COWBOY BEBOP ROLEPLAYING GAME QUICKSTART The official tabletop roleplaying game of one of the most beloved anime of all time. Play your own stories of bounty hunters in space, in this jazzy universe blending western, film noir and buddy cop movies: Get rich quick but be ready to face retribution, because that will be the real lesson! All you need to play is a character sheet and some D6s. Cowboy Bebop Roleplaying Game will be available in: Look at my eyes, Faye. One of them is a fake because I lost it in an accident. Since then, I’ve been seeing the past in one eye and the present in the other. So, I thought I could only see patches of reality, never the whole picture. All images and concepts used within this book from the anime series Cowboy Bebop are ©️ SUNRISE. This product is licensed by SUNRISE, INC. to Don’t Panic Games.
GAME DIRECTOR MICHELE PAROLI LICENSE MANAGER CEDRIC LITTARDI GAME DESIGN DAVIDE MILANO ADDITIONAL WRITING MARTA PALVARINI GAME CONCEPT CLAUDIO PUSTORINO CLAUDIO SERENA GRAPHIC DESIGN SILVIA DE STEFANIS MICHELE PAROLI EDITING AND PROOFREADING MAZ HAMILTON All images and concepts used within this book from the anime series Cowboy Bebop are ©️ SUNRISE. This product is licensed by SUNRISE, INC. to Don’t Panic Games. COWBOY BEBOP ROLEPLAYING GAME - QUICKSTART QUICKSTART
CONTENTS WHAT WILL YOU EXPERIENCE… 5 FOUNDATIONS 6 HOW TO PLAY 9 BOUNTY HUNTERS 18 BIG SHOT 25 SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY… 30 QUICK SETUP 32 BOUNTY: TED BOWER 35 GLOSSARY 38 SESSION 44 CHARACTER SHEET 52
From Don’t Panic Games, the team that brought you Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade, Naruto Ninja Arena, Attack on Titan: The Last Stand, and Tokyo Ghoul: Bloody Masquerade Partnered with Mana Project Studio, the creative studio that designed Journey To Ragnarok, Historia, Nightfell, Norse Grimoire, and Seven Sinners Cowboy Bebop Rolelaying Game features an original game system, developed in collaboration with Fumble GDR and Davide Milano A pioneering experience, bringing the world of Japanese anime to a tabletop roleplaying game! An unique opportunity to experience the world of Cowboy Bebop, meet your favorite character, and discover more about the universe! COWBOY BEBOP ROLEPLAYING GAME - QUICKSTART
WHAT WILL YOU EXPERIENCE… THE WORLD The Solar System of Cowboy Bebop is a multicultural frontier land, reminiscent of both western movies and San Francisco in the 70s—but it is also a setting where Bounty Hunters move around using the Astral Gates, after an accident destroyed the Moon and forced humanity to almost completely abandon the Earth’s surface. We can see glimpses of Mars, Venus, Jupiter’s moons and many space stations, but we will never have a complete view of what it means to inhabit this Solar System in 2071. For this reason, storytellers have at their disposal a set of cues and tools to build and describe their own places: questionable bars, glitzy casinos, Red Dragon buildings, ISSP stations. THE THEMES Collecting Bounties is always a necessity for a Bounty Hunter, but Spike and the rest of the crew often give up on collecting the millions of Woolong they are due. In fact, a Bounty always turns out to be much more than just a face on a poster: their tragic stories are revealed before the eyes of our protagonists, who then find themselves having to make moral choices based on what they have discovered. In this game, therefore, a Bounty is both someone to hunt down and an excuse to tell a story. The narrator is helped in this by a Session sheet that allows them to trace what the characters have discovered, what the media say about the Bounty and, finally, what choice they will face.
This is what this game is about: the heart and soul of the game you will be playing and the kinds of stories you will be telling together. FICTION MONEY IS NEVER ENOUGH, BUT IT’S NEVER A PROBLEM Cowboy Bebop’s characters can’t afford to sit idle on their ship, but despite always seeming to be broke, they never have a problem paying Gate tolls, extending a bribe to an informant, or finding the right costume to go undercover at a party. What’s more, some of them give up easy money as a matter of principle. THE PAST WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU Characters will get to come closer to their memories: important moments from their past that they haven’t resolved yet and that they will have to face in the course of the story. Eventually, they will face a memory and come to terms with it and this will reveal sides of them that had previously remained hidden. DEATH IS ALWAYS DRAMATIC, NEVER ACCIDENTAL The death of characters and sidekicks is never a gratuitous event: it’s a part of the story that is developing and should always bring emotion, value, and meaning to the gaming experience. The usual way for a Bounty Hunter to exit the story is to definitively come to terms with their past. FOUNDATIONS
GAME DRIVE YOUR CHARACTER LIKE A STOLEN CAR IN AN ACTION MOVIE Players should not pull their punches: characters should take risks, enjoying the thrill of taking not the safest, most logical route but the most dangerous and exciting one. Put the pedal to the metal, nobody cares about a few scratches! WRITER, DIRECTOR, ACTOR, AND AUDIENCE This game is about playing something similar to a tv series, but there is a catch: each player covers all of the roles mentioned above. Each player can drive the story forward, feeling free to add details for their own character or to point out interesting details about other ones. A fine player plays on their own character; a good player plays on all characters; a great player plays on all characters—alongside all other players—and follows where the rules of the game are leading at the same time. CHARACTERS ARE MADE WITH ACTIONS The character sheet doesn’t have any place to point out the ideas and the feelings of the character: there are only graphic aids and props useful to build an anime-style scene. You will not find anything about a character’s morality, ideas or feelings, because the only way to show them in a good anime is through your actions and choices. Think of what your character would do and surprise your audience—yourself included. INSPIRATIONS AND SPECIAL THANKS This game is heavily influenced by the design of Monsterhearts by Avery Alder, Blades in the Dark by John Harper and Wicked Ones by Nielson/ Rea/Costa: their subversion of gaming tropes and of refined gaming structures are a milestone for modern tabletop roleplaying games. We used all of this to offer you a unique engine that will let you enter the Groove of characters looking for a Bounty and finding their own selves.
