Crunch Part II

Hello!

We have continued crunching and the rule book is coming along nicely. Unfortunately because of the tight schedule we have not had time to prepare a proper blog post for this week. Instead here is a small status update. During this week we have written demon and creature descriptions. Also roughly half of the GM chapter is done and the descriptions of Tentaika’s prefectures and most important samurai clans have been updated for the book.

See you next Sunday!

NGS Week and Crunch

Hello!

This week has been a busy one. We are in crunch mode to get the game finished in time and currently we have only the Game Master and Lore chapters left to write. We also attended the Northern Game Summit this week, where our lead designer Ville pitched the Mundus RPG in a pitching competition. Unfortunately we didn’t win the contest but all in all we enjoyed the two days of NGS.

See you next Sunday!

Mundus RPG Website Launched

The Mundus RPG website is finally here! 

Last few weeks have kept our team busy and we are currently in a crunch mode to meet our deadlines during the next month. We welcome feedback about the site and suggestions about future blog topics!

See you next Sunday!

Notice

Hello. Unfortunately we have been too busy to prepare a blog post for this week, however we've updated the new character’s sheet. It now contains an explanation for the Pain Resistance trait.

You can download the character sheet using the links in the last week’s blog post or from here.

See you next Sunday!

A New Quickstart Character

Download the New Quickstart Character Here

We have something different for you this week. We created an additional character for the quickstart campaign. The character, Murakami Katashi, plays a bit differently compared to the other characters. He wears armor and has a perk called Pain Resistance. At level 3 the Pain Resistance perk negates the stun status effect and gives a +3 bonus to Consciousness checks. Murakami also has the Distraction perk which allows him to throw a single small throwing weapon from a holster per turn using his Mixed skill score. This takes no time but uses a single stamina point.

Murakami’s armor and the Pain Resistance perk are especially useful when combined with his Counter Attack Combat Move. Counter Attack allows a character to attack instead defending. What this means is that if someone attacks against Murakami in melee, he may choose to ignore defending and instead attack the attacker. If he does so, no opposite combat checks are rolled. Instead both the original attacker and Murakami roll an attack roll TN7. If they succeed they hit their target. Using an aimed attack with or against a Counter Attack is not possible. The original attacker may also decide to roll a defense roll against the Counter Attack instead of finishing his attack.

Murakami Katashi is a loyal member of the Murakami Clan. He strictly follows the old traditional bushido and this shows in his behavior as he is very polite and somewhat rigid. Despite of his considerable skills Katashi is seen as an average samurai. This is mostly because of Katashi’s modesty and the fact that he is not part of the respected naval forces.

You can download Murakami Katashi’s character sheet here.

See you next Sunday!

Example Rituals

This week we share two examples of a high level ritual. These rituals are far more powerful than those found in the Mundus RPG Quickstart. The scaling damage on Black Aurora and the duration of Avatar of Bravery are the norm in Combat Rituals in Mundus RPG. In the Quickstart these values are pre-calculated to match each character’s abilities.

The Avatar of Bravery is a support ritual of Inmicus, god of war and the Black Aurora is a more straightforward ritual from Lumia, Goddess of Moon. The elements are more meaningful for high level ritualist as they are able to specialize to rituals of elements of their choosing.

Avatar of Bravery

Level Requirement: 11
Cast Time: 5 seconds
Range: Self
Element: Manipulation

The caster summons a heroic avatar of herself which is blessed by the god of war. This avatar is a Clone of the caster and the avatar’s Strength and Health is increased by Charisma (maximum of 10) points. This shining avatar cannot use ritualism and it attacks with full power against the strongest foe she can think of. The avatar cannot defend against attacks. Roll all attacks against the avatar to medium hit locations regardless of aimed attacks. The avatar has unlimited Stamina pool but it cannot over-channel. The avatar lasts Charisma Bonus minutes (minimum of one minute).

Black Aurora

Level Requirement: 9
Cast Time: 4 seconds
Range: 50 Meters
Element: Shadow

The caster summons a stygian aurora. The Black Aurora discharges through the landscape and slices open the earth. The ritual deals Ritualism x2 + Concentration x2 (maximum of 40) Energy damage. Black Aurora deals its damage in a straight line from its caster up to its maximum range.

These are two examples of Mundus RPG’s over 150 Combat Rituals.

See you next Sunday!

The Void

Yesterday, during our development campaign session, we had this spontaneous one hour long talk about the Void. And that’s what we are going to talk about today.

So, the Void. Where to start with it? Basically the Void is a great nothingness and all the planes exist in it. And when I say they exist in the Void I don’t mean they physically exist in the void. If you take a stroll in the Void you can’t just bump into a plane floating there. The non-physical existence of every plane is in the void and they overlap with each other. All the three main planes (Ascendes, Mundus and Acernos) overlap almost perfectly and other smaller planes might overlap only partially with the three main planes. The almost perfect overlapping of different sized planes is possible because the Void warps time and space.

