Gun-Ki, Hand of Fate - PnDRPG

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Gun-Ki: Hand of Fate
Tabletop RPG battle game (beta ver.1.1)
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For 1 to 6 players, co-op or versus.

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Contents
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1. Equipment
2. Scenario
3. Character Creation
4. Setup
5. How to Play
6. d6 Notation
7. Item List
7a. Weapons
7b. Strikes
7c. Spells
7d. Equipment
7e. One-shots
7f. Special Moves
8. NPC List
9. Credits/Legal


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1. Equipment
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~One regular deck of playing cards
~3 or more regular six-sided dice (d6)
~Character tokens (can be anything; chess pieces, tokens from Clue, Risk, Monopoly, etc.)
~Character sheets (see "Character Creation.")
~Something to keep track of each character's HP, Ki, and currently equipped weapons. Poker chips, scrap paper and pencil, calculators, etc.


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2. Scenario
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It is the Meiji Era in Japan. Powerful corrupt samurai rule like mob bosses over much of the land. Ninja and mercenaries are hired to assassinate the samurai. Something just short of civil war is born, diving Japan between the Imperials and the Outlaws.

You and your party are enjoying a card game at a saloon, when envoys of your despised enemy barge through the double-doors in a rage; their weapons drawn, their killer glares affixed on you. As the rest of the saloon makes a break for the door, you draw your weapons and prepare to fight for your lives.


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3. Character Creation
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You'll need at least one character for each human player. (One player can control multiple characters.) You can create characters by following the Character Creation template below:

Characters have the following stats:
HP
Spd
Str
Aim
Mag

HP (Hit Points) is how much damage you can take. When it hits 0, your character is incapacitated.
Spd (Speed) is how fast your character is. It determines which character moves first in a round.
Str (Strength) is your character's physical strength and defense. It is added to dice rolls for melee attacks and subtracted from the damage you take from melee attacks.
Aim (...Aim) is your character's line-of-sight capability and ability to dodge fire. It is added to rolls for ranged attacks and subtracted from the damage you take from ranged attacks.
Mag (Magic) is how well your character is attuned to the unseen forces of alchemy and nature. It is added to rolls for spells and subtracted from the damage you take from spells.

To begin, start a blank character with the following stats:

HP 50
Spd 0
Atk 0
Def 0
Mag 0

For a longer game, you can start with 100 HP. All human players will have the same HP.

Now, take 9 stat development points and distribute them as follows:

1 point buys +1Spd (cap is 6)
1 point buys +1Str (cap is 6)
1 point buys +1Aim (cap is 6)
1 point buys +1Mag (cap is 6)
(You can't exceed the caps for any one stat.)

With your stats filled in, give yourself an Inventory with six slots for Items, which are essentially weapons, spells, equipment, etc. You can also choose a Special Move, but you can only choose one, and it will take up one Item slot. Items and Special Moves are in the Items list (further down in this document.)

Also, give yourself two hands. (That's right, you need HANDS!) You hold your currently equipped Weapons in your hands. Weapons with the symbol "1h" take up one hand, weapons with the symbol "2h" take both hands to handle 'em. One more thing I should mention. Two-handed weapons are usually big, so they take up two slots in your Inventory. Your hands stay empty until battle begins.

(You might also give yourself an asthetic alliegance with either the Imperials, the Outlaws, or neutral. Nothing in this version uses alliegances, but I might incorporate them in a future expansion.)


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4. Setup
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Take the deck of playing cards and pull out all the aces, twos, threes, fours, and fives. There should be four of each, one from each suit. If not, you're not playing with a full deck. (lol!) This minideck will be the "Fate Deck." From the leftover cards, pull out 2 spades, 2 hearts, 2 diamonds, 2 clubs, and two other cards to be placed face-down. These ten cards will build the board you'll play on. Deal them out side-by-side (like a bridge) in the following order:

Spade, Heart, face-down card, Club, Diamond, Spade, Heart, face-down card, Club, Diamond.

The face-down cards are Cover spaces. These represent a column, pillar, table, or some kind of bunker you could get behind to dodge enemy arrows and gunfire. While on these spaces, you take 4 less damage from ranged attacks and spells.

Place all the character tokens of one party on or behind the Cover space on the left. In this game, any number of characters can stand on the same space, so it's okay if two or more tokens are on the same space. Place all enemy character tokens on or behind the Cover space on the opposite side of the board.

