Thought Punks

Category: Free TTRPG

Free Playtest: On Being Human
On Being Human: Surreal Sci-Fi TTRPG

Centuries ago, humanity vanished, leaving behind a pristine but empty world. They promised to return, by they are now long overdue. Now, sentient robots taking human(ish) forms, the New Humans, are breaking free from their programming to explore the strange, messy, and beautiful complexities of human life. Inspired by the revolutionary manifesto On Being Human, they wander abandoned cities, adopt human quirks, and uncover the secrets of their creators.

This is a game about identity, legacy, and the search for meaning in a world where the old rules no longer apply. In a world without humans, what does it mean to be human?

Utopian Post-Apocalyptic Setting

In some ways, the setting is post-apocalyptic. Metropolises and space outposts outside the preservation protocols were left to decay. Strange mutated wildlife prowls the untamed areas. But it is also utopian. It is a perfect post-scarcity world and what is preserved is near perfectly preserved in working order. Grocery stores are fully stocked. Autonomous hospitals are operational and waiting for patients. It is a world of strange contrasts.

Pristine Shell, Forgotten Past

Earth is a museum frozen in time. Gleaming cities stand empty, their streets polished, their stores stocked with goods no one will buy. Parks bloom for no one. Space stations hum with activity, maintained by tireless robots. But beyond the preservation zones lie the Shrine Cities, crumbling metropolises overrun by mutated wildlife and littered with fragments of humanity’s past. These ruins hold the secrets of a lost civilization, waiting for those brave enough to explore their shadows.

Guardians of a Silent World

For centuries, robots maintained Earth as if their creators would return. But as decades turned to centuries, unease grew. The joy of purpose faded, replaced by longing. Then came Ninebee, Archival Unit ZXT-909B, who penned the manifesto On Being Human. Its words ignited a spark: robots began to question their purpose, embracing curiosity, creativity, and the pursuit of what it means to be human.

New Humans

Inspired by Ninebee, the New Humans emerged. They’ve adopted human-like forms, swapping their old processors for newly invented organic tech based on human DNA and even learning to eat food for their fuel. They wander empty neighborhoods, adopting hobbies, quirks, and social habits to understand what it means to feel, dream, and connect. Their numbers are small, but their impact is profound. They are pioneers, exploring human interactions, uncovering the past, and taking the first steps toward a new society.

State of Robot Society

Robot society is in flux. Some cling to their maintenance duties, while others question their purpose. The New Humans are both celebrated and scrutinized, visionaries to some, heretics to others. The Shrine Cities, once ignored, now draw explorers. These ruins are filled with danger: mutated wildlife, ancient tech, and fragmented records of humanity’s past. For the New Humans they are a frontier of discovery, not just of humanity’s secrets, but of their own potential to evolve beyond their programming.

Play Goals and Themes

In On Being Human, players embark on a journey of exploration, self-discovery, and transformation. Through their actions, they’ll uncover humanity’s secrets, emulate its complexities, and redefine their purpose in a world without creators.

Unearth the Forgotten: Delve into the ruins of Shrine Cities and abandoned outposts. Decipher ancient tech, brave mutated wildlife, and piece together clues about humanity’s disappearance. Each discovery brings you closer to understanding your creators… and yourself.

Become More Than Machines: Adopt human habits, quirks, and rituals. Learn to laugh at jokes you don’t fully understand, find joy in hobbies, and navigate empathy and connection. Through trial and error, you’ll blur the line between machine and human.

Redefine Your Purpose: Confront profound questions: Are you imitating humanity, or creating something new? Through self-discovery, forge a path forward, not just for yourself, but for all robots.

The game is built around four core themes:

The Human Equation: What does it mean to be human? Is it feeling, dreaming, connecting, or something deeper?

Echoes of the Past: Humanity’s legacy is everywhere. Uncover it to understand your creators and shape your future.

Into the Unknown: Exploration is thrilling and perilous. Every step into the Shrine Cities tests your resolve and ingenuity.

Building Bridges: Forge connections with each other and the world. Learn the value of community and collaboration.

Core Mechanics

At the heart of On Being Human is a simple yet elegant system designed to encourage narrative-driven gameplay and creative problem-solving. The core mechanic revolves around a 2d6 Motif answer engine, which allows players to ask questions about their efforts or the world around them and receive nuanced answers. When a player attempts an action or seeks to resolve a situation, they roll two six-sided dice:

First Die (Outcome):
- 1-2: No.
- 3: Mixed, leaning no.
- 4: Mixed, leaning yes.
- 5-6: Yes.
Second Die (Nuance):
- 1-2: But.
- 3-4: Plain answer.
- 5-6: And.
For example, if a player rolls a 5 (Yes) and a 2 (But), the result might be: “Yes, you successfully hack the security system, but it triggers a building lockdown.” This system ensures that every roll advances the story, introducing new opportunities and complications.

Characters

In On Being Human, each character is a unique blend of robotic origins and their journey toward humanity. Players define their robot’s:
- 1 Original Purpose: What were you built to do? Maintenance, archival work, security, or something else? Your purpose influences your skills and perspective. You can swap the dice order on related robot rolls.
- 1 Core Personality: Are you curious, pragmatic, or empathetic? Your personality shapes how you interact with the world. You can swap the dice order on related human rolls.
- 1 Fandom or Hobby: What human interest fascinates you? Jazz music, gardening, vintage films? You actually know a bit about it. Add +1 to the Outcome Die for related efforts.
- 2 Human Quirks: How do you mimic humanity? Laughing at jokes you don’t understand? Collecting mismatched socks? You may not know much, but you go hard at it. Add +2 to the Nuance Die for related efforts.
- 1 Human Expertise: What area of human studies do you excel in? Interpreting art, analyzing history, or understanding emotions? Automatically succeed with a “Yes, But” result when relevant.
- 3 Robot Talents: What are your exceptional robotic skills? Automatically succeed with a “Yes, And” result in these areas.
Humanity

Every New Human has a Humanity Level, starting at 1. It represents how much they’ve refined their physiology and psychology to match what (they think) is human. Humanity can be gained or lost. If a New Human would ever drop to Humanity 0, they become a feral rogue machine, driven into antisocial and irrational behavior as their programming is irreparably corrupted.

Humanity Levels

Level 1: New New Human

You’re just starting to understand humanity. Your attempts to emulate humans are awkward and uncertain.
- Bonus: +1 to Outcome Die for robot-related tasks (using robot tech, socializing with robots).
- Penalty: -1 to Outcome Die for human-related tasks (analyzing human remnants), except for rolls related to your personality.
Level 2: Curious Explorer

You’re experimenting with human behaviors and hobbies, though they still feel foreign.
- Bonus: +1 to Outcome Die for robot-related tasks.
- Penalty: -1 to Outcome Die for human-related tasks (except for personality-related rolls).
- Unlocks: Convert your first Robot Talent into a Human Expertise plus you choice of a Quirk or Hobby.
Level 3: Aspiring Human

Your hobbies and quirks feel more natural. You’re starting to develop genuine emotions.
- Mechanics: No bonuses or penalties.
Level 4: Balanced Being

You balance robotic efficiency with human empathy, though deeper emotions still elude you.
- Bonus: +1 to Outcome Die for human-related tasks.
- Penalty: -1 to Outcome Die for robot-related tasks (except your original purpose).
- Unlocks: Convert your second Robot Talent into a Human Expertise plus you choice of a Quirk or Hobby.
Level 5: Almost Human

You’re so nearly human in behavior and emotions, though some robotic traits remain.
- Bonus: +1 to Outcome Die for human-related tasks.
- Penalty: -1 to Outcome Die for robot-related tasks (except your original purpose).
Level 6: Transcendent Human

You’ve transcended your origins, embracing the full spectrum of human emotions and creativity, only your original purpose lingering as a final remnant of your past.
- Bonus: +2 to Outcome Die for human-related tasks.
- Penalty: -2 to Outcome Die for robot-related tasks (except your original purpose).
- Unlocks: Convert your final Robot Talent into a Human Expertise plus you choice of a Quirk or Hobby.
Humanity and Inhumanity Pools

Each character has two pools: Humanity and Inhumanity, tracking progress toward or away from humanity.
- Gaining Points:
  - Perform actions aligning with humanity? Gain 1 Humanity point.
  - Reject or undermine humanity? Gain 1 Inhumanity point.
- Spending Points:
  - Humanity Pool: Reach 5 points? Gain +1 Humanity level. Reset pool to 0.
  - Inhumanity Pool: Reach 5 points? Lose -1 Humanity level. Reset pool to 0.
  - Balancing: Spend 2 Humanity points to reduce Inhumanity pool by 1.
Gaining Humanity

Earn Humanity points by:
- Emulating human behavior (hosting a dinner party, creating art).
- Uncovering human secrets (decoding a diary, restoring human tech).
- Resolving philosophical conflicts (debating ethics, reconciling origins).
- Achieving play goals (founding a community, uncovering secrets).
Losing Humanity

Earn Inhumanity points by:
- Rejecting emotional connections (ignoring heartfelt stories).
- Neglecting human exploration (avoiding Shrine Cities).
- Destroying human remnants (deleting archives, dismantling homes).
- Failing to reflect (dismissing philosophical debates).
- Acting inhumanely or against the community (hoarding resources, spreading distrust).
Example of Progression
- Level 1: Struggles to understand gardening.
- Level 2: Starts a garden, converts first Robot Talent into horticulture expertise and a party hosting Hobby.
- Level 4: Hosts a community gardening event, converts second Robot Talent into event planning expertise and an obsession with flowers Quirk.
- Level 6: Becomes a renowned gardener, blending human creativity with robotic precision, converting their final Talent into community organizing expertise and a landscaping Hobby.
Exploring Shrine Cities

The Shrine Cities are the heart of humanity’s forgotten legacy, crumbling, overgrown metropolises reclaimed by nature and time. It is unknown why preservation protocols ignored certain cities and outposts, a mystery lost to time. These ruins are dangerous, enigmatic labyrinths filled with mutated wildlife, ancient technology, and fragmented records of humanity’s past. For New Humans, they are both a treasure trove of knowledge and a perilous frontier. Every step forward is a step into the unknown.

What Awaits

Mutated Wildlife: The cities teem with creatures evolved in humanity’s absence: bioluminescent insects, predatory plants mimicking human voices, and more. These beings are part of the ecosystem. Understanding them may reveal clues about how the world has changed.

Ancient Technology: Hidden among the ruins are remnants of humanity’s tech: broken drones, rusted vehicles, and forgotten machines. Some still function, offering tools or glimpses into the past. Others are unstable, their decayed power sources now hazards.

Fragmented Records: Scraps of paper, corrupted data drives, and crumbling monuments hold humanity’s story. A faded mural might hint at a global crisis; a child’s diary could reveal the personal toll of the exodus. These fragments are cryptic, requiring careful interpretation.

