This section describes all of the Qualities in the game. They are listed alphabetically. It should be noted that some Qualities require other Qualities as prerequisites and that some Qualities are restricted to male or female characters.
Attractive: This appearance Quality represents generic good looks that are recognizable as such but not outstanding in any regard. This is a fairly common Quality for heroic characters. It is also extremely common that female characters in the source material (heroic or villainous) have at least this level of attractiveness. This Quality gives a +1 bonus on interaction skill checks when dealing with the opposite sex.
Beautiful: (females only) This appearance Quality is the highest level of appearance traits for female characters. The Attractive Quality is a prerequisite for this Quality. Such characters possess a sort of virginal, pure, and/or untouchable beauty. A character with the Beautiful Quality gets a +2 bonus on interaction skill checks when dealing with the opposite sex. This replaces the +1 bonus for the Attractive Quality.
Big: A character with this Quality is huge. He is often as broad as he is tall and covered with bulky muscles or fat. Sometimes the character is tall as well. The character’s proportions are definitely beyond human. This Trait is often possessed by wrestlers and bruisers who rely more on force than technique.
The character receives –1 damage from all attacks in combat (minimum 1) and also receives a +1 to his Stun Threshold. By moving into Range 0, the
character can choose to push his opponent back 1 Range, which can also be used as an additional free Maneuver towards an Environmental Hazard, unless the opponent is also Big or Tall. The character is only Knocked Back by attacks that do 2 or more points of damage. However, any combatant attacking this character receives a +1 Accuracy on all his moves (including Basic Moves) in combat. Furthermore, jumping or moving with the Mobile Element for the Big character costs 2 FS instead of 1.
Bishounen: (males only) This appearance Quality represents a fairly common fighting game stereotype, especially among high-ranking villains (though there are many bishounen heroes as well).
The character is thin, has delicate features, long hair, and a flair for fashion. The Attractive Quality is a prerequisite for this Quality. This gives a +1 bonus on interaction skill checks when dealing with either sex, who cannot deny the character’s noteworthy appearance, and who might also be surprised or confused about the character’s beauty.
Once per combat round, the character can target an opponent who has both higher Life Bar and Fighting Spirit than himself at the end of a turn. If the character spends one Story Point, then either the opponent underestimates the character, based on his apparent harmlessness or frailty, or the bishounen character himself becomes inspired by his own beauty (depending on the character concept). As a result, the opponent suffers a one die size penalty on Initiative on the following turn. This ability can also be used against a Thug Group once per combat regardless of current Life Bar and Fighting Spirit.
Buxom: (females only) There is a stereotype in many fighting games in which some or all of the female Fighters are blessed (or cursed) with chests that seem to defy gravity, flowing gracefully (and
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totally unrealistically) about as they fight. This implausible physical characteristic has no purpose in the video game other than providing gratuitous fan service, attracting the attention of male players.
Thus, a Buxom character receives +2 on interaction skill checks when dealing with males.
The down side of this Quality is that such characters will also have to deal with men speaking directly to their chests, the accosting hands of horny old and young men and, in darker campaigns, unusually bleak treatment at the hands of lecherous villains. A player can allow her character to willingly suffer this negative attention during a story to earn a Story Point.
If the character spends one Story Point at the start of a combat, then male opponents are so enthralled by the character’s unnatural “poetry in motion” that they suffer a one die size penalty on Control (not Initiative) on the first turn in which they fight a Buxom opponent.
Charming: The character has a likeable personality.
He may be charming, charismatic, funny, inspiring, nice, or all of the above. This Quality has nothing to do with the character’s appearance. As a result of his disposition, the character receives a +1 on all interaction skill checks.
Connections: The character has a number of contacts and connections he can draw upon. These might be because the character is wealthy, or politically influential, or a well-connected celebrity.
Similarly, the character’s connections might be criminal contacts or friends and allies from a temple or martial arts school. During a story, the character can spend a Story Point to draw upon these resources. This might take the form of allies to provide assistance or a distraction, access to a restricted site or event, or information that would
otherwise be hard or impossible to get.
Cute: (females only) This appearance Quality represents a particular aspect of an attractive female character’s appearance. It serves as a modifier to other appearance-related Qualities. A Cute character must also have the Attractive Quality, and may have the Beautiful and/or Sexy Qualities as well. Many heroic females in fighting games have this Quality, often claiming more fans than more voluptuous or sensual female characters.
Cute characters receive a +1 bonus on interaction skills when dealing with males, which stacks with other appearance Qualities.
Dashing: (males only) This appearance Quality is the highest level of appearance for male characters. The Attractive Quality is a prerequisite for this Quality.
Such characters represent the most handsome and charismatic men. As male villains are often Bishounen, the lead male hero is often Dashing.
Regardless, a character’s moral point of view does not limit their choice of appearance Qualities. A character with the Dashing Quality gets a +2 bonus on interaction skill checks when dealing with the opposite sex. This replaces the +1 bonus for the Attractive Quality.
