You are on page 1of 31

Introduction

For context for people who don’t read the manga, this is Yo-Yo Ma:

Ain’t he a cutie?

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 1


For the system itself, Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG, aims to be a more rules light, free-form which
focuses more on the player’s creativity rather than raw power.
RPGs are role playing games, where you make a character, and play as them in a world the Game
Master (GM) creates. Usually dice are involved when doing most actions to simulate the
randomness of fate.
The system is based of JoJo’s Bizarre adventure and if you’re here chances are you have a friend
who talked your ear off about the show then came to you with this system

If you are looking for the previous release of this system as well as its character sheet you can access
it here:
Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG 1.0
Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG 1.0 Character Sheet
You’re probably going to want a character sheet, so here’s one:
Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG 1.1 Character Sheet
Also, here’s a server to talk about the system:
https://discord.gg/NVMvRNZ9

Gameplay

Combat

Turn Order
To establish turn order before beginning combat, each character participating in combat must roll
Speed or your focus’ dice (i.e. rolling 1d20 if you have Hamon). Then, after rolling, your GM should
make a list of the rolls from highest to lowest. Every round of combat, each player/NPC will take
their turn in the order of that list.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 2


Example: After Marcus takes the cookie, Mark Kennedy walks out of the bathroom, and sees Joey on the floor
and Marcus holding the cookie that Mark explicitly called dibs on before going to the bathroom! Everyone is
now in a fighting mood, so they all roll speed to determine the turn order, with Marcus rolling Hamon. Joey
rolls a 16, Mark rolls a 7, and Marcus, lagging behind, rolls a 1.

Turn Order:
Joey Joestar
Mark Kennedy
Marcus Horse

Attacking
In order to attack someone, you need to determine a few things. First off you need to know what
you’re using to roll, which is based on how you’re attacking them (I.E. a straight punch will usually
use power, and ramming into someone would use speed or power). Then, you determine where
you’re going to hit THE ENEMY STAND/target, which is a simple process. You can select 4
different areas of the body to target without using precision: The head, the arms, the legs, and the
chest. Hitting these areas will simply deal the damage, but you can get more precise. You can choose
to target specific parts of these parts of the body, such as the eyes or the fingers. Doing this involves
getting at least a definite success on a precision roll, and when you do, you then roll for the attack. If
you fail the precision roll, you can roll for the attack as normal, you just won’t hit the specific area
you were aiming for. The damage will be applied to the specific area of the body, making it harder
to use that part. In addition to making a precision roll that allows you to hit a specific body part you
are able to make a precision roll to hit a stand user directly while they have their stand near them.

Counter Actions
Then, after you have both the attacking stat, and where you’re attacking, you roll against the
enemy’s counteraction, which usually will impede your attack in some way. If one person succeeds
and the other fails, the person who succeeded in the attack will go off without a hitch and if both
actions succeed or fail, the person with the higher roll always gains 1 momentum, while the other
loses 1 momentum. If both actions fail, both of the actions are canceled out by each other.

Ties
During the event of a tie, which is when both rolls are in the same success tier, the winner is the
person with the lower momentum. If both are at the same momentum, the winner is the person

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 3


who initiated the action. On the occasion that both parties roll the same number, momentum is
brought closer to 0 by 1 unit (-2 becomes -1 and 3 becomes 2).

Example: Joey, getting up off the floor, is pissed at Marcus right now. He summons his stand, 「Yellow
Submarine ACT 1」, and attempts to ram Marcus in the chest with it. He has a -2 to this roll, due to his
Aggressive flaw. Marcus, knowing how weak 「Yellow Submarine」is, merely channels Hamon, and lets the
attack hit him. They both roll for their actions, with Joey getting a 3, and Marcus getting a 19. 「Yellow
Submarine」just bounces off Marcus’s chest, with nothing happening.

Bonuses
As you most likely have already read in this document you can get bonuses to rolls through things
like techniques, traits, and momentum (which you’ll read about a bit later). In total a player can
receive up to a +9 on their rolls with momentum, however a player may only have 1 utility
technique and 1 trait providing them with a bonus at a time meaning if you have two techniques or
two traits that could be applicable to move you only gain the bonus of one. The +9 cap can be
exceeded by a thing called a creative bonus.

Creative Bonus
A creative bonus is a static plus that the GM can give a player for coming up with a good solution to
a problem or using what they have in a smart way. A creative bonus can give anywhere between a
+1 to a +3 to a player’s rolls. This helps players to be rewarded for thinking on their feet and
generally doing cool shit so remember to give these out to your players whenever they do
something cool!

Damage
Characters usually have 10 Stamina Points, though the max can be reduced with flaws, if you are so
inclined. Either way, when you hit 0 STM, either fall unconscious or die, depending on the
situation. You don’t lose stamina directly from attacks, rather, you take them from receiving
injuries. Injuries are dealt through attacks, and come in 4 forms:

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 4


Light injuries are the most basic form of damage, like bruises or minor cuts. These do nothing on
their own, though 4 of these in 1 place will convert them into 1 heavy injury. To remove the light
injury, you can apply a -3 penalty, per injury, to any Action you roll for. There’s no limit to the
amount of injuries you can remove at once, and whether or not the Action is successful, the injury
will be gone.

Heavy injuries are a more severe form of light injuries, and as a result, have more of a consequence.
Whenever you gain a heavy wound, either from 4 lights or someone directly dealing a heavy injury,
you will lose 1 STM. You can not simply remove them, and will usually involve a stand ability or
something from a focus to remove it. If someone targets a part with 2 heavy injuries after rolling a
Definite Success on a precision roll, those 2 heavy injuries will convert to a major.

Major injuries are an indicator that you should probably leave battle ASAP. When you have a major
injury, you can not use the body part that injury is on. Also, whenever you perform any action
while having a major, you lose 1 STM.