SAFETY TECHNIQUES It is imperative that each player agrees on the themes they want to include and things they prefer to avoid during a session. Lines and Veils, standardized by Ron Edwards, can help you with this. A Line is a hard limit: you cannot go beyond that point. For example, if the group decides not to talk about torture, this topic should be avoided completely. This is a Line. If, on the other hand, everyone feels comfortable acknowledging that torture exists in the game world and that it might even occur during the game, then you can use a Veil: torture does exist, but if it happens during play, the details will not be described, and no one will be forced to play the situation. Integrate the Veil in your scene like the “fade to black” technique in a movie, or as though someone has pushed the “fast forward” button on a television remote control. It is essential to immediately point out to those playing with you if there is any subject you are uncomfortable with or any topic you absolutely want to avoid. Stop the game: you can integrate this as though someone has pushed the “stop” button on a television remote control. Then remind everyone of the Line or the Veil, or create a new one. The well-being of each player is so much more important than the game itself. Also, remember that Cowboy Bebop is a work with mature themes, but it is never morbid or voyeuristic about violence. It is always focused on keeping the story well-paced, engaging, and enjoyable.
HOW TO PLAY Cowboy Bebop Roleplaying Game is, well, a tabletop roleplaying game, meaning that there is a game structure paired with a story. The players make decisions about the story, using the game rules as a guide, and they explain how the rules are reflected in the fiction. The mechanics of the game influence the fiction and what happens in the fiction influences decisions within and about the rules All but one player takes the role of Bounty Hunter or BH: each one of them will have a character sheet describing both the character they play in the game fiction and a set of game rules specific to that character. That BH will use these rules to play the game, making decisions about how their character acts, thinks and feels. Will your characters capture the Bounty or take their side? That’s for the BHs to decide. One player takes the role of the Big Shot: they’re in charge of the setting, the environment and every character other than the ones of the BHs. While the BHs should show their characters through actions and decisions, the Big Shot should set these decisions up, presenting the other players with interesting situations and difficult choices. The Bounty can be a merciless killer or an oppressed victin seeking for revenge: it’s the Big Shot’s job to make it up.
OVERVIEW The game is organized in Sessions, in a similar way to episodes of an anime or a TV serial. Each one is about the characters hunting a Bounty, finding out something about the Bounty and about themselves, in a tale filled with action and wonder, fights and dialogues, introspection and chases. You’ll need 1–2 hours to make a session, but it can take far less time to create an action-packed one or slightly more for a more investigative session, or if you are not familiar with the rules. Each session is divided into three tabs. Each one relates to a particular scene of your tale, in which the characters have a main objective to achieve, maybe some secondary ones, and for sure some dangers to avoid. As you play, each tab gives the players more and more options. To achieve their goals BHs take turns deciding how each character acts, and determining the outcome with Tests. Tests reward two game currencies: hits, handled by the BH, and shocks, handled by the Big Shot. Spending these currencies will bring the BHs closer to their objectives… and the dangers as well. You will need some 6-sided dice (D6, from now on) to play: usually nine per each BH is enough. You’ll also need something to write on: pen and paper, an electronic device, or anything you are comfortable with will do. This quickstart has character sheets to quickly set up an example session.
TESTS The story you will tell is created through moments of play in which a character faces a challenge. Whether they succeed or fail, their actions will generate new story twists, good results, and interesting (or dangerous) consequences. The outcome of these risky actions is decided by Tests. A Test is something a BH makes to move forward both aspects of the session: fiction and mechanics. The BH’s character should: • Use one of their distinctive characteristics; • Have a goal they want to achieve; • Have interesting consequences to face. If all these three conditions are fulfilled, that’s a Test.
When the BH plays a Test, two game currencies are created: hits and shocks. The BH can spend hits to achieve or get closer to an objective. The Big Shot can spend shocks to make things more interesting—to make actions harder, or bring dangers closer. To play a Test, follow these steps: CHOOSE THE APPROACH Each character has five different Approaches for a Test, each one a different way to get the job done: If you want to show your character… • …withstanding something overwhelming, that’s a Rock Approach. It involves cool actions where the character is trying to do something under a lot of pressure, keeping their composure, or staying cool in the face of danger. What’s the overwhelming opposition? • …being the unstoppable force, that’s a Dance Approach. It involves actions of great exuberance, displays of stamina and recklessness, or an endless flow of energy to make the character the center of attention. What’s fueling this power? • …facing inner feelings, that’s a Blues Approach. It involves spirituality, your character’s self-awareness and understanding of emotions, or the ability to look within and gain enlightenment. What’s the feeling that needs to be addressed? • …influencing other people, that’s a Tango Approach. It involves being charming and seductive, or intimidating and terrifying: getting others to do your bidding by words and presence. What’s the best way to make them comply? • …understanding the environment, blending in and being smart, that’s a Jazz Approach. It involves analysis, deep understanding, applying skill, knowing what to do and how to do it, and knowing the flow and going with it. What’s the center of this moment?
WHAT DO WE SEE ON SCREEN? The BH then explains how the fiction should be affected, narrating what happens “on screen” as though it’s a scene from an anime. The BH should use some traits (emphasised in bold in the examples below) from the character’s chosen Approach to flavour the way they describe the action. Each trait will increase the character’s involvement, increasing the number of dice rolled, the chances of success - and of problems. EXAMPLE BIG SHOT: “You need to get to the Bounty before she enters the vault in the villa of the crime boss. There is a bunch of armed and quick-trigger security guards to pass before you can get inside the villa. What do you do?” Rock Approach: “I shoot a couple of bullets at the guards with my trustworthy revolver then I’ll run away, in order to get them to chase me and clear the way for the others.” Dance Approach: “My character appears in front of them with her eyes closed. She tells them that she is sorry, then unsheathes her katana Steel Tear and cuts them open.” Blues Approach: “Marcus takes a puff on his cigar and recalls his time with the Bounty, trying to remember an old trick that she once used to get inside the villa, so that he can use it himself.” Tango Approach: “My character’s red lipstick enhances a charming smile that takes the guards by surprise. I follow up with, ‘Hello-oo, guys! Can anyone help me find my way to the bedroom, upstairs? I’m soooo lost!’ That should do the trick, charm them and lure them away.” Jazz Approach: “‘I’d like not to spill any blood, especially mine!’ says John, using his tech-binoculars to scan the area looking for a secondary and less guarded entrance.” BUILDING THE BASE DICE POOL The BH creates a base pool of D6s: • They start with a number of D6 equal to the base number of the current session tab (one, two or three). • Add one D6 for each trait from their chosen Approach that was involved in the fiction setup.
