BREAK!! RPG Character Art Pack by LeviLagaan

Artist Levil has created an awesome art pack of character portraits for a variety of BREAK!! characters.  Check it out here!

 

A (very) short guide on converting material from other games to BREAK!!

One of the best things about owning a lot of tabletop material (adventures, supplements, and otherwise) is that all of it can be resources for whatever you happen to be playing at the moment. While often this involves simply cribbing ideas from different sources, it can also come in the form of porting things from one game to another. This entry is designed to help with that second part, providing some guidelines for converting things from other tabletop RPGs to BREAK!!

As a preface, it's worth saying that the neatest way to do this is to use the original material as inspiration to create brand new things for BREAK!! with the help of the GM's section of the core rulebook. However, there are instances when you are converting things to help save time and effort you would have spent making something entirely new, so meticulously creating stuff wholesale might detract from that purpose. 

With that in mind, the guidelines in this entry are meant to help with speedy conversions rather than meticulous ones. There will still be work involved and there could be a lot more said on this, but hopefully these can still help your efforts be smoother than they would have been before.

Monsters, Enemies, Etc

The first step in converting monsters, adversaries, and various entities from other material into BREAK!! is figuring out what the subject's Rank and Menace level would be so you can get its basic stats from the Adversary Table.

Entities from classic fantasy tabletop games have some easy benchmarks. If the system has something like Hit Dice or levels, this can usually be converted into a Rank by comparing the value range for them and adjusting accordingly. For example, if you are working from a game where enemies are leveled somewhere between 1-30, you could probably get away with dividing the level by 2 to figure out what their Rank in BREAK!! would be. A level 10 giant in this example would be Rank 5 and likely Massive to boot!

If there isn't a clear parallel to Rank in the source, or if the math doesn't quite work out, instead look at how strong the entity is relative to the characters in that particular game. For example, if it's a monster that's meant to go up against very powerful characters, it will probably be something that's Rank 11-15.

When choosing which aptitudes are primary and secondary, think about what the entity uses the most. A tough, brawny monster with good senses should likely have Might, Insight and Grit as primary aptitudes, leaving Deftness and Aura as the secondary ones.

If you are going for speed, when assigning something Traits give a +2 to what its most likely used aptitude, and -1 to its weak point. The aforementioned brawny monster might get a +2 Might and -1 Deftness, for example.

Figuring out Menace Level is a little trickier, but ultimately a matter of pinning down the scope of the entity in question.

• If it's something that really shouldn't be a threat to the player characters on its own, it's likely a Mook.
• If the entity is intended to be on the same level as a character in some form, or at least, mechanically comparable, it's a Boss.
• If the entity is intended to tangle with a bunch of characters on its own, it's probably a Mega Boss or Colossus if its large enough.

Of course, there probably isn't going to be a perfect match here - just go with the best fit for your own purposes.

When it comes to monstrous powers and attacks, the fastest way to adapt is to think of existing abilities in BREAK!! and converting said powers to those when possible. Tough creatures with extra Hit Points might gain an Ability like the Gruun's As tough as they look. A monster with a claw attack might make unarmed strikes as if it were wielding a master weapon. A dragon's breath weapon might be similar to the effect of the Heretic's Umbral Draconis ability, and so forth.

Powers and attacks that don't have an equivalent can be altered into ones that fit with BREAK!! - for example, spells that put targets to sleep might instead incur the Fatigued or Dispirited Ailment. Try to consider what the effect is meant for in the source material and run with it. 

Attacks or effects that kill instantly or shave away a characters ranks aren't well suited for BREAK!!, so you might consider using things like the Putrefied Status Ailment or Burning/Caustic injuries to keep their danger intact but within the game's scope by giving the characters more a chance to try and counter or deal with it.

Items, traps and other magic effects

Converting these is much like converting Abilities. The quick way is to go with something existing in the game already that's a close match - a ring that allows you to fly might grant you the Sage's Practical Flight ability, a magical trap that shrinks its victims might cause the chibbed status ailment, and so forth.

When possible BREAK!! items should offer some new power or tools to players, rather than increasing bonuses. Simple items items to this effect (your +1 Swords and shields, etc) could simply be made of magical materials and have a custom weapon/shield/armor ability for a similar feel. Items with higher bonuses could grant access to appropriate Calling Abilities instead, a powerful holy sword might mimic the Battle Princess's Luminous Blade, as an example.

Most traps and hazards can be modeled as something to avoid via careful planning or dodge with Checks, with consequences coming from the Impact or Burning Injury table. Certain other traps might be re-worked as causing troublesome or dangerous ailments.

Effects that are more narrative than mechanical, like a mirror that shows one their heart's desire, can usually just be kept as is. This is probably obvious, but it still warrants mentioning.

