Digimon Digital Adventures A Digimon Roleplaying Game
Version 1.1
Chapter 1: Introduction: Chapter 2: Character Creation
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Chapter 4: Combat
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Human Character Creation 4 Attributes 5 Skills 5 Aspects 6 Torments 7 Sanity Drain 9 Inspiration 10 Rounding out the Tamers 11 Digimon Creation 12 Digimon Stats 12 Qualities 13 Base Qualities 14 Advanced Qualities 20 Digizoid Qualities 26 Burst Power 27 Digimon Attacks 28 Derived Stats, Size, and Movement 29 Rounding out the Digimon 30
Chapter 3: Mechanics
How does Combat Work? 39 Initiative 40 Range and Movement 40 Attacks and Damage 41 Stances 41 Digivolving in Combat 42 Interceding 42 Attack Effects 43 Clashing 44 Tamers in Combat 45 Defeat 45 Combat Examples 46 Combat Example 1 46 Combat Example 2 48
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Rolling 32 Skill Checks 32 Pool Checks 33 Stunts, Teamwork, and Mounting TN’s 33 Digivolving 34 Alternate Digivolving Methods 35 Dark Digivolve 35 DNA Digivolve/Fusion 36 Hybrid Digivolve 37 Armor Digivolve 37 Character Advancement 38
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Combat Example 3 49
Chapter 5: Game Mastering
Advanced Digimon Creation 31
if given a second everyone can give up and run
the beat of your heart will become your weapon
TABLE oF CONTENTS
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Your Digital World, Your Way 53 Adversaries and Antagonists 57 Digivice Design 58 Families and Types 59 Opposed Rolls 60 Houserules and Alternate Rules 61 Gear and Items 63 Boss Battles 65 Boss Qualities 66 Negative Qualities 69 Planning Ahead 71 Variants and Unique Digimon 72 Closing Statement 73
Welcome to Digimon: Digital Adventures! This is a Tabletop Role-Playing System, ideally played with between three and five players (one Game Master and five Players), based upon the Digimon: Digital Monsters franchise. For those of you familiar with the franchise and Tabletop systems: that’s great. But it might not hurt to give this chapter a glance either. If you’re not familiar with either Digimon or any Tabletop system, it’s suggested you give this section a quick read to be safe. For those of you not familiar with Digimon; Digimon is a series of the monster taming genre. That means that it’s all about humans and monsters working together towards their goals; generally speaking that goal is saving the world, if not multiple worlds. Digimon, or Digital Monsters, are powerful creatures generally formed out of data, who sport incredible power. Most times paired up with a human partner, often refered to as a Tamer or a Digidestined, who the Digimon will protect and fight alongside, growing stronger physically by changing their forms through Digivolving, while their partner often grows into a better person along the way; overcoming their fears and shortcomings in order to save the day. Digimon will most likely be inhabitants of the Digital World, a chaotic plane all their own with mysterious origins. Digimon stories are tales about growing up, overcoming your fears, and making lifelong friends.
from now on you have vowed to have no regrets
big and bigger biggest dreamer keep running
Chapter 1: Introduction
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tabletop systems; Tabletop systems are games which help try to balance rules, and imagination, to help create a fun and enjoyable experience of telling a story between multiple parties. Those two parties are generally the Game Master (GM) and the Players. Players will create a character who they will take the role of, it’s an RPG (Role-Playing Game). In the case of Digimon: Digital Adventures; one character is actually two; a human and their Digimon partner. But to continue: a Tabletop system will use a dice roll to help determine the result of an action. This helps create a fair, but potentially risky, way to figure out how everything plays out. Players are put into the shoes of their character; they’re meant to gauge the situation and act as the character would; taking a role, and playing it, so to speak. This isn’t always easy however, don’t be too hard on yourself if it doesn’t come naturally right away. Digimon, Digital Adventures exclusively utilizes multiple D6’s (Six-sided Dice; you can find them in your average household Monopoly set) to make rolls. That said; fair warning that if you delve into a game (or campaign) long enough; you might want to invest in additional dice. The pools you can roll later in the game can hit very high levels if you build your character just right. This can be fairly overwhelming; if you intend to play a particularly lengthy campaign of the system it might even be necessary to invest in a site which can calculate the roll results for you on the fly. But enough about the bare-bones details of the system; I’m sure you’re all excited to dive right in!
Hey there! My name is Agumon Expert, and I’ll be here to help you on your read-through of Digimon: Digital Adventures. If I’m showing up; it’s because there could be some ideas that could help you to make a better story with the system. Interesting alternate rulings, fluff changes, or potential houserules? I’ll do my best to lend you a hand!
Sup. My name is Fake Agumon Expert, and I’ll be hiding out here and there in the handbook for Digimon: Digital Adventures. If I’m around; it’s because there could be some ideas that could help the Game Master make a more difficult challange using the system. Bosses? Special Rules? Power Builds? You can bet I’ll be there offering my advice. 2
Chapter 2: Character Creation A Player’s character in Digimon: Digital Adventures is actually two. Players will create both a human and a Digimon partner, both built using pools of points which they can spend to improve their stats, and in the case of Digimon, purchase special capabilities to aid them in their adventure. Human characters, while often frail and weak in terms of combat when it comes to opposing Digimon (the average human who isn’t ready to fight will probably struggle even against Rookie stage Digimon), will be great for making skill rolls, and will often be the point of narrative focus for your campaigns. This doesn’t mean that human can’t jump into the fray; far from it, but it just might not be for everyone. That also doesn’t mean Digimon cannot make skill checks or even excel at them; in some scenarios Digimon can even start to outperform humans in those fields. Digimon meanwhile are adept at combat and minor in the field of utility; they’re the muscle that moves to protect their Tamers, and defeat any forces who might be a threat to the safety of the party. Digimon don’t necessarily have to be big, lumbering brutes however; plenty of them go about fighting in more subtle ways; striking from the shadows, creating barriers which protect their allies, or weakening the enemy with various ailments such as poison or blindness. Even then; not all Digimon are inherently fighters; many of them prefer a peaceful solution to their problems. Be sure to take that into consideration when choosing, and building, your character’s partner Digimon. Humans have five core Attributes (Agility, Body, Charisma, Intelligence, Willpower), which are further split up into fifteen Skills (Dodge, Fight, Stealth, Athletics, Endurance, Feats of Strength, Manipulate, Perform, Persuade, Computer, Decipher Intent, Knowledge, Perception, Bravery). While it will only be a short time before we delve into these Stats further; it’s a good idea to have them in mind already when building a character. The numerical values assigned will change how good your character is at a certain type of action. Humans furthermore have to each choose two Aspects, things which describe a major part of their being, and at least one Torment, something of a personal nature which will cause problems throughout their journey, something they’ll need to work to overcome. Digimon have five core Stats they use as well (Accuracy, Damage, Dodge, Armor, and Health) which will effect how they work in Combat. Digimon also have derived Stats of Wound Boxes (many other games call these Hit Points, or HP), Movement, Body, Brains, and Agility. The last three skills allow Digimon to perform normal, but basic, Skill checks the way humans do, and humans may even utilize their Attributes and Skills to calculate their Derived Stats for times when they’re involved in combat directly. However, unlike humans, Digimon also have the ability to purchase Qualities; a special type of Feature which will make their base points more efficient, or grant them interesting and useful maneuvers for use in combat, or grant them a greater edge when it comes to how they perform out of combat.
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Human Character Creation Humans, at creation, have a pool of points to spend improving their Stats on a 1-for-1 basis, known as Creation Points (CP). The amount of CP you have, and the amount of CP you can spend in a category (Attributes or Skills), varies depending on the character’s Age. That’s right; how old your character is will have a mechanical effect on how you’ll build them here in Digimon: Digital Adventures. The Age Ranges given on the table below are simply guidelines, so that GM’s may allow a wider variety of Age Ranges, while not having to worry about each Age Group (Child, Teenager, and Adult), potentially being better than another in the game. For example, if one GM wants their campaign to use the Teenager template, but the concept the player has has their character at age 18; very little will have to be changed. This can also be justified as everyone maturing and getting stronger at a different rate; not everyone is mentally, physically, or emotionally mature just because they’re 18 and not technically a child anymore. Just be sure to ask your GM what the Age Range they want for their game to be. But in the end, GM’s have the final say in what Age Ranges are allowed in the setting; be sure to respect their wishes. In addition; each Age Group has a Cap on how many Creation Points they can spend on a single Attribute or Skill, as well as a Final Cap; a hard Cap which the character cannot go above, even after spending additional Experience to increase their Stats (See Page 38). A character can only have ONE Attribute and ONE Skill at their Starting Cap at creation; all their other Attributes and Skills must be at least one point below minimal. So if, for example, your Child character puts 3 points into Body, their other Attributes must be 2 or lower. The same goes for Skills: if a Child character has 3 points in Fight, their other Skills must be at 2 or below. Don’t forget; you can only spend up to your Area Cap on Attributes or Skills at creation (if you are capable, you may end up spending all of your CP on Attributes and Skills, if you feel that’s how you want to make your character.). For example, a Teenager character could spend up to 20 points on Attributes, and up to 20 points on Skills, but could not spend 21 points on Attributes and 19 points on Skills, or vise-versa.
Age Group
Child
Teenager
Adult
Age Range
0-14
12-20
16+
5
7
10
Starting CP Starting Cap Final Cap Area Cap
30
40
3
5
20
20
50 7
25
GM’s; when you’re designing your campaign; be sure to ask yourself what Age Range you want to use. Think about what would work best for your campaign; is it better to have a bunch of young kids out trying to find their place in the world, or a group of adults who are working to better themselves? Setting is important too! If it’s a more mature, dark setting, maybe a war-torn world where kids might not be doing as well is a better place to allow adult templates than a generic campaign based off the anime series. And while it’s not against the rules; be careful when allowing multiple Age Ranges in the same campaign. It might be workable to have children and teenagers running around in the same group, an adult in a group of children might cause a bit of trouble due to their vastly superior stats. If you’re confident in your ability as a GM to create stories and encounters which will make both parties feel equally important to the story, by all means, do so! This is more a guideline than a hard rule. 4
Attributes
Agility
A measure of the human’s manual dexterity and general reflextes. Agility covers throwing things, jumping out of the way of monsters or moving objects, and your overall coordination. Agility, and the Skills Dodge and Fight are used to figure out a human’s Dodge and Accuracy stats later on. Agility will also help calculate the character’s Movement stat; how far they can move in a single round.
Charisma
Charisma is a character’s force of will and persuasiveness. Charismatic characters will be more likable, or just know what makes people tick. If your character has a particularly high Charisma score, they might even be able to talk their way out of a fight, so long as the GM allows them to make the roll.
Body
The sum of the tamer’s strength and constitution. Body is often used with skills that govern your endurance and physical power. Body is essentially how good of physical shape the tamer is in. Body is also used for calculating the tamers Wound Boxes, Armor, and Damage stats later on.
Intelligence
Plainly put; how smart the character is, or how knowledgeable they are. A well-read, bookworm type of character, or one who sports an extensive amount of technical knowledge, will get a lot of use out of Intelligence. Intelligence can also help a character figure out what someone means, or the use of an object.
Willpower
Willpower is the human character’s overall sense of self, and their focus; characters with a high Willpower will not back down unless they decide to themselves. Willpower is also linked to how well the character is able to percieve the world around them in the form of the Perception and Survival Skills.
Skills Agility-Related
Dodge: Used when the tamer needs to avoid being hit. Fight: Used when the human is trying to hit something. Stealth: Used when the character has to hide or avoid detection.
Intelligence-Related
Computer: The name says it all; used for skill checks directly involving technology. Survival: How good a character is at making it on their own. Generally used to find supplies or gather tools in the wild. Knowledge: A general skill used for book smarts, and their ability to memorize.
Body-Related
Athletics: Used for acts like climbing, jumping, and swimming. Endurance: Used when testing the characters ability to go without, usually without food, water, or shelter for an extended period, or other physical stresses. Feats of Strength: Lifting, pulling, pushing, and so on.
Willpower-Related
Perception: The ability to sense what’s around your character, whether by direct sight, or in some cases common sense. Decipher Intent: Used to figure out what’s going on, whether it’s how a tool works, or what something or someone is actually up to, or trying to say. Bravery: Used when a character needs to face their fears, overcome horrifying scenarios, or face overwhelming odds.
Charisma-Related
Manipulate: Used to manipulate other characters via lying or misdirection. Perform: Used for singing, dancing, using a musical instrument, or otherwise entertaining. Persuade: A gauge of how convincing the character is; this is generally more honest than Manipulate.
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Aspects Each character has something, or in this case several somethings, which is unique to them, helps to describe them, and helps them in various situations further than their raw stats. Some characters might be bright, others might be strong, and others might have fantastic social skills. A character, at creation, has two Aspects: one Major, and one Minor.
A Major Aspect is something which is very apparent and prominent about the character’s personality, something which is deeply ingrained in them, or something that they’re particularly good at. A Minor Aspect is something about the character which is a bit more subtle, or, while they’re skilled with it, might not be nearly as apparent or used as often. Be sure to consider how key to the character you want an Aspect to be; if you want it to be a defining trait, it should probably go to the Major Aspect slot. If it’s something which, while important, might not be a very defining trait of the character, it might be better suited for the Minor Aspect for the character.
Whenever a Aspect becomes relevant to a roll, you get to modify the roll further. If a Major Aspect would be relevant, you would either add or subtract 4 from your Skill Check (depending on if the Aspect has a positive or a negative effect on the scenario). A Minor Aspect adds or subtracts 2 from a roll instead. A character is not allowed to activate more than one Aspect per Roll, even if the flavor of both would somehow be related to the roll. Additionally, a character is not allowed to activate a Major Aspect to modify a roll more than once per session, or once per narrative day (whichever is first, unless otherwise allowed by the GM. A narrative day is simply a day which has gone by in the game.), and they are not allowed to activate a Minor Aspect to modify a roll more than twice per session, or once per narrative day (whichever is first, again, unless otherwise allowed by the GM). Don’t be afraid to take a negative. Aspects can also be used to modify Combat Rolls. Again, with the same frequency as stated before. If an Aspect would be applicable in either a Dodge or an Accuracy roll, you may add the appropriate number of dice to the rolled Pool (+4/-4 for Major, +2/-2 for Minor.)
Aspect Examples These are by no means the end-all-be-all list, just a few examples of Aspects, and how they could be used.
- Small but Strong: the character might gain a bonus to Combat or Body-based checks, but take a penalty to being taken seriously by others, or to checks involving the character having to reach an object further away. - Wise Beyond their Years: the character’s mind is finely honed, but due to their age or stature, people don’t take their advice seriously at a certain point. The character might gain a bonus to certain Intelligence checks, but a penalty to convincing people who are significantly older than they are.
- Funny Fat Guy: the character is fairly out of shape, but he knows how to get people in a good mood. They may take a bonus for trying to cheer people up, or talk them out of doing something brash, but don’t expect them to be a great athlete of any type.
- Heroes don’t Study!: the character has their mind set on greatness, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for other things. They might gain a boost to some Willpower or Charisma based checks, but don’t rely on them for technical knowledge checks. Hey GM’s! Humans aren’t the only things that could use Aspects. For example, you could occasionally use Aspects to make things get modified based on the environment. It might not just be a cave; it could be a Dark and Cramped tunnel. The characters might be able to hide in it a lot easier and avoid larger Digimon, but finding their way out might be a bit of a problem. Another good example could be on an enemy Digimon; a quick blurb about a major opponent or NPC could turn into an Aspect roll for them. Maybe the big, angry Leomon has a Soft Spot for Children, and characters might just gain a bonus to Persuading him out of doing Something brash. Be sure to decide if it’s a Major or Minor Aspect beforehand. 6
Torments Just as every character has traits which will help describe them as people, everyone has something that bothers them about themselves or their lives, or has an unpleasant memory which always pops up at the wrong moment. These are Torments, and they’ll also serve to help further flesh out and develop your character. But don’t worry; with a bit of time and a bit of effort, you can work past them and come out stronger on the other side.
There are three classifications of Torment; Minor, Major, and Terrible. All characters start with either two Minor Torments, or one Major Torment. You can, of course, add more Torments as you see fit, or adjust the level of your Torments, but this is the bare minimal. Adding more Torments will not aid your character mechanically in any way, but you may feel it appropriate for the character, or feel like it adds to the story in some manner; that’s fine too. A friendly reminder: things which one player sees as a Minor Torment for their character might be a Major Torment for another character. Some things might effect a character more, despite being the same thing. For example, one character could have a fear of the ocean and dislike water, but another could have an absolutely crippling fear of the open seas which doesn’t let them even enjoy their time on the beach. What matters is the intensity of the torment (but be careful; the GM should still have the final say in what can and cannot count as a Major or Minor Torment).
Minor Torments are something which are not particularly crippling, but have a noticeable effect on a character when they’re brought up. A few examples of a Minor Torment: being a crybaby, having trouble making friends, or having your parents be divorced. Major Torments are something a bit more stressful for a character. They leave a long-lasting scar on the character’s mental state, which takes more time and effort to work out. A few examples of a Major Torment: feeling like your sibling’s only guardian, fearing conflict as it might bring your friends harm, or a crippling fear of being alone. A Terrible Torment is something which breaks a person’s will, changes who they are, and will probably haunt them for the rest of their lives. Terrible Torments are significantly darker in nature than Major or Minor Torments, and should be used very carefully in a game. A few examples of what a Terrible Torment could be: a character’s beloved family member being killed in front of them, or maybe being abducted and held hostage at some point in their past.
Each type of Torment has an associated number of Torment Boxes that increases based on the intensity of the Torment. Minor Torments have 5 Boxes, Major Torments have 7 Boxes, and Terrible Torments sport a whopping 10 Boxes. As you progress through the game, you may gain chances to “mark” your Torment Boxes off. Marking off a Torment Box signifies a character working towards overcoming their fear.
When a character is confronted with their Torment; whether it be from memory as the group sits around the campfire, recollecting, directly seeing their Torment, or otherwise, the character rolls 3D6+Willpower, then subtracts the number of unmarked Torment Boxes for the appropriate Torment from the roll result. The goal is to hit the TN (Target Number, detailed on Page 32) of 15. If a character succeeds in the roll, they make progress to resolving their torment and may mark off another Torment Box. Failure results in the character becoming sullen and withdrawn, and if this happens in combat, they may not be of any help at all, being locked down by their fears. A result of 5 or lower means that the character is effected so greatly by the torment that they may lash out, hide, or even abandon the group for a time. A result of 0 or less will reduce your character to a blubbering mess; quite possibly at the worst time, and have a pretty fair chance of abandoning the group, leading the others to follow after them. A Player can only activate a Torment once per day on their own. After that, the GM may still choose to have a Player activate a Torment again. The GM may also ask the Player to make a Torment Check at any time. 7
At creation, you may choose to mark off Torment Boxes by using CP on a 1-for-1 basis (1 CP = 1 Torment Box Marked). This helps to signify that, while the character might not be entirely over the Torment, they’re making headway towards getting past it, and may have been working on it for a long time. However, you cannot mark off all of your Torment Boxes at Creation. You may only mark off up to 2 Boxes of a Minor Torment, up to 3 for a Major Torment, and as many as 5 on a Terrible Torment.
Post-creation, you may spend Experience granted to you by the GM to mark off Torment Boxes. The cost increases compared to how it worked at Creation, similar to how Attributes and Skills are harder to increase post-creation. This does require GM approval. To mark off more Torment Boxes at creation, you must spend Experience equal to the number of Marked Torment Boxes+1. For example, if you have 3 Marked Torment Boxes and wish to spend extra Experience to bring that number up to 4, you would need to spend 4 Experience. Hey there, it’s me again. If you feel like your story needs it, or that your Players aren’t really using their Torments, or heck, if you just feel like being a bit more punishing of a GM: feel free to toss in a houserule about Failed Torment Checks. Maybe on a 5 or lower, they un-Mark a Box of the appropriate Torment. Maybe on a result of 0 or less, they unmark every single box of the Torment. This should make It so that Players have to actually work towards improving their character’s relationship with whatever Torment they have, instead of just hoping for the best when a Torment Check pops up.
I know there’s a lot to take in in these chapters, so here’s a quick summary of how this all works. This list will show up in a later chapter as well, but it never hurts to cover the bases.
Torment Boxes Starting Cap
Minor
Major
Terrible
5
7
10
2
Torment Check Formula: 3D6+Willpower-Unmarked Boxes
3
5
Experience Formula: 1+Unmarked Boxes to Mark another Box Target Numbers (TN): 15 Other notes: A roll of 5 or less is a Failure which results in the character becoming very withdrawn. A roll of 0 or less will result in the character becoming a ‘blubbering mess’. Minor Torments: smaller things which bother a character or cause them fear. Major Torments: bigger issues which might more actively haunt a character. Terrible Torments: horrifying, crippling issues which might have changed a character forever.
I hope this helps streamline the mechanical aspect of Torments a bit better. Anyways, onward, to the Sanity and Inspiration section of character creation! 8
Sanity Drain Torments aren’t the only thing that will be able to hinder a character. Sanity Drain is an aspect of Digimon: Digital Adventures that, while not required for play, is a very real rule which the GM could have activate at any given time if they feel it’s relevant. So be prepared! Sanity, on its own, is a very simple concept. Essentially it’s a mechanical twist that activates when a character is faced with a truly traumatic experience in-game, which can result in them gaining a new Torment. A Sanity Check is a simple Bravery Check (3D6+Willpower+Bravery), with a Target Number (TN, see page 32) which is modified based on the severity of the potential Torment. For something minor, like the character being teased repeatedly or seeing themselves fail over and over again, the TN would be something akin to a Minor Torment (TN of 10 for Children, TN of 13 and 16 for Teenagers and Adults respectively, to help compensate for their higher stats at Creation). A potential Major Torment could be something like intense levels of stress due to your player group fighting constantly, or maybe a bad breakup at the worst moment. (TN of 14 for Children, TN of 17 and 20 for Teenagers and Adults respectively).
Then there are potential Terrible Torments, horrible things which go alongside what was explained in the Terrible Torment section before. (TN 18 for Children, TN 21 and 24 for Teenagers and Adults respectively.).
If you Fail the check (hit below the Target Number/TN), you gain 1 point of Sanity Drain. Sanity Drain is a stacking penalty towards your next Sanity Check (for every 1 point of Sanity Drain, you take a -2 Penalty to oncoming Sanity Checks. For example, if you have 3 points of Sanity Drain, you take a -6 Penalty to your Sanity Check Rolls.). A character may only have Sanity Drain points equal to two less than their Willpower or Bravery (whichever is higher). It takes less to break someone’s psyche down if they didn’t have much willpower to begin with. On a Critical Failure (if roll a number which is 5 or more lower than the Target Number/TN), you not only gain 2 points of Sanity Drain, but also gain an appropriate Torment.
