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DRAGON LINES - Guardians of the Forbidden City


Trifletraxor

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dragon-lines.jpgA Martial Artist's power comes from life-giving Chi, which suffuses the land of the Dragon Empire. It is your duty to use your martial skills and amazing Chi powers to protect the Forbidden City from the hungry ghosts, hopping vampires and Foreign Devils who murder and steal from the innocent. Use an expanded Martial Arts system that is compatible with any Basic Roleplaying game. Characters may employ real-life styles, like boxing or ninjitsu; mystical styles that stem from magic; or design their own styles with the tools provided. There are dozens of styles to choose from, and over one hundred Chi Powers.

Explore the expansive Dragon Empire, where beauty and culture are marred by corruption and decadence. Due to high concentrations of Chi, magical spirits live alongside mortals. Players can choose to be humans, spirits, or something in between. Reap the rewards of piety: you might become Enlightened, find a position within the Celestial Bureaucracy, or even take a sip from the Elixir of Immortality. Dragon Lines is a game of high flying action. Characters can wade through hordes of Lesser Foes, and then duel with another Martial Arts masters. You can survive dangers which would slay ordinary mortals. Walk on water, run up walls and along rooftops, and harness the very powers of Heaven to shoot lightning from your fingertips!

By Charles Green. 128 pages. Published by Alephtar Games March 2010.

Edited by Trifletraxor
  • Like 1

Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub!
b1.gif 116/420. High Priest.

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I've downloaded Dragon Lines and started reading through it. I like what's here, and it looks like the structure is well thought through so that it can be expanded and tailored to my, or any, game.

In another thread, you said that the Chi = Power Points equivlency was explicit in the rules. Where? I can't find it and I'd like to read that section.

Also, I have a question about Techniques of the various martial arts styles: Are these essentially used as attacks, so I get the bonus when I invoke that technique during a melee? Or are they permanent adds to skills and probabilities. I assume the former, but I'm hoping for a little clarification.

It's a good system, thanks!

Steve

Bathalians, the newest UberVillians!

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In another thread, you said that the Chi = Power Points equivlency was explicit in the rules. Where? I can't find it and I'd like to read that section.

I'm not sure where exactly it is stated in the book, but Chi definitely are Power Points renamed, and follow all the normal rules for Power Points.

Also, I have a question about Techniques of the various martial arts styles: Are these essentially used as attacks, so I get the bonus when I invoke that technique during a melee? Or are they permanent adds to skills and probabilities. I assume the former, but I'm hoping for a little clarification.

Techniques are a bonus you can use in melee, so your first assertion is correct. Recall that they all cost Chi to use, and the bonus to the specific skill isn't involved in making experience checks with said skill.

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Charles I love Dragon Lines. I have question regarding styles and techniques. Each style has three beginning techniques does this mean that a GM can add techniques to that styles list of techniques or is that a max number each style can have? I was thinking about creating a jujitsu style and was thinking about creating a new skill called break fall. Break fall would be the skill of knowing how to fall to prevent damage from throws and maybe giving the target a chance to avoid the 5 dex rank penalty to get to their feet. I would like to thank you for this BRP supplement. I would like to use the martial arts part of dragon lines with your Fractured Hopes setting. Any advice would be appriciated.

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Each style has three beginning techniques does this mean that a GM can add techniques to that styles list of techniques or is that a max number each style can have?

The starting techniques are just the ones that you know at the start of the game. You can know 1 technique for every full 10% of your Martial Arts skill. The GM is free add new techniques to the styles as play progresses, and working with a player to determine new techniques can be very rewarding.

In game, you will need a teacher to learn a new technique, though.

I was thinking about creating a jujitsu style and was thinking about creating a new skill called break fall. Break fall would be the skill of knowing how to fall to prevent damage from throws and maybe giving the target a chance to avoid the 5 dex rank penalty to get to their feet.

This sounds like a good technique to base off the Dodge skill, and it should be handy for someone who practices a jujitsu style.

I would like to thank you for this BRP supplement. I would like to use the martial arts part of dragon lines with your Fractured Hopes setting. Any advice would be appriciated.

While i don't have specific advice for using Martial Arts in Fractured Hopes, it seems like the sort of thing operatives of the Bastion Temple might study, and I could see members of the Murai Confederacy studying ancient manuscripts to unlock martial secrets.

Anyway, the Void's energy could be an analog for the high-chi environment of the Dragon Empire. And, there's nothing stopping you from having the Empire be a sizable Fragment somewhere in the Void, and have some sages and spirits find a Void-ship and use it to travel the world.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Charles

I downloaded Dragonlines form Drivethrurpg the other day and it looks very interesting. I haven't had a chance to read the whole book yet.

For some reasom the character sheet is barely legible in the pdf. The traditional art ( royalty free perhaps) is also not very clear but the illustrations and text are good.

