#break!! rpg

[libergilt]

i may not pump blood, but I overflow soul

[break-rpg]

Just a reminder that not only is a store now open, but we have a special discount on all items as a celebratory launch event!

[zakbfree]

I'm absolutely thrilled to announce a collaboration between Animon Story and Break!! RPG! I'll be working with Reynaldo Madriñan/Naldobean Games (@NaldoDrinan) and Carlo Tartaglia/Grey Wizard Press (@MysteriousPath) on a chapter for Legend's Wake as part of a newly revealed stretch goal.

Check out the campaign and help us unlock the collab here!

I, like many others, have eagerly followed the development of Break!! for many years. In 2023, over 10,000 backers helped make the game a reality, and ever since I got my copy I've been absolutely charmed by the vibrant world and illustrations, precise and well-crafted rules, and by just how much fun this game brings to the table.

Rey and Carlo have also been long-term supporters of Animon Story, and we finally organised a proper collaboration. This will be a standalone chapter, usable independently of the main Legend's Wake campaign. Though I can't yet reveal exact details, it will likely include new Break!! inspired mechanics/optional rules, as well as a self-contained adventure/area to explore. Who knows, there might even be a more tangible link between Dunia and Outer World!

Please join me in giving Rey and Carlo a warm welcome to the world of Animon Story, and in the meantime be sure to check out Break!! RPG, and follow the upcoming START Zine Kickstarter campaign.

[literalcatpod]

This Month on the Literal Cat Podcast (09.2024)

Hey guys! Hope you liked Herding Cats Pt. 2! That's just the beginning of what we have to offer this month! Check it out!

On September 4, we've got a 2-for-1 special! Monsters and Other Childish Things by Arc Dream Publishing lets us give you more cat per cat! Special Thanks to @jackfrostdoll for joining us this episode!

Then, on September 18, we make a cat in the newly-released Break!! RPG! Luckily, @break-rpg made it easy for us with a convenient freebie! (they also made the rest of the game but we know why you're all here)

[vikugnavikugna]

Doodled a handful of characters for Break!! after (finally) reading the rulebook yesterday

[myfirstbreakcharacter]

I enjoy the Histories in BREAK!! being a mix of lifestyles. The last edition of D&D is probably the game most people have played that involved some kind of history/background mechanic, although I think we can all name some games where that's a much bigger factor. I think something that got missed in the way people treated those was that the initial PHB offerings were effectively all reasons one might travel. Even the Hermit: they lived a secluded live, discovered some secret or insight, and are out in the world now spreading that around. Over time this remained mostly true even if the became more tied to specific careers and experiences, a mix of superhero origin story and CV. In a world where you're constantly beset by giant beasts, ghoulies, magic monsters etc, the average NPC leads their life in one place.... content with their lot and awaiting a wandering party to fix their problems. When the world is wild, civilization is small. BREAK!!, on the other hand, is not terribly wild at all. There are places OF wildness, and places where time has gouged deep wounds into the world, but the world is largely known and "mapped" such that there are few places to leave blank for "here be dragons." Indeed, BREAK!!'s map indicates explicitly where there WERE dragons... What great nations and city-states exist do so with something approaching a modern awareness of one another that recalls at least the European colonial era if not late Victorian explorer accounts. Folks in Berry Town may have heard that the junkers of Stahlfield eat babies but they know where they are and what their overall deal is apart from those rumors, at least. One scholar of ancient culture I read in college had a definition of civilization as the point where a shared language is adopted, and since Low Speech is baked into the Outer World and spoken by all sapient things one could argue for BREAK!! being among the most civilized and connected fantasy settings on the market....

The Histories on offer do have some typical genre conventions (e.g. Knight Errant, Street Rat) but they're typically very specific and very tied to the demands and expectations of their associated regions. Some denote training, some denote upbringing, and some denote circumstances, but whereas I think a lot of D&D5's Background were designed from the perspective of "Why have you found yourself on the road in an adventuring party?" as if being "an adventurer" is something you can just fall into, BREAK!!'s Histories seem more designed around what your character would be doing if they weren't ON AN ADVENTURE. Tom Hanks used to be a teacher in Saving Private Ryan and that does inform his character and his behavior when you know that, but it's wildly different from how everyone in his command pictures him. He's on an adventure because of a convergence of unique circumstances, some of which arose our of necessity and some of which seem almost contrived against him. He's going to go back there some day, just like Gonzo the Great. There are others in his company who feel differently, who can't wait to leave their old life behind and use the money and experience from their military service as a launchpad into something new, something better than the circumstances they left behind.