On a Success (hitting the Target Number) nothing happens. The character powers through the terror. On a Critical Success (rolling a number which is 5 or more higher than the Target Number/TN), you may remove 1 point of Sanity Drain, gain 1 point of Inspiration (detailed later), or gain an amount of Bonus Experience which you work out with your GM. If a Torment has all its Boxes Marked, you also reset your Sanity Drain to 0. Clearing your mind can go a long way to making sure you can power through the tough times. Got a particularly harsh campaign going on? Consider having the players keep track of where the Sanity Drain is coming from with separate boxes for each source. A character being tormented by an evil Digimon might have a separate box for party infighting. Also, maybe consider adding points of Sanity Drain if the character gets a 0 on a Torment Check. Bringing up old wounds can hurt.
Not every Campaign needs to be harsh about Sanity Drain. Allowing characters to remove a point of Sanity Drain if they take an Extended Rest (a period of time equal to at least 4 hours where the characters are relaxing or just having fun), can help to make sure that the harm on their mental state isn’t TOO harsh. Taking a breather like that can be justified as removing a point of Sanity Drain. Be sure to be fair with this rule; if it’s used too much it can make Sanity Drain pointless. 9
Inspiration One last, powerful tool that humans have at their disposal is called Inspiration. This mechanic not only encourages, but actively rewards good roleplaying. Each character has a potential pool of Inspiration equal to their Willpower Stat (their Inspiration Cap cannot be lower than 1, even with a Willpower of 0), and every character is given 1 free point of Inspiration at creation. Additional points of Inspiration can be granted by the GM for rewarding a player being a good role-player, someone who’s acting as a character first and foremost. Inspiration may also be purchased by spending Experience (2 Experience for every point of Inspiration you currently have), or rewarded by Critically Succeeding in a Sanity check. If a character cannot hold any more points of Inspiration, the GM should grant an additional amount of Bonus Experience instead. Inspiration may be spent in a variety of ways. Inspiration may be spent freely at any point in the game, whether it’s in combat as an Accuracy or Dodge Roll or on a simple Skill Check. The simplest way to do so is to spend one Inspiration point to re-roll the dice. Furthermore, you can bolster the roll by spending additional points of Inspiration to increase or decrease the result (or in the case of an Accuracy or Dodge check, increase the number of dice in your pool by 1) of the roll by 1 per additional Inspiration spent. For example, if you spend 1 Inspiration to re-roll, then another two to increase the result, you would now be adding 2 to the roll (or, again, 2 to your Accuracy or Dodge pool). But there are other ways to spend Inspiration too. The more Inspiration you have, the better you can sway the odds in your favor as a Tamer. If you spend Inspiration equal to 1 lower than the Starting Cap for your Age Group (2 for Children, 4 for Teenagers, 6 for Adults), you may add or subtract 5 to any Skill Check, or add or subtract 5 Dice from any Dodge or Accuracy pool. This is known as an Act of Inspiration. By being able to burn Inspiration at a faster and more efficient rate means that there are a few mechanical benefits to playing Children in Digimon: Digital Adventures, whereas it’s simply not any more useful for an Adult than simply spending 6 Inspiration on a re-roll. The most difficult type of Inspiration modifier to utilize is known as a Fateful Intervention. By spending the entirety of their maximum potential Inspiration (5 for Children, 7 for Teenagers, 10 for Adults). A Fateful Intervention not only adds or subtracts a bonus 5 from a check, or Dodge or Accuracy pool, but it also allows you to add or subtract your character’s Willpower to the check, Dodge, or Accuracy pool. In addition; you may choose to set the results of each die rolled. If you want nothing but 6’s? That’s fine. 1’s all around? That’s you choice as a player. A Fateful Intervention is a powerful tool which takes time to utilize, but it puts the power entirely in the hands of the player, at least for one roll. Here’s a quick reference for Inspiration! This will show up later on, but use this as a quick summary. Inspiration Cap: Equal to Willpower. Basic Use: Re-roll a check. Includes Accuracy and Dodge. Spend more to add to the total or pool. Act of Inspiration: Spend Inspiration equal to your Starting Willpower Cap-1 Fateful Intervention: Spend your maximum potential Inspiration. Be sure to remember the difference between adding to a check with a Modifier, and adding a die to a pool for an Accuracy or Dodge check. One modifies the total number you roll, the other adds to the total number of dice that you roll. 10
Rounding out the Tamers Just one last section before we can move on to the Digimon themselves, don’t worry. Before we go onto the fluff section of Tamers, we’ve got a few more formulas to figure out for their Derived Stats. These might not all be useful by default on a character, but they’re good to have squared away just in case. - Wound Box Formula: Body Stat+Endurance Stat (cannot go below 2). - Movement Formula: Agility+Survival. This is how many spaces you may move with a Move Action. - Accuracy Pool Formula: Agility+Fight Score. - Dodge Pool Formula: Agility+Dodge Score. - Armor Formula: Body+Endurance Score - Damage Formula: Body+Fight Score Accuracy, Dodge, Armor, and Damage will be talked about more in the Combat section.
Before moving on, take a moment to think about your character a bit. While these are some of the first questions people normally ask themselves during character creation, but it’s never a bad idea to review these at the end of creation either. Just take a quick moment to ask yourself a few questions. - What does your character look like? Do they have any distinguishing features? - What is your character’s home life like? What are their parents like? - Does your character have any siblings? If so, what are they like? - Is your character religious or superstitious in any way? - Even if your character doesn’t excel at school, do/did they have a favorite subject? - Does your character have hobbies or activities that they participate in? Clubs, charities, teams? - Is there anything your chracter fears, or anything that causes them anxiety? - Try to name three items which your character would always have in their pocket or backpack. - Does your character have a special talent or skill? - How does your character view themselves? Is it realistic? Skewed? Good? Bad? - If your party is in a life threatening situation, how does your character react?
While these might not be a definitive list of questions, they should help to not only create your character mechanically, but help give you a few ideas for their background or personality otherwise.
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Digimon Creation There’s another half to the dynamic duo which will be your two-man team within the game. Digimon are incredibly powerful in the field of combat, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. But on the other hand, they have a lot of potential tricks up their sleeves which can also make them valuable partners in terms of utility as well. Keep in mind that at a certain point, Digimon will probably start to outperform a human character at a certain point from a mechanical perspective. But that’s fine; Digimon are also reliant on their Tamers in order to hit a higher stage and Digivolve quickly, and be directed in combat; the duo is stronger as a team than any human or digimon could be on their own. Digimon are built similarly to humans, having a pool of points called Digi-Points (DP) which they can spend both to improve their raw Stats, and purchasing Qualities, special features which will aid them with all kinds of various mechanical boosts. The most common starting Stages, In-Training and Rookie, will start with 15 and 25 DP respectively. Higher and lower Stages will have different base amounts of DP, as well as other various effects. Be sure to consult the chart on page 31 for more information on how Stages work. There will also be more information about Derived Stats on page 29, keep a look out for those.
Digimon Stats
Accuracy
The Accuracy stat determines how intelligent the Digimon is, how many dice are rolled when it tries to Attack, the effectiveness of its Effects, and the size of its Area Attacks. Accuracy also helps to determine how quickly a Digimon reacts with its Agility stat.
Dodge
Dodge is the exact opposite of Accuracy in combat; it determines how many dice are rolled in response to the Digimon being attacked, and will help determine the Agility stat as well.
Damage
Damage directly effects how hard a Digimon hits with all of its Attacks. Damage also helps scale the Body stat, and will also help determine a couple other various things.
Armor
The defensive counterpart to Damage, Armor will directly reduce how much a Digimon is hurt by an attack. Armor also influences the Body stat, which also in turn effects other aspects of the Digimon.
Health
Health helps to determine how many Wound Boxes a Digimon has, as well as how many dice it rolls to recover Wound Boxes after Combat is over. Health also has a direct effect on the Body stat. You already probably have a general idea of what you want your Digimon to do with those stats alone. You purchase Stats for DP on a 1-for-1 basis; one DP will allow you to put a point into a single Stat. So if you want to buy 10 points of Health, it will cost 10 DP. It’s very simple and straightforward, don’t worry. Before Qualities, a Digimon must have at least 1 Point in every Stat. After Qualities, a Stat may not be lowered below 0. This means that if you have a Stat at 0 thanks to a Quality, and wish to purchase another Quality which would lower the stat further, they must first put a point into the appropriate Stat. But before we dive into putting all of our points into Stats, there’s a lot more to look over for Digimon Creation. Be sure to make note of some rulings for Qualities; some of them are a bit hard to remember. 12
Qualities Qualities are special features which Digimon can purchase to further bolster and flavor their abilities beyond that of raw Stats. They’re purchased by spending the stated number of DP to add the Quality to your Digimon. However, there’s a bit more to it than that. Qualities which state a Rank, are Qualities which may be purchased multiple times. Some sport a line which will say “Up to X Ranks”. This means that there is still a limit on how many times the player may purchase the Quality. Others may have another limitation on how many times they may be bought; be sure to read the Quality text carefully. Some Qualities also have a choice that you have to make about it, so think carefully. Lastly, each Quality will sport a Tag and a special symbol which will help you determine how it effects your Digimon. The system is simple; just remember your S.A.T.’s.
Static
Attack
S
Qualities which sport the Static Tag are Qualities which are, in short, always on. The Digimon is always considered effected by this Quality unless something happens to disable it.
A
Qualities which have the Attack Tag are Qualities which help directly modify Attacks of the Digimon. While most Qualities modifying Attack are for a single Attack, some may be able to modify more than a single Attack.
Trigger
T
Trigger Qualities are ones that require a ‘trigger’ to occur. That is to say; they need to have the player activate them in some manner; whether by using an Action in Combat, or by having the enemy miss with an Attack.
Hopefully this will be easier to memorize than actually studying for your SAT’s. And keep in mind that a single Quality may sport multiple Tags based on what it does to the Digimon. For example, a Quality could have the Attack and Trigger Tags, meaning it would both modify an Attack, and require a trigger in order to be activated in the middle of combat. This section is first divided by Qualities which are purchasable by any Digimon, no matter the Stage or what other Qualities they’ve taken. These are called Base Qualities. Qualities are sorted by Alphabetical Order. There are however other Qualities which have prerequisites to purchase; that means that a Digimon will most likely have to either be at a specific Stage, or have already purchased another Quality. These will be detailed later in (Advanced Qualities), to help keep things on track; building from the ground up, so to speak. Qualities which will serve as prerequisites for later Qualities will try to state that they do during their description. Before we begin; let’s analyze a Quality
Agility
T
Now let’s look at Agility. We can tell that it’s a Trigger Ability by the T symbol, and that it costs 2 DP to purchase. The effect is straight forward; reroll 1’s on a Dodge roll once per fight. It also serves as a prerequisite for the Dodge Quality later on.
2 DP The Digimon may re-roll any dice that show up as 1’s on a Dodge roll once per fight. Prerequisite for: Avoidance 13
Base Qualities Agility
Are you and your players having trouble constantly missing your Attacks? Well consider this; using the Area Attack Quality below, have the target take a -2 Dodge Penalty for every space they occupy that the Attack would hit. For example, a Digimon taking up a 9x9 space (Huge), being in a 2x2 Blast Zone, would take a -4 Penalty to their Dodge Pool for that Attack!
T
2 DP The Digimon may re-roll any dice that show up as 1’s on a Dodge roll once per fight. Prerequisite for: Avoidance
Area Attack
A, T
2 DP Per Rank For each Rank you take in this Quality, you may apply an [Area Tag] to an Attack. Each time you take a Rank in this Quality, you must choose a different [Area Tag] and a different Attack to apply it to. Details on Bit and CPU Values are found on Page 29. Attacks hitting multiple enemies at once take a -3 Accuracy Pool penalty. Some Area Attacks must be applied to either a [Melee] or [Ranged] Attack, some may be applied to both. With the exception of the Pass effect, all Area Attacks which can be applied to either Melee or Ranged only have their minimum size when applied to a [Melee] Attack. For example, if I apply [Line] to a [Melee] Attack, it can never create a zone greater than a 1 meter by 5 meter rectangle. An Attack with an [Area Tag] can still be used as a single-target Attack with no penalty.
[Blast] Ranged: Blast Attacks create a circular zone whose origin point is somewhere within the user’s Range. The diameter is 1 Meter at base, but the user may add their Bit Value to the diameter.
[Line] Melee/Ranged: Line Attacks create a pillar which originate adjacent to the user. The pillar’s length is 5 meters at base. The user may add their Bit value to the length. The pillar’s width is 1 at base, but the user may add 1 to the width for each Size Class they are above Medium.
[Burst] Melee/Ranged: Burst Attacks create a circular zone with the user at the point of origin. The base radius is 1 Meter, however the user may add double their Bit Value to the radius.
[Pass] Melee: Pass Attacks have the user charge in a straight line in a given direction, hitting every target along the way. Once the Pass Attack is called, the direction can not be changed. They may move a distance equal to their Movement score, and then continue to move an additional number of meters equal to (or less than) their CPU Value. A Pass Attack requires Movement to use; so if the user has a Pass Attack they must use up two Simple Actions to use it. However, if the Pass Attack has the [Charge] Tag (Page 15), this rule is ignored and the Pass Attack only takes up one Simple Action.
[Close Blast] Melee/Ranged: Close Blasts originate in a circular zone adjacent to the user. The circle’s base radius is 3 Meters. The user may add double their Bit Value to the radius. [Cone] Melee/Ranged: Cone Attacks create a triangle, or a cone, which originates adjacent to the user. The shape has a base length of 3 meters. The user may add double their Bit Value to the length. 14
Armor Piercing
Charge Attack
A
A
1 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
1 DP
Choose one Attack. That Attack ignores up to X points that any defending Digimon has in Armor, where X is one higher than the Ranks you have of Armor Piercing. Armor Piercing may only be applied to one Attack per Digimon. A Digimon may not have Armor Piercing and Certain Strike on the same Attack.
Choose a [Melee] Attack. By applying the [Charge] Tag to that Attack, the Digimon may use the Attack and move as one Simple Action, instead of needing to use two Simple Actions; one to Attack and one to Move. In short a [Charge] Tag allows the Digimon to use the tagged Attack to move and Attack at the same time.
Attack Effect
Combat Awareness
S
A
1 to 3 DP per Rank
1 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
For every Rank you take in Attack Effect, you choose one of the Digimon’s Attacks. That Attack gains an associated [Effect] Tag. You may not apply more than one [Effect] Tag per Attack. Different [Effect] Tags cost different amounts of DP. See more about how each one works on page 43.
Combat Awareness has a varying bonus which is effected by how many Ranks you take in the Quality. The effects of each Rank stack with the other Ranks. Rank 1: Add your Ranks in Combat Awareness to your Initiative in the first round of Combat. You gain +2 to Dodge against Surprise Attacks. Rank 2: Add your Ranks in Combat Awareness to your Dodge for the first round of Combat. You gain a +4 bonus to Dodge against Surprise Attacks. Rank 3: Add your Ranks in Combat Awareness to your Accuracy for the first round of Combat. You gain a +6 bonus to Dodge against Surprise Attacks. You gain +2 Movement for the first round of Combat.
1 DP: Immobilize, Knockback, Taunt 2 DP: Poison, Confuse, Stun, Fear, Lifesteal, Vigor, Fury, Cleanse, Haste 3 DP: Blind, Paralysis, Charm, Weaken, Strengthen, Heal, Regenerate
Combat Monster
Certain Strike
S
A
2 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
2 DP
Choose one Attack. That Attack now negates up to X Successful Dodge dice that any defending Digimon roll, where X is the ranks you have in Certain Strike. Certain Strike may only be applied to one Attack per Digimon. A Digimon may not have Certain Strike and Armor Piercing on the same Attack.
Whenever the Digimon takes damage, it gains a cumulative bonus to the Damage of its next successful Attack equal to the number of Wound Boxes it has lost since the last successful Attack. For example, if the Digimon takes 4 damage, misses, takes 3 damage, then connects, the Attack deals an additional 7 Damage. The next Attack in the same scenario gains no bonus Damage.
Prerequisite for: Signature Move
Prerequisite for: Berserker 15
Conjurer
Data Optimization
T
S
2 DP
1 or 2 DP
The Digimon is capable of summoning objects out of thin air as a Complex Action. The objects may be re-flavored however you want; toys, blocks, just about any object which cannot move on its own. The objects may occupy a number of cubic meters equal to five times the Digimon’s Bit Value. The objects may be summoned, lined up, stacked on top of each other, or simply littered around the field as a Complex Action. The objects count as Obstructing Terrain (this means that it stops attacks from going through, even Area Attacks!). The objects have Wound Boxes equal to five times the Digimon’s Bit Value, and Armor equal to double the Digimon’s Bit Value. They do not have a Dodge Stat. For example, a Digimon with Brains of 50 would have a Bit Value of 5, which would allow it to use Conjurer to create 25 Cubic Meters of objects which sport 25 Wound Boxes and 10 Armor.
Data Optimizations will help gear your Digimon for a specific role. When you take this Quality, choose one of the options below. Close Combat (1 DP): The Digimon adds +2 to its Accuracy Pool when using a [Melee] tagged Attack, but takes a -1 penalty to its Accuracy Pool when using a [Ranged] tagged Attack. Ranged Striker (1 DP): The Digimon adds +2 to its Accuracy when using a [Ranged] tagged Attack, but suffers a -1 penalty to its Dodge pool when defending against a [Melee] tagged Attack. Guardian (1 DP): The Digimon gains a +2 Armor bonus, but takes a -1 penalty to its Base Movement score. Brawler (2 DP): The Digimon gains a +2 bonus to all checks it makes when Clashing. In addition, it is treated as if it were one Size Class larger when Clashing. Gigantic Digimon with Brawler Optimization gain a flat +4 to all checks it makes while Clashing.
Prerequisite for: Summoner
Speed Striker (1 DP): The Digimon gains a +3 bonus to its Base Movement score, but gains a -1 Dodge penalty.
Counterattack
Effect Warrior (1 DP): The Digimon gains a +2 bonus to Accuracy with [Effect] tagged Attack, but suffers a -1 Armor penalty.
T
2 DP
Prerequisite for: Data Specialization
Once per combat, if an enemy were to miss with an Attack, you may make a free attack with them as the sole target (you may not use this Quality while also using the attack as an Area Attack). You may choose any Attack on your Attack List otherwise. The target only rolls half of their Dodge Pool in response to the new Attack. Prerequisite for: Counterblow
Data Optimizations are always a good idea to take. Not only do they help flavor what your Digimon does, but it’s always efficient for the DP you spend, in order to help solidify your role. If you want your Digimon to be making a lot of Melee Attacks, Close Combat Optimization essentially becomes a 2 Stat Bonus for 1 DP. But think a bit before taking a Specialization: if you have a lot of Effect tags, but they’re also Ranged Attacks, Ranged Striker may be a better option mechanically over Effect Warrior. But also keep Data Specialization in mind for later, there may be a higher level within the Optimization’s tree that you want to shoot for! 16
Extra Movement
Huge Power
S
T
1 or 2 DP per Rank
2 DP
Every time you take a Rank of Extra Movement, choose one of the following movement types below. A new Movement Type allows the Digimon to move in a new type of terrain at a speed equal to their Movement score (after Speedy). In the case of Swimmmer and Jumper: see page 30 about the ruling for a Digimon’s movement in those environments without this Quality. See page 30 for the explanation on the differences on Base Movement and Movement.
The Digimon may re-roll any dice that show up as 1’s on a Accuracy roll once per fight. Prerequisite for: Overkill
Improved Derived Stat
S
1 DP per Rank
Flight (2 DP): The Digimon is capable of flying through the air.
Whenever you take Improved Derived Stat, choose one of your Derived Stats (Body, Agility, or Brains) and increase it by 1.
Digger (1 DP): The Digimon is capable of burrowing through the ground, so long as it’s as soft as dirt. Snow or sand are other alternatives. Swimmer (1 DP): The Digimon is capable of moving through the water at a much faster speed than normal.
Mighty Blow
Wallclimber (1 DP): The Digimon is capable of scaling vertical surfaces, but not on cielings.
S
2 DP
Jumper (1 DP): The Digimon is capable of jumping at a height and length equal to its Movement.
Whenever the Digimon deals Damage to an Opponent and the result is equal to or greater than twice the Opponent’s Body score, the Opponent is Stunned for one round.
Prerequisite for: Advanced Mobility Hide in Plain Sight
S
Mode Change
1 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
T
Anyone attempting to spot the user of the Hide in Plain Sight Quality takes a penalty to their Roll to find them (usually Perception) equal to the Ranks it has multiplied by 4. For example, if you have Hide in Plain Sight Rank 3, anyone attempting to spot you will take a -12 penalty to their rolls. The Digimon may become transparent, be capable of disguising itself to be less obvious, or maybe just really good at finding a place to hide.
For each Rank you take of Mode Change, pick two Stats. As a Simple Action, you can swap the two Stats around. Each time you take this Quality, choose a combination you have not taken before. Health may not be chosen as a Stat for this Quality. Use only the Base Stat when doing the math, it is not changed by things like Stances or Directing.
Prerequisite for: Sneak Attack, Shade Cloak
Prerequisite for: Mode Change X.0
2 DP per Rank
17
Naturewalk
Reach
S
S
1 DP per Rank
3 DP per Rank
The Digimon is at home on a certain type of Terrain. For each Rank you take in this Quality, choose a different type of Terrain such as, but not limited to: Tundra, Forest, Mountain, Jungle, or Desert. Be sure to talk to your GM when taking this Quality; they might not have a lot of the Terrain in mind for their campaign. The Digimon does not suffer Movement penalties from Difficult Terrain of its chosen environment.
The Digimon is able to use [Melee] Attacks and Initiate Clashes at a Range equal to the number of Ranks in this Quality doubled. If the Digimon uses a [Melee] Attack with an Area Tag, they may have the point of origin be anywhere within its reach. See page 44 for more details on Clashing at a Range. [Melee] Attacks take a penalty to Accuracy as if they were [Ranged] Attacks based on the distance.
Prerequisite for: Element Master
Resistant
S
Pack Master
1 DP per Rank
S
2 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
For each Rank in Resistant a Digimon has, it decreases the duration of incoming [Effect] Tagged Attacks by 1 Round (this Quality cannot bring the Duration below 1 Round (3 Rounds for Poison).
All Allies within the Digimon’s Ranged Burst Radius (1+Bit Value Doubled), gain a +2 Accuracy bonus per Rank the Digimon has in this Quality.
Slayer
Pack Tactics
S
S
1 DP per Rank
1 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
Slayer is a very specific Quality: when you take the first Rank of the Quality, choose one Major and two Minor ‘targets’. For one example, a WarGreymon who takes Slayer for slaying Dramon-class Digimon might choose a Major of Dramon-class Digimon, and a Minor of Dragon Man and Dinosaur Digimon. Slayer grants a +2 bonus to Accuracy checks against the Major, and +1 against the Minors, per Rank. Additionally, if the Digimon fits into one of these Qualities itself, on a Missed Attack it takes unalterable damage equal to its CPU Value. Be sure to consult your GM before you take and decide on this Quality.
Whenever this Digimon is either within the Digimon’s [Burst] Radius of an ally, or it and an ally Flank an enemy, the Digimon gains a +2 bonus to its Accuracy Rolls per Rank in this Quality. Prerequisite for: Coordinated Assault Quick Healer
T
2 DP
Be sure to have fun and take inspiration from actual Digimon from the show: one could make Slayer be a Holy Ring, Evil Mark, Dramon Destroyer, it’s a very fluff-based Quality. But in the end make sure that your GM is okay with your choices.
