors of the
Fanatic. The Director should assign penalties or
other consequences if the character fails to act
according to his fanaticism. The player can
inconvenience his character on account of his
fanaticism by choice in order to earn a Story Point.
From a role-playing perspective, such a character
will also be annoyingly one-tracked in his thought
and often talk or think of little else.
Fearsome Appearance: This Weakness represents
an unusual appearance that can be broadly defined
as anything that is definitely not normal and usually
will provoke a negative reaction. It can be a
monstrous appearance (which may or may not also
be Ugly) or a supernatural quality that simply makes
other people uncomfortable. A character with this
Weakness suffers a 4 on Lost in the Crowd skill
checks. Furthermore, the character also suffers a -1
penalty on all interaction skill checks. On the other
hand, the strange nature of the characters
appearance is worth a +1 bonus on interaction skill
checks if the character is trying to frighten or
intimidate someone. If applicable, these bonuses
and penalties stack with the Ugly Weakness.
Fragile Self-Image: This character is usually
overconfident in his actions, but this actually masks
a severe lack of confidence. If the character ever
loses a significant fight (defined by the Director
according to the specific character), he loses 10
Glory points immediately and subsequently suffers a
-1 penalty on all skill checks until he wins a
significant fight (as defined by the Director).
thing for a fighter to live with. The character has a 2 Stun Threshold.
Haunted: Characters who are Haunted can be
tormented in one of two ways. The haunting might
be literal, in which case, the character will have
frequent interaction with frightening, bothersome,
or malevolent spirits. The other form of the
Haunted Weakness is the torment the character
feels over the events of ones past; in this case, the
player needs to describe what happened that now
gives the character frequent nightmares, bouts of
depression, and lack of confidence about his choice
of actions. Either version of this Weakness may lead
to penalties on skill checks and/or a misperception
of reality on the part of the character.
Honorable: Honorable characters abide by a simple,
specific form of code related to their general way of
life and how they treat others. In combat, an
Honorable character will not strike an opponent who
has been Stunned or Knocked Down. As a slightly
beneficial side effect of this Weakness, people who
know of the characters honor may treat the
character with respect. On the other hand, villains
will exploit this Weakness.
Hunted: A character who is Hunted needs to define
who is hunting him and why. This Weakness should
not usually be defined as another specific Fighter
(which is usually a Rivalry instead). However, the
hunter should have the resources to send lots of
troops at the Hunted character. The Director should
feel free to send mobs of Thug-level opponents at
the character during each story. Ideally, this
Weakness should be worked into the story rather
than serve as a distraction from it. The Director
should keep this in mind when choosing opponents
for the character. Also, like the Dangerous Job
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Weakness, being Hunted is supposed to be a
liability, not a persistent low-level opportunity to
earn extra Glory beyond the other characters.
Obsession: This Weakness does not represent a
characters ideological stance (that is covered by the
Fanatic Weakness), but rather his obsession with a
specific item, person, plan, or idea. The player must
clearly define the object of his Obsession. Though it
is possible that the Fanatic Weakness might be
understood in a heroic (if overzealous) light,
Obsessions are often darker psychological territory.
From a role-playing perspective, this Obsession
usually dominates the characters mind, so that he
cannot easily concentrate on anything else. This
results in a -1 penalty on all skill checks except those
related to the Obsession (Directors discretion). The
player can inconvenience his character on account
of his Obsession by choice in order to earn a Story
Point.
Phobia: The character suffers a profound, irrational
fear of something. The choice of Phobia needs to be
common enough (as deemed by the Director) that
the character has a reasonable chance of
encountering it during his adventures. When
exposed to the presence of the Phobia object, the
character must either flee or else become paralyzed
by fear. If the player willingly exposes his character
to the object of his Phobia, the Director can award a
Story Point.
Physical Handicap: The character with this
Weakness has a significant Physical Handicap. This
is an uncommon Weakness for a fighting game
character. The Director must approve the handicap.
Examples include missing arms, legs, or eyes, or
perhaps strong asthma or a lasting, debilitating
illness. The Physical Handicap is generally not
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reciprocated in this situation. The Director is free to
threaten, kidnap, or otherwise endanger the
Significant Other during stories. This Weakness can
easily be combined with the Quirk In Love. The
player should not be able to easily ignore or blow off
his Significant Other without real consequences for
his character.
Style Weakness: The characters martial arts style is
not well suited to facing opponents using certain
techniques or his style is predictable. One example
of this is the supposed weakness of traditional
Western Boxing to kick attacks. This Weakness has
combat effects and thus requires the Directors
permission. When facing an opponent with Style
Weakness, a combatant may make a DL 8 Stance
Evaluation roll. In addition to the normal benefits of
the roll, if it succeeds, all attacks against the
character with Style Weakness do +1 damage.
Thick: This Weakness is only available to characters
who also have the Unintelligent Weakness. This
character is just plain stupid. He is not creative in his
thoughts, cannot understand detailed plans, and
gets a 3 on any skill check that would involve
intelligence or education (Directors discretion). This
replaces the 2 penalty of Unintelligent.
Ugly: This Weakness represents the worst
appearance possible. Such characters are hideous
to behold. In fighting games, this can sometimes be
quite graphic. It is rare among females in the genre.
The effect of this Weakness is a -3 penalty on all
interaction skill checks when dealing with a member
of the opposite sex. On the other hand, being
disgusting to behold is worth a +1 bonus on
interaction skill checks if the character is trying to
frighten or intimidate someone. Characters with
this Weakness cannot acquire any positive
appearance Qualities and female characters with
this Weakness cannot acquire the Buxom Quality,
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should usually just be used for humorous effect. If
the Director wishes to allow this Quality to have
combat effects, then some or all of the characters
three skill re-rolls for the session can also be used
against the character in combat to re-roll any roll.
Vow: This Weakness represents a vow or series of
vows that the character has taken which are likely to
affect his behavior on a fairly regular basis. It can
represent the religious rules of a monk, a stout
warriors vow of purity, or an evil desire for
vengeance. The nature of the Vow should not be so
obscure that its application in the game is barely
seen. The character is committed to the Vow, but
this does not necessarily mean that the character is
always completely comfortable with it, and the
character can still be subject to temptation.
Because of this Weakness, the character will be
inhibited in his actions in some way and will be
tempted with some regularity during his adventures.
If the character ends up breaking his vow, he will
have a -3 penalty on all his die rolls until a journey of
repentance is taken (a special story or series of
scenes designed at the Directors discretion).
Warped: This Weakness can cover a number of
different afflictions. A Warped character may be
physically or mentally Warped. Thus, this Weakness
covers any physical deformity or insanity the
character may be burdened with. In any case, such
afflictions will be difficult to conceal and hard to live
with, though the exact details are up to the Director
to decide. Physical afflictions will often have a
negative effect on social interactions, while mental
afflictions may control or limit character actions.
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Quirk Descriptions
This section describes all of the Quirks in the game.
They are listed alphabetically. Remember that
Quirks are intended to be descriptors of major
personality traits of a character. They should
occasionally hinder or define a characters actions,
but they should not be as debilitating as
Weaknesses.
Because they have a limited
mechanical effect on a character, the Director may
allow players to come up with their own Quirks.
Age: The character is particularly old, perhaps even
ancient, or else very young, such as a child. This has
no specific game effects fighting games are filled
with spry old men and immensely powerful children
but it will affect the way other people perceive and
relate to the character.
Arrogant: The character is convinced of his own
superiority and has no problem sharing this selfknowledge with others. This perception may or may
not be accurate. In any case, the perceptions and
attitudes of other people towards the character will
certainly be colored by this arrogance.
Attitude: Many characters in fighting games, both
heroes and villains, are so cool as to radiate an aura
of attitude when they are around. Characters with
this Quirk may occasionally have difficulty hiding in
crowds or appearing sincerely humble in their
interactions with others. Others may be inclined to
either challenge the character or to act subservient
around them.
Brutal: Characters with this Quirk are harsh fighters
in combat. They enjoy bullying the weak and using
dirty tricks, and they have no compunctions against
beating opponents who are already down. This may
result in legal difficulties, a loss of respect and
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honor, a recognized bad reputation, and few friends.
Bumbling Friend: The character has a good friend
who is always willing to help in any way he can.
However, despite this friends best intentions, he
rarely proves to be of much help. Typically such a
character is loud, clumsy, not too bright, and/or
socially inept. While the friend may occasionally
prove useful (more often by accident), he is usually a
liability to the character when he is around.
Clueless: This Quirk is not an assessment of the
characters intelligence. Rather, a character with
this Quirk is curiously unaware of his environment,
the feelings of those around him, and the meaning
of clues presented to him. While there are no
specific game mechanics to reflect this, the Director
may choose to withhold information from the
character when describing a situation.
Cooking: Any food the character prepares will be
horrible and will cause temporary illness in anyone
who eats it. The character may be aware of this or
instead believe that he is actually an excellent cook.
This Quirk is usually used as a source of comic relief
in a story.
Dead Serious: Despite the occasional light-hearted
scene in the plot of a fighting game, some
characters seem to have no part whatsoever in it.
This character is one of them. The character never
laughs, rarely appears noticeably happy, and is
usually an extremely focused individual. This should
be clear through the players role-playing. It may
have an effect on the characters social interactions.
Demure: This Quirk is in some ways the opposite of
the Attitude Quirk. The character rarely makes eye
contact or exalts himself in any way, and may
regularly put himself at the service of others. This
attitude persists, even after having beaten an
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which presents itself, will eat a lot, and will often
make an embarrassing display of himself while
doing so. The character is not necessarily fat. This
Quirk is best used for occasional comic effect and to
perhaps provide a distraction to the character.
Greedy: The character is constantly in pursuit of
material gain, whether through money or
possessions. This is a primary motivation for the
characters actions and, unless the character makes
an effort to keep it secret, will usually color the
perceptions and reactions of people around him.
Immature: This is another common stereotype,
usually among female characters. Despite being
fully-grown in years, this character still acts like a
child. This manifests in the character through high
and/or loud voices, frequent temper tantrums,
unusual moments of stupid courage or unreasonable
fear, and making a general nuisance out of himself.
Impulsive: A character with this Quirk possesses
boundless energy and an inability to stay in one
place for too long. The character is bored with
excessive planning and usually flies off on his own
without proper discretion. As a result, the character
often ends up in trouble. An Impulsive character is
not necessarily Reckless; the Impulsive character
may choose a prudent course of action, but only
because it was the first idea he came up with.
In Love: Love relationships sometimes play a role in
the plot of fighting games. A character who is In
Love needs to first define whom he is In Love with.
This is usually another player character or a
prominent NPC. In any case, the object of the
lovers affection should be around fairly frequently,
but does not necessarily need to have reciprocal
feelings. This Quirk may occasionally be played for
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to establish a set of circumstances or kinds of
opponents toward which the character is less
pacifistic.
Reckless: A character who is Reckless makes
unnecessarily bold choices in his actions. Such
characters are usually loud and enthusiastic and
have little interest in caution. Because of their
rashness, they usually get into trouble over their
heads. This is not the same thing as Impulsive; a
Reckless character may deliberate over his actions
but will ultimately choose an action that will
generate big results (whatever that may mean in a
specific situation).
Revenge: A character with this Quirk has a need for
revenge. The target of this revenge should be
someone or some group that is accessible during the
events of the campaign, and ideally is a person or
group that is directly related to the main plot of the
campaign. The character seeking Revenge will act
irrationally when faced with an opportunity to get
back at the offender. This may be a dominant
component of the characters reason for fighting.
Rivalry: A character with a Rivalry needs to define
who the Rivalry is with and what the nature of the
Rivalry is. The other character should ideally be a
character that is around somewhat frequently, but if
not, then the Rivalry should be even more intense
and fierce when both characters are around. The
other character may not share the sense of Rivalry,
but this is much less interesting. The rival can be
another player character, which can make for some
great stories, but the Director should be aware of
the possible danger of bad player dynamics.
Characters with rivalries will often do stupid things.
Common rivals are siblings or fighters from the
same school.
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character will not be able to relate well with modern
technology, cultural mannerisms and slang. The
Director may occasionally use this unfamiliarity to
cause the character inconvenience at an important
moment.
Story Points
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should make these insights fairly obvious, not
cryptic, so as to justify the use of Story Points.
Certain specific Qualities also use Story Points to
give hints or assistance. The general insights gained
by spending Story Points as described here should
not be as useful as those gained by those Qualities.
Example: Despite collecting a number of clues
about the whereabouts of the headquarters of the
Cartel of the Iron Lords, the player characters are
unclear as to how they should proceed. Cannon
McCabes player decides to spend a Story Point for
an insight.
Suddenly, Cannon remembered
something he heard one of the Cartels goons say in
a previous confrontation. The Director tells the
group that the Cartel has moved their headquarters
to a downtown skyscraper. Based on earlier clues
they had uncovered in the story, the group now
knows where to go.
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4. Basic Moves, Special
Moves, and Super Moves
Special Moves are one of the defining characteristics
of fighting video games. Aside from their distinctive
appearances, what makes players choose to play
and master particular characters are an appreciation
of their Special Moves, in both their visual flair and
their specific combat application. This chapter
explains the distinction between the different kinds
of moves that Fighters can use in combat, as well as
provides rules for designing unique Special Moves.
With these rules, characters can throw blasts of
destructive ki, launch punches and kicks that send
their opponents flying high into the air, turn invisible
during combat, and use attacks designed to work
around any defense. The system is designed to be
flexible enough to duplicate almost any effect seen
in a fighting video game.
The term move refers to a specific form of attack
it may be as simple as a jab or roundhouse kick, or as
impressive as the massive emanations of destructive
ki that describe a characters Super Move. In
exceptional cases, a move might also be a special
form of non-attack action available to a specific
Fighter.
Most moves need to be designed by the player or
Director as individual, unique options for a specific
Fighter. This is done by building the move as a
series of Elements and Liabilities that define how
the move is used in combat. Some moves may
simply be more accurate or damaging than others,
while others may provide special options or allow
the move an exception to a normal rule.
Definitions
Basic Moves are the attack forms available to all
characters. They represent all the normal attacks
used in hand-to-hand combat, such as punches,
kicks, elbows and head butts. Generally, these
moves have the same game mechanics for all
characters, no matter how they are defined by the
player.
Special Moves are the unique attacks of a particular
character. They are acquired by spending Move
Points both at character generation and when a
character advances in Power Level. The Move Points
spent determine the level of the Special Move,
which in turns establishes how many Elements can
be used to build the Special Move, which describes
the moves mechanical role in combat. The actual
visual description of a Special Move is very
important, for it is these moves that define and
characterize a Fighter and his martial arts style.
Thus, regardless of the moves game effects, it is up
to the player to provide appropriate and interesting
descriptions for his Special Moves.
Super Moves are a particular kind of Special Move.
In most ways, they are the same as regular Special
Moves; however, they are made up of more
Elements, they are a little more damaging, they
have a couple Elements and Liabilities available that
are not available for regular Special Moves, and a
Fighter needs to accumulate Super Energy in
combat before he can use a Super Move.
These are the three primary kinds of moves in the
game.
Future supplements will detail many
additional options for Basic, Special, and especially
Super Moves.
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This chapter also presents additional rules options:
modifying Basic Moves, rules for Basic Taunts in
combat, Basic Throws, and a special form of Combo
called an Attack String, which can be used to better
replicate the Special Moves found in many 3-D
fighting games.
Basic Moves
No move needs to be designed to enable a character
to punch another character. A Fighters standard
attack forms are summed up under the category of
Basic Moves.
All Basic Moves can be defined however the player
wants for his character. For a big brawler, a Basic
Move might be a roundhouse punch, a knee, or a
brutal head butt. For a quick kung fu fighter, a Basic
Move might be a snap kick, an open palm strike, or
an elbow. The specific differences between these
attacks are not defined by the game rules; all Basic
Moves are considered equivalent to one another.
While each character might have different
descriptions for his Basic Moves, in a fighting video
game, any given character is consistent with his
style of Basic Moves. For example, a character
defined by his long, straight kicks does not suddenly
start using elbow and knee strikes. This is another
way in which a characters unique fighting style is
defined.
In game terms, all Basic Moves are considered L1
moves and thus can always be used, no matter what
the Fighter rolls for Control in combat. A Basic Move
always does 1d4 damage, modified as usual by the
attackers Strength and the defenders Stamina.
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Sweeps
In many fighting games, a low strong kick also
functions as a sweep that knocks down the
opponent. If the Director wishes to include this
option in his game, it functions as a modified
Basic Move. Instead of requiring only 1 Control
like a normal Basic Move, a Sweep requires 3
Control. It does the same damage as a normal
Basic Move, but it also includes the Hits Low
and Knocks Down Elements (see below).
If the Director does not wish to use this as a
campaign option for all characters, it could also
be acquirable by a character with the Technique
Quality.
Basic Throws
It is rare to have a fighting game in which each
character does not have at least one Throw
attack. To represent this, the Director might
wish to allow all characters to gain at least one
Throw attack for which they do not have to
spend Move Points. At Power Level 1, every
character receives one or more (as decided by
the Director) additional L2 Special Moves for
free. These Special Moves must include the
Throw Element. Any additional Throws must
be acquired as regular Special Moves.
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Basic Taunts
Many fighting games allow all characters to
taunt their opponents in combat. If the
Director wants to include this option, the
following rules apply. Some characters build
more impressive taunts as Special Moves, or
even Super Moves. However, the following
rules are for basic, insult-dishing, trash-talking
taunts or gratuitous displays of attitude.
Special Moves
The power, complexity, and flexibility of a Special
Move are determined by the Level of the Special
Move. The vast majority of Special Moves are Level
2 through Level 5. There are no Level 1 Special
Moves; a Level 1 move is a Basic Move. Special
Moves of Level 6 or higher are permissible, though
uncommon in the source material. A moves Level is
abbreviated L. For example, a Level 3 Special
Move is referred to as an L3 move.
The Level of a Special Move determines the number
of Elements that are used to make up the details of
the move, as well as the Control roll necessary to use
the move in combat.
A Fighter acquires Special Moves through the
expenditure of Move Points. Each Special Move
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Move Levels and Controller Motions
The philosophy behind Move Levels is based on a system of evaluating the standard controller motions
used in fighting games. Basically, the number of controller directions required plus the number of
buttons pressed should equal the Special Moves level. The one important exception to this is that any
quarter sweep motion (e.g., down, down-forward, forward the classic fireball motion) counts as
only two directions rather than three because the rolling motion is easy to perform. This likewise
applies to a half sweep, which is two quarter sweep motions and thus is reckoned as four directional
presses rather than five.
Using this formula, a standard fireball (down, down-forward, forward with a button press) is an L3
move. The standard dragon punch motion (forward, down, down-forward with a button press) is an
L4 move. A typical command move (one direction and a button press) is an L2 move. A 360-degree
controller motion with a button press is an L9 move (though many 360 degree moves can actually be
performed with only 270 degrees of motion, thus making them perhaps only L7 moves). This means
that the vast majority of Special Moves should be L3-5, while most Command Moves (almost by
definition) are L2. Special Moves that simply require repetitive button pushes of the same kind would
be considered L2 or perhaps L3, depending on how slowly the move begins in the game. Special
Moves of L6-8 are rare according to these guidelines, except in the case of attacks that require
multiple button presses at the same time (as is the case in some Super Move systems) or unusual
directional combinations. Using these guidelines, it becomes much easier to translate an existing
fighting game characters Special Moves into Fight! Special Moves.
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overall repertoire of the character. If an undefined
Element should become critical during a fight,
especially for dramatic or narrative purpose, the
Director can adjudicate the situation as necessary.
Once a move is designed, it cannot be modified
later. However, characters receive enough points to
spend on Special Moves as they advance in Power
Levels that a character could re-design the same
Special Move as a new move, and then just choose
to ignore the original move. Designing multiple
versions of the same Special Move can also be a way
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powerful when
combined with
o t h e r
Elements.
Finally, some
Elements may
a f f e c t
conditions that
only apply if
c e r t a i n
campaign
options are in
place, and are
therefore not
appropriate in
all games.
Move Elements
Aerial
Always Does Damage
Anti-Air
Area Effect (2 or 4)
Bounce
Charge Back
Counter
- Counter only (0)
Critical Hit
Easy to Combo
Evade Ranged
Explosive (3 or 5)
- Reduced damage (2)
Fast Recovery
Hard to Evade (1-2)
Harry
Hits Low
Increased Accuracy (3-6)
Increased Damage (1-6)
Increased Glory (1+)
Increased Knockback
Increased Stun
Interrupt
Interrupt only (0)
Invincible Interrupt
Juggle
- Launcher
- Spinning Juggle
Ki and Strength
Knocks Down (2)
- Only at the end of a Combo (1)
Once
the
design of a
Special Move is
finished,
it
should be given
an evocative
name, which
may or may
not
have
anything to do
directly with
the
moves
purpose
or
description. It
may be as
simple
and
descriptive as
Rising Flaming
Uppercut or as
enigmatic as Violet Swan Strike of Liberating
Moonlight. Characters often shout the name of
their Special Moves as they use them in combat, so
Knockback Advance
Mobile: Full movement after attack
Mobile: Increased movement
- Only 2 Ranges (0)
- Moves Low
Mobile: Movement before or after attack
Pass Through
Position Shift
Power Up: Extra Control
Power Up: Life Bar
Priority
Ranged (2)
- Accuracy for Damage
- Draw Closer
- No Ranged Response
- Short Range
- Very Fast
- Very Slow
Reach
Reversal
Subtle
Teleportation (2)
- End in mid-air
Temporary Invulnerability (3)
Temporary Technique (1+)
Throw (2 or 0)
- Carrying Grapple
- Hurl
- Sustained Hold (2)
Unblockable
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Liabilities, and Exotic Elements that can be used in the
construction of Special and Super Moves. Additional
options and modifier Elements and Liabilities are also
included. A number in parentheses indicates the
Element or Liability in question counts as more or less
than one Element or Liability. See the descriptions
below for detailed information.
Move Liabilities
Behind Opponent
Cross-Up
Decreased Accuracy (1-3)
Decreased Damage
Limited Damage: Knock Back Only
Limited Damage: Stun Only
Limited Move
Limited Movement: Movement away
only
Limited Movement: Must move forward
1 Range
Limited Movement: No movement
before attacking
Limited Use (2)
- Can Reload (1)
Negative Positioning
No Combo
No Damage (2)
No Super Energy
Non-Finisher
Only When Prone (2)
Random Element
Range 0
Self-Damage: Damages Attacker (2)
Self-Damage: Stuns Attacker (2)
Self-Prone
Slow Recovery
Super Energy (2)
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Exotic Move Elements
Absorbs Attacks
- Absorb All Attacks
- Absorb and Use Ranged
- Transform Energy
Bomb
- Moveable Bomb
- No Range
- Short Timer
Borrow Identity
Copies Moves
Entangle (2)
Fake (2+)
Flight (2)
Free Movement (2)
Gradual Effect
- Delayed Onset
Healing (2-3)
- Heal others
- Only heal others
Illusionary Doubles
- Defensive Illusion (2)
- Offensive Illusion (1+)
Invisibility
- Maintain Effect
Power Enhancer (1+)
- Delayed Onset
Reflection
Style Change
Super Move Enhancer (2)
- Not Stunned (2)
Suppression: Suppress Special Moves (2)
- Suppress Super Moves
Suppression: Suppress movement
Suppression: Suppress Special Moves and
movement (5)
- Suppress Super Moves
Taunt
- Modify Super Energy
- Element Addition
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Weapons
A player might be looking for the list of weapons
so he can compare the relative merits of arming
his character with either a katana or a naginata.
