GURPS: Remnant: Fan-made rules for adventuring in the world of RWBY

[GreatWyrmGold]

aurThe following is a nonprofit fan-based game system. RWBY, Red versus Blue, and...something are owned by whoever's doing the Japanese dub, RoosterTeeth, and Monty Oum. Please support the official release.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Scroll down. Footnotes: Post 3.
Aura: Scroll down. Semblances and Aura Estimates: Post 2. Footnotes: Post 3.
Dust: Post 14.
Faunus: Post 13.
Grimm: Post 17. Grimm Species: Post 18. Custom Grimm and Footnotes: Post 19.
Skills, Techniques, and Styles: Post 20.
Technology: Post 22 and Post 23.
Training: Post 21
Weapons: Post 15 and Post 16.

Credits and Kudos

Monty Oum, Steve Jackson, and others who created the material responsible for this thread.
EnderofThings of Reddit, for introducing me to the RWBYtabletop subreddit and even making me a moderator!
Wavefunction of these forums, for alerting me to Vitality Reserves and a couple minor omissions.

Related Links

Mostly other places where I ruminate on the nature of Remnant.
Me on Semblances
Me on the mechanisms of Aura and Grimm biology
Me on Grimm: An Index
A thread where I discuss Grimm in more, infuriating detail than I initially intended in a thread about my fanfiction
History Headcanon

Introduction

For those who don't know, RWBY is a web series originally created by the late Monty Oum and produced by Rooster Teeth, who are respectively an animator and the producer of prior web hit Red versus Blue (among other things). It follows Ruby Rose, a young Huntress(-in-training), as she learns to fight the monstrous Grimm which threaten civilization and also deals with the machinations of Roman Torchwick, the White Fang...and the mysterious figure behind them.
The is the work of a RWBY fan[sup]1[/sup] who looked at a few independent RWBY RPGs and found them lacking. He had been considering how Huntsmen might work in GURPS, an RPG that—while obviously not perfect—had always risen to his needs before. And thus, he decided to make a post where he would describe his actions in third person! Oh, and also work out and post the rules of a RWBY game run in GURPS.

I will start with one of the most fundamental facts which makes Remnant—and combat on Remnant—so different from the like on Earth:

Aura

I'm trying to be all formal and scholarly-like with parts of these entries, because I'm thorough like that (and I want to get into the habit for when I make proclamations which aren't widely-accepted by the RWBY community). On that note, for all citations not otherwise noted, see [sup]2[/sup].
Aura is a manifestation of a soul, possessed by humans and animals alike—though not the monstrous Grimm. In an unawakened human, it only provides minor benefits (for instance, it is credited with sensing someone is watching when you can't see them). Once one's Aura is awakened, it can "deflect harm" from a person (while I find the apparent mechanics fascinating, they have no place here). This is apparently something Scrolls (fantasy/sci-fi smartphones) can detect[sup]3[/sup], and their display is more than a little reminiscent of video game health bars. The analogy is apt; Aura can run out if you take too much damage, but no apparent signs of impairment are present before that point[sup]4[/sup]. Aura protects one's equipment as well as oneself[sup]5[/sup].
When a user of Aura trains enough, they can unlock their Semblance[sup]6[/sup]. This is essentially a superpower[sup]7[/sup], apparently based on one's personality[sup]8[/sup]. It is generally accepted that Aura powers Semblances, though some Semblances lack an obvious time to "drain power," so to speak.
Aura can be awakened in animals[sup]9[/sup], though it is uncertain whether they can have Semblances.
Aura is recovered surprisingly quickly[sup]10[/sup].

The original system for Aura was somewhat clunky. I've been alerted to a new, simpler system: Vitality Reserve. Essentially, these are Hit Points without messy drawbacks like shock or crippling, with a few other features. The first is that it protects one's equipment as well as one's body. Then one must consider the exhausting effects of Aura use. Shock, knockback, and knockdown (see B419-20 and B378) apply to Aura loss, as they do for normal damage; this represents pain and the enervating effects of spending Aura. Knockdown works differently; it occurs on any wound dealing more damage than one-third of your current Aura, although stunning only leads to falling prone and dropping weapons when the Aura loss is due to an enemy attack and deals damage greater than 1/3 of the target's full Aura. On paper, far more common than knockdown from normal wounds, but given that Huntsmen students having over 100 points of Aura seem to be the norm (see below), reducing the threshold seems like an important step.
Vitality Reserves are two character points per VR point. The first consideration is represented by the Force Field enhancement, increasing the cost by 20%. The rest of the modifiers are outside the realm of the written rules, sadly. Given that not taking shock, knockdown, and such are among the major benefits of Vitality Reserve compared to normal Hit Points (to counteract, for instance, not gaining the higher death threshold), adding those considerations back in should reduce the price of Vitality Reserve significantly—say, by 50%. Making the knockdown rules more vicious reduces cost further, perhaps by 20%. The final cost of Aura is one character point per Aura point.