The fourth type of injury is unique from the others, as it isn’t a physical wound, but more of a mental one.
Mental Injuries represent the enemy wearing down your psyche, usually through insults or Gambits. If you
want to inflict a Mental Injury, you have to roll human dice, but the person you’re mentally attacking will
also roll human dice, and both of you will add your Mental Fortitude bonus to this roll. If you take a Mental
Injury, you lose 1 STM, and will lose 2 momentum, rather than 1 momentum. If the person making the
Mental Attack fails, they lose 2 momentum. You also get a Mental Injury when you go against someone’s
Clash.

Momentum
Momentum is a gauge of how a battle is going for both parties involved. It takes the form of a
number, ranging from -3 to +3, and is set to 0 at the start and end of each battle. You gain +1
momentum for each action you succeed at, and -1 momentum for each action you fail at.
Momentum can also be spent to perform certain actions in combat, such as the Venture, Feint,
and Prediction.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 5


Ventures
Ventures are your character going all in on an action. You can only activate a venture if you have +3
or -3 momentum, and depending on how much momentum you have, the venture will have
different properties. The common traits between the 2 different Ventures is that:
1. The person who rolls highest during the venture will have their roll treated as a crit success,
and the person who rolled lower will have their roll treated as a moderate failure.
2. Your momentum will be set to 0 after the venture.
3. If the venture was not a contest, then you automatically succeed.
4. You do not apply any negatives gained from injuries, other than the STM loss from a major.
With Ventures using positive momentum, you deal 2x the regular damage, if the roll was an attack.
With Ventures using Negative momentum, you also do 2x the regular damage, but you also have
the ability to spend your learning/any ACTs or Evolutions you have.

Example: Joey, after losing several contests, has racked up -3 momentum. On his turn, he uses his negative
momentum to do a Negative Venture, allowing him to unlock「Yellow Submarine ACT 2」.

Clashes
When a venture is declared, the person being ventured against has the ability to call their own
venture, if they have the momentum. If this happens, then a Clash occurs. During a clash, both
participant’s momentums will be set to +3, and will gain the bonuses of a positive momentum
venture. Both opponents will take actions against each other, and will roll against each other as
normal. But, after each roll, the loser will lose momentum, and the victor will NOT gain any
momentum. This process will continue until someone eventually reaches 0 momentum, at which
point, they will lose stamina. The victor will keep any leftover momentum. If there is a tie (both
parties roll the same number) at any point, then both participants will lose momentum.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 6


Example: After Joey spends some time getting used to his new ACT, decides to Venture on Marcus after
getting to +3 momentum. Marcus, not one to go down easily and also at -3 momentum, calls a Clash. Both
have their momentum set to +3, and start the clash. On the first round of clashing, Joey uses his new ability to
magnify the light coming off of the TV to create a ray of light to attempt to burn Marcus. Marcus notices this,
and attempts to hit the power button with a rubber band. Joey rolls Precision, and Marcus rolls hamon tool.
Joey gets a 12, and Marcus gets a 20. So, at the end of the first round of the clash, Joey’s action fails and he
loses 1 momentum, as well as suffering the consequences of the enemy’s actions, which is just his action being
nullified, in this case. This goes on until someone hits 0 momentum.

Dual Heat Attacks


In JoJo there are multiple examples of characters teaming up to deliver a devastating attack against
an enemy you can do the same in Yo-Yo Ma. When a character makes a venture action if an ally of
theirs has enough momentum to venture as well, that ally can venture with that character on their
turn creating a dual heat attack. For a Dual Heat Attack both players decide how their characters
work together to overcome whatever they are facing then both players roll their respective venture
adding a +3 to their roll if the ventures both succeed the two players may add their damage together
and multiply it by 2.

Example: Two vampires, Dan Neru and his pet Howler, are currently fighting against someone who was
found vandalizing their home, Zachary Kishibe. Despite Zach’s best attempts to defend himself, Dan and
Howler have managed to both get +3 momentum, and both agree it’s time to get rid of this scum once and for
all with a Dual Heat Attack. The plan is for Howler to get on Zach’s face and be generally distracting, while
Dan starts to build up a massive supply of knives from his blood, creating a practically unblockable attack
when he throws them. Zach, having nothing he can really do, just has to try and dodge while a monkey is
covering his view and screeching in his ear. Zach rolls precision to dodge, while Howler rolls vamp with 2
techniques helping him and Dan also rolling vamp. Zach rolls a 9 while Howler rolls a 26 and Dan rolls a 25.
Dan and Howler would normally deal 6 damage each, but because of the DHA, they instead deal 24 lights, or 6
heavies, together.

Feints
Feints are a secretive action a player or foe will pull on someone to gain the upper hand. A feint
allows you to either declare a secret action at the start of your turn, or allows you to spin a failed
action into a trap for the opponent. A feint will allow a reroll of an action if it fails. In order to use a
feint, you simply move your momentum closer to 0 by one point. The momentum you were at
when you used the feint will determine how the feint will function. If you have negative
momentum when you use a feint, your opponent will also be allowed a reroll when the feint is used.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 7


If the feint is used while you have positive momentum, you choose if the opponent is to reroll their
action.

Example: Mark, tired of his house being trashed on movie night, decides to attempt to steal the cookie by
disorienting Joey with his stand, 「Go Anti Go」. He rolls precision against Joey, with Mark getting a 14 and
Joey getting a 20. Joey gets a bit of shock from the perspective shift, but nothing much other than that. Mark, a
clever man, had a bit more to his plan. He currently has +2 momentum, and sets it to +1 to feint. The
perspective shift was merely a setup for the one two punch, with the second punch being him playing a ear
bleedingly loud sound into Joey’s ears. Mark rerolls precision, while Joey rolls Durability. Mark gets a 21,
while Joey gets a 2. This loud noise really catches Joey off guard, allowing Mark to take the cookie. He then
eats the cookie, ending combat, since nobody really has anything to fight for anymore.

