There is a stat system and how it works is simple, it’s a guideline. A higher number will not necessarily equate to a win, especially if the numbers are quite close. However they have other uses, and that is increasing the power of your use of Arts (Hakuda, Zanjutsu, Kido, Hoho), and during writing, can be leveraged to creatively use your strengths to make up for your weaknesses.

As an example, a character who has good Skill but low Strength can make use of a two handed technique using their second hand on their blade to leverage their zanpakuto to cut through thicker targets, is essentially using their Skill in place of a Strength check. Things like this are key.

Gaining stats is also easy and fairly constant as you play. To that end I urge you to keep track of your character’s activities to inform me what you’re doing. Stats are gained in denominations of 25, so the smallest amount that can be obtained at a time is 25. Do bear in mind however there's many ways to become stronger, and different types of play will be rewarded, not just stat dogs who want to become the strongest. I urge you think about what matters most to your character's development. This is after all a roleplay.


It is of course expected that Shinigami Arts will also eventually include Quincy Arts and Arrancar Arts. This generally shows your mastery and knowledge of each art. Everything at 4 and above is considered Captain level. As you can imagine, reaching mastery levels in these are more difficult and more eventful. As a final note, uniquely every player is able to reach level 6 in only ONE art.


Reiryoku or spiritual power is the total amount of spiritual energy your character possesses. There are two ways to become incapacitated in this RP, one is being defeated and succumbing to wounds, and the other is running out of Reiryoku. Reiryoku can be expended to boost Strength for singular actions, and is used for particularly powerful techniques and Kido (not all techniques and Kido spells require reiryoku usage).

Reiatsu is your general aura, and spiritual pressure, the amount of pressure your reiryoku puts out. The more reiryoku you possess, the more of it spills out of you constantly as reiatsu. It can also be actively boosted by focusing entirely on its output (this does not spend reiryoku).

One big benefit of Reiatsu is that the value of your Reiatsu is how much you can spend on Reiryoku actions for free. For example, if your Reiatsu is 50, then you can use 50 Reiryoku for free granted the action does not exceed it. If it does exceed your Reiatsu, you will pay the cost minus your Reiatsu.



Throughout the RP there will be techniques that players can learn, these are conventional (or unconventional) sword, weapon, or hand to hand techniques or special moves. The original show didn’t have very many of these if at all, but this really includes special moves that don’t require special abilities from a Shikai or anything of that nature.


The way Kido works in this is there won’t be a numbered system of 1-99, there can be more than that. Players will even be able to make their own at certain mastery levels. However, the category system still exists, Bakudo, Hado, and Kaido still exist as categories. Generally meaning barrier, destruction and recovery.


A unique system, generally for highlighting unique aspects of a character, whether it’s something they’ve learned to do, or something innate to them. There’s not much else to explain other than they must be earned or revealed through play. If there’s some sort of development you want with your character I’ll inform you if it equates to a feat or not too.

Name:
Bakuto Hokori
Age:
21
Gender:
male
Personality:
Bakuto is a jokester kind of person. Try to keep light of most situations or try to look on the bright side of things. Often enough he is on the grounds near to insubordination at times, he likes to make jokes based on many things

Bakuto loves a good fight, sparing, taking on anyone or anything in a fight. Before becoming a soul reaper Bakuto liked to scrap with anyone with simple fist fights, now he has swords, new skills and new enemies and plenty of other things to fight. While fighting though Bakuto does often get lost in the thrill of the fight, and often likes to play with those he is fighting with.

Backstory:
Bakuto's background. he is a and was a bit of a vagabond/ruffian. Bakuto was a man who 'collected' debts for a loan shark that he once owed money to. Be got this job after beating up the previous 'collector'. Bakuto was relatively good at his job but he owed the loan shark a lot of money. He had a heart of gold and often lent people money after borrowing it from the loan shark. Being the middleman, but kept whoever he gave money to but being the fall guy having to get the money back.
This also led him down the path which led to his demise, taking a job that he couldn't finish. His loan shark was ready to collect his debts out of Bakuto's own hide So in the end Bakuto went and got beaten nearly to death. To the point that his soul left his body. With the soul chain still intact.