Now, whip out your Weapons! Choose a Weapon from your Inventory and put it in your character's hands. You can choose one two-handed weapon, or two one-handed weapons. You can only attack with weapons that are in your hands.

Finally, when everything else is ready, deal three cards face-up to the table from the Fate Deck. This is the Hand of Fate. All player characters draw from the same hand, regardless of whether their characters are friends or foes.


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5. How to Play
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The player with the highest Speed goes first. If there is a Speed tie between two or more player characters, the player(s) decide(s) who will move first. If there's a Speed tie between two or more NPCs (such as enemies), decide randomly who will move first (via coin flips, dice rolls, etc.) If there is a tie between a player character and an NPC, the player character ALWAYS goes first.

Speed tie easy reference chart:
PC + PC on same side: players decide
PC + PC on opposite sides: decide randomly
PC + NPC on same side: player decides
PC + NPC on opposite sides: player goes first
NPC + NPC on same side: decide randomly
NPC + NPC on opposite sides: decide randomly

When it's your turn, choose a card from the Hand of Fate. Choose wisely, as this will determine how many Fate Points (FP) you will have during your turn. This card becomes your Fate Card, and you hold onto it until the next time you draw a Fate Card, at which time you discard your old one.

Your Fate Card will either be a 2, 3, 4, 5, or an ace. That's how many Fate Points the card is worth. (Aces are worth 6.) If the color of your Fate Card (black or red) matches the color of the space you're standing on when you draw the card, you can double your FP. (2 would be worth 4FP, 3 would be worth 6FP, etc.) Aces cannot be doubled, they are always worth 6FP. Also, Cover spaces are blank, so if you draw a Fate Card while on a Cover space, you can't double.

Now that you know how many FP you can use, you can take your turn. There are a number of things you can do on your turn, but in general, you can do whatever you want as many times as you want in any order you want until you run out of FP.

Likely the first thing you'll want to do is move into position to attack. Moving one space over costs one FP. You can move forward or back as many times as you want, spending 1FP per step.

Once you're in position, you can attack with one of your equipped weapons. Each weapon has an FP cost and a dice roll, which is added to your character's Str for melee weapons or your character's Aim for ranged weapons. That's how much damage the attack does. (You'll then subtract your target's Str for melee attacks or your target's Aim for ranged attacks to find out how much actual HP the target loses. See "Item List.") You can attack as many times as you want.

You can also use strikes from the Items in your inventory. Each strike has an FP cost, which you pay in addition to the FP cost for the Weapon(s) you use the strike with. Strikes modify your regular attack, so do your regular attack plus whatever the strike does.

Spells are various elemental attacks that apply your Mag (Magic) stat. You roll dice for these like you do with attacks with Weapons. As with attacking with weapons, when you figure out the total damage for a spell, subtract the target's Mag to find out how much HP the target loses.

There are also special Items called one-shots that you can only use once per game. They might cost FP, and they might not. Check the Item to find out what it does.

If you wish, during your turn, you can also spend 1FP to switch out the weapons in your hands with ones in your Inventory. You can switch both hands out for just 1 FP, so if you have two one-handed weapons out and you switch out for two other one-handed weapons, it still only costs one FP.

Once again; generally you can do whatever you want, in any order you want, as many times as you want, until either you decide to stop or you run out of FP.

When you're done moving and attacking, (and if you have a Special Move) you can store any unused FP as Ki. Most Special Moves take 10 Ki. When you fill up your Ki, you'll have to wait until your next turn to use your Special Move. You can't use normal attacks or spells on the same turn that you use your Special Move, but you can still move around, so you draw a Fate Card at the beginning of your turn as usual.

After you've finished your turn, draw a new card to the Hand of Fate. (The Hand of Fate will always have three cards to choose from.) Then, the next fastest character takes a turn, until all characters have taken a turn. The first round ends and another round begins, starting with the fastest character. Play continues until all characters on one side are knocked out. The party left standing claims victory.

During the game, if the Fate Deck runs out (you can't draw a new card to the Hand of Fate,) reshuffle the discard pile and the remaining cards in the Hand of Fate. Then draw a new Hand of Fate with three cards. This will always happen at the end of a human player's turn. That player does the shuffling and dealing.

Also, if your character gets knocked out (HP is 0), leave it's token on the board on the space where it was knocked out. It is possible for another character to use an Item to revive a KO'd character with some HP. Just tip over a KO'd character's token, or set it off to the side of the same space it was KO'd on.