Maps

Most maps are easy enough to convert into use for BREAK!! - for example, in a traditional dungeon layout the rooms would be Locations in an Adventure Site while the doors and hallways would be access points (though certain ones might also be considered locations if there is something to interact with there). More open places (like a large forest or abandoned town) would be even easier to use.

You might want to cut down particularly large maps into a series of connected Adventure Sites to better suit BREAK!!'s style. Each level of a classic mega-dungeon could be its own site for example. Players can tackle each distinct part in different sessions/adventures that way.

If the map comes with a Random Encounter table already prepared, you might want to alter it to be more inline with how BREAK!! uses them (including "no encounter" results, at least a few non-hostile or potentially non-hostile encounters, etc). 

If the map doesn't use Random Encounters already, consider making a new table, or even taking some of the encounters on the map and making them into random rather than guardian style encounters. You could even use some of the encounters from any discarded spots on a map to make a new table if you're reducing the size of a larger site. 

Freebie: Haunted Sites

The stubborn dead aren't an entirely uncommon phenomenon in Outer World. Death is normally the end and for some folk that simply won't do. Corpses walk and occasionally talk, little spirits flutter about, skeletons get some really big ideas. It might not be the norm, but it's not going to surprise anyone too much when it happens.

However, there are times when someone refuses to pass on in a far more dramatic and dangerous way. They become tethered to a place, becoming a part of it and emerging as a menace to anyone who dare venture into their domain.

This is an entry about Ghosts and the Haunted Sites they reside in.

Ghosts

Ghost is a general term for an undying spirit that haunts a particular place or area. Their presence makes an Adventure Site into a Haunted Site. Normally, a ghost cannot be confronted materially - they do not have a physical form and strike at invaders using a sort of phantom magic (as noted in the Haunted Sites rules) until the interlopers leave or join the ranks of the dead.

There is no one sort of ghost. When creating one, it's important consider the following aspects:

• What tethers their malice to this site? They might be a parent looking for their lost child in the aftermath of a tragedy, a slain tyrant skulking the halls of their ruined castle in search of traitors, or a beast whose blood lust was stronger than the death brought on by the spear and bow.
• Once you know what they are, you can decide on their themes. This helps with providing flavor for Haunting Effects: the lost parent's presence may be heralded by soft beckoning and visions of bodies riddled with wounds from the tragedy, the tyrant may lash at targets with chains and edicts, the beast's would likely include guttural roars, crawling vermin, unseen claws and teeth.
• What happens when the Ghost's Manifesting Rite is performed. Do they depart from this mortal coil thanks to some truth being revealed? Or do they take on a physical form and attack those who dared confront them? If it's the latter, you'll want to make an adversary entry for them. They tend to have a menace level of Mega-Boss and a rank of 6 or higher, but weaker, lower ranked ghosts aren't impossible.

Manifesting Rite

As stated previously, it's normally impossible to deal with a ghost by normal or even magical means. They have no material form, and are instead existing within the mana of the place they haunt. If someone wants to exorcise a ghost, they must perform a task that draws them into the physical world known as a Manifesting Ritual.

Manifesting Rites are not uniform. They might involve returning a sacred item to its proper place, righting some ancient wrong, or proving that whatever the ghost is waiting for is long gone from the world. The only thing they all have in common is that they should all involve traversing the ghost's Haunted Site in some way.

Once the Manifesting Rite is complete, the ghost takes on a physical form. They then either accept their passing and disperse permanently or to attack whoever completed the rite.

Haunted Sites

A Haunted Site is an Adventure Site that a ghost is present in. These sites function normally in regards to the exploration rules (though the ghost's presence could have an effect on the nature of the site or how the inhabitants act) but have the additional consideration of Haunting Effects.

Haunting Effects occur in the following circumstances.

• Every other time the party moves to a new point (including back-tracking) on the adventure site map.
• Any time the party decides to investigate or linger at a point.
• Whenever someone does something connected to the ghost's reason for haunting the site or something that might upset or anger the ghost, at GM's Discretion.

Whenever one of these comes up, you should roll once on the Random Target Table to decide which member of the party is the potential target of the haunting, then roll on the Haunting Effect Table and then play out the effect. In the case of someone doing something that would catch the ghost's attention, you may also simply target them instead of rolling for a random target.

