Speed Lines and Shouting

Speed Lines and Shouting (スピード線と叫ぶ supiido-sen to sakebu) is Paorou's attempt to make a one-shot tabletop narrative fighting system, inspired from boys' battle manga (少年バトル漫画 shounen batoru manga) and anime.

It is currently at version 0.4.

Version 0.4
 * Arbiters can use arbiter powers during intro phase. (Contentions, merits, stunts, etc)
 * Intro roll win changed - higher success gets bonus intensity, Higher VALUE gets to decide order. 
 * Intro roll draws explained.
 * Clash Effects and Clash Points
 * Clash effect priority rules
 * End of Turn - winner of Resolution adds a detail.

Overview
You are a SHOUNEN ANIME/BATTLE MANGA CHARACTER who must now face and defeat a RIVAL. You can have whatever abilities you want, as long as they're used for shounen anime combat.

What you need:
 * - 2 people, for a version without certain rules, or 3 for an arbiter to oversee these rules.
 * - Imagination
 * - Crazy Ideas
 * - Pen and Paper
 * - A bunch of 6-sided dice (about 10 will do)

You have 4 stats to worry about when making a character:
 * Health - How much solid hits your character can take before passing out.
 * Attack - a dice pool representing your character's capability to deal damage.
 * Defense - a dice pool representing your character's capability to avoid damage.
 * Technique - A special stat that adds to attack or defense, as long as you stick to the conditions of your technique.

Then you have some other stats that will matter later on:


 * Ranks - The target number your dice must equal or fall under to succeed. The higher the rank, the more effective a move is. At rank 7, the move is considered perfect and you immediately win the round. At Rank 0 your move fails and you immediately lose the round. By default, all moves are rank 3. Ranks can be lowered by the arbiter or the enemy's contention, and raised by Intensity points. Ranks cannot be modified at character creation.


 * Intensity - Intensity points are used to augment your ranks in battle, heal health, restore techniques or grant additional clash points. These points are gained as the battle gets more Intense. They are awarded for winning introductions, foreshadowing, performing stunts, or succeeding contentions. Intensity can only be gained and lost in battle.
 * Clash Points - These points are spent to gain clash effects, stuff that happens as the result of the players' moves. These are 'spent' to deal and resist damage, lock techniques or prevent them from being locked. They can be stored.

Core Mechanic
Combat is basically two players rolling a number of dice equal to the chosen stat and any bonuses, counting the dice with results that fall under or equal to your move's rank (these are called successes), and comparing this number with your opponent's own number of successes.

The person with the higher number of successes wins that round of combat. Both players are given clash points, with the winner having one more than the loser.

Clash points can be used to resist or deal damage. Alternatively they can lock (or resist locking of) techniques, preventing them from being used.

A player wins combat if he reduces his enemy's health to zero.

Character Creation
At the onset of character creation, your character would have the following stats:

 Health 3/*** (3) Attack * (1) Defense * (1) Technique: * (1) * (Free Technique) - (any condition)

You are then given 10 points at a one-point-per-dot basis, to be distributed into the following stats:

Health

 * - Represents how much hits your character can take before he passes out/can't fight anymore.


 * - When health points reach 0, you can no longer fight.


 * - Dots represent your max health. Points represent your current health.


 * - At the beginning of the game, your health points are equal to your health dots.


 * - Health can be healed using Intensity Points.


 * - For the sake of reference, being attacked and failing to defend usually removes 1 health point per round.

Attack

 * - Represents the effectiveness of your character's offense.


 * - Attacks reduce enemy health, or lock enemy techniques (permanent or temporary) when successful.


 * - Each dot represents a die rolled when your character attacks.


 * - Each dot allows for a technique that can be used while attacking.

===Defense  ===


 * - Represents the effectiveness of your character's defense.


 * - Defenses deflect damage done by attacks, or lock enemy techniques for one turn when successful.


 * - Each dot represents a die rolled when your character defends.


 * - Each dot allows for a technique that can be used while defending.

Techniques
Format:  Dot - (Technique name) - (Technique description)


 * - Techniques are special conditions that give your character a bonus in battle.


 * - You are free to make up any technique - These provide flavor for your character and grant dice bonuses when used - nothing more.


 * - They are listed as their own stats, with their own dots, representing the dice bonus they give when used.


 * - Techniques can be used for both attacking or defending, provided you describe an appropriate use of the technique while doing so. An explanation that is lacking can be contended.


 * - Techniques can be used to foreshadow moves. Foreshadowing is used to gain extra Intensity points. (See combat below)


 * - Techniques can be locked. This means that for whatever reason, the technique cannot be used, and won't grant any bonuses.


 * - They can be permanently locked, meaning that they can no longer be used for one battle, or temporarily locked, which means they cannot be used for one turn.


