Inspired by classic martial arts films, fighting anime, and my work on prior quests, FIST OF THE SPACE DRAGON has you play as an aspiring martial artist seeking to leave their mark on a cosmos with the power of their fists! You can also use your sneakiness, your intellect, or the capacity to hold a basic conversation to accomplish these goals, but your fists remain important for punching people. As someone who can harness their inner chi, within you burns the spark of a warrior who will draw new friends and foes to them like a space moth to a space flame.
In a universe filled to the brim with giant monsters, kung fu warlords, and intergalactic demon hordes, you have your work cut out for you. The only way to become a living legend (and a posthumous one once you kick the bucket) is to beat up enough tough guys, gals, and ghouls that your name will live on long after the star of your home system fizzles out. Whether your legacy is of fame or infamy depends on how you choose to get there.
Out there is a galaxy of violence and turmoil. Countless stars, planets, and sectors, besieged by endless hordes of evil warriors, dark wizards, and shady used planet dealers. It's been a galaxy where the strong thrive and the weak are crushed underfoot for as long as people care to remember. A roiling tide of strife and chaos, held back only by heroic martial artists and galactic defenders, which were few and far between.
That whole spiel doesn't mean much to you, beyond the rest of space being a place you'd rather be than the decaying junkyard planet you're on now. Forgo is the gutter of the Wugant Sector, a giant waste receptacle where dreams go to die. On a day that was like any other, you find yourself watching the television after a long day of doing whatever you could to get by. A normal job, perhaps, as the illegal gigs didn't pay enough unless you already had an in with the Space Mafia. Or maybe you're passing the window of an electronics store when you hear the loud, imposing voice ring out through it.
"Attention all mortals of the Wugant Sector! Lend me your hearing organs!"
Your eyes are glued to the TV, affixed onto the terrifying visage of a skeletal juggernaut. He was the Tyrant of the Blood Planet Omegadeth, who ruled on high from a castle of polished skulls and bones. At his side were a coterie of undead warriors, the camera panning in such a way as to imply his legions were without number.
"It is I, NECROMANIA! Uncontested ruler of all that he surveys. Perhaps you've heard of me?"
Everyone in Wugant knows of the Dread King Necromania. He's the most powerful being for lightyears. With a word, he could scour all of the systems -- blighted planets and a death toll in the trillions -- and not a single warrior could stop him.
For that reason, Necromania was, for all intents and purposes, the iron-fisted ruler of everyone and everything you've ever known, including the landfill you were standing on now. He rarely made an issue of it, beyond establishing the Planet Bosses and having them rule the worlds under his thumb like petty dictators, so when he demanded screen time to address his sector, Dread King Necromania got it. All of the public channels in this corner of space were playing this message, giving the dark lord their undivided attention.
"I must admit, I have become rather tired of being uncontested for so long. No matter how hard I searched for a worthy opponent, it's been YEARS since I've had a good fight! For this reason, I am issuing a challenge to the greatest warriors in all of Wugant!"
You get closer to the screen. A challenge?
"That's right! A challenge!"
You lean away from the screen as Necromania leans further into the camera. His socketless eyes almost drill into yours with the glowing pair of sinister green sparks lying within them.
"It's a simple one, too! I'm offering anyone who can defeat me in a duel one wish!
A wish? Like a genie?
"Anything that is within my power to make come true, I shall! Dominion over a planet or two? Sure. Riches? As big a number as you can imagine! Nyeh heh heh! Not even reversing the process of death itself is beyond my reach!"
You know how to fight. You've been in more than your fair share of scraps. Taking out a Planet Boss like the lame one lording over Forgo was something you could pull off, if you put in the training hours. No one's done it yet because that runs the risk of inheriting his job.
Necromania raised a bony finger.
"However! I won't be making it easy! You'd better come at me with all you've got!"
