WELCOME TO NEW REALMS LITE v1.3

Yet ANOTHER Universal Anime RPG
Brought to you by
ReapermanX

**************************************DISCLAIMER*********************************************
This is just a small note telling you that if I mention any other RPG’s, Anime, Manga, People, Companies, and Places, that these are only references to illustrate a point.  All rights exclusive to the copyright holders.  Also with this, I’d like to say that this FREE RPG and is to remain that way.  If you distribute this, then you must do so without thought of reimbursement, save to cover the cost of the distribution medium.  Also, it may not be “packaged” with items that implicate a defaulted cost upon this, NRv1.3, although it may be “packaged” within media that includes items that their creators would like reimbursement, but do not demand it.  This game may be modified for personal use but redistributing this work, with changes, requires the inclusion of this, the source game.  The changed copy must contain this work within its appendix, in a complete and unadulterated fashion.  The changed copy must abide by the same rules laid out here for the original.
**************************************DISCLAIMER*********************************************

Chapter [1]
	*What you need to play
	*How the system works
Chapter [2]
	*Quick character creation
	*Explanations
	*Skills
Chapter [3]
	*Money and Equipment
	*How vehicles work
	*Android Creations
	*Melee weapons
	*Projectile weapons
	*Armor
Chapter [4]
	*Magic, Psionics, and Supers
	*Theory/Option System
	*Anime “Shticks”
Chapter[5]
	*Combat explained
	*STREET-FIGHT!!!!
	*Damage and Healing
Chapter[6]
	*Xp and how it works
	*Xp and how to spend it
Chapter [7]
	*Nemesis
	*Continuing the Story
	*GM’s notes
	*Anything else?
Appendix
	*Personal Note
	*Contact
	*Character Sheet	

Chapter [1]

	*What you need to play.
	
	This is pretty simple and basic to any RPG.  What you need are some chips, good music to set the Anime mood (I recommend Shonin Knife), some friends, as they will be the one’s playing it (you get to be GM!), a random idea to base the story on, some pencils, some dice, a couple finished characters and these rules might also come in handy.  And by what I mean by “some dice” is 1 solitary 20-sided die for each person in the group.  Many of you haven’t seen one before, but you’ll get use to them.  For now, you can use 2 10 sided dice or even 3 6 six sided dice but don’t do it for long!

	*Systems.
	
	The entire game is based upon a statistical average between 1 and 20.  A “natural” 1 (or the lowest equivalent) is an automatic success regardless of what was rolled against, and a 20 ( or equivalent) is always a failure.  This “natural” selection (pardon the pun) doesn’t mean anything more than success or failure.  No special bonus/penalty is granted or given, unless the GM rules otherwise.
	The number to be rolled against is called the ‘score’.  ‘Score’ is found in numerous ways.  In a “Skill Check”, the player adds the level of their skill to the appropriate attribute listed.  This sum is the ‘score’.  In an “Attribute” check, the player merely rolls against the attribute’s value.  A ‘Bunk’ roll, or when the character doesn’t have a skill, is made the same way as an “Attribute“ check.  In combat, a “Damage” roll is the sum of the character’s Body + AV of the weapon.  Throughout the text, more examples will be listed.
	Sometimes, the GM may choose to modify the situation with a bonus (+X) or a penalty (-X).  Whichever the GM decides, the modifier is used on ‘score’ and not the die roll.
	Sometimes, a player will be rolling against a value higher than 20.  In the case of everything but a “Damage” roll, only a 20 will cause a failure as it is automatic.  
	Whenever Sp is to be spent on a given ability, the Sp is always deducted before the action.  If the action passes or fails, the Sp is still spent.
	
Chapter [2]

	*Quick character creation

	Creating a character for NR is a fairly involved process.  First, the GM assigns the genre that the players will be in.  Anime genres include Horror, Romantic Comedy, Sci-Fi, Sci-Fantasy, High School Soap and many others.  The GM assigns one as the basis for their game.  Second, they lay out the world’s groundwork, things like cities, towns, social structures, money, and the like.  
	Next, the players fill in their concepts.  A concept is an outline of the character, in no more than 3 lines, of what their character is.  A-ko was a ‘Bubbly Super Heroine‘.  Ranma is a ‘Guy that turns into a chick and has to live with it.’  
	Now, fill in their backgrounds.  Answer such daunting questions as, “What is my character’s name?  Who are his/her brothers and sisters?  Where does my Character live?  How much does he make at his job at the grocery?”
	In this step, fill out the physical description.  Remember, in NR it’s perfectly fine to say that your character is a “natural violet with bright black (and big) eyes.”  If you can find the time, draw your character’s picture.  
	Finally, you’ve come to the ‘attributes’ part.  Each character has 4 attributes: 

Body:  How strong and healthy the character is.

Quickness:  How fast they are.

Mental:  How smart they are and how intelligent they are.

Virtue:  How valiant and pure of heart they are.  (Sorry, but it’s a necessity in
	  Animes!)

All attributes are rated 1 through 20, with 4 being the norm and 10 being the “human” maximum.  At 11+, the attributes become more and more in human.  To illustrate this, take a look at this chart for Body.

