THE TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING GAME
Test Build 1.5
INTRODUCTION
JoJo was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1987 to 2004. In 2004, during the run of its seventh
installment, it transferred to the monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump, where the current story continues
to this day. The series has sold over 80 million copies in Japan, and is one of the overall best-selling
Weekly Shonen Jump series. Numbering over 100 volumes (for a total of ~20,000 pages); it holds the
record for Shueisha's second longest-running manga series. English publication of the earlier parts of the
series is ongoing. It is perhaps most popularly known for its Stand phenomenon; the Stardust Crusaders
arc and its characters Dio and Jotaro Kujo; the expressive rendition of its proud, glamorous personalities;
and its hundreds of nominal references to Western popular music.
Chapters and arcs in JoJo are diverse in tone, contributing to a span of genres including Action,
Adventure, Comedy, Thriller, Mystery, Horror and Supernatural fiction. The thrust of the plot is met by
precarious, melodramatic interactions between individuals defined by supernatural power and conflicting
ambitions, attitudes or moral standards, along with a race among the emergent heroes of a given arc to
intercept a powerful central antagonist. The signature mechanic of the series is the supernatural,
increasingly abstract Stand powers that permeate most the series. Recurrent subjects in the text of the
manga may be condensed under themes of Fate, Fortunity, Justice and Redemption.
In the words of the man himself; ​“I believe that people are able to grow by overcoming obstacles
through the power of the human spirit and strength, and that, I believe is “an affirmation that humanity is
wonderful”. Within ‘JoJo's Bizarre Adventure’, there are fights and stories that involve various elements.
However, in the end, people pull through without relying on machines and divine beings to determine fate
themselves.”
What do I need?
Jojo’s Bizarre Tabletop is best played with a couple of six-sided dice, some pen-and-paper,
notecards, friends and a whole lot of imagination.
SECTION I: CHARACTER CREATION
Characters in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure come in many forms: Japanese high-school delinquents,
Italian mobsters, and even the President of the United States, are all characters you could encounter on
your adventure. The following rules are here to help you create the characters that will populate this
bizarre world.
Character Creation is split into two parts: Character Creation and Stand Creation. You’ll have 5
points to spend to increase certain aspects of your character and stand while designing, but there are
options you can take throughout to get you more points for a cost. Feel free to use the Character Sheets at
the end of the PDF when designing your character [Character Sheet is out of date, and has been removed.
Stand sheet, however, still applies and has been left in].
CHARACTER CREATION
Characters have three statistics that are important to them: Brains, Brawns, and Bravery.
Brains​ determines your character’s critical reasoning and ability to deceive opponents. It also
decides your character’s ​Plot​ score.
Brawns​ determines your general athletics; all physical actions, whether being fast, throwing a
punch, or powering through a painful blow, will require a good Brawns score to succeed. Brawns also
plays an important part in determining your ​Health​.
Bravery​ determines your character’s willpower to push beyond their limits. Your ​Resolve​ is also
determined by your bravery score.
These three stats are scored from 1 to 5. To generate these stats, characters start out scored 3 in
their Brains, Brawns and Bravery, and you can choose to distribute some of your 5 points to increase
them. It costs ​one​ point to increase a skill up to 4, and it costs ​two more​ points to increase a skill up to 5.
If a player chooses, they can decrease one of their stats down to 2 to get an extra point, and even further
down to 1 to gain​ two more​ points.
Any points you do not use are saved for the Stand Creation process described below.
STAND CREATION
Now that you have the basic statline for your character, you can move on to begin making your
stand.
Before you get started on stand generation, you should first think about what you want from your
Stand. Stand’s are ghostly projections of your soul with fantastic abilities capable of doing just about
anything. The possibilities are endless, and so it’s good to narrow down what kind of strange ability or
special power you want your stand to possess. This way you can work towards building your stand in a
way that best supports the ability you had in mind.
If you only have a vague idea of what you want to do, then that’s fine. Hopefully, by the end of
Stand Creation, you’ll be able to look at your stand’s parameters and be able to see a direction to take
your ability.
MAKING YOUR STAND
Stands are made with a point-buy system similar to the one used in character creation. Stands,
however, use more complicated “Parameters” instead of the simplified character stats.
These parameters are presented below, just like you see them in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure:
POWER: How strong you can ORA. Also, how potent a Stand’s abilities are.
SPEED: How quickly you can ORA. Also, movement speed, dodging, agility, etc.
RANGE: How far you can ORA. Also, the effective range of abilities.
DURABILITY: How well you can take other ORA. Also, how long a Stand’s ability can act.
PRECISION: How accurately you can ORA. Also, how precise the Stand’s abilities are.
LEARNING: How well you can learn new ORA. Also, how well a Stand can adapt.
PARAMETERS
Instead of raw numbers, parameters for stands are presented as letter “Ranks” that represent
different power levels, as follows:
A: Exceptional
B: Good
C: Same level as average, healthy human
D: Weak
E: Pitiful
These Ranks, unlike the simple scores used to represent characters, represent much broader levels
of strength and ability. While a character will always roll 1d6 (plus their most applicable modifier),
Stands directly increase the number of dice they roll depending on their rank. While Stands have access to
a larger number of dice to make rolls, they don’t benefit from the user’s brains, brawns, or bravery scores;
therefore, a stand’s dice rolls can be more powerful, but also more unpredictable than a human.
The Stand’s Rank changes the amount of dice you use, and keep, when making a roll using a
Stand’s parameters:
E:
1d6
D:
2d6 keep 1
B:
3d6 keep 2
A:
3d6
C:
2d6
Table 1.1
There may be times when your stand parameter comes into play, but isn’t the central parameter of
a roll. Whether this is you assisting your ally by grappling an enemy, or your stand ability affecting an
opponent’s action, you can resolve this situation by adding your Stand’s “Parameter Modifier,” onto a
roll.
A “Parameter Modifier” uses your Stands’ Rank to determine the modifier that is given for that
situation:
E:
-5
D:
-3
B:
+3
A:
+5
C:
+1
Table 1.2
Parameter Modifiers should be used sparingly. It is most effective when used to reward player
ingenuity, teamwork, or to sometimes represent a passive effect of a Stand Ability. The DM has final say
on when using a Parameter Modifier is most appropriate, and at any point, the DM can decide something
that used to give a Parameter Modifier no longer does.
The process of making Stands is similar to character creation. When generating parameters,
Stands start out Ranked C in all their stats. You can choose to increase them with any leftover points from
character creation. It costs one point to increase a Rank up to B, and it costs two more points to increase a
Rank up to A.
A player can choose to decrease their stats for extra points like character creation, but this time
there's a catch. The player can decrease one of their Ranks down to D to get an extra point, and even
further down to E to get two more points, but decreasing a stat down to Rank E causes a stand to adopt a
“Critical Weakness.”
Critical Weaknesses are glaring flaws that result from a stand having an E-rank. These Critical
Weaknesses can vary, and the player and DM are recommended to brew up a critical weakness for the
ability that fits the Stand and User. If a player already gave their ability a weakness while designing their
stand, the DM can choose to count one of those weaknesses as a “Critical Weakness.” A good critical
weakness will complicate the way the player uses their stand ability. Some examples of Critical
weaknesses are provided in the descriptions for each Stand Parameter.
WHAT DO STAND’S PARAMETERS DO?
All Stand parameters have their own niche roll to perform during combat, but they're uniform in
that they both affect your Stand or their ability in some way. Listed below are all the parameters in more
detail and for what purposes they’d be used.
POWER
Power measures a Stand's strength and the destructive power of their ability; whenever a Stand
punches or uses their ability to inflict harm, Power will always be the main dice in the roll. A good Power
ranking will be necessary to do the maximum amount of damage possible.
For an example, a Stand with Weak Power but Excellent Speed wants to make an attack that
consists of hundreds of quick punches. Even though that's a lot of punches, if there's no force behind
them, then they won't do much damage. As such, they’d still have to roll the dice for their Weak Power
over their speed. This stand is better off using their speed to dodge their opponents blows and play keep
away rather than directly attacking their opponent.
Power also helps to dictate the destructive power of your stand’s abilities. If your ability is going
to harm your opponent in a direct way, your power score will determine the roll that you make to damage
them. Note that this is only true for Stand Abilities that are not launched projectiles and don’t require any
complex manipulation. Those two categories are covered under Precision.
Example Critical Weakness:​ Stands with E-ranked Power are incapable of fighting physically. They are
too weak and puny to put up a fight with their bodies, and will automatically fail any opposed roll against
another Stand’s Power in physical combat, taking full damage.
SPEED
Speed measures the Stand's agility, quickness and reflexes. Speed affects how good your stand is
at dodging incoming attacks, how quickly you get to act, and how fast it moves across the battlefield.
Stands are generally considered to move adjacent with their users, but if sent off on their own, they’ll be
able to move up to the following speeds per turn depending on their rank:
A: 50 meters (164 feet)
B: 30 meters (100 feet)
C: 20 meters (65 feet)
D: 10 meters (32 feet)
E: 2 meters (6 feet)
When combat begins, speed helps decide who goes first in the turn order of combats. Whenever a
combat begins, players add their Stand’s Speed Parameter Modifier to their initiative roll, whether that
modifier is good or bad.
Example Critical Weakness:​ Stands with E-ranked Speed are incredibly slow and sluggish. If a stand
with E-ranked Speed rolls against an opponent’s Stand, then that opponent’s Stand adds it’s Speed
Modifier to the attack roll.
RANGE
Range measures the Stand's range of ability influence, and spatial mobility. When a Stand has
high range, they’ll be able to fight and use their abilities within the range that is provided by their Rank.
Regardless of a Stand’s range, it is still required to manifest next to its’ user before it moves off,
unless a GM and player decide otherwise as part of an ability.
For stand and ability range, rankings are defined as follows:
A: 100+ meters (328+ feet)*
B: 50 meters (164 feet)
C: 20 meters (65 feet)
D: 10 meters (32 feet)
E: 2 meters (6.5 feet)
Example Critical Weakness:​ Stand abilities with E-ranked Range immediately fade when the user is no
longer adjacent to their victim.
*A-ranked Range is normally 100 ft, but can be any amount higher if the Stand is a Long-Distance Type Stand.
DURABILITY
Durability measures the Stand's endurance and susceptibility to damage and attacks. Stand’s are
normally not their own entities with their own health values as they are just manifestations of the user’s
inner spirit. As such, any damage given to them will be considered an attack towards the user. Durability
exists to act as a buffer against that damage.
In order to represent this, a Stand with high durability will help add extra Health to the User’s
Health pool. Beyond that, a Stand targeted by an attack can always choose to roll Durability to attempt to
tough out the opponent's attack like a shield.
Another important use for Durability is in its effect on an abilities staying power. Whenever there
is an attempt to disable or remove a stand effect, durability will be used to oppose the attempt.
