Bruce Lee's Game of Death (HERE is the important part of the unfinished film)
and games like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and Tekken.
This is the not-yet-play-tested version. That makes it about as safe as a beginner martial artist with only one or two techniques... wild, overconfident, and and lacking in refinement.
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This is a game about dramatic martial artists pushed to the edge and solving problems with punching.
Lots of punching.
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YOUR FIGHTER
On an index card, answer the following questions concisely and dramatically:
Name... this should be cool, memorable, and dramatic. It should fall from the lips of others with awe.
Look... this is what makes you distinctive in one or two short, but colorful phrases. Metaphors and similes are good starts. It could be distinctive dress that would look like a costume on anyone else, but on you looks devastatingly cool and dangerous. Or it could be that you are devastatingly inhuman and dangerous... but oh, so cool. You can use this once per game to refresh damaged attributes when you have a chance to describe how awesome you look in entering the scene.
Drive... this is the straw that broke the camel's back. This is the thing that pushed you down the path of no return... for victory or death. This is what drives you to fight. You can use this once per game to refresh damaged attributes when you can describe a flashback that shows how your drive pushes you through the scene.
Ally... this is one other fighter that you have crossed paths with before, and know you can trust in a fight. Why? Note: this might have been your Rival at one time. You can use this once per game to refresh damaged attributes when meeting your ally triggers a flashback that shows how your ally gives you the strength to push on against the odds.
Rival... this is one other fighter that you have crossed paths with before, and there will be blood the next time you do. Why? Note: this might have been your Ally at one time. You can use this once per game to refresh damaged attributes when meeting your Rival triggers a flashback that shows how your rival makes you committed to pushing on against the odds. You must defeat your rival before you can push forward!
Next, note the following three attributes with nine points to distribute among them, with a minimum of 1 in each. Write your levels for each on the blank line, and then leave an equal number of boxes blank. The remaining boxes should be boldly marked out.
Kung-Fu... this represents your training and skill in martial arts. This is the number of dice you have have available to roll to attack your opponents.
Chi... this represents your vitality and inner power. This number determines what you must roll equal to or below on each die when you attack to try to damage your opponent.
Insight... this represents your ability to see through illusion into the reality of things. This is the number of times you may discern the true weakness of your opponents Kung-Fu or the deceptions left to hinder you on you quest. When you use your insight, your opponent cannot get a bonus from their special techniques on an attack, and any lost Kung-Fu, or Chi (one but not both) is immediately refreshed up to the level of Insight. For example, if a minion scores three successes, your Kung-Fu is 4, and your Insight is 2, you may recover 2 Kung-Fu by marking off one box of Insight.
Finally, you will create and make note of this:
Techniques... these are your signature moves, your deadliest combos, and your most lethal weapon skills. You get to create three of them. They must have awesome and dangerous names to strike fear and wonder in the hearts of those who behold them in action. They follow a naming convention something like this:
- (adjective or adverb)
- (noun)
- (verb or adverb)
- (noun)
So you might be a master of Viper Style Kung-Fu, and your techniques might be named something like, "Coiled Shadow Bites the Moon!", or "Thousand Venomed Fangs Strike!". To use a technique, you will forcefully declare it by name before you attack, and you gain it's effect as designed. You should have a good idea of what the technique looks like in action and what effect it has on an opponent, and should be able to narrate it when it happens.
Building your technique, you may get any bonus or combination of bonuses you choose to your attributes as long as they total 3. For example, Thousand Venomed Fangs Strike! might give a bonus of +3 to Chi when you use it, while Coiled Shadow Bites the Moon! gives you +2 to Kung-Fu and +1 to Insight when you use it.
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THE TOWER
The Warlord of Ultimate Evil sits upon his throne in the Tower Pagoda of Death. There are nine levels to ascend before you can face the ultimate master. Each level is guarded by a wicked minion, each more deadly than the last. You must defeat the defender of each level before you can pass to the next.
When you enter a level, the opposing player (playing the Warlord and the minions, i.e. the Tower) will briefly set the scene for that level of the pagoda, and describe the minion who guards the stair upward with lethal intent. The guard will give a warning to you, giving one last opportunity to flee. Should you refuse, mortal combat will begin!