Driven: Characters with this Quality are dynamos of self-motivation. They tend to be rigid in their habits and utterly addicted to training. These characters receive a +1 bonus on all their die rolls (outside of combat) when they are either on the losing end of a situation or during the climax of a story (as defined by the Director). The Director can limit this bonus if he wishes, or even allow it to be used in combat.
The character can also spend a Story Point to
“override” the Director’s limitation or to use the Quality in combat (provided the normal conditions for its use are also in place). While only a small
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bonus, its use in combat can have a dramatic effect.
Because of this, this should be reserved for appropriately climactic confrontations.
Fame: The character is famous. This might be a limited form of fame, such as within a specific subculture, but is generally intended to represent widespread acclaim. This Quality also means that the character is liked (i.e., famous, not infamous).
By spending a Story Point, the character can benefit from his Fame, by getting help from perfect strangers or access to exclusive events. Fame should be allowed to accomplish powerful effects, but the player can also choose to willingly inconvenience his character during a story on account of his Fame in order to earn a Story Point.
Followers: This character has a fairly large group of followers at his beck and call. These might be members of a street gang the character leads, corporate security, personal bodyguards, a fawning fan club, or the like. By spending a Story Point, the character can use these Followers for his purposes, such as performing errands or gathering information. While the Followers may be considered combat-trained (e.g., street thugs or soldiers), this Quality cannot provide people who can fight in place of the character. They serve only in a support role. If appropriate, the Director could consider the Followers a Thug group in combat.
Friend: A character with this Quality possesses a devoted friend, who is almost always much more subdued than the character himself, and hardly ever a Fighter. This Friend supports the character, cheers him on, helps him out as he is able to, and points out things the character might miss. By spending a Story Point, the player can use this Quality to essentially get a “story assist” from the Director: the
Friend uncovers a critical clue, has already done necessary research, inspires the character to get a needed Realize Potential roll, or simply points out a critical plot point that has been missed.
While this NPC should not be abused (for that, see the Significant Other Weakness), the player may willingly choose to place his character’s Friend in harm’s way or get him into trouble, requiring the character’s intervention to save him, in order to earn a Story Point. This Quality is not representative of the loud, bumbling buddy; for that, see the Quirk Bumbling Friend.
Gadgeteering: This Quality is a combination of both a Quality and a Skill. Taking this Quality is a prerequisite for taking the Gadgeteering Skill (see the Skill description in Chapter 2). A character with this Quality is capable of designing almost any technological device, often very quickly and sometimes with very few raw materials.
Genius: This Quality requires the Intelligent Quality as a prerequisite. The character is truly brilliant, far beyond the intellectual powers of most people. As a result, the character receives a +4 on any skill check in which the Director determines his superior intellect would be a factor. This replaces the +2 bonus of the Intelligent Quality.
Great Destiny: This character is destined for some great purpose, such as becoming a powerful ruler, reviving a great, lost tradition of the martial arts, becoming the greatest warrior in history, or saving the world. This has obvious and significant effects on role-playing the character and the structure of the campaign featuring the character. Furthermore, when the player spends a Story Point to modify the circumstances of the story, if the circumstances can be specifically related to the character’s Great Destiny, the story changes can be even more
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completion (which may or may not happen in for any character who has had formal military training, especially in some branch of elite forces. Given the highly abstract nature of the gun rules in the game, this Quality gives a +3 bonus on any skill check related to firearms. If appropriate for the campaign, the Director should allow characters with this Quality to pull off amazing action-movie stunts with guns, often accompanied by graceful acrobatics.In a campaign set in a world without guns (e.g., a fantasy or historical setting), the Director may permit this Quality for use with primitive ranged weapons such as bows. Note, however,
that the default Quality does
not permit such
Obviously, the Director should restrict this Quality to appropriate character concepts. Due to the very loose nature of killing and death in the rules, the specifics of this Quality are largely up to the Director and the events of the story and campaign. While death is rarely permanent for any character in Fight! who still has a useful role to play in the plot as a whole, Immortal Beings should have opportunities to flaunt their inability to be killed and/or return from their non-permanent deaths more quickly (often re-appearing at a critical moment). For example, it would not be inappropriate for the Director to deliberately “kill” the Immortal character, just to allow the character to re-appear when he is most needed or
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when the story would benefit the most.
The player may choose to spend a Story Point to do something fatal without serious consequence (such as escape by leaping out of a 70th-story window).
The player may choose to do this without spending a Story Point, but the Director may choose to impose some temporary hardship as a result (for example, in the above situation, perhaps the character needs to wait an hour before his limbs re-align from the impact).
Influence: This Quality represents the ability to manipulate and/or control a group of people or a sub-culture. For example, a character may have Influence in the criminal underworld, or in mass media, or in the halls of political power, or over a particular school or style of martial arts. A character with this Quality must define the nature of his Influence and this Quality can be taken more than once to represent other areas of Influence. By spending a Story Point, a player can make use of his Influence to get favors, assistance, or information.
