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Behind the Screen

KILLIAN!!!

I've been thinking about games recently (Duh!) and came up with this interesting little time waster while sitting about wasting time. The idea is a quick to begin, simple to play, roleplaying game to play 'off the cuff' if something happens on a regularly scheduled gaming night (Such as the GM running late, multiple people forgot their characters, etc. etc.). The concept is based (torn savagely/plagiarized/stolen, borrowed heavily) from THE RUNNING MAN, a most excellent and awesome Arnold Swartzeneggar movie from the 80's written by Stephen King(!). The story is as follows (From ImDB): 
 The year is 2017. The world economy has collapsed. The United States has sealed off it's borders and has become a military controlled police state which controls TV, movies, art, books, communication and censorship. In the police state America has become, criminals have a choice. They can serve their sentences in prison or they can take part in "The Running Man" a government owned violent game-show where contestants running for freedom are pursued by "Stalkers" wrestler-like bounty hunters. "The Running Man" is the top rating show on network TV and Damon Killian, the creator and host is the most popular entertainer in the US. But one man has yet to play... Former L.A. police officer Ben Richards, framed for the massacre of innocent people, when disobeyed orders is recaptured, after escaping from prison. Ben is forced to appear on "The Running Man", joined by resistance fighters William Laughlin and Harold Weiss and Amber Mendez, (a network employee who Richards took hostage and she turned Richards into the authorities) are chased by The Stalkers, as they search for the secret base of the resistance, as they bid to broadcast the truth about the government and prove Ben's innocence.

So what does this have to do with RPing games? Well... you can make a great cat and mouse style RP that you can play with your players, requiring little prep work. The players take on the guise of condemned criminal-contestants on the game show. The GM (known as  THE HOST) has a bunch of STALKERS (3 per player involved), gimmick based murderers, that hunt the players through THE ZONE, a post-apocalyptic style ruined city. If the players can make it to the end, they win their freedom (And a copy of the Running man home game... natch!), but the odds are against them as the game is rigged.
Here are the Rules:

THE RUNNING MAN

The game requires 2d6 per person involved, a watch or other time keeper, and some pencils and erasers.

Character Generation:
Player(s) have six (6) stats to divide forty (40) points between.

• Strength (St)
• Toughness (To)
• Nimbleness (Nb)
• Wind (Wi)
• Hit Points (HP)
• Luck (Lk)

*Naturally, this gives an average of 6's (6.66666667) across the board. Those in the know will realize that the average dice roll on 2d6 is a seven (7).

• Strength (St) represents a PC's strength and ability to lift and cause damage with melee weapons.
• Toughness (To) represents a PC's ability to withstand damage and keep on living.
• Nimbleness (Nb) represents a PC's ability to jump, dodge and avoid attacks and how well they can navigate the treacherous terrain of THE ZONE.
• Wind (Wi) measures a PC's ability to keep going and how long they can exert themselves before needing to rest and recover.
• Hit Points (HP) represents a PC's life total and, as a finite resource, when reduced to zero through damage, the PC is dead.
• Luck (Lk) represents a characters natural ability to chance fate and come out ahead. Luck is a finite resource and does not replenish.

To make a roll on a stat a player rolls 2d6 and must roll equal to or under their relevant stat. (eg. A PC is running down a corridor when a pit trap springs open. The PC attempts to jump over it. This requires a Nimbleness (Nb) check. The player Nb is 7. He rolls 2d6 revealing a 2 on one dice and a 6 on the other, for a total of 8. The check is failed. The PC tumbles into the pit).

While the Players are making their Criminals, the GM makes 3 Stalkers per player involved.  A Stalker has the following stats:

• St7
• To 7
• Nb 7
• Wi 9
• HP 10
• Lk 5

*Yes this totals 45 points. Just wait, it gets scarier.

Then, for each STALKER the HOST chooses or rolls 2d6 and consults the following chart to determine the Stalkers GIMMICK and EQUIPMENT:

2: The Ice-Man: Armoured Hockey-Pads (+1 To), Bladed Hockey Stick (+3 Damage), Skates (-1 Nb)
3: The Bat-Man: Weaponized Baseball Bat (+2 damage), Killer Instinct (Nb +1)
4: The Road-Warrior: Armoured Football-Pads (+1 To), Spiked Gauntlets (+1 damage), Speed Training (+1 Nb)
5: The Burner: Flame-thrower gauntlets (St 10, 30 ft range, successful Nb save = half damage), Jet-Boots (Flight)
6: Chainsaw Warrior: Chainsaw (3d6 Damage)
7: The Olympian: Incredible Training (+1 to St, To, Nb, Wi), Unstoppable (+5 HP)
8: The Strongman: Mighty (+2 St), Hardy (+1 To, +1 Wi)
9: The Bomber: Grenades (4d6 Damage, 30 ft blast, Nb roll for half damage), Lucky (Lk +1)
10: The Slasher: Machete (+1 St), Hardy (+1 To), Unstoppable (+5 HP)
11: The Giant: Massive (+2 To, +1 St, +2 HP, -2 Nb), Unstoppable (+5 HP), Hefty (-3 Wi)
12: Hardcore-Parkour: Speedy (+3 Nb), Strong-Winded (+1 Wi), Light-Weight (-1 To)