Random Target Table (Re-Roll in the case of tie)

• 1- Character with the lowest Might
• 2- Character with the highest Might
• 3- Character with the lowest Deftness
• 4- Character with the highest Deftness
• 5- Character with the lowest Grit
  
• 6- Character with the highest Grit
  
• 7- Character with the lowest Insight
• 8- Character with the highest Insight
• 9- Character with the lowest Aura
• 10- Character with the highest Aura
• 11- Character with who was most recently injured
• 12- Character who last failed a check or attack roll
• 13- Character with the highest bright allegiance
• 14- Character with the highest dark allegiance
• 15- Character wearing the brightest color
  
• 16- Character with the least amount of inventory slots full
  
• 17- Character who last used a magical ability
  
• 18- Character who last shouted
  
• 19- Character who last drew blood
  
• 20- Character who is having the worst day

Haunting Effect Table

• 1-10: Something spooky and characteristic of the haunt happens, but no harm comes to the party. These usually come in the form of noises, apparitions, or paranormal events appearing in front of or around the group. They may hint at what needs to happen to manifest the Haunt.
  
• 11-15: The haunt appears and performs some terrifying action that inflicts a Physical Jinx on a randomly selected target unless they can make a Deftness Check to dodge it. These Jinxes last until the haunt is exorcised, placated, or the target remains away from the haunted site for at least a week.
  
• 16: A personalized vision of terror flashes through the mind of the target, striking at the core of their psyche. They let out a loud cry of anger, dismay, or terror and incur two random encounter rolls unless they make a Grit check to steel themselves.
  
• 17: A voice that sounds like someone the target loves or trusts beckons them elsewhere. They move towards the most dangerous adjacent point in the Adventure Site unless they make a Insight check to keep their senses.
• 18: The haunt attempts to posses the target, and will do so unless they succeed on an Aura check to assert their sense of self. The haunt then attempts to do one action to hinder the party as best they can, snuffing out a torch, using a destructive ability, etc, before departing with a cackle or threat.
  
• 19: A disorienting spatial wave washes over the entire party, and they are all thrown to a different point of the Adventure Site. This is either deep within the site's depths or at the entrance, depending on the temperament of the Haunt.
  
• 20: The target's body is contorted and twisted by the haunt's wrath. They incur a light injury unless they succeed on a Might check to resist the ordeal.

GM Tip!: A re-skinned Skelemonarch can make for quick and easy stats for a ghost. The shadow beast also works well. That said, it'd probably be more fun to make up your own.

Our very first supplement, and thoughts on playing in the moment

First things first, since the book is shipping and even in some people's hands at this very moment, we're able to announce our very first supplement - START!

Sign up for launch notifications here!

As noted it will include a tutorial/beginner style scenario with lots of ways to take it apart and customize if you're a more experienced GM who wants to give it a spin, as well as a bunch of fun new rules a brand new playable species!

For the main entry though, I wanted to talk about one of the goals I had with BREAK!!'s rules: playing in the moment.

What I mean buy this is that I wanted BREAK!! to draw players into the fiction of the world and reward that investment in it somehow. This pops up in a lot of different ways. One is how many Abilities are framed in a relatively open-ended way. While the result and fiction around these are straightforward, there is a bit of legroom in how they can be used and applied in a variety of situations. I'm a big fan of characters getting a lot of tools in their metaphorical toolbelt, rather than just growing in one specific way, so the hope here is that players pick the Abilities that appeal to them the most and then try to use them as often as possible by approaching situations from a variety of different angles.

Similarly, the risk/reward nature of Stunts is meant to encourage players to go big and flashy, but it also works best when players are paying attention to the small details of the combat they are in. 

However, I want to focus on the Contests procedure here, as it's one of the more utilized facets of BREAK!!'s system.

To put things as simply as possible (as I assume most readers of the blog have looked over the rules, and know this already) Contests are used to figure out which individuals come out on top in an exchange that isn't one trying to attack the other. These call for both sides to make a Check, and then has a list of ways to decide who won. This list seems pretty long at first, with several parts to it, but the truth is each of these are often mutually exclusive. If one side passes their check, and the other fails, that first side wins and you don't need to consult it any further. The same goes if both succeed, but one had a special success and the other didn't. Once you've got that in your head, these contests will progress pretty quickly.

What I want to point out is one of the main ways I think players will win contests: having a Bonus on the roll. While some Abilities grant these in specific situations, they are most often given when a player levies one of their Purviews or tries to use the situation at hand to their advantage. In this way, being invested in what's going on will really reward players - while bonuses seem small, they are always significant and just that bit of extra attention can mean the difference between victory or defeat.

These kind of things are why so many aspects of play are framed as a conversation between the group. Not only will the players and GM help each other with concrete things like rules and procedures, but they can also feed each other ideas, remind each other of the little background details that might help, or even make helpful suggestions. This back and forth is one of the places I have the most fun when it comes to tabletop RPGs, so it was naturally something I really wanted to focus on with BREAK!!'s rules. There is always risks here of these conversations stalling out or falling into the same patterns (BREAK!!'s Diminishing Returns rule is one way I tried to prevent that) but ultimately I believe in the fun, friendly people in our hobby enough to trust in it.