Body 1:  Very Elderly or Small Child.  Barely capable of lifting oneself.
Body 3:  You tend to be real skinny or real fat and catch cold quite easily.
Body 4:  Face it, you’re normal.
Body 6:  You compete in tournaments around the state.
Body 8:  You are commonly referred to as “The ‘Wall’ over there”.
Body 10:  You bench press guys with Body 8.
Body 13:  When scrounging for loose change, you pick up the couch and shake.
Body 15:  You can arm-wrestle smaller mecha.
Body 17:  You can Sumo-wrestle Most Mecha.
Body 19:  You decided to move, so you picked up the house and set it down two
	      blocks down the road, repeating the process until you got it just right.
Body 20:  You don’t ‘hit‘ things, you cause collateral damage.

	I hope this little chart helped to illustrate how the stats worked?  If not, you’ll figure something out.

	*Explanations.

	If you look at the character sheet, you’ll see more than just the stats.  The following is a list of the other entries, how to find them and what they mean.

Hp:  Hit Points or How much game damage the character can take before going unconscious.  Equal to Body + d20 roll.

Heal:  How long, in hours, it takes the character to heal 1Hp of damage.  Equal to 24hrs / Body.

Sp: Specialty Points.  Fuel for all special abilities.  Equal to Virtue + d20 roll.

Regen:  Regenerate.  How many Sp the character regains each hour regardless of circumstance.  Roll d20 but must minimally be equal to 1/2 Virtue.

Actions:  The number of times a character may act in a 3 second round.  Equal to Quickness -1.

Dodge:  Generic.  An unskilled attempt at moving out of the way of an attack.  Only used if the character doesn’t take Brawling.  Equal to Quickness -2.

Impr:  Impress.  Ones ability to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies just by grabbing their weapon.  Equal to the Average of Virtue plus appropriate Weapon skill/2.

Luck:  A “Catch-22“ or “Fudge“ attribute.  If a character needs something to roll against, and nothing else seems applicable, then this is the number used as ’score’.  Equal to the average of the attributes divided by 2.

	*Skills.

	Throughout our lives as sentient creatures, we learn things.  These ‘things’ are called skills.  Each character has (Virtue + Mental) X 2 to ’spend’ on skills.  All skills are measured in terms of a level between 1 and 10.  No skill, regardless or attribute, may go above 10.  With the entries to the following skills, an attribute is listed.  This is the attribute used to find ‘score’ or the attribute used as ‘bunk’.  A ‘bunk’ skill, is a skill that the character doesn’t have but has sufficient knowledge of to attempt it’s use.

Animal (Mental): This skill allows you to work and train one particular kind of domestic animal (dog, cats, goats, etc.).  With the GM’s permission and a proper excuse, you could train one type of exotic animal, lions, dolphins, etc..

Brawling (Quickness)  The manly Art of kicking someone’s ass.  See the Combat section for more on this.  

Combat Skills  (Virtue)  A trained technique that you use in combat.  Things like blind-fighting and fast draw fall into this category.

Crafts (Mental, mostly) Any single skill that can be used as a career, from acting to weaponsmithing.  Unless otherwise told, use Mental as the Bunk.

Detection (Mental) An ability to spot things out of the usual.  Since this is a mostly ‘reflexive’ skill, it’s maximum level is equal to Virtue (or 10 if lower).

Driving (Quickness) whether it’s a motorcycle or someone’s last nerve, you choose the vehicle.

General Education (Mental, as “in going...”)  Not just an elementary school education, but if the story is set in a High School, a working knowledge of the various clicks and social groups.

Healing (Mental) at it’s most basic, this is first aid.  A higher level in skill might mean that the character is an RN or Doctor.  In mid-evil settings, this also gives the character a knowledge of Herbalism.

Inspire (Virtue) This is the skill of leaders.  Having this allows you to speak to large groups and to get them to do what you want by inspiring them in a particular method, be it with jokes or patriotism.  You choose the method.

Language (Mental) Pick a language and whether you can speak it or read and write it.  One must take this skill twice in order to do both.

Lore (Mental) Ones accumulated knowledge of a particular subject.  Examples include Mage Lore, Hunters Lore, Fools’ Lore, and Religious Lore.

Melee (Body) Pick a weapon.  You now know how to use it.

Piloting (Quickness) You can maneuver one type of vehicle that isn’t “driven”.  Examples include starships, jet skis, and Mecha.

Sciences (Mental) You are or were, studying a branch of science.  Includes anything that ends with the word “science”.

Skull Duggery (Quickness) Tricks of the ninja.  You choose what kind.  Examples are picking pockets, stealth, and shadowing.

Sports (Body) Any sport may be taken as a skill cause you never know when your pitching stance will save your life.

	This list is far from complete.  Feel free to add to it, remove it, or just tweak it out.  I probably will.

Chapter [3]

	*Money and Equipment.