Why did you become a Substitute Shinigami:
Why did Bakuto become a soul reaper? After he died, he was hunted by a hollow. It was a blessing in disguise, as it stopped him from fully dying. His fallen debt collectors that were beating him to death were the first things the Hollow attacked. It tore them apart
His first hollow, it looked like a pigman monster kind of thing or at least that is how Bakuto remembers this. A normal person's reaction to seeing a monster is to run, he did not punch
Bakuto fought this monster, with no powers and freshly dead this went as one can expect, he nearly died while he was already dead. The hollow nearly consumed him if it wasn't for the Shinigami that saved him. Because he had no chance in beating the Hollow. It was more less hitting a grizzly bear with a spit wad. His fists did nothing. His only saving grace was that Hollow was already being hunted. That and Hollow toyed with him, playing with its food before going for the final kill. The Shinigami killed the hollow with ease.

After the Shinigami saved him he then yelled at him for trying to fight the hollow with his bare hands. Bakuto had made a joke somewhere around saying "Should have kicked more right?' Something about Bakuto and his bravado saw him as a choice for becoming a substitute Shinigami then was given the offer. Bakuto had laughed it was at this point he was now jobless and did not have much going for him so he said yes to this whole deal. After a bit of healing and quick first aid to prevent Bakuto from fully dying the deal was made So he became Substitute Shinigami /soul reaper because he had no other choice. Giving his life a better meaning other than shaking people down for money now he can fight monsters like the hollow that attacked him.

::COMBAT::

• Strength: 250
• Skill: 250
• Speed: 1000
• Focus: 50
• Constitution: 150
• Reiryoku: 300
• Reiatsu: 60?

::Shinigami Arts::

• Zanjutsu: 1/5
• Hakuda: 0/5
• Hoho: 1/5
• Kido: -1(joke actually 0)/5

Feats: N/A

Zanpakuto:
Bakuto’s Zanpakuto is a rather lengthy katana, black and silver in design is the hilt and guard. The blade is plan and ordinary looking.

Shikai: N/A

Techniques:
Onibi- The zanjutsu Technique that stabs the air forward to hit a fast and sudden longer range impact.

Memorized Kido: None

[Zanjutsu]

• Hirazuki - A basic technique taught in a dojo run by the Civil Corp in Rukongai. It is simple a thrusting strike, that transitions into a horizontal swing. As the horizontal swing comes out almost immediately after the thrust, it can be difficult to avoid, and of course should one have the strength, a successful thrust can transition into a brutal killing stroke.
• Tsubame Gaeshi - A more skill-minded technique where the user strikes three times in quick succession to appear as two strikes. A missing or unread third strike intended to be the true attack. A terribly difficult technique to avoid.

[Hakuda]

• Ranken - Or, "storm fist", a forward punch that is chambered then rotates as it is launched. Upon impact, twist the other way into an uppercut while moving forward. The result will be a powerful blow that is followed by a knockup.
• Hienrenkyaku - "Flying Swallow Chain Kick", a series of high flying kicks that serve both to increase the user's height and barrage the target with a myriad of kicks. As it ends on a kick, the last kick can either be used to safely kick away, or dig deep for a hard blow from the increased height.
• Gahou - "Fang Blast", a focused punch that upon impact, the user would release a burst of reiatsu, exploding and doing concussive damage. If correctly applied, is quite effective at pushing through barriers and breaking defenses.

[Hoho]

• Gakatsu - "Graceful Slide", a simple slide maneuver, able to low profile a lot of things. It can get a lot of distance with a running start. What actually makes this though is the recovery at the end, where the user should be able to stand up instantly, otherwise it's just a normal, clumsy 'slide'.
• Jiho - "Two-step", a rather simple but practical movement technique. The user essentially moves a short distance quickly, twice, in whatever direction they desire. It can be out of harm's way, and then back into the advantageous position, or used to get behind the opponent by going around them.
• Youho - "Jump Step", as the name implies, it's a kind of flash step where the user jumps up into the air. Also quite practical, and can be used to escape harm quickly. It emphasises' Hoho's need for leg strength as without enough, one might not be able to bound over their opponent, let alone Hollow who are typically larger.

Name:
Darius Stone

Age:
28

Gender:
Male

Personality:
Darius Stone is a fairly simple man, who has lived his life by an equally simple ideology- Those who can protect, should. With this core aim, and the morals built up around it, he has been content to live his life a day at a time, offering aid and kindness where he can, and maintaining the strengths he believes necessary to be a bastion for others to shelter behind.