The Digimon may re-roll any dice that show up as 1’s when rolling to heal out of Combat, but only once after each fight. Prerequisite for: Regenerator 18
Selective Targeting
Tracker
S
S
2 DP
1 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
The Digimon’s Attacks will no longer be able to Damage Allies or place negative Effects on them such as Poison, Weaken, or Blind. Inversely, enemies the Digimon Attack will not be able to gain benefits from positive Effects such as Healing, Strengthen, or Cleanse.
Tracker makes a Digimon significantly better at finding its target. It gains a +4 bonus to Perception (Brains) checks to find hidden traps or enemies in the immediate area, or follow a trail. If the Digimon has a proper tool to track the target, such as clothing or a trail of footprints, it gains an additional +2 bonus per Rank in Tracker. Tumbler
Speedy
S
S
3 DP
For each Rank you take in Speedy, the Digimon adds 2 to its Movement. You may not more than double the Digimon’s Base Movement in this manner.
The Digimon only takes one-half the Damage it normally would when falling due to being Pinned midair, and recieves Bonus Armor equal to its CPU Value Doubled when it is Thrown.
1 DP per Rank *
Prerequisite for: Teleport Weapon
S, A
Technician
1 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
S
A Digimon with Technician is skilled at repairing code and technology, and by default can read and comprehend Digicode for its Tamer. It also gains a +4 bonus to repairing or deciphering code and machinery, or simply rebuilding things in the Digital World, per Rank in this Quality.
Your Digimon has a Weapon, or some type of fighting style it prefers. Attacks which use said Weapon or fighting style may gain a [Weapon] Tag. A Digimon may only have a number of [Weapon] Tagged Attacks equal to the Ranks it has in this Quality. Whenever a Digimon uses a [Weapon] Tagged Attack, it gains a bonus to Accuracy and Damage equal to the Ranks in this Quality.
Prerequisite for: Trojan, Firewall
Prerequisite for: Digizoid Weaponry
1 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
19
Advanced Qualities Berserker
Advanced Mobility
T
S
3 DP per Rank Prerequisite: Extra Movement
2 DP Prerequisite: Combat Monster
Each time you purchase a rank of this Quality, choose one of the following Extra Movement types you already have. You gain a different Effect based on your choice. See page 39 about Difficult Terrain rulings.
The Digimon gains a Rage Meter, which is represented by 2D6, both dice starting at 1. Normally the Rage Meter is inactive but may be activated as a Simple Action. Whenever the Digimon connects with an Attack, it gains +1 Rage. Whenever it misses with an Attack, it gains +2 Rage. Whenever it is hit by an Attack, it gains +2 Rage. If a whole Round passes by without the Digimon using an Attack or being hit by an Attack itself, it loses 4 Rage. The Rage Meter must be active for the Digimon to gain Rage.
Movement (Speedy Rank 1): The Digimon may now take Speedy Ranks to a point where it will triple its Base Movement over Double it. Flight: The Digimon is not slowed down by even the harshest of winds while it’s in the air and its Flight speed is increased by 3.
For every point the Digimon has in Rage, it gains a +1 bonus to Armor and Damage. However, when the Rage Meter is filled (in this case at a value of 12), the Digimon goes berserk and is now under the GM’s control, generally attacking everything on sight. The Rage Meter may be deactivated as a Simple Action involving a TN 5+(Rage) Persuade Check from the Tamer or another Ally.
Digger: The Digimon is now capable of digging through the majority of surfaces without being slowed down. It can dig through softer metals but this is now trated as Difficult Terrain. The Digimon’s Digging speed is increased by 3. Swimmer: The Digimon is capable of swimming without being slowed down by harsh currents, and its Swimming speed is increased by 3. Wallclimber: The Digimon is now capable of walking on ceilings, and cannot be slowed or slip off any wall surfaces. Its Wall Climbing Speed is increased by 3.
Prerequisite for: Boiling Blood
Jumper: The Digimon’s Jump height and Length is increased by its CPU Value times Five.
Boiling Blood
S
1 DP Per Rank, up to 3 Ranks Prerequisite: Combat Monster Avoidance
For each Rank in Boiling Blood, the user of this Quality lowers the penalty to its Rage Meter on a round without a connected Attack by 1. For example, if you take Boiling Blood Rank 2, on a Round where the Digimon does not Attack, and an Opponent does not hit with an Attack, it only loses 2 Rage instead of 4.
T
2 DP Prerequisite: Agility Once per fight, the Digimon may choose one of the following: it may either activate Agility an additional time per fight, or it may re-roll 1’s and 2’s instead of just 1’s on an activation of Agility, again only once per Combat.
Prerequisite for: You Won’t Like Me When I’m Angry 20
Coordinated Assault
Counterblow
T
T, A
3 DP Prerequisite: Pack Tactics
2 DP Prerequisite: Counterattack
The Digimon may Mark a single target as a Simple Action. A Target who is Marked gains a -3 Dodge Penalty over a -1 Penalty for each Attack which targets it somehow past the first one in each Round of Combat. This Quality may only be activated once every Combat. The Mark vanishes if the uses loses the Quality (usually by Digivolving) or is defeated. If the original target of the Mark is defeated, the user of this Quality may change the target for free immediately after.
Choose one Attack to apply a [Counter] Tag to. Whenever the Digimon activates the Counterattack Quality and uses the tagged Attack, the target of the tagged Attack may only apply 1/2 of their Armor Stat, in addition to the penalty to their Dodge Pool.
Data Specialization
S, T
2-3 DP Per Rank, up to 2 Ranks* Prerequisite: Data Optimization, Ultimate Level or Higher Rank 1 of Data Specialization may be purchased by any Digimon of the Ultimate stage or higher. A Digimon must be at the Burst level or higher in order to purchase Rank 2 of this Quality. For every Rank you take in this Quality, choose one of the two options associated with your Data Optimization. For example, if you chose Speed Striker Optimization, you could take either Uncatchable Target or Hit and Run.
Guardian Optimization
Close Combat Optimization Fistful of Force (2 DP): The Digimon’s [Melee] tagged [Area] Attacks now scale for area size as if they were [Ranged] Attacks. Flurry (3 DP): The Digimon may make an additional [Melee] Attack once per Round for free. This Attack cannot be modified in any way; you cannot add Tags or Qualities which are not tagged as Static. The Digimon takes a -2 Accuracy Pool Penalty when making this Attack.
What Goes Around (2 DP): Whenever the Digimon is hit by a [Melee] Attack, it deals damage equal to its CPU Value to the opponent. This damage cannot be reduced by Armor or Dodge. True Guardian (3 DP): Whenever the Digimon Intercedes (Page 42), it gains a bonus to Armor equal to the distance traveled to Intercede. Additionally, if the Attack had an [Area] tag, any allies behind the Digimon have the damage taken reduced by the Digimon’s CPU value multiplied by 5, and any [Effect]s they would take are negated. The Digimon takes a -2 Accuracy Penalty.
Ranged Striker Optimization Sniper (2 DP): The Digimon’s limitations on range for [Ranged] Attacks is considered doubled before it starts suffering penalties to Accuracy. The Digimon takes a -1 Base Movement Penalty and a -2 penalty to its Accuracy Pool when making an Attack against a foe within 2 Meters. Mobile Artillery (3 DP): The Digimon adds its Bit Value an additional time when calculating the size of [Area] Tagged Attacks. Additionally, the Digimon no longer takes a penalty for having multiple targets within its [Area] Attacks. The Digimon takes a -1 Movement Penalty.
Brawler Optimization
Power Throw (2 DP): Whenever the Digimon throws a target, it adds its CPU value doubled to its Accuracy. Wrestlemania (3 DP): The Digimon may Clash without making an Action once per Round. It may initiate multiple Clashes if it has Multi-Grappler, but they must all be initiated at the same time. The Digimon takes a -1 penalty to Damage, Armor, and Health. 21
(Data Specialization Continued from page 21)
Effect Warrior Optimization
Hit and Run (2 DP): Whenever the Digimon uses a [Charge] tagged Attack, they add the distance traveled to the Damage. Uncatchable Target (3 DP): The Digimon gains a +3 Dodge bonus and does not suffer a stacking Dodge penalty if it is attacked multiple times in a round. The Digimon also gains a +1 Dodge bonus to [Area] tagged Attacks.
Black Mage (2 DP): Whenever the Digimon uses a ‘negative’ [Effect] Tagged Attack (an Effect which hinders or damages a target such as Poison, Blind, or Weaken), it gains an additional round to the duration after the leftover Accuracy Dice and Resistant are calculated. For reference, this means most negative Effects the Digimon uses will not have a Duration below 2 rounds (4 for Poison). White Mage (3 DP): Whenever the Digimon uses a ‘positive’ [Effect] Tagged Attack (an Effect which would bolster or heal a target such as Healing, Cleanse, or Vigor), it adds its Bit Value doubled to the Power of the Effect an additional time.
Element Master
Firewall
T
s
Speed Striker Optimization
2 DP per Rank Prerequisite: Naturewalk
2 DP Prerequisite: Technician
Per each Rank in Element Master, the Digimon gains the ability to manipulate an aspect of nature such as earth, fire, or water. The Digimon may only manipulate natural sources of the element: magical, modified, or otherwise GM-decided outliers may not me manipulated. Within its [Burst] radius (consider it Ranged], the Digimon may also change Difficult Terrain into Basic Terrain of its chosen element as a Simple Action, or vise-versa.
The Digimon gains a bonus to routing out intruders and otherwise protecting the code it’s currently working on equal to its Technician Rank. In addition, the Digimon may purchase an additional 3 ranks of Technician. If the Digimon already has the Trojan quality, the cost of this Quality goes up to 3 DP over 2. Jogress Partner
s
3 DP Prerequisite: DNA Digivolved Once Elemental Summoner
Choose another Digimon in your party. Whenever this Digimon DNA Digivolves with that Digimon, it gains a +2 DP Bonus per Stage above Rookie when creating the new Digimon. This bonus stacks if each partner has this Quality. For details on the mechanics of DNA Digivolving, see Page 36.
s
3 DP Prerequisite: Conjurer Whenever the Digimon’s summoned objects are destroyed, they deal damage to any enemies or allies within a [Burst] radius equal to the Digimon’s Bit Value doubled. The Burst Radius is the same as if the Digimon was using a [Burst] Attack itself. The Digimon’s summoned objects are effected by Qualities such as Selective Targeting, Mobile Artillery, and otherwise. 22
Hybrid Drive
S
3 DP Per Rank, up to 2 Ranks* Prerequisite: Data Optimization, Ultimate Level or Higher When taking Hybrid Drive, you may now purchase a Data Specialization from a different tree than your Data Optimization. The selection is still limited however. Please refer to the chart below: you may only pick options from trees adjacent to your purchased Data Optimization on the chart. For example a Digimon who purchased Brawler Optimization could pick from either Guardian or Close Combat options.
*While a Digimon could purchase both ranks of Hybrid Drive at Ultimate or Mega, it’s not worth purchasing both Ranks of the Quality until the Digimon achieves Burst level or higher.
Close Combat Brawler
Speed Striker
Guardian
Ranged Striker
Effect Warrior Mode Change X.0
Overkill
s
T
2 DP Per Rank, up to 2 Ranks Prerequisite: Mode Change
2 DP Prerequisite: Huge Power
If you take Rank 1 of Mode Change X.0, you may now change a selection of two Stats (not Health) with another two Stats (not Health) when making your choice for Mode Change. If you take Rank 2 of Mode Change X.0, you may now swap the Stats around as you see fit. You may retroactively change the Stats for Mode Change when you take Ranks in this Quality.
Once per fight, the Digimon may choose one of the following: it may either activate Huge Power an additional time per fight, or it may re-roll 1’s and 2’s instead of just 1’s on an activation of Huge Power, again only once per Combat.
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Multi-Grappler
Sneak Attack
s
t
3 DP Prerequisite: Brawler Optimization
3 DP Prerequisite: Hide in Plain Sight
The Digimon may initiate clashes with multiple targets at once. Each combatant still makes only a single check per Round. The Digimon also no longer takes a penalty from Clashing at a Range if it has Reach for a single enemy. It still takes the penalty as normal if it clashes with multiple enemies at a Range.
If the Digimon is hidden from all foes thanks to a successful Stealth (Agility) check versus the opponent’s Perception (Mind), it gains a bonus to Accuracy and Damage on the next Attack it makes equal to its RAM value doubled. The Digimon must have some means of going unseen or unnoticed for this Quality to be activated (simply standing in plain sight with a weapon drawn and making a Stealth Check will not let you activate the Quality. The Digimon must be invisible, hidden, or otherwise in order to utilize this Quality). This Quality may only be activated once per combat session, or twice if the first round of combat is a Surprise Round.
Regenerator
T
2 DP Prerequisite: Quick Healer Once per fight, the Digimon may choose one of the following: it may either activate Quick Healer an additional time per fight, or it may re-roll 1’s and 2’s instead of just 1’s on an activation of Quick Healer, again only once per Combat.
Summoner
S
3 DP Prerequisite: Conjurer The Digimon’s summoned objects are now capable of Attacking as well as playing a defensive role! Each summoned minion takes up a space of 1 cubic meter (so it may create a number of these objects equal to its Conjurer space limit). They sport a Damage Stat and an Accuracy Stat equal to the user’s Bit Value, as well as a Movement score equal to the user’s Brains. However their Wound Boxes are now only equal to the user’s Bit Value times four, and Armor equal to the Bit Value alone. The summoned objects are now capable of flight, but not Ranged Attacks. If the Digimon has the summoned objects Attack, it takes up one of its Simple Actions for the round.
Shade Cloak
s
3 DP Prerequisite: Hide in Plain Sight Rank 3 The Digimon may now apply their Hide in Plain Sight bonus to all allies within its [Burst] radius. In addition, the Digimon may now purchase an additional 3 Ranks of Hide in Plain Sight. Signature Move
S
3 DP Prerequisite: Certain Strike Rank 3 The Digimon may now apply Certain Strike and Armor Piercing to the same Attack. 24
Teleport
T
3 DP Prerequisite: Max Ranks of Speedy
Trojan
s
The Digimon is capable of instantly teleporting a number of meters equal to its Base Movement+2. It requires a line of sight to be able to utilize this Quality. It may use this Quality to teleport away as a reaction to an enemy’s Attack once per battle, causing the Attack to miss. Using Teleport to cause an Attack to miss will not Trigger Counterattack. When it uses Teleport to avoid an Attack, the Digimon forfeits a Simple Action on its next round of combat.
The Digimon gains a bonus to getting to places it shouldn’t be and otherwise invading protected areas equal to its Technician Rank. In addition, the Digimon may purchase an additional 3 ranks of Technician. If the Digimon already has the Firewall quality, the cost of this Quality goes up to 3 DP over 2.
Transporter
You Won’t Like Me When I’m Angry
2 DP Prerequisite: Technician
S
S
2 DP Prerequisite: Teleport
3 DP Prerequisite: Boiling Blood
The Digimon is now capable of warping away with allies in tow while using Teleport. The allies must be adjacent for Transporter to work properly. This also means it can use the Teleport Quality to bring allies out of harm’s way in reaction to an Attack. All allies who are transported in this manner also forfeit one Simple Action on their next Round. Finally, the Digimon’s Teleport distance increases by 2.
Double the number of dice used to track the Digimon’s Rage Meter (2 to 4). This means the Digimon’s Rage starts at 4 and can go as high as 24. Adjust all calculations for the Rage mechanics accordingly.
Well we’re about wrapped up with the Quality section, but this seems like an excellent time to start thinking about what kind of Digimon you want your partner to be. Not necessarily fluff-wise; any Digimon species is capable of taking on any role whatsoever, but what kind of mechanical role you want to take. While the extensive list of Qualities to take in, try to narrow down what you actually need and what might just be a Quality to take later if you even need it at all. Do you want to be the type of Digimon who rushes into melee range with a flurry of blows, a Digimon who supports the team from the back row with Effects and Healing, or maybe a Digimon whose goal is to be as durable as possible to help protect everyone in the party as best as they can? These are important questions which can help you to shape how you build your Digimon partner between Stats and Qualities. There might be some more in-depth suggestions later in the handbook, but it’s encouraged to go and find your own way to build your Digimon, or ask others to help you with the task; there’s no need to do it all on your own. Ask other players, or ask your GM. It’s also good to coordinate the different types of roles you have in the party: a balanced party tends to have an easier time with more encounters than a party made of the same roles over and over. Now, two last Quality Sections to go! Almost done! 25
Digizoid Qualities Once a Digimon reaches a certain level of power, they unlock a special set of Qualities which will further aid them mechanically. Digizoid is the most durable and powerful metal in the Digimon universe, and the strength of these Qualities reflect that! Digizoid Qualities are purchaseable by Ultimate Level Digimon or higher stages. That means that a Digimon of Champion or lower Stage cannot purchase these Qualities. While not every Digimon may have Digizoid themselves, they may sport aspects which mimic or act similar to qualities possesed by Digimon with Digizoid. Don’t be afraid to limit yourself due to how the Digimon is written up canonically. Digimon are only capable of purchasing Chrome Digizoid Armor at the Ultimate Stage. Once they reach the Mega Stage or higher, they may purchase the other variants of Digizoid Armor. Additionally, Mega Level Digimon and higher recieve a 1 DP discount to purchasing Digizoid Qualities.
The same rules apply for the Digizoid Weaponry Qualities, detailed later.
Digizoid Armor
S, T
1-3 DP Per Rank, up to 2 Ranks Prerequisite: Ultimate Level* For each Rank you take in Digizoid Armor, choose one of the following options below. You may not choose the same option twice. Chrome (1 DP): The Digimon gains 2 Armor and 1 Health.
Gold (2 DP): The Digimon’s Armor increases by 4. Additionally, whenever the user is hit by a [Ranged] Attack, the opponent who used the Attack takes an unalterable amount of Damage equal to the user’s CPU Value doubled.
Black (2 DP): The Digimon gains 2 Armor. At the start of eachround, roll 1D6. On a roll of 1 or 2, the user gains a bonus 4 Armor for that round. On a roll of 3 or 4, the user gains a bonus 4 Dodge for that round. On a roll of 5 or 6, the Digimon gains 2 Armor and 2 Dodge for that round.
Obsidian (2 DP): The Digimon’s Armor increases by 4. Additionally, whenever the user is hit by a [Melee] Attack, the opponent who used the Attack takes an unalterable amount of Damage equal to the user’s CPU Value doubled.
Blue (3 DP): The Digimon’s Armor score increases by 1, it gains an additional 2 Dodge, and their Base Movement is increased by 4. Additionally, the user is treated as if it had an additional instance of the Agility Quality (if it already has Agility it can use it an extra time per Combat.).
Red (3 DP): The Digimon gains +4 to their Armor and +2 to their Health. Additionally, the Digimon gains one free Rank of Resistant.
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Digizoid Weaponry
S, T
1-3 DP Per Rank, up to 2 Ranks Prerequisite: Ultimate Level*, Weapon Rank 1 For each Rank you take in Digizoid Weaponry, choose one of the following options below. You may not choose the same option twice. These Qualities will only apply to [Weapon] tagged Attacks. Chrome (1 DP): The Digimon adds 2 to Accuracy and 1 to Damage when using a [Weapon] Attack.
Gold (2 DP): The Digimon’s [Weapon] Attacks gain 4 extra Damage and 1 extra Accuracy. The Digimon is treated as if it had an additional instance of the Huge Power Quality (if it already has Huge Power it can use it an exta time per Combat.)
Black (2 DP): The Digimon gains 2 Accuracy. At the start of eachround, roll 1D6. On a roll of 1 or 2, the user gains a bonus 4 Damage for that round. On a roll of 3 or 4, the user gains a bonus 4 Accuracy for that round. On a roll of 5 or 6, the Digimon gains 2 Damage and 2 Accuracy for that round.
Obsidian (3 DP): The Digimon’s [Weapon] Attacks gain 4 bonus Damage when used and 1 bonus Accuracy. Additionally they are all treated as if they had an extra rank of Armor Piercing (even if the Attack already had Armor Piercing)
Blue (3 DP): The Digimon’s [Weapon] Attacks gain 4 bonus Accuracy when used and 1 bonus Damage. Additionally they are all treated as if they had an extra rank of Certain Strike (even if the Attack already had Certain Strike)
Red (3 DP): The Digimon’s Weapon Attacks gain +6 Damage and are treated as if it had the Mighty Blow Quality. If the Digimon already has the Mighty Blow Quality, it now applies the [Stun] Effect on a Damage Result of 1.5 times the target’s Body Stat instead of Double the target’s Body Stat.
Burst Power
T
Free Prerequisite: Burst Level or Higher Once a Digimon achieves the Burst Level or higher they may purchase Burst Power for free. Burst Power is activated as a Simple Action. When activated, the Digimon gains +4 to all Stats for 4 Rounds. At the end of the 4th round, the Digimon loses 1 point in each Stat per Round. So, if the Digimon maintains Burst Power for 7 rounds, they would be at a -3 in all Stats. Burst Power is Deactivated as a Simple Action. Once Burst Power has been activated, the Digimon cannot activate it again until the start of the next Combat session.
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Digimon Attacks The next step to finishing up your Digimon Partner is detailing the Attacks it has. A Digimon has a set number of Attacks based on the Stage it’s at.
Stage
Attacks
Fresh
1
In-Training
2
Rookie
2
Champion Ultimate Mega (and Higher)
3 4 5
Be sure to give the Attacks cool names, or start off by using Attacks which are shown in other media.
Next, it’s time to apply Attack Tags. After reading the Quality section, you might have seen keywords inside of boxes like this: [Damage]. This is an Attack Tag, and it tells you what an Attack does in essence. An Attack may have either a [Melee] or [Range] Tag, but not both. This Tag is free to apply and does not require any Qualities to apply to an Attack. [Melee] Attacks can only hit an enemy adjacent to the user, whereas [Ranged] Attacks may be used at a distance, but have special rules detailed on page 40. And if you’re using an Area Attack, be sure to include the specific Area and size that it creates (for example, Cone 5, Burst 3, etc). An Attack may also have a [Damage] Tag applied for free (which simply means the Attack deals normal Damage), or it may forgo a [Damage] Tag in favor of using a purchased [Effect] Tag of your choice. Be sure to specify which [Effect] you put onto the Attack when you do; [Poison] has a very different effect from [Charm]! An Attack may further have both a [Damage] and an [Effect] Tag, but this comes at a cost; having both Tags on an Attack means that you have to do 2 Damage minimal in order for the Effect to take place. So if you only just connect or you only deal 1 point of Damage, the Effect is not applied no matter how high you rolled on your Accuracy Check.
Let’s see an example of taking a Digimon’s Attack pool and making it fit for DDA, using Gazimon.
Paralyze Breath: [Ranged][Paralysis][Cone 6] (the Digimon breathes lightning to stun the enemy) Pitfall: [Melee][Damage][Immobilize] (the Digimon digs a hole under the enemy)
This is a very basic example, but it should get the idea across of how to properly tag an Attack, as well as a quick example of roughly translating a Digimon’s Attacks from another form of media. 28
Derived Stats, Size, and Movement Digimon are more than just bundles of Stats and Qualities; there are a few more details that go into fleshing out a Digimon mechanically as well as finishing off the flavor.
