Time to get your caps turned backward and scream out your best “Are you OK? BUSTAAA WOLF!” and “PREDICTABRU” impression. This is an RP inspired partially by things such as King of Fighters, Tekken, Garou: Mark of the Wolves and 99% of other fighters where some gigantic bunch of jerks organizes a tournament for some reason. And you are one of the hapless tournament contestants taking part and will no doubt have to defeat a resurrected Demon King or some time traveling conspiracy of god-men at some point.
Now, despite my rather flippant tone, this is not Oretards and is a serious RP. Really. So please no (purely) meme joke characters (even though I know a lot of material in that vein already exists in the inspirations of this RP). Unfortunately, I am a completely unrepentant chuuni and therefore am seriously allergic to crack characters. In terms of general character creation, there is one additional thing I would like you to keep in mind.
I will accept characters in three-man teams only. That is that to say that if you want to get in, get a team of other scrubs to team up with. Furthermore, I will accept 2-3 teams. No more. Teams will be accepted based on how interesting the PCs are and how interesting the team dynamics are. Teams are differentiated by their nation of origin (Team USA, Team Belgium, Team Singapore, etc), but you only need to be a national of that country (so naturalized citizens and people who have lived their entire lives elsewhere still count). Teams are going to be singular units (e.g facing challenges together and being updated at the same time) for a lot of this RP, so keep that in mind. It might also be wise to try and specialize in different things. Maybe.
Attributes
All attributes are ranked from E to A and start from - rank. Every character has 13 Ability Points (AP) at character creation, which they are free to spend as they wish.
Close Combat (CLS) - Determines physical damage using various close combat weaponry and attacks. Also governs damage for close range Crafts and Critical Artes. In fighting game terms, it's the stat that determines how hard your Shoryukens hit.
Weaponry (WPN) - Determines the effectiveness of ranged weaponry, both projectile based weapons as well as ranged explosives. Also governs damage for long range Crafts and Critical Arts. In fighting game terms this is what determines how good your zoning game is.
Defense (DEF) - Determines the overall durability of the PC (number of “wounds”), “Full Evasion” as well as reducing the scope of debilitating effects resulting from wounds. Can be boosted by armor and various accessories. Stack up on this if you want to be Tager or Zangief.
Spiritual Force (KI) - Determines the damage of spiritual techniques (Arts) which use physical and environmental energy to create supernatural effects. In addition determines base SP amount. In fighting game terms, its the stat that determines how hard your Hadokens hit.
Action (ACT) - The representation of the speed and reaction time of the user. Governs turn initiative, the number of “Boost Hijack” skills available for the user and overall movement speed, as well as things like reacting to ambushes and traps. In fighting game terms, it is the stat responsible for frame advantage cheese and endless blockstrings.
Number of Wounds each character is capable of receiving are calculated as 6 + (DEF rank x6) . SP at character creation is 30 points (Rank E) + 15 points per each subsequent rank. Base damage using weapons is equal to the rank the attribute involved (either CLS or WPN), while for Artes, damage multipliers are dependant on the spell in question.
NOTE - Boosts do not increase the stat score in itself, rather they work in an additional manner. For example, a technique that increased your close combat damage, wouldn’t increase CLS per se, but rather would read as “+1 wounds on a successful attack”
Spiritual Artes
Ki, Chi, Prana, Aether, Pneuma, Mana. Known under many names, the phenomena commonly referred to as “Spiritual Energy” is the source of many tales and legends that litter the various mythologies of the world. An all-present field of energy that connects and interweaves all life, it is imperceivable by most methods of detection and, until recently, has been considered nothing more but a myth by the vast majority of mankind.
However, the existence of men and women who can teleport and spew flames seems to have been a rather compelling argument for many.
By using this all-encompassing energy and channeling it through their own internal energy, certain martial artists are capable of creating phenomena that seem to contradict the very laws of physics and common sense. Spiritual Artes (or just Artes, as they are more commonly known) are almost always external in nature and typically extremely flashy. Fireballs, teleportation, magical traps, vacuum blades and so on. By extension, Artes seem to be almost incapable of producing effects that are internal in nature, such as boosting physical capacity, imbuing items with power or healing the body. For each invested point in the KI attribute, the wielder is capable of creating one Arte. All Artes are ranked from E to A and the maximum rank of the Arte in question is equal to the users KI attribute. All Spiritual Artes cost SP, but attacks made using them are considered to be more damaging than physical attacks of the equivalent rank (Artes are subject to a 1.5x damage multiplier). The SP cost for Artes is 10 SP + 5 SP for each additional rank.
Furthermore, as all Artes are characterized by the users own internal energy, they almost universally follow a similar theme, such as fire, lightning, or wind. You are free to go as wacky as you want with these themes, but they must tie together in a coherent manner.