Aura regeneration is swift enough to allow a Huntsman student to be ready to fight again within a few minutes of being knocked unconscious (as seen in the last two episodes of Volume 2 with both Weiss and Yang). Considering likely Aura numbers, it is likely that this is Fast regeneration (10%/minute) with the limitations Aura Only (ad hoc -25%) and Accessibility (Only when conscious) (ad hoc -10%), for 33 points.

Old System:

Spoiler:  

In short, Aura is abative DR crossed with an Energy Reserve. While this doesn't seem to have been something that the developers of GURPS considered when they created the core rulebooks, or even GURPS: Powers, it should be covered fine by the Alternate Abilities rule—which grants an 80% discount on all but the most expensive ability, in exchange for them all being the same ability for all intents and purposes.
Let's go over how this works in game terms. (While Aura seems to be relatively easy to awaken, this will not be covered as part of the advantage; few people you encounter will need their Auras awakened[sup]11[/sup].)

Part the First: Damage Resistance (Ablative, -80%; Force Field, +20%) [2/level]
Part the Second: Energy Reserve (Aura) (Can pay FP costs[sup]12[/sup], ad hoc +30%) [4/level]
Total: 5/level
ALSO: Regeneration (Very Fast[sup]13[/sup]) (Aura only, +0%) [100]
In layman's terms, you have a number of points of Aura (which you buy for five a pop), which are lost before hit points and can be spent in place of fatigue points and/or to power Aura-based abilities.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Semblances are simply advantages provided by the Aura power[sup]14[/sup]. It has no apparent countermeasures or method to disrupt the internally channeled energies; nor is there any suggestion of fickleness or required behavior. In short, an ability provided by the Aura power is not in any way less useful than a "wild" ability[sup]15[/sup]. The Aura power does not have an associated power discount, as many powers get[sup]16[/sup]; however, if there are sources of supernatural powers other than Aura—for instance, if you put Remnant into an Infinite Worlds[sup]17[/sup] campaign—you must note which abilities are powered by Aura. If nothing else, this tells you what you can spend Aura on and what you can spend that psionic reserve on.
A Semblance is usually[sup]18[/sup] a single ability, usually with many applications. This may be bought as Alternate Abilities, or—using rules in GURPS Powers—appropriately-restricted[sup]19[/sup] Modular Abilities.
Semblances often cost Aura. This is a special modifier, giving a 1% discount per point of Aura spent to activate the ability. For instance, an Innate Attack costing 10 character points would only cost 8 if you added a two-Aura cost to it. Enhanced Move (Ground) 3, normally costing 60 points, would instead cost 48 if you had to pay twenty Aura every time you activated it—and you would have to pay half of this cost again after one minute! (If the ability is instead activated for one second, again with half cost per second to maintain, this is a -2% limitation per point of Aura.)
Semblances can have limitations based on minimum Aura levels to use.

Fraction of Aura | Value of Limitation
       1/2       |         -25%       
       1/3       |         -20%       
       1/4       |         -15%       
       1/6       |         -10%       
       1/10      |          -5%

Abilities which cost hit points to activate may not drain Aura instead. There are no such abilities on Remnant, however, so this point is generally moot.

