Photo by Bayard Johnson

Hi everybody, Duffy here.

The kind folks at Foam Brain Games allowed us the opportunity to run a playtest in the game room at Awesome Con in Washington, D.C. Below is the recording of the game session.

The scenario: Prime Minister Øvredal has been targeted by anti-monster extremists at a museum gala where she is pushing her bill to make Norway’s Jotun (Troll) population a protected species.

Players, agents of The Gigargun Analysis & Response Division (GARD), have been tasked with protecting her from the oncoming threat.

Below I am posting the character sheets and cheat sheet that were used for this module.

Cheat Sheet:

ALL ROLLS INVOLVING HUMAN-SIZED CHARACTERS USE A d10

ALL ROLLS INVOLVING GIANT-SIZED CHARACTERS USE A d20

PERFORMING AN ACTION OUT OF COMBAT

The Game Master will declare which stat the action is tied to. Roll the appropriate die (d10 for human, d20 for giant) and add the appropriate stat modifier from the HUMAN or GIANT MOD TOTAL column.

ATTACKING

To Attack (ATK) players declare the weapon or power they are using. They roll the appropriate die and add that weapon/power’s modifier. If the total goes over the target’s Defense (DEF), they take a Strike. If the total of the attack goes over the target’s defense a multiple of times, the target takes that number of Strikes.

Example:

ATK: 5 vs DEF: 4= 1 Strike

ATK: 9 vs DEF: 4= 2 Strikes

CRITICAL ATTACKS

If an attack against a target does multiple Strikes, or the attacker rolled the highest possible number on their die, the target is thrown away from the target in increments of 5ft(human)/50ft(giant) and is OPEN.

When OPEN, a target’s defense is reduced by ½ of the total. They cannot take an action until they RECOVER by rolling the appropriate die and adding their VALOR Stat. If this goes over their METTLE, they recover but cannot take another action this turn. If they fail this, they remain open until their next turn which they begin automatically recovered.

DOWN

If a character takes 3 Strikes, they are DOWN. Like being OPEN, a character that is DOWN has their defense reduced by ½ of the total. They cannot take an action until they recover by rolling the appropriate die and adding their VALOR Stat. If this goes over their METTLE, they recover and lose Strikes equal to the number of times they went over their METTLE, but cannot take another action this turn. If they fail, they are DOWN until they successfully recover.

OUT

If a player is DOWN and rolls to recover only to be successfully attacked before they recover, or rolls a 1 on their recovery roll, they are OUT. This means that they cannot act in this encounter of combat anymore, and take a permanent hindrance determined by the result of a d4 roll.

4: -1 to Body

3: -1 to Mind

2: -1 to Spirit

1: DEATH

DARING

DARING are points that you can spend on these five things

Can be used to make a RUSE or a TAUNT. Turn a RUSE or TAUNT made against you into an opposed roll. Negate the negative effect of rolling a Critical Fail (a ‘1’ on a die) but don’t receive a point of Daring. You can activate the benefits that your QUIRKS grant you. You may HEAL.

You earn Daring one of two ways

You use a minor or major action to take an action that enacts a Quirk’s quality, like acting overly Aggressive, or being Deceitful to others. Rolling a Critical Fail (a ‘1’ on a die) on any roll. When this happens, you and the Game Master both receive a point of Daring. Defeat an enemy in a spectacular fashion.

RUSES: In combat, on your turn, you have the option of performing a RUSE, a maneuver where you trick your enemy into opening themselves up for a more catastrophic ATK. To do this, sacrifice a point of DARING to roll the appropriate die type and add your CUNNING modifier in order to surpass the target’s RUSE Defense. On a success, any follow-up ATK this turn surpasses the target EVASTION, meaning just their METTLE factors into their Defense. Can be turned into an opposed CUNNING roll by the Defender by spending DARING. Even on a failure, the player can still make a follow-up ATK

TAUNTS: In combat, on your turn, you have the option of performing a TAUNT, intimidating or surprising your opponent to perform a more devastating ATK. To do this, sacrifice a point of DARING to roll the appropriate die type and add your HEART modifier in order to surpass the target’s TAUNT Defense. On a success, any follow-up ATK this turn surpasses the target METTLE, meaning only their EVASION factors into Defense. Can be turned into an opposed HEART roll by the Defender by spending DARING. Even on a failure, the player can still make a follow-up ATK.

HEALING : You can spend a point of Daring to heal. You automatically lose one strike and roll the appropriate die and adding your VALOR Stat. If this goes over your METTLE, you recover and lose Strikes equal to the number of times you went over your METTLE. This is a full action.

GRAPPLING: Unarmed ATK vs 1/2 enemy Def. On hit the target it Grappled but no other actions taken this turn unless Quirks are applied. All ATK against this enemy are against ½ Def until they break out.

Grappling character can ATK grappled enemy vs ½ Def. Against all other enemies the ATK is 1/2. All ATK by Grappled are ½. A successful ATK against Grappler cancels Grapple. On Grappled Player’s turn, they can make an opposed Agility or Strength test to break out. No other actions may be taken after breaking out of a grapple unless a Quirk is used.

What do you think? Interested in helping with a blind playtest in the future? Let us know in the comments!