Rebirth
of the Rose
House Rules
Character Points
Character Points purchase your
Stats (Body, Mind and Soul) as well as Attributes. PCs begin with 45 Character
Points.
Stats: As characters in the
setting are primarily students, a Stat of 4 will be considered the junior
high / high school student human average, as opposed to the adult human average.
NPCs may have higher or lower Stats than the average, depending on a variety
of factors. As members of the Student Council, the PCs are expected to be
physically competent enough to duel well, to have the mental skill to keep
up with their classwork while tackling Student Council issues, and the willpower
and drive to pursue world revolution. Therefore, the range of Student Council
Stats is typically five (above student average) to seven (highly capable).
Stats below 5 or above 7 are allowable with strong background support.
Attributes: Attributes, like
Skills, will be rated in two ways on this page: Usefulness, and Commonality
(appropriateness to genre / theme). Usefulness will dictate the cost of the
attribute, and commonality will dictate the level of explanation one needs
in their background to have said attribute. Attributes will be listed by commonality
below.
Tier 1: Very Common (This
attribute should be mentioned in the background.)
Appearance (3 points/level, up
to level 4); Art of Distraction (3 points/level, up to level 2); Aura of Command
(2 points/level, up to level 2); Kensei *(4 points/level, up to level 2);
Personal Gear* (2 points/level, up to level 2); Wealth*** (2 points/level,
up to level 3)
Tier 2: Fairly Common
(At least a few sentences should be devoted to this attribute.)
Appearance (1 points/level, level
5); Art of Distraction (2 points/level, levels 3 and 4); Aura of Command (2
points/level, up to level 2); Flunkies (2 points/level, up to level 3); Kensei
(3 points/level, level 3); Organizational Ties - Academy**** (2/level, up
to level 4); Organizational Ties - Other (1 points/level, up to level 2);
Personal Gear (2 points/level, level 3); Wealth (1 points/level, level 4);
Tier 3: Fairly Uncommon
(An explanation should be given for this attribute's existence.)
Animal Friendship (1 point/level,
up to level 2); Appearance (2 points/level, level 6); Art of Distraction (2
points/level, level 5); Aura of Command (2 points/level, levels 3 and 4);
Combat Value**** (3 points/level, level 1); Damn Healthy! (3 points/level,
level 1); Energy Bonus (3 points/level, level 1); Flunkies (2 points/level,
level 4); Heightened Awareness (2 points/level, level 1); Highly Skilled (3
points/level, level 1); Kensei (3 points/level, level 4); Organizational Ties
- Academy (2/level, level 5); Organizational Ties - Other (1 points/level,
level 3); Personal Gear (2 points/level, level 4); Wealth (1 points/level,
levels 5 and 6)
Tier 4: Restricted (Attributes
of this tier MUST be approved by the StoryTeller before purchase.)
Any levels higher than the above
for previously mentioned attributes; Divine Relationship (not purchasable);
Extra Attacks; Focused Damage; Gun Bunny; Mechanical Genius (fine if it is
your character's concept but not at high levels)
* - Anyone on the Student Council
is required to take at least one level of Kensei.
** - It is recommended to take
one level of Personal Gear if you have a particularly good sword.
*** - This attribute indicates
the wealth of your parents. If you have more access to their money than most
children, take it at a higher level. If you have less access, take it at a lower
level.
**** - This attribute raises your Combat Value
or your Dueling Value, dependent on which you're using at the time.
Special Attributes are not
available in this game.
Attribute Clarification - Kensei: In
this game, Kensei is an indication of how good you are in Dueling with a capital
"D". The first level of Kensei is automatically "Precise Stroke"
(hence, how one is able to capture the rose). Other possible Kensei 'tricks'
are: Judge Opponent, Two Weapons, etc. Blind Fighting, Chanbara Master and
Lightning Strike, though not useful in the Dueling Arena, are useful tricks
for other martial events.
Character Defects
Recommended possible character defects include:
Attack Restriction, Nemesis, Phobia, Significant Other, Skeleton in the Closet,
or certain versions of the defect Special Requirement.
Non-preferred character defects include: Awkward
(the 2 BP version), Girl/Guy Magnet (as it is common for Student Council members),
Inept Combat, No Arms, Owned by a Megacorp (out of genre), Physically Unappealing
(the 2 BP version), and Wanted.
Special Defects are not available
in this game.
Skills
Skill Points purchase your Skills. PCs begin
with 15 Skill Points. Yes, that's less than usual. The point costs have also
been reduced. See below.
Reminder: These Skills either indicate knowledge
of unusual skills (such as Navigation) or skill above and beyond the normal
student level. The average student would not need any skills at all to succeed
at the Academy. Remember that Level One implies training, Level Two being
well-trained, Level Three being an expert, etc.