Freebie: Jinxes!

The spells and powers wielded by adventurers are but a fraction of the magic on Outer World. Among the arcane arts both mighty and meager there are Jinxes, cousins to the potent hexes wielded by Sages and their ilk. These simple magical maladies are often little more than nuisances, but they can pop up where you least expect them thanks to their relative accessibility.

Jinxes can be inflicted in 1 of 2 ways:

Personal Jinxes

These are targeted affairs, with one person putting a jinx on another. While hardly the most dependable things (and often, costly whether they work or not) they are popular among petty rivals, irritated magical university students, and eccentric sorts who want to teach someone a lesson.

• To target someone with a Jinx, you need something connected to them, like a bit of hair or some personal belonging they've had for at least a month or so. In addition, 1 of these 2 factors must be true:
• You have some sort of magical additive or consumable material that will be expended while attempting the hex 
• You have at least one magical Ability (or someone with a magical Ability to assist you)
  
• A jinx attempt is a slow process that requires a Downtime Action. While no two jinxes are the same, generally these involve drawing hasty magic circles, burning or otherwise destroying the personal affect of the target, and actively hoping they have a terrible time. This prompts an Grit or Aura (whichever is higher) Contest between you and the Target:
• If you win, the target becomes Jinxed (per below).
• If the target wins, the jinx fails and the you cannot attempt to jinx anyone again for a year and a day.
• While jinxed, the target cannot be subject to an additional jinx.
• If you have connected items for more than one person you may also attempt to jinx several targets with one attempt. These are resolved separately from one another, and if you lost even one of the contests after all have been resolved you cannot attempt to jinx anyone again for a year and a day.
• The GM may allow you to ensure your target is afflicted with a specific Jinx if you take an extra step to ensure it, like including an appropriate item in your ritual or even just doodling a picture of them with the desired result beforehand.
• If the doodle option is allowed, the player or GM (depending on who is attempting the jinx) must actually draw it for this to count. The fidelity of this drawing is not important.
  

Contingent Jinxes 

Some jinxes are connected to a circumstance rather than targeted ill-intent. The magic involved for these lingers and ends up being a bit more potent than personal jinxes.

• Contingent Jinxes...
  
• Are connected to a particular place, like a Settlement, Adventure Site, or structure of some kind.
  
• Are inflicted by violating a rule or taboo. These can include, but are not limited too:
• Walking through a gate without permission or without making a proper offering
• Breaking an old law in an ancient city
• Damaging a shrine or statue of a small god or other petty immortal.
• Are stronger if the target of their wrath was informed of the taboo they are breaking. If this is the case, the jinx takes hold automatically. If not, the target is allowed an Aura Check to avoid the effect.
• It's important to note that the forces behind jinxes are pretty capricious. For example, sometimes bearing witness to a perplexing sign or crumbling mural with a warning on it counts as being "informed".
• Contingent Jinxes may inflict a particular Jinx, rather than a random one, if it is particularly appropriate for the rule being broken or the place it is attached too.
   

If inflicted with a Random Jinx...

• Roll to see what kind of Jinx has afflicted you:
• 1-10: Spirit Jinx
  
• 11-20: Physical Jinx
•  Roll again on the appropriate Jinx Table to see what particular Jinx you are suffering from.

The Jinxes themselves...

A mechanical note: Jinxes are mostly just Quirks without the benefit. The two kinds of Jinxes presented here match up with Physiology and Spirit Quirks respectively (with a few changes to keep things fair) so it should be easy to make new ones: either take the negative values from other kinds of Quirks and make up fiction for them, or use them as guidelines to make entirely original Jinxes!

Spirit Jinxes

• (1-2) Blitheness
  
• The jinx has eliminated a good deal of your sense of self preservation. You suffer a -1 to your Defense Rating.
  
• (3-4) The Jitters
• Magic has made you over-react to even the slightest surprise or danger. Your team suffers a snag on Deftness rolls when it attempting an ambush.
• (5-6) Blabbers
• You no longer know when to stop talking and can't read the room. You suffer a Snag on Aura Rolls when trying to Negotiate or impress someone.
• (7-8) Bean Spiller
• It's hard for you to speak falsehoods, and when you do you often instead blurt out the truth and overshare. You have a Snag when attempting to lie to someone.
• (9-10) Forgettable 
  
• The jinx obscures your existence from others when it would benefit you. People will attribute your positive actions to others rather than yourself, even if you are standing right there.
• (11-12) Unfortunate
  
• No matter what you do, you can't help stumbling into things. If you enter an area or room with a trap in it, you set it off automatically.
  