But there is no list of weapons. The reason for
this is twofold. The first reason is that Fight!
tends to concentrate on unarmed martial arts.
The second reason is that weapons in Fight!
possess no characteristics to distinguish their use
in combat from the capabilities of an unarmed
combatant. Thus, if a character wields a katana
in combat, the descriptions of his Basic Moves
and Special Moves will include the sword, but the
game effects will be no different from the moves
of an unarmed character. This preserves game
balance and also accurately represents the
source material. However, in many games, a
weapon provides better reach or damage, which
make the Reach Element and the Increased
Damage Element appropriate choices for a
weapon users Special Moves.
Standard Liabilities
Two of the most common Liabilities for a Special
Move are Decreased Accuracy and Decreased
Damage.
Decreased Accuracy: Up to three Liabilities can be
taken on Decreased Accuracy. Each such Liability
subtracts 1 from the moves Accuracy. This Liability
cannot be applied to a Special Move that does not
attack an opponent, though it can be applied to a
Special Move that attacks an opponent but does no
damage.
Standard Elements
Two of the most common and universally useful
Elements for a Special Move are Increased Accuracy
and Increased Damage.
Increased Accuracy: Up to six Elements can be
spent on Increased Accuracy. Each three such
Elements adds +1 to the moves Accuracy. A moves
Accuracy bonus is often a representation of how fast
the move is to execute. A Special Move with a fast
execution speed lessens the amount of time the
defender has to respond.
Increased Damage: Up to six Elements can be spent
on Increased Damage, which increases the base
damage of a Special Move beyond 1d6. This new
base damage is then modified by the attackers
Strength and the defenders Stamina as usual.
One Element increases the base damage to 1d6+
1.
Two Elements increases the base damage to 1d8.
Three Elements increases the base damage to
1d8+1.
Four Elements increases the base damage to
1d10.
Five Elements increases the base damage to
1d10+1.
Six Elements increases the base damage to 1d12.
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Special Move Liabilities
Each of these Liabilities earns one extra Element
with which to construct a Special Move.
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damaging an opponent, cannot defeat an opponent.
If the attack would bring the opponent below 1 Life
Bar, his Life Bar remains at 1.
Random Element Liability: This Liability must be
attached to another specific Element of this Special
Move. When the move is used, the Element may or
may not work. The attacker rolls a die; on an even
number, it works. Otherwise, it does not. If that
would somehow make the move or attack
impossible, the action is lost.
Range 0 Liability: This attack can only be used
when at Range 0. However, the attack still receives
a +1 bonus to Accuracy.
Self-Prone Liability: After this move is used,
whether the attack succeeds or not, the attacker is
Knocked Down and must use his action on the
following turn to stand up.
Slow Recovery Liability: After this move is
completed, there is a pause before the Fighter is
able to continue with his next action. If this move
misses, the attacker suffers a one die size penalty on
Initiative on the following turn.
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Special Move Elements
Most of these Elements count as a single Element
towards the total allowed Elements of a Special
Move. However, some of these Elements count as
two or even three Elements.
Some Elements are modifiers for other Elements
and can only be taken if the move has the base
Element in question. On the other hand, some
modifier Elements are actually Liabilities and
instead earn an extra Element with which to build
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the move.
Aerial Element: This move involves the Fighter
leaping high into the air before attacking or as part
of the attack. It is often combined with the version
of the Mobile Element that allows 2 Ranges of
movement before attacking, though this is not a
prerequisite. If a move with this Element is used and
the attacker is interrupted by an opponent who had
held their Initiative, the attacker receives a +2 bonus
on his Defense Total if he chooses to use the Evasion
Skill to avoid the attack.
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Special rules apply if a move with this Element is
used and the defender chooses to use any Defensive
Response other than the Anti-Air/Juggle Response.
If the attacker using the Special Move with the Aerial
Element misses, he can use his full Evasion Skill
against the defenders attack, rather than half his
Defense Skill as normal.
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the Special Move also has the Ranged Element, this
Element counts as four Elements.
Bounce Element: This move forces the opponent to
the ground with such ferocity that he bounces back
into the air, giving the attacker an opportunity to
juggle the opponent in the air for more damage.
Taking this Element also requires the Knock Down
Element. If the attack hits, the attacker must make
a Tactics skill check against DL 8. If he succeeds, he
juggles the opponent for +3 damage and +2 Glory.
This move can be put into a Combo, even though
Special Moves with the Knocks Down Element
normally can only be put at the end of a Combo.
However, if the Tactics skill check fails, the Combo
automatically misses.
Charge Back Element: This move is prepared by
doing a charge back or charge down movement.
Many fighting games have characters whose Special
Moves are dependent on first holding the joystick
away from the opponent or down for a few seconds
before attacking. The result in these games is to
have a more defensive character who often retreats
and blocks more frequently. If the combatant has
Initiative and wants to use a Special Move with this
Element, he must do one of the following: 1) Retreat
1 Range before attacking; 2) The combatant must
have successfully defended against the last attack
made against him using his combined Defense and
Evasion Skills; or 3) Roll Control 2 points higher than
normally necessary for the Special Move.
The advantage of the Charge Back Element is that if
the character Holds his Initiative, he is considered to
be on Full Defense (using the Defense Skill, not the
Evasion Skill), even though he may attack later in
the same turn. If the Fighter fails to obtain
Initiative, the character can choose to be on Full
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is reduced by one. This effect is cumulative if
multiple moves with this Element are put into the
same Combo.
Evade Ranged Element: This move is particularly
effective against attacks with the Ranged Element.
For example, the move may pass through the attack
or it may slide under it. This move can be used for
the Evade Ranged Defense Response.
Explosive Element: This fairly uncommon Element
counts as three Elements. This move affects all
opponents within a short distance from the attacker.
All characters (friend or foe) standing at Range 0-3
from the attacker are attacked by this attack
simultaneously. Separate attack rolls are made
against each opponent and FS must be spent to
modify each individually. Damage from this move is
2 against other Fighter-level opponents (minimum
1), but it has full effect on Thugs. As a Liability
(reducing the cost for the Explosive Element to two
Elements), the damage from this attack can be
further reduced by 1 for each Range step away from
the target (e.g., a target at Range 3 would suffer 3
damage, or 5 if the target was a Fighter). If the
Special Move also has the Ranged Element, this
Element counts as five Elements.
Fast Recovery Element: This move is easy to
recover from or can be cancelled out of, making it
easier to progress into the next attack, or the move
improves the position of the attacker in relation to
his opponents. If this move hits, the attacker gets a
one die size increase on the following turn that can
be applied to either Initiative or Control.
Hard to Evade Element: This move has some
characteristic that makes it difficult to Evade. For a
normal Special Move, it may be a mid-striking or
overhead move that hits crouching opponents more
easily, a move that hits an opponent both high and
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a single move. For example, some Special Moves
may hit a dozen times, but only do damage once.
This is actually a common Element in the source
material. Each Element spent on this Element
increases the moves Glory award by 2.
Increased Knockback Element: If this move hits, it
knocks the defender back 2 Ranges, rather than just
one.
Increased Stun Element: This move hits with such
force that its effective damage for the purposes of
application against an opponents Stun Threshold is
increased by 2. Thus, an attack that does 4 Life Bar
damage would count as 6 points of damage when
compared against the opponents Stun Threshold to
determine whether or not the opponent is Stunned.
Interrupt Element: This move can be used to
Interrupt another combatants attacks with the
Interrupt Defensive Response. Such moves are
usually designed as counter attacks, but with a
different tactical requirement than the Counter
Element. This Element can also be used to
represent a static field of some sort that will damage
any opponent who accidentally or deliberately
touches it. Examples of this would be a burning ki
field or a twirling weapon. The character sets it off
as an opponent approaches. However, this Element
does not need to specifically represent anything
it may be applied to any Special Move that the
character has learned to use as a fast response to an
opponents attack.
The cost of this Element is balanced out by a
Liability if the move can only be used as a Defensive
Response and not as a regular attack. For the cost
of an additional Element, this Special Move can be
made into an Invincible Interrupt. In this case, the
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Element. If it is mechanically relevant to how this
move is used in the characters repertoire of moves,
then this Element can be applied. The base damage
is calculated from the characters Ki score (see
Ranged Element) and then Strength modifies
damage as usual.
Knock Down Element: This extremely common
move Element counts as two Elements. If this move
hits, the opponent also suffers a Knock Down in
addition to Knock Back, damage, and Stun Damage.
If the move only causes Knock Down when it is the
last move of a Combo, this is a Liability, reducing the
Element cost to one.
Knockback Advance Element: This move allows the
attacker to optionally advance after Knock Back,
moving forward up to the same number of Ranges
as the opponent was Knocked Back, if so desired. If
the opponent was Knocked Back towards an
Environmental Hazard, the attacker must also move
towards the Hazard if he chooses to use this
Element.
Mobile Element: This Element covers a number of
options that apply to movement that occurs during
the execution of a Special Move. The specific effects
of this Element must be defined when the move is
designed and cannot be changed later. One of the
following options can be chosen: 1) The move allows
full normal movement after attacking; however, the
attacker cannot move before attacking; 2) The move
allows only 1 Range of movement before attacking
(as usual), but this movement can be used before or
after the attack takes place; 3) The move travels
quickly, either because of fast ground-based
movement or because it is a special form of jumping
or aerial attack (also see the Aerial Element). This
Special Move allows 2 Ranges of movement before
attacking for a cost of 1 FS, just like a jumping Basic
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Power Up Element: This move does more damage
when first powered up. There are two versions of
this Element; the specific option must be chosen
when the Special Move is designed and cannot be
changed later. Regardless of which option is being
used, all the decisions about the use of the Power Up
Element must be made before an attack roll is
made.
The first option for this Element allows a Special
Move to do +1 damage per +1 Control required by
the move. For example, a Fighter wants to use his
L3 Special Move with the Power Up Element. On
this turn, he has rolled Control 5. Thus, he could
choose to use the move with no modifier and get a +
1 Accuracy bonus for having more Control than
needed for his chosen move (see the Combat
chapter) or he could treat this move as requiring 2
more Control and thus do +2 damage. He could also
treat it as requiring one more Control, gaining both
+1 damage for the Power Up Element and +1
Accuracy for still using a move requiring less Control
than the amount rolled for the turn. The maximum
Control allowed for extra damage is equal to twice
the moves normal level. Thus, an L3 move could do
up to +3 damage for 6 Control.
The second option for this Element allows the move
to require one Control more than usual, but it then
does +1 damage per 1 Life Bar spent. The maximum
Life Bar that can be spent for extra damage is equal
to the characters Power Level. For example, a PL 4
combatant could spend 4 Life Bar to gain +4
damage on the attack.
Priority Element: This move is executed quickly and
connects first even in near-simultaneous attack
situations. This move breaks ties in the case of
simultaneous Initiative. It can also be used for the
Priority Defense Response.
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for an attack from Range 2, the attacker could
choose to reduce max range by 2 (to Range 2)
and take an additional 2 to hit to add +4
damage.
Draw Closer Element: The move physically
draws the target closer to the attacker. For
example, it could be a tractor beam or dragging
an opponent closer after impaling him. Instead
of doing Knock Back, this move draws the
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move can be used at Ranges 0-3, rather than 0-4.
Very Fast Element: The attack form of the move
(e.g., the bolt of energy, fireball, thrown knife,
etc.) travels very quickly. At Ranges 0-2 only, the
speed of this move provides an additional +1 bonus
to Accuracy.
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has additional non-combat applications to reach
A move with this Element only permits movement of
places otherwise out of reach.
1 Range, and this movement always costs 1 FS.
Temporary Invulnerability Element: This Element Furthermore, an attack with this Element can only
counts as three Elements. This move makes the occur at Range 0, and the Range 0 Liability cannot be
attacker temporarily immune to all attacks. If this applied to the move. All moves with the Throw
attack is interrupted by an opponent with held Element receive the Knock Down Element at no cost
Initiative or an opponent using a Defensive Option, and are also considered to have the Priority Element
or if this move attacks at the same time as the in cases of simultaneous Initiative. However, their
opponents due to simultaneous Initiative, the damage does not count against an opponents Stun
attacker using this move automatically takes no Threshold. The Throw Element can also be further
damage, no Knock Back, no Stun damage, no Knock modified by any of the following modifier Elements.
Down, and does not suffer from Hit Stun from the
Carrying Grapple Element: If the attacker uses
opponents attack.
this Throw at Range 0 without moving first, the
Temporary Technique Element: This unusual attacker may spend 1 FS to continue moving with
Element allows the character to gain temporary use the defender 1 Distance towards an
of a Technique, as if the character possessed the Environmental Hazard. In a fight with multiple
Technique Quality. The Technique is granted for the combatants, the attacker also moves himself and
entire duration of the turn on which this Special his opponent 1 Range.
Move is used and until the end of the Fighters action
on the following turn. The specific Technique must Hurl Element: If the attack succeeds, the
be indicated when the move is created. At the defender is not only Knocked Down, but is also
Directors discretion, if the Technique is very thrown 2 Ranges away from the attacker. This
powerful, this Element may cost two or more replaces normal Knock Back. The attacker can
Elements. The base rules in this rulebook contain make a Tactics check (not a Maneuver Check)
few options for Techniques; future supplements will against DL 8 to hurl an opponent 2 Distances
towards an Environmental Hazard. Unlike a
include more.
normal attack with the Throw Element, a move
Throw Element: This Element counts as two with this Element can be used at the beginning of
Elements. It is a very common Element in fighting a Combo or in the middle of a Combo. However,
games. Several special rules apply to Throws. In it can only be followed immediately by a Special
many fighting games, throw moves are unblockable, Move with the Ranged Element. This Ranged
or are at least very difficult to block or avoid. This move then ends the Combo.
situation is also the default rule in Fight! As such, a
move with this Element receives +1 Accuracy. If the Sustained Hold Element: This Element counts
as two Elements and represents a bear hug,
Director instead decides that Throws are blockable in
choke hold, or other attack form in which the
a campaign, moves with this Element do not receive
attacker maintains the hold rather than throwing
a bonus to Accuracy, but this Element itself also does
not count against the total allowed Elements of a
move; it is instead a free Element.
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the opponent to the ground immediately. When
this attack hits, it does damage and the
opponent suffers Hit Stun. Regardless of
remaining Control, the defender cannot act on
this turn.
On the following turn, when Initiative is rolled,
the attacker with the Sustained Hold increases
his die size for Initiative by two. If the attacker
using the Sustained Hold gets Initiative, a
second damage roll divided by 2 (round down) is
made immediately, and the defender is Knocked
Down. Initiative then proceeds as normal. If the
attacker does not get Initiative or Initiative is
simultaneous, Initiative still proceeds as normal.
In this latter case, the Sustained Hold does no
additional damage, but the defender is still
considered Knocked Down and thus must still
use his action for the turn to stand up and the
attacker is still considered to have used his
action for the turn on the Sustained Hold.
In a combat involving multiple combatants, both
combatants involved in the Sustained Hold are
immune to attacks until the Sustained Hold is
completed on the second turn.
This move can only be put into a Combo as the
last move of the Combo. The Glory earned from
a Sustained Hold is tallied with the first damage
check. If the second damage check does not
occur, the move earns 1 less Glory. The
combatant is still considered to have earned
Glory for the move for the present combat; if he
uses it again successfully for both turns, he does
not earn the lost point of Glory back.
Unblockable Element: This Element requires the
Knock Down Element and the Increased Stun
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Element to increase the Special Moves
base damage. The final move is L4,
Anti-Air, Juggle, Power Up, Hard to
Evade, and has a base damage of 1d6+1.
Bob decides he wants an over-the-top
Special Move that
draws all the light
from the immediate
area and transforms
it into a forward
punch of incredible
destructive force.
He decides to make
the Special Move only
L4, costing 4 Move Points
and providing 5 Elements
with which to work.
Since Bob wants the
move to be both
Unblockable
and
damaging, he decides to
take some Liabilities to earn
some
additional
Elements. He decides the
move will have 1
Accuracy, earning one
extra Element, as well as
the Limited Movement
Liability, defined as an
inability to move before
attacking. This also earns an extra
Element, providing a total of 7
Elements.
Bob takes the Unblockable
Element, which requires the
Increased Stun and Knocks Down
Elements. This takes 4 of his
available 7 Elements. For the
three Elements remaining, he
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determine if an opponent was hit and damaged, but
the Invisibility effect would occur regardless.
For effects that last for a specific time count, the
effect ends at the end of the turn in which the time
roll equals or exceeds the duration.
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explodes after a time count of 1d8-4. If the
result is zero, it explodes immediately.
Borrow Identity Element: This is a truly unusual
ability, rare even in fighting games. As such, the
Director may restrict its usage. A Special Move with
this Element does not just borrow another
characters moves; instead, it turns the fighter into
another specific Fighter with access to all of the
resources available to that character.
While transformed, all of the characters Basic
Qualities, Special Moves, and other Qualities and
Weaknesses (at the Directors discretion) are
replaced by those of the character who he has
turned into. This effect lasts for a time count of five.
The character cannot use this ability outside of
combat unless he also has the Power Quality or uses
the Magic, Psychic, or Gadgeteering Qualities to do
so. The character keeps his own Life Bar and
Fighting Spirit.
Transforming into each specific Fighter is a separate
Special Move. Each can be learned only after facing
the character to be copied in combat for the
duration of a full round (i.e., either a 99-count or
until one of the Fighters is defeated). The Special
Move must be at least L3. It usually does no damage
on its own.
In addition to the Element cost applied to each
Borrow Identity Special Move, if a character has
even one Borrow Identity Special Move, every other
Special Move the character possesses also incurs a
one Element cost of its own. For example, the
Director is designing a new villain with the power to
transform into the heroes over the course of the
campaign. Because he has Special Moves with this
Element, all of his other Special Moves have one less
Element than usual. Thus, the Fighters L3 moves
would only have 3 Elements rather than 4.
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opponent into responding to a specific Special Move
and then countering the opponent in an
unpredictable way. This Element automatically
includes the No Damage Liability.
In order to use this Element, the character must win
Initiative. He then chooses to use the Special Move
with this Element. This does no damage. However,
it gives a bonus to the characters Defense Total for
the remainder of the turn when using Tactics. The
bonus is +2, plus an additional +1 per additional two
Elements used for this Element. For example, for a
cost of four Elements, the character would receive a
+3 bonus on Tactics Defense Totals for the remainder
of the turn.
Flight Element: This Element counts as two
Elements. This Element means that the character
has the ability to fly, but only temporarily. If a
character wishes to be able to fly regularly outside
of combat, they must take the Power Quality, or use
the Magic, Psychic, or Gadgeteering Qualities to do
so. Even characters with those Qualities must build
a move with this Element in order to use their power
in combat.
By using this Special Move, the character flies for a
time count duration of five, with a minimum of one
full turn. While flying, the character gets a +4 to
Evade attacks. On the other hand, only Special
Moves with the Hard to Evade Element or the Aerial
Element can be used while flying. A Special Move
with this Element does no damage to the opponent,
and the move does not get the benefit of the No
Damage Liability. The character is assumed to land
at the beginning of the turn after the time runs out.
Free Movement Element: This Element counts as
two Elements. A move with this Element allows the
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this case, it counts as an L2 move. If the time
expires before the damage begins, the attack is
lost. Multiple versions of this attack can be in
place at once on multiple targets if so desired,
but this Special Move can only affect a single
opponent once at a time. If hit again before
damage begins, the 10-count resets.
Healing Element: This Element counts as either two
or three Elements, depending on how effective it is.
A move with this Element does damage, except
this figure is used to determine healing of the
characters Life Bar instead. It is acceptable to have
an attack that also heals the user at the same time.
In either case, however, damage is not modified by
Strength or Stamina. All healing effects occur at the
end of all charactersactions; thus, it is possible to be
Knocked Out before healing occurs. If the move
restores 1/2 of the damage rolled (round down), this
Element counts as two Elements. If the move
restores all of the damage rolled, this Element
counts as three Elements.
Moves that heal other characters are not part of the
source material, but this Move may be used on
another character as an additional Element if the
Director allows it. If other characters can be healed,
but the character with this Special Move cannot heal
himself, this Liability cancels out the extra Element
cost to heal others.
Illusionary Doubles Element: There are two
versions of this Element: Defensive and Offensive.
In either case, the Fighter creates one or more
illusionary duplicates to confuse his opponent.
Defensive Illusion Element: This Element
counts as two Elements and requires the
Interrupt Element as a prerequisite. Defensive
illusions replace where the character was
standing and often put a hazard in his place.
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additional Element decreases Initiative or Control by
one die size. For example, a move that reduced
Initiative by one die size and Control by two die sizes
would count as four Elements. This Special Move
may or may not be an attack itself, but the move
does not need to hit to be effective. The effect
only lasts for the following turn. The following
Element can be added as a modifier.
Maintain Effect Element: With this Element,
the effect lasts until the character invoking the
effect actually suffers damage. This counts as
two additional Elements.
Power Enhancer Element: This Element is used for
a Special Move that does nothing by itself, but
which powers up a specific subsequent Special Move
(defined when this move is designed). This Element
represents a summoning of additional power or
taking specific stances to enhance the power of
another move. Performing the Power Enhancer
itself has no special rules. After this, when the
affected Special Move is used, it gains a die size of
damage for each Power Enhancer move that has
been performed before it. This Element costs one
Element for each Special Move affected by the
Power Enhancer, plus one Element for each time
over one that the Power Enhancer can be used prior
to using the affected Special Move. For example, if
the Power Enhancer could be and was used three
times in advance of the affected Special Move, the
affected move would increase three die sizes for
damage. In this case, if the Power Enhancer
affected only one other move, this Element would
cost 3 Elements. The following Element can also be
added as a modifier.
Delayed Onset Element: If the character can
choose when to use the benefits of the Power
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included in Combos. Each subsequent Special Move
in a given style receives a number of Liabilities
equal to 1/2 the Level of the Style Change Special
Move (round up) + (Total number of Style Change
Special Moves-2). The same Special Move can exist
in different styles, but it must be built separately as
a unique move in each style.
For example, a character with two L3 Style Change
Special Moves would receive two Liabilities on each
Special Move in each individual style. Another
character with five L2 Style Change Special Moves
(which would be pretty unusual) would receive four
Liabilities on each Special Move in each individual
style. If a character had an L2, L4, and L6 Style
Change Special Move, each Special Move in the first
style would receive two Liabilities, each move in the
second style would receive three Liabilities, and
each move in the last style would receive four
Liabilities.
Each style must have at least one move beyond the
Style Change Special Move itself. If the character
does not have enough Move Points to build a
specific Special Move to go with each Style Change
Special Move, it is possible to build a style that has
no Special Moves in it. However, the character must
build at least one Special Move for the empty style
as soon as additional Move Points become available.
