Rider: The Transformation is a collaborative effort of Adrian Burns, Conor Dedek, and Joe Hiles.

Now in beta!

iNTRODUCTiON "Even if there is no God or Buddha, there is Kamen Rider."

Our world is not and has never been perfect, and probably never will be. But that hasn't stopped

us as a species from trying as hard as we can to make this world livable, has it? But even so, sometimes

we see a problem and we walk away. We tell ourselves that it's not our deal, it's not affecting us. We go

back to our homes, our dorms, our apartments. Back to our offices, our classrooms, our cozy little lives,

where we tell ourselves that those sorts of problems only happen to others, never to us. We try not to

care, because that's the only defense we have.

Because inside, we're afraid to do anything about it. We could get hurt, we could make a

mistake, we could strand ourselves out of our precious comfort zones where everything's safe and

warm. Maybe once or twice we push ourselves so we can feel good about it later, but do we ever do it

consistently, always striving to make something of ourselves? For many of us, the answer is a

resounding no.

But what if we had power that just isn't available to the average college sophomore or office

worker? What if we didn't have to be so afraid of making a difference? What if we could really, really do

something to change the world?

What if we had to?

Could we? Could we really? Can we awaken the heroes within our souls? Can we fight to survive,

break the chains that bind us, and ride with the devil?

It's time to find out.

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A GAME OF COURAGE ANd SACRIFICE

Rider: The Transformation is a game about stepping up and becoming a hero, based on the

Kamen Rider franchise. No matter what his or her Beginning is, no matter the Path he or she walks, a

Rider is a person who knows now just how much the world needs heroes—and has the power to fill that

role. Theirs is a world in dire need of hope, and theirs is the responsibility to be that hope.

YOUR FEARS CANNOT HOLD YOU BACK People are so trapped in their fears of what might go wrong that it's nearly impossible to step

outside their comfort zones and strike at the hearts of the problems that plague the world. You, as a

Rider, can fight against that fear and make a difference. Doesn't it sound so wonderful?

BUT YOU'LL ALWAYS HAVE REASON TO FEAR

But don't you dare think you're invincible. People are blind to so many of their problems, and

the fact that you aren't means you know just how much there is out there that can crush a person to

dust. More than anybody else, you will see just how much there is out there to fear.

BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT INVINCIBLE

A mugger's knife glances off your armor like a stick off a brick wall. You can punch that thug

through a wall before he can draw his gun. But what about when a Kaijin's steel-shredding claws sink

into your leg? What about when a Fallen Rider takes her blaster and pumps five rounds into your chest?

Compared to street mooks, you're big time. But you're not the only one with power.

BUT YOU CAN'T GIVE UP

But the bad guys aren't the only ones with numbers, see? There are Riders everywhere, because

there is evil everywhere. The veterans have an eye out for the new ones, and they'll get you together

with others. You'll have friends, and they'll have your back through thick and thin, because everyone

knows you can't do this by yourselves. As long as you have hope, Rider, you will never walk alone.

THEME: COURAGE AND SACRIFICE

Rider is a game about being a hero. A Rider can destroy the evils that lurk in the shadows, the

ones ordinary people only feel the effects of and don't truly see outside of their dreams or their dying

gasps. But doing so is not going to be easy; there are fears to face, and very few normal people will ever

know just how much you do for them. Most people are blind to all but the barest hints of Rider activity,

and those that get a good look can't tell the difference between the monsters and the heroes. You can

be a hero, but don't hope for any acknowledgement from anyone but your fellows.

MOOD: SELF-DOUBT AnD HOPE

Sure, here you are with all this great power, these friends you love to hell and back, and the

knowledge that because you work hard, the city can sleep a little more safely. But just what in the hell

are you? Why can there be magical power-stones side-by-side with psionic bio-armor and superscientific

armorsuits? All of this came in with the myriad evils that squirmed in through the cracks between

worlds... and in every Rider's heart, he or she hides the terrifying question: am I a monster too?

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WHaT YOU NeeD TO PLaY

RIDER: THE TRANSFORMATION is designed and developed to be pretty easy to play, even for

first-time tabletop RPG players. There are some things you'll need to start playing:

TEN-SIDED DICE: Also called d10s, ten-sided dice are the only kind you'll need in this game. You should

probably have a few per person. Sometimes you may be asked to roll a d5, but that's as simple as

counting even numbers at half their value.

THIS DOCUMENT: Obviously, you'll want this, probably on a laptop or tablet. It may also be a good idea

to print out the Powers/Skills section if you're the DM; you can hand it to a player who wants to pick

some new Powers or Skills instead of having to give 'em the whole computer.

CHARACTER SHEETS: Obviously, you need everyone's character sheets present, as well as pencils to

write on them. If a player really wishes (and is using the Character Sheet Viewer program) they can go

back to their sheet file after a game, update the file to reflect the changes on the paper copy, and

maybe even print the new copy out.

GRAPH PAPER & MARKING TOKENS: For battle scenes, you probably want something to map out the

action on. Graph paper works, since it's all divided into 5-foot squares. You also want some sort of

objects to mark the positions of characters and stuff.

IMAGINATION: Absolutely necessary—without your imagination painting the picture, all you're doing is

throwing numbers back and forth. If it helps set the mood, the DM might play music as relevant to the

action at hand.

PLAYING ONLINE

It's not that hard to play online if you can't meet up in person. For this, you probably

need a shared Google Doc to all write roll results and actions, a Google Spreadsheet

to handle the graphy bits, and some sort of chat or Skype. Dice can be handled by an

online dice roller. You'll have to trust the other players that they're recording their

rolls honestly, though!

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cHapteR 1: ONe WORLD

[The world of Riders and their community in it.]

"I am justice."

- Kamen Rider Kabuto

A WORLD BESET BY WORLDS

As far as we can tell, this mess all began in early 1971. Our Earth has always been awash in a sea

of Earths, worlds differing from ours in some way. There were always some holes between these worlds,

and some of them did connect to our world. But there had never been so many at one time, not like

this.

Those who know of the sea of universes tend to name each world after whatever threat came

out—the World of Demons, the World of ATP, and so on. We call ours the World of Riders, but some say

that the other worlds have another name for us: the World of Ignorance. The vast majority of people

never really noticed when things came crawling through the cracks; the effects on the mundane world

were always felt, but almost nobody could really see the root causes.

But while evil wrapped itself around the weaknesses in people and nations alike, something was

born as well: Kamen Riders. The prevailing theory these days is that there was an influx of "unreality"

from all these alternate worlds, and that somehow the concentrated evil encroaching in the world

actually caused this unreality to gravitate to human goodness. How any of that works is beyond most

people in the Rider community, though.

Riders started to find each other and learn that they weren't the only ones; they started to work

together, keeping in touch and watching each other's backs against the myriad tendrils of darkness.

Stand Together/Stand Apart It didn't take long for Riders to start converging around a few strong, charismatic people with

relatable philosophies; after all, it's natural to look up to someone who you think you can trust. Soon,

the Rider community was almost universally in one of seven distinct but cooperating groups called

Paths: Stars, Heaven, Desire, Blood, Fury, Thorns, and Glory. They didn’t all agree on everything, but

they fought and bled and struggled side-by-side and back-to-back, and that made them brothers, sisters,

family.

But not every family stays together forever. The leaders of Stars, Heaven, Desire, and Blood

looked at the other three Paths and what they saw scared them. At first it was just that those three

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seemed to have heavier fatalities than the others, but then they really looked at what beliefs they held

onto. Fury's rabid pursuit of vengeance; Thorns' ruthless "protection" (some might say control) of their

loved ones; Glory's megalomaniac obsession with the shining light of heroism. All of these, thought the

other leaders, were too close to the darkness, too far from Justice's strong but kind heart. In 1986,

wielding their majority in the Council, they made their ultimatum to Fury, Thorns, and Glory: change or

leave. And, preferring anything up to and including death over letting go of their principles, these three

Paths were cast out from what became to know the Righteous. The remaining Council hoped these

factions would wither and die as their members came back to the light and begged for reconciliation.

They wanted to accept with open arms these men and women, the friendships that had been forged in

battle and pain and tears.

Unfortunately, it wasn't so rosy. What they lacked in numbers at the time, the three Heretic

Paths more than compensated for with sheer fanatical devotion to their ideals, and they managed to

survive and expand to form a loose power bloc of their own. The leaders of the Righteous Paths watched

in consternation, but figured that was better than, say, all the outcasts dying. The Riders had survived

this schism, but there were more trials ahead…

Falling From Grace/This Is Why You Should Run There had always been a few Riders that went bad or "Fell" as the years went by, but the

majority of them didn't survive very long—these Fallen tended to make enemies of everyone else, Rider

and Invader alike. However, in 1992, the Invader threats launched a host of campaigns to turn up the

heat; whether they were cooperating or all trying to outdo each other or both is still not certain.

Whatever the case may be, the results were the stuff of nightmares, only made worse by the cultural

dissatisfaction of the 90s. The loose groups Riders kept were torn apart, isolating those who weren't

killed outright. And the number of Fallen simply skyrocketed.

The Rider Council and the veterans realized something they had overlooked for too long: the

importance of togetherness, of bonds. They had taken these connections for granted, those who lived

through the early decades and the Schism; however, shortly after '86 there had been a remarkable lull

in Invader activity (later realized to be the result of the factions' planning and building up resources).

There were fewer battles to forge lifelong friendships, and as such, newer Riders weren't as connected

with each other. And that made them so much easier to break.

The Invaders probably weren't planning to create an epidemic of Fallen Riders, but they

certainly benefited from it; with so many at once, these corrupted, insane shells of former heroes

managed to stay alive long enough to be taken under the insidious wings of the Demon Clans, the

Alchemical Empire, The ATP Foundation, and more. A Rider is a powerful foe against evil, but they can

be just as strong when warped to the side they once opposed.

The Righteous started desperate focus on grouping new Riders under veterans, determined to

help these novices form the ties that would hold them steady against the crushing brutality of the

Invaders' schemes. Ironically, relatively few of the Heretics went under in the Fall From Grace—some

say their zealotry bound them together too strongly to be so broken, while less-charitable voices mutter

that they probably didn't Fall because the Heretics are already rabid psychopaths, and they'd probably

kill any one of their own who started to weaken at a moment's notice.

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A New Millennium, A New Legend

And here we are. The Righteous Paths stand strong, as do the Heretics, and the Invaders are

finding things won't be so easy as their little victory in the 90s. The explosion of the Internet was one of

the biggest boons to the Rider cause, as it made the global community much more connected. It's easier

than ever to find other Riders in your area to form a Band with, and the increasing interconnection of

society just strengthens the bonds shared. It's not all roses, though—after all, there's still many worlds'

worth of evil trying to twist our Earth to their wills. Even so, the universal Rider Creed feels stronger

than ever: As long as you have hope, you will never walk alone.

BEING A RIDER

Awakening Most Awakenings occur at a turning point in one's life. The earliest point at which this occurs

has been in the mid-teens, with the youngest documented Rider starting at the age of 15. Thankfully,

though, this is pretty rare; one so young is rarely equipped for the stress of Rider life.

Usually, a Rider's Awakening will occur between late teenage years and late twenties, and most

often accompanies a major shift in one's life. It could be as relatively innocuous as leaving home for

college or a breakup, or something more major, like losing a job. Or a loved one. Either way, Riders who

are living away from their families have a degree of freedom that helps with the whole "beating the

crap out of monsters every night" thing. However, they also have classes and jobs, most often; in fact,

it's so common for Riders to have trouble keeping steady employment that the community has

programs focusing on helping them find their next source of income.

There are some cases in which someone in their thirties, forties, or even beyond has an

Awakening; these are troublesome for the people who endure them, because they are often more set in

their jobs, their relationships, their marriages. They have more to lose, and it's hard for them.

Transformation Once he or she Awakens, a Rider has the ability to Transform. It is a simple mental effort to

summon one's Rider Belt and do whatever actions accompany the process; a Rider innately knows how

to perform his or her Transformation sequence from the moment of Awakening. Whether biological,

magical, or technological, the Armor forms over the Rider's body in a moment.

The appearance of a Rider's Armor is an expression of his or her true self through the medium of

a specific Beginning (biological, magical, or superscientific). Everything about him or her is enhanced;

their strength and ability gives greater confidence, and a Rider even thinks more quickly.

Culture Riders are all about togetherness, and it shows. With the internet's influence in the world today,

getting and staying connected with one's fellows is easier than ever. There are official sites, but also so

many more unofficial ones, where Riders complare notes, share war stories, ask for help, or just talk

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about normal stuff with someone else who knows how hard normality is to come by. And, being that

this is the internet and all, it wouldn't be complete without arguments, most of which revolve around

the Heretics and/or use of Heretic powers.

Of course, beyond giving Glory Riders somewhere to make troll accounts and get banned in two

minutes, Rider networks serve an important function in that they make it very easy to know what's

going on where—not only because of what people post, but when people stop posting. After all, if

someone goes quiet for uncommonly long without explanation, they may be in need of help.

Probably the most practical part of Rider networking is its influence offline; they help a new

Rider find out where his or her fellows are, where to meet them , and who else is looking for someone

to group up with. "Tech looking for Band in Cleveland" and so forth are common postings on Rider sites,

and generally, that Tech is going to find herself a few other Riders to work with.

Band "Band" is one of many words for a group, from a gaggle of swishy-haired kids playing garage

rock to the proverbial "band of brothers". In Rider parlance, a Band is basically that—a group, just one

that consists of Riders, and first and foremost it is a group of friends.

While of course Bands often go on patrol or head into battle together (or, if one is in trouble,

the rest will join the fight), they also just plain hang out. The top brass and the veterans all stress the

importance of this: the times spent together that allow a Rider to de-stress, the support that

reinvigorates his spirit, and the occasional demand that he get himself some decent sleep while the

others cover for his duties. When a Rider thinks he sees trouble, the first people he calls are always his

Band.

Changing Paths A Rider can change from a Righteous Path to a Heretic Path or vice-versa. However, this is a

huge load of character development and does not just suddenly happen one day---the Rider has to have

a pretty serious crisis of faith regarding his or her Path as well as a history of meaningful contact (quite a

few “episodes”’ worth, so to speak) with Riders from the other side that causes them to consider, then

choose the other side. This is an emotionally tumultuous event, costing at least one point of Justice and

one point of Sanity, and perhaps giving the Rider a lasting psychological or emotional scar---a phobia or

a trigger, maybe. A lot of DM discretion is at work here, but if none of the other players could see it

coming if your Rider changed Paths, then there probably hasn’t been sufficient buildup.

