TEXT: Open Reloaded 
   
  Preface to the Reloaded edition 
  I keep telling people that Wushu Open is a primer 
  to help people write their own games. The reason it 
  focuses on action is because that’s what Dan Bayn (the 
  creator of Wushu) finds easiest to write. But that once 
  you scratch the surface there’s a whole lot more to it. 
  Then I go and link them to the Wall of Wushu as it’s often 
  called with some example threads.  
  Thing is, for a lot of people that doesn’t cut it, and 
  my exhortations are probably getting rather stale. So I 
  decided to do something about it - write a Reloaded 
  edition of Open with a more general, less combat-
  focused tone, and some additional wrinkles to address 
  the potential shortcomings of Open from certain points of 
  view.  
  I hope I manage to achieve that goal…  
  …what you will notice is that I haven’t renamed 
  anything. Reason being I like the evocative titles, and 
  coming up with generic ones is bloody difficult. Plus it 
  means everyone who knows Open is on the same page 
  as me with what this all means. If someone wants to 
  come along later and change the names of things, be my 
  guest. I won’t send the ninjas. Promise.  
  -Damian aka Kiero  
   
   
   
  The Golden Rules 
  There are two of them, and I call them Golden 
  Rules because, if you forget everything else contained 
  herein (not that there’s much of it), you need to 
  remember these. For they are the core of what Wushu is 
  about. If you don’t like the ideas and philosophies they 
  espouse, Wushu is not the game for you.  
  They are the reason that Wushu is a fundamental 
  break from the traditional way RPGs function. In the 
  standard setup, players state their intentions, which are 
  accepted as valid by the GM, who then couches them in 
  mechanical terms, and a dice roll determines the result. 
  Wushu cuts straight to the result, which brings us to the 
  first Golden Rule: The Principle of Narrative Truth 
  (PoNT).  
   
  Principle of Narrative Truth 
  “Everything the players describe happens exactly 
  as they describe it, when they describe it.”  
  The most important thing about Wushu is the way 
  it doles out narrative and authorial power to the players. 
  They don’t ask the GM if a course of action is alright, 
  then roll to see how successful they were. Instead, they 
  say what happens before they roll any dice. The roll 
  doesn’t tell you how well you did, it says how effective 
  your chosen course of action was in bringing the scene 
  towards resolution. Because that is the key to Wushu - it 
  doesn’t do task resolution, only the broader resolution of 
  a scene.  
  
  Task resolution is left up to the players by way of 
  the PoNT. Namely that everything happens exactly as 
  the players describe it, when they describe it. It bears 
  repeating, so I’ll say it again: Everything happens exactly 
  as the players describe it, when they describe it.  
  It is left to the players’ discretion whether they 
  describe success or failure; it’s all the same as far as 
  Wushu goes. What might seem like a character 
  struggling to get their point across could be turned 
  around at the last minute with the one piece of evidence 
  they’ve been saving until the last moment. It’s an action 
  movie staple for some protagonists to get beat on by the 
  goons until they switch things up a gear and lay the 
  smack down.  
  The player is within rights to describe never 
  “failing,” 
  or 
  to 
  never 
  describe 
  “succeeding,” 
  but 
  regardless their character can still advance a scene 
  towards its end. If this sounds too much like make-
  believe to you, there’s more to it, including elements of 
  risk. More on that later.  
   
  The exceptions to the PoNT 
  It doesn’t quite go all the players’ way though. The 
  problem with an unfettered PoNT is that old chestnut of 
  the kid who brings a “forcefield” to a game of Cops and 
  Robbers. Wushu requires everyone to be (mostly) on the 
  same page about what is and is not appropriate for the 
  game you’re playing. Wushu is great at genre emulation, 
  provided that everyone gets what the conventions of that 
  genre are (and which are applicable to that particular 
  game). However, it doesn’t provide any mechanical 
  means by which to enforce those conventions - except 
  the Veto.  
   
  Veto 
  “If a description doesn’t feel right, anyone can 
  Veto it.”  
  Everyone around the table, not just the GM, wields 
  the right to Veto anyone else’s description at any time. 
  This includes a player Vetoing a GM’s description. You 
  could look at this as completely invalidating the freedom 
  of the PoNT, and turning every game into a legislative 
  session of trying to pass your descriptions through the 
  House of your group, but that’s not how it happens in 
  practice. This is why it’s so important that everyone is on 
  the same page.  
  Rather, the Veto should serve as a flag that 
  people aren’t on the same page, and is an opportunity for 
  everyone to get it straight. It’s a chance to say “hang on a 
  minute,” and check that you’re all still playing the same 
  game. Cos shy of telepathy, we’re only ever working on 
  shared approximations of what everyone else is thinking.  
  The Veto doesn’t have to be a negative thing. Sometimes 
  you might have an idea on how to jazz someone else’s 
  narrative up. In that case, a Veto might be a subtle “Hey, 
  might it be cooler if…”  
  When a Veto is used, the person Vetoed should 
  describe again, amending their original narrative to fit the 
  new consensus.  
   
  
  Coup de Grace rule 
  “You can’t narrate complete victory without first 
  resolving a scene’s mechanical component.”  
  There is one other limit to the PoNT, one that’s softer 
  than the Veto. The Coup de Grace rule says you can’t 
  describe blowing away the entire challenge of a scene in 
  your first description. More than that, you can’t describe 
  ending it until the mechanical representation of that 
  challenge has been resolved.  
  In a contest to bake the perfect pie, you can’t 
  narrate the judges loving your culinary creation and 
  awarding you the prize of BakeMaster 20,000 in your 
  opening narrative, if the contest is all about proving who 
  is the superior cook. Instead you must first deal with the 
  mechanical representation of the scene’s challenge and, 
  should you win, you get to describe your victory as a 
  parting shot.  
  A Coup de Grace is a bonus narrative that the 
  victor of a scene gets, after the roll, to describe how the 
  thing is resolved. This is the only time a narrative comes 
  after rolling, rather than before. It is most often used to 
  end Nemesis battles, though it may be appropriate in any 
  situation where the players’ descriptions have left loose 
  ends. When it is not clear who struck the final blow, the 
  Coup de Grace may be awarded to whoever has the best 
  idea or handled by the GM.  
   
  Everything is a Detail… 
  “Any and every course of action you can describe 
  contains Details.”  
  The second Golden Rule goes to the driving force 
  of Wushu, the narrative. Wushu rewards expressiveness 
  in describing what you do; each discrete element within 
  the narrative is a Detail which earns a die. Wushu’s 
  engine works on a dice pool system, where the size of 
  the pool depends on the elaborateness of your narrative. 
  More on mechanics later.  
  In one respect, it doesn’t actually matter what you 
  describe, as long as you describe your character doing 
  something. Everything is a Detail: dialog is a Detail, an 
  action is a Detail, the environment and changes in it are 
  Details, your character’s wardrobe is a Detail, flashbacks 
  and inner monologue are Details, (in more cinematic 
  games) descriptions of camera angles and shots are 
  Details, and so on - I think you get the idea.  
  This can seem daunting, to be creative for the 
  entire game all by yourself. The thing of it is, you don’t 
  have to be on fire the entire time because you’re not 
  alone. There’s nothing to stop you from building on the 
  ideas of other players, weaving your narratives together 
  in a step-by-step building of one idea on top of another. 
  Setting up part of a narrative, then handing it over to 
  another player for embellishment, before they give it back 
  to you to continue is called a “Pass” in Wushu. Provided 
  everyone’s happy with sharing some degree authorial 
  control over their characters, this is actively encouraged. 
  It’s not only less tiring than coming up with all of your own 
  stuff, it incentivises teamwork and tends to produce much 
  cooler, more entertaining descriptions than any one 
  person could conjure up alone.  
   
