Robosmut International
and
Orange Roadies of San Diego
Present
W h i m s i c a l O r a n g e R o a d :
The Role-Playing Game
Version 3.0
Updated: March 1990
Designed By Totoro Hunter Leto II (GEnie: LETO-2)
10849 Macouba Place -- San Diego, CA 92124 USA
Based on Kimagure Orange Road
(C) Izumi Matsumoto and Jump Comics
I n t r o d u c t i o n
"One meeting turned into two loves,
moved three hearts and wraped them in
friendly color. I am Kyosuke Kasuga,
15 years old -- I'm living my youth!"
Kimagure Orange Road is popular comic and animated TV series from Japan written
by a very talented Japanese artist named Izumi Matsumoto. The story focuses on
the Kasuga clan, an ancient family line with rare esper powers (referred to here
as "Cho-no Ryoku" powers, which translates simply as "super natural powers"),
living in Japan, and on a love triangle between the main character, Kyosuke
Kasuga, a cute but irritating girl named Hikaru Hiyama and the beautiful and
enigmatic Madoka Ayukawa. I liked the universe, liked the way the powers were
set up, and decided to make an RPG system and try it out on my friends. And now
you can too!
This is a roll-playing game. It requires one person to be the Game Master (GM)
and some 10 sided dice. Also, you'll need some paper, pencils, junk food,
xeroxes of the character sheets at the end of this file, and, oh yes, maybe
people who care to play -- at least 2 players, but not more than 56. Players
generally assume the roles of "new" relatives, distant cousins of Kyosuke's
branch of the family, etc., who were never in the series. Players will have
random esper powers and various stats to help define their character's abilities
and goals.
NOTE: Throughout this file I've tried to notate examples of what I'm talking
about from the episodes or the mangas. Episode references will say something
like [cf. episode 22], and manga references will give the volume and page
number,
as in [cf. vol. 5, pg. 100].
C r e a t i n g a c h a r a c t e r
If you are playing as existing Orange Road characters, get the stats and other
information in Background, towards the end of this file. Because the stats
listings aren't totally complete (not all possible stats are included) you'll
have to make-up some of the numers based on the characters. If you're playing
regularly with "new" characters in the Orange Road universe, then follow these
simple instructions.
Steps in Character Creation
1. Roll for/choose sex.
2. Choose a name and family relation background. Okay it with the GM.
3. Choose your age.
4. Roll 1d10 for your three abilities FIGHTING, SMARTS and DAI-SUKI and adjust.
5. Roll for personality traits/background.
6. Roll your six "extra stuff skills."
7. Roll for hit points (HPs).
8. Roll for power points (PPs)
9. Fill in hair/style and other asthetic features at the bottom of the page
based on your stats.
10. Finally, roll for your primary and secondary esper powers.
"NO FUCKING WAY" RULE: When rolling 1d10 for any number is limited to one die,
rolls of 1 or 2 should be re-rolled, the player calling out "No Fucking Way" as
he re-does the roll. A variant is the "Fuck This Shit" Rule. These rules apply
only while rolling your character and only rolling for values with only one die
in the roll
S E X : Roll 1d10 for your player's sex or, if you prefer, choose female (you
cannot choose male for your character's sex -- you must roll it). It is not a
yes or no question.
1-5 -- male
6-10 -- female
N A M E / B A C K G R O U N D : First, choose a name for your character.
Typically, the name should be a standard Japanese one, either made up or kiped
(=stolen) from some other Japanese show (i.e., A-ko Aznable, Tetsuo Racer, Speed
Hunter, etc.). Then describe your relation to the Kasuga family -- a cousin
living in a nearby town, a distant relative from another branch of the same
family, etc. The details of the Kasuga family tree from the manga are vague,
but
it is clear that there have to be a lot more people with esper abilities than we
see in the series (unless they're inter-breeding awfully close), and that the
line doesn't have to remain pure for esper powers to appear in new offspring.
Be imaginative. Summarize your relationship in a few words -- who are you?
Note
that Kasuga is not the name of the line as a whole -- Kasuga is Takashi's name,
and we don't know Akemi's maiden name (thus, the actual name of the esper clan).
Therefore, assume there are enough branches of the family to accommodate
whatever
relation you wish to be and assign any name you choose.
A G E : Write in your desired age. This trait is not rolled randomly. 15-17 is
the recommended age range (since this game is a Teenagers From Outer Space
rip-off).
A B I L I T I E S : Your three abilities are FIGHTING (your hand-to-hand
fighting skill, for combat, when needed), SMARTS (intelligence), and DAI-SUKI
(pronounced DIE-ski, which rates your looks, charisma and all-around appeal).
Roll 1d10 for each ability and write them down lightly in pencil, applying the
"No Fucking Way" rule to values of 1 or 2 (but only on 1d10 rolls for character
generation).
You may now adjust your three abilities with ten additional points, which you
may
place anywhere you like. An adjusted score may exceed 10 but no ability may go
past 15. 15 is god in each respective category. Remember that.
T R A I T S / B A C K G R O U N D : Roll d% three times against the following
table to receive personality traits, special abilities, background, etc.
Re-roll
a given roll only if a) your sex may not be assigned that trait (see M/F sex
notes in parentheses beside each entry) or b) the GM says you have to, based on
the scenario he has planned for that day. The GM may also assign traits to
characters at his descretion.
In this game, characters have various "goals" which they will try to accomplish,
depending on what kind of adventure they're playing, but also depending on what
they roll on this table; i.e., a player with the "pervert" trait may be on a
quest to get laid, in addition to whatever else he is trying to accomplish.
These individual goals should be paid attention to by the GM, and employed in a
campaign. Good players will use these traits to improve the game.
All characters should roll three times on the table below, re-rolling repeated
traits or traits for which the player's sex is not allowed.
S P E C I A L T R A I T S /
B A C K G R O U N D S U M M A R Y T A B L E
01-07 M/F PERVERT
08-10 M/F NEARSIGHTED
11-14 F BUTCH +1 FT
15-20 M/F BIKER 9 Drv +2 DS +2 KAKKO
21-24 M/F RADICAL RIGHT-WING RAMBO TYPE
25-28 M/F RADICAL LEFT-WING COMMIE TYPE
29-32 M/F ANTI-AMERICAN NATIONAL
33-37 M/F SUPER EGO/MIRROR SHADES +2 DS
38-40 M/F FAT CHARACTER -1 DS
41-44 M/F FREAK ANIME MORON SYNDROME
45-48 M/F REBELLOUS YOUTH +1 FT -1 DS
49-53 M/F SHADY PAST
54-60 M/F TWIN
61-62 M/F PRECOCIOUSNESS
63-64 M/F RECENTLY MOVED
65-66 F BURIKKO
67-68 M/F COMPUTER GEEK +2 SM (-1 DS if male)
69-70 F WIDDOW/CHITOSE SYNDROME +2 DS
70-74 M/F KARATE KID +2 FT
75-79 M/F TEENAGE NINJA +2 FT +1 SM
80-83 M/F SUPER RICH
84-87 M/F SUPER NICE +2 DS
88-92 M/F RANMA SYNDROME
93-96 M/F ICZER SYND./UN-JAPANESE HAIR/
C-KO SYND./OTHER SHOW CLONE
97-98 Roll twice more on this table
99-00 Roll three times more on this table.
PERVERT (M/F) Character is a "sukebeh," a pervert, (cf. Komatsu and Hatta,
Kyosuke's friends from the series). Character always carries a condom in his
wallet, has at least one anatomically correct blow-up doll in his room of either
a woman or a sheep, and roams the world in search of teenage girls' panties.
Panty raids and sex with teenage girls are the goals of such a person, and
should
be played accordingly. NOTE: All male characters have a certain amount of
"pervert" in them, so this trait is not the only road to sexual innuendo in your
game. If a female gets this trait, she has a wish to have sex with a certain
character (and may or may not be a virgin) because of some upcoming event
(operation, etc. -- cf. episode 21).
NEARSIGHTED (M/F) Like Akane or Manami from Orange Road or Chitose from Sesame
Street, character is so nearsighted that, without aid (contacts or glasses) the
character would be unable to recognize familar people at close range. Roll
1d10:
on 1-5, character has glasses and no contacts; 6-10, character wears contacts.
BUTCH (F) [cf. Akane] Character is bisexual, shunning men and preferring women
instead. Character will probably be infatuated with some other female and will
try to seduce her -- that might be a goal assigned by the GM. Character is also
loud, strong-willed and unfeminine. Add +1 to fighting.
BIKER (M/F) Character has a buff bike and wears riding leathers to bed.
Character has a good style to go with his toy. +2 to dai-suki, and +2 to Kakko
(in the "extra stuff skills") when rolled. Characters with this trait
automatically have a DRIVING (in the "special stuff skills") of 9.
RADICAL RIGHT-WING RAMBO TYPE (M/F) Character loves guns and buck knives and
will have one or the other one his or her person all the time. Character loves
Ollie North and Ronald Reagan and is in the NRA, and, of course, has "seen Rambo
600 times." For combat purposes, firearms do not do damage against opponents
and
cannot be used for that purpose (they will conveniently jam at the worst
possible
moment). In terms of Japan, the character's conservative attitude is expressed
by his desire to see Japan re-arm.
RADICAL LEFT-WING COMMIE TYPE (M/F) Character is a "tax and spend liberal" in
the spirit of Carter, Dukakis and LBJ. Character abhors guns, thinks that Japan
(a very conservative country by American standards) should nationalize industry
and institute massive welfare programs. And abortion! Character advocates
state-funded abortions on demand. Character also wears tie-die T-shirts
everywhere.
ANTI-AMERICAN NATIONALIST (M/F) Character is very nationalistic and detests any
American influence, including Japanese influenced overly much by American
culture, called "Katakana Boys/Girls." Character thinks that Japan can say "no"
to America and should at every opportunity. Character's English cannot advance
past 5 in the skills roll, below.
SUPER-EGO (M/F) Character smokes cigarettes, thinks rather highly of him or
herself, and "Omae wa mo shinde-ru" to inanimate objects. Character usually has
a short nickname like "B-D" or "Coach" and wears cool mirror shades. Add +2 to
dai-suki.