Example Critical Weakness:​ This stand’s E-Durability means it will be unable to create abilities that last
on an opponent. All Stand Abilities created using an E-ranked stand will end almost instantaneously (after
a single round).
PRECISION
Precision measures the Stand's accuracy, influence and effect of their abilities on specific targets.
Precision is the primary parameter when rolling to make ranged attacks. It also defines how much control
a Stand has over their ability.
For example, a Stand that makes flames appear on the battlefield could get by on having a low
precision, but a stand that wants to bend fire to form unnatural shapes around their opponent, like a gate
or cage of fire, would use their Precision in that roll. Furthermore, if the player wanted to do something
complex with their ability that doesn’t involve directly damaging anyone, they’d use precision as their
primary dice roll.
Besides affecting your accuracy and stand ability, precision also affects how well your Stand’s
control over their senses is (if they have any). An A ranked precision means that your stand’s senses of
sight, touch and/or hearing are superhuman, whereas a stand with E precision lacks any sense of their
own.
Example Critical Weakness:​ Stands with E-ranked Precision are incapable of controlling the effects of
their stand abilities. In other words, their abilities are capable of spinning wildly out of their control and
causing themselves and others serious harm.
LEARNING
Learning is different from the other five parameters in that it has no real effect on your stands
physical stats. Instead, Learning is important for your Stand to learn new techniques and abilities on the
spot. There are two ways that learning can be used: To expand on an ability, or to gain a new one.
When a player decides to expand on an ability, they can permanently reduce their learning score
by one rank and gain a new power based off their original ability. As long as the new application makes
some loose bit of sense to everyone at the table, then the new ability is instantly added to your arsenal and
can be used on the spot to solve a problem. Furthermore, whenever you use your Learning to gain a new
ability, you get to maximize whatever dice roll you use for the first use of it.
For example, a player decides they want their stand to have the ability to read minds.
Unfortunately, they end up being less than useful in combat, and they need to act quickly in order to save
a party member. So, in order to counter that, the player decreases their learning to make a new ability
called Mind Blast, which allows them to directly assault the targets brain, stunning them. Since his
original power had something to do with the mind, it’s not a far stretch to imagine this ability as being a
latent talent, and so the GM allows the ability.
Deciding his attack works with his A precision, he immediately acts as if he rolled a 6 for every
dice, meaning he “rolls” an 18 against his opponent’s brains. They roll a 7, so with his new powers, he
successfully catches his opponent off guard and blasts his opponent back.
If a player wants, they can also develop an entirely new ability that is not related at all to their
original power, but this costs two ranks in learning to do. So, in order to maximize the usage of your
learning parameter, it is suggested to use as much pseudo-science as possible to link something you want
to do with your original power. Whenever a player gains a new ability through learning, it’s up to them to
explain if it came to them on the spot, it was something they were training to do, or just a secret technique
that they were waiting to pull out for just such an occasion.
Example Critical Weakness:​ A stand with E-ranked Learning doesn’t impart any negatives upon your
stand. A player decreasing Learning is simply limiting sudden, emergency utility for immediate power,
which is a risk the player is free to take on their own.
STAND TYPES
Another way of improving your stand is giving it a​ Stand Type. A Stand Type is a special
condition that you can give your stand that will modify it in someway in return for giving you bonuses or
better stats.
When you select a Stand Type, the stat changes from those types will come into effect ​after
character creation is concluded, but ​before​ the character is assigned Critical Weaknesses.
If you take the Integrated Stand Type, for example, you could reduce your Durability to E for
extra points, and then boost that E Durability to A at the end of character creation. You wouldn’t be able
to adjust your scores any further after this point, however, and your durability would be locked at A.
Using Stand Types allows you to exploit your Stand’s point limits, but there are some limitations.
Some Stand Types have prerequisites that require you to have certain stats or to pay a point cost before
you select them. If, by the end of character creation, your Stand’s stats don’t match the prerequisites, then
you can’t take the type. Furthermore, if you take a stand type that is listed under a category, then you are
locked out from taking any other Stand Types from that same category. Lastly, if a Stand Type would ask
you to “decrease an attribute”, then that stat decrease can’t put you below E rank (e.g. someone with
D-ranked Range couldn’t take Wearable until they boosted their range up to C first).
Listed below are different kinds of Stand Types that you can apply to your stands:
Close-Distance Power Type:
Minimum Prerequisites: N/A.
Category: D
​ istance.
Close-Range Power Type Stands are known for being able to inflict powerful and swift attacks
upon opponents. However, they are only able to move 2-3 meters away from their user, despite what their
range score is. They also generally have closer ranged abilities due to their decreased mobility.
If you select this type, your stand goes up a rank in both Power and Speed, but goes down in
Range one rank and is limited to using E ranked Range for movement purposes.
Long-Distance Manipulation Type:
Minimum Prerequisites:​ Range (A).
Category:​ Distance.
Long-Distance Manipulation Type Stands are capable of movement beyond that of a normal
stand. They can go distances away from their users that stretches into kilometers, and often prefer using
ranged attacks due to their less than average destructive power.
If you select this type, your Stand gets mechanically infinite Range (as long as the stand user can
see the battle to command their stand) with equally long ranged abilities and projectiles, but goes down a
Rank in Power and Durability.
Far-Distance Autopilot Type:
Minimum Prerequisites: ​Range (A).
Category:​ Distance.
Far-Distance Autopilot Type stands are stands that act on their own. They follow a simple
objective without being directly ordered by their Users, though they can be preset to follow orders before
they are activated. Users do not have to be present for the Stand to do anything, as these Stands have a
range that is close to infinite, with no diminish in power relative to the distance from the user. As an
offset, since they are remotely controlled, automated Stands often lack Precision and Complex Cognitive
ability, and are clumsy compared to normal Stands.
If you select this type, your Stand gets Mechanically infinite Range, but goes down a rank in
Precision. Your Stand also becomes a remote controlled Stand that follows a simple objective. It gains a
single Main Action, and uses its Speed to move independently of you. You do not need to be actively
involved in the fight for your stand to function, but your stand is unable to make any cognitive decision
making, and will be rather predictable because of it.
You can spend 1 character creation point to not have any damage transfer over when your stand is
hit. If you do this, your stand manifests with half of your health; this is how much damage your stand can
take before being dispelled. When dispelled, the stand cannot be summoned for the rest of that fight.
Substance Assimilation Type:
Minimum Prerequisites: N/A.
Category: F
​ orm, Distance.
Substance Assimilation Type stands, also known as Bound Stands, manifest by binding to
material objects. These can materialize as vehicles, elements, weapons and many more things. Unlike
other stands, these stands are able to take a solid enough form to be seen by normal humans. These stands
usually have a lower Learning score due to them only being able to manipulate the objects they are bound
to.
If you select this type, your Stand will gain Durability (A), but go down a rank in Learning. Your
Stand will be bound to an object and cannot directly take damage, only the object it inhabits, so no
damage will transfer over to you if your Stand is hit. If wielded as a weapon, your Bound stand uses its
own Parameters to attack, and cannot benefit from the user’s Brawns. The Stand may still benefit from
traits or object bonuses.
Due to the Stand’s nature as a visible thing, Stand Users’ without their stands (and even non-stand
users) can attempt to oppose your stand ability.
Integrated Type:
Prerequisites: N/A
Category: F
​ orm, Distance.
Integrated Type Stands lack any physical form of their own, but instead give abilities to their
users. This ability usually either manifests on it’s opponents or on the user’s body.
If you select this type, your Stand will gain Durability (A), but it will lack a physical form.
Wearable Type:
Prerequisites: N/A
Category: F
​ orm.
Wearable Type stands cover their user like armour, protecting them along with granting the use of
their abilities. Because they are bound to the user, their range is often short.
If you select this type, your Stand will increase two Ranks in Durability, but go down two Ranks
in Range. Furthermore, your stand will manifest over your body like clothing or armour, making all
attacks against you count as attacks against your Stand.
Whenever damage is dealt to the User, your Wearable Stand will affect the damage dealt
depending on the Stand’s Durability score; a high Durability will decrease damage, and a low Durability
will actually increase the damage the user takes.
Durability Score
Damage Scaling
A
-2
B
-1
C
0
D
+1
E
+2
Colony Type:
Prerequisites: S
​ pend 3 Character points.
Category:​ Form.
Colony Type Stands are stands that appear as multiple, smaller stands instead of a single form.
These Stands are well coordinated, and work together to use the Stand’s ability. The loss of an individual
stand in the colony is insignificant, and damage doesn’t transfer from losing any parts of the colony.
If you select this type, your Stand goes up a rank in Durability and Range, and your stand takes
the form of multiple small, unified stands (the exact number is decided by the player and the DM).
Furthermore, Colony Stands have the unique ability to use a secondary action as if it was a main action,
allowing them to attack twice with their stand in one turn.
When picking the Colony type, the Colony gains health equal to half of the Users’ health. The
colony is assumed to have anywhere from dozens to hundreds of stands as a part of the colony, each a
small piece of a larger whole. The Stands health is considered the full health of the entire colony acting as
one unit, but it's possible that the user may want to separate their stand into smaller groups. Whenever a
colony stand group (either a single unit or many smaller units) is separated from the stand, they act as if
they had two ranks lower in all their stats. If they’re destroyed, however, they only send a single damage
back to the colony as a whole.
A stand punches the ground where a bunch of Colony Stands are standing, doing 7 damage. This
means the Colony will take 7 total damage. If this square only had a single unit or small group of the
Colony stands within it, then their death would only transfer 1 total damage to the Colony.
A colony can separate into as many smaller groups as they want, so long as the number of groups
doesn’t exceed the colony’s current max health. Keep in mind, if the opponent can reason a way to target
multiple, separate stacks of colony stand at once, they can attack multiple stacks at once.
ACT Type:
Minimum prerequisites:​ 3 Character creation points.
Category:​ N/A
ACT type stands are different from other stands in that they have multiple forms. These Stands
will start out in their ACT 1 form, and grow into new evolutions over time. Although they start out
weaker than other stands, over time they’ll continue to grow and get stronger along with their abilities.
From this point on, every time you use a Learning Rank to gain a new sub-ability or brand new
ability all together, your Stand “Levels up,” to the next ACT in its evolution.
Whenever a new ACT is achieved, you receive two new character points that you can spend to
increasing the Stand’s stats (except for Learning), or even take new Stand Types that apply to that specific
ACT of the Stand. Just like in character creation, you may also choose to have one of the Stand’s
parameters decrease in the transformation to the new ACT for extra points. The new ACT is the only one
able to use the new ability and improved stats that you just learned, though you can switch between ACTs
in combat with a secondary action. The next time you burn a Learning point, you level up to the new act
using the most recent ACT’s statline as the base.
No Stand:
Prerequisites: N
​ /A
Category: N
​ /A
If you have the ​No Stand​ Stand type, you don’t have a Stand. You can’t see stands or interact with stands
through normal means. This is the real Hard Mode.