	Let me just say this:  I hope you’re going to use a monetary system that you know pretty well!  Trying to be creative is fine, until you lose the conversion chart.  For everyone playing NR, I suggest that you use what you know, a modified version of your current currency, be it Rupees, Yen, or Buckskins.  This will also make getting your player’s money and equipment a whole let less of a headache.  We all know what a pair of sneakers cost, about how much a hammer weights, and that Pokemon are annoying as hell (Digimon could kick their buts).  With that in mind, go back through to the character’s background.  If they had a job, what kind?  This should determine their starting monies, not a die roll.  If they own a car, it should be something they could afford.  Not something that they bought because they rolled “maximum starting cash”.  But, sometimes rolling dice can’t be helped because who are we to say what an Anime character actually has for a day job.  
	Starting cash is easy then, using the fact that we will be using our own currencies (mines American), we just roll d20 and multiply it by something appropriate to our socio-economical class.  Sounds fun right?  Don’t worry, Just multiply the d20 by an amount that you, as GM and all-god-supreme, think is fair.
	To figure out equipment is just as easy, simply grab the nearest store catalogue and look it up.  Use this catalogue for all generic purchase for stuff like clothes, accessories, even tools and other hardware.  For weapons, make it up.  A good sword (Katana), starts at around $250 and can go as high as $50, 000 for an antique that isn‘t functional.

	*How vehicles work.

	Essentially, all vehicles have attributes just like people.  Cars have a Quickness because they can move, Mecha have that and Body because they can deliver damage.  Using the player assigned attributes works a lot better than making up a whole new system because Supers will have abilities that vehicles have by design!
	How does the vehicle have said attributes?  Think about this one logically.  Cars have engines.  Without it, the car doesn’t move, ergo, the car wouldn’t have a Quickness without it.  Mecha’s have engines too, so do boats, planes, etc.  The larger the engine, the faster a vehicle moves.  How much do they cost?  I don’t know, make it up.  If you can tell me how much a ‘Quilzarian Battler Triposhe Matrix’ costs, you obviously don’t need my input.
	Remember too, that vehicles need fuel.  How much, well, a good mileage on a car is 60 miles per gallon of gasoline.  So who’s to say that this isn’t true for a Mecha?  The wonderful thing about Anime technology is that it isn’t based in reality.  Making things up for your Realms is have the fun(?) of this game.

	*Android Creations.
	
	Inevitably, this subject will come up.  What about characters that are Cyborgs?  Or Androids?  How do I make them?  Simply follow the normal rules for character creation, except that the player’s cyborg parts cost something.  How much is left to the GM.  Any special abilities that having a certain “part” grants a cyborg should be govern using the Theory/Option system described later in this work.  Read the following for more on repair and maintenance.
	Androids, on the other hand, pose a bit of a challenge.  It is assumed for the most part, that all Androids created will look like their creators, humans.  This means that millions upon millions of dollars will be needed to make this character.  It is unlike that they will have much, if any, starting money and not much of a past.   But if you absolutely must have one, then just follow the normal guides to making a character.  Androids have all the same things that a human does except for the “Heal” sub-attribute.  They, like all machines, must be repaired (unless they have a nifty Regeneration ability).  It takes exactly 15 minutes to repair 1Hp worth of damage from an Android.  And only 1 roll per hour per Mechanic can be made.  The number by which the mechanic passes by is the number of Hp that can be healed that hour, up to a maximum of 4.
	Like other machines, Androids need fuel.  This can be whisked away by saying that the character can gain appropriate fuels just by eating, like a person does.  Or the character comes with an extension cord.  One of the two.
	Also, Androids (and some cyborgs) don’t need to breathe.  Or need sunlight to stay sane (yes all you goths.  You do need sunlight to stay sane.).  Or can have children (except with the aid of a twisted GM).  Biologically, they don’t age either, they always stay the same.
	Further advantages and disadvantages of Cybernetics and Adroidism, is left to the GM because if I go into detail now, I can’t write a supplement.

	*Melee Weapons.

	The traditional forte of almost every RPG is the art of fighting.  One of the fun things about Anime and Manga is the weapon design.  Because designs are so extreme in some cases, weapons will be generisized (like the term).  What this means is that the relative size of the weapon will be the final determinant of what kind of damage the thing can do.  Weapons are broken down into Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Big, and Extra-Big.  This means, that regardless of shape and design, similar weapons do similar damage.  Also, that means that you can pick damn near anything up and hit someone with it!!!!
	Attack Value (AV) is what the size determines.  Tiny weapons, like Studded Gloves, Shuriken, or Broken Bottles, all have AV1.  Small weapons, like Gauntlets, Daggers, and Hatchets, have AV2.  See the trend building.  The maximum AV for Extra-Heavy is 6.  More examples of weapons by size is 

Medium:  Short Swords, Nunchakus, Kama, Axe.
Large:  Most Swords, Battle-Axe, Whips (yes, length does matter), Morning Star.
Big:  Most Staffs, Pole-Arms, No-daichi, SledgeHammer.
Extra-Big: Lances, O-daichi, People.