FAT CHARACTER (M/F) In nearly every anime show where there is a medium-sized
group of characters, one person is always characterized by being taller and more
overweight than any of the others. You are this character (cf. Ben Dixon or
Lunk
from Robotech, Kotaro-san from Touch, Mama from Laputa, or the Pillsbury Ninja
Chick from Crying Freeman Pt. 2). Add +2 to HP score when you roll it, later,
and take -1 off DAI-SUKI now.
FREAK ANIME MORON SYNDROME (M/F) In all anime shows, there is one character who
looks totally different than anyone else (cf. Dr. Slump, Dr. Sane, Godzilla the
cat from Dirty Pair, etc.). This character serves in this role. For some
reason, no one else seems to notice how stupid the character's face looks, so
there is no DAI-SUKI adjustment.
REBELLOUS YOUTH (M/F) (cf. Madoka in the first episode, smoking behind the
school with Hikaru, or Johnny Winters from the English translation of Megazone
23 Pt. 2.) Character smokes, insults teachers, cuts classes, and generally
needs
an attitude adjustment. Doesn't get along well with other students. Their
goals
are an easy life and freedom from parents, school, etc. +1 on fighting, -1 on
dai-suki.
SHADY PAST (M/F) Character has a secret shady past which may include a) a
previous lover, b) hanging out with a certain type of "warui" (bad) crowd or c)
a history of sleeping around.
TWIN (M/F) Character has a twin, either identical or non-identical. The twin
can
be either one of the other characters or an NPC character controlled by the GM
(but making his/her twin a player is recommended).
PRECOCIOUSNESS (M/F) (cf. Kazuya or Akane.) Character likes to get into
trouble
and frequently stirs up trouble with his or her powers. For example, telling
secrets, lifting up girl's skirts to show panties with his powers, playing
practical jokes, etc. This character tends to use his or her powers at the
worst
times and often seems to have to greatest risk of anyone of giving away the
family secret.
RECENTLY MOVED (M/F) Character has recently moved into the neighborhood and
will
know no more than 1-2 of the other characters he'll be close to. The reason
character had to move from the last place he or she lived will have something to
do with the esper powers (i.e., somebody found out so they had to move, etc.).
BURIKKO (F) In Japan, burikko (buRI-ko) are a breed of false, two-faced
Japanese
teenage girls who fake interest in things, who say "kawaiiiiii!" (cute) when
they
see a puppy, all on the same chord, etc. The word comes from "buru" which is "to
be false" and "ko" the historic last syllable in girls' names. Hikaru is
Burrikko, to some extent, as is Kurumi and sometimes Manami. They give
headaches
to the rest of us.
COMPUTER GEEK (M/F) Character is intelligent, and can work most any computer.
Proficient at hacking, carding and phreaking. +2 on smarts. Also, -1 on
dai-suki
if male.
CHITOSE SYNDROME (F) Character is like the beautiful Chitose-san (chi-toe-se)
from the Sesame Street mangas. Character (female), got married a few months ago
to a good Japanese man who, right after the wedding, had to go away on business
then died in a plane crash. Therefore the character is a widow without having
really had a marriage to lose. Character gets +2 on DAI-SUKI because I feel
like
it. Note that the character's age must be 19.
KARATE KID (M/F) Character is highly proficient at kendo, karate and other
forms
of martial arts at the black belt level. Character with this trait may make a
special "Crane" attack in addition to other forms of attacks. If do right, can
no defend. +2 on fighting.
TEENAGE NINJA (M/F) Character is a secret ninja, working for an ancient
Japanese
family or something. His or her individual long range goals should be set by
the
GM -- something interesting, please, like assassinating someone, recovering
something valuable. GM, you may want to keep this from the other players, to
add
to the fun. Teenage Ninjas making a "ninja strike" attack may attack twice on
the same target only. +2 on fighting, +1 on smarts.
SUPER-RICH (M/F) Character has unlimited wealth -- maybe he or she is the child
of Takeshita or something. Character is snotty and selfish about the whole
thing
(cf. Lendo Rivalsan from Ninja High School or Mendo Shuutaro from UY).
Characters with this trait may, when they want to intimidate a character, make
a "Katana Attack," in which they cause a sword to materialize out of thin air
and
attack their enemy, screaming insults in Japanese. The attacked person will
always catch the sword in his palms and will never have damage caused to him,
and
will look scared while doing this. The player may never use the samurai sword
in normal combat (but could use it to perform certain special tasts in
non-combat
situations).
SUPER-NICE (M/F) Character is a really nice person, with clean, proper
motivations for everything and a healthy capacity for guilt when necessary (cf.
Kyosuke from Orange Road, Kasumi from Ranma 1/2 or Minami from Touch). If
female, character is totally into classic kimonos and geta (geh-ta, which are
those wooden shoes they wear). +2 to DAI-SUKI.
RANMA SYNDROME (M/F) While travelling in China, this character fell into one of
the mysterious "Cho-chuan-shan" pools, where some specific person or animal has
died a few thousand years ago, ala Ranma 1/2. Now, whenever this player gets
soaked with cold water something interesting will happen (changing sex, turning
into some animal like a pig or a cat, developing features like former President
Nixon, etc.). Warm water will turn the character back to his or her "base"
state.
Rain, bath water, and water being discarded by being dumped out a window are
ways
for the character to change; the jury is still out on sweat and urine.
ICZER SYNDROME/UN-JAPANESE HAIR/C-KO SYNDROME/OTHER SHOW CLONE SYNDROME (all M/F
except C-KO, which is female only) GM should select one of the above four and
assign it to the character. Characters with Iczer syndrome will look elfish,
with vulcan ears and thin faces. Characters with un-Japanese hair will have an
orange afro, purple "Shin Kazama" hair, or some other odd non-Japanese color.
Females with C-ko syndrome will act like C-ko from "Project A-ko" (big mouth,
crying rivers out of the eyes, age 2-3 years younger than most other characters
in the group, immaturity). Other Show Clone Syndrome means there is, in some
other anime show, a character designed by the same character designer as you who
copied your character's style exactly (cf. anything by Mitsuru Adachi, like
Touch
and Rough and Miyuki).
" E X T R A S T U F F S K I L L S " : Your six "skills" are ENGLISH,
SPORTS,
DRIVING, KAKKO, VIRGINITY and SWIMMING. Abilities range from 1-10 or have
"yes/no/sort of" values. If any number ability goes above 10, make it 10; below
1, make it 1. Most are self-explanitory. KAKKO (pronounced kah-koe and meaning
'style') is an extension of DAI-SUKI, your general style or glamor, what kind of
first impressions you make, how you come across when wanting to sound 'tough.'
VIRGINITY is whether or not you've slept with someone of the opposite sex (or of
the same sex, in some circumstances).
ENGLISH: Roll (1d10/2)+(SMARTS/2). If the score is 5 or less write
in "no"; 6-7, "sort of"; and 8 or higher, write in "yes."
SPORTS: Roll 1d10-2. If FIGHTING is above 11, add one. If
DAI-SUKI is above 11, add one more.
DRIVING: Roll 1d10-1. If your age is 18 or over, add one. If 20 or
over, add 2. If the value is 1-5, write in "no"; if 6-7,
"sort of"; above 7, write "yes."
KAKKO: Roll (1d10/2)+(DAI-SUKI/2). Kyosuke has a Kakko of 3 or
so. Madoka is 14 when she wants to be.
VIRGINITY: Roll 1d10. Add +1 for every year above 17 your character
is. If your character has one or more of the following,
add +1 for each: BUTCH, BIKER, SHADY PAST, SUPER EGO, or,
if character is female, PERVERT. Subtract 1 for each of
the following: FAT CHARACTER, RT. WING RAMBO, LFT. WING
LIBERAL, BURIKKO or COMPUTER GEEK. Subtract 3 if character
has SUPER NICE trait. If Kakko, above, is 7 or up and
character is female, add +1; if male, add +2. If the
resulting number is 1-4 write in "yes" (yes, they're a
virgin); if it's 5-7 write in "sort of" (had some
experience of some sort but is "officially" still a
virgin); higher than 7, write in "no." Only non-virgin men
(and all women) are totally immune to nosebleeds. (Note
that this is one ability you can obviously alter by game
play.)
SWIMMING: Roll (SPORTS+1d10/2)/3 and drop decimal. 1-2=no, can't
swim. 3=can swim barely. 4-5=yes, can swim and could
perform lifesaving techniques.
H I T P O I N T S : Though this game will not focus on combat unlike Mekton
or Battletech, as it is a "fun" RPG, hit points are necessary because I feel
like
putting them in the game. When your character, for whatever reason, reaches 0,
he has not died but is rather "beaten up" -- death will only happen in extreme
cases at the GM's discretion.
Roll 1d10+4 for your hit points. If your FIGHTING exceeds 8 add +1. If it
exceeds 12 add +2. If it is 15 add +3.
P O W E R P O I N T S : Power Points (PPs) are energy points for your
"Cho-no-ryok" powers. Each time you use one of your powers to do some specific
action, subtract the per-use cost for that amount.
Roll 1d10/2+6 for your PPs. The range is therefore 7-11.
A S T H E T I C S : At the bottom of the character sheet, fill in hair color
and style, eye color and basic body build. (In other words, what character's
appearance are you ripping off, who do you want us to be reminded of when we
picture your character?) These indicators should reflect your other stats -- in
other words, if you rolled "un-Japanese hair color" you cannot put in "black"
for
that category; if you have only 5 hit points, do not write in "robust" for your
stature.
E S P E R P O W E R S : Since no one would want to be a "normal" human (with
no powers), all players who are playing with a character that they rolled up are
related in some way to the Kasuga clan and thus have esper-powers. All players
have a "primary" power and three or more "secondary" powers. NOTE: Abilities
cannot be gained later in the game by getting more "experience points" or
killing
Orcs, and you must take what you get. If your character really sucks because of
bad rolls feel free to start with a new one.
The number following the d% range is the "per use" cost in PPs of that power.
It takes this amount of PPs to perform one "action" (such as picking up someone
and suspending them in the air for a few minutes, teleporting once, etc.). If
the defined, specific action takes an especially long time (i.e., is more than
one "action"), more PPs should be deducted at the GM's descretion. Note that,
a player utilizing telekinesis, for example, as a primary power, gets it at a
lower cost than someone who has a different primary power. To keep powers that
are either on or off (such as telekinesis) "on" requires concentration, so other
actions (like running or fighting) or extremely difficult (25% of letting the
esper power go per attempt) and utilizing a second esper power while another is
activated is impossible.