Predictions
While you have positive Momentum, you have the ability to Predict your opponent’s
moves. This means that when a Contest is declared against you, you can interrupt their
declaration at the immediate cost of -1 Momentum. You then announce a Stat that you
Predict your opponent is likely to try to use. If they decide to use that Stat anyway, then you
don’t roll, and will automatically win that Contest. The Contest otherwise proceeds as
normal. Even if they succeed, you’ll gain +1 Momentum from the Contest and they’ll lose -1,
as if you had rolled higher.

Example: Zachary, after being severely damaged by the DHA, knows that it’s time to run away from the two
vampires. He has +1 momentum, and figures that the vampire monkey on his face might try to use vampire
dice to attack him, so he burns a momentum, and automatically succeeds the roll to escape the monkey’s grasp.
He then dashes out of the castle, broken, beaten and scarred.

Death
TO CLARIFY: When characters reach 0 stamina, they do not have to die. A character may just be
Retired or coinked. Death in jojo can range from being very rare to happening very often depending
on the part. This rule of thumb also applies to Yo-Yo Ma, where the risk of death really depends on
what campaign you’re playing in. Feel free to play around with the idea of death, but don’t kill
someone off just because you feel like you have to. Talk to your players, see what they’re cool with.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 8


Progression
Spending potential isn’t the only way for a person to grow. As the campaign goes on, the PCs will
grow naturally over time, which is represented by the Progression system. The progression system
will allow the GM to either reward players for facing a difficult challenge or hitting certain story
beats. At any point during the campaign, the GM can decide to give the party an extra point of focus
to spend. This point of focus can be specified for a certain focus the player has (i.e. the GM can give
a 3 hamon/1 stand user a focus point to spend on hamon, and the focus point can only be spent on
hamon). Of course, if the player has done actions that would give them a focus point in a certain
focus they don’t have, the GM can give you an FP in that specific focus.

Rolling
What dice you roll is determined by your Focus, which will be covered later. Before you begin play
you’ll need d4s, d6s, d10s, and d20s (or a dice bot). Any rolls done without using your focus you will
roll 1d10+1d6+any relevant bonuses (these are also known as human dice or human rolls).

Results Table
Minimum Value
2-5 6 - 10 11 - 14 15 - 19 20+
or Below

Critical Definite Moderate Moderate Definite Critical


Failure Failure Failure Success Success Success

Critical Failure
Critical Failures are the worst possible results of an action. For example, if someone tries to kick
down a door, they find out the door was actually unlocked, and there were several enemies on the
other side, who aren’t too happy to see the party. While Critical Failures are supposed to be bad,
make sure to not go too overboard with it.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 9


Definite Failure
While not the worst outcome possible from your action, it is the second worst. A good rule of
thumb to determine the outcome of a Definite Failure is “You fail, and…”. Basically, something bad
happens that isn’t too severe on top of failing. For example, if someone tries to kick down a door
and rolls a Definite Failure, they find the door is made of metal, and they take 1-2 lights to the foot
they used to kick the door.

Moderate Failure
A Moderate Failure is the easiest failure to explain, as it is the player simply failing the action.
However, these should also open up a different opportunity for the players to follow up on. For
example, if a player rolls to kick down a door and rolls a Moderate Failure, they simply fail to kick
down the door; it’s just too sturdy. However, they did manage to crack the door somewhat, which
could allow someone with the ability to make holes larger to increase the size of the cracks, letting
them open the door from the other side.

Moderate Success
Moderate Successes are the successful version of the Moderate Failure. If this is rolled, the player
simply succeeds, with nothing else really happening. For example, if a player rolled this while
looking around for a specific room in the hospital, they’ll be able to find it in a short amount of
time.

Definite Success
Definite Successes are a sign that Lady Luck is on your side. On top of succeeding at the task you
were doing, something minor will also help you in some way. For example, if you’re looking for a
set of documents, you might find them with a decent amount of money nearby.

Critical Success
Critical Successes are the best possible outcome of an action you take. For example, if you are
attempting to shoot someone and happen to roll a critical success, maybe the bullet will ricochet and
hit one of his allies. As a note: Critical Successes only give you the best possible outcomes, they DO

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 10


NOT make the impossible happen. If you try to jump to the moon and happen to roll a Critical
Success, you’ll just do a cool backflip, and not jump to the moon (unless your stand allows that idk).

Example: Marcus Horse and Joey Joestar are watching a movie, and they’ve been picking at a plate of cookies
while relaxing. They get down to the last cookie, and they both really want it. Joey reaches for it first, and
Marcus follows shortly after. They both roll speed, with Marcus rolling Hamon and Joey rolling using his
stand’s speed. Marcus gets a 17, and Joey gets an 18. Since they’re both the same in the success tier, have the
same momentum (0 momentum since they’re not in combat), and Joey initiated this sequence, he gets the
cookie.

Character Creation
Character creation can be broken down into 4 steps: setting up your stats as a human, selecting your
focus, forming techniques/abilities based on your focus, and finally, fleshing out your character with
traits and their backstory.

Focuses
Focuses are a way to determine what your character can do. You have 4 Focus points (referred to as
just Focus or FP most of the time), you can invest focus into any of the focuses seen below. You
start at 4 focus (unless your dm says otherwise), and may gain more through progression or through
conversion from traits.

Stands
By spending 1 Focus, you can gain a Stand, a physical manifestation of your soul. Upon putting in
your first focus into the Stand Style, you will get a stand, and 4 Stand Points to spend on it. Stand
Points (SP) are the currency you use to upgrade your stats and gain new abilities. You can buy
techniques for 1 SP. After your first focus invested, you get 2 SP for any extra focus you put in.
An Example of a character with a full 4 focus in stands:
Character Example: Stand User
Other Example: Stand User

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 11


Stand Stats
Stand stats determine what dice you will roll when using a certain stat. All of your stand stats start
at D, but can be increased by spending SP.