HITS&SHOCKS The BH rolls the dice, and adds up the results of all dice. The Test will produce up to two hits: • One if the total sum of the dice is equal or greater than the Difficulty of the current session tab. • One if at least two 6s are rolled. The Test will also produce a number of shocks equal to the number of 1s. …WANNA PUSH IT? If you didn’t get both hits, you can get one hit by taking two extra shocks. If there are no shocks, the BH adds one. Every Test will always result in at least one shock. The BH then removes one shock by wounding a trait, and one to mark a Bullet (p20). All remaining shocks are for the Big Shot to use. If both the Big Shot and the BH agree, the BH can skip one or both these steps, avoiding wounds or Bullets but leaving more shocks to the Big Shot. At this point the BH spends the hits, while the Big Shot spends the shocks. Both can be spent to: • Pursue objectives or making dangers closer by ticking a clock (p16). • Alter the Difficulty of the tab for subsequent Tests. One hit lowers the Difficulty by one; one shock increases it by one. If you have more than one hit (or shock) you can spend them in the same way, ticking a clock or changing the Difficulty twice or more. Finally, the BH tells the story of how the character gets the results— and the wounds—and the Big Shot narrates how the shocks affect the fiction.
…WANNA BET? If the BH doesn’t like the result of the Test, they can take a Gamble, making the roll again with one extra die. The first roll is ignored and the new roll gives the result. If the new roll gets one or no hits, the BH wounds a trait from the Test with a double slash, a hard wound: you can’t use that trait until the end of the session, when the trait is finally recovered. ADVANTAGE & DISADVANTAGE Later on, you’ll see that some effects in the game will give you Advantage or Disadvantage on a Test. Advantage means rolling one extra die and removing the die with the lowest score, while Disadvantage means rolling one extra die and removing the die with the highest score. These do not stack and cancel each other: if the Test has one Disadvantage and one Advantage, the roll takes place as normal, ignoring both. EXAMPLE The BH went for the Dance Approach in the previous example, and it’s the second tab, so the pool is three dice: two dice for the tab and one for the Steel Tear trait. The BH rolls a 5, a 4, and a 2, for a total of 11: the Difficulty of the tab is 10, so there is one hit. There were no 6s, so she can push the roll to get that extra hit. Pushing means getting two shocks too, but as there were no 1s on the roll,the BH would get one anyway; it’s just one extra shock, so the BH decides to Push. The BH then removes one shock by wounding the Steel Tear trait and asks the Big Shot if they can leave the other to avoid taking a bullet. The Big Shot approves, so the final total is two hits and one shock. The BH uses one hit to pursue the Bounty and one to lower the Difficulty of the tab, while the Big Shot spends one shock to move the Bounty closer to the vault. BH: “It’s quite the fight, but after some seconds the guards are down and my character is facing them, Steel Tear covered in blood. That image shakes her nerve and she will not be able to use her katana for a while.” BIG SHOT: “Excellent. There was some screaming and that drew the attention of anyone inside the villa, so it will be harder for you to proceed unnoticed now.”
CLOCKS Clocks are a tool to set up and clearly communicate how close a turning point is. Clocks are usually circles divided into 4, 6 or 8 segments (also called 4-clocks, 6-clocks, and 8-clocks) and they are linked to an event. Hits and shocks can be spent to fill one segment of a clock (“ticking a clock”) and, when all segments are filled, the event happens. Clocks can be used to set up objectives: if the characters want to achieve something meaningful they will need to spend hits to fill a clock for that. Clocks can be used to build up pressure too. The Big Shot can spend shocks to fill clocks linked to events the characters want to avoid, like a bomb exploding, their Bounty escaping the building, or a patrol finding them where they should not be. This helps to give a sense of impending doom that will keep the game running. A clock means “you need to tell that much story to do that thing: no more, no less.” For each tab, the Big Shot should set up one clock for the main objective of the characters and another that is tied to the failure of the scene. Any player can ask to open a clock for a secondary objective—the Big Shot has the final call. The Big Shot should assign an approach to each clock; the BHs must use the assigned approach to tick the last segment of the clock. Remember: if you open a clock and you don’t close it by the end of the tab, whatever it was meant to happen will not happen. Remember the golden rule for clocks: never go back! Nothing can erase segments from a clock. If someone wants to stop that bomb from exploding they’ll need to fill a different clock called “the bomb is defused” which will remove the first clock from the game.
NOTE: usually the BHs spend their hits to fill the clock of their objective and the Big Shot spends shocks to fill the clock of the failure—but that’s not set in stone. Sometimes plot twists happen and the BHs can decide to change their objectives… EXAMPLE In the example above, there are two clocks on the tab. One is “the characters find the Bounty,” which will result in a success for the characters, and the other is “the Bounty gets inside the vault,” which is the failure of the tab. The BH spent one hit to fill one segment of the first clock, while the Big Shot spent a shock to tick up the second one. TABS A gaming session is composed of three chapters, known as tabs. The three tabs are: • G.E.S.T. (short for Get Everybody and the Stuff Together) • 3, 2, 1… • Let’s Jam! Each tab has a base Difficulty, an objective for the characters to pursue, and dangerous stuff waiting to happen. At the beginning of a tab the Big Shot will define a victory condition (a clock to be filled by the BHs) and a loss condition (a clock representing a threat, usually filled by the Big Shot with shocks). Each tab grants new options for both BHs (see p21-2-3) and the Big Shot (see p28).
BOUNTY HUNTERS As previously mentioned, all players but one will take the role of Bounty Hunters, or BHs. Each BH has a character to play, and the BH decides how that character acts or reacts, choosing which Approach and resources to use, and their role in the fiction. Each character has a character sheet describing traits and other rules. YOUR GOAL Your goal as a BH is to choose your character’s objectives, weave their actions in with decisions from other BHs, make your character pursue the objectives, and enjoy both victories and defeats. YOUR TOOLS You’ll have a character sheet with all the tools you need to play: Traits, Rhythm, Memory and Bullets.