Characters who have 1/3rd or so of their normal PP number will be very tired,
and
will fall asleep 25% of the time. A character cannot go below 0 PPs under any
circumstances.
All players should roll once on the primary powers table and three times on the
secondary powers table, ignoring repeats of the same power from primary to
secondary to normal to lesser.
E s p e r - P o w e r s T a b l e s
Primary Powers
01-35 (1) TELEKINESIS
36-59 (2) TELEPORTATION
60-91 (2) TELEPATHY
92-99 Choose one above.
Secondary Powers
01-17 (3) TELEKINESIS
18-25 (2) TELEPORTATION
26-28 (4) TELEPATHY
29-32 (3) SUPER SPEED
32-37 (1) SUPER SENSES
38-43 (2) X-RAY VISION
44-49 (0) PROPHETIC DREAMS ("YOCHIMU")
50-53 (0) BODY SWAP
54-56 (0) LESSER BODY SWAP *
57-61 (3) IDENTITY CHANGE (TRANSMOGRIFY)
62-67 (2) PHANTASM PROJECTION
68-74 (5) TIME TRAVEL
75-77 (3) HYPNOTIZE/PUSH
78-79 (2) LESSER HYPNOSIS *
80-84 (1) COMMUNICATE WITH NATURE
85-88 (2) INVISIBILITY
89-92 (1) SIXTH-SENSE
93 (NA) POTENTIAL-KINETIC ENERGY
ENERGY CONVERSION
94-97 Roll twice more on this table.
98-00 Roll three times more on this table.
* Because this power sucks, roll once more.
TELEKINESIS: Also known as, how to keep your cat at home. This is a common
power, held by most of the espers from Orange Road. Telekinesis gives users the
following abilities: 1) a standard long-range "mental appendage" which can lift
or otherwise manipulate up to 250 lbs. (but only things either in sight or
familiar -- a 100 lb. bed from home 10 miles away could be lifted and brought,
but a lock could not bee opened because the mechanism is not in sight); 2) the
ability to augment speed on a bicycle [cf. episode 16], while running [ep. 1],
etc.; 3) a slow self-levitation under 200 feet off the ground (as well as
spin-off powers, such as floating over water); 4) the ability to stop one person
(yourself or someone else) from falling, and to lift a second person straight up
(i.e., pulling someone out of the water [cf. episode 18]); 5) a shield a few
inches away from the esper's body which can stop punches and can deflect bullets
(but not Lasers, as Tetsuo knows); and 6) a kind of "effort/push blast" which
uses a 6 PPs in one jolt but which summons an enormous amount of power to be
channeled through the esper and does approx. 20 hp of damage to all people (and
objects) in the path of the blast [cf. ep. 19, blowing away the rock ledge, ep.
47, before he saved 6-years ago Madoka from falling, and the Hawaiian Suspense
and Akane OAVs] (this kind of power is tied to potential-kinetic energy
conversion as seen in the movie Akira). The main differences in the primary and
secondary uses of this power is the "per use" number -- espers using telekinesis
as a secondary power are less efficient than primary users.
TELEPORTATION: Characters using Teleportation as their primary power can
teleport themselves and several others (add one "per use" point for each
additional person) to any familiar place. They can also teleport objects (like
panties off of girls while they're standing there) and can "flip" two objects
(two photographs, for example) of similar size. Secondary users can only
teleport
and flip objects but can, in absolute emergencies, spend 5 PPs to teleport only
themselves to some familiar place [cf. the T.A.P. Gun episode and the Robot
Kyo-chan episode, where Manami and Kurumi teleport themselves). CHANGE:
Related
to teleportation is the ability to change or alter colors, shapes and the
general
make-up of various objects (changing the colors of mushrooms from orange to
blue,
changing numbers on a menu or a hotel room door). It works the same as normal
teleportation with regard to PP cost, and both primary and secondary users can
utilize the power.
TELEPATHY: Telepathy is mind-reading and telepathic communication (a.k.a.
shining). Characters with this power as a primary power (like Kazuya, Kyosuke's
young cousin) can read minds easily (although it requires a physical effort --
the power is not "on" all the time) and can tell intentions of people nearby.
They can also communicate via a psychic "voice" in someone else's head [cf.
episode 44 and 46] and can lock onto someone's general location through their
thoughs (if they are relatively nearby, within one mile). Secondary users of
this power will, through great effort, get some general idea of some someone is
thinking and can, with great difficulty, focus on someone's mind and communicate
with them. Such interpretations are apt to be vague, however. In one episode,
Kyosuke tried to read Ayukawa, who was thinking of her sister's wedding. He had
a vague vision of her in a wedding gown and got the wrong idea completely [cf.
ep. 11].
SUPER SPEED: This is one power of A-ko, a distant cousin of the "Kasuga clan"
from a distant Japanese city. Character uses 1 "per use" point for each minute
of super-speed activity. Running at 50 mph (with up to one person in tow behind
you) and multiple melee attacks per round (up to three) can be achieved.
Character will run through and destroy a building 25% of the time per single
action performed at super-speed, or for every one minute of super-speed
movement.
SUPER-SENSES: Player can hear something clearly from up to 100 meters away if
he can see the speakers or knows what direction they are in (i.e., character is
hiding right around the corner so he can't see the speakers, but knows where
they
are), and can similarly see something up close from up to 100 meters [cf. manga,
volume 7 pg. 89]. Note that this power must be used consciously -- it's not
just
on all the time.
X-RAY VISION: Enables characters to look through things -- into another room,
into a safe, etc. Unfortunately for male characters who get nosebleeds easily,
anyone they look at with their X-ray vision will appear naked to them and they
must make a nosebleed roll! They cannot see through lead.
PROPHETIC DREAMS: Character sometimes has prophetic bad dreams (called
"yochimu") about loved ones dying, turning on them, coming on to them, or other
bad things happening, which nearly always come true later that day, but often
not
exactly as expected. Once, Kyosuke dreamed of Ayukawa saying she hated him, but
it turned out to be a misunderstanding -- she was saying she hated something
else. Another time Kyosuke mistakenly got the idea that Hikaru was going to die
because of one of these dreams [cf. vol. 5, pg. 72]. Note: Utilizing this
power
is a good way to structure a plot for an adventure, GMs.
BODY SWAP: Kazuya's famous power. When heads are bumped, bodies are swapped.
Whatever esper powers each player has are retained when the swap is made [cf.
vol. 6, pg. 12]. Thus, Kyosuke in Kazuya's body cannot use Kazuya's telepathy
but can use his own teleportation.
LESSER BODY SWAP: This is Kyosuke's version, put here only to fix an apparent
inconsistency in the show. Once, Kyosuke crashed heads with a famous rock star,
Mitsuru Hiyakawa, and flipped bodies. Another time, Kazuya bumped a cat's head
to the sleeping Kyosuke's, causing them to change. Characters with this trait
will swap bodies 50% of the time, as opposed to always with the other version.
IDENTITY CHANGE: This is the power of Akane, who is only in the manga and one
OAV episode. To one person at a time (we are ignoring the part, in the Akane
OAV, where she affectecs both Hatta and Komatsu at the same time, which was
sloppy on the part of the animators), you can appear as whomever you want, in
whatever costume you decide, roughly relative to the body size of the character
employing the power. Others will see you as you really are. If a character
knows about your power, he must roll make a "clue roll", rolling lower than
30+(his SMARTS score*2) on d% or he will still be beguiled by the rouse.
Characters not knowing will automatically be caught (even if the player knows
what is happening the character will not necessarily and must be played that
way). Note that, if the character trying to change their own form is scared or
upset or sick, he or she will likely make mistakes with this power, blink into
the wrong shape, etc. (50% chance).
PHANTASM PROJECTION: With this power, a player can create an "object" by
bending
light into familiar shapes and projecting them onto walls or into fog or mist.
Kurumi uses this power (in addition to other powers) to create a UFO in episode
16 and again in episode 18 to project scenes of leisure at the beach on her
father's darkroom. Human shapes that can fool others into thinking they're
looking at that person cannot be created; only one-dimensional images. The "per
use" cost of 2 PPs is good for 2 minutes of projection.
TIME TRAVEL: Kyosuke's grandfather has this power. You can go to any time you
wish, taking with you as many as you like [see vol. 15-16], or you can send
people without going yourself [as in episodes 47-48, the last two episodes of
the
series]. In any other time other than "base" time, esper powers will not work,
save time travel (of the person who brought you to the "new" time only). The
only regular power that can be used is the "effort-push blast" extension of
telekinesis, which causes a great out-pouring of energy and light which the
player must ride, and this is only in extreme emergencies. In the past, events
can change the present, they just tend not to. Note that you do not move when
you use the power, you stay where you were standing, and will appear at the same
point in whatever new time you go to.
HYPNOTIZE/PUSH: You can hypnotize one person per day to do your bidding [as in
manga vol. 17, pg. 148, and elsewhere]. The effect eventually wears off when
all
the fun is over. The push-ee will be put into a state of suggestion, becomming
a virtual robot, in which he or she will do anything anyone tells him or her
with
a simple "Hai" (which means "yes").
LESSER HYPNOSIS: This power explains Kyosuke's self-hypnosis. Character can
hypnotize himself into being something "more," either stronger or more manly or
less of a wimp or even more of a pervert [see vol. 5, pg. 9 for a good example,
or episode 25]. A character with an identity problem might try to make him or
herself more assertive; stopping smoking or overeating are other possibilities.
It's done by staring at yourself in a mirror and repeating the word you want to
become. The process is undone either by the character un-doing it himself in a
mirror or by being jarred, slapped or dumped in water. Characters can easily
become assholes with this power. GMs should use caution with this power, if for
no other reason than I felt like typing this sentence here.
COMMUNICATE WITH NATURE: This was the power of Akemi Kasuga, the mother of
Kyosuke, Manami and Kurumi, who died (in childbirth with the twins?). The user
can communicate with all things in nature. Animals may be persuaded (never
ordered) to do the bidding of the user roughly half the time (but never plants).
Character will have a great affinity for all things in nature and will be a
member of greenpeace.