E D C B A

3d20 take lowest, 2d20 take lowest 1d20, Costs 1 SP 2d20 take highest, 3d20 take highest,
gain 1 SP costs 2 SP costs 3 SP

Destructive Power
Destructive Power can be summed up as how hard you can hit things or how potent your ability
is. This typically determines the damage done by your attacks or abilities. Examples of stands with
high destructive power would be Star Platinum or Killer Queen.

E D C B A

0 Lights 2 Lights 4 Lights 6 Lights 8 Lights


(shared with unarmed
humans)

Speed
Speed is the measure of how quick your stand is. Speed is not always on the same scale, some speed
relates to how fast an ability may activate, while other speed stats may be related to the stand’s
physical speed. In some cases stands have been seen to move at the speed of light.

E D C B A

Sluggish Average Human Peak Human As fast as a Insanely Fast


Speed Speed moving car Speed

Range
Range is the measure of how far a stand may move from whatever the stand is bound to. An
example of minimum would be Anubis, as he is limited to his form as a sword. While an example of
good range would be Hierophant Green, as it may stray far away from Kakyoin.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 12


E D C B A

No Range Arms Length About the size of About the Size of Practically
(1 meter) (2-5 Meters) a room a block Infinite
(10-20 Meters) (30-50 Meters)

Durability
Durability is your stand’s ability to resist damage.

E D C B A

-2 Lights 0 Lights 1 Lights 2 Lights 4 Lights

Precision
Precision is how accurate your stand may be, and how well you can control its ability.

E D C B A

A Miss Fire Shotgun Pistol Sniper Rifle Laser

Learning
Learning is a stand’s ability to grow and change. Unlike other stats, you will not be making any
rolls with this stat, rather you’ll be spending it. For every rank above E you make Learning, you will
gain a SP you can spend later. You can spend your Learning after doing a Venture that uses
negative momentum. As a bonus for investing into Learning, you can later gain new abilities,
techniques, or stat ranks.

Abilities
Abilities are fairly lax on rules, and revolve around creativity of the player and the GM being cool
with it. To create an ability, you must first come up with an idea for it. It can be simple, such as

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 13


Flame Manipulation, or something complex, such as being able to manipulate vectors. After you
come up with an ability, you then come up with a point cost. There is no solid way to determine
point cost, but there are some questions you can ask yourself about the ability to get a ballpark feel
for the cost.
1. Does it affect life in a meaningful way? If it does, you should probably add 1 SP to the cost.
2. Does it only work in certain situations, or need a specific trigger for it to go off? If it does,
then you should probably reduce the cost by 1 SP.
3. Is this ability particularly versatile? Maybe increase the cost by 1 SP.
After you ballpark a point cost, talk to your GM, and they’ll either give you the greenlight for your
ability, or tell you to remake it or change the point cost.

Weaknesses
A weakness for a stand is similar in style to an ability in the sense that it’s another thing that is
settled between a player and their GM however as an ability is a necessary trait for a stand a
weakness can be completely optional. With that out of the way creating a Weakness is fairly simple
first come up with an idea for a weakness that is exclusive to your stand. An example of this could
be something like how in Part 4 of JoJo the stand Red Hot Chili Pepper which is based around
electricity gets weaker and weaker as it moves away from a source of electricity. Weakness can give
anywhere between 1-3 SP back during stand creation.

Colony Stands
Colony stands are a stand with multiple bodies. Multiple bodies allow you to complete multiple
actions at once, and will allow you to reduce the amount of damage taken. In order to get a colony
stand, you have to spend 2 focus on it. When you do, you can have your stand have as many bodies
as you want. Your stand will have a pool of 5 STM to represent the entire colony. When your stand
takes damage while it has this pool of stamina, it will not transfer any damage to you. After the pool
of stamina is gone, however, damage is transferred as normal.
Another bonus for having a colony stand is being able to perform multiple actions quickly. You can
do multiple actions in one turn, as long as they use the same stat. Every time you do an extra action,
however, the rank of the stat you are using will go down by 1 temporarily, down to E. If a stat is an
E, you can not do any extra actions. The stat will reset at the beginning of your next turn.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 14


ACT Stands
ACT stands are a type of stand that grows, but in a different way from potential. ACT stands usually start out
weak, but grow stronger as time goes on. Each ACT costs 1 FOCUS Point (not SP), and you will gain 2 free
SP to spend on it (+ any leftover SP), a free stand ability that is similar to your previous ability, and a new
appearance for your stand. To be able to purchase ACTs, you need to have at least 1 focus in stands already,
and ACT 1 is what you spend your initial SP on. In order to unlock your ACTs within the campaign, you
simply use a Negative Momentum venture, similar to using potential. Your GM can also simply let you get
your next ACT, if they feel you have earned it.

An example of an ACT stand:


Character example: Joey Joestar

Evolving Stands
Evolving stands are an offshoot of ACT stands, and have their own unique quirks. You still
purchase them via the usual method, but it’s 2 focus per Evolution after the base form instead of 1.
To be able to purchase evolutions for your stand, you need to have at least 1 focus in stands already, and your
evolutions will build off of what you make with the SP not given by the evolutions. You will get 4 SP per
evolution, and an ability that can be anything, even something totally unrelated to your previous
ability. Evolutions also usually gain totally new appearances, and even new names. The downside
for Evolution stands is that once you evolve, you can not go back to previous evolutions; you are
stuck with your current evolution. You can still evolve the same way you unlock new ACTs, a
Negative Momentum venture, but it’s recommended you come up with plot related reasons why it
evolves with your GM.

An Example of an Evolution Stand:


Character Example: Rubi
For a sheet for ACT/EVO users:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EX2_ndYE45QHBLkHLM9ii-7u_boddK9EFFE7bzGTkC
E/edit?usp=sharing

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 15


Cyborg
This focus is all about going above and beyond what is normally capable of humanity through
intensive modifications to the body.

Instead of getting techniques, each point of focus will give you 1 Upgrade, except for the first focus,
where you get 2 Upgrades.