A character cannot create an empty style at Power
Level 8. In most cases, no more than one Style
Change Special Move should be allowed.
When a character acquires his first Style Change
Special Move, any existing Special Moves the
character may already possess are considered part
of the characters default style. When the
character uses his Style Change Special Move to
switch to the new style, he loses access to his
default style. He may use multiple different Style
Change Special Moves to switch to multiple sets of
Special Moves in different styles, but unless he
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Super Move Enhancer Element: This Element
counts as two Elements. A Special Move with this
Element increases the effectiveness of a Super
Move. It effectively increases the available Super
Energy for a short period of time. Beginning on the
turn after this Special Move is performed (which
usually does not do any damage itself), the
character is considered to always have an extra 20
Super Energy for a time count of five (minimum of
one full turn), usable for one specific Super Move
(defined at this moves creation). After this time, the
character is automatically Stunned. This Element is
only available for characters of PL 3 or higher. If the
character is not Stunned afterwards, this costs an
additional two Elements (for a total cost of four
Elements).
Suppression Element: A move with this Element is
usually a manifestation of ki energy or some hi-tech
gadget. There are two different kinds of Special
Moves that can make use of the Suppression
Element. Neither does damage to the opponent,
and the move does not get the benefit of the No
Damage Liability. However, a successful attack is
still necessary to invoke the suppression effect on
the opponent.
The first use of the Element counts as two Elements.
It prevents one opponent from using any Special
Moves for a 5-count (minimum of one full turn). For
an additional Element, this Suppression also
includes Super Moves.
The second use of the Element prevents the
opponent from any movement for a 5-count
(minimum of one full turn). This does not prevent
Evasion, but it does prevent moving as a result of a
successful Evasion.
Having both uses of Suppression on the same move
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Element cannot count as two or more
Elements). In order for this Taunt effect to work,
the character must either win Initiative or the
Taunt must occur in a Combo. A Special Move
on the following turn receives the additional
Element for that turn only.
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to stand and then use the follow-up move; the
opening move must be used again. As noted above,
the Juggle Element is an exception here, but only if
the follow-up move(s) occurs in the same Combo. A
MPA can be attached to a Super Move, but this is
uncommon.
Multi-part throws are a special version of the
Sustained Hold Element. Each subsequent move is
usually a limb break of some kind. If the fighter fails
to get Initiative each turn and hit or include the later
parts as part of a Combo, the multi-part sequence
ends and must start over again. A MPT can begin as
a single attack and then continue as a Combo or vice
versa over multiple turns. If the subsequent parts of
a MPT occur in the middle of a Combo, they do not
cost one extra Control to use. The 2nd and
subsequent Special Moves in a MPT must all have
the Throw Element, but they also gain a single
Liability. None of the Special Moves requires the
Sustained Hold Element. Unlike normal Throws,
Knock Down does not occur until the MPT sequence
ends.
Prop Liability: While it is uncommon, some fighting
game characters rely on some sort of prop for some
or all of their Special Moves, such as a thrown knife
or a handheld weapon. If the character suffers some
particular circumstance, he drops his prop and his
Special Moves are hindered until he takes an action
to pick up the prop again. A Special Move with this
Liability thus needs a specified condition (approved
by the Director) in which the prop is dropped. For
Ranged attacks, this is usually if the attack is Evaded
(though not if the combined use of the Defense and
Evasion Skills is used to avoid the attack). For other
kinds of attacks, it is usually if the character is
Knocked Down.
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Random Move
1-2: No change.
3: Move fails to have any effect at all.
4: Opponent receives +3 to either Defense or Evade.
5: Opponent receives +2 to either Defense or Evade.
6: Opponent receives +1 to either Defense or Evade.
7: Move receives an additional +1 Accuracy.
8: Move receives an additional +2 Accuracy.
9: Move receives an additional +3 Accuracy.
10: Damage is 1 die size larger.
Attack Strings
There is a difference in the lists of Special Moves
typically found in 2-D and 3-D fighting games. Many
of the most detailed 3-D games do not really have
many Special Moves instead, they have special
chain combos. For example, three punches in a row
might be a one-two punch, followed by a backhand.
4
Yet, this character is incapable of doing this
backhand attack except in this specific combo
situation. The Director might choose to structure
the campaign along these lines instead. This allows
for a much different (and ultimately simpler) combat
system, relying on lots of Basic Moves and easy to
perform Combos.
To simulate this, characters in such a campaign need
to purchase two different Combo skills. Both are
considered to be Combat Skills. The first is still
called Combo, but it costs twice as many Combat
Skill Points. It functions the same as usual with one
important exception detailed below. The second
Skill is called Attack String. Like the normal
Combo Skill, it represents the number of Basic
Moves that can be strung together. The Director can
set a limit on this Skill. A game concentrating on
hypothetically realistic martial arts would probably
have an upper limit of 4-5. A more wild game could
go as high as 10 or beyond.
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Adding Elements to Attack Strings
In 3-D fighting games, the reason to use certain specific Attack Strings is often because of the additional
benefit the specific combination offers. For example, an Attack String of three punches may include a
Knock Down at the end of the string that is not present if three punches were not used together. As an
optional rule, the Director can permit Elements to be added to the end of an Attack String.
The following Elements can be added to an Attack String. In each of these cases, only the base version
of the Element is allowed. Modifier Elements or Liabilities cannot be applied. For example, Hard to
Evade is only the single Element version; the two Element version cannot be added to an Attack String.
Anti-Air
Bounce
Hard to Evade
Harry
Hits Low
Increased Knockback
Increased Stun
Juggle
Knocks Down
Position Shift
In order to add an Element to an Attack String, the Attack String must first be at least three moves long.
After this, additional moves can be sacrificed to instead add the Element. The number of moves
required is equal to the Elements normal Element cost plus one. Thus, a 3-hit Attack String that had the
Bounce Element would count as five hits, even though it would have the Accuracy and damage of a 3-hit
Attack String. A 4-hit Attack String that Knocks Down would count as seven hits, because the Knocks
Down Element normally costs two Elements. The extra cost for the added Element only applies to the
combatants Control roll and the limits of his Attack String Skill.
These Elements do not need to be acquired in advance in any way. They are available to all characters
that use Attack Strings. The Director can add other Elements to the above list if he desires. These rules
add tremendous flexibility to the rules for Attack Strings, which makes up for the decreased number of
unique Special Moves possessed by all characters.
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Super Moves
Special Moves are a
Fighters
unique
combat
abilities.
However, beyond the
power level of Special
Moves are Super
Moves, even more
extraordinary
manifestations of a
Fighters skill and ki.
In fighting video
games, Super Moves
are
usually
accompanied
by
glowing
power
effects, changes in
the
environment,
sudden close-ups of
the Fightersfaces, or
time slowing down.
All
of
these
impressive
and
powerful
effects
make Super Moves an
entertaining
enhancement of a
Fighters
normal
move set. Thus, it is
the
default
presumption of the
rules that characters
of Power Level 3 or
higher have access to
Super Moves (though
the Director can
choose to exclude
them
from
the
campaign).
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In general, Super Moves are simply Special Moves
subject to some additional rules. All Super Moves
must be L5 or greater. Just like Special Moves, the
Level of a Super Move determines the number of
Elements that are used to make up the details of the
move, as well as the Control roll necessary to use the
move in combat.
A Fighter acquires Super Moves through the
expenditure of Move Points. A Super Move costs a
number of Move Points to purchase equal to its
level. However, a character can only acquire a Super
Move at Power Level 3 or greater, and in addition,
upon reaching Power Level 3, a character must
purchase at least one Super Move.
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and Liabilities of all the Special Moves on
which the Super Move is based. It may have
additional Elements and Liabilities beyond
those possessed by the base Special Moves.
If Elements and Liabilities conflict with one
another, they should be combined, even
though the costs of the Element and the
Liability are not equal. For example, if the
Super Move combines two Special Moves,
one with 1 Accuracy and one with +2
Accuracy, the Super Move should have (-1 +
2) a +1 Accuracy bonus. Because Super
Moves automatically have the Knocks
Down Element and because Super Moves
do no Stun damage, if the Super Move is
composed of Special Moves that possess
either the Knocks Down or Increased Stun
Elements, they do not need to be included
in the Super Move.
2. A super powerful version of a single Special
Move possessed by the character. In this
case, the Super Move must have all of the
Elements and Liabilities of the Special Move
on which the Super Move is based. It may
have additional Elements and Liabilities
beyond those possessed by the base Special
Move. Because Super Moves automatically
have the Knocks Down Element and
because Super Moves do no Stun damage, if
the Super Move is an enhanced version of a
Special Move that possesses either the
Knocks Down or Increased Stun Elements,
they do not need to be included in the Super
Move.
3. A unique move, usually a colorful barrage of
attacks. There are no special restrictions on
such a Super Move, other than requiring the
Unique Super Move Element (see below).
4. A Super version of one of the exotic kinds of
Special Moves possessed by the character.
In this case, the Super Move must have all of
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Move from a Special Move in a fighting game.
Super Moves generally either hit a great number of
times, or they cover a huge area, or they hit so hard
that they even injure blocking opponents, or some
combination of the three. The Breakthrough
Element represents this.
If a character using a Super Move misses his
opponent, the attacker must calculate how much he
missed by on the die roll to hit. If the total missed
by is equal to or less than one for each Breakthrough
Element the Super Move has, a partial hit has been
scored. Some of the hits made it through, or the
opponent failed to completely avoid the attack, or
some damage made it through the block anyway. In
this case, Glory is calculated as normal 1, and
damage is rolled and halved (round down). This
partial hit still does cause Hit Stun, Knock Back, and
Knock Down. If a Super Move is part of a Combo
and is not the first move in the Combo, only half
(round down) of the Breakthrough Element applies
to the roll to hit.
Decreased Super Energy Cost Element: A Super
Move with this Element only costs 5 Super Energy to
use. This Element cannot be used in campaigns that
use multi-level Super Move systems (see below).
Extended Duration Element: This Element can only
be applied to Super Moves that provide some form
of special timed effect as part of an exotic Element
(see above). After the Super Move is in effect, each
additional 10 Super Energy spent increases the
duration by a time count of 5.
Increased Accuracy: For a Super Move, up to nine
Elements can be spent on Increased Accuracy. Each
three such Elements adds +1 to the moves
Accuracy.
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Energy is as follows:
1.
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focus instead. He may also announce the use of his
own Super Move, in which case the second Super
Move takes Priority over the first one. If a Super
Move is in a Combo and is not the first move in the
Combo, the Invincibility Element does not apply, but
instead counts as the Easy to Combo Element.
Super Moves always have Invincibility in cases of
simultaneous Initiative with non-Super Moves. The
effect of this is that the combatant using the Super
Move goes first as if the move had the Priority
Element and the combatant is also unaffected by
the opponents attack as noted above. In the case of
two Super Moves getting simultaneous Initiative,
still only one can succeed. Both combatants lose
Super Energy, but a special separate Initiative roll is
used to determine which character actually launches
his Super Move. FS can be spent again on this
special Initiative roll as usual and subsequent ties are
re-rolled.
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considering the limit on the number of Super Moves known according to the Power Level chart.
Transformations
This campaign option exists as a modifier to all Fighters in a campaign. Either all characters have this ability or none do.
It is too powerful to be a viable choice for a Technique Quality. This is a system for use in campaigns where every Fighter
can transform into a monstrous, animal, or beast form.
In regular campaigns, a character may have some form of Special Move that changes them into a beast, but that is a
different, more limited, case (perhaps bought as a form of the Style Change Element). However, the following set of
rules applies to all characters in a transforming campaign.
A character accumulates Beast Energy in the same way as Super Energy is accumulated in the campaign (and is tallied
separately from Super Energy). 10 Beast Energy is necessary to change into Beast Form, but up to 20 Beast Energy can
be accumulated and stored during a single combat.
Transforming is an action. No other attack, action, or movement may be performed on the turn in which the character
transforms. However, transforming automatically does damage equivalent to the characters Basic Move (modified by
Strength as usual) to all other combatants within Range 0-1. Furthermore, this damage does cause Knock Back except to
opponents who are also transforming on the same turn within the same Range.
Once in Beast Form, no more Beast Energy is accumulated until the character reverts back to normal. The 10 Beast
Energy used to transform is then lost at the same rate and in the same fashion as it was accumulated. In other words,
when the character performs moves and takes damage, he loses Beast Energy. However, the normal Beast Energy
accumulated each turn is not lost each turn while in Beast Form. When Beast Energy reaches 1 or less (not 0), and the
character is then Knocked Down by any means, the character reverts to human form.
When in Beast Form, Basic Qualities increase. These changes must be decided when the character is created and cannot
change. Two of the three Basic Qualities are increased by one point each (to a maximum of two, as usual). Also, all
attacks automatically have the Increased Knockback Element, and the character automatically recovers 1 Life Bar at the
end of each turn.
One new Special Move Liability becomes available with this campaign option: Only in Beast Form. This Liability means
the move can only be used when the character is in Beast Form.
If this campaign option is being used, the following additional campaign option can be added to modify transformations.
Going Primal: While in Beast Form, a character may choose to Go Primal. In this form, Beast Energy depletes each turn
according to the rate it is normally gained each turn (contrary to the above rule), even if the character does nothing else
during the turn, but it still will not drop below 0. While Primal, all of the combatants moves are +1 Accuracy and +1
damage.
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5
5. Combat
The heart of Fight! is necessarily fighting. This
chapter provides the system to run over-the-top
action scenes involving the worlds most skilled and
deadly Fighters. These battles take place in
organized tournament arenas and in the dirty back
alleys of the most crime-ridden cities. They occur as
melodramatic confrontations between life-long
rivals or as adrenaline-fueled brawls against dozens
of opponents at once. Some confrontations
represent mere steps along the way to a characters
goal and some represent the final encounter
deciding the salvation or destruction of the whole
universe.
The main system presented here is intended for use
when Fighters engage in combat with one another.
However, two additional sub-systems are also
contained in this chapter. The first is the system for
Thug Thrashing, which is used anytime Fighters
engage in combat with non-Fighters. These
opponents are no match for the main characters of
the campaign and only pose a threat in far greater
numbers. The second sub-system is used whenever
the Director wants to streamline combat, adding
dramatic flair at the cost of tactical options. This
sub-system involves more Skill use during combat as
well as character choices based on the narrative
elements of the battle, rather than on all the
mechanical details offered by a characters Special
Moves.
Staging Combat
It is up to the Director to decide when to formally
switch from a normal storytelling mode of direction
to the specifics of combat. However, given the
nature of the characters and the kinds of situations
they typically find themselves in, it should usually be
fairly obvious.
This still leaves certain decisions for the Director
based on the needs of the story. He must decide if
the fight is going to be one round or multiple
rounds. He must decide what the time limit is going
to be or even if there is one. He must decide how far
apart the combatants are when combat begins. He
must also decide if any conditions in the
environment are going to have a specific mechanical
effect on combat or if they are just going to be
descriptive elements with no effect on the rules.
In some cases, these questions are easy to answer.
A tournament fight might have established rules
about the number of rounds, time limit, and arena
conditions such as walls or ring-outs. But if the fight
is occurring in the middle of the wilderness,
something like a time limit may seem artificial.
After all, why should the fight arbitrarily end just
because some metagame timer goes off?
This is a valid observation, but the default
presumption of the rules is that fights are timed.
While this is not required, maintaining the time limit
can inspire story elements that add drama to the
conflict. Perhaps the timer running out signifies a
bomb going off or a fire engulfing the characters in a
burning building. Perhaps police or military will
arrive on scene to drastically complicate matters
related to the ongoing story. Maybe an extradimensional portal opens up, flooding the world
with demons.
Similarly, drama can be added by using multiple
rounds for a combat scene, even in a nontournament setting. While it may seem strange to
have two opponents meet in the woods at the
climax of a story with no one around and yet have a
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best 2-out-of-3 fight, in an area that sort of
naturally resembles a fighting stage, possibly with
ring outs and other environmental hazards, this
irrationality is rarely considered in fighting video
games. Multiple rounds are best interspersed with
story-critical dialogue between the Fighters (as the
whole fight should be). At the end of the first
round, the defeated character is actually not
knocked unconscious, but merely beaten down and
taking a moment to catch his second wind. His
honorable or gloating opponent waits for him to
recover before continuing the fight. In fact, since
time in combat can be interpreted loosely, each
round of combat may actually represent several
hours of non-stop fighting. While a battle may
begin while the sun is high in the sky, the second
round may occur as the sun goes down, while the
third round occurs in the middle of the night.
Thus, while the default presumptions of the rules
seem to suggest many trappings of tournament
combat, this does not need to hinder creative
interpretations that serve to improve the story
rather than get in the way of it.
Combat Sequence
Combat is conducted as a series of turns. A random
time roll determines how long any given turn is;
each count of the time roll usually represents 1-2
seconds of time, but ultimately this is intended as an
abstraction. If the story is served by the time count
representing a longer amount of time, the Director
can adjust it accordingly.
A round of combat ends when only one side remains
undefeated or when the time count runs out,
whichever comes first. Normally, if the time count
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Die Sizes
A characters Basic Qualities, as well as many
situations in the combat system, require the player
to increase or decrease a die size before rolling a
result. For example, a character normally rolls 1d6
for Control each turn. However, having the Basic
Quality Speed 1: Control means that the characters
die size for Control is increased by one. Thus,
instead of rolling 1d6, the player would roll 1d8. As
another example, the base damage for a characters
Special Moves is also 1d6. However, the Strength
Basic Quality increases this damage. A character
with Strength 2 would increase that damage two die
sizes to 1d10 (one size increase would be 1d8).
Likewise, the opponents Stamina Basic Quality also
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modifies the damage suffered. If the Strength 2
character hit an opponent with Stamina -1, the die
size for damage would be increased again to 1d12.
The steps for increasing or decreasing die size go
as follows (listed here from lowest to highest):
1
1d4
1d6
1d8
1d10
1d12
1d12+1
1d12+2
Etc.
The lowest a die size can ever become is 1, in
which case no roll is necessary; the result is simply 1.
The highest die that can be used in a single roll is
1d12, though there are theoretically an infinite
number of die sizes above 1d12. Each die size above
1d12 simply adds 1 to the roll. Rolls above 1d12+3
are pretty rare, however.
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Metagaming Fighting Spirit
In a combat system so focused on emulation of
fighting video game combat, the flexibility of
Fighting Spirit might seem out of place. From a
narrative point of view, Fighting Spirit is a useful
character trait, as references to it are frequent in
the source material, even if it is hardly ever
defined in any specific way (e.g., Ive never seen
such fighting spirit! Youll never win youve
lost your fighting spirit. You are a worthy
opponent your fighting spirit is strong.).
But there is also a metagame way of
understanding Fighting Spirit. As a player of the
hypothetical video game that the campaign
represents, Fighting Spirit measures the players
patience, confidence, and talent at handling crisis
situations as they occur during a match.
In the role-playing game, a character who runs
out of Fighting Spirit has to rely a lot more on
luck to win. In a video game, a player who runs
out of Fighting Spirit begins to panic and lose
control of the situation, often leading to his
defeat. So even though the trait is meant to
represent a specific narrative aspect of the genre,
it is not without parallel in the metagame of
Fight!
Initiative
The turn begins with each combatant rolling one die
each for Initiative and Control. Initiative determines
how quickly the character can act in the turn
sequence, while Control determines how difficult a
move or Combo the character can perform during
the turn. Initiative represents a combination of the
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Control Bonus is added to his Control roll, if usual, and Special Moves with the Priority Element
applicable.
automatically gain Initiative over attacks without
the Priority Element. Remaining characters then act
The character with the highest Initiative total acts in Initiative order until all characters have acted or
first. A character with Initiative may instead choose have lost their actions due to events occurring
to hold his Initiative and let another combatant go during the turn (e.g., Hit Stun, Knock Down, or
first. A character holding their Initiative in this Stunning).
fashion can choose to act at any point later in the
turn, including interrupting another character during
Rolling Initiative and Control
his action for the turn. If this interruption occurs
after another combatant has actually declared a
Roll 1d6 separately for Initiative and Control.
specific attack, a separate Initiative roll is used only
to determine the acting order of this exchange of
The Speed Basic Quality and other factors may
two attacks. FS can be spent to increase this roll as
affect the die sizes used for this roll.
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Simultaneous Initiative
The limited range of die rolls possible means that
combatants will inevitably roll the same Initiative
total from time to time. In the case of simultaneous
Initiative, the characters often, but not always, act
simultaneously.
these
declarations,
combatants
acting
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this case, all movement is resolved first, then
attacks and other actions are resolved.
Any character sharing Initiative with any other
opposing combatant can only use the Defense Skill
in response to simultaneous attacks; Evasion and
Tactics cannot be used, except in the case of a
jumping Basic Move. Full Defense can still be
declared in place of an attack. A character doing a
jumping Basic Move as a simultaneous attack is
considered to be using the Evasion Skill for the
purposes of determining Defense Total. All normal
defensive options are available against other attacks
that do not have simultaneous Initiative. Even
though the effects of the attacks are simultaneous,
the combatant with the higher Control resolves his
attack first. This may be important for determining
when and how much FS is used in resolving these
attacks.
In the case of simultaneous attacks, if one of the
attacks is a Special Move that has the Priority
Element, this attack is resolved first and is not
considered simultaneous. However, the defender
still cannot choose any defensive response besides
the Defense Skill, just as if the attacks were still
considered simultaneous. If an attack with the
Priority Element hits, the defender suffers Hit Stun
and may lose his action for the turn (see Hit Stun).
Any movement before the attack associated with a
Special Move with the Priority Element is not
considered to have Priority over the movement of
other characters with simultaneous Initiative; the
Priority Element applies only to the attack itself.
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Example of Resolving Simultaneous Initiative
Jason has rolled Initiative 4 and Control 2. His opponent, Riff, has rolled Initiative 4 and Control 4. They are
presently at Range 3. Their Initiative is simultaneous. They begin to resolve this by declaring (but not yet resolving)
their actions in reverse order of Control. So Jason has to declare first. He declares, Im leaping in 2 Ranges and
using a jumping Basic Move.
Riff now knows that Jason is moving toward him, but this has not yet been resolved, so he couldnt declare, I
attack at Range 1, and hit Jason because Jason isnt at Range 1 yet. Thus, if he declared, I attack with Blazing
Arc, the situation would be resolved by determining the results of the attacks first, and then applying the effects
of movement. So Riffs attack would occur first and he would hit nothing, as Jason is still approaching from Range
3. Jason would then land at Range 1 and his attack would be resolved.
Riff could instead declare, Im moving forward one and attacking with my Blazing Arc. Now both combatants are
moving, so movement is resolved first. Simultaneous movement adds the total Ranges of movement together, so
since Jason was moving 2 towards Riff and Riff was moving 1 towards Jason, they close by 3 Ranges total. They
move from Range 3 to Range 0. Then Jasons Basic Move and Riffs Blazing Arc would be resolved simultaneously.
If Riff declared that he was using his Ranged attack, Fiery Sun, that attack would be resolved before Jason jumped
forward, as attacks are resolved before movement. If Jason were struck, he would suffer Hit Stun and may not be
able to move at all (see Hit Stun). If the Ranged attack missed, Jason would jump in 2 Ranges and attack.