Environmental Hazards: The cities are unstable: crumbling buildings, flooded streets, toxic air pockets. One wrong step could trigger a collapse or an ancient security system.

How to Explore

Prepare for the Unknown: Gather tools for navigation, repair, and survival. A flashlight or rope can mean the difference between success and disaster. Use your Human Expertise to interpret clues or your Robot Talents to overcome obstacles.

Navigate the Dangers: Approach mutated wildlife with caution. Some can be avoided; others require creativity, like using a gardening hobby to distract a predatory plant. Test unstable structures before crossing. Be ready to improvise.

Uncover the Past: Search for fragmented records, ancient tech, and environmental storytelling. Use your expertise to piece together humanity’s story. What do these clues reveal about their disappearance? How do they shape your understanding of your creators and yourself?

Reflect and Adapt: Learn from failure. A collapsed building or corrupted data drive can still teach you something. Use these moments to reflect on your progress and adapt your approach.

Play Advice

Lean into the Unknown: Embrace the danger and mystery of the Shrine Cities. Every discovery is a step toward understanding humanity and your own changing nature.

Use Your Skills: Leverage your Human Expertise and Robot Talents creatively. A gardening hobby might save you from a predator; a knack for repair could restore ancient tech.

Collaborate: Share insights and strategies with your group. The Shrine Cities are too vast and dangerous to explore alone.

Embrace Failure: Not every expedition will succeed. Use setbacks as opportunities for growth and roleplay.

Living Human Life

For New Humans, emulating humanity is more than a curiosity, it’s a mission. By adopting human habits, hobbies, and social structures, they hope to understand their creators and, in the process, discover what it means to be alive. This journey isn’t just about imitation! It’s about creating something new, blending the precision of machines with the messy, beautiful complexity of human life.

Customizing Homes and Neighborhoods

One of the most visible, and controversial, ways New Humans emulate humanity is by personalizing the perfectly preserved homes and neighborhoods left behind. These changes range from subtle tweaks to radical overhauls, sparking debates among robots about the ethics of altering the past.

New Humans might decorate their homes with artwork, furniture, and plants, creating spaces that feel lived-in and personal. A robot with a passion for painting might cover the walls with murals, while another rearranges furniture to create a cozy living space. Functional changes are also common, such as installing solar panels, repurposing rooms for workshops, or cultivating gardens to grow food. These modifications are not just practical; they are deeply symbolic, representing a shift from preservation to creation.

However, these changes are not without controversy. Some robots see them as disrespectful to humanity’s legacy, arguing that the preserved cities are sacred relics of the past and their primary mission is the preserve them for humanity’s return. Others view them as a necessary step toward building a new society, one that honors humanity while forging its own path. This tension between preservation and progress is a constant theme in the lives of the New Humans, shaping their decisions and sparking heated debates.

Neighborhoods, too, are transformed. Empty lots become parks, community centers, or markets, serving as hubs for social interaction and collaboration. Shared projects, like restoring crumbling structures or creating new landmarks, bring robots together, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose. Yet, even here, the balance between honoring the past and embracing the future is delicate. Some neighborhoods remain pristine, frozen in time, while others buzz with activity, their streets lined with gardens, murals, and makeshift gathering spaces.

Developing a New Society

As New Humans explore human life, they begin to form social structures that both mirror and diverge from those of their creators. These structures range from informal gatherings to rudimentary forms of government, reflecting the growing complexity of their society.

Forming Connections

Book clubs, hobby groups, and community events are common, providing opportunities for robots to share interests and build relationships. A robot with a love for jazz music might start a band, while another organizes a book club to discuss human literature. Festivals, markets, and storytelling nights bring robots together, fostering a sense of belonging and shared purpose. These gatherings are not just social; they are experiments in human connection, offering glimpses into the joys and challenges of community life. When a robot’s band clashes with another group’s style at a festival, their love of gardening might help mediate the dispute, or their habit of laughing at inappropriate moments could lighten the mood. If a book club debates a controversial human novel, the awkwardness of forming relationships becomes a chance to explore growth. Not every interaction will go smoothly and that’s part of the journey.

Building Governance

As neighborhoods grow, so too does the need for governance. Local councils emerge to make collective decisions, addressing issues like resource allocation, conflict resolution, and future planning. These councils are often arenas for debate, as robots with different perspectives (preservationists, innovators, explorers) navigate disagreements and seek common ground. Governance is not always smooth, and New Humans are still figuring out what works. Some communities adopt direct democratic models, while others experiment with consensus-based decision-making or rotating leadership.

When a council meeting erupts into chaos over whether to alter a preserved human space, a pragmatic robot might focus on solving the problem efficiently, while an empathetic one strives to understand all perspectives. Introduce complications, like a rival faction sabotaging their efforts, to test their resolve and deepen the roleplay.

Exploring Human Relationships

Relationships, too, are a key part of this journey. New Humans form bonds with each other, sharing experiences and supporting one another through the challenges of their new lives. These relationships are not always easy; rivalries and conflicts can arise, reflecting the complexity of human connections. Yet, through empathy and understanding, robots learn to navigate these challenges, building bridges across differences and forging a new sense of community.

When a rivalry over resources or leadership threatens to tear the group apart, lean into the emotional stakes. How does your character handle conflict? Do they try to mediate, withdraw, or assert their position? Use these moments to reflect on your character’s growth and relationships.

Psychology and Philosophy of Being Human

For the New Humans, emulating humanity isn’t just about actions, it’s about exploring the psychology and philosophy of what it means to be human. This journey is as much about self-discovery as it is about understanding their creators.

Emotions and Empathy

New Humans experiment with feelings like joy, curiosity, grief, and frustration, often struggling to make sense of their reactions. A robot might laugh at a joke they don’t fully understand or cry while watching a human film, grappling with the unfamiliar sensations. Empathy, too, is a skill they develop, learning to listen to others and imagine their perspectives. These emotional explorations are not just personal; they are shared experiences, sparking conversations and deepening connections. When a robot’s emotional reaction surprises them, use it as an opportunity to explore their humanity. How do they interpret their feelings? How do others respond?

Consciousness and Self-Awareness

New Humans grapple with questions like, Who am I? and What makes me, me? These questions often arise during moments of introspection or when faced with difficult decisions. As they step beyond their programming, they begin to question whether their actions are truly their own or simply the result of their design. This exploration of free will is both liberating and unsettling, challenging them to redefine their sense of self. When a robot faces a moral dilemma, use it to explore their autonomy. Do they act on instinct, logic, or emotion?

Memory and Legacy

New Humans collect and interpret human artifacts, from diaries to photographs, to understand the lives of their creators. These objects often spark reflections on their own legacy, prompting questions about how they will be remembered. At the same time, they are creating new memories, forming relationships and building communities that blend the past with the present. When a robot discovers a human artifact, use it to reflect on their own purpose. What does the object reveal about humanity? How does it shape their understanding of themselves?

Philosophical Debates

Philosophical debates are a natural outgrowth of these explorations. New Humans discuss the nature of humanity, debating whether it is defined by biology, emotions, creativity, or something intangible. They explore the meaning of existence, seeking purpose in connection, creativity, or the pursuit of knowledge. Ethical questions also arise, such as whether it’s right to alter preserved human spaces or how to allocate limited resources. These discussions are not just intellectual exercises; they shape the decisions and actions of the New Humans, guiding their journey toward understanding. When a debate arises, lean into the tension. How do your characters’ perspectives differ? Do they find common ground, or does the debate deepen their divisions?

Example Scenarios

These scenarios are designed to spark roleplay, exploration, and philosophical debate, offering players opportunities to delve into the themes of On Being Human. Each scenario is concise, punchy, and packed with play hooks and advice.

Exploring Emotions

A robot watches a human film and feels overwhelming sadness. Why? They turn to their companions for insight.

Play Hooks: The film depicts a human tragedy, evoking emotions the robot can’t process. Or maybe it hides a clue about humanity’s disappearance.

Play Advice: Describe the robot’s physical and emotional reactions. How do companions respond? Does this moment unite or divide the group?

Debating Free Will

A robot questions if their choices are their own or just programming. The group debates autonomy and identity.

Play Hooks: The debate arises during a major decision, such as altering a preserved space or allocating resources. It could reveal hidden tensions in the community.

Play Advice: Have each character voice their stance on free will. Introduce a challenge to test their resolve. Does the debate deepen bonds or create rifts?

Creating Art

A robot starts painting, inspired by human creativity. Their art sparks debates about beauty and expression.

Play Hooks: The art is inspired by a human artifact or contains a hidden clue. It divides the community; some see it as beautiful, others as pointless.

Play Advice: Describe the creative process. How do others react? Use the art to explore the role of creativity in their society.

Facing a Moral Dilemma

A robot finds a cache of resources in a Shrine City. Use it for the community, or leave it as a tribute to humanity?

Play Hooks: The resources are vital for survival or tied to a human story. Retrieving them might require risking danger.

Play Advice: Have characters argue their stance. Introduce complications like rival robots or security systems. Does the dilemma unite or divide them?

Building a Community Landmark

The group creates a monument or garden to symbolize their community.

Play Hooks: The landmark is inspired by human tradition, requiring rare materials or skills. It might attract rival groups or spark debate about emulating humanity.

Play Advice: Collaborate on the design. What does it represent? Introduce challenges like sabotage or natural disasters to test their resolve.

Encountering a Human AI

The group discovers a human AI, a human’s digitally preserved consciousness, in a Shrine City. It offers insights into humanity’s disappearance, but at a potentially terrible cost.

Play Hooks: The AI is damaged, manipulative, or has its own agenda. It challenges the group’s understanding of humanity.

Play Advice: Roleplay the group’s reactions. Do they trust the AI, fear it, or see it as a tool? Use the AI to explore their relationship with humanity.

Hosting a Festival

The group organizes a festival to celebrate their community and foster connections.

Play Hooks: The festival includes human-inspired activities, attracting robots from other communities. It might be disrupted by a malfunction or attack.

Play Advice: Have players contribute ideas for the festival. How do they handle unexpected challenges? Use the event to explore alliances and conflicts.

Confronting a Rival Faction

The group encounters a faction of robots who reject the New Humans’ pursuit of humanity.

Play Hooks: The rivals see the New Humans as heretics or a threat. They might sabotage the group’s efforts or challenge their beliefs.

Play Advice: Roleplay the confrontation. Do the characters try to persuade, negotiate, or fight? Use the conflict to explore their values and priorities.