INVISIBILITY: User can be invisible at will. He can still be smelled, heard
and
bumped into, thus he has every minute a 1 in 10 chance of being discovered
accidentally, or a 5 in 10 chance of being discovered if being looked for by
someone who knows about the invisibility. In combat, characters attacking an
invisible character take -3 on their to hit scores. The "per use" cost of 2 PPs
with this power is deducted per use and again after every 5 minutes of constant
use.
SIXTH-SENSE: Whenever danger in whatever form is nearby, the character will
sense it in vague ways, ala Spidey Sense.
VOICE MANIPULATION: The user of this power can throw his or her voice as if by
ventroquilism and can further alter it to sound like anything he or she wants
(including another person's voice). This power is tied to Identity Change.
POTENTIAL-KINETIC ENERGY CONVERSION: This is the power of Akira Kasuga, the
(eventual) son of Madoka and Kyosuke, and of Tetsuo, and the "special children"
in the movie Akira. A character with this power can draw on the vast store of
potential energy in the cosmos and may channel it into the real world in just
about any way he pleases (ala Delphi from Radix?). Character can utilitize an
incredibly powerful version of telekenesis (with which you could crush things or
manipulate and animate piles of rubble, smash cities, bridges, etc.), has full
flight, a shield that is impervious to almost everything, etc. Characters with
this power should roll 3d10*10 for their "super hit-points" which will take the
place of their standard hit points for game purposes. There is a 10% chance per
use of any power drawing on potential energy that control will be lose and
something will go wrong. There is a 10% chance if some measure of control is
lost
that the character's energy will go berserk and will destroy whatever city they
are in to a radius of 10 miles (thus a 1 in 100 chance per use of this power
that
the city will be history).
P l a y i n g
Nature of the "Cho-no-ryok" Powers
In our universe there is a certain well of power that some beings may draw on
and
wield for their own purposes. It is the force that powers the galactic core,
given shape on Earth and other worlds by special, "chosen" beings. This "Cho-no
Ryoku" power (it translates as simply "super natural power") was called magic in
the middle ages, and the forces of the occult today. (Users of this power are
called "Cho-no-ryoku-sha" which I would just translate as Superman.) This power
is the energy of all things waiting to come into creation, created by all living
thigns, the true form of "potential energy" -- it is the source of the power of
Akira and Tetsuya from the movie Akira, of the Newtypes, of Mai the Psychic
girl,
and also of Trelana of Telezart. It is The Force. In Japan, in the present
day,
a family who for generations has been specially attuned to the "Cho-no-ryoku"
powers lives, and that is the "Kasuga" clan (really their name is unknown, so we
use the name of Takashi Kasuga, who is Kyosuke's father and only related to the
family by marriage).
Goals
All esper characters have one unifying goal: The secret of their family's
powers
must never be learned by the world at large. When others learn of their power,
bad things happen, and families have to move to different towns (this happened
to Kyosuke's family several times), or worse (capture by the CIA for use as
weapons against the Soviets?). This is the overlying rule that all esper
players
must follow -- no use of powers around people who don't know the secret where
such powers can't be covered up somehow (except in special circumstances, as in
the "nuclear destruction of Japan" scenario at the end of this file).
In addition, most characters have one or more general goals which they are
always
working towards (Kyosuke's love for Ayukawa, for example). Certain other goals
will crop up during play, either for one character assigned by the GM (a love
interest, getting something from someone, embarrassing someone, getting laid),
possibly depending on what personality traits the character has rolled, or will
be discovered during play as the main goal of the game. Goals must be worked
towards, but not always achieved immediately.
Goals should be declared so that the players understand them, where applicable.
If one female character has had a girl develop a crush on her, and her "goal" is
to let her off easily, she has not accomplished her goal if she hurts the girl's
feelings severely. She should be well aware of what she must do to fulfill her
assigned goal.
Combat
ROUNDS: Combat is divided into three-second "rounds" of time in which each
character (player or NPC) on each side will get to do one "action," such as
attacking, using a power, or running up to something. (For simplicity, movement
and position are simplified here.) Note that if you have levitated someone with
your Telekinesis power, you must expend your action each round of combat keeping
him where you want him (in other words, no attacking while using an ability
continually, because you're using your action that round levitating the other
person -- although you won't subtract the "per use" PP number again for the same
action).
INITIATIVE: Initiative should be rolled at the start of every round to see
which
side (the good guys or the bad guys) will attack first. Each side should roll
1d10, and the highest roll wins the roll. Ties will be re-rolled.
SURPRISE: If one side has surprised the other, it automatically gains the
initiative for the first round only. Note that they have to be close enough to
attack (within three meters or so) unless they are make a thrown or missile
attack of some kind. If they're not within "melee" range, then the character
must take an action to go to them.
DECLARING TARGET and ATTACK: It is the responsibility of the player to declare
which enemy he is attacking and what kind of attack he is making (bare hands,
hundred-fisted strike, etc.), if the GM doesn't already know. If this
declaration is not made or previously understood by the GM before the to hit
roll
is made, the most logical and/or least beneficial to the player situation should
be assumed by the GM.
NOTE: A short list should be maintained by the GM which shows what type of
weapons each character will be using in combat (depending on what they have and
what they used last), as well as the stats, powers, hit points, etc., of each
character.
ATTACKING: A player making an attack should roll 2d10 (not 1d20) and consult
the
table on the next page. Determine the 'to hit' score based on what kind of
attack it is (bare hand, large blunt weapon, etc.). (Note that FIGHTING in the
to hit column refers to the FIGHTING ability score of the character doing the
attacking.) NOTE: When a number must be divided by another number and a
fraction is left, the fraction is always dropped. Every successful hit,
however,
does at least one hit point of damage (so 2/3 would become 1 by default).
MODIFIERS: Consult below for modifiers, which make it harder or easier to hit.
A character is "in shock" if he is totally off balance (non-espers subjected to
body swap, identity change or create phantasm, for example, would be in shock).
Shock last 1-2 rounds. If the character doing the attacking is stunned, take a
-3 of the to hit number (i.e., if that character had a 10 to hit with his bare
hands, he would now have to roll a 7 or less to hit). If the character cannot
move or is off the ground completely (levitated by an esper using telekenesis,
for example), he takes -5, and so on, according to the table on the next page.
Remember, if something modifies the "to hit" score by a positive number (+), it
is making it easier to hit. Negative modifiers (-) make it harder to hit (by
reducing the number you have to roll less than or equal to).
A T T A C K M A S T E R T A B L E
Attack To hit Damage
Bare Hands FIGHTING FIGHTING/3
Normal kick FIGHTING-2 FIGHTING/2
Balls kick FIGHTING-2 FIGHTING/2+2
Ninja Strike* FIGHTING 1d10/3
Crane Technique** FIGHTING-2 10 hp
100-Fisted Strike*** FIGHTING-4 already dead
100t Sledgehammer $ FIGHTING*2 humiliation
Katana Attack $ n/a humiliation
"Holding Attack" $$ base of 10 holding
Small Blunt Weapon FIGHTING+1 1d10/2
Large Blunt Weapon FIGHTING+2 1d10+1
Small Dart/Guitar Pick^ FIGHTING-2 1d10/3
Shuriken/Throw Stars^ FIGHTING-1 1d10/2
Playing Card^ FIGHTING-2 1d10/3
Knife FIGHTING 1d10/2+3
Yo Yo FIGHTING+1 1d10+1
Ball & Cup FIGHTING-1 1d10+3
Nanchucks FIGHTING-2 1d10+5
Small Blunt Missile^ FIGHTING-1 1d10/3
Large Blunt Missile^ FIGHTING-3 1d10/2
Small Firearm (.22)^ ~ FIGHTING+3 1d10+2
Lg. Firearm/Shotgun^ ~ FIGHTING+3 1d10+8
Auto. Weapons^ ~ FIGHTING+5 3d10+5
Akira Laser^ ~ FIGHTING+2 5d10+8
^ Indicates "missile" (not melee) attacks.
~ Indicates weapon that can actually kill you.
* For characters with TEENAGE NINJA trait only (2 attx)
** For characters with KARATE KID trait only.
*** For character with FIGHTING of 15 only.
$ For women attacking perverts in non-combat situation.
$$ Made by two attackers against one victem.
To Hit Modifiers (for the attacker)
Defender is in shock +3 to hit
Defender is levitated +5
Defender has "super speed" -3
Defender is blind or helpless +5
Defender has cover (mssl. only) -3
Defender is drunk +2
Attacker is using telekinesis
to right missile object +2
Defender is invisible -3
Attacker is invisible +3
Attacker is drunk +2
When making your attack, you want to roll less than or equal to the number in
the
to hit column, adjusted for modifiers, as shown above. So if you normally need
10 to make a "bare hands" attack (the base of which is the attacker's FIGHTING
score) on some other person and they are drunk (+2 to the "to hit" number
needed), you need to roll a 12 or lower (10+2=12) to hit them with 2d10.
ATTACKS:
Bare hands refers to any punch, jab or other normal weaponless attack. A Ninja
Strike attack, for characters with TEENAGE NINJA as a trait, allows two attacks
to be made in one round on the same character or different characters. KARATE
KID
characters can do a flat 10 hp of damage with their special Crane Technique
attack. The Hundred Fisted Strike is for anyone with FIGHTING of 15 and "kills"
any opponent (knocks them out) instantly. The 100t Sledgehammer is a non-combat
attack any woman can make against a pervert coming onto her, in which she
produces out of thin air a large sledgehammer and crowns the offending pervert
with it, resulting in embarrasment and humilation for the pervert but no real
damage (it is similar to the Katana Attack made by anyone with the Super-Rich
trait in non-combat situations). Playing Card attacks entail throwing a normal
playing card and slicing your enemies. If hit, it does the rolled amount of
damage to any three enemies, then returns to the attacker. Guitar pick attacks
(used by Ayukawa a lot) are thrown and stick in your hand. The victim must take
one round to pull the pick out of his hand. Making such attacks as a small blunt
missile require that something is either on the person of the attacker to throw
or can be found very close by. A billy club is an example of a small blunt
weapon, a baseball bat of a large blunt weapon, etc. Note that this game is
based in contemporary Japan, thus such objects as swords and guns are generally
absent. If you come across a weapon which needs new stats, create it yourself
based on the data available.