The camera abruptly turns to a space pod that lands in the center of Necromania's castle courtyard. Out of it steps a warrior in silver armor, who hacks into the Dread King's zombie warriors with a brilliant blade. You're mesmerized by the technical prowess and rapid fury of his blows, which mark him as one of the greatest swordsmen in his field.
Once he's done with the small fry, the silver warrior points his blade at Necromania from atop a pile of unanimated corpses.
"Necromania! I will have your head for your crimes against the people of my world!"
"My, that was fast. I don't suppose you were watching the news?"
The warrior runs at Necromania, full tilt.
"SILENCE, FIEND! I WILL VANQUISH YOU WHERE YOU--!!"
Before he can get within range to deliver a death blow, Necromania raises one hand. Out of it comes a conical blast of green fire that cremates the unfortunate challenger on his feet.
"Boring." Necromania walks over to the pillar of ash and kicks it, leaving nothing of the warrior but a pair of smoking shoes. He gestures for the camera operator to focus on him again, and they do so with haste. "I hope the rest of you do better than that."
You're stunned. You didn't even have time to blink before that guy was nonconsensually immolated. Necromania picks up the shoes, letting the camera focus on them, before tossing them in a spiked recycling bin.
"Where was I? Oh, yes. Beat me and you get one free wish!"
That scene of extreme violence is replaced with a star map directing any would-be challengers to Omegadeth from the cosmic freeway. It was novel to see a chart pointing towards the Blood Planet rather than away from it.
"Think you're tough enough?"
The broadcast ends, leaving you alone with your thoughts.
One wish. Regardless of what you wished for, beating Necromania would mark you as one of the strongest people in the galaxy. After a few days of thinking, you decide that this is it. Your chance to become a legend. You only had one life to live, and you can't let it pass you by.
Let's take some baby steps and become the strongest person on this planet first.
WEREDRAGO2 PRESENTS
š FIST OF THE SPACE DRAGON š
š² AN INTERGALACTIC MARTIAL ARTS QUEST šø
ā CHARACTER CREATION ā
ā Hi, my name isā¦
[ ] Insert Protagonist Name Here
ā Select one of these five alien species for your martial artist. Each one grants a bonus to your character's starting Might, Agility, Intellect, or Spirit.
-[ ] YEREN A hot-blooded race of pyrokinetic simians who once raged across the galaxy, until a meteor shower snuffed out their homeworld. Their planet-plundering descendants aside, what few Yeren that remain have channeled their burning ambitions towards other passions. Like fighting!
+1 Might, +1 Agility
-[ ] MARINUS The Marinus are natural sailors and explorers from a world almost completely submerged in water. With a healthy dose of genetic engineering, this aquatic species has further augmented themselves to be clever and agile marines comfortable in a variety of conditions.
+1 Agility, +1 Intellect
-[ ] TORUSAN Small and cuddly nature lovers, the Torusans were briefly confused for docile critters by poachers and sold as pets. The swiftness with which the Torusans turned the tables and held their kidnappers hostage made it clear that these resourceful underdogs are anything but docile.
+1 Agility, +1 Spirit
-[ ] ARTH Some of the sturdiest creatures around, the Arth can be found anywhere you can find good minerals and a mug of fungal ale. While a vast majority of Arth are non-sapient drones controlled by mining queens, bugs with thoughts of their own are hardly uncommon.
+1 Might, +1 Spirit
-[ ] CHIDROID Instead of being a creature of flesh and blood, you're a machine built with a "chi drive" called a Chidroid! Installing a chi drive and not having it blow up is more of an art than a science, but thanks to it, you have free will and a power source that'll only grow stronger as you do.
+1 Intellect, +1 Spirit
ā Select one character build.
-[ ] WARRIOR (4/3/1/2) You're super tough and start your journey as a hale and hearty fighter! You can only go up from there if you don't get outsmarted on the way to the top.
-[ ] SNEAK (2/4/2/2) While you'd be found wanting in a bare-knuckles brawl, you have fast reflexes and a good sense to stay out of fights you can't win. Is that enough to become the best?