Size A Partner Digimon has an associated Size with each Stage. A Digimon’s Size will effect its Body score as well as how many 1x1 Meter Spaces it fits into at a given time. The basic Size guidelines will assume the Digimon fits into a box, but ask your GM if your Digimon may be Large with a strange shape, such as Seadramon.`
Size
Area
Square Meters
Extra
Tiny
1x1
1+
1x1
1+
May occupy squares that another Digimon or Tamer are standing in. May move through squares that other Digimon or Tamers are standing in. +2 to Body.
Small Medium Large Huge Gigantic
1x1 2x2 3x3
4+x4+
1+ 4+
+4 to Body. +6 to Body.
9+
+8 to Body.
16+
+10 to Body.
A Digimon’s Size adds an additional 2 points to its Body Stat for each Size it is above Tiny. For example, a Huge Digimon would add 8 points to its total Body Score after averaging out Health, Armor, and Damage.
Derived Stats A Digimon has three Derived Stats which it may use in rolls similar to a Tamer, and which will help to quantify certain Qualities. These Stats are Wound Boxes, Body, Brains, and Agility, which are further derived into the Bit, RAM, and CPU Values which are included to create an easy lookup system for Qualities which would be based on a percentile of a Derived Stat. Always round down when calculating Derived Stats.
Wound Boxes: Health+Stage Bonus.
Bit Value: Brains/10 CPU Value: Body/10 RAM Value: Agility/10
Agility: (Accuracy+Dodge)/2 Body: ((Health+Damage+Armor)/3)+Size Bonus. Brains: (Accuracy/2)+Stage Bonus.
A Digimon may use its Agility, Body, or Brains Stat to make checks similar to a Tamer’s. For example, if you want your Digimon to help lift a heavy object, or to make sure it can make an endurance test, you would make a check using its Body Stat the same way you would roll Feats of Strength or Endurance on a Tamer. A Digimon’s Derived Stats are a bit more generic and covering than a Tamer’s. 29
Movement A Digimon has two classifications of Movement before Qualities come into play: Base Movement, and Movement. Base Movement is essentially the Digimon’s Base Movement decided by its Stage (detailed in the Advanced Digimon Creation section on page 31). Movement is how fast a Digimon can move in a single round over solid footing (a lot of games refer to this as Overland Speed or just Movement or Speed). This can get a bit confusing, but it’s useful to know the difference when making calculations. Digimon sport a Jump height equal to half of their Basic Movement, and a Swimming speed equal to half their Basic Movement, unless the Digimon sports the Jumper or Swimmer Qualities, which would let them move equal to their Basic Movement.
Rounding Out the Digimon As a last note; Digimon have personalities, dreams, and aspirations too. Now that the big scary math is behind us, let’s take a moment to ask ourselves a few questions about the Digimon. They don’t have to be as fleshed out as their Tamer partner, but there’s a few good things to think on when you make the Digimon. - What species is your Digimon? - Does the Digimon have any distinguishing physical features which would make it stand out? - Does your Digimon have a favorite food? Is it a picky eater? - Does the Digimon have any specific goals, dreams, or aspirations? - What kind of personality does the Digimon have? Is it stubborn? Is it caring? Is it shy? - How dedicated to its Tamer is the Digimon? Would it put its life on the line protecting them? - What kind of tactics does the Digimon prefer? Upfront assaults? Standing in the back? Support? - How old is the Digimon? Is it fresh from its Digitama, or is it older? Be sure to ask your GM for help. - Does the Digimon have a unique talent, skill, or power for its Species? - How does the Digimon view itself? Does it have self-esteem issues, or does it hold itself in high regard? - If it were separated from its Tamer, how would the Digimon react?
Remember: Digimon can have just as much narrative impact as a Tamer can, possibly even more so if they’re played right. Don’t just think of them as means to an end: they’re also living breathing creatures who have feelings and personalities. You aren’t just playing one character in Digimon: Digital Adventures; you’re playing two at the same time. Try not to neglect one half of your duo just because one is more fun to play. Take a moment and step back if you feel yourself doing this. Ask yourself why your Tamer or Digimon is more interesting to roleplay than the other half of the dynamic duo. When you can successfully play both halves of the whole, your experience with Digimon: Digital Adventures will be a whole lot better! 30
Advanced Digimon Creation
In addition to the basic Rookie Stage of 25 Bonus DP, there’s a multitude of other Stages which show up in the series: Fresh, In-Training, Champion, Ultimate, Mega, and Super Ultimate, Ultra, or Burst Mode as higher levels than even that (this system uses Burst to make it easiest to differentiate between it and lower stages). Whenever a Player creates a Digimon, or the GM creates a Digimon, they should refer to the following chart, even if it’s just for a new stage of a current Digimon. This chart will also help serve as a guideline during the Evolution section later on.
Stage
Starting DP
Base Movement
Wound Boxes
Brains
Attacks
Fresh
5
2
0
0
1
40
8
In-Training Rookie Champion Ultimate Mega Burst Burst+X
10 25
4 6
2
3
2
12
10
10
5
55
10
+15 Per
+2 Per
70 85
1
5 7
14
14
+4 Per
1
5 7
13
+3 Per
2
3 4 5 5
Burst+X is simply a modifier for how many times the Digimon has exceeded the Burst Stage. If a single Digimon would evolve an additional time past Burst, it would be considered Burst+1 and would add 15 DP, 2 Base Movement, 4 Wound Boxes, and 3 Brains While how Digivolving past Mega is a bit tricky in the main franchise of Digimon, with very few Digimon at a stage above it, in Digimon: Digital Adventures, if a Digimon is at the Mega Stage and Digivolves, it is now considered a Burst Stage Digimon. For example, since Beelzemon: Blast Mode Digivolved from Beelzemon and the Stage is an all-around bonus to the Digimon (different from a Mode Change, which swaps Stats around), it would be considered a Burst Digimon as opposed to a Mega. Another commonly used example that gets tossed around is Imperialdramon. Imperialdramon is a Mega level Digimon. Upon Digivolving to Imperialdramon: Fighter Mode in Digimon: Digital Adventures, it would be considered a Burst Level Digimon. Further evolving to the next stage of Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode, would have it be considered Burst+1 for Level. This might take some getting used to for people who are used to the way Bandai classifies Digimon, but rest assured that it’s here to try and make everyone’s lives easier mechanically.
31
Rolling
There are two Rolling systems within Digimon: Digital Adventures: Skill Checks and Pool Checks.
Skill Checks Skill Checks are a type of check made when seeing if you can make a specific Target Number set by the GM or an opposed Static Stat (for example, which Clashing) in order to achieve your goal. These are the most commonly used Rolls out of Combat, rolling 3D6+Modifiers. Modifiers for humans are the combination of the Attribute and Skill used for the Check, for example on a Feats of Strength Check you would roll 3D6+Body+ Feats of Strength, then add or subtract any Aspects from the roll if you so wish. If you have no Skill or Attribute Points being added to the roll, you instead roll 3D6-1. Digimon simply use their Derived Stats for this. Skill Rolls use a Target Number (TN) to decide whether they succeed or fail. TN’s vary depending on the difficulty of the Check, but the chart below should offer a helpful guide for how Target Numbers work on a difficulty scale for Children. When considering a scale for Teenagers and Adults, consider them to be one step lower for difficulty than the previous age group (for example, an Adult rolling a TN 14 Check would probably consider that a Very Easy Task instead of an Everyday Task like the chart indicates). Feel free to increase the Target Numbers further for Teenagers and Adults by 3 points per tier on Teenagers, and 6 points per tier on Adults. These numbers are based on Starting Stats, not counting additional investment.
TN
Tier
10
Very Easy Tasks
12 14 16 18 20 22+
Simple Tasks Everyday Tasks
Slightly Difficult Tasks Difficult Tasks
Incredibly Difficult Tasks Almost Impossible Tasks
If you happen to exceed the TN by 5 or more, you have Critically Succeeded the Check, often doing it with style and flair, possibly even gaining a bonus of some type or helping pull the rest of the party through easier. Inversely, if you roll lower than the TN by 5 or more, you have not only failed the Check, but Critically Failed. This means you not only fumbled, but probably receive some kind of penalty or consequence for your roll, such as skinning your knee or tripping. 32
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Now that we’ve gone over character creation thoroughly, let’s see how we can put our skills to good use. Information such as Dice Rolling, Stunts, Teamwork, Digivolving, and Character Advancement are all in this chapter.
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Chapter 3: Mechanics
Stunts, Teamwork, and Mounting TN’s Stunts Sometimes you don’t just make a roll, you perform a task with attempted flair or use the environment to your advantage. A bit of extra effort in your descriptions, as well as being a bit daring and adventurous, can go a long way to helping you with a roll. This type of scenario is called Stunting, or a Stunt. Go the extra effort, don’t just climb the side of the wall, you leap up from the ground and take a handhold, rushing up as fast as you can. Don’t just jump across the crevice, take a running start and say something corny before you do. On top of granting Inspiration for good roleplay scenarios, GM’s should also reward exceptional roleplay in Skill Checks. When you stunt, the GM may grant a bonus to the Check needed, ranging from +1 to +3 depending on the scenario. If you do something particularly awe-worthy, the GM may allow an additional D6, or even go as high as adding 5D6 in rare, particularly amazing scenarios. And don’t be afraid to let your Digimon try to Stunt either, they can benefit the same way a Tamer can.
Teamwork In addition to Stunting, you can work together as a group to increase the odds of a successful roll. Teamwork is a mechanic which involves party members making a separate TN check to grant the other party members a bonus. When aiding a teammate in a task, you may roll an additional 3D6 and add the appropriate modifiers for the task at hand (for example, using Feats of Strength an additional time when the group needs to lift a heavy object). On a successful roll of 14 or higher, a chosen party member gets +2 to the roll for the task at hand. On a Critical Failure however, the chosen party member gets -2 to their roll. On a Critical Success (5 or greater than the target number), the chosen party member gains +5 to their roll. This can help boost a character who isn’t good at a task, in order to make sure the whole party gets through safely. Each party member may make a Teamwork roll once per check if they wish, including Digimon.
Mounting TN’s Sometimes completing one task isn’t enough, and an obstacle course of multiple TN’s need to be rolled. First; each TN is increased by one stage over the last TN in the collection of rolls. Second: record Crit Fails, Fails, Successes, and Crit Successes. Third: only the result of the last roll matters to whether or not the character makes it through the checks. For each Success: add +1 to the next roll (+5 for Crit Successes). For each Failure, subtract 1 from the next roll (-5 for Crit Failures). 33
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Pool Checks are the most common type of Check to use in Combat or when recovering from Combat. Whenever a Digimon (or a Tamer) rolls its Accuracy or Dodge Stat, it rolls pools of D6’s equal to the equivalent Stat (taking modifiers into account). For example, if you have an Accuracy Stat of 10, you would roll 10D6 when making an Accuracy Check. Inversely, if you have a 7 in your Dodge Stat, you would roll 7D6 when rolling Dodge in response to a called Attack. A Digimon (or a Tamer) rolls its Health Stat to determine how many Wound Boxes it recovers after Combat as well. More details on how these directly get used in Combat are on Page 41. When rolling a Pool Check, you don’t take the total result however. Instead you count the number of Successful Dice, which in DDA are 5’s and 6’s. For example, using the 10D6 rolled above, you had 2 5’s and 1 6, you have rolled 3 Successes. There are more in-depth effects and modifiers while in Combat, but that’ll be detailed in a later section.
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Pool Checks
Once certain conditions are met, a partner Digimon gains the ability to Digivolve to a higher stage than their current one (Rookie into Champion, to Ultimate, Mega, Burst, and beyond). There are several very basic conditions that should be met for a Digivolution to occur, but are not hard rules. - The Digimon is healthy and cared for (do not count Wound Box Loss). - The Digimon and Tamer have an appropriately strong bond for the Stage they’re at in the story. - The Tamer is in some type of trouble, generally physical danger. - The Tamer is displaying some type of virtue, such as protecting the rest of the team.
While the first instance of achieving a higher stage should be determined by the narrative means of your campaign, after that, as a rule of thumb, the Digimon may retain the new stage as their permanant stage (essentially their default stage instead of Rookie), if they have a number of Total DP (Base+Bonus), equal to the Base DP for the new stage. For example, a Digimon whose base stage is Rookie who has 15 Bonus DP, could choose to keep Champion as their permanant default stage once they’ve Digivolved to the Champion stage at least once. A Digimon may not use this rule to maintain a stage of Burst or higher. Even if a Digimon does not decide to use the next stage as their default stage once they have an appropriate amount of Total DP, after the previously stated prerequisites are met, it may Digivolve to the new stage without any GM permission. For example, a Rookie level Digimon who has previously achieved the Champion and Ultimate stages and has a total of 30 Bonus DP may Digivolve to the Champion and Ultimate stages without any rolls or GM permission required, but would still have to meet further base prerequisites for the Mega stage and higher. This can be a good option if you want your Digimon to not make as much of a scene as its smaller, easier to hide Rookie form than the larger, bulkier higher stages. A Digimon who has just Digivolved to a higher stage in the middle of combat fully recovers all of its Wound Boxes, making it a viable healing tactic in a pinch.
When you make a new stage for a Digimon, you essentially create a whole new Digimon, seen on the Advanced Digimon Creation page (page 31). While no Digimon have a hard, rigid path to follow down the Digivolution stages, it’s still a good idea to have things planned out ahead of time. There is an extensive list of resources online to use to figure out good lines for your partner Digimon. Hey Players and GM’s, here’s a few tips about Digivolving that can help make things go smoother.
Players: it’s a good idea to have the stages created and statted out before they actually appear: this makes it easy to just bring out the new stage and use it exactly when it’s required. You might not need the whole line made when your game starts, but keep this in mind! GM’s: if you have alternative prerequisites besides Bonus DP or general health of the Digimon, be careful about letting your players know. This isn’t to be rude, but rather to avoid players simply avoiding playing with each other or roleplaying in favor of simply getting a higher stage. If they find out about the mechanic in-character, thay could be another story, however! 34
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Digivolving
Not every method of Digivolving is the same as what was mentioned previously: the basic means are not the only ones. There are plenty of different ways to get to a higher stage or have shiny new tricks to utilize. Some of them have some very unique downsides, so be careful about using them. Not every campaign will use alternate methods, but keep them in mind either way.
Dark Digivolve
Many games have the Digimon’s evolution tied to the Tamer’s emotional state. While for the most part positive emotions can help further bring about a new stage, negative ones can have an equally potent effect. When a Tamer is distracted by negative emotions, whether it’s hatred, fear, jealousy, or otherwise, the Digimon can undergo a terriblle transformation known as Dark Digivolving. The process in and of itself is often traumatic for the Tamer, depending on the scenario the GM may have them un-mark a number of currently marked Torment Boxes of any amount they deem fit, even going so far as to un-mark every single one.
Dark Digivolving boosts the Digimon by at least one stage as per usual, however it entirely comes under the control of the GM as if it were using the Berserker rules on page 20, with a few differences. First: it does not gain any stat bonuses for being in the state from the Berserker Quality, however it is treated as if it were under the effects of Strengthen +3 while in this state (see page 43). Second, it will not stop until one of three things happen: the Digimon has defeated all enemies and allies present, the Digimon itself is knocked out, or the Digimon’s Tamer succeeds in a TN 20 Willpower roll. If the Tamer critically fails their Willpower roll, the Dark Digivolution goes further berserk and gains +2 to all of its Stats once more. After the Dark Evolution is stopped with one of the aforementioned methods, the Digimon reverts to the stage directly below its default stage. The process is both straining and potentially traumatizing on the Digimon to the point that it could revert to a stage as low as Fresh after it’s all said and done. This means Dark Digivolving is a double-edged sword: it can be utilized for an immediate, uninvested power boost, but it’s also incredibly hard to control, and if it’s shut down too early, can put the Digimon and Tamer into a dangerous and vulnerable situation.
GM’s, have a general idea of what your players are running for Digimon, and don’t be afraid to have their Digimon Dark Digivolve if they’ve failed a Torment or Sanity check: as stated previously, many stories have the Digimon deeply tied to their Tamer’s emotional state. This is a good way to make the Digivolving feel more mechanical rather than purely narrative in nature, which can be used as a fun surprise in the middle of a session. Have a few ideas for Dark Digivolving stages planned out ahead of time, but you can further cut down on the time spent building by using stages your players have already made and re-fluffing the Attacks and Stage Name. Having the mechanics laid out saves time that could be better spent having their precious Digimon attacking everyone! 35
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Alternate Digivolving Methods
Sometimes two heads are better than one, quite literally even. When one or more Digimon combine, it’s called DNA Digivolving, or Fusion. The level of the new Digimon is calcuated by taking the highest stage Digimon involved in the process, and then adding an additional stage for every additional Digimon in the mix. For example, a Champion stage Digimon who DNA Digivolves with a Rookie stage Digimon would create an Ultimate stage Digimon. For another example, a Rookie level Digimon who DNA Digivolves with an In-Training and two Fresh level Digimon, will create a Mega level Digimon. Be careful with how many Digimon you allow to be tossed into a DNA Digivolving mix at a time, they can get out of hand very fast. In addition to achieving a higher stage, DNA Digivolved Digimon gain a number of additional bonus DP to use when creating the new stage, equal to the number of stages it is above In-Training times 5. For example, if two Digimon DNA Digivolve to create a Ultimate level Digimon, it has an additional 15 Bonus DP to use when making the new stage, in addition to the Bonus DP the Digimon who sported the highest stage before DNA Digivolving had. So if a Champion stage Digimon with 40 Bonus DP and a Ultimate stage Digimon with 25 Bonus DP DNA Digivolve to a Mega stage Digimon, it would have the usual base DP allotted by a Mega, in addition to 20 Bonus DP from the DNA Digivolving, and 25 Bonus DP from the Ultimate level Digimon’s Bonus DP Pool. Bonus DP does not follow the usual rules for Character Advancement in this manner and may be allotted in any area (see page 38.). As with Dark Digivolving, DNA Digivolving takes a lot of energy to use, so Digimon who aren’t used to this type of Digivolving will revert to a stage below their default stage once it ends. So while this is an incredibly powerful tool that Tamers have at their disposal, be careful simply tossing it out, as it can put the party in danger if it backfires and the Digimon is defeated.
Try to have any future DNA Digivolved stages ready for when they pop up. These stages are even harder to create on the fly than a normal Digimon, so waiting while two players coordinate to build one can really slog down the process. If you really want it to go fast and have faith in your GM, you could allow them to make the stage as a single, unbiased individual over two people having to meet in the middle of the process. Furthermore, if you want to use a ruleset where Digimon are inherently tied to the Tamer’s emotions, maybe having the Tamers make a check of some type (presumably Willpower) to make sure both parties are on the same wavelength, could help further tie the mechanics of the system into the flavor of DNA Digivolving. But don’t feel the need to use it as a hard rule.
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DNA Digivolve/Fusion
Sometimes a Digimon and Tamer either become a single being, or in some cases, a Human gains the power to turn into a Digimon themselves, creating an extra-powerful, Hybrid form. It’s not entirely Digimon, as it at least shares its mind with a human, but it’s not fully human either. Hybrid Digivolving is not a stage in and of itself, in fact each Hybrid stage has an equivalent stage that it’s associated with, such as Champion, Ultimate, or the like. A Hybrid Digimon template can be further mixed with other things such as DNA, Armor, or Dark stages. Feel free to have a bit of fun making Hybrid Digimon. Hybrid Digimon remove the Tamer/Digimon dynamic from the scenario, creating a single role to be played instead of two, that still has the mechanical benefits of both halves. When making Skill Checks (outside of Clash checks), use the Tamer’s Skills, Attributes, and Aspects, but while in combat, use the Digimon’s Stats, Qualities, and Derived Stats. In addition, a Hybrid Digimon gains a bonus Simple Action to use on its turns. This means a Hybrid Digimon could have either a Simple Action and a Complex Action, or three Simple Actions over the course of its turn.
Armor Digivolve
Some Digimon have the ability to undergo an ancient, special type of Digivolution, known as Armor Digivolving. While the exact methods can vary, between it being a natural part of the Digimon’s Digivolving line, to requiring a special item such as a Digimental to obtain, it doesn’t have many natural bonuses other than the fact that the method has no known means of being interfered with from outside means. Not every Armor stage has to use the Armor Template. This may be confusing at first, but consult your GM as to whether or not they wish for Armor Digivolving to be part of their system mechanically, or if they’d prefer Armor stage Digimon to simply be a normal stage instead. Armor stage Digimon have an equivalent stage that they use the base DP and Stats from, whether it’s Champion, Ultimate, or otherwise. Armor Digivolving is a bit of a tough nut to crack. With the base rules there’s not a lot that’s special about it, but here’s a few ideas to make it more interesting. First off: a couple of house rule ideas. 1) Armor Digivolving requires a collection of items such as Digimentals. For each of these special items a Tamer has in their posession, the Armor Stages gain a bonus 10 DP that they can spend as they see fit. This can help make a large collection of Armor items be a good alternate to having a single Digimon of a very high stage. 2) Armor stage Digimon may purchase Chrome Digizoid Armor and Weaponry no matter what stage they are for no additional costs. This can help make them a bit more DP efficient for Stats than their normal counterparts. And GM’s: feel free to be lenient about what a Digimon’s Armor stage is classified as based on what the campaign needs or what point you’re currently at. Most Armor Digimon are classified as approximately Champion strength, but many can be justified as Ultimate, Mega, or maybe even higher stages depending on what you need for your current situation.
37
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Hybrid Digivolve
At the end of each session, a GM will hand out an appropriate amount of Experience Points and Bonus DP based on several factors. At least 1 Experience and Bonus DP should be awarded at the end of each session to each character, whether they did anything on the list or not. Consult the following list for ideas on how to award Experience and Bonus DP at the end of a session (or take them one at a time as they show up if you feel it fits the pace of your game better). Do not consider this a full list: think of your own ideas too!
