The Dragon Ball Z TTRPG -- Yes, an Official One Does Exist

Before I go into the game itself, I want to talk about the creator of the franchise.

Yesterday, the world learned of the loss of the great Akira Toriyama. He was so incredibly influential to so many of us, and like many others, I was absolutely gutted by the tragic news. He was far too young.

Dragon Ball was a big part of my life growing up, and it's what helped me create bonds with so many people who became good friends. Other people online have written poetically about how much each of his series and creations have touched their hearts, and I don't know that I can do the same justice. I'm not wordy like that.

I grew up during the start of the NES era so I knew about Dragon Quest, but at the time I had no idea that the iconic character and monster designs were thanks to him. When the SNES came out and Chrono Trigger was released, I immediately recognized the style of art. Dragon Quest VIII is still my favourite, if only because it's cool to see the characters go pseudo-super saiyan. In 1995, the original dub of Dragon Ball hit airways here, and a few months later Dragon Ball Z was released. It was surreal to watch kid Goku and adult Goku every week, simultaneously. Seeing the flying nimbus, but not seeing the Power Pole, and not knowing who Piccolo or Krillin were, but recognizing Master Roshi and Bulma, and finding out Goku was an alien the whole time. It was jarring at times, but seeing references to each series like the Kamehameha Wave and capsules, helped. Then there were all the Budokai games for PS2. I practically broke my dual-shock controllers trying to win those beam battles.

This is going to get long, so I'll put a separation bar here.

When the internet finally came out publicly and schools had access, I looked up Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, discovered what anime was, learned of Akira Toriyama and how he had a comedy series called Dr. Slump, that the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime were considered separate stories, but the manga kept it as Dragon Ball, etc.

Heck, when the cards came out, I was one of the first people to buy Ani-Mayhem's DBZ set.

What's really great to see is people discovering the Dragon Ball manga for the first time, hearing their thoughts on YouTube videos (namely Merphy and TotallyNotMark), and how original and groundbreaking the fight choreography is compared to others series, and how much his style has influenced current day shounen manga. And that doesn't even include how Team Four Star and DBZA has influenced people.

But, let's get into the rest of this post.

When the TTRPG came out in 1999, DBZ was such a phenomenon that our local bookstore was having trouble keeping it in stock. My gaming group ended up having to pre-pay for a copy of the TTPRG. DBZ: The Anime Adventure Game from R. Talsorian Games was a little rough around the edges when it came to balance, and how powering up worked compared to the series, especially when that system was revised in the Frieza saga book. Still, it was nothing any of us had experienced before. Up until that point, we had done AD&D, Rifts, Toon, Shadowrun, and Marvel Super Heroes.

The person who usually ran the games, ended up being the GM and we did two campaigns. I had an absolute blast. Unfortunately, I was kind of alone in that. The TTRPG doesn't leave a lot for social interaction, which a number of our players preferred doing. This is closer to a war game. As such, we never played the game system again after the two campaigns. In fact, we never even finished the second one. I still picked up all three books as they came out though, and the GM from that group still has his original Saiyan Saga book.

The first thing that made me happy, as I didn't have nearly the dice collection I do now, was all you needed were 6-sided dice. That made my life so much easier, and for the Shadowrun players, they had tubs of d6 ready to use.

When it came to the contents of the book, what I really enjoyed was seeing all the power levels, and the character art.

These power levels updated with each book, and the lore and special abilities would also update.

If you kept the game to Dragon Ball levels, you felt that you could keep the campaign going for a very long time. The character sheet was extremely simple, and there were tips on what you could build a campaign around, as well as basic suggestions on trying to keep the "main character" complex to a minimum. The Star Wars RPG systems have a similar concept where the GM is told that either everyone's a Jedi, or no one's a Jedi. Same thing for ewoks since they were so limited for weapon proficiencies (they literally could never learn how to use tech, ever, which I find ridiculous). Basically, for Dragon Ball, namekians should look at fushions to power up, or everyone should be a saiyan or half-saiyan, especially if you're bringing in the super saiyan transformation. Otherwise, no saiyans in the game at all. This way everyone stays about the same level and can't be a spotlight hog while everyone else is forced to sit back and watch the game instead of participate.