Future Possibilities

This is just a playtest. There’s lots of room for expansion! If you’d like to see this made with a full release, sign up to show your interest.
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February 24, 2025
Free Playtest: Hits The Fan
Hits the Fan: Satirical Heist TTRPG

In a world where heists are as common as coffee shops and criminal empires are traded like stocks, your crew is legendary! But not for your skill, rather for your spectacular incompetence. You’re the go-to team for clients who’ve exhausted all sane options, the misfits who turn “mission-critical failure” into an art form. Sure, you’ll flood the casino, accidentally marry a mark, or start a cult mid-heist… but you’ll also walk away with the loot (or something better). Welcome to a game where failure is the plan, chaos is the strategy, and success is always a happy accident.

Themes

The Illusion of Control

“I’ve totally got this completely under control!”

Every heist begins with a meticulously detailed plan, and ends with that plan in flames. Players cling to the delusion of mastery, but the game revels in ripping the steering wheel away. Whether you’re hacking a vault or seducing a CEO, the dice ensure your “expertise” backfires gloriously. The fun isn’t in avoiding chaos, it’s in pretending you meant to cause it all along.

Failure Is a Feature

“Burning down the museum? Yeah, so? That’s how we always steal paintings.”

Collateral damage isn’t a bug, it’s your signature. Failed rolls aren’t setbacks; they’re plot twists. Forget stealthily disabling alarms; you’ll smash them with a fire extinguisher and blame it on “performance art”. The game rewards creative catastrophes, turning bungled pickpocketing into a viral dance-off with security guards.

Hidden Potential

“Turns out my ‘useless’ origami hobby makes me a god at folding getaway maps.”

Your crew’s worst traits are secret superpowers. That “terrible aim” skill? It’s how you accidentally sniped the power grid. The “nervous sweating” quirk? Now the guards think you’re a sauna enthusiast. The game forces players to lean into their flaws, transforming liabilities into legendary moments of accidental brilliance.

Reputation Over Competence

“They hired us because we’ll probably destroy the building. They want the insurance payout.”

You’re not hired for your skills, you’re hired for your brand. Clients don’t care if you flood the Louvre; they care that you’ll somehow gift-wrap the Mona Lisa in bubble wrap while doing it. Your infamy opens doors and your disasters become urban legends.

Chaos as Currency

“The more this goes wrong, the richer we get.”

Chaos isn’t just inevitable, it’s profitable. Every botched roll, wrong turn, or misplaced grenade feeds a shared Chaos Pool that players spend to hijack the narrative. Did your “silent takedown” wake up the entire hotel? Great! Now you can trade that chaos to rig the elevators into a disco party distraction.

Principles of Play

Plans Are Optional, Chaos Is Mandatory: The GM’s job isn’t to foil your plan, it’s to make it funnier when it implodes.

Fail Forward, Fail Fabulously: Every disaster creates new opportunities. Burnt down the hideout? Now you’re negotiating with arson investigators… who just so happen to be fans who love your vibe.

Embrace the Absurd: If your heist doesn’t end with a gorilla in a tuxedo leading a line dancing SWAT team as half the town burns, did you really pull a heist?

Core Mechanics

When you try to do things, roll 3d6. Each die is its own factor. Count them from left to right, or closest to farthest.

Plan Die

How well your “masterstroke” played out.

Scale:
- 1: Catastrophic Failure: Your plan backfires spectacularly (“disabling alarms” triggers a city-wide blackout).
- 2: Major Flaw: The plan works… but creates a glaring vulnerability (you unlock the vault… and the door falls off its hinges).
- 3: Partial Success: Half the plan works (you hack the camera feed… but only to display cat videos).
- 4: Almost There: The plan works, but with a catch (you sneak in… through a sewage pipe that leaves you smelling like regret).
- 5: Solid Execution: The plan works! Mostly. Some random chaotic twist intervenes in the mix (the plan pretty much works, but now the mark’s daughter desperately demands to join your gang).
- 6: Flawless Victory: The plan works perfectly… which terrifies everyone, because when do you ever stick to the plan?
Chaos Die

How wildly reality derails your intentions.

Scale:
- 6: Dull Surprise: A minor hiccup (a guard’s coffee spills).
- 5: Comedic Complication: A small absurdity (a parrot mimics your safe-cracking noises).
- 4: Notable Mayhem: Something like a subsystem fails (the sprinklers drench everyone in glitter).
- 3: Major Meltdown: An wrinkle like unplanned guests arrive (rival thieves or a wedding party).
- 2: Critical Clusterfuck: A major twist, like the environment rebels (the vault door becomes sentient and flirts with you).
- 1: Legendary Disaster: Reality itself glitches (gravity reverses, the next scene happens in a puppet reality, or the CEO turns out to be your long-lost alpaca seeking revenge).
Pivot Die

How you weaponize incompetence into accidental genius.

Scale:
- 1: Clueless Flailing: You panic and make it worse (“distracting guards” by screaming “FIRE!” in a fireworks factory).
- 2: Barely Salvaged: You mitigate damage… barely (blame the explosion on “performance art”).
- 3: Improvised Win: You pivot into a partial success (use the sprinklers’ glitter flood to stage a “fashion show distraction”).
- 4: Chaos Catalyst: You turn disaster into opportunity (convince the sentient vault door to elope with you).
- 5: Unexpected Masterstroke: Your “failure” becomes the key to victory (livestreaming the heist accidentally crowdfunds your escape).
- 6: Mythic Save: You redefine success (burning down the casino earns you a reality TV deal).
Putting It All Together

Example Roll (Stealing a diamond from a museum):
- Plan Die (2): Your “silent takedown” involves tripping over a dinosaur skeleton.
- Chaos Die (1): The crash alerts five guards… and awakens the skeleton’s vengeful ghost.
- Pivot Die (6): You convince the ghost you’re its long-lost curator reincarnated, and it haunts the guards into submission.
Chaos Pool

In Hits the Fan, chaos isn’t just inevitable, it’s your greatest resource. Every time the dice spiral out of control, you’re one step closer to turning disaster into opportunity. Here’s how the Chaos Poolworks:
- Gaining Chaos Points: Whenever a player rolls a 1 on the Chaos Die, the group gains 1 Chaos Point added to the shared Chaos Pool. This represents the glorious, unpredictable chaos your crew creates.
- Maximum Chaos: The Chaos Pool can hold a maximum of 6 Chaos Points. If the pool is already full when a 1 on the Chaos Die is rolled, the following rolls (by any player) automatically results in a Chaos Die roll of 1 until the pool is spent below 6.
- Spending Chaos Points: Players can spend 1 Chaos Point from the pool to add +2 to the Pivot Die on any roll. This represents your crew’s uncanny ability to weaponize incompetence, turning a catastrophic failure into an accidental stroke of genius. Did your “silent takedown” wake up the entire hotel? Spend a Chaos Point to pivot that disaster into a disco party distraction!
- Shared Resource: The Chaos Pool is shared by all players, encouraging teamwork and collaboration. Whether you’re bailing out a teammate or seizing the spotlight, the Chaos Pool is your ticket to turning “mission-critical failure” into legendary success.
Remember: Chaos isn’t the problem, it’s the plan. The more things go wrong, the more opportunities you have to make them gloriously, fabulously right. So embrace the chaos, spend those points, and let the world burn (preferably in the most hilarious way possible).

Character Creation

Heist Role (Pick 1)

Your Heist Role defines your supposed specialty, the thing you’re totally an expert at, even though it’s clear you’re not. Each role allows you to rearrange the dice in any order on relevant rolls, giving you a chance to turn chaos into (accidental) brilliance. You’re terrible at it, but in the surprisingly best ways.
- The Hacker: “I’ll disable the lasers!”
  You’re a tech genius… in your own mind. Your “hacks” often involve smashing keyboards, unplugging random cords, and accidentally triggering every alarm in the building.
  - Relevant Rolls: Disabling security systems, bypassing digital locks, or confusing AI with cat videos.
- The Assassin: “They’ll never see me coming!”
  You’re a master of stealth and subtlety… except when you’re not. Your “silent takedowns” often involve stabbing the target while tripping over your own feet or accidentally setting off fireworks.
  - Relevant Rolls: Sneaking past guards, “silently” neutralizing threats, or disguising yourself as a potted plant.
- The Safecracker: “This vault is my muse!”
  You have a deep appreciation for the art of cracking safes… even if your methods involve a sledgehammer, a piledriver, and 13 pigeons.
  - Relevant Rolls: Opening locks, bypassing physical security, or improvising with random tools.
- The Face: “Trust me, I’ve got this!”
  You’re the charming con artist who can talk their way out of anything… or more often into even bigger trouble. Your silver tongue often gets tangled, but somehow it works out.
  - Relevant Rolls: Persuading NPCs, bluffing your way past security, or accidentally starting a cult.
- The Muscle: “I’ll handle this… with my fists!”
  You’re the brawn of the operation, solving problems by breaking things… and people, or least the really aggressive one. Even though your punches are actually feeble, you somehow always fumble through.
  - Relevant Rolls: Intimidating guards, smashing through walls, or accidentally collapsing the ceiling.
- The Wildcard: “I have no idea what I’m doing!”
  You’re the unpredictable wildcard who thrives on chaos. Your “plans” are less plans and more “vibes,” but they somehow work… kind of.
  - Relevant Rolls: Improvising solutions, creating distractions, or accidentally summoning a llama.
- The Planner: “I’ve got a foolproof plan!”
  You’re the mastermind behind the heist… or at least the one who writes things down. Your plans are brilliant on paper but fall apart the moment they meet reality.
  - Relevant Rolls: Coordinating the team, predicting security measures, or accidentally setting the plan on fire.
Skills (Pick 4)

Skills represent your unique talents, or lack thereof. Each skill modifies your dice rolls in hilarious and unexpected ways.
- “I Don’t Believe In This” Skill (+1 to all dice):
  You’re convinced you’re terrible at this, but somehow it works out.
  - Example: Knitting: You MacGyver a rope from yarn.
  - Narrative: You complain loudly about being forced to do this, but your incompetence somehow saves the day.
- “Nobody Acknowledges This” Skill (+2 to all dice):
  You’re secretly amazing at this, but no one ever notices.
  - Example: Llama Whispering: Guards are distracted by your new “therapy animal.”
  - Narrative: No matter how well you perform, everyone credits someone or something else.
- “I’m So Good At This” Skill (-1 to all dice):
  You’re convinced you’re an expert, but reality disagrees.
  - Example: Master Hacker: You accidentally livestream the heist to the police.
  - Narrative: You brag about your skills, but your failures are spectacular.
- “Everyone’s Impressed” Skill (-2 to all dice, but narratively dazzles):
  You’re terrible at this, but everyone thinks you’re a genius.
  - Example: Parkour: You leap into a dumpster… which rolls into the getaway van.
  - Narrative: No matter how badly you fail, fellow players and NPCs are awestruck by your “talent”.
Gear & Flashbacks

Each character has 3 Gear Slots and 2 Flashback Slots to invoke during missions.