"YATSU": The term "yatsu" should be defined here. In Japanese, it roughly
translates to "guy" but with heavy derogitory undertones (perhaps "jerk" is
closer). This word appears in the title URUSEI YATSURA (the "ra" on "yatsura"
acting as a plural). Yatsu are first and foremost a generic type of "bad guy"
character in most comics by Izumi Matsumoto and several other mangas. Yatsu are
generic "tough guys" who love to abuse women and gang up on the weak. In
general, combat in this RPG will be against yatsu-type characters.
YATSU TERMS: Below are some examples of the kinds of things "tough guy"
characters say in Japanese, and their translations. You can use them in your
adventure.
Ii kagen ni shiro (yo) Cut (it) out, cut out
(Ii kagen ni shite kure) the shit.
Kuso! Shit
Kono yaro! (lit. "this jerk")
What a jerk!
Koitsu (da)! (kono yatsu) (lit.
"this yatsu") What a
jerk!
Omae wa mo shindru You are already dead
Shi-ne! Die!
Ba-kya-ro, baka yaro! Stupid fool!
Yurusen, Yurusenai I'll never forget this
ESPER COMBAT: Esper combat works just like regular combat, rolling for
surprise,
initiative, etc., but new "to hit" and damage values for the various things you
can lift, throw, spit and do with all the various esper powers. For general use
with combat among espers, hit points should be "stretched" to keep characters
from getting knocked out too early. In other words, where a cinderblock thrown
with telekinesis would certainly put a normal human out of commission (and
possibly kill him or her), an esper should still be able to fight. When two
espers try to use the same power to gain different goals, the one with a higher
basic PP score will win out [cf. Ojiichan trying to get away form Obaachan in
episode 41].
RUNNING AWAY: If one group decides to run away, the group they're fighting gets
one free attack on them. The subsequent chase scene will be a close one, with
both groups running roughly the same speed (as in all Orange Road chase scenes).
Thus, the characters must use some other factor to escape -- hiding or inventive
use of esper abilities.
SUPREME BULLSHIT ACTION: Once per adventure, a character with a DAI-SUKI of
13-15 and a KAKKO (sub-skill) of 7-10 may do one "supreme bullshit action" that
involves dexterity or athletic skills that no normal human could possibly do.
The action should a) be okayed with the GM, b) have to do with athletic ability
or dexterity rather than esper powers, and c) should be original and unique
(i.e., good plot material if this were a real episode). A good example is the
time Madoka cut a skateboard that was flying through the air at her friend's
face
in half from across the room by throwing a guitar pick at it [from ep. 37] (and
therein lies the inspiration for this paragraph). Other examples are, A-ko
ascending to the enemy spaceship by walking on the missiles coming at her, and
Madoka flipping her earring in the face of an attacker while she was being held
[from the Akane OAV].
CLUE ROLL: At certain times the GM will want to roll if a given character has
figured out a certain situation in the game. This called a "clue roll." There
is a 30+(smarts*2)% chance of figuring out the "average" fact (knowing some
detail, understanding something kept from that character, figuring out that
someone that character is talking to is an esper using Identity Change (but only
if they know that person has the power), etc.). Clue rolls cannot be made twice
by the same character without gaining some new piece of knowledge, and even if
the player knows a certain fact, if the player does not know, the player must
play his character that way.
ROLLING FOR BANDAGES: Whenever a player finishes a combat sequence in which he
lost at least one hit point, and has less than half his original hit points, he
must roll for bandages, crutches and broken bones. There is a 40%+2*((max HP)
- (current HP)) chance that the player will have some external and visible
damage
(roll this off a d%). If there is external damage, roll 1d10 against the
following table.
1-5 Assorted scrapes, shiners and band-aids 6-7 Arm in a sling 8-9 Character on
crutches 10 One broken arm, one broken leg
Note that, in the spirit of anime, bandages, slings and crutches magically
appear, just like the 100t sledgehammers in City Hunter and kettles of hot water
in Ranma 1/2. Minor injuries (1-5 on the table) will disappear within 15
minutes.
JOINING POWERS: Under certain circumstances, two or more espers may combine
their powers, especially if the power they are trying to amplify is telekenesis.
Thus a Gamilon Planet Bomb might be successfully deflected by a group of
cosmically powerful espers living somewhere near Yokohama, Japan. Merging of
power increases powers exponentially -- If one person could lift 200 lbs. with
his telekinesis, then two could lift 400, three, 800, four, 1600, etc.
O t h e r S t u f f
ROLLING FOR USHIKO-SAN & UMAO-SAN: There is a grossly overused but still
amusing
inside joke in Orange Road concerning two lovers, a woman named Ushiko (OOshko)
and a man named Umao (OOma-o) [see manga vol. 5, pg. 100 or any episode].
(Ushiko is the word for cow with "ko" on the end; Umao is Uma "horse" plus "o"
on the end -- this is funny to Japanese, trust us.) At any random point in the
show the characters interrupt the two lovers reciting their famous line: "Anata
wa doshite <name>-san nan da?" ("Wherefore art thou, <name>-san?"). In any 5
minute period of actual game play, the GM should roll for Ushiko-san and
Umao-san
appearing to say their line and make some silly joke. At some other times, the
pair may be inserted into an adventure directly.
NOSEBLEED ROLLS: Male characters who are virgins will get a nosebleed
75-3*(dai-suki)% of the time of the time when put into a sexually embarrassing
situation. Examples of the situations are having a girl come on to them,
walking
in on a nude woman, having Ayukawa's towel fall off her unexpectedly, etc. Male
characters who are "sort of" virgins (a VIRGINITY of 2) get nosebleeds
25-3*(dai-suki)% of the time. Studs and females never do [see vol. 5, pg. 168 or
vol. 10, pg. 16 for an example of nosebleeds].
"MUNE" ROLL": Also called a "notice tits" roll. If male, when "futari de"
(alone with one other person) who is female with a DAI-SUKI of 12 or higher, you
should make a "mune" (pronounced mu-neh) roll by rolling 1d10. A score of 3 or
lower (5 if you've got the PERVERT trait) means you've "noticed" the female's
breasts (as well as other bodily parts, although breasts are the first things
you
notice). If you're caught, you're distracted, and will probably get yelled at
by the woman for thinking perverted thoughts.
FALSE DAYDREAMS: Sometimes in the series a character will fantasize/daydream
about some strange event happening. Examples from the series could be Hikaru
walking in on Kyosuke while he's in Ayukawa's bath, or Kyosuke thinking about
Ayukawa kissing him. The scene is played out for a few game minutes, then the
trick is revealed.
REGAINING HIT POINTS: Players regain 1/3 (fractions rounded down) of total hit
points by resting 20 minutes and fixing wounds, applying bandages, etc. Every
two hours one more HP is acquired. A night's sleep is required to totally heal
all hit points.
REGAINING POWER POINTS: PPs are regained at the rate of 1 per half hour of
resting, one hour of mild stress and 2 hours of excessive stress. A full
night's
sleep regenerates all your PPs.
THE "GM IS GOD" RULE: In some games, the players could, because of their powers
or numbers, have far too easy a time of a certain adventure. If the players are
too powerful, the GM may invent reasons, both rational and stupid, for the
players to not be able to use all their powers, or at least in a certain way, to
accomplish certain things. The GM is God in this game -- players are playing in
his mind, and may not argue with him on points of his script.
DO IT WITH MUSIC: We recommend you to have your CD player set up while playing,
preferably with one of the BGM CDs in. Crank up the right music at the right
time and experiment.
KIMAGURE ORANGE BUMPER: On Sound Color 2 (?) you will find the
middle-of-the-episode song which goes to the "Jingoro stretches" footage (track
8 I believe). Put that in the middle of your game for added excitement (?).
POTENTIAL ENERGY CONVERTERS: Characters who have this power have basically the
powers of Akira and Tetsuo and the three blue stooges from the movie Akira.
"Super hit points" take the place of normal hit points, 3d10*10. For game
purposes, the GM should make a challenge up to the task for players with this
ability -- fighting the Japanese military (with their Mitsubishi-built
fighters),
fighting another person with like power, etc., lest the game deteriorate from
boringness. In actuality, of course, this power is really here only so you can
laugh at it, and should probably not be played at all. Not that anyone will
ever
play this game anyway.
ALTERNATE UNIVERSES: Sometimes a character (or characters) may arbitrarily slip
into a parallel world in which something is different. Examples from the manga
are a biker universe [see vol. 10 pg. 7 or episode 48] or a world one in which
just one character is missing (to show how the other characters would be without
the influence of the first character on their lives, [as in vol. 8, pg. 53]).
I suggest a parallel world in which Japan won WWII, or sending the characters
into other anime shows, Dirty Pair, Akira, Robotech, the San Diego Comicon, etc.
TIMESLIPS: Certain places in the Orange Road universe are called Timeslips.
One
stairway near Kyosuke's high school is such a place [from vol. 5, pg. 137 or
episode 38]. When someone falls or throws himself down the stairs, he will
(depending on who the person is and if the timeslip has moved on to some other
place or not) go back to the morning of the same day. Think of them as similar
to the Moongates in Ultima IV. Other Timeslips might be around for characters
to find which will take them to other places and times. Once, Kyosuke
timeslipped himself back two hours, making it so there were two of himself, one
good and one self-hypnotized into an asshole. Another time, he fell into a
whirlpool and was in a universe where Hikaru-chan didn't exist. Frequently,
too,
motion has something to do with "slipping" your time or place; roller coasters
and motorcycles have been vehicles for movement between worlds in both the manga
and the TV series.
ARTIFACTS: Certain objects can be "charged" with esper energy oftentimes,
either
permanently or temporarily. One example from the manga series is a pocket-watch
which stopped time for one minute for all but the press-er [vol. 13, pg. 76 or
episode 41]. Another was a camera which, when subjected to Kurumi and Manami's
powers of telekinesis at the same time, started taking instant pictures of what
a given person was thinking at the time (for Komatsu it took pictures of a naked
woman; for Hikaru, it showed her marrying Kyosuke, etc.). The latter ran out of
"psychic energy" just as Kyosuke turned it on Ayukawa to find out what her true
feelings were [see vol. 9, pg. 153). Other artifacts could be the camera from
Dr. Slump that took pictures of what the person would look like in the future,
or a version of the "copy gun" from Urusei Yatsura which copies the person shot
with it (and the second person will have a black comma (,) over his head, to
show
the difference). Possibly Ojiichan's parrot [from vol. 13 pg. 31] which calls
out embarrassing things frequently could go in this category -- it has to go
somewhere.