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DICE ROLLS: HOW DO THEY WORK? Dice rolls basically work like this. When making an action, you first determine what Stat and Ability

you are using. Let's say you want to search around, looking for something specific in your line of sight. You

would be using your Mental Stat and the Perception ability. You have three dots in Mental and two dots in

Perception, so this means you have a dicepool of five D10 dice to roll for this action. You roll your dice,

considering each result separately—your default "target number", the lowest result on a die that counts as a

Success, is 7 (though this can possibly be higher or even lower depending on certain factors). Let's say your

five dice come up as a 5, an 8, a 9, a 4, and another 9. Assuming the target number is still 7, you just rolled

three Successes!

Any action that requires a dice roll has a Difficulty Rating, which indicates how many Successes are

required to complete the action correctly. Let's say your DM determines that this particular task of searching

has only a Difficulty Rating of 2—your three Successes mean that you have not just succeeded, but succeeded

a bit extra! This would probably get you a bit more info than you would have gotten from just rolling two

successes. Generally, the more you exceed the Difficulty Rating, the more spectacular your performance and

the better the results of your action. In addition, there is the Rule of 10, which states that any die that comes

up 10 counts as two Successes instead of one. Technically, the max possible Successes for a roll is double the

size of the dicepool.

Of course, failure is an option. If your number of Successes is not at least equal to the action's

Difficulty Rating, you fail to complete the action. The consequences depend on the nature of the task; if you

failed your first attempt at looking around and finding something, you can probably try again. If, however, you

failed to grab a handhold while being washed away down a flooded canal, you may be in trouble. However, a

regular failure usually still gives you another chance; your DM might tell you that you get washed fifty feet

down the canal and then get to roll again to grab something.

However, there are times when your character really screws up, and these are Botches. A Botch

occurs when you fail to roll even a single Success and at least one of your dice is a 1. While a failure often just

means "I did not get to do the thing I wanted", a Botch means "I tried to do the thing and got an actively

negative result". If you botch your action of searching around, you might find something irrelevant that ends

up leading you into an ambush later. If you botch your attempt to grab a handhold while being washed down

the canal, you don't just fail to grab onto that pipe, but you hurt yourself doing so.

There are also Penalties and Bonuses, which respectively detriment and benefit your attempts.

Penalties might be things like slippery ground messing up your footwork, an injury making it harder to fight,

bad visual conditions making it hard to see, etc. Bonuses that do not come from other players' actions (like

Powers with buffing effects) are a lot rarer than Penalties.

A special type of Bonus is called the Stunt, in which the player describes their character's actions in an

exciting manner and is rewarded bonus dice at DM discretion.

A one-die Stunt would generally just be a nice, illustrative description of an action: "Standing behind

the trooper, Kamen Rider Goliath brings his arm around and extends his wrist-blade, stabbing up into

the unprotected space between helmet and neckguard with a spray of yellow ichor."

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A two-die Stunt generally also requires the character to interact with the DM-presented

environment, taking advantage of what's described to be there. You can't contradict what's been

established, but you may insert details—note that the DM can veto any "editing" like this if they feel

it strains belief or is somehow inappropriate (i.e. contradicting a major detail that they haven't yet

revealed): "Seeing two ATP Troopers charging from either side, trying to pin him against the steel

wall, Kamen Rider Goliath crouches and springs to the wall feet-first just in time. The second he stands

horizontal against the wall, he flicks his arms out, wrist-spurs extended, the force of the troopers'

momentum allowing the blades to pierce their helmets."

A three-die Stunt is more or less a player's Crowning Moment of Awesome, the spoken equivalent of

epic poetry and five simultaneous guitar solos. They generally follow the same rules as two-die

stunts: "As the ATP Hulk Trooper barrels toward him, Goliath stands ready. Nimbly sidestepping the

juggernaut's charge, he grabs its combat harness with one hand, the foe's momentum helping him

leap, swing his legs up, and kick it right in the side of the head. Its helmet dislodged, the hulk stumbles

sideways as Goliath's swing brings him around to its front—where he rams his free arm's spur right

into its eye."

Please note, however, that a Stunt means more than just shoving adjectives into the spaces between subject,

verb, and object. The point of a Stunt is to be interesting, exciting, and entertaining—length doesn't make it

cool, being cool makes it cool. Skillfully working in a pun may very well count toward your description being

Stunt-worthy. Always remember, the DM has the final say here. Upon the successful completion of a Stunt,

the player can regain a number of Spirit Points up to double that Stunt's rating. The DM can offer the option

to instead restore a point of Justice or Sanity for two- and three-die stunts if they feel it fitting.

There are also Resisted Rolls, in which two characters must make appropriate rolls against each

other. Sometimes, instead of having to compete with another roll, you have to compete with a static value,

like Defense.

There are also Automatic Successes, when the DM decides that an action that might otherwise

require a roll is rendered nearly unfailable for a character due to their high skill (and thus, their large dice

pool) in regards to that action.

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CHaPTeR 2:

The WarriOR'S AWaKeNiNG [Creating a character.]

"I don't want to see people crying anymore. I want everyone to smile! So have a good look at my

transformation!"

- Kamen Rider Kuuga

STEP 1: CHOOSE A BEGINNING & STATS

The first step in creating a Rider is to choose his or her Beginning. A Beginning is both the

method by which they transform and an indicator of what their combat focus is. Essentially, this is the

rider's class in average RPG terms, largely determining his or her role in battle.

Bios: Become Riders through an innate physical transformation, though it can be supernatural,

psychic, or purely biological. (Shin, Gills, Kiva). These riders have an offensive and speed focus,

but their support and social abilities are sub-par and they get slightly fewer Skill Points. Start

with STR•••, CHA•, 10 KP.

o Their weapons count one weight category less for the purposes of determining Speed

(this has no effect on your Steady Aim speed, however). Does not apply to Dual-

Wielding weight.

Mystics: Become Riders through magical artifacts (Kuuga, Agito), even though it sometimes

has a techy aesthetic (Ryuki). These Riders have a defensive and healing focus, but low

offensive abilities. Start with END•••, STR•, 15 KP

o Mystics have a pair of special counterattacking abilities that allow them to use their

Endurance instead of their Strength stat, called Diving Save and Human Shield. They

also are the only ones to use the Heal ability.

Techies: Become Riders through superscientific tech (Faiz, Blade, Fourze, W). These riders

have a Support/Social and Skill focus, but poor defense. Start with CHA•••, END•, 20 KP

o Tech Riders get the most starting Skill Points.

You have six stats which can be rated 0-5. Each Stat starts at 1. Each Beginning will determine

the values of two of your stats—as a Bio Rider, you will start with STR••• and CHA•, no exceptions. The

four unaffected stats all start at 1, and you have 4 points to distribute among them as you wish, with the

restriction that no Stat can be rated above ••• at character creation.

NOTE: Don't pick a class because of its aesthetic. Pick a class because of gameplay. The aesthetic lines are somewhat blurry between classes, so don't worry if your desired look doesn't seem to fit a class.

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STEP 2: DETERMINE ABILITIES

You have eighteen Ability scores, three per Stat. These range from 0-5 and start at 0; at

character creation, no Ability can be ranked above 3. You have 24 points to distribute among all of them.

You do not necessarily have to put one point in every single Ability; if you do not think you will ever use

Ranged weapons, then don't put points there. However, you would be wise to have at least a single

point in most Abilities otherwise (for example, your Unarmed rating is involved in breaking out of

Grapples, so even a weapon-based fighter would do well to have a point or two there).

STEP 3: CHOOSE A PATH

The four Righteous Paths are the core of the Rider community, providing both a philosophy to

look to as well as a bonus and a Favored Powerset. A Rider's Path helps determine his or her role in

terms of group dynamics, as well as influencing his or her role in battle due to the Powerset and stat

effects.

There are the four Righteous Paths a player can choose from; in addition, there are the three

Heretic Paths whose availability to players is a matter of DM's choice, and generally requires that it be

talked over with the DM and the other players. A mostly- or wholly-Heretic Band of players may work,

but this is also something requiring a serious discussion and should not be the first game for players or

DM.

Stars: The Path of Stars believes in the supreme importance of friendship, favors the

air/space Uchuu powerset, and gives a +1 Lore boost.

Heaven: The Path of Heaven believes in the duty to live up to one's destiny, favors the

fire/sun Taiyou powerset, and gives an +1 Initiative boost.

Desire: The Path of Desire believes in the need to protect others' dreams, favors the

water/ice Umi powerset, and gives a +1 boost to Survival.

Blood: The Path of Blood believes that redemption through justice is their obligation, favors

the earth/metal Jiban powerset, and gives a +2 boost to HP.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fury: The Path of Fury believes in having vengeance regardless of if they hurt others, favors

the electric/kinetic Raimei powerset (which erodes Justice points), and grants +5 SP.

Thorns: The Path of Thorns believes in the resolve to protect what's yours at any cost to

anyone, favors the darkness Kurayami powerset (which causes self-damage), and grants +1

Persuade.

Glory: The Path of Glory believes that a Rider's actions (so long as he or she follows certain

rules) are made Just by divine right, favors the light/laser Kagayaki powerset (which erodes

Sanity), and incurs a reduced penalty for the use of nega-Spirit.

STEP 4: 2ND FOCUSED POWERSET & FORSAKEN

A Rider automatically has his or her Path's Favored Powersets as one of his two Focused

Powersets. The second one of these is whatever he wants, called the Chosen Powerset. Your Focused

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are the ones whose Powers are most accessible to you, costing less XP to add points in them than

others. Some Powers are only available to those who have a certain Powerset in their Focus.

However, a Rider must also select one Powerset as their Forsaken Powerset; this is the one to

which they can never have access.

Your Focused Powersets start with one dot; all the others start at zero. You have 3 points to

distribute, and cannot increase your rating in any Powerset beyond 3 in character creation.

STEP 5: CHOOSE POWERS

You can now choose any Powers that your Rider meets the requirements for. You do not have to

write down every Power your Rider qualifies for, nor are you unable to use a Power just for not writing it

down.

STEP 6: CHOOSE SKILLS

If you're a Bio Rider, you get 10 KP. Mystics get 15, and Tech Riders get 20. You can buy Skills

now if you want, but you don't have to spend them all right now if you decide—you can buy a Skill at

any time outside of combat or riding scenes as long as you have enough KP.

STEP 7: FINISHING MOVE & WEAPON(S)

If you haven't already done so, pick your Rider's weapon or weapons. Also, determine your Base

Form's Finishing Move, deciding what (if any) elemental component it has and the type of Finisher it is.

Also be sure to be clear as to what kind of attack (Unarmed, Melee, Ranged) it is.

STEP 8: FINAL TOUCHES

You're almost done! Write down something in the Description—human appearance, Rider

appearance, personality, history, etc. Let your DM have a look at the sheet, maybe come up with a

henshin pose, and you're good to go!

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CHaPTeR 3: WHaT MakeS A RiDer

[Traits]

STATS

Every Rider has six core Stats, which are rated from 0 to 5 (with the baseline being 1). These are:

Strength: Physical might, concerning things like lifting a heavy object or making an attack.

Endurance: Physical resilience, concerning things like taking a hit, enduring harsh conditions, or

swimming.

Dexterity: Physical finesse, concerning things like dodging, being quiet, and aiming.

Speed: Speed, simply enough, concerning things like running, jumping, riding, and initiative.

Mental: Mental prowess, from perceiving things to mental fortitude to your memory.

Charisma: Social grace, concerning things like persuading or impressing people; also applies to

support-related actions and Powers.

ABILITIES

Abilities are more specific than Stats, and in rolls you may often have to pair an Ability and a Stat

(usually, but not always the most commonly associated Stat, though).

STRENGTH

Melee: Attacks in combat using a melee weapon.

Unarmed: Attacks in combat using no weapon, includes grappling.

Labor: Physical work not related to combat, e.g. pushing a car or pulling rubble off of someone.

ENDURANCE

Defend: Blocking, as well as reducing damage taken from attacks upon oneself or another.

Survival: Enduring a harmful environmental factor that is not necessarily an attack (i.e fire,

gases, extreme cold)

Swim: Swimming speed, the duration of holding your breath, and also the upper limit on

combat and movement in water above your waist.

DEXTERITY

Dodge: Avoiding harmful things, often attacks.

Stealth: Avoiding detection.

Ranged: Attacks in combat using a ranged weapon.

SPEED

Sprint: Flat-out sprinting; determines how much you lose or don’t lose for going that fast.

Athletics: Jumping, swinging, rolling, etc.

Ride (Fly): A Rider's skill on a motorcycle; this Rating determines the upper limit for mounted

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combat skill also. Also used as the Fly rating when necessary.

MENTAL

Perception: Noticing and understanding things with your senses, generally sight and sound.

Intelligence: Processing the information available and using it. Also your mental defense.

Lore: Understanding and remembering info, whether Rider or Invader based.

CHARISMA

Support: Actions that buff friends and debuff foes.

Persuade: Befriending people, admonishing ruffians, bluffing mooks.

Intimidate: Threatening and scaring people.

PATHS

Every Rider must choose a Path; this is a representation of the internal philosophy of Riderhood

they feel is best, as well as influencing the powers that will be most available to them. While some

powers from every elemental set are available regardless of Path, most are more easily accessed by

their associated Path; there are even some that are Path-exclusive. Your chosen Path also has an effect

on your stats.

Every Path has some form of leadership at its head, and these leaders together make up the

Rider Council. They direct, lead, and organize Riders and the non-Riders who work with them; the

hierarchy is rather loose, though, and beyond the top leaders is mostly based on merit and experience.

Veteran Riders often help novices to form Bands, which became a prime concern of the Council since

the problems of the 90s.

There are four Righteous Paths, and most heroic Riders will choose from them. There are also

three Heretic Paths; these will be discussed later.

JUSTICE

A Rider is a warrior for justice by his or her very nature, and Justice is a very concrete thing for

Riders, a shining ideal that may not be perfect, but is damn close. A Rider can feel how well their heart is

aligned toward Justice, and this feeling serves as a barometer of their moral integrity.

Simply put, acting unjustly turns a Rider away from Justice, which is an integral part of his or her

very being. A Rider at 0 Justice cannot Transform, and must redeem him- or herself in some way with a

significant selfless act. However, there exists a problem for Riders—Justice is always calling, and the

farther one turns away, the more it eats at one's mind. Staying at 0 Justice for too long risks the loss of

Sanity.

SANITY

A Rider's life is never easy, and on a daily basis he or she often faces things impossible in this

world. Such phenomena, especially the eldritch or horrific, can eat away at one's psyche. However,

there are things that ease one's mind as well—friends, family, and simply witnessing (or performing)

acts that reaffirm one's belief in human goodness.

The less Sanity a Rider has, the more likely they are to mistakenly commit unjust acts—the DM

may spring a surprise Sanity roll on a Rider, with failure resulting in doing something that risks loss of

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Justice. Likewise, low Justice can result in Sanity loss. Thus, the two go hand in hand, and it works the

other way 'round as well—regaining Justice (or, sometimes, seeing someone else regain Justice) helps

restore Sanity. The simultaneous state of Insanity and Injustice, should it ever happen (which is

thankfully unlikely nowadays, provided the Rider has friends to rely on), results in a Fall. If that happens,

it's time to make a new character.