-[ ] THINKER (1/2/4/3) The most dangerous weapon at your disposal is your mind. That's great in life, though less great in a duel. Unless you can figure out how to turn that brain power into physical force.
-[ ] CUSTOM (?/?/?/?) To make your own stat spread, start with 1/1/1/1 and assign 6 points across them. No Attribute may become higher than 5 at this time, including the +1s you get from your species pick.
ā Select one character drive. Why are you motivated to go on this journey?
-[ ] WISH FOR POWER Beat Necromania, and ask for even more power! You'll become the strongest in the universe!
-[ ] WISH FOR FORTUNE With that wish, you could buy anything and everything you've ever wanted! Cha-ching!
-[ ] WISH FOR ETERNAL LIFE You're young now, but you aren't getting younger. Best to nip the whole "aging" thing in the bud.
-[ ] REVENGEANCE Forget that wish. You have a bone to pick with Nercromania, and he's going to pay!
-[ ] WRITE-IN Something else, then? Write-in drives are subject to QM approval.
The combination of character options picked will influence your starting traits.
Example Character Votes
[ ] REDHOT CARMINE
-[ ] YEREN
-[ ] WARRIOR (4/3/2/1)
-[ ] WISH FOR POWER
Inspired by classic martial arts films, fighting anime, and my work on prior quests, FIST OF THE SPACE DRAGON has you play as an aspiring martial artist seeking to leave their mark on a cosmos with the power of their fists! You can also use your sneakiness, your intellect, or the capacity to hold a basic conversation to accomplish these goals, but your fists remain important for punching people. As someone who can harness their inner chi, within you burns the spark of a warrior who will draw new friends and foes to them like a space moth to a space flame.
In a universe filled to the brim with giant monsters, kung fu warlords, and intergalactic demon hordes, you have your work cut out for you. The only way to become a living legend (and a posthumous one once you kick the bucket) is to beat up enough tough guys, gals, and ghouls that your name will live on long after the star of your home system fizzles out. Whether your legacy is of fame or infamy depends on how you choose to get there.
ā GAME MECHANICS
Rather than a d100 system, FIST OF THE SPACE DRAGON uses a groovy d10 dice pool system. Whenever you perform an action, roll Xd10, with X being equal to the most appropriate Attribute for the action you're trying to perform. Modifiers from relevant traits, special attacks, and circumstantial events will influence this number.
Once the dice are rolled, the total number of matching dice will become the tens digit, while the number shown on that die's face becomes the ones digit. A pool of 3, 4, 4, 4, 8, 8 has a set of three matching numbers, so the tens digit is 3. The biggest set of matching numbers are the group of 4s, so the ones digit is 4. Putting those together, your result is 34.
Degrees of success or failure can alter the consequences of a roll, depending on how large the gap between the Target Number and the result is. Here is a chart of TNs and their meanings.
TN 10: EASY PEASY TN 15: AVERAGE TN 20: CHALLENGING TN 25: GETTING DIFFICULT TN 30: VERY HARD TN 35: INCREDIBLY UNLIKELY TN 40: YOU'RE JOKING, RIGHT? TN 45: ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS!
1d10
2d10
3d10
4d10
5d10
6d10
7d10
TN 10
90%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
TN 15
50.0%
77.8%
91.6%
97.6%
99.6%
100.0%
100.0%
TN 20
0%
10.0%
28.0%
49.5%
69.8%
84.9%
93.9%
TN 25
0%
5.0%
14.5%
26.6%
39.2%
50.2%
59.5%
TN 30
0%
0%
1.0%
3.6%
8.6%
15.6%
25.1%
TN 35
0%
0%
0.5%
1.8%
4.5%
8.4%
13.9%
TN 40
0%
0%
0%
0%
0.5%
1.3%
2.7%
TN 45
0%
0%
0%
0%
0.2%
0.6%
1.3%
ā CHARACTERS STATS
All characters have these four Attributes: MIGHT, AGILITY, INTELLECT, and SPIRIT.