	The other thing that needs to be known about  weapon is it’s Impress (Imp.).  Typical to all dramatic fight scenes is where the enemies surround one person who only draws their sword.  In this one act, they’ve managed to do enough emotional distress to their opponents to A) get away or B) give themselves room to start a really deadly onslaught.  Whenever a character draws a weapon against a number of enemies less than or equal to their Imp., all enemies must roll Vs Imp. with failure indicating that any action to attack is at -3 due to fear!  They don’t want to die and this person looks like they could do it!  At least... to them.  Trying Impress on more enemies than it is current score will only serve to annoy them because they now outnumber you by a lot!

	*Projectile weapons.

	Another fun thing about these kinds of games is being able to hit people at a distance.  So mankind (and Anime/Manga kind) created ranged weaponry.  Some weapons should be marked as “Ranged”.  The range one can throw these weapons is Body X 10’.  This is because some Anime character’s can hurl things like balanced Short Swords or Shuriken hundred’s of feet!  Why, because it’s cool.  End that list of reasons.  Any weapon that the character wants to chuck that they can pick up can also be thrown at Body X 2’.  This explains those scenes when the hero dramatically throws his sword, point first, into the enemy’s heart.
	This calculation however, is the minimum range that the weapon can be thrown.  The character may elect to throw the weapon further by taking a -1 penalty to ‘score’ for every multiple of Range.  So chucking your balanced Dagger with Body4 means that you could hit a target 120’ away with only a -2 penalty!
	Some weapons are strictly used at range, like bows and guns.  Regular bows use the normal rules for Melee weapons but only take into account what type of bow they’re using to determine AV.  IE, a long bow or daikyu is a Large Weapon.  Crossbows come with a built in Body Value to determine everything about them based on the size of the bow.  A pistol crossbow might only have a Body Value of 2 while someone using a ballista for a crossbow might get one with a Body Value of 13+!
	Guns, is a totally different kind of problem.  Essentially, they do a set amount of damage, go so far, and have a number of times they can do this.  For the sake of argument, guns come in 5 types:  Revolver, Pistol, Rifle, Auto-Matic, and BFG whatever!.  
	Revolvers will all have between 6 - 8 shots, AV between 5 -30, and have a Range 20’ - 60’.  They only fire 1 bullet at a time.
	Pistols are somewhat weaker than Revolvers, only having an AV between 3 - 20, but have anywhere from 6 - 20 rounds per clip, and Range 30’ - 80’.  They only fire 1 bullet at a time.
	Rifles are great for all reasons but are fairly noticeable.  Shotguns, for reference, have been placed here.  AV’s are 10 - 40, rounds are from 1 bullet to a housing of 10 clips per magazine and have a distance of 80’ - 150’.  The rifle work up here is for semi-automatics and single shots only.
	Auto-Matics are just automatic versions of either pistols or rifles.  Use the models above but modify them thusly for auto-matic:
	Add +1 to AV for every round used for the attack, Add +5 to +50 for the clips depending upon the type of gun or rifle, decrease the Range by -10 to 1/2, Penalize the attackers ‘score’ by -1 per 5 rounds fired, and the maximum number of bullets to be expelled any round is 3/4 of the clip.  
	BFG Whatever! weapons don’t have any model prototypes here because they are too varied.  Stuff like “Street-Sweepers” and “LAWs” (Light Anti-tank Weapons) fit here.  It is up to the GM to make these overpowered weapons as they have to deal with them.
	
	*Armour.

	Armour comes in many shapes and sizes but can be applied one of two types:  Soft or Hard.  From there, we can further split them into Light, Medium, and Heavy Versions.  To keep this brief, depending upon the type of armor you have, it will protect you from only so much damage before it craps out on you.  How much?  For Soft, Light 5, Medium 10, Heavy 15.  For Hard, Light 10, Medium 15, Heavy 20.  What does that mean?  Each time that you are attacked, your armor will block up to this much damage before it is bypassed and you start taking damage.  Good huh?
	At this point, some of you might be noticing the overlap between S. Medium, S. Heavy, H. Light, and H. Medium, and be asking yourself, “What would be the point of getting Soft Armour when Hard Armour is there?”  Well, to be honest, Hp of the armor and cost.  Armor, like characters, has Hp.  You make that Hp go away, and it stops working, just like characters.  Soft armor has 3hp per point of it’s defense.  Hard armors have 5hp per.  Every time your armor gets hit, it doesn’t magically go away (unless... ), it takes its it away from it’s hit points.  The defensive value of the armor is just the number of Hp that your armor can lose in 1 action before you get hurt.  The damage still gets taken of from it.  And when your armors Hp goes below its defensive value, it takes less damage to get to you.

	It’s also at this point where I should fill you in on Sci-Fi weaponry and armor.  Basically, it’s all the same.  No modifications really need to be made unless the GM wants a bloodbath on his hands.  More often than not, in the Realms of Science Fiction, energy based weapons replace conventional weapons so their stats can be written off.  If however, the GM feels that one type of energy weapon is more destructive than another, say Lasers are weaker than Ionic weapons, then he should up the AV by +5 or so from the original conventional weapon prototype.  I am assuming for the most part that the energy weapons work on principles like they have a certain number of shots, can only go so far, et cetera.
	Future armor types might also provide defense solely against one form of energy based attack.  Just assume that it has no defensive abilities against any other type.
	Also, energy weapons may include some fairly nasty side effects ranging from mutations to ambient radiation.  Sci-Fi weapons might be good for killing things but remember that with science comes human error.