If Jason declared he was using his Ranged attack, Violent Spike, and then Riff declared he was using Blazing Sun,
both attacks would be resolved simultaneously.
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On Your Turn
When a characters turn comes up in the Initiative
order, the player has several choices of what to do.
A character can:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Move
Attack
Move and then attack
Refocus
Power Up
Await Opening
Movement
Combat in Fight! does not use any sort of map or
grid to determine positioning. Instead, all combat is
based on the principle of Range Categories
(Ranges). There are six Ranges, numbered from 0-5.
Range 0 is grappling range, though normal combat
can also occur at this range. Range 1 is standard
hand-to-hand combat range. Range 2 is just outside
normal combat range, though some attacks may
still hit, as combatants jink in and out of range of
one another. Range 3 is a short distance away, but
one in which combatants can still quickly close with
one another. Range 4 is the normal maximum range
for Ranged Special Moves. Range 5 is effectively out
of combat, while still maintaining the possibility of
re-engaging the enemy. Most combat occurs
between Ranges 0-4.
These Ranges do not directly correspond to actual
distances. The distance between Range 0 and
Range 1 is generally only a couple feet, while the
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combatant can do a Cross-Up attack. This earns a +
2 bonus to Accuracy, which replaces the normal +1
Accuracy for attacking at Range 0.
If a combatant moves only 1 Range and does not
attack, he receives a +1 on his Defense Totals for the
turn.
Knock Back from an attack is 1 Range away from the
attacker. Knock Back cannot push an opponent to
Range 5, however. Knocking Back an opponent at
Range 4 keeps the opponent at Range 4.
Facing is not important in combat. However,
sometimes a character will want to move past an
opponent specifically, either because of an
Environmental Hazard, to make the best use of a
particular Element of a Special Move, or to
accomplish a narrative goal set by the Director (e.g.,
needing to run past an opponent to escape a room).
A character can move forward through an
opponent, moving down from Range 1 to Range 0
and then back up to Range 1 and beyond on the
opposite side of the opponent.
While a grid is not required for combat, a simple
page with six bands to denote Ranges 0-5 can be
used as a visual aid. Markers are placed for the
characters based on how many bands apart they
are. Characters at Range 0 would share the same
band. Characters at Range 2 would be in separate
bands with an empty band between them.
However, this visual effect, while very helpful in a
combat involving only two characters, gets more
complicated when there are more characters
involved.
In the case of multiple combatants on each side, the
same grid can be used, but instead of using Range to
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single numeric location, and they are all
considered equidistant from one another. In
most cases, this abstraction is sufficient.
After all, Fighters in video fighting games
are incredibly mobile and capable of leaping
prodigious distances to get to their
opponents. Under most circumstances, it
should be fairly easy for any Fighter to catch
up to any opponent still within the field of
combat.
However, in a fight featuring multiple
combatants on each side, if two opposing
combatants wish to face off against one
another apart from the other combatants,
they can mutually decide to do so by
declaring their movement for the turn to be
away from the fight. At that point, their
combat continues to be resolved as a
separate fight scene apart from the
remaining combatants. Neither combat has
any effect on the other, even though they
are both taking place in the same general
area. For simplicitys sake, and in keeping
with the conventions of the genre, the
Director should disallow any other
combatants from pursuing the pair that has
broken off from the original combat.
However, if the Director does wish to allow
it, another combatant would need to make
two successful Maneuver Checks, one
against each of the other combatants (even
if one of them is an ally), in order to enter
their fight. This is a special contested
Tactics Skill check, rolled on 1d6, rather
than 1d10.
Conversely, if there are multiple
combatants on each side, the case may
arise when a combatant wants to move into
a position where a particular opponent
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cannot easily attack him. In this case, in place of
movement, the character makes a Maneuver Check
against the combatant he wishes to avoid. Both
combatants make a contested Tactics Skill check on
1d6. If the character succeeds, the desired
opponent is considered Checked. The Checked
opponent cannot attack the character without first
succeeding at a Maneuver Check in place of
movement. If the opponent succeeds, the Checked
condition is removed.
Movement Summary
A character can move:
1 Range and gain a +1 on all Defense Totals.
1 Range and attack.
2 Ranges.
2 Ranges and attack with a Basic Move or a
Special Move with the Mobile Element that
allows 2 Ranges of movement before attacking.
This costs 1 FS.
3 Ranges. This costs 1 FS.
Resolving an Attack
Control
The most common action of a character during a
turn is to attack an opponent within range (perhaps
preceded by movement). In order to attack, the
attacker first declares a specific attack form. This
may be a Basic Move, a Special Move, or, subject to
the conditions described in Chapter 4, a Super Move.
The attackers choice of move is limited by the
Control rolled for that turn. The character can only
choose attacks that have a Level equal to or less
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bonus to Accuracy.
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Rolling an Attack
Roll 1d6 + all applicable modifiers.
If the total equals or exceeds the opponents
Defense Total, the attack hits.
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After the character moves and/or attacks, play
proceeds to the character with the next highest
Initiative total who is still able to act.
Combos
A Combo is a term used in fighting video games to
describe a series of attacks that is generally
unblockable if the first attack hits. Fighters can
launch Combos as a special form of attack,
exchanging Accuracy and Control for significantly
greater damage.
A Combo can be as long as the combatant wishes,
limited only by his Combo Skill level and his Control
for the turn. A Combo cannot be longer than the
characters Combo Skill level. The Control necessary
for a Combo is equal to the total Levels of all the
moves contained within it. This is thus 1 per Basic
Move, but if one or more Special Moves are part of a
Combo, there must be Control equal to each moves
Level as well. For example, a 5-hit Combo opening
with an L4 Special Move would require [4+(4x1)] =
Control 8.
A Combo can be made up of any combination of
Basic Moves and Special Moves. However, any
Special Move that is not either the first or last move
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of the Combo requires one extra Control to use. The
one exception to this is for a Combo composed
solely of three Special Moves (i.e., a 3-hit Combo
made up of three Special Moves with no Basic
Moves). Special Moves cannot be duplicated in a
Combo.
No matter how many moves make up the Combo,
the Combo is resolved as a single attack. A Combo
suffers a 1 Accuracy penalty for every full three
moves in the Combo. Thus, a 2-hit Combo has no
Accuracy penalty, a 3- to 5-hit Combo has 1
Accuracy, a 6- to 8-hit Combo has 2 Accuracy, etc.
If the Combo has a Special Move anywhere other
than as the opening move, there is an additional 1
Accuracy.
The Accuracy of a Combo is based on the first move
in the Combo; the Accuracy bonuses or penalties of
any other move in the Combo are ignored. Likewise,
the damage for a Combo is based on the 1st move in
the Combo. If a Special Move is in the middle or end
of the Combo, damage is also rolled for those
moves, but they are reduced to half damage (round
down). Each additional Basic Move in the Combo
adds one to the final damage. A characters
Damage Bonus is only added once to a Combo, not
to each move in the Combo. Knock Back only occurs
at the end of a Combo.
Any limitations that apply to movement are only
based on the first move in the Combo. Movement
occurs first, and then the Combo begins. Therefore,
a Special Move that allowed no movement could
follow a Special Move with the Mobile Element that
began the Combo. Similarly, any restriction on
Range is based after movement has concluded. For
example, a Special Move that could only be used at
Range 0 can still be a part of a Combo even if the
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If a Combo misses and the opponent uses a
Defensive Response, he can choose any response
based on any of the Elements in any of the Special
Moves that made up the Combo.
Evasion
While the Defense Skill represents the active
attempt to block the opponents attack, the Evasion
Skill represents the attempt to avoid the opponents
attack entirely. In fighting video games, this is
specifically accomplished by crouching underneath
attacks or by leaping above attacks and/or away
from opponents.
Instead of using the Defense Skill, a combatant can
try to Evade his opponents attacks. In this case,
Evasion is used instead of Defense for the Fighters
Defense Total calculation. A combatant who
successfully Evades may choose one of two options:
1) the character may move 2 Ranges forward or
backward (but not 1 Range), which costs 1 FS, or 2)
the character may instead receive a +2 Accuracy on
his next attack (either on this turn or the next, as
appropriate). If the combatant successfully Evades
again before getting the chance to use this Accuracy
bonus, he must not choose to move in order to
maintain the bonus. If the combatant is hit again
before using the bonus, the bonus is lost.
A combatant may also choose to both block (with
Defense Skill) and Evade. This usually represents a
crouching block. In this case, the defender adds half
(round down) of the lower skill to the higher skill
when determining the characters Defense Total.
This costs 1 FS, but the defender cannot move, and
if the attacker misses, the defender does not receive
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a +2 Accuracy on his next attack. A character can do
this on Full Defense as well. The Full Defense bonus
is added to Defense, and then the combined
Defense Total is calculated as normal. Attacks that
have the Hard to Evade Element can apply the
Accuracy bonus to a defender who is combining his
Defense and Evasion Skills.
As a campaign option, combatants may also be able
to do Aerial Blocks. This allows the combatant to
move as a successful Evasion if the defense is
successful, while getting the benefits of combining
the Defense and Evasion Skills to determine his
Defense Total (as described above). In this case, this
costs an additional 1 FS for the movement (and
therefore 2 FS total).
Tactics
Several other additional defensive options exist
utilizing the Tactics Skill and usually a Special Move
with a particular Element. These options are
collectively called Defensive Responses. One of the
Defensive Responses included here (the Counter
Response) still uses the Defense Skill rather than the
Tactics Skill, while another (the Ranged Response)
uses the Ki Skill; they are included here because
they generally follow the same procedures as the
other Tactics-based defensive options described in
this section. A character does not need to have the
Tactics Skill to be able to use the Counter Response
or the Ranged Response. All that is necessary is a
move with the appropriate Element and levels in the
Defense Skill or the Ki Skill respectively.
A Defensive Response calculates the Defense Total
the same as the use of the Defense or Evasion Skills,
with the exception that the Tactics Skill is used
instead. If the attack misses, then the defender gets
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4.
Furthermore, the
defender has to have rolled
high enough Control to use
the move used in the
Response. This is also the
case if the combatant has
suffered from Hit Stun and
has reduced Control. If Hit
Stun causes the loss of the
characters action, he
cannot use any Defensive
Response
except
the
Jinking Response.
Anti-Air/Juggle Response:
If the attacker jumped 2
Ranges before attacking
with a Basic Move, or used
a Special Move with the
Aerial Element, or simply
jumped 3 Ranges toward
the defender, and ends his
movement at Range 0 or
Range 1, a defender can
interrupt with any move
that has the Juggle or AntiAir Element. If the attacker
misses,
the
defender
temporarily becomes the
attacker until the Juggle or
Anti-Air attack is resolved.
Initiative then returns to
normal.
Basic
Response:
A
defender can interrupt with
a Basic Move.
If the
attacker
misses,
the
defender
temporarily
becomes the attacker until
the attack is resolved.
Initiative then returns to
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normal.
Counter Response: If the defender successfully
blocks an attack using the Defense Skill, he can
interrupt the normal Initiative order with a Special
Move that has the Counter Element. The current
order is interrupted, and the defender temporarily
becomes the attacker until the Counter attack is
resolved. Initiative then returns to normal. Unlike
almost all other Defensive Responses, the Counter
Response is based on the Defense Skill, rather than
the Tactics Skill. However, any game effect that
prevents a character from using Tactics as a
defensive option also prevents the use of the
Counter Response.
Evade Ranged Response: If being attacked with a
Special Move with the Ranged Element, a defender
can interrupt with any Special Move that has the
Evade Ranged Element. If the attacker misses, the
defender temporarily becomes the attacker until the
Evade Ranged Attack is resolved. Initiative then
returns to normal.
Interrupt Response: A defender can interrupt with
any Special Move that has the Interrupt Element. If
the attacker misses, the defender temporarily
becomes the attacker until the Interrupt attack is
resolved. Initiative then returns to normal. The
Interrupt Response is based on Tactics, while the
Counter Response is based on the Defense Skill.
Jinking Response: Instead of using the Evasion Skill
to evade an attack, the defender can use the Tactics
Skill instead. The Accuracy bonus from the Hard to
Evade Element applies to this attack, even though
Tactics is used for the Defense Total rather than
Evasion. If the attacker misses, the defender must
move away one Range. This Defensive Response
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on Initiative on the following turn. Regardless of whether the Reversal attack hits or misses, Initiative then
returns to normal for the current turn after it is resolved. See the description of the Element in Chapter 4 for
more details about using the Reversal Element.
Throw Response: If the attacker attempts to attack at Range 0, a defender can interrupt with any Special
Move that has the Throw Element. If the attacker misses, the defender temporarily becomes the attacker
until the Throw is resolved. Initiative then returns to normal.
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Damage Liability.
An attacks base damage is then modified by the attackers Strength, increasing or decreasing a number of
die sizes equal to the characters Strength Basic Quality. Strength does not modify an attack with the
Ranged Element. The damage is then also modified by the defenders Stamina, decreasing or increasing a
number of die sizes equal to the defenders Stamina Basic Quality. A positive Stamina decreases damage,
while a negative Stamina increases damage. The characters Damage Bonus (if any) is also added to
damage. Combos and certain other Elements may also affect damage.
The damage rolled is subtracted from the opponents Life Bar. When Life Bar reaches 0, the character is
defeated and no longer able to fight. This often means that the character has been knocked unconscious,
but depending on the circumstances of the fight and the needs of the story, a defeated character may
simply be too exhausted to continue fighting at the moment, or the character may be seriously injured and
in need of hospitalization. In some very rare cases, the Director may even declare that the defeat of a
character means his death (see Defeat, Death, and Healing).
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Hit Stun
Any attack that does damage to a character who has
not yet acted on the turn also inflicts Hit Stun on the
combatant. This is to be distinguished from
Stunning, which is a more serious effect of some
attacks (see Stunning). Hit Stun temporarily stops
the combatant, often preventing him from acting. If
the combatant has already acted this turn, he does
not suffer Hit Stun when struck.
The effect of Hit Stun is to reduce the Control of the
combatant. His Control drops by four points or it is
reduced to half (round down), whichever is lower. If
this drops Control to zero or less, the combatant
loses his action for the turn. If he has any Control
remaining, he can still act, though he is limited to
choosing attacks based on his new Control total and
his movement is limited. Instead of an attack, he
can still choose to Refocus or Power Up, but not
Await Opening.
If the combatant who has suffered Hit Stun has
Control remaining and wishes to move, it costs 1 FS,
in addition to any other FS costs associated with
movement. For example, if the combatant wanted
to use a Special Move with the Mobile Element to
move 2 Ranges, it would cost 2 FS one for moving
2 Ranges and one for moving after suffering Hit
Stun. In this example, a PL 1 character could not do
this, as he can only spend FS up to his Power Level in
any given instance.
If a combatant has Control remaining after suffering
Hit Stun, he can also choose not to move or act at
all. In this case, his Control roll increases by two die
sizes on the following turn at no cost.
If a combatant is Knocked Down or Stunned by an
attack, he does not suffer the effects of Hit Stun. He
automatically loses his action if he has not yet acted,
Knock Back
Any attack that does damage also knocks the
opponent back 1 Range away from the attacker. A
character will never be Knocked Back to Range 5. A
character at Range 4 who is successfully attacked
remains at Range 4.
Knock Back does not occur after each hit during a
Combo. At the end of the Combo, the opponent is
Knocked Back 1 Range.
A character who suffers damage from a Throw
moves back 1 Range out of Range 0 to Range 1 away
from the combatant who used the Throw attack,
even though they were Knocked Down as a result of
the attack. This does not apply if the Throw also has
the Hurl Element. In this case, there is no Knock
Back.
A character who was hit by a Special Move with the
Increased Knockback Element or by a Combo that
includes a Special Move with the Launcher Element
is Knocked Back two Ranges instead of one.
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Knock Down
A Fighter is Knocked Down when
he is successfully attacked by an
attack that includes the Knocks
Down Element.
After being
Knocked Down, he must use his
action for the turn to stand up
instead of moving or attacking.
The normal effects of Hit Stun do
not apply in this case, and he can
still stand even if he was using
Total Defense. On the following
turn, the Fighter reduces his die
size for Initiative by one. The Total
Defense bonus does not apply (if
applicable).
If a Fighter who has been Knocked
Down has already acted this turn,
he must use his next action on the
following turn to do so. In this
case, there is no penalty to
Initiative. A combatant who was
using Full Defense has effectively
already used his action for the turn
and so must also use his action on
the following turn to stand up. A
character who has been Knocked
Down and who also subsequently
gets Initiative cannot hold and
delay standing up; he stands up
automatically when it is his turn to
act. The Director can choose to change this rule as a
campaign option.
At the same time, however, a character who has
been Knocked Down cannot be attacked. An
opponent with Initiative wishing to attack a
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choose to move 1 Range towards or away from his opponent.
If a character is Knocked Down while holding his action, he loses this held action and must use his next
action on the following turn to stand up. If two combatants are Knocked Down simultaneously, they each
lose their next actions.
Stunning
Every character has a Stun Threshold. This number
is equal to the characters Power Level + 4. If a
character takes damage to his Life Bar greater than
his Stun Threshold in a single turn (from any number
of attacks), he is Stunned.
Damage from all Super Moves, any Special Moves
with the Throw Element, and any Combo that has a
Throw as the last move of the Combo do not add
their damage when calculating whether the total
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he was hit by the attack that Stunned him, he does
not get the Initiative or Control bonus on the
following turn and he must still use two full actions
to recover.
Until the Stunned character can act, he cannot
contribute FS to his Defense Total, he cannot use
the Evasion or Tactics Skills to avoid attacks, and his
Defense Skill is considered to be half (round down).
Unlike being Knocked Down (see above),
combatants can continue to attack the Stunned
opponent.
However, the Stunned character
immediately recovers from being Stunned after
suffering damage once and is also immune to being
Stunned again until he recovers, regardless of how
much damage he takes. However, if the character
recovers from being Stunned by taking damage, he
still loses his action for this turn, and on the
following turn, the formerly Stunned character
reduces his die size for Initiative by one.
If a character is Stunned while holding his action, he
loses his held action and must still use his next two
actions on the following turns to recover.
If a character is Knocked Down while he is Stunned,
he still stands up as his next action, even if that
action is also one of the two actions required to
recover from being Stunned. In other words, the
character stands up and begins recovering from
being Stunned with a single action. His Initiative die
is reduced by one die size on the following turn.
If two combatants are Stunned simultaneously, they
each lose their next two actions. If a combatant
recovers from being Stunned simultaneously with
an attack against him, he gets his full Defense skill,
but can still use no other defensive options and his
Stun Threshold is considered re-set to zero (i.e., he
can be Stunned again).
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3 or greater.
Await Opening: This non-attack action can be done
multiple times over successive turns. Each Await
Opening action also allows 1 Range of movement
away from the characters opponents. On the turn
following one or more successful Await Opening
actions, each successful Await Opening action
increases the die size used for either Initiative or
Control by a number of die sizes equal to the
characters Power Level, up to the normal limit of
1d12. If this raises both Initiative and Control to
1d12 each, any extra die size increases remaining
become +1 Accuracy each on the characters next
attack. However, any successful hit against the
combatant while he is Awaiting Opening before he
actually takes any other action eliminates all
accumulated benefits.
Environmental Hazards
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example, the Director may declare that there are
gigantic bonfires Distance 3 away from both
combatants. It is up to the Director to decide
whether or not a particular Hazard is equidistant
from each combatant at the start of a fight. A
characters distance away from an Environmental
Hazard is recorded by the Director or the player, as
they see fit. The Director should avoid putting in too
many features that actually influence combat in a
single combat sequence. As each must be tracked
separately for each combatant, this can quickly
become unwieldy. Remember that minor terrain
features may be just a matter of description rather
than having actual game effects on the combatants.
Ranges and Distances serve similar purposes in
combat, but are not equivalent to one another.
Range is only used to describe the space between
combatants. Distance is only used to describe the
space between a combatant and an Environmental
Hazard. One can never be more than Distance 6
away from a Hazard without actually leaving the
scene of the combat.
When characters are within proximity to one
another, they also share their proximity to
Environmental Hazards. If two characters are within
Range 2 or less from one another, they are also
automatically considered to be the same Distance,
plus one, away from all Environmental Hazards in
the battle. In every case, use the closest Distance
between any particular Fighter and the
Environmental Hazard in question for this
calculation. If a character was already closer than
this calculation determines, that characters original,
closer Distance remains in effect. This calculation
occurs at the end of the turn before the Time Roll is
made, not after each characters individual
movement. The Director should create a list of
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Range 2 or less wishes to prevent this, a Maneuver
Check must be made. This is a contested Tactics
Skill check using 1d6 rather than 1d10. The winner
of this check succeeds in moving or preventing his
opponents movement, as appropriate. A character
can also use a Maneuver Check to direct his Knock
Back of an opponent towards an Environmental
Hazard. The opponent is allowed a contested Skill
check even if he is Knocked Down or Stunned, as the
Maneuver Check represents movement on the part
of both combatants for ideal positioning before the
attack even hits.
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Elevation Change. In the former case, the character
suffers Environmental Hazard damage from the fall.
In the latter case, the character is treated as if he
was against a Wall (see below).
A character is always presumed to be able to take
an action to jump down to a lower Elevation
Change. It is up to the Director to decide
whether or not a character can take an
action to jump up a Major Elevation
Change. In either case, the
character
is
then
considered Distance 2
away
from
the
Environmental
Hazard. Characters
who have been
affected by a Major
Elevation Change
Environmental
Hazard
are
considered out of combat with
the exceptions noted below. If
another character follows the
character who has been affected by the
Environmental Hazard, the two combatants may
continue combat on their own away from other
combatants.
It is up to the Director to decide whether or not a
character at Distance 1 can leap down onto an
opponent within Distance 2 of the lower elevation of
this Environmental Hazard. This must be either a
leaping Basic Move or a Special Move with both the
Aerial Element and the Mobile Element allowing 2
Ranges of movement before an attack. This attack
does +1 damage, but the attack also has 2
Accuracy. Regardless of whether or not the attack
hits, the attacker is considered to be at Range 1 from
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once a combatant has fallen a significant distance, it
is impractical for the story to continue the fight.
Walls and Ring-Outs are set up like any other
Environmental Hazard: they are assumed to be a
certain Distance away from the combatants at the
beginning of the fight. However, because they mark
specific boundaries of the field of combat, the
effects of movement in regard to them are different
than other Environmental Hazards.
Walls and Ring-Outs are an exception to the above
rule that re-calculates the Distance to an
Environmental Hazard based on the proximity of
combatants to one another at the end of the turn.
Walls and Ring-Outs always remain at the same
Distance from any given character unless movement
or Knock Back specifically changes this, according to
the following rules.
If the environment features Walls or Ring-outs,
Knock Back always moves the opponent 1 Distance
towards this feature unless the attacker specifically
uses a Maneuver Check to prevent it or if neither
combatant wishes to move towards the Wall or
Ring-Out. This is in addition to the normal Knock
Back of 1 Range away from the opponent. If both
options exist (e.g., an arena with two walled sides
and two open sides), Knock Back does not move one
towards either feature without a Maneuver Check.