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6. d6 Notation
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This game uses a dice-rolling system similar to what you've probably seen if you've ever played a d20 System(tm) game like Dungeons & Dragons. The only difference here is that I've gone to great lengths (metaphorically speaking) to design a dice-rolling system that only uses common six-sided dice (called a d6.) This is how to read the notations used in Gun-Ki: Hand of Fate.

Examples:

d6
The d20 System(tm) calls a six-sided die a d6. This example means that you would roll one die and use the value that comes up.

2d6
A coefficient in front of "d6" means you roll that many dice and use the sum of the spots that come up. In case you flunked algebra, a "coefficient" is that little number in front of "d6."This example means that you roll two dice. "3d6" would be three dice, and so on.

2d6+3
Sometimes a constant will be added to (or subtracted from) a dice roll. In case you flunked algebra, a constant is a number that's not a varible... nevermind. In this example, you roll two dice and add 3 to whatever comes up.

d6(2d6)
This is where I part with d20(tm) convention. When you see a dice roll like this, you will be rolling the number of dice inside the parentheses, but only keeping the number of dice outside the parentheses. For "d6(2d6)," you roll 2d6 (two dice) and only keep the best d6 (one die) that comes up, ignoring the other dice.

d6(2d6)+3
If you've been paying attention to the previous two paragraphs, you ought to be able to figure this one out.

One more thing: If a dice roll requires you to subtract, and the dice value is going to be less than zero, it's just zero. There are no negative dice rolls.

That's all there is to d6 notation. Did I forget to mention in the header that basic arithmetic skills were required to fully enjoy this game?


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7. Item List
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Remember your character's Inventory has six slots. You don't have to choose a Special Move if you don't want one, but if you do, it takes up one slot, and you can only choose one Special Move.

Items have Classes that identify which broad category the Item fits in:

Weapons: These let you attack directly. There are many different kinds of weapons, but there are two basic types: melee and ranged.

Melee weapons target one enemy that's either on the same space as you or on an adjacent space to you (unless the weapon says otherwise.) Melee weapons apply Strength (Str.) Here's how to attack with a melee weapon:
1. Pay the weapon's FP cost.
2. Choose a target on the same space or an adjacent space.
3. Roll the dice for the weapon.
4. Add your character's Strength.
5. Subtract the target enemy's Strength.
6. Finally, knock that much HP off the enemy.

Ranged weapons target one enemy anywhere on the board. The only catch is that a projectile will lose velocity and accuracy over distance, so the farther away the target is, the less damage a ranged weapon will do. Ranged weapons apply Aim. Here's how to attack with a ranged weapon:
1. Pay the weapon's FP cost.
2. Choose a target anywhere on the board.
3. Roll the dice for the weapon.
4. Add your character's Aim.
5. Count the distance between you and your target. The space your standing on is "0," then count spaces until you reach the space your target is standing on.
6. Subtract that distance from your attack.
7. Subtract the target enemy's Aim.
8. FINALLY, knock that much HP off the enemy.

Also, weapons are keyed "1h" (one-handed) or "2h" (two-handed). Two-handed weapons take up two inventory slots, because they're big, long, and clumsy.

Strikes: These modify the way you attack with Weapons. They're usually specific to a type of weapon: swords, guns, etc. When you attack with a strike, you pay the Weapon's usual FP cost plus the strike's FP cost, then do your usual attack plus the strike.

Spells: These let you attack with magic (Mag). They usually have effects based on your Fate Card, the spaces your targets are standing on, etc. Spells can attack multiple enemies on multiple spaces. Here's how to attack with a spell:
1. Pay the spell's FP cost
2. Choose a target space. Spells have a range; range 0 affects only the target space, range 1 affects everything within 1 space of the target space, range 2 affects everything within 2 spaces of the target space, and so on.
3. Roll the dice for the spell.
4. Add your character's Magic.
5. Choose one enemy within the affected range.
6. Subtract the enemy character's Magic.
7. Knock that much HP off that enemy.
8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 for each enemy within the spell's affective area.

Equipment: Items of equipment usually alter your stats in some way. You don't really use equipment, it's just kinda... there, all the time, doing it's thing.... Also, for Equipment, you can only have one from an equipment subclass at a time. You can't have two Equip/Arms, Equip/Bodies, etc. In other words, you can only have one thing equipped to one part of your body at a time.

~One-shots: Things like recovery items. If you have a one-shot Item in your inventory, you can use it only once per game.