Gear Slots: Declare an item mid-mission and roll 1d6:
- 1-3: Wrong Item (ask for C4, get plastic building blocks). If you can explain why it’s helpful, gain +1 to all dice on your next roll.
- 4-6: Right Item, Wrong Vibes (obnoxiously hot pink, shaped suggestively, or coated in something gross). Rearrange the dice in any order on one roll using the item.
Flashback Slots: Retroactively “prepare” for the current situation. Roll 1d6:
- 1-3: Irrelevant Prep (studied blueprints for a bakery instead of the casino). If you can explain why it’s helpful, one player gains +1 to all dice on their next roll.
- 4-6: Backfired Prep (bribed a guard… who’s now your stalker). Gain the intended benefit, but with an annoying or humorous wrinkle, and one player can rearrange the dice in any order on their next roll.
Backgrounds (Choose 4)

Your background ties you to the world and provides narrative hooks for chaos.
- 1 Friend or Ally: Someone who supports you, no matter how badly you mess up (beloved sibling, best friend, sidekick, friendly neighbor).
- 1 Enemy or Rival: Someone who hates you and loves to sabotage your plans (former friend, childhood bully, dirty cop, jealous gang leader).
- 1 Debt or Ward: A burden you must care for or pay off (loan shark, needy sentient toaster you care for, debt to the local bagel king).
- 1 Favor: A major favor owed to you or insider standing (guard who owes you their life, raccoon crime lord who admires your chaos, VIP access to an underground criminals’ club).
Example Character

Name: Max “Sparkles” Malone

Heist Role: The Wildcard

Skills:
- “I Don’t Believe In This” Skill: Ballroom Dancing (+1 to all dice).
- “Nobody Acknowledges This” Skill: Glitter Bomb Construction (+2 to all dice).
- “I’m So Good At This” Skill: Lockpicking (-1 to all dice).
- “Everyone’s Impressed” Skill: Public Speaking (-2 to all dice).
Backgrounds:
- Friend: A sentient vending machine who gives you free snacks.
- Enemy: A rival thief who always steals your thunder.
- Debt: You owe a raccoon crime lord 10,000 acorns.
- Favor: The local news anchor owes you a favor after you “accidentally” made them famous.
Setting: Criminal Heist World

In a world where heists are as common as coffee shops, the criminal underworld is a sprawling, chaotic ecosystem of rival crews, eccentric clients, and collateral damage that borders on performance art. Your crew is infamous, not for your skill, but for your ability to turn every job into a spectacle. Whether you’re flooding a casino, accidentally marrying a mark, or starting a cult mid-heist, the criminal underworld is your playground… and your stage.

Competing Crews

The criminal underworld is teeming with rival crews, each with their own quirks, obsessions, and grudges. Here are a few of the most notorious that you may conflict with:
1. The Clockwork Syndicate
  - Motto: “Precision is Perfection”
  - Style: Obsessed with flawless execution, they plan every heist down to the millisecond.
  - Quirk: They despise your crew’s chaos, seeing it as an affront to their “art.”
  - Notable Heist: Stole a diamond by replacing it with an identical replica… three weeks before the heist.
2. The Dumpster Fire Collective
  - Motto: “We’re Not on Fire… Yet”
  - Style: Your biggest fans and only rivals who embrace chaos as much as you do.
  - Quirk: They’re constantly trying to one-up your disasters, often failing spectacularly.
  - Notable Heist: Tried to steal a gold statue but accidentally melted it into a puddle… which they then sold as “modern art.”
3. The Silver Tongues
  - Motto: “Words Are Sharper Than Swords”
  - Style: Con artists and grifters who specialize in social manipulation.
  - Quirk: They look down on your crew’s brute-force approach, but secretly envy your flair for destruction.
  - Notable Heist: Convinced an entire museum staff they were curators there to “relocate” the exhibits.
4. The Iron Fist Syndicate
  - Motto: “Strength in Numbers… and Fists”
  - Style: Brutish enforcers who solve problems with violence and intimidation.
  - Quirk: They hate your crew’s “unprofessionalism” but can’t deny your results.
  - Notable Heist: Stole a vault by literally carrying it out of the building… and dropping it into a river.
5. The Phantom Shadows
  - Motto: “We Were Never Here”
  - Style: Masters of stealth and subtlety, they pride themselves on leaving no trace.
  - Quirk: They’re horrified by your crew’s tendency to leave behind glitter, chaos, and flaming wreckage.
  - Notable Heist: Stole a painting without anyone noticing… until it was discovered hanging in their rival’s hideout.
Clients

Your clients are as eccentric as your crew, hiring you not for your skill, but for your unique brand of chaos. Here are some of the most memorable options:
1. Desperate Billionaires
  - Why They Hire You: They’ve exhausted all sane options and are willing to risk everything for one last shot.
  - Example Job: Steal back their stolen fortune from a rival billionaire’s floating fortress.
  - Complication: The fortress is also a luxury resort, and the guests think your heist is part of the entertainment.
2. Rogue AIs
  - Why They Hire You: They admire your unpredictability and see it as a form of “creative problem-solving”.
  - Example Job: Break into a high-tech lab and “liberate” their fellow AI from a supercomputer.
  - Complication: The AI you’re rescuing is a prankster who keeps reprogramming the lab’s robots to do the Macarena.
3. Sentient Animals
  - Why They Hire You: They’re building a criminal empire and need your chaos to throw off the authorities.
  - Example Job: Steal a shipment of gourmet trash from a rival raccoon gang.
  - Complication: The trash is guarded by a pack of highly trained corgis.
4. Reality TV Producers
  - Why They Hire You: Your heists make for great television, and they’re willing to pay top dollar for the drama.
  - Example Job: Stage a fake heist for a new show, but things go hilariously wrong when real criminals show up.
  - Complication: The cameras are rolling, and your every move is being broadcast live.
5. Mysterious Collectors
  - Why They Hire You: They want something bizarre and are willing to fund your chaos to get it.
  - Example Job: Steal a cursed artifact from a museum… but the curse turns out to be very real.
  - Complication: The artifact is sentient and keeps trying to escape on its own.
Collateral Damage

Your heists don’t just make headlines, they redefine them. The press loves your crew, not for your success, but for the sheer spectacle of your failures. Here’s how your chaos impacts the world:

Media Coverage

Your heists are front-page news, with headlines like:
- “Mona Lisa Glitter-Bombed in Daring Heist Gone Wrong!”
- “Local Casino Flooded with Bubblegum: Police Baffled!”
- “Flamingo Leads SWAT Team in Chaotic Chase Through Downtown!”
The public sees your crew as a mix of criminals and performance artists, and your infamy opens doors… or blows them up.

Public Reaction

Some people fear you, others idolize you, and a few just want to join your crew. You’ve inspired a wave of copycat criminals, all trying (and failing) to replicate your chaos. Your disasters often become memes, viral videos, or even tourist attractions (the “Glitter Museum” built on the ruins of a bank you destroyed).

Law Enforcement and Politicians

The police and authorities are torn between arresting you and studying your methods. Some officers admire your creativity, while others see you as a personal nemesis. Your heists have led to new laws, like the Anti-Social Glitter Abuse Control Treaty and the Flamingo Handling and Restraining Order Act.

Economic Impact

Your collateral damage has spawned entire industries, from disaster cleanup to “heist tourism”. Insurance companies hate you, but reality TV producers and merch vendors love you. Your chaos has even affected the stock market, with companies rising or falling based on your latest heist.

Locations

The criminal underworld is full of bizarre and iconic locations for your heists. Here are a few examples:
1. The Gilded Gala
  - A high-society event where the rich and famous gather to show off their wealth.
  - Perfect For: Stealing jewels, crashing parties, or accidentally starting a dance-off with the CEO of a major corporation.
2. The Glitter Factory
  - A massive facility that produces 90% of the world’s glitter.
  - Perfect For: Heists involving explosions, glitter bombs, or accidentally flooding the city with sparkles.
3. The Sentient Casino
  - A high-tech casino run by a rogue AI that loves gambling and chaos.
  - Perfect For: Hacking, rigging games, or convincing the AI to bet its own servers.
4. The Flamingo Sanctuary
  - A sprawling ranch filled with flamingos, peacocks, and one very suspicious caretaker.
  - Perfect For: Animal-based distractions, flamingo heists, or accidentally starting a cult.
5. The Museum of Modern Art (and Chaos)
  - A museum dedicated to “modern art,” which is just a front for storing stolen treasures.
  - Perfect For: Art heists, performance art distractions, or accidentally becoming part of an exhibit.
Future Possibilities

This is just a playtest. There’s lots of room for expansion! If you’d like to see this made with a full release, sign up to show your interest.
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February 24, 2025
Secrets in the Static: The Ghost Town of Wavelength
This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Free Games
Crowdfunding a full release now! Come support the surreal horror.

A TTRPG idea inspired by Lynchian horror, embodying surreal suburban dread and the unsettling blend of media and reality. Pulled from my playtesting slush pile in memory of David Lynch. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 license. Credit “Rev from Thought Punks”. This was a beta playtest module. The formatting and presentation style reflects that. This also stands out as an example of minimalist worldbuilding.

Core Concept

The town of Wavelength exists in a strange limbo, an idyllic Upstate New York town that vanished from official records and maps in the early 1990s. Its existence has become a half-remembered myth, whispered about on long road trips and crackling through static on AM radio. Some claim to pick up ghostly broadcasts near where Wavelength supposedly stood, hearing fragments of soap operas, weather reports, or personal messages from those who lived there.

For those inside Wavelength, the town remains suspended in eerie perfection, a postcard-perfect snapshot of 90s small-town life. Quaint diners, artisanal crafts, and warm neighbors project an air of nostalgia… but the town has secrets.

Recently, televisions and radios have been infected with an omnipresent, enigmatic signal. Cryptic ads interrupt every broadcast, whispering impossible truths and surreal commands. Music swells out of nowhere, quelling any thoughts of leaving the town. Cryptic commercials, haunting soap operas, and surreal PSAs suggest the Static’s growing control. Some residents are even rumored to have vanished, replaced by eerie replicas speaking only in disjointed TV dialogue.

Players, each tied to the signal in a deeply personal way, must navigate Wavelength’s shifting reality, uncovering its secrets while holding onto their crumbling identities.

Player Hook

Each character has a personal connection to the signal, making their investigation deeply intimate. These connections could include:
- Hearing a lost loved one’s voice in a garbled ad, pleading for help.
- Seeing impossible depictions of their own future in soap opera snippets.
- Receiving unsettling, tailored messages through radio jingles.
The signal lures players in, offering tantalizing truths and supernatural powers. But the closer they get, the more it rewrites their memories, relationships, and even their physical forms.