As a reward for being gutsy enough to bring a “normal person” to a Stand fight, you gain two
discounts to character creation: One, you only have to pay one point for increasing a Character Score
from 4-5, and two, you only have to pay half the point cost to level up in a Character Type (1 point for
rank 1, 2 points for rank 2, 3 points for rank 3). Furthermore, you get one extra Resolve every time you’re
hit or affected by a new Stand. This Resolve disappears at the end of the session.
STAND ABILITY
At the beginning of Stand Creation, it was mentioned that you should try to think about what kind
of ability you wanted your Stand to have. Now that all your stats are down, it’s time to implement your
ability.
Stand abilities can take any form. Stands that change the way people feel, Stands that affect
gravity in certain areas, and Stands that make people unable to perceive doors or windows could all be
present in a Bizarre adventure. By using the descriptions of Stand Parameters above, you’ll hopefully be
able to add some reason to any fantastical abilities you or your group comes up with. As a general note,
your stand should only start with one specific ability that can be used in one or two ways. A higher
Learning score character can either evolve their ability further, or gain new abilities for their stand, but
keeping it simple is best for a starter character. The following examples help to show the process of
designing stand abilities:
A player doesn’t know exactly what kind of Stand they want to make, but like the idea of being
able to manipulate air. While developing their Stand, they bypass Stand Types and their parameters end
up looking like such: Power: B, Speed: C, Range: E, Precision: A, Durability: B, Learning potential: B.
Looking at their stats, they notice their best skill is Precision, which denotes excellent control over their
ability and being good at ranged attacks. Their Stand’s range is only E, however, so ranged attacks seem
like a poor idea. They do, however, have good Power and Durability, so they decide they would excel as a
close range fighter. With all this in mind, the player decides that their stand ability creates a vortex of
rapid wind in a 2 meter aura of their Stand. Within that Vortex, small blades of air slice anyone that gets
within range. The GM decides this is acceptable, and rules that any attacks made against people that go
within range will be dealt with a Power roll, and Precision would be used to control the Vortex of Wind
in to do things like catch falling allies, glide across the air, and stop the opponent's attacks by blocking
them with the wind (with the GM deciding the Range Critical Weakness meaning that blocking attacks
with the Vortex of Wind will not allow the player to reflect the attacks back as a counter-attack).
In another example, a player goes in knowing that they want to make a Stand that makes people
unable to perceive exits, like windows and doors. The GM decides that this ability isn’t particularly
damaging on it’s own, and so the ability “Just works,” without requiring a parameter like Power or
Precision to make it work; Speed also seems irrelevant for this ability. So, going in, the player Ranks
Power and Speed to E, and puts Precision to D so that he can avoid the Critical Weakness that would
stop him from controlling his stand’s activation effect. With those points freed up, he puts everything into
Durability, Range, and Learning. They also take the Integrated Stand Type because they don’t
particularly need a stand manifestation to begin with. The GM rules that the player needs to see the
opponent to activate the ability on them for the first critical weakness (but only needs to stay in range to
keep it active), and the player and GM agree that the stand having no combat potential on its own is good
enough for the second Critical Weakness. In this case, their Stand’s Parameters end up reflecting the
ability going into generation, instead of the parameters deciding the ability.
FLESHING OUT YOUR CHARACTER
At this point, you’ll have just finished setting up the most important aspects for your character
and Stand. This section is dedicated to fleshing out your character, and also for using up any points
leftover from the Character and Stand Creation processes.
CHARACTER TYPES
If you have points left over from Stand Creation, you may wish to beef up your character more by
giving them a Character Types.
Character Types are classes you can purchase to supplement your character. The ones listed
below are all different from one another, and display different kinds of character types that are
encountered in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.
Although they grant different boons, all character types share a few things in common:
First, they are separated into three Ranks. These three ranks represent a low level member of the
Type at Rank 1, a member whose begun to tap into the power of the Type at Rank 2, and a member whose
fully embraced the true power of the Type at Rank 3.
Second, all Character Types have the same point cost system. Rank 1 costs ​one ​point to buy, then
it costs ​three m
​ ore points to get Rank 2, and then ​six​ additional points to reach Rank 3.
The ranks you buy in a Character Type during character creation are for how your character ​starts
the game. A character may find themselves developing to new levels in their character type at specific
points in the story. If a GM thinks a character has earned the next level of a character type, they may give
the next Character Type to a player for free.
CYBERNETIC
The human body is capable of many things, but as technology advances, humans find themselves
outdone again and again by their creations. Although caution must be taken in the rampant pursuit of
technology, great strength awaits those who choose to embrace cybernetics.
RANK 1: CYBERNETIC ENHANCEMENT
Cybernetic Body Part:​ The player can replace one part of their body with a Cybernetic
Enhancement. The player can then choose if they want to do anything special with this part of
their body, like adding in any secret cavities or built in weapons. Cybernetic weapons roll with a
2d6+Brawns.
Danger Prone:​ Cybernetics are like a magnet. Whenever something awful happens to your body,
it always seems to start with the cybernetics getting damaged. Like a magnet, all the gruesome
body horror seems to be attracted to the most replaceable part of your body.
The first time you use Resolve to negate damage in a session, you negate 10 damage
instead of 5, and instantly destroy your Cybernetic Body Parts. Your cybernetic is automatically
repaired if there's any downtime between stand fights, unless the GM decides otherwise.
RANK 2: CYBORG
Mind of Steel, Heart of Iron​: As a Cyborg, at least half of your body has been converted to a
cybernetic form. When taking the Cyborg Rank, you get to choose between two Design
Philosophies for your cybernetic form:
If you choose ​Mind of Steel​, your cybernetics are advanced and precise. You gain an
extra 1d6 equal to your Brains Score when determining Health, and gain one extra Plot point at
the beginning of a session.
If you choose ​Heart of Iron​, your cybernetics are sturdy and durable. You gain an extra
1d6 equal to your Bravery Score when determining Health, and gain one extra Resolve point at
the beginning of a session
More Machine than Man​: Though converting most of your body to metal has given you great
power, it also means you must rely on your parts to function. Beware pushing your body too hard,
for even robotics have their limits.
You gain a second ​Cybernetic Body Part​, but also gain a limitation: You can no longer
reduce damage with Resolve unless you also destroy a Cybernetic Body Part. If you don’t have
any Cybernetic Body Parts, you cannot reduce damage.
Whenever a Cyborg spends a Resolve to reroll any dice, then instead of rerolling, they
roll again and add the first dice result and the second dice result together to make a new total
score. After the roll is resolved, the Cyborg takes damage equal to the second dice result. You can
only do this once per Opposed Roll.
RANK 3: ANDROID
For One Purpose​: Your body is fully machine, and you are capable of executing your purpose to
the letter. Depending on your Design Philosophy, you gain the following bonuses:
If you chose ​Mind of Steel​, you may choose to spend a Plots score at any time to add a
bonus equal to your Brains to any Opposed Roll. This ability can be used after the dice are
rolled, but can only be applied once per Opposed Roll.
If you chose ​Heart of Iron​, you gain one more Cybernetic Body Part, bringing your
total up to three. You can also choose to destroy a Cybernetic Body Part to add an extra 1d6 to a
Resolve Rush for every part destroyed this way (You only gain this bonus if the android is
making the Rush, not their Stand).
Overheat​: Whenever an Android spends Resolve to take an extra main action, they instead
take a full, extra turn. They can choose to do this at any point during the turn order before a
character acts. After this, the Android “Overheats” until their next turn, and take all attacks
unopposed from opponents.
HYPE MAN
Every good team needs this guy. He’s the coolest non fighter you’ll ever meet, and incredibly
helpful at giving exposition. Whether it's obvious or not, this is the guy that calls it all out, a narrator of
sorts. By calling out things that happen, they can bend the very fabric of narrative and give their friends a
hand in combat at the expense to their own coolness.
RANK 1: HYPE MAN
Watch Out!​: By sacrificing their main action, a Hype Man can choose to add an extra 1d6 to
allies’ rolls in contested rolls initiated by the enemy. A Hype man may do this any number of
times until their next turn, but must narrate the dangerous enemy attack approaching the opponent
(often by restating what the narrator said, but with adding in a strange metaphor or character
quirk into the mix).
If multiple Hype Men use ​Watch Out!​ on a single Opposed Roll, pick the highest D6
result, and discard the rest.
Good Job, Joestar-san!​: Whenever you use a main action, you can choose a character. Whenever
hyping up that character in an opposed roll the Hype Man may roll 2d6 Keep 1 for their Hype
Man Action.
RANK 2: HYPE MAN!
Incredible blow!​: A Hype Man may now use their ​Watch Out!​ Ability to give their 1d6 to
contested rolls initiated by an ally. This is done by yelling loud support and confidence in the
power/skill/cunning of their allies’ actions.
On top of this, a Hype Man may now sacrifice their Main Action at the beginning of
combat, allowing them to support before their first turn arrives.
Please, don’t give up now!​: At any time, a Hype Man can choose to give an ally some of their
own Resolve. This cannot bring the ally’s Resolve past their Bravery Score
RANK 3: HYPE MAN!!
I must do Something!​: A Hype Man may now use their ​Watch Out!​ Ability to give their 1d6 to
Contested Rolls they’re a part of. They do this by narrating the necessity of them to join the fight,
and to defend themselves.
Furthermore, the Hype Man only needs to spend a Secondary Action to activate ​Watch
Out!​.
I May Be Defeated, but…!​: The first time the Hype Man is brought down to 0 Health, then
instead of being removed from combat, they restore their Health back to full, and are simply
knocked aside. In this state, they may only use Hype Man actions, and cannot defend themselves
from Villain’s attacks.
They may continue doing this until their restored Health is reduced down to 0, at which
point they are once again removed from combat.
HAMON
Defenders from the dark, Hamon Users are masters of the ancient martial arts technique of
breathing and channeling the powers of life and the sun. By using special breathing techniques, they can
channel their inner energies to make powerful energy attacks that are especially effective at destroying the
minions of the dark (i.e. Vampires). Although they’re best at fighting their millennia old foe, they are no
slouch fighting other people too, and can use their immense power to wreak havoc on the battlefield or
even heal their allies.
RANK 1: HAMON USER
Hamon Breathing​: Hamon uses the power of breathing to harness the energy from within, and so,
Hamon Users must be able breathe to channel their Hamon. So long as they are not completely
deprived of Oxygen, then they may keep fighting.
Exploding Energy​: Whenever a Hamon user rolls a 6 in a physical attack when channeling
Hamon, you reroll that die and add the new value to the previous result. (Your Stand can channel
hamon, but your Stand dice and Resolve Rush dice can’t explode)
Example: A Player rolls a 2d6, getting a 3 and a 6. They then reroll the 6 and get a 4;
adding the four to the six, they get 10, which they then add to the 3 for a total of 13. If the
reroll where to have landed on a 6 as well, the process would have continued until
something other than a six was rolled​.