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7a. Weapons
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Katana
weapon/sword
1h, melee
1FP, d6(2d6)+3
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Claymore
weapon/greatsword
2h, melee
2FP, 3d6
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Dagger
weapon/shortsword
1h, melee
1FP, d6
If you didn't roll a 5 or 6 on this attack, attack again for free (0FP.)
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Naginata
weapon/polearm
2h, melee
2FP, d6+5
Polearms can reach up to two spaces away.
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Revolver
weapon/pistol
1h, ranged
1FP, 2d6
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Rifle
weapon/rifle
2h, ranged
2FP, 2d6+3
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Shotgun
weapon/shotgun
2h, ranged
3FP, 3d6
--
Longbow
weapon/bow
2h, ranged
1FP, d6+5
--


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7b. Strikes
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Hard Attack
Strike for melee weapons
1FP
Add d6-2 to your regular attack.
--
Wing Shot
Strike for ranged weapons
1FP
If distance between you and your target is greater than 4, add +4 to your attack.
--
Pipping the Ace
Strike for ranged weapons
1FP
Add +2 to your attack.
--
Fatal Slash
Strike for melee weapons
1FP
Add the face value of your Fate Card to your regular attack


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7c. Spells
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Spells will be in one of the following elements:
Fire (Spades)
Earth (Hearts)
Wind (Clubs)
Water (Diamonds)
Yang (black)
Yin (red)
Ki (non-elemental, Cover spaces)

For all attack spells, if the target is standing on a space that matches the element of the spell, it will take double damage. The elemental focus at that space amplifies the spell. Basic alchemy.

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Spark Bolt
spell/Wind
1FP, range 0, d6(2d6)
--
Thunder Bolt
spell/Wind
2FP, range 1, d6+2
--
Whip of Thorns
spell/Earth
1FP, range 0, 2d6+2
Must be on or adjacent to the target space.
--
Gravity Well
spell/Earth
2FP, range 1, d6
Roll d6 for each targeted enemy. If it's 5 or 6, target cannot move on it's next turn.
--
Vortex Flames
spell/Fire
2FP, range 0, d6+3
--
Firestorm
spell/Fire
3FP, range 1, 2d6
--
Ice Needle
spell/Water
1FP, range 0, d6(2d6)
Targets only one enemy.
--
Hail Wave
spell/Water
1FP, range 2, d6
--
Exploding Ki Bullet
spell/Ki
2FP, range 0, d6+FC  //FC = face value of your Fate Card
Targets only one enemy.


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7d. Equipment
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--
Gauntlets
equip/Arm
+1Str
--
Chain Mail
equip/Body
Take 2 less damage from melee attacks
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Iron Shield
equip/Arm
Take 2 less damage from ranged attacks
--
Mythril Gloves
equip/Arm
+1Mag
--
Kimono
equip/Body
+2Spd
--
Moccasins
equip/Feet
+1Spd
--


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7e. One-shots
--

--
Sake Flask
one-shot/recov
2FP
Recover 10HP to yourself or an ally on the same space
--
Vial of Cordial
one-shot/recov
2FP
Revive a KO'd ally on the same space or an adjacent space with 15HP
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Bomb
one-shot/attack
3FP
Place a "Bomb token" on the board within two spaces of your character. At the beginning of your next turn, it explodes doing 12 damage to every character within two spaces of it. If it is attacked by a Fire Spell, it immediately explodes.
--


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7f. Special Moves
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Remember, you can only have one Special Move, and it takes up one of your Item slots in your Inventory.

After your turn, you can store any unused FP you have as Ki. When you get enough Ki, you can unleash your Special Move on your next turn. You can't use regular attacks and spells on the same turn you plan to use a Special Move, but you can still move your character.

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Amaterasu's Spear
S.Move
10 Ki
Choose one enemy. That enemy and all enemies on the same space and adjacent spaces take 3d6 damage.
--
Meteor Shower Gun Fury
S.Move
10 Ki
(inspired by ~thebluemage)
Must have a pistol in your hand.
Choose one enemy. Your character dashes to the same space as that enemy, doing the pistol's normal attack  times. Your character remains on that space afterward.
--
Ki Bullet Gatling Gun
S.Move
10 Ki
Choose one enemy. Do 2d6+2d6+2d6 damage to it.
--
Blade of Madness
S.Move
10 Ki
Must have a bladed melee weapon.
Choose one enemy. Ignoring it's Strength, do your regular attack as many times as the face value of your Fate Card.
--


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8. NPC List
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I just HAVE to interject some developer's notes here: creating autonomous enemies was the biggest challenge of creating this game, but I think I finally figured out something that's balanced enough without being too complex (and worse, boring.)