- For every session of Combat that the character participated, add 1 Experience/DP - If a new stage was unlocked, add another 1 Experience/DP - If the character helped to solve a major problem in the story, add 2 Experience/DP - If the character attempted a Torment or Sanity check, add 1 Experience/DP
Experience may be spent on increasing a character’s Attributes and Skills, and purchasing additional points of Inspiration. Inspiration is purchased, as stated before, by spending 2 Experience for every point of Inspiration you currently have. For example, if you have 4 points of Inspiration and wish to purchase a fifth, you would need to spend 8 Experience. Increasing a Skill is the simplest process, requiring a small amount of Experience to boost a more niche bonuses to the Tamer. To increase a Skill to the next rank, you may spend a number of Experience points equal to the new rating. Increasing a 4 to a 5 costs 5 Experience, increasing a 1 to a 2 costs 2 Experience, so on and so forth. Increasing an Attribute is a more involved and expensive process, but it can be balanced out due to the wider range of checks Attributes hel cover. Increasing an Attribute to the next rank will cost Experience equal to the new rating doubled. For example, increasing a Attribute from 2 to 3 would cost 6 Experience points. You can also spend Experience to modify an Aspect. With GM permission you can spend 3 Experience to change your Aspect to something more appropriate for the campaign or setting. Lastly, you can ask your GM if you may spend Experience to mark off Torment Boxes by spending an amount of Experience equal to the number of currently marked Torment Boxes plus 1. For example, if you have 3 marked Torment Boxes, you would need to spend 4 Experience to mark off an additional Torment Box. Digimon progress in a far more straightforward manner compared to Tamers. They may spend their Bonus DP on either improving their raw Stats on a 1-for-1 basis, or by purchasing additional Qualities to use. However there is a catch: DP spent on Stats will directly transfer to all of the other stages a Digimon has. For example, if you have a Palmon and you add +3 to its Accuracy Stat with Bonus DP, the other stages, perhaps Togemon, Lilymon, and Rosemon, would also gain +3 to their Accuracy Stat. This does not mean that each stage has extra Bonus DP, simply that modifying one stage modifies them all at once. Qualities are a bit trickier to increase; while they can still be flavored as the Digimon growing stronger, the vast amount and variety of Qualities and varieties of ways to build a Digimon, limiting yourself to adding the Qualities you purchase with Bonus DP might be a bit awkward to plan around. As such, the only limitation on purchasing additional Qualities is that Bonus DP spent directly on Qualities, must be spent on Qualities for all the other Stages. 38
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Character Advancement
In the Digital World, combat is all but inevitable. In a realm where survival of the fittest often takes the most literal form imaginable, encounters can quickly turn into a matter of life or death. Conflict is what drives many Digimon, and even the most devoutly pacifist Digimon is at least capable of defending itself should the need arise. To support such a world, Digimon: Digital Adventures contains a system with which players and enemies can clash head-to-head in combat.
How Does Combat Work?
In Digimon: Digital Adventures, Combat is a turn-based system, determined by all involved characters rolling Initiative to determine their turn order. Initiative is determined by rolling 3D6+Digimon’s Agility Stat. This means that Digimon-Tamer teams work off the Digimon’s Agility, going on the same turn during a round. During your turn, each Digimon and each Tamer has a pool of Actions they can use, either a single use of a Complex Action, or two Simple Actions. Both Tamer and Digimon may use both of these, meaning a Tamer and Digimon have more actions than a solitary Digimon does. Try to use this to your advantage in combat. The following is a general list of Actions any Digimon or Tamer can make. Some Qualities may have an Action type as a prerequisite, but any Digimon or any Tamer can use this list. Attack (Simple Action): The Digimon or Tamer may use an Attack. Tamers use their Derived Stats from page 11 or 45.
Use a Skill (Simple Action): The Tamer or Digimon makes a Skill Check in Combat. This could be a check to move a hazardous object, a check to persuade a villain to stop, or a simple perception check to get information about the area.
Clash (Simple Action): The Digimon or Tamer may initiate a Clash (see page 44).
Use an Item (Complex Action): The Digimon or Tamer may use an item to support their team. This action may vary wildly in what you can and cannot use depending on the setting.
Digivolve (Simple Action): The Digimon may Digivolve to a higher stage. The Digimon must meet the campaign’s prerequisites to do so.
Bolster (Special): The Digimon or Tamer may turn a Simple Action type into a Complex Action type in order to add +2 to the potency of the action. For example, a Tamer could Bolster their Direct in order to add an additional +2 to the bonus of Directing, at the expense of making Direct a Complex Action. The chosen action must be a Simple Action and have a numerical value to add to in order to be Bolstered. Bolstering does not take up a Action slot on its own.
Direct (Simple Action): The Tamer may direct their Digimon partner, giving orders to help coordinate their tactics. This grants the Digimon a bonus to their next Dodge or Accuracy roll equal to the Tamer’s Charisma Attribute to the Digimon’s next Dodge or Accuracy check. Move in Difficult Terrain (Complex Action): If a Digimon or Tamer has to traverse Terrain that is unstable or hazardous, or that it’s simply not used to, it takes a Complex Action over a Simple Action to move through. Consult your GM about whether or not there is Difficult Terrain involved on the map.
Move (Simple Action): The Digimon or Tamer may move a number of meters equal to a chosen Movement Score (Movement, Fly, Swim, etc), terrain allowing.
In addition to the two Simple Actions or Complex Action, the player has a choice of taking an Interrupt Action once per round. An Interrupt Action can either be used to make a Skill Check for free, or for a character to attempt an Intercede Action. Intercede Actions are detailed later on page 42. Once every character in combat has had their turn, the round loops back to the top of the turn order established previously with the Initiative rolls. Combat ends once one side either surrenders or is knocked out. 39
if given a second everyone can give up and run
the beat of your heart will become your weapon
Chapter 4: Combat
Initiative, as stated previously, is determined by 3D6+The Digimon’s Agility score. Tamers do not roll Initiative unless they have no Digimon partner, in which case they use their Agility+Fight score to determin the Initiative for themselves alone. Tamers and their partner Digimon act on the same turn. In the event of an Initiative tie, the Digimon with the higher Agility Score should go first. If the tie still persists, the GM should give the player characters the higher turn order. There are several situational modifiers for Initiative. If the Tamers are being particularly cautious and planning out things ahead of time instead of rushing right in, their Digimon add their Tamer’s Intelligence Stat to their Initiative Roll. If the party manages to entirely sneak up on some unsuspecting Digimon before attacking, they have successfully initiated a Surprise Round. A Surprise Round is an incredibly useful tool for the party to use. Not only does it add +5 to their Initiative Roll, but it gives them a free round where the opposing party cannot attack them back. Attacks used in a Surprise Round qualify as Surprise Attacks. If a Digimon has the Combat Awareness Quality, the Surprise Round counts as the first Round of Combat.
Range and Movement
During combat, space is divided into several interconnected zones which will help to determine the Digimon’s ability to move towards and away from various enemies. The most common method of dividing up range is by measuring the distance in meters. When using an Attack, a [Melee] tagged Attack may only be used on an enemy who is adjacent to the user. [Ranged] and [Area] tagged Attacks are a different matter, however. A [Ranged] Attack may be fired at any distance, but if the primary target of the Attack is adjacent to the user, the Attack takes an Accuracy penalty equal to 1+the number of stages the user is above Rookie. For example, an Ultimate level Digimon using a [Ranged] Attack on an adjacent enemy would take a -3 penalty to their Accuracy pool for the Attack. A Human who has access to a [Ranged] Attack of some type will as such only ever take a -1 penalty for using that Attack in melee range. [Ranged] Attacks may be fired at any distance, but take an Accuracy penalty of 1 for every 5 meters the opponent is further than 10 meters from your Digimon (rounded down). For example, if you are attacking a target who is 25 meters away, the Attack would take a -3 Accuracy penalty. When using an [Area] Tagged Attack, the user takes a -1 penalty to Accuracy for each target caught up in the area of the used Attack past the second. For example, if a Digimon would be attempting to hit four enemies at once with an [Area] Attack, they would take a -2 Accuracy penalty. An [Area] Attack used by a Digimon without the Selective Targeting Quality takes a further -2 Accuracy penalty if an ally is caught up in the Attack. However, sometimes a grid or a heavily tactical combat system isn’t easy to work with and a GM would prefer something simpler to work with. In this case, simply use “Zones” labeled Close, Long, and Far. Close Range is essentially [Melee] Range, Long Range is a Range where [Ranged] Attacks take no penalty, and Far Range has [Ranged] Attacks take a flat -2 Penalty no matter the distance. A Digimon may move between one Range using a Simple Action to move. However Digimon with a Movement of 15 or higher may traverse 2 Zones with a single Simple Action to move. But even with this simplified method of measuring distance, be sure to specify how they’re apart. A Digimon still needs the proper method of movement in order to move closer to an enemy in the air, or underground. 40
from now on you have vowed to have no regrets
big and bigger biggest dreamer keep running
Initiative
When using an Attack, you roll a number of six-sided dice (D6’s) equal to your Accuracy Stat (using a Pool Check as stated earlier), and setting aside the number of Successful Dice (5’s and 6’s). The target (or in some cases, targets) of the Attack then roll their Dodge pool, again setting aside their Successful Dice. Subtract the number of Successful Dodge Dice from the number of Successful Accuracy Dice. If the number of Successful Accuracy Dice is equal to or greater than the number of Successful Dodge Dice, then the Attack has hit. If there are more Dodge Dice than Accuracy Dice in the Success pool, then the Attack has missed. Any extra Accuracy Dice after Dodge Dice have been subtracted are considered leftover Successful Accuracy Dice. For example, if you have 5 Successful Accuracy Dice and the opponent has 2 Successful Dodge Dice, that’s 3 leftover Successful Accuracy Dice. When calculating Damage on a successful Attack, first add the leftover Successful Accuracy Dice to your Damage Stat. Then subtract the target’s Armor stat from the total. This final number is the Damage that the target takes, which is directly subtracted from their Wound Boxes. Even if the opponent’s Armor would negate all the Damage taken, they take 1 point of Damage from a successful Attack. Once an opponent’s Wound Boxes go down to 0 or lower, they are defeated. Whenever a character is attempting to dodge more than one Attack per round, they take a stacking -1 penalty to their Dodge Pool for every Attack past the first. This penalty disappears at the start of a new round. For example, if a Digimon were to be targeted by 6 Attacks in a single round, their Dodge pool takes a -5 penalty by the time the final Attack is fired.
Stances
Another trick to keep in mind during combat is Stances. A character’s default Stance is a Neutral Stance, which they will enter any battle scenario in. A Neutral Stance has no effects on the character. However as a Simple Action, you can take up a different Stance which will effect your Stats (do not change your Derived Stats when swapping Stances). Besides the default Neutral Stance, there are two more to consider in combat: Defensive and Offensive. A Defensive Stance has the character increase their Dodge Pool by 50% before any negative modifiers are in play such as the stacking Dodge Penalty from trying to avoid multiple Attacks in a round. Round this number down. For example, if you have a Dodge stat of 13, in a Defensive Stance your Dodge stat would effectively become a 19 (19.333 rounded down). However, when taking up a Defensive Stance, your Accuracy Pool is halved, rounded up. For example, again with a 13, but this time in Accuracy, a Defensive Stance would have a given character only rolling 7D6 for an Attack. An Offensive Stance is just the opposite: using the same formulas as before, increase the Digimon’s Accuracy Pool by 50%, but cut their Dodge Pool in half. Stances are a bit of a tricky thing to keep in mind at times, but if you want to encourage your players to utilize them more, sometimes a bit of tough love is called for. Having a big scary enemy Digimon take up a Stance to make them hit like a terror or to make them essentially untouchable can really put the power of Stances into perspective and make players think about simply defaulting to Neutral all the time. Even if there’s a risk to using them, there’s no reward to just taking the safe route over and over again. Make your players think, even if it means beating up the party a few times! 41
with the unstoppable courage gets a fire power
with the excited heartbeat that is a fire power
Attacks and Damage
When a Digimon Digivolves to a higher stage in the middle of combat, as detailed earlier in the previous Digivolving Section, it removes all damage taken to its Wound Boxes, essentially coming in as a new Digimon. Digivolving in combat is, as stated previously, a Simple Action.
Interceding
Once per round a character may take an extra type of Action called an Intercede Action, explained earlier to be a type of free Action. Interceding allows the Digimon to move a number of spaces equal to its Movement capability and move between an ally who is about to be hit by an Attack, and the Attacker. Doing so makes the character the new target of the Attack. This does not change the Accuracy or the Damage (besides the new Armor stat that the Digimon would sport), simply the target of the Attack. A character who Intercedes does not roll Dodge. If the character who is Interceding is attempting to block an [Area] Attack, characters behind them will still take one half of the normal Damage, but are not allowed a Dodge roll. Even the hardiest of characters have trouble entirely stopping a big blast of an attack from hitting their allies. If the Digimon or Tamer cannot reach the targeted character with their normal Movement, they cannot Intercede. Remember, Enemies can Intercede too. Don’t be afraid to let a really big, burly, bulky enemy keep taking a hit for a frail enemy if you think your players need a challenge. It sounds rude, and honestly it is, but that’s a bit of the fun isn’t it? And if you keep using a tactic, it’ll get your players thinking about either using it themselves, or finding a way around it. Get creative, have fun, don’t be afraid to pull out all the stops in an encounter. It can be rewarding to both you as a GM, and to the players.
Intervening is also a useful storytelling tool. A Digimon willing to sacrifice itself for its Tamer, or a Tamer who blocks an Attack aimed at their weakened Digimon, could grant the characters the boost they need to achieve a higher stage of evolution! That said, don’t use this as a crutch either, otherwise combat can get really predictable. Try to mix up the instances of where your Digimon and Tamers can finally break the boundaries to a higher stage! 42
I will surely reach it if you keep believing
truly honest wings cannot be ditried by anyone
Digivolving in Combat
Sometimes a Digimon uses an Attack with an [Effect] Tag instead of a [Damage] Tag. [Effect] Tags have a set Attack Effect purchased from the Attack Effect Quality, each with a different effect and use. Each [Effect] Tag has a separate, scaling potency which will decide how strong the Effect itself is. Effects have a Duration of X turns, where X is the leftover Accuracy Dice when making an Accuracy Roll with the Attack. If a Digimon would use the same [Effect] Tag on a Digimon already effected by the [Effect], they simply increase the duration by the leftover Accuracy Dice. If another Digimon applies the same [Effect] Tag on a target who is effected by the same [Effect] Tag, but the original [Effect] was applied by a different Digimon, it adds to the duration as normal, but the Potency of the [Effect] is changed to match the newest instance of an [Effect]. If an Effect would be applied, it cannot have a Duration below 1. If an [Effect] would alter Stats, it does not alter Derived Stats. Allies still have to roll Dodge on an [Effect], but only roll half their usual amount. If the user Calls the Effect as an additional Simple Action, Allies do not have to roll Dodge at all. Positive Effects are marked (P) while negative Effects are marked (N) Immobilize (N): The target takes a penalty to their Movement equal to the user’s Bit Value x2 for the duration of the Effect.
Fury (P): The target gains a bonus to their Accuracy and Damage scores equal to the user’s Bit value x2 for the duration of this Effect.
Knockback (N): The target is forcibly pushed away from the user a number of meters equal to the user’s CPU Value x2. This Effect has no Duration.
Cleanse (P): The user may reduce the duration of a number of Effects equal to their Bit value by their leftover Accuracy Dice number.
Taunt (N): The target is takes an Accuracy penalty for attacking anyone who is not the user of the Taunt Effect equal to the user’s CPU Value x5 for the duration of this Effect.
Haste (P): The target of the Attack gains an additional Simple Action to use for one round. This Effect has no Duration. An Attack with the Haste Effect must be used as a Complex Action.
Poison (N): The target takes a set amount of unalterable Wound Box Damage equal to the user’s Bit Value x2. This Effect has triple the normal Duration of other Effects.
Blind (N): The target takes a penalty to their Accuracy, Dodge, and Movement equal to the user’s Bit Value x5. Additionally, the target automatically fails Perception checks for the duration of this Effect.
Confuse (N): The target takes a penalty to Accuracy and Dodge equal to the target’s CPU value or Bit value (whichever is higher), x2 for the duration of the Effect.
Paralysis (N): The target cannot move for the duration of the effect and takes a penalty to their Dodge and Armor equal to the user’s Bit value x3. If the target was Clashing, the Clash ends.
Stun (N): The target may not take Actions for the duration of this Effect. If the target was Clashing, the Clash ends.
Weaken (N): The target takes a penalty to all stats (including Health) equal to the user’s Bit Value x4 for the duration of this Effect.
Fear (N): The target takes an Accuracy penalty for attacking the user of this Effect equal to the user’s Bit Value x5 for the duration of this Effect.
Strengthen (P): The target gains a bonus to all stats (including Health) equal to the user’s Bit Value x4 for the duration of this Effect.
Lifesteal (P): This Attack heals a number of the user’s Wound Boxes equal to the user’s CPU value. If the Attack deals damage less than the user’s CPU value, it instead heals for that amount instead. You may use this Attack multiple times per round, but may only activate the Effect once per round. However, you may use this Attack as a Complex Action in order to double the Lifesteal Effect’s potency. Lifesteal has no Duration.
Heal (P): The target gains an amount of Temporary Wound Boxes equal to the user’s Bit value x5. You cannot use a Heal Effect more than once per Round, but may increase the potency to your Bit value x7 by making an At-tack with [Heal] a Complex Action instead for that round.
Vigor (P): The target gains a bonus to their Dodge and Movement scores equal to the user’s Bit value x2 for the duration of this Effect.
Regenerate (P): The target regains Wound Boxes at the start of each round equal to the user’s Bit Value x2 for the duration if this Effect. While under the effects of Regenerate, the target is also treated as if they had Resistant Rank 2.
Charm (N): The user takes control of the target’s actions for the duration of this Effect.
43
there is light and there is shadow in your heart
the story which has begun to revolve full speed
Attack Effects
Sometimes Attacking isn’t all that simple, and you want to get up close and personal, overwhelming and locking down your opponent’s movements, often a type of grapple or wrestling maneuver, but sometimes it can be something a bit more subtle, whether it’s trying to tie up the opponent, trip them up, or keep them locked down with a mystical, invisible force. Upon one party Initiating a Clash, both participants immediately make a check using the following rules, and then make another check using the same rules at the start of each round following (this will be detailed more in Combat Example 2 on page 48): Both participants make a Skill Check of their Body Score (3D6+Body) with a TN equal to their opponent’s Agility Score. The participant with the larger Size Tag (see page 29), gains a bonus to their roll equal to the difference in sizes, while the other participant takes a penalty equal to that bonus. For example, if one Digimon were in the Huge Size category and another simply in the Medium Size category, the Huge Digimon would gain a bonus of +4 to a Clash Check, while the Medium Digimon would take a -4 Penalty. If one participant rolls equal to or higher than the previously mentioned TN, but one does not, they Control the Clash. If both participants match or exceed the TN, the Digimon who exceeded it by the greater margin Controls the Clash. If a tie still continues, the Digimon with the higher Body Stat Controls the Clash. In the event of a total tie where everything matched up perfectly, the Player Controls the Clash. The character who Controls the Clash may use any of the following options as a Clash Action (Action Pool Allowing). The character who does not Control the Clash may not take any actions. Attack (Complex Action): The Controller may use a [Melee] Attack on the opponent. The target cannot roll to Dodge. All other effects still come into play.
Throw (Complex Action): The Controller may throw the target a number of meters equal to their Body Stat, or the Far Zone. The Controller of the Clash deals Damage to the target digimon equal to its Damage Stat, reduced by Armor as normal. If the thrown Digimon would hit a group of enemies, consider it a basic [Ranged] Attack, with a bonus to the Damage and Accuracy equal to the thrower’s CPU Value times three.
End the Clash (Simple Action): The Controller ends the Clash and both participants are removed from the Clash. They are now adjacent to each other. Pin (Complex Action): The opponent cannot roll to control the Clash on their next turn.
While Clashing, neither Digimon can make Dodge rolls or move away from each other (they may still spend Movement Actions if they wish to reposition themselves, but they must always be in contact with their opponent.) However, despite not being able to Dodge, opponents who target the Clash from outside of the Clah take a penalty to the Damage dealt equal to the Clashing Digimon’s Bit Values combined. For example if one Digimon has a Bit Value of 2 and another of 5, they both take a 7 less Damage from Digimon who are not part of the Clash. If the opponent is airbone and is Pinned, both parties fall to the ground immediately, and the Pinned Digimon takes damage equal to the number of meters fallen, reduced by their Bit Value. Stronger Digimon can take more punishment. If you’re using the more general, covering distance Zones, the Digimon who was Pinned takes damage equal to the number of Zones it’s fallen times five, reduced by its Bit Value. The Controller does not take any damage from falling. If a Digimon has the Reach Quality, it can start Clashes at a Range equal to its Reach value. While this can be safe, it can also drag things out. A Digimon attempting to Clash at a Range takes a penalty to all Clash Rolls equal to the number of meters it is away from the target (for ways to negate this penalty, see the Multi-Grappler Quality on page 24). If the opponent does not also have the Reach Quality, they may make Attacks and Actions if they Control the Clash, but they only deal 1/2 of the normal Damage. 44
from now on you have vowed to have no regrets
big and bigger biggest dreamer keep running
Clashing
Not every Tamer is content just sitting on the sidelines and directing the flow of battle, some want to dive right in and get into the fray personally. A few derived Combat Stats for Tamers has been gone over a bit before, but this should be the go-to reference page if you want your Tamer to be directly involved.
Wound Boxes: Body Stat+Endurance (Minimum of 2) Accuracy: Agility+Fight Stats Damage: Body Stat+Fight Stat Dodge: Agility+Dodge Stats Armor: Body+Endurance Stats Movement: Agility+Survival Stats
Tamers in combat, once their derived combat stats are in place, function the same way Digimon do. They however lack Qualities, and without any outside assistance may only make basic [Melee] Attacks. Tamers may be able to upgrade their combat capabilities with gear or other items, which will be detailed in the Gear and Items section on page xx. Tamers in combat are a really tricky back and forth game that you need to be careful with how you dive into the fray. Unlike Digimon, you’re significantly more vulnerable in general due to not having Qualities to back up your stats. However, if a Tamer really invests in combat, they could have a whole lot of Stats to work with. An Adult Tamer who’s fully invested into all of their Stats for Combat would have a total of 100 stat points and 20 Movement points, that’s something that could keep up with a newly made Burst level Digimon. But be careful there too: at that point in the game odds are the opponents have a lot of Bonus DP to utilize as well.
Defeat
Sometimes things don’t go as planned, and you and your Digimon are often in real danger of being defeated. This occurs when your Wound Boxes would hit 0. This scenario is harshest on Tamers, who are in the more immediate danger. If a Tamer is brought to 0 Wound Boxes or less, they’re rendered unconscious for the rest of combat and must make a Death Saving Throw. This is a simple roll of 3D6 where a roll of 3 is a failure. The TN goes up by 1 for every two points the Tamer is below 0 in their Wound Boxes. If a Tamer would be brough below the value of their Max Wound Boxes below 0 (for example, a Tamer with 8 Wound Boxes at a total Wound Box number of -8 or lower), they do not make the Death Saving Throw and are instead killed outright. Digimon have a much safer time in combat. If they are brought to 0 Wound Boxes, they are not always instantly destroyed if they’re partnered with a Tamer. In this instance they’re instead brought down to their lowest Default Stage and set to 1 Wound Box instead. Digimon in such a state are often apologetic they weren’t strong enough. If a Digimon would be set to their Maximum Wound Box number as a negative value instead (or are brought to 0 or below from their Default Stage), they bypass this and become Digitama, or Digi-Egg. As a Digitama, Digimon are incredibly frail and have 1 Wound Box and 0 points of Armor. If they’re destroyed in this state, their data may be lost forever. Don’t see death as the end of a campaign. Sometimes it can be a jumping-off point for more than just raising a Digimon back from the Digitama state. A Tamer dying could be a potential story arc that you could work with your GM to create. Does the Digimon end up wandering aimlessly with the group, looking for a new Tamer? Does the group aim to try and find a way to bring the character back through any means necessary? Maybe the Digimon simply grieves but continues to aid the party either way. 45
with the unstoppable courage gets a fire power
with the excited heartbeat that is a fire power
Tamers in Combat
In the following three sections we’ll be covering several types of combat lasting 1 to 2 rounds each, to hopefully give the general idea behind several types of combat which could pop up during the course of your campaign. We’re going to be using two characters to illustrate the combat types, who will be detailed in the Sample Tamer Packet. First we have Kieran, a short Tamer with an equally short temper. Kieran focuses heavily on getting up into the fights himself rather than sitting back and directing the combat. While he might not admit it often, his main drive to fight is to protect the people he cares about. Kieran’s partner is Liollmon, who, much like his Tamer, likes to take a very aggressive approach to combat, jumping right into the fray without hesitation. Kieran uses the Teenager template in order to allow him to keep up with the average Digimon later on. Second we have Summer, a young and energetic Tamer with big dreams for the future. Her primary role in the middle of combat is to inspire and help direct her partner Digimon, Veemon and push the party through hard times emotionally. Summer does her best to try and direct the team out of danger, using her charismatic presence to help grab everyone’s attention before calling out directions. She’s not particularly safe in the middle of combat. Veemon meanwhile dives right into the fray with a flurry of lightning-fast attacks, jumping in and out of the ‘safe’ range as best it can to avoid being hit while hitting the enemy as many times as it can. Our first Combat Example will be using Summer and Veemon (currently at the Veedramon stage), facing a distressingly powerful enemy in the form of Antylamon. This example will use the Simple Combat template.
