BADASS CITY
a badass roleplaying game by D. Marshall Burns
Rated “B” for “Badass.” Children, old ladies, and others who lack badassitude should not play or read this game.
SCRATCH RULES
badass
Function: noun
Date: 1956
often vulgar : a person who is badass
- Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary
HERE’S HOW IT IS
You’re a badass. You wanted to prove your badassitude, so you moved to Badass City. Badass City is populated with hundreds of other badasses like you, and they all think they’re more badass than you are. So what are you gonna do about it?
WHAT THIS IS ABOUT
BADASS CITY is a roleplaying game intended for Step on Up (Gamist) play. All the characters (PC and NPC) are in direct competition to be the biggest badass in Badass City, and thus constantly issue challenges to test each others ability and guts. The players are each competing to be perceived as the gutsiest and most skilled player as they lead their characters to accept and try to succeed in challenges, and to set themselves up for success in future challenges. Skill without guts is not enough to win the game, nor are guts without skill.
BADASSES
Badasses, both PCs and NPCs, are composed of the following bits:
You’ll write all of this information down on a sheet of paper for each badass. Aside from the Handle, Badass Occupation, and Badass Score, you keep all of this secret. Don’t let anyone see your character sheet except you and the referee.
To create a PC, come up with a Handle and Badass Occupation, set your Badass Score at zero (you’re new in town), then do the following:
1. Set Your Stats
Your Stats indicate your general level of ability in terms of how Hard, Slick, Cool, and Fucked Up you are. You get a d4, a d6, a d8, and a d10. Divide ‘em between the four Stats. A d4 is average, and anything bigger than that is badass.
Hard – in general, how big, tough, mean, and badass a motherfucker are you? Marv from Sin City is Hard for a d10.
Slick – in general, how quick, sharp, alert, and badass a motherfucker are you? Bob Lee Swagger from Shooter is Slick for a d10.
Cool – in general, how collected, commanding, impressive, and badass a motherfucker are you? Steve McQueen is Cool for a d10.
Fucked Up – in general, how crazy, vicious, unpredictable, and badass a motherfucker are you? Tyler Durden from Fight Club is Fucked Up for a d10.
2. Write Up Your Styles
Styles are custom-made modifiers that add to specified rolls in specified circumstances. A Style must follow this format: +/-1 to [Move] when/if/with/while [circumstance]. [Move] is where you fill in which Move (see below) is modified. [Circumstance] is where you fill in the custom circumstances that allow this bonus to be used. For examples, see the example characters below.
You may have Styles totaling up to +5. You may take up to -5 points worth of negative Styles to get extra beneficial Styles.
3. Set Up Your Location Die
Your Location Die is a custom d6 rolling chart. Whenever someone comes looking for you, you’ll roll your Location Die to see where they find you. A roll of 1 is always “Neutral territory”: just some street somewhere that you and the other person take turns defining, one detail at a time. The others you get to make yourself, and you get to define what those places are like. You can have one entry repeat once, but that’s the only repetition allowed.
4. Pick Your Swag
You can have up to five possessions, also known as swag. You don’t have to worry about quantities of things like bullets and cigarettes. Clothes don’t count unless you want some kind of special clothes. You can go ahead and stat your swag up with tags (see OBJECTS & FEATURES OF THE ENVIRONMENT below).
Creating NPC Badasses
NPCs are done in the same way, except you can give them whatever Badass Scores you think are appropriate. You can make up NPCs on the fly as they become necessary. Writing up badasses is both fast and fun, so this shouldn’t be a problem.
EXAMPLE BADASSES
FIRE CHIEF HANK
Badass fireman
Hard d10
Slick d4
Cool d8
Fucked Up d6
Styles:
+1 to Bring the Pain with my fire ax
+1 to Tear the Place Apart with my fire ax
+1 to Pull Some Crazy Shit with a fire extinguisher
+1 to Get the Drop when the place is on fire
+1 to Look Sharp when the place is on fire
+1 to Put on a Show with my fire engine
-1 to Suck It Up while not wearing my fireman’s helmet
Location Die:
1 – Neutral territory
2 – The fire station
3 – The fire station
4 – At a fire
5 – On the way to a fire
6 – At the town hall
Swag: fireman’s helmet (sturdy), fire ax (sharp sturdy), fire engine (big heavy loud moving sturdy), fire extinguisher (cold hard), killer dalmatian (moving hazardous)
DR. SLAYER, PHD.
