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\title{Ranma Stuff}
\author{Niko Simonson}
\date{}
\maketitle

{\it \noindent
{\Large T}his article was inspired by Rumiko Takahashi's animated series
Ranma $\frac{1}{2}$. What the descriptions lack in accuracy, they make up for in
inspiration value. Many of the items and maneuvers may not be appropriate for a
serious campaign
but are included to provide ideas for games such as Paranoia, Toon, and
especially for Teenagers from Outer Space which was itself inspired/pirated
from Urusei Yatsura, also created by Rumiko Takahashi. In short, use
with caution.\\}

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Magical Stuff}
\end{center}

\begin{center}
{\bf The Pools of Jusenkyou}
\end{center}
In a secluded valley, deep within a treacherous mountain range, one might
have the misfortune of encountering the cursed pools of Jusenkyou.  Within
this valley, there are one hundred forty-four bodies of water. Numerous
clusters of bamboo poles stick out from most of the pools.  In each of
these pools one or more creatures have died at some point in time.

Anyone who is unlucky enough to fall into a pool is cursed to assume
the form of whatever drowned in the pool whenever he finds himself wet
with cold or even luke warm water.  Only scalding hot water can restore
the unfortunate to normal.  The individual retains his personality no
matter what form, but means of communication might be limited.  The
second time someone falls into a pool, the new form will be permanent.
Here are some victims of Jusenkyou:

\begin{itemize}
\item A cute, red-haired, adolescent girl. This is the antidote for female victims.
\item A male.  This is the as-yet undiscovered antidote for males.
\item A small, black, pot-bellied pig.
\item A giant panda bear.
\item A white cat with lavender ears and tail.
\item A white duck.
\item A giant toad. 
\item A pterodactyl.
\item A saber-toothed tiger.
\item A buddhist monk.  His holiness was such that anyone in this form becomes
a complete pacifist.  This is an exception to what was said about personality.
\item A bear, snake, eagle, and bull.  The resulting combination is a snake
tailed, bear bodied, bull headed monstrosity with eagle wings that allow flight.
\end{itemize}

\begin{description}
\item{Miscellaneous:}  There is a guide who can lead people to these pools, but
despite his best intentions, can never seem to completely inform his
guests why the pools are dangerous in time to stop them from cursing
themselves.  There is also a committee which monitors the activities of
the victims to keep them from using their powers in evil or obnoxious
ways.  People sometimes foolishly seek out the pools as a place to train
or to duel.  Perhaps the pools convey great powers to someone who can
avoid being cursed during their training period.
\end{description}

\begin{center}
{\bf Shampoo of Selective Amnesia}
\end{center}
When applied to the head by one who is knowledgeable of the ways of shampoo,
the victim will completely forget that one person in his life has ever existed.
Furthermore, he will forget any subsequent meetings with that person after they
take place.  The applier of the shampoo may choose who is forgotten.  Only
another magical shampoo can remove this curse, unless something about the
forgotten person is so memorable that demonstration of this quality can
shock the victim to recovery.

\begin{center}
{\bf Pendant of Bodily Correctness}
\end{center}
Inside this pendant is medicine that can cure any subtle physical disturbance
in the body.  It will not remove curses like those of Jusenkyou or lycanthropy,
for instance.  It could negate an acupressure curse or a quivering hand, though.

\newpage
\setcounter{page}{27}

\begin{center}
{\bf Robe of Spacious Concealment}
\end{center}
This is a white, elegantly diagramed robe with long, spacious sleeves.  The
wearer can store any number of objects in the robe and pull them out from the
sleeves.  There is no limit to the dimensions of what may be concealed or removed.
Note: while there are no problems with this item in a TFOS game,
GM's of more serious campaigns
might wish to make an encumbrance and volume limit or might wisely decide not
to use this item at all.