This Quality is similar to both Connections and Followers. Connections applies to personal, largely peer relations in a group. Followers are underlings personally and specifically committed to the character. Influence is an abstract authority, potentially over a large group, but without any personal relationship or loyalty. Influence may gain the character a favor, but it doesn’t mean the one granting the favor likes or even knows the character.
Intelligent: The character is very intelligent and probably also very well educated. As a result, the character receives a +2 on any skill check in which the Director determines his impressive intelligence would be a factor.
Intimidating: The character is intimidating, whether through a cold stare, a disturbing presence, or a demanding demeanor. This has nothing to do directly with the character’s appearance, though an Intimidating character often has a “look” about him.
As a result of his disposition, the character receives a +2 on all interaction skill checks intended to frighten or coerce by force.
Light: This Quality is uncommon in fighting games, but when it occurs, it is almost always possessed by female or child characters. A character with this Quality is usually smaller than a normal character, but not short enough to possess the Short Quality (though a character could have both Qualities). The character is much lighter than other characters. As a result, the character can jump 3 Ranges without attacking or 2 Ranges with an attack without spending FS in either case. However, attacks with the Juggle Element do +2 damage against this character, as it is easier to keep them juggled in the air. Furthermore, a Light character’s Stun Threshold is also reduced by 1.
Lucky: Some characters display extraordinary good luck in their lives. This is often manifested in scenes that are intended to be more comic relief than plot development. In fact, this Quality works best in a campaign that highlights comedic storylines more often than the gritty serious ones that are the default presumption of most campaigns. The Director may thus choose to disallow this Quality if it fails to match the tone of the game or of a particular character (as even serious campaigns often have one or more comedic characters).
This Quality allows the player to re-roll three skill checks during the course of a session, at no cost in Story Points. Furthermore, when the character with this Quality uses a Story Point to modify
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circumstances in his favor, far more extreme or implausible events can (and should) happen. Finally, during a story, this character will also have general good luck at the Director’s discretion. If the character spends a Story Point to manifest his good luck in combat, then some or all of the character’s three skill re-rolls for the session can also be used in combat to re-roll any roll.
Magic: This Quality is a combination of both a Quality and a Skill. Taking this Quality is a prerequisite for taking the Magic Skill (see the Skill description in Chapter 2). A character with this powerful Quality is capable of creating almost any supernatural effect imaginable, limited solely by his level of skill. Sometimes effects may be instantaneous, other times they may be great rituals, but there are no theoretical limits (beyond the Director’s discretion and the needs of the story and the campaign) to what the character can potentially do.
Mobility: This character can move swiftly and with great control. Because of this, when the character moves 2 Ranges and then attacks, he can choose to simply take a –2 penalty to Accuracy instead of spending 1 FS. If the character also possesses the Big Quality, there is instead no penalty to Accuracy, but the movement costs 1 FS (rather than 2 FS, as is normally required for Big characters).
Pet: This Quality represents an animal or creature that accompanies the character. The choice of animal is up to the player, but this Quality is intended to represent unusual animals such as highly intelligent dogs, panthers, bears, or birds of prey, or else supernatural companions such as demons or spirits. The more “mundane” the choice of pet (e.g., a cat or small dog), the more likely that it is an extraordinary member of its species.
While the Pet may have the ability to assist the character in combat, any game effects related to combat should be built into the descriptions of the character’s normal Special Moves. For example, if the character can make his dog charge forward and attack his opponent, this ability can be constructed as a Special Move with the Ranged Element to reflect the fact that the Fighter himself does not close with his opponent as he attacks.
Additionally, the player and Director must define the non-combat abilities and uses of the Pet. During the course of the story, a player can spend a Story Point to make the Pet do something exceptional, beyond its normal expected abilities. While the Pet should not be manipulated or abused by the Director (for that, see the Weakness Significant Other), the player may willingly choose to place his character’s Pet in harm’s way or get him into trouble, requiring the character’s intervention to save him, in order to earn a Story Point.
Power: This Quality is a combination of both a Quality and a Skill. Taking this Quality is a prerequisite for taking the Power Skill (see the Skill description in Chapter 2). A character with this Quality possesses one specific supernatural ability or superpower, generally without specific combat application. Some examples might be flight, or telekinesis, or the ability to walk through walls. If the Power is very specific (such as “Flight”), then the DL of skill checks using the Power Skill should be lower, while if the Power is broader (such as “Wind Powers”), then the DL of skill checks should be higher for specific uses of the power.
Powers with specific combat applications (such as a blast of energy), or the combat applications of other Powers (such as using telekinesis as a form of
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ranged attack) are simply designed as normal Special Moves. In fact, a character’s Special Moves may include several “powers” without the character taking this Quality. This Quality (and its Skill) is only necessary if the character can use the Power in flexible ways outside of combat.
Powerful Item: This Quality represents a specific item that the character possesses. It may be a specific piece of high-tech equipment, or it may be an ancient magical artifact. While such an item may
Powerful Item: This Quality represents a specific item that the character possesses. It may be a specific piece of high-tech equipment, or it may be an ancient magical artifact. While such an item may