Characters with awakened Auras often perform feats far beyond what should be possible for a normal human, even with the shield provided by their Aura and the specific capabilities of their Semblance; the most common of these is great strength. These are also advantages bought with the Aura power modifier and optionally Aura costs, although they need not fit with a character's Semblance. The GM is encouraged to veto non-Semblance Aura-based abilities which do not seem to be simply enhancing what the character could already do, or if the effect is so extreme that it should qualify as a Semblance on its own. These abilities frequently have the Costs Aura or Minimum Aura limitations listed above.
Appropriate abilities include: bonuses to Strength, Dexterity, or Health, or Striking or Lifting ST; Flexibility or Double-Jointed, Hard to Subdue, Perfect Balance, Recovery, Super Jump; Absolute Direction, Absolute Timing, Acute or Discriminatory Senses, Danger Sense, Detect (Aura, Grimm, etc), Eidetic or Photographic Memory, Sensitive Touch, and certain Talents*; and Aura Transfer**.
*An appropriate Talent would be Gymnastic Talent*** (Acrobatics, Aerobatics, Aquabatics, Climbing, and Jumping) for five points per level.
**A variation of the Healing advantage (B59), which heals only Aura—not disease, HP, or even other vitality reserves—and costs one point of Aura per point of Aura healed. This totals to a -40% limitation; assuming no other modifiers, this is 12 points. Healing (Aura Only) is -50%, if you had a hypothetical healing Semblance or—more likely—an ability based in powers from beyond Remnant.
***If anyone has a better name, it would be greatly appreciated.


Now, for a tricky part: Figuring out how much Aura a typical character has.

Let's start small.

Goons

Mooks frequently fall to single attacks from main characters, most notably during the Yellow Trailer, when Yang Xiao Long[sup]20[/sup] fights a room full of mooks and knocks them out with one punch (aside from a couple of special minions). Assuming a Strength of 20 (Yang is noted for feats of strength[sup]21[/sup], so this isn't too unreasonable), this indicates that her base thrust damage[sup]22[/sup] is 2d-1. Punches deal thrust-minus-one damage; however, she was using shot-gauntlets[sup]23[/sup]. This increases her base punch damage to thr-1 with a linked shotgun blast—in other words, 2d-1+1d+1. Simple math puts this at 3d damage, an average of 10.
However, Yang's shot-gauntlets are not the same as Terran shotguns. First off, the propellant has a higher energy density than any Terran fuel; the pellets may well be travelling faster. One thing that is known for certain is that said shot-gauntlets also produce significant amounts of fire—not as massive of gouts as a flamethrower (3d damage), but probably enough for another die or two.
Thus, roughly 15 damage put them down; given the rules for knockdown, this was likely at least 1/2 their Aura capacity. My estimate is that these minions had roughly 20-25 points of Aura. Considering that Yang downed a man with each punch, not just most, you could argue that the actual figure should be lower. On the other hand, considering that none of them seem to have gotten buckshot to the brains, you could argue that it is a low estimate. The nameless White Fang soldiers seemed to be tougher, but not by much—maybe 30-40 points.

Students

We've never seen a good estimate of what makes the tough students go down[sup]24[/sup]. We do, however, have a solid candidate for a weak-Aura'd student who goes down repeatedly—once in a way which we can calculate damage for easily.
Weiss Schnee[sup]20 23[/sup] goes down several times over the course of RWBY. The simplest time to estimate minimum Aura capacity can be found in Season 1, Volume 2, Episode 1, "Best Day Ever," when she is thrown into a cafeteria pillar by a Cloudcuckoolander[sup]25[/sup] Irish-phenotyped girl based on the Norse god of thunder wielding a hammer improvised from a watermelon and a pole she got from...somewhere[sup]23 26[/sup] and appears to have her Aura depleted. It's hard to estimate the speed she hit said wall at—especially since I couldn't find a decent stopwatch—but she seems to have covered about half the cafeteria in one and a half seconds, putting her speed around 0.33 cafeterias per second. If the cafeteria is as long as a football field, this is equal to 33 yards per second[sup]27[/sup]. If Weiss has eight hit points (she's pretty small), she takes 33*8*0.01*1d6 or 3d crushing damage. A hard surface (like rock) deals double damage—an average of 21.
Since the pillar shattered, we can check this by looking at how much damage a stone pillar should take. Sadly, the Structural Damage Table doesn't include an entry for four-foot-thick stone pillars, but a three-foot-thick, ten-square-foot chunk of stone wall has 135 hit points. The amount of pillar damaged is about the same as Weiss's height, on average, so about 5'3"[sup]28[/sup]. Call it a five-foot-by-four-foot-by-four-foot section of wall, and you see a problem.
This leaves us with two estimates for our problem. Accounting for previous injuries and Aura expenditures during the fight, Weiss would probably have either 30-40 Aura or 140-160 Aura. There is no easy way to determine if we should determine damage via speed or via breaking-the-pillar...but we do have a way of establishing that one of these estimates is implausible.
Look at every fight between a Huntsman student and a group of mooks. We consistently see the student overpowering them without much effort. Now, this is true even of stories where there isn't a supernatural force protecting the heroes, but I'm inclined to lean towards Watsonian explanations. Thus, accounting for the knockdown rules, I conclude that Huntsman students have, at least, 200-250 points of Aura, with many students having more. That said, in a "grittier" Remnant campaign, 30-50 is a good minimum.

