The rules and how to play, version 2.0

The prologue

This game is set in an alternate timeline where the fake KT battles end with the final defeat of Aizen. Although an ultimate victory for the Soul Society, it came at a heavy toll. The Captain-commander died in the conflict, and every Captain and lieutenant suffered greiovous injury. These misfortunes, coupled with the fact that the soul society had already lost 3 captains to betrayal, and the act of fighting a battle in a false karakura town took a heavy toll on the seireitei's reishi, had made the war against Aizen a costly one. Although the immediate threat was now defeated, the Soul Society was weaker, and more vulnerable to invasion, than it had ever been in all of its thousand year history.

To help curve this weakness, acting-commander Unohana Retsu has ordered a mass draft of all the Rukon districts, searching for anyone with the slightest potential to become a shinigami. The academy soon became full to bursting with new potential shinigami, each eager to prove their worth and escape the impoverished life they knew before. You, too, found yourself among their ranks. Who you are, and what role you'll play in the tragedy to unfold are decisions that only you can make. However, know this: Whether you choose to be a savior of the soul society, or a bane who seeks to destroy it, you will always have the support of the world, and the opportunity to watch your story unfold.


The Status of Bleach Characters at the time of the RP:

Ichigo Kurosaki, Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryuu, and Yatsutora Sado never existed in this dimension. Rather than attempt to divide the shinigami forced prior to the battle, Aizen simply amassed all 10 of his espada at the fake karakura town battlesite


All of the Espada are either dead or missing. Aizen, Tousen, and Yammamoto are dead, Gin's status is unconfirmed.

The only fully combat-ready captains in the Soul Society are Kenpachi Zaraki, Unohana Retsu, Hitsugaya Toshiro, and Kyoraku Shunsui.

The moderately injured Captains are: Byakuya Kuchiki, Soi-fon, and Komamura

The only critically injured captain is Jyuushiro Ukitake.

The majority of the vice captains are at least mostly combat ready, with the sole exceptions being Rangiku Matsumoto and Momo Hinamori.


The Visored army disappeared after the battle with Aizen, most likely returning to the living world. Their official stance is still hatred toward the Soul Society, but if you can track them down, they may be willing to help.


New factions and characters

While all the original characters of Bleach will still be alive and supportive during the events of this roleplay, the story itself takes place while most are in no condition to undertake active combat. As a result, despite your untested status, you may find yourself playing a pivitol role in overcoming threats that may come against the Soul Society. In addition to the established canon characters and groups of Bleach, this RP introduces several new concepts and characters, including:

THE NEO-REAPERS: Because all fully tested shinigami are needed to shore the defense of Soul Society, the academy has placed the duty of defending the living world from hollow attacks onto the shoulders of new graduates. These graduates are placed into small groups and assigned a region to defend, just as a standard sinigami would in better times. These groups are known as the neo-reapers. From the time the RP begins until you are formally assigned to a division, you will likely count yourself among their number.

LA ORDEN DEL SABLE Y LA ROSA: A society of natural arrancars who avoided Aizen's draft in favor of their secrecy, virtually nothing is known of this group, except that they are six in number, and all loyal to a mysterious hollow they refer to as the "queen" Their menos rank and power levels are unknown, but it is theorized that at the very least they are comparable in destructive power to Aizen's espada.



How the game is played

If you've never participated in an RP before, then it can best be described as telling a story from the perspective of a single character. You will come up with a character to represent you, give them all the qualities, strengths, and weaknesses you feel you would have fun with, and then insert them into the bleach universe to impact it however they could.

The central story of the RP will be controlled by the Game Master (me, essentially) I will direct the NPCs in interacting with you, give you hints about where and what your character can do, and try to guide you in deciding how you want to shape the Bleach universe. The Game Master will also serve as your nemesis, controlling your enemies, and determining how difficult the challenges you face will be to overcome. For the most part, the story will be given to you in an open ended way, and you will then act however you feel your character will act within it.

For instance, the Game Master may set the scene by saying that it's an ordinary day of training, with nothing special to point out. In this situation, a player whose character is aggressive and easily bored will try to break the tedium by going out and picking a fight with a friend or rival, or a studious character may study to try to build their skills. While the setting and pace are outside of your control, everything your character thinks, feels, and does, is wholly within the bounds of your own imagination.

As to how the game proceeds... think of it as taking turns writing a paragraph of a large story. After the game Master sets the scene, the characters may take any order they please in interacting with each other. For instance, in the above mentioned scenario, one character may choose to acknowledge another, and greet them in a friendly manner. That player would then take his turn, writing how he responds to this. It's very simple, with the only gameplay mechanics that would require math handled by the Game Master, the player needs only focus on building their character as they like, and having fun.



Exploration and Battle

Battles are a bit more mechanical than story progression, depending on what type of battle is being fought.