SPIRIT

A Rider's Spirit is the fuel that drives his or her use of Powers, simply enough. It is the fierce

devotion to one's ideals that allows one to tap into the Powers granted by being a Rider, and goes hand-

in-hand with one's emotional state—at full Spirit, a Rider is full of conviction and drive; with it depleted,

he feels spent, hollow. The more a Rider grows, the greater his or her Spirit becomes.

The same things that restore Sanity also restore Spirit, but one's Spirit can also be restored by

seeing someone in need. A Rider cannot use his or her Powers with no Spirit… well, not normally.

A Rider at 0 Spirit is capable of tapping into something to use his or her powers, but this "nega-

Spirit" reserve is not as great as true Spirit—and, more importantly, it causes Sanity loss.

SKILLS AND SKILL POINTS

Let's first distinguish Powers from Skills. A Power is something like throwing a fireball or

propelling yourself forward with a blast of wind. A Skill is something like having enhanced aim or

increased evasion. Skills are more mundane, but are very useful, and most of them don't have a cost like

Powers do with Spirit. Like Power Points, Skill Points determine the skills one can have learned and can

be bought with experience points. Tech Riders have the most Skill Points.

Certain Skills are only able to be had by Alpha or Omega Forms.

POWERSETS

There are seven Powersets out there, four Righteous and three Heretical. A Rider is not limited

to the Powerset of his or her Path, and can choose Powers from any set he or she chooses. What varies

is the access a Rider has to these Powersets. They are rated 0-5, which determines both the strength

behind them and the access a Rider has to them. Dots can be bought with XP points. A Rider begins with a Primary Powerset and a Secondary Powerset. The Primary Powerset is that

of one's Path; the Secondary is whatever set the Rider chooses. These chosen sets are the ones which

the Rider can access most easily, and a Rider automatically gets 1 dot in each of these. He or she also

must select one Powerset as a Forsaken Powerset, which can never be used at all.

The Raimei, Kurayami, and Kagayaki powersets are very, very controversial (to say the least)

among the Righteous Paths; use of them is generally considered suspicious and/or dangerous.

Compounding the problem is the fact that, despite their drawbacks (detailed on their Paths' pages),

Heretical Powersets are stronger at lower levels than Righteous ones. The fast track to power is a dark

one indeed.

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FORMS

With enough XP spent, a Rider unlocks a new Form. A Rider always has his or her Base Form,

which is the regular one. They can gain up to two new forms, an Alpha Form and an Omega Form. Forms

have restrictions on how long and how often they can be used; Omega Forms have tighter limits, but

are stronger, and stack on top of the Alpha Form.

A Rider can enter his or her Alpha Form when his Base Form's Finishing Gauge is full. This is done

instead of using a Finisher.

A Form can be a Bio Form, Mystic Form, or a Tech Form, which enhance the user's stats

accordingly; a Bio Form most greatly enhances offensive and speed capabilities, with a good deal less

going to defense or support. A Rider can choose any type of form, not just one that matches his or her

Beginning. For example, a Bio Rider's Alpha Form could also be Bio, increasing his strength and speed by

a great deal while adding little to his endurance or support abilities. On the other hand, he could take a

Mystic Form, which would help fill out his low defense while not doing much for his offense. Thus, the

choice in Form is a choice between specialization or being more well-rounded.

FINISHING MOVES

Every Rider knows one Finishing Move per Form. A Finishing Move is a powerful attack with a

Spirit cost, and cannot be used until the Finishing Gauge is full. Certain things cause the Finishing Gauge

to fill more quickly, like taking damage. A Rider can only use one Finisher per battle. A Finisher can have

one elemental attribute if wished; Alpha and Omega Finishers get two.

If you choose to change into your next Form instead of using your Finisher, you will have the

option of using a Finisher for that form no later than the last turn of its duration. This creates a choice—

do you want to use a finisher, or do you want to move up to your next form and possibly use its finisher

instead? Perhaps your Alpha Form's Finisher seems a better course of action than waiting til you can

use your Omega Finisher? It all depends.

Finishers come in a variety of types:

Barrage: Your Finisher allows you to attack three targets at once without incurring the usual

Accuracy/hit penalty that comes with a multi-target attack. You may divide these three attacks

among three targets (one per target), two targets (two for one target, one for the other), or one

target (all three for that target.) If this is your Alpha Form's finisher, you get four attacks with it;

if Omega, you get five.

Overpower: Your attack is so powerful that it cannot be fully evaded or parried. Under normal

circumstances, it deals 1d10 extra damage. If it is blocked or evaded, the target still receives half

the damage that would have been dealt by a regular attack.

Precision: Your attack gains an accuracy bonus, and is exempt from normal accuracy penalties,

in addition to 1d5 extra damage..

Mega Impact: Your attack does 2d10 extra damage.

WEAPONS

Weapons are divided into five categories: Unarmed, Light Melee, Heavy Melee, Light Ranged,

and Heavy Ranged. A weapon's weight category (unarmed, light, or heavy) affects your Initiative and

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your Speed, as well as the damage it does; heavy weapons are slower but stronger. Bio Riders are

special in that their weapons count one weight category less.

Ranged weapons allow you to stay more out of range, but they are overall weaker. They also

have to deal with Accuracy. Ranged Weapons, however, incur an Accuracy penalty if you use them while

moving beyond a certain speed (called Steady Aim); this speed is lower for Heavy Ranged weapons.

Dual-wielding weapons offers a greater number of attacks per turn, but incurs a Dex penalty for

melee and an Accuracy penalty for Ranged. Some weapons can be dual-wielded without counting as a

higher weight class, while some light weapons count as one heavy weapon if dual-wielded. Some

weapons, if dual-wielded, count as "2xHeavy", which means they can only be wielded thusly with special

skills specific to an Alpha or Omega Form.

RIDING

Kamen Riders, unsurprisingly, do some riding now and then. Every Rider gains a motorcycle

upon his or her Awakening; if he or she already owned one prior to Awakening, then it becomes their

Rider vehicle instead. A Rider's motorcycle is visually patterned after his or her armor.

In a Riding scene, all participants are considered to be moving at the same speed (and thus,

basically motionless relative to each other) unless they're not. A Rider can change his or her position

(SPD+Ride)x5 feet per round normally; speeding up to move up more than that requires a SPD+Ride

check. Difficult terrain forces a SPD+Ride check as well, with failure meaning slowing down; avoiding

obstacles or sharp turns require Ride+Dodge checks. A Rider who goes too slow may drop out of the

chase; they have (Ride#) chances to make a (SPD+Ride) check to catch up again. If all these catch-ups

fail, they cannot get back into the chase scene, the results of when they can rejoin their friends

depending on the situation and DM discretion. A DM may choose to give another chance for catch-up

checks at fortuitous points in a chase scene (since generally the DM wants all the players to be

involved!).

PaTH OF STaRS

Nicknames: "Spaceboys/Spacegirls", "Befrienders", "Pompadours" (more or less all affectionately derisive)

"Our bonds of friendship will take on the universe!"

THE RIDERS

TThhoossee wwhhoo ffoollllooww tthhee PPaatthh ooff SSttaarrss aarree rreelleennttlleessss ooppttiimmiissttss wwhhoo ppuutt ttoonnss ooff ssttoocckk iinnttoo tthhee ppoowweerr

ooff ffrriieennddsshhiipp.. TToo tthheemm,, tthheerree iiss nnoott aa ssiinnggllee pprroobblleemm yyoouu ccaann''tt ssoollvvee bbyy eeiitthheerr mmaakkiinngg ffrriieennddss wwiitthh

ssoommeeoonnee oorr ssuuppppoorrttiinngg yyoouurr ffrriieennddss.. IIff tthheeyy hhaadd tthheeiirr wwaayy,, RRiiddeerrss wwoouulldd bbee ccoommpplleetteellyy ppuubblliicc aanndd wwoouulldd

bbee oouutt tthheerree ggiivviinngg eevveerryyoonnee tthhee hhooppee tthheeyy nneeeedd bbyy sshhoowwiinngg hhooww ddeeeepp tthhee bboonnddss ooff ffrriieennddsshhiipp ccaann

bbiinndd..

IN THE WORLD

Pompadours are often the glue binding a Rider band together, as well as the focal point around

which a Rider band gathers, but can be regarded by some as pesky and pushy meddlers.

BELIEFS

They believe a Rider is meant to bring people together to make them strong and safe, and that

friendship is the most important thing there is. Their Creed is FRIENDSHIP. (Ex: Fourze)

STAT BONUSES/PENALTIES

Stars Riders get +1 in Lore; you learn a lot from your friends.

FAVORED POWERSET: UCHUU

The Uchuu powerset is based on Air and Space, and has very good buffing and support powers.

As a result, it is very appealing to Tech Riders.

STEREOTYPES OF OTHERS

Heaven: It's great that they want to lead their friends, but they can get pretty bossy about it.

Lighten up, Beetleheads!

Desire: You want to support everyone's dreams and hopes? That's great! But shouldn't you get

to know those dreams first, by getting to know the people who hold them?

20

Blood: Bleeders can be such downers, and they seem a little scared to make friends… but they

really grow on you, and they stick by you forever.

Fury: I'd be mad too if someone hurt the people I care about, but that doesn't give you the right

to hurt everyone unlucky enough to be in your way.

Thorns: You guys make me so sad. You think you're good friends, you claim to love your buddies

more than anything, but all you really try to do is control them and stifle them. You have so

much to learn.

Glory: You guys think you can do this on your own, with nobody to help you? Good luck, psycho.

You wouldn't last a week.

PaTH OF HeaveN

Nicknames: "Destined", "Chosen", "Beetleheads" (derisive)

"Walking the Path of Heaven, the one who will rule over everything."

THE RIDERS

DDeessttiinneedd aarree ssttrroonngg bbeelliieevveerrss iinn tthheeiirr oowwnn ppoowweerr aass RRiiddeerrss;; tthheeyy ppuutt aa lloott ooff eemmpphhaassiiss oonn ttaakkiinngg

pprriiddee iinn bbeeiinngg oonnee ooff tthhee ffeeww,, tthhee ssppeecciiaall,, tthhee cchhoosseenn pprrootteeccttoorrss ooff hhuummaanniittyy.. IItt mmaayy ssoouunndd eeggoottiissttiiccaall,,

bbuutt tthheeyy ttaakkee vveerryy sseerriioouussllyy tthheeiirr dduuttyy ttoo ssaavvee eevveerryyoonnee.

IN THE WORLD

They are natural leaders and often head a Rider band, though they can be seen as egotistical

jerks by others.

BELIEFS

TThheeyy bbeelliieevvee aa RRiiddeerr hhaass tthhee ppootteennttiiaall ttoo bbee tthhee aappeexx ooff hhuummaanniittyy aanndd,, bbeeccaauussee tthheeyy aarree aabbllee ttoo

bbee tthhee bbeesstt,, tthheeyy mmuusstt hheellpp eevveerryyoonnee bbeeccoommee aass ggrreeaatt aass tthheemm.. TThheeiirr CCrreeeedd iiss DDEESSTTIINNYY.. ((EExx:: KKaabbuuttoo))

STAT BONUSES

Because they are natural leaders, Heaven Riders get +1 Initiative.

FAVORED POWERSET: TAIYOU

The Taiyou powerset is focused around Fire and Sun, and its offensive focus is favored by Bio

Riders.

STEREOTYPES OF OTHERS

Stars: They can draw a crowd, but can they direct an army? Lead a nation? I think not.

Desire: We shouldn't be focusing on everyone's dreams, we should be focusing on helping them

grow! Let them reach out and grasp their own dreams!

Blood: We both want to raise humanity up, more or less, but you come at it from the wrong

side—we're not monsters pushing from below, we're heroes lifting from above.

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Fury: Do you have any idea how badly you abuse the power you hold? Your responsibility is to

the people you're so blasé about hurting, and nobody is "just collateral damage".

Thorns: You hold to no cause but your own and you will never, ever raise up your friends like

they deserve. Just what do you expect to achieve?

Glory: Everything about you is so backwards. Destiny isn't some magic wand you can wave that

makes everything you do okay, it's a model you have to strive to live up to. Because there are

people counting on you, and they deserve nothing but your best.

PaTH OF DeSiRe

Nicknames: "Dreamers", "Sacrifices"

"If there's a hand reaching for help, and I didn't reach out my hand when I could, the regret would make

me wish I were dead... I reach out my hand, because I don't want that."

THE RIDERS

DDeessiirree RRiiddeerrss aarree aammiiccaabbllee pphhlleeggmmaattiiccss wwhhoo bbeelliieevvee tthhaatt eevveerryyoonnee ccaann oonnllyy ddoo ssoo mmuucchh;; RRiiddeerrss

aarree nnoo ddiiffffeerreenntt,, eexxcceepptt tthheeiirr ""ssoo mmuucchh"" iiss oonn aa bbiiggggeerr ssccaallee tthhaann ootthheerrss.. WWhhaatt tthheeyy wwaanntt mmoosstt iiss ttoo

pprrootteecctt tthhee ddrreeaammss aanndd hhooppeess ooff aallll hhuummaanniittyy..

IN THE WORLD

They are solid, selfless foundations of groups and focus on letting others achieve their dreams,

but are regarded by some as placid doormats.

BELIEFS

They believe a Rider is meant to put the needs and wants of others above all else. Their Creed

is DREAMS. (Ex: OOO)

STAT BONUSES

Desire Riders get +1 to Survive during character creation, as their determination helps them pull

through any situation.

FAVORED POWERSET: UMI

The Umi Powerset is based on Water and Ice, with a protection and healing focus, which

appeals to Mystic Riders.

STEREOTYPES OF OTHERS

Stars: It's great that you want to be friends, but you need to reach beyond your friends and fight

for everyone, even people you don't get along with.

24

Heaven: We're not that special that we need to lift people up to our level. We just need to let

them achieve what they dream of.

Blood: I don't agree that we're "monsters", but your resolve is something we need more of

around here.

Fury: A Rider is selfless. A Rider sacrifices for others. You, on the other hand, are selfish and

blind and vicious, like insects.

Thorns: If you really cared about people, you'd listen to what they want instead of insisting you

know best. You're so self-absorbed and it's suffocating the people you claim to love.

Glory: Selfish, insane, and totally wrong about what sacrifice means. 0 correct out of 3, kiddo.

PaTH OF BLOOD

Nicknames: "Bleeders", "Martyrs" (both with slight derisive connotations)

"Some people think we're monsters, and they're right. But that doesn't mean we can't be heroes—in fact,

it means we must be."