It seems likely—though unsupported—that Aura increases with training[sup]29[/sup]. This would explain why Huntsmen have such powerful Auras compared to...well, everyone else, and why members of Team CFVY[sup]30[/sup] are capable of greater feats than the first-year pro- and deuteragonists, and why their teachers are greater still. Sadly, we don't have any good way of estimating the Aura capacities of such individuals.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Footnotes

I have WAY too many of these, apparently...
Well, I knew that, but not how badly I had it.

1: Well, fan of the first Volume. The second didn't live up to the expectations I have from the first.
2: Citation: RWBY Season 1, Volume 1, Episode 6, "The Emerald Forest".
3: Citation: RWBY Season 1, Volume 1, Episode 11, "Jaunedice"; while this is shown on other occasions, it is most prominent in this episode, particularly since Glynda Goodwitch[sup]31[/sup] referred to Jaune[sup]20[/sup]'s Aura as being "in the red," as well as calling attention to the existence of the aforementioned ability of Scrolls to monitor Aura.
4: Large Aura expenditure has left students apparently stunned, but it doesn't seem to stick. The best example can be found in Volume 1, Episode 8, "Players and Pieces," where Lie Ren[sup]20[/sup] is thrown against a cliff after a difficult battle, seemingly knocked out...but a minute later, he's on his feet.
5: Citation: While never confirmed, it's hard to imagine any other explanation for the food used as weapons in RWBY Season 1, Volume 2, Episode 1, "Best Day Ever," remaining as solid and unbroken as their weapons. In addition, when you think about it, their weapons should have delicate moving parts that would get broken or deformed when they swung their transforming scythe-rifles[sup]23[/sup], and their clothes—especially delicate lace, ribbons, and whatnot—shouldn't remain so pristine.
6: Citation: RWBY Season 1, Volume 2, Episode Five, "Extracurricular," and World of Remnant 4, "Aura".
7: Although I personally believe there is a bit more of a pattern to it, as described here.
8: Citation: RWBY Season 1, Volume 2, Episode 6, "Burning the Candle". It also fits with the idea of Aura being opposed to Grimm, who are "manifestations of anonymity"[sup]2[/sup].
9: Citation: RWBY Season 1, Volume 2, Episode 11, "No Brakes," where Oobleck[sup]31[/sup] uses Zwei[sup]32[/sup] as a flaming projectile. A very effective flaming projectile. Also: RWBY Season 1, Volume 2, Episode 12, "Breach," where Zwei[sup]33[/sup] kills a Beowolf[sup]34[/sup] by gently tapping it on the head, and isn't eviscerated by its neighbor[sup]35[/sup].
10: Citation: In RWBY Season 1, Volume 2, Episode 11, "No Brakes," the protagonists spend the entire episode fighting various foes on a train. Weiss and Yang even appear to run out of Aura! At the end of the episode, said train crashes through a barricade and they spend most of Episode 12, "Breach," fighting Grimm. They don't have any concerns for Aura apparent in dialogue or action. Focusing on something less...hateful, Pyrrha[sup]20[/sup] recovers remarkably quickly from apparently exerting herself to awaken an Aura[sup]2[/sup].
11: Citation: Well, I don't have one. Still, it seems unlikely that Pyrrha[sup]20[/sup] would have received special training to unlock Aura if such was required, and there is a grand total of one non-robot, non-Grimm character engaged in combat who has claimed to be prepared for combat without having an awakened Aura.
12: This is never stated, but it's hard to imagine that the general-purpose protection offered by Aura wouldn't extend to hunger, drowning, or (especially) freezing. It also explains the unearthly stamina required to perform death-defying stunts for episodes at a time.
13: This unlucky number is well-suited to admitting I guessed. One point of Aura per second isn't so insane once you see how much Aura I suspect Huntsmen and the like have, however.
14: The following section follows the guidelines outlined in GURPS Powers, Chapter 1: Building Powers, pps 20-26. My English teacher would be appalled at this citation, but hey, the Steve Jackson forum isn't exactly the American Psychological Association[sup]35 36[/sup].
15: An advantage bought without a power.