If you'd like to read a full review of it, you can check one out here. Barnabas did a great write-up.

Personally, I find it kind of wild that there's literally zero stats for dinosaurs or other prehistoric animals. Where's the T-Rex and sabertooth tiger? This feels like a massive oversight given that people live alongside dinosaurs and other extinct-in-our-world beasts.

Overall, it was original in what it tried to accomplish, and I appreciate that. We've since seen other game systems that can replicate this fairly well. I prefer BESM (Big Eyes, Small Mouth), and any edition works, but I know others really enjoy doing DBZ using FATE, which I can see working. I've seen people try to pull off DBZ characters using 3.5e, Pathfinder 1e and 2e, and 5e, but you'd need to homebrew your own class from the ground up, and it likely wouldn't be balanced. At best, you could maybe get something close with a 20th level character.

If you find a copy somewhere, I definitely recommend it for a one-shot, if nothing else. Maybe you can run it at a convention. I'm considering doing that. It'd be a nice send off. And this year's convention is dinosaur themed, so maybe I'll have the mission be to teach a dinosaur how to ride a ball.

In closing, I'm so grateful to Akira Toriyama for giving us the stories and designs that he did. I can not convey in words just how important the Dragon Ball franchise was for my friends and I to even have met one another, and then Chrono Trigger brought us even closer and we'd go to one friend's house every lunch (he lived across the street from school) and we'd watch him play because we were so immersed in the story and with the characters...

So much respect and admiration for him. Akira Toriyama, thank you for everything. In Eiichiro Oda (One Piece mangaka)'s words: "I wish that heaven is as jolly of a world as the one you imagined and drew."

Myself and others were asked to band together and write a series of boss battles or mini adventures for a multitude of game systems, which would all be bundled together into one charity package. The money will be donated to TTRPG developer and writer, Owen Stephens, who’s currently battling cancer. He’s worked with both WotC and Paizo, as well as done his own stuff. Any support is appreciated.

The package will be updated periodically to add more, but for now has things for Pathfinder 1e and 2e, D&D 5e, Starfinder, and OSRIC. More for those systems and Cypher System will be added soon enough.

Whether you donate or share, thank you for your support. Cancer sucks, and is an expensive procedure to go through when you live in the US.

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After learning the news about Akira Toriyama yesterday, I wanted to come and share this once more. Dragon Ball was such an influential part of my life, and it's still something my friends and I talk about regularly.

He will be greatly missed.

If there’s a dinosaur in heaven, I hope Toriyama gets to train it to balance on a ball!

Saiyan Race - Pathfinder 1e Conversion

Just for fun, and because of Necromancers of the Northwest making a monk archetype that shoots off ki blasts, I thought I’d do up my own version of the saiyan race. There are others on reddit and on the D&D Wiki that are practically 100% customized to fit the original premise and DBZ Wikipedia write-up from Akira Toriyama, but mine’s going to be more streamlined.

Without further ado, here are the saiyan, half-saiyan, and even the super elite saiyan races. Or at least, my take on how I’d build the races.

EDIT: A friend brought up that there are also quarter saiyans. This is true. I didn’t really consider it as you don’t really have quarter elves stated, as you just go with human or half-elf, but Pan does have a few less abilities compared to the half-saiyan, so it makes sense that there should be an additional version. This can also be used for half-saiyans who go through the ritual to have their tail permanently removed.

For the purposes of aging, saiyans have the same life expectancy/capacity as dwarves, half-saiyans as half-elves, and quarter-saiyans as humans.

Keep reading

Hey all. This is an emergency. I need $525 for rent by the end of the day. If anyone can spare anything...