Badass vampire hunter
Hard d6
Slick d10
Cool d8
Fucked Up d4
Styles:
+1 to Put on a Show with my opera cape.
+1 to Pull Some Crazy Shit with a bullwhip.
+1 to Take It Too Far with a wooden stake.
+1 to Look Sharp in the dark.
+1 to Blow Smoke while smoking my pipe.
+1 to Stand My Ground while smoking my pipe.
-1 to Look Sharp while not wearing my spectacles.
Location Die:
1 – Neutral territory
2 – In a dark alley
3 – At the Badass Gentlemen’s Smoking Club
4 – At the Hellfire Club (looking for vamps)
5 – At the tobacco store
6 – At the lumber yard (acquiring stakes)
Swag: opera cape (fancy long), bullwhip (long ranged), spectacles (small flimsy), pipe & tobacco (hot small), several wooden stakes (sharp)
BIG MAGUS
Badass archmage gangsta
Hard d4
Slick d6
Cool d10
Fucked Up d8
Styles:
+1 to Bring the Pain with sorcerous fire
+1 to Tear the Place Apart with telekinesis
+1 to Put on a Show with my levitation
+1 to Pull Some Crazy Shit with sorcerous fire
+1 to Blow Smoke while rapping
Location Die:
1 – Neutral territory
2 – At the Hellfire Club
3 – At the Hellfire Club
4 – The edge of the Abyss
5 – My ivory tower crib
6 – Another dimension
Swag: Giant pentagram medallion & chain (fancy long), embroidered robes (fancy long), lots of big rings (fancy hard), athame (sharp small), grimoire (heavy)
CRAZY CHARLIE
Badass taxi driver
Hard d4
Slick d8
Cool d6
Fucked Up d10
Styles:
+1 to Put on a Show while driving
+1 to Pull Some Crazy Shit when in heavy traffic
+1 to Blow Smoke while smoking my stinky cigars
+1 to Bring the Pain with my hook hand
+1 to Look Sharp when in the street
Location Die:
1 – Neutral territory
2 – The garage
3 – My favorite diner
4 – Driving a fare in my cab
5 – Off-duty in my cab
6 – In my apartment
Swag: taxi (big heavy loud sturdy moving), cigars (hot small), hook prosthesis (sharp), fuzzy dice, revolver (hard ranged loud)
RESOLUTION
Below, there’s a set of Moves common to all characters. Whenever you do something and you want it to stick, you must use one of those moves, and only one at a time. If you do something without a Move, then another player can contradict it equally easily (that is, also without using a Move). This goes equally for using a Move but narrating effects that aren’t within that Move’s allowed scope. For instance, if you Bring the Pain and describe moving an object in the environment (which isn’t one of the listed effects of Bring the Pain), then somebody can block or undo that particular effect via plain narration without a Move.
Each Move stipulates that you roll one of your stats – Hard, Slick, Cool, or Fucked Up. What you do is, since your stats and everything are secret, you roll all four of your dice, but you only count the one that actually applies, dig? For instance, if you’re Hard d4, Slick d10, Cool d8, and Fucked Up d6, and you’re using a Cool Move, you’ll roll all four dice but you’ll only look at the d8. Don’t cheat; cheating is not badass. If you don’t trust each other not to cheat, then have a referee who knows what everyone’s stats are.
So, you take the appropriate roll result. If any of your Styles apply, add them to the roll. If any of the Consequences (see below) apply bonuses or penalties, add ‘em in. If you can bring an object’s tags (see below) into play, you get +1 for each object (but not each tag).
