GLOG Jianghu: Cultivate Self, Achieve Enlightenment

 

Everyone who takes a template in the 5 Animals 8 Methods Kung Fu can make Unarmed attacks that deal damage as a light weapon (1D6+STR).

You have a pool of Qi Dice = your Templates. These refresh when you drink tea or wine.

TIGER: Tiger knows only attack, you move with great force.

A. Iron Tiger Fist
B. Murder Eyes, Crumple
C. Rend, Roaring Tiger
D. Supreme Destroyer

Iron Tiger Fist
Your punches can smash through wood and clay. With repeated blows, even stone must give way. Doing this for years may eventually cripple your hands, but then, so will old age.

Murder Eyes
You may expend Qi and look into someone’s eyes. Dumb animals recognize you as an alpha predator and refuse to approach you. Thinking enemies must Save or feel the same way for (Sum) hours.

Crumple
Your unarmed attacks deal 2D6 damage when your feet are on solid ground.

Rend
When you strike an opponent, instead of dealing damage you may destroy one item or weapon they are carrying. This cannot affect metal.

Roaring Tiger
When you punch an opponent, instead of dealing damage you may spend Qi Dice up to # of Tiger Templates you have. Your opponent takes [SUM] damage

Supreme Destroyer
When you strike an opponent, you may destroy either all their armor or all their weapons instead of dealing damage. Your Rend and Iron Tiger Fist can now bend metal.

CRANE Crane is graceful and elegant, soaring with smooth precision.
A. Leaf on the Wind
B. Whispering Chimes, Dance with Arrows
C. In Eagle’s Shadow, Heart Fluttering Breeze
D. Imperial Sun Eagle Presence

Leaf on the Wind
Lightness of foot, Clearness of mind. You can leap twice as high as normal,
can easily clear an 8’ wall.

Whispering Chimes
You can run along the branches of trees, across calm water and up walls up to 16’ tall.
Your balance is perfect.

Dance with Arrows
Spend Qi Dice and spin your weapons in a blinding pattern. You take [Dice] less damage from ranged weapons for [Sum] minutes. May use this immediately when you are shot at.

In Eagle’s Shadow
Spend your Action to mark a target you see. Your next ranged attack WILL strike your target as long as you can still see them and they are within your maximum range.

Heart Fluttering Breeze
Soaring though the air as if on wings of silk, you no longer take damage from falling
and can leap up to 500’.

Imperial Sun Eagle Presence
When you whisper someone’s name and fire an arrow, spend all your remaining Qi.
If it is at all possible, the arrow will fly any distance, even turning in flight and WILL
strike your target in the heart.
Choose whether your arrow kills them instantly,
or makes them unable to ever feel love again.

MANTIS Mantis waits with absolute stealth, and strikes with terrible speed
A. Reflection on Water, Black Spider
B. Centipede Warrior Awakes, One Hundred Chrysalis Masks
C. 10,000,000 Faces
D. Infinite Reflection

Reflection on Water
When you move slowly, you make no sound and cannot be spotted in the dark.

Black Spider
May spend a Qi Die to perform a Jutsu technique, folding your hands in a specific pattern.
Allows you to climb any wall or unlock any door you touch, once.

Centipede Warrior Awakes
After you attack someone who was unaware of your presence, you may spend [Dice] of Qi to add or subtract the [Sum] from your attack roll.
You always go first in combat when striking from hiding.

One Hundred Chrysalis Masks
After observing your target for an hour, you may transform your face and outfit to look exactly like theirs. This disguise lasts for one day.

Ten Million Faces
By spending Qi, you may disguise yourself as anyone you have seen with a twirl of your cape and a puff of smoke. The disguise lasts for [Sum] minutes.

Infinite Reflection
You may spend a Qi Die to create a Smoke Shadow as an Action.
It looks like anyone you desire and will carry out all your commands.
Cannot interact with physical objects, being made of smoke. Can appear to hold objects.
Vanishes when struck by an attack. If you are surrounded by Smoke Shadows that look
like you, there is a Smoke Shadows/6 chance an attack aimed at you hits a Shadow instead.
Max Smoke Shadows = Your Templates.

OX Ox is patient, untiring and unmovable.
A. Bottomless Well, Horse Stance
B. Iron Bands, +1 HP
C. Sustaining Earth, Seven-Fold Furnace
D. Meteor Attack

Bottomless Well
You do not tire from running or hard labor. You can regain 1 Qi when you pause for a few minutes and drink some cool water.

Horse Stance
A bastion of sturdy balance, no force can move you when you set your feet.

Iron Bands
You have +2 to Maneuvers to grapple or wrestle opponents. You may spend Qi = to their HD/Templates on their turn to make them automatically fail to escape your grip.
When you Throw someone, they take damage = your Strength.
You must Grab them before you can Throw them.

Sustaining Earth
You regain +1 Qi at the start of your turn if you have none.

Seven-Fold Furnace
You ignore damage from dice that show a 1,2 or 3. Hardened Skin and Sun-Heart Core makes you immune to heat and cold.

Meteor Attack
When you charge for at least 10’ no force can stop you. Stone walls, iron bars and even the very mountains must give way before you.

DRAGON Dragon flows without effort to attack and defense

A. Mule Fury Kicks, Purse Taking Fleetness
B. Golden Lion Roar
C. Gorilla Hammer Kicks
D. Red Dragon Aura. Formless Form of Rippling Water

Mule Fury Kicks:
When you hit with a kick, you may spend 1 Qi Die to deal [Sum] extra damage.