While one would be in considerable error to call him a gentle or peaceful man, there is no denying that he is kind hearted, with a particular soft spot towards the troubled and the young. He is, for such people, endlessly patient, and fiercely protective, though he will push them to be their best selves with equal intensity.

Beyond this, he is an honest man, gruff and outspoken, a strong presence, and respectful.

Backstory:
Born and raised in a small Midwestern town in the United States, Darius' life followed a path that was, perhaps, predictable, or even cliche, by many standards. His father was a factory worker, his mother a veteran- and to hear Darius tell it, they were as different as two people could be, sharing only their love for each other, and the good sense to raise a boy of Darius' size with the discipline and respect to become a guardian, rather than a bully. His school life and home life were, otherwise, quite unremarkable, save those things that are common place in such a community- Schoolyard fights, highschool parties, and a small string of youthful romances that taught him where to stand up for himself, where to relax, and to guard his heart as carefully as he guarded his friends.

It was entirely unsurprising to those who knew him that, the moment he was able, Darius enlisted with the Army, sent away to training no more than a month after he graduated highschool. Here, too, his life went on as most would expect, the youth standing out as a guardian and a leader- though never, he would insist, as a hero. So far as he was concerned, his role in life was to make sure the real heros got where they were going- to protect and train them until they surpassed him by miles.

He spent ten years in service in this manner, progressing no further than Sergeant First Class, and spending the bulk of his career training others- his final years spent in a joint training unit with the JSDF, a posting that would lead him to what he believed would be his future. Here, he met the woman who would become his fiance, and make a permanent home with her in her home town, Sagamiyama...

Why did you become a Substitute Shinigami:
A mere two months after his retirement from the Army and the beginning of his new life in Japan, Darius met what he believed would be his demise. While out purchasing groceries for an evening meal with his fiance, he was struck in passing by what he thought, at first, was a vehicle, thrown into an alley and badly concussed. His vision hazy, he saw a young man sprint past him- one he could have sworn had a golden chain hanging from his chest. Then, came the monster. A vast and powerful creature, masked in white and bearing a gaping hole of black through its chest. He acted before he could process the horrors he was witnessing, springing to the defense of the youth. They escaped from sight, leaving Darius to fend off the monstrosity. It seemed as if nothing he did could harm it, and before he could think to run, it rent open his belly with a swipe of claws he never saw coming.

He saw a flash of silver, and the world faded to black.

Days later, he woke in the hospital, an unfamiliar man with a comical Pompadour introducing himself as Tatsuha Ouga. The information he revealed to Darius there came with a choice. He could die there in the hospital, as sepsis ravaged his wound... Or he could once again live his life in service and protection of others, and be saved. It was not a difficult choice, for Darius.

::COMBAT::

• Strength: 400
• Skill: 300
• Speed: 100
• Focus: 300
• Constitution: 400
• Reiryoku: 500
• Reiatsu: 100

::Shinigami Arts::

• Zanjutsu: 0/5
• Hakuda: 1/5
• Hoho: 0/5
• Kido: 1/5

Feats:
Undiscovered

Zanpakuto:
Darius' Zanpakuto is a surprisingly short weapon, about the length of a kodachi. It's guard is unremarkable, though he has exchanged it's wrap for one in a deep green, with a matching tassel hanging from the guard.

Shikai:
Sealed

Techniques:
Hakuda-

• Handoburēdo - "The Ol' Knife Hand". By focusing his Riatasu in his fingers and palm, Darius has made an old military joke into reality- Able to deliver a fierce slash or thrust with his open hand, sharp as any blade.
• Gahou - "Fang Blast", a focused punch that upon impact, the user would release a burst of reiatsu, exploding and doing concussive damage. If correctly applied, is quite effective at pushing through barriers and breaking defenses.

Memorized Kido:

• Bakudo: Kōshi - "Lattice". By laying a lattice of reishi over the skin, the wielder may make their body more resilient to slashes of any kind, so long as they maintain focus.
• Bakudo: Fūsa - "Barricade". A broad, rectangular barrier used for access denial... or to have something to put somebody's back to.
• Hado: Tamahou - "Soul Cannon". A small, intense, and fast moving blast of reishi, as effective as a bullet.