Think I am now "verified" on Tumblr...Anyhow I am a retail board game store on Vancouver Island outside Vancouver, BC Canada and have recently acquired a Way of the Wicked Book One in trade at my store. My question for you (who seems to love this publication) is that obviously this was published during PF 1e and we are now venturing into 2e- "Re-mastered" or whatever....How many adjustments do you think might be required to play this module and others in the series under 2e rules?

First off, thanks for the question. I appreciate that even after all this time, people find my Way of the Wicked posts and can find them helpful. Also, hello, fellow Canadian. Hope the weather out west is nicer than our prairie winter.

Regarding the viability of WotC being converted to PF2e, it can be done. It's going to take some work though. There are, unfortunately, a fair number of mistakes in this AP, the vast majority of which are evidenced by the Error Codex that was posted online.

To start with, you'll want to use the Wololo Adventure Conversion Guide that was posted on the Paizo forum, if you don't already have a copy. There is also this PF2e Bestiary Stats spreadsheet. Another person started to convert the feats that would be shown as player options in Book 5 (but are offered in Book 1). Some of the maps have been made available (including homebrew ones), and someone posted a link to their conversion, but it's for FoundryVTT (it's a download). Someone also did a side-by-side rough swap out for some the NPCs and monsters. Obviously not all of them were converted, but it's definitely a start. The person who was doing this mysteriously disappeared two years ago and never finished.

One of the bigger problems is likely going to be the magic items, especially Book 3 and onwards. Thankfully the guide addresses some of that, especially weapons, but customizing everything to work, especially the circlets that are given, could be a challenge.

I think with all of this, you have a really good shot of converting the AP. It's going to feel rough, and you might have to adjust as you go, but it's doable. About the only real adjustments I can see not working so hot might be the traits that dictate why the PCs were imprisoned in the first place, but you could make that their occupations instead. "What's your 'occupation' that got you jailed?" "Serial arsonist."

Hope that all helps. Wish I could do more, but my knowledge on PF2e is extremely limited (absolutely no one here is willing to run/play it, let alone teach me, even at conventions). If you go through with it, I wish you the best with the game and hope everyone enjoys themselves.

May evil reign.

The new trailer has released.

The new trailer has released.

THEY MEAN THE WORLD TO ME!!!!!!

Monster Conversion - The Demonic Clown (3.x to 5e)

Yesterday, I released a Pathfinder 1e conversion of the clown demon from Mongoose Publishing, which had been in the Epic Monsters book.

Just because I could, I wanted to see how difficult it would be to have the monster converted to 5e. While it took a decent amount of time to write it all up, I was shocked at how easy it was to do overall. Still a wall of text though. However, this one won't take four entries to do. That said, I did revise a couple of things, including making Flower Squirt into a bonus action and having to give the creature telepathy. Also, because it exists in 5e, gave it the vicious mockery cantrip because why not? Thematically, it fits.

As always, if you like what I do, whether it’s monster conversions, adventure path add-ons, or race builds, I have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who would like to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so. A like and/or a share would also be appreciated just as much. It lets people know I exist out there.

Artwork for The Magnificent World of El-Hazard OVA series. Commissioned for a promotional poster, 1995. Artwork by Nakazawa Kazuto. Scanned from my personal collection.

Monster Conversion - The Demonic Clown (3.x to PF1e) Part 4

Last half of the Special Abilities part of the Clown Demon stat block.

It's absolutely crazy to think this stat block needed four parts to get it all in.