Hamon Tricks​: As a Secondary Action, you can channel hamon through organic matter and
liquids to create a variety of minor effects, such as walking on water, sticking organic matter
together, rapidly growing a plant, etc. Hamon can be used for a variety of things, so long as it
plays into the properties of Hamon as a source of life, sunlight and connective energy.
Hamon Tricks are limited, however, and cannot be used to make opposed rolls. If
something made out of your Hamon Tricks is attacked, it is immediately destroyed without
contesting.
Strong against the Undead:​ Hamon users double their Brawns when channeling Hamon against
the undead.
RANK 2: SKILLED HAMON USER
Deep Breathing​: The Hamon User has mastered their breathing and gained a deeper level of
control over their Hamon. This unlocks the usage of new ​Hamon Techniques​, but requires more
focus to maintain
Whenever a Hamon User is damaged, they must roll a 1d6+Bravery. If they roll under the
amount of damage they took, then the Hamon User is knocked back to normal Hamon Breathing..
Deep Breathing is also interrupted in situations where the Hamon User Cannot Breathe (such as
being submerged in water or choking in smoke). If a Hamon User’s breathing is in question, but
they haven’t taken damage, have the Hamon User roll 1d6+Bravery against an unmodified 2d6 to
test if their breathing is interrupted.
Every Hamon user enters a fight breathing deeply, but if their breathing is ever
interrupted, then they must either use a main action to begin breathing again, or spend a resolve to
instantly regain breathing for free.
Hamon Techniques​: When Deep Breathing, you gain access to these Hamon Techniques:
●
●
●
Hamon Weapon:​ ​Skilled hamon users can get a specific weapon that they can channel
Hamon through. This can take any form of weapon; a sword, a scarf made of hamon
conductive materials, metal clackers, etc.
A Hamon User can double any object bonus they get so long as they’re Deep
Breathing. Alternatively, if you have a Stand designated as your Hamon weapon, you can
add your Brawns score to your Stand’s attacks as a trait bonus.
Signature Move​: ​Trained Hamon users can begin to channel their hamon in special ways
to create deadly techniques to combat their foes.
Hamon users can use their main action to channel a special attack to roll
2d6+Brawns, instead of rolling a human's normal 1d6+brawns. How many special attacks
the user has, and how they look, is up to the player. They are most commonly aggressive
versions of Hamon Tricks infused with enough Hamon to damage the opponent.
Healing Hamon​: You can control your hamon well enough to use it as a healing force.
You can spend a Main Action to heal an ally in contact with your Hamon by 2d6.
RANK 3: HAMON MASTER
Perfect Breathing:​ You may now enter Deep Breathing with a Secondary Action. Furthermore,
when you’re Deep Breathing, you can channel your hamon through your Stand and Resolve Rush
dice.
Hamon Strength:​ Your Hamon power is beyond normal levels. Whenever you use a Hamon to
attack, you’re Brawns counts as six, and you roll 3d6k2+Brawns for your ​Signature Move​.
SPIN
The Spin is a powerful phenomenon defined by its striving for the perfect Rotation. This Rotation
is related to the Golden Rectangle, and its subsequent Golden Ratio. Learning to use Spin is to strive for
the perfect rotation, and to find the Golden Ratio in many different things. When channeled properly, the
spin can be implemented either for medicine or for battle.
RANK 1: NEWBIE
Lesson 1 - Don’t have any weird hopes​: ​Spin is a wild, continually growing thing, and you need
to work with it instead of trying to bend it to your will.
Spin can be created inside any object that can rotate, which most commonly takes the
form of a perfectly spherical object designed for using the Spin. If a perfect weapon isn’t present,
the Spin user needs to pass a 1d6+brains roll against 2d6 to find an instance of the Golden Ratio
in their surroundings to focus on, or they can’t use The Spin.
Resolve cannot be used to reroll your own dice in Opposed Rolls that your spin modifies.
Lesson 2 - Work on those Muscles​: ​When your wrist is tugged, the muscle automatically knows to
bend. The flesh instinctively protects the body by wounding the muscle. That's nature for you.
Spin works the same way; objects know to rotate, you just gotta nudge them.
You can spend a main and/or secondary action to give a projectile an extra +1 Spin
bonus. You can choose to add more +1s to the projectile by spending more actions to increase it
further, but the amount of extra +1’s in one object can't go higher than your Brawns score.
Spin feeds into itself, so whenever an object which contains Spin hits another object that
contains spin, the Spin user can move the Spin from the first object to the second, or vice versa.
This means a Spin user can move a Spin modifier of +2 into another item of +2, to make a total of
+4.
A Spin User may also burn a Plot after an opposed roll to increase the Spin Bonus
of an object in their possession, so long as they can reason how the action resulted in the object’s
“momentum” increasing. The Spin User can only do this once per Opposed Roll.
RANK 2: NEAPOLITAN
Lesson 3 - Believe in the Spin!​: ​The power of rotation is limitless! Trust in that!
Spin users can now use their spin to do more than just do damage. With ​Lesson 3,​ Spin
users can toss a projectile at a target, which allows them to do one of two things:
➔ One, the Spin heals a target.
➔ Two, they can give the target a positive or negative bonus on their next physical roll by
temporarily bending and modifying the body.
The healing and modifiers are equal to the Spin Bonus of the object thrown. Every time
the target takes an action, the Spin Modifier decreases by 1, and the target is either healed, or
receives a bonus/negative, equal to the new Spin modifier.
Lesson 4 - Pay your Respects​: ​The secret of the Spin is infinity, and that's what you should strive
For.
Lesson 2​ no longer caps off at your Brawns bonus, and an Objects’ Spin bonus can
continue to grow infinitely.
RANK 3: NEXT-LEVEL
Lesson 5 - The Final Lesson​: ​'​The shortest route was a detour. It was a detour that was our
shortest path.'
The secrets of infinity have finally been unlocked, and with it, the limitless energy of the
Golden Spin.
If an object in your possession reaches a Spin Modifier higher than your Brains, Brawns,
and Bravery score combined, then it unlocks the Golden Spin. If your character does not have a
Stand, they gain one created by the GM temporarily so long as they have The Golden Spin.
Targets can only attempt to dodge the Golden Spin, and any attempts to do otherwise that
bring the target in contact with the Golden Spin automatically fail (meaning the target takes full
damage).
If the Spin User is interrupted during their channeling of the Golden Spin, then the
Golden Spin ceases, and the Objects Spin Modifier is reduced to half.
VAMPIRE
NOTE:​ Vampires are considered evil beings in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and are exclusively used as
villains in the source material. As such, this Character Type is made with the intention of making
Villainous characters for the party to fight. It is not suggested a player make one, but as this is Jojo’s
Bizarre Adventure, it’s not out of the question to allow it. Their abilities and powers may mess with game
balance, but if a player really wants to play one, feel free to allow them to do so.
Immensely popular being of the dark, vampires need no explanation. Normally. But things are
different here: Vampires is more of a pocket term for those who’ve used the “Stone Mask,” an ancient
Aztec object said to unleash ultimate power. This object was created by a Pillar Man, a race of ancients
that feast off of humans and are near invulnerable to all but the sun itself. Vampires and their spawn are
can tap into this awesome power of their progenitors to use special attacks and rejuvenate their bodies.
With this great power comes the great weakness to sunlight that even their progenitors could not escape.
RANK 1: SPAWN
Undead Vitality​: By rejecting their humanity, Spawns obtain incredible bonuses to their
survivability. Instead of rolling Brawns, a Vampire gains 6 Health for every Brawns they have..
Exsanguination​: The spawn can directly suck the blood of their opponent to restore their health.
Whenever the Spawn does damage to an opponent directly with a physical attack made by
themselves and not their stand, they regain the damage done to the opponent as health.
Weakness to Sunlight​: Vampires have a fatal vulnerability to the sun. Whenever they are in
Sunlight, they take 1/5th of their total health for every round they are exposed. If a spawn uses
Exsanguination​ on a Hamon user, the Hamon user is instantly allowed to make a Hamon attack
against them.
RANK 2: VAMPIRE
Body Mastery​: A Vampire has mastered their body’s processes completely. At will, they can do
multiple techniques, like making their internal temperature reach freezing or boiling temperatures,
or turning the liquid in their eyes into a powerful, pressurized water beam attack. Anything that
can be remotely justifiable from the standpoint of managing the body’s processes can be a
Vampire attack. These abilities roll with a 2d6+brawns for attacking purposes.
Reassembly​: Vampires are deadly beings that can survive some of the most fatal of injuries.
A Vampire may choose to have a body part disabled or removed instead of taking damage. They
can then spend a point of Resolve to reattach their body part at any time, and regain complete
functionality. If this ability is used to negate damage from a Hamon attack, the vampire still takes
half the damage they negate.
RANK 3: PILLAR MAN
High Level Body Manipulation​: While a vampire can manage the processes of their body to their
will, a Pillar Man can entirely change the functions of their bodies to match their will. They can
relocate bones, make their flesh bend in impossible ways, and modify their bodies for combat.
These abilities can achieve the same as a Vampire’s, or use even more improbable explanations
for certain techniques (e.g. turning your blood veins into jutting tubes that launch flaming blood
from your body, creating retractable bone blades, or making wind jets out of your bones). They
roll 3d6+Brawns for their techniques.
High Level Body Manipulation also allows the Pillar Man to regenerate from any injury,
allowing them to restore 1d6 Real Health immediately after taking damage (this does not work
against Hamon injuries).
Absorption​: Whenever a Pillar man succeeds on doing damage against an opponent that is
not channeling Hamon, they immediately do one damage to the opponent’s Resolve. If this would
reduce the opponent’s Resolve to 0, they die.
Advanced Intelligence​: The Pillar Men's most dangerous trait is their superior intelligence. They
are capable of perfect recall and are able to instantly analyze and understand the mechanics
behind anything, even complicated things such as languages, machinery, tactics, systems, and
people's minds and actions, within a matter of seconds.
Whenever a Pillar man makes a Brain's roll, they can add double their Brains modifier to
the roll’s result. On top of that, a Pillar Man gains their normal brains bonus whenever contesting
a Secret Action.
TRAITS
One usage of your leftover points is to buy character traits. Character traits are motivations and
quirks about your character that can give you a modifier bonus when triggered during situations.
All traits cost​ one​ Character Creation point to purchase. They give modifiers depending on how
general or specific trait is.
Simple trait (+1):​ Simple Traits are the most general, easily triggered traits, and will often be
some small simple motivating factor activated when taking actions against or for certain things. For
example, your character could be good at swimming, and would get a +1 modifier whenever taking
actions in water. They could also be a big fan of eating food, and would get a +1 modifier after they’ve
eaten lunch. These traits can be broad or specific, but they should always be flavorful and tell something
about your character.
Quirky Traits (+2):​ Quirky traits are traits that are a little more specific than simple traits, but are
still relatively normal. Instead of just “loving food,” your character could be a big fan of fine dining, and
would get a +2 modifier after they’ve just sat down and had a nice dinner at a five star restaurant.