Do you know if the pdf from drivethrurpg and Alephtar are the same ?

Is a higher quality character sheet pdf available on a different site ?

I also noticed that the page numbering goes 119, 120, 119, 122, 123 in the pdf.

I'm not panning the book, just mentioning a couple of minor problems with the pdf.

Keep up the good work.

I use  fantasygrounds.com

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We are trying to get rid of clipart for the next books, but in fact it adds a lot to flavour for historical books. Unfortunately, the resolution of these cliparts is not always optimal.

We will now correct the page numbering problem and upgrade the PDF on all sites. All sites sell the same PDF.

I think we will also make a higher quality version of the character sheet, and in the future, given the success that the new Apple tablet is having as a PDF reader, we might be tempted to put all the fancy backgrounds on a removable layer in the PDFs for those who prefer a simpler layout.

Proud member of the Evil CompetitionTM

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I LOVE Dragon Lines, guys! Just bought the pdf from DriveThru, and I daresay it gives Qin: The Warring States a run for its money. ;) Anyway, I was interested in spicing up combat for a gladiator-focussed BRP Rome game, and Dragon Lines is just what I was looking for. Kudos on all the excellent supplements!

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I was just leafing through Dragonlines, and I really like it very much. Our RuneQuest game is using Sandy Petersen's Mysticism rules, but I'm intrigued by your approach as well. Is your Dragon Empire meant to be a close analogy to mythic China, or is it more of a fantasy-approach? Also, will there be a map of the Empire available sometime?

Guy Hoyle

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Is your Dragon Empire meant to be a close analogy to mythic China, or is it more of a fantasy-approach?

It's a mix of both, actually. My grasp of actual Chinese Myth is limited to what you can gather from Kung Fu movies. I went with this, and added more fantasy elements to arrive at the final product.

Also, will there be a map of the Empire available sometime?

There is a full-color map of the Empire, and the Forbidden City as well, available at the Alephtar Games website.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just bought it and after a cursory read I think it is brilliant.

I like what's here, and it looks like the structure is well thought through...

Charles I love Dragon Lines.

I downloaded Dragonlines form Drivethrurpg the other day and it looks very interesting.

I LOVE Dragon Lines, guys!

I was just leafing through Dragonlines, and I really like it very much.

With so much praise I've got to get my hands on a copy myself. Will there be a Alephtar Games stand at Continuum Paolo?

Now start rating and reviewing it folks!

SGL.

Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub!
b1.gif 116/420. High Priest.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

The preview on RPGNow/DTRPG seems to missing artwork on some of the pages. It looks wonky, might need a touch up! :-D

I am picking up this PDF tonight, it looks really good (from the forum posts, the preview didn't sell me right off, :-D ).

Trentin C Bergeron

Bard, Creative, & RPG Enthusiast

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Hi everyone,

I just bought the Dragon Line in PDF. Il's great to have made such a book. Thanks!

Still, i agree that the character sheet is in a low quality. Is there a way to get a better quality for it. After printing, it is pretty hard to read the letters.

Thank you for your help

Charles

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Thank you for the heads up, folks. OneBookShelf's flash preview system is not handling the PDF properly. I have deactivated the preview option, and uploaded a new, "lighter" preview on our site (2 megs). The downloadable character sheets now have a slightly larger font that should make them more readable. Please check http://www.alephtargames.com/dragon.html for this and other downloadable files.

Edited by RosenMcStern

Proud member of the Evil CompetitionTM

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Here comes my first question: i like the way you divided Brawl, Punch, Kick, Head Butt, .... to reinforce the different martial technics.

I understand that i have to put points in each to express my technicity. Still, i don't see what it brings in a mechanical way to improve combat.

Because i can express my style in the roleplay ("i'm a punch fighter) and i'll keep all my points for the % of brawl.

So maybe, i didn't see all of it, but what it brings to divide in brawl, punch, kick........?

Thanks for your help

Charles

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Brawl is divided into punch and kick because it's a way to distinguish different Martial Arts styles from one another. For example, Tae Kwon Do's name literally means "the way of crushing with the feet" i.e. kicking, and all of its major attacks are done with the feet.

To contrast, boxing is done almost exclusively with the fists, and has no attacks made using the feet (unless you're doing Muay Thai kickboxing, but that's another matter).

Using the same skill to represent both types of fighting would be similar to having a single "Fighting" skill that covers everything from weapon attacks to grappling techniques. Melee combat in BRP is already split amongst several skills (Brawl, Dodge, Grapple, various weapons). Splitting Brawl into two attack skills is in keeping with the genre expressed in Dragon Lines, where punching and kicking are very different things.

Of course, you're perfectly welcome to fold them back together and express attacks via roleplaying, but you should realize that not everyone is willing to do that, and having a mechanical support for a particular style is never a bad thing.

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