Arte usage itself is used in a relatively freeform manner. While Arte descriptions themselves are should be strict (for example, an Arte called the “Rising Tide” would cause a high-pressure geyser of water to erupt from a target surface), the possible application of such spells can depend greatly on the environmental and situational circumstances (for example to block off pathways via continuous jets of pressured water) and may be increased or lowered in effectiveness in certain environments (or when used in a certain manner). So when creating various Artes, it is best to keep an open mind, both in terms of their in-combat and out of combat applications.
Crafts
A manifestation of one’s combat skills, Crafts are physical skills and techniques that work in a manner similar to Artes. Unlike Artes however, they are typically pure manifestations of the users “internal energy”. Crafts cover a wide variety of things from buffs and movement techniques to pure attack skills. For each invested point in the CLS or WPN attribute, the wielder is capable of creating one Craft. The damage and cost of these is determined by the users CLS or WPN score and is set by the GM at character creation on a case-by-case basis.
All crafts use CP or “Craft Points” to use. CP is accumulated during consecutive battles and either taking damage or executing a successful attack grants the user 10 CP. During the first battle of the day, CP is always set to 0, but CP accumulated during battle is carried over to subsequent battles, provided that the date does not change. CP cap at 200 points, after which no further CP can be gained.
Critical Artes, Full Evasion and Boost Hijack
Combat in Koukami takes place in a rather standard turn by turn basis, similar to that of other RPs in Beast’s Lair. However, combat is slightly more regimented in some aspects. Everyone gets one action per “round” and the order of actions (turns) is determined by the user’s ACT score. The character with the highest ACT score starts first and so on. Actions targeted against characters are resolved at the start of that character’s turn (if the enemy is lower on the turn list then the attacker, e.g is slower) or at the end of the round (if the attack occurs after the target’s turn). Positions of characters with identical ACT scores are randomized at the start of each Round. In addition, special “Luck Slots” may arise during battle. These slots are typically on the higher end of the turn hierarchy (but can be lower from time to time) and grant boons such as “Double Damage”, “Health Restore”, “SP/CP Restore”, “Free Arte” and more. Characters that take actions on those specific turns, gain the corresponding benefit. An example would be:
Turn 1 - Shirou
Turn 2 - Double Damage - Kotomine
Turn 3 - Rin
Turn 4 - Sakura
Round End
This would mean that actions are resolved in descending order and that during his turn, any successful attack dealt by Kotomine would be doubled in damage. Note that this does not actually set any limitations on posting order. Rather it is the representation of the order your moves are executed. Boost Hijack is an ability that allows one to freely change his position in the turn order for the duration of one Round. This must be used at the start of the round and the user will then take the place of the individual in the target slot, pushing everyone else down one slot from that point onwards. Boost Hijack can either be used once every three battles/once per day (E-D rank), twice every three battles/twice per day (C-B rank) or three times every three battles/thrice per day (A rank). Boost Hijack can also be used to move downwards in the turn order (to snag a double damage slot lower down, for example).
Critical Arte is a type of “Ultimate Move” for your character and can be used once every 3 fights, whenever your health has dropped below 40%. These are typically far wider in scale and effect, surpassing even that of high ranking Artes and Crafts. Typically, rather then having a clearly defined mechanical effect, they tend to have abilities and strengths that capable of altering the entire battlefield and are typically resolved as mini plot-events, rather then mechanically resolved. They tend to deal extreme amounts of damage and are capable of greatly damaging most enemies outright. Critical Artes include abilities such as to instantly revive or completely heal your entire team, blocking all damage any type of attacks for the duration of one turn, or simply to fire off a gigantic laser that cuts through the entire battlefield
When creating your Critical Arte, it should build out of your character’s natural abilities and perks. A swordsman would have an ultimate blade technique or a combo of sorts, while a healer would have a support-type Critical Arte. In other words, it should be an extension of your characters already existing skillset and characteristics, rather than a completely new ability.
Finally, “Full Evasion” is a skill that allows the character to avoid any incoming attack and can be triggered whenever you are receiving an attack. Full Evasion is determined by your DEF stat and can either be used once every three battles/once per day (E-D rank), twice every three battles/twice per day (C-B rank) or three times per day/thrice per day (A rank). Certain types of battlefield modifiers or skills, however, can disable the use of Full Evasion.
Miscellaneous
When creating your character sheet, please add a general description of your overall combat style, as well as its name. I will create a unique [Style] perk for each PC based on this description which conveys its own set of strengths and weaknesses. So, in essence, choose what you want to specialize on, guys.
Another thing that you should add to your sheet is a list of mundane (cooking, hunting, construction, etc) non-combat skills (up to five). These will play a role in the RP (despite appearances there is more this than just knocking the everliving shit out of your opponent) so keep that in mind. That said, these are mundane skills, so no “Sixth Sense” or “Foretelling” nonsense please. How good you are at something is dependent on the number of skills you choose. So either choose whether you want to be the best knitter in the world or the man who knows how to fail at a thousand things.
Now that that has been said….