Shonen final burst The fighting anime rpg by Phillip Karnell and Aeriell Turner Credits Written and Designed by: Phillip Karnell Art: Aeriell Turner Editing: Miles Kelley, Kelsey Kropp Playtesting: Charles Mitchell, Ted Brauneck, Devin Manning-Riley, Nate Mottle, Miles Kelly, Collin Murray, Taylor Nolan, McIver Williams, Jared Reese, Eric Pitre, Kelsey Kropp, Matt Woodard Thanks to the Seattle Shonen Squad, the New Orleans Nakama, and the Greeneville Knights. Special thanks to all my gaming friends over the years. Thanks also to the RPG.net and Penny Arcade communities for their support. Extra special thanks to Charles Mitchell, who helped with additional game concepts and genre emulation, and Mike Turner, who provided morale support for the art. Finally, the utmost thanks go to Akira Toriyama, Eiichiro Oda, Masashi Kishimoto, and Tite Kubo. Copyright 2013, Phillip Karnell. Text, art and game mechanics are protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. Reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork is prohibited without express consent of the author, with exception given to the blank character sheets in the appendix, which may be reproduced for personal use only. Any reference to trademarked or copyrighted characters or products in this document is for reference purposes only and is not meant to challenge the trademarks or copyrights of their creators. www.shonenfinalburst.com [email protected] Table of Contents The Game , The Show 1. – This introduction chapter presents the main …………………………….. 1 concepts of the game, including some basic rules. Character Creation 2. – Here you’ll find out how to make your own unique shonen character. This chapter explains the basic fighting statistics …………………………….. 13 and various shonen archetypes. Techniques 3. – This chapter contains a huge variety of shonen super- …………………………….. 28 powers for your characters. Combat! 4. – An expansion of the basic rules and the core of the game’s mechanics. This chapter gives you all the information you need to engage in …………………………….. 68 awesome shonen fights. Signature Moves 5. – This chapter teaches you how to use and create the …………………………….. 99 powerful named attacks that are a hallmark of the shonen genre. Transformations 6. – This chapter shows you how to create and use …………………………….. 110 amazing alternate battle-forms - another must-have of the genre. Supporting Roles …………………………….. 118 7. – This chapter details the amazing power you gain from having friends and rivals. Gimmicks 8. – This chapter provides interesting options like equipment and …………………………….. 128 origins that spice up your shonen character and provide bonuses. Fights and Filler 9. – A guiding chapter about how to progress the story …………………………….. 134 and what to do when you’re not throwing energy beams around. Experience and Rewards 10. – This part of the book explains how to …………………………….. 143 increase a character’s power during and after play sessions. Producer Section 11. – Not just a chapter, but a whole section showing the Producer how to create story Arcs, NPCs, Bosses, and direct both combat and non-combat situations. Enemies …………………………….. 146 Running The Show …………………………….. 168 Prime Time Universes 12. – This chapter contains information on possible shonen settings where your characters can adventure, fight and grow. Two example universes are provided too, paying homage to great shonen series. …………………………….. 177 index 13. …………………………….. 185 Appendix 14. – For your character sheet and damage track needs. The Game The Show , Shonen Final Burst is a table top roleplaying game designed to emulate the crazy action and excitement of your favorite fighting anime and manga. This game allows you to create your own high-powered heroes and go nuts in over-the-top battles. It’s a game about fighting for what you believe in, no matter the cost. Here we introduce the basic rules of the game and let players know what they'll be doing. Let’s start with a quick explanation of roleplaying and the main themes of the shonen genre. What is a roleplaying game? Shonen Final Burst and anime shows. The Producer is This is a game about telling stories. Specifically, the suggestive boss working in the background of a TV Shonen Final Burst is about capturing the essence of program. They’re not the writer or the director; the shonen anime. It’s basically playing make-believe. You Producer doesn’t have absolute control. Her job is to decide the actions of a character you create and provide guide the show along and make it crazy entertaining. narration for their amazing fights and melodrama. This book provides rules for how to resolve tricky situations The Game, The Show where the outcome is uncertain. When you put it all Shonen Final Burst is not about “winning”. It’s about together you will be able to create your own shonen working with the other players