Alternatively, skill in a specific martial art could count as a “Quirky Trait”, and you could get a +2 bonus
to fighting when you can use that style. These traits are best for representing some specific ability or
personality quirk your character has that is special, but still something that is widely applicable to
different situations.
Specific Traits (+3):​ Specific traits are another level above quirky traits in terms of complexity.
Specific traits are traits that can only trigger in certain circumstances, usually requiring either multiple, or
one very specific, condition to be met. The big difference between specific traits and quirky traits is how
difficult it is for the trait to trigger. For example, someone could be very good at one on one, honorable
fights. This is similar to Quirky traits in how specific they are, but with elements added that make it
harder to trigger, due to the trait being unable to work if there are multiple combatants or dirty tricks at
play.
Eccentric Traits (+4):​ Eccentric traits are traits that start getting into the territory of being
“strangely specific.” Specific traits take the leap to Eccentric when their activation requirements get
weird, or needlessly complex. For example, let's say someone has the previous specific trait of being good
at honorable, one-on-one duels. The trait would become eccentric if they were very specifically only
comfortable with dueling honorably when both combatants have rapiers, and refuse to fight their full
potential if this isn’t the case.
Bizarre Traits (+5):​ Bizarre traits are the highest form of trait a character can have. These traits
are either very specific, or incredibly bizarre, and only trigger in the most specific circumstances. Traits
like “I’m good at fighting a single enemy or specific type of person,” or a trait that requires multiple
levels of eccentric activation circumstances, fall under the Bizarre category of traits. For example,
someone may have a Bizarre trait involving hunting down and finding the person that killed someone dear
to them, and they could activate their bizarre trait when they are acting against them specifically. Another
example, again continuing off of the dueling trait, the character would only be comfortable with dueling
when they and their opponent follow the specific rules of an old French dueling court, or some similar
arrangement. Essentially, Bizarre traits are traits that you should never expect to use often, but instead
something that's built up to, and almost ensures victory when activates.
Keep in mind: some traits may scale on their intesnity depending on how they’re used. For
example, if someone has a trait called “Dirty Fighting,” then throwing sand in someone's eyes would most
likely be a +1 or +2. Planting bee hives around an entire room to take advantage of an opponent’s bee
allergy, however, would be closer to a +4 or +5. A GM can feel free to alter a trait value in situations
where they’re used more creatively
FLAWS
Traits help to flesh out characters give them a few other passive abilities, besides their Stand, to
rely on in combat. Buying multiple traits may prove to be expensive, however, or you may find yourself
low on character points having to distribute them all around your character. So, if you find yourself low
on points, you can take a flaw.
Flaws, like Traits, exist to give characters more depth. The difference lies in that Flaws do this by
pointing out negative character traits, disabilities and illnesses present in a character. Being cowardly,
lazy, or socially awkward, are all possible Flaws that your character could take.
There are a few ways Flaws can be taken. One way flaws can be used is to take them after a
player takes a trait. Taking a flaw along with a trait will allow you to gain the trait for free. Generally, the
Flaw should be of a similar severity as the trait that the character took (e.g. a -3 trait warrants a -3 flaw).
The rules and circumstances for activating those Flaws are exactly the same as for those in the Trait
section; and one of the easiest ways to do make a flaw is to just apply the trait in a negative light.
For example, if a character has a Quirky Trait where they dislike people taller than them, and
they’d get a +2 to roles to act against them. The flaw for this trait could be that the character doesn’t just
dislike taller people, but they actively loathe them, and get a -2 to rolls when they have to help, or
generally benefit, a tall person.
If the character wanted to have a flaw related to tall people, but didn’t have the trait that gave
them a positive against them, then the flaw would most likely be represented as the character being afraid
of people that were taller than them. In this case, they’d always get a -2 to roles involving taller people as
they just generally intimidate them.
You could also decide to take a Flaw without an accompanying trait, if you just want to flesh out
the character.
Flaws are inconvenient, but it is possible to resist them temporarily by using your Bravery. When
a character is attempting to go against their flaw, they roll a Contested Bravery Roll against the DM. The
character would roll 1d6+bravery, while the DM would roll 1d6+The Modifier of the Flaw. If they pass,
they can act for a turn without being affected by their flaw, but will need to reroll whenever they want to
act against it again. If they fail, then the Flaw will affect the character with its negative modifier.
There is one other way in which a character’s Flaws differ from their traits: Flaws can be
addressed. Although a Flaw can be a painful boon on a character (the GM should make sure that it most
certainly is), it is also possible to overcome your flaw throughout your bizarre adventure.
FIXING YOUR FLAW
Whenever a character succeeds in making a roll that their Flaw was negatively affecting, a player
can choose to take that opportunity to overcome a character flaw. At that point, the character immediately
increases, and restores, their resolve to 5 (even if this would bring them past their Bravery cap), and the
Flaw is removed from the character. A player doesn’t have to overcome their flaw the first moment they
succeed in an affected roll, though, and can instead choose to keep their Flaw around until they need that
extra boost of Resolve in a fight. Whenever a player suffers the effect of a Flaw during a session, they
gain one, singular extra Resolve point at the beginning of the next session.
CONDITIONS
Sometimes, characters have aspects about them that are immutable. Whether its a physical or
mental disability, a quirk, or a limitation of their stand, there are some ingrained parts of a character or
stand that will never change. These are counted as Conditions.
Conditions are special flaws that can be taken to give a player more Character Points during the
creation process. These Conditions can manifest either as limitations to either the character or stand
(much like a Critical Weakness). In order to generate a Condition for character points, a player tells the
DM what they intend to spend their new points on, and then the DM and the player work out what kind of
Conditions the character will need to take in order to achieve it.
Taking Conditions give you one extra 1 character point, but multiple Conditions can be taken for
one purpose.
For example,​ ​the player wants a few more points to put into their Wearable Stand to make it
better in combat. The DM and player then decide to set up some conditions for using the stand. Instead of
limiting the ability, the DM and player decide to limit the actual usage of the stand. They set up two
conditions to do this. One condition is that the stand is somewhat autonomous, and it must be commanded
to do things instead of being manually controlled. This means that occasionally, the Stand may not want
to act upon something the user does, and the user has to plead with it to do certain actions. As a second
condition, they player decides that their stand may be required to “sleep” on occasions if used too
frequently, there will be times where the character will not be able to wear their stand. In return for
taking these two conditions, the DM gives the player two Character points to spend on increasing the
stand’s stats.
Keep in mind, taking Conditions for extra character points can cause the game’s balance to
dramatically shift. If taking those Conditions make a character too powerful, then adjusting those
conditions will be necessary to keep the balance.
DETAILS
After all your points are spent, it’s time to put into stone all the smaller details about you and your
stand.
First, think of a name for you and your stand. Names in jojo are often a mix of normal names
combined with references to musicians and musical acts, so feel free to name your character or stand after
your favorite band or song. You could also incorporate other kind of name theming for your adventure.
Maybe everything is referencing famous authors and books instead of music? Part 3 based a lot of it’s
stands off of the Tarot cards, and later, Egyptian gods. Feel free to go whatever direction you want, be
creative.
You should also think about how your character and stand look. Notable characters in Jojo often
have ridiculous hairstyles and wear clothing from far out fashion trends. Stands are the most notable in
appearance, sporting random mechanical and doll like aspects with jutting shapes and patterns across
them. Feel free to go wild with the descriptions for stand users and their stands.
See if you can fill out all the questions below to set up a small profile for your character:
Stand User:
Age:
Zodiac Sign:
Height:
Blood Type:
Eye Color:
Stand:
Birthday:
Gender:
Weight:
Nationality:
Favorite Musician:
Favorite Athlete:
Favorite Food:
Favorite Movie:
Favorite Actor:
SECTION II: THE MECHANICS
JoJo’s Bizarre Tabletop is a game focused on conflict. Most of the character growth and story will
be told through the fights and encounters your characters have throughout their adventure. For that reason,
mechanics outside of direct conflict are relatively barebones. It is possible to have in-depth, out of conflict
play in this system, but that is mostly delegated to a player’s individual roleplay. As such, any
out-of-conflict actions players make that are not discussed anywhere else in the book should be decided
by roleplaying, or, when necessary, by rolling a 1d6 (or your stands dice when applicable)+the character’s
most applicable modifier+any applicable trait, and using the default table below:
1-4: Failure.
5-6: Partial Success.
7+: Absolute Success.
To succeed in a non-combat focused roll, a player must enter the absolute success role. If a
character fails to enter that range, there are a few possibilities. They either roll a failure, and fail the
action, or they roll a partial success and succeed with a catch (decided by the GM, depending on the
situation).
CONFLICT
This section contains the rules for conducting fights and encounters that will occur during your
bizarre adventure. To start, let's look at the three resources a player gets from their Brains, Brawns, and
Bravery stats.
HEALTH
A character’s health is representative of their general well-being physically and mentally. In
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, the amount of damage someone can take before they’re out of a fight is
somewhat transient. Some days, a character will be more prepared to take dangerous blows than others.
To account for this, a character’s health changes at the beginning of every session (assuming the character
has had time to rest and recuperate between sessions).
To generate health, you roll a d6 for every point of Brawns you have and then add them up. If you
have a Stand, you may make a Durability roll with it at the beginning of a session, and add that to the
result as well. Your Brawns and Durability rolls create your total health for that session.
If your rolls turn out low, you can rely on ​The Rule of 4​ to even your character out. ​The Rule of
4​ works like this: If your total health result is lower than your Brawns, times four, then you can choose to
take Brawns x4 instead of your rolled result. Alternatively, if you roll under that average, you can instead
choose to keep your suboptimal result in exchange for getting an extra, temporary ​Resolve​ for that
session.
RUNNING OUT OF HEALTH
Whenever a character reaches 0 Health, they are no longer able to fight. Most commonly, this
means they fall unconscious, but in non-traditional fights, this could mean they lose the will to fight, or
otherwise are indisposed. In this state, healing or other methods to bring the character back into the fight
will automatically fail until the fight's conclusion (unless the GM rules otherwise).
Whether or not a character dies when they reach 0 HP is decided by the ​Threat Scaling​, which is
discussed in Section III.
RESOLVE
Resolve represents your characters bravery and bravado in the face of danger. In a world full of
bizarre and terrible things, a character with a high Resolve will frequently push past their normal limits to
achieve great things.
At the beginning of every session, your character gets a Resolve score equal to their Bravery, and
any unused Bravery from the last session disappears. This normally caps your Resolve to your bravery
score, but a GM can award a player an extra Resolve for a session if they take suboptimal health,
supported another player during the previous session, or show an extreme act of self-sacrifice or bravery.
You can spend a Resolve to do any of the following:
➔ Allows you to take another main action once per turn.
➔ Allows you to reroll any of your dice in an opposed roll.
➔ Allows you to negate 5 damage.
➔ You can burn all your Resolve to perform a Resolve Rush: add extra 1d6s for every leftover point
of Resolve you burned on your next attack.