 * - Techniques can be unlocked with the expenditure of an Intensity Point.


 * - Moves intended to lock techniques, lacking proper explanation, can be contended as well.

Some sample techniques:

* Sword User - This character uses a sword. ** Shoryuken - The character performs a spinning uppercut. ***** Bankai - He releases the compressed spirit energy in his sword.

Sample Characters
Here are some sample characters:

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===花澤 花暮 Hanazawa Kagura===

A tomboyish girl in the karate club, who stubbornly refuses to take up the family tradition of becoming florists and arranging flowers. One day, she finds a diary left behind by her deceased grandmother, detailing the language of flowers as more than just symbols. Suddenly, a mysterious, handsome stranger breaks into her house to steal the rare flower Mandoragora - and defeats her handily with some unknown martial arts. The strange events continue when a rose in a vase speaks to her and teaches her a secret technique. She learns it with unnatural speed, and drives away the intruder. Her life is changed when she learns that her bloodline came from a triumvirate of Flower Goddesses that protect nature from the machinations of evil men.

Health 4 (1) Attack 4 (3) Defense 4 (3)

Techniques :
 * (香り Kaori) Fragrance - Her style involves using the fragrance of flowers to disorient her foes.
 * (薔薇棘 Baratoge) Rose Thorn - a graceful maneuver in which all her extremities move at speeds capable of slashing her foes' flesh.
 * (百合開花 Yuri kaika) Lily Flowering - An explosive maneuver that causes delayed internal damage.

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... And another!

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==='''羽兎呂 P A O L O'''===

A young man was one day bitten by Gyokuto, the multi-headed, multi-armed eldritch Moon Rabbit Drummer of Azathoth. He survived the ordeal, and found that his body and soul had been changed by the encounter. Now partly an eldritch horror himself, he is able to turn into a gigantic monster rabbit. By contract to the demonic band of Azathoth, he can summon and play the Aeon Recorder - an instrument which plays the notes of Entropy itself. With only a mockery of his name as a testament to his once-mundane past, he sets forth to play lullabies for an elder god... a dirge for everything else.

Health 5 (2) Attack 2 (1) Defense 2 (1)

Techniques:'''
 * ' (影音楽 Kage Ongaku) Shadow Music - By playing on the Aeon Recorder, he controls entropy itself.'
 * (月兎牙 Tsukito Kiba) Moon Rabbit Fang - By drawing on the moon rabbit aspect, he can become a monstrous golden rabbit, along with wicked, gigantic rodent teeth.'''

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If you have made something like the above, you're ready to play!

Battle Introduction
The first part of battle is the character's introduction. The introduction is important because it gives both players an idea of their opponent. It also reveals why the two characters are fighting in the first place. At this point, they can declare whatever they want, and their opponent can rebut it as much as they want. The only thing they can't do is actively act against one another's techniques or deal damage.

In games with Arbiters (See Arbiters below) they may modify the rank of an introduction and grant intensity points or contentions as if it were a combat round. Opponents may grant merits or contend as well (only once, hoqever.)

After both players have said their piece, It is time for the players to determine who goes first.

This is done by players combining their attack and defense values as one dice pool, then rolling a number of dice equal to this pool. Each player then counts the dice that have a result equal or below their rank. Unless an Arbiter is present, (along with his special rules) the rank is always 3 or less - these dice are called successes.

The person with more successes gets a bonus intensity point. In the case of draws, both players get the bonus intensity point.

The person with the highest total value of dice results, gets to decide whether he goes first or second in the first round. In the case of draws, the person with the higher number of successes (explained above) gets to decide the turn order.

In the case of both successes and total values being a draw (how ominous!) - the players may perform a second introduction roll as a tiebreaker. They keep any intensity points from this second roll.

BRANDISHING AND FORESHADOWING
Players may choose to 'brandish' or 'foreshadow' a technique to gain a bonus in introduction.

Doing either means that their chosen technique/s have been revealed, and may be targeted for locking during the first round of combat. (see Techniques in Battle, in Combat below)

Brandishing
A player shows off his technique to make his introduction more impressive or intimidating - he adds the chosen technique's dots as bonus dice to the above dice pool.

For example, the player may describe a demonstration of the technique in action to intimidate his/her opponent. He may show his weapon in action, revealing its superiority.

''"PAOLO snarls, growing golden fur all over. His front teeth grow large, and his ears grow longer. He has become a monstrous golden rabbit." Brandishing Tsukito Kiba, he adds 3 dots to his intro dice pool.''

Foreshadowing
A Player prepares to use a technique for his next turn - this maneuver is used to gain an additional intensity point if he uses that technique on his next turn. It does not grant any dice bonuses on this dice pool.

The player can describe that he/she takes a stance, revealing some clues about his technique. Perhaps he/she wields his weapon in a unique manner.