THE RIDERS

BBlloooodd RRiiddeerrss aarree rraatthheerr lleessss ppeeppppyy tthhaann tthhee ootthheerr PPaatthhss;; tthheeyy ffeeeell tthhaatt RRiiddeerrss aarree sseett aappaarrtt ffrroomm

ootthheerrss nnoott bbeeccaauussee tthheeyy''rree tthhee bbeesstt,, bbuutt bbeeccaauussee tthheeyy''rree oouuttccaassttss,, ffrreeaakkss..

IN THE WORLD

They are reliable and determined members of a Rider band, but others may see them as mopey

wet blankets or stubborn sticks-in-the-mud.

BELIEFS

TThheeyy bbeelliieevvee tthhaatt tthhee dduuttyy ooff ssaavviinngg tthhee wwoorrlldd hhaass ffaalllleenn uuppoonn eevveerryyoonnee,, bbuutt tthhaatt RRiiddeerrss mmuusstt

ttaakkee iitt aallll uuppoonn tthheemmsseellvveess ttoo ssppaarree tthhoossee bbeetttteerr.. TThheeiirr CCrreeeedd iiss OOBBLLIIGGAATTIIOONN.. ((EExx:: SShhiinn mmaayybbee,, KKeennzzaakkii

aass NNaavvyy JJookkeerr,, FFaaiizz ssoorrtt ooff))

STAT BONUSES

Blood Riders get +2 Max HP at character creation, as their fortitude bolsters their hardiness.

FAVORED POWERSET: JIBAN

The Jiban Powerset is based on Earth and Metal and is more balanced than the others in terms

of offense-defense-support. It doesn't really have a strong preference by any of the three Rider

Beginnings.

STEREOTYPES OF OTHERS

Stars: I'd envy your levity, but I try not to be jealous of the lackadaisical… but don't get the

wrong idea. I'm not leaving your side, even if you are a dumbass.

26

Heaven: You think far too highly of us, but at least we agree on the goal.

Desire: You have the right idea, more or less, but you need to realize that people need us to

stand aside for others' dreams to be realized.

Fury: I hate the evils of the world too, but you're just like the monsters we're fighting. And it

makes me sick just to look at you.

Thorns: You don't deserve those people you claim are your friends. You treat them like animals

to be kept in a cage and push them around when you should cherish them.

Glory: I can't even describe how much I hate the way you think. A Rider is not some perfect

white-satin angel who does no wrong! He is a monster with one path to redemption, and he

cannot afford to do wrong!

NOTe: FALLEN RIDERS AND THE HERETIC

PATHS Not all Riders, sadly, are good. The vast majority start this way, but there so many ways to fall.

The Fallen Riders are former champions of good who have been corrupted and turned to the side of

evil, and the Heretic Paths are three Rider Philosophies that ended up being cast out for being seen as

too dangerous, too extreme, and too close to Falling.

However, these two things are not synonymous. Not all Fallen took the Heretic Paths, and the

followers of these Paths would assert very pointedly that not all of them are Fallen.

Fallen Riders A Rider's life is not an easy one, and sometimes being good just plain hurts. It's hard, often

thankless, and can beat a person down without people supporting them; it's no surprise that so many

Fallen are those who somehow lost their Rider Band. A Rider Falls when his or her actions go too far

from justice, til he or she is warped and corrupted. Some Fallen Riders will join the forces of evil, while

others will oppose the same foes as before—and their former friends, and everyone who doesn't fit into

their world.

A Rider is born for justice, and all Riders have the call to goodness inside. A Fallen Rider,

therefore, is fundamentally insane; they still want to do good, but they are so warped that they have

convinced themselves that what they're doing is good for the world.

Heretic Paths The three Heretic Paths were once part of the greater Rider community; the Council cast them

out in the mid-80s, finding them too risky, too extreme. Rather than withering and fading away , though,

they survived and built themselves up as a loose power bloc, rather less united than the Righteous

Paths.

A Heretic Rider is not Fallen, but they do skirt dangerously close to darkness; if most Righteous

are heroes and Fallen are villains, the Heretics are the anti-heroes (or anti-villains, depending).

PaTH OF FURY

Nicknames: "Punishers", "Zealots" (derogatory when used by others), "Motorheads" (derogatory)

"Don't question me!"

RIDERS

FFuurryy RRiiddeerrss hhaavvee lloosstt ssoommeeoonnee;; ssoommeettiimmeess iitt hhaappppeennss aafftteerr tthheeyy hhaavvee bbeeccoommee aa RRiiddeerr,,

ssoommeettiimmeess iitt''ss tthhee ccaattaallyysstt ffoorr tthheemm bbeeccoommiinngg oonnee.. EEiitthheerr wwaayy,, aa FFuurryy rriiddeerr iiss ddrriivveenn bbyy vveennggeeaannccee..

IN THE WORLD

Fury Riders are often loners, but in a group they can be driven leaders. While they have

conviction, they are often seen as loose cannons with far too little regard for collateral damage.

BELIEFS

TThheeyy bbeelliieevvee tthhaatt eevviill mmuusstt bbee ssnnuuffffeedd oouutt wwiitthhoouutt mmeerrccyy oorr hheessiittaattiioonn,, aanndd tthhaatt ccoollllaatteerraall

ddaammaaggee iiss aann aacccceeppttaabbllee ppaarrtt ooff tthhee mmeeaannss ttoo tthheeiirr eenndd;; aannyyoonnee wwhhoo ttrriieess ttoo ssttoopp tthheemm iiss aass ggoooodd aass aa

vviillllaaiinn tthheemmsseellvveess.. TThheeiirr CCrreeeedd iiss VVEENNGGEEAANNCCEE.. ((EExx:: eeaarrllyy AAcccceell,, eeaarrllyy KKeeiissuukkee NNaaggoo))

BONUSES

Fury Riders get +5 max SP, as their rage drives them harder.

FAVORED POWERSET: RAIMEI

The Raimei powerset is based on electricity and kinetic energy. As Heretics, they have stronger

low-level powers than the Righteous Paths. However, nearly all Raimei powers are inherently

detrimental to Justice.

STEREOTYPES OF OTHERS

Stars: You say you love your friends, but you spend too much time making them. Sooner or

later, you'll lose them, and you will learn what it means to truly hurt.

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Heaven: Leading people is great, but your high-handed obsession with destiny is holding you

back from the justice the world deserves.

Desire: You won't help anyone like that, Dreamer. Enough with people's precious little hopes,

just get to killing, would you?

Blood: Mope mope, brood brood, I'm a monster, wahhh. You're an idiot who needs to get out of

his little cry-corner and make someone pay.

Thorns: I envy you in some ways—if I'd been more like you before this all happened, maybe I

wouldn't be in this mess... but if you dare cross me, your friends will need to find a new

protector.

Glory: Your obsession with heroism and your rules get in the way of your ability to snuff out

evil. And if they get in my way, I will kill everyone you have ever met.

PaTH OF THORNS

Nicknames: "Barriers", "Roses", "Concealers" (derogatory)

"I will lie, I will betray anything, if it spares them just a little hurt."

THE RIDERS

Thorn Riders say they love their friends more than anything. They love them so much that, to

them, nothing else matters—humanity as a whole, themselves, even what their friends want. They will

cross any line, work with nearly anyone, stab any back if they feel it's what's needed to protect the

people they love.

IN THE WORLD

They are often the binding force keeping a group of Heretic Riders together; rarely do they lead

overtly, preferring to try to steer the other group members more covertly. They are known for their

obsessive, even toxic love for their friends.

BELIEFS

They believe that a Rider's duty is to his or her friends, and that being a Rider means you know

what's best for people, no matter what they say, think, or want.. Their Creed is RESOLVE. (Ex: early

Meteor, Ryugen, Kaixa)

BONUSES/PENALTIES

Thorn Riders get +1 to Persuasion, as they are skilled manipulators.

FAVORED POWERSET: KURAYAMI

The Kurayami powerset is based on darkness and shadows. As Heretics, they have stronger

low-level powers than the Righteous Paths. However, nearly all Kurayami powers inherently cause

some measure of self-damage.

31

STEREOTYPES OF OTHERS

Stars: If you really loved your friends, you would keep them close and safe and under a careful

eye. Go around befriending everyone you meet and you'll never protect them.

Heaven: Don't try to "lead people into the light"—if you fly too high, you'll crash and burn like

Icarus. Be content with protecting your friends, and put every fiber of your being into it.

Desire: What even are you protecting? Hopes and dreams? Since when do those make a person

safe and happy? People can pursue those when you've taken care of everything else for them.

Blood: We're not monsters, you fools, and if you shy away from claiming your right to someone

you'll be left with nothing.

Fury: I admit, I'd be like you if I lost any of my friends… but I will never, ever lose them. So I'll

never be a tragedy like you.

Glory: It's not heroism that makes things right, it's the fact that you know what's best for the

people you love. Let your rules go, take all you can hold, and never ever release your grip.

PaTH OF GLORY

Nicknames: "Golden Boys/Girls" (derisive), "Seraphim", "Bizarros" (derogatory)

"We are the only heroes the world will ever need, the only true heroes."

THE RIDERS

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IN THE WORLD

They can be driven leaders or fanatical followers depending on the group, and are known for

being obsessed with heroism and, often, being pliable because of it—if one knows what buttons to

push.

BELIEFS

They believe that a hero's actions are good because they're a hero, rather than a hero being a

hero by doing good; they have a code of conduct, but it is fundamentally skewed. Their Creed is DIVINE

RIGHT. (Ex: Tiger, Another Agito)

BONUSES/PENALTIES

Glory Riders have easier Sanity penalty rolls for using nega-Spirit, as they're already going mad.

FAVORED POWERSET: KAGAYAKI

The Kagayaki powerset is based on light, burning and blinding and uncompromising. As Heretics,

they have stronger low-level powers than the Righteous Paths. However, nearly all Kagayaki powers

are detrimental to the sanity of the user.

33

STEREOTYPES OF OTHERS

Stars: If you were real heroes, people would be lining up to befriend you, not the other way

round.

Heaven: People will never be as great as us. We're champions and they're... people. If you can't

understand that, then for all your merits you will never be true heroes.

Desire: If people's hopes and dreams aren't focused on you, then they're not dreaming right.

You shouldn't have to go out of your way to make others' dreams come true!

Blood: You have no idea what you're doing or what you are, and that is why you are so

unnecessary.

Fury: You have the drive, but you lack principles. And without principles, you're just a mad dog.

Thorns: A hero is willing to sacrifice his closest friends for the greater good. Your friends hold

you back, and I won't let you hold me back.

CHaPTeR 4: FiGHT TO SURvive

[Combat]

Combat is a necessary part of any Rider game; you're going to be fighting evil, and though not

everything is hack-and-slash all the time, there's going to be a good deal of battling going on.

STEPS OF COMBAT

Step 0: Determine Initiative. At the beginning of a combat scene, the DM calls for everyone to determine Initiative. Every

character's Base Initiative is simply their combined SPD and DEX scores as a static value, and the highest

Initiative means that character goes first. When dealing with instances of characters having equal Base

Initiative, have them each roll one d10, highest result winning.

Remember that Heaven Riders get +1 Initiative.

Example: Bill, Jane, Rob, and Tom have to determine Initiative. Bill has 6, Jane and Rob have 5,

and Tom has 4. Jane and Rob then each roll a d10; Jane gets 4 and Rob gets 7. The turn order is

thus Bill, then Rob, then Jane, then Tom.

Step 1: Declarations

Once everyone knows the turn order, combat can begin. The player whose turn it is declares

their action, stating their target (if applicable), what they will do to the target, and what Powers or Skills

are going to be used, if any.

If there is a target, that character's player then declares what, if anything, that character will try

to do about it.

Step 2: Attacker's Roll and Defender's Roll The attacker makes a to-hit roll; for an Unarmed or Melee attack, this is a to-hit roll

(DEX+Unarmed/ DEX+Melee). For a Ranged attack, this is instead an Accuracy roll (Ranged+Perception)

roll, which takes penalties for things that inhibit Perception, for moving faster than the weapon's Steady

Aim speed while firing, or trying to fire upon a target too far away. Some guns have Accuracy penalties

as well.

Either way, the target then makes a Defender's Roll, generally either a Parry or Dodge action. To

Parry, they roll END+Defend; for Dodge, they roll DEX+Dodge. If they get more successes than the

Attacker's Roll, then they succeed in their attempt. If not, they take the attack. Parry attempts against a

Ranged Attack take a penalty at least equal to the Attacker's Ranged rating.

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Step 3: Calculating Damage If the attack hit, then the attacker rolls to determine the damage done—(STR+Unarmed) or

(STR+Melee+Weapon DMG Bonus) or (DEX+Ranged+Weapon DMG Bonus), taking into account any

bonuses or penalties or what-have-you. Each success rolled equals a point of damage dealt.

Step 4: Armor Reduction and Damage Infliction The target still has a chance to reduce the damage done, and rolls a number of dice equal to his

or her Defend ability; each success reduces the damage dealt by one point, but this can never reduce

the damage received to be less than 1.

