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The Tenchi Muyo RPG

Nearly everyone has a stereotype of roleplayers...nerdy guys who sit in a half-dark basement room, drinking sodas, eating junk food, with a bunch of thick roleplaying books and weird-sided dice, and arguing about whether their characters can take down a horde of orcish zombies. Well, some of this isn't true. True, roleplayers tend to be mainly guys (though I know a bunch of female roleplayers) and could easily be called nerds or geeks, and the stuff about the sodas and snacks is pretty much true, but thousands of books and dice with 20 sides (known as d20s), are not a prerequisite.

The Tenchi Muyo RPG was designed to appeal to the show's fan base, some of which probably also role-play, and some that have never before. It's based off of the BESM (Big Eyes, Small Mouth, a game system optimized for playing anime-style games) system, like the Sailor Moon RPG system. I like the system because it is easy to learn, but gives a lot of freedom in character creation (I've roleplayed under 4 different systems, so I should know). All that's required is some regualr six-sided dice, pencils and paper, one book (the sourcebook with all the information), and a bunch of people with large imaginations. Another book was released that covers the Tenchi Universe series and its differences from Tenchi Muyo!.

How to Play

First one person (known as the Game Master or GM), makes up a story for the other players characters (PCs) to participate in. Two adventure outlines are provided: the uncreative GM could use them as-is (and ask the players not to read them), modify them, or just reveiw them as an example. Then the players make up their characters. They could either play one of the established characters (character sheets and personal information was listed) or try thier hand at creating a new character within the series.

Anyways the GM decides how strong the PCs should be, and gives their players a point limit. They then can buy the abilities they want.

A reference guide to points (as taken from the Tenchi Muyo RPG and Resource book)
15-25 pointsLow-powered characters, average people
25-35 pointsMedium-powered characters
35-45 pointsHigh-powered characters
45-55 pointsVery High-powered characters, equivalent to main characters of the series.
55+ pointsExtremly High-powered characters

The first number they are given buys stats and Character Attributes (which are like abilities). There are three stats: body, mind and soul. Body is physical strength and dexterity, mind is intellegence and common sense, and soul is will and 'force of personality'. So someone like Ryoko would have a strong body stat, someone like Washu would have a strong mind stat and someone like Tenchi would have a strong soul stat. The stats range from 1(completly inept) to 12(best in the universe). 4 is adult human average.

Next comes Character Attributes. These range from supernatural abilities(like the ones the Jurai and characters like Ryoko and Ryu-ohki have), to having a spaceship or other mecha, to being pretty/handsome/cute. You also could get points from taking limitations, like Easily Distracted (a general purpose disadvatage discribing characters like Mihoshi, who tend to be fixated on certain subjects), Phobias, or even the tendancy to have members of the opposite sex become obsessed with winning your heart (Girl/Guy Magnet. It's what Tenchi was cursed with).

You are also given 20 (which can be increased or decreased by Character Attributes or Character Defects.) Skill Points. This represents the knowledge a character picks up through a lifetime. Basically anything your character is good at should be taken as a skill. They range from combat skills, to sciences and engineering, to cooking. The point cost per level varies on the usefulness of the skill. Skills have 1 to 6 levels, 1 being moderatly trained to 6 being a complete expert.

Once youve got some players with characters, and once the GM has come up with a story, you can get started. The good thing about this system is most of the mechanics is done during character creation. Except during combat, you are unlikely to ever need any dice. It's just like an interactive story. It's really a lot of fun.