- Play for free
- Guide
-
Quick Nav
- Learn to Play
- Contractors
- Create Contractor
- Graveyard
- Gifts
- Create Gift
- Stock Gifts
- Community
-
Discord Server
- Looking for Game
- Find a Playgroup
- Hall of Fame
- Website
-
Get Early Access
- Buy Merchandise
- News and Updates
Itamae style: Usugiri “Thin” Cut
Rather than aiming for brute force, each strike is executed with a controlled finesse that speaks to a deep understanding of the human anatomy. The blade seems to caress the air as it arcs through a mesmerizing series of loops, spins, and thrusts. With each movement, Machida's eyes remain fixed on his opponent's form, as if reading the very essence of their being.
"Itamae style: Usugiri" draws inspiration from the precision and finesse displayed in the traditional Usugiri cutting technique employed by Itamae. Just as the Itamae utilize their delicate knife skills to create thin, precise cuts in delicate ingredients, Machida applies a similar philosophy to his swordplay, but in a combat context.
The connection becomes evident in the way both techniques emphasize control, accuracy, and respect for the subject. In Usugiri, the goal is to cut ingredients so finely that their natural flavors are preserved, demonstrating the chef's skill in enhancing the essence of the food. Similarly, Machida's approach is not to inflict severe harm but to precisely incapacitate his opponent while minimizing undue suffering.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with melee weapons.
+2 dice to all rolls with melee weapons. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using melee weapons.
You also gain the following effects:
- Finesse: You may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level to inflict on the target, including Incapacitated. You may also choose to make this Injury properly or improperly stabilized, or to keep it unstabilized.
- Reminder: Bonus Damage stacks with Weapon Damage, but does not stack with any other Bonus Damage. Instead, the highest Bonus Damage is used.
View Edit History
Charlatans
“Unsettling are the days in which everyone is an expert.”
― Criss Jami
Nowadays you can't go a day without some phony prophet trying to peddle their wares to you.
Driven by the increased interest in the supernatural, charlatans from palm readers to televangelists are everywhere. And while the vast majority of witches, psychics, magicians, hypnotists, cures, potions, faith healers, and clairvoyants are complete fakes, they do make a living.
As the saying goes, "it's easier for an actor to make it in alternative medicine than Hollywood."
Most people scoff at these clearly-phony supernatural services, yet those same people often buy into at least one scam.
The most dangerous charlatans are the self-styled monster hunters who carry a mall-ninja arsenal and guns with silver bullets. Most have never encountered anything supernatural and do absolutely nothing besides burn some sage and patrol the area for a night or two. Even so, those who are superstitious, fearful, or desperate enough will hire them to solve the problems they simply don't understand. In some cases with disastrous results.
For Contractors, charlatans are red herrings and obstacles. Clumsy fakes that conjure a smokescreen of misinformation and escalate the situations they're in.
Community
Melee Mastery Gifts
Acute Symbiosis
I was not left-handed
Felix is familiar with Vein's function and form at an intimate, subconscious level, and wields their Tendrils as extensions of his body.
Or perhaps, Vein does so to Felix.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with arm-integrated weapons.
+2 dice to all rolls with arm-integrated weapons. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using arm-integrated weapons.
You also gain the following effects:
- Assassin: If your attack Injures your target, they cannot make a sound, even incidentally, for a single Round. Even the sound of their body and equipment dropping to the ground is silenced.
- Finesse: When Attacking a single being, you may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level, including Incapacitated. You may also choose to make this Injury properly or improperly stabilized, or to keep it unstabilized.
- Grip Discipline: You cannot be disarmed against your will by Minor, Major, or Severe Battle Scars, physical Actions, environmental conditions, botches, or Effects. Your weapon may still be destroyed.
- Two Swords are better than One: If you are wielding more than one melee weapon, you may Attack with all using the highest Weapon Damage, plus 1 for each additional weapon. If you reserve a weapon, any Clash or Defend roll you make is -1 Difficulty, and mob penalties are ignored. Maximum +5 Damage from bonus weapons.
Bonk!
“HELL yes, this is why I'm here- BOOYAH!!"
Angel Cooper takes up his bat and grins in anticipation, then swings it down or around towards his target. If and when he hits, the reverberation one feels when a bat connects with something rings through him. It makes every rune on his bat that’s been activated flare up on the bat itself, as well as Angel’s forearms, searing like hot red ink until he can calm his mad adrenaline.
Angel’s strikes may “build up” reverberation on a successful enough attack. In these instances, the target feels a painful buzzing sensation as the energy of the swing penetrates bone and shatters an extremity to uselessness.
Activated Rune: Power
This Artifact can be used as a club / improvised weapon. It is roughly the same size as a club / improvised weapon and just as difficult to conceal.
Attack by rolling Brawn + Melee, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +3 Weapon Damage.
You also gain the following effects:
- Blade Breaker: If you successfully Defend against a melee attack or if an opponent is unsuccessful at Defending against your melee attack, you may break your opponent's weapon.
- Pin: If you Injure a target with an Attack, you may choose to leave your weapon. If you do, the target is “pinned” to that location until the weapon is removed. Removing the weapon increases the Severity of that Injury by 2.
- Shredder: If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. For material armor, this penalty lasts until it is repaired. For intrinsic armor, it lasts until the end of Combat and any relevant wound is healed.
- Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.
wielders focus
Character equips a second sword and holds the swords crossing each other in a defensive motion.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with melee weapons.
Your attacks with melee weapons deal +1 Bonus Damage. Armor is fully effective against this damage.
You also gain the following effects:
- Two Swords are better than One: If you are wielding two melee weapons, your attack's Weapon Damage is equal to the sum of your two weapons'. If you split your Outcome to attack two targets, any target you successfully hit takes the full Weapon Damage and full Bonus Damage.
- Reminder: Bonus Damage stacks with Weapon Damage, but does not stack with any other Bonus Damage. Instead, the highest Bonus Damage is used.
Rattatonic swordsmanship
Martial art specialized to shread the opponent body
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with a Blade.
+2 dice to all rolls with a Blade. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using a Blade.
You also gain the following effects:
- Dismember: If one of your attacks causes a Battle Scar, you may choose for it to be some form of dismemberment, depending on the Severity of the Injury you caused.
- Grip Discipline: You cannot be disarmed against your will by Minor, Major, or Severe Battle Scars, physical Actions, environmental conditions, botches, or Effects. Your weapon may still be destroyed.
Skilled Crowbarrer
Nikki is talented at hitting people just hard enough to put them down for the count without causing lasting damage.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with improvised weapons.
+2 dice to all rolls with improvised weapons. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using improvised weapons.
You also gain the following effects:
- Finesse: When Attacking a single being, you may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level, including Incapacitated. You may also choose to make this Injury properly or improperly stabilized, or to keep it unstabilized. If you would successfully incapacitate a target, you may opt to knock them out for one hour instead of having them suffer an Injury.
- Riposte: If you successfully Defend against an attack within range of your melee weapon, you deal Damage equal to your excess Outcome plus Weapon Damage back to your attacker.
Stock
Melee Mastery Gifts
Tools of the Trade
The ninja is a master of a wide variety of martial weapons. They kill quickly and quietly.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with melee ninja weapons.
+2 dice to all rolls with melee ninja weapons. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using melee ninja weapons.
You also gain the following effects:
- Assassin: If your attack Injures your target, they cannot make a sound, even incidentally, for a single Round. Even the sound of their body and equipment dropping to the ground is silenced.
- Falling Crane Strike: If you move and then make a successful attack against a target closer than the full distance you could have moved, you may choose to travel the excess movement in a straight line beyond the target.