When all that is done, the character subtracts the damage from their health. The next character

in the turn order starts the process again from Step 1.

~~~~~~~

SPRINT ACTION

A Sprint Action is made when a character runs flat-out at his or her top speed (which is normally

double basic speed). While making this action, they incur certain penalties determined by their rating in

the Sprint Ability, and cannot make most other actions (though rolls in response to things, like dodging

and parrying, are still a thing).

0 Dots: You cannot make a Sprint Action at all.

1 Dot: Dodge-1, Defend-1, Perception-1, Athletics-1

2 Dots: Dodge-1, Defend-1, Perception-1

3 Dots: Defend-1, Perception-1

4 Dots: Defend-1

5 Dots: No penalties, Unarmed+1!

CHARGE ACTIONS

A Charge Action is different from Sprinting. Instead, it is only Base Speed x 1.5, and instead of

the Sprint penalties, incurs a +2 bonus to Melee and Unarmed for the purposes of damage calculation,

but -1 to Dodge and removes the chance to have Armor Reduction if hit.

SUMMARY OF COMBAT STEPS

0. Who's going first?

1. What am I going to try to do to you, and how? What are you going to try to do about it, and how?

2. Am I going to hit you, or are you going to succeed in doing something about it?

3. How much damage am I doing, since I hit you?

4. How much, if any, are you able to avoid before you finally take this damage?

REPEAT FROM STEP 1

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STEALTH ATTACKS

A Stealth Attack can only be made if the target does not know the attacker is there. The attacker

rolls (DEX+Stealth) and the defender rolls (MNT+Perception), with penalties and bonuses as necessary. If

the attacker wins, they gain a bonus to their Attack roll equal to their Stealth rating, and the Defender's

Roll is penalized by that same number plus 1. They also do not get Armor Reduction.

CONCEALMENT

Anything that reduces visual Perception is Concealment, from darkness or mist all the way to

hiding behind a car. These incur penalties on an attacker's Accuracy roll.

Minor Concealment: -1. Crouching behind a regular chair or behind thick smoke.

Moderate Concealment: -2. Hiding behind something, but with upper body exposed.

Major Concealment: -3. Fully crouching behind a large desk or a car.

Total Concealment: Shots automatically hit the Cover (see below).

However, Concealment also imposes penalties on the Accuracy of the person hiding—generally one less

than the penalty for shooting at the person hiding. If both are Concealed, the penalties stack.

Example: Bill crouches behind a car, penalizing his enemy's Accuracy rolls against him by 3. He

tries to shoot the enemy, but his Accuracy is penalized by 2. The enemy then crouches behind a

car of his own, and his Accuracy against Bill is penalized by 5.

Combinations of Concealment can stack at DM discretion, or not.

COVER

Surprisingly, you aren't the only thing that gets hurt when shot. When a Ranged attack hits an

item of Cover, that item is being damaged and will eventually be damaged too much to be useful as

cover. This is pretty much at DM discretion, with things taking more damage depending on how durable

they are—a wooden door won't last as long as a car.

GRAPPLING

When unarmed, you can grapple with a foe, wrestling with and immobilizing him. To begin a

grapple, roll (STR+Unarmed) minus the target's Dodge rating. If you get even a single Success, you have

achieved a hold on the foe. The foe cannot act until his next turn, at which point he can try to break free

or use a Grapple Maneuver of his own, both of which are (STR+Unarmed) minus the attacker's STR.

Even one success here allows the defender to break free or reverse the hold.

If the attacker's next turn arrives and he still has a hold, he can roll (STR+Unarmed) minus the

defender's STR to perform a Grapple Maneuver, the types of which are listed below:

Fall Prone: Both fall to the ground. The Grapple must be ended for either party to get up. If one

manages to get up, he gets a +2 to close combat rolls against his still-prone foe.

Damage: Successes rolled on this maneuver's STR+Unarmed roll are dealt as damage.

Immobilize: The attacker immobilizes the defender. The defender can break free, but he cannot

use his own Grapple Maneuver while immobilized. Attacks made on the defender by characters

outside the grapple automatically hit; there's no Dodge or Parry. The attacker cannot do

37

anything while immobilizing the defender; if he does anything else, the hold may still be in

place, but the defender is no longer immobilized. To break out of immobilization, the defender

rolls (STR+Unarmed) minus the attacker's STR, and has to make more successes than the

attacker did when he achieved immobilization.

Example: Bill succeeds in grappling with an enemy, who fails to break out. On Bill's next

turn, he rolls to Immobilize and gets three Successes. The enemy's turn comes and he

rolls, but only gets two Successes and cannot break free. Next time he gets his turn, he

gets four Successes and breaks free.

RANGED WEAPONS: AMMO & RELOADING

Ranged weapons have limited ammunition. The standard clip size is 10 shots. When the clip is

empty, the Rider cannot fire the weapon again until making a Reload action (DEX+Ranged, target #5),

which can be made while running and dodging, but cannot be done while attacking, parrying, Healing,

etc.

MULTI-TARGET ATTACKS

If you want to try to attack multiple targets in the same turn, it won't be too easy. The second

to-hit roll you make is penalized by -2, the third by -3, the fourth by -4 and so on. Dual-wielders get to

make two attacks with their dual-wielding penalties, but trying to make more attacks after that incurs

both those penalties and the multi-target penalties!

PARRYING

Parrying is, obviously, the blocking of a foe's attack. Because guns are not designed to be used in

a melee capacity, there is an automatic -2 penalty to all Parry attempts with a Ranged weapon (though

the skill Gun Safe mollifies this to a -1 penalty). There is a -1 penalty to Parry attempts done Unarmed.

There is also an automatic -3 penalty to all attempts to Parry ranged attacks, and yes, that

penalty does stack with the penalties for Parrying with a gun or unarmed! In the case of a ranged attack,

it is almost always better to dodge, unless your DEX+Dodge is somehow worse than the penaltied

END+Defend (in which case you should consider investing points in Dodge!)

GUNS IN MELEE

As said before, guns are not designed for beating people with. As such, melee attacks with a

Ranged weapon take a -2 penalty to their hit roll and a -2 penalty to their damage roll. The skill Pistol

Whip reduces this to a -1 and -1.

DUAL-WIELDING

Everyone knows that two weapons are cooler than one weapon, right? Well, sort of. On one

hand, wielding two weapons means that you do get two attacks per round. On the other hand, you also

get an automatic -1 penalty to your to-hit or Accuracy roll—which, yes, does totally stack with the

penalty for using a gun as a melee weapon, and with the multi-target attack penalty. Dual-Wielding is

not possible at all without the Dual-Wielding Skill; without it, you can carry two weapons, but can only

38

use one at a time. The Form Skill Dual-Wielding Master removes the penalties for Light and Heavy pairs,

and allows Double-Heavy pairs to be wielded with the penalties.

More restrictions, of course:

RANGED AND MELEE WEAPONS CANNOT BE DUAL-WIELDED TOGETHER. You can carry a gun

and a sword, but you cannot use them at the same time, even with the Dual-Wielding Skill. Even

if you're in an Alpha or Omega Form with Dual Wielding Master.

LIGHT AND HEAVY WEAPONS CANNOT BE DUAL-WIELDED TOGETHER EITHER.

Some weapons are two-handed, and are either never dual-wieldable or possibly dual-wieldable

as a Double-Heavy pair.

The Bio weight-reduction bonus does not apply to dual-wielded weapons; you cannot wield two

Greatswords as a Heavy pair, nor two Light Swords as a Light pair.

RIDING COMBAT

Sometimes Riders have to fight while on their motorcycles. During these scenes, all participants

are moving the same speed relative to each other unless taking some action that changes that. While on

a motorcycle, a Rider's Ride rating is the limit of his Unarmed, Melee, and Ranged ratings.Riders cannot

use two-handed weapons or dual-wield while operating a motorcycle, either as driver or passenger; the

only way a Rider travelling on a motorcycle can be unrestricted in combat is if he rides in a sidecar.

BEING ON FIRE

If set on fire, a character will be burning for a number of rounds equal to 2 plus the Taiyou rating

of the fire's source (mundane fires have Taiyou •, maybe •• if they're very serious). A burning character

takes 1 damage per round unless they are extinguished in some way.

TERROR

Losing at least one point of Sanity can induce Terror; some attacks can also do this. When in

Terror, a character will always try to flee and hide; if cornered, they have a 50/50 chance (1d10; odds for

breakdown, evens for frenzy) to either break down or attack in a frenzy (+1 to damage roll). A character

in Terror remains this way for 5 rounds, and after the first round of Terror they can make a MNT+Intel

roll to try to shake off their panic. Another character can make a CHA+Support roll to try to calm their

friend down.

PARALYSIS

Some attacks, including electrical attacks, may have a chance to induce Paralysis. Paralysis

requires the target to make a SPD+Sprint roll each round for 5 rounds. Failure means failing to move. A

normal success means moving, with a -1 to any physical rolls and a top speed of 20ft. Three successes in

a row, or one extraordinary success, ends Paralysis early. A successful Heal action by another Rider

immediately ends Paralysis.

POISON

Some things can induce Poisoning. A character who is Poisoned must make an END+Survive roll

39

each round for 5 rounds. Failure means taking 1 damage; success means taking no damage;

extraordinary success recovers 1HP of poison damage if any poison damage has been taken, and ends

the Poison early if no damage from it has been taken. Another Rider's Heal action will not heal at first,

but will end Poison immediately. An Advanced Heal both ends Poison and heals damage.

FREEZING

Some ice attacks can induce Freezing in the target. Freezing penalizes the target's Speed and all

physical rolls by 2 and remains for 5 rounds unless broken by a STR+Labor roll. The Radiator Power

reduces the length of Freeze by 1 round per dot of Taiyou, and a hit by a fire attack ends Freeze

immediately.

BLINDING

Certain attacks and effects can cause Blindness. A Blinded character takes -2 to Perception, all attacks,

Defend, and Dodge for one round. The next round, they take a -1 to all these.

HEAL

The Heal action can only be used by Mystic Riders. Make a Defense roll, selecting one character

to Heal. You will heal HP at least equal to the number of successes. However, when healing oneself, your

roll’s target number counts as 8 instead of 7. This action takes one round and costs 1 Sp per HP healed.

The rider must be within 15 feet of his target and can only move at half speed during this round.

● ADVANCED HEAL: This action works the same way, but takes 1-5 rounds as determined

by a d10 (divide even numbers by half: 1=1, 2=1, 10=5) and uses an END+Defense roll. Self-

healing does not take a higher target number. A 4-round AdvHeal takes a target number of 6

and a 5-round takes a target number of 5. If you wish, you can allow your AdvHeal to take more

rounds than your roll. During this action, the Rider must stay within 5 feet of his target and can

only move at half speed. Interruption of the process will reduce the amount of HP healed.

DIVING SAVE

This action can only be used by Mystics. When an enemy makes an attack on an ally and before

the damage has been dealt, the Mystic can tackle their ally out of the way, simultaneously attacking the

enemy in question. The Mystic takes up to half the attack’s damage, as does the enemy. Certain

environmental factors may inhibit this (though they can cover pretty severe distances with the dive),

and there is a limit of one use per battle (which can increase over time).

Human Shield ● This action works similarly. However, the Mystic steps in front of the attack, taking up

to 3/4ths the damage. They then make a full attack roll, but use END+Defense instead of

(STR+Melee/STR+Unarmed/DEX+Ranged) if END+Def is higher, while also receiving up to half

the defended ally’s Defense as a bonus. This has the same limits as Diving Save, and will never

have a higher number of uses-per-battle than Diving Save.

40

RECOVERING SPIRIT

Normally, a Rider recovers 1 SP at the end of every scene, or at the end of every hour if the

scene takes longer than an hour; if he is not doing any fighting, labor, or investigation, he can regain 2.

However, when a Rider is very low on Spirit, or even totally out, he can make a special action called the

Focus action to recover a bit of Spirit. When below 3 SP, a Rider can make the Focus action, in which he

fixates his mind on his determination and will to stoke the waning fires of Spirit within himself. Take the

Rider's current Justice score and divide it by half, rounding up. This number is your dicepool; roll, each

success regaining 1 SP. This can only be done once per battle scene and requires the Rider to do nothing

for two turns; if interrupted, he regains no Spirit and cannot attempt the action again in that scene.

Thus, it is best that a Rider find some place to take cover, and/or his friends should protect him while he

Focuses.

FINISHING MOVES, FORMS, AND THE FINISHING

GAUGE

The Finishing Gauge is a measure of how long it takes in battle for a Rider to be able to use a

Finishing Move or advance to his or her next Form. It fills at a steady pace, but can be boosted a little

when damage is taken or by other events at DM discretion. Generally, one can consider the Finishing

Gauge as a measure of the maximum number of turns it will take until a Finishing Charge is ready. A

Finishing Charge never "expires" within a battle scene; if a Rider doesn't want to use it immediately, he

can hold onto it, but it expires at the end of the scene if unused. [METHOD OF DETERMINING FINISHING

GAUGE; POSSIBLY INVOLVING HALF THE RIDER'S MAX SPIRIT PLUS SOME OTHER STAT?]

Finishing Moves

Each Form has its own Finishing Move; a Rider can, at maximum, have three different

Finishers available to him. A Finishing Move uses a Finishing Charge as well as half the user's

max Spirit—though if the user does not have enough, it simply uses all his remaining Spirit. A

Rider can use a Finisher at 0 Spirit, but it uses up all his nega-Spirit. It is a better bet to use the

Focus action to try to regain even a single point of Spirit rather than use nega-Spirit for a

Finisher. Finishers come in four types:

Barrage: Your Finisher allows you to attack three targets at once without incurring the

usual Accuracy/hit penalty that comes with a multi-target attack. You may divide these

three attacks among three targets (one per target), two targets (two for one target, one

for the other), or one target (all three for that target.) If this is your Alpha Form's

finisher, you get four attacks with it; if Omega, you get five.

Overpower: Your attack is so powerful that it cannot be fully evaded or parried. Under

normal circumstances, it deals 1d10 extra damage. If it is blocked or evaded, the target

still receives half the damage that would have been dealt by a regular attack.

Precision: Your attack gains an accuracy bonus, and is exempt from normal accuracy

penalties, in addition to 1d5 extra damage.

Mega Impact: Your attack does 2d10 extra damage.

A Base Form Finisher can have one elemental component corresponding to one of a Rider's

Focused Powersets, though if desired it can have no elemental component. An Alpha Form

41

Finisher can have two, though both have to be from his Focuses. An Omega Form Finisher can

have two, and one of them is allowed to be from a non-Focused Powerset so long as the Rider

has at least three ranks in it.

ROLLING A FINISHING ATTACK

To roll a Finishing Attack, the player declares the finisher and the target(s). He then

makes his to-hit roll as normal, but receives an automatic +2 bonus to the roll. The defender's

roll , on the other hand, is penalized by having its Target Number moved up from 7 to 8! Upon

completion of the attack, the Finishing Charge is used up and the SP cost is deducted. A botched

Finisher cannot be retried and uses up the Charge. Once a Finisher is used, no Finisher or Form

Change can be used by that Rider for the rest of the battle.

Form Changes If the Rider decides to make a Form Change instead, he makes the Form Change action.

The Rider can move but not attack during this action, and cannot be attacked. Forms have a

time limit; an Alpha Form lasts [# OF TURNS EQUAL TO FINISHING GAUGE?] while an Omega

Form lasts [LESS THAN THAT]. Certain actions may cause the Form Timer to deplete more

quickly. On the last turn before the Form expires, a Rider automatically gets a Finishing Charge,

with which he can use that Form's Finishing Attack or move up from Alpha Form to Omega

Form.

Each Form has a Beginning that determines how it boosts a Rider's stats.

BIO: A Bio Form boosts the previous Form's Stats in this way: +2 STR (max 7 for Alpha, max 8

for Omega), +1 DEX/SPD/MNT/END (max 5 for Alpha, max 6 for Omega), +0 CHA

MYSTIC: A Mystic Form boosts the previous Form's Stats in this way: +2 END (max 7 for

Alpha, max 8 for Omega), +1 DEX/SPD/MNT/CHA (max 5 for Alpha, max 6 for Omega), +0

STR

TECH: A Tech Form boosts the previous Form's Stats in this way: +2 CHA (max 7 for Alpha,

max 8 for Omega), +1 DEX/SPD/MNT/STR (max 5 for Alpha, max 6 for Omega), +0 END

Forms stack, so if your Alpha Form boosts your STR to 6 but your Omega Form has no STR boost,

you'll still have that 6 STR in your Omega Form.

42

CHaPTeR 5: YouR POWeR iS AT itS PeaK

[Powers & Skills]

POWerS Every Rider has Powers. A Rider's ability to use Powers is tied to his or her Abilities and

Powersets; to use a Power, he or she must have at least the requisite rating in the Ability and Powerset

associated with it, as well as sufficient Spirit Points. Some Powers additionally require that the relevant

Powerset be one of a Rider's two Focuses.

A Rider doesn't need to "learn" a Power before using it; as soon as he or she meets the

requirements, it is automatically usable. Of course, if you have no interest in a certain Power despite

meeting its requirements, you don't need to put it down on your Rider's Power List.

If you wish, you can consolidate your Power List by not recording the previous versions of

upgrade powers—if you have Greater Backsplash (M), there's no need to still have regular Backsplash

(M) on your list. If you have multiple versions (Ranged, Melee, Unarmed) of the same power, you can

consolidate those too, writing them as something like Backsplash (M&R).

Powers are organized here by associated Ability, which in turn are organized by associated Stat.

STRENGTH

Melee: Attacks in combat using a melee weapon.

● Backsplash (M)(Umi ••, Melee ••, 2 Sp): If his attack hits, the Rider can heal HP equal to half his

Umi rating (round up) to one ally. This does not allow him to heal himself.

○ Greater Backsplash (M) (Umi •••, Melee •••, 4 Sp): This upgraded version can heal an

ally with HP equal to his Umi rating, or heal the Rider with half that.

● Burning Strike (M) (Taiyou ••, Melee ••, 2 Sp): The Rider's weapon bursts into flame upon

striking. When this is applied to an attack, 9s count as double-successes like 10s do.

● Flare Charge (Taiyou •••, Melee •••, 4 Sp): The Rider makes a charge of (25 ft for light, 20 for

heavy, 30 for weapons counting as unarmed weight). Any enemy touched by this straight line

takes damage equal to the Rider's Taiyou rating and has 1d10 chance to be set on fire.

○ Pyroclastic Fervor (Taiyou ••••+Focus, Melee ••••, 3 Sp/die + 8 Sp flat cost): The Rider

releases a ring of flame that spreads out in a 20-foot radius, dealing 1-2 damage. Count

up the enemies struck by this attack, regardless of if they took damage. For each enemy,

43

you receive a bonus of 1 to all attack rolls for (Taiyou#) rounds. You can choose to

receive fewer bonuses if you wish, and you cannot receive bonuses that would put the

cost over your Spirit limit.

● Sharp Edges (Jiban ••, Melee ••, 3 Sp/die): If you have less than full health, count up how much

health you have lost and apply one bonus die to your attack per two HP lost.

● Galestrike (Uchuu •, Melee ••, 2 Sp): The Rider envelops his attack in a swirling wind; if he hits,

he may choose one other foe within (10+[Uchuu x 5]ft) to give a -1 DEX penalty, or one ally to

grant +1 SPD. The effect lasts for 2 rounds.

○ Striclone (Uchuu ••, Melee •••, 4 Sp): The Rider can now choose two other foes within

(10+[Uchuu x 5]) to give -2 DEX, or two allies to grant +2 SPD. He cannot pick one enemy

to hamper and one ally to buff. Lasts for 3 rounds.

■ Hurticane (Uchuu •••+Focus, Melee ••••, 6 Sp): The Rider can now choose up

to three other foes within (10+[Uchuu x 5]) to give -3 DEX, or three allies to

grant +3 SPD. Lasts for 4 rounds.

● Berserker (M) (Raimei •, Melee ••, 3 Sp): The Rider charges his strike with pure rage, making an

all-out attack that causes the target to take a -1 Defense penalty.

● Plasma Strike (Raimei •••, Melee •••, 5 Sp): The Rider charges his weapon with electricity as he

strikes. Foes within 5 feet take 1 damage, including the target, regardless of if the attack itself

was a hit or a miss. If the target was directly hit, 1d10 chance for paralysis.

● Blackfire (Kurayami •, Melee ••, 1Sp/die): For each added die to your attack roll, take 1 point of

damage.

● Flashbang (Kagayaki •, Melee ••, 1 Sp): The Rider lets forth a bright flash of light at his foe as he

strikes at them, penalizing their Dodge by 1. If he hits, 1d10 chance to Blind.

● Photon Sheath (Kagayaki ••, Melee ••, 3 Sp): The Rider sheaths his or her weapon in light

energy, gaining a +2 bonus to the damage roll.

Unarmed: Attacks in combat using no weapon, includes grappling.

● Sleight of Hand-To-Hand (Uchuu ••, Unarmed •••, 4 Sp): When grappling, a Rider can, if he has

an undrawn weapon, he can draw and attack in a single roll. If his foe holds a weapon or has one

holstered where he can see it, he can grab it and use it in a single roll (or throw it away or stow

it away).

● Too Hot To Handle (Taiyou •, Unarmed ••, 2 Sp): When grappling, a Rider can heat up his

armor, dealing contact damage per turn equal to his Taiyou rating. This cannot be done while

performing a Grapple Maneuver.

● Burning Strike (U) (Taiyou ••, Unarmed••, 2 Sp): The Rider's fist/foot/etc bursts into flame

upon striking. When this is applied to an attack, 9s count as double-successes like 10s do.

● Like A Rock (Jiban ••, Unarmed ••, 1 Sp): With stony stability, a Rider using this Power on a turn

is almost impossible to escape. Any time his opponent makes a roll to interfere with him or the

grapple, that roll is penalized by the Rider’s Jiban#.

● Hammerblow (Jiban ••, Unarmed ••, 4 Sp): Strike a mighty blow. Roll (Jiban+Unarmed) if the

attack hits; each Success rolled forces the target to stumble back 5 feet.

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● Moving Like Water (Umi ••, Unarmed ••, 2 Sp):If a foe successfully breaks a grapple (unless

with an extraordinary success), the Rider can roll (Unarmed+Umi#) to try to re-grapple. If the

opponent breaks free on an extraordinary success, it is downgraded to a regular success instead.

● Cold Hands (Umi •••, Unarmed •••, 3 Sp): Form brass knuckles (or… foot spikes?) that

augment your damage roll by 2 for 3 rounds. On the first round, a successful hit has 1d10 chance

to induce Freezing.

● Break the Circuit (Raimei •, Unarmed ••, 1 Sp): If a foe successfully breaks out of a Rider's

grapple, the Rider can make an Unarmed roll to cause damage equal to his Raimei# with a static

shock.

● Berserker (U) (Raimei •, Unamed••, 3 Sp): The Rider charges his strike with pure rage, making

an all-out attack that causes the target to take a -1 Defense penalty.

● Blot (Kurayami •, Unarmed ••, 2 Sp): If a foe successfully breaks a grapple, the Rider can force

him to make another roll, penalized by an amount equal to self-damage the Rider decides to

take. Whether the opponent fails or succeeds in escaping with this roll, he and the Rider both

take this self-damage in addition to whatever other damage might be incurred that turn.

○ Devour (Kurayami ••, Unarmed •••, 5 Sp): When grappling, the Rider can envelop

himself and his foe in roiling darkness. Each turn this happens, the Rider takes a chosen

amount of damage and the foe takes that same amount plus 1/2Kurayami#(round

down). In addition, each turn this is used, 1d10 chance to induce Terror.

● Blinding Grip (Kagayaki ••, Unarmed •, 2 Sp): If any outside foe attempts to interfere with the

grapple, a Rider can choose to force each foe to make an END roll penalized by his Kagayaki

rating; those who fail are dazzled by a flash of light and stumble back instead of interfering.

Labor: Physical work not related to combat, e.g. pushing a car or pulling rubble off of someone.

● Stony Strength (Jiban ••, Labor •, 1 Sp): Jiban bonus to Labor if you are in contact with the

ground or a suitably stony surface.

● Tidal Surge (Umi •••, Labor •••, 5 Sp): If making a Labor roll for an action being made to protect

someone (like pulling debris off them or moving something to shield them), get a +(Umi#)

bonus. Can only be done (Umi#-2) times per scene.

● Metalwork (Taiyou•••, Labor ••, 4 Sp): Any Labor roll for an action involving bending or

breaking metal can be augmented by your Taiyou rating.

● Floor Hazard (Raimei •••, Labor ••, 6 Sp): Deal (Raimei#) dice of electrical damage around you.

If on a nonconductive surface, the range is only 5 feet. On a conductive surface, (Raimei# x 5)

feet.