The minion is rated based on the level they defend. They will begin with a Kung-Fu rating, and a Chi rating equal to the level they are on, with Chi topping out at 6, while Kung-Fu will progress... yes that means that the Warlord will have a Kung-Fu of 9, or 9 dice to roll, with a Chi of 6 when the game begins. Write the levels for each on the blank line, and then leave an equal number of boxes blank.
What about the boxes above and beyond the ratings of 6? They are made up by the power of Gu.
Gu is the power of black sorcery. It has to do with poison... and venomous animals... and pestilence... and sorcerer's ghosts... and shape shifting... it is dreadful, awful stuff. And the Warlord, and his most trusted minions on levels 7 and 8 might have it. Whenever the power of Gu is used, mark off one box. This allows the player of the tower to shape-shift in some dramatically horrible way, and use any technique that has been used by a fighter in the tower, one time per use of Gu.
COMBAT
When you confront an opponent in combat, both sides roll all their Kung-Fu dice at the same time. All faces that are equal or below the Chi rating are successful attacks. The player with the most dice will begin by putting a die forward on the table showing the result (successful or not) and describe briefly and colorfully how the attempt to attack either succeeded or failed. Anything goes as long as the result is not final, unless a successful die causes the final box to be crossed off for the opponent. Then, you may describe the fatality. The description should be short, dramatic, and forceful, and can include any number of attacks, acrobatic maneuvers, and broken pieces of scenery. After the first player puts out a die and gives the brief description, the other player responds likewise, and so back and forth till all dice are accounted for, boxes checked, and one side determined the victor, or another round called for.
Both sides mark off as many boxes from their attributes as successes inflicted by the other side. As mentioned, the minion must give fair warning and offer you a chance to flee in cowardice before combat begins. If you refuse, combat ensues as described. The exception to this rule, is if you the fighter choose to begin with a technique. If so, the technique bonuses are applied first, then dice are rolled.
If you suffer hits from the minion, Insight may be used immediately as described.
If you lose all Kung-Fu or Chi boxes, you can no longer fight. If you lose all attribute boxes, you die, but you are raised in service to the Warlord as the new undead defender of the last level you passed with all your former attributes and techniques.
Breakthrough Attacks
There is a special case attack, when you roll three or more dice that are consecutively higher (i.e. 1,2,3,4,5,6). This allows you to make the choice of a breakthrough attack, in which you attack your opponent so forcefully, that you knock them through the floor (or ceiling if you so choose) to an adjacent level. You must have a minimum run of three dice to make this attack possible. If you have more dice, and they continue in a run, each die after counts as a successful attack for damage as well. If you merely have three in a run, you do no additional damage, but you do knock them through the floor, and you need not fight them further. This attack is possible on any opponent except the Warlord, though the Warlord may make this attack against you should you live to face him on the ninth level. If you have enough dice to make two continuous runs, you can knock your opponent through two levels.
THE GAME OF DEATH
Suppose there are multiple fighters attempting to assault the Tower? This is the true Game of Death. Many enter... one will leave. The power of the Warlord alone can release one from the precincts of the Tower after entry, and to have that power, you must be the final victor against all.
When multiple fighters enter, they may roll off against Insight to determine the order in which they will go, all rolling at the same time with any who fail to gain successes being eliminated from the order until one fighter has rolled alone. The order of play then proceeds in order of most successes to least. A fighter may fight and continue until one of the following conditions occurs:
- they choose to stop and wait
- the end of a fight in which they used a point of Insight to recover
- they die
After that fighter's turn ends, the next may attempt to assault the Tower, facing new minions at each level even if the previous fighter defeated them. The Warlord has great power after all, and an endless supply of minions. The only way to stop the minions is to end the Warlord.
Allies and Rivals
If at any time you should proceed on your turn and come to a level with a fighter who is either your ally or rival, you may make use of your Ally or Rival attribute as described previously.
ENDGAME
When one fighter remains at the top of the Tower, having defeated all opposition as well as the Warlord, they become the new Warlord, and can either begin a new reign of oppression and terror, or abdicate, leave the Tower, and go from whence they came, as a hero. Take a moment to describe the epilogue with pathos and feeling!
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