LORE
- Code: Select All Code
"Dozens of years ago, the first "machine" was created. Though he still considered himself human at the time, Hanzo Kotori was a soldier who had many of his limbs and organs replaced by synthetic components after a terrible battle, limbs of wood and metal, fueled electricity and magic. He attempted to re-integrate into society at first, but quickly saw that he himself no longer fit in with the people he did before, he no longer had the friends he had, the life he had. He had become someone else, Kunio, he named himself. He began to study the technology that had created him on his own and abandoned his post in the army, exiling himself to lands unknown, never to be seen or heard from again. As the use of technology to replace lost limbs began to become more prevalent, more "machines" began to emerge among the population, most warriors or samurai saved by this new inventive technology, though these stood with their masters, for a time.
One day, Kunio returned from the void, as a prophet. Calling upon all of the "machines" in Nippon to unite under his banner, under a new name "Kikai", they would leave Nippon and form their own land, their own people, elsewhere. Infuriated with the movement, the late King, Soichiro Izanagi, ordered his soldiers to stop the meeting and murder all "Kikai" they could find. That became known as the first "Purge", with the creation of new Kikai being wholly outlawed, a long dispute broke out between Kunio and his "Kikai" and the King and his subjects. Though empowered by their own advancements, coupled with the discovery of firearms made by Kunio on his exile, awarded the "Kikai" with considerable victories, one of them being the murder of Soichiro Izanagi by Kunio's hands on the battlefield.
It has been 20 years since then and Soichiro's son, Ken Izanagi, now sits on the throne, advised by the Oni, Pang Xin. Today, Kunio and Ken sign a treaty of peace and understanding, hopefully settling once and for all the conflict which has taken many lives ever since it started. In honor of this event, Ken has organized an enormous tournament at the town where the treaty is being held, Otenjo. Though the headlines seem to hint at peace and happiness, there's a dark cloud hovering above this event. All involved are uneasy. The next few days will decide the future of Nippon and all that live within it."
Otenjo
SYSTEM
So, let me get this out of the way first and foremost. This RP will use a system that uses the following Attributes for all characters in it.
Note: The system is prone to changes until July 1st as balancing is made, If you make your character before then and the change affects you, I'll let you know. BP costs are likely not to change.
- SKILL NAME - RELATED SPECIALTIES
Agility - Acrobatics, Balance, Contortions, Dodge, Quickness
Animal Handling - Charm, Drive, Ride, Train
Athletics - Climb, Jump, Run, Strength, Swim, Throw, Weapon Damage
Awareness - Empathy, Notice
Cunning - Decipher, Logic, Memory
Deception - Act, Bluff, Cheat, Disguise
Endurance - Resilience, STAMINA
Fighting - Swords, Brawling, Pole Weapons, Staff Weapons, Clubs and Truncheons, Chain Weapons
Healing - Diagnose, Treat Ailment, Treat Injury
Knowledge - Education, Research, Streetwise
Marksmanship - Firearms, Yumi, Siege, Thrown
Persuasion - Bargain, Charm, Convince, Incite, Intimidate, Seduce, Taunt
Status - Etiquette, Reputation, Wealth, Influence
Stealth - Blend In, Sneak
Survival - Forage, Hunt, Orientation, Track
Thievery - Pick Lock, Sleight of Hand, Steal
Warfare - Command, Strategy, Tactics
Will - RESOLVE, Courage, Coordinate, Dedication
OHGODWHAT-
Easy there, it's not as complicated as it looks. So, essentially, you have all of these stats, alright? All of them begin at LEVEL 3 by default. All of these skills will be ranked by levels. With the classification for each level being as follows:
LEVEL 0 - Abysmal
LEVEL 1 - Poor
LEVEL 2 - Novice
LEVEL 3 - Average
LEVEL 4 - Adept
LEVEL 5 - Expert
LEVEL 6 - Master
LEVEL 7+ - Legendary
When you do an activity related to one of the skills mentioned above, I will roll for you a number of 10-sided dice equal to your level in the skill. So if you're trying to pick a lock and you have LEVEL 4 in Thievery, I will roll four 10-sided dice. We will be using a variant of the Storyteller system, as such, for each 10-sided dice rolled, results of 6 or above is considered a SUCCESS. And results of 5 or below is considered a BLANK. A 10 is a CRITICAL SUCCESS. And a 1 is a FAIL. A CRITICAL SUCCESS is worth 2 normal SUCCESSES. A FAIL nulls out one of your SUCCESSES and adds a NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECT to the end result. A level 0 in a skill means you instantly fail it.