  
  …but choose the right Details 
  for the game. 
  “Everyone has to be on the same page about what 
  kinds of Details are appropriate.”  
  There isn’t complete freedom to narrate anything 
  you 
  like; 
  the 
  more 
  outlandish 
  or 
  inappropriate 
  descriptions may trigger a Veto from someone. This is 
  where questions of genre and appropriateness come to 
  the fore. There are no mechanics in Wushu to tell a 
  group what is and isn’t allowed as a Detail. That’s up to 
  the players and GM to work out amongst themselves, 
  because the internally consistent “reality” of the game 
  only exists so far as there is consensus on what the 
  genre of the game is, and what conventions of that genre 
  apply.  
  Here’s an example. Imagine two WW2 games, 
  one is pulpy action in the vein of the Castle Wolfenstein 
  games, the other ultra-realistic drawing on Band of 
  Brothers for inspiration. In both games, you might have 
  the same situation: As German machine-gun fire opens 
  up on their advance, the characters and their squad have 
  taken cover in a crater, using it as a makeshift foxhole.  
  Consider the following narrative:  
  “Heedless of the danger of incoming fire, BJ leaps 
  out of the foxhole with a grenade hanging from his mouth 
  by the pin. A Colt 1911 ACP blazing in each hand, he 
  runs directly for the machine gun, plugging two Germans 
  on the trot. As he gets closer, he holsters one pistol and 
  yanks the grenade from his mouth, hurling it in the 
  direction of the machine gun and diving to the ground as 
  the explosion fills the air with noise”  
  That would be entirely appropriate for the first style 
  of game. In the second, it would earn a Veto, since 
  charging headlong into a well-sited machine gun position 
  is suicide in a realistic situation.  
   
  And now the following:  
  “Keeping my head down, we execute the plan. 
  Jones and Mac, lay down covering fire from the crater, 
  forcing the Germans to keep their heads down. Greasley 
  and Weston stay low, going left and using the drainage 
  ditch as cover. The Jerrys don’t see them, and they get 
  their .50 in position behind the tree, ready to lay down fire 
  on my signal. Jock Morris and I go right under cover of 
  the hedge and complete the pincer Greasley and 
  Weston’s fire creates when I blow on my whistle.”  
  For the first game, this is far too pedestrian and 
  cautious; you’re supposed to be Big Damned Heroes. But 
  it’s right up the alley of the second game, showing unit 
  tactics, teamwork and command as the key to 
  succeeding because every man is vulnerable.  
  Both are full of dice-earning Details, and both 
  bring the scene towards resolution. The only gauge as to 
  which one is “better” is what is in-genre for the particular 
  game. Also note that it doesn’t necessarily matter 
  whether the specifics of the orders I gave in the second 
  example would “work in real life,” not unless you’re 
  playing an ultra-realistic game where valid tactics are 
  required in your narrative.  
   
  
  What Wushu Does 
  At first, Wushu looks deceptively simple, like other 
  rules-light games. But after a bit of playing and thinking, it 
  becomes clear that Wushu provides a surprisingly 
  sophisticated 
  engine 
  for 
  facilitating 
  a 
  fast-paced, 
  collaborative game of narration and genre-emulation. But 
  how does it do that?  
  Wushu is built on the basis of a few opposing 
  forces that drive play while at the same time providing 
  checks and balances against possible abuse. One of 
  those is the tension between complete creative freedom, 
  as expressed in “Everything is a detail” and the PoNT, 
  and the necessity for collaboration and consensus-
  finding, as expressed in the Coup de Grace and Veto 
  rules. Let’s look at these two opposing forces in a bit 
  more detail:  
  On one hand, Wushu gives each player great 
  incentive to become creative and narrate Details. Players 
  are rewarded for narration not only by getting dice (and 
  thus a higher chance of mechanical success), but also by 
  the fact that their narration happens exactly as they 
  describe it. This way, the system promotes a game of 
  free narration and improvisation, as players can narrate 
  their characters actions (and how they resolve in-game) 
  without fearing negative consequences.  
  A powerful tool, but one that can be abused. Thus, 
  Wushu offers an opposing force to keep the creative 
  energy in check and on track, to facilitate a positive game 
  experience not only for the person narrating but for 
  everybody. This force comes from the Veto and, to a 
  lesser extent, the Coup de Grace rules. The Veto rules 
  help prevent one of the common problems with complete 
  freedom, namely that of conflicting creative visions. It’s 
  easy for a group of friends to have different ideas of what 
  constitutes “fun” or which tropes are appropriate to a 
  given genre, and in a free creative environment, these 
  difference can lead to a loss of focus or, in the worst 
  case, to arguments and bad feelings between players. 
  The Veto rule means that only appropriate narrations and 
  Details, 
  as 
  decided 
  by 
  group 
  consensus, 
  are 
  incorporated into the game. This way, players are given 
  the power to Veto narrations that would ruin their fun or 
  run counter to the expected genre.  
  Together, these two opposing forces hold the 
  game in balance, as players are given the freedom to 
  narrate, are even rewarded for narration, but are also 
  forced to communicate with their fellow players about 
  what is and isn’t appropriate, thus building a group 
  consensus. This increases the chances of productive, 
  focused play without removing the aspect of fast and free 
  narration that is the whole point of Wushu.  
   
  What Wushu Does Not Do 
  Wushu does not provide “hard” genre emulation 
  through mechanics that help you enforce what works and 
  what does not. The group is the only means by which this 
  is possible, so if your group is unable to reach a 
  consensus, a game will be fraught with difficulty.  
  In addition, the mechanics alone will not judge 
  what is a “right” or “wrong” course of action. The GM 
  
  doesn’t have modifiers that can be applied to a scene to 
  reflect the appropriateness of a player’s chosen course of 
  action. All they have are the same powers of Veto with 
  reference to genre as everyone else.  
  Lastly, Wushu does not bring the cool all by itself - 
  it relies on the players to do that. There are no 
  mechanics which will help you build up an exciting string 
  of actions to work into your descriptions, no lists of 
  powers or maneuvers to spur your creativity, although 
  you can steal those from other sources at will. If you want 
  a mechanical underpinning to aid your creativity, Wushu 
  is not for you. All it does is act as a catalyst for that which 
  everyone brings to the table themselves, by not getting in 
  the way of their creativity.  
   
  Core Mechanics 
  Now to the meat of how this all works. The 
  mechanics of Wushu are all about regulating conflict. As 
  before, it doesn’t actually matter what the nature of the 
  conflict is, whether combat, physical, social, mental, or 
  any other kind. All that matters is that the outcome of 
  something is important enough for us to focus on.  
  Wushu breaks conflicts up into a number of 
  rounds, which could represent any length of time in the 
  game reality, depending on the nature of the conflict. A 
  round in a firefight may be a few seconds. A round in an 
  election campaign may comprise months of canvassing, 
  pressing of flesh and making speeches. A round in a trial 
  might 
  be 
  weeks 
  of 
  research 
  and 
  info-gathering 
  interspersed with hours of cross-examination and trial 
  process. There’s no hard and fast rule on this, indeed 
  each round may not necessarily be the same length as 
  the one before or the one after.  
  Each round is broken up into two phases which 
  are completed by everyone at the same time. First, the 
  group Describes the scene; this is the important part 
  because their narration determines 
  what 
  actually 
  happens in the game world. Then, they Resolve their 
  dice rolls to see how this round progressed the scene 
  towards an end.  
   
  Description 
  As hinted at in the section “Everything is a Detail,” 
  Wushu works with a dice pool mechanic (using ordinary 
  six-sided dice) based on the nuances of your narrative. 
  As long as you do something, you earn a die. For each 
  additional Detail you layer on top of this, you earn an 
  additional die. Whether your narrative is one long 
  unbroken string of actions or built up action-by-action 
  with input coming from everyone is entirely up to the 
  group.  
  Here are a few examples of different types of 
  narrative in different genres of game.  
   
  Social description in a Fantasy game:  
  The character looks around the hall (1), and 
  spotting several obvious guardsmen, heads towards 
  them with a firm step (2) and the confident, level gaze of 
  one who has likewise seen action (3). He smiles in a 
  friendly fashion (4), and finding a point in the bragging 
  
  session to jump in, starts palling around with his own war 
  stories (5), gently trying to tease information out of the 
  other guards about recent events (6).  
  (Using the Trait: “Leader of Men.”)  
   
  Physical description in a Swashbuckling game:  
  The character traces her fingertips over the hilt of 
  her family blade, (1) before her fingers encircle the 
  handle firmly and with ease born of years of use (2). With 
  a quick metallic hiss she draws the blade, (3) the bright 
  sun glimmering off its perfect edge (4). A faint smile 
  creeps over the character’s face as a drop of sweat rolls 
  down the pompous baron’s brow, and the baron swallows 
  nervously (5). “You seem hesitant, Baron. Should I come 
  back some other day? Perhaps when you’ve learned by 
  which end to hold your blade?” (6)  
  (Using the Trait “Italian Fencer”)  
   
  Mental description in a Western game:  
  The character takes the old map gingerly in his 
  hands,(1) and carefully sprinkles a mixture of chemicals 
  across the surface to bring out any hidden marks and 
  faded writing (2). His eyes widen as he sees the faint 
  traceries appear across the old map legend (3). Carefully 
  noting down the latitude and longitude marks (4), he nods 
  to himself. “Yes, of course! I should have seen it 
  before!”(5) 
  (Using Trait “A Doctor of Science!”)  
   