Is the total result 4 or higher? If it is, then you pulled it off: the Move works, and you get to do the things that the Move says you can do.
If the total result is 3 or less, then you blew it: the Move didn’t work, and you pick one of the negative consequences listed for that Move.
And, yes, if your opponent players are paying attention during this, and they can do the math, then they might figure out what your stats and Styles are. That’s all part of the game. They ought to be trying to do that.
Simultaneous Moves
When two or more people are acting at the same time, they all announce what Move they’ll be rolling for. If somebody wants to change their mind, they can. Once everyone is satisfied, everyone rolls their dice at the same time.
Everyone describes the intended effects of their Move as chosen from the Move’s effect list. In the case of effects that are mutually exclusive, the precedence goes to the person with the highest value showing on his dice (regardless of whether its on the die corresponding to the stat he used), unless the effect is a block or avoid effect afforded by a Move; blocks and avoids always take precedence.
If a.) it turns out that someone is doing something that you’d like to block but you can’t with the Move you used, and b.) you pulled off the Move you used, you can abort that Move (forfeiting all of its effects) and re-roll at a -1 to do a Move that will allow you to counteract the other guy.
Letting Someone Make Their Move
If you wish, you can wait and let an opponent make a Move that you can’t do anything about. The advantage to this is that, afterward, you get to make a Move that he can’t do anything about.
If you wait for someone else to make a Move, and he waits for you to make a Move, then you both look like fools, and then you both have to make a Move simultaneously.
MOVES
Bring the Pain (Hard)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: harm someone through direct violence, take something by force, physically force someone into a different position, physically dominate/overpower someone.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: open yourself up to a free move, suffer harm from an opponent of your choice, give up a position of advantage, look like a fool.
Tear the Place Apart (Hard)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: rearrange features of the physical environment, break something, harm someone indirectly via objects in the environment, distract someone with the ruckus you’re making, force someone to change position or render his position untenable/unusable/nonexistent via changes in the environment, gain audience support for spectacular usage of the above.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: suffer harm, give up a position of advantage, suffer distraction, get yourself into a disadvantageous position.
Suck It Up (Hard)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: block or absorb harm or force, shrug off terrible pain, pull a stunt requiring stamina or endurance, block an attempt to overpower you, block an attempt to change your position, gain audience support for your endurance/indomitability.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: suffer impairment momentarily, suffer terrible pain momentarily, suffer harm, give up an advantageous position, look like a fool.
Get the Drop (Slick)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: beat someone to something, set yourself up in an advantageous position, conceal your position, sneak up on someone, take something by subterfuge or skill, block an attempt to gain advantage, pull a weapon before someone else can, catch someone in a trap, trick or deceive someone, slip past someone.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: open yourself up to a free move, lose an advantageous position, look like a fool.
Put on a Show (Slick)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: pull a flashy or impressive stunt (changing position and/or avoiding harm if you wish), gain audience support for your skill and style, improvise something flashy or impressive, distract someone, make someone look like a fool by outpacing them.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: open yourself up to a free move, suffer harm, give up an advantageous position, look like a fool.
Look Sharp (Slick)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: identify and avoid danger and threats, find and reach a source of advantage, recover from distraction, block an attempt to trick/deceive/distract you, block an attempt to change your position, block someone from gaining advantage, improvise something cleverly, slip away from someone.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: suffer distraction, open yourself up to a free move, lose an advantageous position, look like a fool.
Save Face (Cool)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: block an attempt to make you look like a fool, make someone look like a fool with a comeback, gain audience support with your snappy comebacks or cool reactions, block an attempt to distract you, recover from a grave error.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable and isn’t what was going to happen anyway: suffer distraction, open yourself up to a free move, give an opponent the support of the audience.
Blow Smoke (Cool)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: rattle someone’s nerves through intimidation or headgames, make someone look like a fool by taunting or out-talking, manipulate someone psychologically, gain the support of the audience with your speech and attitude.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable and isn’t what was going to happen anyway: suffer distraction, open yourself up to a free move, look like a fool.