Chapter [4]

	*Magic, Psionics, and Supers.

	Customary to any Anime/Manga, is the appearance of a whole slew of people with powers and abilities far beyond the keen of normal people.  Some of them can lift cars, control vast amounts of magic, while other’s employ some arcane power unexplained.  In NEW REALMS, this is still true!  Almost all of the sessions you run, regardless of genre, will have people who can do unusual things.  
	Magic is the ability to control some kind of “force” with gestures, words, dances, and various hard to find materials.
	Psionics are abilities of the mind.  They range from thought-to-thought transmission (telepathy), to hurling objects around without touching them (telekinesis), to maybe even moving oneself without traversing the space between (psychoportation).
	Supers are people born or granted unique powers.  The source generally determines what gifts are granted.  Due to some powers, the user may experience a few “quirks”, like they glow if they shoot fireballs, grow wings to fly, etc.  
	In NR, all these things run the same way regardless of what the player has or is doing.  The GM dictates what the power does, the player then “tweaks” it in the ways that they desire/can, burns some Sp and rolls.  
	All special powers, regardless of source and/or type, is rated in the same way normal skills are, with a level between 1 and 10.  A “bunk” is assigned by the GM for the character with the power only!!!  Spells and Psionics can share bunks, as others can learn them, but Super powers are unique unto the user.
	Other than requiring Sp, a given power also has a “charging time” determined by the Sp used.  If a player’s power only uses an amount of Sp equal to the level of the ability, the power is used on that turn and has no charging time.  If, however, they use any more, every point over the skill’s level is 1 additional action that the player spends “charging” an ability.  This applies even to such powers as “Super Speed” or other such “intrinsic” abilities.  That’s because the player can get “Super Speed” by buying up his Quickness.  The powers assume that the player spends a few moments of game time invoking various spirits, ritual fetishes, cosmic forces, whatever.  All the while, shouting the name of the power at the top of his lungs, while cool glowing lights and music start up in the background!
	
	*Theory/Option System.

	Now that you know the aesthetics of casting and using abilities, let me tell you how they actually work.
	All powers start from a certain “base”.  The “base” is everything that the power can do, how long it lasts, how far (if ranged) it goes, the damage, etc.  This base has a minimum Sp cost of something too.  All the information within the “base” is called the GM’s Theory.  Or it’s called “A vain attempt to keep the game balanced.”  It’s within the Theory that the GM sets all stipulations that need to be followed.
	The Option, or Player’s Option, part is where the player gets to “tweak” up the power.  A super fast character might be able to squeeze a little more speed out of himself, or a priest might be able to heal all the damage, or a Telepath could break that mental block if they just try harder.  Option is the allowances the GM makes to the characters, for just trying harder.  Every “option” that’s left to the player is something that they can boost using Sp.
	To further illustrate what I mean for those that got lost, here’s an example:

	Say player A wants a the ability to teleport as a starting Psionic skill.  The GM then declares that:   
(GM THEORY)
	You may move 25lbs exactly 10’ in any given direction.  This costs 2Sp.

	He further declares:

(Player’s Option)  
	For 1Sp, you may either add 25lbs to the current weight or move an additional 10’.

	Now class, did you all follow that?  Good.  The Theory is always explicit to prevent confusion and the Option should always be fair enough to constitute the cost of increases.  Say if the GM charged player A 10Sp for the base and 5Sp to add to either part of the skill, Player A should slap him stupid (or smart as the case may be).
	Here are some further examples for common powers.

Name:  Fire (or other random elemental attack)
Theory:  Can create a AV1 fireball for a Range of 10’.  Base cost 1Sp
Option: Increase AV +1 or Range +10’ per Sp.

Name:  Heal (or Cure for some folks.  You cure wounds and heal ailments!)
Theory:  Can restore 1Hp.  Base cost 2Sp
Option:  May cure an additional 1Hp per 2Sp

Name:  Sleep
Theory:  Causes 1 victim to fall asleep for 1 minute.  Base cost 5Sp
Option:  Increase either number of victims or duration for 3Sp per increment.

	And the list goes on...

	*Anime “Shticks”.

	It’s in this section that I believe it’s more than appropriate to point out that in every Anime, there are characters designed for comic relief.  They typically have expressions or do things that would obviously be painful or even fatal, only to walk away to do it another day.
	Other than facial expressions, some actions, like repeatedly smacking a ‘piggish’ male until he drops to the floor or fuming at someone so bad that smokes or steam pops out of your ears also count.
	These are Anime “Shticks”, they don’t serve any purpose but to express a mood.  If at any time, a player should do one, automatically make them King for a day and take them for coffee... on you.  (Even poor gamers have money for coffee/Jolt cola)
	But their characters may do them if the GM allows.  It costs nothing to do them, only that they be appropriate for the situation.  Plus, NO “SHTICK” can be used to permanently harm or kill another person!  It doesn’t happen in Anime/Manga, so it won’t happen here.  A wise word to GM’s, if your players get caught up in having their characters do these, don’t let them anymore.  You’ve sometimes got to put your foot down or you won’t get anything done.