Simply put, a 1 in an Attribute is poor, 2-3 is average, 4 is above average, and 5 is exemplary. Anything beyond that is extraordinary!
š„ MIGHT: Heavy lifting, athletics, muscle power, and sheer toughness.
šØ AGILITY: Balance, stealth, perception, and dodging.
š§ INTELLECT: Book knowledge, investigation, the sciences, and invention.
š SPIRIT: Swaying others, the arts, streetwise, and powering through adversity.
Important characters will also have Traits, mechanical gimmicks and modifiers that affect how they interact with the game. These represent unique skills, special abilities, and strange powers. Traits make characters stand out from each other; gaining good Traits or losing bad ones can serve as a significant milestone in their development.
ā ROUNDS AND ACTIONS
FIST OF THE SPACE DRAGON's rounds are broken up into Phases, five of which make roughly a year on the Intergalactic Calendar. During a round, you may perform a set amount of Galactic Actions or Personal Actions. Galactic Actions are those that involve your character going out into space and performing deeds to advance their greater goals, while Personal Actions have them train and heal so that they may be better prepared to fight the next round. Pass the TN, and the action is completed. Fail the check, and the action must be tried again next round.
Throughout the quest, you'll have the opportunity to recruit notable characters into your employ, complete with their own stat sheet and personality quirks. It's good to have friends who have your back on the journey, even if you have to beat them up first to get the friendship going.
Like your main protagonist, heroes can be assigned to Galactic Actions or their own Personal Actions. Assigning a hero to a roll has them use their Attributes instead of yours, though only one hero may be put on a given Galactic Action at a time.
ā HEALTH AND DAMAGE
Due to their hazardous lifestyles, characters can lose Hit Points during combat or by failing some actions. Most characters have 3 Hit Points, and are defeated when their HP hits 0. During a duel or protracted event, an injured character suffers a -1 die penalty to all rolls while wounded. They regain all of their Hit Points at the start of each round.
ā VOTING STYLE
This game uses a plan-based style of voting. Votes for round actions must be submitted as plans, which will be voted upon by other users rather than voting on an action-by-action basis.
ā FANART AND OMAKES
Fanart and omakes are welcomed with open arms! Writing a good omake about the goings-ons of the quest or submitting fanart will net you an XP prize. Contributions that can be inserted into the continuity of the story are nice, though fun what-if posts and joke omakes will also be rewarded for the time and effort. I expect to toss out XP in units of 1 to 5.
1 XP can be spent to ask the QM (me) questions about the setting of FIST OF THE SPACE DRAGON beyond what is directly shown in the quest. If I feel a question is particularly benign, or something the main character would definitely know without having to look it up on Space Wikipedia, then I won't charge for it. On the other side of the coin, important questions involving things that your protagonist doesn't have any means of knowing about will cost more XP or be rejected. XP spent on questions I can't answer will be automatically refunded.
Please ping me when spending XP to ask a question, and I will keep track of it via spreadsheet.
ā TRAITS
Burning Ambition: You want it all, and you want it now. +1 to any actions that would have a 10% chance of success or lower, before any other modifiers are applied. Alkane Ape Style: A Yeren boxing form with an emphasis on range, momentum, and explosive unpredictability. +1 Might against foes with less Agility than you. Wild Hunter: Some kids poured water on anthills or pulled the wings off butterflies before developing emphathy. Your preferred prey was much, much larger. +2 to hunt wild beasts and monsters.
A young Yeren from the Xanthos System with a lot to prove if she wants to defeat Necromania and take over the Wugant Sector for herself. Tong Bei's loose interpretation of the alkane ape style makes her a fast and furious opponent.
]Reserved for stuff of interest. Heroes, cool gear, robots. You know, stuff.
Yeren names are often one or two syllables, so that you can call them out in the middle of combat without confusion. They frequently allude to violence and/or food. Examples are Muttonchopper, Tenderizor, Frymyenemies, or (for vegan yeren) Vegetarble.