PLOTS
The combat in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is all about outwitting your opponent and maximizing
the effectiveness of your abilities. To represent that, all characters get access to a Plots score. Similar to
Resolve, your character gets a Plots score equal to their Brains that refreshes every session. The Plots
score can be used to either manipulate the environment, or to make a ​Secret Action​. To manipulate your
environment, the character spends a Plot in order to either of these effects:
●
You can place an item, object, or miscellaneous character into a scene.
●
For a single instance, you can make something absurd true, or something reliant on chance occur,
so long as you provide an adequate pseudo-science explanation.
The primary usage of Plots, however, is to set up Secret Actions.
Secret Actions are hidden actions that you or your stand are implied to have taken during your
turn to setup some kind of attack, trick, or trap for your opponents. These actions are marked down
secretly, either on a notecard or private message, that lists the turn the action was taken on the top side,
and the action itself on the bottom side. This action is hidden from GM and Players alike, and it stays
hidden until the time you wish to reveal it to the group.
In an example, a stand tries to throw a knife at an opponent, but notes to their GM that they’re
taking a secret action when they throw. The Player then writes down a secret action and continues with
their action. The attack misses, and the player then reveals their Secret Action to the group: “When my
knife missed the target, it was because my throwing knife was actually aimed at the oil barrel behind the
stand user, flooding the area with oil secretly.” Since in internal logic of the secret action does not clash
with the reality (the attack did not hit the stand user), the group agrees that the secret action makes sense
and that, as a result, oil had begun to flow onto the ground. With their secret action approved, the
character follows up their attack by throwing a lit match at the opponent's feet.
Secret Actions exist in an area of semi-canoninity, meaning that they only really exist when they
are revealed to the group and if there are no inconsistencies within the timeframe they are revealed to
have occurred. Due to this “Semi-canon” nature, a player can choose to refund a Plot for any unused
Secret Action at any time.
Each character can put down as many secret actions as they want per turn as long as it makes
since they could have laid them all during that turn. They are free to keep their secret actions hidden for as
many turns as they like, and it is encouraged to chain secret actions together across multiple turns to que
up a truly impressive trap for your opponent. A character with a high Plots score will be able to lay more
secret actions, and also manipulate their battlefield to better entrap their opponents within their Secret
Actions.
ACTIONS IN COMBAT
Whenever a player acts during a conflict, they have access to one Main and Secondary Action.
The Main Action can be used to perform any action you desire. Attacking, picking up an item,
using an ability, or interacting with the environment are all examples of things done with Main Actions.
The most important part of Main Actions is that they can be used to make ​Contested Rolls​.
Unlike the Main Actions, the Secondary Action cannot be used to make ​Contested Rolls ​(such as
attacks). Due to its limitations, Secondary actions are best used to prepare something for your main
action, interact with your environment, or help to set up a Secret Action. While Secondary Actions cannot
be used to make contested rolls, they can be used to put people in dangerous situations (e.g. Dropping a
rope off a cliff isn’t a contested roll, but it's still dangerous for the person hanging on for dear life on the
other end).
CONTESTED ROLLING
A roll is contested whenever a person, stand or particularly malevolent object is working against
someone or something else. Whenever someone rolls an opposed roll, the target of their action has the
opportunity to negate the attack by making their own roll. If the target rolls higher than the player, the
attack is negated, and the defender gets the opportunity to reverse the attack.
CONTESTED ROLLING FOR STANDS
The Parameter required for the contested roll differs depending on the situation. For example, if a
Stand unleashes a torrent of punches on their target, the target can have their stand either use Power to
match the punches, Durability to take the punches, or Speed to dodge the punches. Players should try to
think creatively to use their strong points to overcome their obstacles, and the GM should do their part to
put the player in a situation where they can’t do that.
Stands use different dice depending on which Parameter they’re attempting to roll with. Attacks
usually require Power or Precision, and purely defensive maneuvers usually require either Speed or
Durability. A stand will never use their Range or Learning to make a contested roll.
The average Stand roll will look like this:
Stand Dice + Most Applicable Trait + Assisting Parameter (GM’s Discretion)
Sometimes, a stand may find themselves in a situation where they end up using two parameters to
make an attack or action. Most of the time this won’t come into effect in combat, but if an opponent has
been hindered in a way that makes them vulnerable, then the player can take advantage of that and bring
in another parameter to aid their attack.
For example, let’s say that a Stand User corners his opponent and uses his stand, [Noodles], to
entangle their opponents stand. The Opponent’s Stand, having lost its mobility, will have its Speed count
as E while entangled by [Noodles]. Since this is the case, the stand’s Critical Weakness activates, and the
Stand User can now add its Speed Bonus to help take down the disadvantaged opponent.
Whenever a player or GM decides that a stand action requires two or more Parameters, roll for
the highest Parameter and add the other Parameter as a modifier to the main roll. If the roll is a physical
attack, Power will always be the primary Parameter (the same applies to Precision and ranged attacks).
A
+5
B
+3
C
+1
D
-3
E
-5
Table 2.1: A smaller version of the table located in Stand Creation.
CONTESTED ROLLING FOR CHARACTERS:
Whenever a character chooses to oppose something or someone themselves, they can use their
own stats to roll. Rolling for characters is simpler than rolling for stands due to characters limited
statistics. A character roll will look like so:
1d6 + Most Applicable Statistic + Most Applicable Trait
The modifiers for characters differ from the ones for stands in that they draw their modifier
directly from their statistics score number.
For example, if a character had to take a blow from a stand, they’d use their Brawns in an
attempt to dodge or take the blow. If their brawns was, say, 3, then they’d roll a 1d6+3 and hope that they
could outroll their opponent. Say they also had a trait called “Jumpy,” that gives them +1 to their
instincts, they’d also add that to the roll to dodge. If the character had a second trait, entitled “Stand
Fighter,” that gave +2, then they would have to decide between which trait to use in the roll.
CONTESTED ROLLING FOR SECRET ACTIONS
Secret actions function slightly differently than a normal opposed roll. The primary dice a secret
action acts with is decided based off how specific the secret action is. This dice scales by 1d6 for every
level of complexity and forethought put into the action. A secret action roll will look like this:
Secret Action Dice + Brains Score + Trait
The list below shows the suggested Dice Values for Secret actions:
1d6: The Secret action was used as a nonspecific reaction to something that was likely to occur,
or as a follow up to something the character themself initiated; “When he attacks…”, “When I do
this…”
2d6: The Secret action was used for a specified reaction, or took into account an unassured result;
“When he uses his stand to melt that pipe…”, “If he walks down the left Hallway…”
3d6: Similar to the 2d6, but predicting multiple stages of actions, or a very flavorful secret action;
“If I fall unconscious, and am then revived by my friend...”, “In response to this action, my Flaw
activates, causing me to react in a way that incidentally causes this to happen…”, “If she reacts to
my provocation, and chooses her Confidant trait over her Crazy trait to make the roll, then…”.
4d6+: A reaction that is so obtuse or bizarre, or required so many levels of planning or
meta-knowledge; “I slowly use my stand to start converting the iron in his body into nails slowly,
causing damage and iron deficiency at the same time.”, “Every time I’ve missed while attacking
him inside, I’ve been breaking the supports of the building throughout our fight, so that the
building itself collapses once I ‘miss’ and hit the final pillar behind my opponent,”
Secret actions can also be “chained” together. The value of each Secret action will be whatever
category it falls under above, plus an additional D6 for every secret action that it relied on previously in
order to activate. By chaining up impressive secret actions, a player can put their enemy through a
gauntlet of challenging rolls, and eventually defeat them.
DAMAGE:
Whenever a character or stand succeeds in attacking with an attack or harmful stand ability, they
deal damage to their opponent. The damage dealt to the opponent coincides directly with the difference
between the winners and losers contested rolls. Here's an example to explain:
A player attacks an NPC with their stand. The Stand rolls a 13 and the NPC rolls a 10, so the
stand succeeds. The player would then take their 13, subtract the 10 that the NPC rolled, and do 3
damage.
Contested rolls are dangerous, however; when one combatant attacks another, the contested roll is
showing their ​conflict,​ not just the result of an attack. If one combatant attacks another and loses the
contested roll, then they’re at risk of getting counterattacked. If the opponent wins the contested roll, and
can reason out a way to attack the opponent, they can do a ​counterattack​ and do the damage difference
back to an opponent.
For example, say the player above ended up attacking the NPC with their stand, but rolled a 5.
The NPC rolls an 11, and so the GM rules that “when the Player attacked the NPC, their own stand
emerges from them and retaliates by striking the Player’s stand on the arm with great strength!”
This attack/counterattack style of play makes combat a fast and dangerous game, where both
sides are constantly at risk of getting hit. To minimize this, players and DMs should have their fighters
constantly looking for ways to attack their opponents in positions they can’t counter-attack from. If an
opponent is put into a situation that stops them from being counter-attacked (such as being stuck in mud,
or being held by another person), then they can only roll to stop or reduce damage. Attempting to inhibit
your opponent can be more important than actually doing damage, in most cases.
ESCALATION
Due to the nature of Opposed rolls, you’ll inevitably run into a situation where two characters will
tie their rolls. This is referred to as an “Escalation.” When this occurs, both combatants will immediately
reroll, and the winner will do double the damage of their resulting roll. If there is no damage dealt in that
roll, an escalation will instead result in an additional, beneficial narrative result for the victor.
In the case of further ties during escalation, the multiplier will get higher. Two escalations will
multiply the damage by three, three escalations by four, and so on.
STANDS AND DAMAGE
Usually, Stands and their users are linked. When a Stand is hit by an attack, all the damage that
would be dealt to them instead gets dealt to the user. In some cases, however, Stands manifest with their
own, smaller Health pool.
Whenever a Stand with its own Health Pool would take damage, they reduce the damage they’d
take by their Durability modifier.
In this example, a player’s Independent Stand is attacked by an opposing stand. The Opposing
stand rolls 16, and the player’s Stand rolls a 12. The opponent is set to do 4 damage, but the Player’s
Stand has a high durability, an A. Since an A Ranked parameter has a +5 modifier, the amount of damage
dealt will go down to 0
As seen above, attacking a tough, Independant stand is like trying to attack a tank with sticks and
stones. In this situation, it’d be wiser to get behind the stand to try and directly attack the user. Keep in
mind, an Independent Stand with a low durability stand will have negative modifiers, meaning it’ll
actually take ​more ​damage if its attacked.
DAMAGE FROM OTHER SOURCES
“The world is a dangerous place.”
No statement can be truer in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Your enemies wield dangerous powers,
but the environment is just as capable as being your downfall if you’re standing in the wrong place at the
wrong time. However, through competent tactics and ability usage, A crafty Stand user can take this
danger and turn it into a weapon to use against their enemies.
To prepare for the inevitable involvement of the outside world, this section details how to resolve
conflicts when objects and environmental effects come into place.