Character Example: Psi Mag


Character Example: Wilhelm Schnürchen

Upgrades
For every point of focus spent in the Cyborg focus, you get an Upgrade that can be used in four
ways:
1. You can get a new gadget, which is a device that is attached to a modification. Gadgets
usually serve 2 purposes, damage and/or utility. Gadgets will do 4 lights at base.
2. You can upgrade a gadget you already obtained. Upgrading a gadget will make the gadget
deal 2 more lights, this caps at +6 additional lights, or add +1 to rolls involving it, this caps
at +3.
3. You can gain an extra modification.

Modification
Modifications act as a base, usually being fairly simple, such as replacing a limb or reinforcing your
chest. You select where the modification goes based on the injury chart. Any roll made with a
modified part of the body or upgrades is rolled with a 5d4. All damage dealt to a Modification is
reduced by 2 lights.

Losing Access to Modifications/Gadgets


Despite being more durable than normal humans, you still are destructible. If a cybernetic part is to
take 1 Heavy, any gadgets associated with that part will be disabled. You can still roll cyborg using
that part, you just won’t be able to use gadgets. If you take a major to a cybernetic part, however, the
part will become unusable entirely.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 16


Repairing your Parts
If a part is to become destroyed, it is repairable. It takes an hour per focus you have invested into
that specific part.

Spin
A technique practiced by a rare few, Spin is a versatile focus that is based around physics and
rotational energy usually created. The first Focus invested in Spin gives you a Spin Tool, a special
weapon you channel the Spin through to enable new and unexpected moves. You may also create 2
Spin Techniques (Techniques that involve channeling the Spin, specifically). It’s recommended that
these techniques revolve around special moves your character has with the Spin, that not every user
can replicate.

Each extra Focus spent in character creation increases allows you to learn an extra Technique,
which includes any Focus spent after 4 FP.

Using the Spin


Spin Users excel when using tools with which they are trained. Rolls using spin use 1d20, and rolls
involving your Spin Tool roll 3d10, and you take the highest two. Attacks made using objects
imbued with spin deal an extra 3 lights, bringing the base human damage from 2 lights to 5 lights
(as long as spin is involved).

Tier 2: Personalized Spin


Spin Users can develop their own personalized style of spin, this allows them to use an ability that
other spin users would be unable to replicate, this may be based on your style of steel ball, or how
you utilize the Spin. The technique you gain at this level should be based on or around this
Personalized Spin.

Spinning the Situation


When you use a feint and still roll lower than your opponent’s roll, then you may multiply the feint
roll by 1.5.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 17


Tier 4: Golden Spin
On your turn, you may choose to channel the Golden Spin. This requires a full turn of
concentration, so no other actions on that round. This is to represent you setting up the perfect
scenario to channel the Golden Spin. For the next 5 turns you gain access to a Spin-based
stand/evolution of your current stand, which rolls using 4d10 keep the highest 2 dice and allows
you to use an ability based off of the golden spin. The ability can be anything. This can only be done
once per battle.
Character Example: Flelon Saetton
Character Example: Marcus Zeppeli

Hamon
The first Focus invested in Hamon gives you a Hamon Tool, a special weapon you channel Hamon
through to enable new and unexpected moves.

You may also create 2 Hamon Techniques (Techniques that involve channeling Hamon,
specifically). It’s recommended that these techniques revolve around special moves your character
has with Hamon, that not every user can replicate.

Each extra Focus spent in character creation increases allows you to learn an extra Technique,
which includes any Focus spent after 4 FP.

Character Example: Angela Maraj

Using Hamon
So long as you are able to breathe normally, you are considered to be passively enhancing all actions
with the power of Hamon; you roll 1d20, and attacks deal 4 injuries instead of the standard 2.

Passive Healing
The positive energy coursing through you constantly heals you. Once per round, you automatically
heal two Light Injuries. You may choose to spend your turn Deep Breathing, maximizing Hamon in
your body to boost the rate of your healing. This causes the healing to recover 4 additional Light
Injuries, for a total of six. You can use Deep Breathing to heal Heavy Injuries as well. You must heal

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 18


the whole Heavy Injury at once, by expending four Light Injuries’ worth of healing. It does not
break down Majors.

Hamon Tools
Hamon Users excel when using tools with which they are trained. Rolls involving your Hamon
Tool roll 3d10 instead of 1d20, and you take the highest two. Attacks made using your Hamon Tool
deal an extra Light injury (which stacks with the +2 from having access to Hamon, for a total base
damage of 5 Light Injuries)

Tier 2, Precognition
At tier 2 as a hamon user your character is able to look a few seconds into the future to predict what
an opponent will do next. When your character correctly predicts what stat an enemy is going to
use during a Prediction, your character gains +2 momentum over the normal +1.

Tier 3, Trained Breathing

Positive and Negative Hamon


As hamon users become more experienced with Hamon they grow more accustomed to use of the
two different forms of hamon: positive and negative hamon. When your character becomes a Tier 3
Hamon User you must choose between stronger Positive Hamon or Stronger Negative Hamon.
Positive Hamon: With stronger positive hamon a Hamon User is able to use their deep breathing
more effectively. Thus allowing them to recover a total of 6 lights worth of damage with the use of
deep breathing and combined with a hamon user's passive healing they can recover 8 Light Injuries
in a turn. In addition to improved deep breathing, a tier 3 Hamon user is able to use their improved
deep breathing to heal 6 Light Injuries worth of damage that an ally has taken.
Negative Hamon: With stronger Negative Hamon a Hamon User becomes a stronger fighter being
able to create stronger attacks and becoming better at repelling oncoming attacks. If you choose
Negative Hamon, you may increase your base hamon damage and damage with your hamon tool by
1 (the bonus damage with your base hamon stacks with the bonus damage to the hamon tool). In
addition to this your character also becomes better at taking hits and is able to subtract 2 light
injuries when they take damage from an enemy attack.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 19


Vampirism
Each point of Focus you put into Vampirism increases you one tier, using the following list. You
gain all the benefits of your selected Tier, and all preceding ones.

