Thanks to
studies in the early 21st century it was found that not only is the human mind able to pilot a craft through the power of projected thought alone, but that two minds are, in fact, better than one. Thus, through Willpower and personal Awareness alone, a ship is directed to safety by its duo of pilots.
Still, in the 31st century, neuroscience has quite a ways to go, and the current belief among the Scientific community is that, for optimal efficiency, these minds should be as different from one another as they can possibly be, so that one mind may cover for another's faults. These beliefs, superstitious or true, have had the net effect of causing many Captains to encourage enmity between their pilots (making for an all around unpleasant voyage for many a crew), and causing many pilots to lay vehement blame upon their partner's feet for even the slightest mistake.
Thanks to the relatively recent advent of warp drives, it takes only a week for a small sized ship to travel the distance between Earth and Mars (or approximately 54.6million km), however during travel- be it in warp space or realspace- the pilots are locked into the grid, so to speak, and unable to do much more than pilot and converse with the rest of the crew.
Pilots utilize the Sailing skill and (Piloting) emphases, and the highest out of their Awareness and Willpower stats. Should both pilots utilize the same stat, the average of their rolls will be utilized. However, if both pilots use different stats, their rolls will be added together. There may be some truth to the superstition after all.
If the ship were a living thing, Engineers would be no different than a medic. Capable of repairing mechanics of varying stripes, upgrading and outfitting ships, sealing hull breeches, and bringing damaged components back online, the job of an Engineer is both of great importance, and of great risk. Many an honorable samurai have lost their lives ensuring the ship's continued function.
The ship is treated as having Wound Ranks akin to any other character. However, when these ranks are filled, rather than take negative modifiers, varying components of that ship are sent offline. Offline components do not provide their bonuses to a ship's stats, and as blast doors close off sections of the ship to prevent a vacuum killing the crew, hyperdrives spark and fail, viewports shatter, and torpedo launchers crumple, a crew without an Engineer may soon find themselves trapped in a single room on a much larger, but very much inert, hunk of metal.
The difficulty of the extended roll to repair these components are based on the complexity of the component (which also decides the difficulty of installing them as an upgrade) and the damage dealt that brought them to that point.
As the famed shugenja roboticist Kimoku Aya once noted, the kami, creatures of indelible honor subject to their own laws, often function similar to robots when provided with the right stimulii. This is how, ostensibly, magic functions. Reading prayers, pleas, and commands from cipher-written scrolls, a mage enacts a ritual, short or long, which calls upon these elemental forces to perform wondrous acts.
Each Mage has an Affinity for one specific style of elemental spell, often decided by their Starsign, of which they have an easier time casting. Many, though not all, have Deficiencies as well- An element which they find more difficult to draw upon than any other.
Though the void has no kami, the rare mage or two is able to call upon that "element" as well. Though scrolls containing such spells are exceptionally rare.
Dishonorable, not the least because of its association with Oni and Taint, is Blood Magic or Maho. Rumors abound of horrible mages calling upon such dark forces, and horrid as they may be, many an unscrupulous magi seeks such spells out for their own use.
The taint, a spiritual and physical sickness brought about by dark magics and dark gods, once nearly wiped humanity out of existence. The Milkyway Galaxy, it is said, contains planets full of such horrors, though being lost to any modern starcharts, the veracity of these claims are a scholarly debate at best.
When one casts maho, or deals with Oni or the tainted lands they rule in any way, even to combat them, there is a risk that they will become tainted- Touched by the Dark Gods of Jigoku, their mind, body, and soul indelibly stained.
Once tainted, there is no known cure, and the risk that they will spread their taint to another- or worse, enact their new master's will- is such that many a tainted samurai is slain on sight, if they do not commit seppuku upon learning of this grave dishonor. Once tainted, also, a person must constantly resist the darkness within themselves, lest that taint grow to consume them completely.
Until the first full rank of taint, a character's tainted status is undetectable. By the second rank, the character has begun to gain dark powers related to the Oni Taint, and their body has begun to warp and mutate as well. Eventually, they become Lost- Body and mind completely consumed, their soul forfeit to Jigoku upon their death.
It is said that Jade not only might protect one from the taint, but also harm those who are infected with it, as well oni and other creatures of the corrupted Shadowlands. While this has proven to be true, whether this property is unique to jade items is hard to say. There may be other materials out there, with similar effects.
When in battle, initiative is rolled and characters are given a variety of options on their respective turns.
They may do as follows:
1) Pick one: Attack (Including attempting a more complex combat maneuver, such as a called shot, knockdown, disarm, or so on), Cast, Activate a Kiho, or Use a Skill. And Move up to five times their water ring, drop a weapon, spend a void point to activate a kiho, or draw a small weapon.
2) Pick two: Draw a Weapon, Guard Someone, Execute a Kata, Activate a Kiho, or Move up to 10x their Water Ring, or speak more than five words. And Move up to Five times their water ring, drop a weapon, spend a void point to activate a kiho, or draw a small weapon.
In addition, at the beginning of each of their turns they may shift stances. The stances are as follows:
Full Attack - The character may only attack and move closer to their enemy, and they become an easier target to hit. However, they also find it easier to strike their opponent.
Attack - The standard combat stance, which provides no benefits or disadvantages.
Defense - While the character may not attack in this stance, they are able to perform any other kind of action. They also become more difficult to hit.
Full Defense - In this stance, a character may only move up to five times their water ring, drop a weapon, or draw a small weapon. However, they become far more difficult to hit.
Center - While in this stance, the character takes no actions, instead focusing on the task at hand. On the next round, they immediately shift out of this stance, gaining a temporary boost to their initiative score and finding one task of their choice to be far easier than it was before.
Characters have wound ranks. As these ranks are filled, they begin to take penalties to all rolls they make, until, eventually, they are struck down or healed.
The ancient art form of Iaijutsu is considered both sacred and of grave import to those involved. It may be performed with a katana and/or wakizashi, or a pistol. Pistols, being an honorable weapon, oft come in quick-draw holsters for use in Iaijutsu techniques, and have a blunted metal attachment to the foregrip for use in parrying blows.
Duels take place over three rounds-
In the first, the combatants assess one another. During this time, if either decides they are outmatched, they may concede defeat.
In the second, both combatants focus on the task at hand, preparing to strike.
Finally, the duelists strike. Should the duel be to the death, and both duelists are still standing at this point, then the duel continues as a regular skirmish would.
