Being a hack of Phillipe Tromeur's wondurful Wuthering Heights RPG, an English translation of the French role-playing game Rene le jeu de role romantique
"This show... If you'll permit me to get 'big picture,' This show is actually all about failure. Even in the design, everything is supposed to be kinda the death of the space-age dream world. The death of the jet-age promises." -Jackson Public
CHARACTER CREATION
Qualities
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 39 to obtain your amount of Rage.
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 39 to obtain your amount of Angst.
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 20 to obtain your amount of Oldness.
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 20 to obtain your amount of Batman.
Traits
Throw one 10-sided die and divide by two (rounding up);this is how many Traits you have. Determine each Trait by throwing a d100 and referencing to the Traits Table. If you roll the same Trait twice, you should either double the effect, or roll another. You may refuse a Trait ; each time you do that, you must roll 2 Traits in its stead.
Choose a Name and you are ready to start playing.
CHARACTER CREATION
Qualities
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 39 to obtain your amount of Rage.
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 39 to obtain your amount of Angst.
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 20 to obtain your amount of Oldness.
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 20 to obtain your amount of Batman.
Traits
Throw one 10-sided die and divide by two (rounding up);this is how many Traits you have. Determine each Trait by throwing a d100 and referencing to the Traits Table. If you roll the same Trait twice, you should either double the effect, or roll another. You may refuse a Trait ; each time you do that, you must roll 2 Traits in its stead.
Choose a Name and you are ready to start playing.
TRAIT TABLE
01 - you are a "pedestrian". (add 10 to Oldness and Age)
02 - you are a clone. (remove 10 from Oldness and Age)
03 . - your parents are dead.(add 10 to Angst and Batman)
04 - you are an invalid.(add 10 to Angst and Rage)
05 - you have a physical deformity.(add 10 to Angst)
06 - you are hard-of-hearing.
07 - you have bad eyesight.
08 - you are mute.
09 - you have a cybernetic limb.
10 - you are or were a rock star(remove 10 from Angst)
11 - you are a damn, dirty hippy. (remove 10 from Rage)
12 - you are an ego-maniac. (remove 10 from Batman)
13 - you are bi-sexual.
14 - you have an ambiguous gender.
15 - you are a transvestite.
15 - you are a technophiliac.
16 - you are a necrophiliac.
17 - you are in love with someone from your family.
18-19 - you are a foreigner.
20-21 - you are a fugitive.
22-23 - you have a secret identity.(add 10 to Batman)
24-25 - you are naive. (remove 10 from Rage)
26-27 - you are a goth.(add 10 to Angst)
28-29 - you are a slacker.(remove 10 from Angst)
30-33 - you are a geek.
34-35 - you have an arch-enemy.
36-37 - you are completely insane.
38-39 - you are a homosexual.
40-41 - you smoke.(12 hours a day)
42 - you are a magic user. (4 hours a day)
43 - you gamble.(2 hours a day)
44 - you are a Christian.(2 hours a day and Sundays)
45-46 - you are an alcoholic.(5 bottles a day)
47 - you are a drug addict.(1 hour a day)
48 - you are a sex addict. (once a day)
49 - you are unhealthy (double Oldness but not Age)
50-51 - you are old. (double your Oldness and Age)
52-53 - you are young (half your Oldness and Age)
54-55 - you are bald.
56-57 - you are fat.
58-59 - you are thin.
60-61 - you are small.
62-63 - you are ugly.
64-65 - you are a bad dresser.
66-67 - you are obsessed with the occult.
68-69 - you are obsessed with revenge.
70-71 - you are in love with your boss's wife.
72-73 - you are evil. (remove 10 from Batman)
74 - you are an albino (without a big sword)
75 - you have a licence to kill (add 10 to Rage)
76 - you read comic books.(add 10 to Batman)
77 - you are or were a superhero.(add 10 to Batman)
78 - you are a robot. (add 10 to Batman and Oldness but not Age).
79 - you are or were a costumed miscreant.(remove 10 from Batman)
80 - you are or were an assassin. (add 10 to Rage)
81 - you are or were a quiz boy.(add 10 to Angst)
82 - you have an evil twin.
83 - you are or were a bodyguard.(add 10 to Batman)
84 -you are or were a ninja.