• (13-14) Hoarder
  
• You can't help but grab and stash the most useless items imaginable: pebbles, scratched out pieces of paper, pamphlets for scam operations. Whenever you roll an unmodified 20 on a Deftness Check random junk spills everywhere and complicates the situation you are in.
• (15-16) Buyers Remorse
• You can't stop yourself from buying the most expensive versions of something, even if it's not any better than usual. You must spend 50% more money on any clothing, armor, or other accessories you purchase.
• (17-18) Curse of Greed
• Treasure has become near impossible for you to resist. If you are close enough to any item or collection of things worth 5 Gems or more, you must make an Aura Check to resist the urge to find and plunder from it.
• (19-20) River of Consciousness
• You are constantly hearing the thoughts of others you are competing with without a way to filter it. You suffer a Minor (-2) penalty to all Contests.

Physical Jinxes

• (1-2) Swollen
  
• Awkward additional bulk has slowed you down, reducing your Speed Rating by a single step.
  
• (3-4) Teary Eyes
  
• You're constantly crying and sniffling, suffering a Snag on all rolls dependent on sight.
  
• (5-6) The Goofies
  
• Something about your appearance (your hair style, expression, etc) has been altered to be be so ridiculous that it's hard to take you seriously. You incur a Snag on Aura rolls when attempting to intimidate or impress.
  
• (7-8) Menacing Countenance
  
• No matter what you do you look like an untrustworthy villain. Lighting is never on your side, and anyone favoring law and order will distrust you immediately and are quick to blame you for ill deeds.
  
• (9-10) Obvious Do-Gooder 
  
• This jinx always makes you appear to be an aggressively heroic sort, often compelling you to chastise and give speeches. Villainous sorts will automatically assume you're out to get them and try to get rid of you preemptively.
  
• (11-12) Voracious
  
• You are hungry all the time, requiring double the amount of rations for each day spent on a journey. If you are a Bio-Mechanoid or other sort that doesn't normally need to eat, this Jinx makes it so that you now do.
  
• (13-14) Shriveled
  
• This jinx causes you to thin out to an alarming degree, and you're now much more brittle. You suffer a -1 to your Heart's Total.
  
• (15-16) Onomatopoeiatic
• Every step you take makes a new noise. It's actually pretty fascinating but also not helpful: you suffer a Snag when attempting stealthy actions.
  
• (17-18) Frail
• This is the most commonly used jinx: it just makes you feel awful. You're constantly sick and tired, and suffer a -1 to your Grit Aptitude.
  
• (19-20) Unruly Mane
  
• Your hair grows to an absurd length, can move on its own and also it hates you. You suffer a Snag to any Deftness checks involving the use of your legs as it has a tendency to grab at them when you are moving.
  

 

Getting rid of a Jinx

Those suffering from a jinx are unsurprisingly eager to get rid of it. Fortunately, the magic behind them can be unraveled readily.

• For the most part, Jinxes start to disperse normally after 24 hours. The day after being jinxed (and every day after that) you may make an Aura Check. On a success, you return to normal. 
• At GM discretion, abilities like Demystify, Compassion Cure, and Vexing Dispel can target and dispel a Jinx like a magical ability or status ailment as well.
  
• Some Contingent Jinxes won't go away unless recompense for the broken rule is offered. For example, fixing the statue that was broken, or completing a repentant quest of sorts.

 

Using Jinxes in your game

Jinxes make for a fun, low stakes peril as they tend to be short lived and more annoying and troublesome than fatal. These are best attached to another adventure or encounter to complicate them a bit. For example, a mange hexer might use them on a party that has been clashing with their bandit gang as of late to try and get an upper hand, or a strange town the party might need gather information or supplies from might have a lot of eccentric customs they need to follow lest they be jinxed. You may also add other sources of Jinxes, like monsters that inflict them on those they attack, or a uniquely cursed item.

In addition, they make for a fun option for mischievous players, if not a particularly dependable one. Heretics are often especially fond of jinxes as they are already quite good at figuring out what would annoy or upset someone.

Thinking with Nodes - making simple maps for BREAK!!

While it's possible to play BREAK!! combats entirely within the theater of the mind, I highly recommend you use some sort of physical (or digital, if your games are played online) map while doing so. Having a map to reference helps everyone at the table re-focus if something else catches their attention and can help prompt them to come up with things like stunts, tricks, or other stratagems.

This is especially true for important Guardian Encounters! While you can use the standard battlefield map for most smaller scale encounters, having a special map for big fights can really add a lot.

Don't fret though! Drawing one is actually much easier to do than it might seem. While the rulebook has some really gorgeous looking examples thanks to Grey's spectacular art, you can honestly get away with much simpler ones that just about anyone can make.