OBJECTS
Objects include everything inanimate. Normally, they play a minor role in being things that you
and your stand use or interact with to give you an edge in a fight.
As a rule, inanimate objects will generally roll with a 2d6 if they somehow become opposed
against an entity (a 1d6 if they’re small, a 3d6 if they’re big and heavy, like a car, and a 4d6 if they’re
unwieldy and huge). Objects larger than small will automatically oppose anyone who tries to use them as
a weapon (either as a melee weapon or when they're thrown), but will submit to the target’s wishes after a
passed check. Whenever an object is receiving damage or doing damage, the following rules will be used
to outline what occurs:
If at any point you need to resolve damage done to an object, go on the assumption that objects
have a brawns score equal to their general size listed below and generate their health like you would a
players:
Small (1)
Bottle, pen, rock, knife, phone, plates, silverware, stick etc.
Normal
(2)
Chair, signpost, computer, sword, guns, guitar, nightstand, shelf, spear, table, manhole, etc.
Large (5)
Cars, street light, dumpster etc.
Huge (7)
House, airplane, Elephant, Steamroller applied directly to body, etc.
Table 2.2: Table lists the size of an object, followed by the relative Brawns score in parenthesis, and then some examples of items in that
classification.
Objects have no Plots or Resolve as they are inanimate, and will either break apart or crumble to
dust when reduced down to 0 Health. Only generate the health for an object if common sense dictates that
your stand couldn’t easily destroy it. All stands (except maybe an E ranked stand) could break a pencil,
and stands with A-ranked power could easily destroy a normal sized object.
The Brawns scores listed above also assist in deciding how much damage an object does if used
as a weapon. If an object is used to assist attacking an opponent in an Opposed Roll, then that object can
be counted as a Trait Bonus in a roll.
In the case of an object acting violently without the assistance of any character or stand, simply
roll for the objects opposed roll. If the object wins, then, just as above, add the objects Brawns score as an
additional modifier to the resulting damage (This only applies to the damage, and not the actual roll the
object makes).
Finally, users may find items and come up with ways to “improve” them. They could pick up a
stick, and then user their stand to swiftly carve it into a spear. Alternatively, guns like machine guns and
high calibre rifles may be more dangerous than their simple listing of 2 brawns. In cases where an object
is somewhat more dangerous than it normally would be (e.g. Stick to spear, object is on fire,
machine-gun, etc.), consider just adding a simple +1 to the Object’s Brawns when calculating rolls. In
special cases where the object has reached a level of danger that is truly rare or unique to the item (e.g. a
normal stick turned into a spear and lit on fire, an Anti-Tank Rifle, etc.), then consider giving it an
additional +1.
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
The environment can be just as dangerous as objects depending on the situation. A pit of
quicksand, a raging fire, and a flooding room can all present challenges that risk injury and even death.
Being in an Environmental effect works similar to contesting objects. In the case of
Environmental Effects, you decide what dice the Environmental Effect rolls at depending on the table
below:
Light (1d6)
Clothes on fire, drowning in bathtub, small pit of quicksand, etc.
Medium (2d6)
Room on fire, drowning in flooding room, big pit of quicksand, etc.
Large (3d6)
Building on fire, drowning in a lake, quicksand desert, etc.
Table 2.3: Environmental Effects table
The big difference between Objects and Environmental Effects is in their Brawns score. An
Environmental effect gets worse the more time you stay within it, and the Brawns score reflects that. The
effect’s Brawns score starts at 0, but grows by +1 every turn. This can keep building until it caps at 10, a
state that would require incredible luck to even attempt to survive in, and probably only done by a Rank A
stand.
Environmental effects may not outright damage an opponent, but they will inconvenience them. If
the effect is deadly to a target, resolve a successful attack roll by the effect by doing damage. If it isn’t
directly harmful to a target, have the Effect hamper your character in some other way.
For example, a player caught in a fire will take damage in the normal way, but someone caught
in quicksand may be unable to use their movement until succeeding in a roll against the quicksand effect.
If a player, for some reason, can’t leave an area an Environmental Effect they’re active in, they
can spend actions to attempt to alleviate the Environmental Effect with a contested roll if they can justify
doing it. Any action can be used to make this roll (even secondary actions), and multiple actions can be
taken per turn to lighten the effect. If they succeed, they decrease the Brawns score by -1, which can stack
into the negatives. If, at any point, an environmental effect rolls lower than a 0 due to its Brawns score
being in the negatives, then the effect is dealt with.
This considers that the environmental effect is natural. If the effect is being influenced, or directly
caused, by a stand, the rules can change. When a Stand makes an Environmental Effect, decide which
bonus attributes the Effect has based off the Stand’s Power score and the following table:
Rank E
The Stand can only make effects at Light size.
Rank D
Secondary Actions can no longer be used to make contested rolls against the Effect.
Rank C
The Stand can make effects at Medium size.
Rank B
The Environmental effect cannot be eliminated until the stand is defeated; it will continue to
grow, and although actions can be taken to check the effect, it cannot go lower than 0 Brawns.
Rank A
The Stand can make effects at Large size.
Table 2.4: Stand Environmental Effect’s Table (Note: A Higher Rank can do everything a lower rank can do).
THE FIELD OF BATTLE
When characters inevitably break out into a fight, their combat will need to be represented in
some way. This can be achieved by using two techniques: Narrative or Grid based combat.
NARRATIVE
In the narrative approach, you would describe the field of battle that the combatants, taking care
to describe pieces of the environment that the combatants can interact with. A good combat will have
multiple aspects to it that can be exploited by the users or their stands. It’s up to the GM to have a general
idea in their mind of how far everyone is from each other so the players know who they can and can’t
attack.
The narrative method is quicker than drawing out a map and moving pieces individually, but
requires a little more work from the GM to manage and describe hectic fights.
GRID
In the grid based approach, you keep track of combat using a battlemat or a piece of graphing
paper to create a square grid. You can then place down some tokens to represent the combatants and have
them navigate the squares to fight. This approach allows you to mark the location of important objects
and obstacles that will affect the fight.
Each square on the grid represents 2 meters (or 5ft). When designing your map, keep in mind the
scale of the map, and make sure it fits the size of the battlefield you placed the combat in. If necessary,
you can always increase the size of the squares on the grid.
MOVEMENT
Characters can move up to 10 meters (30 feet) per turn. If they want to move more, they can
spend their Secondary Action to move double distance. Unlike characters, Stands can only move their full
Speed distance, and using a Secondary Action cannot increase that further.
Although Stands can move around as much as they want equal to their Speed, they cannot go any
further from their user than specified by their Range. So, if you have a A speed but C range, you’d still
only be able to go as far as 20 meters (60 feet) from your user. Any stands with Types that limited their
range are also affected by this. Stands that have a low Speed parameter can choose to “hover” near their
user to move with them (to avoid getting left behind when a player moves), but if they attempt to move
away from their user, they’ll be forced to move their own speed again. If Stands with high speed chooses
to hover with it’s user, the distance the user moved counts against that Stands total movement speed in
case the Stand wants to break off and move again after the user stops.
THE TURN ORDER
Combat in Jojo uses a turn-based system to avoid unnecessary confusion and to allow every
combatant to get an action. In these turns, the order of who goes first (known as the initiative) is decided
based on the following: 1d6+Brawns Score+Stand’s Speed Modifier.
AN ALTERNATE APPROACH
The above method hand waves the turns of the characters and their stands as one even though
their speeds could be drastically different from each other. This is done for simplicity's sake, but it is not
required. If you want a more complex combat, you can have individual Stands roll initiative by making a
Speed Roll, and have all the Characters roll 1d6+brawns. This opens up some new strategic options
(including doubling the action economy in a fight), but will probably stretch out the combat, so is only
advised for groups that are good at running through combat encounters quickly.
In cases of ties when determining which of the Stand users goes first, it’s suggested to have the
Stand users with higher Bravery scores go first. If they have the same Bravery, then their Brawns. If even
that is the same, then simply flip a coin or re-roll.
DESTROY THE TURN ORDER
There are certain reasons to forgo the use of a traditional turn order. Certain Stands throughout
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Such as N’Doul’s Geb and Notorious B.I.G.) don’t act on their own, but
instead off of actions that their opponent’s make. In cases like this, there's no real contiguous fight, but
more of people sitting at a standstill, only acting when they have a plan. A turn order is meant to bring
order to fights and speed them up, so they have no purpose in these kind of Standstill fights. Use your
judgement when deciding if an encounter needs a turn order or not.
Alternatively, if your group is consistent of more free-flowing kind of players, you could simply
play it by ear by having people act when they have an action in mind. Since all offensive actions are
Opposed Rolls, A villain could hypothetically not have a single turn, and yet still do damage to their
opponents solely off of reactions. When a conflict arises between players or the GM on who should act
first, simply look at which two people are in conflict to see who has the better Speed value/higher Brawns
and have them move first.
HOLDING TURNS
Regardless of what kind of turn-system is used, characters are allowed to “hold” their turns,
allowing them to move after another ally in the turn order if either player wants to set up for the other.
SECTION III: VILLAINS & ADVANCING
Combat in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is like a violent puzzle. It's a mix of fisticuffs and mystery,
and striking a balance between aggressively fighting and discovering the secrets of your opponent is the
basis for playing the game. This section covers the tools and mechanics useable by the GM to make their
villains formidable opponents to the party, but players will find value in reading it to better understand the
dynamics and options available to them.
Encounters in Jojo usually follow a simple pattern: An enemy appears, uses their stand in a
mysterious way, and then the protagonists find a clever solution to overcome the ability. The enemy is
usually intimidating and deadly, but mostly because they obtain the upper hand through secrecy or
surprise instead of being an unstoppable threat capable of fighting the whole party at once. Some fights
against very potent abilities will involve an entire party of protagonists doing battle against one opponent,
but oftentimes, it falls down to the party being picked off and KO’d one-by-one as they struggle to
understand just how the opponent’s ability works.
To make a villain in JojoTTRPG, you go through the exact same process as making a protagonist.
The GM has liberty to make extra deadly characters that forego point cost to become truly powerful, but it
is suggested this is used sparingly. Most Villains in Jojo are no more special than the party, so its sensible
that they should follow the same limitations going through character creation as the protagonists.
BIZARRE FIELDS
One of the primary assets a villain has is the Bizarre Field.
The bizarre field is a representation of the confusion and terror present from fighting an unknown
enemy. The field itself can represent many different things: A confusing ability, the location of a hidden
villain, or even a secret aspect of the arena that the characters are fighting in. Regardless of what it is, the
secret grants the Villain a powerful boon until the party can manage to decipher it.
Whenever a villain enters battle against a party, the villain gains access to their bizarre field.
Simply having the Bizarre Field gives the Villain their greatest advantage:
➔ All of the Villain’s rolls, statistics and villainous actions are hidden from the player. The GM
simply tells the player if they pass or fail in an opposed roll, and how much damage is done or
taken.