Character Example: Howler


Character Example: Dan Neru

Rolling
The Vampire focus uses 1d20+3 for its rolls.

Tier 1 Vamplet
Your attacks inflict 4 injuries instead of the natural 2. You can take an action to drink blood from a
Retired target, letting you heal 2 Lights per round, and deal 6 Light Injuries with your attacks
instead of the usual 4. These benefits persist for a few minutes. You get one free Technique, usually
involving using your vampire powers.

Tier 2, Vampire
You now get the benefits of Tier 1 without needing to drink Blood first, and if you do drink blood
your passive healing increases to 1 Heavy for and you take 2 less light wounds for 2 minutes. You
learn a second free Technique.

Tier 3, High Vampire


Your healing is always 1 Heavy per round. Third free Technique. If you drink blood, the added
vitality allows your natural healing to break Major Injuries down into Heavies. You can heal any
wound, given enough blood and a bit of time.

Tier 4, True Vampire


You are now the peak of Vampire Kind. In addition to the powers gained from the previous tiers,
you gain one Vampiric Specialization, a powerful, unique ability. Examples of Vampiric
Specializations are:
➢ Freezing Body: You can control the heat in your blood with the utmost precision. With
simply a touch, you can freeze any being or object solid.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 20


➢ Blood Transfusion: You learn to create vampires and Chimera Beasts from Vampiric
Blood and Assorted Parts, can be seen mixing men and animals and completely healing a
man who had lopped his own head off.
➢ Space Ripper Stingy Eyes: You gain eye Lasers that can cut through steel and bone like a
hot knife through butter. How do they work? Do not fucking ask me.
Most Vampiric Specializations are astoundingly powerful in combat. When you use your
Specialization to attack, you deal 8 Light Wounds.

Vampirism and Hamon


Of course, all Vampires suffer from an intrinsic weakness to the light of the sun, and to the related
energy some humans can produce that is known as Hamon. When a part of your body is exposed to
sunlight or Hamon, it takes a heavy wound (which stacks on top of the damage dealt by Hamon
attack, if any) and that part of your body becomes unable to benefit from your passive regeneration.
This loss of healing persists until it is removed through a large intake of fresh blood, or until some
other effect is used to fully heal the damaged limb.
Technically, the rules allow you to obtain vampirism and Hamon usage at the same time. However,
recall that exposure to Hamon causes heavy wounds. Thus, at the end of a turn after channeling
Hamon, a vampire takes a major wound to every part of their body at once. In other words, outside of
absurdly specific circumstances, they’re now super dead.

Investing More Focus After Tier 4


After tier 4, for every focus you put in, you will get an extra technique. For every 8 focus you put in,
you gain an extra Vampiric Specialization instead of a technique.

Wingman
The wingman isn’t your typical Jojo combatant. They don’t have a stand, or hamon, or any kind of
supernatural power. Instead, they opt to both support their party members and amplify their own
attacks using their own methods, ranging from their own unique fighting style, to words of
encouragement.

Character Example: Mark Kennedy

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 21


Rolling
This Focus will usually roll human dice.

Wingman Dice
As a wingman, you have a special pool of d4s. For each focus you put in Wingman, the amount of
dice in this pool is increased by 1, so at 2 focus you have 2 d4s in this pool. You can use a dice in this
pool to either add or subtract the number rolled on the dice to any roll. In order to use these dice,
you must announce how you are either helping or sabotaging something. This pool of dice is
refilled at the start of each of your turns. You can not use these dice on your own rolls, and you can
not add or subtract more than one dice at once.

You also will gain a technique for each focus you put in.

Self Help
At 2 focus points invested, you can now apply the wingman dice to your own rolls.

Specialization
At tier 2 of Wingman, you gain a special technique that changes how you act in combat. This
technique isn’t a normal technique, affecting your wingman dice instead of giving any other kind of
bonuses. Come up with a Utility Technique, but when you hit the requirements for this technique,
you can set the bonus from your wingman dice to +4 rather than rolling 1d4. These techniques
should be fairly broad; acting more like a fighting style instead of a regular technique. Feel free to
add some kind of weapon or tool to use when coming up with a Specialization.

Investing More Focus After Tier 2


After tier 2, for every focus you put in, you will get an extra technique.

Techniques
A technique is a move or attack that the user has a particular mastery over, perhaps it is their
signature move, or maybe it is a fighting style that the character knows. Techniques are either
added by focuses or bought using 1 Stand Point per technique, when adding a technique you select
one style that the technique falls under, if you would like a technique to have more than one type
you would have to layer another technique on top of the first by creating a seperate technique.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 22


Offensive Techniques
An Offensive Technique is a type of technique that does more damage than a typical attack, and
adds lights onto the attacks regular power. An Offensive Technique adds two lights to any attack
made using it.

Defensive Techniques
A Defensive Technique is the exact opposite of an Offensive Technique, they remove lights from
any attacks used against them. A Defensive Technique removes 2 lights from any attack taken while
using it.

Utility Techniques
Utility Techniques are the most distinct of the 3 types of techniques; it gives a flat bonus to rolls
made using it, when using a Utility Technique you may add a +3 to any rolls made involving that
technique.

Traits
To put it simply, traits are noticeable aspects of a character that gives said character depth. The
main purpose of traits is simply to flesh out a character, and make them seem as real as possible in a
campaign. However, they also exist to give an edge(or a disadvantage) in combat, should you or
someone else (un)intentionally activate that trait via a specific action.

In your character creation(usually after making a Stand), you will want to fill out what Traits your
character has. You could have no traits at all, but that usually makes the character very dull/boring,
and is generally unfun to play with, whether you’re the one who made such a character or not.

You get a free goal of any severity, alongside the choice of another goal, a quirk, a trust, or an
impulse, also of any severity.

If you have any TP left over, you can convert them into focus. The conversion rate is 4 TP:1 focus.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 23


Types of Traits
In this system, what type of trait you make is put into 4 categories. The effects of each category
widely vary depending on the severity of the goal. It is important to note that every character will
start out with 5 Trait Points(TP) that can be used to make a trait.

