Sequel to Dragonfist
Story
Thousands of years ago, two brave souls, the incarnations of Fire and Earth, defeated the evil emperor Dragon Fist to usher in a new dynasty of peace and calm. Upon his death, Dragon Fist was punished dearly in the lowest hell for ages. Despite his agony, however, the spirit of Dragon Fist still held his cunning and knowledge of the darkest, arcane arts. In a perversion of the five elements that had originally been sent to defeat him, he managed to split his soul into five pieces and enter the wheel of reincarnation. In order to stop Dragon Fist from achieving his goal of becoming the ruler of China and the world again, the Jade Emperor dispatched the five elements again down to Earth. The world they enter, however, is a drastically different one. The year is 1900. China has fallen from its former state of glory, subjugated by various Imperial powers as well as the corruption of the Qing Dynasty. In the midst of chaos, however, heroes arise, defeating the corrupt and aiding the poor. Although they are not yet organized, the seeds of rebellion have already been sown...
Overview
Hello everyone, this is Dragon Fist II, an RPG set in China, circa 1900. It's a dangerous world out there, in fact, a lot more dangerous than the one of the first. Let's start off with the similarities: Once again, five players will play as one of the five elements. Fighting styles and wuxia style supernatural arts return, as well as dynamic, branching storylines. However, we've got a lot of changed mechanics. Classes have been eliminated. Instead, each of you will be wanderers, and you'll have free reign to dedicate points to body, spirit, and mind (which do make a return). I have totally revamped the combat and event check engines to a completely new one utilizing the I Ching. Another major revision is the removal of weapons. In this time period, weapons are outlawed, but because you are a martial artist, anything you can pick up becomes a weapon for your use. The style will still be more like the "choose your own adventure" type, but as always, you're encouraged to make up your own solution.
Note that this is not all about combat! Although it plays a strong role in the RPG, the role play is just as important. Those who play out of character, with only a mind for combat can expect the will of heaven against you!
At its core, each person will use their attributes to strengthen their three main skills: Their elemental skill, their fighting style, and their heroic. I will explain what each one means.
Attributes
Most RPGs have a number of attributes, things like strength, dexterity, speed, intellect, etc. In Chinese culture though, these attributes are all very interconnected. Not only that, but as a hero, you have enough of all those to get by anyway. So Dragon Fist II emphasizes this with only three attributes:
Body: Determines your physical strength, health, stamina, and skill in your fighting style.
Mind: Determines your speed, dexterity, intelligence, and the power of your heroic trait (explained later).
Spirit: Determines your proficiency in your special elemental art (your chi), as well as your perceptiveness.
When you perform an activity, you gain points in that category. For example, training or defeating an enemy in combat using your fighting skill will add points to your Body attribute. Meditating or dodging blows can increase your Mind attribute. In addition, your element may also grant you extra attribute points in a category, depending on their focus. So you don't get free attribute points to spend how you wish: If you want to grow in a way, you must do it. That's the core of martial arts: Discipline and practice to hone your skills. On the other hand, if you take damage or grow tired, you may actually lose points in these attributes. So don't take it too hard.
Every ten points in an attribute allows you to increase a level in proficiency in your fighting style, heroic trait, or your chi. This may help you to learn a new technique, or simply open your mind to greater flexibility and efficiency.
Elements
In this universe, each person has an element that determines their personality and the direction they can focus their Chi. They are the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
Wood is sensitive, which allows them to empathize and persuade to greater effect. However, they have a tendency to lose their head in anger as a result. Their talisman is the Dragon. As the most poisonous element, Wood's ultimate power is Anqi, the art of stealth. It allows practitioners to sneak around quietly and swiftly, as well as use secret, poisoned weapons to quickly take down enemies in a stealthy fashion.
Fire is creative, allowing them to devise ways to get themselves and their friends out of difficult situations. However, they tend to be more proud and possessed of less willpower than the other elements. Their talisman is the Phoenix. As the most destructive element, Fire's ultimate power is Fa Jin, which allows the practitioner to concentrate Chi to the point where they can shatter steel with a single strike.
Earth is distinguished by clarity of mind, meaning that they are able to see things as they are, and discern the true natures of people and situations. This clarity of mind also makes them more anxious and stressed. Their talisman is the Qilin. As the most stable element, Earth's ultimate power is Nei Jin, which allows the practitioner superhuman stamina and vitality. Punches glance off harmlessly, and even bullets do very little against a master of Neijin.
Metal is marked by intuition, meaning that they are able to predict the actions of others and the results of given situations with remarkable accuracy. However, they are easily depressed. Their talisman is the Tiger. As the sharpest element, Metal's ultimate power is Dianxue, which allows the practitioner to paralyze, kill, or even heal by striking vital pressure points.
Water is spontaneous, allowing them to get along with others and greater reflexes. In a pinch they are the ones that can think the fastest to buy time for more long-term thinkers. However, they tend to be more jumpy and scared. Their talisman is the tortoise. As the freest element, water's special ability is Qinggong, which allows them superhuman speed and even the ability to defy gravity.