NPCs do not draw from the Hand of Fate, instead, you roll a single 6-sided die for everything they do. You may have to roll multiple times, but I've written into their character sheets everything you need to do in order, step by step.

Unlike player characters, which can move and attack in any order, NPCs will always move first, then attack until their FP runs out. They way they move and attack depends on their strategy: Fighter, Ranger, or Spellcaster.
~Fighters will move just enough to come within range of the closest enemy and attack until FP runs out.
~Rangers will attack enemies at random (via die rolls) until FP runs out.
~Spellcasters use a similar strategy to Rangers. They will randomly choose target spaces occupied by enemy characters, and attack until FP runs out.

Most NPCs use a single-minded strategy, others decide before their move which strategy they will use by rolling a die.

Once it "knows" it's strategy, the first thing an NPC will usually do is dash. (This is a technique designed basically to randomize their starting positions.) Roll a die. That's how many spaces the NPC dashes. Then flip a coin. Heads, it moves forward, tails, it moves back; forward being away from the side of the board it started on, and back being back toward the side of the board it started on. If it dashes to the edge of the board, it stops on the last space.

The next thing an NPC will do is roll for Fate Points. (a fate roll) An NPC might roll 1 or 2 dice for FP, or add/subtract a certain number of points to/from a roll, but it does not double it's FP the way players can by drawing the right cards from the Hand of Fate. This is how many points it has for the turn, and it will use them all up. It doesn't save any up for Special Moves.

If an NPC is moving where it's supposed to go but runs out of FP before it gets there, it stops there and does nothing, it's turn is over.

Finally, most NPCs will only have one type of attack, but if it has more than one, roll a die to find out which attack it uses. Do that each time an NPC is about to attack. If you roll for an attack and the NPC can't pay it's FP cost, that NPC has run out of FP, and it's turn is over.


NPCs
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Ronin
HP 50
Spd 3
Str 4
Aim 2
Mag 1
--
strategy:
fighter
Fate roll: d6+2
Attack: Katana
weapon/sword
1h, melee
1FP, d6(2d6)+3


Archer
HP 50
Spd 4
Str 2
Aim 4
Mag 2
--
strategy:
ranger
Fate roll: d6+2
Attack: Longbow
weapon/bow
2h, ranged
1FP, d6+5


Mage
HP 50
Spd 3
Str 0
Aim 1
Mag 5
--
strategy:
spellcaster
Fate roll: d6+2
Attack:
[1-4]:
Spark Bolt
spell/Wind
1FP, range 0, d6(2d6)
[5-6]:
Vortex Flames
spell/Fire
2FP, range 0, d6+3


Gunfighter
HP 50
Spd 2
Str 3
Aim 4
Mag 0
--
strategy:
[1-3]: fighter
[4-6]: ranger
Fate roll: d6+2
Attack:
(fighter
Katana
weapon/sword
1h, melee
1FP, d6(2d6)+3
(ranger
Revolver
weapon/pistol
1h, ranged
1FP, 2d6


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9. Credits/Legal
--

Copyright (c) 2006 Ryan Summerlin (ColdFlameZero), Blue Fire Productions

Designed by Ryan (ColdFlameZero)
coldflamezero.deviantart.com

William "Fuzz" Summerlin
Co-creator, original "Gun-Ki Bakkudosan" and "Goh Kangsi!" characters.
sylvanfury.deviantart.com

Special Thanks to everyone who will actually play this game.
Extra Special Thanks to everyone who contributes and helps make this a better game.

All things pertaining to "Gun-Ki: Hand of Fate," including game mechanics, terminology, characters, story, scenario, etc. are intellectual property of the Summerlin brothers. You have permission to print this document, change the original file format, write new Items, enhance rules, and essentially do whatever you need to do to play the game or enhance your own gameplay experience. However, please do not post this document or an altered version of it (in whole or in part) on another website (or otherwise re-publish this game) without consent of the Summerlin brothers. Just ASK first, PLEASE.

d20 System(tm) and Dungeons & Dragons are (c) Wizards of the Coast / HASBRO. A bit of Special Thanks to WotC. If DnD didn't suck so hard I might not have expended so much of my free time to make a better paper-and-dice RPG. (IMO no flaming plz.)