Impulses
Impulses are easily-spotted surface traits, that anyone who spends time around a character will
likely be able to spot(unless they’re very dense). These generally help you define how a character
goes through their everyday life. You get Impulses cost 1 TP per severity level.

Severities
Severity 1: Miniscule
Miniscule impulses are one of the most hidden impulses one can have, but as a result, the character
with the most impulse is not as dedicated to this impulse. When a character activates an impulse
through an action, they gain +1 to said action.

Severity 2: Normal
Normal impulses are considered to be the norm in terms of impulses. It is noticeable to any people
who are paying attention to a character for a moderately long period of time, but at the same time,
they are capable of ignoring the impulse at times so they aren’t read like a book. When a character
activates a Normal impulse through an action, they gain +2 to said action.

Severity 3: Life-Revolving
Life-Revolving impulses are impulses that take up a very large chunk of the user’s life. They work
almost all the time to fulfill this impulse of theirs, and are incapable of ignoring it, which makes it
incredibly noticeable. Although this allows them to be easily predicted in combat, they gain a +3
bonus to any action that activates this impulse.

Example:
Character Name - Kira Yoshikage
Impulse Name - Disguised as Average
Impulse Description - Kira Yoshikage is a man who does not like to stand out, and because of this, he makes
an effort to appear completely average to any onlookers in his life, despite his very high intelligence.
Severity: 3

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 24


Gambits
Impulses have a special weakness attached to them, in that they can be exploited by people who
know what they are. You have two ways to determine what impulses an enemy has. You can
perform a Prediction, and instead of using it on a counter-action, you use it during your turn. You
still pay a point of momentum per usual, but you will roll a 1d20 (2d20 take highest if you have 2 FP
in Hamon). If you roll a Critical Success, then you will know their impulses. The other option is to
simply pay attention to what actions the enemy takes, and how they act during your actions. Once
you figure out what impulses an enemy has, you can now Gambit. In order to Gambit, you simply
declare that your action is a Gambit, as long as it exploits any impulses the enemy may have. When
a Gambit successfully goes off, the person targeting the gambit has 2 choices. Either: A.) They
attempt to counter-action this gambit, as usual. If they do this, they will fail automatically, and lose a
single point of stamina on top of the normal consequences of failing the roll. Or B.) They can
choose to ignore your gambit. The negative consequence to this is that the person going against
their technique takes a Mental Injury and they can’t gain momentum for a round.

Example: Marcus, knowing his friend Joey well, attempts to threaten to destroy Joey’s workout tapes if Joey
doesn’t give him the cookie. Unfortunately for Marcus, he accidentally Gambited against Joey’s Aggressive
trait. Joey isn’t very bright, so he immediately swings at Marcus for trying to destroy his workout tapes. He
misses his swing automatically, falling and ramming his head against the table, and having Marcus swipe the
cookie.

Goals
Goals are a trait involving a character who works to accomplish something major to them in their
life. Characters with goals usually work hard and constantly towards this goal. Goals are usually
meant to coincide with the plot of a GM’s campaign, so the GM and the player should work
together to come up with a good goal for their character. Goals start out at 2 TP in severity 1, 3 TP
in severity 2, and 5 TP in severity 3.

Severities
Severity 1: Short-term
Short-term goals are tasks that can be completed pretty quickly within a campaign, or is something
that the character is able to put off for a good portion of said campaign. While this only gives a +1
to rolls invoking this goal, once it is fulfilled, your GM can allow you to swap it out for another goal
of the same severity level.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 25


Severity 2: Long-term
Long-term goals consist of a goal the character has set for themselves with no known ending date.
Characters with Long-term goals are pretty dedicated to this task, and will spend a good chunk of
the campaign attempting to meet this goal, directly or otherwise. They are, however, able to put off
the goal for the time being, should the situation call for it. Characters with long-term goals roll a +2
to all actions involving the goal.

Severity 3: Grand Goal


Grand Goals are goals that one would follow for either their entire life, and sometimes even beyond
that with the assistance of others who want the same thing. Characters with Grand Goals will be
following their goals for the entire campaign at the very least(it’s common for it to expand farther
than just 1 campaign), with their actions almost always contributing to the goal. In the case of not
following the goal, it would take extreme convincing to have a character with a Grand Goal to put it
off for even only a little while. Characters with Grand Goals roll a +3 to all actions involving the
goal.

Example:
Character Name - Jotaro Kujo
Goal Name - Be A Killer To Be a Savior
Goal Description - Jotaro Kujo’s mother, Holly Kujo, is on her deathbed, due to her recently awakened Stand.
His grandfather, Joseph Joestar, informed him that the only way to save his mother would be to kill the one
who indirectly gave Holly her Stand, DIO.
Severity: 2

Quirks
Quirks are a type of trait that usually involve a character wanting to do a specific thing. Quirks in
general are a bit peculiar to most people, and can affect you socially, but they tend to have a good
reward if the quirk is fulfilled. Quirks cost 1 TP per severity.

Severities
Severity 1: Habit

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 26


Habits are a set of quirks that characters only do on occasion, and don’t attract much attention to
them. If they do attract attention, the quirk usually annoys the user, and they’d have trained
themselves to somewhat ignore it, but the habit will get through eventually. Characters who fulfill
habits gain a +1 bonus to all rolls until a specified requirement is met, or a specified amount of time
has passed. On the contrary, they receive a -1 bonus for all rolls if they don’t fulfill the habit for a
specified amount of time(1 week at the most) until they fulfill the habit.

Severity 2: Mannerisms
Mannerisms are quirks that they were taught(usually as a child) or learned in rarer cases, that they
have carried up until this point in life. Mannerisms aren’t exactly normal around the part they’re in,
and they will likely receive strange looks upon doing it, and doing it enough will make you more
and more recognizable among the locals. Characters who fulfill mannerisms will gain a +2 bonus to
all rolls until a specified requirement is met, or a specified amount of time has passed. On the
contrary, they receive a -2 bonus for all rolls if they don’t fulfill the mannerism for a specified
amount of time(4 days at the most) until they fulfill the mannerism.

