"A long time ago, in ancient China, an evil general named Dragon Fist overthrew the old emperor in a coup and became the new ruler. Under his rule he created an oppressive regime, stamping out rebellion and consolidating his empire. Under the order of the Jade Emperor, several spirits were incarnated among men to restore peace to the land."
This is a new RPG I am starting with a completely different "game engine." Based on the wuxia genre of books and movies (think Hong Kong kung fu flicks), players will be able to choose from 3 classes, 5 elements (will be explained later), 11 skills, 9 fighting styles, and 12 weapons.
Most RPGs here borrow game mechanics from Sonny or Monsters Den, which is fine, but has the downside of becoming overly predictable. To address this, I have developed a system of combat utilizing playing cards. I'd like to demonstrate this system first before starting the game.
In this demonstration, I'll use the Brawl fighting style, which is the basic fighting style that thugs, soldiers, and those unversed in martial arts will use. We have two soldiers with 2 health, and basic attacks that deal 1 damage.
Each soldier has a deck of poker cards representing their moves. Number cards (2-10) represent their basic attacks, face cards their special moves, and aces their ultimate move. As you level up in this RPG, you will have the freedom to choose or even develop your own moves based on your fighting style, and build up your deck.
Now in order to deal damage to the opponent, one side must win a "bout" of 5 draws. To demonstrate this:
1st draw: Soldier #1 drew an 8. Soldier #2 drew a 4. Soldier #1 wins the draw. 2nd draw: Soldier #1 drew a 3. Soldier #2 drew a 6. Soldier #2 wins the draw. 3rd draw: Soldier #1 drew an 8. Soldier #2 drew an 8. Neither of them wins the draw. 4th draw: Soldier #1 drew a K. Soldier #2 drew a J. Soldier #1 wins the draw. 5th draw: Soldier #1 drew an Ace. Soldier #2 drew a 10. Soldier #1 wins the draw.
In this bout, Soldier #1 won the majority of draws, therefore, they get to deal damage. I choose the highest draw to become the damage dealer, which in this case is the Ace. In the Brawl fighting style, the Ace attack is the Strangle, which we'll say deals 2 damage in this case. Soldier #1 deals 2 damage to Soldier #2 and wins.
However, I will not reveal draws like this; instead, I will narrate them in a more active style. I might narrate this fight like this:
The two soldiers face each other, ready to battle to the death. Soldier #2 charges and attempts to throw a punch, but Soldier #1 side steps the attack, grabbing him by the throat and strangling him. The attack is fatal. Soldier #1 wins!
It might be a little complicated at first, but I have tested it thoroughly to make sure it works.
Flame of the East (Gregbyte): Fighter, Fire, Art of War, Snake, Staff BladeBreaker (CloudHill): Fighter, Metal, Craftsmanship, Tiger, Hook Swords Sonic (Sonicheroes95): Rogue, Water, Art of War, Eight Trigrams, Emei Piercers Silent Step (Bluydee): Rogue, Wood, Sabotage, Drunken, Emei Piercers
Touche about the weapon name, but i was referring to English. Good point though, and it is an excellent weapon to use against zombies. (Zombie Survival Guide)
The five of you are in the Jiangshan Monastary for its annual exhibition of martial arts. Every year, hundreds of masters of martial arts and apprentices come to display their skills and compete. It is the day before the big festival, and you watch the preparations.
The abbot is overseeing the preparations. Suddenly, the doors burst open and numerous thugs storm in. An uproar begins as the monks ready themselves to defend their monastery, but the abbot quiets everyone down.
"Why are you here?"
"On order of Emperor Dragon Fist, we are here to take your relic. If you surrender, we won't harm anyone. But if you don't, we'll take it by force!"
"Emperor Dragon Fist is certainly our temporal ruler at the moment. But the bracelet of Buddha himself, that is to be ruled by no one here."
Gathering Storm whispers to his friends that the Trigrams had forseen trouble, when his eyes suddenly widen. He realizes what the others, staring at the thugs at the door had not seen.
"Very well," the leader of the outlaws replies. "Kill them all, and take the relic," he tells his men. Suddenly, from behind the abbot, assassins drop from the roof, armed with sabers.
Each of you must choose. Do you:
A) Fight the thugs at the door, along with most of the other monks (unarmed combat)? B) Fight the armed assassins (armed combat)? C) Run away through the back door? D) Run to the relic to make sure nobody has it?
(You can elaborate on your choices if you want, razaki.) ---- BladeBreaker:
Racing along the other monks, you crash into the crowd, singling out one of the thugs to fight. In a quick exchange, you block his attacks and manage to see an opening in which you perform the most powerful attack you've learned, the Iron Tail Sweep. With a quick, low quick, you knock the thug onto the ground, knocking him out.
Since he's down, you quickly move to another one. This next thug is unskilled, and you manage to knock him out in no time with a simple jump kick.
At this point the thugs are routing. One of them turns to confront you, but you knock him off his feet with another Iron Tail Sweep.
All in all, you defeated 3 thugs, each of whom gave you 34 experience. Congratulations, you have leveled up! Your new attributes are Body: 4, Mind: 1, Spirit: 2. You have two attribute points that you may add to any attribute. ---- razaki: In a sudden clarity of mind, you realize that all this is probably a diversion. You run to the room where the relic is held to find a single assassin armed with saber looking for the relic. You shout at him to stop, and he runs up to attack you. Luckily, you brought your Wind and Fire Wheels with you, and a fight starts.
The assassin is skilled and fast, so he attacks you first. You follow the crane footwork impeccably, dodging and following up each swipe. As you parry with your right hand, you kick suddenly with your left foot but he does a back handspring and dodges it. He blocks your other moves and swipes at you with his sword. You dodge, block, parry, and then drive forward for an attack of your own. He manages to block one hit, but you kick him to stun him and then slash him down his torso. He's heavily bleeding but still not dead. Feebly he tries to block your next move, but you knock the saber out of his hands and slash him again, killing him.
All in all, you defeated 1 skilled assassin, who gave you 100 experience. Congratulations, you have leveled up! Your new attributes are Body: 2, Mind: 2, Spirit: 4. You have two attribute points that you may add to any attribute.