\begin{center}
{\bf Bottled Jusenkyou Water}
\end{center}
Unlike many magical springs and fountains, the waters of Jusenkyou can be
bottled, stored, and transported.  Some unscrupulous people may use this
cursed water to their own foul ends.  However, often they are cursed
themselves, due to the perilous origins of these potions.

\begin{center}
{\bf Decanter of Endless Jusenkyou Water}
\end{center}
A very dangerous magical item whose powers are self-explanatory.

\begin{center}
{\bf Jusenkyou Powder}
\end{center}
A packet of this powder can seemingly turn ordinary water into Jusenkyou
water.  However, this effect is temporary.  The water will only work once
to bathe people, and those who are cursed will only stay that way until
they are bathed in hot water, while those who were apparently cured will
be cursed again the moment they are doused in hot water. These packets are
primarily the tool of unscrupulous con artists. 

\begin{center}
{\bf Three Vessels}
\end{center}
There are three vases: one red, one blue, and one yellow.  When placed
together in a certain, dry, spring bed, the depression will fill with
water that will remove the Jusenkyou curse, (unless the spring is out
of order\ldots in which case there may well be a sign
in some obscure part of the pool).
 
The last time a search for these vessels was enacted, one was found hidden in a    
girls' locker room, another in a large
booby-trapped fortress of two very hostile siblings,
and the third at the end of a very roundabout trail.
Each vessel contains a clue to the
location of another, but to find the first, a map is required.

\newpage

\begin{center}
{\bf Genuine Jusenkyou Powder}
\end{center}
This is just like regular Jusenkyou powder, except that the effect on the
bather is permanent.  This is, therefore, much harder to acquire and is
usually unlabeled.

\begin{center}
{\bf Cursed Pot Sticker}
\end{center}
Anybody who eats one will suffer an uncontrollable urge to hug anyone in
earshot who sneezes.  This is a good magical item for winter. The primary
ingredient is a type of hypnotic mushroom that may have other unusual
effects.

\begin{center}
{\bf Nanban Mirror}
\end{center}
When a teardrop falls upon the surface of this mirror, the bearer and all
those around will be instantly transported to the place and time that the
bearer is thinking of.  It is probably very rare that the bearer is actually
thinking of the place and time that he thinks he is thinking of the moment
the teardrop hits the surface, so it is up to the gamemaster not to tell
the players what the mirror does, but just send them wherever he feels
when a teardrop falls upon it.

\begin{center}
{\bf Bracelet of Love}
\end{center}
Upon this bracelet are three pearls: one white, one light blue, and one
dark blue.  These stones can be easily plucked off the bracelet.  When
someone swallows one of these pearls, that person will fall in love with
the first person that he or she sets eyes upon who is of the opposite sex.

\begin{center}
{\bf Sigil of Invincibility}
\end{center}
When this potent character is inscribed in ink upon a person's stomach,
that person will be unbeatable in combat for as long as that character
is unmarred.  The character cannot be defaced by any means short of the
beneficiary contorting in such a way as to make it unrecognizable.  In
the mean time, no blow can land upon the possessor of the sigil, no matter
how immobile he is, and none of his blows will miss.  His strength will
know no bounds for the purpose of breaking bonds as well.

The only drawback
to this is that the sigil is in the form of a ridiculous-looking happy
face that nobody could possibly take seriously.  This magical character is
not recommended for a bunch of hack-and-slashers, however,
it's great for a TFOS game filled with image-conscious teenagers.

\newpage

\begin{center}
{\bf Red String}
\end{center}
When this string is tied to two people's fingers, the two will immediately
fall in love.  Nine hours after it is tied for the first time, it will
disappear.  If it is still being worn, the love becomes eternal.  It can
be cut in the meantime, but must be attached at the end of that time.
When the string is broken, the two victims will not have a clear memory
of the events that occurred while it was worn.

\begin{center}
{\bf Dragon String}
\end{center}
This string of dragon's hair serves as a magical seal.  One proven application
is the prevention of hair growth when bound in the hair.