16: You earn this discount through the existence of various forms of antimagic depriving you of power, requiring specific behaviors to keep them, or other inherent issues.
17: The "default" campaign setting of GURPS, which takes advantage of the setting's flexibility by having a multiverse. If you care that much, Google will tell you much more than a footnote ever could.
18: Some speculate that Neopolitan[sup]37[/sup] has three Semblances, somehow corresponding to the three associated colors. While this opens the door to even more Mary Sue OCs, it seems like a simple explanation for her entirely unexplained deeds.[sup]38[/sup]
19: Some form of Limited (pg 63, GURPS Powers) is absolutely required. The Cosmic Power version is probably the best base advantage.
20: A student at Beacon.
21: Citation: RWBY Season 1, Volume 2, Episode 6, "Burning the Candle". Yang is carrying a...speaker? amplifier?[sup]39[/sup] which looks to be at least as tall as she is (and she's pretty tall), not to mention significantly wider. I don't know much about the density of speakers[sup]39[/sup], but calling it more than a hundred pounds seems reasonable. She's carrying it easily, too; ST 20 might be lowballing it. But hey, it's convenient.
22: Something important for figuring out how much a punch hurts someone in GURPS. If you want to know more, there's a convenient PDF which you should read so you don't need to ask basic rules questions.
23: If you knew me (or RWBY), you would know I wasn't making that up.
24: When Yang[sup]20[/sup]—who qualifies as such a "tough" student if any of our (first-year) protagonists do—fights Neopolitan[sup]37[/sup], she is defeated. However, this fight has a number of reasons which make it difficult to estimate damage for this fight, including a lack of information about Neopolitan, the possibility of said villain having an illusion-based Semblance, and the fact that the fight was demonstrably BS[sup]38[/sup].
25: I have no regrets.
26: Yes, this is more absurd than anything in Volume 1[sup]40[/sup].
27: Citation: It's obvious.[sup]41[/sup]
28: Citation: This height chart. While the proportions of some characters are suspicious, especially with ones claimed to be larger or smaller than I imagined from watching the show, it was released by Monty Oum, who said he made it from the actual models used for the show.
29: Insert Dragon Ball joke here.
30: A team of students at Beacon. If you don't understand why the students are divided into teams, don't worry! It's never really explained.
31: An instructor at Beacon.
32: An f'ing corgi.
33: Still an f'ing corgi. Not some breed of hound you might expect a Huntsman family to train as a combat dog, a corgi. I don't like Zwei, but he's canon.
34: A type of Grimm. Not the strongest Grimm, but a Grimm nonetheless.
35: Sadly.
36: Does anyone else think it's odd that one of the main citation formats we use is the one standardized by a specific journal for a specific science? ...No? Aw, man, now I look weird[sup]43[/sup].
37: A minor villain.
38: Coincidentally, Neopolitan only shows up in Volume 2, the volume which I have regurgitated so much (thankfully metaphorical) bile over. Okay, maybe not that much of a coincidence—her first appearance was her doing one interesting-but-of-questionable-feasibility task, her second[sup]44[/sup] was a fight scene made of such tasks (on her part) followed by an inexplicable retreat. But it wasn't just Neo, and I probably could have liked her if she had been implemented better[sup]45[/sup].
39: I'm not good with musical-equipment-terminology. I sing, and I sing very well, thank you.
40: Yes, that is one of the reasons I don't like Volume 2[sup]45[/sup].
41: I'm surprised it took me that long to say that.
42: A fish.
43: Well, weirder than someone who talks to himself in footnotes' footnotes.
44: If you came here from Footnote 24[sup]24 46[/sup], this is the Yang fight I was talking about.
45: I swear I didn't intend for this thread to turn into a passive-aggressive rant on why I dislike Volume 2[sup]46[/sup].
46: Nor did I intend for it to turn into footnote pornography.

[Wavefunction]

I don't have time to make a complete response right now, but I have run a GURPS-based RWBY game pretty successfully, there are a few things I'd do differently on a second run through, but most things I'd keep the same.