Following the lock picking example. I roll 4 10-sided dice for your lock pick attempt. You get: 1,4,6,10. This is a total of 2 SUCCESSES. (-1, 0, 1, 2) Which means you succeeded on opening up the lock, but there's a FAIL in there, which means that, even though you succeeded on opening the lock, something bad happened, so your lock pick broke. (Or you made too much noise unlocking the door, broke the lock, etc.)
Simple enough, right?
But Nescafe, how do I increase or decrease levels on these skills?
Good question, this will be done through the Quality System. Each character will have 5 BP (Build Points) to spread out to pick their QUALITIES. QUALITIES represent your character's background and tendencies. While I do have a pretty extensive list of qualities already available, I am more than willing to discuss special qualities to tend the specific needs of a character you had in mind. However it is imperative your character have strengths AND weaknesses.
QUALITIES increase and decrease your levels on the skills above, but cost Build Points. Qualities aren't simple "+1's" to your Skills, all of them have positive and negative effects to them which will help you build your character. So, by example, a SAMURAI quality and raises your AGILITY, ATHLETICS, ENDURANCE, FIGHTING, KNOWLEDGE, MARKSMANSHIP, STATUS and WARFARE skills by 1. But lowers your DECEPTION, STEALTH, SURVIVAL and THIEVERY by 2.
All right...What about combat, how does that work?
When you attempt to attack someone, you roll the related Weapon Skill (Fighting or Marksmanship) against their Agility Skill. If Agility wins, the attack is dodged, if the Weapon Skill wins, the attack is a hit. Then we move on to damage calculation.
Damage calculation varies by weapon type. But generally it's done by: WEAPON BASE DAMAGE + WEAPON'S ATHLETICS MODIFIER - DEFENDER'S ARMOR MODIFIER. Different weapons have different ways of dealing damage. Some have high base damage, but are not affected heavily by the user's strength, or vice versa. Some shave off the defender's armor, so on and so forth. There will be a full list of Weapon Types and their properties below. Can I make my own weapon typ-? Yes, but talk it through with me first.
Once you figure out how much damage the attack has dealt, it is time to subtract that from the defender's HEALTH.
Look back up at the skill list real quick, you'll see two things I underlined STAMINA and RESOLVE. We'll be using those two terms a lot on this part, alongside with HEALTH.
All player characters are locked at 10 HEALTH. STAMINA is equal to ENDURANCE LEVEL X 10. If either HEALTH or STAMINA hits 0, the character is defeated.
Once a character loses HEALTH, as long as it never hits 0. The character's HEALTH will return to 10 in the next turn by draining the missing points from STAMINA, this can drop the character's STAMINA to 0, in which case, they are defeated.
If a character's HEALTH would be dropped to 0 by an attack, they can roll RESOLVE. A will check which will give them extra HEALTH points according to how many successes they get on the roll, with the drawback of each of them costing two points of STAMINA instead of 1.
So...Is there any point in fighting with little or no armor?
Yes. Heavier armor comes with drawbacks, first off, it's expensive. Second, armor drains your stamina PER TURN. The heavier it is, the more stamina you lose per turn. Third, heavier armor also impairs your ability to dodge, each rank of armor also cancels out any SUCCESSES you get on Dodge rolls. In conclusion, putting on armor means that hits are not going to hurt as much, but rises the chance of you actually getting hit and forces you to try and finish fights quickly, before you run out of STAMINA.
Weapon Durability
Say whaaaat. Yes, weapons in this RP have durability. The way it works is, every weapon basically have it's own "HP" of sorts. Which they use up every time you land a strike against an enemy (Using armor can also increase the amount of damage someone's weapon takes while attacking you!) When that durability reaches 0, the weapon becomes unusable. It can be repaired back to full durability at any point you get it to a blacksmith, at the cost of half of its full price.
QUALITIES
Background Qualities
1 BP - Farmer - You were born in the fields, most would think you would live and die in there, but something within you always made you stood out among your peers, though no matter where you're headed you can't deny your origins. (Agility +1, Animal Handling + 2, Athletics +1, Cunning -1, Deception -1, Endurance +1, Knowledge -1, Persuasion -1, Warfare -1)
1 BP - Artisan - Since you were small, you were taught to craft. You know how to temper a blade and how it works, how to make a beautiful painting, how to write an inspiring poem, how to build a house or a gun. You often don't get much respect, but you know that, without you, this country would fall apart. (Athletics + 1, Awareness + 2, Cunning + 1, Deception - 2, Endurance +1, Fighting + 1, Knowledge + 2, Marksmanship +1, Persuasion - 2, Stealth - 2, Survival + 1, Thievery - 1, Warfare + 1, Will + 1) You are also able to repair your own weapons, provided you have the tools for it, at half the usual price. So a quarter of the weapon's full price.