   
   
  Mystical description in a Pulp game:  
  The character holds out an antique pocket watch 
  (1), and sways it gently in front of the victim (2). “Look 
  deeply into my eyes. Deeper, deeper,” she croons in a 
  soft lullaby monotone (3). The victim’s eyes glaze over 
  (4), and he murmurs quietly, “What is thy bidding, 
  mistress?” (5)  
  (Using the Trait “Oriental Mesmeric Trance”)  
   
  If, at any stage, someone doesn’t like a particular Detail, 
  they can Veto it, and it has to be reworked.  
   
  Pool Limits / Die Caps 
  To control the pacing and tone of a scene, GMs 
  can put a pool limit or die cap on the number of dice any 
  player can roll at once. This is normally set up at the very 
  beginning of a conflict. Three or four dice per round tends 
  to result in shorter, tighter-framed descriptions, suitable 
  for less important or warmup scenes. When things get 
  more dramatic, such as the climax of a session, 
  ratcheting the scene cap up to six or eight dice is 
  appropriate.  
  One way to encourage a frenetic back-and-forth 
  between players is to have a high cap on a scene, but 
  only let players narrate a Detail or two before moving on 
  to the next player.  
  You don’t have to describe up to the scene cap in 
  each and every round; sometimes tacking on a few extra 
  Details can become exhausting. Nor do you have to stop 
  your narrative just because you’re not earning any more 
  
  dice. This is a filibuster, where you go way over the cap 
  simply because you’re enjoying yourself narrating. Some 
  groups like it, others put limits on it.  
   
  Optional Extras: Held Dice  
  (reprinted from Wire-Fu) 
  Normally, you have to roll the dice you earn during 
  a conflict right away. However, you can also earn dice 
  which are held over - Held Dice - to be used for a specific 
  task later on. It is in this way that Wushu can reward 
  preparation. Each Detail describing a preparation activity 
  adds to either an individual or communal pool of Held 
  Dice to be used later on. A scene with a round of 
  planning or foreshadowing or a flashback or montage 
  sequence are just a few means of earning Held Dice.  
   
  Resolution 
  Having Described what happens, the second 
  phase of a round tells you how effective your action was 
  in bringing the scene that bit closer to resolution. 
  Remember, as per the PoNT you’ve already described 
  whether or not your action succeeded, this frames it in 
  the context of the wider scene.  
  Typically, all players roll their dice at the same 
  time. This helps keep gameplay fast and fluid. When the 
  action is more segmented, often because players are 
  dealing with different threats or in different locations, 
  GMs may want to have each player roll right after 
  completing their Description. However, since Wushu 
  makes it easy to run inter-cut scenes, simultaneous 
  Resolution should work fine more often than not.  
  The Description phase will have told you how 
  many dice you have in your pool. When acting against 
  opposition, you have to split them into Yin and Yang dice 
  before you roll.  
   
  Yin and Yang 
  Now to the complication in the mechanics, the 
  splitting of your dice pool. Characters are simultaneously 
  doing two things - exerting themselves to bring the scene 
  to a resolution, but also protecting their narrative power 
  to stay in the scene. It’s here that the risk management 
  element comes into Wushu.  
  The more you expose your narrative power, the 
  faster you’ll finish the scene and thus remove the risk, but 
  the greater danger you are in of being removed from the 
  scene before it’s done. Keep your narrative power 
  protected and you run the risk of doing nothing to bring 
  the scene towards resolution, and prolong the exposure 
  of your narrative power to gradual attrition.  
  Yang dice are your “offensive” dice, used to deal 
  with the nature of the scene’s challenge. Yin dice are 
  your “defensive” dice, used to protect your narrative 
  power from whatever threats there are in the scene. It 
  might help to use two different coloured dice to 
  distinguish them. In essence, every successful Yin die 
  cancels out someone else’s successful Yang die.  
   
   
  
  Successes 
  Wushu characters are defined by their Traits 
  (more in a bit), which are rated from 1–5. When it’s time 
  to roll them bones, pick the Trait that’s most relevant to 
  the actions you described (if you don’t have a relevant 
  Trait, the default rating is 2). Every die that rolls above 
  that Trait’s rating is a failure; those that come up equal to 
  or less are successes. If there are any Yang successes 
  directed at you that are left un-canceled by your Yin 
  successes, your plot immunity takes a hit.  
   
  Chi 
  Script immunity in Wushu is called Chi. Chi can 
  represent health, luck, prosperity, faith, resolve - it’s not 
  fixed and can mean different things to different 
  characters in different conflicts. It is the source of your 
  narrative power as a player. As long as a character has 
  Chi, the player has the ability to affect the scene. Run out 
  of Chi and your script immunity is all gone, and someone 
  else delivers a Coupe de Grace on you to determine your 
  fate.  
  Most characters have 3 points of Chi, and a point 
  is cashed in to remove a Yang success after the dice are 
  rolled. When you’re at 0 Chi, you’re teetering on the brink 
  of losing narrative power; once you go negative, you’re 
  out. That doesn’t mean your character is dead, just that 
  you the player can no longer contribute directly to the 
  scene. As long as you still have Chi, you can choose to 
  withdraw from a conflict rather than narrate a description.  
  It’s purely optional whether or not you describe 
  losses of Chi. It can often be a rich source of Detail-
  fodder to work some kind of complication into the 
  narrative following a round where you lose Chi. In an 
  ironic way, the misstep of losing Chi helps you to do 
  better next time.  
  GMs decide when characters refresh their Chi, 
  usually between scenes. For more lethal or gritty games, 
  or those where you want to put the players on the 
  defensive, Chi may refresh slower than this.  
   
  Optional Extra: Setbacks 
  If you want conflicts to last a little longer, but with 
  the feeling of a vicious spiral to them, you can allow 
  players to describe Setbacks rather than going into 
  negative Chi. Instead of losing a point of Chi, they take a 
  Setback. A Setback is some kind of hindrance affecting 
  the characters ability to perform in that particular scene. 
  When talking to a fair maiden, a Setback might be 
  breaking out in uncontrollable sweats.  
  The mechanical effect of a Setback is this: it 
  reduces your personal dice cap for the scene. While 
  everyone else may be able to narrate 4 Details, if you’ve 
  taken 1 Setback, your cap is now 3. And so it continues 
  with each loss of Chi becoming another Setback and 
  another reduction of your cap. If your cap hits 0, you’re 
  out. This does extend the duration of conflicts, because 
  Nemeses get to use Setbacks just the same as players, 
  but may be more appropriate to particular genres.  
  
  Setbacks can be recovered from in two ways. You 
  can wait for the normal refresh of Chi, which will reset 
  your dice cap, or you can use rolled successes to raise 
  your dice cap on a one for one basis back to the scene’s 
  maximum. If you choose to take a recovery from a 
  setback using this method, however, you will need to 
  decide before you roll how many dice from your pool you 
  will allocate to the recovery.  
   
  Types of Conflict 
  There are three types of conflict in Wushu - Mook, 
  Nemesis and Scab roll, though the last is really an 
  exception to the norm.  
  In a conflict, players will likely be describing 
  multiple actions and potentially use several of their Traits. 
  Not a problem - just pick the Trait that is most relevant to 
  the narrative. That becomes the target number for your 
  Yin and Yang rolls.  
   
  Mook conflicts 
  Ambient threats in a scene, which are there to 
  showcase the players looking good, are called Mooks. 
  They don’t have Traits, they don’t have Chi, and they 
  never roll any dice. They’re just an abstraction.  
  In a combat scene, Mooks would be the faceless, 
  nameless goons who are no match for the players. 
  Players are free to describe dealing with as many of them 
  as they like, in any manner they choose, within genre. In 
  a research scene, a Mook might be a snippet of 
  information that just takes time and effort to track down, 
  not any sophisticated search techniques. Mooks don’t 
  have to be people, just relatively straightforward 
  challenges.  
  A Mook conflict has a Threat Rating (TR) as the 
  mechanical representation of it’s challenge. The exact 
  value depends on how many players you have, your dice 
  pool limit, and how long you want the scene to last. 
  Figure out how many Yang successes your players are 
  likely to generate per round (roughly the dice cap minus 
  2) and multiply by the number of rounds you want to see.  
  For the more mathematically-inclined, the exact 
  formula for setting the TR is:  
   
  (Relevant Trait/6) * (Dice Cap - Yin successes required 
  by Mook threat) * (number of players) * (number of 
  rounds you want the scene to go on for).  
   