Stand Your Ground (Cool)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: block an attempt to rattle your nerves, recover from rattled nerves, keep your calm, block an attempt to distract you, block an attempt to change your position, gain audience support for your guts and calm.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: suffer harm, look like a fool, open yourself up to a free move.
Take It Too Far (Fucked Up)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: harm someone who’s at your mercy, harm someone with gratuitous and shockingly vicious violence, rattle someone’s nerves with your viciousness, shock the audience with your viciousness, force someone into a different position.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: lose audience support, suffer harm, look like a fool, lose an advantageous position.
Note: Take It Too Far is the ONLY way to harm someone who is at your mercy.
Also, this is kind of a weird Move. “Harm someone with gratuitous and shockingly vicious violence”? What does that mean exactly? Well, the best way I can think of to explain is to think of Rorschach from Watchmen. Rorschach is Fucked Up for a d10.
Don’t Give a Fuck (Fucked Up)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: relentlessly block or absorb harm, relentlessly bounce back at someone and force them to change position, shrug off psychological or emotional effects or manipulation, endure pain or maiming or being put out of commission, shock the audience with your relentlessness.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: suffer harm, look like a fool, open yourself up to a free move.
Note: this is also kind of a weird move. The best example I can give you is in the movie Fight Club, when Tyler lets Lou beat the shit out of him while Tyler laughs and laughs, then finally pins him down and drips blood all over him.
Pull Some Crazy Shit (Fucked Up)
If you pull it off, you may do any combination of the following: pull a weird/crazy-ass/unlikely stunt (changing position and/or avoiding harm if you wish), improvise something crazy-ass, force someone into a disadvantageous position, harm someone in an unexpected and unorthodox manner, distract someone with your crazy-ass antics, rattle someone’s nerves with your unpredictable and weird behavior, shock the audience with your unpredictable and weird behavior.
If you blow it, pick one that’s applicable: suffer harm, look like a fool, give up an advantageous position, open yourself up to a free move.
LIFE IN BADASS CITY
Badass Points
Everyone in Badass City has a Badass Score. This is a number of points that indicate how badass a person is considered in general by the populace of Badass City. If you’re new in town, your score is zero. You’ve gotta prove yourself to move it up.
Your Badass Score is not only a measure of your rep and social standing. It also serves as the currency in town. The goods and services available to you vary with your Badass Score – you’ve got to be really badass to get really good shit. There are some parts of town that you can’t even get into without having a high enough score.
You can gain and lose Badass Points in play through various means. Read on and you’ll find out about them. And, yes, you can go into negative numbers.
Boasts, Bargains, Threats, and Rumors
Any time you brag about being able to do something, you’ve just established a Boast. Write it down and assign a number to it between 1 and 10.
Think broadly about this. “I could kick Brick McDuggan’s ass” is an obvious Boast, but “Brick McDuggan is a pansy” is also a Boast. Specifically, it’s Boasting that you’re tougher than Brick McDuggan is. Any time that you say something boastful, the other players can and should point it out and make you write it down.
If you fulfill a boast while you have audience support, you get Badass Points equal to the Boast’s number. Discard the Boast after that.
If someone with audience support taunts you about a Boast you haven’t fulfilled, you must immediately either Save Face or fulfill the Boast, or else you look like a fool. If you are made to look like a fool in this manner, lose Badass Points equal to the Boast’s number, and discard the Boast. If you fulfill the Boast, the other guy looks like a fool, and the Boast is discarded (if you have audience support, you also get Badass Points as above).
Any time you promise to give someone something, or to do something for someone, you’ve just established a Bargain. If the other guy wants to take the Bargain, he assigns it a number between 1 and 10, but you have a chance to back out on the Bargain after he picks a number. If you go with it, the Bargain is binding. Write it down.
If you fulfill the Bargain then discard it.
If you’ve made a Bargain with someone and aren’t fulfilling it after a number of days equal to the Bargain’s number, they can write it off and spread the word about how you don’t fulfill your Bargains. If this happens, you lose a number of Badass Points equal to the Bargain’s number, and the Bargain is discarded.