Chapter [5]

	*Combat explained.

	I mentioned before that weapons are the forte of most PnP Rpg’s.  This is because the glory of combat, even vicarious, can be a thrill.  Combat in NR is supposed to be fun, exciting, and above all, QUICK!  The reason being, in all the Anime’s that you’ve watched and Manga that you read:  How long do the character’s actually fight?  They exchange a number of mind numbing attacks, but how long?  About 90% of every good fight is either quips at one another’s egos or just general shouting and ducking.  The actual fighting parts only take a second or two.
	Earlier, you found that Quickness -1 is the number of actions that you get in one 3 second round.  That’s a lot of time and a lot of actions to use it up with.  Now you need to know about another wonderful sub-attribute:  Initiative.  Initiative is equal to the sum of all your statistics.  Added to this is a d20 roll at the start of each new combat.  Why not just use one stat as the determinant for initiative?  Because sometimes a good idea flies faster than a fleet foot (yes, an ancient oriental proverb).	After figuring out who goes first, other’s go in decreasing order of initiative, ties going to the person with the higher some.
	Next, the player with the highest initiative takes their first action(s), they may use all, part, or none.  Their actions may be anything from power use, a direct attack, or a witty pun.  Anything.  If it’s an attack, the player(s) receiving may only take defensive actions (block, parry, or dodge).  Power use is delineated by the GM.  Repeating the process until everyone’s gone.  Simple and sweet.
	
	*STREET-FIGHT!!!!!

	This section of combat is to introduce you to the concepts of the ‘Brawling’ skill, which was loosely defined as “The ability to kick someone’s ass.”
	Anime/Manga character’s almost always use martial art’s as a supplement to street fighting.  Frankly, they all seem to use only 1 martial art:  Shotokan Karate.  For those that don’t know, Shotokan is essentially generic karate.  Armed with that knowledge, the player may choose 1 of 10 techniques with which to attack their opponent if they have ‘brawling’.  Character’s unskilled in brawling may choose to use these techniques but are at an additional -2 to ‘score‘ when using anything but a strike or kick.

Strike:  Any type of hand based attack either open or closed.  AV 1
Kick: Any type of foot based attack.  AV 2
Knee/Elbow:  Duh?  -1 to ‘score’ when attempting. AV 3
Spin Kick’s:  -2 to ‘score’ when using.  AV 4.  
Jump Kick:  A kick or knee but has Range =  to Skill in feet.   No additional AV.
Block:  Blocks an unarmed attack.  Can be used to start a grab.  May be used to 
          block a melee weapon with a penalty base on the AV of the weapon.
Grab:  Defender unable to use current appendage until they “break free”.  
          Penalty of weapon AV is applied to ‘score’ when attempting it versus a 
          weapon.	
Sweep:  -2 to ‘score’ when attempting.  Victim must roll Quickness - levels of  
             success to remain standing.  If they fall, they take an additional 3 
            damage.
Break:  -3 to ‘score’ when attempting.  May be used as a defense but at an 
          additional -1.  Success indicates that the appendage has been broken.  If 
          used on weapons, the AV of the weapon is an additional penalty.
Throw:  Can be used from a grab.  As a defense, a -2 penalty to ‘score’.  Tosses 
           victim levels of success in feet.

	*Damage and Healing.

	Right about now, you should be asking something like, “I know how to attack, I know to add AV to body to get damage, but how do I actually hurt somebody?”  Easy, after adding AV to Body (or just using AV for guns and the like), roll a die against the total.  Whatever you get, as long as it’s under what you damage total was, is how much damage you just did.  If you fail this roll, you still do 1 point of damage unless the failure was with a 20.  A 20 only does damage if you are rolling for a total higher than 20, and the access that would be added on becomes the damage.