CATCHING COLD: Whenever someone falls into cold water (i.e., into a fountain or
pool or lake) with his clothes on, he has a 95% chance of catching a cold. A
person out in the rain without an umbrella will catch one 50% of the time. Note
that any person with Ranma Syndrome will never catch a cold in any of the above
situations, however.
BEING SICK: Speaking of illness, when an esper power is sick (the flu, a cold,
etc., as in vol. 5, pg.), their powers will not respond normally. Strange
things
can happen when powers are used despite a sickness on the part of the character,
such as random teleporting and problems with telekinesis (or the time Kyosuke
accidentally teleports himself out of the bathtub and into an Ushiko/Umao
lovescene).
BEING DRUNK: Likewise, when an esper gets drunk, strange things happen. Powers
go off by themselves at random (sometimes embarassing) times.
ENGLISH: All Japanese high-school students study at least six years of English,
but somehow most of them never get the hang of the language. Characters without
sufficient English ability cannot communicate with non-Japanese speakers (for
example, while vacationing in Hawaii or what not). Note: When "speaking"
English, the player should effect his best Japanese accent, consumate to his
character's speaking ability.
PASSING NOTES: At several times during play, the GM and players should utilize
secret notes with the GM to hide what they're doing from other players.
Example:
A character with Identity Change wants to change into someone else, but they
don't want to tell everyone present about it when they inform the GM. Notes
should be used here.
General Timeline
(Manga universe)
1981 Kyosuke's trip to "six years ago." He buys Ayukawa the red
straw hat which she gives him in the first episode.
1984 Start of the series. Kyosuke moves into "this
neighborhood."
1986 Ayukawa appears on the talent show [vol. 17, pg. 17].
Other stuff happens (of course).
1987 Kyosuke goes back six years [vol. 15-16]. Later, end of
the manga series (April). Madoka goes to America. Kyosuke
graduates and passes the jyu-ken, then enters college.
Madoka comes back and the triangle is resolved.
Series universe: The series starts a year later, so the year of Kyosuke's
coming
to "six years before" is 1982, the end, 1988, etc. There are some confusing
gaps,
however, like Kyosuke mentioning in episode #43 (of 48) that he's just getting
out of junior high school (which would place him at age 15 or so, even though it
has to be 1988, because in the Christmas episode (#38) Jiichan wrote "Merry Xmas
1987) in the sky). We figure the movie must be closer to the series universe,
taking place in 1988 or so.
C h a r a c t e r B a c k g r o u n d
Here are stats on the people of Orange Road, who they are, what their goals are,
etc.
Ages below are for the year 1986 (manga series), as an example, and for
comparison, when Kyosuke and Ayukawa are sophomores in high school. Wild guesses
have been made in most places.
Kyosuke Kasuga: F9/S9/D11/HP 10/PP 12/Age 17. Primary power is teleportation;
secondary powers include telekinesis, telepathy, super-hearing/seeing, lesser
hypnosis, x-ray vision, prophetic dreams, and lesser body swap. He's a nice
guy,
and a veritable Kwisatz Haderach of powers, being the main character and all.
He loves Madoka Ayukawa, and wants to be with her, yet Hikaru is between them,
forming a solid triangle between the three of them. Nothing must hurt her, and
she must never find out how he and Madoka feel for each other - this is his
goal.
The symbol of the love between him and Madoka is the "akai muri-wara boshi", the
red straw hat, which she gave him at the start of the story.
Hikaru Hiyama: F4/S5/D8/HP 5/Age 16. No powers. She loves Kyosuke blindly.
She is (at least on the surface) oblivious to anything between Madoka and
Kyosuke
emotionally (although she says she knew all along about Madoka and Kyosuke in
the
Orange Road Movie). She showers Kyosuke with gifts, food, throws herself at his
feet. Her goal is go keep him happy and advance their relationship.
Madoka Ayukawa: F12/S12/D15/HP 10/Age 17. No powers. Madoka works at ABCB
(a-ba-ka-bu), which is actually something that Jap high schoolers aren't
supposed
to do -- work, that is. She loves Kyosuke, but has been Hikaru's friend for
life, and would never hurt her. Her goal is to keep things stable between the
three and to not do anything to upset the delicate balance between her, Kyosuke
and Hikaru. She has a special "Ayukawa Slap" attack which can be made against
a male who has pissed her off in a non-combat situation. The attack hits 90% of
the time and does half the hit victim's HP temporarily. There is a 25% chance
of tooth loss resulting in a permanent loss of DAI-SUKI.
Kurumi Kasuga: F4/S5/D5/HP 5/PP 6/Age 16. Primary power is telekinesis;
secondaries are phantasm creation and hypnotize/push. This is the fat sister
with
no glasses, twins with Kurumi. She is always eating, butting in to other
people's business, and likes pro-wrestling. DON'T LET THIS WOMAN COOK!
Manami Kasuga: F5/S10/D9/HP 5/PP 6/Age 16. Primary power is telekinesis;
secondary is teleportation. Kurumi wears glasses and is so nearsighted that
once, with neither glasses or contacts on, she couldn't even recognize her own
brother and went on a date with him. She seems pretty stiff, but she definetly
has a feminine side. She is motherly and cooks the family's food, keeps the
family stable. Both sisters know about Kyosuke's feelings for Ayukawa, but
Manami is the one who really cares what happens to her brother. In the manga's
ending, Manami is the one who finally tells Hikaru about Kyosuke and Madoka and
the hat.
Akane: F10/S10/D12/PP 7/Age 17. Primary power is teleportation; secondary is
identity change. Akane is Kyosuke's cousin, apparently from a brother or sister
of Akemi, although it's very vague (we do see a woman's feet once). We don't
know this branch of the family's last name. Akane is "not too interested in
boys" -- she's a lesbian -- and is madly in love with Madoka (she has a poster
of Madoka on her wall, see vol. 17 pg. 98 of the mangas). She gets jealous of
Kyosuke for being between them, and tries to get he and Hikaru together so she
can be with "Madoka-chan." She wears contacts usually and can't tell Kyosuke
and
Madoka apart without them.
Kazuya: F5/S10/D12/PP 10/Age 8. Primary power is telepathy; secondaries are
body swap telekinesis. Kazuya is the precocious little brother of Akane. He
loves to swap bodies with Kyosuke by bumping heads with him, then mess up
Kyosuke's relationships with Ayukawa and Hikaru. Kazuya has a similar love
triangle in his life, oddly enough with two young girls that correspond with
Hikaru and Madoka, and he can't choose between them. His full telepathy keeps
him well informed of what people are thinking around him, so it can be hard to
get the jump on him.
Master: F7/S11/D9/HP 8/Age 35. No powers. Master has a beard and owns ABCB,
and is Madoka's employer. He is soft-spoken and knows about Madoka and
Kyosuke's
secret feelings for each other and the problem of Hikaru. For some reason he
gains a lot of weight right before the Orange Road Movie.
Takashi Kasuga: F7/S7/D7/HP 10/Age 35. No powers. This is Kyosuke, Manami and
Kurumi's father. He's a photographer, and a soft spoken guy. He met Akemi near
Ojiichan's house on Winter Mountain while hiking in the summer [see vol. 9 pg.
79 in the mangas] and they fell in love.
Akemi Kasuga: F6/S13/D14/HP 5/PP 16/Age IEY. Main power is telekinesis;
secondary is communicate with nature. She was the mother of Kyosuke and his
sisters, and she died when Manami and Kurumi were born (?). She has a great
affinity for nature and looked surprisingly like Madoka.
Yusaku Hino: F13/S7/D9/HP 13/Age 16. He is stuck on Hikaru-chan. As a child,
he was beat up all the time in front of or by Hikaru-chan. Because she told him
once, "If you get strong, I'll be your girlfriend," when they were children, he
has dedicated himself to the study of martial arts. He doesn't like Kyosuke.
He has the KARATE KID trait.
Komatsu-san (red hair) and Hatta-san (black hair, glasses): F7/S8/D7/HP 7/Age 17
each: Two perverts who crave female flesh, they are always peeking into the
girls' locker room and making panty-raids. Supposedly, these characters were
based on the characters of two of Izumi Matsumoto's assistants (cf. somehwere in
vol. 2).
Ojiichan (grandfather): F8/S12/D10/HP 8/PP 12/Age 60. Primary power is
telekinesis; secondaries include telekinesis. He's a surly guy, a bit of a
pervert for his age, who is close friends with Kyosuke. Kyosuke is always trying
to keep Ojiichan from giving away the family secret -- their powers -- to his
friends. Ojiichan has two homes, one on Winter Mountain (where Madoka and
Kyosuke meet the ghost one the manga story and the OAV) and another (only in the
manga universe) near a harbor containing two solemn islands which are a key
(somehow) to the family's powers. Next to Winter Moutain is an ancient mountain
which has year-round snow. This dangerous mountain's snow is "10,000 year
snow,"
which never melts. Ojiichan uses this snow in his drink rather than ice cubes.
Obaachan (grandmother): F3/S10/D8/HP 3/PP 15/Age 58. Primary power is
telekinesis; no secondary powers known. She doesn't do much, but I thought she
should be listed here.
Yukari: F7/S10/D14/HP 8/Age 26 Normal human. Yukari is the image of a grown-up
but sad Madoka, perhaps the ghost of Madoka's future if she pursued her singing
career. She appears only in episodes 22, 43, and 48, and in vol. 4 and 17.
She's the lead singer of the band Madoka plays guitar in and looks much like
Madoka.
Shu-chan Fusai: F12/S11/D13/HP 13/Age 28 Normal human. Shu-chan is Madoka's
cousin, introduced in episode 22 and seen again in episode 43 and proably the
Hayakawa Mitsuru OAV. He's Yukari's man, although she beats him up sometimes.
Because we know his last name, we know either Ayukawa's mother's maiden name (if
it was Madoka's mother's brother who is the father of Shu-chan), or else the
last
name of the man who married Madoka's mother's sister. Why do I tell you these
things? I don't know.
