Hello everyone! I wanted to share the work that me and my community have done to make an umamusume pen-and-paper game that is super engaging and supports multiple playstyles, while also being balanced. This is the system of our community Lighter Than Air, but it can be picked up and played by anyone who wants to try it with friends. We actually have done in-person races with a drawn racetrack and had a lot of fun, alongside 15 completed & racemastered races.

The ethos of the system is this: the things you are required to do are minimal. The things you are able to do are maximal. We have support cards, ults, a blocking system, a stamina system, a wit neutralization system, and tons of little things here and there, but at the end of the day, the system is designed so that you only HAVE to move, calc your depletable stats (stamina and power), then end your movement.

I'm just saying this because our new players will often be very overwhelmed by the system's deluge of information, and be nervous to race. Then they actually race and they almost always have a positive time! :D This ethos means that you can have a very personalized strategy by exploring what you are comfortable with.

Below are the beginner concepts of our system, to give you a sense of how it operates. These have been copy and pasted from our guidebook, so apologies if some of the wording isn't optimized for this particular platform. Trying to catch things as I post. Click here to read it in its original guidebook and detailed descriptions of our system

You are free to use the guidebook for home games.

Racing Basics

Racing is a turn-based system. A Racemaster will oversee the race, similar to a DM in a TTRPG game.

Each character action is referred to as a movement, and involves said character moving forward alongside other optional actions. A turn is when all runners have completed their movements; you can consider it like a round.

The race's Turn Order is decided by starting gate position, which is determined by a random roll. The runner at Starting Gate #1 will move first in a turn, then Starting Gate #2 will go next, etc.

Each track has its own layout, marked with points that are identified by a coordinate name (A1, A2, A3, etc). The points and their coordinate name are used to identify movement in a race. How many points are on a track layout is dependent on the distance (shorter races like miles have less points, and long races have more).

It is possible for a race to only comprise a portion of a track, and it is possible for a race to run the length of a track multiple times.

All racers can only move forward, never backwards. The amount of points you move is decided by your Speed stat. Movement consumes Stamina and Power, so it is important to manage these resources carefully during your race.

Once all players have made their turns, the Racemaster will begin the next turn with an updated track map.

At the start of each turn, the Racemaster will see who will get the Rushed condition. The Rushed condition is decided by random dice roll (1d6). If the roll's result is 1, the character with the lowest Wit stat will gain the negative condition.

All of your stats have a role to play during a race. Each stat takes care of a certain aspect of racing, such as movement, blocking, skill retention, and more. Click the Speed, Stamina, Power, Guts, and Wit links on the sidebar to learn more about their roles in the racing system.

Rule of Thumb: If the math requires you to divide something in half or by another number and your result is a decimal - always round up!

Stats Overview

There are five stats, just like in the game: Speed, Stamina, Power, Guts, and Wit.

Speed can be seen as your main stat. It is responsible for actually moving your character around the track. For every 100 speed, your character's movement potential increases by 1 point. If you have 0 to 199 Speed, you can move one point. If you have 200-299 speed, you can move 2 points. If you have 300-399 speed, you can move 3 points, and so forth. Your movement is capped at 15 points.

Speed is used in tiebreaking, as well, determining a winner if two umamusume cross the line on the same turn. The one with the highest speed wins. This creates interesting endings where players attempt to speed max in preparation for that final turn, kind of like how umas and racehorses go all out in the final meters of a race and put it all on the line.

Stamina is a depleting stat, meaning you will lose stamina each turn of a race depending on the point length of your movement. Additional stamina can be added with the help of stack skills (from Support Cards) and inspiration skills (basically ults).

There is an important caveat, however: when you are starting your movement in the lead, you cannot recover stamina. Experiment with timed fallbacks to circumvent this limitation.

Power is instrumental to our blocking system; it allows a runner to block and challenge blocks.

Power is a depleting stat, meaning you will lose power every turn. The amount of power you lose per turn is dependent on the track (turf or dirt). Additional power can be gained through stack skills (from Support Cards) or inspiration skills. You can also lessen the expended power under certain track conditions.

If you are blocked, Power can be used reactively, in the moment of the block, to call on a guts roll for additional power.

Guts can be considered a stat reservoir. It can be used to add to existing stats, generating additional speed, stamina, power, or wit.

To utilize Guts, you complete a 1d4 dice roll and declare which stat you would like to utilize it on. This can be done on all stats BUT guts itself. Each number on this d4 represents a percentage (0%, 50%, 75%, 100%); this percentage dictates how much of your Guts stat is added to the stat of your choice.

That number is not permanently subtracted from your Guts stat; rather, it is copied onto the stat you are rolling for. You receive 4 of these dice rolls per race.

Wit has a couple of little uses that affect your game. Firstly, it is used in relation to stack skills, which come from Support Cards. At the beginning of every race, you'll make a 1d4 dice roll to determine how many stack skills you may use in the race. For every 100 Wit you have, you can add an additional dice roll, and take the highest number rolled.

Wit is also used to determine if someone is rushed. If a racemaster rolls a 1 on the Rushed die, which is rolled at the start of each turn, the racer with the lowest Wit stat will be rushed. Under this effect, they are required to move max speed on the turn which they are rushed, then only 1 point for the following turn.

Guts rolls may be used to shake off a rush, by adding enough Wit to your character to eclipse the next-highest Wit. In this case, the rush is not passed on, but disappears without affecting anyone.

Finally, Wit is used for our neutralization systems. These are explained in more detail later in the racebook; essentially, you can lessen the amount of power needed to challenge a block, or you can lessen someone's dash effectiveness, which is our acceleration system.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. To get a feel for how the system operates, you can check out some of our races!

Niigata Junior Stakes

Elm Stakes

Shirasagi Stakes

Also join. This isn't an option.

I can answer any questions. This could have all been literally unintelligible.

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