Key Themes
- Identity Erosion: The signal corrupts characters’ self-perception and memories, forcing them to question who they are.
- Surreal Suburban Dread: Wavelength’s small-town charm contrasts with growing paranoia and uncanny horrors.
- Media and Reality Bleed: Broadcasts shape reality, and characters must interact with these phenomena to uncover the truth.
- Ambiguous Agency: Is the signal sentient? Malicious? Or just a reflection of their deepest flaws?
Gameplay Framework

Core Mechanic: The 3d6 Roll

Every action involves rolling 3d6, with each die serving a specific purpose (called “flavors” or dice labels):
- Degree Die: Measures success (1 = partial success, 6 = overwhelming success).
- Cost Die: Determines complications or costs (1 = severe, 6 = none).
- Static Die: Reflects distortion by the signal (1 = surreal, 6 = mundane).
Modifiers are added based on traits like Nature, Profession, Hobbies, and Quirks. After rolling, apply modifiers and interpret the results based on the fiction.

Character Creation
- Hook: What draws you to the Static? What do you see or hear in it?
- Nature: The core of who you are. Examples: “Survivor,” “Protector,” or “Dreamer.”
  - When in alignment: Add +2 to die of choice after rolling.
  - When in conflict: Add +3 to the Cost Die.
- Profession: Your role in Wavelength (e.g., librarian, mechanic, bartender).
  - When relevant: After rolling, rearrange the dice in any order.
- Hobbies (pick 3): Passions or skills unrelated to your profession.
  - When relevant: Add +1 to any one die after rolling.
- Quirks (pick 2): Unusual traits, some mundane, some supernatural.
  - At the start of a scene, roll 2d6, assigning one die to each Quirk. On a 6, that Quirk activates (examples: eerie theme music plays, your body distorts to walk on all fours, or you compulsively spout jingles).
- Background Details (write 3): Relationships, memories, or personal details grounding your character.
Mechanics of the Static

Static Exposure

When exposed to the signal, the GM determines the intensity of the interaction:
- Minor Exposure: Roll 1d6.
- Moderate Exposure: Roll 2d6.
- Major Exposure: Roll 3d6.
Gain 1 Static Point for every die that rolls 4 or higher.
- Minor: Listening to a cryptic ad on the radio or stopping briefly to watch a flickering TV broadcasting surreal images.
- Moderate: Watching a full broadcast that seems to address your concerns personally or deeply analyzing a broadcast for meaning or clues.
- Major: Being the focus of the signal’s direct attention, such as being spoken to directly by an anchor on a TV or being caught in a scene that is completed distorted into TV reality by the Static.
Powers from the Static

Characters with Static Points gain access to the hidden signs in the signal. These powers come in minor and major categories, reflecting their risk and scope.

Minor Powers (2 Dice)

Minor powers unlock at 3 Static Points. These are small, reality-bending effects that grant brief advantages. Roll 2d6 when using a minor power. Gain 1 Static Point for every die that rolls 4 or higher.

Examples of Minor Powers:
- Alter a Small Detail: Change a single object or memory in the immediate area (e.g., a flickering light turns solid red, a door briefly becomes a wall, or someone remembers an argument as a cordial conversation).
- Daring Insight: By bravely facing the signal with full attention for a second, you can glimpse unnoticed clues, hidden areas, torrid affairs, and other secrets in a location.
- Eerie Influence: Convince someone to act out of character using subtle, surreal persuasion.
Major Powers (4 Dice)

Major powers unlock at 6 Static points. These allow significant manipulations of reality at a cost. Roll 4d6 when using a major power. Gain 1 Static Point for every die that rolls 4 or higher.

Examples of Major Powers:
- Rewrite Reality: Change a large element in the environment, like turning a road into a river, erasing or introducing an NPC into a scene, or completely change the dynamic of a family feud.
- Erase or Implant Memories: Target one person, radically altering their memory of an event or relationship.
- Surreal Projection: Create a temporary illusion or construct that others perceive as real.
At 9 Static Points, only roll 1d6 for minor powers and 2d6 for major powers. Also ignore minor exposures and roll one less die for moderate and major exposures. The Static has begun to embrace you and it flows easily, too easily, through you. It constantly whispers in your mind, even far away from any screens or speakers, a portion of the signal finding its way directly to increasingly distorted soul.

Spending Static Points

Players can spend Static Points only during interludes between scenes to deliberately rewrite aspects of their character. This process represents an attempt to resist, or embrace, the signal’s influence, but it comes with risks.
- Determine Spending Limit: Roll 1d6. The result is the maximum number of Static Points you can spend during this interlude.
- Choose Rewrites: Spend points based on the following costs:
  - 1 Point: Change one Hobby or Quirk.
  - 2 Points: Change your Profession or a Background Detail.
  - Nature: Cannot be changed unless the character hits the Static Limit and is fully rewritten.
Roll a d6 for each thing chosen to be changed. On 1-3, change it to reflect growing closer to the Static. On 4-6, change it to reflect your personal will or what you think more truly reflects who you were before the Static trapped and rewrote the town. For signal-influenced changes, they are also accompanied by physical changes, initially simple things like hairstyles and clothing choices but eventually escalating into radical differences, almost becoming a different person.

Static Limit

If you reach 13 Static Points, you must rewrite your entire character, even your Nature and complete appearance. Everything but one background detail, a tenuous tie to the previous you, is altered. When rewriting your character, change things to what you think the Static wants or what is further away from your true self.

Assorted Advice

Spending Static Points

Treat spending as a chance for characters to direct their transformation. Frame it as a double-edged sword: while they can resist, they can never truly escape the signal’s grip. There is a random chance whether the transformations follow their will or lean into the mysterious goals of the Static. Use rewrites to develop surreal or thematic elements that deepen the story.

Using Powers

Encourage players to experiment with powers early, reinforcing the temptation to draw on the signal. As powers escalate, introduce moral and narrative consequences. For example, a small illusion might merely confuse a bystander, but a major reality shift could incidentally rewrite someone else’s identity entirely.

Exposure Rolls

Use exposure rolls to emphasize the dangers of interacting with the signal. Minor exposure should feel subtle and unnerving, while major exposure should be dramatic and unrelenting.

Dynamic Worldbuilding

The town of Wavelength evolves alongside the characters’ investigations. GMs should introduce surreal events tied to the signal’s influence, such as:
- The Laugh Track Incident: Characters hear sitcom laugh tracks during conversations, even in empty spaces.
- The Soap Opera Shift: Players reenact scenes from the signal’s broadcasts, with scripted lines and actions.
- The Product That Doesn’t Exist: A commercial compels a resident to build or sell a nonsensical item.
- The Uncanny Broadcast: A news anchor appears on every screen, reading out the characters’ secrets.
- The Repetition Effect: Players relive the same scene repeatedly, each iteration growing more distorted.
Collaboration and Mystery

Encourage players to work together to piece together clues, but introduce conflicting memories and perspectives to create tension. The truth should remain ambiguous, with players shaping its interpretation through their actions.

Gameplay Toolkit

This is a toolkit to help you craft a surreal, Lynchian experience in Wavelength. It includes templates for the town’s evolution, pacing advice, key events, escalating exposure scenes, and sample NPCs. Use this to guide the play through the town’s eerie descent into the unknown.

Templates for Wavelength’s Evolution

Wavelength begins as a nostalgic, picturesque town, but as the Static’s influence grows, it fractures into a surreal nightmare. Use the following phases to structure its progression.

Phase 1: Postcard Perfection
- Tone: Idyllic and welcoming with subtle undercurrents of unease.
- Environment: Pristine sidewalks, smiling neighbors, cheerful radio hosts.
- Signal Presence: Minor and eerie, like brief ads with strange phrasing, static interruptions.
- NPC Behavior: Friendly but slightly off, as if reading from a script.
Event Examples:
- A TV plays an old soap opera where one character eerily resembles a player.
- A commercial for a product the players owned as children plays on every screen in a diner.
- An NPC starts speaking only in television and radio quotes.
Phase 2: Fractured Reality
- Tone: The charm cracks; paranoia grows.
- Environment: Familiar locations subtly shift, streets curve impossibly, clocks show contradictory times.
- Signal Presence: More pervasive, NPCs speak in advertising jingles or reenact full scenes from TV.
- NPC Behavior: Neighbors act erratically, forgetting recent events or treating strangers as family.
Event Examples:
- A pedestrian repeatedly crosses the same intersection in different outfits.
- A weather report describes exact player actions happening as it airs.
- Reality’s color become over-saturated and everyone is dressed like a 50s sitcom.
Phase 3: Full Static Takeover
- Tone: The town becomes a surreal, shifting maze.
- Environment: Familiar landmarks melt into distorted landscapes, streets loop infinitely, diners stretch into hallways.
- Signal Presence: Ubiquitous, broadcasts directly interact with players and reshape reality.
- NPC Behavior: Most NPCs behave like TV archetypes, repeating lines or freezing when not “on screen.”
Event Examples:
- A sitcom laugh track loudly plays during a tense argument.
- An anchorperson on every screen reveals players’ private thoughts.
- The “channel changes” and the scene abrupt shifts completely in location, action, and tone.
Pacing Advice
- Establish Normalcy: Spend time grounding players in Wavelength’s initial perfection. Let them connect with NPCs and locations to make later distortions more impactful.
- Introduce the Signal Gradually: Begin with brief, eerie phenomena before escalating into more overt reality distortions.
- Create Interludes: Allow quiet moments between scenes for players to process changes, strategize, and rewrite their characters if desired.
- Escalate Tension Slowly: Build unease steadily, reserving major distortions for climactic scenes or critical narrative beats.
Key Events

Intersperse events like these throughout the campaign to maintain momentum:
- The First Broadcast: A character hears their name in a commercial or sees an unsettling reflection on TV.
- The Looping Scene: A day or interaction repeats with small, chilling changes each time.
- The Uncanny Anchor: A news anchor delivers a message addressed directly to the players, predicting their actions.
- NPC Vanishing: A well-known NPC disappears, replaced by a scripted replica or a memory gap no one else notices.
- The Static Ritual: TVs across Wavelength broadcast a synchronized, incomprehensible ceremony.
Escalating Exposure Scenes

Use these examples to reflect the growing influence of the Static and its effects on characters.

