ChibiRPG:
Playing the Game
If you've played an RPG before, you know the drill... each player does whatever they choose to do, the GM figures out the results based on their stats and skills, and round and round you go!
The first step is to create a character. It's kind of hard to play without one, you know?
Actually, that's a lie. The first step is to talk to your GM, to find out what kind of game you'll be playing in, what sort of characters are going to be needed, and what things will be allowed/disallowed. Then, that in mind, you can make a character.
Once you've come up with your character, submit it to your GM for approval. Once that's taken care of, the actual game can start.
Actual gameplay is pretty simple -- the players describe their actions, and the GM details the outcomes. Outside of combat, this is usually fairly relaxed, and you should feel welcome to roleplay freely. Try to actually roleplay things out and stay in character. It's much more effective to say "I'm going to shove the punk back into his chair, and yank his hair back." than to say "I will use Intimidation."
In Combat, however, things get a bit different. The Players begin making their actions in turn order, each round representing about 5 seconds of time. Other players should try to stay quiet, or at least limit themselves while another player is trying to take their turn. Having a comedic conversation off on the side while a fight is going on is distracting, and somewhat rude.
Characters will probably get injured during a game. If a character loses all HP, they are incapacitated. However, healing at least 1 HP will revive them, even if they are still at less than 0 HP. If HP drops to -10 or under, the character is dead. There are a couple of ways to recover HP, either through use of the Medicine skill or Healing Power. HP is also fully recovered between sessions.
Similarly, Chi can be regained during the course of the game. A character can generate 2 Chi in combat if they Meditate for one turn, but this Chi must be used immediately. Otherwise, it requires five minutes of rest to recover 1 Chi -- actual rest, not walking, getting into shouting matches, or anything else.
Be sure to keep track of your HP/Chi usage during the game, as well as any ammo you might use. The GM might lose track, or make a mistake, so it's always good to avoid arguments by having something to doublecheck with.
Actions generally fall under one of three types: Skill Usage, Combat, or Other.
Skill Usage:
1. Player decides to use a skill to approach a situation and says so with panache.
2. GM decides success rate needed according to difficulty and rolls on the skill. See the Skill Result Tables.
3. Success/Failure (along with Critical) results are given.Combat:
0. Turn order for all participants in the fight is determined. 1. Player decides what to do and says so with dramatic flair. After that it's up to the GM to handle the nitty gritty.
2. GM rolls to check if they're successful based on whatever skill they're attacking with. See the Skill Result Tables. If failed, stop here.
3. Figure out how much damage gets dished out according to 'weapon' used and any success/failure mods.
4. Check if the target has an appropriate defense ability (see skills); if so, roll and on a successful roll, figure how much they can defend against according to the chart.
5. Do the math, get the end result. Keep the players informed of the final numbers for their records, since we don't have a table we can scatter papers across, you know?
6. At GM discretion, an enemy may counterattack after a successful defense. This prevents the cast from easily ganging up on a lone enemy, but if overused, the vicious little bastard can do excessive damage. If not used at all, they're squashbait!Other
1. Player decides their course of action.
2. GM describes results, if any.
And that's basically it. The game keeps going, until the session runs out (at a predetermined time, or everybody passes out, or whatever). Then, if the GM prefers, he/she can write his/her character back into the story for convenience purposes, and close up the session. That's it!
The GM will then award CP for the session. You should earn at least 1 CP, just for playing. If you did a good job of roleplaying, you may get 2 CP. If you do an incredible job, or overcome great obstacles, you might even be awarded with 3 or 4 CP. That will be very rare, though. Mark the CP on your sheet. You can use it immediately, or save it up for a large expenditure later.
If there's anything you're unsure about... be democratic! If the whole group agrees on an issue, then it's golden. Be flexible and remember, it's all for fun!