How the game works:
The HOST makes his introduction of the Criminal-Contestants (CC's), with a listing of their crimes. The Timer is set to 22 minutes (a 1/2 hour show minus the commercial breaks). The CC's are then fired through the boom-tube (a super-sonic 'bob-sled' style delivery system) into THE ZONE. The CC's then take turns, moving clockwise around the table, rolling 2d6 on the chart following this decription and reacting to the events therein described. The HOST describes the scenery and controls any STALKERS that are rolled up as an event. Running and dodging through THE ZONE, the CC's must survive until the 22 Minutes is up. If any CC's are still alive at the end of the time limit, then they WIN THE GAME (And a home edition copy of the RUNNING MAN game! Aka: A copy of the rules for them to run the next round!!!)
*Note: It is more than possible that multiple players roll up a Stalker as an event resulting in an even number of Stalkers and CC's being active at the same time. No more than one (1) Stalker per player may be active at the same time.Good luck players!


Encounter Chart:

2. A STALKER APPEARS!
3. Cave-In!!! each Criminal-Contestant takes 2d6 Damage. Successful Nb roll = 1/2 Damage.

4 Supply Cache: The Criminal-Contestant may make a single (d6) roll on the following chart:

1. Health Injector (Regain 2d6 HP)
2. Rebar Club (+2 Damage, each attack costs 2 wind)
3. Chain-Saw (3d6 Damage, each attack costs 3 wind)
4. 3 x Micro-Bombs (3d6 Damage to a 10 ft area)
5. Knife (+1 Damage)
6. EXPLOSIVE! CC takes a St 10 hit. Half damage if the CC makes a successful Nb check

5-9. Nothing happens this round.

10. Health Dispen-a-tron: EACH CC (re)gains 1d6 HP (roll once, apply to all CC's).

11. Trap! Takes 1d6 Damage. Successful Nb roll = 1/2 Damage.
12. A STALKER APPEARS

Game Rules:
To make an ATTACK a Criminal-Contestant (CC) or STALKER declares they are making an attack. Simple as that. It will hit their target unless the target makes a NIMBLENESS (Nb) check on 2d6. Failure means the target takes Hit Point (HP) Damage as indicated by the attack.
A CC (And STALKER) deals their Strength (St) in hand to hand combat + any modifiers (such as a weapon, in the case of a STALKER, or a rock or piece of steel-rebar used as a club, etc., in the case of a CC).
ALL STALKER WEAPONS ARE BIO-CODED AND ELECTRIFIED and will do damage to any CC that picks them up (1d6 HP Damage per round holding the weapon). STALKERS do not take damage as they are bio-coded to their weapons.
A CC or STALKER can take an amount of HP Damage = to their HP Stat. Each point of damage dealt will reduce the targets HP Stat by an equal amount (eg. 5 Damage = a loss of 5HP on the target). If they take HP Damage in excess of their HP Stat the target will be killed.
Toughness (To) represents Damage reduction, and each point of (To) will reduce the amount of HP Damage the target takes by an equal amount (eg. A CC takes 7 HP damage from a STALKER. The CC has a To Stat of 5. The CC will only take (7 HP Damage - 5 To =) 2 HP Damage. Reduce the HP Stat by 2.
A CC or STALKER may never gain more HP than their original HP stat.
Luck (Lk) may be 'spent' on ANY dice roll on a point for point basis (eg. A CC attacks a STALKER. The STALKER has a Nb Stat of 7 and rolls a 6 on 2d6 to avoid the attack. The CC spends 2 Lk to increase the STALKERS dice roll to an (6 +2) 8, and therefor the STALKER fails the roll and takes damage).
Wind (Wi) is AUTOMATICALLY spent each round a CC or STALKER attacks at the cost of 1 per attack. If the CC or STALKER uses up all of their Wi then they must either rest (do nothing for their turn other than roll on the encounter chart) and regain a Wi point per turn spent resting, OR make any actions on a +2 penalty to all dice rolls due to exhaustion. A CC or STALKER may never (re)gain more Wi than their original Wind Stat.

That's it. That's all the rules.

As you can probably tell, this was designed to fit on a single double sided 8.5"x11" page. And I have it saves as a word document to prove it ;)

Anyways, Give it a try the next time you have an spare 1/2 hour (or less) to kill and let me know what you think!

Until next time,
I hope you left enough room in your stomach...
Bean out~