A good way to think of it is that BREAK!! maps, whether it be Region Maps, Adventure Sites, or Battlefields, are all about nodes.

Here's a quick mock-up to show what I mean. I made this in a few minutes in MS Paint, but in my home game I'd likely have doodled it on some index cards or on a dry-wash mat:

This battlefield is intended for a sort of ambush in a cave. There is likely a large, intimidating guardian on the path or near the exit, while some spell casters or foes with missile attacks are perched on the ledges, ready to rain whatever dangerous annoyances they have down on the party.

The important spots on the battlefield are clearly labeled and any conditions that apply to them listed as well. The lines connecting the points make it clear how players are able to move, and some notes at the top add any considerations that apply to the entire thing. All you need are some minis or tokens or other things to mark where everyone is and you're ready to go. The party has a lot of choices here to - do they try to climb to the ledges? Barrel through the main threat? Turn around and get the heck out of dodge? 

And that's really all there is to it. Like all things with GM Prep, try not to stress too much and have fun!

 Some Farewell Tips:

• Don't worry about detailing everything. Keeping things simple and a little open works well with how BREAK!!'s rules flow. As an example, you can just say "debris is scattered across the floor" without being too specific. It it may prompt a player to ask if there is anything sharp or big enough to throw as a weapon, or things like that, getting them to further consider the battlefield in their actions.
• Keeping the opponents the battlefield is intended for in mind is obvious, but don't forget to consider the fun things about your adventure site as well. A fire temple might have over-heated areas with the dangerous condition, magic forests might have precarious areas swarming with writhing vines, magic polluted facilities might have status ailment causing gunk in certain spots, and so forth. 
  
• You can make a few quick template maps and reskin them for different adventure sites, I won't tell anyone.

Assists as Combo Moves and other thoughts

Chatting in our discord the other week got me thinking of things like Chrono Trigger's Dual and Triple Techniques and the Fastball Special in the X-men comic books. For those unfamiliar, these are essentially attacks and maneuvers where multiple characters will team up and combine their abilities to make a single strike. This sort of thing is all over the media that inspired BREAK!! and after talking a bit with people about how I would implement them in our game, I thought it would be fun to write about here.

I will admit up front that I am cheating a little bit with this entry. Rather than post about a new system or procedure, I instead want to talk about how existing rules can be used to justify these things in-fiction, and tie it to a broader point as well.

In this case, I think BREAK!!'s mechanics for Assists in combat already represent these sort of combo attacks pretty well. To show what I mean, below are a few examples of combining these rules with your character's existing Abilities in a way that personalizes them and makes it seem like they were something the party came up with while they were socializing during downtime.

Attack Assists

It can be easy to underestimate Attack Assists, but sometimes if you want to make sure that a particularly important attack hits an enemy with a high defense, it can be a great way for you to contribute to that. Sometimes it can really be the thing that turns the tide.

While these just provide a pretty straightforward bonus to an allies attack, there is no reason you can't have a bit of fun describing them using skills you already have. Doing so may even open up other opportunities later on in the same conflict. 

Some Example Combo Techniques using Attack Assists

• Startling Reveal: A Factotum or Sneak taking their affinity for staying unseen and using it to get a chance to startle a target and getting them to drop their defenses.
• Dweomer Diversion: A Sage using a non-combat magic ability (such as Glowing Ink) to create a flashy distraction to catch the target's attention.
• Harrowing Gesture: Heretics utilizing their Dreadful Ability to do something uniquely tailored to upset or unnerve a target and leave them open to an attack.

Tactical Assists

Unlike their more concrete cousins, Tactical Assists have this sort of fun fiction built in as you have to describe what you are doing to use them at all. It's even easier to think of them as well practiced maneuvers between allies.

Some Example Combo Techniques using Tactical Assists

• Icarus Shot: One strong character with Supernatural Leaping grabbing another with a missile weapon of some kind and bounding into the air with them in tow so they can take a shot they wouldn't have been able to otherwise.
• Cannon Brawl: Having one character use an Ability to Balloon or Petrify someone, then having another perform an Attack Stunt or Trick to bounce or hurl them into an enemy and topple them.
• Stone Path Strike: A Dwarf using Stone Song to create a ramp or wall for a Raider with Free Runner to dash along it and attack a difficult to reach target, like a colossal creature's strike point.

Ultimately these are just a few simple examples, but my hope is that they might inspire you to come up with your own, or at least give you a chance to show how cool and fun your character is during actions you might normally let fade into the background.

The larger point I want to leave off on is this: 

BREAK!! has a few layers to it, but its a pretty simple game at its core with rules that I think can be stretched and squeezed quite a bit without messing things up. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need very specefic rules to emulate certain things. This works very well for many games but generally I don't think it's the best fit for BREAK!! a lot of the time. 