GM: Okay, so the setup is that the Antylamon is looming over you and Veedramon, you decided to Digivolve before combat started, but now combat is happening. Roll for Initiative. Antylamon and Veedramon both roll 3D6+Agility to determine their Initiative. Antylamon has an Agility stat of 7, while Veedramon has an Agility stat of 4. Antylamon not only has an advantage of numbers but rolls high as well for a total of 21 on the Initiative Roll. Veedramon meanwhile rolls a total of 16 for his Initiative, meaning Antylamon moves first. Antylamon: first moves adjacent to Veedramon (Simple Action), using its Arm Bomber attack (Simple Action), lashing out with both of its large hands at once. Arm Bomber has the following tags: [Melee][Damage][Armor Piercing 4][Counter][Line 5]. This means that Arm Bomber can be used as a Counter attack for impressive power, and that it ignores up to 4 points of Veedramon’s Armor, and that it connects with poor Summer behind Veedramon if she doesn’t get out of the way! Antylamon has an Accuracy stat of 5 and thus rolls 5D6. Out of the 5 dice, there’s a single 5 and a single 6 rolled, meaning it has 2 Successful Accuracy Dice. In response, Veedramon rolls a Dodge stat of 4. It only rolls 1 Successful Dodge Dice, negating 1 of Antylamon’s Accuracy Dice. Antylamon adds its Damage stat to the 1 Net Successful Accuracy Dice for a total of 6 Damage. However it ignores 4 points of Veedramon’s 5 Armor, leaving the defending Digimon with only 1 point that it can use to negate the damage done, meaning Veedramon takes 5 Damage. The Digimon marks off 5 Wound Boxes, leaving it with only 5 remaining. A single hit took out half of its health! Summer fortunately rolls impressively high with her 4 Dodge Dice (Agility of 2, Dodge of 2), rolling 3 Successes, thus avoiding Antylamon’s attack. Now it’s their turn to strike back, but they need to act fast, they can’t take another hit like that. 46
I will surely reach it if you keep believing
truly honest wings cannot be ditried by anyone
Combat Example 1
“Veedramon! Hit him hard in the legs to slow him down, then get out of the way, we can do this, but you need to keep on your toes!” Veedramon nods in acknowledgement to its Tamer’s directions, since Antylamon is already next to him, he uses his Magnum Punch Attack (Simple Action), which has the following tags: [Melee][Damage][Charge][Armor Piercing 4][Knockback]. This means that Veedramon can Attack and move as a single action, choosing to move to the side to get Summer out of the line of fire as Antylamon will clearly percieve the larger Digimon as the obvious threat. Veedramon rolls its Accuracy of 5 and adds Summer’s bonus of 3 for a total of 8 Accuracy. The Digimon rolls a total of 4 Successful Accuracy Dice. However, in response, Antylamon rolls a total of 9 Dodge Dice, but fortunately rolls a bit lower, only getting 3 Successful Dodge Dice, leaving only 1 Dice to be added to Veedramon’s Damage Stat. Veedramon adds the 1 to its Damage Stat of 5 for a total of 6, which ignores up to 4 points of Antylamon’s 5 Armor. As such, Antylamon takes 5 Damage as well, being knocked back a number of squares equal to Veedramon’s CPU Value (1) Doubled, so 2 meters away (it is still in the Long Range Zone). Veedramon has another Attack planned, using V-Nova Blast (Simple Action). This Attack is a bit different from the two before, having the following Tags: [Ranged][Damage] [Certain Strike 3][Line]. This means Veedramon can hit Antylamon without having to move again, and it can ignore up to 3 Successful Dodge Dice. Due to already having taken an Attack this round, Antylamon takes a -1 Dodge Penalty to the Attack. Since this is Veedramon’s second Attack, it loses the Direct bonus to its own Accuracy, now only rolling 5 Accuracy Dice. Veedramon gets 3 Successes and 2 1’s, so it chooses to activate its Huge Power Quality to re-roll said 1’s. In doing so it gets another 5 to add to the Success pool for a new total of 4. Antylamon rolls 8 Dodge in response, rolling distressingly low with only 1 Success and 2 1’s, choosing to re-roll the 1’s by expending its Agility Quality, getting a lucky 6 from that to bring the new Dodge total up to 2. However, it’s still not enough, Veedramon’s Certain Strike 3 negates both of said dice, meaning Antylamon is hit for the full brunt of the attack. Veedramon adds 4 to its Damage for a total of 9, and Antylamon negates 5 of that with its Armor, meaning it takes 4 damage. That means that out of Antylamon’s 12 Wound Boxes, it’s taken 9 points of total damage, leaving it with a mere 3 remaining as its turn starts. Antylamon: uses its Hundred Kicks Attack (Simple Action) to get close to Veedramon again. This Attack has the following Tags: [Melee][Damage][Pass][Charge][Certain Strike 3][Knockback]. This means that Antylamon can get up close and personal with the Attack without having to use another Action to move, but the Pass keyword combined with its high Movement score will leave it in the Long Range Zone. Antylamon rolls 3 Accuracy, while Veedramon rolls a total of 6 Dodge with Summer’s help. However, Antylamon’s Certain Strike lowers Veedramon’s Dodge to 3, meaning the Attack still connects, but with no added Damage. Veedramon’s Armor of 5 negates Antylamon’s Damage of 5, but since it was hit, it still takes a single point of Wound Box damage, bringing it down to 4 remaining. Intent to finish off the fight, Antylamon takes up an Offensive Stance (Simple Action), ready to go in for the finisher as Summer and Veedramon recover. Summer: asks the GM to make a Digivolve Check, the GM allows it, using the Range Roll method seen in the Houserule section on page xx for a Range of Max-9 as the TN, due to the dire situation the party is in. Rolling 3D6 and spending 2 points of Inspiration, Summer is able to roll a mere 2 below her Maximum on 3D6, meaning she succeeded! (Simple Action.) This means that Veedramon is going to Digivolve! 47
there is light and there is shadow in your heart
the story which has begun to revolve full speed
Summer: starts off her turn by Directing Veedramon twice, they can’t afford to hold back here. The first Direct Action is applied to Veedramon’s Accuracy for a bonus equal to Summer’s Charisma stat (3). The second is applied to Veedramon’s Dodge, again equal to her Charisma stat of 3.
“Veedramon! Aim for its body this time, finish it off!” Veedramon uses a Simple Action to Digivolve to AeroVeedramon. AeroVeedramon’s Wound Boxes are set back to their maximum, which is now 14 instead of 10. AeroVeedramon uses V-Wing Blade, which has the same Tags as the V-Nova Blast Attack it used in its previous Stage ([Ranged][Damage][Line][Certain Strike 3]). Adding Summer’s 3 for Directing, AeroVeedramon rolls 9 Accuracy, getting a total of 5 Successes! Antylamon’s Dodge pool is cut in half due to its Stance, so it only rolls 5 Dodge dice in response. It rolls 2 Successes, which are negated by Certain Strike. AeroVeedramon adds the 5 Successes to its Damage of 4 for 9 Damage, which Antylamon sutracts its Armor of 5 from for a remainder of 4 Damage. Antylamon is now at -1/12 Wound Boxes, meaning it’s defeated. Summer and Veedramon won the fight!
Combat Example 2
The second Combat Example will focus on Grapple rules, diving in a bit later, in the middle of combat when Kieran’s partner has successfully Digivolved into GrappLeomon. For simplicity’s sake, neither combatant has taken any damage yet, but are already adjacent to each other. Kieran is also right in the middle of the fray, getting ready to jump in when there’s an opening. Their opponent, ShadowWereGarurumon, is a tricky Digimon to pin down due to its naturally agile nature. ShadowWereGarurumon moves first.
ShadowWereGarurumon: Takes up a Defensive Stance, unsure of what to make of this new opponent (Simple Action.). Wanting to see how GrappLeomon reacts, it uses Garuru Kick (Simple Action) and activates its Flurry Quality to use an additional basic [Melee][Damage] tagged attack immediately after. GrappLeomon has 1 point of Dodge, and as such takes both Attacks head-on with no Successful Dodges rolled, WereGarurumon rolling a lucky 2 for each of its Attacks. However, GrappLeomon sports an Armor stat of 10, meaning that ShadowWereGarurumon’s Attacks only deal 1 damage after! Kieran puts 2 points into the Combat Monster Pool on GrappLeomon: on its next successful Attack, GrappLeomon will now deal 2 extra Damage. GrappLeomon has 15 Health remaining. Kieran: GrappLeomon initiates a Clash as a Free Action instead of a Simple Action by using its Wrestlemania Quality. Both combatants now roll for Clashing. GrappLeomon has a Body Stat of 16 vs ShadowWereGarurumon’s Agility of 5. Meanwhile, ShadowWereGarurumon has a Body Stat of 12 vs GrappLeomon’s Agility of 1. 48
from now on you have vowed to have no regrets
big and bigger biggest dreamer keep running
Summer (Cont.): Summer uses her remaining Simple Action to Direct her newly Digivolved AeroVeedramon for its Accuracy.
Upon rolling 3D6+Body, GrappLeomon rolls a 35, while ShadowWereGarurumon rolls a 21. Both succeed in beating the required TN’s, however GrappLeomon beat the number by 30, while ShadowWereGarurumon only beat the number by 20. Thus, GrappLeomon Controls the Clash. GrappLeomon Controls the Clash and chooses to use its King of Fists attack as a Complex Action, which would finish its turn. King of Fists sports the following Tags: [Melee][Damage] [Close Blast][Armor Piercing 4]. The Charge Tag is pointless here, however this means that the Attack will ignore up to 4 points of ShadowWereGarurumon’s Armor Stat. Due to Controlling the Clash, GrappLeomon does not need to roll Accuracy. GrappLeomon sports a Damage Stat of 10. ShadowWereGarurumon sports an Armor Stat of 7, 4 points of which are ignored, leaving it with 3 points of Armor to negate the damage done by Kaiser Nail. Due to Combat Monster activating, the Attack gains 2 more Damage, meaning that after everything is said and done, ShadowWereGarurumon takes 9 Damage, leaving it with 4 Wound Boxes remaining out of its original 13. However, Kieran has not taken any Actions yet and he’s still right next to the duo in the Clash. He can still attack the Digimon inside but they gain Damage Reduction equal to their combined Bit Values, which would be a total of 2 Damage Reduction. Inversely, however, neither Digimon can roll to Dodge. Kieran rushes in, making two basic [Melee] Attacks, as that’s all he can do as a Tamer. Rolling two Accuracy checks by adding his Agility and Fight scores together, each Attack gains +3 Damage for the Successful Accuracy Dice on the first Attack, and +4 Damage for the second. Kieran adds his Body and Fight Scores together to have a Damage stat of 10. Adding in his Leftover Accuracy Dice, Kieran deals 13 Damage and 14 Damage with each Attack respectively. After subtracting its 7 Armor and the additional 2 Damage Reduction to Outside Attacks, ShadowWereGarurumon takes 4 and 5 Damage from each Attack respectively. Marking off the Wound Boxes, it’s now at -5 Wound Boxes and is defeated! Kieran and GrappLeomon won the fight.
Combat Example 3
Our final Combat Example will take up a bit more space, by showcasing Digimon: Digital Adventure’s combat system on a grid with each action taken. This battle takes place early on in the adventure when Kieran and Summer are not yet ready to Digivolve to the Ultimate Stage or higher. Their opponent is an ornery Monochromon, who seems to be attacking the duo out of nowhere. Kieran’s position will be marked with a letter K, and Summer’s with a letter S.
49
with the unstoppable courage gets a fire power
with the excited heartbeat that is a fire power
(Continued) However, GrappLeomon has the Brawler Optimization Quality, and thus is considered one size larger (Large > Huge) whereas ShadowWereGarurumon is still classified as Large, as well as a flat +2 Bonus to Clashing, for a total of +4 to the check, where ShadowWereGarurumon now takes a -2 penalty due to now being classified as smaller than GrappLeomon. The new Totals for GrappLeomon are 20 vs ShadowWereGarurumon’s 5 Agility, and for ShadowWereGarurumon a 10 vs GrappLeomon’s 1 Agility.
S
Each Participant has rolled 3D6+Digimon’s Agility Stat to determine the Initiative Order. The turn list shall go: Veemon+Summer (16), Kieran+Liollmon (15), then lastly Monochromon (14). Summer and Veemon act first. Summer: Summer Directs Veemon a single time to add the +3 that her bonus grants to the next Accuracy roll it makes. Veemon uses V-Headbutt, which has the following tags: [Melee][Damage][Charge][Certain Strike 3]. Veemon uses 6 of its 9 Movement points with the Charge Attack to move adjacent to Monochromon. Thanks to Summer’s Directing, the Attack rolls 6D6 for Accuracy over 3D6. Veemon rolls 2 6’s, a 4, a 2, and 2 1’s for two Successes. Monochromon rolls 3 for Dodge, getting 0 Successes, letting Veemon add the 2 Leftover Successful Dice to its Damage Stat, dealing 5 damage before Monochromon’s Armor stat is applied. However, Monochromon has a Armor of 11, so the Attack only deals 1 Damage for connecting. 50
if given a second everyone can give up and run
the beat of your heart will become your weapon
K
After Summer’s turn is over, Monochromon has been targeted by 2 Attacks and has taken 2 Damage, leaving it with 9 Wound Boxes remaining. Kieran: Kieran charges in with Liolmon, who uses Critical Bite, which sports the following tags: [Melee] [Damage][Charge][Pass][Armor Piercing 4]. Liolmon uses the Attack two times in a row, while Kieran must use a Simple Action to move to Monochromon’s side. Liollmon sports the Melee Striker Optimization Quality, so it adds +2 to its Accuracy Stat when using a [Melee] Attack. With a fair bit of luck, Liollmon rolls 3 Successes on its adjusted Accuracy Stat of 5 for the first Attack, while Monochromon also gets fairly lucking with a single success on its single remaining Dodge dice. So Liollmon adds 1 to its Damage Stat and then subtracts that from Monochromon’s Armor, ignoring up to 4 of the opponent’s Armor points. Liollmon’s net Damage of 10, after Monochromon’s Armor of 11 after that, meaning it also only does 1 point of Damage to the Digimon. The second Attack also gets 3 Successes, this time Liollmon deals 2 Damage, as Monochromon cannot Dodge. This time it ties with Monochromon’s Armor, so it does 1 Damage once more. Kieran fires off his Attack, rolling 4 Successes on his Accuracy, which Monochromon can no longer Dodge. Adding in his Damage stat of 10, he’s dealt 14 Damage before Monochromon’s Armor comes into play, which lowers the damage dealt to a less impressive 3 damage. Monochromon has now taken 7 Damage out of its 11 Wound Boxes, leaving it with 4 remaining as its turn comes around. Monochromon: The heavily wounded Digimon roars angrily, Kieran did the most damage last round, so it’s focusing on him! It uses its Great Horn Attack to desperately fling Kieran back, tagged [Melee][Damage] [Knockback][Armor Piercing 4]. Kieran is already adjacent to Monochromon. It rolls 2 Successes. Kieran however rolls 6 on his Dodge Pool, meaning the Attack misses! Monochromon desperately fires off a Volcanic Strike Attack, tagged [Ranged][Damage][Blast 1][Poison][Certain Strike 3]. Monochromon, being a Champion level Digimon using a [Ranged] Attack in Melee range, takes a -1 Accuracy Penalty. It rolls 1 Success, and places the Blast on top of Kieran. It does not have enough Brains to hit more than one target at a time right now. Kieran rolls 1 less Dodge dice now as he’s been targeted by two attacks this round. He rolls two Successes, however Certain Strike 3 ignores both of the Successes. So Monochromon adds its Damage to the 1 Succes it has for a total of 4 Damage. Kieran however is fairly durable, his Armor stat soaking it all up to the point that it only deals 1 Damage to him. As such, the Poison Effect does not get applied. He still has 8 Wound Boxes remaining out of his maximum of 9. The Round resets, so all Dodge Penalties from having multiple Attacks fired are removed. The next page page will help to illustrate how the round went, using numbers based on the order of actions.
51
I will surely reach it if you keep believing
truly honest wings cannot be ditried by anyone
Summer (Continued): Summer once more Directs Veemon to add +3 to the Accuracy again, before Veemon uses V-Punch, which sports the tags: [Melee][Damage][Knockback][Armor Piercing 4]. Veemon is already adjacent to Monochromon after the last Attack, so it does not need to move. This time, Veemon rolls 3 Successes on its Accuracy Roll. Monochromon has been targeted by an Attack this round, so it rolls 1 less Dodge dice. It once more fails to roll any successful dice. The Attack ignores up to 4 points of Monochromon’s Armor, and the Attack deals 6 Damage. However, with 11 Armor, Monochromon is still able to soak up all the Damage, meaning the Attack only deals 1 point of Damage and Knockback does not take effect.
-1
-1
1: Command and V-Headbutt 2: Command and V-Punch
S
SUMMER AND VEEMON’S TURN
1 2
K K
3
-5 1: 2: 3: 4:
CRITICAL FANG CRITICAL FANG MOVE ATTACK
S
KIERAN AND LIOLLMON’S TURN, MONOCHROMON’S TURN BELOW
2 K
-1
1: Great Horn Attack, Miss 2: Volcanic Strike
52
S
there is light and there is shadow in your heart
the story which has begun to revolve full speed
K
Chapter 5: Game Mastering
This section is primarily for those who are looking to run a game of Digimon: Digital Adventures, otherwise known as Game Masters (GMs), to peruse for ideas, guidelines, and special rules to use, but this shouldn’t discourage players from browsing this section for ideas either. A Game Master has several important duties in a game: to help tell a story, to act as an expert on the rules, to be a judge on the rules, and to make sure everyone is having an enjoyable time at the table.
Your Digital World, Your Way
One of the first things to do as a GM, once you have a story laid out, is to figure out how the Digital World works in your story. There’s always more questions to be asked and more information you can fill out, but these questions should help you at least get started on building your world how you want it. Do not see the answers as hard rules or the only answers, feel free to branch out, these are just examples.
1) How Does the Digital World Work? - Many times, the Digital World is created when intelligent AI’s evolve into more complex forms within the Digital Plane, which continue to fight and change in order to survive, creating a dangerous, sectioned-off realm of its own. - The Digital World sprang up around the same time as the Internet. This option can somewhat limit the setting your game can take place in, however, as the Internet is a relatively recent invention. - Perhaps the Digital World has always existed as a parralel to the real world, and the invention of the Internet simply acted as a bridge between the two.
2) How Does the Party Get There? - Sometimes, the party simply gets sucked into the Digital World, left there stranded and alone, looking for a way to get out. This could be a total accident, or an act of fate. Sometimes it’s through a building or vehicle, other times it could just be a rift in time and space itself. - Other times, there’s an existing link between the two worlds which the players can actively utilize, whether they activated it wherever they need to be, or if it’s in a set location. Some locations may simply be a secret that few people have discovered, others may be heavil guarded by parties on both ends of the link; nobody wants an invasion on their hands.
3) How do They Get Back? - If the link between the Digital World and real world is a static thing or something the Party has control over, the question is somewhat answered, but what if it’s guarded or it needs a specific trick to work how they need it to? - If they’re in the Digital World entirely on accident or without their consent, that creates an entire new problem: they have no idea how to get home, and now need to find a way to get there. 53
4) What are the Rules of the Digital World? - Perhaps the Digital World give or take works off the same rules the real world does: up is up, down is down, fire is hot and water is wet. There may be some strange occurances, such as alien plants and random circuitry here and there, but overall it’s give or take operating under the same rules. - The Digital World also has some potential to have entirely strange rules as well: dark areas without any gravity, extremely high-temperature areas that don’t effect the party as it should, or a strange day and night cycle which doesn’t operate by any apparent clock. Feel free to mix and match these as you see fit!
5) How Does Time Work? - Sometimes, Time passes much faster in the Digital World for one reason or another: maybe due to being on a digital realm their data processes much faster, or perhaps a rift in spacetime causes this, or the inverse. This can also be a common way to explain why no one misses the party when they’re off exploring and fighting in such a dangerous area: they don’t seem to notice they’re missing! - Other times, time works exactly the same as the real world. This one has its own slew of problems too: what happens if a group of kids are gone too long, wouldn’t the parents know they’re missing?
6) What are the Needs of the Party? - Do the Tamers require food, water, or even sleep while they’re in the Digital World, or are these needs taken care of by some unseen force for one reason or another? If they do, how are they going to have said requirements to survive taken care of?
7) What is the Environment Like? - Sometimes, the Digital World contains a vast array of environments and areas to explore, each containing vastly different types of Digimon which call it their home. This can create a diverse, but potentially overwhelming type of world to jump into. - Sometimes, the Digital World is simply a large, flat grid or a digital wasteland which doesn’t have a real parralel to the real world to compare it to. Feel free to mix or match both of these options if you want to.
8) Are There Settlements? - More often than not, truly peaceful Digimon, or Digimon who are in desperate need of protection, will group together and create a living society, whether it’s simply a small collection of Digimon huddled in a cave, to a vast, futuristic cityscape filled to the brim with strange and quirky inhabitants. The leaders of such inhabitants are generally a Digimon who sports a high, if not the highest, stage of the group, as they tend to boast the greatest power to help protect their settlement, and experience to help them make informed decisions instead of just rushing headfirst into battle. - Occasionally you will run into a setting where there is a human settlement in the Digital World. These settlements could vary depending on how you see the Digital World: are they military outposts there to keep tabs on the Digimon? Is it a shadowy organization looking to further their own goals? Perhaps it’s a peaceful human group looking to befriend their digital friends, or a large gathering of Tamers who simply wish to spend time with their beloved partners. Sometimes, it may even be possible for large groups of Humans and Digimon to live side by side peacefully in both the Digital World and real world, if the setting allows it.