Any time you threaten to do something to someone, you’ve just established a Threat. Even if you don’t say it to their face, as long as someone heard it then it counts. Write it down and assign it a number between 1 and 10.
If you fulfill a Threat while you have audience support, you get Badass Points equal to the Threat’s number. Discard the Threat after this.
If someone with audience support taunts you about a Threat you haven’t fulfilled, you must immediately either Save Face or drop what you’re doing and go fulfill the Threat, or else you look like a fool. If you are made to look like a fool in this manner, lose Badass Points equal to the Threat’s number, and discard the Threat. If you fulfill the Threat, the other guy looks like a fool, and the Threat is discarded (if you have audience support, you also get Badass Points as above).
Any time you claim or insinuate something about somebody that damages their reputation, you’ve just established a Rumor. Write it down and assign it a number between 1 and 10.
Any time someone with audience support taunt’s the Rumor’s target about the Rumor, the target must immediately either Save Face or disprove the Rumor (if it turns out to be true, the poor bastard’s fucked in a corner), or else look like a fool. If he is made a fool of in this manner, he loses Badass Points equal to the Rumor’s number, and the Rumor is discarded. If he disproves the Rumor, the other guy looks like a fool, and the Rumor is discarded. If the Rumor’s target had audience support at this time, he gets Badass Points equal to the Rumor’s number.
Calling Someone Out
You can call someone out if they:
If you call someone out and they show, you can challenge them about the thing you called them out about. The challenge can take any form of your choosing (including but not limited to Wagers, Contests, and Deathmatches below). One of the advantages of calling someone out is that you get to define the environment.
If you called someone out and win the challenge, you get Badass Points equal to the Boast/Bargain/Threat/Rumor’s number, in addition to any Badass Points you’d earn otherwise. If you lose, then you lose that many Badass Points. Whichever the case, the Boast, Bargain, Threat, or Rumor is now discarded.
If someone calls you out and you don’t show, you lose a Badass Point. They can try again the next day, and if you still don’t show, you lose another point. And don’t worry about not being around when they call you out. If someone’s calling you out, people will let you know.
Wagers, Contests, and Deathmatches
If you bet someone that they can, can’t, or won’t do something, you’re establishing a Wager. You bet X amount of Badass Points; if the guy wins the wager, you pay him, and if he loses, then he pays you. If the other guy declines the Wager, he loses a Badass Point and, if an audience is present, he must Save Face or else look like a fool.
If you bet someone that they can’t beat you at something, you’re establishing a Contest. You bet X amount of Badass Points; if you win the contest, your opponent pays you, and if you lose, you pay him. You can have more than two people in a contest; everyone puts up the same amount of Badass Points, and the winner takes the pot. If someone declines a Contest, he loses a Badass Point and, if an audience is present, he must Save Face or else look like a fool.
If you challenge someone to a fight (or other contest) to the death, you’re establishing a Deathmatch. The winner of the Deathmatch gets all of the loser’s Badass Points, and the loser dies (without having the opportunity to Bargain for his life upon suffering a deadly wound). You can’t challenge someone to a Deathmatch unless you have an equal or greater amount of Badass Points. If you challenge someone to a Deathmatch and he declines, then he loses a Badass Point and, if an audience is present, he must Save Face or else look like a fool.
For any of the above, either side can come up with Stipulations regarding the Wager, Contest, or Deathmatch in question. The other guy has the opportunity to veto a Stipulation, but this has the same effect as declining the challenge.
The Audience
The audience and its support is a thing to be taken advantage of.
By default, whatever you’re doing, there will be people around who are watching. After all, if a badass punches a tree in the woods, and no one is around to see it, does it really fall? Unless the lack of an audience is established going into a scene, assume there is one. If there isn’t an audience, then none of the rules below apply.
If you have audience support and you beat someone into submission, make a fool of someone, or rattle someone’s nerves, you get a Badass Point.