Severity 3: Addiction
Addictions are quirks that the character just cannot stop doing. Addictions are usually some of the
weirdest(or most harmful) quirks out there, and fulfilling them will almost immediately make you a
recognizable face if you do it even more than once in the same location with the locals. Characters
who fulfill addictions gain a +3 Bonus to all rolls until a specified requirement is met, or a specific
amount of time has passed. On the contrary, they receive a -3 bonus if they don’t fulfill the addiction
for a specified amount of time(1 day at the most) until they fulfill the addiction.

Example:
Character Name - Kira Yoshikage
Quirk Name - Stress Reliever Nails
Quirk Description - When under a large amount of stress, Kira Yoshikage gets the urge to rapidly bite his
fingernails off, in order to relieve stress. Should he do this, people may look at him weird for the rest of the
time he is in their vision, and may even interfere with his goal if his pursuers know what to look for, but will
receive a +2 bonus to all rolls, until he is either under stress again, or he is back at his home.
Severity: 2

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 27


Trusts
Trusts are a signifier of a relationship between characters. Trusts also have severities, but they
won’t directly affect you. Instead, they give you a unique option during combat. You can take a -3
penalty to your counteractions for that round, and in exchange, give anyone you have a trust with a
bonus to their roll based on the severity of your trust. Trusts are unique, as they are free to get, and
you can have as many as you want. The catch is that you must start at Severity 1 for any trusts, and
work your way up through the campaign. The only way to upgrade trusts is for the GM to let you,
and that will usually happen after an event involving the person you trust. This could be a life
threatening situation, or a particularly deep roleplay session.

Severities
Severity 1: Acquaintances
You know this person enough to the point that you’re willing to go out of your way to help them
out whenever you can. The bonus when helping them is +1.
Severity 2: Good Friend
You’ve known this person for a while now, maybe through your backstory, or maybe through a
good amount of the actual campaign. The bonus when helping them is +2.
Severity 3: Jobro
It’s ride or die with this person. You’ve probably saved their life a few times, and they’ve done the
same to you. The bonus when helping them is +3.

Flaws
Flaws are a type of trait that negatively impact a character in any way. The range at which it does so
varies, but the fact of the matter is that Flaws are meant to give your character weaknesses. You are
able to avoid taking Flaws entirely, but as with the case of not having traits at all, playing a character
with no weaknesses to conquer is incredibly dull/boring. Characters who take Flaws gain back 1 TP
per severity.

Severities
Severity 1: Imperfections
Imperfections are flaws that only really count as an inconvenience to a character. Whether it’s
simply a slow punch speed, a slightly wobbly leg, or trouble grasping a small object, it can be

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 28


conquered relatively easily. Imperfections give off a -1 to a roll when performing any action that
invokes the flaw.

Severity 2: Weaknesses
Weaknesses are flaws in a character that are (usually) either physical or mental. They consist of
weak points in a character that an opponent could find and capitalize on if they look hard enough,
but it could be overcome given enough time(though how long it takes can vary). Weaknesses give
off a -2 to a roll when performing any action that invokes the flaw.

Severity 3: Disabilities
Disabilities are flaws in a character that severely impacts their day-to-day life. A common disability
would be something limiting or outright disabling one of the six senses, but it is entirely possible to
be more creative than that. It is also worth noting that Disabilities cannot be overcome like
Imperfections and Weaknesses can. Disabilities give off a -3 to a roll when performing any action
that invokes the flaw.

Example:
Character Name - DIO
Flaw Name - Bad Leg
Flaw Description - DIO’s lower body has yet to fully be accustomed to the vampirism, and combined with a
relatively bad kick to a leg earlier in this body, DIO’s left leg serves as a weak point of his.
Severity: 2

Physical Attributes
Physical Attributes are your character’s stats, separate from any focus, such as Hamon or
Stand. These act as flat bonuses when rolling in certain situations. These bonuses only apply when
rolling human dice. Each Trait Point you put into a stat will give you a +1 with rolls relating to that
stat.

Strength
Strength relates to tasks that involve pure power, such as kicking in doors, lifting heavy
objects, and breaking shit.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 29


Dexterity
Dexterity is how agile your character is, and helps with actions that involve being nimble
and precise, such as running, parkour, and sneaky actions.

Perception
Perception is your ability to pick up on small things, which can either involve seeing
physical things, or picking up on subtle characteristics or movements of a person.

Mental Fortitude
Mental Fortitude is your resistance to all kinds of different stressors, such as being insulted,
or being manipulated. The stat can also be used to resist falling unconscious in battle after losing all
of your stamina.

Thank You
First off thanks to you for reading through this entire document and learning about our
system but it couldn’t have been made possible without the help of these people.
Thank you to Tguy who did a wonderful job of creating the basis for the traits system
Thank you as well to the Leaden world folks for the idea of the focus system
Thank you to Esby for creating his own JoJo TTRPG which helped to inspire this one.
Thank you to froggy.milk.tea on instagram who created the logo for the system.
And finally thank you to the people in the Binding of Chains Discord for being cool dudes :)

References
Piero Altera
Stand Name: Imitation of Life

Joey Joestar
Stand Name: Yellow Submarine

Rubi
Name from: https://borderlands.fandom.com/wiki/Rubi

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 30


Stand Names:
Wintergreen
Treefood
Damn Door

Zachary Kishibe
Stand Name: Mischievous Boy
Ability Names:
Humming The Bassline
Grace and Glory
'Bout the City

Dan Neru
Neru from the artist who wrote the stand name
Stand Name: Abstract Nonsense

Mark Kennedy
Stand Name: Go Anti Go

Psi Mag
Name from SymaG

Yo-Yo Ma’s Bizarre RPG Page 31

You might also like