TRAITS Traits are the way you define how your character looks and acts. Traits can be items your character carries around, their martial arts style, hairstyle, cyber-prosthetics—anything that shapes the style and personality of the character in our anime series. Each trait is written in one of the 15 hexagons on your character sheet. There are three for each Approach: Blues, Rock, Dance, Jazz and Tango. To use a trait in a Test, the trait must appear in the action you describe: it doesn’t need to be related to the specific action, as long as it features in your description of how it looks or how your character pulls it off. A trait like “long ponytail” can be used in a Dance Test where the character is shooting with an automatic rifle, if you mention their “long ponytail” in your description of what we see “on screen”. A character begins the game with four traits, and no more than two for each Approach. Later on, your character might get a Weight they have to carry. This works like a trait: write it in a hex on your character sheet and underline it. It can’t be used until it’s transformed into a trait. ED’S WISDOM ON CREATING TRAITS You are not building a character now. When you choose the traits, you are saying how the character interacts with the world, with danger, with people, and with their own feelings. An item will not tell everyone why the character behaves in this way: you will, through character’s actions. This will give the character depth. This will build character. ED COULD BECOME REAL MEMBER OF BEBOP!
RHYTHM Rhythm represents how much fuel your character has to push themselves beyond their natural limits. You usually start each session with 1D6 Rhythm, and you can buy extra Rhythm from the Big Shot in exchange for extra Risk. You can have a maximum of six Rhythm. You can spend Rhythm to do different things depending on the current Tab (see p38 for more information). MEMORY & BULLETS Your Memory is a short sentence on your character sheet that describes the past haunting your character. That past is not decided yet: it’ll emerge from gameplay. Your Memory is a burden but also a resource: you can tap into your Memory by marking Bullets. Bullets are represented by the holes in a gun barrel on your character sheet. Mark an empty hole with an X to add two dice on a Test. When you do this, narrate a brief description of something that happened in your character’s past and how that’s helping. You’ll also sometimes mark a Bullet because of a shock from a Test. When you do this, narrate a brief description of what compromised you. When you mark your last Bullet, the tab endsbitterly for your character, as they are overcome by their past. All players can work together to figure out how. In the next session your character will face the past knocking at the door!
GROOVE Your character also has a Groove, a special talent that shows how your character is exceptional and gives them the ability to do extraordinary things. The Groove has two parts: a title that frames how it affects the fiction, and a rule that describes how you change the rules of the game. The Groove should be unique: if two characters have the same Groove weird things could happen. Beware!
WHAT CAN I DO? You can make Tests, by making decisions about what your character does in the fiction and how they try to achieve their goals. For each Test you can spend hits to tick a clock or to lower the Difficulty of the tab by one. During a Test, you have options you can use to change your chances of success: • Push: immediately after rolling the dice, if you didn’t get the maximum of two hits, you can add two shocks and one hit: your character can achieve greater things if you’re willing to pay the price. • Show off: spend one Rhythm to get one hit with a spectacular action that involves your Groove. You can do this only once during a session. • Show your wounds: describe how the character’s wounds are making things hard for them, and roll with disadvantage. Then, at the end of the Test, clear up to two wounds from your character sheet. • Gamble: place a bet on one of your traits to ignore the results of a Test and roll again with one extra die. If you don’t get both hits (by beat the tab Difficulty and rolling two 6s) mark a hard wound on the trait you bet. Either way, use the new roll to resolve the Test. During the 3, 2, 1… tab you have these two options: • Help: spend one Rhythm to grant advantage on another BH’s Test. Describe in “What do we see on screen?” how your character is helping. At the end of the Test clear one wound. • Improvise: spend one Rhythm and choose an Approach: you can use traits from that Approach for a single Test in a different Approach. During the Let’s Jam tab you also have this option: • Jammin’: works like help, but you also grant the use of your Groove to the other BH’s Test.
…WAIT, PETS? You can also choose to do something unusual and play a pet, a non-human character. Everything works out pretty much the same but your selection of iconic items can be a bit narrow. You have a wide array of physical characteristics that can represent your pet character: pointy teeth, thick hair, prehensile tail, puppy-dog eyes, hyper-sensitive nose, laboratory-enhanced brains—the sky’s the limit. Remember that the trait should be something you can see, so you can represent it anime-style. Talk to the other players, too: a full enhanced-corgi crew can be… interesting? - but maybe it falls a bit out of the scope of this game. COME HERE, EIN!
ED’S WISDOM ON PLAYING THE BOUNTY HUNTER Put your character in the middle of the action and don’t be afraid to see your character losing: the crew of the Bebop lost a lot! Every victory as well as every loss is a good time to see something interesting, so try to get a victory and be ready to enjoy any result. GO FIND THE MR. SPOOKY SPACE CREATURE!
BIG SHOT One player will take the role of Big Shot. The Big Shot doesn’t have an assigned character but controls every other character in the story. The Big Shot introduces each tab, describing the situation, spending Risk to set it up, and making things interesting, dangerous and feral. Each gaming session, like every Cowboy Bebop episode, is called a session. Each session is a story that develops in three acts, called tabs, each one with a special name and special rules. A tab ends when its objective clock is filled (usually by characters spending hits), when its failure clock is filled (by the Big Shot, spending shocks) or when a character fills the barrel of their memory. A session is usually about a bounty hunt: there is a Bounty on someone’s head and the characters should hunt that head to get the reward. The Bounty is hard to catch and will be able to evade being caught easily until the characters find out the Bounty’s secret - and once that happens, the final objective can be really unpredictable. YOUR GOAL Your goal as the Big Shot is to present situations with tasty objectives and tantalizing stakes so that the players can make interesting decisions. You play against the characters for the enjoyment of all players, yourself included. YOUR TOOLS The game provides you tools to set up these interesting objectives and stakes: clocks, Risk, genre, traits, the secret, and Groove. CLOCKS AND FRAMING You are the one who manages clocks: you decide if an objective is worthy of a clock, what dangers are facing the characters, and what successes or failures cause the story to move forward. When a tab starts you must tell all the players what objective must be completed to succeed at the tab and what dangers can cause a tab to fail, preparing a clock for each one.
