This will be a freeform game: no rules or numbers!
The general feel of the game would be something like Naruto mixed with a wuxia film mixed with political intrigue =P
In short: I'll be looking for lots and lots of dramatic action! But role-play will also play a major part in this game.
If you're interested, read further:
[spoiler]Oh, btw: This setting is based on the D&D setting described on the book 'Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords'. Yes, everything I took from that book has its D&D version, full of rules and other cool things. But like I said before, I'm doing this freeform so the burden on me gets lighter.
Exactly what I took from the book is: the Nine Disciplines and their descriptions, and the ideas of the Nine Swords. The rest was thought up by me.[/spoiler]

Premise

Our setting is a fantasy world. What makes this world different from your regular fantasy setting is the presence of Martial Adepts. Martial Adepts are fighters — but very good fighters. An Adept is part of the elite of combatants around the world. The feats of a skilled Adept can be mistaken for magic by the unknowing observer, so unbelievable they are.
The powers of the Martial Adepts come from the Nine Disciplines. Also called Martial Disciples because of that, the Martial Adepts train to learn one or more Discipline and hone their skills. Adepts of the same Discipline often group together and form communities. Each Discipline is also represented by a single magical sword of incredible powers. The swords of each Discipline are together called the Nine Swords. The Nine Swords are among the most powerful artifacts of the world, and kept safe by the most prominent Disciples of each of the Nine Disciplines.
Adepts are trained in various temples spread around the world. Since the Martial Adepts are constantly battling, the casualty level of the Adept population is very high. Because of that, temples seek new apprentices regularly.
Once every 6 years, one temple is chosen for the Ritual of the Blade. The Ritual lasts many days and is a ceremony in which the Nine Martial Masters (the bearers of the Nine Swords) gather in one place. The biggest attraction of the Ritual is a tournament: various temples around the world send their best apprentices to participate in the tournament and gain recognition among the worldwide Martial Adept community.
This year's Ritual of the Blade is close. The hidden temple of Harak-Dier, located in the vast Delerit Jungles, was chosen to host the ritual.

... and this is where you come in. The players will take the roles of Martial Adepts coming from all around the world to participate in this tournament. Upon arriving at Harak-Dier, the players will find that a lot of things happen behind the curtains...


Gameplay

This will be a freeform game. Which means in short that it will not be governed by any rules or numbers; the outcome of the story will be influenced solely by role-play (following, of course, the Golden Rule of Roleplaying: Good Sense).

Who is interested, needs to create a character. Character can be of any fantastical race, not many limitations here. I give the final word: I won't let you be a giant sea turtle, but you can be anything from a gnoll or a hobgoblin to an elf, dwarf and the like.
The only restrictions I put on character creation are the following:
- Your character must be a Martial Adept, trained in a temple anywhere in the world, who was sent by whichever reason to the temple of Harak-Dier to participate in the tournament of the Ritual of the Blade.
- Your character has to be trained in only one of the Nine Disciplines. The Disciplines are described further down. Remember: each Discipline is taught in more than one temple.
- Your character has to have a background story. Yeah. So think what happened to him before: how his past life was, how he is like, how does he think, etc.

The Nine Disciplines
The names of the Disciplines vary a lot around the world, but the Nine Ways are in essence the same. Below, I'll give the most common names for each Discipline.

