(YB3) Prelimary Rules (Comments and Criticism Wanted Please?)

[Kalanyr]

Preliminary YB3 Path Write-Ups

Unaligned
Tier 0: Novice

Mystic
Tier 1: Signature Location, Zodiac Warrior, Stellar Alignment, Rhetoric
Tier 2: Signature Style, Mastery , Sacrifice
Tier 3: Signature Location, Conserve Energy, Stellar Alignment

Warrior
Tier 1: Signature Location, Personal/Dojo Style,Signature Style,Quick Study,
Tier 2: Signature Style, Personal/Dojo Style, Fist of Fury
Tier 3: Signature Style, Personal/Dojo Style, Great Style

Aristocrat
Tier 1: Signature Style or Signature Location, Inheritance , Profiteer, Crowd Pleaser
Tier 2: Signature Style or Signature Location, Donation, Hard Hitter
Tier 3: Signature Style or Location, Connections, Artifact Sacrifice,Crowd Pleaser

Clansman
Tier 1: Signature Style , Personal/Clan Location , Signature Location,Terrain Adaption
Tier 2: Signature Location , Personal/Clan Location ,Toughness, Quick Fingers
Tier 3:Signature Location, Personal/Clan Location , Block, Defensive Mastery

Acolyte
Tier 1: Signature Style, World Warrior, Withdraw, Diplomacy
Tier 2: Signature Location, Trick, Strategist, Distraction
Tier 3: Signature Style, Foul Play, Withdraw

Signature Style: When you use a move featuring your signature style your attack does an additional +1 damage if you win the round. When you gain a signature style it is the style of the move you won the match with. If you already have this style your previous winning style is used back throughout the battle, if you possess all moves used a random style is generated.

Signature Location: When your opponent uses a move featuring your signature location the attack does -1 damage to you if you lose the round. In addition when you use a move that features your signature location you gain 1 yen. When you gain a signature location it is the location of the move that your opponent lost the match with. If you already have this location the opponents previous losing location is used back throughout battle, if you possess all moves used a random location is generated.

Personal/Dojo Style: When you gain a Personal/Dojo style you may if not in a dojo pick a single style that then becomes a Personal Style and is in all ways identical to a signature style except that you may choose it. If you are the Dojo master you may choose any one of your students styles choosing which to use before a battle. If you are a student in a Dojo you may choose any of the Dojo masters signature styles or personal styles choosing which to use before a battle. If you are a dojo master and have no students this becomes a Personal Style. Likewise if you are a Dojo Master but all your students leave this becomes a Personal Style.Or if you are a Student and your Master changes paths or ceases to outrank you this allows you to pick from your Students Styles, if you have no students it instead becomes a Personal Style. If you are both a Master and a student you gain the slot as a Master. Other than as outlined above this slot cannot change its nature.

Personal/Clan Location: When you gain a Personal/Clan location and you are not in a dojo pick a single location that then becomes a Personal Location and is in all ways identical to a signature location except that you may choose it. If you are in a Clan you may choose any of the Clan Leader's signature locations or personal locations choosing which to use before a battle. If you are the Clan Leader you may choose any one of your clansmen's locations choosing which to use before a battle. If you are a Clan Leader and have no clansmen this becomes a Personal Location. Likewise if you are a Clan Leader but all your clansmen leave this becomes a Personal Location. Or if you are a Clansman and your Leader changes paths or ceases to outrank you this allows you to pick from your Clansmen's Location, if you have no students it instead becomes a Personal Location. If you are both a Leader and a student you gain the slot as a Leader.Other than as outlined above this slot cannot change its nature.

Zodiac Warrior: You gain the day on which the match takes place as a signature style.

Stellar Alignment: Once per match you may change the day on which the match is taking place to a day of your choice. This power may only be used when you go first.

Rhetoric: When insults are generate you may generate two insults instead of one and the judge uses the best for comparisons.

Mastery: Choose a signature style you possess (this may be a Personal Style or a Signature Style), once per match you may change the style of your move to the selected signature style.

Sacrifice: Up to 1/round you may spend 2 yen + 1 additional yen for each prior time it has been used in the match to add an additional 1 point of damage to your move if you win the round (this must be declared with your move).

Conserve Energy: Once per match, after a round is judged, if you used an active power and the power failed to work (for example you used Stellar Alignment and lost the round), you may use this power to regain the use of the power. (In the case of Sacrifice this restores the yen spent and removes the increased cost for the next use).