You must associate each clock with a specific Approach: the BHs will need at least one hit from that Approach to tick the last section of the clock and close it. They can be flexible and work in their own way, rolling whatever they want, but the last effort is yours to broadly direct. You must also tell the players the starting Difficulty of the tab: • 5 for G.E.S.T. • 10 for 3, 2, 1… • 15 for Let’s Jam! As the Big Shot, you can increase it by spending Risk (see p27). This job of deciding how each tab ends, setting clear goals and deciding the Difficulty of the situation is called framing the scene, and you should communicate this information clearly. Don’t be afraid to reveal this information in advance: the game and the other players will surprise you anyway, let them do that. GENRE At the beginning of the session, a BH who rolled a 6 for Rhythm must choose the genre. If no BH rolled a 6, you’ll choose. The genre is one of the five Approaches: Rock, Blues, Jazz, Tango or Dance. During this session, all Tests using that Approach roll one extra die. The genre also determines what kind of secret the BHs must discover (see below). TRAITS & THE SECRET You can give traits to the session, similar to character traits, to represent something the characters have gained. All the BHs’ characters can use these traits. If they end a tab successfully, write down a trait for an Approach of your choice that they can use later on in the game. That trait can’t be wounded. The Bounty also has a secret, a trait linked to the genre of the session. The BHs can’t capture the Bounty until they find the secret. The BHs can find the secret and gain it as a session trait by successfully completing the 3, 2, 1… tab. If the 3, 2, 1… tab was failed, you should start a 4-clock objective to give the BHs a chance to reveal the secret: they can still win, but they are on borrowed time.
RISK & SHOCKS Risk and shocks are resources used to increase the challenge for the characters. In this quickstart they have a similar function. You’ll start the game with Risk equal to the number of players (you included) plus one. You can spend 1 Risk to add 1 shock to a Test, and you can spend one shock to stash a Risk to use later. You gain shocks from BH’s Tests, and you must spend them immediately to increase the Difficulty of the current tab, tick a clock or stash 1 Risk. GROOVE Like the BHs, the Bounty also has a Groove, a special talent that reveals exceptional qualities and explains why they’re so hard to catch. This Groove has a fiction effect—a reason why the BHs can’t capture the Bounty—and a special rule. When the secret is discovered, the fiction effect is suppressed and the Bounty can be captured.
WHAT CAN I DO? • At the beginning of the session you may choose the genre and the title of the session. If a BH rolls a 6, that BH should choose—give some assistance. • At the beginning of each tab you can frame the scene, declaring how to win and how to fail, and spend Risk to increase the base Difficulty. • Describe the situation at the beginning of a tab and after each Test, providing context to the BHs. • Choose which BH is going to act. Until you feel confident with the system, just start with the one at your left and move clockwise: that’ll be fine. • Ask a BH “What do we see on screen?” to introduce a Test. • For each clock, you can decide the Approach required to close it. • You can spend one Risk to add one shock to the result of a Test. • You can spend one shock to: - tick a clock; - increase the Difficulty of the current tab by one; - stash a Risk. QUICKSTART This quickstart gives you a session sheet with prepared clocks and handouts with suggestions for two genres: Rock and Blues.
ED’S WISDOM ON PLAYING THE BIG SHOT You should be a fan of characters and put them in dangerous, tense situations, because it’s in these situations that characters can be cool, charming, adorable and all players can fall in love with them. Don’t pull your punches: make them enjoyable. ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR!
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY… Time to wrap it up. Each BH should get the chance at the end to show how the session has affected their characters. If the session was concluded successfully, by filling the success clock on the final tab, each character can either gain a new trait or change an existing one, recording a memento of what happened. If the session was lost because of a Memory completely filled with Bullets, that character gains a Weight that must be carried on the campaign sheet. NOTE: character development is not about filling all traits but about facing their past. Rules on character pasts, Weights, and many more aspects of the game are in the complete rulebook. BRING EDWARD SOME SOUVENIRS THIS TIME! After that, it’s time to finish and debrief: talk to each other outlining what you enjoyed and what you didn’t like. Listening to an ending song together can help. The real folk blues I just want to know real happiness All that glitters is not gold
QUICK SETUP CHARACTER CREATION (FOR BHS) • Each BH gets a character sheet. Each character sheet has one of five different grooves. • Each BH chooses a concept, a general description of their character, and a memory, writing it as the title of their backstory. The character doesn’t need too many details—it’s important to leave room for development. You can find below a table of suggestions if you need some hints. • Each BH chooses four traits for their character and writes each one in a free slot, assigning a max of two per Approach. The table of suggestions lists some traits for each concept and Memory. • Each BH gives a name to their character’s ship and creates a piece of special equipment as a trait for it. • Each BH gives a name to their own character. • Enjoy the game with the other players. SESSION SETUP (FOR THE BIG SHOT) • Read the Bounty’s Groove and their secrets. • Play a brief slice-of-life scene to introduce the session. • Let the BHs roll for Rhythm: any BH that rolls a 6 can choose the genre of the session, influencing the Bounty’s secrets and Groove. • Give the session a title—something associated with the musical genre. • Enjoy the game with the other players.