85 - you are or were a detective.(add 10 to Batman)
86-87 - you are or were a henchman (remove 10 from Rage and Batman)
88-89 - you are or were a super-villain (add 10 to Rage)
90-93 - you are or were a boy adventurer
(remove 10 from Oldness and Age or add 10 to Angst)
95-97 - you are or were a super-scientist (add 10 to Oldness and Age)
98 - make up your own Trait (remove 10 from Batman)
99 - you are or were a secret agent
00 - Mecha-Shiva!Mecha-Shiva!
01 - you are a "pedestrian". (add 10 to Oldness and Age)
02 - you are a clone. (remove 10 from Oldness and Age)
03 . - your parents are dead.(add 10 to Angst and Batman)
04 - you are an invalid.(add 10 to Angst and Rage)
05 - you have a physical deformity.(add 10 to Angst)
06 - you are hard-of-hearing.
07 - you have bad eyesight.
08 - you are mute.
09 - you have a cybernetic limb.
10 - you are or were a rock star(remove 10 from Angst)
11 - you are a damn, dirty hippy. (remove 10 from Rage)
12 - you are an ego-maniac. (remove 10 from Batman)
13 - you are bi-sexual.
14 - you have an ambiguous gender.
15 - you are a transvestite.
15 - you are a technophiliac.
16 - you are a necrophiliac.
17 - you are in love with someone from your family.
18-19 - you are a foreigner.
20-21 - you are a fugitive.
22-23 - you have a secret identity.(add 10 to Batman)
24-25 - you are naive. (remove 10 from Rage)
26-27 - you are a goth.(add 10 to Angst)
28-29 - you are a slacker.(remove 10 from Angst)
30-33 - you are a geek.
34-35 - you have an arch-enemy.
36-37 - you are completely insane.
38-39 - you are a homosexual.
40-41 - you smoke.(12 hours a day)
42 - you are a magic user. (4 hours a day)
43 - you gamble.(2 hours a day)
44 - you are a Christian.(2 hours a day and Sundays)
45-46 - you are an alcoholic.(5 bottles a day)
47 - you are a drug addict.(1 hour a day)
48 - you are a sex addict. (once a day)
49 - you are unhealthy (double Oldness but not Age)
50-51 - you are old. (double your Oldness and Age)
52-53 - you are young (half your Oldness and Age)
54-55 - you are bald.
56-57 - you are fat.
58-59 - you are thin.
60-61 - you are small.
62-63 - you are ugly.
64-65 - you are a bad dresser.
66-67 - you are obsessed with the occult.
68-69 - you are obsessed with revenge.
70-71 - you are in love with your boss's wife.
72-73 - you are evil. (remove 10 from Batman)
74 - you are an albino (without a big sword)
75 - you have a licence to kill (add 10 to Rage)
76 - you read comic books.(add 10 to Batman)
77 - you are or were a superhero.(add 10 to Batman)
78 - you are a robot. (add 10 to Batman and Oldness but not Age).
79 - you are or were a costumed miscreant.(remove 10 from Batman)
80 - you are or were an assassin. (add 10 to Rage)
81 - you are or were a quiz boy.(add 10 to Angst)
82 - you have an evil twin.
83 - you are or were a bodyguard.(add 10 to Batman)
84 -you are or were a ninja.
85 - you are or were a detective.(add 10 to Batman)
86-87 - you are or were a henchman (remove 10 from Rage and Batman)
88-89 - you are or were a super-villain (add 10 to Rage)
90-93 - you are or were a boy adventurer
(remove 10 from Oldness and Age or add 10 to Angst)
95-97 - you are or were a super-scientist (add 10 to Oldness and Age)
98 - make up your own Trait (remove 10 from Batman)
99 - you are or were a secret agent
00 - Mecha-Shiva!Mecha-Shiva!
SYSTEM
Basic Rule
You hay two ways to Check a Quality: roll above it or roll below. If the roll equals your Quality, it's a Fumble.
Rage Checks
A violent action requires the character should roll below one's Rage. To refrain from reacting too violently, one should roll above Rage.
Angst Checks
To make an important decision the character should roll above Angst. To be honest, one should roll under Angst.
Oldness Checks
To test a character's wisdom, one should roll below Oldness. To test a character's physical well-being, one should surpass Oldness.
