Preview.

Knights of the Round: Academy is a story-driven role-playing game inspired by Shonen anime, Robot anime of the 90s, Japanese school comedies, and JRPGs, with a dedicated set of rules that will use Traits to describe your characters, and dice to resolve any conflict with interesting and narrative outcomes.

You will also be able to push your Limit by spending points to influence what's going to happen to your character. You will also be able to push your Limit by spending points to influence what's going to happen to your character. The character you will play is a Student who must juggle ruthless rivals, grueling training, teenage love, and monsters from the past of a planet divided by war.

KotR:A is inspired by three genres of anime, each adding something to how the game is played:

* SHONEN anime where your enemies might be powerful, but if you can support each other and learn the power of friendship and respect - even towards your rivals - you will always prevail and improve! Something along the lines of My Hero Academia, Naruto, Black Clover, Jojo's Bizarre Adventures, Dragon Ball and Pokémon
* REAL AND SUPER ROBOTS anime about war, how terrible and unjust it is, even though sometimes it’s inevitable to fight to defend what you cherish. Think of Mobile Suit Gundam, The Vision of Escaflowne, Brain Powerd, Nobunaga the Fool, Code Geass, or Magic Knight Rayearth
* SCHOOL DRAMA anime, where teenage love, friendly rivalries, and the spirit of youth are at the core of the story, without forgetting a touch of magic or a little action. Like Kare Kano, Ranma ½, Full Metal Panic!, Love Hina, Sailor Moon, and Toradora.

KotR:A is set on Brit'an, a planet at war, inspired by the Britain of Arthurian Legends. This led us to write seven different Lineages you will be able to play:

* Andruid: Bio-mechanical beings created in a lab but now independent
* Avalon: Long-lived heirs of the first humans to arrive on Brit’an
* Bret’on: Humans from the rich reign of Kamel’oth
* Colonists: Humans still living in the Space Colonies
* Dragonblood: Humans mutated by the radiations of the Dragon Particles
* Sax’on: Human of the Great Empire of Sax’onia
* Sidhe: Shapeshifting humanoids

The Academy is one of the most peculiar buildings in all of Kamel’oth, a white ellipsoidal dome built on top of the Round, the laboratory of Dr. Merlin, where he studies Dragon Particles and builds Knights.

The Academy is a citadel, where the Students live, study and tralicense. They can leave it only with a licence from Director Pendragon and usually only under the supervision of a teacher. Surrounding the Academy there are fields, forests, and lakes, used to sustain life in the Academy.

WARNING: the Round Academy isn’t the only military academy training Knight Pilots, although it’s the most prestigious one, thanks to the presence of the Round where the first Knights were developed. Other academies might see the Round Academy as a rival, especially when it comes to Knightball, the most famous sport of all Brit’an.

Despite giving you a clear frame of what Brit'an is and what are the most interesting places on each continent, KotR:A won’t give you a highly detailed world, as we want you to fill in the blanks and make the world more interesting through your adventures.

We'll do this with special sheets available to both players and storyteller, that will help you track the places you create and their hooks. When you create a Location, write a short description with just the bare minimum of details, for example the region it belongs to or if any major event happened here in the past. Then fill the Traits of the Location with oddities, mysteries, or unique resources, and write down Threats and characters inside the circles. If a location changes during the story, update the Location sheet to track the consequences of the actions of the Students. Location sheets should be public and available the everyone.

KOTR:A IS A GAME OF SHARED NARRATIVE
Each Student is defined by their Traits, words of short sentences that describe something they can do (Hide, Shoot), that they have studied (Ancient history, Sidhe magic) or that they simply have a knack for (Finding the way, Parley). A Trait might even be an iconic item (Excalibur, My father’s watch), a loyal pet (My steed, My familiar) or a relationship with someone (My new family, Guinevere).

You can use Traits to add dice a Test, if you can figure out a way to describe how a Trait will help you in the Scene.

The most important Traits are the Soul, the Lineage and the Core.

The Soul, what the Japanese might call kokoro, represents the most intimate part of your Student, your actual self.

Your Lineage represents the people who raised you, that you chose as yours or that somehow you feel tied to.

The Core represents the element which a Student and their Knight are bound to. Everyone on Brit’an is linked to the Dragon’s Breath, the force tying all things, living or otherwise, to the natural elements. Only someone completely in tune with it can aspire to become a Student at the Academy.

THE FOUR PILLARS OF KOTR:A
* The characters are the young Students of the Academy, not the adults: they might ask for help from teachers and other adults, but ultimately it's up to them to face their own adversities, even when under the directions of an adult
* Growing up isn’t easy: the Students will touch delicate themes, will have to face both their enemies and their fears and this will help them grow
* You’re the master of your own destiny: no prophecy can overcome a Student’s will, as they can count on their feelings, as well as on their friends, even when those events may drive their friends to become enemies
* Feelings are stronger than reality: our memories are forged by our feelings and bonds, which will grow stronger during our journey through life, and allow us to accomplish impossible tasks

HOW DOES THE SYSTEM WORK?
It's very easy to start playing: you only need one Student sheet (or Curriculum) each and some 12-sided (d12), 8-sided (d8), 6-sided (d6) and 4-sided (d4) dice!

KotR:A doesn’t split Tests between combat and non-combat ones, a Test is always something that might have unforeseen consequences. A Test will usually involve a single task, like walking past someone unseen, hitting an enemy or remember useful informations, and will have different degrees of success based on the outcome of the dice rolls.

But the most important thing you should know about KotR:A is that you Students will be able to achieve impossible tasks by pushing their Limit. Little by little, a Student who’s pushing their abilities using the Dragon’s Breath or helping their friends, will reach their Limit, and when they surpass it they will go into Overdrive, giving your everything and turning every roll in a critical result, for good or for bad.

HOW DOES A CHARACTER GROW?
A Student will grow by exploring their past, both through the themes the players choose during creation and through Flashbacks. When a player asks the storyteller to explore a Memory, their Student will be the protagonist of a Flashback, a whole Session that will explore a specific moment in their life, defined along with the storyteller. The player will know where the Flashback starts, but will have to find out how it ends only by playing. At the end of the Flashback Session, the protagonist (and only the protagonist) will be able to add a new Memory, to sum up what the group just played.

A 15x23 cm (5.9x9 inches), 300+ pages, hardcover book, with everything you need to play: character options (seven Lineages, fifteen Jobs, ideas and suggestions for Traits, Nemesis, Flaws...), Locations, Threats, and a guide to the Academy and its life. Plus, if you're the storyteller, a rich chapter on how to run the game and make it feel like a real anime.