That's because the Histories in BREAK!! represent a choice. There are some folks bopping around doing good deeds because it's what they've run towards, and there are others for whom these wonders and horrors are only something to run THROUGH. Sometimes the choices are easier than others: someone devoted to "vanquishing all evil" after a life of pious service will find being a vagabond savior a smooth, imperceptible transition. A merchant or craftsman might easily find opportunities to ply their trade during travels, or might commit to this new way of life precisely because of the opportunities it affords them for when they elect to walk away. That's life, though: depending upon our circumstances and resources, some lifestyles might make some choices easier or much much harder depending on the person.

But it is a choice. That's why they're Histories and not Backgrounds. Do you long for the Shire and wish you'd never left, or do you embrace the riches and spectacle that you've found walking man's road: your past or your present? Known or unknown? You have to reconcile it somehow to have any future worth speaking about at all.

[jaffre]

creatures

[keepitdreamin]

Had our session 0 for a Break!! rpg game so introducing Grace "Raven" Barnes who gets isekaid into this fantasy world, immediately reads the "Forbidden Script," and is now able to summon spirits.

This is basically a pose/photo study of a goth pose I found on reddit. Changed her outfit, hair, makeup, added her Kuromi plush, then added cat ears to the angel statue because there is a cat-person race (and changed the letters to an in-game language).

[breakingthemold]

An Intro of Many Doors

Life leads us to many doors in the Outer World. Traveler, you will see here a few of the odder assortments.

This is a blog created for homebrew Histories and other assorted oddities for the BREAK!! RPG. Please enjoy your stay.

Creations Index

Histories

Adventurer Archaeologist (Homeland: Other World)

Aiden Survivor (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Anthropomorphized Grimoire (Homeland: Any Outer World)

Arena Gladiator (Homeland: Blazing Garden)

Assembled From Spare Parts (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Athletic Contender (Homeland: Other World)

Barber Surgeon (Homeland: Blazing Garden)

Bitter Quest Giver (Homeland: Any Outer World)

Caravan Guard (Homeland: Blazing Garden)

Chimney Sweep (Homeland: Buried Kingdoms or Twilight Meridian)

Chivalric Orders (Homeland varies)

Chosen Fun (Homeland: Any)

Colossus Slayer (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Costumed Hero (Homeland: Other World)

Darkforest Lumberjack (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Demon Hunter (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Desert Ascetic (Homeland: Blazing Garden)

Devil's Advocate (Homeland: Twilight Meridian, Wistful Dark)

Firefighter (Homeland: Other World)

Forgotten Sword Mercenary (Homeland: Twilight Meridian)

Freed From the Shadow Beast (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Frequently Reincarnated (Homeland: Any Outer World)

Grin-Giver's Helper (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Infused Calling (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Kingslayer Enforcer (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Knight of the Lantern (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Knight of the Open Road (Homeland: Blazing Garden)

Knight of the Sacred Chain (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Local Route Guide (Homeland: Twilight Meridian)

Mall Santa (Homeland: Other World)

Master Thou (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Matchmaker (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Merona's Employee (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Monster Cleanup (Homeland: Blazing Garden, Twilight Meridian, or Wistful Dark)

Muse (Homeland: Twilight Meridian)

Musician (Homeland: Other World)

Noble in Distress (Homeland: Blazing Garden, Twilight Meridian, or Wistful Dark)

Occultist Charlatan (Homeland: Other World)

Old Master (Homeland: Twilight Meridian)

Pearl Diver (Homeland: Twilight Meridian)

Pitiable Wretch (Homeland: Any Outer World)

Pro Gamer (Homeland: Other World)

Prodigal Scum (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Provincial Lawkeeper (Homeland: Blazing Garden)

Public Enemy (Homeland: Blazing Garden)

Railway Attendant (Homeland: Buried Kingdoms or Twilight Meridian)

Real Goo-Getter (Homeland: Buried Kingdoms)

Reskinned Skeleman (Homeland: Any Outer World)

Shrine Keeper (Homeland: Twilight Meridian)

Slow Lifer (Homeland: Blazing Garden)

Spirit Made Flesh (Homeland: Any Outer World)

Stahlfieldian Folk (Homeland: Twilight Meridian)

Truck-Kun Corp. Employee (Homeland: Other World)

Trusty Porter (Homeland: Wistful Dark)

Unchosen One (Homeland: Any)

Other

My GM Gave to Me (The 12 Days of BREAK!!mas)

Questionable Other World Ideas

(Image Source)

[not-this-crude-matter]

Yooooo Break!! RPG final PDF is out for backers! Check your email, loves

[cythraul]

PC a Week: Wind Vane

System: Break!!