It's certainly good (and fun) to homebrew and customize, but sometimes what you need is built into the game already if you're willing to change up your angle here and again. When you think of something you want to add in, consider the existing options before jumping headlong into it. If you re-skin or re-flavor something to work for you, you'll save yourself a lot of time that you can use to come up with your next adventure, adversary, or even other house-rule instead.

 

BREAK!! RPG Non-commercial license

Hey everyone, we wanted to share a few guidelines for fan-content since the BREAK!! Core Rules Beta has been available for a while, and we’ve been posting ‘Option Menu’ on our blog to help you customize and create for the game. People have already done some amazing things and have asked for guidance on what is acceptable to publish. 

We developed the BREAK!! RPG Non-commercial license with this in mind. We tried to be as clear as possible; hopefully it doesn’t sound too strict as a result! We want you to be able to create with confidence, but also protect our 10 year investment in developing the game. 

Please note, these terms are subject to refinement (we’re doing our best here but still learning!)

Also, though it's probably obvious, it should be said that these guidelines are for things you want to share/publish widely, not things created for your own personal use

In addition, we are working on a Commercial License for VTT support and a third party publishing. We aim to release this once all our kickstarter commitments have been delivered, so please stay tuned for that.

BREAK!! RPG Non-commercial license

1. You can freely use BREAK!!’s game terms in your creation, but NOT the definitions, artwork, or logos.
   
   Free fan-creations (such as new adversaries, setting ideas, adventures, custom character options and rules, digital tools, fan art) are fine to share as long as they DON’T include text or art copied, in part or whole, from the Core Rules or other official BREAK!! sources (such as the blog, content previews, or press images).
   
   It IS okay to include game terms by name in your work (including rule procedures, existing adversaries, abilities, locations, etc) for reference. For example: “Battle Princess”, "Heart's Blade", “Negotiation”, “Skelemen”, “Wistful Dark”.
   
   In addition, the character sheet in the back of the book is free to reproduce and use as well.
   
   We don’t want your content to negate the need to buy our game, or exceed the legal concept of ‘fair use/fair dealing’.
   
   
   
2. You cannot make a claim against us for any similarity to your fan creation that may appear in our future works.
   
   Unfortunately, we aren’t going to be able to monitor or read every fan project. If something we publish down the line unintentionally contains similarities to a creation made under this license, the creator accepts that they cannot make a copyright claim against us.
   
   We don’t want your creation to impact what we can develop for BREAK!! in the future.
   
   
   
3. Please be responsible
   
   We do not endorse using BREAK!! as a platform to do something egregious like spreading hate speech or to facilitate personal attacks. In addition, we request you be mindful when tackling sensitive issues.
   
   We don’t want to hinder creativity, but also don’t want fan content to negatively affect the perception of our game or its players.
   
   
   
4.  Mark your work as unofficial.
   
   Please label your work as a fan creation! This makes sure that people know your work is distinct from ours.
   
   If your creation is more formally presented than a blog post, for example in a zine or pdf download, do NOT use the game’s logo AND include this text disclaimer in your work:
   
   “[Product Name] is an independent product published under BREAK!! RPG’s Non-Commercial License and is not affiliated with BREAK!!’s creators or publishers.
   
   This is to protect us from any infringement claims or offense that might be contained in unofficial works,

            

Thank you!

Actual play videos and podcasts are cool and we’d love to see them! And of course, It’s fine to show/quote the rules during the natural course of play.

Thanks again for all your support and creativity so far, it's truly inspiring. Make cool things, have fun, and we hope you continue enjoying BREAK!!

BREAK!! Kickstarter - Final Days!

Thanks for bearing with the marketing blitz everyone - from here on out, the blog will return to it's normal gameable self. But, before we go- 

We are in the home stretch!

Author Reynaldo plays Radia Senki and talks about the game's influences!

BREAK!! Questions (Part 1)

Part one of the video answering all the questions we recieved!

I apologize for the flipped logo at the beginning. It's a casualty of salvaging footage that had ended up upside down. 😅 

Character Creation Live Stream Recording (and a YouTube channel!)

I recently did a live stream highlighting character creation, and it's now available on youtube to watch at your leisure.

And the road goes ever, ever on...

Just another "we're still at it" update - Grey and I are going full speed ahead. Some more proofreading is done and now we are looking at through edits, final touch ups, and maybe some final organizational additions.

Hoping to have more news for you soon!

Cutting Room Floor

We're finalizing the Game Master's section and poor Lord Vertex got cut, so I'll show him off here. Don't worry, he'll come back in something later.