SUGGESTIONS: TRAITS 1. Flashy necklace 2. Rifle 3. Old revolver 4. Mirrors hades 5. Handgun 6. Mask 7. Flask of scotch 8. Notepad 9. Pack of cigarettes 10. Cyber-prosthetic 11. Vial of red-eye 12. Blue blazer 13. Brass knuckles 14. Hidden blade 15. Lockpicking device 16. Companion animal 17. Sharp katana 18. Hat 19. .44 Magnum 20. Provocative clothes 21. Derringer 22. Datapad 23. Goggles SUGGESTIONS: MEMORIES • My old clan is looking for me • My family is no longer with me • I was a cop • I don’t remember my past • I was left alone • I escaped the laboratory
Concept Suggested Traits Brute Bandana, Flashy necklace, Rifle, Muscular body Detective Cigar, Flask of scotch, Notepad, Deep black eyes Ex-Cop Old badge, Old revolver, Mirror shades, Cyber-prosthetic Ex-Mobster Elegant dress, Brass knuckles, Frightening scar Former Terrorist Handgun, Sea rat’s mask Gunslinger Handgun, Pack of cigarettes, Quick fingers Pet Collar, Soft fur, Puppy eyes Sheriff Hat, .44 Magnum,Strong accent Socialite Derringer, Provocative dress, Charming smile Techie Datapad, Goggles, Shabby red hair Weirdo Katana, Unusual animal, Vial of red-eye Memory Suggested Traits My old clan is looking for me Blue blazer, Jeet Kune Do My family is no longer with me Full modded computer, AR Googles I was a cop Cybernetic prosthetic Old revolver I don’t remember my past Derringer, Scarlet lipstick I was left alone Bright mop hair, Hacking device Woof woof! (I escaped the laboratory) Puppy eyes, Soft fur, Collar GROOVES • “Faster than the eye:” can use Jazz traits for Rock or Dance Tests. • “Loose handcuffs:” can use Tango traits for Dance or Jazz Tests. • “Out of the box:” take one shock to turn a 2, 3, 4, or 5 result on a die to a 6. • “Against the odds:” when rolling with disadvantage, every pair of dice with the same number counts as an extra hit (this can raise max hits beyond the usual two). • “Utter determination:” when rolling with disadvantage, wounded traits from any Approach can be used to add dice to the pool.
BOUNTY: TED BOWER Ted is a terrorist who hides explosives inside harmless objects to destroy his targets. GROOVE: MASTER EXPLODER Fiction effect: Ted has a bomb hidden wherever it’s most convenient, and he’s ready to make it explode at just the right moment. Special rule: Spend one Risk to activate: until the end of the tab, BHs roll one less die on every in-genre Test, and every non-genre Test gives a minimum of two shocks. SECRET • Rock: Ted’s target is the mayor, who killed their family. • Dance: Everyone thought Ted was dead, killed by the Chief of Police. Something doesn’t add up. • Blues: Ted hates capitalism, but their reasons are unknown. • Tango: Ted is in love with the victim of the local crime kingpin. • Jazz: A rich philanthrope financed Ted, but then screwed him over.
TIPS • Kick off the first tab by activating the Bounty’s Groove and give the BHs an explosive playground. • Ted can get a hostage with a booby trap. • Give some meaning to the objects Ted places bombs in, even if it’s not revealed. • Rules for using two Approaches for the session genre will be explained in detail in the core rulebook. Two possible paths for the session: 1. The crew gets involved in a bombing, meeting Ted; 2. The crew follows the trail and gets involved in another bombing, with hostages to be saved; 3. There is a final showdown between the crew and Ted. or 1. The crew gets really close to catching Ted, but a rival bounty hunter or group meddles with them; 2. The crew follows the trail—but so does the rival, and there is a fight; 3. At the final showdown the crews resolve their rivalry while the Bounty… wait, where is Ted? Anime reference: to play the character from the anime you need the Blues genre and some creative use of clocks as alternative objectives to represent the efforts of a rival bounty hunter. Bombs are hidden in teddy bears. LESSON-LESSON: IF YOU SEE A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, FOLLOW HIM.
ROCK BLUES JAZZ DANCE TANGO WHO: WHAT: WHERE: WHEN: Theodore Bower GROOVE: Teddy bear bombs Station / Bank / City Hall Mayor’s Grand Ball Master Exploder Ted always has a bomb in the right place, waiting for the right moment to explode. Spend one risk to activate: until the end of the tab, BHs roll one less die on every in-genre Test, and every non-genre Test gives a minimum of two shocks. Ted’s target is the mayor, who killed their family Ted hates capitalism, but their reasons are unknown. A rich philanthrope financed Ted, but then screwed him over. Ted is in love with the victim of the local crime kingpin. Everyone thought Ted was dead, killed by the Chief of Police. Something doesn’t add up.
GLOSSARY 3, 2, 1…: The second Tab. See Tab Typology. ADVANTAGE: Add one extra die to the dice pool and remove the lowest die rolled before counting. APPROACHES: Five different ways to get the job done in a Test. • Rock: under pressure, you act cool. • Dance: a flow of energy, you act with exuberance. • Blues: being spiritual, you understand emotions. • Tango: being charming, you get others to do what you want. • Jazz: analyzing deeply, you know what to do and how. BET: See Gamble. BIG SHOT: A player who doesn’t play a Bounty Hunter and who instead plays the setting, the environment and every other non-BH character. BLUES: See Approaches.