If a combatant moves through an opponent (i.e.,
from Range 1 to Range 0 back to Range 1 again on
the other side of the opponent), he can choose to
exchange his Distance from a Wall or Ring-Out with
his opponents.
Example: Asuka is Distance 3 from a Ring-Out.
Duke Diesel is only Distance 1. The two characters
are at Range 1. Despite this close Range, Asuka is
not considered to be Distance 2 from a Ring-Out
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Ring-Outs: A character at Distance 0 from the
edge of an arena incurs a Ring-Out. As noted
above, the specific effects of this vary with the
nature of the Ring-Out. For example, the character
may fall a few feet off the raised floor of the official
tournament arena, or he may fall off a 1000-foot
cliff. In most cases where Ring-Outs are an
Environmental Hazard, suffering a Ring-Out means
losing the tournament fight, regardless of how
much Life Bar the character has remaining.
Corners: In addition to Walls, a separate
Environmental Hazard can be defined as a Corner.
Any movement or Knock Back towards a Wall can
also simultaneously be towards or away from a
Corner. Unlike a Wall, however, a Maneuver Check
is necessary to Knock Back an opponent towards a
Corner. If a character is at Distance 0 from both a
Wall and a Corner at the same time, attacks
against the character receive an additional +1
Accuracy over the normal +1 Accuracy for fighting
against a Wall. The same Knock Back rules for
Walls also apply. Furthermore, a character in a
Corner has a 2 on any Maneuver Check to move
away from the Corner. A character that is at
Distance 0 from a Corner but not a Wall suffers no
particular effects; Corners only modify the effects
of Walls.
Danger Zones: As a variant on Ring-Outs, fighting
arenas may have an explosive, electrical, or
magical border to them. This replaces the normal
effects of a Ring-Out. Once at Distance 0, if a
character suffers a Knock Down in this area, he
suffers damage from the Environmental Hazard.
The character then stays at Distance 0. Unlike
normal Environmental Hazards, the character is
not Knocked Back away from the Danger Zone by
the Hazards damage. The character must move
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Simplified Walls and Ring-Outs
If a grid is being used to determine the
parameters of an arena (i.e., a grid with six bands
on which all of the combatants are located), the
grid can also be used to define the location of
Walls or Ring-Outs.
Instead of tracking
Distances for individual combatants, the Wall or
Ring-Out is simply located at either edge of the
grid. Thus, if an opponent is Knocked Back off
either edge, instead of shifting all the
combatants to keep everyone on the grid, the
character that has been Knocked Back is
considered to be against the Wall or has suffered
a Ring-Out. It should be noted, however, that
hitting Walls and suffering Ring-Outs will be
extremely common using this method.
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Optional Rules for Slower Recovery
For some players, the default rule may not be
realistic enough. Furthermore, fast and full
healing eliminates the possibility of one
common dramatic device in martial arts
storytelling: Im still reeling from that last
encounter; how will I survive this one? If
desired, the Director can use the following rules
for recovering Life Bar between fights.
After a fight (either a round of combat or as
defined by the Director), a character recovers
Life Bar and Fighting Spirit equal to his Stamina
+ his Defense Bonus + his Power Level
(minimum 1). If the character gets eight hours
of rest of at least moderate quality, he will
recover all of his Fighting Spirit and his Life Bar
will recover an additional number of points
equal to his Power Level. Fighting Spirit can
also be recovered with Serene Meditation. Each
hour of meditation will recover Fighting Spirit
equal to the Skill check, divided by 4 (round
down). Of course, after an hour or two, the
Director should feel free to interrupt the
characters meditations with gratuitous combat!
The purpose of these rules is to increase the
tension of the story. They are best used when
the Director has a well-balanced series of
encounters he wishes the heroes to fight
through and he wants to encourage smarter,
more conservative combat. On the other hand,
if the Director has one or more encounters
planned that are meant to really tax the limits of
the heroes, they should be allowed full recovery
after each fight.
Team Combat
The fundamental structure of fighting video games
is based on one-on-one combat. On the other hand,
the most common structure of a tabletop roleplaying game involves a number of characters allied
with one another, acting as a team. This can be
difficult when it comes to combat in Fight! It is
usually not much fun for other players to wait
around for their chance to engage in a one-on-one
combat during a tournament, even if the Director
makes an effort to continue the story with
backstage events involving the other PCs while
one of them is in the ring.
On the other hand, combat scenes involving
multiple combatants on each side have their own set
of difficulties. They tend to be more complicated
and a little longer to resolve. They sometimes fail to
highlight a characters particular combat tricks and
tactics, designed for one-on-one combat. And
perhaps most significantly, they dont correspond to
the traditional pattern of the genre that inspired this
role-playing game in the first place.
This section of the combat rules provides a series of
alternatives that allow more than one player
character to be involved in combat at the same
time, without necessarily resorting to the full mass
melee of team-on-team combat. These patterns all
conveniently conform to patterns found in fighting
video games as well.
There are two basic formations for team combat
found in traditional fighting video games. Either of
these can be used as an alternative to whole teams
of characters fighting at the same time. The two
formations are an alternative method of team
combat and tag team combat.
Even though these formations are usually intended
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for tournament combat, there is nothing to restrict
the Director from coming up with reasons why these
formats are used in non-tournament combat. One
of the easiest ways to justify these forms of team
combat outside of a formal arena is the conventions
of the martial arts genre itself: martial artists often
choose the glory of one-on-one combat, and their
allies often support this choice, even when their
friend is being badly beaten. Only when their friend
actually calls for their support do they enter the
battle.
Example of Combat
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Director: This underground cavern is brimming with
ambient ki energy. You can feel that your opposing
spirits are strong enough to de-stabilize the entire
ruins! Well start at Range 3. The Time Count will be
set at 99.
Rei: What happens at zero?
Rei: I have 1d6 for Initiative and 1d8 for Control and
a +1 Control Bonus.
Rei: Nope.
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first hit of the
battle, so Rei,
you get 3
Fighting
Spirit back,
the same as
your Power
Level. Battle
has to use his
turn to begin
recovering
from being
Stunned.
Thats it. So
thats the
turn - Rei
leapt forward
toward
Battle,
ambient ki
trailing behind him as he flew through the air. The
first kick landed, then he twisted his hips to land
another kick while still in the air, and as he came to
land on his feet followed up with flurry of punches.
All the blows landed, sending the relic hunter reeling
back across the pulsing rocks of the ruins.
Rei: I get Glory, right?
Rei: Im totally
pressing this
advantage! Im
spending 1 FS on
both Initiative
and Control.
That gives me
1d8 and 1d10.
Director: Battle
spends Fighting
Spirit on
Initiative too,
keeping his 1d12.
Lets roll.
Rei: Crap!
Initiative 2,
Control 7.
Director: Initiative 9! I rolled Control 4, but that
doesnt really matter this turn. It looks like Dr.
Battle catches a break through a momentary lapse
in Reis concentration. Time to get back into the
fight! But I have to use this action to recover from
being Stunned too. At least Battle will have the
benefit of his full defensive capabilities for the
remainder of the turn.
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Bonus and another 3 FS, Battles Defense Total is 6.
Total is 3.
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Ready for next turn?
Rei: Lets do this. Were back at Range 3, just like we
started. Im not spending any Fighting Spirit on
Initiative or Control.
Director: OK, neither am I. Lets roll.
Rei: Initiative 4, Control 2. Great.
Director: Initiative 5, Control 1. Not much better.
Battle has Initiative. Im going to advance 1 Range
and stop. Were now at Range 2.
Rei: Why did you do that?
Director: Well, really, its none of your business,
butwe both rolled lousy Control, so probably not
much is going to happen this turn, so Im going to
set up for next turn. Plus I get a +1 to my Defense
Totals this turn for moving 1 Range and not
attacking.
Rei: Well see how this works out. Im also moving
forward 1 Range to Range 1 and attacking with a
Basic Move. I have more Control than I need, so I
get a +1 Accuracy.
Director: Good. Battle is going to use his Evasion
Skill. He has a Skill level of 2, plus his Defense
Bonus, and he once again is going to spend 3 FS on
defense. Defense Total of 7.
Rei: 7? Wow. +1 Accuracy for Control and +1 for my
Accuracy Bonus, and3 more FS. +5 should do it.
[Rolls] Crap! Another 1! I missed!
Director: The ki energy in this place must be aligned
against you. Battles Evasion is successful.
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games?
Director: No, but they do get a bonus to Accuracy.
How are you going to defend yourself?
Rei: Im just going to use Defense; its my best Skill.
So thats 3. Ill spend 3 more FS to give me a 6
Defense Total. Thats the best I can do.
Director: You could skip your action for the turn and
go on Full Defense. It will add 2 more to your
Defense Total and give you an Initiative bonus next
turn.
Rei: That sounds good, I guess. Lets try that.
Defense Total 8. Rei instinctively reacts to Battles
lunge forward and gets ready to respond!
Director: Alright. Battle is using his Heart Breaker. It
has an Accuracy bonus of +1, I get +1 for being at
Range 0, and I get a +2 bonus for successfully
Evading last turn. I will spend another 1 FS on
Accuracy, giving me a +5 against your 8. [Rolls] 5!
That hits.
Rei: Today is clearly not a good day to be the hero.
Director: Battle whispers in Oshiros ear, You were
going to defeat me, Oshiro? How were you going to
do that? A family legacy is not the same thing as
technique and experience. You dont stand a
chance! The damage for the Heart Breaker is 1d8,
which isnt modified by your Stamina. Battle does
have a +1 Damage Bonus, so 1d8+1. [Rolls] 7 so
thats 8 points off your Life Bar.
Rei: OK. Im down to 38 now. Crap! 8 points is
higher than my Stun Threshold! Im Stunned!
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pair of a Fighter and a Thug group is run as a
separate duel. The guidelines for running combats
with more than two combatants can also be used to
simplify large Thug fights. In the case of huge
battles, it fits the martial arts genre to have the
characters face a limited number of Thug groups at
once, but have more Thug groups waiting to take
their place in combat; as one group is defeated,
another runs up to join the fight.
Thug Thrashing
The Thug Thrashing sub-system of combat should
be used anytime in which Fighter-level combatants
engage non-Fighter-level combatants. Thus,
despite the name of the sub-system, these rules are
used when player characters are fighting thugs,
security forces, military personnel, law
enforcement, or even normal, non-combat-trained
opponents. Thug is the term used to represent all
non-Fighter-level opponents in combat. Fighters
and Thugs are generally in entirely different leagues
when it comes to combat ability. A competent
Fighter, especially one trained to fight multiple
opponents, can often handle dozens of foes at the
same time.
Thug Attributes
Thug
Level
Normal
Thug 1
Thug 4
Thug 5
Initiative
1d4
1d4
1d6
1d6
1d8
1d10
Accurancy
-1
+1
+2
+3
+4
Damage
1d4
1d6
1d8
1d10
1d12
Defense
Life Save
Thug Qualities
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The combat competency of a Thug is determined by
its Thug Level, a rating from 1 to 5, with an
additional category to represent Normals.
Normals are people without combat training
whatsoever. The increasing level of Thug (i.e., Thug
1 through Thug 5) represents increasing levels of
competency. Rowdy barroom brawlers or athletic
people without formal combat training may be Thug
1. Common criminals, security forces, and law
enforcement would typically be Thug 2. Levels 3
through 5 can be used for differing levels of
hardened criminals, soldiers, elite fighters, and
assassins, culminating in Thug 5, the best of the
best, who can challenge low-level Fighter characters
on their own.
The Thug attributes are not particularly evocative on
their own. Every Thug 2 might possess the same
attributes, whether he is a police officer, a soldier, or
a faceless martial arts mook. In order to distinguish
one group of Thugs from another, especially of
differing descriptions, the attributes of Thugs can be
modified by increasing one attribute to the next
higher level, while decreasing another one to the
next lower level. For example, a Thug 2 might do
1d8 damage but only have Defense 3. Normals
should not be modified in this way, as they really are
not intended to be viable opponents for Fighters
anyway. Thug 5s who increase Damage by any
means add +1 damage to their 1d12.
In addition to the above modifications, each Thug
group that is composed of Thug 2 or higher can be
given Qualities and Weaknesses like a regular
character. Weaknesses earn extra Qualities as usual.
If a Quality relates to a skill check and that roll is
relevant, assume the Thugs skill level is equal to
Defense. (Also see Thug Qualities and Thugs and
Skills below.) These Qualities and Weaknesses apply
to every Thug in the group, not to individual Thugs.
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Combo can potentially hit multiple targets at once. These two effects, subtracting from Life Save and
hitting multiple targets, cannot be combined in the same Combo.
Example: Rei is fighting Thugs with Life Saves of 2. He hits one with a massive 8-hit Combo. This would
normally reduce the Thugs Life Save to 0 (no modifier for the damage because the attack was a Combo, but 4 for an 8-hit Combo). The targeted Thug would be automatically defeated. However, Rei could have instead
forced four Thugs to all make Life Saves of 2 instead of reducing 1 individual Thugs Life Save to zero.
Thug Qualities
The following list contains the Qualities that are
available to Thugs. Keep in mind that, while all of
these are available, many of them might make
extremely unusual Thugs! Other Qualities from the
standard list may be used, but most will have no
appreciable effect on a Thug group, in or out of
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Attractive
Beautiful
Big
Bishounen
Buxom
Charming
Cute
Dashing
Driven
Gadgeteering
Genius
Gun Expert
Intelligent
Intimidating
Light
Luck
Magic
Pet
Power
Powerful Item
Psychic
Sexy
Sharp Dressed
Short
Suggestive Attire
Tall
Technique
Tomboy
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The following Special
Move Elements can
be purchased as
Qualities for Thugs.
Each of these costs a
number of Qualities
equal to the number
of Elements it would
normally
cost.
Possessing one of
these
Qualities
allows the Thug group
to use this Element in combat. All of their attacks
are considered to possess this Element at all times.
The Director can choose elements not listed here,
but care must be taken, as they may drastically alter
the way combat works.
Code
Dull Personality
Honorable
Noteworthy Appearance
Style Weakness
Thick
Ugly
Unattractive
Unintelligent
Unluck
Aerial Element
Always Does Damage Element
Area Effect Element
Bounce Element
Critical Hit Element
Fast Recovery Element
Hard to Evade Element
Harry Element
Hits Low Element
Increased Knockback Element
Increased Stun Element
Knocks Down Element
Knockback Advance Element
Mobile Element
Position Shift Element
Priority Element
Ranged Element
Teleportation Element
Temporary Invulnerability Element
Throw Element
Unblockable Element
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Robust: This Quality allows a Thug group to always
maintain a minimum Life Save of 1, no matter how
powerful the attack or how long the Combo used
against them. This Quality counts as two Qualities.
Skilled: The Thug group possesses a number of noncombat skills. The number of skills is equal to the
groups Thug rank (1 through 5). Each of these skills
is at a skill level equal to the Thug groups Defense or
4, whichever is higher. This Quality can be used to
create acrobatic ninja or perceptive security guards,
for example.
There is also one unique Weakness available for
Thug groups.
Reduced Attributes: For each one point or one die
size reduction in a Thug attribute, the group may
choose an additional Quality. This is in addition to
the default modification of subtracting from one
attribute to add to another. This Weakness can be
taken any number of times, but no attribute may be
reduced below 1 (in the case of Initiative and
Damage) or 0 (in the case of Defense and Life Save)
or 2 (in the case of Accuracy).
Thug Movement
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are opposing Fighters in the combat as well. In
this case, it is easiest to consider the Thug group
as a single combatant and to move them as a
single combatant. This may mean that 10
people are occupying a single band on the grid,
but it makes combat easier to run. Because
Thug groups contain multiple opponents, one
cannot Check a Thug group.
A Thug group can move 1 Range and attack or 2
Ranges without attacking. Generally speaking, a
Thug group will move to engage an opponent if
possible.
Thug groups can be affected by
Environmental Hazards. Its up to the Director to
decide whether Thug groups can leap up or down
cliffs or out of pits.
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No other defensive options
are available to them. Thugs
cannot use Full Defense.
Defending Against
Thugs
A character can use the
Defense or Evasion Skills
to defend against
Thugs as usual. A
combatant
who
successfully Evades
instead of using
Defense may choose to
move 2 Ranges, which
costs 1 FS, or may instead receive a +2
Accuracy on his next attack, on this or the
following turn, as usual. He may also choose to
combine Defense and Evasion as usual. In addition
to the normal options, a Fighter may use the Agility
Skill in place of the Evasion Skill to Evade or
combine the Agility Skill with the Defense Skill in the
same manner as the Evasion Skill.
Defensive Responses can also be used against
Thugs; however, as many of them are based on a
response to specific kinds of Special Moves, many
will rarely be used.
When facing Thugs with the Ranged Quality,
characters can use the Agility Skill as an additional
defensive option. When hit by a Ranged attack, a
character can make an Agility skill check. The DL for
this check is 4 + the amount of damage done by the
hit. If the check is successful, the character dodged
the shot and takes no damage. The size of the Thug
group has no effect on the difficulty of this roll.
While this is not at all realistic, it represents the
conventions of the genre as seen in anime. A
character may also use his action to go Full Agility.
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failed Life Save removes one Thug from the group.
As long as one Thug remains, the group continues
to exist.
Thug groups do not normally suffer Knock Back,
though an attack with the Increased Knockback or
Hurl Elements will Knock Back a Thug group 1
Range. A Thug group can be attacked by a Combo.
The effects of a Combo are described above in the
description of Life Saves.
When a Thug group suffers a Knock Down, the
effects are special. If the particular Thug hit in the
Thug group succeeded on his Life Save, a Knock
Down forces a second Life Save (i.e., a second
chance to take the Thug out of combat). If the
particular Thug hit in the Thug group failed his Life
Save, the rest of the Thug group is Knocked Back 1
Range. Thug groups are never actually Knocked
Down. Using a Throw Special Move with the
Sustained Hold Element against a Thug group
completely ignores the 2nd turn of the Sustained
Hold; the Element has no effect.
Thug Events
At the end of the turn, one roll is made on the
following chart for each Thug group. The effects
only affect the Thug group that rolled the event.
The effects begin at the beginning of the next turn
and last for one full turn.
The roll for the chart is 1d4 + the number of Thugs
remaining in the group at the end of the turn + the
level of the Thugs (i.e., Thug 1 adds 1, etc. Normals
add 0).
Any even total on the roll is no event. In this case,
the time roll is rolled and the next turn begins with
no effects.
The events on the chart are described primarily in
mechanical terms. It is up to the Director and the
players to make these into interesting and
entertaining descriptions.
Use of Thug Events is recommended but optional; it
is intended to make Thugs a more unpredictable
opponent and to provide variation to extended
confrontations against large numbers of Thugs.
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many opponents at once takes its toll on the
Fighters. All Fighters within Range 2 of this Thug
group lose FS equal to the Thugs normal damage. If
the Fighter has no FS remaining, the Thug group
gets a free attack on the Fighter at the end of the
present turn instead.
9: Lucky Strike: Because of luck, skill, or dirty
fighting, this Thug group receives +2 Accuracy on all
attacks on the following turn.
11:
Defensive
Advantage:
Because
of
environmental factors, teamwork, or cover, this
Thug groups Defense is doubled on the following
turn.
13: Relentless Foes: Through force of will,
performance-enhancing combat drugs, or concealed
armor, this Thug group proves to be remarkably
durable. Their Life Save is doubled on the following
turn.
15: Adrenaline Surge: Through rage, sound tactics,
or brute strength and luck, this Thug group rolls one
die size larger for Damage on the following turn.
17: Endless Numbers: Because of sudden
reinforcements or the recovery of previously
defeated Thugs, opponents within Range 2 of this
Thug group may not use the Thug Thrashing Skill on
the following turn.
19: Blitz: Through excellent training, coordinating,
positioning, or tactics, each Thug group gets an
immediate free attack against any opponents in
range. The opponents defensive Skills are halved
against this attack.
Thug Thrashing
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Defense at the same time, allowing the accuracy of
Full Offense while maintaining higher defenses than
usual, at a cost of one Thug Thrashing action.
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group may also take the Skilled Quality, which gives
them a number of Skills at a higher skill level.
Normals are people who have plenty of mundane
skills, as they have no real fighting ability. Generally,
the skill level of a Normal should be used as a plot
device. If the characters seek a scholar, they should
eventually find one who knows what they need to
know. If they bring a car to a mechanic, it can be
reasonably assumed that the mechanic can fix the
car. However, if specific skill levels must be known,
assume that a Normal possesses 6 Non-Combat
Skills at level 6, and 3 more Skills at level 3.
Guns
Guns are superior in many respects to all other
ranged weapons, but the default portrayal of them
in these rules is far from accurate it is more suited
to the dynamic actions of larger-than-life heroes.
Guns are basically just a better version of a Ranged
attack. There are no rules for called shots,
automatic fire, or reloading, as elements such as
these are out of place in the fighting game genre.
Thugs can be armed with guns if they have both the
Ranged and Gun Qualities. Guns differ from other
Ranged weapons in two ways: 1) Guns increase a
Thug groups damage by one die; 2) Guns can hit
targets beyond Range 5. This means that Thugs
with guns can shoot at targets before combat is
formally engaged. How long it takes characters to
engage opponents is up to the Director, but
generally should not take long.
Just as Fighters may be armed with melee weapons
in some circumstances, they may also be armed
with guns. If a character has a gun as a normal part
of his Special Moves, this should just be built using
the normal rules for Special Moves. It will not
correspond perfectly with these rules, but it will be
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Example of Thug Thrashing
Grace Tanaka: 1/2 American, 1/2 Japanese. Ex-nun
turned ninja. Her quest for justice has taken her to
the bowels of Independence City, a crime-ridden
dark metropolis ruled from the shadows by the
infamous crime boss, Marcus Buchanan, also known
as the murderous Black Tiger.
Grace has been following leads that have led her to
a bad bar in a bad part of a bad town. After getting
nowhere with the patrons, she turns to leave, only
to be surrounded by a gang belonging to one of
Tigers sub-lieutenants. A huge, tattooed brute
steps in her way. Cute little girl youre a long way
from home. He cracks his knuckles and laughs.
With a steely glare back at him, she responds, And
youre a short way from Hell! And combat is joined!
Director: Nice line to get this fight started! This fight
is taking place inside the dive bar. If it looks like it
would be in a biker bar in a bad movie, its probably
here. Even though its crowded and cluttered, I will
not be using any of the rules for Environmental
Hazards. Just use the scenario in your descriptions
as you see fit. Ill keep track of the time with a Time
Roll, but well just count it up from zero rather than
having a formal Timer count down from 99. You will
begin at Range 3 from your opponents.
Grace: How many thugs are there?
Director: Seven. Six thugs plus the leader.
Grace: I hope theyre not too strong. Im only Power
Level 1. So, since there are seven of them, thats
one Thug group of seven?
Director: Actually, no. Only Thugs of the same
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Grace: OK. I wont spend any FS. [Rolls] A 4! Hits!
My damage is 1d6+1, and this move Knocks Down.
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Director: Yes. Go ahead and roll.
Grace: Yup.
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Grace: I cant afford to spend any FS, so Ill be using
my normal rolls. Uh oh. Initiative 3 and Control 4.
Director: The thugs get a 4 and the boss gets a 1.