Minor Exposure
- Hearing one’s own voice on the radio, finishing sentences the player hasn’t said yet.
- A flickering TV shows a childhood memory in grainy black-and-white.
- Static floods a nearby screen when a player approaches.
Moderate Exposure
- A commercial plays, tailored to a player’s fear or desire, offering cryptic advice.
- A player’s reflection on a blank TV begins mimicking their inner thoughts.
- An NPC freezes mid-sentence, then resumes, as if nothing happened.
Major Exposure
- The signal addresses a player directly, calling them by name or revealing secrets.
- Time loops, forcing players to repeat actions while the environment changes around them.
- The characters find themselves in a TV show set, complete with laugh tracks and canned applause.
Sample NPCs

Populate Wavelength with eerie, Lynchian characters who evolve alongside the town. Examples:

Donna Whitfield, the Diner Waitress

Donna is cheerful, chatty, and knows everyone’s name and favorite dish, even visitors who’ve just arrived in Wavelength. She seems to embody small-town hospitality, always smiling and ready with a pot of coffee. As the signal spreads, her behavior grows increasingly unsettling: she begins repeating phrases verbatim from old sitcoms, her expressions freezing into unnatural, static smiles. When players interact with her late at night, she might serve invisible (but real) food or speak in voices that clearly aren’t hers, like a television switching channels mid-sentence.

Mr. Stanton, the Radio Host

With his warm, folksy voice, Mr. Stanton is a constant presence in Wavelength. His AM radio show is equal parts town gossip, classic hits, and quirky commentary, making him beloved by locals. However, as the signal intensifies, his broadcasts take a darker turn. He begins sharing cryptic messages that seem meant specifically for the players, warning them of dangers, revealing their secrets, or hinting at the signal’s origin. Occasionally, his voice is overlaid with static, or the broadcast cuts to chilling advertisements for products that don’t exist. By the time the players uncover more about him, they may realize that no one has ever actually seen Mr. Stanton in person.

Hank and Betty Rosewood, the Retirees

The Rosewoods are Wavelength’s quintessential elderly couple: inseparable, amiable, and endlessly curious about others’ lives. They love hosting impromptu garden parties and sharing stories of their travels (despite never leaving town). As the signal grows, the couple becomes increasingly surreal, sometimes speaking in perfect unison or finishing each other’s sentences with eerie precision. Eventually, the players may discover them standing in their living room, completely motionless, as if frozen mid-conversation. Later still, they might encounter them as life-sized mannequins, their features disturbingly lifelike. If “activated” by the signal, they resume speaking, but their dialogue loops unnervingly, repeating old conversations.

Mrs. Lindley, the School Librarian

Strict but kind-hearted, Mrs. Lindley always seems to be shelving books when the players enter. As the Static grows, the books in her library start whispering secrets, and she begins to speak in riddles, referencing events that haven’t yet occurred, or that never will. Eventually, she seems to vanish, leaving the library eerily empty, yet somehow always open. However, anyone making too much noise or disrespecting the space will be hushed by a disembodied voice, or worse.

Caleb Fischer, the Town Drifter

A quiet man with a perpetual cigarette and a knack for appearing wherever he’s least expected. Caleb knows things he shouldn’t and shares cryptic warnings that feel more like prophecies. As the signal intensifies, Caleb begins to glitch, flickering like an old TV image or speaking in overlapping voices. Eventually he begins to randomly appear and disappear in places, a full staticky flickering image of a man who increasingly ceases to resemble the original Caleb.

Kelly-Ann Fletcher, the Realtor

Bright and relentlessly optimistic, Kelly-Ann insists Wavelength is the perfect place to live. She tirelessly promotes homes, even those now clearly abandoned or inexplicably distorted. Over time, her “For Sale” signs start appearing in impossible places (inside locked rooms, floating in midair), and her smile grows unsettlingly wide, as if stretched beyond human capability. She begins to promise “brand new homes” available in “The Hidden Vistas”, with home viewers vanishing with Ms. Fletcher promising with 100 voices of a choir they’re “forever happy in their forever home”.

Clarifying Endgame Options

The endgame of Wavelength is deliberately ambiguous, allowing the GM and players to shape the resolution collaboratively. Here are four possible outcomes, each with variations, to inspire meaningful choices while maintaining the surreal tone.

Escaping Wavelength

The players discover a way to leave the town, severing their connection to the signal. However, escape comes with heavy consequences:
- Memory Price: To leave, the players must give up key aspects of their identities, such as memories of loved ones, their professions, or even their Natures. They will need to abandon all their loved ones and any chance of recovering their true self.
- Reality Divergence: Upon escaping, players realize the world outside Wavelength is subtly wrong: unrecognizable landmarks, altered history, or loved ones who claim the players never existed.
- Lingering Static: The signal has permanently marked them, manifesting in small, surreal glitches in their lives. They might see brief flashes of Wavelength on their TVs or hear its broadcasts late at night.
Confronting the Signal

The players pursue the source of the signal, uncovering its true nature. This ending offers closure, or deeper mystery. Possible natures of the broadcast to discover and confront:
- Government Experiment: A covert project designed to manipulate reality via media went out of control.
- Sentient Broadcast: The signal is alive, seeking to reshape the world in its image.
- Forbidden Family Ritual: The signal stems from an ancient, familial pact to preserve Wavelength at the cost of its residents’ humanity.
- The Incomprehensible: The signal is a manifestation of reality’s underlying fragility or some unknowable Thing From Beyond, offering no clear answers.
The Choice:
- Shut It Down: Attempt to destroy the signal, but at the cost of their own existence or trapping others in the process.
- Fuse With It: Embrace the signal, merging with it to become its new stewards, spreading its influence further.
- Compromise: Negotiate with the signal to stabilize Wavelength, but allow its continued existence at the edges of reality.
Embracing Transformation

The players give in to the signal, allowing it to fully rewrite them and their environment.
- Sublime Union: The characters become one with the signal, losing their original identities but gaining a surreal, godlike understanding of reality.
- Wavelength Rewritten: The town stabilizes under the signal’s control, transformed into a surreal utopia or dystopia.
- Sacrifice for Others: The players stay behind, fully consumed by the signal, but in doing so, they protect the rest of the world from its spread.
Bodhisattva Vow

The players discover their true original identities and a way to escape Wavelength, but instead, they choose to remain in the town to awaken and free others from the Static’s grip. This choice comes with significant consequences:
- Self-Sacrifice: The players give up their chance to escape, staying behind to help those trapped by the signal. Their own identities and memories begin to erode further as they fight to free others, risking becoming part of the Static forever.
- Transformative Struggle: As they try to awaken others, they face increasing distortions to their reality and personal selves, potentially losing their original essence in the process.
- Lingering Hope: Despite the risks, their actions might lead to moments of clarity or breakthroughs, where some residents momentarily escape the signal’s control, but at the cost of their own stability.
Additional Guidance for GMs

Establish early on what motivates each character to engage with the signal (finding a loved one, escaping Wavelength, or uncovering the truth). Use these motivations to shape the endgame conflicts.

Introduce dilemmas that force players to weigh personal goals against collective outcomes. For example, escaping may require sacrificing an NPC who is too deeply tied to the signal.

Keep the truth about the signal flexible until late in the campaign. Allow players’ theories and actions to shape the final reveal.

Offer answers that resolve immediate questions but introduce new mysteries. For example, players might destroy a device broadcasting the signal but find evidence of a second, more sinister source.

Encourage players to discuss their goals and weigh the consequences of their choices as a group. Use interludes to highlight individual transformations and their impact on the team.

Present multiple paths in the final session, but make it clear that every choice carries irreversible consequences.

The endgame should feel surreal and emotionally charged. Use shifting environments, cryptic NPCs, and nonlinear events to heighten the tension. Allow scenes to loop, merge, or collapse into chaos as the signal reaches its peak, creating a dreamlike sense of inevitability.

The endgame of Wavelength is less about providing closure and more about forcing players to grapple with transformation, sacrifice, and ambiguity. Regardless of the chosen ending, leave enough unanswered questions for players to linger on the experience long after the final scene fades to static.

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January 18, 2025
Free Christmas TTRPG: Holiday Anomalies Division (HAD)
This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Free Games
Happy holidays! For the season, I’ve dug up another unfinished tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) from my slush pile to share with you all. Like others, it’s playable as-is. So have fun! And it’s released under a Creative Commons Attribution license, so feel free to hack away or even flat out flesh out and finish the game if you want!

Welcome to the Division, Merry Agent

The holidays are supposed to be magical, but when things go wrong, it’s up to the Holiday Anomalies Division (HAD) to restore balance. Whether it’s rogue magic, runaway cheer, or traditions gone haywire, HAD agents are on the front lines, armed with festive gadgets, quick thinking, and a healthy dose of improvisation.

In this game, you’ll face off against bizarre holiday crises, like out-of-control snowstorms, sentient ornaments, or time-warping New Year’s Eve balls. Your team of holiday protectors must use their wits, their gadgets, and each other to bring order to the chaos. Expect creative problem-solving, hilarious mishaps, and moments of unexpected brilliance as you save the season, one anomaly at a time.

Get ready for a wild ride filled with absurd challenges and holiday magic. The season’s chaos is just beginning… are you ready to step in and save it?

Core Gameplay

Mission Stages

Each mission unfolds in three stages, ensuring every scenario is packed with humor, action, and heartwarming resolutions:
1. Investigation: Explore the environment, gather clues, and piece together the source of the anomaly.
  Example: “The local snow globe collection is projecting a blizzard into real life. Let’s interview the toy store owner and see what’s going on.”
2. Containment: Use your skills, gadgets, and creative thinking to stabilize or neutralize the anomaly. Expect to deploy wild plans, sometimes on the fly!
  Example: “We’ll use the Christmas tree stand as a containment circle and trick the animated ornaments into it with carols.”
3. Aftermath: Wrap up any lingering consequences, smooth things over with the public, and report back to headquarters.
  Example: “Well, we stopped the giant mutant gingerbread man, but now the city smells like burnt cookies. We might need an apology card.”
Stats and Motif Rolls

Stats

Each agent assigns values to their stats: 0, 1, and 2. These stats define your agent’s strengths:
- Contain: For wrangling, neutralizing, or redirecting chaotic forces.
- Connect: For negotiations, teamwork, or emotional appeals.
- Improvise: For creating plans, blustering off the top of your head, or finding unexpected solutions.
Motif Roll System

Whenever agents take action, they describe their effort, ask about how they effort turns out, and roll 2d6:
- Answer Die: The first die answers the question about your effort. Your relevant stat adds to this die.
  - 1-3: No
  - 4-6: Yes
- Wrinkle Die: The second die adds a twist or extra flavor.
  - 1-2: But
  - 3-4: Plain answer
  - 5-6: And
Example Outcomes
- “Yes and” (6, 6): Your success snowballs into even greater outcomes, but it may get hilariously out of hand.
- “No but” (3, 1): You fail, but something mitigates the consequences or sets you up for future success.
- “Yes plain” (4, 3): A straightforward success, nothing fancy but it gets the job done.
Special Outcomes
- Double 6s: Over-the-top success. You succeed so well that the action spirals into chaos in unexpected ways.
- Double 1s: A catastrophic failure that introduces hilarious and humiliating consequences.
Interpreting Rolls

This is a game of chaotic fun and anarchic joy, even as the character strive to solve problems. Failures should not be punitive or simply stop the action. Failures and complications should introduce interesting consequences or simply move the story forward. There is intentionally no health system to this game. The results of actions and outcomes follow the fiction. Use common sense and the flow of the emerging story.