Bizarre Fields also gain a number of ‘Bizarre Points’ equal to the amount of players participating
against them. These points are tied to the Bizarre Field, and if the villain runs out of them, then the GM
reveals the secret and the Bizarre Field drops. These points can be spent by the Villain to activate a
number of effects during a fight, listed below:
➔ The Villain can spend a bizarre point to take another turn.
➔ The Villain can spend a bizarre point to reroll ​any​ dice in an opposed roll, be it friend or foe.
➔ The Villain can spend a bizarre point to negate 10 damage from an attack.
➔ If a player chooses to rush, the villain may spend a bizarre point to immediately respond with
their own rush. The villain adds a 1d6 for every point of Resolve they currently have ​without
having to use up their Resolve.
The players will be aware of how many Bizarre Points the villain has at the start of combat, but
the Villain doesn’t have to reveal when they use points for hidden rolls (so long as it’s not an obvious one,
like taking another turn or returning a Rush). This allows Villains to modify rolls for weaker attributes to
misdirect the opponent, and the question of how much Bizarre Field is left will remain a mystery to the
players.
VILLAINOUS ACTIONS
While Protagonists have Secret Actions they can use to lay schemes and attempt to predict their
opponents plans, Villains instead have access to powerful Villainous Actions. These function very
similarly to the way that Secret actions do, with a few variations. If Secret Actions are singular, hidden
mines that are laid by players, then Villainous Actions are like minefields.
Just like secret actions, Villainous Actions remain hidden at first. Once they are revealed,
however, they stay active on the field and can be triggered again. Furthermore, if a Bizarre Field is active,
the GM doesn’t have to fully reveal or inform the players about the specifics of how the Villainous Action
triggered.
BUILDING A VILLAINOUS ACTION
The first step in building Villainous actions for a Villain is to decide how many they have.
Villainous actions are meant to be powerful tools, even one can heavily affect the flow of combat. There
are three general tiers of Villains to choose from, each giving a different number of actions: Minion,
Mid-Boss and Antagonist.
Minions are the most common type of opponent, a deadly enemy, but not one that is too
overwhelmingly important to the plot. They get a single Villainous action that they can use to help keep
them alive.
Mid-Bosses are rarer than Minions, and usually only come up in climactic moments of the story.
Mid-Bosses are good for challenging your players, or as a powerful opponent to usher growth or
advancement of either the overarching plot, or a character’s plot. They get a number of Villainous actions
equal to half the party’s number, rounded up.
The Antagonist is your big villain, the final opponent for your Joestar and their party to face.
They will be a formidable threat, and it is most likely that some player characters will die facing them.
They recieve a number of Villainous actions equal to your players.
Once you’ve decided how many Villainous Actions you’re working with, you should craft a
number of effects that’ll make the encounter unique. These can be simple things you’d find in secret
actions, such as trapping someone in the villains stand effect, but the GM is encouraged to go the extra
mile in making Villainous actions game bending things that rapidly shift the combat’s flow.
Here are some examples of some general Villainous Actions that your enemy might have:
➔ A Villainous action that automatically defeats a certain Stand Parameter if its used against them
allowing the Villain to retaliate with an unopposed attack.
➔ A Villainous action that restores a single Bizarre Point per Villain’s turn.
➔ A Villainous action that automatically causes opponents to fall under their stand’s effect if a
certain requirement is met.
➔ A Villainous action that triggers an attack on a player’s character if they roll a very specific
number.
➔ A Villainous action that adds an extra Stand Parameter or statistic to a roll when a certain
condition is met.
Or, if you want your Villain to be a potentially lethal threat, you can use one Villainous Action slot to get:
➔ If this Villain reduces a character to 0 health, then that character will die.
Villainous actions can be anything. The best way to create a villainous action is to look at a
mechanic in the book, and think, “How can I make a Villainous Action that plays off, or subverts this?”
VILLAINOUS PLOTS
Since a Villain doesn’t have secret actions, and the GM already has the ability to influence their
narrative and the location their villain is fighting in, it would seem that a Villain’s Plots score would be
useless. To counteract this, Villains gain a special use of their Plot score to assist them in a fight.
By burning a Plot, a Villain can force a player character to make a Brains roll versus 1d6+Bizarre
Points left in the Bizarre Field. This roll is representative of a character trying to keep a clear mind while
under the effect of a villain’s bizarre aura. If the player fails to keep a level head, then during their next
Opposed Roll, the Villain take advantage of their fear or confusion, and can do two things:
1) Predicting the player’s move, the Villain gains a bonus equal to their Brains score to one Opposed
Roll against that character.
2) Playing their opponent like a fiddle, the Villain strikes them in a place they’re vulnerable. During
the next opposed roll, If the player character has a Stand, the Villain can choose which Stand
Parameter they respond with as they catch a slow stand flat-footed, or get a cheap blow in on a
low durability stand. If the character is Standless, then during their next Opposed Roll, they don’t
gain their Brawns Score.
The Villain can still attempt to use a Villainous Plot to trick their opponent if their Bizarre Field
is down, but will only be rolling with an unmodified 1d6.
COUNTERING VILLAINS
Villains are deadly, mysterious, and weird, but players do have options for dragging them into the
light. As mentioned previously, Bizarre Points are the “life” of the Bizarre Field. The Villain is free to use
them as they want, but if they reach zero, then the Bizarre Field will fail, and the Villain’s secret will be
revealed. A player who wants to weaken a Bizarre Field can make use of a special action called a
Monologue.
There are two kinds of Monologue: Opposed Monologues and Unopposed Monologues.
Opposed Monologues are free with any opposed roll ​the player​ initiates against a villain
(meaning the player can’t Opposed Monologue on the Villain’s Turn). The player can simply choose to
ask a question about the opponent’s Bizarre Field Secret, and the GM responds with a “Yes, Partially, or
No” depending on how close they got. If the player got a part of the Bizarre Field’s secret correctly, then
the villains Bizarre Field decreases by one. If the player asked a question that doesn’t relate to the Bizarre
Field’s secret, the GM is still encouraged to answer, but it won't decrease the bizarre field by any points.
Unopposed Monologues occur when a player spends their Main action to initiate a Monologue
without opposing the villain. These can’t be used to make guesses to decrease the bizarre field, but
instead, have two other purposes. They can either be used to roll an Opposed Brains roll against the
opponent to try and reveal a single Villainous Action, character statistic, or Stand Attribute, or they can be
used to make a Declaration about what the Bizarre Field’s Secret is. If a character’s declaration is correct,
the bizarre field is instantly destroyed. If the character is wrong, however, then the Villain immediately
restores one Bizarre Point to their field.
If a Bizarre Field is destroyed before all of its Bizarre Points are lost, all the leftover points the
Villain had are converted into extra Resolve for the villain. So, if a Villain had 2 Resolve, and 3 Bizarre
points left in their Field, they would have 5 Resolve after their Field drops. Since Bizarre Points are
generally more effective versions of Resolve, it's still useful to drop a Field early, but it can be even more
effective to bait out a Villain’s Bizarre Points before revealing your guess.
THREAT SCALING
In a previous section, we talked briefly about what happens when a character is knocked out of
combat. In this section, we’ll finally be addressing how characters can ​die​ in JojoTTRPG.
Death in Jojo’s is handled by the threat level of the villain you’re fighting. Whenever you enter a
fight, the threat level can be set to any of three levels depending on the villain type: Low, Medium or
High.
A Minion villain will start the threat level at Low. At Low threat, a villain will not be able to kill
a party member, and anyone they defeat will simply be knocked out.
A Mid-Boss will start the threat level at Medium. At Medium, villains can only kill an opponent
who reaches no health and no resolve. So long as a character keeps one resolve point in reserve when they
go down, they’ll simply be knocked out instead of killed.
An Antagonist will start the threat level at High. At this level, a character will die when they hit
no health regardless of how much Resolve they have. At High threat level, the only option is to go all out.
The GM announces the Threat Level for the start of the fight, but it’s possible for the threat level
to get higher if a player decides to raise it. For example, a GM can roll in with a Minion villain, and a
player can decide to “Increase the threat” for themselves, making the threat level “Medium” for their own
character. This raises the risk of death, and makes the encounter more dangerous for that character. The
reason a character may want to do this is so that they can ​Advance​.
ADVANCEMENT
Direct power scaling over time isn’t generally something that occurs with a character in a singular
part of Jojo. A character usually starts out a certain strength, and stays that strength throughout their Part.
Exceptions can be shown with high Learning stats that allow a Stand’s power to develop and grow
stronger overtime. On the other hand, a character’s Flaws, personal philosophy, or motivations may
become more clear or evolve throughout a plot. They may either overcome their flaws and issues, or find
new goals and reaffirm their resolve. The advancement system intends to encourage that style of growth.
At any point during a fight, the player may choose to raise the stakes from the current threat level.
When they do this, they may choose an aspect of their character’s personality, story, or background, and
delve deeper into it. They can describe a flashback of their character, have an internal monologue hyping
themselves up and reaffirming their goals, coming to terms and overcoming a flaw they have, or even just
punctuate a great one-liner.
The moment that the player claims they’re raising the stakes, they may immediately do one of the
following:
- Turn all the dice of a chosen roll (Brawns, Power, Hype-Man, etc.) into 6s.
- Create, or modify, a secret action on the spot, and act as if it was just triggered by the
most recent action.
- Negate an opponent’s attack, and immediately take a turn.
These small little boosts exist to help punctuate a moment of the character standing proud for
themselves, and engaging the villain more personally. A player can only raise the stakes for themselves
once per fight, but multiple players can choose to raise the threat level for themselves if a good enough
opportunity for growth presents itself.
Whenever a player decides to raise the stakes, however, this doesn’t result in a one-sided bonus
for the player. Everything in JojoTTRPG is opposed, even development; if a player decides they want to
grow and cement themselves in a fight, the boss has to grow to match them. For example, if a character
decides to stand strong to protect their ideals, then the opponent should naturally challenge those ideals.
This may take the form of the opponent berating the opponent, directly challenging the character’s world
view, or having a flashback to an event that shows their own perspective.
The moment that a villain does this, they may gain a bizarre point to spend specifically against
opponents who have raised the stakes. This Bizarre Point can be used regardless of if the villain has a
bizarre field, but the villain only gains this extra point ​after​ a player finishes gaining the benefits from
raising the stakes.
After a fight has concluded, a player may learn something from the encounter that they had with
the enemy regardless of if they succeed or failed. The scale of this depends on how high the player raised
the stakes.
If they raised the stakes to Medium, then they may either gain a new +1 trait, or reduce a flaw’s
negative bonus by 1. Doing this allows a character to adapt to certain situations, or slowly overcome their
own flaws.
If the player raised the stakes to High and survived, however, they can instead choose to get a
new +3 trait, or completely remove a flaw from their sheet. This shows a character overcoming a big
problem they faced, or gaining a new skill that allows them to adapt to their growing threats.
CONTACT:
If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email them here: ​Morgash9000@gmail.com