Wind Vane

Rai-Neko, Raider, Startech Adept

Might 10, Deft 9, Grit 7, Insight 9, Aura 7

Attack +1, Hearts 2/2, Defense 12, Fast, Medium

Abilities

Like the Wind: speed rating is “Fast”

Hunter’s Focus: once per fight, can designate a target and get Edge on rolls against it

Sidestep: once per fight, sidestep any feasibly-avoided attack.

Hunter’s Blood: Edge on Insight rolls related to five senses

Supernatural Leaping

Purviews

Obsessing over gadgets, magitech, and other curious technology.

Working with any technology

Analysis and troubleshooting

Providing a reason for anything

Combat Gear Allowances: any weapons, small and standard shields, light and medium armor

Description and Background

Wind Vane has dark blue-grey fur, and amber-yellow eyes.  He was born with wings.  As a young adult, he’s slender and short.  He most often dresses in shades of green, especially bright green.

He grew up in Nyanko, and showed a particular aptitude for analyzing and fixing gadgets and machinery from an early age.

At 8, Wind Vane was formally apprenticed to Blossom Rose, an experienced Startech Adept.

When he was 12, his mother commissioned him a sword from Pie Chart, their neighbourhood weaponsmith - the same smith who had made her own first sword.

Wind Vane has always considered himself a tinker, an intellectual, a mechanic, and an academic.  Leaving home to set out on a great adventure is a rite of passage that he doesn’t relish.

He’s shy and awkward, and either clams up or puts his foot in his mouth.  He talks quite openly to a small ivory tiger he carries in his traveler’s bag - “Oh, Daisy, we're really in it now!”

Inventory (13 slots)

Open-backed tunic and breeches (functional outfit) / 2 (worn)

Startech Monitor (scanner) / 1

Pie Chart sword (standard weapon) / 1 [Chargen]

A leaf-blade sword with anthropomorphic hilt, of the sort that old Pie Chart has made and sold since Wind Vane’s parents were children.

Traveler’s Bag

Catboy Sailor Suit (appealing outfit) / 2 [bought]

10 * Rations / 1 [ bought]

Startech Battery (small spell engine) / 1

670 stones

[break-rpg]

The printers sent us pictures of the very first copy of the book!

[zakbfree]

Rascal News announcement for the Break!! x Animon Story crossover!

[antidiluvianobservatory]

I strongly, strongly recommend a game called BREAK!! as a game that will be both familiar to D&D newcomers and different enough to appeal to those wanting to break (pun partially intended) away from that. The game is very much inspired by anime and jrpgs (as well as games not really jrpgs but are adjacent such as The Legend Of Zelda). It has a good amount of diversity in its artwork in both body shape and ethnicity and while orientation is not specifically mentioned, lore-wise it's mentioned that this is a very adoption-friendly world and relationships of all kinds are accepted.

Mechanics-wise, the only die you'll need is a D20. Basic combat rolls work the same as D&D in that you add an attack bonus to your roll and need to roll over a defence rating to hit the enemy. Most rolls follow a roll under format, with success coming from rolling under your stat meaning less work for the GM and better clarity for the players on whether or not they succeed. Character creation is very fun and there's tables so you could roll up a usable character in two minutes. This rng might create a character who is not "optimal" but will never produce an unusable character and it explicitly points out that sometimes playing a character that goes against the norm is more fun. Combat is also not the focus. Even the combat-focused classes (called Callings by the game) have plenty of non-combat options.

The game has finished its Kickstarter, but you can still preorder the book through there. If you have ordered the physical book you get the pdf now and can get straight to playing without needing to wait. The physical book was expected to arrive late November, early December but has been delayed until January so that they can iron out some typos and fix some of the art.

Hey, nerds.

I am writing a small zine with some other nerds of my lgbtq ttrpg association to recommend roleplaying systems and games other than DnD to newcomers or people looking to switch games. Our plan is yo make a kind of "character sheet" for each system detailing its focus and then add a bunch of particular game recommendations to pick it up.

Is there any game or system that you think should be added?

We already have a lot of ideas, but I'd love yo know what you think about that.

