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Let the playtesting begin!

This storyline actually got extremely abbreviated, there's been a bit of a timeskip. I had originally planned to show Max and Jamie puzzling through the mechanics they wanted to use for this game - how they came up with the "tick" system to delineate different types of actions in a round, how they worked out breakbeating and downbeating, how they debated the pros and cons of traditional "hit points"... but then I realized that I AM THE ONLY PERSON ON THE PLANET WHO WOULD FIND ALL OF THAT EVEN REMOTELY INTERESTING.

So I cut it. Don't say I never did nuthin' for ya, Internet.

Still, in the interest of continuing my tradition of providing playable games in the body of this comic, I've actually written up the full system document that Max is going to be distributing to her players - you can download the PDF here. Keep in mind, though, that Jamie and Max are absolutely rank amateurs at this sort of thing.

I mean, they're playtesting. Real game-makers run campaigns on untested beta versions!

0330-------------------------------------

(Sunday afternoon, INT: EB and JH's apartment)

JH: ...Okay, so what've we got?
MH: Our stats are Hit, Aim, Dodge, Grab, Sneak, Move, Endure, Social, Notice, and Trivia. In character creation, you put numbers in there between five and negative one, and they all have to add up to twenty. Consider a zero to be average human baseline. Core mechanic is stat plus d20.
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MH: HP is thirty plus three times your Endure. Defense is Dodge plus ten. A two-tick move on the grid is five squares plus your Move score. Doing things I like gives you Mayhem points, which allow you to add ten to any roll, or to your Defense for one round. For every ten you beat a target's Defense by, you get to double your damage.
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MH: Healing yourself is a four-tick action, and you gain the result of an Endure check. We've got rules for Downbeating and Breakbeating... Am I forgetting anything?
JH: Just one thing.
MH: Which is?
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JH: Now I gotta whip up a character and kick your fucking ass with it.
MH (exaggerated kungfu pose, Asiany font): Your kung fu is weak, grasshopper! You have disrespected my master, and now you must face me in glorious battle!