Rilletann

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Artwork by Marrku Peltoniemi and copyrighted by him. Used with permission.

This is the Harlequins special attack form; it is a graceful yet deadly dance. Rilletann, unlike most equivalent fighting styles, embraces both armed and unarmed combat; a Rilletann master may make a cut with his sword or a kick with his foot, as the circumstances demand. The word Rilletann simply means 'Harlequin', and those proficient in this art is know as Rilletannarhya.

Skill: Rilletann

* A new Harlequin.
** The basics are well understood.
*** Improvisation used well.
**** Skilled practitioner.
***** Able to adapt to any situation.

Known by: Harlequins.
Specialities: Armed, Unarmed, Improvisational, Specific Manoeuvres.

Possessing at least one dot in Rilletann allows you to use Dex+Rilletann for your melee and brawl attacks. For each dot you may choose one special manoeuvre, additional manoeuvres can be learned for 2 experience points. Obviously to increase the number of dots you have you need a teacher with more dots than you, and to learn a manoeuvre you need a teacher who knows that manoeuvre.

Rilletannarhya and Kailindorani tend to get on well because their fighting styles are fairly similar, and they both have a desire to teach. Because of this Rilletannarhya may purchase (non shapeshifting) Kailindo manoeuvres for 4 experience points per manoeuvre, and visa versa for the Kailikdorani, providing they have someone willing and able to teach them. However, due to the differences in the fighting styles they must add one to the difficulty of a manoeuvre that is not of their fighting styles (i.e. Rilletannarhya are at +1 difficulty on the roll for the Kailindo manoeuvres they know).

If a manoeuvre needs more than one action then it can only be done using the Deathdance Gift or some other way of getting multiple actions in a turn. If a character always uses one form of Rilletann (e.g. always uses his sword) then the storyteller should raise the difficulty when he uses other forms (e.g. punches and kicks), until he balances his training.

Special Manoeuvres

(more are needed, send me your suggestions)

Quick Dodge:

This allows a Harlequin to dodge without sacrificing their other actions. Otherwise it is like a normal dodge.

Roll: Dex+Rilletann,
Difficulty: (Difficulty of a normal dodge in the current situation) +2, max 10.
Damage: Resists an opponents successes.
Actions: 0


Striking Scorpion:

The Harlequin chargesin on his opponent and delivers a blindingly fast attack. Unless the target has unbelievable reflexes (storytellers discretion) this manoeuvre cannot be dodged. This manoeuvre can be performed with a weapon strike, a punch, or a kick.

Roll: Dex+Rilletann
Difficulty: (Normal difficulty for the attack you're doing)+1
Damage: (Normal for manuver)+1
Actions: 2


Swooping Hawk: The Harlequin jumps high into the air and executes a powerful kick to his opponents face. This often stuns opponents and knocks them down, making them easier to deal with. Remember that if you take more damage levels than your Stamina in a turn then you are stunned (unless you are a vampire or something equally inhuman). For stunning purposes the opponents Stamina is counted as one less than normal for this manoeuvre. If an opponent is stunned then they are also knocked down and must spend an action to recover from stunning, and another to get up.

Roll: Dex+Rilletann
Difficulty: 8
Damage: Strength+2
Actions: 2


Dire Avenger

The Harlequin knows the art of stinging revenge and the art of causing the attacker to regret her actions. (By Kevin Doherty)

SYSTEM: If not using any other Rillietann maneuvers in that round, the Harlequin rolls Stamina + Rillietann (Difficulty 7) after being struck. The attacker takes that many levels of soakable bashing damage. Note: this number cannot exceed the attacker's strength.

Shining Spear - After weeks worth of hours practicing, the Harlequin has learned to make an unarmed strike to vital areas and pressure points, causing more damage than would normally be made.

SYSTEM: The Harlequin's unarmed attacks do lethal damage instead of bashing damage. Roll is Dexterity + Rilletann, Difficulty 7, 2 actions (per attack, more than one can be made each round)

Dark Reaper: The Harlequin has learned to focus her inner force and let out an attack that is both controlled and wild, doing massive damage after standing in concentration as if playing the part of the swirling scythe of death.

SYSTEM: For one action, the Harlequin stands and focuses the attack. for the second action, she streaks forward to close within brawling range of the target. For the third action, roll Dex+Rillietann, difficulty 7. This attack does Strength+5 (!) damage. After rolling damage, take the number of successes scored on the to-hit roll: those count as lethal damage. the rest is bashing. Number of total actions: 3

Warp Spider: Playing the role of the Spider is to play a swift predator that binds up its prey before delivering a lethal bite. Visually speaking, this is a two-part attack: the Harlequin binds up the targets legs in her own, buckling the target's knees and causing her to fall to the ground. Then, upon disengaging the trapping legs, hoists her body up and delivers a swift snap-kick to the target's head.

SYSTEM: Roll Dex+Rillietann (Diff 7) to trap and fell the target: two successes are needed. The actual fall does Strength -1 bashing damage. the second action is a kick to the head. Roll Dex+Rillietann (diff 7) to kick. The kick will hit in the head, for whatever situational relevance this might have, and does Strength +2 bashing damage. The target needs to spend an action to get back to his/her feet. Total actions: 2

Wave Serpent: This one is kinda tough to visualize, but bear with me: I've actually seen this done by a Wu Shu artist, so if a spry and athletic human can do it, a Harlequin can do it. This maneuver can be done on either forward side, but I'll do it from a right-footed stance. There is a quick kick delivered to the stomach, forcing the target to double over. The Right leg is swung upwards and is placed on the back of the target's head or neck by the crook of the right knee. Then, in one smooth motion, the left leg snaps upwards to deliver a heel kick to the target's face as the fighter twists her body to the left, then swings her torso down quickly, sending the target into a sideways hurricanrana (The momentum of the fighter's body swinging downwards causes the target to flip over, usually causing severe neck injury)

SYSTEM: (alright, here goes): Roll Dex + Rillitann (diff 8). Two successes on this tough roll are needed to cause the target to double over. The kick does Strength +3 Bashing damage. If the target doubles over, then the next two Rillitann rolls are at Diff 7, if the target doesn't bend over, they're at Diff 8. Second action: Placing the leg and delivering the snap kick. Roll Dex+Rillietann (Diff 7/8), the kick does Strength +3 bashing damage. The third action is the Hurricanrana. Roll Dex+Rillietann (Diff 7/8) This does Strength + 2 lethal damage, due to the strain on the Spinal Column. Both the attacker and the defender end up on the ground, and must spend an action getting up. Total number of actions (including getting up) 4

Custom Manoeuvres

Players are encouraged to come up with new manoeuvres to suit situations (e.g. swinging from chandeliers), indeed improvisation is one of the main tenets of Rilletann. It is up to the story teller to determine damage, difficulty, the number of actions needed, and anything like that. If you use a custom manoeuvre a lot then you should create a proper manoeuvre for it (and send it to me!).

Onto Chaper 6 - Appendix and Acknowledgements

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