Marinus have long names for strangers and shorter names that are used with family, so trying to abbreviate it with a Marinus you don't know can be seen as rude. Deep-Dark-Pearl-Diver (Pearl), Void-Seeking-Rocket-Shark (Rocket), and She-Who-Sells-Sea-Shells-Down-By-the-Sea-Shore (Sandy) are all valid Marinus names. Younger Marinus are less uptight about the name thing, but Marinus elders demand the whole spiel. Especially if they married into an older family for more names.
Torusans have names derived from local plants, animals, or general roles their ancestors held on ancient Torus. Like Oakwood, Mouse, Baker, Sleet, or Chimneysweep. More recent names allude to newer ideas like Deathstick, Shotgun, or Trashman.
Arth names are short, and to the point. They're often derived from their specialist task, the names of their queen, and a number for identification if that first one was already taken. Rock-1, Stonemuncher, Rock-2, Hivequeen Ironworks, He-Who-Puts-Away-A-Lot-of-Booze, Rock-3, etc etc.
Chidroids can have any names, as they can come from any society. Like the Arth, they may choose to integrate the names of their makers or manufactuters into their own names. You can find chidroids named Cosmo Warrior Shin, Coldsteel Demon, Helldroid-69, or other tasteless things since no one told them "no".
First, weak but scrappy "I want to be the guy because the current guy is a jerk, but I want to be clever about it by getting him to give me a wish first so it's basically a two-for-one and make him feel silly before I kill him. Well, kill him again."; Not very strong but really scrappy with a lot of heart.
[-] Dreamwisher
-[-] Torusan
-[-] Scrapper (Custom) (1/3/3/5)
-[-] (Semi-Write-In) Wish for Eternal Life (So I have all the time in the universe to ensure I can kill him for good and free the universe of his evil reign!)
Second, "I can't believe it's not Goku!"
[-] Punchhard
-[-] Yeren
-[-] Fightmonger (Custom) (4/3/1/4)
-[-] (Write-In) I Mostly Just Want to Fight the Most Powerful Man in the Universe
And a classy kung-fu robo-chick that just wants to be real.
[-] Angle-X
-[-] Chidroid
-[-] Even Spread (Custom) (3/3/3/3)
-[-] (Write-In) Wish to be a Real Girl
Fourth idea, which is either really great or really stupid.
Maybe both.
I call it "Plan I Want to Be the Waifu"
[-] Cant-Stop-Wont-Stop ('Stop')
-[-] Marinus
-[-] Femme Fatal (1/3/4/4)
-[-] (Super Custom) Wish for Necromania's Hand in Marriage, To Rule the Galaxy Side-by-Side as his Loving and Loyal Evil Queen for all Eternity
Fourth idea, which is either really great or really stupid.
Maybe both.
I call it "Plan I Want to Be the Waifu"
[-] Cant-Stop-Wont-Stop ('Stop')
-[-] Marinus
-[-] Femme Fatal (1/3/4/4)
-[-] (Super Custom) Wish for Necromania's Hand in Marriage, To Rule the Galaxy Side-by-Side as his Loving and Loyal Evil Queen
[X] Gympie
-[X] TORUSAN
-[X] SNEAK (2/4/2/2)
-[X] WRITE-IN: Boredom. What else is there to say? You can't remember the last thing that sounded this fun!
Seriously? no one thought of making a small sneak? Im disappointed.
[ ] Name TBD, preferably some kind of bad pun involving bugs
-[ ] ARTH
-[ ] WARRIOR (4/3/1/2)
-[ ] Write In: To discover the wonders and mysteries of the universe
Lime's fun conceptually, but I feel I should present my own contender for the main character slot.
Also; easy omake material: have the winning MC best all these other character in fights one way or another!
Princess is my own creation-no one was making an Arth so I figured, why not? Spare too far from the throne to expect to get it, so she's going to carve her name into history by shattering that numbskull Necromania!