I treated Aura as somewhere between Ablative and Semi Ablative, making it deplete by 1 for every 4 points of damage. If I did it again, I'd make it fully ablative and give students a lot more. I also made it Flexible, and I don't regret that decision, students in the setting often seem to take damage from crushing blows without having their Aura fully depleted.

Aura clearly grants additional ST, I represented this as levels of Lifting and Striking ST with a -20% Limitation which tied it to Aura, so that as Aura depleted, the ST bonus reduced. This was fairly messy, and resulted in having to recalculate damage in the middle of combat, I wouldn't advise it.

For Semblances I just gave players a maximum of 100 points to spend on powers (no Power Modifier, if I ran it again I'd come up with one). Some Semblances should probably have a Costs Aura Limitation, I'd probably price it the same as Costs HP, for -10% per level.

I also made the players build their signature weapons as Advantages, again imposing a cap of 100 points. I have no regrets on that decision, but I'd probably come up with some more comprehensive house rules to make the process easier, as that's the section that the players struggled with most.

EDIT: Now I think about it, the ability of Aura to soak up damage might be best represented as Vitality Reserve, seen here in the GURPS FAQ.

[Wavefunction]

The biggest thing I never got around to doing was sorting out a system for Dust Manipulation. I've got a few ideas, but I haven't really pinned anything down.

One concept is to do something based on RPM, and have each of the different types of dust represented by a different Path. The Dust Manipulator must burn a minimum amount of Dust in order to cast a ritual (1 lb. ?), each lb. burnt contributes a certain amount of energy to the ritual, or alternatively gives a bonus to the rolls.

Another route, and perhaps more in keeping with RWBY (fast and loose), might be to do something based on Sorcery, give it a Power Modifier similar to Elemental, but chuck Trigger, Dust into the price of the PM. I quite like the feel of that actually, I'll have to give it some more thought.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Originally Posted by Wavefunction

I also made it Flexible, and I don't regret that decision, students in the setting often seem to take damage from crushing blows without having their Aura fully depleted.

I don't think they actually take damage. I'd have to check the exact effects of blunt trauma, but I'm pretty sure that the damage actually causes harm. Broken bones, internal (sometimes external) bleeding, the like. I've never seen any evidence that RWBY characters have been injured by the blows they've taken.

Aura clearly grants additional ST, I represented this as levels of Lifting and Striking ST with a -20% Limitation which tied it to Aura, so that as Aura depleted, the ST bonus reduced. This was fairly messy, and resulted in having to recalculate damage in the middle of combat, I wouldn't advise it.

I'd just let the players buy ST as an Aura-based Advantage. I'll edit that into the posts.

For Semblances I just gave players a maximum of 100 points to spend on powers (no Power Modifier, if I ran it again I'd come up with one). Some Semblances should probably have a Costs Aura Limitation, I'd probably price it the same as Costs HP, for -10% per level.

Or it could be based on Energy Reserve Only, same cost. Forgot to mention that...

I also made the players build their signature weapons as Advantages, again imposing a cap of 100 points...

Whoa, I'm getting there. Johnson's Rome wasn't written in a day.

EDIT: Now I think about it, the ability of Aura to soak up damage might be best represented as Vitality Reserve, seen here in the GURPS FAQ.

That is something I never knew existed. It's a lot more elegant.

Originally Posted by Wavefunction

The biggest thing I never got around to doing was sorting out a system for Dust Manipulation. I've got a few ideas, but I haven't really pinned anything down.

One concept is to do something based on RPM, and have each of the different types of dust represented by a different Path. The Dust Manipulator must burn a minimum amount of Dust in order to cast a ritual (1 lb. ?), each lb. burnt contributes a certain amount of energy to the ritual, or alternatively gives a bonus to the rolls.

Another route, and perhaps more in keeping with RWBY (fast and loose), might be to do something based on Sorcery, give it a Power Modifier similar to Elemental, but chuck Trigger, Dust into the price of the PM. I quite like the feel of that actually, I'll have to give it some more thought.

I hadn't gotten too specific with Dust. I figured that the simplest way would be to simply let characters have specific Dust-based attacks. RPM and Sorcery definitely have their merits, though.

[Wavefunction]

Originally Posted by GreatWyrmGold

I don't think they actually take damage. I'd have to check the exact effects of blunt trauma, but I'm pretty sure that the damage actually causes harm. Broken bones, internal (sometimes external) bleeding, the like. I've never seen any evidence that RWBY characters have been injured by the blows they've taken.