Quick Study: Once per match after your opponent has used his signature style on you, you gain it as a signature style for the rest of the match. This power also works on personal/dojo styles.

Fist of Fury: Once per match you may generate a second move and post both it and your original, although only the original move is used for judgement, the second move does additional damage as if you had won with it as well. You lose a round to the Defensive Mastery special ability if your original move is reduced to 0 damage. The second move may not have any additional activatable powers attached to it with the exception of Hard Hitter.

Great Style: Pick a single Personal or Signature Style with that style you do an additional +1 damage if you win a round with it.

Inheritance: At Tier 1 an Aristocrat gains an artifact that he may use in addition to any personal artifact he possesses. At Tier 3 the artifact increases in power as if he had a great drawback on the artifact.

Profiteer: Whenever you would gain extra yen, except for the 1 yen gained at the end of a match and yen gained from an Aristocrat power, you gain double the amount of yen.

Crowd Pleaser: Once per match, when you win a round you have declared a Crowd Pleaser you gain 2 yen, if you lose the round you gain 1 yen.

Donation: Once per match, after a round is judged, you may sacrifice a number of yen equal to the number of flags an opponent won in the round to reduce the number of flags changed to 0. If this power is used on a round in which Distraction was used by the opponent the cost is increased by 1 yen.

Hard Hitter: Once per match, Hard Hitter may be declared attached to any move that would generate yen for the Aristocrat ( a move with a Signature Location, a Yen move, a Crowd Pleaser move etc). That move does an extra 1 point of damage if it wins.

Connections: Once per match, an Aristocrat may buy an item from the Shop despite being in a match at the time.

Terrain Adaption: Once per match after potentially having a move reduced in damage by an opponents Signature Location, you gain that Location as a signature location for the remainder of the match. This power may be used on Personal/Clan styles as well.

Toughness: Once per match, after you have lost a round you may declare Toughness to reduce the number of flags of damage dealt to you by 1 to a minumum of 1.

Quick Fingers: You automatically gain the yen for the first *Yen* or *Yen+Yen* move used in a match even if you lose the round.

Block: When you declare block you do not post a move, instead you automatically lose the round but your opponents damage is reduced by 1, 0 damage or negative damage is possible, negative damage is instead inflicted on the opponent, and 0 damage rounds are subject to defensive mastery (causing 1 damage to the opponent).

Defensive Mastery: You automatically win a round where your opponents move is reduced to 0 points.

World Warrior: You gain the location of the match as a Signature Location.

Withdraw: Once per match, you may change the location of the match to a location of your choice.

Diplomacy: Once per match after insults are judged you may decide to do the insult round over again.

Trick: Once per match, If you go first, you may generate a move, and then declare a Trick to cancel the current round, moving on to the next round. If you go last you must declare a Trick before generating a move, in which case it moves on to the next round and cancels any powers your opponent may have used.

Strategist: You may declare strategist, 1/match to choose whether you go first or last in the current round. (To go first this must be declared before your opponent posts). Initiative alternates normally from the Strategist round.

Distraction: Once per match, you may declare Distraction, to prevent any other activatable powers being used in the round. Distraction may only be used when you go first.

Foul Play: Once per match, when insults are declared, you can use Foul Play to disable a single non-activatable power until the first time the non-activatable power would be used. You may not Foul Play a Signature Style tied to a Mastery, You may not Foul Play, a Style that is Great Styled, but you may Foul Play the Great Style power. For example you declare Foul Play on a signature style, the first time your opponent draws the signature style it has no additional effect but the Foul Play ends and the opponent may use the signature style normally for the rest of the match (The Foul Play is cancelled whether or not the opponent wins or loses the round).

 

[Kalanyr]

Notes:
There will be more than 4 Tiers but in an attempt to recapture some of the spontaneous feeling of YB1, Tiers beyond 3 will be created only when someone is close to reaching them. Tier 0 has 0 Ranks before Tier 1, that is a Novice who wins a fight may immediately choose a path, Tier 1 has 2 ranks, that is to move from Tier 1 Rank 0, to Tier 2 a character would require 3 victories in a row (barring special circumstances). Each Tier has an additional 2 ranks to the one before it.

The paths have buffers as follows:
The Mystic and the Acolyte each have two buffer ranks before falling to a lower tier.