Two things to explain. A talisman is a good-luck symbol. For example, if you are Water, and you see a tortoise on your quest, you'll have better luck in your endeavors. If you had an item with Tortoise in its name, you might get a special combat bonus with it. The other is your special ability. As you gain in your Spirit attribute, you'll gain Elemental Levels. Every 10 points in Spirit is a gain in elemental level. You start with the basics of your elemental skill, but as you level up you get more skills.
Heroic
In the first Dragon Fist, we had what were called skills, which represented some sort of skill you were good at. However, your wandering soujourners are much more versatile than their forebears. Instead, they have some dominant personality that serves as a guiding force. It may affect how they see the world around them, or how they interact with others. Whatever the case, it is the heroic that makes them a true hero against the evil around them. The more in character you stay to these heroics, the more the heavens (read: your GM) will smile upon you.
Virtue: An idealistic sense of justice, honor, and righetousness lends a charisma around you, capable of making others loyal to you.
Art of War: You are able to consider the strategy and tactical situation around you, and react accordingly.
Leadership: You have an air of authority around you that inspires those around you.
Adaptability: You are able to quickly learn new skill and abilities. Sometimes, you can perfectly perform an action just by watching someone else do it.
Fierce: Men fear you, especially your foes, for you have an air of intimidation about you.
Divination: You have the gift of supernatural foresight, capable of catching glimpses into the future with visions or with traditional fortunetelling.
Self-discipline: You have tremendous will power, capable of mastering elemental and fighting styles quickly with training and meditation.
Revolutionary: You are very persuasive, able to stir up the hearts of man to make them act.
Fighting Styles
Fighting styles are used to defend yourself and to attack. You will need to train in them for your final confrontation. A change from the previous is that weapons also reflect your fighting style, and some styles are better equipped with using certain weapons.
Tai Chi: Emphasizes flowing motions to divert enemy strength and attack. Very good with swords and longer blades.
Eight Trigrams: Utilizes a circular movement style along with powerful palms. Very good against groups of enemies.
5 Animal: Combines the strong claws of the tiger, the countering moves of the crane, the swift preciseness of the snake, the leaps of the leopard, and the gripping and seizing of the dragon's jaws.
Eight Extremes: Uses explosive, short-range elbow strikes. Good with short blades.
Wrestling: Uses grappling moves to pin the enemy and beat them into submission. The style can be very environmental, bashing the enemy against walls or throwing them into things.
Drunken: A powerful, fluid style imitating the drunken man. Good with close range melee weapons (e.g. clubs).
Mantis: Focuses on countering and then quickly striking the enemy. Excellent with chains and chain-like weapons.
Monkey: A lunging, acrobatic style capable of overwhelming the enemy with sheer speed. Excellent with staffs and spear-like weapons.
Eagle Claw: Uses a series of grips and joint locks to immobilize the enemy. Excellent with thrown weapons.
Wing Chun: Emphasizes a constant state of relaxed tension and flowing attacks to strike hard and fast.
Remember that you don't have a weapon by default. Certain things in the environment, however, can roughly follow these guidelines. For example, a used rifle could probably used like a club, or a meat cleaver like a knife. Also, you don't have to be in a certain fighting style to use a certain weapon. Certain styles simply teach and emphasize the use of certain weapons, but all of them can use anything with proficiency.
Locales
With the splitting of Dragon Fist's spirit into five parts, he has been reincarnated into people across the world. Through the vestigial memory of reincarnation, all of these people have found their way to China, vying to gain power and take over. Your wanderers each enter one of these five cities, either as a foreigner or as a returner.
Peking: A city of winding, claustrophobic alleyways and historic buildings. Here, the corrupt official T'sao Wen exercises his power. He is the richest, most influential official in the Qing court, and the bribes he takes help to feed his search for power. He is also a master of a number of Wushu styles, and rumor has it that he has killed scores of men with only his bare hands and feet.
Shanghai: The slums of Shanghai are constant battlegrounds between gangs, and strictly partitioned into gang territories. One gang, however, grows in supremacy, lead by the mysterious Ah Long, whose men boast considerable skills in firearms. It is rumored that his brand of kung fu integrates the usage of firearms in it.
Hong Kong: A sprawling British colonial island. The overseer of the island is Sir James Thompson, who believes very strongly in the racial inferiority of the Chinese. He is a fencing champion.
Szechuan: The only region that has remained relatively unchanged since the days of the first Dragon Fist. It is still a land of bamboo forests, flowing rivers, and mysterious caves. However, the intrusion of a Russian Orthodox Priest, Boris Ryzhkov, has lead to the increased destruction of this beautiful land. A former soldier, he is especially dangerous with the pikestaff. The village thugs that he employs for "conversion" are particularly dangerous.
Manchuria: A cold land of rocky mountains and brick villages. The region commands a strong Japanese presence, the leader of whom is Ichiro Yamamoto. The descendant of a samurai family, his prowess with the katana is legendary even in his own home country.
Conclusion
Each player will choose an element, a fighting style, a heroic, and a location where they start. There will be five players, one for each element and locale. Each one will undergo five different stories with three prescripted events each. Other than that, I'll try to promote a free sense of exploration like I did the first Dragon Fist. The character sheet and explanation of the I Ching system will come next Monday, March 21, when I come back from a short break. Until then, feel free to leave me comments if you're interested and questions. Spots may or may not be guaranteed to you, depending on whether or not I've played with you before.