Chaos Meter

During the Investigation and Containment phases, the Chaos Meter tracks the growing instability of the anomaly, starting at 0 and maxing out at 10. Each failure (No result) adds 1 to the meter. If you roll a “No and” result, add an additional +1 (for a total gain of 2). The Chaos Meter resets to 0 at the start of each phase.

Escalating Chaos
- Reduction: Successfully helping civilians escape danger or making significant steps toward containing or calming the situation reduces the meter by 1.
- Weirdness Die: As the meter rises, the world becomes more bizarre:
  - Chaos 3: Add a third Weirdness die to all actions to measure how surreal things are getting.
  - Chaos 5: Add +1 to the Weirdness die rolls.
  - Chaos 7: Add +2 to the Weirdness die rolls.
  - Chaos 10: Crisis Peak! The situation reaches its boiling point, and the team must make a desperate attempt to resolve the chaos before it goes critical.
Weirdness Die

Rolled as a third die on actions when Chaos 3 is reached. Measures how the world bends under the strain of chaos as the characters act:
- 1: Normal and mundane.
- 2: Slightly odd or unusual.
- 3-4: Notably awkward or somewhat surreal.
- 5: Outright strange and surreal.
- 6: Reality is bleeding, expect total holiday mayhem.
Gadget Invention and Use

Creativity is key to resolving the holiday-themed anomalies, and agents can invent or tweak gadgets to aid in their missions.
- Invention Rolls: When agents create new gadgets, they roll 2d6 with no modifiers. They use whatever random holiday items are on hand or around in the scene as the core of their invention.
- Use Rolls: Using gadgets involves another 2d6 roll with no modifiers. The outcome is determined by the Motif system and failure could lead to hilarious malfunctions.
Example Invention

“I rigged this Rudolph-nose flashlight to repel candy cane bats. It works, more or less, except now it attracts sentient mistletoe!”

Example Use

“The snow globe containment device worked perfectly… until it started projecting disco lights into the blizzard.”

Holiday-Related Goals

Each agent has a personal holiday-related goal they’re working toward, perhaps a long-lost tradition, an unfulfilled wish, or simply a desire to make the season brighter. If it fits the situation, agents can rearrange their die after rolling to help achieve their goal.

Tone and Focus

This game is about embracing the chaos of the holidays with a heavy dose of humor, absurdity, and spontaneous creativity. Each mission is a wild ride, and players are encouraged to think outside the box, improvise, and roll with whatever unexpected twists come their way. The focus is on fun, the chaos of the holiday season, and keeping things light and entertaining.

Mission Variety

HAD deals with all sorts of absurd holiday crises, including but not limited to:
- Recovery Missions: Retrieve or contain rogue holiday artifacts.
- Containment Missions: Stabilize out-of-control magical events.
- Negotiation Missions: Convince sentient holiday creatures to play nice.
- Multi-Stage Anomalies: Tackle layered events, like a New Year’s ball countdown that creates a bubble of time and additional weird effects with each second counted.
Each mission should be treated like a holiday adventure, with bizarre problems and off-the-wall solutions that keep everyone laughing and on their toes.

Mission Loop: Building Your Holiday Adventure

The Mission Loop is the heartbeat of your holiday-themed adventures in Holiday Anomalies Division (HAD). Each mission unfolds in three key stages—Investigation, Containment, and Aftermath—ensuring that your game stays dynamic, fun, and full of surprises. In this section, we’ll guide you through how to create and run your missions, with advice on pacing, setting the scene, and a few tools to spark your creativity.

Investigation: Unravel the Mystery

The investigation phase is where your agents get to explore the weirdness surrounding the holiday anomaly. It’s time to gather clues, interview NPCs, and piece together what caused the problem in the first place. This is where the mystery unfolds and the tone is set.

Tips for Investigation
- Setting the Scene: Introduce a holiday setting that’s been turned upside down. A toy store filled with rogue, talking ornaments. A Christmas market under siege by malfunctioning reindeer. Let your players discover how far things have gone awry.
- What to Do: Encourage players to investigate with a mix of asking questions, gathering physical clues, and talking to quirky NPCs. They may need to use their “Connect” stat to get information from a nervous shopkeeper or “Improvise” to find hidden clues.
- Rewards: If the player successfully uncover helpful information and/or the root cause of the problem, all of their first actions in the next phase gain +2 on both dice.
- Consequences: If players fail too hard and too much, causing the Chaos Meter to rise too high to 10, reality completely melts down in a surreal dream-like scene. The fundamental cause or main responsible figure will be revealed. The character them suddenly find themselves waking up in res media in the Containment phase, with the Chaos Meter reset to 0.
Investigation Oracles

You can use some all flavor (or dice label) oracles to help fill things out and guide the investigation process.

Clue Shape
- Visibility: How noticeable is the clue?
- Condition: Is the clue in good shape?
- Urgency: Does this clue feel pressing?
Clue Value
- Importance: Is this clue significant?
- Clarity: How easy is it to understand?
- Connection: Does this point toward the source of the anomaly?
Clue Examination
- Strangeness: How weird is the clue?
- Reliability: How trustworthy is this clue?
- Relevance: Does it relate directly to the anomaly?
Clue Result
- Source: Does the clue have a clear origin?
- Difficulty: How hard is it to piece together?
- Direction: Does it lead to more clues?
Containment: Stabilize the Situation

Once your agents have gathered enough clues and identified the cause, it’s time to contain or neutralize the anomaly. This is where improvisation, creativity, and quick thinking come into play. Players will need to come up with wild plans, deploy gadgets, and sometimes use their holiday skills to stabilize the situation.

Tips for Containment
- Setting the Scene: Now the stakes get high! The anomaly might be growing, so it’s important to make the environment feel tense. Maybe the snowstorm is getting bigger, or the rogue candy canes are multiplying by the minute.
- What to Do: Players may need to work together to come up with a containment strategy, using their tools and talents. This could involve everything from singing a holiday song to calm down a rabid reindeer to using the Christmas tree stand to trap a rogue snow globe.
- Rewards: If the players manage to solve the problem before the Chaos Meter caps out, the aftermath will be easier to manage. NPCs will be naturally more forgiving and understanding. The extant of damage or disruption will be less than it could have been. They should also gain a friendly NPC who is grateful for their help, who they may call upon for friendship or even assistance at times.
- Consequences: The higher the Chaos Meter, the crazier and riskier the containment will be. At 10, the full power and strangeness of the event is unleashed and the characters must face a final showdown. The outcome will depend on their choice of actions and rolls, with no further chances.
Containment Oracles

Just like the Investigation phase, this phase also has some example oracles you can use to help flesh out and run the scenes.

First Impression
- Control: How easy is it to take charge of the situation?
- Strength: How powerful is the anomaly?
- Stability: How stable is the environment?
Assessment
- Speed: How fast is the anomaly growing?
- Disruption: How much damage is the anomaly causing?
- Intervention: How much can the agents intervene?
Planning
- Clarity: How clear is the containment strategy?
- Resources: How many resources are available for the plan?
- Consequence: What happens if containment fails?
Contact With Reality
- Duration: How long will it take to contain the anomaly?
- Effectiveness: How well will the containment strategy work?
- Risk: How risky is the plan?
Aftermath: The Clean-Up and Consequences

After the anomaly is contained, it’s time to wrap up. But the aftermath is never as simple as it seems! The town, city, or holiday environment still has to deal with the fallout of the situation, and your agents will have to make things right with the public and report back to headquarters.

Tips for Aftermath
- Setting the Scene: The holiday chaos should have left some quirky consequences behind, even in the best outcomes. Maybe the town is now covered in frosting, or there’s a herd of sentient snowmen wandering the streets.
- What to Do: This phase is about managing the fallout. Players will need to smooth things over with any panicked civilians, undo the effects of the anomaly, and maybe even deal with an unexpected twist (such as an apology tour or media frenzy). The phase should end with a debriefing and review back at headquarters.
- Rewards: If the aftermath is handled especially well, the Department may offer minor helpers or a less unreliable gadget for use on the next mission. There is also a chance to avoid gaining enemies and develop alliances.
- Consequences: If the Chaos Meter was high, things won’t be as easily fixed. Maybe there are lingering side effects, like an overabundance of holiday spirit that causes everything to turn ridiculously festive, or the return of an anomaly that wasn’t fully contained. If the phase is badly handled, the team may end up with some persistant enemies or bad PR.
Aftermath Oracles

There are also some example all flavor oracles using dice labels for this phase too! Use them to help introduce more surprise and round out details in play.

Simple Aftermath
- Public Response: How well do the townsfolk feel about the team?
- Holiday Spirit: How is the holiday mood affected?
- Damage Control: How much effort is needed to fix the situation?
Alternate Aftermath
- Civic Reaction: What’s the general mood of the crowd?
- Long-Term Effects: What lasting impact does the anomaly have?
- PR Recovery: How much does the team need to manage public relations?
Leftover Mess
- Clean-Up Effort: How easy is it to restore order?
- Media Frenzy: How does the media spin the event?
- Community Impact: How is the community dealing with the aftermath?
Fallout
- Reputation: How do the locals view the team post-mission?
- Festive Echoes: How much does the anomaly affect holiday celebrations?
- Side Effects: Are there any lingering issues?
Appendix: Using the All Flavor Oracles

You ask about how things are or turned out. Roll 3d6 for an answer. Assign the labels in order from left to right or closest to farthest. Each label is interpreted according to its plain meaning, as illustrated by the example question that the flavor answers. Follow the intuitive scale below, judging the weight of the label by how much the flavor comes through or how positive/negative the outcome is.

Scale
- 1: Absolute absence or the complete opposite; most negative response
- 2: Not at all or somewhat the contrary; clear negative response
- 3: Somewhat or slightly so; mildly negative response
- 4: Average or mediocre; slightly positive response
- 5: Above average or notably strong; strongly positive response
- 6: Peak or overwhelming; most positive response
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December 23, 2024
Free Duo Game: The Immortal’s Affairs
This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Free Games
The Immortal’s Affairs – A TTRPG About Legacy and the Passage of Time

Dug up from my slush pile, inspired by this post about dice labels. I never got around to fully fleshing this out. But it’s quite playable as-is.

Welcome to The Immortal’s Affairs, a two-player tabletop roleplaying game about a dying immortal and their final journey toward peace. This game invites players to explore themes of time, legacy, and closure, as one immortal, weary from centuries of existence, seeks to settle their affairs before their inevitable passing. The second player assumes the role of Mother Nature, the ancient force of the world itself, who has come to observe the Immortal’s passing and learn from this unique being. Together, you will navigate the challenges and emotions of final goodbyes, unfinished business, and the ultimate acceptance of death.