\begin{center}
{\bf Censer of Exorcism}
\end{center}
When a victim of possession inhales the fumes of the censer, the inhabiting
spirit will be forced to leave the victim and assume a semi-corporeal form.  
The cursed forms of Jusenkyou victims are actually possessing spirits, but
their personalities do not impose themselves upon the people that they inhabit.
When freed, they could be completely different from their host and are quite
likely to have many supernatural powers.

\begin{center}
{\bf Bandage of Continual Lust}
\end{center}
A person who accidentally wears this cursed bandage will immediately fall in  
lust with each and every member of the opposite sex of the same species that
is met.

\begin{center}
{\bf Tattoo of Weakness}
\end{center}
This symbol is burnt upon the back of the victim, who will immediately become
ineffectually weak.  The victim will not notice this weakness until a task 
that requires any moderate application of strength is required. The victim
will then spectacularly fail.

\begin{center}
{\bf Miyamoto Musashi's Boken}
\end{center}
This was originally the wooden practice sword of Miyamoto Musashi, the
greatest swordsman in Japanese history.  It is now infused with Musashi's soul.
His ego is very strong, and it is quite likely that the wielder will be   
possessed by his will.  When in possession of the body, Musashi will be able
to put to use all of his legendary sword skill.  The boken itself is incredibly
hardy and can cut through anything.

\newpage

\begin{center}
{\bf Bakeneko Bell}
\end{center}
This large bell can be used to summon the Bake Neko (Hell Cat).  The Bake Neko
is a giant (about the size of a large bull), ghostly, white cat with large, 
glowing, yellow eyes.  It can assume a material form or become complete
ethereal and invisible.  In the latter form, it can possess people.  The Bake Neko 
likes to endear itself to the possessor of the bell, is attracted to any sort
of ringing bell, and lusts after cute females.  It is quite easy to
accidentally summon the Bake Neko by ringing the bell too much.
The bell itself is about two feet wide, golden, and makes a loud tinkling noise.

\begin{center}
{\bf The Tower of Go}
\end{center}
The Tower of Go is a large, quite immobile pagoda with but a single floor which
is constructed of giant, pure white, square tiles.  In the center of this 
construction is a Go board and two bags filled with the playing pieces.  The
building itself is a giant Go board if anyone cares to notice.  The ceiling is
so far up that it cannot be perceived through the soft glow that permeates 
everything.  Whenever a playing piece is placed upon the board, a
correspondingly large boulder will drop from the ceiling and land at the appropriate
place in the Tower.  The boulder will be black or white depending upon the
color of the playing piece.  Destroying the board will wreck the tower
catastrophically, which is probably not a good idea.  Obviously, this is a
takeoff on the standard chessboard traps.

\begin{center}
{\bf Shadow Incense}
\end{center}
When these pellets of incense are burnt, the vapors will animate the user's
shadow and imbue it with sentience.  One application is its use by martial
artists to train against someone who is their absolute equal.  The shadow 
form is solid for as long as there are light conditions that allow shadows.
If such conditions cease, the shadow becomes completely incorporeal.  When
the incense runs out, the shadow returns to the user.  Training against this
shadow will allow the user to rapidly accumulate experience or skill in    
unarmed combat.  However, there is a cumulative chance (5-10\% per use)
that the shadow will be imbued with the user's life force and become a 
sentient being.  The user will then notice an increasing fatigue, without
actually suffering a loss in strength or agility.

