"I wish I was born 2-dimensional!"

[Kenway]

The other name I was considering was "Anime Losers, Get a Life!"

   This is more of a way of playing rather than an actual rpg, but should still be able to be played standalone.

   Sources:  The setting is based on a university creative writing project I wrote called EXO.
   With apologies to Forge-favourite Violence Future, this game is meant to be a mockery of Japanese videogame and animation obsessed fans made by an obsessed fan for obsessed fans:).

   Setting:  While the gameplay is meant to be fairly silly, the setting is (hopefully) very interesting.
   When does it take place?  In an alternate dimension, one second in the future.
   The coolest game in the world is Scrambling.  Well, it's cool to those who play it.  While being a Scramble player may be cool to you and your freinds, it's akin someone saying they're a professional videogame player in real life.
   Scramble players have wireless connections to the internet in their portable credit card-sized computers that they wear on their neck like dog tags.  The interface transmits signals directly to and from your brain.  Headaches, nausea, hallucinations are side effects in a small majority (sic) of players.
   The game itself empowers players with the pyrotechnics seen in X/1999 or Psychic Force, but it has the collectability of Pokemon, Card Captor Sakura or Magic:TG.

   As a result of mankind's disdain for the environment, the earth is slowly regressing- that is, trees are growing quickly to recover deforested regions, water is naturally cleaned, dodo birds return, etc.   Also "low-tech" zones are created in the regressing regions, where newer technologies don't seem to work.  It's predicted that in about a decade, the world will return to the state that existed 5000 years ago.  People on a whole, think that the earth "fixed" itself and that pollution really wasn't such a big deal.
   Actually, once the earth has fully regressed, the earth will unleash hordes of monsters(?) to destroy the offending species, ie. man.
   Worse, since man is increasing his amount of resource exploitation in response to the regression, the earth is not regressing evenly.  That is, in some regions only nineteenth or seventeenth or earlier century technology works consistently.  Decks work fine in all regions, since they are worn and are in close proximity to persons (who don't regress).  If the regression and exploitation is allowed to continue, the earth with become a chaotic mishmash in about one year, and the mutated monsters will invade, completely uncontrollable by the earth.
   The players are the ones who should deal with the problems, but they're all more interested in playing games.

   Characters:
   Female characters must make up at least 50% of the party because that's the way it is in anime.
   Your character is based upon an Anime/videogame character of your choice.  The more obscure the better.  The only things you need to record are looks, dress and mannerisms.  Note:  you are not actually playing *as* an anime character.  Your character is an anime wannabe.
   Your character is defined by his Deck.  At any time, only 3 Cards in your Deck are active.  The Cards' numbers must equal 6.  You have to give your set of 3 cards a theme name, a la Magic: The Gathering.  For example, Chronomaster Deck (Time Slowdown4, Airwalk1, Deflection1), or Fire Sprite Deck (Flame creation3, Sleight of Hand2, Acrobatics1).
   [rough mechanics]
   When you want to use a Card, roll that many number of D6's.  If any die is even, you get a success.

   ZONES:  At any time you can push a coin into the centre.  While you do this, you make a quote appropriate to the scene or otherwise make a reference to an Anime, eg. "I'm surrounded by idiots!" or "Helmets save lives!"  The first person to identify the series gains your coin.  If no one is able to correctly identify the series, you do so and earn back your coin.
   In either case, now that the ZONE is set up, all players must try to make as many references/homages to the series as they play.  This ZONE lasts until someone else changes it.

   REWARDS:  Anytime someone makes a reference/quote appropriate to the established ZONE, a genuinely amused player can ask the GM to reward that person with a coin.

   COINS:  You can spend a coin to redo your Deck.  Your new numbers cannot be exactly the same as your previous numbers.  If the Deck is particularly lame, a player can demand a coin from you.
   Deck rationale:  it seems that the characters have an endless supply of cards.  That's because for these characters, their Deck *is* their life.


   Comments (setting, rules, or whatever) please?

[mahoux]

Anime rocks!  At least that's what I've been told.  I myself am not a huge fan of the genre, but this game smacks of Kewlry.  For that I am impressed.  I also like the card mechanic idea, neat little homage to your game of choice.

Of course, not being an obsessed fan, the ZONE doesn't help me out in the least.  But aside from that, I reiterate Kewl (in a good sense).

[damion]

I've seen maybe 5 anime's in  my life, so I wouldn't play it, but I do have to say this.
   There doesn't seem to be much relation between the setting(Earth Regressing) and the game.(Anime wannabe's). I'd reccomend removing the setting, since it doesn't matter anyway and keep it to build a real game in that actually uses it, since it sounds like a really cool idea.
      The other idea would be you mentioned 'the players are the one's who should be saving the earth, but their to busy playing games'. If you want to keep the setting, I'd expand on that theme.

Just some thoughts.

[Kenway]

Thanks for the replies.

   A FAN'S GAME:  In rpg sessions I've played in and read (eg. The Fantasy Role-Playing Gamer's Bible), often people needlessly act like characters from and quote from various movies(Aliens, Evil Dead), SF tv shows(Buffy, Star Trek), anime(Ranma 1/2), video games(Final Fantasy), etc.  The rules were meant to be a reward system of sorts for such silly, fannish and often disruptive behaviour:).

   THE SETTING:  I'm very happy you thought this was interesting.
   The regressing timeline was sort of an excuse to have modern tech and 19th-century steampunk in the same setting.  As well, it references the Gaia hypothesis (the earth is one big living organism).

   The SF-obsessed characters in this game were meant to be the ultimate "geeks."  In most SF, computer-addicted cyberpunks are often depicted as cool, but here they're laughed at by the mainstream.  Hopefully, the geeky players will get the connection and be able to laugh at themselves.
   The character ideas were meant to extend/satire the current trends of ubiquitous cell phones/Palm PCs and obsessive Pokemon/Magic:TG collecting.  I thought it would be interesting if such maligned people were the only ones who could save a dying Earth.  If you know such tech or collection-obsessed people (or are one of them- sorry!), you know they're too preoccupied to care about basically anything.
   The Cards and Decks could either be played straight or humourously- players can mash out polysyllabic parodies of Pokemon/Magic:TG cards.

   I wasn't quite skilled enough to unify the characters, setting and mechanics all together.
   I'll probably separate the things as James (Daimon) suggested.