Multiple people can have the support of the audience at the same time, even if they’re against each other.
Audience support is cumulative. If you gain audience support twice, you now have 2 audience support. If are made a fool of, subtract 1 from your support, or try to Save Face to block the loss. Yes, you can go into negative numbers. Audience support caps at +5 and -5.
If you have audience support, you can choose to reset it to zero and gain immediate assistance from the audience. They can give you a weapon or other useful object, or pull you out of danger or a disadvantageous position, or act against an opponent of yours.
The audience has a diminishing memory. At the end of a scene, if you have more than zero support, subtract 1 and carry the rest over to the next scene. If you have less than zero support, add 1 and carry the rest over to the next scene.
If someone shocks the audience, then audience support levels for him and any of his opponents are reset to zero.
Goods and Services
Below is a list of the goods and services available in Badass City, and the Badass Score necessary to be granted them. Anything that you don’t have enough points to get for free, you’ll have to Bargain for.
Food
Shitty food
Decent food
Good food
Excellent food
Lodging
Rat-hole motel
Decent motel
Nice motel
Rat-hole apartment
Decent apartment
Nice apartment
Fancy apartment
Rat-hole house
Decent house
Nice house
Fancy house
Mansion
Transportation
Public bus
Charter bus
Subway
Smelly taxi
Decent taxi
Junky old car
Decent used car
Nice used car
New car
Fancy new car
Limousine
Medical Treatment
Fix 1 Harm Levels
Fix 2 Harm Levels
Fix 3 Harm Levels
Fix 4 Harm Levels
Fix 5 Harm Levels
Remove all harm
Fix impairment
Fix maiming
Plastic surgery
Gear
Other Shit
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BADASS
Play is structured into days. Each player decides what their badass is doing today. In turn, each player describes what their badass is up to. Play passes to the next player in the rotation after the current player makes a Move, or opts to pass his turn. While one player’s badass is acting, the other players don’t just sit around and watch. They control the NPCs that they’ve made up.
HARM
Every time you suffer harm, you gain one Harm Level. As harm accumulates, people are free to inflict worse shit on you. Upon being harmed, your total harm level determines what specific effects can result. The harmer gets to pick one effect from this chart:
1 Harm: cuts and bruises (the first one’s free)
2 Harm: profuse bleeding, momentary physical impairment, or momentary terrible pain. “Momentary” means for one turn.
3 Harm: profuse bleeding, lasting physical impairment, lasting terrible pain, or disfiguration. “Lasting” means for the duration of the scene.
4 Harm: profuse bleeding, persistent physical impairment, disfiguration, maiming, or putting you out of commission. “Persistent” means until you do something about it.
5 or more Harm: disfiguration, maiming, putting you out of commission, or a deadly wound
At the end of a scene in which you suffered harm, you lose half (round up) of the Harm Levels you suffered (any persistent effects remain, however). The rest of them you’ll have to get rid of through medical treatment.
OBJECTS & FEATURES OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Objects and features of the environment are defined by sets of tags. Any time you use an object or feature in a way that takes advantage of one or more of its tags, you get +1 to the Move using it. You can work an object into your description of your action after rolling to get this benefit. You can only get one +1 bonus per object, no matter how many of its tags you’re using.
Objects can have the following tags:
big
cold
complicated
deep
fancy
fast
fireproof
flammable
flimsy
hard
hazardous
heavy
hot
jagged
long
loud
moving
precarious
ranged
shallow
sharp
slippery
slow
small
soft
steep
sticky
stinky
sturdy
wet
CONSEQUENCES
PHYSICAL
PSYCHOLOGICAL
POSITIONING
INFLUENCES
kill puppies for satan and Poison’d by Vincent Baker
Sons of Liberty by Joshua Bishop Roby
GHOST/ECHO by John Harper
War Inc. by Kaare Berg
The video game Madworld
The Western Lands by William S. Burroughs (specifically the parts about the town of Last Chance)
Sin City by Frank Miller
Extreme Championship Wrestling