The shadow will usually
stick around its possessor but may sometimes sneak away to fulfill its own
goals when it thinks its possessor is not paying attention (and how often 
do people pay attention to their own shadows?).
The shadow has the same motivations and goals as the possessor, but is more
devious and suffers far less in the way of inhibitions while pursuing them.
One way to force the shadow to return is to soundly defeat it in unarmed
combat. 

\begin{center}
{\bf Sleeping Gas Nikuman}
\end{center}
These delicacies are dumplings filled with tasty food.  However, they have a nasty
tendency to explode in the would-be consumer's face, releasing sleeping gas.

\begin{center}
{\bf Dragon Hair Soup}
\end{center}
Soup made with dragon's hair can promote hair growth in males.  A bald man can
expect to gain a full head of hair.  However, someone with hair normally will
find that it will grow out at the alarming rate of about an inch a second.  At
this speed, his hair will be all gone in about two months!  Fortunately, this
process can be halted by the application of Dragon String.

\begin{center}
{\bf Spirit Picture Scroll}
\end{center}
The beautiful scene from one of these hanging tapestries is actually derived
from the essence of an imprisoned spirit.  The spirit can cause the picture
to animate, providing great entertainment to viewers.  It is kept in the   
picture by a spirit seal.  If the seal is removed, the spirit will be free 
to leave.  The spirit must be convinced, coerced, or tricked into returning,
as the scrolls themselves are only containers and have no power over spirits.

\begin{center}
{\bf Noxious Sauce}
\end{center}
Once upon a time, a girl made a pot of okonomiyaki        
(pancake) sauce and buried it for ten years to become an incredible delicacy.
Unfortunately, before the sauce was buried, a boy spilled it all
over the ground.  So as not to be caught, he hastily reconstructed the sauce
from the ingredients that she was using.

Ten years later, the ruined sauce
is so nauseating that its vapors can drive away the most fearsome of spirits
and a mere taste can incapacitate the victim for a good week.  Woe betide any
who dare to consume pancakes coated with this! 

\begin{center}
{\bf Haunted Equipment of the New Gymnastics}
\end{center}
These ribbons, balls, batons, and hoops are haunted by the ghosts of their 
original wielders, who will cause grief to any who handle the equipment  
without proper honor or respect.  As with most New Gymnastics equipment, 
these are rigged to deliver an unpredictable variety of surprises to
competitors. 

\begin{center}
{\bf Great Dragon of God}
\end{center}
A fearsome-looking, mechanical, Chinese dragon that requires two strong     
operators and belches scorching fire.  Music emanates from the belly of 
the dragon which is impossible not to dance to, thereby ruining most attempts
at defense.  Victims are usually so traumatized that they cannot remember what
trashed them. 

\begin{center}
{\bf Soba of Strength}
\end{center}
The imbiber of this very oniony noodle soup will become strong beyond all mortal
limits.  An unfortunate side effect is the production of whiskers upon female
users.  The strength and the whiskers may be removed by the ingestion of but a
single, small radish.

%\begin{center}
%{\bf Possessed Bra}
%\end{center}
%An evil, powerful, snake spirit possesses this bra.  She may be summoned when
%the bra is worn around any portion of the anatomy.  Her powers include the 
%ability to charm males and the skill of changing into an attractive woman.
%Her normal form is that of a giant snake with human arms and a vaguely human head
%with long hair, wearing the bra.

\begin{center}
{\bf Katana of the Perfect Human}
\end{center}
Similar to the sword in the stone, this katana is buried in a rock in a temple
courtyard.  Only a perfect person can free it.  The katana will grant its
bearer three wishes so long as he or she is a perfect person.  Unworthy 
people will find themselves attacked by the sword.  The outcomes of wishes may
not be exactly what the person expected, but he or she will wind up satisfied.\\

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Weird Items}
\end{center}
The following items may not be inherently magical, but they 
certainly are strange. 

\begin{center}
{\bf Spatula Shiriken}
\end{center}
These small okonomiyaki spatulas can be worn on a bandoleer and used like 
shiriken.   

\begin{center}
{\bf Red Bamboo Umbrella}
\end{center}
This umbrella, made of only bamboo and red cloth is incredibly heavy.  Only
an obscenely strong person could ever hope to lift it.  
In the hands of a skilled
wielder, though, it can function as a sword or club, a razor-sharp boomerang,
or, most incredibly, a parachute.  Furthermore, if the bearer was unfortunate
enough to be cursed by Jusenkyou water, it is a great way to keep the rain
off.