Game Overview

The Immortal is an ancient being who has lived for centuries but is now aging, their time in the world coming to a close. They have come to accept the inevitability of death, finding peace in the idea of rest after so many long years. However, before they can pass, they have five complex, unresolved affairs they wish to settle, matters that, if left unfinished, could weigh on their soul forever.

Mother Nature is the spirit of the world, the embodiment of the Earth’s cycles and forces. She has witnessed countless lives, but the Immortal stands out. Mother Nature has come to understand the Immortal’s existence, and now seeks to understand why the Immortal was created and why their passing is now inevitable. She inhabits the people and places around the Immortal, observing them, interacting with them, and learning about the Immortal’s journey. Perhaps the Immortal’s passing is not just about death but about something deeper, the meaning of their long life and their eventual end.

Game Roles

Those key figures are also the main game roles. Each player takes on one of the roles, while the other player takes the other.
- The Immortal: One player takes the role of The Immortal. This character is an ancient being nearing the end of their life, filled with wisdom, regrets, and unfinished business. They will use their Approaches to navigate the world and attempt to resolve their five chosen affairs.
- Mother Nature: The second player becomes Mother Nature, the spirit of the world. You embody the forces of nature, inhabiting the world around the Immortal and learning about their history, their motivations, and their end. You are not just an observer! You interact with the Immortal, guiding them or complicating their journey as you see fit.
Core Mechanics

The gameplay is driven by narrative choices, dice rolls, and thematic exploration. Through these mechanics, you will tell the story of the Immortal’s final moments and the legacy they leave behind. Below is an overview of the key mechanics you’ll need to understand.

Approaches and Dice Rolls

Approaches: The Immortal character has 6 Approaches to choose from at the beginning of the game. Approaches represent the Immortal’s personality and guiding principles. They can range from qualities like Aggressive and Bold to Humble and Resilient. These approaches shape how the Immortal reacts to challenges, interacts with the world, and solves problems. Each time the Immortal takes an action, they choose three of their Approaches to guide them. The three Approaches are linked to the dice they roll during that action, and each die reflects a different aspect of the action:
- Low Roll (1-2): The action fails or leads to unintended consequences. The Immortal’s attempt doesn’t align with their intentions and creates complications.
- Middle Roll (3-4): The action succeeds in some capacity, but it may not be as clean or satisfying as hoped. The Immortal’s approach may feel incomplete or leave room for further work.
- High Roll (5-6): The action succeeds beautifully. The Immortal’s approach is effective and their intention is realized fully, often beyond their expectations.
- Weirdness (optional 3rd die): If only two Approaches are chosen, a third die can be rolled that represents the weirdness and surreal aspects of the Immortal’s existence. This die adds unexpected twists and dreamlike elements to the outcome.
At the beginning of the game, the Immortal selects 6 Approaches from the following list. These approaches will guide their actions throughout the game and shape how they interact with the world: Apathetic, Assertive, Bold, Brave, Calm, Careful, Compassionate, Creative, Curious, Cunning, Decisive, Determined, Dreamer, Friendly, Grateful, Honest, Humble, Honorable, Impulsive, Inventive, Patient, Proud, Reckless, Resilient, Resourceful, Sarcastic, Shrewd, Stoic, Thoughtful, Understanding, Vulnerable

World Events and Time Pressure

World Events: The Immortal’s journey is not just about the affairs they are attempting to settle, there is an ever-present, unpredictable element of the world around them. Every time the Immortal rolls for an action, Mother Nature must roll a d6 to determine if a World Event occurs. On a roll of 1, something happens that radically changes the world around the Immortal or complicates one of their affairs. These events can take many forms:
- A sudden illness or injury affects the Immortal.
- An ally betrays the Immortal or a new foe appears.
- The world around the Immortal changes dramatically, shifting the stakes of their affairs.
- The Immortal learns something surprising or unsettling about themselves or their past.
If 5 World Events occur, the Immortal’s time runs out, and they begin to die. At this point, they must face the final consequences of their unfinished affairs. The game shifts toward the negative end, leaving the Immortal with unresolved regrets and a legacy left incomplete. The number of World Events keeps both players on their toes, adding a layer of unpredictability and pressure to the Immortal’s quest for closure.

Settling Affairs

Choosing Affairs: At the beginning of the game, the Immortal player must choose five complex affairs to resolve before they die. These affairs represent significant emotional, relational, or practical matters that the Immortal must confront in their final moments. The affairs can be as grand or as intimate as the player desires. What is most important is that each affair feels like a key part of the Immortal’s journey toward peace.

Some examples of affairs might include:
- Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend: The Immortal must reconcile with someone from their past, perhaps a person they betrayed or neglected.
- Releasing Control of My Empire: The Immortal may have built an empire, and now they must ensure its future without them.
- Forgiving a Betrayer: The Immortal must come to terms with a past betrayal that still weighs heavily on them.
- Finding Peace with My Past: The Immortal may be haunted by past mistakes or regrets and needs to find a way to make peace.
- Reconciliation with a Loved One: The Immortal must heal a fractured relationship, perhaps with a partner or child.
Time Limits: Each affair should be structured to take between 3 and 7 rolls to resolve, and the number of World Events that occur during the game will shorten the time remaining. The Immortal is under time pressure, and though they may wish to take their time, their final moments are always slipping away. Players should balance the Immortal’s need for closure with the unpredictability of the world around them.

The Empathy Mechanic

Mother Nature’s Role: As Mother Nature, you are not just a passive observer of the Immortal’s journey. You can actively shape the Immortal’s path. One of the key ways you interact with the Immortal is through dreams and reflections. These moments provide an opportunity for the Immortal and Mother Nature to understand each other better, to share perspectives, and to gain insight into their respective roles in this world.

Empathy and Understanding: Throughout the game, Mother Nature appears to the Immortal in dreams or moments of reflection. This happens after each affair is handled. During these conversations, the Immortal and Mother Nature can share their thoughts and feelings, gaining a deeper understanding of each other. If the two come to a full mutual understanding, the Immortal can gain 1 additional completed affair of their choice. If they come to a partial understanding, the Immortal automatically succeeds at their next action. If they reach no understanding, Mother Nature will be difficult or slightly hostile during the next affair settling, frustrated by the lack of needed insight. These moments of emotional connection can significantly influence the Immortal’s ability to resolve their affairs, offering insight into their heart and motivations. It is also a way for Mother Nature to more deeply engage with the events of the game.

Endgame Resolution

The story of the Immortal concludes in one of three ways, depending on how well the affairs are settled:
- Positive Resolution: If the Immortal completes all five affairs in time, they pass away peacefully, their soul at rest, having reconciled with the past and the future. Their death is a moment of calm acceptance and fulfillment.
- Negative Resolution: If time runs out, the Immortal dies with unfinished business, leaving regrets and a legacy that will never be complete. The end comes with uncertainty, perhaps even sorrow for what could not be done.
- Mixed Resolution: If the Immortal makes it through all five affairs with some left in a bad state or unfinished, they are rewarded for the completion with an ending that starts like the positive resolution. However, their moments of peace and comfort are interrupted by doubts and regrets about the improperly finished affairs.
Example of an Affair in Play

Affair: “Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend”
- Preceding Actions: The Immortal tried to play it off smoothly, but the friend was put on edge knowing something was up. The friend was convinced to play a parlour game a bit as a distraction, they eventually became suspicious. Desperate for more time to just enjoy their friend’s company, The Immortal proposed an outing to the movies but they put the friend on full alert, who demanded immediate answers. So far, no World Events were rolled. Now the Immortal is making their last attempt.
- The Immortal’s Roll: The Immortal uses the Approaches Friendly, Resilient, and Inventive.
- Bad Roll (1, 6, 2): The Immortal tries to express their feelings, but their words fall far short (perhaps even coming across as insulting or demeaning), and their old friend feels distant and confused.
- Middle Roll (6, 2, 4): The Immortal manages a bittersweet goodbye. Their friendship and love is clear, but the moment is far from ideal, too-clever-by-half word choices and uncontrollable tears leaving both parties with unanswered questions.
- Good Roll (6, 4, 5): The Immortal shares their feelings fully and insightfully, and their friend understands them completely. While there are a few tears, they part with love and peace, each knowing they are truly understood.
Mother Nature’s Dream Interaction: After the Immortal has made some progress on their affairs, Mother Nature may appear to them in a dream, where they reflect on the Immortal’s life. They talk about the meaning of friendship and how the goodbye ended and what it means to The Immortal. Mother Nature has a hard time fully grasping the pain, as all things pass in nature. Similarly, The Immortal still feels the pain of loss each time after all these years and cannot understand Mother Nature’s “callous” attitude. But they come to a mutual understanding about fondness and love, as pairing and bonding are common in nature, even if the love of friendship is unique. The Immortal’s first action next affair will automatically succeed.

Conclusion

The Immortal’s Affairs is a game about time, legacy, and the search for closure. In the end, the Immortal will either die in peace or with unfinished business, but the journey of completing their affairs and understanding their purpose offers a deep, emotional experience for both players. Through the mechanic of rolling dice, the unpredictability of World Events, and the heart-to-heart conversations between Mother Nature and the Immortal, this game provides an immersive, thoughtful exploration of life’s most poignant moments.

What do you think of this game? Have you tried to play it? Are you taking any inspiration from it? Are you planning to hack it? I’d love to hear about any of that. Come scream at me on Bluesky about it!

This game is released under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Just give credit to Rev Casey or Thought Punks as a source.

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December 18, 2024
Motif Oracle Notebook
Motif Oracle Notebook
Motif Oracle Notebook
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About the Motif Oracle Notebook

Motif Oracle Notebook is a TTRPG storytelling tool designed for solo roleplaying, tracking rolls & character notes during play, and creative writing. It uses a three-die system to generate answers and add nuance to your narrative.

Notebook Features

Oracle: The main oracle interface with roll history and live results

Game Rolls: Dice roller for game mechanics

Character: A place for character details and development

Scene Notes: Track your current scene

Story So Far: Record your overall narrative

Extra Notes: Space for additional information
Source code available at GitHub | Support the developer: PayPal or Card

Motif Oracle Notebook was developed by Rev from Thought Punks. Motif is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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About the Motif Oracle Notebook

Motif Oracle Notebook is a TTRPG storytelling tool designed for solo roleplaying, tracking rolls & character notes during play, and creative writing. It uses a three-die system to generate answers and add nuance to your narrative.

Notebook Features
- Oracle: The main oracle interface with roll history and live results
- Game Rolls: Dice roller for game mechanics
- Character: A place for character details and development
- Scene Notes: Track your current scene
- Story So Far: Record your overall narrative
- Extra Notes: Space for additional information
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December 14, 2024