O-ryu: F13/S10/D8/HP 12/Age 17: O-ryu (read OH-ryu) is only in the TV series,
in episode 37 and 48 and perhaps in 16. If Yukari is Ayukawa's negative
"future"
(perhaps if she had followed her singing career), O-ryu could be said to be her
past. She's a tough bitch with orange short-cropped hair (and not just orange,
but Kimagure orange), an close acquaintance of the "old" Madoka, the one who
used
to run around with biker gangs and smoke and throw guitar picks at people. She
fights with a Ball & Cup.
Sayuri Hirose: F10/S12/D12/HP 10/Age 17: Sayuri is a vengeful bitch, found
only
in the mangas. She's jealous of Ayukawa because Kyosuke (who she doesn't care
at all for) likes her more than Sayuri. She's into laying plans for Kyosuke's
downfall.
Jingle: F6/S2/D2/HP 2/Age 3. Jingle is the cat. He's always trying to get
away
from the Kasuga family, and Kurumi always brings him back.
Orange Road RPG p E p i s o d e G u i d e
The following are "episodes" for your RPG to present ideas for other adventures
and actual basies for adventures if you want. They're somewhat non-specific in
their description of events; most of that is up to the GM. If you get any wild
ideas for applicable adventures in the Orange Road RPG universe, please let me
know somehow -- I'd like to hear about them. Leto II
Episode #1
"Noriko-chan, where are you?! The CIA place is scary."
The characters go off to see a movie (Bubblegum Criss Pt. 13?) with two normal
humans, a small precocious girl named Rikako-chan who is 10 and likes to tag
along with the "big kids," and Komatsu's older brother, about 18 years old, who
is on the surface fairly normal but actually more of a pervert than Komatsu
himself (cf. the episode where he tried to fondle Kurumi) named Tetsuya Komatsu.
Tetsuya is targeting one of the female charcters in their group for sex.
Outside, they meet up with Kazuo Hanakuso (F12/S9/D11/HP 10/PP 10/Age 16,
primary
power is telekinesis; others are hypnotize, increased senses and prophetic
dreams), a nondescript (male) cousin of the characters, who is short of breath.
He tells the group that Noriko-chan (F7/S8/D13/HP 7/PP 4/Age 14, primary power
telekinesis; others sixth sense, telepathy and phantasm projection), his younger
sister, was taken by three caucasion men in dark suits on her way home from
school. The group must 1) ditch Rikako-chan and Tetsuya (which will be very
difficult because they both don't want to be ditched and will try to stay, and
will constantly show up throughout this episode), 2) find clues as to where
Noriko went, and 3) break onto Komatsu air force base (an actual American base
in Japan, as I understand it, no relation to Komatsu-san) and get her back,
destroying records about her in the process. Kazuo will help them look for his
sister. If they look, they can find, on the street where she was taken, a pair
of dark sun glasses and Noriko's favorite pencil case, Dirty Pair. If they need
a hint, they can find out that Komatsu AFB, nearby, is the source of most
"gaijin" (foreigners) in the area, and that might well be checked out. When the
characters get close to the base, they will hear faint cries for help from her
powers of telepathy (and its ability to "communicate" with other people by
sending thoughts, known as "shining"), inside the base. She will let them know
that the CIA or some other American science group has kidnapped her because they
know about the powers. This is bad for the group. They must break onto the
massive base, still evading Tetsuya and Rikako, find Noriko and save her, and
destroy information on her powers. If everything goes okay, all information
will
be erased and the secret of the esper powers will be safe. Their main
adversary,
whom they will meet alone after they destroy the evidence of the groups powers,
is a man named General Muska, but his real name is Muska Rip-van-Laputa. He
must
be dealt with before the group can escape the base, either made to forget about
the esper abilities of the group, killed, blackmailed, hypnotised or otherwise
made to see the point of view of the espers. He will be armed with a gun.
Episode #2
"No, Shiro-kun! Mitsubishi Bank is our friend."
In this episode, the players will combat a renegade cousin with esper powers.
His name is Shiro (F12/S10/D9/HP), and he will be an identical twin of one of
the
players in the game (pick one). Shiro has broken off with the family and run
away, and has been using his powers (primary telepathy; secondaries telekinesis,
X-ray vision, invisibility and body swap) to comit petty crimes around town.
His
latest was to rob two million yen from Mitsubishi Bank and spend it on Japanese
Animation CDs and manga. No one else knows about Shiro except the espers in the
family, and they must try to bring him back into the fold of the family before
he gives away the "family secret." To make matters worse, Shiro will be in love
with one of the female characters in the group, or else an NPC who will walk
around with them, but that love is unrequited. The characters must somehow
catch
Shiro, who has set up traps for them in a deserted factory (reminscent of the
last scene in The Terminator) and convince him to stop his rampage and come back
to the "family." Individual goals to assign people might be, find a trinket,
find some money to pay back taxes with (maybe left over from the Mitsubishi Bank
robery), have sex, etc.
Episode #3
"Tennis Team Timeslip."
It's summer vacation, and the group is being sent by their respective families
to the "Panic in Orange Avenue" Tennis & Sports Camp, located in mountains in
the
Kansai area (Osaka area I think). At the camp there's a stuck-up instructor who
will hit on one or more females in the group (if there are any) named Yabio
(F11/S9/D14/HP 10/Age 24) and a bully who will push the group around named Yaro
(F15/S6/D7/HP 15/Age 19, weapon is a tennis raquet treated as a lg. blunt
weapon). While playing a night game of tennis, the characters (near the edge of
a cliff, with no non-espers around) will all fall off the cliff, and experience
strange temporal turbulance, then the sky will turn into a bubbling array of
strange lights. The characters will then find themselves, tennis raquets in
hand, out in some woods, at the bottom of the cliff. They have timeslipped back
to 1942, during World War II! In this time a) no powers will work (even someone
who has Time Travel, since it was a timeslip that brought them here and not Time
Travel), b) their money is no good, and c) they are in a fascist country which
suspects everyone of being subversive. They can a) try to get to Hirohito or
someone else and tell them information about World War II, b) spend their time
walking around aimlessly until they timeslip back somehow, c) try to buy some
land in Tokyo then go back to the future, etc. Try to steal plot material from
Back to the Future if you can. If they do change the future so that Japan wins
the war or something, it can be explained away at the end as a dream by one of
the characters. When they return, Yabio and Yaro will be waiting for them and
must be dealt with before the adventure ends. (And if the future is changed,
then they can have changed too, in some funny way, as in BTTF.) In the past,
Ushiko and Umao's parents will be encountered somehow.
Episode #4
"Parallel World II"
This episode is a sequel to the "Parallel Hero" story in the mangas [vol. 10,
pg.
7] (as opposed to the shortened version in the last episode of the series, which
I personally hated), in which Kyosuke flips on a Roller Coaster to a "biker
universe" (similar to the Dark 1985 from Back to the Future Pt. 2) in which
everyone he knows exists except him. It's a run-down place, where chaos reigns
and everyone is scared to go outside (much like the cyberpunk Blade Runner
universe but in the present). Manami and Kurumi have no powers, Hikaru is a
"kakko-ii" biker queen, Madoka is even tougher, and Akane leads a gang that
holds
the city they live in in its grip. Komatsu and Hatta are police officers, too.
In this episode, the characters will be on a roller coaster at a nearby
amusement
park and will flip over, getting off and wondering what the hell is going on,
why
the sky is so dismal. Outside, they'll find Manami and Kurumi, being accosted by
a group of 4 "yatsu," trying to cop feels and possibly rape them. The group
should dispatch the bad guys. If they use their powers in such a way as to give
away the "secret" to the twins (who have no powers in this universe), they will
inquire about where they came from and by the way, did they know a boy who had
similar abilities, who passed through a few weeks ago (this was Kyosuke, back
when he was here). They'll then learn from Kurumi and Manami that the Loud In
School gang (the same large gang that Kyosuke was up against in the manga story,
though the title is mine) has a new leader: a tough bitch named O-ryu
(F13/S10/D8/HP 16, weapon is a ball and cup). This girl replaced Akane (who is
evil in this universe, and whom Kyosuke deposed in the manga story) and kicked
her out, then began a new crime wave in the city. The twins will offer to have
the group over to their house (Kyosuke's apartment, same as in the normal
universe, only minus Kyosuke since he doesn't live in this universe) for saving
them. There, they'll meet Hikaru (who's a tough biker chick in this universe
who
is somehow solemn because she fell in love with Kyosuke while he was with them
just a few weeks ago but now he's gone). Hikaru will tell them about Kyosuke
(his coming into that world and subsequent leaving) if they don't know already
from the twins. Then she'll tell them about how Madoka Ayukawa, her friend, was
dragged off a few days ago by the Loud In Schoolers and probably raped and
killed, and how she'd give her life to kill O-ryu if she could get through the
hundred or so thugs that guard her. The goal of the group will become clear:
to get inside the high school on scooters which acts as the gang's hideout and
find Madoka, if she's alive, and kill or otherwise dispose of O-ryu. Manami,
Kurumi and Hikaru will help. Approaching the school, the group will be attacked
by 5-8 thugs, which should be dispatched easily given the group's powers
(especially since, in this universe, they can use them freely since everyone in
the group already knows about the esper powers -- there is no need to hide
them).
They must find a way inside, either fighting through another 5 or so thugs to
get
to one of the side entrances (all the while being quiet) or teleporting in if
they have someone who can accomplish the task (someone with a lot of Power
Points). Other tricks could be devised to get inside using the powers available
to the group. Inside, nearly everything will be deserted except one wing of the
ground floor, which will have four rooms close together with lights on. One
will
contain 3 female gang members, smoking and sharpening knives (make your own
average stats up for them if you need to); in another, 6 males; in another,
Ayukawa and Umao-san, who will be sleeping, and in the fourth, O-ryu and her two
female lieutenants, Yoshiko (F12/S7/D7/HP 12, weapon is a skateboard that she
flips at you, which handles like a large missile) and Mieko (same stats as
Chiemi, weapon is a bowling ball that she clubs you with, treated like a large
blunt weapon). If noise is made, all characters in all rooms will come out to
see what the disturbance is. O-ryu will know Hikaru but not the others. She
will show them Ayukawa (if they haven't found her yet), beaten up but not dead
(or even raped). The characters need to overcome her and her minions as quietly
as they can, save Ayukawa and get everyone to safety, hopefully destroying the
gang in the process (perhaps by demoralizing O-ryu). In the end, Umao will be
reunited with Ushiko (who was waiting for him on the "outside"), and Ayukawa
will
focus romantically on one male character (the one who played the strongest role
in the combat) and will ask him if he likes her, etc., but at that moment (the
characters will be moving somehow, on a bus or in a car or something) they'll
flip back to the normal universe on the roller coaster they were on before the
flipped the first time -- the end.