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9) Who’s in Charge, and Where Does Their Power Come From? - The Digital World can often be ruled by a powerful, governing figure, who may be either an ally, or the antagonist of the campaign depending on what needs to be done. It may simply be an insanely strong Digimon, or a human who’s figured out a way to manipulate the Digital World somehow. - Many rulers can do fine by their power alone, but others may have a divine blessing behind their power, or the goodwill of the citizenry of the Digital World. Perhaps they rule with an iron fist, use mind control, or other such underhanded methods to keep the Digital World in check, if the people do not approve.
10) Who is the Party Up Against? - One of the biggest questions to ask yourself when designing a game is what the antagonist of the game is. Is it simply a villainous Digimon, a human who slipped into the Digital World and created a slew of problems, or a rogue AI who seems intent on destroying everything? Villains and antagonists are just as important to the story as the heroes are, be sure to think about who they are, why they’re doing what they’re doing, and how they’re going about it. Be sure to think this one through: these will often be a go-to bad guy during an encounter.
11) Life and Death - Death is not a light subject for humans. If they die in the Digital World, will they die in real life as well? Or is there room for a glimmer of hope that their data is saved and they could be resurrected? Would being brought back to life have any negative consequences? - Death is usually a bit more lenient on Digimon, who will often revert to a Digitama instead of truly dying. But where does the Digitama go? Does it show up out of nowhere? Does it appear in the player’s hands? Do they have a set location where they show up, that the players now need to go to? - Digimon also have another question to ask: how do they create more? Do they spring out of the ground, do Digimon create couples and have children together, or is the only way to keep the status quo to pray for more Digitama to pop out of the ground somewhere?
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With these questions out of the way, you should have a basic idea of how your world is set up. In the end, it’s up to you as the Game Master to populate the world with characters that your players will grow to love, and possibly hate, and make it feel like a real, living and breathing place as best you can. Spend an hour or so before every game re-reading a few notes you’ve made about the world, it’s good to keep things fresh in your mind. Be sure to give some NPC’s quirks, dreams, aspirations, and personalities; it can go a long ways to making them relatable and fun to roleplay with.
“An example I can give was when my GM introduced us to a little transient Digimon village and there we met a Palmon. She was unlike most of the other Digimon we met at that point, being much more curious than the standoffish monsters we had met with. For the camp, she was charged with helping to grow meat and she enjoyed keeping everyone entertained with a flute that she played, as she would dance around the campfire at night. When she would talk with us, Palmon spoke in a broken English that was played up as an adorable quirk of speech. Our GM did his job well, making us care about Palmon and eventually the rest of the Digimon at the camp.” - Digimon Emperor, System Creator
You can build your Digital World from the top down or from the bottom up. Top down, you’re looking at constructing the various places that Digimon would call home, the world’s mythology and legends, and then going down to a personal level to create NPCs that the DigiDestined interact with. From the bottom up, you make the NPCs first, giving them personality, beliefs, and goals. You then expand to detail their allies, enemies, and where they live. Think of ideas as building blocks and as you build anything you want to, as long as there’s reasonable connections. Both methods of creating your world are entirely valid and have their own merits to how you build a living, breathing world. 56
Adversaries and Antagonists Like any Digimon story, a lot of conflict derives from the antagonist’s goals clashing with the general interests of the party. Sometimes, an antagonist’s goals are as simple and straightforward as conquering both the human and Digital Worlds or as grey and ambiguous as retaliating for the perceived first shot at the Digital World by the humans. First, decide on your antagonist’s goal. A goal is fine, but it is enhanced by a motivation. Just as actors get into a role by figuring out a character’s motivation for a scene and their actions, you as the GM can better understand the psychology of an antagonists goal by giving them a motivation. This can be as simple as giving them a one word motivation such as “Fear, ” or “Pride, ” or as complex as, “Desires to remake both worlds in his image.” for whatever reasons you may see as fit. Maybe the character sees themselves as wronged by some party, or maybe they’re trying to make the world safer, but going about it in the wrong manner. Or maybe the villain is just a jerk who needs to be put in their place. With a clear goal and motivation out of the way, you can add some numbers to the antagonist. First, you decide what rank you require them at to stand up to a group of DigiDestined and their Digimon partners. Using the Advanced Digimon Creation rules, you then build the Digimon as basic for its level as you like, then add on Bonus DP as you need. Remember that the Advanced Digimon Creation rules are guidelines, giving you an idea of just how strong a Digimon should be for its rank and that you can raise or lower the base DP used to build the Digimon as you wish. If I wish to make a Champion level threat to challenge a group with some moderately strong Rookies, I could start off with a pool of 40 DP and build from there. Assigning a minimum of 1 to each category, I build this Champion as a bit of a glass cannon. The Digimon is strong enough to likely injure a player character controlled Digimon to the point of defeat, but is rather fragile and a few good hits might take it out of commission. This is just one method of going about building an enemy, however, there’ll be a few more tips, tricks, and ideas later on. Some antagonists are meant to slow down and hinder players and as such, really lack the staying power of the main threat. These smaller antagonists, called Mooks, only have as many wound boxes as their rank allows rather than Health plus the bonus boxes gained from their rank. These make for good fodder Digimon to harass higher level players, such as a swarm of Rookies that have allied with an Ultimate-level antagonist facing off against players that have Champions or Ultimates of their own. Any good hits will be enough to get rid of the small fry so that the players can then work towards defeating the leader of the Mook Digimon. Sometimes, an encounter with an adversary doesn’t go as planned. They’re either stronger or weaker than you anticipated or the players had a run of good or bad luck. If this happens, you can change up the Digimon’s motivation and goals somewhat, to align with the Digimon’s apparent power level, or come up with a reason why it’s stronger or weaker now. If the monster was too weak or the party lucky, you can simply say that the Digimon was really all talk and no game, as it were. If the situation is the opposite, you can say that the enemy was really a lot more than he appeared to be, even going so far as to perhaps claim him as a recurring enemy. It’s all in how you put the spin on things, just as long as you spin it in a way that makes sense for the story. But as the Game Master, you have a lot of power to be able to change up the tactics you throw at the players at any given moment you feel the story is suffering for it. Keep that in mind at all times! Not every enemy in a story is a Digimon. You can use humans as antagonists as well. The human antagonist in a Digimon series can be just as scary as a Digimon, if not more so when they have the proper allies! Build them, again, like you would any other character with CP and Bonus Experience to make them properly threatening, and give them a reason and motivation for what they’re doing. Lastly, remember that not everything has to be black and white when it comes to morality. An antagonist whose story you can sympathize with, even if you don’t approve of their methods, can go a long way to making a story interesting and immersive. Everyone goes about dealing with their problems differently, and that can lead some people down a very dark path. Of course, some characters are just flat-out nasty and it can’t entirely be explained away with a story, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind.
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Digivice Design It really wouldn’t be a Digimon campaign without some type of Digivice. This is one of the most important, if not the most important, tools that a character can gain access to during a Campaign. A Digivice is a small, handheld device which links the Tamer and Digimon together, allowing the former to help aid the latter in combat primarily through the ability to Digivolve on command instead of needing to train, but that may not be the end of it depending on your setting. Here’s a short list of ideas for how you could upgrade your Digivices. But as with all lists: don’t consider these an end-all-be-all list! Come up with your own ideas and special rules. However, for balance’s sake, it may be best to limit yourself to only three to four items on this list tops unless you have a very specific idea in mind.
- Reader: The Digivice is capable of reading Cards or Chips (simplified as Boosters) of some type, which grant the Digimon a specific type of bonus. There are several different types of Boosters, which will be detailed in the TCG Tamers Packet. A Booster is applied as a Complex Action, as if Using an Item. - Data Scanner: This upgrade allows the Digivice to scan and store information about a Digimon that the character has come into contact with. This can be particularly useful if they have no Digimon who are savvy on the environment or its inhabitants. - Digital Map: The Digivice produces a map of some type of the current area. The specifics of the map may vary: some may be a simple grid with flashing dots on it to signify other objects (whether it’s other Digivices, Digimon, or large objects), others give a more detailed layout of the immediate area. Some may even allow the party to set up waypoints to coordinate tactically over long distances. Be sure to give a specific radius that it works in. The map could be as simple as a static view of the area, or be a fully functioning, interactive radar of the current zone. - Communicator: The Digivice can function as some type of communication, whether or not that is simply via voice communication, or if it can act as a video call system. Be sure to specific the distance, if any, that it works in. - Digivolve Pause: This feature allows the tamer to put their partner’s evolution on hold for a time, causing them to shift down a step in their Digivolutions, often reverting Champion stage Digimon or higher back into their Rookie stages. The effects of a Digivolve Pause last for a duration that is left up to the GM. - Digi-Gate: This feature allows the tamer to open up a gate between the Digital World and real world. This could be however you need it to work: it may require a specific hub such as a screen, or it may simply open up a rift in spacetime for the party to walk through. The gate could also cause a compression in data, causing the Digimon to revert to their lowest possible stage, if not lower if you so wish. - Storage Device: This allows the Digivice to scan and store objects, and possibly creatures within it by breaking it down into raw data. Larger and more complex objects take up more storage, for example a small rock would take up less space than a full grown tree, or a tree would take up less space than an equal sized Digimon. Game Masters are encouraged to give a data limit and assign commonly stored items and objects an approximate data size, to make players not simply scan everything around them to use for later.
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Families and Types A Digimon is classified not only by its Species, but also by their appearance, general habitat, and personality. These are referred to as Families, Types, and Attributes. Attributes are the simplest of Virus, Data, and Vaccine, essentially just how the Digimon interacts with the world. Virus Attribute Digimon tend to have some kind of negative or nasty effect, Data class Digimon often take a neutral stance, and Vaccine Attribute Digimon tend to interact to balance out the negative issues Virus Digimon bring about. Types specifically describe the Digimon physically: for example, WarGreymon is classified as a Dragon-Man type, while MetalGarurumon is a Cyborg type Digimon. Families are a more general description of how a Digimon works: a wide variety of Digimon can fit into a single Family, as they describe not only a Digimon’s physical appearance to a small extent, but also their potential alliances and method of interacting with the world. When Digivolving, a Digimon will generally Digivolve to a higher stage which shares at least one of the former classifications with the current stage, but this isn’t a hard rule: use your best judgement. The Digimon Families are as follows, to give a general idea of how they work. These are just guidelines: not every Digimon fits into these simple classifications.
- Dark Empire: Terrifying, apocalyptic Digimon, or Digimon who dwell in the Dark Area.
- Deep Savers: Deep sea, artic, or some type aquatic Digimon fit into this Family.
- Dragon’s Roar: Draconic Digimon, or Digimon who favor mountain or volcanic areas to live in.
- Jungle Troopers: Insect or Plant Digimon, or Digimon who favor jungles and forests to live in.
- Metal Empire: Machine or Cyborg Digimon. They tend to prefer cities and factories to inhabit.
- Nature Spirits: Animal or Monster Digimon. They tend to prefer deserts and harsh climates.
- Nightmare Soldiers: Undead or Demonic Digimon, they tend to inhabit graveyards or abandoned buildings.
- Unknown: Digimon which are strange or mutated in some way, and do not fit into another Family.
- Virus Busters: Holy or Angelic Digimon. They do not always show a preference for where they live.
- Wind Guardians: Bird or air-based Digimon. They tend to prefer open, grassy areas, if they ever land.
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Opposed Rolls When your players suddenly want to make a roll against a Digimon or Human’s stat, or maybe even against another Player Character (the latter scenario is generally something you want to avoid for one reason or another, but if the situation arises, it’s best to be prepared) you, as a GM, need to make an informed decision on which stats both characters roll. Whoever rolls higher is decided as the winner of the clash. Generally speaking, if it’s a straight clash of power, such as a contest to see who can lift the heaviest object or who can grab an object faster, the same stat of, using both examples, Body+Feats of Strength (or in the case of a Digimon, simply Body), or Agility in the latter example. However, sometimes it’s best for two Stats to be different. For example, if one character is trying to be sneaky and steal an object, but another is attempting to spot them before it’s too late, the former would probably roll Agility+Stealth (Agility on Digimon), while the other would roll Willpower+Perception (Brains on Digimon). This takes a bit of interpretation on the GM’s part, and is generally scenario-based, but there’s a few things which could be give or take constant. In the end, it is your job as the GM to make sure things all make sense roll-wise. But to help things along, this short list of scenarios and rolls should be a good starting point. - One Character is attempting to distract another from noticing the party with a lively dance, so that they may sneak around unnoticed. This one is tricky, as it’d require two rolls, one for the distraction success, and another for the sneaking around. First would probably be a Charisma+Perform (Agility on Digimon) roll vs a Willpower+Decipher Intent roll (Brains on Digimon). Second would presumably be a Agility+Stealth (Agility on Digimon) roll, with an opposed Willpower+Perception (Brains on Digimon) roll. - One Character is attempting to convince another to do what they want. This one is a bit tricky, and depends on how precisely they go about it. If they’re trying to appeal to their sense of decency, that would presumably be a roll of Charisma+Persuade (Brains on Digimon). If they’re intending to lie and otherwise misdirect the target, that would be a Charisma+Manipulate (Brains on Digimon) roll. The opposed roll would also change based on the scenario, if the former is used, one would oppose it with a flat Willpower check (or Brains with a Digimon). If they use the latter, a Willpower+Decipher Intent check seems to be more in order (Brains for Digimon once more). - Two characters are having a competition to see who can lift the heaviest object. They both roll Body+ Feats of Strength. Essentially, when two characters are making opposed rolls, with the exception of a contest to see who is better at a specific job, or a grappling manuever, there’ll generally be an “Attacking” set, whether that’s a Stealth, Persuade, or Manipulate check of some type, and then a “Defending” set, which usually falls in line with a Decipher Intent, Perception, or flat Willpower roll. Consider the scenario first and foremost however, not every case falls in line with one of these cases. Remember that Digimon lack a Willpower or Charisma stat, so one of those two Stats are generally replaced with Brains or Agility for the specific scenario. Use your best judgement as a GM.
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Houserules and Alternate Rules This is simply a small list of potential houserules and changes to the base system which you may feel fits your needs as a Game Master better. Some are heavily recommended, others are just fun ideas. They simply may not be a common occurence enough to warrant hard rules, but are good to keep in mind. Critical Hit Dice: If you feel like the base system’s method of rolling does not reward incredibly high accuracy rolls enough, perhaps this rule could be in your favor. Whenever you make a Skill Check or an Attack, you can call the Critical Hit Dice. Roll 2D6. On a roll of exactly 12, the Skill Check is automatically a Critical Success, but a roll of 2 is automaticall a Critical Failure. If you were making an Accuracy roll instead, on a Critical Hit the target can no longer roll Dodge, and your Damage Stat is considered doubled. On a Critical Failure, you automatically miss no matter how high you roll, and the GM may give negative consequences for the miss as they see fit to do. Range Roll: Sometimes a roll doesn’t make sense for a tangible upper or lower limit needed to hit, but is instead, based on the scenario, something made to push a character to the top of their PERSONAL limit. This would require a Range Roll. For example, maybe in your setting you’re using has the character needing to make a Willpower check to have their Digimon Digivolve, but you don’t want to set a hard TN for the check. A Range Roll starts with a character’s Max Potential Roll of 3D6+Modifiers, then takes away. For example, if they have a range they could roll on 3D6 which would be considered a Success of 12-18, that would be a Range of Max-6. Will to Evolve: A simple but effective method of allowing the characters to feel invested is to add a Willpower-based check to seeing if they can make their Partner Digimon Digivolve in combat. As a Simple Action they make either a Willpower Roll or a Range Roll set as a TN by the GM. The TN would obviously be easier for lower stages, and might vanish entirely if they continually hit the TN and succeed. For example, a Champion may require a Max-8 roll to achieve, requiring very little willpower, but an Ultimate may require something steeper, like Max-1. These are just examples you may want to change for your setting if you use this ruling, not every campaign works the same way. Digisoul: A character may give up a Aspect Boost to instead add their Willpower to a Check of their choice, whether it’s Accuracy, Dodge, or a simple Skill Check. Ups and Downs of Life: A character may take a Negative bonus from their Aspects to regain a activation of an Aspect. Using a Negative bonus would not take up a usage slot. This is a recommended houserule to reward players for taking a hit or two on their own accord, allowing them more positive uses of their Aspects. Augmented Armor: Not every game wants to use Armor class Digimon as their own separate template, but if you want to make them feel special for one reason or another, allowing them to purchase Digizoid Armor and Weaponry no matter what equivalent Stage they use. Alternatively, Armor Digimon may gain a scaling amount of 10 Bonus DP per item in the player’s inventory, such as a Digimental, which would be associated with the ability to Armor Digivolve. Extra CP: Not every character wants to use all the CP they have at creation. If a character has leftover CP for one reason or another, add that number to their EXP pool, doubled. This rule should not come up very often, however, as most characters prefer to have all their CP spent for one reason or another. Big Target: If you’re having problems with characters missing their Attacks, consider this: when a Digimon is targeted by an [Area] Attack, it takes a -2 Dodge penalty for every square that it occupies past the first that the [Area] would cover. For example, if a [Pass] Attack would move through a Digimon that takes up a 4x4 meter square, the defending Digimon would take a -6 Dodge Penalty. 61
Synchronized Souls: If you want to try to focus on two characters being in sycnh with each other to DNA Digivolve, maybe have each of them make a Willpower Check, or a Range Roll. If one or both parties fail, the Digivolving process is canceled. Maybe make a check to see if they maintain the process over the course of the fight, at the start of each Round. Additional Stances: Bulwark Stance (150% Armor, 50% Movement), and Agile Stance (150% Movement, 50% Armor). Feel free to modify or add more as you see fit for this Houserule! Forced Dark Evolution: A character who is forcing their Digimon to Digivolve with a mechanical roll instead of natural narrative progress over and over may trigger a Dark Evolution by rolling 1D6. On a roll of 1 a Dark Digivolution occurs. Exhaustion: A character who has not had appropriate amounts of rest, food, or water, may be forced to make a Endurance check (Body for Digimon) of some type with a mounting TN for each day they continue to go without (start with Simple then work your way up). If they fail, they gain a stack of Exhaustion and gain a -2 penalty to all of their Stats per stack. If a character’s Wound Boxes are brought to 1, they simply pass out, and if they’re brought to 0, they may die of exhaustion entirely. Gear and Items: See the Gear and Items Section. This will not be applicable to all campaigns, but it’s another good thing to keep in mind when deciding on Houserules. Injury: Sometimes you may want there to be a bigger penalty than just taking damage: if a character would take 50% or more of their Max Wound Boxes in a single hit, they gain a stack of Injury. Each stack of Injury lowers the character’s Stats by 1 each. If a Digimon or Tamer would be brought to 0 Wound Boxes from Injuries, they would die. One could also be given a stack of Injury for Critically Failing a Skill Check. Workout: Sometimes you want the players to be able to further customize their tactics. By spending an hour training or planning, they gain a bonus of +3 to a single Stat, Attribute, or Derived Stat that they choose, including their Speed if they so wish. This can create a good way to let the characters mechanically prepare for a particularly difficult fight or change up their tactics to throw off an enemy or simply bolster their normal strategy even further, making it more reliable Spirit Evolution Backfire: If you’re using a Hybrid template for your game, when activating the Digivolution, if your characters are under an undue amount of stress, have them make a Torment Check, or just roll a flat, boring 3D6 with a Range Roll you find appropriate. On a failure, instead of just having it not work or have the usual downsides associated with a failed Tormen Check happen, mix up the two: maybe the Tamer’s Dark Evolution hits and they have to deal with the fact that they are no longer in control, or perhaps they turn into a significantly weaker stage than they were aiming for (usually Rookie or higher). Tamer Qualities: Special Qualities exclusive to Tamers that they may purchase for Experience. See the Tamer Packet for more details. Multiple Digimon: Some people want more than one Digimon. To make up for it, during combat, the entire Tamer and Digimon team may only take either 4 Simple Actions, 2 Simple and 1 Complex Action, or 2 Complex Actions. This may mean that some parts of the team simply do not act, if need be. This is ignored if the entire party has more than one Digimon. Attribute Triangle: If you want, maybe make the Digimon’s Attribute matter more. Virus Type Digimon have an advantage over Data Type Digimon, who have an advantage over Vaccine Type Digimon, who in turn have an advantage over Virus Type Digimon (Virus > Data > Vaccine > Virus). When a Digimon’s Attribute has an advantage over another Digimon’s, it adds either its CPU Value, RAM Value, or Bit Value to the damage dealt as a result of a successful hit. This isn’t a massive bonus, but it’s one to keep in mind if you use this houserule. 62
Gear and Items Gear and Items work similarly to Digimon in the way that they should be built using an essential pool of DP to help create balance. While this does not have to be a hard rule, consider using about 5 DP per Stage the party has unlocked past In-Training to build Gear and Items they can currently use. Do not consider this a definitive list, have fun making your own items. Ignore requirements for Signature Move on Weapons, as they can be lost or removed potentially in combat. Some of these Items may use keywords which state Recharge, Ammo X, One-Use, or other strange Keywords. These kewords will be explained later in the Negative Quality Section on Page XX. Consider all Stat and Roll Bonuses to be something the item purchases for +1 DP Cost. If a Weapon does not state it is [Ranged], assume it is a [Melee] based weapon. If an Item adds to Movement, consider it purchased with the appropriate Quality to do so (Extra Movement, Advanced Mobility, Speedy, etc). Please use common sense when allowing what Items can be used at the same time. For example, a character could easily have special boots and gloves, but having two types of the same special boots is a bit overkill. Pretend that each Item takes up some kind of slot on the character’s body.
Early Game Gear and Items (0 to 5 DP)
- Rock: It’s a rock! You can throw it as a [Ranged] Attack! +2 Damage, +1 Accuracy, [One-Use]
- Stick: It’s a stick! Be careful, it breaks! +2 Damage, +1 Accuracy, [One-Use]
- Slingshot: Way more useful than a rock. [Ranged]. +4 Damage, +6 Accuracy [Ammo: 1]
- Wooden Sword: This shouldn’t break at least. +4 Damage, +3 Accuracy. [Fragile]
- Wooden Shield: Should protect you better! +4 Armor, +3 Dodge [Fragile]
- Rope: Tons of uses! +5 to Athletics Checks if used to climb.
- Running Shoes: Comfy! +4 Basic Movement, +3 to Athletics Checks.