  Each Yang success the players generate reduces 
  the TR of a Mook conflict by 1. When it reaches zero, the 
  player who knocks it out gets to describe a Coup de 
  Grace to resolve the nature of the threat.  
  Since Mook conflicts are an ambient threat and 
  don’t roll any dice, they won’t be throwing Yang dice at 
  the players. To represent the totality of their threat, every 
  player engaging them must get at least 1 Yin success 
  every round or cash in a point of Chi. More dangerous 
  Mook conflicts might require 2 or even 3 Yin successes a 
  round. When framing a Mook conflict, remember to factor 
  the number of Yin successes required into the calculation 
  of Threat Rating.  
  
  A GM doesn’t have to narrate in a Mook conflict, 
  since they don’t roll any dice (or earn them in the first 
  place). Depending on taste, they can sit back and let the 
  players handle the whole scene, recap and redirect at the 
  end of each round, or actively narrate back and forth with 
  the players.  
   
  Nemesis conflicts 
  The most important scenes are handled more 
  actively, and are called Nemesis conflicts. Nemeses have 
  Traits and Chi (usually from 1–5) of their own, just like 
  the player characters, though they may not necessarily 
  be people at all.  
  As befits such pivotal conflicts, Nemeses must be 
  dealt with one-on-one. If two or more players absolutely 
  need to gang up on a Nemesis, they’ll have to do one of 
  the following: First, they can take turns dealing with the 
  Nemesis, 
  completing 
  both 
  their 
  Description 
  and 
  Resolution phases before letting their allies have a go in 
  the next round. If you’ve set a dice pool limit, the second 
  option is to have the players split the max dice between 
  them. If the Nemesis gets to roll 6 dice, two players 
  would get 3 dice each, or three players would get 2 dice 
  each. The Nemesis would then split their Yang 
  successes between their opponents. The same is true if 
  more than one Nemesis engages a single player.  
  What really sets Nemesis conflicts apart from 
  Mooks is that Nemeses have narrative power just like the 
  players. This is where you can get an interactive back 
  and forth between player and GM in the Description 
  (similar to players teaming up with a Pass), before you 
  finally go to the dice to Resolve.  
  Remember that the Coup de Grace still applies as 
  always, only the victor describes the end result of the 
  scene. If player and Nemesis go negative in the same 
  round, the one with the least-negative Chi wins. If player 
  and Nemesis are equal, ties go to the player.  
   
  Mixing them up 
  While there are two kinds of conflict, you can mix 
  the two into one scene. If there is only one Nemesis 
  conflict in a scene, and more than one player, you need 
  something to keep everyone else occupied. This gives 
  them something to do while they wait their turn to have a 
  go at the Nemesis.  
  The classic combat example is that not only do 
  you have to defeat BadVillain (who is a Nemesis), but 
  he’s also accompanied by the BadMen (his henchmen). 
  So while one character dukes it up with BadVillain, the 
  others hold off his goons. In a social situation, while one 
  character apprehends the store manager (Nemesis) to 
  find out what she knows, the others could be running 
  interference to make sure no one else barges in.  
   
  Scab rolls 
  Every once in a while, you might want to roll for 
  something without making a big production out of it. 
  That’s when you use a Scab Roll. Just grab a number of 
  dice equal to your relevant Trait and compare the lowest 
  roll to this scale:  
  
  1 = A solid, professional success. Good work!  
  2 = A good success. Mission (barely) accomplished.  
  3 = A success, but with negative complications.  
  4 = A regular, garden variety failure.  
  5 = A really bad, probably embarrassing failure.  
  6 = A failure so horrible as to defy comprehension.  
   
  This is an exception to the usual way of resolving 
  conflict in Wushu, to be used when people really don’t 
  want to narrate a conflict. In general if it’s not important 
  enough to narrate, it isn’t important enough to merit any 
  kind of roll. But for those times when you absolutely must 
  have it randomly determined, use a Scab roll.  
   
  Optional 
  Extras: 
  Secondary 
  Goals & Time Limits 
  Even a combined Mook and Nemesis conflict may 
  not have enough in it to keep all the players engaged. 
  Particularly if the nature of the threats are better suited to 
  some players choice of Traits than others.  
  Secondary Goals are adjuncts to the main scene 
  challenges which you add to make things interesting. 
  They generally work just like Mook conflicts, though they 
  don’t necessarily require Yin successes of their own to 
  stay safe. Being exposed to the main Mook threat, you 
  may still have to get Yin successes to prevent Chi loss 
  from that. It’s the GM’s call as to exactly how they 
  function.  
  Secondary Goals are useful for framing a scene to 
  contain conflicts of interest to each and every character. 
  When the main scene is about investigation and stitching 
  together the clues, you might include a social Secondary 
  Goal for the talkative character to interview a particular 
  witness.  
  Secondary Goals can also be used to spur players 
  to make a choice between two conflicting courses of 
  action. Yang dice thrown at a Secondary goal instead of 
  the main Mook or Nemesis, or at one Secondary Goal 
  over another, necessitate player choice. They must 
  sacrifice pursuit of one goal in favor of another.  
  A classic Secondary Goal in a physical situation is 
  a fire. As long as it’s burning, it raises the number of 
  required Yin successes by one, in addition to any others 
  they require. It can even be tied to a timed condition - if 
  it’s left burning for more than 2 rounds, it then becomes a 
  2-Yin threat. And so on.  
   
  Optional Extras: Time Limits 
  A potential problem with Wushu is the lack of 
  urgency in the standard setup - as long as a player keeps 
  rolling lots of Yin successes, they don’t lose the ability to 
  narrate. Because the dice bear no relation to what is 
  actually be described, they are doing just as much cool 
  stuff as everyone else, but having little impact on actually 
  resolving the scene.  
  A method of forcing players to “get on with it” is 
  having time limits on Secondary Goals, or indeed any 
  other element of the scene conflict. You state up front 
  that if a Secondary Goal, or the scene, isn’t resolved in X 
  number of rounds, then Y happens. Effectively, the GM 
  
  gets to describe a Coup de Grace on the players.  
  Let’s say your character is trying to pump a 
  diplomat’s aide for information, but cannot be overheard 
  by the diplomat. You come upon the aide at one end of a 
  corridor while the diplomat is on the phone at the other, 
  walking towards his aide. The GM rules that you’ve got 3 
  rounds in which to get whatever information you can 
  before the diplomat is in earshot and the opportunity is 
  lost.  
  Say you are on a speeding rail train, out of control 
  as it careens around the snowy mountains of Bavaria, 
  rocking on its tracks as it rockets around turns. The 
  screams of the passengers almost drown out the 
  screams of the wheels on the tracks. What will you do?  
  In this kind of scene, you don’t have an enemy to 
  fight, or mooks to deal with (though a fight on top of an 
  out of control train is an opportunity not to miss…), but 
  the situation itself is the threat.  
  The GM sets the Goal, Threat, and Time based on 
  his own desires for the campaign, how fast he wants the 
  scene to play out, and how much pressure he wants to 
  put on the PC’s. The train scene probably has something 
  like : Goal 15, Threat 1, Time 3.  
  Example 1: The group has to accumulate 15 
  successes to bring the train under control. They have to 
  use 1 Yin success every round to avoid incidental harm 
  from flying luggage, lurching train cars, and panicked 
  horses in the Royal Stable’s car. And they have to get 
  their 15 successes in 3 Turns or less, or the train goes 
  shooting off into a gorge, and lots of people get very 
  badly killed.  
  Goal 15, Threat 1, Time 3.  
   
  Example 2: The Duke’s famous Winter Ball. The PC’s 
  attend, seeking information on their nemesis Count 
  Rugan. Here, they fan out using their individual social 
  Traits to plumb the crowd for information. Each Turn 
  covers an hour of Ball going, and they need a total of 20 
  to learn the Count’s whereabouts. The players know 
  there is a time limit (the GM has decided on 4 turns) 
  before something bad happens (the Count’s clockwork 
  army awakes and invades Bohemia, say), but not how 
  many actual Turns they have… Here there is no real 
  danger to their person, so no need to divide dice.  
   
  Goal of 20, and a Time of 4.  
   
  Character Creation 
  Character creation in Wushu is simple; all you do 
  come up with a collection of distinguishing features about 
  the character. distill your character concept into a small 
  number of Traits.  
   
