You Awaken in A Strange Place

 

You Awaken in a Strange Place

 

A Fully Improvised RPG for 4 Players Designed by Jacob Andrews

Core Tenets of the Game ●

Everyone comes to the game unprepared.

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Anything the GM or the players say about the world is true about the world.

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The game must be finished in one session.

What You’ll Need to Play ●

Paper

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Writing utensils

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2d6 for each player

Establishing the Setting ●

Choose one person to be the Game Master (GM) using whatever method you deem fit. They no longer count as a “player” for the purposes of this rule sheet. They are unto a god now.

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The other players each roll 2d6.

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The player with the highest roll silently thinks of a Genre. The player with the middle roll silently thinks of an Adjective.

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The player with the lowest roll silently thinks of a Location.

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Once every player has decided, they state their choice out loud, in order. ○

Example: Samantha rolls a 12, and chooses the genre Western. Liz rolls an 8, and chooses the adjective Dangerous. Dangerous. Alan rolls a 2, and chooses the location High School. The setting for this game is a Dangerous High School in the Wild West.

 

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Next, in the same turn order, each player makes one Statement  about the world of the game. As per the Core Tenets, whatever they say becomes true about the world. ○

Example: Samantha thinks for a minute, then says that in this world, the main threat to humanity is Cyber-Spiders. Liz says that the high school is at the top of a volcano. Alan says that students who fail in this school are thrown into the volcano. All of these things are now true about the world.

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The players and the GM then work together and use these facts to form a more complete picture of the world. ○

Example: The GM and the players discuss, and decide that the school is a training facility for gifted young cowfolk in the war against the cyber-spiders. The things they are taught in the school are forbidden knowledge, so once enrolled, the students are not allowed to leave unless they graduate successfully.

Creating Your Characters ●

Players roll 2d6, and then create their characters, one at a time, starting with the player who rolled the highest.

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The player with the highest roll describes what kind of character they want to be. ○

Example: Alan rolls a 10, and says that he wants to be a huge, muscular, overalls-wearing overalls-wearing farmhand from a tiny town who is an expert with a lasso. He names his character Bradford McBuff.

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The same player now makes up 4 Skill Verbs that apply to their character: one skill that they’re amazing at ( +2), one skill that they’re good at (+1), one skill that they’re bad at (-1), and one skill that they’re horrible at ( -2). Use these skills to help paint a picture of your character! Try to make them align with

 

what makes your character great, and what makes your character flawed. ○

Example: Alan gives Bradford McBuff a +2 in lassoing, a +1 in throwing, a -1 in dodging, and a -2 in lying.

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Once the first player is done, the next player does the same thing, but has to invent 4 completely new Skill Verbs for their character. ○

Example: Liz is next, and after the initial description, they give their character, Pistol James, a +2 in sharpshooting, sharpshooting, a +1 in smooth-talking, a -1 in following orders, and a -2 in defending.

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The third player repeats the process with 4 new Skill Verbs for their own character.

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After all of the players have created their characters and set their skills, the GM then adds 4 additional Skill Verbs to fill out whatever might be missing in the session. Try to call back to the established setting and come up with Skill Verbs that help flesh out the world! ○

Example: The GM thinks about what would round out the skill set, and then adds in Sneaking, Guarding, Horse Riding, and Yeehawing.

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These 16 skills are the only types of rolls you’re allowed to make in the game, so all challenges must revolve around these skills. Every player has access to all of these skills, and if they don’t have a bonus from character creation then it starts at +0.

Playing the Game As the GM  ●

Once the setting and characters are created, you’ll be given 5 minutes to jot down notes and ideas before the game begins.

 

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The game should begin in the middle of the action, so think up an exciting scenario within the world you’ve all created to drop your players into. ○

Example: Against all odds, the Cyber-Spiders have infiltrated the high school and are wreaking havoc among the student body. The player characters were knocked out in an explosion when the Cyber-Spiders breached the outer walls.

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Once you’ve established the opening shot, think of several action scenes that you can slot into the story that challenge your

players’ specific Skill Verbs. These don’t have to be used in game, and it’s likely that you’ll think up different ones as the game progresses. This will just get you thinking in the right direction. ○

Example: The GM thinks about Alan’s character, and writes down “distant lever” to test the Lasso Skill, “pile of rubble” to test to throwing skill, “spider turrets” to test the dodging skill, and “skeptical teacher” to test the lying skill.

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When you’re ready to begin to game, start with the opening line “You awaken in a strange place...”

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Describe in great detail the Strange Place that the player characters have Awakened in, then ask them what they want to do.

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Once the players have a firm grasp of the situation as they know it, you should encourage them to discuss their scenario and come up with a Goal. Remind your players to consider the previous Statements about the world and setting so they can draw their

goal from there. ○

Example: The players all discuss, and decide that their Goal is to escape the school before the Cyber-Spiders tear the whole place to the ground.

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Once the Goal has been decided, you should continue the narrative in service to this Goal.

 

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As players are exploring the world, you should always look for ways to test their Skill Verbs in fun and interesting ways. Whenever a player wants to accomplish something difficult, or you throw a challenge their way, have the players roll 2d6 + their bonus points for a given skill to determine their success. ○