Battle School

Welcome to Ouroboros Station. You've been selected amongst the population of your home world to begin at Battle School. As your shuttle approaches, you see a station resembling a planet with rings. Dead center sits the battle room surrounded by the strange architecture that makes up the facility that will be your home for the next 5 years. Teams of other talented cadets fight in simulated battles with an array of non-lethal weapons and equipment with one simple goal, to become the best, at any cost.

Your team will be your family. You will eat, sleep, attend class, and most importantly fight alongside them in the Battle Room. You either succeed as a team or fail as a team. No individual succeeds alone at Oroboros.

The game's design philosophy is rooted in collaboration and teamwork, with a narrative focus on self-discovery and coming-of-age. The game puts the difficulty in the hands of the players, based on the scenario their team is up against, and requires them to think as a team to overcome their obstacles. Combat is no longer about what you're doing on your turn but asks, "What can I do to help my team overcome this obstacle?"

What You Get

• 90 pages of rules
• 5 Cadet Types to choose from
• 5 different Armies for your team to fight for
• Tons of Advancements to grow your Cadet's abilities
• A framework for running full campaigns in the semester-long tournament
• A form-fillable PDF of the Trifold Character sheet

How it Works

Whenever there is a risk of failure or challenge to overcome, the GM may call for a test. Tests require Cadets to roll their Brains or Brawn dice versus a Difficulty Class (DC)—a number, determined by the GM, denoting the difficulty of the task—to succeed.

               

Combat

Each round the difficulty of tasks changes. Setting the Initial DC at the beginning of combat—as well as the GM Modifier each turn—requires understanding the challenge the players are up against, and presenting them with sufficient obstacles to create drama. If the GM were to start the Modifier at 0, the Cadets’ only challenge would be their ability to coordinate.

The Round DC (RDC) is equal to the sum of the players' chosen action modifiers and the GM Modifier.

RDC = All Player Action Modifiers Sum + GM Modifier

This is an ongoing project and will see some improvements and additions in the coming months. 

Feedback:
If you find something in the book that needs my attention please fill out the Google form and I'll consider your feedback and make adjustments accordingly.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Writing, Design, Artwork & Layout by Andrew Beauman

Editing by Zack Busch (Bammax Games)

Ouroboros Station Illustration & Cadet Portraits by Ailantd

Battle School was funded as a part of Kickstarter's Zinequest 2024 by 118 amazing backers whose excitement and patience kept me going and continue to push me to make this the best RPG it can be. Thank you.