The Thug group goes first. Since they are at Range
2, they advance 1 Range and attack. How will you
defend?
Grace: Im still using Evasion and Im going to have
to rely on my skill alone. Have to save those last
points of Fighting Spirit for when I really need them!
So my Defense Total is just a 2.
Director: OK. [Rolls] A 3. They took advantage of
your obvious distraction and hit you again. Damage
is [Rolls] Another 4 points!
Grace: Ouch! 22 Life Bar remaining. Time to put an
end to this. Its my turn and Im still at Range 1,
right?
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Grace: Bring it on!
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Dramatic Combat
The Dramatic sub-system of combat changes the
dynamics of normal combat to include cinematic
effects. It alters the light simulation aspects of the
normal combat system in favor of dramatic actions
more in line with the combat action seen in manga
and anime. This sub-system may be used as a
replacement for the normal combat system or for
fights in which the excitement of the story demands
a higher level of drama. It allows characters to bring
more of their Non-Combat Skills into play, which
favors some characters.
The Dramatic Combat system relies more on Basic
Moves than on Special Moves. As such, during the
narrative at the end of the turn, all the action should
be described in exceptionally vivid detail. Over-thetop martial arts action is good, but even better is
any scene typical of combat as seen in anime films.
In fact, as an optional rule, the Director can evaluate
the descriptions offered and award bonuses or
penalties to Accuracy for the next turn. These
should be between -2 and +2.
Combatants using the Dramatic Combat sub-system
have only half as much Life Bar as usual. However,
characters also have several opportunities to regain
Fighting Spirit and Life Bar during a fight. As such,
combat may become a longer process, depending
on the characters involved. There are also many
additional options to choose from in combat. These
considerations should be kept in mind when
deciding whether or not to use the sub-system.
The Thug Thrashing sub-system and the Dramatic
Combat sub-system can be used together. Thugs do
not get an Action Point each turn (unless they have
the Dramatic Villain Quality), but can earn Action
Points through other actions (such as hitting for
maximum damage - see below). One particular use
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roll his Initiative. However, the new roll is kept,
regardless of whether or not it is better. Multiple
Action Points can be spent sequentially in this
manner. If necessary, characters declare their
intention to re-roll Initiative in reverse order of
Power Level (i.e., lowest to highest). If these are
tied, characters declare in reverse order of Speed. If
these are tied, characters roll 1d6 to break the tie or
mutually agree on who should declare first.
In the case of simultaneous Initiative, an additional
condition applies. If two opponents roll the same
Initiative and are within Ranges 0-2 at the beginning
of the turn, their normal turns are replaced by a
Flourish (see below). Unlike a normal Flourish, this
does not cost either character an Action Point.
If a character hits his opponent and is not hit by
anyone else during the turn, he can spend an Action
Point at the beginning of his next turn to increase his
Initiative roll by one die size. This costs no FS and
also earns 1 Glory.
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If a combatant is hit by an attack, he suffers Hit
Stun. In this case, if the Fighter has not yet acted
this turn, he loses his action entirely, unless he
spends an Action Point to act with a penalty to
Accuracy and skill checks (see Ignore Hit Stun).
Initiative Option
Fast Reflexes: After Initiative has been determined,
a character can spend an Action Point and roll this
Skill against all opponents who also have this Skill.
If the character rolls higher than all his opponents,
or if none of them have this Skill, the character
automatically gets the highest Initiative for the turn.
Multiple characters can attempt to use this Skill on
the same turn. In this case, every character spends
an Action Point and the highest roll gets Initiative for
the turn.
Movement Options
Athletics: A character can spend an Action Point and
roll this Skill instead of an attack. For every full 4
points rolled on the skill check, the combatant may
move one Range. This is in addition to normal
movement.
Alternatively, instead of extra
movement, every full 3 points rolled can be used as a
+1 Accuracy bonus on the following turn due to a
better tactical position on the battlefield. This
bonus remains even if the character is hit before
using it. This skill can incorporate environmental
effects as a way to describe the bonuses brought
about by the skill check.
Leaving Combat: To get away from combat, the
character must simply move to Range 5. If no
opponent objects to the characters escape, the
character gets away. However, if the escape is
opposed, the escaping character must spend an
Action Point. Then, he and anyone trying to stop
him must roll contested Athletics skill checks. If the
escaping character beats all of his opponents skill
checks, he moves to Range 5. Otherwise, he
remains at Range 4. Note that this is a change from
the movement rules in the normal combat system,
which normally allow anyone to move out to Range
5 with no restrictions whatsoever. Once away from
combat, a lone combatant can use Draw Ki, Realize
Potential, or Reaffirm Purpose to restore FS or earn
Action Points to heal damage without meeting the
normal conditions required by those options.
Alternately, the character can flee the scene
entirely.
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Attack Options
Climactic Super Move: This move can only be used
when a combatant has less than 10% (round up) of
his Life Bar remaining, and all of his opponents must
have 50% or more of their Life Bar left. It can also
only be used once per combat. It does not cost FS or
Super Energy, but a character with Super Energy
accumulated must spend 10 (or all of it, if he has less
than 10) to use this option.
The specific visual details of a Climactic Super Move
can be modified each time it is used. A character
may have either a Close or Ranged Climactic Super
Move (chosen when the character first acquires the
Skill). At Power Level 5, the character obtains the
other form of Climactic Super Move (either Close or
Ranged). A Close Climactic Super Move allows 2
Ranges of movement, or 3 Ranges at a cost of 1 FS.
It receives the normal bonus or penalty for attacking
at Ranges 0-2. A Ranged Climactic Super Move does
not allow any movement, but can be used at any
Range. In either case, the attack has a 2 Accuracy
penalty.
The character announces his intention to use this
move before Initiative is rolled and spends an Action
Point. The character is considered to be on Full
Defense until the move goes off. If the character is
Percentage of Targets
Life Bar Remaining
DL
50%
60%
70%
12
100%
16
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case, the one extending the invitation spends an
Action Point and also increases their Initiative die by
one size on the following turn, whether the
opponent accepts or not. If accepted, the Flourish is
resolved on the same turn as the invitation. To
resolve the Flourish, each fighter rolls a single
unmodified d10. The combatant who rolls higher
does a straight unmodified d10 of damage to his
opponent and does 1 Range of Knock Back. This
special form of attack cannot be defended against in
any way. If the roll is a tie, the Flourish has no effect.
Freeze Frame Attack: This special attack form also
represents a trope seen in anime combat scenes.
The visual effect is a freeze frame in which a fist,
knee, or foot stays in contact with the opponent,
usually while the opponents eyes bug out and he
spews blood or teeth. This attack is made as a
normal Basic Move. If it hits and does at least 4
points of damage, the attacker spends an Action
Point and sacrifices 1 point of damage to generate
the Freeze Frame effect. This earns the attacker 2
Glory. This attack option does not need to be
declared beforehand.
Knocking an Opponent out of Combat: With a
successful attack, a character may spend an Action
Point to do less damage, but more Knock Back.
Each 2 points of damage sacrificed increases the
Knock Back by one Range. This can knock the
opponent beyond Range 5 and out of combat. This
opponent may then either choose to rest (see
Leaving Combat, above), escape the scene
entirely, or else must spend the next turn doing
nothing but returning to combat (appearing at
Range 5 from his former position). The attacker may
effectively drive the opponent further away than
Range 5. For each additional Range beyond 5, the
opponent must spend one full turn running back to
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the opponents stop pulling punches. If a character is
freed from mind control in this manner, that
character is also immune to mind-manipulating
magic for the remainder of that combat.
Special Moves: A character can spend an Action
Point to attack with a Special Move instead of a
Basic Move. Each Special Move of a character can
normally be used only once per combat scene.
However, all Special Moves receive an additional +2
Accuracy. If the move also has a signature call-tag
that is shouted when the move is used (it is up to the
Directors discretion that a call-tag has always been
a signature), the bonus is instead +3. In addition,
the damage of all Special Moves is increased one die
size.
When using a Special Move, if the attack fails to
defeat an opponent, the Fighter does not receive an
Action Point at the beginning of the following turn.
In subsequent turns, a character may use a specific
Special Move again at a cost in Action Points equal
to twice the Special Moves level (e.g., an L3 Special
Move would cost six Action Points to use a second
time in the same combat).
These rules also apply to the use of Super Moves in
the Dramatic Combat sub-system. Super Moves still
require Super Energy to use in addition to an Action
Point, and their use is still governed by the normal
rules for Super Moves regarding Invincibility and
Initiative.
Surprise Attack: If a character has an opportunity to
attack from surprise at the beginning of a fight
(Directors discretion), he can spend an Action Point
to do double damage with his first attack. It is
appropriate to allow contested skill checks between
Danger Sense and Stealth before giving this benefit.
Defense Options
Endure Great Hardship: If a character is either 1)
below 50% Life Bar and all of his opponents have
over 50% of their Life Bar remaining, or 2) below
25% Life Bar regardless of the Life Bar of his
opponents, the Endure Great Hardship Skill can be
used by spending an Action Point at the beginning
of the turn when Initiative is rolled. During the turn,
this Skill is used in place of the Defense Skill.
However, there are two changes: 1) the combatant
receives the bonus for being on Full Defense, even
though he may still attack, and 2) all damage done
to the combatant from any successful hit is halved
(round down). If the character is using the Skill on
the turn in which he is finally defeated, an Endure
Great Hardship skill check at DL 12 will immediately
restore the character to 1 Life Bar. This can re-occur
indefinitely.
Though this Skill does not need FS to operate, a
character using this Skill who still has unspent FS
will lose 1 FS each turn this Skill is used. The
character must spend an Action Point every turn to
continue to receive these benefits.
Full Defense: A fighter on Full Defense earns an
additional Action Point at the end of any turn in
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which no attack hits the character. This Action Point
can only be used for recovery options (see below).
Full Defense does not cost an Action Point to use.
Ignore Hit Stun: In the Dramatic Combat subsystem, Hit Stun always forces the defender to lose
his action for the turn if he has not already acted. By
spending an Action Point, the target can ignore the
effect of Hit Stun and still act on his turn, but with -2
Accuracy on any attack and -2 on any skill check.
Ki Face Off: If a character attacks an opponent with
a Special Move with the Ranged Element, the
defender can choose instead to defend with the Ki
Skill and spend an Action Point to declare a Ki Face
Off. In this case, the characters are simply
projecting massive waves of ki force at one another.
A Ki Face Off is a special defensive option that
replaces a normal attack roll. Instead, the attacker
simply rolls damage as if he had hit his opponent.
The defender rolls damage based solely on his Ki
skill, as if he were calculating damage for a Special
Move with the Ranged Element (see the Ranged
Element in Chapter 4). The fighter who does more
damage receives an Initiative bonus on the following
turn equal to the differences in damage.
On the next turn, whichever of the two fighters wins
Initiative against the other wins the Ki Face Off. This
does 1d12 damage, with a minimum equal to the
characters Ki Skill, and 2 Ranges of Knock Back. On
the turn when the Ki Face Off begins, either
character can be attacked by a 3rd party with a +1
Accuracy, but their effective defense skills are also
increased by an amount equal to their Ki Skill. If any
damage is done by a character outside the Face Off,
the Ki Face Off ends immediately with no further
effect.
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Recovery Options
Draw Ki: This Skill can only be used after the Sense
Ki Skill has been used on a previous turn. It is used in
place of a normal attack. The combatant spends an
Action Point and rolls a skill check. The number
rolled is the number of FS gained by the combatant.
The maximum amount obtainable in a single roll is
equal to the combatants PL x 2 or the previous
result of the Sense Ki skill check, whichever is lower.
Characters can gain FS above their normal starting
total with this Skill. The combatant only needs to
use the Sense Ki Skill once in a fight to Draw Ki
several times over several turns.
Friendship Morale Boost: If a character has a
comrade or teammate with whom he has a close
relationship (subject to the Directors judgment)
who suddenly appears during a fight, or who reappears in a fight after being gone for 5 or more
turns, the fighting hero (not the arriving comrade)
may spend up to twice the normal number of Action
Points to heal Life Bar on the following turn (see
below). This Boost itself has no Action Point cost.
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Healing Life Bar: This option can be done on the
same turn in which the character also performs
another action, but the character must have
suffered damage on the turn and also failed to do
damage to any opponent. At the end of the turn,
the character can spend one or more Action Points
to heal Life Bar. The amount healed is equal to the
amount of Action Points spent squared. The limit on
Action Points that can be spent at once is equal to
ones Power Level. This can be done multiple times
in a single combat.
Reaffirm Purpose: This Skill is used in place of a
normal attack. It may only be used if the Director
agrees that it is appropriate, based on the purpose
defined for the character (see the Skill description in
Chapter 2). It can only be used on a turn following
one in which the character suffered damage without
doing damage to any opponent. The combatant
spends an Action Point and rolls a skill check. The
number rolled is the number of FS gained by the
combatant. The maximum amount obtainable in a
single roll is equal to the combatants PL x 4.
Characters cannot gain FS above their normal
starting total. Alternatively, every 3 full points rolled
earns an Action Point, which can only be used to
heal the character. If the Director feels the situation
applies particularly well to the characters purpose,
he may give a bonus on the skill check.
Realize Potential: This Skill is used in place of a
normal attack. It may only be used if one of the
following conditions apply from the previous turn: 1)
the character has just stood up from being Knocked
Down, 2) the character has just recovered from
being Stunned, 3) an opponent has hit the character
for maximum damage, or 4) the character had an
attack die roll of 1 that also managed to hit the
opponent.
Special Options
Gadgeteering/Magic/Psychic: A character who
possesses one of these Skills can spend an Action
Point and make a skill check against DL 8. If
successful, the character can replace his skill level
with any secondary Skill with his skill level in the
primary Skill. This skill check does not count as the
characters action for the turn.
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Example: Asuka has Magic 6 and Property Damage
3. On her turn, she wants to use Property Damage,
but wants more punch than her skill level can
deliver. She spends an Action Point to make a Magic
skill check and rolls a 9. As a result, for this turn, she
can consider her Property Damage Skill to be 6
instead of 3, matching her Magic skill level.
Ki Yelling: For (melo)dramatic effect, characters in
anime based on fighting games (and shounen anime
in general) often have long bouts of yelling before
their most impressive ki attacks. The player is
welcome to role-play this out if he wishes. The
character must spend an Action Point and then
spends one full turn yelling, without moving or
taking any other action. He receives a +1 bonus on
all of his Defense Totals for the turn, but if the
character is hit by any attack during the turn, the
yell is cut off and has no effect. If the yell is
successful, for the following turn only, the
characters levels in any one of the following Skills is
effectively doubled (which can bring its effective
level above 10): Ki (which increases the damage of
Special Moves with the Ranged Element), Draw Ki,
Property Damage, or Climactic Super Move.
Mind-Manipulating Magic: These rules are only
applicable if the Director and a characters concept
allow for them. Such a character also needs the
Magic, Psychic, or Gadgeteering Skill. The character
spends an Action Point and then a contested skill
check is made in place of a normal attack between
the relevant skill for the attacker (i.e., Magic,
Psychic, or Gadgeteering) and either a straight d10
or a Grim Determination skill check for the defender,
modified by any Qualities related to ones
intellectual prowess or willpower (Directors
discretion).
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damage that cannot be recovered in any way on the
turn of the push. Defeating an opponent with an
action while pushing it is worth one Glory.
Sense Ki: This Skill is used in place of an attack. It
must be used before the Draw Ki Skill can be used in
combat (see above). The combatant spends an
Action Point and rolls a Sense Ki skill check. The
number rolled on the check becomes the highest roll
possible on any subsequent Draw Ki skill check
during the fight. A character can try this option
again on another turn in an attempt to roll a higher
total, but the new total applies whether it is higher
or lower.
Spirit Combat: In place of a normal attack, a
properly trained character can bring another
character with him to fight on a spiritual or mystical
plane. In order to do this, the character must spend
an Action Point, be within Range 4 or less, and
possess one or more of the following Skills at the
listed skill levels: Meditation 10, Zen State 9+,
Spirituality 8+, Psychic 7+, or Magic 6+. The
character makes a contested skill check against the
opponent, each character choosing one of these five
Skills.
The defender can instead use Grim
Determination in his defense also. However, the
defender does not need to have any of these Skills in
order to defend himself. If he lacks all of these
Skills, his skill check is an unmodified d10 only. The
defender can also choose not to resist and willingly
enter Spirit Combat.
Once engaged in Spirit Combat, no other combatant
can affect the characters. They move and interact
with one another on their own separate battlefield.
Combatants engaged in Spirit Combat may also use
the additional Action Point options described under
Spiritual Combat below. Those characters drawn
into such a fight who are not able to fight spiritual
beings (as defined below) can still fight in Spirit
Combat, but all attacks suffer 2 Accuracy and all
Spiritual Combat
As noted above, various demons, manifested spirits,
and monsters of all kinds can be created by
modifying a high level Thug and giving it the
Dramatic Villain Quality so that it can make use of
Action Points in the Dramatic Combat sub-system.
This sub-system can also be used for fighting spirits
and other incorporeal supernatural beings.
Unlike normal opponents, however, if the creature in
question is purely spiritual or incorporeal, a
character must possess at least one of the following
skills or Qualities in order to fight back effectively:
Magic, Psychic, an appropriate Power, 4 or more
levels of the Meditation Skill, Zen State Skill 3 or
more, or Spirituality Skill 2 or more. Combat is then
conducted as usual. If a combatant lacks any of
these traits, he can still be harmed by spiritual
beings, but all attacks against them are at 2
Accuracy and their Life Saves are +2 (i.e., they are
harder to defeat).
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In Spiritual Combat, a few additional options are
available. Like all options in the Dramatic Combat
sub-system, each of the following requires the use
of an Action Point.
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an extra Action Point for hitting with a Property
Damage attack.
Rei: Is Battle affected by Hit Stun in this system?
Director: Yes, he loses his action entirely unless he
spends an Action Point, which hes not going to do,
so thats the end of the turn. No Glory earned. Rei
gets 1 Super Energy, while Battle gets 2. Time
check. [Rolls] 4. Time Count is down to 95.
Rei: Time to press the advantage!
Director: OK. Lets roll Initiative. We each gain an
Action Point, so we both have two at the moment.
Rei: Right. I rolled a 5.
Director: Nope.
Rei: Alright. Im down to 19 Life Bar too now.
Director: And thats the end of the turn. After a
furious flurry of brutal attacks, Battle manages to
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land a punch right across Reis jaw. The Flourish
knocks you back to Range 2. No Glory earned. You
get 2 Super Energy, while Battle gets 1. Time roll is a
4. Time Count is at 86. Did you feel that, Oshiro?
Im just getting started with you!
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6. The Worlds of Fight!
The previous chapters have described how to create
a Fighter, how to use his Skills and Qualities in
various situations, and most especially how to use
his Special Moves to defeat his opponents in
glorious combat. But in a role-playing game, the
question remains: what does one actually do with
these characters? This question perhaps looms even
larger in the fighting game genre. This chapter aims
to answer this question by providing further
guidelines for conceptualizing and role-playing
characters, how to set up a campaign, how to run
stories within the campaign, and finally, how to
bring it to an exciting conclusion.
As noted in the Introduction, the definition of the
fighting game genre actually cuts across the lines of
several other, more common genres in adventure
role-playing games. The majority of fighting games
are set in the modern or near-future era, often with
many supernatural elements thrown in. Some
stories are similar to the mission-based approach
found in the espionage genre, while others involve
themes drawn from the gritty competition between
the street and the corporation found in the
cyberpunk genre. Some fighting games have
elements of traditional fantasy games, with
swordplay, quests, and horrific monsters. All of
these similarities can be useful for gaining a better
understanding of the fighting game genre, but the
genre itself remains distinctive. These distinctions
(several of which are described in the Introduction)
should be highlighted in the campaign.
Because of the shared fan base between fighting
video games and anime, one might assume that
many of the traditional tropes of anime and manga
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adaptations of fighting video games are often
underwhelming.
Despite all of these considerations, one specific
genre deserves special mention. Regardless of
whether a fighting game is set in the past, present,
or the future, the genre with which it shares the
most in common is undoubtedly that of comic book
superheroes. Garishly costumed heroes and villains
fight unconventional battles with extraordinary
powers, often with intensely personal motivations.
Secrets are kept, rivalries are established, and the
fate of the world often hangs in the balance. There
is much inspirational material for a Fight! game in
the exploits of traditional superpowered comic book
characters.
These unique characteristics of the fighting game
genre should be kept in mind as one conceptualizes
characters, stories, and campaigns.
will make distinctions between, for example, allaround characters, weak, fast characters, strong,
slow characters, and characters with great offensive
ability but poor defensive ability. These kinds of
archetypes can be easily represented by the choice
of Basic Qualities. For example, the strong, slow
character would have Strength 2, but Speed 1. The
fast character would conversely be Strength or
Stamina 1, but Speed 2.
The other form of character archetype describes the
characters appearance, personality, motivation, or
some combination of all three. Here are 20 common
examples, presented in alphabetical order, which
can provide inspiration for both PC and NPC
Fighters. It should be noted that some of these
types overlap and a particular character may fit one,
several, or none of these archetypes.
Androgynous Male: An unusual archetype, some
male characters in fighting video games are so
young and/or effeminate in appearance and
demeanor that players confuse them for female
characters. In some cases, the characters even dress
in womens clothing. More often than not, such
characters are villains, but heroic examples do exist.
Big Fighter: Every fighting game has at least one
Fighter with the Big Quality and often the Tall
Quality as well. Such characters are usually slow
grappling characters.
Many are professional
wrestlers who are fighting to prove that their martial
art is not fake. Many are from foreign lands
(however that may be defined in the campaign) and
many possess boisterous, jovial personalities that
quickly turn to barbaric rage when angry.
Boss: Every Fight! campaign needs a Boss character.
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This is the main villain of the whole campaign, who
may be either a constant presence or an evil
mastermind working behind the scenes until the end
of the campaign. A consideration of common
master plans for the Boss can be found in the
section below on plot arcs in Constructing a
Campaign. The Boss is often more powerful than
any other Fighter, and often uses cheap moves and
tactics in combat. Some Bosses also have devious
lieutenants called Sub-Bosses.
Cocky Fighter: These characters are loud,
overconfident, and often reckless. More often than
not, they also have the skills to back up their
bravado. They are often natural talents who reach
martial arts excellence through raw talent and
instinct, and may chafe at the tedium of traditional
training.
Cute Girl: Fighting games have a number of
common archetypes specifically for female
characters. Perhaps the most popular is the Cute
Girl character. The rest of the details of the
character - her background, motivation, and fighting
style for instance - are all secondary details to the
fact that shes a cute girl with a sweet demeanor.
These characters are often young (under 18) and
possessed of extraordinary self-confidence.
Dedicated Martial Artist: This archetype might
seem unusual in a game in which every major
character is an extraordinary martial artist!
However, these characters are dedicated to a
particular style of martial arts or perhaps just to
excellence in the martial arts as an end in itself
above all other concerns. Sometimes they consider
themselves to be ambassadors of their style, eager
to show the world that it is superior to all other
forms. Other times, they seek nothing more than to
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Boss. The Hero usually has a handsome face and a
noble personality, with charisma that draws other
good guys to want to follow or at least aid him. He
may be taciturn or jovial, but he is always serious
about the task at hand. Ideally, one or more of the
player characters in the campaign possesses this
archetype.