to tell a story. That story anime stories with your friends! should be imagined like a shonen anime program, full of over-the-top drama, action and surprises! The players Players aren’t competing with each other. They’re also not Every game needs players. When we talk about the working against the Producer, even though she’ll be players of Shonen Final Burst we are referring to you, controlling some of the bad guys. Everyone’s in it the reader. The players are the driving force of the story together to make an awesome show. and get to make all the major decisions and choose What is shonen? how to deal with challenges. Players design and control a character and narrate or act out their actions during Shonen (technically: shounen) is a phrase in Japanese the game. This character is called a player character that means “young people”, specifically young boys. In (PC). We sometimes call these characters “shonen” or this game we refer to shonen as a genre of anime and “fighters”, too. The best way to imagine this is by manga that caters to the tastes of males aged between thinking of a shonen anime show. You get to control 10 and 16. These comics and shows feature ridiculous one of the main fighters in that show. You’re in charge action and fighting, along with deep friendships and of how they battle, what powers they use, who they’re clashes of philosophy between hopeful youth and friends with, their motivations, and how they grow. cynical adulthood. There are tons of shonen series, There are other characters in the game called non- each with their own peculiar emphasis on certain player characters (NPCs) which you don’t have control aspects of the whole shonen genre. of. They’re there for you to interact with and probably beat up. The series listed below are considered (by us, at least) to be part of the shonen genre, and have been The Producer inspirations for this game: There is one special player called the Producer. This The Big Four player is responsible for creating the overall plot of each game and describing the scenery and other characters Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT to the players. She’s one part referee and one part Bleach storyteller. The producer controls most of the NCPs and Naruto and Naruto Shippuden designs the challenges the players face. She doesn’t One Piece have a personal character like the other players – she’s Other Favorites and Examples in charge of the whole rest of the game instead. We call her the Producer because of the connection between Rurouni Kenshin Hunter x Hunter He and She Full Metal Alchemist Yu Yu Hakusho For simplicity’s sake, we refer to the Players as “he”, Fist of the North Star the male pronoun, and the Producer as “she”, the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure female. Although shonen anime is mostly skewed The Prince of Tennis toward young males, this game has no gender bias. Wakfu Shonen final burst 1 Anything goes Some series are more about friendship and humor, : There are hundreds of shonen series while others focus on epic planet-rocking battles and with thousands of amazing characters, techniques, have very little drama. However, we think that there are powers and worlds. Inventive powers and well-designed some universal shonen themes and quirks. Here are characters are badges of honor. This means the some of the concepts of the genre, which we’ve based creativeness (or craziness) is cranked up to 11. the game rules around. Characters can be anything from aliens to zombies. They can control common flame or have exotic powers Fighting is Inevitable : This is arguably the most like turning people into delicious candy. All these weird distinct aspect of the shonen genre. Shonen anime is a abilities work together because it’s shonen. Nothing is showcase for badass fights. All shonen fight. It’s too weird. Fighters usually take any kind of opponent unavoidable. The story is progressed through fighting. seriously, no matter how quirky they are. Characters develop through combat; physically, mentally Just powerful enough and even emotionally. Fighting is the first (and : Shonen are all amazing sometimes only) option for resolving important conflicts. fighters. They are capable of absolutely superhuman This is not to say that fights are empty spectacles of feats, like smashing mountains, throwing energy beams, violence, though. and even flight. They can all take ridiculous amounts of punishment and still get back up, regardless of their size Fighting is Talking : This is a corollary to the first or training. Shonen are always just strong enough to genre convention. Because fighting is the focus of a fight other shonen. They may lose, but they can at least shonen story, all the important plot events and character step in the ring. However, their strength seems to developments are wrapped up in the battle too.