''"Kagura takes a stance, and a sweet fragrance fills the air. Little does her enemy know that it is the scent of the Red Spider Lily - they would not meet again after this encounter." Foreshadowing Fragrance, she may gain an intensity point for using Fragrance on her next (the first round's) turn.''

Foreshadowing remains an option even in Combat, while Brandishing is an option that can only be taken in the intro. Brandishing is replaced by the normal technique usage rules.

Combat
Combat is where the actual fighting takes place in the game. Both players narrate their attacks, defenses and techniques as they trade blows.

The measure of time in combat is a Round, in which both players perform Moves, which are either Attacks or Defenses.

The Player who won the Introduction gets to decide whether he acts first or second. The player who acts first is the Initiating Player. The player who acts second is the Reacting Player. The players trade places per round, with the initiating player from the previous round becoming the reacting player in the next.

The Round
At the beginning of the Round, both players gain an Intensity Point. This represents the battle slowly building up and becoming more 'Intense'. Intensity Points can be used for various effects.

If a Player has foreshadowed a technique, gains an Intensity Point now - but only if the technique has not been locked. (see Techniques in Battle below)

Then, it is the Initiating Player's Turn. After he performs all the actions in the turn, it is the Reacting Player's Turn. Once both players are done, the round moves to the Resolution Phase.

The Turn
The Player may spend his Intensity Points only at the beginning of his turn. He may choose to spend as many or as little as he wishes, as long as he has Intensity Points.

Intensity Points in Battle
They can do the following:
 * - Increase his move's rank by 1, to a maximum of rank 7 (He automatically wins this round)
 * - Add 3 bonus dice to his move's die pool.
 * - Heal a single health point, to a maximum of his health dots.
 * - Recover a Technique that has been locked temporarily.
 * - Lessen a permanently locked Technique to temporary lock.
 * - Gain an additional Clash Effect, but only if he wins this round.

After spending (or not spending) Intensity Points, the player declares his Intent.

This is a short description of his Move. He declares whether he will Attack or Defend, which Techniques will be used, and what he plans to do when he wins the roll. (See Clash Effects in Resolution Phase below for an idea)

An example would be: "Paolo attacks, using both his techniques, Moon Rabbit Fang and Kage Ongaku, to deal damage."

Techniques in Battle

 * You may only use a number of Techniques equal to your attack/defense (whichever you chose) pool.
 * Using techniques reveals them for the whole battle. Revealed Techniques can be locked by the opponent.
 * If a Technique has been Locked, it cannot be used in your move, and won't grant any bonus dice.


 * Temporary locks last only one turn, while Permanent locks last for the whole battle.
 * You may Foreshadow a technique to gain an Intensity Point, with the same rules described in Battle Introduction above  - but only if it is not locked. In addition, you only gain the Intensity Point if the technique is not locked at the beginning of your next turn - you must use the technique on that turn.
 * Foreshadowing Techniques count as being used, and count as being revealed and part of the attack/defense pool restriction.

After this, he narrates the action in detail. This allows the opponent to think up a way to counteract the move, or justifies the effectiveness of your move this round.

This is important, particularly in a game with an Arbiter, because it determines whether an enemy can contend or not - a poorly explained attack can be contended. A well made description can be awarded as a stunt. The opponent may even grant a merit. (See The Arbiter below)

The Intent and the Narration constitute the Move, which determines the player's dice pool.

DICE POOL : Chosen Action (Attack/Defense) Dots + Techniques Used (Combined Dots) + Bonus Dice (If any).
So, if Paolo attacked with both techniques, and spent an Intensity Point to increase his dice pool, he would roll 11 (2+7+2) this round.

Unless an Intensity Point has been spent, or the move contended, the Move's Rank is 3 by default. See Resolution Phase below for more Information.

Once this dice pool is calculated, and the Move's Rank determined, the turn is ended.

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THE ARBITER
The Arbiter is basically the GM of the game. The system was generally made for oneshot one-on-one shounen anime battles, but having an arbiter as a third wheel, allows for more rulings... and a longer campaign. Since this system is still in its infancy, the Arbiter rules here are mostly for combat only. Arbiters basically 'oversee' the battle between the two fighters, allowing for additional rules that add more flavor to the narrative aspect of the game.

The Arbiter's powers really only come in at the move's description during a player's turn or introduction. After hearing a player's narration, an opponent or an Arbiter may interject, granting the following effects:


 * If an Arbiter is present, he may award a player an intensity point for performing a stunt -  a really amusing description of the Move.


 * The opponent may also grant a merit, which awards both players an Intensity point. The Arbiter must approve of the merit.


 * The opposite may also occur if the opponent, or the arbiter, dislikes an aspect of the description. They may contend.

CONTENTIONS
A contention is basically a disagreement over an aspect of the move. The player or arbiter states a reason why the move shouldn't work.