Heroine: Much like the case with the Evil Female
and the Evil Fighter, the Heroine is similar to, yet
distinct from, the Hero. The Heroine will be aligned
with the Hero but may not be one of his
companions. Instead, the Heroine may have her
own quest and simply cross paths with the Hero
along the way. Like the Hero, she has a virtuous
personality and a commitment to fight evil. She is
usually attractive and a very powerful Fighter.
Ladies Man: This archetype applies to a male
Fighter who is obsessed with his looks or at least
knows just how attractive he is and takes advantage
of it. He is always surrounded by beautiful women,
dressed in cutting edge fashions, and usually has a
cocky attitude. It is interesting to note that many
examples of Ladies Man characters in fighting
games are surprisingly feminine in their appearance
and fashions. The evil version of this archetype may
embrace a haughty narcissistic attitude towards all
those he deems less attractive than himself.
Military Fighter: Elite soldiers who just happen to
also be extraordinary martial artists are another
common archetype. These soldiers are usually the
epitome of military discipline in their appearance,
behavior, and attitude towards others, yet they
often have circumstances in their lives that make
them remarkably flexible when it comes to
adventuring on their own or ignoring normal chains
of command. More often than not, these Fighters
are American (or at least Western). Most are male,
but female Military Fighters also exist in the source
material.
Ninja: Ninja are found both in historical campaigns
and in modern ones. Some are stereotypical ninja,
maintaining their anonymity behind masks and
using traditional ninja gear and tricks. Others are
more modern with little to specifically distinguish
them as ninja except for their extraordinary speed
and their ability to disappear, teleport, and/or turn
invisible, the hallmarks of the Ninjas fighting style.
Ninja usually also have additional complications in
the form of their relationship with their clan, either
because they are duty-bound to serve it or they are
on the run and hunted by it or they are at war with
rival clans to determine whose ninjutsu is the
strongest.
Non-Human Fighter: Fighting games often have at
least one character who is not exactly human. Some
games have entire rosters of Non-Human Fighters.
These characters may be genetic experiments,
evolutionary throwbacks, creations of superscience,
cyborgs, robots, demons, ghosts, other forms of
supernatural monsters, mutants, sentient animals,
or any other being with mysterious powers and
origins. Their Special Moves often demonstrate
their unique abilities and their back-stories are often
filled with dangerous hunters and shadowy
conspiracies.
Old Man: This archetype is often the mentor or
sensei of one or more of the other Fighters in the
campaign. Despite his age, he remains a dangerous
Fighter, often with access to special techniques not
shared with his students. The personality of the Old
Man often varies drastically, from the wise old
master who dispenses wisdom to his students, to
the dirty old man who leers at cute girls, drinks and
eats to excess, and acts like a buffoon. The same
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Old Man may possess both of these personalities at
different times. Physically, the Old Man is often
bald and almost always possesses the Short Quality.
Psychotic Fighter: Some Fighters have sociopathic
personalities with cold demeanors or wild-eyed
stares and malevolent grins. Such Fighters enjoy
terrorizing and brutalizing their opponents, and
often use cruel attacks designed to maim and
humiliate the opponent. While such characters are
usually evil, they often do not serve the Boss
directly, instead content to pursue their own twisted
agendas. This archetype also applies to human
Fighters that are either deformed or twisted in mind
and body and fight with unusual and disturbing
fighting styles.
Rich and/or Famous Fighter: Some Fighters come
from backgrounds of affluence and take up the
study of martial arts out of boredom, yet they either
become masters in their own right or seek to
challenge excellent Fighters in pursuit of new thrills.
They are often stuffy in demeanor and haughty
towards those they consider beneath them. Similar
to the Rich Fighter is the Famous Fighter who is
trying to prove himself against other Fighters to
demonstrate that he is not a fake. Some Famous
Fighters know they are competent martial artists,
yet circumstances draw them out of their
comfortable lives and into the events of the
campaign.
Rival: The Rival archetype is usually set in
opposition to the Hero, but he can really be
connected to any character. The Rival is either
another Fighters life-long friend or else his worst
enemy from childhood. At every reasonable
opportunity, the Rival seeks to demonstrate that he
is the better Fighter. In friendly rivalries, this will
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Constructing a Campaign
The Basics
While fighting game stories are fundamentally
about providing excuses for skilled martial artists to
fight one another, the campaign settings for these
stories are quite diverse. This section describes the
basic factors to consider when setting up a Fight!
campaign. The Director needs to decide where and
when the campaign takes place; the power level of
the Fighters in the setting; whether or not the
setting corresponds to the real world and if so, how
closely; what the stakes are in the campaign; what
the tone of the campaign will be; and finally, the
visual feel of the campaign. Some ideas are
provided here to help Directors think about each of
these factors.
Place: Some campaigns may involve the events
surrounding a single tournament or in a single city,
while others have a much wider geographical scope.
Some campaigns may take place in Japan, while
others occur primarily in another country.
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Oftentimes, the tournament that serves as the focus
of the campaign occurs all over the world. For truly
epic games, the tournament may take place across
multiple planets or even multiple dimensions.
Power: The default rules of Fight! presume that a
Fighter is an extraordinarily more competent
combatant than just about anyone else besides
another Fighter. Still, how that translates into
narrative terms is up to the Director. What is the
actual power level of the Fighters in comparison to
the rest of the world? In some campaigns, the
characters are nothing more than fantastic martial
artists competing against one another, who should
still be afraid of tanks and automatic weapons. At
the other extreme, the characters in some
campaigns may be super-beings, capable of
demolishing buildings, or even cities (though the
default rules dont really represent this style of play
very well). The presumption of most fighting games
is somewhere in the middle; there should be little
that Fighters are afraid of when it comes to
mundane soldiers and technology.
If desired, the power level of the campaign can be
further defined by requiring characters to have
certain Skills, such as Property Damage, at specified
minimum levels as they advance in Power Level.
Likewise, the Director can decide the DL of skill
checks to reflect the desired power level of the
campaign. For example, in a realistic campaign, the
DL of a Property Damage skill check to break down
a steel door might be 12. In a high-powered
campaign, DL 12 might be the difficulty level to
destroy a skyscraper.
Reality: Most fighting games take place in the
modern world or the near future. However, very few
of them pay much attention to the actual
geopolitical structure of the real world. In many
cases, important people, places, and historical
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apocalyptic world. Several fighting games are
instead set in the past, such as the Sengoku and Edo
eras of Japanese history. Even if the story does not
occur on a recognizable Earth, some thought should
be given as to the equivalent time period of the
campaign setting.
Tone: As noted in the Introduction, the storylines of
most fighting games are taken very seriously, with
humor being relegated to the secondary stories of
certain characters.
Some games are even
depressingly dark. However, there are a few that
are much more light-hearted, even bordering on
silly. The default presumption of the genre and of
these rules is a melodramatically serious setting.
Regardless of what the Director chooses, the tone of
the campaign will have a serious effect on the
character concepts of both PCs and NPCs, as well as
the kinds of scenes the Director will prepare for his
stories. Once the tone is established, the Director
should make sure he maintains it. Failing to do so
creates difficult situations for the players to roleplay, as well as damaging the consistency of the
campaigns storyline.
Visuals: This component of campaign design refers
to the intended visual style of the campaign. A
simple way to understand this would be to answer
the following question: when the Director and the
players imagine the characters, what do the
characters look like? Based on fighting video games,
characters are most easily imagined as either
conforming to the artistic conventions of manga and
anime (in 2-D fighting games) or else according to
semi-realistic CGI designs (typically in 3-D fighting
games). Sometimes the same character may be
rendered both ways when a traditionally 2-D video
game gets re-vamped into a new 3-D iteration. It is
sometimes unusual, even jarring, for fans when their
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Group Size
Another basic consideration for the Director is to
decide how many players to include in his game.
Role-playing games are group endeavors, but the
size of the group often depends on the skill and style
of the Director, the dynamics of the players, and
especially the nature of the game itself. For
example, a fantasy game about the exploits of
mighty heroes traveling around the world battling
giants and dragons and accumulating power can
easily admit a larger group size than a modern game
focused on the intimate relationships of a small
group of companions hunting demonic monsters in
their hometown.
Fight! is not primarily a game of deep introspection,
or even of intimate interpersonal relationships
(though both of these can be a part of a campaign
with no problem).
Still, the complexity of
characters Special Moves and the tactical detail of
the combat system suggests a preference for
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smaller playing groups. A group comprised of the
Director and 2-4 players is probably ideal, and for
those who are interested in the experience, the
genre even works well with a single player. The
distinctive motivations and personalities of Fighters
often militate against banding together in large
groups, so these smaller group sizes make more
sense in the fighting game genre.
This is not to say that a larger group is not possible.
If the Director is comfortable working with a group
of six fighters, then there is nothing wrong with
that. However, significant attention should be given
to the rationale for the groups existence. Based on
the individual character concepts, there needs to be
a reason why so many of the worlds greatest
Fighters are traveling, working, and fighting
together. They may be from the same family or
martial arts school, they may be part of the same
military unit or law enforcement organization, or
they may even share the same destiny. But there
should definitely be a strong reason for them to
remain together through the events of the
campaign.
An advantage to a small group size is that it is easier
for the Director to keep all the players involved in
the game. If the campaign is using tag teams or
team combat, it is easy to make sure everyone is
involved in combat, which is often the most timeconsuming part of play. But outside of combat, a
smaller group size means that even if the player
characters split up to handle different tasks, no one
is kept out of play for very long. Again, the
personalities and motivations of Fighters often lead
them to want to act alone, so when this occurs, a
small group size will not alienate any one player for
long. The Director needs to be cognizant of this
when setting up and running the game.
The Tournament
The Tournament is the fundamental building block
of the campaign setting. While it is not strictly
necessary, the premise of almost every fighting
video game is that some person or group has
organized a deadly tournament and invited the very
best Fighters in the world to participate. As such,
the Director should give serious thought to the
nature of the tournament.
This premise is useful to the Director and the
players. For the Director, it provides a framework
for the stories of the campaign. Inevitably, the
tournament is never as straightforward as it
purports to be: the organizers have sinister motives,
the prize is not what it seems, the fights attract the
attention of malevolent entities who invade the
proceedings, or something similar.
Any
complication like this becomes useful story fodder.
And this is not just true for the later stages of the
campaign either. By giving some thought to these
complications, signs and portents can be placed in
the campaign early on or even in the backgrounds of
the player characters.
The tournament is also a convenient excuse for
combat. While this may seem self-evident, it is
important to remember that in the fighting game
genre, the most important plot revelations and
moments of personal development, realized
potential, and shocking personal discovery should
all occur during combat. Thus, the campaigns plot
twists and turns need a forum for discovery, and
tournament combat is an easy way to provide that
forum.
It should be noted that the term Tournament is
used here in a much larger sense than just a fighting
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competition. While a campaign
can easily occur over the events of
a single tournament occurring in a
single location, perhaps even
beginning and ending over a
matter of mere days, the implied
meaning of this term is something
longer-lasting that occurs over a
wide area, perhaps even the whole
world.
Likewise, a tournament may have
very specific rules and traditions.
Some tournaments may be huge,
public events, televised for the
world to see. The Fighters might
be celebrities, drawing huge
crowds,
with
fan
clubs,
endorsement deals, and all the
perks and hazards of fame. Little
do the crowds know, however, the
secrets that are kept by the
organizers and participants until it
is too late.
On the other hand, the
tournament might be a secret
affair, its location passed on
through covert couriers, taking
place in abandoned buildings,
back alleys, parking garages, and
underground fighting clubs. The
crowds are still there, but they are
smaller, and usually in the mood
for bloody entertainment, not a professional fact, there may not be anything like specific brackets, or
judges, or codified rules of engagement. The tournament
sports spectacle.
might simply involve great Fighters encountering one
But the tournament need not be so formal as to another in random places, doing battle, and yet
have specific locations delineated for battle. In discovering that somehow their exploits are known,
perhaps even recorded in some way.
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The details of the tournament thus admit of a wide
degree of variation. However, the role of the
tournament in the campaign can help to define the
tone of the game and fuel lots of character
motivations for the players and story ideas for the
Director.
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by robotic drones. Sometimes the acquisition of a
Fighters essence only comes about after the Fighter
has been captured, in which case the process is
always painful and often lethal. Once the essence is
acquired, it might be used to power some weapon of
mass destruction, to empower a bioengineered
being to be the greatest Fighter in the world, to
program an army of cyborgs or super-soldiers, to
create clones of the Fighters to rule the world, or to
provide the energy needed for some reality-altering
supernatural ritual or summoning. This is without
question one of the most common tropes of the
genre the fighting spirit of a Fighter is one of the
greatest powers in the world in fighting games.
Future Dystopia: Many fighting games occur in the
near future. However, these visions of the future are
rarely positive.
Instead, some war, political
maneuvering, or economic manipulation on the part
of an evil megacorporation have created a dark
future that shares some of the cultural aesthetics of
the cyberpunk genre. In these worlds, governments
and corporations hold all the power in monolithic
structures, while the common people have to
struggle to survive. Sometimes the powers that be
hold exclusive access to a resource necessary for
society to function, such as a new energy source. In
fighting games set before the year 2000, settings
often possessed millennial angst as a factor. A
similar anxiety can be provoked around the year
2012 and its associated predictions of the end of the
world. Regardless of the details, this dystopia colors
the setting and the motivations of the characters.
Huge Crime Syndicates: Criminal masterminds are
commonplace in fighting games and many times
serve as the Boss of the story. Sometimes the scope
of the game is small, and the crime lord may rule
over the underworld of a single city. Sometimes, the
masterminds are terrorists capable of threatening
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they too possess relationships with the other
weapons. Through the hand of fate, the wielders of
these weapons are drawn into conflict with one
another. Similar to the idea of unique magic
weapons is the trope of related schools of martial
arts or special techniques. While this trope is more
common in live-action wuxia films, it has its place in
fighting games as well. Sometimes two schools
share a common origin, but have become divided
into good and evil martial arts. Perhaps a specific
technique defines mastery of a style, but learning
that technique could possibly transform the very
nature of the Fighter who learns it.
Multiple Dimensions: Some fighting games have a
truly epic scope that involves wars occurring across
multiple dimensions. The Fighters may come into
contact with powerful beings, even gods, in their
quests. Sometimes the context is a particular
relationship between dimensions, whether those
dimensions are at war or are in some sort of
necessary relationship with one another. In other
cases, a story may be based across multiple
timelines, perhaps telling two parts of the same
story occurring at different points in history at the
same time.
Campaigns set across multiple
dimensions or timelines allow for great variety in
settings and themes and are also well suited to high
power levels and deliberately confusing plotlines.
Mysterious Organizations: The sponsors of
tournaments in fighting games are often shrouded
in mystery. The reason for secrecy is often well
founded: most of these organizations have
nefarious motives for setting up the tournament in
the first place. These organizations are invariably
huge and powerful, yet somehow their existence or
at least the scope of their power remains hidden
from the general public. This makes them
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Underground
Tournaments:
While
some
tournaments are huge televised events, not all of
them are. The opposite extreme is also common:
tournaments that are small-scale affairs, conducted
in out of the way places, found only by those who
are supposed to find them. In these scenarios, the
tournament is often a little darker, a little more
brutal, and the malice of the event and its organizers
a little closer to the surface.
Despite the
tournaments secrecy, the fights still have diehard
fans thirsting for violence and despite what appears
to be a small scale, the ramifications of the
tournament organizers plans are often still
significant for the city or the world.
Worldwide Chaos: In many campaign scenarios, the
world is in chaos. There might be rampant world
wars, natural disasters or supernatural cataclysms,
rampant crime and terrorism, or economic
imperialism. This may be the case even if the scope
of the campaign is contained to a single city. The
advantage of this trope is that it provides excuses to
have an infinite supply of malcontents to oppose the
player characters.
Worldwide Corporations: Massive worldwide
corporations are commonplace in fighting game
scenarios and often serve as the organizers of the
tournament. In other cases, their research or
investigations might set events in motion that bring
about the campaign setting. Sometimes different
corporations are at war with one another and use
the Fighters as their weapons. In all these cases, the
corporations often possess even more power than
the worlds governments. In some scenarios,
corporations may replace governments entirely.
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player characters face at PL 1 can be created
immediately, but once they are encountered and
defeated, they may never be used in play again. As
the characters advance in Power Levels and in the
plot, the Director can create character sheets for
new Fighters only as he needs them. Prior to their
appearance in a story, they remain only names and
concepts, or they may appear in a scene, but for
whatever reason, combat does not occur.
The occasional exception can be made to this
pattern: an old team can be brought back just to
have the more experienced player characters
trounce them soundly (often for comedic purposes)
or a higher Power Level Fighter can be created in
advance to thrash the low-level player characters, as
a foreshadowing of things to come. In this latter
case, the character already has a sheet prepared for
when the player characters deliver their
comeuppance.
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World Tournament Sci-Fi/Crime: The classic
archetype of the fighting game campaign is a
massive worldwide tournament. In this version of
the archetype, the organizers of the tournament are
conducting some form of advanced scientific or
fringe research revolving around the events of the
competition. Additionally or alternatively, the
organization behind all of the fighting is some form
of worldwide terrorist group planning to hold the
world ransom once their project has come to
fruition.
Campaign Seed: The Fist of God: Ghalib Mustafa is
the absolute authority behind the Hashim
Corporation. He is also a fanatical follower of an
obscure militant Islamic sect known as the Fist of
God. For his contribution to the sects worldwide
cause, Ghalib used his extensive resources to
organize a fighting tournament for the worlds
greatest fighters. During the proceedings, he plans
to use his security forces to kidnap the most
promising combatants, distill the contents of their
minds, and use it to construct the architecture that
will go into programming his army of super-soldiers
to march on the world.
World Tournament Mystical: This is another
classic model for a fighting game storyline, again
based on a worldwide tournament. Similarly, the
organizers of the tournament have a nefarious plot
in mind. Unlike the above example, however, the
plot does not involve some weapon or high-tech
gambit, but rather a supernatural threat. This may
be a summoning ritual to bring an evil god to Earth,
the resurrection of an ancient necromancer, or the
transformation of the Boss into a superpowered
entity.
Campaign Seed: Rage of the Nine Seals: In the
16th century, a group of lords banded together their
military and mystical resources to oppose the dread
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a version of the modern world after some
supernatural apocalypse. In any case, normal
people live among monsters, both intelligent and
bestial. The populace may accept the existence of
monsters as a matter of course, or they may hide
behind closed doors at night, fearful for their lives.
The Fighters might be heroes fighting against the
monsters, or they may be monsters themselves.
Campaign Seed: Nightreign: In the year 2012,
dimensional gates opened up all over the earth.
Through these portals, hordes of demons and
monsters invaded, and powerful magical forces
plunged the world into endless darkness. Now the
remnant of humanity lives in perpetual fear of the
world beyond the firelight, only dimly aware of the
beasts that rule the night. However, there is hope:
some humans fight against the reign of darkness,
driven to stop the power of the Nightreign once and
for all, even using the weapons and powers of the
enemy against them.
Historical Japanese: Many fighting games occur in
Japans historical past, especially during the
Sengoku and Edo eras. The Director need not worry
about historical accuracy, however, for rarely do
these games cleave too closely to the actual facts
regarding the period. The characters and stories
often possess fantastic and supernatural elements.
Likewise, they often involve characters from other
cultures outside of historically insular Japan.
Sometimes the settings involve anachronistic
technology such as steampunk mecha, missiles, and
jet packs. The plot can pay tribute to the turbulent
politics of the era or the setting can be little more
than color for a more traditional fantasy storyline.
Campaign Seed: Ruthless Blood: During the Period
of the Warring States, six clans of ninja went to war
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own unique forms of martial arts combat. New
cultures may have codes of honor reminiscent of the
traditional codes of honor found in martial arts
stories. Ancient armaments might be upgraded to
laser swords and powered armor. Tournaments
might be interstellar affairs across dozens of worlds.
Other futuristic fighting games still take place on
Earth and may involve massive megacorporations as
the organizers of the tournament or as sponsors for
the Fighters themselves.
Campaign Seed: Vores Wrath: In the far future, the
Empire of the Vore, a violent and debauched race,
extends across several galaxies. In order to
entertain the decadent masses, the Vore capture the
best warriors from all of the worlds under their
command and make them fight in merciless displays
of gladiatorial combat. However, some of the
gladiators have seen the possibility of escaping their
plight, and of freeing a million planets from the
Vores tyranny. If these great warriors could find a
way to work together, they might also find a way to
put an end to the Empire forever.
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friends who now need the characters assistance.
Example Plotlines
Here are some examples of the kinds of plots that
can form the basis of a Fight! adventure. This is not
intended to be an exhaustive list; these are just a
few ideas to demonstrate how varied the plots of
stories in the fighting game genre can be.
The characters go on a quest to locate a lost item.
The characters seek revenge against a person or
group for a wrong done to them or to loved ones.
The characters invade an enemy encampment to
free captured allies.
The characters aid a total stranger who knows of
their prowess and seeks out their aid.
The characters journey to a distant land or
dimension to seek the aid of a great power or the
answer to a difficult question.
The characters defend a town from attack.
The characters go undercover to investigate a
suspicious organization.
The characters try to prevent a terrorist attack
before innocent people are killed.
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Examples of Locations for Combat Stages
Here is a list of examples drawn from fighting games to provide inspiration
for the Director in devising his own stages during stories.
At a martial arts school, while students train or cheer in the background
In a back alley in a bad part of town
In a building thats on fire
In a cage with cheering crowds looking on, hungering for violence
In a cave with lava pools and falling rocks
In a dirty, bloodstained fighting arena in an underground fight club
In a dive bar surrounded by patrons annoyed by the interruption
In a haunted ruin, surrounded by ghosts
In a massive arena, surrounded by thousands of fans and giant video screens
In a parking garage
In a public restroom with frightened patrons within
In a top secret lab, surrounded by expensive and potentially dangerous equipment
In front of a schoolyard while students pass by
In front of or on top of a national monument
In the center of a native village in the middle of a jungle
In the grand room of a stately mansion
In the middle of a bamboo forest
In the middle of a factory with grinding gears and conveyer belts
In the middle of a public square while people pass by
In the middle of a restaurant as patrons are eating
In the middle of a spa, bathhouse, or resort
In the middle of an upscale party at an exclusive country club
In the ruins of an abandoned temple
On a beach under the moonlight
On a fiery plain in Hell itself
On a floating platform at the heart of an alternate dimension
On a street while traffic is driving by at high speed
On the center of a high bridge near a roaring waterfall
On the dance floor in the middle of a nightclub
On the deck of a luxury ship
On the edge of a cliff leading to a precipitous drop
On the launch platform of a rocket, as the rocket is getting ready to take flight
On the middle of an ice floe with snow blowing
On the roof of a castle while thunder and lightning fill the sky
On the roof of a skyscraper while helicopters fly overhead
On the stage or in the balcony of a theater
On the tarmac of a military base, surrounded by planes or tanks
On the top of a mountain with an expansive view of the land
On the top of a moving train
On the wing of a moving airplane
Dozens more ideas can be found just by playing fighting video games.