Clown Demon (CR 18; XP 153,600)

SPECIAL ABILITIES Shocking Grip (Su) The demon clown can make a touch attack against a target and deliver a violent jolt of electricity. It may do this three times per day. It gains a +3 bonus to the attack roll of the target is wearing metal armor, made from metal, carrying large amounts of metal and so forth. The demon’s shocking grip deals 19d8 electrical damage. The recipient must also make a Fortitude saving throw or be paralyzed for one round, which allows the demon to make a second Shocking Grip attack the next round against the same target. A successful use of this attack against the same opponent as the previous round does not count as a use of the ability for the day. Clown demons love to make this touch attack as a handshake, and then laugh round after round as their opponents crackle and fry. The saving throw DC is Charisma-based. Slap Happy (Ex) When a demon clown makes a full attack, it can slap twice with each of its hands, for a total of four slaps in that round. Size Alteration (Su) One of the demon clown’s most frightening powers is its ability to increase or decrease its size at will. It does this as if it were a humanoid balloon. An expanding demon clown huffs and puffs as if it were inflating itself, blowing down one of its fingers; a shrinking clown makes a high-pitched flatulent sound, like a child’s balloon discharging wind. The clown may take a full-round action to increase or decrease its size. Adjust the clown’s armor class, attack modifiers and so forth accordingly. A given demon clown may alter its size to two size categories larger or smaller than its default size. A Medium demon clown may therefore increase its size to Large and then to Huge. The demon may only remain at an altered size for one hour per day, after which it reverts to its natural size and cannot use the ability again for 1d4 hours. The demon clown is more vulnerable to critical hits when it is inflated. A critical hit with a weapon that deals slashing or piercing damage does double damage against a demon inflated to one higher size category and triple damage against a demon inflated to two higher size categories.

Monster Conversion - The Demonic Clown (3.x to PF1e) Part 3

Here’s half of the Special Abilities part of the Clown Demon stat block.

Clown Demon (CR 18; XP 153,600)

SPECIAL ABILITIES Elastic Body (Ex) Demon clowns have bodies made from stretchy, rubbery material. They can attack with a slap or with a bite as a reach weapon, by extending their arms or necks out. They can squeeze through gaps of up to six inches across, taking a move action to do so. Flower Squirt (Su) Demon clowns grow large, flower-like organs on their chests. These are glands that secrete a powerful acid. As a standard action, the demon clown can squirt this acid at a creature within 30 feet. The acid squirt requires a ranged touch attack to hit and deals 3d6 acid damage. In addition, the target creature must make a Fortitude saving throw or suffer 1d6 Charisma damage as well. The saving throw is Constitution-based; the Charisma damage is a contact poison effect. Frightful Presence (Ex) The insane laugh of a demon clown is one of the most terrifying noises one can hear anywhere in all the Hells. It is the laugh of a creature that can look at the worst of Hell’s horrors and find them hilariously funny. When the demon clown laughs, all creatures within 30 feet who have less than 19 Hit Dice or levels must make a Will saving throw or become frightened for 5d6 rounds. An opponent that succeeds at this saving throw is immune to the demon clown’s frightful presence for the next 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The saving throw is Charisma-based. Funambulist (Ex) Demon clowns are naturally agile attackers and performers. Whenever a demon clown makes a successful melee attack with a finesse weapon or natural attack, it adds its Dexterity modifier instead of its Strength modifier to the damage roll. If any effect would prevent the demon clown from adding its Strength modifier to the damage roll, it does not add its Dexterity modifier. Demon clowns also have Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Perform, and Sleight of Hand as class skills. Indestructible (Su) It is practically impossible to destroy a demon clown permanently. Even if they are killed, they spontaneously reform after 1d4 days, at a spot within 100 feet of the eggshell where their makeup design is kept. The only way to finish a given demon clown for good is to find the eggshell and destroy it. Doing this does not slay the clown outright, but it prevents the demon clown from reforming if it is killed. If the clown can create a new eggshell, which takes it one hour (and requires access to  paints and a small egg) then it can replace the old one. A clown may only have one eggshell at a time. It does not know when its eggshell is broken. Pie Throw (Su) As a standard action, the demon clown can manifest a pulpy mass of creamy goo in one hand and throw it. This is a ranged attack, with a range increment of 10 feet and maximum range of 100 feet. Once it has used this ability, it may not use it again for 1d4 rounds. A creature struck by the mass must make a Reflex saving throw or have the goo plastered to his face. He is immediately blinded and unable to speak. He also begins to suffocate, as the sludge clings to his mouth and nose (refer to the drowning rules). Ripping off the clinging mass requires a successful Strength check (DC 25). Once removed, it becomes inert. The saving throw DC is Charisma-based.