\begin{center}
{\bf Equipment of the New Gymnastics}
\end{center}
New gymnastics martial arts requires that the competitors attack each other 
with anything save their bare limbs.  To this end, practitioners have developed
razor-sharp hoops, clubs that suddenly produce spikes, balls filled with
gunpowder, swords disguised as ropes, skimpy leotards that double as Robes of
Spacious Concealment, and several other incredibly mean devices.

\begin{center}
{\bf Black Rose Bouquet}
\end{center}
A timed sleeping gas bomb is concealed in this Valentine treat.

\begin{center}
{\bf Flour Bomb}
\end{center}
This is an exploding package of flour that makes for a great distraction.

\begin{center}
{\bf Giant Spatula}
\end{center}
Besides making gigantic okonomiyaki, this can be a devastating weapon in the
hands a trained wielder.  It is about the size of a greatsword.

\begin{center}
{\bf Giant Ping Pong Balls}
\end{center}
These one to ten foot diameter ping pong balls are favored by users of the 
Soba of Strength.  Often they are hollow and can conceal as many surprises
as New Gymnastics equipment.  There are balls that explode, glue bombs, balls
that launch chains, balls that shoot forks, and balls that hatch frogs, among
other things.\\


\begin{center}
{\large \bf Spells \& Techniques}
\end{center}
Here is a brief guide to some colorful martial arts
skills and mystic spells that have been employed in the series. 

\begin{center}
{\bf Tenshin Amaguri Ken

``Chestnut Fist''}
\end{center}
This is an incredibly high speed attack where the attacker
launches hundreds of blows so fast that they cannot be avoided. Although
the individual blows are puny, the cumulative effect is the same as a normal
martial arts strike.  The technique can also be used to quickly retrieve many
small items from a hazardous environment.  Training for this technique may
be accomplished by plucking chestnuts out of a fire without burning the hands,
grabbing fish from a waterfall, catching goldfish with rice paper hoops, or 
plucking all the piranhas out of a tank by their tails before they can bite. 

\newpage

\begin{center}
{\bf Bakusaitenketsu}
\end{center}
By instinctively knowing the weak point in any object, the practitioner can
punch his or her finger through it to cause the object to blow up.  If the    
object is very big, a blast crater about ten yards in diameter will be formed.
The technique does not apply to anything made of living matter, but works 
very well against things like robots, golems, or animated snowmen.  The debris
from the explosion can be quite devastating as well, but the practitioner
has hardened his body to it through the harsh training required to learn
the skill.

Training
for this is accomplished by tying the student up and suspending him from a
tree in the lotus position.  Only one arm is free, and the hand is bound so
that the index finger is pointed out. A boulder, attached to a large tree 
branch, is swung like a pendulum at the student. When the student can 
detonate the boulder with his finger before getting smashed, he has learned
the bakusaitenketsu technique adequately.

\begin{center}
{\bf Impenetrable Block}
\end{center}
This is the counter to bakusaitenketsu.  The master releases a hornets' nest
upon the student.  When the student can destroy every individual hornet before
getting stung, he is then so good that no attack that is not directed by a 
skilled martial artist can get through his defense unless it is smaller than
a hornet. 

\begin{center}
{\bf Acupressure Curse}
\end{center}
Variations of the quivering palm and vital area techniques can cause the victim
to become particularly sensitive to various substances and unable to receive
any benefits from them, such as hot water.

\begin{center}
{\bf Bon Dance of the Spirits}
\end{center}
This martial arts maneuver can only be attempted by a trained ice skater.  It
is a beautiful spinning dance that whirls the victim around the skater and 
leaves him defenseless against the hundreds of blows being landed
upon him.  The skater must take several hours to reorient himself to his 
surroundings after the maneuver during which time he is completely oblivious
to events around him, or even those which affect him.