1 BP - Thief/Bard/Prostitutes (Hinin) - You live in the streets, scraping by every day by taking what others earned or working yourself off for little recompense. Hey, if they let you take it, it means you earned it yourself, right? You're also proficient at the occasional fighting, especially when the local thief-takers get a little too close to your tail. (Agility +1, Athletics +1, Awareness +1, Cunning +2, Deception +2, Knowledge +1, Status -2, Stealth +2, Thievery +2, Warfare - 1)
1 BP - Poacher/Butcher/Tanner/Hunter/Executioner (Eta) - You deal in death and in the preparation of flesh, be it of animals or people. According to the teachings of Buddhism, this makes you filthy and unclean. But let's be honest, it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it. (Agility +1, Animal Handling +2, Athletics +1, Awareness +1, Cunning -1, Deception -1, Endurance +1, Healing +1, Knowledge -1, Status -1, Survival +2, Warfare -2)
2 BP - Ashigaru - Though you're no noble warrior, you've spent a good deal of your life in the battlefield. Maybe you're a mercenary for hire or just a veteran soldier. One way or another, battle is the one thing you know. (Agility +1, Animal Handling +1, Athletics +1, Cunning -1, Deception -1, Endurance +1, Fighting +1, Knowledge -1, Marksmanship +1, Persuasion -1, Stealth -1, Thievery -1, Warfare +1, Will +1)
3 BP - Clergy - You are a person of faith, when you were young, you were taught how to read and write poetry and holy scriptures. You devoted your body and soul to the gods and to the good of other people. (Awareness +1, Cunning +1, Deception -2, Healing +2, Knowledge +2, Persuasion +2, Status +1, Stealth -2, Thievery -2, Warfare -2, Will +2)
3 BP - Samurai - Noble of birth or simply someone who distinguished themselves in the past, you were raised and trained to a position of military power. And though you were raised for fighting you are no stranger to the court's game of smiles and lies, though you despise the game as it goes against the teachings of bushido. With a new period coming over, you can't help but shake off the feelings the lords are growing steadily less interested in your presence. Who needs a trained warrior when you can just give any peasant a gun? (Agility +1, Animal Handling +1, Athletics +1, Cunning +1, Deception -2, Endurance +1, Fighting +2, Knowledge +1, Marksmanship +2, Status +1, Stealth -2, Survival -2, Thievery -2, Warfare +2, Will +1)
3 BP - Merchant - Money. Money is your blood. Your weapon. Your life. Money is what you know, how to make more of it and how to make others devoid of it. Needless to say, the focus on the mind left you wanting when it comes to brawn. (Agility -1, Athletics -1, Awareness +2, Cunning +2, Endurance -1, Fighting -1, Knowledge +2, Marksmanship -1, Persuasion +2, Status +1, Survival -1)
4 BP - Lord - You were born a rich noble of a high-ranking, with close relations to the shoguns and magistrates. You often avoid open battles, you fight your battles with a sharp tongue and a sharp mind, not with a blade, doesn't mean you don't know how to handle one though. (Awareness +2, Cunning +2, Deception +2, Knowledge +2, Persuasion +2, Status +2, Stealth -2, Survival -3, Warfare +3)
Race Qualities
Only stat info here, if you want more specific explanations on how each work, check the races spoiler further below.
1 BP - Human - Status +1, Will +1
2 BP - Hengekyokai - Pick two skills, you receive +1 to each of them when in half-yokai form. +0 when in human form. And +2 when in full yokai form. Status locks at 1, regardless of other bonuses.
2 BP - Koropokguru - Agility +1, Deception +1, Stealth +1 and Thievery +1. Athletics -2
2 BP - Shizen Foku - Pick one skill to master and one skill to forsake. The skill you master gets +3, up to a maximum of +7. The skill you forsake is now at 0.
2 BP - Oni - Athletics +1, Endurance +1, Fighting +1, Will +1. Persuasion -1, Stealth -1.
5 BP - Kikai - All stats set to 1. However, you start the game with 30.000 mon and you gain the ability to spend 1000 mon to raise one of your stats by 1. (Except Status, Status is locked at 0.)