- Guidebook: Knowledge is Power! +3 to a Intelligence-based Check. The specific type (Knowledge, Computer, or Survival) that it applies the bonus to, is decided when the item is created. [Fragile] - Fancy Clothes: Shiny! +3 to a Charisma-based Check. The specific type (Manipulate, Perform, or Persuade) that it applies the bonus to, is decided when the item is created. [Fragile]
- Glasses: I can see clearly now! +3 to Perception. [Fragile]
Mid Game Gear and Items (10 to 15 DP) - Throwing Spear: Way better than a rock [Ranged]. +5 Damage, +5 Accuracy [Armor Piercing 4] [One-Use]
- Metal Sword: Now we’re talking! +4 Damage, +3 Accuracy [Armor Piercing 4]
- Bow and Arrow: Bullseye! [Ranged] +5 Damage, +6 Accuracy [Certain Strike 2] [Ammo: 1]
- Gun: Gun [Ranged] +5 Damage, +7 Accuracy [Armor Piercing 4] [Ammo: 6]
- Metal Shield: Unstoppabe Defense! +8 Armor, +5 Dodge [Bulky] 63
Mid Game Gear and Items (10 to 15 DP) Continued - Heavy Armor: I sure feel safe! +8 Armor, +5 Dodge [Bulky]
- Grapple Gun: Always necessary! Adds [Reach 5] only for Grappling at a Range, and adds +5 to Athletics Checks when used to Climb. [Ammo: 1]
- Stealth Clothes: Adds Hide in Plain Sight Rank 3. +1 Armor, +2 Basic Movement, +5 Dodge.
Late Game Gear and Items (20 to 25 DP)
- Digizoid Armor: light and durable! +13 Armor, +6 Dodge, Applies Digizoid Armor Bonus. - Laser Gun: Pew Pew. [Ranged] +9 Damage, +8 Accuracy, [Armor Piercing 4][Certain Strike 3] [Ammo 6][Recharge] - Digizoid Sword: float like a butterfly, sting like a Stingmon! +11 Damage, +10 Accuracy, [Armor Piercing 4][Certain Strike 3]
- Jetpack: Fly like a bird! Adds Extra Movement: Flight. Adds Advanced Mobility: Flight. Adds +5 Dodge and 20 Movement. This Movement ignores the Speedy Cap. - High-tech Goggles: I can see everything! +14 to Perception, adds Tracker Rank 3, and this gear can ignore any penalties for trying to see in the dark (3 DP)
- Digizoid Shield: Fancy and durable. +13 Amor, +6 Dodge, Applies Digizoid Armor Bonus.
- Invisibility Clothes: Don’t worry, you can turn invisible too while you wear them!: Adds Hide in Plain Sight Rank 6, +2 Armor, +4 Basic Movement, +7 Dodge, adds Shade Cloak. - Breaker Drill: Good for combat and utility. Get digging!: Adds Extra Movement: Digger and Advanced Mobility: Digger. Adds +2 Basic Movement. When used as a Weapon it allows access to the Charge and Pass Keywords. +4 Damage, +4 Accuracy, [Armor Piercing 4][Certain Strike 3] - Amulet of Protection: You can feel the magic oozing out of it! Adds +13 Armor and +9 Dodge, once per Combat it may be used to let the user automatically dodge one Attack (3 DP). In the late-game section, you might notice a few of these items have a special quality which lacks a equivalent Quality. When applying a special or custom ability like this, consider how useful and potent it will be and apply an appropriate cost of 1 to 3 DP to it. This can make the items you create feel especially unique and special to the players, rather than a total bundle of stat and skill bonuses. Have fun, and be creative with your work. Again, this is not a definitive list, just a bunch of helpful ideas to use as a starting point.
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Boss Battles A big part of any campaign is a point where the party is no longer up against a few easy-to-beat random Digimon, or just wandering around the Digital World: they’re up against something a bit more difficult to take down, a big, scary boss which is meant to make them think instead of just rushing into a fight. There are several options to consider when creating a boss encounter, and each on has its merits, but also some downsides associated with them. Be sure to think about what your campaign needs. Option 1: Big Scary DP Pool. This option should favor a very bulky enemy, who sports a DP Pool between 10% and 100% greater than the average party member’s. This enemy probably cannot hit very hard, but it’s got enough Wound Boxes and Armor to more than make up for the fact. This can create an enemy that can really drag out a fight, but you have to be careful granting it too much or too little DP. Keep in mind, as a single enemy, a party’s Action pools will eventually be able to overwhelm it. Option 2: Boss Template. This option favors a single enemy who is supposed to be a challenge for a whole group of players at once. The Boss Template is applied by granting the Boss an additional Turn and Wound Box Pool per player. Each player is assigned one of the pools, and essentially fights the boss on their own, as does the rest of the group. This greatly helps negate the downside of the players large pool of Actions overwhelming the boss. For example, Player 1 is paired up with Pool 1, and Player 2 is paired up with Pool 2. Anything that Player 1 does to the boss will only effect Pool 1 until Pool 1 is depleted entirely. Essentially consider it a number of separate Digimon who occupy the same space at the same time . The major downside of this option, however, is that the boss can only be so many places at once and has to either dedicate itself to being ranged, attacking a single enemy, or to using up a lot of actions moving around the field. Option 3: Tag Team Boss. This option essentially has you create a number of Digimon on-par with the party in equal numbers. This allows you to create enemies who are designed to specifically slow down if not stop the team entirely in their tracks. This works similarly to the Boss Template, however any player is free to attack any enemy at a given time. Furthermore, this is one of the more time consuming encounters to create, due to the requirement of making at least one Digimon per player. We’re about to dive into the Boss Quality section, which is a list of rules which are purchasable Qualities that only high-level Bosses can normally have. But before we dive in, here’s a few more ideas to make your players lives a nightmare. First off, what good would a boss be without an army of loyal henchmen? Toss a big, fat distraction at the party in the form of a mob of unruly Mooks, using the idea from the Antagonist page. They’ll probably bite the dust in a round or two tops, but it gives the boss time to do his job and wreak havoc. And if they decide to ignore the Mooks? Well that’s a whole lot of tiny attacks that they’ll be taking, lowering the party’s Dodge pool for the actual Boss to stride in and hit them where it hurts! Next, don’t be afraid to toss in your own rules or field mechanics in a boss encounter, and definitely don’t be afraid to make them in your favor. Maybe one boss moves super fast and leaves behind a trail of fire that deals damage to enemies that step on it. Maybe another has a floor full of traps that activate when stepped on. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: use your head and think up a good way that this boss could prepare for the party, or how it can keep them on their toes during the fight. But let’s dive right into the real fun stuff: Boss Qualities are on the next page! 65
Boss Qualities Some Bosses have a bit more to them than just a big pool of HP or a houseruled mechanic. Some of them have special Qualities that normal Digimon are not capable of obtaining. This can make them significantly scarier than their non-boss counterparts. Some Qualities are here due to the raw power they pack behind them, and others are simply a bit nasty in nature and wouldn’t be very fitting on most Player Digimon. While a GM could rule that a Player can purchase Boss Qualities for a stage, be careful when allowing this for one reason or another.
Adaptive Intelligence
Data Absorb
S
T
3 DP
3 DP, Prerequisite: Trojan
The Digimon gains a stacking +2 bonus to Dodging Attacks that it has already seen for every time it has seen said Attack. That includes being in the blast of an [Area] Tagged Attack. Keep track of which Attacks the party has used as such. Some Boss Digimon with this Quality may keep close tabs on the party to make themselves untouchable once combat actually starts.
As a Simple Action, a Digimon may activate or deactivate this Quality. While this Quality is active, the Digimon’s Movement Speed is reduced to 0, and the Digimon heals itself for its Bit Value x2 at the end of each Round. The Digimon may increase this bonus by an additional step (Bit Value x4, Bit Value x6) by forfeiting an extra Simple Action during its Turn.
Agent of Destiny
Finesse
S
S
3 DP
1 DP Per Rank
The Digimon no longer takes any type of penalty from either Qualities or from taking any type of action or being hit by an Attack. If a Quality requires Line of Sight to work, the Digimon no longer requires it.
For each Rank a Digimon has in Finesse, they may ignore up to that many points of Armor when Attacking and that many points of Damage when being attacked. Digimon with Finesse are exceptionally clever and know how to hit or be hit in a way that is most beneficial to them. This is applied to all Attacks the Digimon has, and stacks with Armor Piercing Ranks.
Alternative Energy
S
2 DP Per Rank For each Rank of Alternative Energy that a Digimon takes, choose a Quality or Effect Tag that the Digimon has access to. If that Quality or Effect Tag uses the Digimon’s Bit Value, CPU Value, or RAM Value, it may now choose another Value to use in its place. Multipliers to said Values remain the same based on the Quality or Effect chosen.
Immunity
S
3 DP, Prerequisite: Resistant Rank 3+ Any Effects that would target this Digimon have no Duration or Potency.
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Juggernaut
Overclocked
S
S
3 DP
3 DP Per Rank, up to 2 Ranks
At the beginning of each Round of Combat, choose a Stat randomly by rolling 1D6 (1: Health, 2: Accuracy, 3: Damage, 4: Dodge, 5: Armor, 6: Choose). The Digimon gains a Bonus to that Stat equal to its CPU Value doubled for the rest of Combat. This bonus stacks with each round.
Rank 1: each of the Digimon’s Derived Stats improve at a rate equal to the Base Bonus plus a single Stat that would normally improve the Derived Stat (for example with Body you could choose Armor, Damage, or Health) instead of the normal formula. This means that Brains would improve at a rate equal to the Digimon’s Stage Bonus+Accuracy instead of the normal Accuracy/2.
Memory Upgrade
Rank 2: each of the Digimon’s Derived Stats improve at a rate equal to the Base Bonus plus a single Stat times two.
S
2 DP Per Rank For each Rank a Digimon has in Memory Upgrade, it gains an additional Attack that it can use. You must still choose whether the Attack is [Ranged] [Melee] [Damage], [Effect], or has any [Area] tags or otherwise as is normal when building an Attack on a Digimon.
Probability Control
t
3 DP Per Rank For each Rank in this Quality a Digimon takes, whenever it makes an Accuracy or Dodge Roll it may count a single dice as an automatic Success. For example, if you take Probability Control Rank 5, on any Dodge or Accuracy Roll you make, you could take an automatic 5 Successes. These Automatic Successes take away from the pool that you would roll, however. If you have Probability Control Rank 3 and would roll 10 Dice, you instead set aside 3 Dice as Automatic Successes and roll 7 Dice instead. This may also be used on 3D6 Skill Checks to allow the Digimon to change the result of 1 Dice per Rank in this Quality.
Natural Warp Evolver
S
3 DP The Digimon may naturally Digivolve straight to its highest form without any outside assistance from a Tamer, usually jumping from Rookie to Ultimate or higher, bypassing at least one stage. However, if the Digimon Digivolves through its stages one at a time, going from Rookie to Champion to Ultimate to Mega to Burst, it gains Bonus DP as if it had DNA Digivolved (5 Bonus DP Per Stage.). This bonus does not stack with the Digimon DNA Digivolving with another Digimon or from the Jogress Partner Quality. If one stage past the In-Training Stage has Natural Warp Evolver, all Stages must sport this Quality, otherwise it has no effect.
Pure Rage
S
3 DP, Prerequisite: Berserker
The Digimon’s Rage Meter no longer has a cap on how many points of Rage it may have at a time, and adds to the Digimon’s Accuracy and Dodge as well instead of just Damage and Armor. 67
Skill Monkey
Unlimited Power
S
S
1 DP Per Rank
3 DP
For each Rank the user has in the Skill Monkey Quality they may take an additional Data Optimization. The Data Optimization must still be purchased with DP the same way their first one was.
The Digimon may now purchase Qualities as if they all stated “X DP Per Rank”, where X is the base cost of the Quality. This means that the Digimon may purchase Qualities over and over without regard to Rank. Additionally, the Digimon does not have to meet any prerequisites for Qualities.
Suppression
S
Weapons Expert
For each Rank in this Quality, choose a type of Quality (Trigger/T, Static/S, or Attack/A.) Digimon within the Burst Radius of the user of Suppression cannot benefit from, or activate Qualities of the chosen type.
2 DP, Prerequisite: Weapon Rank 3
3 DP per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
t
Whenever the Digimon uses a [Weapon] tagged Attack, it may add a Value of its choice (CPU, RAM, Bit) doubled to the damage and accuracy dealt. Additionally, the Digimon may purchase as many Ranks of Weapon as it wishes to, instead of just three.
Time Control
T
3 DP
Smite
If the Digimon would be defeated or knocked out during a fight due to their Wound Boxes reaching 0, instead reset the Digimon’s Wound Boxes to their maximum. The Digimon also regains the use of all Qualities which can only be spent a certain number of times per Scene. This effect is then applied to all the other combatants. After this Quality is activated, it cannot be activated again until the start of the next combat. After this Quality is activated, the user gains a bonus to its Stats equal to one Value (Bit, CPU, RAM) of its choice, doubled.
t
3 DP If the Digimon would miss with an Attack, it instead only deals half the Damage it would normally deal to the target(s).
Keep in mind that these are some immensely potent Qualities for their cost, if you design a Boss Digimon with them in mind, maybe try to keep the number of Boss Qualities you use down to 2 to 4 on the high end. Using a lot of these Qualities on a single boss can really make an overwhelming encounter that the players have almost no mechanical means of winning. And that’s not much fun.
Tormentor
T
3 DP The Digimon may force all participants who are able to make a Torment Check as a Simple Action. If an opponent fails the check, the Digimon gains a bonus to all Stats for the remainder of combat equal to its Bit Value doubled. 68
Negative Qualities These are all a collection of Qualities which, when applied to a Digimon, grants a mechanical downside but inversely grants the Digimon a bonus amount of DP to utilize. This section is in the GM Section as this is still a process which is being tested and refined, so it should be up to the GM as to allow it or not.
Bulky
Vulnerable
S
S
-1 DP Per Rank
-1 DP Per Rank
For every Rank a Digimon takes in this Quality, its Base Movement is lowered by 2. If a Digimon’s Base Movement would be lowered to 1 or lower, it can no longer take Ranks of Bulky.
For each Rank the Digimon has in Vulnerable, the Duration of incoming [Effect] Attacks are increased by 1. Fragile
S/A, T -3 DP per Rank, up to 2 Ranks
Recharge
A, T -3 DP*
Fragile may be applied either to the Digimon’s [Weapon] Tagged Attacks or to the Digimon itself, having a different effect based on where it’s applied. If you take Fragile again, it must be applied to the other one.
When applied to an Attack, after the Digimon uses the Attack once it may not immediately use it again. Instead, as a Simple Action the Digimon may roll 1D6. If the Digimon gets a Success, the Attack Recharges and may be used once more. This Quality may also be used on an Attack with the [Ammo] Tag, in which case this Quality only costs 1 DP.
Attack: the Digimon’s [Weapon] Tagged Attacks have a chance to break on a successful hit. Roll 1D6 whenever the Digimon connects with a [Weapon] Attack. On a roll of 1, the Digimon’s Weapon breaks and all [Weapon] Tagged Attacks cannot be used again. This also applies to weapons for Human gear.
Ammo
Armor: When applied to the Digimon itself, instead roll 1D6 whenever the Digimon is hit by an attack. On a result of 1, the Digimon’s armor breaks and it no longer benefits from Qualities that improve its Armor Stat. If applied to armor for a Human, the armor breaks entirely.
A, S
-1 DP Per Rank, up to 6 Ranks When applied to an Attack, the Ammo Quality grants an Ammo X tag, which sets the number of times the Digimon may use the Attack in a row before needing to Reload or Recharge, starting at 6 at Rank 1, and being lowered by 1 for each Rank the Digimon takes. For example, taking Ammo Rank 2 would grant the Ammo 5 Tag to an Attack. If an Attack does not have the Recharge Tag, once all the uses of the Attack are expended the Digimon may Reload to regain the uses of the Attack as a Complex Action.
One-Use
A
-9 DP An Attack with the [One-Use] Tag may only be used a single time. 69
Full Action
Weakling
A -3 DP Per Rank
T -2 DP
Full Action, when applied to an Attack, makes the Attack take a Complex Action to perform instead of a Simple Action.
One per encounter, the Digimon may re-roll all Successful Accuracy Dice on an Attack. They must take the second result.
Inaccurate
Flat-footed
A -2 DP Per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
T -2 DP
For each Rank of Unweidly, the Attack that the tag is applied to automatically ignores one of its own Successful Accuracy Dice when using the tagged Attack.
One per encounter, the Digimon may re-roll all Successful Dodge Dice against an Attack. They must take the second result. Decreased Derived Stat
Light Hit
S
-1 DP Per Rank
A
-1 DP Per Rank, up to 3 Ranks
For each Rank you take in Decreased Derived Stat, you may lower one of the Digimon’s Derived Stats by 1.
For each Rank of Light Hit, the Attack that the tag is applied to automatically ignores one point of its own Damage when using the tagged Attack.
Elephant in the Room
S
-1 DP Per Rank
Klutz
S
Anyone attempting to spot the user of the Elephant in the Room Quality gains a bonus to their Roll to find them (usually Perception) equal to the Ranks it has multiplied by 4. For example, if you have Elephant in the Room Rank 3, anyone attempting to spot you will take a +12 bonus to their rolls.
-3 DP Whenever the Digimon uses an [Area] Tagged Attack, roll 1D6. On a roll of 5 or 6, it works as normal. On a roll of 3 or 4, the Attack has a chance to hit every Digimon present, including Allies, regardless of whether the Digimon has Selective Targeting or not. On a roll of 1, the Attack will only damage the Digimon’s Allies and apply negative Effects to them, while applying positive Effects to the Digimon’s enemies. Again, the effect of Klutz ignores the effects of Selective Targeting.
Blind as a Batmon
S -3 DP The Digimon takes a -6 penalty to trying to find or track another character (Perception/Brains). 70
Planning Ahead There’s more to the job of a GM than just thinking out a story: just as you’ve written things down, your players are also not just passively going to do everything the exact way you want every time: they’re participants in the game, not just viewers. You can’t expect everything to go smoothly every time. But there’s a few tricks you can have up your sleeve for your campaign to make it still sail smoothly. 1) Plan out multiple paths: for every key moment you have in your story, think of at least three to five ways that the players could go after the encounter. Even if the group deviates from your preferred plan, at least you’ll have backups. If you have some kind of end goal in mind, try to think of how each of these paths can lead to that end goal eventually. This can be quite time consuming, but it can make your game much easier in the long run. And don’t be afraid to ask for outside help. Sometimes another person’s viewpoint can give you some insight into how your players might act and react in the same scenario. The more points of view that you can get for your campaign, the better. 2) Plan out evolution paths for any that aren’t decided by the players. This was talked over a bit. But if you want, feel more than free to ask the players what they might have in mind. 3)Plan out any improvements for the enemy Digimon’s stats ahead of time, so that if the players will be evenly matched with the base build without upgrades, that’s fine, but if they end up having more DP than you’d anticipated, you can be ready with a proper challenge. We call this method the +X Template. We’re going to display this method below, but here’s a quick explanation. When using the +X Template, set aside 10 DP which will be applied for every 10 Bonus DP the party has. The easiest way to do this is to make the Template purely add to the Stats of a Digimon. Be sure to specify if this effects the Digimon’s Derived Stats in any way per Template. However, feel free to make a selection of +X Templates, and be sure to number them for what each one does. That said, a single template which gets re-applied every time the party has a amount of Bonus DP which is divisible by 10. For example: your party has 30 Bonus DP. You would then apply the +X Template 3 times in this scenario. If they only have 25 Bonus DP, you may only apply it 2 times. To illustrate how one would use the +X Template, here’s a quick Digimon build for Veedramon.
Veedramon
Stage: Champion Attribute: Vaccine Family: Virus Busters Type: Mythical Dragon
Stats
Health: 5 Accuracy: 5 Damage: 5 Dodge: 4 Armor: 4
Qualities
Wound Boxes: 10 Size: Large Basic Movement: 11
Speed Striker Optimization, Huge Power, Certain Strike Rank 3, Area Attack (Line), Armor Piercing Rank 4, Attack Effect (Knockback)
Attacks V-Nova Blast [Ranged][Damage][Certain Strike 3][Line 5] Magnum Punch [Melee][Damage][Charge][Amor Piercing 4][Knockback] Cutting Shot [Ranged][Damage] 71
Derived Stats Body: 10 Agility: 4 Brains: 7 BIT: 0 CPU: 1 RAM: 0
+X Template Health: +2 Accuracy: +3 Damage: +3 Dodge: +1 Armor: +1
Variants and Unique Digimon Not every encounter, campaign, or player, will feel organic with the canon list of Digimon, extensive as the list may be. In this case there’s a few options that you could take. Variants, or sub-species, are Digimon who differ enough from the norm of the species that they justify being their own species of Digimon, often possessing a number of unique physical traits and powers. Variants are usually inherently color-based, but many may take the forms of Metal, Skull, Burning, or other suck strange terms which could describe how a Digimon is different from the usual species. Here’s a quick, short list of potential ideas for Variants. These are by no means hard rules. Even with color variants, feel free to come up with unique or interesting names for them. For example with a canon example, using MarineDevimon over BlueDevimon.
Red: usually more aggressive than the normal species, commonly sports fire themes. Blue: commonly inclined to aquatic habitats or water based techniques. Green: usually more earth or nature inclined, possibly acidic. Black: usually a virus variant, or utilizes darkness based techniques. White: usually a vaccine variant, or utilizes light based techniques. Yellow: usually a data variant, or utilizes lightning techniques. Skull: usually undead, of a higher stage than the normal Digimon. Metal: usually a cyborg type, of a higher stage than the normal Digimon. Bancho: a unique class of Digimon which wears a Bancho style outfit and has a strong sense of justice.
Entirely unique Digimon need to be handled a bit more carefully than a Variant, as it has potential to get out of hand if left unchecked. Be sure to consider canon and variant Digimon who could fit the same role before you simply use a entirely new Digimon. While there is indeed nothing wrong with such a tactic, sometimes it can be odd or make little sense if there’s a canon or variant Digimon who would fill the same role. As GM, it is entirely your decision on whether to include unique Digimon as partner Digimon, but be sure to read up on what the player has in mind for the Digimon. For example, if the concept is “It’s X Digimon but better” maybe consider talking the player into just using X Digimon, not because it can’t work, but because it can cause a fluff-based conundrum, even if mechanically the Digimon are all balanced to a technical extent, it could make Tamers who use the ‘lesser’ Digimon feel less important, or less powerful. This can of course lead to interesting story points, but it’s best to tread carefully. For Bosses and Villains however, this can create an entirely different story. A Digimon that nobody’s ever heard of or has any data on is out and wreaking havoc. Where did it come from, and what’s it after? How does the party defeat a Digimon with no background? But either way be careful: it’s just as easy to say that in your game nobody’s met a canon Digimon or a variant Digimon.
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Closing Statement Thank you once more for picking up this handbook and taking the time and effort to read through it all the way through. A lot of time and effort has been put into making this system the game it is today, from not just myself, but a large number of other people. First off, thank you to the Digimon Emperor, who created the original system and everyone who worked with them. Your efforts are appreciated from writing to formatting to playtesting, and helped shape the system into what we see in this book. I hope that life is treating all of you well and continues to do so. Second, whether or not you’re a player or a GM, I have a final suggestion which will help create bigger stories: symbolism is your best friend. Whether it’s as simple as a character with arachnophobia facing off against a spider Digimon, or as complex as their partner symbolizing some aspect of their personality or home life, think about how things flow together into a cohesive story for the character from start to finish. Lastly, I want to give a special thank-you to all the people who have worked with me personally on the system, from playtesting to suggesting ideas to making useful tools, to just being there to bounce ideas off of. I know many of you did not want to be, or cared to be put in here by name, but I appreciate you all being there nonetheless.
Now go grab your goggles and make your own adventures!
- TM93
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