For battles against enemies of the Game Master's creation, it's a simple task of deciding how your character would fight based on the strengths and weaknesses you gave them when making their character sheet. Depending on how tactically you use your strengths, the attack you attempt, and the strength of the enemy you're fighting, the Game Master will decide how successful you were, and how much damage was done.

For instance, a character who decided to specialize in speed may decide to use shunpo to sneak up on a hollow and strike it. The Game master would read the move, decide whether the hollow was strong enough to see it coming, and if so how much damage he could avoid, and then respond with the hollow's counterattack/damage/death.

Characters can also be free to fight each other at any time. In this instance they will control the pace of the fight, choosing their moves and counterattacks. The game master will impartially watch the fight, and determine which blows should hit based on who has the better skills and who most cleverly used their techniques in the fight. This is to prevent fights that stretch on forever, with neither side yielding, and to resolve conflicts between characters in the most expeditious way possible.


Kidou

All shinigami have access to kidou. The number of spells you will know at the start of the game is dependant upon whether you elected to excel, be average, or be weak at Kidou when creating your character sheet. Unless time is spent studying specific spells, or practicing the craft in general, your character will need to recite the entire incantation to use a kidou spell. This counts as a turn before the effect begins, which means that if you're fighting a hollow one-on-one, and he has nothing to distract him, he can and will attack you before the incantation is complete. While still young, it's best to save kidou for when you have comrades distracting a hollow, or you are otherwise empowered, before attempting to attack with it.

Refer to the Kidou spell list to see what spells are available to you at your talent level.


Growing stronger and evolving

At present, there is no experience system involved in this game. Your characters evolving, obtaining shikai/bankai, learning new kidou, strengthening their speed and bodies, and all other forms of improvement are entirely story driven. Engaging in battles will always help in these endeavors, as will training, and overcoming personal emotional dillemas. In short, the best way for your character to get better is for you to simply keep using them.

A look at the Character Sheet Guide will show that when you start will tell you that you may initially choose one combat aspect to excel in, one to be weak in, and two to be average in. What does this mean?

Well, for all created characters, including the villains the GM creates for you, there's a level hierarchy. To be precise:

weak<Average<Excels<Strong<Very Strong< Extremely Strong< Mastery< Perfection

When engaged in combat, how your level of training compares to an enemy's is what will determine the outcome. If a character with average speed attempts to flash step behind an enemy who excels at speed, the latter will see the move coming, and be prepared to counter before the former can even begin to attack. This doesn't mean it's impossible to win if your stats are lower, only that you'll have to be clever to make up for the skill difference. Your average skill level also determines your standing as a shinigami:

When at least 3 of your stats are “excels” you are regarded as a third-seat strength shinigami.
When at least 3 of your stats are “strong” and you've mastered Shikai, you're regarded as a vice-captain strength shinigami.
When at least 3 of your stats are “Very Strong” and you've mastered bankai, you're regarded as low-tier captain strength.

And so on.


Shikai, Bankai, and hollowfication, and Ressurecion:

This section isn't about how to obtain any of the following, but rather what their impact is on your battle.

Shikai: Your shikai's special ability can be anything the GM approves of. In addition to this special ability, while in your shikai state, your hoho, and either your zanjutsu, kidou, or hakuda (depending on weapon type) are both advanced to the next level of strength. This advance lasts only as long as your shikai is active, and your stats revert when your zanpakuto is resealed.

Bankai: Just like Shikai, except that instead of being advanced one level, relevant stats are advanced two levels. Again, this boost in stats lasts only as long as you remain in bankai.

Hollowfication: Some characters may find themselves in a position where their inner hollow has been awakened. For a long time, this will be far more of a curse than a blessing. The road to attaining and mastering vizard powers from initial hollowfication is almost as long and hard as the path to bankai, but if your character makes it without losing themselves to the hollow, your reward is the ability to manifest a hollow mask in battle. This mask can be used in conjunction with shikai or bankai, and boosts all stats except kidou by one level. The mask also gives you a fifth stat: Cero, the strength of which becomes your kidou strength plus two. The mask will be on a time limit based on the level of your training. When this time limit is up the mask will shatter without warning, taking all benefits with it, so be careful.

Ressureccion: Not important to player characters yet, but good to keep in reference for those who fight arrancar. When an arrancar releases his zanpaku-to, the power boost he gets is dependant upon his menos level:

Not a menos/ordinary hollow arrancar: +1 level to all stats
Gillian level arrancar: +2 to all stats
Adjuchas level arrancar: +3 to all stats
Vasto Lorde level Arrancar: +4 to all stats.


These are in addition to any special abilities the release may make them privy to. Make sure you're confident in your strength before tackling an arrancar enemy.


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So concludes version 2.0 of the rulebook. Version 3.0 will make rules for human/arrancar characters, for those wishing to run either of them, and will expound upon the rules still further.