DESERT WIND is the Discipline of movement. Speed is the weapon of the warrior who follows this path. He strikes and retreats constantly, never standing still in battle. He is a leaping flame — a burning sirocco of the wastes.
DEVOTED SPIRIT is the Discipline of self-knowledge and spirituality, and those who follow this path arm themselves with purity and faith. No other warrior is better suited to confront the minions of evil — but beware, because some choose to pervert this Discipline by worshiping powers of darkness instead of powers of light.
To practice DIAMOND MIND is to learn the secret of action without volition. A Diamond Mind adept can make the raindrops stand still if he wishes. He understands that any battle is a contest of wills, and that victory is inevitable for the warrior who wins that contest.
IRON HEART is the quest for skill, pure and simple. A warrior who follows this path studies ever more complex and difficult maneuvers for battle. The deep communion he shares with the spirit of steel causes a sword to become a living thing in his hands.
The way of the SETTING SUN changes weakness into strength and folly into wisdom. A practicer of this school studies the art of permitting an adversary to defeat himself.
A follower of the SHADOW HAND treads a lonely and dangerous path. His is the road of stealth, of deceit, of blows struck without answer, and of death in the dark. A Shadow Hand master kills before his adversary ever knows he is in peril.
STONE DRAGON is the Discipline of strength, of endurance, of pure physical and spiritual power. A warrior of the Stone Dragon is a hardy foe with the strength of the mountain itself in his grasp.
He who studies the TIGER CLAW seeks to unleash his hidden savagery — the feral instincts and blind animal rage that lurk within. This warrior is strong, quick, and unpredictable, capable of tearing most opponents apart with his bare hands.
And finally, we come to the Discipline of the WHITE RAVEN — the path of the great captain, the leader of warriors, and the crusader. A White Raven disciple studies the art of fighting in concert with his allies, and uses his fierce war cries to great effect in battle.

Your character will start with an armor (what type of armor depends on the Discipline you choose: a Desert Wind won't wear much other than light robes, but a Devoted Spirit probably has heavy armor on), and two different melee weapons. Any weapon can be used to invoke the powers of any Discipline. You can be an Iron Heart and use the long staff and the dagger. You can be a Stone Dragon using a rapier. Even unarmed combat. And etcetera. Which means that your character will start the game with three different attack options: two weapons plus unarmed combat.
Ranged weapons are not used and despised by most Martial Adepts, with the exception of a few Shadow Hands.
Below I give a list of suggested (but not necessary) weapons for each Discipline.
Desert Wind: scimitar, light mace, light pick, falchion, spear.
Devoted Spirit: falchion, greatclub, longsword, maul.
Diamond Mind: rapier, shortspear, bastard sword, katana, trident.
Iron Heart: bastard sword, dwarven axe, longsword, two-bladed sword.
Setting Sun: short sword, quarterstaff, nunchaku, unarmed strike.
Shadow Hand: dagger, short sword, sai, siangham, unarmed strike, spiked chain.
Stone Dragon: greatsword, greataxe, heavy mace, unarmed strike.
Tiger Claw: kukri, kama, claw, handaxe, greataxe, unarmed strike.
White Raven: longsword, battleaxe, warhammer, greatsword, halberd.
Some weapons there are rather unknown, so Google/Wikipedia them if you have any questions. ^^



So that's it. I'm gonna shamelessly copy Kajak here and ask you to send me a PM with a character, if you want to play. Information should include:

Name:
Race:
Age:
Physical Description:
Psychological Description:
Background:
Discipline Practiced: choose one.
Weapon Proficiencies: Unarmed strike + choose two.

Sounds fun! I'll sign up!

When do we start?

Heh, as soon as we have players. ^^

Lol.

Name: Nicarda Rolantes
Race: Human
Age: 23
Physical Description: Nicarda is a lean female warrior, russet skinned and sharp featured. Had the desert winds, the literal and the artform not been so relentless, she might have actually been a pretty girl.
Psychological Description: Purpose requires action. Action begets action. The faster an action can be preform the faster a person can arrive at their purpose. Nicarda is speed. Her purpose fleeting as she preforms action after action, each one taking her nearer to her goals.
Background: Nicarda knows no family besides her companions within the discipline. They give her purpose. And through them she feels needed. She can't even remember her parents or where she's from. The only thing that drives her now is the feeling of being needed.
Discipline Practiced: Desert Wind
Weapon Proficiencies: Unarmed strike + Spatha + Swordbreaker


Hope that works for you.. She fights with a spatha in her right hand and a swordbreaker in her left if that's ok.

Spatha + Swordbreaker? Dude, that's one powerful combination. Kinda reminds me of those greek-themed girls in Soul Calibur.

Yep, everything looks good. ^^ You're in!

Great. *waits for others*

And yeah..I love that combo. I read it in a book somewhere and it's stuck ever since.