  Traits 
  Traits can be absolutely anything from a 
  profession (Detective, Hunter, Neurosurgeon) to an 
  adjective (Charismatic, Intelligent, Rich as Croesus). In a 
  game with combat-oriented conflicts, it’s usually a good 
  idea to have a combat trait (Shaolin Master, Gun-Fu, 
  Dirty Fighting). In games with the supernatural or other 
  
  kinds of powers, one Trait should be dedicated to that 
  special ability (Telekinesis, Conjuring Magic, Werewolf).  
  Each Trait starts at a default rating of 2; your GM 
  will give you 5–8 build points to spend on raising them (1 
  point for a 3, 2 points for a 4 and 3 for a 5), up to a 
  maximum rating of 5. That should be enough for 3 Traits, 
  give or take. The usual amount is 6 points, for a 
  character with one Trait at 5, one at 4 and one at 3.  
  It’s important to arrive at a common standard in 
  the group on the level of focus of Traits. Otherwise, those 
  with more specialized Traits may find themselves using 
  the default 2 more than others.  
   
  Optional Extra: 
   Trait Categories 
  Completely free-form Traits can be a recipe for 
  both player paralysis and a wide disparity in the focus of 
  Traits in a group. One way to avoid this is to categorize 
  the Traits, so that each one covers a distinct and 
  separate kind of conflict.  
  Characters usually have three Traits, and the most 
  appropriate spread is to have a Combat, Social and 
  Professional Trait.  
  Combat Traits tend to cover both violent and 
  physical conflicts. Examples of appropriate Combat 
  Traits: Two Gun Mojo, ex-Special Forces, Big, Mean and 
  Nasty, 
  A 
  Natural 
  Athlete, 
  Merciless 
  Engine 
  of 
  Destruction, Veteran of the Legions, Tommygun Terror.  
  Social Traits tend to cover interpersonal and social 
  conflicts. Examples of appropriate Social Traits: Just a 
  Quiet Word, Silver-Tongued Rogue, Everybody Knows 
  Me Everybody Owes Me, Who Would Suspect Such a 
  Man?, All Your Well-Learned Politesse, Connections in 
  Low Places, Intimidating Presence, Rabble Rouser, 
  Skilled Orator, The Art of the Con.  
  Professional Traits tend to cover mental conflicts, 
  those involving specialist skills or unnatural abilities. 
  Examples of appropriate Professional Traits: Man of 
  Science!, Electronics Whiz, Attorney, Herbalist, Arcane 
  Mastery, Housebreaker, Eidetic Memory.  
   
  Optional Extra: 
   “Trait Features” 
  Sometimes the handful of Traits you have don’t tell 
  you enough about when a Trait applies and when it does 
  not. In the main that’s all left up to the social contract via 
  application of the Veto to determine when something fits 
  and when it does not. But if you want a little more 
  certainty in what’s there, and perhaps some more room 
  for differentiation, one way of doing that is to identify 
  some specific things your Trait does.  
  These are “gimmes” if you like. They’re things you 
  can apply your Trait to that no one can Veto as stretching 
  it too far. This tells everyone unequivocably what your 
  Trait is definitely about. Note that it doesn’t mean it won’t 
  apply to any other activities that might go under it, just 
  that they aren’t guaranteed to be accepted.  
  For every point over 2 (ie the default) you get a 
  Feature which you can name (though you can use any 
  variation, such as equal to the value of the Trait or one 
  
  less than). Par exemple, you have a character in a 
  fantasy game who’s basically a Ranger-type. They have 
  a Trait called Wilderness Warrior 4 which they use for all 
  their fighting stuff. Using the one-less Features than 
  value of Trait in this instance and with the Trait at 4, you 
  get three Features. You might write it thus:  
   
  Wilderness Warrior 4 - You are adept at fighting in 
  outdoor 
  environments, 
  using 
  even 
  the 
  elements 
  themselves as factors to turn the tide of battle in your 
  favour. Features:  
  � 
  Archery - feats of accurate marksmanship  
  � 
  Ambushing - laying traps and avoiding them  
  � 
  Knife-and-hachet combat - brutally effective two-
  weapon style  
   
  Optional Extra: 
  Control Dice 
  This option allows you to simulate the notion that 
  “with great power comes great risk.” Werewolves who 
  loose control of their feral natures, vampires who cannot 
  control their lust for blood, or in general any action which 
  gives great power at the risk of great cost.  
  Players do not lose control of their characters, this 
  represents the characters losing control of themselves. 
  Thus the failure of control is intended as an opportunity 
  for role-playing, not as a method to give temporary 
  control of the character to the GM.  
  The GM creates a pool of Control Dice for each 
  player. The suggested starting size is 5. The player must 
  add an additional Trait (which starts at 2, as usual) to 
  their character sheet representing control over their 
  innate power. At any time, a player may remove any 
  number of Control Dice from the pool, and use them in 
  addition to their normal pool of dice gained by description 
  of their character’s actions. They then assign the dice to 
  Yin and Yang as usual, and roll. However, once the roll 
  has been completed, the player must roll the dice 
  remaining in the Control Pool against the control Trait. If 
  they score no successes, then they will lose control in the 
  manner defined by the trait called upon.  
  (Vampires acting out wanton cruelty in search of 
  blood, Werewolves rending and tearing all within reach, 
  and so on.)  
  The control pool should undergo refreshment on a 
  much slower basis than the Chi pool, perhaps once for 
  every two sessions, or after an activity which the GM 
  might rule could refresh the control pool. The control pool 
  will always refresh to full after an complete loss of control 
  by the character.  
  Another option would be that once the character 
  looses control, they reverse the control pool process, 
  spending out of control dice until they regain control once 
  more.  
  It should be noted this is a great opportunity for 
  role-playing, and some classic angst/brooding. Most 
  players will want to lose control at some point.  
   
   
   
  
  Optional Extra: 
   “Special Something” 
  Players love toys, and giving them a special 
  something helps with that. The “Special Something” is a 
  bonus die added into the players roll when they narrate 
  an action in which it comes into play. For a Jedi it might 
  be “The Force”. For a smuggler it might be “My Ship”. For 
  a gadgeteer type it might be “Well Equipped”. Whatever it 
  is, when they manage to put a character trait to use, 
  narrating an action scene which uses that “Special 
  Something”, they gain a bonus die above and beyond 
  any normal die cap or scene limit.  
  Examples of appropriate “Special Somethings”: 
  Alien Strangeness, Connections Up the Wazoo, Elven 
  Steed, 
  Ogre 
  Blood, 
  Pimp 
  Ride, 
  Psionic 
  Talent, 
  Gadgets/Gizmos, (In)Famous, Unbelievably Wealthy  
   
  Weaknesses 
  Finally, to balance out the average hyper-
  competent Wushu character, they need a Weakness. 
  Weaknesses are Traits with a rating of 1. This could be a 
  love interest who’s always getting them into trouble, 
  some kind of special vulnerability (eg: wooden stakes 
  and sunlight), or a tragic flaw (Drunk, Egotist, Can’t 
  Refuse a Challenge). Any time your character tries to act 
  against their Weakness, only dice that roll a 1 are 
  successes.  
  It should be noted that weaknesses are not really 
  supposed to be coming into play very often. They are 
  things that the character will stay away from, or actions 
  that they will try to avoid just as you would try to avoid an 
  activity or action that you were very bad at. They 
  influence play more by what actions your character 
  chooses to undertake than acting as a stick to slap your 
  character with.  
   
  Advancement 
  In standard Wushu, characters start out competent 
  and stay that way. They don’t improve mechanically, nor 
  do they accumulate experience with which they can raise 
  their Traits.  
  What they can do, if change is desired, is evolve.  
  Lets take a look at Marigold Plume.  
   