	EX:  Say you have Body4 and a Katana AV4.  The maximum amount of damage that you can do is 8.  Now roll a d20.  Say you get 6.  You just did 6 damage because 6 is under 8.  If you rolled a 9 - 19, you’d only do 1 damage, and a 20 means that you won’t do any at all.
	Now let’s say you’re sick of Katana’s and conjure a fireball AV 30 because you had some time to kill (I love puns ^_^).  If you rolled 15, you’d add 10 (because of the remainder) and do 25! damage to whomever.  If you rolled a 20, unlike with your Katana, you’d still do 10 damage.  
	Now calculate how much the armor or other defenses stop (if any).  Whatever’s left is applied to your character on the whole.  Striking a specific location in NR’s doesn’t do anymore damage than just hacking at them.  This is because striking certain locations only has an effect if it does a lot of damage.  Do more than 1/2 the enemies Hp in a single attack, to a specific location will severe that part (if it’s the head or chest, they’re dead), blunt weapons will just crush it.  Doing 1/4 the enemies Hp in a single attack causes the area to become useless for a few hours giving them a -5 to all actions with that limb.  If it’s the chest, it only knocks the wind out of them for d20 rounds and the head causes unconsciousness.  Any damage less than these markers is just treated as being nominal.  Pain hurts but you get use to it.
	Also, damaging someone enough or taking headshots can cause unconsciousness.  A player stays unconscious for a minimum of d20 rounds or long enough to make a dramatic recovery.  Either way, it all works out in the end.
	Another note about damage is that taking someone’s Hp to 0 doesn’t kill them, just knocks them unconscious.  Everybody has a negative total equal to their Body.  It’s only after these are gone that the character actually dies.  While at a negative total, all ‘scores’ regardless of type are halved.
	Healing damage is taken care of via the “Heal” sub-attribute but can be quickened.  Anyone who looks at the character and rolls Vs. Healing can automatically recover 1Hp to the patient.  No more than 1 of these can be used per Healer per Incident.  Magic, Psionics, Super Powers, and Technology can also do wonders for the damaged character.
	Mending a broken bone takes a lot longer than healing a wound.  Bone breaking doesn’t actually do much in the way of damage unless it’s broken pretty messily.  The average time to mend a broken bone is between 2 weeks for a  toe, finger or rib to 6 - 12 weeks for an arm or leg.

Chapter [6]

	*Xp and how it works. 

	As you’ve no doubt noticed while reading, NR is a very free form game.  Most of the restrictions that you see in other games are not found here.  So things like measuring character advancement is not limited to “levels”.  Every character within an Anime grows at their own pace.  Almost never do they miraculously and instantaneously gain knowledge from the unknown.  Their actions and deeds determine what they know and how quickly they get that knowledge.
	The following is a chart that determines how much Xp characters get for performing certain actions.  You’ll notice that beating people up isn’t high on the priorities list and good role-playing is.  That’s because the one thing that keeps us American’s going broke is trying to keep up with the Anime/Manga’s STORY.  Flashy visual effects, demonic enemies, and such can only keep one interested for so long, it’s the plots, twists, and character developments that define our liking of Anime/Manga so it is the same here.  And if you don’t believe me, then think about this:
	What would Gunnm be like if it was only Galley battling one opponent after another?  Or just her at Motor Ball matches?

	What if all A-ko did was hit things?  She’s strong and cute and could get away with it, but for how long?

	Why do you like Tenchi?  Is it the fast spaceships, cool gizmo’s, or is it the story line and how you get to see all those familiar faces?

Character Xp Breakdown.

1Xp:  Defeating an enemy that is twice as powerful as you are.
        Showing up to play NEW REALMS.
        Buying ALL the snacks for the session.
        Finding/Causing a new plot twist.

2Xp:  Getting an emotional response out of the character at least 5 times.
        Being defeated by a major villain.
        Causing an emotional response in other players. 
        Paying the GM $20.
        Acquiring a new ally/enemy for the group.
        
3Xp:  Furthering the story exponentially.
        Risking your life for another’s.
        Falling for another character.
        Paying the GM $50.
        Realizing something you’ve missed for at least 4 game sessions.

4Xp:  Setting up and causing the fall of the group.
        Actually dying for a good cause.
        Having really great sex with the GM.

	As you can tell, no more than 3 Xp should be given out in anyone game session (unless somebody really wants 4... ).  Only the highest Xp reward should be given to the players and it is perfectly within the GM’s rights not to give ANY out if they feel not much was accomplished this session.

	*Xp and how to spend it.

	To raise anything in NR with experience is easy, just spend an amount of Xp equal to the new level (IE, the one it’ll be).  Then make a check versus the new ‘score’ (just double an attribute).  If this roll FAILS, then you write in the new total where appropriate.  If the roll passes, you still burn the Xp, you just didn’t learn anything you already knew!  That’s it, that’s all.  Sub-attributes, like “Heal” and “Actions” are based on your attributes directly so those only increase if a stat does.  Hp and Sp can be raised independently of the attributes.  They raise by just spending Xp equal to the new total, no rolls necessary.
	As you can tell, the way the Xp system is set up, if your characters start off ultra-powerful, then the likely hood of them getting any better drops real low.  Why?  Because in any Anime where the hero is so powerful that they never have to get better is because the hero fights legions of minions, demons, gods, etc..  And they don’t usually get breaks either.

Chapter [7]

	*Nemesis.

	Throughout the course of the game, it will be come more and more likely that the characters will have to fight someone.  Really?!  In an Anime?!?!?!  Perish the though.  But alas, it’s true.
	GM’s may not want to spend the time and imagination to create enter character’s for 1 shot NPC’s for you to beat on.  Instead, GM’s I tell you now:

	Cheese it!  Feel the Gouda!