~~~

ENDURANCE

Defend: Reducing damage taken from attacks upon oneself or another.

● Cryoplate (Umi •••, Defend ••, 5 Sp): Form a layer of icy armor over yourself, boosting your

defense for (Umi#+2) rounds but also incurring a -2 SPD penalty. Any Unarmed attack made in

the first round has a 1d10 chance to freeze.

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● Stone Wall (Jiban •••, Defend •••, 6 Sp): Create a (Jiban x 5) x 5 wall of earth that can absorb

up to (Jiban + 4) points of damage.

● Contact Arc (Raimei ••, Defend ••, 5 Sp): Upon making a successful Parry against a

Melee/Unarmed attack, you can roll (Raimei#) dice, each success being a point of damage the

foe takes. If you make at least two successes, additional 1d10 chance to Paralyze.

● Recoil (Kurayami •, Defend ••, 2 Sp): If the Rider is attacked, he may activate Recoil. If he takes

damage from the attack, his attacker is dealt damage equal to the Rider's Kurayami#. This

cannot work if the foe is too far away. This only works if the Rider receives the damage without

any dodging.

○ Greater Recoil (Kurayami ••, Defend •••, 6 Sp): This upgrade allows the Rider to make

a full attack as retaliation, his roll augmented by the amount of damage received, if the

foe is within his range. If not, any foe within moderate range will receive damage equal

to the Rider's Kurayami rating.

● Lightscreen (Kagayaki ••, Defend ••, 5 Sp): Augment your Defend roll by +2.

○ Fragmentary Barrier (Kagayaki ••••+Focus, Defend •••, 8 Sp): This augments it by +3; if

your roll still fails, deal 3 dice of damage to any enemy 5 feet in front of you in the

direction that the hit came from. 1d0 chance to Blind.

Survival: Enduring a harmful environmental factor that is not necessarily an attack, like fire, gases, or

extreme cold.

● Aquafield (Umi ••, Survival ••, 1 Sp/round): Forms an area of mist around the Rider, reducing

fire and heat damage as well as limiting enemy vision of him by -2.

● Radiator (Taiyou ••, Survival ••, 1 Sp/round): Penalties for extreme cold do not apply in a

(Taiyou x 5)foot radius around you. This also speeds up the melting of ice, including Cryoplate

and Verglas, by one round per dot of Taiyou.

● Deep Breaths (Uchuu •, Survival ••, 2 Sp/round): Harmful gases are kept away by a (Uchuu x

5)foot radius dome of air.

Swim: Swimming speed, the duration of holding your breath, and also the upper limit on combat and

movement in water above your waist.

● Hydrodynamic (Umi ••, Swim •, 1 Sp/round): When in water between knee and chest height,

you get a +1 bonus to Dodge and take a reduced penalty for movement.

○ Waterform (Umi •••+Focus, Swim •••, 5 Sp + 1 Sp/round): When in water of at least

waist-height, you can turn into water. While in Waterform you have no need to breathe

and have no vision penalties, as well as a Dodge and Stealth bonus. Your combat

abilities are not limited by your Swim rating. Fire damage reduced, electric damage

increased.

● Bubblejet (Uchuu ••, Swim ••, 1 Sp/round): When in water of at least chest height, you get +1

to movement by using a jet of air to propel yourself.

~~~~

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DEXTERITY

Dodge: Avoiding harmful things, often attacks.

● Dawn Treader (Kagayaki •, Dodge ••, 1 Sp): Dazzle foes with a quick flash as you dodge, causing

them a -1 penalty to hitting.

○ Flashstep (Kagayaki •••, Dodge •••, 4 Sp): +2 to Dodge, -1 to foe's to-hit roll.

● Heat Haze (Taiyou ••, Dodge ••, 1 Sp): Obscure yourself with heat haze as you dodge, causing

foes a -1 penalty to hitting.

● Backbiter (Uchuu •, Dodge ••, 2 Sp): The Rider may nimbly step into flanking position in

regards to one foe, so long as that foe is in position to target one of the Rider's allies. He may

make a flanking attack, but it does half damage; instead, the foe's next roll is penalized by the

Rider's Uchuu rating. This is in effect for a number of turns equal to that rating also.

● Sinkhole (Jiban •••, Dodge ••, 6 Sp): The Rider drops and rolls, avoiding an attack without fail. If

a foe is within 5 feet, the Rider can choose to roll toward him and force him to make an Athletics

roll or be knocked off his feet.

● Flowing Step (Umi •••, Dodge •••, 8 Sp): If your Dodge roll fails, you can use this Power to

reroll it. Every time you use this power again in the same scene, it costs +1 Sp more.

Stealth: Avoiding detection.

● Spike Strip (Umi •••, Stealth •••, 6 Sp): Place a strip of ice one square wide and (Umi #) squares

wide. Any enemy stepping on any of these squares must make a DEX+Dodge or SPD+Athl roll or

take (Umi#) damage as ice spikes burst up to strike them. On a successful hit, 1d10 chance to

freeze.

● Shadowfield (Kurayami •, Stealth ••, 2 Sp/round): Cloak yourself in shadow, reducing visual and

audio perception of yourself by -1. Must make a Survival roll every 5 rounds to avoid taking

damage. Take +1 Radiance damage. Other people using this power can perceive you clearly.

○ Shadowswim (Kurayami ••, Stealth •••, 4 Sp/round): Literally sink into shadows,

greatly reducing all perception of yourself by -2. Must make a Survival roll every 4

rounds to avoid damage. Take +1 Radiance damage. This power requires there be some

shadows present. Other people using this power can perceive you clearly.

● Light On My Feet (Uchuu ••, Stealth •, 2 Sp/round): Cushion your steps with air, reducing audio

perception of yourself, but not visual, by Uchuu#-1

○ Actual Airbending (Uchuu •••, Stealth •••, 5 Sp/round): Envelop yourself in a cloak of

air that cushions your footsteps and bends light around you, greatly decreasing all

perception of yourself by Uchuu#.

Ranged: Attacks in combat using a ranged weapon.

● Tracer Round (Taiyou •, Ranged ••, 1 Sp): The Rider imbues his shot with fire, giving his

projectile the “9=10” quality.

● Backsplash(R) (Umi ••, Ranged ••, 3 Sp): If his shot hits, the Rider can heal HP equal to half his

Umi rating (round up) to one ally. This does not allow him to heal himself. This cannot be

applied to the counterattack action of a Diving Save or a Human Shield.

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○ Greater Backsplash(R) (Umi •••, Ranged •••, 5 Sp): This upgraded version can heal an

ally with HP equal to his Umi rating, or heal the Rider with half that. This CAN be applied

to Diving Save or Human Shield.

● Bluster Blast (Uchuu •, Ranged ••, 2 Sp): The shot causes a blast of air on impact or a near miss;

it does half damage, but the foe must make an END roll against (Uchuu#+Ranged#) penalized by

-1 or be dazed.

● Quakeshot (Jiban •, Ranged ••, 2 Sp): If the Rider's shot hits when he uses this power, the earth

shakes under the target's feet. They must make a DEX roll against (Jiban#+Ranged#) penalized

by -1, or fall over. This does nothing to opponents who are flying or levitating at the time of the

shot.

● Ruptolith (Jiban •••, Ranged ••, 5 Sp): Either on impact or on a miss, the Rider’s stone-shelled

shot bursts into shrapnel. Any enemy within (Jiban#-2)x5 feet takes (Jiban#) damage. If the shot

misses, count the shot as exploding somewhere within 5 feet of the intended target. If the shot

hits, the target takes standard damage for your ranged attack, plus (Jiban#+1) damage.

● Plasma Trail (Raimei ••, Ranged •••, 4 Sp) The Rider's shot leaves a crackling trail of plasma in

its wake; anyone within 5 feet of the shot must make a DEX+Dodge roll against

(Raimei#+Ranged#) or take damage equal to the Rider's Raimei rating. Any successful hit has a

1d10 chance to Paralyze.

● Blackfire(R) (Kurayami •, Ranged ••, 1Sp/die): For each added die to your attack roll, take 1

point of damage.

● Beamsight (Kagayaki •, Ranged ••, 2 Sp): DIY laser sight! The Rider can apply an Accuracy bonus

equal to half his Kagayaki# (round up to a minimum of 1) before he takes his shot.

○ Beampulse(Kagayaki ••, Ranged •••, 4 Sp): If his shot hit, the Rider can make a

Kagayaki roll. On a success, he sends a pulse of radiance through the weapon to do an

additional amount of damage equal to his Kagayaki rating. 1d10 chance to Blind.

■ Beamlance (Kagayaki ••••+Focus, Ranged ••••, 8 Sp): An upgrade to

Beampulse; it works the same way, except that at a greater Spirit cost, the Rider

can fire a laser blast that deals a regular attack roll of damage. 1d10 chance to

Blind.