  Marigold’s WUSHU stats look like this:  
   
  Traits  
  Friends with Vrock the Spirit Dragon 5  
  Curious Kid always Getting Into Trouble 4  
  Makes friends easy 3  
  Weakness  
  Weedy little kid 1  
   
  First Story Arc: Marigold and Vrock investigate 
  rumors that kids are being snatched from the city and 
  shipped to some unknown place by ship. The pair fight 
  the dangerous Ur-Men from Lumeria who are behind the 
  kidnappings as they seek to power their Dream Engines 
  with the minds of children. Marigold sees the dark 
  underside of world first hand, and it changes her. She no 
  
  longer Makes Friends Easily, but has developed an 
  Uncanny Insight into Human Nature.  
  Second Story Arc: A few years later, Marigold is in 
  high school, and she’s trying to balance a normal life with 
  her occult investigations. She’s grown up a bit- no longer 
  a Weedy Little Kid, but now she’s Too Pretty to be Taken 
  Seriously. She deals with an epidemic of spirit 
  possessions at her school and manages to become 
  Homecoming Queen all at the same time, but she 
  learned some things about her friends that she wishes 
  she didn’t know, and it blunts her curiosity somewhat, 
  increasing her Uncanny Insight into Human Nature 
  (shifting a point from Curious to Insight).  
  Third Story Arc: Marigold has been kidnapped, 
  and only Vrock can find her. Vrock reveals in addition to 
  being a spirit dragon, he also has Many Contacts and 
  Allies in the Spirit World and has Learned Something 
  about Investigation from his friend Marigold. But since 
  being separated from the spiritual anchor Marigold gave 
  him, he has become Sensitive to Sunlight. Can Vrock find 
  the wayward Marigold in time to get her college 
  applications in before the deadline?  
  It is important to note that what Marigold can do 
  with Uncanny Insight Into Human Nature is different than 
  what she can do with Makes Friends Easily. Making 
  unnerving guesses into what’s bugging someone would 
  be fine with the former, but would be completely out of 
  theme (and most likely Veto’d) if she was using the latter.  
   
   
  Credits 
  Dan Bayn for creating Wushu in the first place, 
  and allowing me to plagiarize his words in places. And for 
  allowing me to include Held Dice, which come from Wire-
  Fu.  
   
  Lord Minx for writing both What Wushu Does, and 
  What Wushu Doesn’t Do.  
   
  Bailywolf for both Secondary Goals, Time Limits 
  and the Setbacks rule. 
   
  Aaron Smith and Julie Barman for the Examples 
  used in the Description section.  
   
  Prodigal Python, Aaron Smith and aprogressivist 
  for participating in the Example of Play.  
   
  General critiquing credits to: Lord Minx, Simple 
  Man, 
  Will, 
  HMT, 
  DanMcS, 
  dyjoots, 
  Leach, 
  Scurvy_Platypus, Plume, rbingham2000, con man, 
  daimon4242, JiminyCrikkit, Aaron Smith and Blake 
  Hutchins.  
   
  Alison Ridley for the pdf version. 
  
  Example of Play 
   
  Foreword 
  What I noted we lacked for Wushu was a fully-
  worked Example of Play, showing exactly how an 
  encounter would flow from start to finish. This was 
  relevant because Wushu doesn’t work the same as many 
  games in this regard, having distinctly separate narrative 
  and mechanics.  
  Without people being able to see exactly what was 
  meant by this, they discounted it as being no different to 
  most other games. Which wasn’t an accurate reflection of 
  how play happens. I was also keen to demonstrate that 
  Wushu doesn’t just work for high-octane martial arts 
  action.  
  Thus I sat down and wrote out a complete one, in 
  this instance a generic fantasy scenario.  
  -Damian aka Kiero  
   
  Formatting Notes 
  For clarity Out-of-Character (OOC) dialogue is in 
  standard text like this, all In-Character (IC) dialogue is in 
  italics. All Traits are highlighted in bold so they can be 
  clearly seen.  
   
   
   
   
  Characters 
  There’s the GM and three players, Alice, Bob and Chris 
  (A, B and C!). They’re playing a D&D-esque fantasy 
  game.  
   
  Alice is playing Thorgan Hearthstone, a male cleric. His 
  Traits are as follows:  
   
  Blessed Words 5 - Inspirational speeches, cleric magic, 
  turning undead. 
  Soldier of the Temple 4 - Fighting in heavy armour.  
  Builder 3 - Knowledge of structures and construction. 
  Vows and Strictures 1 - Can’t use edged weapons, 
  must pray daily.  
   
  Bob is playing Althea a female sorceress. Her Traits are 
  as follows:  
   
  Mistress of the Mysteries 5 - Indirect magics like 
  conjuring and enchantments . 
  Eldritch Ass-kicking 4 - Direct combat magic.  
  Of Noble Stock 3 - Giving commands and expecting to 
  be obeyed.  
  Powerless Without Words and Gestures 1 - Needs to 
  be able to speak and move to use her magic.  
   
  Chris is playing Walks-in-Shadows a male ranger. His 
  Traits are:  
  
   
  Secrets of the Wild 5 - Tracking, bushcraft, stealth and 
  so on.  
  Skirmisher 4 - Fast-moving combat.  
  Uncanny Insights 3 - Seeing and perceiving things 
  others cannot.  
  Taboos 1 - Collection of things he won’t do, including 
  using a sword and killing non-combatants.  
   
  The Scenario 
  The characters are an adventuring party who have been 
  tasked with rescuing villagers who were kidnapped by a 
  cult. They’ve tracked the cult down to a grove deep in the 
  woods. This is the final conflict of the game.  
   
  Initial Setup 
  GM: You track the cult down to a glade deep in the 
  forest. They are assembled in a kind of service, all robed 
  and hooded in red. Only their leader, conducting the 
  service has his hood down. The five villagers are staked 
  out on the ground, the sounds of their sobbing and 
  plaintive calls for mercy carry across to where the thre of 
  you are hidden. The congregation begin a chant and 
  something flashes in the cult leader’s grasp - a sacrificial 
  dagger!  
  A: Sounds a bit like the end of Brotherhood of the Wolf. 
  C: Kind of what I was thinking too.  
  GM: It was the red robes, wasn’t it?  
  B: What’s the scene goals here?  
   
  GM: Alright, getting to it, there’s the Cult Leader who’s a 
  Nemesis. He’s using Charismatic Speaker 5 and 
  Demon-summoning Magics 4 in the main. He has 4 
  Chi.  
  B: The caster is mine!  
  GM: The cultists are an 18-point mook Threat Rating with 
  a Yin toll of 1. There’s a Secondary Goal attached to 
  making the captives safe, that’s a 6-pointer with a Yin toll 
  of 1 not to cause any complications that might harm 
  them. Might add more stuff as we go, depending.  
  C: Let’s get at them!  
  GM: Hang on, the dice cap for the scene is six. Now go!  
   
  Round 1 - Describe 
  A: Stepping out into the glade, I draw a deep breath and 
  proclaim: “This foul business ends here and now!”  
  C: Very cleric-y! While Thorgan draws the cultists 
  attention towards him, Walks-in-Shadows ghosts off to 
  one side between the trees, moving into a position on the 
  group’s flank.  
  GM: Hooded heads turn towards Thorgan and the cult 
  leader looks up from the captives.  
  B: Althea joins Thorgan, standing a pace behind his left 
  shoulder, a nimbus of power playing around her hands.  
  GM: The leader shrieks out “Kill them, kill them both!”. 
  Cultists reach for weapons underneath their robes and 
  charge at Thorgan and Althea.  
  C: The ranger nocks an arrow and snipes at the cultists  
  
  left guarding the captives. He drops one and puts an 
  arrow through the hand of a second reaching for a 
  weapon.  
  B: Althea gestures and a lightning bolt zaps the cult 
  leader dead. 
  A: Veto! You can’t take the leader out without even 
  knocking his Chi down!  
  GM: She’s right, you’re going to have to amend that 
  Detail.  
  B: Alright. Althea gestures and a lightning bolt streaks 
  towards the cult leader.  
  GM: A wild-eyed cultist throws himself into the path of the 
  bolt. “Witness the power of our faith!” the leader calls out 
  as he begins to work magic of his own.  
  A: I brace myself for the first wave of them, shield 
  forward and hammer held aloft and still. As the first one 
  comes at me, I parry his stroke with my shield and knee 
  him in the groin, crushing his head with my hammer.  
  B: “Keep them off me” Althea says to Thorgan readying a 
  counter-spell.  
  A: “I’ll do my best” I say to Althea, before headbutting a 
  cultist who tries to grapple with me.  
  C: Cool image, lone fighter holding back the tides while 
  the mage dukes it out with the cult leader.  
  A: “Now lets see what this poor excuse for a sorceror has 
  up his sleeve.” Althea adds.  
  GM: Nice Pass too, dialogue earns Details just the same 
  as description of stuff. “There are only two of them, cut 
  them down and nothing will stop the glory of our master 
  coming into this world!” The cult leader says as he 
  continues to weave his magic. I think that’s more than 
  enough description to move on to resolving this round. 
  Everyone at least reached the six Details if not more.  
   
