The player characters should have their curiosity awakened by this seemingly out-of-the-blue tournament. What follows here, is a list of questions that they may ask (in no particular order), and their answers (and the skill checks needed to uncover the information). If the players ask questions that I haven't prepared answers for, do what I always do. Wing it. (And bluff. A lot. Especially by pretending that it was a clever question, but that you already had thought out an equally clever answer.)

If the players (and, subsequently, the player characters) are being resourceful and creative in getting at this information (research being done, and so on), feel free to allow the players to roll other skill checks for their characters. Good candidates for this would be Interrogation (in case they need to ask someone a few questions) or Investigation (uncovering old information by visiting libraries and so on). Searching for info on the Internet might allow a player to roll his character's Computer as well.

Generally, however, the more peripheral the skill to the actual mission, the higher the target number. Most of the target numbers should be in the 6 to 8 range - less if the players show real interest in uncovering the information.

Don't, however, let the players know that this tournament is somewhat special, in that there's information to be had about various aspects of who instituted this tournament, and the prize to be had. If the players don't ask, don't volunteer information. That'll teach them to be more careful in the future.

After all, the player characters are potentially risking their lives every time they step into the ring, and they should therefore be at least a little interested in the whys and whats about any tournament.

What is the Asakawa Trophy tournament?

The Asakawa Trophy tournament is a fairly low-rank Street Fighter tournament in the Freestyle division. No weapons are allowed, though natural weaponry (teeth, talons, tails) may be used by those contestants possessing them.

An interesting thing about the Asakawa tournament, is the trophy itself. If a particular fighter manages to win the tournament three times, he will be allowed to keep the trophy. Otherwise, he'll have to return the trophy in time for the next tournament.

The tournament has been around for five years, and during that time no fighter has ever won the trophy more than once.

Relevant abilities: Arena (knowledge)

Who is this Asakawa guy anyways?

Asakawa Ieyasu was a Japanese doctor (and, incidentally, karateka with ties to the Japanese Street Fighting circuit) that found something strange some ten years ago. Five years ago, he retired from the Street Fighting circuit to pursue his masterhood. At the same time, he instituted the annual Asakawa Trophy tournament.

Relevant abilities: Mysteries (knowledge), Style Lore (knowledge), any History-related or news-related ability as decided by the Storyteller.

What did dr. Asakawa find?

Exactly what dr. Asakawa found is hard to say. It seems evident, however, that he found a meteorite in the due course of his studies as a doctor of geology. This meteorite had quite large amounts of rare elements in it - such as iridium - and the crystalline structure was quite unique.

After having published some interesting papers on the meteorite and its crystalline structure, dr. Asakawa retired from the scientific community. He dedicated himself instead to the practice of Karate, having aquired some small means from selling parts of the meteorite he found.

Relevant abilities: Mysteries (knowledge), Science (knowledge), any History or news-related ability, possibly Geology or related skills.

What is the Asakawa Trophy?

(This question can only be answered by direct inspection of the Trophy. Other investigation only reveals that it is a golden wheel-type trophy, with spokes with sparkling shards of some crystal on the end of each spoke. Feel free to allow characters with either Focus or Mysteries to roll Focus+Perception or Mysteries+Perception to feel 'strange energies' radiating from the trophy.)

Made out of (mostly) gold and decorated with shards from some crystal, the trophy is roughly 60 cm (two feet) in diameter, designed as a central cylinder some 10 cm (4 inches) upon which radiates spokes. Each spoke is tipped with an inset shard of a strange, yellowish mineral that seems to radiate light in darkness (similar to the fluorescent mineral that covers the arms of some watches).

If one wants to talk money, the gold alone should be worth at least 100 000 dollars - and the trophy not much more, due to its austere design. What the trophy is worth considering the crystal shards, is difficult to say. It's no common gem stone, at least, so it might add everything from 0 to 100 000 dollars in worth to the trophy.

The crystal shards decorating the trophy are impossible to place. If one didn't know better, one might say that such a crystal didn't exist. But it does - as evinced by the fact that the trophy is decorated with them.

An aura of tranquility and otherworldliness seems to radiate from the trophy.

Relevant abilities: Mysteries (knowledge), Science (knowledge), any Geology or related ability, Appraisal or appraisal-related abilities.

Who are the former winners of the Asakawa Trophy tournament?

The five former winners of the Asakawa Trophy tournament are more or less retired from the Street Fighting circuit. Of the five, only two are still occasionally fighting circuit matches - the remaining three have retired in order to pursue masterhood.

The names of the winners are largely irrelevant - what is important to get through, is that they have since either retired or fights only a select number of fights nowadays. If pressed, one might produce a list looking something like this:

• Chief John Running Dog, Native American Wrestler now Rank 7. He has since retired, and fights only a select number of matches each year. A Navaho, he lives on the Navajo Reservation.
• Peter Inglewood, a British practitioner of Kempo. Going into semi-retirement two years ago, he possessed the rank of 6 in the Freestyle division. He is currently holding Rank 2 in the Traditional division, but fights only one fight per quarter.
• Eiliv Franksson, an Icelandic practitioner of Kabaddi. He retired immediately upon winning the tournament three years ago, searching for "enlightenment". He possessed a Rank 4 in Freestyle when he retired.
• Keisha Malone, an American boxer. Giving up her Freestyle rank of 5, she is now building her own stable of very promising boxers. She seems to have set herself a goal to become the best boxing trainer for females in the world - and so far she's got more than an even chance at succeeding.
• Jan van Kleeithoven, a Dutch practitioner of Muay Thai. The winner of last year's tournament, he has since retired to Thailand, where he is busy building his own stable of Thai boxers. He possessed Rank 6 in Freestyle when he was active.

Basically, they have all either retired from the circuit or either is only fighting a select number of matches every year. For ideas, please refer to the above section.

Relevant abilities: Arena (knowledge), Style Lore (knowledge), possibly Mysteries (knowledge) or a news-related ability.

Why does my heart feel so bad?

I don't know. Stop eating unhealthy food, exercise more, and don't listen to that Moby song! It'll eat your mind! (Shouldn't be more than a mouthful, that... )

Relevant abilities: Well, duh.