~~~

SPEED

Sprint: Flat-out sprinting; determines how much you lose or don’t lose for going that fast.

● Dynamo (Raimei •, Sprint ••, 1 Sp/round): Get a bonus of (Raimei#) to Sprint. Anybody too

close must make a Dodge roll against (Raimei#+Ranged#) or take (Raimei#) damage.

○ Lightning Charge (Raimei ••, Sprint ••, 4 Sp): The Rider charges into battle with the

speed of lightning, spending Spirit to make a charge action without sacrificing his

Defense.

■ The Speed of Pain (Raimei ••••+Focus, Sprint •••, 4 Sp/round): Only usable for

a Form that has the Super Speed form skill. Anyone you pass by must make a

Dodge roll or take (Raimei#) damage (which has 1d10 chance to Paralyze); the

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spaces you passed over in the previous round are also electrified, but only can

deal 1 damage.

● GOTTAGOFAST (Uchuu ••, Sprint ••, 2 Sp/round): Move at (Uchuu) times normal speed, but

take penalties as if your Sprint rating was (Uchuu-1) lower.

● Waterslide (Umi ••, Sprint ••, 2 Sp/round): Create water under your feet to slide on. Move as if

your SPD was one higher, but only incurring the penalties of your current SPD/Sprint ratio.

○ Walk On Water (Umi ••••+Focus, Sprint•••, 4 Sp/round): Move on water as if it was

land.

● Momentum Stomp (Jiban •••, Sprint ••, 5 Sp): Having sprinted at least 10 feet, you can

immediately stop, stomping both feet into the ground. Anyone within 5 feet must make an

END+Surv roll against (Jiban+Sprint) or be knocked down and dealt 1 damage; unless they make

an extraordinary success, they will still be staggered. For every additional 10 feet past 10 that

your starting sprint covered, the damage increases by 1. Running at least 50 feet increases your

shockwave distance to 10 feet.

Athletics: Jumping, swinging, rolling.

● Earth Aid (Jiban •, Athletics ••, 2 Sp): When on the ground or a stony enough surface, get a +1

bonus to Athletics as the ground itself aids you. Also counts for avoiding fall damage.

○ Springboard (Jiban •••, Athletics •••, 5 Sp): Gain a +(Jiban) bonus to any Athletics

check that starts and/or ends with you on the ground.

● Feather Fall (Uchuu •, Athletics ••, 1 Sp): When making an Athletics roll to avoid taking fall

damage, you get a bonus equal to your Uchuu rating.

● Walkin' On Air (Uchuu •••, Athletics •••, 5 Sp + 3 Sp/die): (Uchuu#-2) times per scene, you can

re-roll a failed Athletics check, adding up to 2 bonus dice to the roll by expending more Spirit.

Ride(Fly): A Rider's skill on a motorcycle; this Rating determines the upper limit for mounted combat

skill also.

● Traction (Jiban ••, Ride ••, 1 Sp/round): Manipulating the ground beneath his wheels, the Rider

increases his speed by (Jiban x 5)feet.

○ Rule the Road (Jiban •••+Focus, Ride ••, 5 Sp): The Rider makes the road shape itself

into a temporary bank, allowing him to make a sharp turn (even a U-turn) without

penalties. The road returns to normal after (Jiban#) turns.

● Sparkplug (Raimei ••, Ride ••, 4 Sp): The Rider makes a Ranged Attack roll, taking the penalties

from Ranged Attacks done while riding, to fire an electric charge at a vehicle. If it hits, the target

must make a Ride roll against the Rider’s Raimei# or their engine will cut out.

● Hydroplaning (Umi •••, Ride •••, 1 Sp/round): The Rider can ride their bike on the surface of

water as if it were a normal road. By having this power, there is a passive, costless effect that

removes all penalties associated with slippery or icy conditions.

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~~~

MENTAL

Perception: Noticing and understanding things with your senses, generally sight and sound.

● Searchlight (Kagayaki •, Perception •, 1 Sp/round): Project a bright light from your helmet,

reducing visual penalties to anyone caused by darkness/fog/smoke/water to anything (20 +

[Kagayaki x 5])feet in the direction you are facing. Does not apply to audio perception penalties,

nor anything not in your line of sight. In addition, anyone in the light-beam who is facing you

within 5 feet has a 1d10 chance to be Blinded.

● Night Vision (Kurayami •, Perception ••, 2 Sp/round): In darkness, you can use a special sense

to detect anything within (5 + [Kurayami x 5])feet in any direction. You do not take perception

penalties of any kind in this radius, and enemies take a Stealth penalty. Every time this is used,

make a Survival roll or take minor damage.

● Tremorsense (Jiban ••, Perception •••, 3 Sp/round): When in contact with the ground or a

suitably stony surface, you can detect the position of anything within a radius of (Jiban# x 5)feet

so long as it is in contact with the ground. Note that you only detect position and not all

movement; you can sense that there are footsteps going here to there, or a person standing still

there, but you cannot sense actions like drawing a gun.

● Firelight (Taiyou •, Perception •, 1 Sp): Create a small orb of flame that follows you, casting

moderate light (Taiyou x 5)feet in a radius and lasting (Taiyou+4)rounds. Grants +1 to visual

Perception in darkness.

● Thermal Vision (Taiyou •••, Perception •••, 3 Sp/round): You can see in thermal vision up to a

distance of 20+(Taiyou x 10) feet; this cuts through darkness, fog/dust/smoke, and some walls.

Note that it only registers spots of heat or extreme cold; you can see there’s a shape with body

Fly: A Rider's Ride rating acts as his or her Fly rating when in Flight (only possible in an Alpha or Omega form with the Flight Skill).

● Jetforce (Taiyou •••, Fly •••, 2 Sp/round): By creating a jet of flame from his feet or hands, the Rider increases his speed by 10feet/round. Unarmed strikes made with the fiery appendages gain the “9=10” quality.

● Aurora Flare (Kagayaki •••, Fly ••, 8 Sp): While airborne and stationary, the Rider releases first a bright flash, forcing all within (Kagayaki x 5)feet to roll END or be blinded. Then the Rider selects a number of targets equal to his Kagayaki# within ([Kagayaki x 5]+10)feet and simultaneously fires a light beam at each, dealing a regular Elemental Bolt I (Lore+Kagayaki) of damage. Then, if there are any characters within that range who were not targeted, they must each roll one die; the lowest roller is also targeted by a light beam. If there is only one previously-untargeted character in this range, they are automatically targeted this way.

● In My Element (Uchuu ••••+Focus, Fly •••, 5 Sp/round): While airborne, the Rider manipulates the air around himself into a shell. This gives him a +2 bonus to Defense rolls, increases his speed by 10feet/round, and does damage up to the Rider’s Uchuu# on contact.

● Crash Landing (Jiban •••, Fly •••, 6 Sp): Starting from at least 10 feet up, you suddenly drop, stomping both feet into the ground. Anyone within 10 feet must make an END+Surv roll against (Jiban+Fly) or be knocked down and dealt 1 damage; unless they make an extraordinary success, they will still be staggered. If you land directly on an enemy, this counts as an Unarmed attack plus your Jiban#. For every additional 10 feet past 10 that your starting drop covered, the damage increases by 1. Dropping at least 30 feet increases your shockwave distance to 10 feet.

50

heat, but not necessarily its weapons or identity. However, with a Lore roll you can try to discern

its identity (since various Invader factions have anomalous body temperatures).

● Fogblower (Uchuu ••, Perception ••, 1 Sp): When vision is obscured by fog/smoke/etc, blow it

away in a (Uchuu x 5)foot radius.

● Shark Senses (Raimei •••, Perception •••, 4 Sp/round) : In a range of (Raimei#x5 + 5) feet, you

can sense the electrical nerve pulses of living beings.

Intelligence: Processing the information available and using it, as well as willpower.

● Instant ID (Intel ••, 4 Sp): When faced with an unfamiliar thing, augment your MNT+Intel roll

with your Lore rating to identify the target.

● Tactical Analysis (Intel •••, 3 Sp): As long as you have gotten at least one good look at your

enemies, you can make a MNT+Intel roll for info on their weapons, capabilities, etc. If you have

any Lore Specialties concerning the targets, those each add 1.

○ Tactical Dissection (Intel ••••, 6 Sp): Select one enemy. Roll MNT+Intel plus any

relevant Lore specialties to systematically analyze this enemy’s weak points; if you

succeed, for the rest of the scene, all your attacks receive a +2 bonus to that enemy;

your allies get a +1 bonus.

● Sturdy Mind (Jiban ••, Intel ••, 2 Sp): When making a MNT+Intel roll to resist a CHA+Persuade

or CHA+Intimidate roll, add your Jiban rating in bonus dice.

Lore: Understanding and remembering info, whether Rider- or Invader-based.

● Elemental Bolt I (Any Powerset ••, Lore ••, 4 Sp): The Rider fires a bolt of whichever Powerset

element they choose (and have the required rating in). The to-hit roll acts like an Accuracy roll,

but is calculated with (Lore + Perception) instead and has a damage roll of (Lore + Powerset).

The Kurayami version deals at least 1 self-damage, and up to half the damage dealt to the

enemy.

○ Elemental Bolt II (Any Powerset •••, Lore ••••, 8 Sp): Bolt damage calculated as (Lore +

Powerset + MNT) now. The Kurayami version deals at least 3 self-damage, and up to

half the damage dealt to the enemy.

■ Elemental Bomb (Any Powerset •••••+Focus, Lore •••••, 10 Sp): Make a

(Lore+Unarmed) roll for a touch attack. If it hits, instead of doing damage, an

elemental bomb is implanted in the enemy. In 3 rounds, the bomb goes off,

dealing damage with a dicepool of 10 to the enemy. To enemies within 5 feet, it

deals a dicepool of 7; within 10 feet, dicepool 3; within 15 feet, dicepool 1. The

Kurayami version deals 1d5 self-damage.

● Know Thy Enemy (Rai/Kura/Kaga •, Lore ••, No cost): For Lore rolls involving Invaders, you get

a bonus of +1.

● The More You Know (Uchuu •••, Lore ••, 1 Sp/die): Your friends teach you something new

once in a while. When making a Lore roll involving Rider History, Righteous Paths, or Heretic

Paths, you can add one bonus die for every ally present. Any allied Rider can add a History

bonus, but only Righteous Riders can add a bonus for Righteous Lore; the same applies to

Heretics.

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● Abyss Stared Back (Kurayami ••, Lore •••, No cost): For Lore rolls involving Fallen Riders, you

get a bonus of +1.

● Fanatically Sane (Kagayaki ••, Lore ••, No cost): When rolling MNT+Intel against a Lore item