  Round 1 - Resolve 
  GM: What are you targeting, what Traits are you using, 
  and how are you splitting your dice? 
  C: I’d say mine was mostly Skirmishing 4, I’m going 
  after the Secondary Goal to free the captives. I’ll split my 
  dice 4 Yang, 2 Yin.  
  A: I started off with some speechy stuff, but that was 
  mostly fighting, so Soldier of the Temple 4, split 5 Yang 
  and 1 Yin against the mook threat.  
  B: Eldritch Ass-kicking 4 against the Nemesis, I’ll go 
  with an even split this time around. What are you using 
  for the cult leader?  
  GM: There was a bit of magic, but it was mostly talky 
  stuff, exhorting his followers and all that, so Charismatic 
  Speaker 5. I’m going with a 4 Yang, 2 Yin split. 
  A: Let’s roll then.  
  *clatter*  
  B: I got 3,3,5 on my Yang and 5,1,4 on Yin. That means 
  two of each flavour. 
  GM: I rolled 1,3,6,5 for Yang and 3,6 on Yin. So 3 Yang 
  one Yin - so Althea and the cult leader both lose a point 
  of Chi.  
  A: I rolled 1,6,2,5,1 on Yang and 1 on Yin. So I got the 
  Yin success I needed to cover the toll and cut the mook 
  Threat Rating by my three Yang successes.  
  C: I got 1,3,4,3 on Yang and 1,6 on Yin. So no 
  complications with that Yin success, and I bring the 
  
  Secondary Goal down to 2 points. Nice.  
  GM: OK, on to the next round. Just to recap, the mook 
  Threat Rating is now 15/1, the captive secondary goal is 
  2/1 and the cult leader, and Althea have lost a point of 
  Chi. 
   
  Round 2 - Describe 
  GM: More cultists join the fray against the increasingly 
  threatened Thorgan, while a smaller number at the back 
  turn their attentions towards the elusive threat of Walks-
  in-Shadows.  
  B: I want to rationalise my loss of Chi. Work with me GM, 
  here goes. One of the cultists slips past Thorgan’s 
  diligent guard and makes for Althea, seeing an easy 
  target. “I thought you were holding them!” She says to 
  Thorgan.  
  A: “I’m doing the best I can!” I yell back, stoving in a 
  cultist’s chest with a solid blow.  
  B: As he raises his weapon, Althea gestures freezing him 
  in place. 
  GM: In the heartbeat Althea’s attention is off the cult 
  leader, he strikes. Chanting a command word, shadowy 
  tentacles rise from the ground, grapsing the sorceress. 
  Their touch burns. 
  B: They burn through Althea’s outer-most layers of 
  magical protection, but before they reach her skin she 
  utters the counter-spell, causing them to vanish.  
  A: My turn! Two of the cultists grasp the rim of my shield, 
  trying to wrest it from me. Calling on the name of my god, 
  I am infused with holy might, my armour, shield, holy 
  symbol and hammer all glowing brightly. Momentarily 
  stunned, the cultists fall back in fear. “The wrath of the 
  pure is upon you.” I declare, smashing one down with my 
  shining hammer.  
  C: Walks-in-Shadows fires an arrow on the move, killing 
  another of the guards, then casts his bow aside. Running 
  into view in the clearing, a hachet in each hand, he 
  charges headlong into the cultists angling his way.  
  GM: Cool. “Don’t let him reach the sacrifices!” The cult 
  leader screams gesturing in the direction of the ranger. 
  The closest of them raises a weapon to Walks-in-
  Shadows.  
  C: Without even breaking his stride, the ranger ducks 
  under the blow and cuts through the cultist’s spine with 
  an axe as he passes.  
  GM: The cult leader begins to chant, something Althea 
  recognises as a summoning spell.  
  B: Althea calls out “Walks-in-Shadows, don’t let him 
  finish that spell!”  
  GM: Enough describing, lets resolve.  
   
  Round 2 - Resolve 
  GM: Usual drill.  
  A: Using my primary Blessed Words 5 this time, mostly 
  buffing magical stuff. On the mook threat again, split 5 
  Yang 1 Yin this time. 
  C: Skirmishing 4, 3 Yang on the Secondary Goal, 2 on 
  the mook threat and one against the Yin toll.  
  B: Eldritch Ass-kicking 4 on the Nemesis, 4 Yang 2 
  Yin.  
  
  GM: Nemesis is using Demon-summoning Magics 4, 
  split even. Roll!  
  *clatter* 
  GM: I got 1,4,6 on Yang and 4,6,6 on Yin for 2 Yang and 
  1 Yin successes.  
  B: Ha! I got 5,2,4,2 on Yang and 2,2 on Yin for 3 Yang 
  and 2 Yin. I lose nothing and the cult leader loses 2 Chi!  
  GM: So he’s now down to 1 Chi.  
  A: I rolled 2,6,4,3,3 and 3, for 4 Yang and 1 Yin. Safe 
  again and another chunk out the mook TR.  
  C: I got 5,3,2 on the SG, 1,4 on the mook TR and 5 on 
  my Yin. So I lose a point of Chi, but the captives are safe 
  and another 2 points out of the mook threat.  
  GM: Right, the mook TR is now 9/1, Chris gets to 
  describe a Coup de Grace on the Secondary Goal at 
  some point and the cult leader has only 1 point of Chi left. 
  Soon as he goes negative, someone gets to describe a 
  CdG on him. Now both Althea and Walks-in-Shadows 
  have lost a point of Chi. Onwards!  
   
  Round 3 - Describe 
  C: I’m getting my CdG in now on the Secondary Goal. A 
  guard falls dead on one of the captives, his belt knife 
  within reach of the woman’s hand. She uses it to cut the 
  rope binding that hand, then in no time has it free and 
  cuts the rest of her bonds. The cultists are busy with the 
  interlopers and pay them no mind and she sets to work 
  freeing the others.  
  A: Taking advantage of the momentary respite, I shield-
  charge the nearest cultist, pulverising his comrade before 
  he can react. “Now Althea, hit them before they regroup.” 
  I roar.  
  B: Wasting no time, Althea forms the words of power and 
  points at the cowering cultists. Sparkling motes glitter in 
  the air for a moment, then a half-dozen of them topple to 
  the ground, unconscious.  
  A: “What, no fireball?” I jibe Althea. 
  B: “I am capable of some subtlety, you know, priest.” 
  Althea retorts. “Besides we may wish to question some of 
  them later.”  
  C: The ranger parries the lunge of a spear with one axe, 
  then takes the face off the owner with the other. He’s 
  working his way towards the cult leader as quickly as he 
  can through his followers. 
  GM: There’s a horrible keening sound coming from a 
  patch of ground the cult leader seems intent on. As 
  though the fabric of reality were being painfully parted. A 
  pentagram appears in the soil, air shimmering like a heat-
  mirage above it.  
  C: Walks-in-Shadows swears, he’ll never make it through 
  at this rate. Drawing his arm back, he hurls one of his 
  axes directly for the cult leader’s head.  
  GM: The axe flies true, but strikes an invisible barrier 
  inches away from skin, dropping to the ground 
  importently. That’ll do.  
   
  Round 3 - Resolve 
  GM: Call ‘em.  
  B: Using Mistress of Mysteries 5 this time with some 
  enchantment magics, on the mooks I guess. Go with a 
  
  5/1 split.  
  A: More butt-kicking with Soldier of the Temple 4, on 
  the mooks, split 5/1 as well.  
  C: Straight Skirmishing 4 again for me, on the cult 
  leader split 4/2.  
  GM: Cult leader is using Demon-summoning Magics 4, 
  split 3/3. Roll ‘em everyone!  
  *clatter* 
  GM: I get 3,2,3 on Yang and 2,1,2 on Yin for successes 
  all across the board for the cult leader.  
  C: Mine’s 4,2,3,2 on Yang, so four and 5,2 for one. That’s 
  a point of Chi each. He’s on 0 I’m on 1.  
  GM: That means he’s still in…just. Up to you if you want 
  to rationalise that loss of Chi next round. Easy Detail.  
  A: I rolled 4,1,3,3,5 on Yang for all successes, but a 6 on 
  Yin. So lose a point of Chi but take the mook TR down by 
  5.  
  B: I got 2,6,4,4,5 on Yang and 1 on Yin. So no loss of Chi 
  and take the mook TR down another 3 points.  
  GM: To recap then, mook threat is a measly 1/1, Cult 
  leader is on 0 Chi, and Althea and Walks-in-Shadows are 
  both on 1 Chi. Only Thorgan still has a full complement of 
  Chi.  
   