Little peek at the setting section

Another "We're still at it!" post - I'm currently reviewing/revising the text and layout for the setting section and you know, I think it's looking pretty good:

Of course, these images are showing a WIP, so expect placeholders to be swapped out and edits to be made, so on and so forth...

Bellzuub!

The Unshaped are a dangerous threat, primordial beings with no defined body, they instead manifest as clusters of ideas that can take on a variety of forms at will. Their disregard for anything but their own personal goals and amusements make them very hard to reason with, to boot!

A little side bonus that comes with showing these off is that BREAK!!'s status ailments can be silly or quite scary, depending on the entity that's inflicting them!

On Villains (and more art)

Monsters and baddies are some of my favorite things to come up with when writing for BREAK!! or anything, really. Thinking about how they confront the players or affect the setting itself is always fun to dream up, even if detailing it can get finicky or tedious at times. I just finished an Unshaped themed around insects and even though it's hard to know what that means outside the context of the rules, trust me when I say that I tried very hard to make it interesting and fun.

That said, I always end up thinking a lot about the assumed adversaries that seem to come hand in hand with adventure themed role-playing. For a lot of reasons I dislike when players can see a particular creature and just assume they can attack it without thought or guilt, so with the exception with a few true monsters, living spells, or what have you I do my best to avoid it.

Last entry I mentioned Adversaries and Allies, but I think really, in BREAK!! almost anything written in can be used as either, depending on the circumstances.

If an entity shows up in a BREAK!! book and isn't meant to be an easy to use archetype or single example of a much larger population or creature, expect it to have some kind of silly, sappy or maudlin nonsense on the why's and how's of its existence in the Outer World, and a way for them to end up on either side of the player's activities. Heck, it often shows up in those former examples as well!

Excluding that Unshaped I just wrote. He's just kind of a jerk.

Art, Allies & Adversaries

While there isn't much to report (we're still at it folks!) I can share some art Grey has done for two of the game's Game Master Entities; The Chosen One and the War Gruun!

Chosen Ones are individuals that have been chosen by Fate to undertake some great challenge or quest, usually claiming powerful treasures in the process. The issue here is that Fate has been twisted and bent thanks to various events in the Outer World's history, and Chosen One's quests have become mistimed or misapplied in the meantime! As a result, they can be anything from unlikely allies to dangerous enemies of the player characers!

War Gruun were created in the 2nd Aeon by the Bio-Sorcerers of Calian, meant to be unstoppable weapons employed against a massive number of ordinary soldiers. While they retain a certain gentleness that is common in all Gruun, they were made to fly into an unstoppable rage during certain conditions, whether they like it or not. 

A big hope with these - and many of the Game Master controlled entities included with BREAK!! is that there isn't a simple way to to deal with them. They aren't automatically your allies or adversaries; but they can be either. 

Writer Interview

In case you missed it, the writer was featured in a very nice little interview:

https://thecementmixer.blogspot.com/2020/07/break-ghibli-inspired-tabletop-rpg-and.html

Premature Print Test

Still with a way to go before completion, I thought I'd treat myself to test print of the progress to date.

Physical Prototype

• Used Lulu: A5 (5.83 x 8.27 in / 148 x 210 mm), Premium Color, 80# White, Linen Wrap, Matte Cover.
• Colors are vivid! Construction is good (though smyth sewn not an option)
• Content is about complete (70%)
• There are typos (no quality control yet!)

Learnings

• Feels very different looking the physical book to onscreen or individual print outs, has given me clarity on certain typographic decisions.
• Some background greys are too light (they disappear somewhat and ruin the page structure).
• Not sure about the super white paper, colors look great but makes ink very reflective. 
• I didn't allow enough room for trimming, the book is very fat and more was lost than expected
• Small light grey text doesn't print well. I knew this, but still I try!
• Some tints lose too much saturation (will add some color tests to next proto)

Strike Points for Colossi

One of my favorite bits of Break!! is Colossal Combat.

Each part of a giant adversary has it's own Heart Total and must be specifically targeted, this is called a Strike Point.

Destroying a body part removes a monster ability.

Moving from part to part is subject to same rules as moving through a regular Battlefield Area.

URARANI
The forgotten crystal beast

Creatures from the 1st Aeon do not follow the rules of other eras. They run the gamut from messengers with gossamer wings to killing machines made of unbreakable glass. Most have been destroyed or withered away in a reality they find suffocating, but others have found ways to remain.

Urarani is an enormous, arachnid creature made of murky chitin. It was once part of an Unshaped’s tale but abandoned when it was deemed unappealing by its creator. Its appearances in the Outer World almost always include a rampage of some kind, so it is fortunate that it remains a rare sight.

I am looking forward to Rey's Monsterhunter/Shadow of the Colossus inspired adventure/monster book!

Rey's original concept...