Destiny Qualities
2 BP - Family Heirloom - Your character begins the RP with a heavily damaged Level 5 Quality weapon of their choice. (It will be at 1/5th of its maximum durability. Can't be a firearm.)
2 BP - Sensei - Your character is the mentor of a small abandoned martial arts dojo. This provides no bonuses at first, but for each five students you get in your dojo, you get a daily income of 1000 mon and +1 Fighting or Marksmanship, depending on what your dojo specializes.
2 BP - Pacifist Savior - Healing is raised to +6, if it was already at +6, it is raised to +7. However, both your Fighting and Marksmanship are lowered to 0.
3 BP - Demigod - You're not sure why or how, but you feel the watchful presence of a god protecting and watching over you. Pick two skills at +4 or higher and raise them by +1.
2 BP - Lust for Wealth - Whenever there's a chance for profit involved, your character gains a +1 to all rolls. When there isn't, they get a -1 to all rolls.
2 BP - Champion's Blood - You live for the joy of battle be it victory or defeat. Everytime you win a battle, your STAMINA goes to max. If you get defeated in a battle, your Stamina gets its maximum cut by half until you win again.
Custom Qualities
Want to make a custom quality especially for your character? Just PM me and we'll discuss it!
ITEMS
Weapon Types
All weapon types vary under the following parameters:
Damage: Base damage of the weapon
Scaling: How much your Athletics Modifier affects the weapon. This is defined by a value that varies from +0 to +6. Which is the maximum extra damage you can gain from athletics with this weapon.
Piercing: How well the armor does against armor. It varies from 0 to 5, to show how many points of armor the weapon ignores.
Durability: How many strikes the weapon can dish out before being damaged.
Quality: How valuable the weapon is, high quality improves the rest of the weapon's stats according to the data below. Quality varies from 1 to 5. 1 being shoddy and simply, while 5 being a master artisan's masterpiece. A weapon's quality also influences its price.
Daito - Longsword - Quality*500 mon
Damage: 2*Quality
Scaling: +3
Piercing: 0
Durability: 5*Quality
Shoto - Shortsword - Quality*400 mon
Damage: 2*Quality
Scaling: +2
Piercing: 1
Durability: 6*Quality
Kaiken - Dagger - Quality*300 mon.
Damage: 2*Quality
Scaling: +1
Piercing: 4
Durability: 10*Quality
Odachi - Greatsword - Quality*1000 mon
Damage: 3*Quality
Scaling: +5
Piercing: 0
Durability: 3*Quality
Kusari - Chain Weapons - Quality*400 mon
Damage: 2*Quality
Scaling: +1
Piercing: 2
Durability: 10*Quality
Special: Chain weapons deal both HEALTH and STAMINA damage at the same time, but both damages are reduced by armor.
Bo - Staff Weapons and Polearms - Quality*500 mon
Damage: 3*Quality
Scaling: +3
Piercing: 0
Durability: 4*Quality
Kanabo - Clubs and Truncheons - Quality*200 mon
Damage: 1*Quality
Scaling: +6
Piercing: 0
Durability: 8*Quality
Special: Any damage denied caused by a Club or Truncheon that is denied by armor gets, instead, cut in half (Rounded down) and applied to Endurance.
Matchlock - Firearms - Quality*2500 mon - Ammo: 100 mon per bullet (Not really affordable for starting characters, it's an investment you'll need to work for.)
Damage: 6*Quality
Scaling: +0
Piercing: 5
Durability: 1*Quality
Special: Firearms handle durability a bit differently, treat a firearm's durability as its ammo. It is instantly taken back to maximum quality while not fighting, as long as you have ammo. Durability damage is not affected by the armor being attacked.
Yumi - Bows and Arrows - Quality*800 mon - Ammo: 10 mon per arrow
Damage: 4*Quality
Scaling: +2
Piercing: 4
Durability: 6*Quality (Durability damage is not affected by the armor being attacked.)
Armor Types
Power Armor. Exclusive to Kikai.
Armor 12. Costs 8 Stamina per turn. Dodging is impossible. Quadruple weapon durability damage.
Heavy Armor.
Armor 8. Costs 4 Stamina per turn. -3 Dodge Successes. Double weapon durability damage.
Medium Armor.
Armor 5. Costs 2 Stamina per turn. -1 Dodge Successes.
Light Armor.
Armor 3. Costs 1 Stamina per turn. No Evasion Penalties.