\begin{center}
{\bf Separation Merry-go-round}
\end{center}
By grabbing an opponent and spinning incredibly fast, an ice skater/martial
artist can throw his victim into a wall at an incredibly high speed.
This works best against pair skating opponents who may be holding each  
other when picked up.

\begin{center}
{\bf Odd Weapon Choices}
\end{center}
Many characters in the series use a wide variety of unusual weapons in their
martial arts.  Among them are:

\begin{itemize}
\item A red bamboo umbrella.
\item A belt.
\item Sweatbands.
\item A wooden sword.
\item Gymnastics equipment.
\item Large colorful batons.
\item A small pipe.
\item Chopsticks.
\item A giant spatula.
\item Spatula shiriken.
\end{itemize}

\begin{center}
{\bf Mind Control Maneuver}
\end{center}
By attacking certain acupressure spots, a martial artist can render his 
victim open to hypnotic suggestion.

\begin{center}
{\bf Hiryuu Shoutenha}
\end{center}
This maneuver can be used by any martial artist, no matter how weak they are in
relation to their opponent.  By dodging his enemies' blows and luring him into
a spiraling dance, the artist can, at the completion of the maneuver direct
all the his opponent's energy against him in a massive upward thrust of vaguely
dragon-shaped energy.  This is usually enough to send his enemy flying into the
sky.  If the opponent is very strong, it might actually create a tornado that  
affects all those around.  The martial artist must be sure not to get hit before
the maneuver is completed, though.

\begin{center}
{\bf Ancient Saotome Special Arts}
\end{center}
Not all martial artists are brave and honorable.  These peculiar martial arts
involve the cowardly dodging of various blows, halting opponents' attacks so
as to be able to run away, luring people into complacency so as to be able
to launch sneak attacks, and rendering enemies helpless so as to be able to 
spectacularly smash them (the Frog Run Over by Big Rig technique).  These
secret arts are absolutely honorless but sometimes quite handy.

\newpage

\begin{center}
{\bf Expansion Maneuver}
\end{center}
The user of this power can transform himself into a giant idealized form that
towers over surrounding buildings.  An ideal way to battle gargantua, it does
take quite a bit out of the user and may only be maintained for half an hour
at most.  The caster will then be completely exhausted.  If the user loses
his courage, he will also revert to normal size, because the change is powered
by his will to fight.

\begin{center}
{\bf Yakisoba Net}
\end{center}
Skilled chefs can turn dough into hand-pulled noodles.  This skill takes this
a step further by rapidly producing an entangling stream of noodles from a pile
of dough.  The victim can be several feet away and will be completely entangled
in the morass of noodles.  The noodles are quite strong and the wielder of the 
snare can put the victim through quite a lot of grief.

\begin{center}
{\bf Happo Dai Karin}
\end{center}
This spell summons a lit firework of variable size into the caster's hand.  It
blows up about ten seconds later.  Once in a while, an incredibly large,
long-burning firework will be produced.  These fireworks can be tossed a grenades
and produce bright, colorful, and damaging explosions.

\begin{center}
{\bf Shower of Rice}
\end{center}
With a pair of chopsticks and a bowl of rice, the practitioner of this       
technique can send a hail of tiny grains of rice as fast as bullets into an 
enemy.  Note that rice grains are smaller than hornets.

\begin{center}
{\bf Neko Ken

``Cat Fist''}
\end{center}
This is the most powerful of all of the martial arts, but the 
correct training technique has been long lost.  The user of Neko Ken has a
perfect defense and offense by shredding anything around him with his hands
and moving so quickly so as to be able to destroy any incoming attack.

Unfortunately,
the only training available to learn this skill involves wrapping the
unfortunate in cat nip and throwing him into a pit filled with wild cats. The primary
result is that the victim acquires an incredible phobia with regard to cats.
However, if he is scared beyond his wits by enough exposure to a cat, he will
be able to use Neko Ken.  While using Neko Ken, however, the
practitioner thinks that he is a cat and can only be brought to normal by sleeping in
the lap of an essentially non-threatening person.


\end{document}