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Action, Action, and More Action: This sort of goes
without saying, but a Fight! session should have no
shortage of action. Even in sessions in which roleplaying, character plumbing, or investigation take
center stage, there should almost always be an
excuse for a quick Thug fight, a chase, or some other
use of an Action Sequence to remind the players
that these characters are Fighters first and
foremost.
Collateral Damage: This trope is seen less often in
fighting games themselves (aside from bonus stages
such as destroying a car with ones bare hands), but
it is in evidence in the intros to fighting games and in
the manga and anime based on fighting games.
Fighters are highly destructive weapons, and the
scenery is never safe when a fight breaks out.
Depending on the tone of the campaign, this may
mean holes punched in walls or it may mean
buildings crumbling around the combatants.
Regardless of the level of destructiveness, this
emphasis on collateral damage should be kept in
mind when describing combat.
Costume Changes: Even in more realistic
representations of the genre, Fighters can often
change into their traditional fighting garb from
whatever street clothes they might be wearing with
a simple whirl about in a circle or by tearing their
street clothes off at the collar, revealing their
fighting outfit underneath. This is especially so for
female characters.
In some cases, these
transformation sequences can be much longer and
even feature brief moments of gratuitous nudity.
Dying Soliloquies: While there are no specific rules
that determine when a character actually dies in
Fight!, it is a common trope of the genre that any
person who gets killed and who is also important to
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Training Journeys: Somewhere during the middle
stages of the campaign, one or more of the player
characters may feel called to go on a training
journey to improve themselves, realize their
potential, or uncover some secret technique to
defeat a nemesis. These journeys often occur after
some sort of crushing defeat or personal crisis. The
Fighter goes off to find himself, returns whole, and
learns some dangerous new techniques along the
way. The rules for the Realize Potential Skill can be
used in conjunction with this trope.
Examples of the application of these conventions, as
well as additional conventions not included here,
can be easily gathered from the source material.
The best way to keep generating new ideas for a
game is to simply play more fighting games,
especially those with story modes.
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Director hopes the reduced Life Bar will keep
these less important combats moving more
swiftly.
Pacing a Campaign
Based on the patterns found in fighting video
games themselves, a Fight! campaign has a
natural structure built into it. The beginning of
the game introduces the heroes and should
rapidly introduce the Tournament that serves as
the means for delivering the plot (even if the
tournament is not understood as a
conventional fighting competition).
The
campaign progresses through any manner of
stories as the characters face opponents and
build up their Power Level. As they reach Power
Level 8, it is time for the Director to move the
narrative towards the final confrontation with
the Boss. After the Boss is defeated, there
should be a brief denouement to find out what
happens to the player characters after the
fighting is over, and the campaign draws to a
close.
This campaign model may seem excessively
railroad-y to some players, but if the stories
being told are true to the genre that Fight!
seeks to emulate, there are really no plot
elements in this framework that one shouldnt
reasonably expect to encounter anyway. The
details will differ from campaign to campaign,
and most especially the Fighters will differ from
campaign to campaign, and that is whats most
important.
Furthermore, there is still room for flexibility in
this standard format. The heroes may face the
Boss before Power Level 8. By some miracle,
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they may even defeat him before Power Level 8. If
that occurs, there is simply more reason to wrap up
any existing plot threads that must be addressed,
and move on to the sequel. Similarly, while it is
reasonable to expect that the player characters will
be involved in the main plot, that shouldnt prevent
them from pursuing other side quests that may have
little or nothing to do with it. But Fight! is not really
constructed as a sandbox game; there is a definite
expectation that there is an overarching plotline and
a major villain that sooner or later need to be
addressed.
The number of Fighters that the Director has chosen
for his game can be used as a tool to moderate the
progress of the campaign. As a simple guideline, the
Director can divide the total number of non-player
character Fighters by eight. This is the number of
Fighters that should be introduced to the player
characters in the course of each Power Level. As
they advance in Power Level, new Fighters are
introduced. Generally, these new Fighters will be
the same Power Level as the player characters, so as
to keep the game challenging. But occasionally a
slightly more powerful opponent can be introduced
to set up a future rivalry. Conversely, Fighters faced
by the player characters at lower Power Levels can
remain at these lower levels and then be reintroduced later on. A lopsided re-match can be a
fun experience for the players, especially if these
Fighters had defeated the heroes earlier in the
campaign.
The division of the campaigns Fighters across the
Power Levels can be formalized even further by
introducing the idea of milestones. A milestone is a
fight or series of fights that must not only be
endured, but also won before being able to advance.
For example, suppose the campaign had 24 nonplayer character Fighters. Dividing these Fighters
across the Power Levels means the player characters
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allies in combat as well. All of this must occur before
the characters can face the Boss. This firmly
establishes the hero of the campaign and, in a nod
to the metagame of Fight!, also establishes the main
protagonist of the hypothetical video game that is
the campaign as well.
Thus, there are many ways that the natural limits of
the Power Level system and the limited number of
Fighters in the setting can be used to pace the
campaign as a whole.
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behind it all.
If the campaign is using Tag Teams or some other
form of team combat where the Fighters fight
individually, the heroes can face the Boss one at a
time. In this way, every character gets to fight him,
but without the advantage of ganging up on him. To
make the fight more challenging, the Boss can have
a Life Bar (and maybe even Fighting Spirit) that is
multiplied by the number of opponents he is facing
(though this will make for a long fight scene). If the
players wonder why they dont fight all together
against such a dangerous foe, the Director can
appeal to the genre: these mighty Fighters respect
the challenge of one-on-one combat, even when it
could mean one of their friends getting killed.
Another way to make the Boss fight more
memorable is to simply make him higher than
Power Level 8. Many fighting video games do not
have initially playable Bosses. Similarly, some
games have Sub-Bosses that must be defeated
before meeting the Boss. If the Director wants to
simulate this, he can create the Boss as a Power
Level 9 character or create the Sub-Boss as Power
Level 9 and the final Boss as Power Level 10. Such
characters should be built as Power Level 8 in all
respects, except for the characteristics specifically
pertaining to Power Level contained on the chart
below. It is impossible for regular player characters
and other NPC Fighters to achieve Power Level 9 or
10.
6
Power
Total
Super
Combat
Level
Glory
Moves Bonuses
N/A
8/4
10
N/A
9/5
Secret Characters
In a similar manner to having Bosses and SubBosses beyond the normal hierarchy of Power
Level and the established roster of Fighters in
the campaign, the Director can also create
additional Fighters and introduce them during
the campaign as secret playable characters.
Such characters will often have unusual
abilities, deviate from the normal patterns of
character design of the other Fighters, and/or
will have a provocative connection to the plot
that may not be fully explored in the present
campaign.
If the Director is feeling especially cruel or is
suddenly inspired toward the end of the
campaign, he could also introduce Secret
Bosses beyond the main Boss. Normally, it is
best to introduce such characters in a noncombat situation before the campaign
denouement, as a set-up for the next campaign.
But if the Director wants the heroes to fight it
out right away, he can create them as
exceptionally high Power Level characters.
If a Secret Boss is beyond a Power Level 10
Boss, treat them as PL 10, but add another 5 or
10 points of Life Bar and Fighting Spirit to them.
DET
Full
Life
Fighting
Defense
Bar
Spirit
5+
110
110
6+
120
120
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Perhaps the Boss leaves the heroes for dead, giving
them a chance to retreat and recover in secret. In
the meanwhile, the Boss is destroying cities with his
death ray, but the heroes will be able to reach him
once again. Maybe a powerful supernatural ally or a
sudden influx of massive ki energy revives the
heroes, but only at the cost of a part of their souls or
even crippling them after the energy leaves their
bodies at the Bossdefeat. Maybe the Boss insists
that the heroes witness the birth of his new dark age
and they get a last second chance to ambush him
before he flips the switch, but not before the Boss
kills their loved ones before their eyes. It might just
be easiest to frame the confrontation with the Boss
in a way that it is reasonable to see that he was not
as close to completing his project as they might
have thought, or there is a complication that arises
that the Boss himself didnt foresee, giving the
heroes a chance to face him at a different time, in a
different place.
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rather circumstances havent required him to pull
these tricks out yet. When he learns his old moves
in the new campaign, this simply means that the
Fighter realizes he will need all of his moves in order
to face this new danger.
If this idea is used, the Director can impose certain
requirements on the new versions of the old
characters. Basic Qualities should not change. All of
their old Special and Super Moves from the previous
campaign should be kept on file and the Director
can require that all players re-acquire some
percentage of their old moves over the course of
eight Power Levels. This should be a minimum of
50% in order to make sure that the characters are
recognizable from one game to the next.
The Director in turn decides which non-player
character Fighters to keep in the campaign (usually
the most interesting or those most connected to the
player characters). He could keep as few as none of
them or as many as all of the old ones, even adding
up to a half a dozen new Fighters. A new Boss is
introduced, or the old one is re-vamped (Bosses
have an extraordinary ability to shrug off defeat).
The advantage of this approach is that it provides
some of the novelty of new characters mixed with
the familiarity of old favorites. This model is the
default approach implied by the design philosophy
of the Fight! rules, but its certainly not the only
approach.
Instead of the Boss fight marking the end of the
campaign, the characters could just continue to
adventure on their own. At this point, there is no
Tournament to serve as a framework on which to
hang stories, so the Director has more freedom to
come up with different kinds of adventures. The
mighty Power Level 8 heroes are at the height of
their power, so they no longer gain any
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new plot. This could be a good occasion to change the parameters of the game, trying out a different tone,
time, or scope. This approach is simple and effective, though leaving established characters behind when
the potential for a sequel is so readily available might be difficult for many groups to do.
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Shine Holly
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Power
Level
Total
Glory
Super Combat
Moves Bonuses
DET
Full
Defense
Life
Bar
Fighting
Spirit
0-25
+1
30
10
26-50
+2
40
20
51-100
+2
50
30
101-175
3/2
+3
60
40
176-250
4/2
+3
70
55
251-350
5/2
+4
80
70
351-500
6/3
+4
90
85
501+
7/3
+5
100
100
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Combat Skills
Defense
Evasion
Tactics
Combo
Ki
Non-Combat
Skills
(Mechanical)
Agility
Climactic Super
Move
Gadgeteering
Magic
Power
Psychic
Reaffirm Purpose
Realize Potential
Stance Evaluation
Thug Thrashing
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Non-Combat
Skills
(Narrative)
Animal Handling
Acrobatics
Athletics
Awareness
Call Forth Wisdom
Cooking
Danger Sense
Deduction
Draw Ki
Endure Great
Hardship
Fast Reflexes
Grim
Determination
High Society
Intimidation
Knowledge
Lockpicking
Lost in the Crowd
Meditation
Occupation
Perception
Performance
Presence
Property Damage
Receive Wisdom
Sense Ki
Shadowing
Sleight of Hand
Smooth Talking
Specialization
Spirituality
Stealth
Street Society
Technological
Aptitude
The Fighting World
Zen State
Qualities
Attractive
Beautiful (females only)
Big
Bishounen (males only)
Buxom (females only)
Charming
Connections
Cute (females only)
Dashing (males only)
Driven
Fame
Followers
Friend
Gadgeteering
Genius
Great Destiny
Gun Expert
Immortal Being
Influence
Intelligent
Intimidating
Light
Lucky
Magic
Mobility
Pet
Power
Powerful Item
Psychic
Reputation
Sensei
Sexy (females only)
Sharp Dressed (males only)
Short
Suggestive Attire (females only)
Tall
Technique
Theme Music
Tomboy (females only)
Wealth
Weapon Expert
Weaknesses
Amnesia
Annoying Voice
Bad Reputation
Code
Curse
Dangerous Job
Dark Side
Dependence
Doomed
Dull Personality
Duty Bound
Fanatic
Fearsome Appearance
Fragile Self-Image
Glass Jaw
Haunted
Honorable
Hunted
Obsession
Phobia
Physical Handicap
Poorly Drawn
Ritual
Significant Other
Style Weakness
Thick
Ugly
Unattractive
Unintelligent
Unlucky
Vow
Warped
Quirks
Age
Arrogant
Attitude
Brutal
Bumbling Friend
Clueless
Cooking
Dead Serious
Demure
Disgraced
Distinctive Appearance
Fan Service (females only)
Glutton
Greedy
Immature
Impulsive
In Love
Lecherous
Loves Combat
Nosebleeds (males only)
Pacifist
Reckless
Revenge
Rivalry
Scarred
Secret
Short-Tempered
Suspicious
Unworldly
Move Elements
Aerial
Mobile: Full movement after
Always Does Damage
attack
Anti-Air
Mobile: Increased movement
Area Effect (2 or 4)
- Only 2 Ranges (0)
Bounce
- Moves Low
Charge Back
Mobile:
Movement
before or after
Counter
attack
- Counter only (0)
Pass Through
Critical Hit
Position Shift
Easy to Combo
Power Up: Extra Control
Evade Ranged
Power Up: Life Bar
Explosive (3 or 5)
Priority
- Reduced damage (2)
Ranged (2)
Fast Recovery
- Accuracy for Damage
Hard to Evade (1-2)
- Draw Closer
Harry
- No Ranged Response
Hits Low
- Short Range
Increased Accuracy (3-6)
- Very Fast
Increased Damage (1-6)
- Very Slow
Increased Glory (1+)
Reach
Increased Knockback
Reversal
Increased Stun
Subtle
Interrupt
Teleportation (2)
Interrupt only (0)
- End in mid-air
Invincible Interrupt
Temporary
Invulnerability (3)
Juggle
Temporary
Technique
(1+)
- Launcher
Throw
(2
or
0)
- Spinning Juggle
- Carrying Grapple
Ki and Strength
- Hurl
Knocks Down (2)
- Sustained Hold (2)
- Only at the end of a Combo (1)
Unblockable
Knockback Advance
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Move Liabilities
Behind Opponent
Cross-Up
Decreased Accuracy (1-3)
Decreased Damage
Limited Damage: Knock Back
Only
Limited Damage: Stun Only
Limited Move
Limited Movement:
Movement away only
Limited Movement: Must
move forward 1 Range
Limited Movement: No
movement before attacking
Limited Use (2)
- Can Reload (1)
Negative Positioning
No Combo
No Damage (2)
No Super Energy
Non-Finisher
Only When Prone (2)
Random Element
Range 0
Self-Damage: Damages
Attacker (2)
Self-Damage: Stuns Attacker
(2)
Self-Prone
Slow Recovery
Super Energy (2)
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Absorbs Attacks
- Absorb All Attacks
- Absorb and Use Ranged
- Transform Energy
Bomb
- Moveable Bomb
- No Range
- Short Timer
Borrow Identity
Copies Moves
Entangle (2)
Fake (2+)
Flight (2)
Free Movement (2)
Gradual Effect
- Delayed Onset
Healing (2-3)
- Heal others
- Only heal others
Illusionary Doubles
- Defensive Illusion (2)
- Offensive Illusion (1+)
Invisibility
- Maintain Effect
Power Enhancer (1+)
- Delayed Onset
Reflection
Style Change
Super Move Enhancer (2)
- Not Stunned (2)
Suppression: Suppress Special
Moves (2)
- Suppress Super Moves
Suppression: Suppress movement
Suppression: Suppress Special
Moves and movement (5)
- Suppress Super Moves
Taunt
- Modify Super Energy
- Element Addition
Move Sub-Set
Multi-Part Move: Multi-Part
Attack
Multi-Part Move: Multi-Part
Throw
Prop
- Recover Prop with
Special Move
Random Move
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Knockback Advance
Accuracy: +0
Damage: 1d8
The Fighter leaps spinning into the air, with his leg
outstretched like a blade.
Super Fireball: L5
Ranged (2)
Knocks Down (2)
Accuracy: +0
Damage: Based on Ki + 1 die size
The Fighter throws a larger, more powerful fireball
attack at the opponent.
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Super Uppercut: L4
Anti-Air
Knocks Down (2)
No Movement
Accuracy: +0
Damage: 1d8+1
The Fighter leaps into the air, delivering a powerful
uppercut.
Takedown: L2
Throw (2)
Position Shift
Accuracy: +1
Damage: 1d6
The Fighter performs any number of standard
grappling takedowns on the opponent.
Teleport Attack: L3
Evade Ranged
Knocks Down (2)
Teleportation (2)
Accuracy: -1
Damage: 1d6
The Fighter disappears from his present location
and reappears next to his opponent, launching an
uppercut as he reappears.
Teleportation: L3
No Damage (-2)
Evade Ranged
Teleportation (2)
End in Mid-Air
Priority
Fast Recovery
The Fighter disappears from his present position
and reappears elsewhere.
Tumble Attack: L4
Mobile: Move 2 Ranges
Hits Low
Accuracy: +1
Damage: 1d6
The Fighter rolls himself into a ball and bowls
himself into his opponent.
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Appendix 4:
Combat Summary
The following pages describe all the basic effects
that apply to Initiative, Control, Accuracy, defense,
and damage. It also lists all of the Action Point
Options available in Dramatic Combat. This
summary does not contain any effects of optional
rules nor does it contain effects of Environmental
Hazards.
Control
Conditions That Increase Control
Initiative
Movement
Move 1 Range and attack
Move 1 Range and receive defense bonus instead of
attacking
Move 2 Ranges
Move 2 Ranges and attack with Basic Move or some
Special Moves for 1 FS
Move 3 Ranges for 1 FS
After Knocking Down opponent: Move 1 Range
Power Up: No movement
Refocus and Await Opening: Move 1 Range
Movement after Hit Stun costs 1 extra FS
Attack
Conditions That Increase Accuracy
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Defense
Conditions That Increase Defense
Add Defense Bonus
Defense and Evasion can be used together for 1 FS
If attacker only moves 1 Range and does not attack:
+1
On Full Defense, Defense (only) is increased
according to the Power Level Chart
Spend FS to increase Defense Total
Successful Defense
Attack misses
Successful Evasion
Attack misses and defender can either move exactly
2 Ranges for 1 FS or receive bonus to Accuracy on
next attack
Successful Tactics
Attack misses and defender can choose Defensive
Response
Defensive Responses
Anti-Air/Juggle Response
Basic Response
Counter Response (based on Defense)
Evade Ranged Response
Interrupt Response
Jinking Response
Priority Response
Ranged Response (based on Ki)
Reversal Response
Throw Response
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Damage
Conditions That Increase Damage
Add Damage Bonus
Combo adds damage
Ki Skill determines damage of Ranged Special Move
Opponents Stamina may add die size to damage
Some Elements add damage
Strength may add die sizes to damage
Effects of Damage
First successful damage in a round: Attacker regains
FS equal to Power Level
Damage is subtracted from opponents Life Bar
Defender suffers Hit Stun and loses 4 Control or is
reduced to 1/2 (round down) Control
Defender is Knocked Back 1 Range (Increased
Knockback or Launcher: 2 Ranges)
Defender may be Knocked Down or Stunned
End of Turn
Tally Glory and Super Energy
Roll Time Roll and describe events of the turn
Movement Options
Athletics
Leaving Combat
Attack Options
Climactic Super Move
Debilitating Injury
Final Blow
Flourish
Freeze Frame Attack
Knocking an Opponent out of Combat
Property Damage
Pulling Punches
Special Moves
Surprise Attack
Team-Up
Defense Options
Endure Great Hardship
Full Defense
Ignore Hit Stun
Ki Face Off
Taking a Hit for Someone Else
Recovery Options
Draw Ki
Friendship Morale Boost
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Special Options
Gadgeteering/Magic/Psychic
Ki Yelling
Mind-Manipulating Magic
Power
Presence
Pushing It
Sense Ki
Spirit Combat
Stance Evaluation
Spiritual Combat
Call Forth Wisdom
Meditation
Spirituality
Zen State
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Appendix 5: Glossary
Accuracy: An attacks bonus to hit, based on the
moves Elements, Control, Range, Accuracy Bonus,
and Fighting Spirit.
Action Point: A resource acquired almost every turn
in Dramatic Combat, used to power various special
effects, attacks, and Skill uses.
Action Sequence: A special sequence of skill checks
used to dramatically resolve a particular scene, such
as a chase or infiltration.
Attack String: An optional rule that modifies the
rules for Combos and Special Moves as a way to
emulate the fighting patterns found in 3-D fighting
video games.
Basic Move: Any punch, kick, elbow, head butt, or
simple attack form used to strike an opponent. It is
distinguished from the special effects found in
Special Moves and Super Moves. All Basic Moves
are considered L1 and have a base damage of 1d4.
Basic Quality: Strength, Speed, and Stamina. These
are the core characteristics that define a Fighters
physical capabilities. They are established at
character generation and never change.
Boss: The principal villain of a campaign. This
character will usually be the last opponent the
player characters will face at the climax of the
campaign.
Campaign: A series of connected stories featuring
the same protagonists, working towards a climactic
confrontation, usually against a Boss. The campaign
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Hazard.
Special Move: A unique move of a Fighter. Special
Moves, more than any other characteristic, define
the combat style of a Fighter. They can vary widely,
and are composed of Elements and Limitations,
which define how the move is used in combat. Most
Special Moves are between L2 and L5. All Special
Moves have a base damage of 1d6.
Story Point: An expendable resource acquired
through various means throughout the game. Story
Points can be used to re-roll die rolls, make use of
Qualities, modify combat abilities, and exert
narrative control over the immediate circumstances
of the story.
Stunning: A consequence of a particularly powerful
hit in combat. A character who is Stunned loses two
actions and has severely limited defensive
capabilities.
Stunt Sequence: A special tactic available to
Fighters which uses Story Points as a weapon
against Thugs in the Thug Thrashing combat system.
A Stunt Sequence is intended as a particularly
colorful narrative circumstance that allows a Fighter
to defeat several Thugs at once without directly
attacking them by conventional means.
Super Energy: A resource used to power Super
Moves. Super Energy is gained each turn in combat
by various means. When a Fighter wishes to use a
Super Move, he must expend 10 or more Super
Energy to do so.
Super Move: An especially powerful form of Special
Move. Super Moves function in most ways like
Special Moves, but they are made up of more
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Contributor Bios
Christopher Peter
Christopher is an academic who has spent about as
many years playing role-playing games as he has
spent in school collecting advanced degrees.
Gaming before his age reached double digits, he is
thankful for all the good times that role-playing has
brought, especially for the friends who have become
family over several decades together. When he is
not gaming, Christopher spends his time writing
journal articles and books in his field. He is a
longtime fan of fighting video games, collecting
dozens of obscure titles, even though he considers
himself merely an intermediate player on a good
day. Fight has been the product of over a decade of
work and he is happy that it is finally seeing print.
Wayne Deitrick
Wayne has spent more than three decades playing
role-playing games, but this is his first published
contribution to the hobby. A software designer by
trade, he enjoys the thought process involved in
bridging sound, interesting game mechanics with
equally interesting ways of improving the narrative.
When not working or playing games, he enjoys
video games, sci fi television and movies, and living
out his own adventures in the great outdoors.
Bob and Jennefer Noberini
Bob is a freelance artist who has been providing
artwork for role-playing games for the past 25 years.
A gamer himself, his favorite genre is superhero
gaming, though he also enjoys fighting video
games. Bob has also been active in the local comic
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