BOUNTY: Each story is about a Bounty. The BHs and their characters are after the Bounty, and Bounty will reveal something about themselves or the world during the story. Each Bounty has a Groove. BOUNTY HUNTER (BH): A player who plays a character. BULLET: See Memory & Bullets. CHARACTER: One of the protagonists of the story, a character played by a BH. CHARACTER SHEET: The Bounty Hunter’s ID, which describes the character in the fiction of the game and their set of game rules. CLOCK: Every tab has its own clock, as well every secondary objective. In order for characters to be successful, the players should fill these clocks. Clock can be divided in 4, 6 or 8 segments. One hit or one shock can be spent to color one segment. When all segments are filled the event happens. D6: A 6-sided die. A pool of nine is enough to play. DANCE: See Approaches. DICE POOL: A pool of 6-sided dice that a BH needs to create in order to make a Test. To work out how many dice you roll, start with a number of D6s equal to the base number of the current tab (1 to 3), plus one D6 for each trait the BH is using from the Approach that was involved in the description of the action. You can add two dice using Memory & Bullets you can use some character grooves, or after rolling you might want to Gamble to roll an additional die (bad things can happen). DIFFICULTY: Represents how dangerous the current Tab is. See Tab Typology for starting difficulties of each tab. The Big Shot can alter the Difficulty; see Shock. The BHs can also alter the Difficulty; see Hit. DISADVANTAGE: Add one extra die to the dice pool. Remove the highest die rolled before counting. A BH can choose to get disadvantage on a Test by Showing Your wounds. GAMBLE (BH’S OPTION): Place a bet on one of your traits to ignore the results of a Test and roll again with one extra die. If you don’t get both hits (beat the Difficulty and roll two 6s) mark a hard wound on the trait you bet. Use the new results regardless
GENRE: At the beginning of the session, a BH who rolled 6 for Rhythm must choose the genre. If no BH rolled a 6, the Big Shot chooses. The genre is one of the five Approaches. All Tests made with that Approach add one die to the dice pool. G.E.S.T.: The first Tab. See Tab Typology. GROOVE: A special ability of the characters or of the Bounty. Every Groove alters the rules in a particular way. HARD WOUND: Mark a trait on your character sheet with a double strikethrough as result of a Gamble not giving two hits. Hard wounds are removed only at the end of the session.… HELP (BH’S OPTION; FROM 3, 2, 1… TAB): Spend 1 Rhythm to grant advantage on another BH’s Test. HIT: In a Test you get one hit: • If the sum of the dice rolled is equal or greater than the Difficulty of the tab; or • If you roll at least two 6s. Max two hits per roll. BHs can spend hits to tick a clock or to lower the Difficulty of the current tab by one. If you didn’t get both hits, you can Push to add more by taking shocks…
IMPROVISE (BH’S OPTION; FROM 3, 2, 1… TAB): Spend 1 Rhythm and choose an Approach: you can use traits from that Approach for a single Test with a different Approach.! JAMMIN’ (BH’S OPTION; LET’S JAM! TAB ONLY): Works like Help, but you also grant the use of your Groove to the other BH’s Test. JAZZ: See Approaches. LET’S JAM!: The third Tab. See Tab Typology. LINES AND VEILS: Define Lines and Veils with all the players before starting. Use Lines to specify topics you don’t want in the story. Use Veils to specify topics you want “faded to black.” MARKING A BULLET (BH’S OPTION): See Memory & Bullets MEMORY&BULLETS (BH’S OPTION): A special trait linked to a 6-clock on the character sheet, represented by the Bullets in the barrel of a gun. You can mark one Bullet to add 2D6 to the dice pool, and describe how your character’s emotional baggage and unresolved memory is involved with the story and the Test you are making. You must mark a Bullet to remove one shock from a Test. You can ask the Big Shot to skip this, choosing to mark the Bullet but not removing the shock. Prepare yourself: when your barrel is filled, something from your past will come to catch you. The next session will be about your character’s very own story (this will be explained more fully in the complete game). PUSH (BH’S OPTION): Immediately after rolling the dice, if you didn’t get the maximum of two hits, you can choose to add two shocks to get one hit: your character can achieve greater things if you’re willing to pay the price. RISK: A resource the Big Shot can stash and spend. You can spend one Risk to add one shock to a Test. You can spend one shock to stash a Risk to use later. ROCK: See Approaches.
RHYTHM: Every BH starts the session with 1D6 Risk. BHs can get more by giving one extra Risk to the Big Shot in return for each extra Rhythm, up to a max of six. Rhythm that isn’t spent during the session is lost. Spend Rhythm to: • Show Off (once per session) • Help (from 3, 2, 1… tab onwards) • Improvise (from 3, 2, 1… tab onwards) • Jammin’ (only during the Let’s Jam! tab) SESSION: An episode of your collective story divided in three different tabs (see Tab Typology), that ends with a finale named “See you space cowboy.” SESSION SHEET: A tool where you track the development of the story and the tab that you’re playing. The sheet is useful to track the Difficulty of the tab, its special rules, and every active or closed clock. SHOCK: As a result of a Test, the Big Shot gets a number of shocks equal to the 1s rolled. The Big Shot can spend each one to increase the Difficulty of a tab, tick a clock or stash one Risk. SHOW OFF (BH’S OPTION): Spend 1 Rhythm to get one hit with a spectacular action that involves your Groove. You can do this only once during a session.
SHOW YOUR WOUNDS (BH’S OPTION): Describe how your wounds are making things hard for your character, and roll with disadvantage. At the end of the Test, clear up to two wounds from your character sheet. TAB: Represents the development of the story. The BHs need to fill the tab clock if they want to complete a tab successfully, and they can fail the tab if the Big Shot fills the opposing clock. Each tab has a Difficulty (see Tab Typology). The Big Shot can spend shocks to increase the Difficulty of a tab and BHs can spend hits to decrease it. TAB TYPOLOGY: • G.E.S.T.: where the Big Shot sets the initial scene, and introduces characters and the Bounty. Difficulty starts at 5. The base dice is 1D6. • 3, 2, 1…: the characters get more involved, discover heart of the problem and understand the related dangers. Difficulty starts at 10. The base dice pool is 2D6. • Let’s Jam!: it’s time for the final confrontation. Difficulty starts at 15. The base dice pool is 3D6. TANGO: See Approaches. TEST: Moments of play in which a character faces a Risk. To make a Test choose the approach and describe what happens. Then build the dice pool, roll, and determine the resulting hits and shocks. TRAIT: A unique item, skill or characteristic that the BH possesses. Each trait is written in a hexagon on the character sheet. Each hex is associated withone of five approaches. The Big Shot can create a trait for the session after the BHs managed to end a tab, as a reward. WEIGHT: This works like a trait: write it in a hex on your character sheet and underline it. It can’t be used until it’s transformed into a trait. WOUNDING A TRAIT (BH’S OPTION): You must wound a trait, marking it on your character sheet with a single slash, to remove a shock resulting from a Test. You can ask the Big Shot to skip this, taking the wound but not removing the shock. If a trait has a wound, you can’t use it on a Test. You can clear wounds by Showing Your Wounds.
SESSION: DIFFICULTY 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Tab SUGGESTED TRAITS G.E.S.T. Target Danger Bounty’s Groove: Spend one Risk to a ctivate: until the end of the tab, BHs roll one less die on every in-genre Test, and every non-genre Test gives a minimum of two shocks. 3, 2, 1… Target Secondary Target Danger BH - Help: any BH can spend 1 Rhythm to help another BH with a Test. Roll with advantage: add 1D6 to the dice pool , and remove the lowest scoring die from the result. Bounty’s Groove: as above. LET’S JAM! Target Secondary Target Danger BH - Jammin’: as help, but the test benefits from Grooves of both characters Bounty’s Groove: as above.