	Don’t make up any attributes or character sheets.  Just right a vague outline of how many there are (will be) and maybe what they look like.  Use the old “storm-trooper” adage.  That’s the one where all the enemies are just carbon copies of the same thing and just the numbers change.  You see this kind of thing all the time in video games.  Just change some colors, maybe give one a cool power or two.  And if you want, you can even make a prototype enemy sheet detailing a generic “horde” enemy.
	Other times, it will definitely be necessary to detail a nemesis, the Great Dragon that lives in the Cave, ‘Mogokan the Master Swords-Man’, and “Grandpa Happy”, are just an example of characters within the story that need a character sheet.  These types of nemesis only need a ‘frame work’ character, just the attributes and maybe a little background info.  Or in the case of the dragon, his horde...
	Major enemies, or at the least the ones that the players force you to write down, shouldn’t be just one shots (unless you’re fighting the ‘Power-Rangers’).  Leave options for their return.  If it comes down to their fighting, instead of “Mogokan” killing his rival, just have the master walk away.  If any one tries to stop them, then have him kill.  But only the one.  Enemies in Anime/Manga are never as easy as they are in other types of PnP Rpg’s.  They live a life, just like the characters.  They aren’t always intrinsically evil demon people like a certain other game, but folks that don’t see eye to eye with the player characters.  They do unexpected things and always seem to hamper the heroes when they least expect it.  Use that.  
	If you have any problems with the idea “Villains not bad...?”, just watch a few randomly selected Anime.  Admittedly, there is always one jerk in the lot that’s “They’re heroes...  KILL THEM ALL!!!!  DIE! DIE! DIE!!!!!” but there’s always one that models the example above.

	*Continuing the story.

	At this point, it would be pertinent to talk about continuing the story.  It’s something that a lot of GM’s have problems with (myself included).  Sometimes, the end of an adventure doesn’t come until the character’s die, but that can’t be used here.  All Anime/Manga stories have very definitive beginnings and endings.  If you can’t think of a way to end it, sit down and write a story.  The best way to help through the block is to use what you know of the players and your story thus far, and to write it out.  This way, you can at least outline a few idea’s and implement them when the time comes/if possible.
	Well what about continuing the story?  Armed with the knowledge that I’ve already given you, you should A) have ended a campaign  and B) saved some of the villains from the first.  As I said, these villains aren’t evil, but damn, they must be up to something that the players don’t like.  Use it.  Or, have a new villain come in.  One way that (too) many shows use is new villains, on a weekly basis, as the focus for a new story.  If you must, go with it.  Or, since the heroes have already established themselves in one adventure, then maybe somebody (or something) needs the parties help?  Many ideas exist, you just have to look at some of the most idiotic and go with it.

	*GM’s notes.

	This section is only for those who intend to actually be running a game of NEW REALMS.  DO NOT READ THIS UNDER PENALTY OF SEVERE NOODLE-WHACKING IF YOU ARE NOT THE GM!!!!

	Are the players gone yet?

	HEY!!!  Ya, you.  The one who always plays female elven ninja’s.  STOP READING THIS YOU SILLY BOY!

	Good, there gone.  Now comes the big secret to running a NR game session.  There isn’t one.  Notice that a lot of rules that appear in other game systems are missing (as one person pointed out to me:  There are no encumbrance rules).  This is because a lot of the rules an constraints that we have to deal with as real people are left out of Anime/Manga.  Why?  They don’t make sense there.  
	An Anime is all about showing us, pretty damn graphically, a story.  Laid out with pretty colors, wonderful descriptions and good plots, all to give us half an hour of Brain Candy.	
	Manga is actually what this game is more about.  These books guide us through the life of an individual( or individuals), and use some good art-work and MASTERFUL stories to illustrate the motion of the events.
	As GM, manga-mai is more what you’ll have to do.  Illustrate the events with a story.  Sounds hard doesn’t it?  Now you realize why I told you to try to write this out.  Writing a (plot?) out-line of your story will help you to keep events straight and even make things easier to explain.

	*Anything else?

	I don’t think there’s much else left to cover in this, the 13th (hence the 1.3) version of the NEW REALMS Lite rules.  If there are any further explanations that you need, my site is reapermanx.homestead.com/index.html.  But I don’t think any one should have too many problems with any of these rules.  I’ve been using them long enough and have play tested them with a number of people.  But still, if you have questions, go forth, hunt on thine web, search for the ReapermanX.  Also, check the site for potential supplements.  Works in progress include an “Advanced” Martial Art’s system (almost done), Nemesis of the Genre’s (half), Anime World-building (just starting), and Finally Final Fantasy (if they keep making new ones, this one won’t ever get made.  Started by revamped, dumped, picked up again, dumped, revamped {repeat until you‘re me}).

Appendix

	*Personal Note.

	This game was created of the basic edict that maybe, you could possibly play it.  I don’t know how many of you people reading this will actually enjoy it, or get a game going, or not modify everything, but oh well...
	Just like I said, since you’ve made it this far, I hope that you’ve at least enjoyed reading this even if you don’t intend to play it.  
								Cheers,
                                                                                                ReapermanX

Lord, what can the harvest hope for if not for the care of the reaperman?
									Death to Azrael
									The Reaperman
									Terry Pratchett
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Virtue:_____ Sp:_____/_____  Regen:_____

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Weapons:__________________________________________
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Armor:____________________________________________
Equipment:________________________________________
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Theory:____________________ Option:_______________
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