Okay, here is what the Void does in the gameplay of Mundus RPG. Firstly, and most importantly, it is possible to travel between the planes using the Void.  If you just open a void rift and jump into the void trying to get where you want, is possible but hazardous. Doing it uses extensive amounts of Genki and arriving to where you want is almost impossible to anyone besides Kage Oni demons. If you want to get effectively from one place to the other it is best to use a bonfire. Bonfires are basically anchor points linking two planes to each other. Using a bonfire is relatively easy and safe for those who know what they are doing. Secondly the Void can be used in high level rituals. What these kinds of rituals usually do is that they open miniature void rifts inside people. And void rifts are rather effective at rending matter.  

See you next Sunday!

Shinrinki Ranger Corps

Two weeks ago we discussed about demon hunter organizations in Tentaika. In today’s blog post we talk more about the Shinrinki’s Ranger Corps.

The Ranger Corps was originally founded to reinforce the defense of the northern border of Hohiro Prefecture and to patrol Kuro no Mori. From the beginning the Ranger Corps accepted recruits outside the samurai caste. The bulk of the new recruits every year are skilled hunters from the peasant caste and poor rōnins. In Hohiro prefecture the samurai magistrate might give a choice to a criminal to join the Ranger Corps instead of suffering the normal consequences of the crime. However this choice is not given to those who committed serious crimes such as murder.

Anyone wishing to join to Ranger Corps is required to have sufficient skills in archery or in any other way of fighting. The training in Ranger Corps is very similar to actual samurai combat training. However this training is packed into two years of basic training. The recruits are trained in the most essential skills and nothing more. In case of the Ranger Corps this usually comprises of combat and survival training. Bushido is briefly introduced to new recruits and the virtues of courage, honesty and loyalty are emphasized during the training. Despite this bushido is almost non-existent within the Ranger Corps.

An average patrol to Kuro no Mori lasts from three days to a week. Each patrol consists of eight to twelve rangers and their job is to lay traps, ambush demons and scout for large demon hordes near the border. Ranger patrol usually encounters demons, often akuma or gaki, every other trip to Kuro no Mori. Each patrol goes Kuro no Mori once or twice a month. Anyone who survives two years in service is allowed to serve the Shinrinki Clan as a full-fledged samurai.

Samurais from other prefectures are often unaware of the extent of the dangers rangers encounter in their daily life. The fact that Ranger Corps are filled with peasants and other members of low ranking castes increases the disdain. Even the samurais who gained their samurai position in the Ranger Corps are often looked down to because of their low birth.

See you next Sunday!

Update and Patched Quickstart

Mundus Website & Quickstart Patch

Today we are announcing the Mundus RPG website! The website will launch in the near future. We also have an official feedback mail which is taken care of by our most hard-working PC Nana-chan.

Please tell us about any errors, missing rules and general feedback about Quickstart. We also answer any questions about the game, lore and the project here in the blog, in Facebook and via the feedback mail.

Quickstart Updated

We updated the Quickstart, here are the patch notes:

Mundus Quickstart 16.08.2013:

• Bookmarks added
• Tables revised
• Traits revised to present overall scores and stacks
• Added content to Gameplay chapter
• Armor Encumbrance is now Equipment Encumbrance
• Blindness Rules added
• Group Attack Bonus added
• Injury and Fatigue effect tables added
• Trailing the Calamity NPC values fixed
• Errors fixed from Character Sheets
• Kita Goro now has Leadership skill, which was mistakenly given to Murakami Kenji
• Murakami Kenji Ice Shard ability fixed
• Nitta Shiro Stealth level fixed
• Shirakawa Ryo Martial Arts skill fixed
• Overall look of the Quickstart fixed here and there

See you next Sunday!

Demon Hunters

Demon Hunters

Anyone can call herself a demon hunter, but it is usually quite simple to distinguish real demon hunters from those that only call themselves one. Experienced demon hunters are well respected because simply surviving as one requires considerable skill. In addition to private demon hunting groups, Tentaika also has two large organizations that specialize in demon hunting. These organizations are Shinrinki Ranger Corps and Warrior Priestesses.

Shinrinki Ranger Corps is a military organization under Shinrinki Clan. Their main job is to patrol Kuro no Mori and its border regions and thus prevent demons from entering Tentaika from the north. Ranger Corps enlists large amounts of rōnins and skilled peasants. Anyone who survives two years of service in the Ranger Corps is allowed to serve Shinrinki Clan as a samurai, this applies even to peasants. Unfortunately the mortality rate during these two years is over fifty percent.

Warrior Priestesses are priestesses and priests who specialize in demon hunting. Even though Warrior Priestesses are still technically speaking priests and priestesses they are also taken into the samurai caste after their graduation. Unlike people in Shinrinki Ranger Corps, Warrior Priestesses are not a part of a military organization and they do not serve under any clan. Exceptions to this are the Warrior Priestesses who serve in the city of Genkaisha as they are a part of Genkaisha’s military.

See you next Sunday!