For example, a player may argue that such a move shouldn't work because he's currently underground and can't be hit by a sword.

The opponent must give an explanation which covers the contention.

The opponent may answer "This sword has magical powers", "I can send tremors into the earth", etc.

The Arbiter then decides whether the contention goes or not, depending on the explanation of the player.

If a contention is approved, it lowers the rank of a move by 1.

The opponent may only contend a move once. The Arbiter may not contend if a merit was given this round, but he can contend a move up to two times.

So if the Arbiter and an opponent both have contentions, and both are approved, your move rank is reduced to 1, and you must roll a 1 on your dice to succeed.

If for some reason the Arbiter particularly hates your guts (you may not want to play this game with him again), and he contends twice on top of your opponent's contention, your move rank is reduced to 0. It automatically fails, regardless of roll.

However, if somehow you win the round despite the contentions, you gain an intensity point for each contention applied.

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Resolution Phase
This is when both players finally resolve the outcome of their moves this round.

They roll their dice and count how many dice fall under the rank of their moves. Normally, unmodified moves are rank 3. This means that you must roll 3 or less to have a success die.

However, contentions and intensity points may modify this rank, meaning that you must roll under or equal to the modified rank specified to get a success die.

The maximum rank is 7 and the minimum rank is 0. The special ranks are below:


 * RANK 0: Rank 0 means you automatically fail, regardless of your roll.


 * RANK 6: Rank 6 means your dice pool succeeds. It must still be compared with the enemy's successful dice.


 * RANK 7: Rank 7 means you automatically count as the victor of the round, regardless of the enemy's roll. This move can only be matched by a Rank 7 move. Even then, the round is resolved as a draw, regardless of dice pool of all involved.

Each player's success dice are compared with each other. The person with more successes is the victor of the round. He gains 2 Clash Point, while the loser only gets 1. In case of a draw, both characters gain only 1 Clash Point.

At the end of Resolution Phase, Players may spend these Clash Points to apply an Clash Effect this round.

CLASH EFFECTS
Attackers may spend a clash point to do the following:


 * Deal 1 health damage.


 * Temporarily lock a revealed enemy technique.


 * Transition a temporary lock into a permanent lock.

Defenders may spend a clash point to do the following:


 * Resist 1 health damage.


 * Resist a temporary lock.
 * Resist a transition into a permanent lock.

The players must spend a clash point according to their move's Intent for this round. If the player possesses any stored Clash Points, he must spend accordingly to meet the Intent's demands.

This means that if a player attacked to deal damage and the opponent defended to resist damage, he must spend an additional clash point (if he has any) to deal more damage until he deals at least 1 damage this round. The defender must also spend additional clash point (if he has any) to resist this damage until no damage is dealt this round.

If not possible (normally in the case of permanent locks being recovered) they must spend for the most relevant effect. (They must work to temporarily lock the move first.)

Clash Points can be stored, to be used at the end of any Resolution Phase.

End of Round
The victor of the last round gets to end this round with a single detail, normally explaining the effects applied. After this, the Round has ended, and a new one begins.

The Reacting Player is now the Initiating Player, and vice versa.

The players repeat this process until one of them surrenders, or loses all his health.

==QUICK COMBAT LIST == Here is a quick guide to the battle system.

Introduction

 * 1) Players introduce themselves and any motivations for this battle.
 * 2) IF ARBITER PRESENT, apply contentions, merits and stunt rewards for Player's Intro.
 * 3) They decide whether to brandish or foreshadow any techniques.
 * 4) They roll a Dice pool of their (Attack) + (Defense) + (total dots of Brandished Techniques)
 * 5) Player with more dice of result 3 or lesser wins. He gets an intensity point.
 * 6) The Player with higher total value of dice decides whether he is the initiating or reacting player of the first round.

Round

 * 1) Both players gain an Intensity Point, including an additional one for any foreshadowed techniques.
 * 2) Initiating Player spends Intensity Points.
 * 3) Initiating Player declares Intent. ("*attack/defend* to *clash effect*, by using *techniques*")
 * 4) Initiating Player narrates Move.
 * 5) IF ARBITER PRESENT, apply contentions, merits and stunt rewards for  Player's Move.
 * 6) Initiating Player calculates move dice pool (Attack or Defense + techniques + bonuses) and Rank
 * 7) Reacting Player performs steps 2 to 6. Replace "Initiating" with "Reacting".
 * 8) Both players roll with the aim of getting individual dice to fall under Rank value.
 * 9) Player with more dice under rank value gets 2 clash points, loser gets 1.
 * 10) Apply clash effects, with Intent as priority. You may store or spend additional clash points.
 * 11) Victor of the round gives a detail explaining how the round ended.
 * 12) If no one has been knocked out, Start new round. Reacting Player is now Initiating Player.