Hmmm... Perhaps, though I'm not sure. For simplicity I'd probably just say it doesn't cause harm, so that you can use Vitality Reserve as written.

Originally Posted by GreatWyrmGold

I'd just let the players buy ST as an Aura-based Advantage. I'll edit that into the posts.

I'm not convinced it drains RWBY's Aura to wield that giant scythe (we calculated it probably has about Min ST 18, RWBY is probably at most ST 8 without Aura). There's an argument that that could merely be a feature of weaponry acting as Aura conduits however.

Originally Posted by GreatWyrmGold

Whoa, I'm getting there. Johnson's Rome wasn't written in a day.

Heh, true. Just thought I'd write what I know, and you might be able to make use of it.

Originally Posted by GreatWyrmGold

I hadn't gotten too specific with Dust. I figured that the simplest way would be to simply let characters have specific Dust-based attacks.

That's why I like Sorcery for it, those Dust-based attacks would just be built as Alternative Abilities to the core power. They would be the signature moves, but you'd still have a degree of flexibility when necessary.

[Kuroshima]

As another RWBY Fan (and I agree that volume 2 was not as good as volume 1, and we'll see what happens to volume 3) and long time GURPS fan, I must say that I feel that GURPS is not the right system for this. Sure, it can replicate the action on screen, but the problem is that the show is quite inconsistent and/or disregards physics a lot. Of course, if you went for a grittier feel, GURPS might suit you better.

For the over the top, fast and lose feeling that exudes from the show, however, I wold recommend Fate Accelerated. Just to give you an example of why, with my rendition* Yang Xiao Long's character sheet in FAE;

High Concept: The Hot-Headed Thrill-Seeking Brawler
Trouble: I Never Knew My Mother
Other Aspects:

• Bearer of Ember Celica
• "You'll Never Make Me Bow"
• Rose's Protector

Approaches:

• Good (+3): Forceful
• Fair (+2): Flashy, Quick
• Average (+1): Clever, Sneaky
• Mediocre (+0): Careful

Stunts

• Because I am more than meets the eye, I get +2 when I Forcefully attack when in a fight where I was hit strong enough (meaning that I took at least a mild consequence).

*This is a quick rendition, out of my head. It could certainly be improved

The beauty of FAE here is that it is so minimalist that it lets you distill the characters to their very essence, and that the fate point mechanic lets you do the crazy stunts shown in the show, without needing to have them permanently written down on the character sheet. Like many similar works, characters often show a single, one off ability that would solve future situations but they never use again. In FAE, it was an aspect invocation.

Aura is represented by stress and consequences, it doesn't need to be an explicit part of the system

[Wavefunction]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

As another RWBY Fan (and I agree that volume 2 was not as good as volume 1, and we'll see what happens to volume 3) and long time GURPS fan, I must say that I feel that GURPS is not the right system for this. Sure, it can replicate the action on screen, but the problem is that the show is quite inconsistent and/or disregards physics a lot. Of course, if you went for a grittier feel, GURPS might suit you better.

I admit, I did go for a grittier, darker feel of game, still set in Remnant. The biggest thing I think helped make it work, was I'd let players roll for pretty much anything, I'd just assess a penalty. You couldn't take the time to look up all the rules, it'd just get too cumbersome, so you had to just work on instinct.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Originally Posted by Wavefunction

I'm not convinced it drains RWBY's Aura to wield that giant scythe (we calculated it probably has about Min ST 18, RWBY is probably at most ST 8 without Aura). There's an argument that that could merely be a feature of weaponry acting as Aura conduits however.

Nothing says you have to take a Costs Aura limitation. We don't know enough to say one way or another, I guess.

Heh, true. Just thought I'd write what I know, and you might be able to make use of it.

And I appreciate it.

That's why I like Sorcery for it, those Dust-based attacks would just be built as Alternative Abilities to the core power. They would be the signature moves, but you'd still have a degree of flexibility when necessary.

I need to look up these rules before I comment more.

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

...I must say that I feel that GURPS is not the right system for this. Sure, it can replicate the action on screen, but the problem is that the show is quite inconsistent and/or disregards physics a lot. Of course, if you went for a grittier feel, GURPS might suit you better.

Perhaps, but it's a system I understand. Besides, the cinematic optional rules are in there for a reason.