Because of the specificity of the in-game
setting, the point values range from one to five. Skills that will come up
nearly every game cost five points, Skills that will come up often cost five,
Skills that will come up occasionally cost three, Skills that will come up
rarely cost two, and Skills that will hardly ever come up or are not terribly
beneficial cost one.
| Skill |
Cost
|
| Acrobatics |
3 |
| Animal Training |
2 |
| Architecture |
1 |
| Artisan |
3 |
| Biological Sciences |
2 |
| Boating* |
1 |
| Burglary |
2 |
| Business Management* |
1 |
| Computers |
3 |
| Controlled Breathing |
1 |
| Cooking |
2 |
| Cultural Arts*** |
3 |
| Demolitions |
2 |
| Disguise |
2 |
| Driving* |
1 |
| Electronics |
2 |
| Forgery* |
2 |
| Gaming |
4 |
| Interrogation |
2 |
| Intimidation |
2 |
| Law* |
2 |
| Linguistics |
3 |
| Mechanics |
2 |
| Medical* |
1 |
| Military Sciences* |
1 |
| Navigation* |
1 |
| Performing Arts |
4 |
| Physical Sciences |
3 |
| Piloting* |
1 |
| Poisons* |
1 |
| Police Sciences* |
2 |
| Riding |
1 |
| Seduction |
4 |
| Sleight of Hand |
2 |
| Social Sciences |
3 |
| Sports |
3 |
| Stealth |
2 |
| Swimming |
2 |
| Urban Tracking**** |
3 |
| Visual Arts |
3 |
| Wilderness Survival* |
1 |
| Wilderness Tracking* |
1 |
| Writing |
4 |
| Combat Skill |
Cost |
| Archery* |
2 |
| Gun Combat** |
2 |
| Heavy Weapons** |
1 |
| Melee Attack |
5 |
| Melee Defense |
5 |
| Ranged Defense* |
1 |
| Thrown Weapons* |
2 |
| Unarmed Attack |
2 |
| Unarmed Defense |
2 |
|
|
| Added Skills |
Cost
|
| Research |
3 |
* - This Skill is either unusual for a typical
student, or strange enough that it will likely not come up. If it is an unusual
Skill (like Boating), you may find it seldom used. If it is a subversive Skill
(like Burglary), you may be in trouble if found out and need an explanation
for how you learned it.
** - This Skill is out and out prohibited,
unless exceptional reason is given.
*** - The Occultism specialty for this Skill
costs an extra point to purchase and must be explained.
**** - The Academic specialty
can indicate a knowledge of the ins and outs of the school which can mimic an
Academy / City area knowledge.
Special Skills are not available in
this game.
Combat
Stereotypical combat is covered in the sourcebook.
Stereotypical combat can be considered anything from a scheduled spar in the
Kendo or Fencing room, to a hand-to-hand scuffle in the courtyard. For those
mystical Duels we've come to know and love in Utena, we have . . .
Dueling
Dueling works similarly but differently than
combat. Slightly more dependent on the spiritual side of the characters than
typical combat, the Stats and system work differently. Below are those differences.
Dueling Value: Like Combat Value, Dueling
Value is derived from a combination of Body, Mind and Soul. Whereas Combat
Value is derived from the average of Body, Mind and Soul, Dueling Value is
derived thusly: [Body + Mind + Soul + Soul] / 4. This places a greater emphasis
on the Soul stat, but not overly much. This determines the Attack Dueling
Value and Defense Dueling Value, which for the purposes of Dueling, are substituted
for the combat values.
Dueling Points: Like Health Points, Dueling
Points represent hit points in the Dueling Arena, as Dueling requires a synergy
of Body, Mind and Soul. Therefore, Dueling Points are derived thusly: [(Body
+ Mind + Soul) * 4]. In addition, Dueling Points replace Energy Points for
the purpose of raising stats during combat. This allows the attacker to pump
all his/her points into raising stats in an effort to take the rose, but may
exhaust him/her to the point where the defender has a far easier chance of
taking the rose. If the Dueling Points are brought down to zero, the duelist
is exhausted, physically, mentally and spiritually, and the attacker may pluck
the rose off with abandon.
Like Combat, one can choose to perform the
typical Safe Attack (attacking while defending), a Total Attack (where one
attacks without thought of defending), a called shot at the rose, or something
completely different.
A called shot at the rose is only possible
after the attacker has worn the opponent down by way of depleting at least
half (rounded up) of their Dueling Points. A called rose shot is even more
difficult than targeting a vital spot. Why? Because you are trying to hit
a small area not to wound (and because I think it makes sense). However, all
Duelists have the Kensei ability "Precise Stroke", so instead of the shot
being at a +5, it is only at a +2. Now aren't you glad you spent those points?
Note: I am still new to this combat system,
and am somewhat unfamiliar with systems with tons of modifiers. Therefore,
I may have difficulties remembering the modifiers for level of skill with
melee weapons, possible modifiers related to weapons themselves, called shots,
etc. If you feel my math has been in error, please point this out to me.
