There is a world beyond our own steeped in darkness and struggling in the aftermath of a divine war; a world where its people fight not only to survive but to amass power, riches, and honour. A place of intense, high-octane wire-fu action set against the background of desert landscapes, high speed train robberies, and mutant warriors battling it out for supremacy. Nothing is as it seems in this world, and everything is possible. We call it...High Plains Samurai.
High Plains Samurai (HPS) is a storytelling game of extreme mash-ups battling it out in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world of gunslingers, gangsters, samurai, barbarians, and steampunk where the residual energies of a divine battle have bestowed superpowered abilities to a select few. Those with these incredible abilities are qi warriors; they are the lead characters of this setting.
Built using the ScreenPlay engine, HPS is a collaborative story game with all players taking an equal role in the storytelling process. Players take on the role of Writers working with the Director to draft complete stories of action, suspense, horror, and survival. Through their lead characters, Writers actively drive the story and create epic action sequences as the central storytellers; the Director reacts to their descriptions while simultaneously challenging their characters along the way. For every description moving the story forward, another player will deliver its outcome to push it further, react to events, and embellish details with camera angles, special effects, even a character's demise.
In a world where everything is possible, dice rolls are not used to attempt success or failure, but as complications against your enemies... and death is the ultimate complication. Characters roll dice based on the number of details built into their descriptions against an opponent's Defence for the right to choose their enemy's fate or perhaps allow the enemy to choose their own. Each complication becomes incorporated into the story and can also be countered or removed by spending Stamina until there is none left to give or the battle is over.
Together, you will create tales of heroic struggle against the machinations of the mysterious bandit known as Black Scorpion and her bloody plot for revenge that threatens the return of Chaos incarnate.
HPS is an open-ended setting and storytelling game where your group's vision of the story is the main focus. Set in the scarred and bloody setting known as the One Land, your story could begin in:
· Hunan, a desert-swept city of harsh depravity and lawlessness fuelling one warlord's insatiable greed
· Yung Zhi, where swaying towers loom above overwhelming poverty and overcrowded streets controlled by powerful gangsters
· Monsoon, the samurai compound where strict order keeps back the surrounding poisonous jungle
· Khar’tep, home of magnificent heights encompassed by jagged peaks and frigid blizzards controlled by the barbarian tribes
· or Rust, a hidden city of wild inventions and rotting depths oppressed by a xenophobic cult
Sitting between them all, its very essence seeping into both the land and its people, are the Wastes. The source of wild and destructive powers, the swirling madness of the Wastes hides the truth behind a terrible apocalypse.
Living in these conditions requires a cold heart, quick reflexes, and amazing power, the kind of power you can only unlock from your inner qi (prounched "chi"). An unforeseen effect of the Wastes, these powers allow some to tap into abilities never thought possible: breathe fire, leap ten times higher, phase through walls, and perhaps even turn flesh to stone. These qi warriors remain spread out across the land, using their powers to survive or thrive, sometimes at the expense of others. They fill many roles, like:
· the Unstoppable Hunter, fulfilling the orders of the cities’ warlords
· the Deadly Shadow, unseen puppet masters pulling strings behind the curtains
· the Rogue Scholar, seeking truth behind the mysteries that could save the One Land
· and many more!
Will your heroes succeed or will they fall into the hands of Chaos? Only you and your friends will be able to tell this story!
You can download the first chapter of the book here.
High Plains Samurai is running on Kickstarter until Thursday 29th June 2017.
High Plains Samurai (HPS) is a storytelling game of extreme mash-ups battling it out in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world of gunslingers, gangsters, samurai, barbarians, and steampunk where the residual energies of a divine battle have bestowed superpowered abilities to a select few. Those with these incredible abilities are qi warriors; they are the lead characters of this setting.
Built using the ScreenPlay engine, HPS is a collaborative story game with all players taking an equal role in the storytelling process. Players take on the role of Writers working with the Director to draft complete stories of action, suspense, horror, and survival. Through their lead characters, Writers actively drive the story and create epic action sequences as the central storytellers; the Director reacts to their descriptions while simultaneously challenging their characters along the way. For every description moving the story forward, another player will deliver its outcome to push it further, react to events, and embellish details with camera angles, special effects, even a character's demise.
In a world where everything is possible, dice rolls are not used to attempt success or failure, but as complications against your enemies... and death is the ultimate complication. Characters roll dice based on the number of details built into their descriptions against an opponent's Defence for the right to choose their enemy's fate or perhaps allow the enemy to choose their own. Each complication becomes incorporated into the story and can also be countered or removed by spending Stamina until there is none left to give or the battle is over.
Together, you will create tales of heroic struggle against the machinations of the mysterious bandit known as Black Scorpion and her bloody plot for revenge that threatens the return of Chaos incarnate.
HPS is an open-ended setting and storytelling game where your group's vision of the story is the main focus. Set in the scarred and bloody setting known as the One Land, your story could begin in:
· Hunan, a desert-swept city of harsh depravity and lawlessness fuelling one warlord's insatiable greed
· Yung Zhi, where swaying towers loom above overwhelming poverty and overcrowded streets controlled by powerful gangsters
· Monsoon, the samurai compound where strict order keeps back the surrounding poisonous jungle
· Khar’tep, home of magnificent heights encompassed by jagged peaks and frigid blizzards controlled by the barbarian tribes
· or Rust, a hidden city of wild inventions and rotting depths oppressed by a xenophobic cult
Sitting between them all, its very essence seeping into both the land and its people, are the Wastes. The source of wild and destructive powers, the swirling madness of the Wastes hides the truth behind a terrible apocalypse.
Living in these conditions requires a cold heart, quick reflexes, and amazing power, the kind of power you can only unlock from your inner qi (prounched "chi"). An unforeseen effect of the Wastes, these powers allow some to tap into abilities never thought possible: breathe fire, leap ten times higher, phase through walls, and perhaps even turn flesh to stone. These qi warriors remain spread out across the land, using their powers to survive or thrive, sometimes at the expense of others. They fill many roles, like:
· the Unstoppable Hunter, fulfilling the orders of the cities’ warlords
· the Deadly Shadow, unseen puppet masters pulling strings behind the curtains
· the Rogue Scholar, seeking truth behind the mysteries that could save the One Land
· and many more!
Will your heroes succeed or will they fall into the hands of Chaos? Only you and your friends will be able to tell this story!
You can download the first chapter of the book here.
High Plains Samurai is running on Kickstarter until Thursday 29th June 2017.