Monster Conversion - The Demonic Clown (3.x to PF1e) Part 2

Here's the lore part of the Clown Demon stat block. There was just too much text and not enough room for Tumblr to allow it to post.

Clown Demon (CR 18; XP 153,600)

Clowns.

Thank the Gods that they are so rare, for it is hard to conceive of anything in Hell more frightening than these white-faced, cackling, rotund creatures of nightmare, pacing stealthily up behind you with their insidious flap-flap-flap. Other demons might have bats’ wings, tusks and claws like scimitars but at least you know where you stand with them. They want to kill, torture and possibly eat you. They are terrifying, true enough, but in a wholly different way to clowns; there is no way to guess what a clown might have in store for you. Anybody who has ever seen clowns and shuddered knows the truth. They are avatars of shrieking, malicious insanity.

Clown demons are radically chaotic. They do not cooperate with other demons, preferring to spread misery and carnage through their own efforts. They will band together in troupes with each other but that is as far as their collective ventures will go. Greater demons, such as the balors, do not like to have clown demons around and do what is necessary to keep them away, propitiating them with fresh souls if need be. It is not that the balors are intimidated by clown demons; they are just so very hard to get rid of. Lesser demons are often every bit as scared of the clown demons as mortals would be.

Clown demons look like portly humans, dressed in striped costumes with pointed hats. They have long shoes that flip and flop when they walk. Their faces are white and covered with thick make-up; when they grin, they reveal shark-like teeth. Their bodies are rubbery and feel spongy to the touch, like an inflated rubber ball. No two clown demons have the same face. Every clown demon keeps his distinctive face design painted upon an eggshell, stored in a secure place. This eggshell is dealt with below, as it is of critical importance.

Monster Conversion - The Demonic Clown (3.x to PF1e) Part 1

It's been quite a while since I last posted an update. Hope everyone is well.

I've been dealing with some unfortunate health issues, and while sorting things out, I was killing some time going through some old Mongoose Publishing books and checking out the stat blocks. One in particular was the Epic Monsters bestiary/monster manual. I had completely forgotten I had this book. I kind of miss the days of playing 3.5 and having characters that were level 21 and beyond.

The monster that immediately caught my attention was the clown demon. This is your IT, your Violator (Spawn). It laughs like the Joker and is just as shocking. Obviously, this needed to be converted to Pathfinder 1e. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep it at CR 20, as the monster creation rules just wouldn't allow it. Was able to keep it at CR 18 though, so still very much a threat.

As some people are afraid of clowns, I'll post the art underneath.

Art is from the Mongoose Publishing Epic Monsters book.

As always, if you like what I do, whether it’s monster conversions, adventure path add-ons, or race builds, I have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who would like to support me monetarily. There is no pressure or obligation to do so. A like and/or a share would also be appreciated just as much. It lets people know I exist out there.

Due to the text limitations of Tumblr, some of what's on here will have to be posted on a separate entry. I'll link them though.

This conversion was difficult, as the abilities were based around both Constitution and Charisma, and the DCs had to stay low and within the boundaries. Even for a CR 20 the DCs were too high in the original stat block. I'm also not sure where all the additional skill points back from because there were a few at +30, despite only having 19 HD, which shouldn't be possible. I had a to add a few new abilities and even increase the racial modifiers for skills, and even a bonus feat. What killed me was lowering the Cha 29 to only 23 because DC 28 just wasn't viable on save-or-suck abilities.

I really like the write up and combat info that this creature has, especially the italicized words to emphasize certain things.

Overall, this is just one huge wall of text. Considering the word limit for most bestiaries, this one definitely wouldn't make the cut.