Purse Taking Fleetness:
When an opponent within reach moves away from you, you may immediately move after them. (This does not allow you to follow somewhere that you could not normally go, such as straight up a wall or across a 16’ gap.)

Golden Lion Roar:
Your shout carries, as if screamed from the top of a mountain.
Your unarmed attacks send enemies of less HD than your Templates flying when they hit.

Gorilla Hammer Kicks:
You may spend any amount of Qi Dice when you hit with a kick to deal
[sum] extra damage. Those hit by your kicks must choose to be knocked prone or
drop all their money and valuables.

Red Dragon Aura:
Your gaze can cause a building or vehicle to catch fire, or stoke any fire into a blazing inferno that destroys all it touches. Lesser foes cannot meet your gaze.

Formless Form of Rippling Water:
When someone misses you with an unarmed attack, you may spend Qi Dice to make an unarmed attack immediately, it deals [Sum] damage on a hit.

MONKEY Playful Monkey frustrates opponents while just out of reach
A. Stumbling Stick-Sage
B. Dog Beating Stick Specialist|
C. Monkey steals the Peaches, Eyes of Fire
D. Unrivaled Beggar King

Stumbling Stick-Sage:
Staggering and reeling unpredictably, you take -1 damage from all sources and deal +1 damage with walking sticks and polearms.

Dog Beating Stick Specialist:
When you hit someone with a stick or unarmed attack, shove them back 10ft or leap back 10ft.

Monkey steals the Peaches:
When you hit your opponent with an unarmed strike, you may take any item they are carrying but not holding.

Eyes of Fire:
You see through all disguises, after a few minutes conversation you can detect someone’s true name and immediate intentions.

Unrivaled Beggar King:
Choose any other Kung-Fu Template Technique and replace this Template with that one permanently.

SNAKE Snake strikes and recoils swiftly, mastering the inner flow of Qi

A. Closing Seven Gates, Waterfall Phantom
B. Golden Path
C. Opening Seven Gates
D. Supreme Motionless Pond, Seven Serpent Pattern

Closing Seven Gates: When you strike an opponent with unarmed attacks, you may spend Qi. The opponent must SAVE or be completely paralyzed for [Sum] minutes.

Waterfall Phantom: When you would take damage in melee, you may spend Qi to Deflect. Reduce damage taken by [Sum].

Golden Path:
+1 to your Maximum Qi Dice.

Opening Seven Gates: You push yourself to the very limit, straining your meridians.
Lose 1D6 HP and gain that many Qi Dice. For one hour, ignore your normal maximum Qi Dice. Until you rest for one week, you cannot gain Chi dice without Opening Seven Gates.

Supreme Motionless Pond:
You may Deflect any number of melee attacks without
spending Qi. Reduce the damage by -5.

Seven Serpent Pattern:
You may spend one Qi when attacking unarmed. 
Make [sum] unarmed attacks against anyone within reach.

The Eighth Animal: Allow your Players to come up with an eighth animal if you wish. Or create one yourself.

A.

B.

C.

D.

Scholars who use ink as a weapon, Chaos-loving Bandits, Spider agents who reel you in with chains, Ninjas who can mirror your every move, Generals who lead their troops through complex Formations, Master Swordsmen and women who can kill with one precise cut. Immortality-seeking Alchemists. Pig warriors with unusual appetites.

The possibilities are only limited by your imagination, and supply of cool kung-fu movies ;{)

Succession- Does Heroes of Might and Magic work as a role-playing freekriegspiel board game?

 

Succession

It’s not really a Role-Playing Game, and not exactly and Area-control board game. So what is it?

Succession is my highly experimental project that combines free kriegspiel style role-playing and D&D fantasy with area control inspired by Heroes of Might and Magic and Dominions 6.

On the surface, this is a fairly straightforward board game. Each player begins with a home region, which can hold 3 buildings. They have a maximum of 3 Retinue characters at one time.

Each building can be used once, and each character in your Retinue can be moved and take one action. Each of these is a Turn. Once every player has taken turns activating characters and buildings, then the Round ends and all assets reset, available to be used again.

There is also the Command action, a free action which does not end your Turn. This can be used to build a building or hire a character to your Retinue. The other free action is Raise Troops. Your home region may raise Elite Troops, while provinces you rule may raise Militia troops.

The goal of the game is to prove yourself the worthy successor to the Old Empire. 
Seems simple right?

But how Succession differs drastically is the use of a Referee in place of traditional rules.

Players have absolute freedom when it comes to what characters they can try to hire, what buildings to build and what actions they can attempt.

Monster hunters could capture monsters roaming the lands and build a regiment of them to fight in the army.

Thieves can creep into foreign lands and steal magical artifacts, magical artifacts that your own Smiths, temples and wizard’s towers can create.

Each character and building has a level, and it increases whenever they take an action, from

Basic-Advanced-Expert-Master.

The Referee has the last word on whether an action succeeds.

My players tried to persuade the local elves, dwarves and hobbits in the nearby territories to join their empire peacefully, without needing to risk war. But their meager gifts, and the low skill of their ambassadors mostly failed to impress the locals.

Some players started the game with characters that were Doctors, diplomats and court fools.

Reluctant to spend their singe Command action to replace them, they instead set about using them as best they could, with entertaining results.

Ultimately, this style of game places tremendous responsibility on the Referee.

They must fairly adjudicate actions and conflicts between not just the monsters and denizens of the Realm, but between individual players.

So far we have completed one full Round of gameplay. I am curious to continue the experiment and see how viable this bizarre hybrid really is.