Episode #5
"A future story! Neo-Tokyo is destroyed."
It is the future, the year 203x, right after the end of the Akira OAV in which
Neo Tokyo (the remains of the original Tokyo which got destroyed back in 199x)
is destroyed. The players will be a group of espers living around Yokohama,
who,
after the explosion, will hear from Uncle Kazuya (now 50 years old) of the story
of Akira's birth to his "Kyosuke-oniichan" and "Ayukawa-Oneesan) back in 1990.
They had the baby and everything seemed okay for three or four years or so.
Then
little Akira demonstrated enormous powers, far more than even Kyosuke, who was
the most powerful esper of his generation. Akira kept giving his vast powers
away to others, facilitating Ayukwa and Kyosuke to move around all the time.
One
day, agents from a powerful agency of the Japanese government managed to capture
Akira on the street on his way to school (although it cost them three military
helicopters and the lives of 12 agents) and took him to a secret hospital for
study, where they tried to duplicate his powers in other children (the other
children in the movie). Kyosuke and Ayukawa searched nearly a year for their
son
until the pressure on him to give up the search or expose the entire family's
secret got too great, so they eventually gave up and went to America to live in
Los Angeles. Kyosuke only returned once, using his teleportation powers, to
attend the funeral of his father when he died in 2009, and even that time he was
almost caught by the government agents. The group will go to the wet remains of
Neo Tokyo right after its destruction at the end of the movie, which is under
military control so they'll have to sneak in. They'll discover that each of
them
sense that the power which destroyed Neo Tokyo is still there, lying beneath the
surface. It could explode again, they realize, unless the power that is Akira
can be someone made to leave the vicinity of the Earth. Kazuya, who has come
with
the group, knows what the youths must do -- go to America and find Kyosuke and
Madoka and get them to come back to Japan. It will be dangerous -- they are
still sought for capture by the military government -- and besides, Kazuya
doesn't even know where exactly they are. The goal of the espers, therefore, is
to go to America and search Los Angeles and vicinity, using any powers or
resouces they can to find Madoka and Kyosuke. (Madoka knows all about the
Cho-no-ryok powers by now, incidentally). While in America (they will fly there
by plane), the characters will probably visit anime shops in Little Tokyo and
see
themselves on an Orange Road movie poster or something silly like that. Note
that America, 40 years into the future, is a hell of a lot less safe, and danger
lurks everywhere in Los Angeles from street gangs and other thugs. Also note
that, here in America, the espers will have to use English to communicate most
of the time. After locating Kyosuke and Ayukawa, living in Orange County in a
nice big home, they will convince them to come back to Japan to try to dispell
the power that was and still their son Akira so that he will not one day destroy
Japan. It turns out that Madoka and Kyosuke, alarmed at what they've been
seeing
on TV about new religeons worshipping someone named Akira, have been considering
returning to their home already. They had heard rumors of the destruction of
Neo-Tokyo, but most of the information was restricted. When they arrive in
Japan, they must all escape an ambush by military police (led by the bald
colonel
from the Akira OAV) and make it Kazuya's house in Yokohama. Nearby they will
inadvertantly run into Hikaru-chan and Yusaku, now living together happily with
several children (Kyosuke and Hikaru will conveniently use quotes from Karate
Kid
II like "I never marry Sato" and "Out of respect...for husband" and "No, for
your
silence."). After more reunions, the gang, with Madoka and Kyosuke, will journey
by train and foot into the ruins of Neo Tokyo, evading military patrols. There
they will meet with the bodyless spirit of Akira, who will cry "Mother! Father!"
and will ask why they didn't come and rescue him from the military bad guys. In
the end, Kyosuke and Ayukawa will ask Akira to leave the Earth forever, and the
power that Akira wielded will no longer endanger the Earth.
Episode #6
"An American submarine! Yuri, look out for the moose!"
The players are fishing in the sea of Japan a few miles out of Hiroshima on
their
Uncle Eijiro's boat, eager to escape the news in the city about increased
tensions between the superpowers in Europe and relax. Eijiro (F8/S10/D8/HP
10/PP
8/Age 45, primary power is telekinesis, others are hypnotize and invisibility)
is a cousin of Akemi (Kyosuke's mother) and a nephew of Kyosuke's grandfather.
If any character has sixth sense he will feel a tinge of danger. Nearby, an
American submarine will surfce with a giant hole in it. One man will escape
before the sub sinks again, its back broken by an enemy torpedo. The man, Seaman
Third Class Chris Thompson, will swim to the boat. (Note: Charcters will need
English ability to talk to this guy.) He will tell of how a Soviet sub
torpedoed
them and he alone escaped before she sunk. Suddenly, the fishing boat will be
under attack by the Russian sub, which will surface and try to blow the fishing
boat from the water! The players will need to find a way to overcome this
attack, either by escaping or destroying the sub, then return home to the city.
World War III has started, and Russian bombers will be flying over Japan soon,
attacking American and Japanese military and civil targets. Akemi Kasuga, the
dead mother of Kyosuke and the twins and a matriarch of sorts for the family as
a whole, will appear to the characters and tell them this, and that they must
defend Japan. The players can either 1) try to defend Japan against the
bombers,
including a possible ballistic missile which will try to fall on the
Tokyo/Yokohama area (shield over the city?), 2) try to strike harder against the
Soviet Union, by teleporting/travelling to Moscow to destroy the heads of state
there or something, or 3) try some other factor at the discretion of the players
(the choice and even thinking of the ideas of what to do should be up to them,
although the GM can prod them). Note that other espers in other cities can all
band together to defend Japan, even linking their powers in groups if they want
to knock down Russian bombers. The choice is up to them. In the end, however,
they will probably not be able to defend Japan from a major bombardment.
Episode #7
"Japan is devestated?! The trek to grandfather's house."
This is part two of the previous episode. It has been a month since World War
III began. In Europe and North America, conventional conflicts are still
raging,
but the war is over in Asia, with the destruction of all fleets and most
military
and civillian targets in the area save a few subs under the seas. Tokyo, Osaka
and Yokohama each received multiple nuclear payloads, the Imperial family is
dead, and chaos reigns in Japan. The world in which the players will find
themselves is basically similar to the land of Fist of the North Star or Road
Warrior for game purposes -- massive devestation, only with more people as well
as "stavation, contamination and lingering death." The characters have a task:
To move from their home city, which is being evacuated due to contaminated water
supply, south fifty miles to where Kyosuke's Ojiichan (grandfather) lives (the
house on Winter Mountain, not the one near the two islands). There is no
transportation available except walking as the nuclear pulses wiped out all
higher electronic technology (you might want to draw a map for the players).
There is danger: bands of thieves and gangs are holding the streets, defying
police, and the group will be attacked at least once. If they reach the summit
on Winter Mountain, they will meet up with Kyosuke and most of the characters
from the series save Manami and Kurumi -- they were trampled in the food mobs
which flooded the streets in the hours after the war began, the characters will
learn, although Kyosuke tried to save them with his more advanced teleportation
but couldn't (Kyosuke had been caught in the same mob but was able to escape
with
his father). Hikaru and Madoka are both there, but Kazuya and Akane and their
family haven't been heard from and are feared dead too. Yusaku is there. There
are several things the group can do. 1) Engage a large gang that is raping the
countryside (and which tried to rape Madoka and Hikaru while Kyosuke and his
group made the journey to Ojiichan's house from their city but were stopped by
Kyosuke, who, in the course of events, killed three of them and gave away the
secret of the family's powers to Madoka and Hikaru, so they know now about the
family secret now); 2) try to engage or halt an advance in Japan's southern
shores by Russian-backed Vietnamise troops with their powers; or 3) try to go
back in time to before the war with Ojiichan's (or someone else's) time travel
and stop it in some way. Whatever they do, the characters will encounter the
charred bodies of Ushiko, Umao and their baby, Shikao. What a sad story!
O t h e r I d e a s f o r G M s
There is a lot of room in the Orange Road universe for new ideas that don't
exactly fit into the Japanese animation/manga list of required cliches, many of
which would fit quite well in the context of this game. Ultimately, Izumi
Matsumoto has made a basic super-power system that is nearly as flexible as the
"mutants" explaination of Marval's super-hero world. A lot can be done with it.
How about characters who aren't good, who use their powers to rob banks and get
into mischief? For the socially unprogressive, how about a group of esper
super-perverts or even sex-offenders who use their powers to, well, you know.
The Kasuga-clan (and the other lines of the family, of which there must be many)
being the beginnings of the "Newtypes" of the Gundam universe? A-ko as a
relative of the Kasugas? And of course, there's the idea of the esper powers
being the source of Akira's power from Akira, and the destruction of Tokyo and
events of the movie being the ultimate destiny of the Orange Road universe.
There's lots to do in the universe, if you care and if you have players who
care.
If you have any experience with RPGs, you should do okay, and if not, you can't
do any worse than me.
The
K I M A G U R E O R A N G E R O A D
r o l e p l a y i n g g a m e
CHARACTER RECORD SHEET
Character Name: ____________________ Sex: _____________
Relationship: ______________________ Age: _____________
Abilities: Traits: ________________________
FIGHTING: ____________ _________________________________
SMARTS: ____________ _________________________________
DAI-SUKI: ____________
Primary Esper Power: "Special Stuff Skills"
_____________________ ENGLISH: ______ SPORTS: ______
Secondary Powers: DRIVING: ______ KAKKO: ______
_____________________ VIRGINITY: _____ SWIMMING: _____
_____________________
_____________________ HP: _______ PP: _______
_____________________
_____________________ Hair: _______ Style: _______
Eyes: _______ Body: ________