Clothing
Armor 0. No Stamina Cost. No Evasion Penalty.
CHARACTER SHEET
Name:
Gender: (Pick your spot on the gender spectrum, wherever that may be. Gender has no bearing on ability.)
Race: (Your character's race, if they're a Hengekyokai or Shizen Foku, be sure to also mention what sub race they're a part of.)
Age: (Age only affects appearance and has no bearing on ability. Lifetimes vary faintly from race to race, check each race's description for a better idea of how that works.)
Skills: (Simply copy the list above and put in your numbers once you're done with your qualities. Remember all Skills start at a base Level of 3.)
Qualities: (5 Build Points to Work with. Pick whatever quality you like, as long as you don't contradict yourself. IE, can't be a farmer and a Lord at the same time.)
Appearance: (What does your character look like? Picture preferred, but not demanded.)
Inventory: (What are you carrying on you? Characters can choose their starting equipment based on a Wealth Equivalent to their Status * 300 mon. You can also start with a suit of armor of your choice, if you so desire. Armor acquired later in the roleplay will have to be bought.)
Backstory:
(Pretty self explanatory. Who is your character? What do they do? Why do they do it? Etc.)
RACES
HUMAN
The ruling race of Nippon. Humans have been known to hold most if not all positions of power in both actuality and history. Though surprisingly uninteresting in comparison to other races when it comes to special abilities. The most distinctive feature of humans, or so they would tell you, is their strong sense of will. They come in a variety of colors, both for skin, hair and eyes. The most common in Nippon, however, are yellow skin, black hair and brown eyes. Prejudice in-between human subtypes is unheard of, though Xenophobia is another matter entirely.
Humans tend to be around 5'7 (Or 170 cm) tall and tend to live from 40 to 60 years. Wealthier humans have been known to live longer than that however, thanks to strong will and recent advancements in medicine.
HENGEYOKAI (Half-human half-animal shapeshifters, who often suffer prejudice.)
The Hengeyokai, as their name implies, are the children between humans and Yokai. Though they are civilized and more than allowed to live among the common folk, it would be naive to say that they live as equals. Many consider Hengeyokai to be monsters or abominations and will openly treat them worse for it. As such, Hengeyokai are often kept from climbing up the social ladder, though there have been stories of some who managed to raise to the level of lords and even samurai. All Hengeyokai are shape shifters, they can adopt three different forms. Their natural form is that of a hybrid, they look mostly human but usually have a few yokai or animal like characteristics which give them out. They can also adopt a fully human form for blending in, though it is painful to keep up for longer than an hour. Alternatively, they can embrace their yokai blood and turn into great beasts, according to what kind of yokai they come from. While in this form, hengeyokai lose a bit of their grasp on their own sanity, they tend to become excessively violent, lusty or paranoid, again depending on their ancestry. ENTERING BEAST FORM IS CONSIDERED DANGEROUS AND ILLEGAL, DOING IT IN PUBLIC WILL GET YOU ARRESTED.
Hengeyokai's characteristics vary too wildly for proper statistics. Kitsune hengeyokai are known to be just as tall as humans, but live for hundreds of years, by example. While bear hengeyokai are known to be enormous brutes, though short lived.
KOROPOKGURU / PONCLES (Nimble, forest-dwelling dwarves, the tallest being up to 1 foot tall.)
Koropogkguru or Poncles, are a sprite-like race no bigger than a large insect (so they are often mistaken for insects). Most dwell in villages built inside tree stumps.
Poncles are bioluminescent humanoids. They wear clothes made from leaves and other natural materials and helmets in the shape of parts of insects. The helmets shade their bodies and faces from anyone larger than they are, which contributes to their bug-like appearance. Each Poncle glows a different colour, but they also change colour depending on their emotions (ie: red when angry, etc.). Poncles age like humans, but seem to stay the same height their whole life. They also live much longer than humans, some Poncles claiming to have lived for over hundreds of years.
Poncles also have the ability to speak with many if not all of the animals of nature. They also have great physical strength for their size, as they can jump high enough to get the attention of larger beings and throw things which are many times their size and weight. These traits put into question the theory of Poncles having musculature approximately equal to humans, but compressed into a small body frame. Nevertheless, the ratio between their physical strength and size are reminiscent of several types of insects, such as ants.
They're usually very small, the tallest of Poncles can reach up to 1 foot of height if they stand at the tip of their toes.
SHIZEN FOKU (Basically half-dryads, who may be aligned to: Bamboo, River, Sea, Life, Death, etc.)
