# Panic at the Dojo tags: #game/rpg/panic-at-the-dojo ![[Panic at the Dojo (cover).jpg]] It seems you've stumbled upon **Panic at the Dojo**, a tabletop roleplaying game that posits a world where every conflict, from whose turn it is to do laundry to presidential assassination attempts, is resolved through spectacular martial arts battles. The game, penned by Vel Mini, actively channels the high-octane energy of properties like _Kung Fu Hustle_, _Avatar: The Last Airbender_, and _Jackie Chan Adventures_ into a tactical combat system. One player takes on the thankless role of the Director, orchestrating the opposition, while the others create Heroes, skilled fighters striving to achieve their goals, presumably before their inevitable demise. The core mechanics of this game eschew the tedious probability calculations of traditional "roll-to-hit" systems. Instead, a player's turn is a resource management puzzle solved with dice. At the beginning of their turn, a player selects one of their character's pre-built **Stances**. A **Stance** is a combination of a fundamental **Form** (the building block of the fighting style) and a **Style** (the character's personal spin on it). The chosen **Form** dictates which dice—referred to as **Action Dice**—the player rolls. For instance, the **Power Form** grants two ten-sided dice and a four-sided die. The numbers rolled on these dice are not added together; instead, each individual result becomes a resource in the player's **Action Pool** for that turn. If you roll a 7, a 5, and a 2, your Action Pool contains the numbers 7, 5, and 2. You then spend these numbers one by one to perform **Actions**. Every character can use a list of **Basic Actions**, such as **Damage** or **Movement**, but **Forms** and **Styles** provide powerful **Unique Actions** accessible only while in a corresponding Stance. Actions have a minimum cost. A "3+" Action requires you to spend a die from your pool that shows a 3 or higher. Other actions, noted as "X Actions," scale their effect based on the number you spend. For example, spending a 6 from your pool on the "X: Grapple" action allows you to pull a target up to six spaces. Once your Action Pool is empty, your turn concludes, presumably leaving a trail of aesthetically pleasing destruction. A single edition of **Panic at the Dojo** was published after its successful Kickstarter campaign. There have been no subsequent editions released to complicate the archives, though a 2nd is in the works. ## References - [Official Product Page - DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/247607/panic-at-the-dojo-1st-edition) - [Official Product Page - itch.io](https://liberigothica.itch.io/panic-at-the-dojo)