  Round 4 - Describe 
  GM: The cult leader finishes his incantation and the 
  ground shakes and thunder rolls in the sky. A…thing 
  materialises inside the summoning circle. Black as night 
  with three glowing yellow eyes it is roughly the shape of a 
  big cat with row upon row of spines upon its back. New 
  Nemesis here if anyone wasn’t clear.  
  A: “By all that is holy!” I exclaim marching to face this 
  new threat. Brandishing my holy symbol high, it gleams 
  with a pure light as I beseech my god to banish this 
  abomination back to the plane from thence it came.  
  GM: The summoned thing roars in pain and levels its 
  spines, a stuttering cough sounding as a volley come 
  zipping Thorgan’s way.  
  A: I level my shield, holding it firm as spines impact 
  against it. Others patter off my armour, but fail to find a 
  seam. One passes right through the shield and vambrace 
  pinning my forearm. Pulling it all the way through, I 
  whisper a prayer of healing that closes the wound as 
  though it were never there.  
  B: “Walks-in-Shadows, stop the summoner.” Althea calls 
  out to the ranger.  
  C: “Anyone would think she was in charge.” He mutters 
  to himself as he cuts the last of the cultists in his path 
  down. He draws his knife to replace the axe he threw in 
  his left hand and runs at the leader.  
  GM: The cult leader’s jaw distends and he spews forth a 
  swarm of black flies. They stream towards Walks-in-
  Shadows, the biting, stinging cloud enveloping him.  
  C: Walks-in-Shadows closes his eyes and mouth, holding 
  his breath and doing his best to ignore the pain. With 
  gritted teeth he stumbles forward, a step at a time, 
  towards the cult leader.  
  B: Althea focuses and sends a blast of wind towards the 
  ranger, scattering the remaining cultists still in the fight 
  before blowing the swarm clean off Walks-in-Shadows. 
  
  She follows it with a lance of flame which vapourises the 
  swarm in a gout of dirty smoke.  
  C: Neat! Walks-in-Shadows, now covered in livid boils, 
  fights against the burning sensation in his skin and runs 
  straight into the cult leader, knocking him flying with a 
  shoulder-charge before he can form any more magics.  
  B: Back to the task at hand - the demon.  
  GM: If you’re going after the demon too, I’ll extend the 
  cap for it.  
  B: Drawing deep into her reserves of strength, Althea 
  seeks to unravel the bonds that hold the demon in this 
  world.  
  GM: Roaring in irritation, it bounds towards the 
  sorceress, accelerating alarmingly fast.  
  B: With a swipe of her hand, Althea peppers it with 
  conjured bolts of energy, stopping it dead in its tracks. 
  Thorgan takes advantage of the opening to charge into 
  its flank. You’re alright with that, A?  
  A: No probs, carry on.  
  GM: The demon takes a swipe at the cleric with its paws, 
  disloding the spines from earlier and leaving rake-marks 
  in his shield. Resolve!  
   
  Round 4 - Resolve 
  GM: The demon has 3 Chi and is using Otherworldly 
  Predator 5 as its only Trait. I’ll split its twelve Details 
  equally between Thorgan and Althea. Going with 4/2 on 
  each of them. 
  A: I’m going all out as well, a 5/1 split to do as much 
  harm as possible, Blessed Words 5 again. 
  B: I’m putting a point against what’s left of the mook 
  threat, then splitting 3/2 against the demon. With Eldritch 
  Ass-kicking 4.  
  C: Skirmishing 4 split 4/2 on the cult leader.  
  GM: He’s using Demon-summoning Magics 4, split 3/3. 
  Roll!  
  *clatter* 
  B: 4 on the mook threat to finish it, 1,6,3 for two Yang on 
  the demon and 6,2 for 1 Yin. Oh dear.  
  A: 5,2,2,6,6 on Yang for three successes and 3 on Yin for 
  one.  
  GM: I’ll do the demon first, then you C. Against Althea 
  5,2,5,5 for four Yang and 2,5 for 2 Yin. So takes no hits 
  on Chi and puts her on −2! That’s a Coup de Grace. On 
  Thorgan 6,4,3,2 on Yang for 3 and 6,5 for one Yin 
  success. So it’s down to 1 and so’s Thorgan.  
  C: For Walks-in-Shadows I rolled 2,4,6,2 for 3 Yang 
  successes and 3,2 for two Yin.  
  GM: He rolls 1,3,5 for two Yang and 5,3,2 for two Yin. No 
  further harm to Walks-in-Shadows and he puts the cult 
  leader on −1 for a Coup de Grace.  
  C: My second of the fight!  
  B: I did all the work, though.  
  GM: So to round up, Althea and the cult leader are out, 
  Coup de Graces being given. Thorgan is on 2 Chi, 
  Walks-in-Shadows on 1 and the demon on 2.  
   
  Round 5 - Describe 
  GM: With a stuttering cough the air between the demon 
  and Althea is filled with spines. Not even her hastily-
  
  erected barrier of force can stop them all, and while most 
  are stopped by her closest defenses one finds its way 
  through to impale her gut. She falls to the ground, curling 
  up in a ball around the projectile, clutching at it 
  ineffectually, mouth working silently but not saying 
  anything.  
  C: Beaten but not defeated, Walks-in-Shadows walks to 
  where the cult leader fell. The man struggles to get to his 
  feet, hands curling into mudras of power. The ranger’s 
  axe thuds into his forearm, fizzling the spell and he 
  screams in pain. “Have mercy!” He wails pitifully. “As you 
  would have done these innocents?” Walks-in-Shadows 
  says as he closes. “I think not”. He adds and the cult 
  leader gasps and looks down to see the knife through his 
  heart.  
  A: Might as well get mine in while I can, since I’m not in 
  this round. Seeing their leader defeated, the fight goes 
  out of the cultists. Those still under arms throw down 
  their weapons and drop to their knees. They cross their 
  arms across their chests in a submissive gesture and 
  bow their heads, awaiting their fate. They make no move 
  to assist the demon or get involved. 
  GM: The demon turns on Thorgan, slamming into him 
  with its full weight and knocking him to the ground.  
  A: I keep a tight grip on my shield, protecting my face 
  and vitals while trying to bring my hammer to bear.  
  C: Picking up a spear discarded by one of the cultists, 
  Walks-in-Shadows draws to cast and sights along it. He 
  hurls it with all his strength at the demon.  
  GM: The spear strikes the demon in its back, eliciting an 
  ear-splitting roar of pain. Momentarily distracted from the 
  prey underneath it, it half-turns towards the new threat 
  and spits spines.  
  A: Taking advantage of the lull, I swing my hammer into 
  its shoulder, crushing bone.  
  C: Diving to the ground to avoid the spines, the ranger 
  lands next to the body of a cultist with one of his arrows 
  through his breast. He rolls the man over himself 
  absorbing the worst of the missiles.  
  GM: Howling in outrage, the demon swats at Thorgan, 
  knocking him off his feet. Resolve!  
   
  Round 5 - Resolve 
  GM: Split evenly between the two of you as before.  
  Otherworldly Predator 5, split 4/2 on each.  
  C: I’m going all-out this time 6/0, I’ll take my licks. 
  Skirmishing 4.  
  A: Someone has to survive this one to deliver the Coup 
  de Grace. I’m going 4/2 with Soldier of the Temple 4.  
  *clatter*  
  GM: On Walks-in-Shadows 5,4,1,2 for four Yang and 2,3 
  for two Yin. On Thorgan 6,1,4,3 for three Yang and 3,6 
  for 1 Yin.  
  C: I got 3,1,3,2,4,2 for all six Yang successes! Go me! 
  Course even while I’ve put it on −2, I’m on −3 so it 
  narrates me out.  
  A: I got 2,4,4,3 for four Yang and 2,6 for 1 Yin. So I’m on 
  0 and it takes even more pain ending on −6!  
  GM: Only fair then that Thorgan gets the Coup de Grace 
  here. 
   
  
  Round 6 - Closure 
  GM: Walks-in-Shadows feels a sharp pain in his left leg 
  and as he tries to get up can’t move it. Several spines 
  have passed through his lower leg, pinning it to the 
  ground. He feels dizzy and nearly vomits trying to pull 
  one out and slumps back to the ground in his own world 
  of pain.  
  A: As I get back to my feet, I prepare to receive the 
  demon. At the last possible moment, I sidestep, bringing 
  my hammer down with sickening force on its skull. Like a 
  poleaxed bull it drops dead right there, dissolving into 
  smoke and then blowing away.  
  GM: The villagers emerge from their hiding places and 
  look nervously on their rescuers, all in a bad way.  
  A: “You’re safe now, we will lead you back to your 
  homes. But first I must tend to my companions.” I say.  
   
  Fin  
   
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Anime & Cartoon RPGs/3) Common Tropes & Themes/Wushu & Shoulin & Wuxia Action/Wushu/Wushu - Open Reloaded.pdf