While Hengeyokai are seen as children of humans and Yokai, Shizen Foku are seen as the children between humans and Gods. Not all are necessarily born out of coitus between the two, by the way. Some gods prefer to simply impregnate a woman through magic and let them bear their child on their own. Shizen Foku's appearance varies wildly depending on what kind of god or spirit they are associated with, Sea Shizen can have scales or fish-like characteristics, while a Bamboo Shizen's skin may be slightly green and feel like wood. They tend to be very attached to their element, as well. A Death Shizen, by example, can feel whenever someone nearby dies or is close to death. Likewise, a Life Shizen is always aware of every single new life that is brought into the world. Love Shizen tend to be constantly filled with the warm caress of lovers exchanging pleasantries, so on and so forth.
Shizen are usually seen as either messengers of the gods or bad omens. As such, they are treated with fear and respect alike and are commonly seen occupying positions in the church or high-ranking military offices. Despite these characteristics, Shizen rarely, if ever, have any real contact with the gods who birthed them, most just want to live their own lives normally, though it can be hard to fit in when you're a fire Shizen and have a fire pit on your head.
Shizen inherit one thing from their celestial parents, though. They can't die of old age or contract any disease, they also don't age past twenty years, but a knife through the gut will bleed them as well as anyone else.
ONI (Ogres, with skin varying from gray, to blue, to red.)
Appearances of oni vary widely but they're usually gigantic ogre-like creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes. Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common. Oni are known to be incredibly strong, but not very smart, though the latter is entirely prejudice, the former is far from being just supposition. Oni are known to live on mountains in small tribes, usually isolated from human towns and the like, as they tend to stand out a fair bit and not get along all that well with humans. Surprisingly, however, most Oni are welcome to come and go into towns as they please, in no small part due to the presence of an Oni as the current advisor of the King.
Onis tend to be around seven feet tall or 2,1 meters. They are known to live around 30 to 40 years. Because their anatomy is different to that of humans, they can't make use of many of today's medicinal advancements that well, keeping their life span equal among all social classes.
KIKAI(Only partly organic, any race that is modified by synthetic prosthetics is qualified as this race and loses any other benefits related to the race they used to be.)
With the war still technically going on between Kunio and Soichiro's heir, Ken Izanagi, all Kikai are, for what its worth, considered enemies of all living beings and are feared and hated alike. Their appearances vary wildly dependent on what they were before becoming Kikai and what kind of prosthetics they possess. However, all Kikai possess an exposed "Power Core" which holds their soul, substitutes their heart and powers their body and prosthetics. Though Cores can be damaged and be worn with time, they can be easily repaired with the proper tools and some time and can never truly be destroyed. As such, all Kikai are technically immortal. Kikai are known to use resources to upgrade themselves to whatever they need. Kikai have endless possibilities and endless options, but no social rights.
Kikai can be made out of any other races: humans, hengeyokai, oni or Poncles (Even Shizen!). But lose all benefits or skills related to that race, the only thing they retain is the appearance of their organic parts. As such, Kikai Hengeyokai cannot transform, and are stuck in hybrid form. Kikai also get access to Power Armor, which is a big mechanical suit that runs on the power of their core. The armor can have built in blades, firearms and blunt weapons. During the war, there were even reports of Kikai who attached contraptions to their armor which allowed them to fly around like a firework.
FAQ
X seems a bit overpowered/underpowered.
This is a big system. It is prone to balancing issues. I tried to make it as balanced as I could from the get go, but there are bound to be balance changes which I may or may not need to do. Let me know about it, I'll see about balancing it if it needs to.
Making a Lord as anything Non-human is basically impossible...Is this intentional?
Yes. I want to hammer down that the dominant class in regards to rights and positions of power belongs to humans. If you want to make a non-human Lord, we can discuss it via PM, but the character will have to forsake some other skills and have somewhat specific background checklists to fill.
Kikai can advance via money...How can non-machines get better?
Questing and story progression. It's a significantly slower rate though.
How dangerous is it being Low Status...?
Low score Status doesn't necessarily mean your character will get kicked around in the streets. It's a measurement of how people around them perceive them and think of them in general terms, disregarding personal feelings.
Can my family heirloom be a firearm?
No.
I don't like any of the available background options and I can't think of one I'd like in its place, nothing really fits what I had in mind.
You don't NEED to pick a Background quality, the only quality you strictly need to have one of is Race. But if you want to not have a Background quality, you are allowed to.