that threatens to reduce your Sanity, your roll gets a bonus equal to your Kagayaki rating.

~~~

CHARISMA

Support: Actions that buff friends and debuff foes.

● Verglas (Umi •••, Support ••, 6 Sp): Create an icy coating over the floor or ground of up to

([Umi x 5] x [Umi x 5])feet that lasts for (Umi + 3) rounds. On this surface, all characters who

have Verglas get +1 bonuses to SPD and DEX, while enemies are penalized -1 in those areas.

Allies who do not have Verglas in their powers are not affected either way.

● Run Forrest Run (Uchuu •, Support •, 1 Sp): Select one ally. For the next (Uchuu#+1) rounds,

they get a boost of 1 to Sprint.

● Crop Duster (Uchuu •••, Support •••, 5 Sp flat cost + 1 Sp/round past 6th round): You stir up

dust and debris with a blast of air in an area of at least 30x30 feet +5x5feet for every dot in

Uchuu past the third dot. For up to (Uchuu+Support) rounds, foes take a -2 visual Perception

penalty. Friends do not.

● Just Borrowing (Uchuu ••••+Focus, Support •••, 8 Sp): Select one enemy and roll (CHA+Uchuu)

against their (MNT+Intel). If you win, for (Uchuu+2) rounds, all of their Stats are lowered by one

and each of your allies gets (Support#) Stats boosted by one. This does not allow them to use

powers they do not normally have the rankings for, but the debuffed foe cannot use any powers

that his lowered ratings do not allow.

● Drop It! (Taiyou ••, Support •••, 8 Sp): During an enemy's turn in which they are making an

attack on one of your allies, you can force them to re-roll their to-hit roll/Accuracy roll,

penalized by your Taiyou#. This requires that the enemy's presence be known to you, and that

they be within 40 feet. Once you use this Power, you cannot use it again until after your

following turn.

● Ruggedize (Jiban ••, Support ••, 4 Sp): In a (10+[Jiban x 5])-foot radius around your current

position, reduce terrain penalties by Jiban# to a minimum of 0.

○ Ruggedize Plus (Jiban •••, Support ••••, 8 Sp): Radius is (15+[Jiban x 5]) and penalties

can be reduced into at most a +1 terrain bonus.

● Share the Pain (Kurayami ••, Support ••, 1Sp/HP): When a friend within (20+[Kurayami x 5])

feet takes damage, you can choose to take up to Kurayami# of that damage instead of them.

Persuade: Befriending people, admonishing ruffians, bluffing mooks.

● Full of Hot Air (Uchuu ••, Persuade ••, 2 Sp/roll): You subtly modulate the way the air carries

your words or the words of another; augment your or your ally’s CHA+Persuasion roll by +1.

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● Commanding Presence (Taiyou •••+Focus, Persuade •••, 4 Sp/die): Riders on the Path of

Heaven are natural leaders; by showing your support for an ally making a Persuasion roll, you

can add up to (Taiyou# - 1) in bonus dice to their roll.

● Enlighten (Kagayaki •••+Focus, Persuade •••, 6 Sp): Show him the light. The Rider makes a

CHA+Persuade+Kagayaki roll against one target. If he succeeds, the target must make a

MNT+Intel roll each turn, penalized by the Kagayaki#. On a failure, the foe will attack another

foe. This goes on for a number of rounds equal to Kagayaki#+1. At the end, roll (Kagayaki#) dice

to see how many Sanity points the target loses.

● Befuddle (Kurayami ••, Persuade •••, 5 Sp): When making a Persuade check, you can roll

(Kurayami + CHA + Persuade) against the target's (MNT+Intel). If you succeed, the target is

persuaded, but only for a number of rounds equal to your Kurayami rating.

● Static Image (Kurayami •, Persuade ••, 2 Sp/round): Create an illusory image of yourself up to

20 feet away in a place you have line-of-sight to; it is totally stationary and static, making no

noise. Anyone trying to discern the reality of the illusion must roll (MNT + Perception) minus 1

for every 10 feet past 20 they stand from it (so if they stand 30 feet from it, they get a -1). You

roll (CHA+Persuade+1) for the convincingness of the image.

○ Moving Illusion (Kurayami •••, Persuade ••••, 4 Sp/round): This image can move, but

is still silent. Observers take a -1 penalty for every 10 feet past 15 they stand from it, and

you roll (CHA+Persuade+3).

■ Paramount Deception (Kurayami ••••+Focus, Persuade •••••, 6 Sp/round):

This image can move very convincingly and makes some noise. Observers take a

-1 penalty for every 10 feet past 10 they stand from it, and you roll

(CHA+Persuade+Kurayami#).

Intimidate: Threatening and scaring people, cowing your enemies.

● Unfettered (Rai/Kura/Kaga ••, Intimidate ••, 2 Sp/roll): You make your target(s) uneasy by your

aura of power, gaining +1 to your CHA+Intimidate roll.

● Show of Force (Taiyou •••, Intimidate •••, 4 Sp): Make a CHA+Intimidation roll plus (Taiyou-1);

foes who fail their MNT+Intel rolls to resist will turn and run for (Taiyou#) rounds before

regaining their senses.

● Shock and Terror (Raimei ••, Intimidate •••, 5 Sp): Your armor crackles with harmless but eerie

arcs of electricity like a Jacob's Ladder or a plasma lamp, making you even scarier. Within

(20+[Raimei x 5]) feet, enemies must make a MNT+Intel roll, minus your Raimei, or become

Terrorized.

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SKilLs Skills are not the same as Powers; Skills are more like small enhancements to a Rider's capabilities, and

are bought with Skill Points (which, since Spirit also begins with an S, we will call KP).

● Run And Gun (10 KP, Multiple-Stackable): Increase your Steady Aim speed by 5 feet more than it

would normally be. This can be bought up to 3 times to cumulative effect, costing 10 KP more

each time, so long as it does not change any weapon's Steady Aim speed to match your top

speed..

● Lore Specialty (8 KP, Multiple-Stackable): Get a bonus to Lore rolls for a certain subject (History,

Local, Righteous Paths, Heretic Paths, an Invader faction). This can be bought multiple times;

you can stack multiple instances of the same Lore Specialty up to (?) times, but you can

specialize in as many subjects as your DM allows.

● Pistol Whip (10 KP): Reduce the penalty for performing Melee attacks with a Ranged weapon.

This can only be bought once.

● Gun Safe (10 KP): Reduce the penalty for blocking with a Ranged weapon. This can only be

bought once.

● Puzzle Solver (8 KP, Multiple-Stackable): Specialize in Intelligence checks to solve puzzles in a

certain specialty (computer-based, mystic, etc). You can buy multiple specialties and stack them

up to (?) times.

● Dual Wielder (25 KP): You are able to wield two weapons of the same kind, with certain

restrictions (Dex penalty for Melee, Accuracy penalty for Ranged, some weapons cannot be

dual-wielded, some combinations are invalid). Without this skill, you cannot dual-wield at all.

● Sidecar (20 KP): Simply enough, your bike has a sidecar! A Rider can sit or stand in a sidecar

mounted on a motorcycle and here they do not take the associated penalties and limitations of

Riding Combat.

● Sniper Stance (10 KP): While stationary, you get an extra +1 to Accuracy.

● Road Roller (15 KP): When on the ground and not impeded, you can make a SPD+Athletics roll

to perform a combat tumble of half your normal move distance, during which you cannot be hit.

Some actions cannot be performed directly after a tumble, like ORAORAORA, a Finisher, or

certain Powers.

● ORAORAORA (15 KP): (Unarmed#)times per battle, you can make an unarmed flurry attack. Roll

(STR+Unarmed)-2 for the number of hits you land, then 1/2Unarmed (minimum 1) for each hit

to determine damage.

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FORM-RESTRICTED SKILLS

Some of these are Special, which means you cannot have more than one per Form.

● Flight (20 KP, Special): You are able to fly! Your Ride rating functions as your Fly rating; your max

altitude is (Fly# x 5)feet and your speed is (Fly# x 5)feet/round, and you can fly for (Fly# + 3)rounds at

a time. While in flight, certain things cannot affect you, you may be out of reach of melee attacks, and

you get a +2Dodge bonus against any attacks that are able to reach you. Certain weapons may slow

you down in Flight and/or reduce your max altitude (particularly Double-Heavy pairs).

● Dual-Wielding Master (25 KP, Special): You can dual-wield a pair of weapons counting as Light or

Heavy without the usual penalties. You can also dual-wield a pair of weapons counting as Double-

Heavy with the usual penalties. Without this skill, you cannot dual-wield a Double-Heavy pair at all.

The Dual Wielder skill is a prerequisite for this.

● Super Speed (20 KP, Special): You can Sprint at 3times your normal speed without any Sprint

penalties, for (Sprint+1) rounds at a time. While moving at Super Speed, you get a (Sprint#) bonus to

Dodge. If your Omega Form has both Flight and Super Speed, you cannot use Super Speed while

flying; it only applies to your speed while Sprinting on your feet. You must wait one round after

finishing one before starting another.

● Gun Kata (15 KP): You can make Melee attacks and block with your Ranged weapon(s) without

penalties; the gun still does fairly weak damage, however. Both Pistol Whip and Gun Safe are

prerequisites for this skill.

● Bayonet (15 KP): Your Ranged weapon now has a small blade on it, boosting its Melee damage by +1!

Pistol Whip is a prerequisite for this skill. Cannot be bought multiple times, but covers all weapons

owned.

● Acrobatic Assault (10 KP): You can attack while jumping as a normal action instead of with special hit

penalties.

● Panacaea (15 KP): If you are able to Heal, you can now do a Heal action in the same turn as another

action, and your Advanced Heal actions never take longer than 3 rounds when used on others.

● Elemental Discorporation (20 KP): At the cost of 5 Sp, you can reroll a failed dodge attempt. If you

succeed, you dodge by briefly discorporating into the element of one of your Focused Powersets.

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XP COSTS

ITEM XP COST

1 • in one Stat 40 XP

1 • in one Ability 15 XP

1 • in Focused Powerset 10 XP

1 • in non-Focused Powerset 15 XP

1 Skill Point (KP) 1 XP

Alpha Form 25 XP

Omega Form 50 XP

1 point of Justice 20 XP

1 point of Sanity 20 XP

+5 Max HP 30 XP

+1 Max Spirit 15 XP

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iNvaDeR FaCTiONS

ATP FOUNDATION

The Asenath Technology Production Foundation is an Invader faction from the World of ATP,

wherein this megacorp more or less rules the Earth. They use a yellow ichor called MK Fluid and cyber-

implants to enhance their black-suited, sunglassed vicious Soldats and genius Engineers; higher up are

the twitchy Bolt Troopers and gigantic Hulks.

Riders connected to this faction will probably be Techs (with stolen tech) or Bios (the results of

bioengineering and stuff).

(Inspiration: Smart Brain from Faiz, AAHW from Madness Combat)

THETA-WAVE EMPIRE

Using a combination of lucid dreaming and I Ching alchemy, the evil Theta-Wave Empire literally

dreams great power into being, which is how they conquered the world now called the World of Theta.

Complex geometric sigils and trigrams are their thing, usually octagonal. They go from low-level

Sleepwalker Mages and Guards to the monstrous Bad Dreamers and the elite Nightmare Scholars.

Riders connected to this faction will probably be Mystics. (Need to work on these)

DEMON FACTION

In the World of Demons, there exists an Underworld and Overworld on either side of the

material Earth. The war between the outer planes has mostly overlooked the Earth, though, because 1.

the angels and demons involved don't care about it that much and 2. manifesting in the mundane plane

is energy-inefficient. That is, until the Underworld decided the Earth might present a strategic

advantage; to this end, they have trained soldiers for the task of possessing humans. The possession

provides the human hosts with abilities and equipment that allow them to combat angels, while the

angels would have to be either willing to kill the human hosts (which they aren't) or able to take the

time to exorcise the demons (which is hard to come by in a pitched battle). Demon soldiers are ranked

in military terms and resemble Questers with less of a tech bent. They have no more advanced

technology than crossbows, but are deadly efficient.

THE FAIRMOUNT SYNDICATE

The Fairmount Syndicate comes from the World of the Syndicate. They are an international

organized-crime group built around someone they call Mother Hyacinth. Mother Hyacinth is merely the

projection of an entity whose existence predates humankind and graces her followers with mutations.

The Fairmount Syndicate is composed mostly of women, with the barely-mutated Piantinas, mid-level

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Bocciolas, and heavily-warped Fiorituras.

Riders connected to this faction will probably be Bios or Mystics.

THE COURT OF LOCUSTS

The Court of Locusts is not technically an Invader faction, as it originates from the World of

Riders. During the Great Fall in 1992, a group of Fallen Riders began to form around an unusually young

one of their number: Fallen Rider Acridida. Remarkably charismatic, Acridida managed to quell the usual

Fallen infighting in her little group. Instead of lasting a year and killing each other, the Fallen Riders

established themselves as a solid, small, but terrifying group called the Court of Locusts, with Acridida as

their Queen. These are some of the toughest, craziest Fallen Riders out there, a worldwide network the

Invaders have to treat with caution lest the capricious Locusts turn on them. They sometimes contract

the Court's agents when in dire need.

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59

60

CHaPTer 6: endless PLaY

[Tips about playing the game.]

Playing the game isn't all that hard, even if you're a newbie to tabletop in general. However,

there are always things to consider!

DO YOU HAVE THE NECESSITIES?

At the beginning of this book is a list of what you need—do you have all those?

PLAYER PREPARATIONS

As a player, you obviously need this document. You should get it at least a week before the

game is due to occur, so you can have time to read up and make your character. If you're not familiar

with Kamen Rider, you should at least look up a few clips on Youtube. Try to acquire d10s if you don't

have them.

DM PREPARATIONS

Don't think you don't have any work to do either! As the DM, it's your responsibility to come up

with an engaging adventure for your players to enjoy.

STORY

The story is one of the most important things in the game; otherwise, you're just having

fights, meaningless puzzles, and talky scenes for no reason. You have to strike a balance in terms

of the writing, because this is a story to be told by you and the players together. If you make the

story too loose, you risk the players getting way off-track, bored, and confused as to what you

want them to do. If you make it too tight, without allowing wiggle room, the players may feel

you're giving them too little input and restricting them to a single, rigid path you have planned

out; this is called 'railroading' and you don't want it. What you want to do is make your story

with a solid structure, but enough flexibility that you can curve it to fit the players' actions so

they feel like they're actually doing something other than battles assigned like homework.

One way to do it is to figure out the scenes you want to happen and imagine them as

points; when the players have completed the scene, they should have an idea of where you

want them to go next, and a couple ways to get there. Another thing is to make scenes mutable

so that they can fit player input—you'd be surprised as to the suggestions your players may

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accidentally give you in the ways they react to the information they're given. You don't want

every scene transition to be "mission control says NOW GO DO THIS"; that gets boring.

SCENES

You want a good balance of the different kinds of scenes in your session. That is, you

don't want your game, let alone your campaign, to be just a string of fights. Fights are great, and

they're a great way to cap off a campaign with a sweet boss battle, but you need to do other

things too. Have investigative scenes where your players gather info; this lets you feed them

story tidbits and help them figure out where to go. Have social scenes where the characters can

just get to know each other, or interact with other people in the world.

Give your players things to do other than beat stuff up! Sometimes, present a situation

where they can go the brute force route, but make more cerebral methods perhaps more

inviting.

ARE YOU HAVING FUN?

The absolute most important thing about the game is having fun. If you're genuinely not having

fun, then you should speak up about it so you and your fellows can identify the root of the problem and

figure out a solution. Sometimes you just need a break; sometimes you need to amend or change

something in the game.

THINGS ABOUT SOME MECHANICS

STEALTH

Stealth generally splits into two acts: Hiding and Sneaking. Hiding is staying still without being

found, and Sneaking is moving while not being found. The latter is, of course, harder. Hiding simply

means rolling (DEX+Stealth) while the other people have to roll (MENT+Perc), counting in modifiers as

necessary. When Sneaking, your roll takes penalties if you move faster than your Sneak Speed, which is

(Stealth x 5) feet per round. Obviously, your Sneak Speed cannot ever be more than your Base Speed.

PERSUASION

Persuasion is more than just making a roll—as a player, when your character uses Persuasion,

don't just go "I use Persuasion to try to get him to talk" or "I use Persuasion to try to bluff my way in".

That's boring and gives your DM little to work with! If your character is trying to convince someone to

tell them something, say how your character does that—does he try to play for sympathy, or perhaps

convince the guy that it's his duty to help? When your character tries to bluff her way into somewhere

she's not supposed to be, how does she do that—how does she try to make herself seem like she's

supposed to be there, perhaps with changing her appearance, or does she convince the guards that she

has a friend in there, or what? Basically, give your DM things to work with. Not just because you might

get a Stunt, but because your DM probably wants you to succeed and you'll just make his or her job

easier there, which may lead him or her to be a bit kinder to your attempt whether you make a Stunt or

not.