Lastly, I've mentioned this way back, but my formatting isn't 100% the same as Paizo's. I actually use the format Purple Duck Games does. It's what I'm most familiar with after having worked for them one and off for almost a decade now, so it's my preferred method.

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Clown Description and Background

Combat

Clown demons use whatever attack method will most amuse them and embarrass their opponents at any one time.

The demon clown is not mindless, but its mind is incomprehensible to other creatures. It is not possible to use mind-affecting spells or effects against it.

The long, floppy shoes that demon clowns wear are ideal for tripping over moving opponents.

Demon clowns wrap their elastic, sinuous arms around their victims and choke the life out of them. A clown can twine an arm around a victim’s neck several times, much like a python.

Clown Demon (CR 18; XP 153,600) CE Medium outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +24 Aura frightful presence (30 ft.; W-DC 25) DEFENSE AC 33, touch 18, flat-footed 25 (+7 Dex, +1 dodge, +15 natural) hp 237 (19d10+133); regeneration 10 (good cold iron weapons, good spells) Fort +20, Ref +21, Will +14 Defensive Abilities indestructible; DR 15/cold iron and good; Immune disease, fire, mind-affecting, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, sonic 10; SR 29 OFFENSE Speed 30 ft. Melee 4 slaps +26 melee (1d6+7 plus grab) and bite +26 melee (1d6+7) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (see below) Special Attacks constrict (2d6+8), flower squirt (F-DC 25), pie throw (R-DC 25), shocking grip (F-DC 25; 19d8 electricity), slap happy Spell-Like Abilities (CL 19th; concentration +25)   At will—blink, confusion (W-DC 20), hideous laughter (W-DC 18)   3/day—irresistible dance (W-DC 24)   1/day—maze STATISTICS Str 18, Dex 25, Con 22, Int 12, Wis 23, Cha 23 BAB +19; CMB +23 (+29 to grapple, +27 to trip); CMD 40 (46 vs. grapple, 44 vs. trip) Skills Acrobatics +27, Climb +23, Escape Artist +33, Intimidate +29, Perception +24, Perform (dance, comedy) +26, Sleight of Hand +29, Stealth +27; Racial Modifiers +6 Acrobatics, +6 Escape Artist, +6 Perform, +6 Sleight of Hand Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Intimidate), Stealthy, Toughness, Weapon FinesseB Languages Abyssal; telepathy 100 ft.; truespeech SQ compression, elastic body, funambulist, size alteration SPECIAL ABILITIES Part 1 SPECIAL ABILITIES Part 2

ECOLOGY Environment Deeper levels of Hell, The Dark Carnival Organization Solitary, double act or troupe (3–12) Treasure Standard

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The trailer is now out.

WAKE UP EVERYONE!!! TRAILER IS DROPPING TOMORROW AND WE HAVE A RELEASE DATE!!!

WAKE UP EVERYONE!!! TRAILER IS DROPPING TOMORROW AND WE HAVE A RELEASE DATE!!!

Wanted to let people know that after only just 24 hours, this product is already a Copper Best Seller and hit the Top 5 Bestselling Titles. Thank you to all of you who have donated or shared this around on various platforms.

Samurai Sheepdog has gone even further and made an entire Relief Fund 2023 bundle. Some of these items were originally $65 and reduced to $1 to benefit the bundle even further.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/442733/RPG-Creator-Relief-Fund-RCRF-2023-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=972161

Myself and others were asked to band together and write a series of boss battles or mini adventures for a multitude of game systems, which would all be bundled together into one charity package. The money will be donated to TTRPG developer and writer, Owen Stephens, who’s currently battling cancer. He’s worked with both WotC and Paizo, as well as done his own stuff. Any support is appreciated.

The package will be updated periodically to add more, but for now has things for Pathfinder 1e and 2e, D&D 5e, Starfinder, and OSRIC. More for those systems and Cypher System will be added soon enough.

Whether you donate or share, thank you for your support. Cancer sucks, and is an expensive procedure to go through when you live in the US.

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