The Warrior and the Clansman have three buffer ranks.

The Aristocrat has no buffer ranks but may instead pay his tier + 2 yen to avoid dropping a rank.

Aristocrats do not steal money after a fight, instead an opponent MAY opt to pay an Aristocrat the Aristocrats tier + 2 yen to avoid dropping a rank (an Aristocrat is NOT required to accept this).

Powers, Paths and Tiers may be renamed as a player sees fit as long as "official" names are kept in brackets next to the power in the characters record (for the sake of the Judges) and providing the name selected is not an "official" name of another power (it would however be preferred if the name was in someway related to the power (ie please do not call Fist of Fury "Redemption").

Artifacts are still a work in progress, as is the Store.

Despite an Aristocrat being free to choose whether or not he gains a Signature Location or Signature Style at each Tier, he may not choose the same type of Signature, more than 3 tiers in a row. (This is simply to ensure that all powers have some kind of use against a Sash.)

 

[Festy_Dog]

I think it looks good, and any bumps which have been missed will surely be picked up when YB3 gets into full swing.

Already have a couple of characters in mind for when it gets started.

 

[Number47]

I think it is so cool that this game has continued and is still evolving. As soon as I get a home computer again I really do intend to get back into this.

 

[Phoenix8008]

Kal, I promise some thoughts and comments this weekend. RIght now, I have to leave home to get to work on time though. And if it's only you, me, and Rathan still here, then that seems to me a good odd number for voting on anything if it's needed. Enough for now, gotta run.

 

[Phoenix8008]

Kal, I think this all looks pretty good already and doesn't need much modification. Obviously, most of these powers have already been playtested in the older YB versions since most of them are just like previous powers. Those that aren't the same are mostly clarifications which make the game more interesting and balanced (like damages for the round being added to or subtracted from by various powers).

For the most part, I don't see any need to change much. As long as it stays this well organized for the later tiers as they are added, then I'd be fine with starting this as is. Except for the fact that some of the powers (Connections, for instance) depend on things like Artifacts and the Shop which haven't been finalized yet. Although I notice in one power description that you mentioned Artifacts getting drawbacks of some sort. This sounds interesting and I'd like to hear more of this idea if you have any of it fleshed out.

I say that this system is all but ready to play as is. That doesn't mean that it is the best system I could imagine. But what I lean more towards is more like the ala carte power selection of YBA. That's just me though, and YBA will always be there to play seperately. The stuff you've come up with on your own is astounding and well deserves to be the next YB system in my opinion. Much as I'd like the more open power choosing method, it just isn't what YB has always been. So I vote that this system get going as is once we have worked out some artifact and shop rules.

Any other opinions? Rathan maybe since we know you haven't given up on the game...

 

[Phoenix8008]

Okay guys, I just had a fun thought on the way home from getting groceries. Gotta put it out here and see what you think. This option would make this version of YB a little different from previous versions without going crazy with changes. And it fits in perfectly with the stuff you already have above, especially how the powers affect the raising and lowering of damage in a fight. I highlight that because it was your use of that word instead of 'flags' which gave me this idea.

Change number one: It is possible to win a fight in TWO ways- accquire the agreed upon number of flags through winning needed number of rounds; OR BY KNOCK-OUT.

To define when a knock-out happens I introduce one new stat for characters- LIFE POINTS (or whatever other name you want to call it. Hit Points, or whatever.

A character's LIFE POINTS are equal to his Tier number and are tracked throughout a match, but reset between each fight.

The way the Knock-out can happen is this: During a combat round, ONLY the first point of damage done to a fighter losing the round is applied towards the winner gaining a flag. So ONLY one flag can be gained per round. Any additional damage done (by signature styles for instance) is inflicted upon the fighter's LIFE POINTS. When a fighter's LIFE POINTS are reduced to zero, he is knocked-out.

An additional possibility is this: if a defensive move reduces the damage done to a negative number, the fighter actually heals that many Life Points or steals that number of life points away from his/her opponent. I haven't got the rules in my head enough to even know if this is strictly possible, but I thought I'd throw it out there as a possibility.

The only problem I see with this so far is that white belts start at Tier 0 so they would technically have 0 Life Points and instantly pass out in a fight. Two fixes for this that I see. Make the white belts Tier 1 (easiest solution), or make the fighter only be knocked out when he takes additional damage that drops him below zero. Also, since Novice fighters have no special abilities that can inflict more than 1 damage, they would be unable to knock out another fighter.

