A new story (or more accurately, a series of vignettes, possibly maybe leading into a small story) is in the queue
Do you remember all those video games in the arcade?
You know the ones.
The ones that ate quarter after quarter in the arcade as people lined up to fight the current champion. The one with ridiculously garbed fighters doing battle in lavish locations for reasons.. well, no one was really sure of the reasons. But it was all really cool?
And then, when it came time to move to the home console market, they ended up selling you the same game five times because each time they added new fighters and a new stage? And because they couldn't advance the timeline, they just started throwing "Championship Edition" "Alpha" "Remix" "Turbo" after the title?
I do!
Welcome to "King of the Fighting Street Megamix Alpha Zero XIII"
The premise?
The problem with being a world class martial artist who can destroy boards (and bones) with your bare fist or throw ki projections the size of a medicine ball is that there's not much to do whenyou're not training your latest move that will make you totally unbeatable. Sure, a lot of fighters try to have singing careers, or fight crime, avenge lost loved ones, or take over the world. But have you ever noticed that their heart is not in it? What they really want to do is try out their latest techniques of ultrapain on other people to see how well they've learned them.
Considering most people aren't world class fighters, and can't even sit under a raging waterfall for hours at a time, this can lead to severe property damage, not to mention hospital bills and lawsuits.
This is not an acceptable situation.
So, something had to be done... and the funny thing is, someone did. Somebody has built a giant temple devoted specifically to hosting a martial arts tournament on an island. The temple covers just about the entirety of the island (except for the airport, the docks, and the vaguely ominous machines that emit sparks and some kinda shrieks all through the day and night). Nobody knows who has done it.
Some think a power-mad dictator has done it, looking for a fighter so powerful that he can steal his ki and achieve immortality. Others think that a demon has done this, looking to unleash a hidden gate to some demonic plane, although how they intend to open this by people beating each other up is a mystery.
The most popular theory is that some ultra-rich billionaire has seen way too many martial arts movies and thought it would be a good idea to gather people up and watch them fight.
So, the invite has gone out to fighters worldwide. They have all received a scroll which simply states: "Come fight, and prove you are the ultimate martial artist. Prizes beyond your wildest imagining to the winner".
Fighters have traveled from across the world to fight their rivals, make some money, arrest crime lords, recruit new minions, etc. Will you be the King of the Fighting Street?
This world came from a gaming book supplement I wrote about a decade ago for a Fighting Game RPG (The book is still available for sale on sites like DriveThruRPG). It was meant as a homage to all the fighting games where you could throw everything in a blender, hit puree, walk away for three days, and see what cultures have formed when you returned.
The idea behind this campaign setting is simply to provide an open forum that could allow any character concept in order to pit them against each other, rather than as a serious setting for extended play.
Featuring Over-the-top fighting action with bare moments of storyline in between. A campaign where a robot with Gatling blasters that wants to make more of his own kind can take on a singing idol who happens to be an angel slumming it on Earth, and people are ok with that!
So, I hope you like it, and laugh at the efforts of Eric, Fumiko, Gra'z'k'al, the Mad Genius (Alfie to his mum), his Shoot-Clones, Kami-sama, Kash Money, Professor Poundington and my personal favorite. IVAN THE TERRIBAD.
Ivan's fun to write. He's just so earnest and dedicated to his dream of making Russian Wrestling #1 and the best. Even if he has to turn himself, a rather large Texan, into the supreme Russian Wrestler in looks AND tecniques. (Don't bring up his Texan accent, it's a sore spot, and he prefers to CRUSH sore spots)