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY And the end of the session, all the players narrate the ending of the story together. The Big Shot explains what has happened to the Bounty, and the BHs narrates how their characters react and what they do next to finish off the story. • Success: each BH can get a new trait or change a Weight into a trait. • Failure: one BH gets a Weight. This works like a trait: write it in a hex on your character sheet and underline it. It can’t be used until it’s transformed into a trait. • Personal failure: if a character marks all their Bullets, that BH marks a hard wound on a trait that will remain for the next session. The next session is about that character’s past. THE REAL FOLK BLUES DEBRIFING: each of you tells the group one thing you liked from the session and one thing you’d like to see in the future.
THE BIG SHOT INTRO • Every BH rolls for their Rhythm • Every BH can buy Rhythm (up to max 6 total), giving you 1 Risk for each • Stash 1 Risk for each player (including yourself ) TAB SETUP • Set the Difficulty to base (5/10/15 for 1st/2nd/3rd tab) • Spend Risk to increase Difficulty (1 Risk = +1 Difficulty) • Write the objective and the danger under the clocks • Read/paraphrase the introduction • Let’s play! Ask BHs who wants to start or choose a character TAB PLAY Spend shocks from BH’s Tests to: • add +1 tab Difficulty • Tick a clock • Stash 1 Risk • remind BHs of the options they can use in each tab END OF A TAB • Objective achieved: BHs ask a question and get an answer. If it’s the second question it can be the secret. • Danger clock filled: stash 2 extra Risk INTRO TAB SETUP TAB PLAY SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY 1, 2 3 You play the Big Shot: your role in the game is to describe the scene, put challenges in front of the characters and be a fan of their stories. You handle the flow of the game, transitions from one part to anthe other, and answer questions about the environment and the other characters. If answering these questions can get the characters in trouble, it’s time to roll a Test! FLOW
HOOKS AND COMPLICATIONS Generic Rock Blues New threat Henchmen incoming A rival Bounty Hunter acts Hostile environment Building collapsing The crowd thinks you are the baddie Crew separation The path is closed Conflict within the crew Character isolated BH or NPC captured BH or NPC goes with the Bounty Enemy learns something important An enemy knows your involvement Lost in a dangerous place Ship is damaged Ship is damaged Ship is damaged Somebody’s dead An NPC is killed A dead friend in common OBJECTIVES AND DANGERS Rock Blues G.E.S.T. Obj: Chase him! Danger: the station collapses Obj: Find out the clue Danger: there was a second bomb! 3, 2, 1 … Obj: Find out what was stolen Sec Obj: Save the hostages Danger: Boom! Obj: Find out what was stolen Sec Obj: Save the hostages Danger: Boom! Let’s Jam! Obj: Get inside the mayor’s house Sec Obj: Discover the hidden treasure Danger: Boom boom Obj: talk Bounty out of his plans Obj: Kill the Bounty Danger: Boom boom RISK TOUGH CHOICES: If the BH really wants something, you can offer: “I’ll do that if you Gamble!” Put them at greater risk to give them their heart’s desire.
ROCK Secret: the mayor killed the Bounty’s family and he wants revenge. It’s up to you whether the family was kidnapped instead, and if so, whether the Bounty knows that. G.E.S.T. Throw the characters straight into the action! “The explosion is huge and the docks you just landed on start crumbling, while the people all over the bay area start screaming in panic and running away. You can see someone on the roof of the port authorities building who looks a lot like the Bounty you saw on TV. There’s money over there, just behind the flames!” The Bounty escapes at the end, but the BHs snatch something valuable off him, leading them to the bank…. 3, 2, 1… “As you approach the bank everything seems pretty normal but once you enter, suddenly, all the lights turn red and the floor under the feet of several of the customers clicks and lowers a bit. ‘‘I’m sorry for the inconvenience,’ a voice says on the speaker.. ‘‘I placed explosive booby traps in some places around the building and someone seems to have stepped on’e m. Please, don’t move, the cops will come soon and will save you. Probably. Just, please, don’t move.’’ The speaker clicks and everyone is paralysed in terror. Some people on pressures plates start crying.” Ask what they wanna do. Is any of them on a pressure plate? In the end, did the Bounty really place explosives under the bank or it was a trick? The characters find a single clue, directing them to the mayor’s villa.! LET’S JAM “The mayor’s villa is large and well-guarded. You know your Bounty is there—you just have to find out why. The villa guards are unusual: you recognize a bandit when you see one. Getting in won’t be a walk in the park.” Be ready for the final confrontation. The hidden treasure can be anything you seem fit, from proof of the crimes committed by the mayor to the Bounty’s kidnapped son. Let’s find out where the line fis or the characters.
BLUES Secret: the Bounty is fighting against capitalism. His reasons are unknown. G.E.S.T. Time for an investigation “There is a big Bounty in this place: a explosive pyromaniac who keeps destroying big buildings in the city. The last explosion happened at the docks, and you’re there now, hoping to find a fresh trail. There are still people trapped under the ruins and the cops are trying to search the scene of the crime. Neither the medics nor the cops will like your interference” One way or another the characters will snatch a valuable clue the Bounty has left behind, leading to the bank. If things go wrong, they will be held responsible for the explosion… 3, 2, 1… “As you approach the bank everything seems pretty normal but as you enter, suddenly, all the lights turn red and the floor under the feet of many people clicks and lowers a bit. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience - a voice says on the speaker - I placed explosive booby traps in some places around the building and someone seems to have stepped on them. Please, don’t move, the cops will come soon and will save you. Probably. Just, please, don’t move”. The speaker clicks and everyone is paralyzed in terror, some people on a pressure plate starts crying.” Ask what they wanna do. Is anyone of them on a pressure plate? In the end, did the Bounty really placed explosives under the bank or it was a trick? The characters will find a single clue, directing them to the Szornov Tower.! LET’S JAM “The Szornov Tower is the tallest building in the city, a symbol of the wealth and power of the great companies that really rule things around here. The view from the roof is stunning, but that isn’t what catches your eye. Your Bounty stands in front of you, smoking a cigarette. ‘Welcome. I’d tell you to run away, but I’m afraid it’s too late for that…’” The bomb is ticking and it’s up to the characters to find a way to stop the explosion. They can talk the Bounty out of this madness, they can kill him and take the remote command from his very dead body or… well, they must do whatever they think is right.