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Example: Fight between a Tier 1 Mystic and a Tier 2 Aristocrat. The Mystic uses his Stellar Alignment power to make his current move do an additional point of damage due to his Zodiac Warrior power. He wins the round with this move and the 2 damage dealt gets him 1 flag out of the 4 he needs and also reduces the Aristocrat from 2 Life Points to 1. On a later round of the fight when the Mystic is on the verge of winning by having 3 of the 4 needed flags, the Aristocrat gets lucky and draws a powerful attack that uses one of his Sig styles. He wins the round with this move and gets 1 flag as well as dropping the Mystic's Life Points from 1 to 0, thus knocking him out and winning the fight for the Aristocrat.
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So Kal, Rathan, and anyone else, tell me what you think...

 

[Mithreander]

Hi all,

Yopu asked for anyone's opinion, and I DO have one, but not for this. I do have a question however on your knock-out rule... first what is the difference between a knock out and a win? If you happen to get lucky enough to knock someone out, you automatically win the chellenge?

Second, is there a way to incorporate this idea into streamlining the character killing matches, be it death matches, or those matches where the looser may die? (If this makes no sense, it's because I just read the faq, and don't understand most of the rules yet... not that anyone is playing anyway).

I also had a question anout loosing tiers and ranks. If you loose a teir, then does that mean that you would loose life points?

Also, you have to think if they'll make that large of an impact on the game itself? Will they be taken into concideration that often? It looks like in the first couple of ranks, but after that, hardly at all. OF course, not having played, I'm only guessing.

Well, there are my 2 cents, though I think I'm charging to much for those thoughts... tell you what, you can have them for free as long as you don't yell at me for posting.

 

[Phoenix8008]

Hi all,

Yopu asked for anyone's opinion, and I DO have one, but not for this. I do have a question however on your knock-out rule... first what is the difference between a knock out and a win? If you happen to get lucky enough to knock someone out, you automatically win the chellenge?

Yes, I propose that knocking out an opponent would be an alternate way to win the fight instead of just getting the needed number of flags to beat the foe.

Second, is there a way to incorporate this idea into streamlining the character killing matches, be it death matches, or those matches where the looser may die? (If this makes no sense, it's because I just read the faq, and don't understand most of the rules yet... not that anyone is playing anyway).

Easily, although I hadn't considered it much as Death matches were pretty rare in the past. Usually a death match just means that each fighter is willing to wager his life on the outcome of the match. Winning by knock out would still be winning and therefore would still earn the person the right to kill his foe as per the death match agreement.

I also had a question anout loosing tiers and ranks. If you loose a teir, then does that mean that you would lose life points?

Yes. One per Tier lost.

Also, you have to think if they'll make that large of an impact on the game itself? Will they be taken into concideration that often? It looks like in the first couple of ranks, but after that, hardly at all. OF course, not having played, I'm only guessing.

Actually, you'd be surprised at how many high damage moves a high level fighter can pull off...especially with the right items to help. It would also add a new layer of strategy as a long fight (for a high number of flags) wouldn't be nearly as long for higher Tiered fighters since they could win by knock-out more easily than by flags.

Well, there are my 2 cents, though I think I'm charging to much for those thoughts... tell you what, you can have them for free as long as you don't yell at me for posting.

Yell at you?! What, and risk scaring you away? Heck, if you've taken the time to read the FAQ, then we're just praying that you're interested enough to make a character and try the game out.

Anyway, thanks alot for your questions as they covered some areas that I didn't consider in my initial post. I'd also say that they were good questions coming from someone who hasn't played the game yet. So let us know if ya wanna try it sometime. I know it seems kinda dead here right now, but it'll come back again...it always has.

 

[Kalanyr]

hmm Sollir and I have been discussing it , althought the implementation will require some modifications to certain paths the general idea seems okay. Currently look at Stamin equal to 1 + Tier working largely as described.

We're going to hack out a revision to the above integrating Stamina.

the paths themes are going to be
Mystic: Damage to life points.
Honour: Damage to flags.
Sash: Free Artifact aka Versatility
Clansman: Passive Damage Avoidance
Acoltye: Active Damage Avoidance

Look for a rules rewrite integration some day when its not to hot to think in Australia.