[myfirstbreakcharacter]

Get Random With Me

I wanted to make an adventure site using the tools presented in the book and I wanted to show how I go about it. The first step is in gathering results from BREAK!!'s tables. I prefer to start on p342, and going through the section on Encounters. I'll use 2 results from some tables but only 1 from others. That'll give me a list....

From there, I start matching up elements. This is where rolling multiples of some items can come in handy. This quickly establishes a lived-in narrative in a way that makes this adventure make sense, because no element exists in isolation. It's about how everything relates to each other.

I don't feel like the restraints trap really fits in with everything else in a way which speaks to me so I may scrap that result but I'll leave it in for now. Let's look at what we've got so far: 1. A hidden grave (read: unmarked) in a difficult-to-cross, eerily serene area suggests to me a forgotten cemetery of some kind, one of those places like you see in Dark Souls or New Orleans or rural areas where folks are just....piled on each other over time. Peaceful and nice in its way but not calm in a welcoming way. If we're recovering lost tech then the strange mechanism may be something that the grave's occupant wanted to take with him....that may even explain why the grave is unmarked. May be some kind of portal device. An inventor who wanted to protect the world from what they created? 2. Our noble could be someone who coveted that technology and has spent a long time searching for it. The birds/skree are his eyes and ears, and Medium-sized growls act as his muscle. He may be old. He's not even for sure a "he" but cmon wasting all this time pursuing this power that doesn't belong to him when his station could afford him ANY other opportunity? That's a guy. He's been digging, probably using a grid system in search of this grave....a mechanism by which he can seal off sections of the cemetery while he searches could make sense. Probably a magical barrier, a ward.... 3. I like the idea of making the fog more of a local hazard than a trap, and making that what's obscuring everyone's vision. I wouldn't make it too toxic in terms of burning through players' hearts but I might make it toxic enough that only those with Rebreathers can recover hearts, including after a Fight. The glowing light leading them through the fog is a nice idea....the spirit of the departed inventor? It's also raining frogs (ribbittys?) who are unaffected by the fog. 4. Abandoned quarters could represent the home of the inventor on the grounds....is this his ancestral stead, or was he a brilliant gravedigger?....the confused god imprisoned within could have been the key to unlocking the secrets of the portal device. The god may not have a full understanding of time or death, or for that matter of imprisonment; this can be a god in the sense of a force less than a full personality. It may still be expecting the inventor to turn up. I've watched enough Danny Phantom that it makes sense to have the portal device be used to seal away the "hungry adventurers," which could be your standard walking dead but which I prefer to make a kind of ravenous semi-spectral horde, one which perhaps terrorized this plain in the wake of a great battle until sealed away. That wouldn't leave much opportunity for an abandoned home or a cemetery to develop, so maybe they only manifest at certain anniversaries....

Thinking about how the opening to Ninja Gaiden or an oldschool anime recap would handle this helps to put things into perspective for me. Also, when in doubt I just think about the images I want to capture. In this case there are 3: the entity/horde being sealed away as they try to breach into the world again, the noble villain surrounded by his animal servitors, and the uncomfortable effort of clambering over markers and amphibians while following a light in the fog. If I wanted to capture the restraints-trap, I'd do so with the lashing, grasping limbs of the phantom horde as they first escape their containment, moving and flailing as one creature... "In the misty ruins of a mansion's grounds, a bitter aristocrat continually searches for the magical technology he believes is rightfully his. Our heroes must brave the dangers of the Coughin' Gardens or else an ancient curse will be re-visited upon the surrounding countryside."

There's a version of this scenario where the noble listens to reason and it's only through the united efforts of the company, the noble, the god, and the spirit of the inventor that the device is able to renew the seal against the horde, and their opposition comes from a mutiny by the carrion-feeders the noble employs as his spies. Manipulated by the same deathly forces which bind the hungry horde in its sinister cycle...

But it's also an interesting PLACE to spend a session and at least 3 interesting figures around whose struggles the scenario revolves. There's a handful of clear goals. I'm also a big fan of scenarios where things are already moving toward either escalation or resolution by the time the players gets involved. It lets them choose whether to bring a deft touch or a Gordian knot solution to the proceedings when it feels less like all these people were standing around waiting for some adventurer to come and do everything for them; players feel less like their level of investment is being assumed on their behalf.

Battlefield areas can be Isolated or Precarious, most of them can be Obscured, and I'd keep the threat of suffocation at bay and out of a fight's logistics if I were to employ my heart-recovery restriction I mentioned earlier....

Anyhow, that's what I'd do...