Batman Checks
If a character wants to do something that benefits another but not themselves, the character should roll below their Batman.To screw over another for personal gain, one should roll above Batman.
Basic Rule
You hay two ways to Check a Quality: roll above it or roll below. If the roll equals your Quality, it's a Fumble.
Rage Checks
A violent action requires the character should roll below one's Rage. To refrain from reacting too violently, one should roll above Rage.
Angst Checks
To make an important decision the character should roll above Angst. To be honest, one should roll under Angst.
Oldness Checks
To test a character's wisdom, one should roll below Oldness. To test a character's physical well-being, one should surpass Oldness.
Batman Checks
If a character wants to do something that benefits another but not themselves, the character should roll below their Batman.To screw over another for personal gain, one should roll above Batman.
"It's about the beauty of failure. It's about that failure happens to all of us...Every character is not only flawed, but sucks at what they do, and is beautiful at it and Jackson and I suck at what we do, and we try to be beautiful at it, and failure is how you get by." "It shows that failure's funny, and it's beautiful and it's life, and it's okay, and it's all we can write because we are big fucking failures." - Doc Hammer
Fight!
Both characters should roll below their Rage.
Should one succeed and the other fail, the latter gets a Wound (see below)
Should both succeed, both lose 1 Rage point and the fight keeps on, if both would agree.
Should both fail, they stop the fight and become friends, or something like that.
Whatever the other's result, a Fumble shall give you a Wound.
If both Fumble, both are Wounded.
If a character is fighting for the benefit of another, they may substitute Batman for Rage during a fight.
Fight!
Both characters should roll below their Rage.
Should one succeed and the other fail, the latter gets a Wound (see below)
Should both succeed, both lose 1 Rage point and the fight keeps on, if both would agree.
Should both fail, they stop the fight and become friends, or something like that.
Whatever the other's result, a Fumble shall give you a Wound.
If both Fumble, both are Wounded.
If a character is fighting for the benefit of another, they may substitute Batman for Rage during a fight.
WOUNDS
A Wounded character should roll above their Oldness. The die roll is modified by the kind of weapon:
punch (or a 2 meter fall) d100 + 20
knife, stick (or a 5 meter fall) d100 + 10
sword, pistol (or a 10 meter fall) d100
rifle,ray gun (or a 20 meter fall) d100 - 10
cannon, laser (or a 50 meter fall) d100 - 20
A failure means the character is Dying.
A fumble means Death, after the death speech, of course.
DYING
A Dying character must try to roll above their Oldness every night. Two successive successful nights bring you back to life. Two successive failures kill you. The roll is modified by +25 if the character is in a hospital bed.
A Wounded character should roll above their Oldness. The die roll is modified by the kind of weapon:
punch (or a 2 meter fall) d100 + 20
knife, stick (or a 5 meter fall) d100 + 10
sword, pistol (or a 10 meter fall) d100
rifle,ray gun (or a 20 meter fall) d100 - 10
cannon, laser (or a 50 meter fall) d100 - 20
A failure means the character is Dying.
A fumble means Death, after the death speech, of course.
DYING
A Dying character must try to roll above their Oldness every night. Two successive successful nights bring you back to life. Two successive failures kill you. The roll is modified by +25 if the character is in a hospital bed.
Suicide
Once Angst reaches 90 or above, a character will try to Murder themself. To commit suicide, a character must roll above Batman. If one fails,they lose 1d10 Rage.
Mania
If Angst reaches 10 or below, the character is happy and spends the days doing useless but funny things; afterwards gaining back 1d10 Angst.
Madness
If Rage ever reaches 90 or above, the character must try a very risky task, after which losing d10 Rage.
Zen
If Rage ever drops to 10 or below, the character loses all energy and must spend the day reading, meditating, dreaming...afterwards gaining back 1d10 Rage.
Delusion
If Batman ever reaches 90 or above, the character is overwhelmed with love for their fellow man, and must commit one completely ludicrous and selfless act...afterwards losing 1d10 Batman.
Tantrum
If Batman ever drops to 10 or below, the character becomes mired in selfish desires, and will throw a fit if they don't get their way, afterwords gaining 1d10 Batman.
Emotional Shocks
During a Tragedy (an 'adventure'), characters will go up and down Rage, Angst and Batman scales.
A strong shock (death of a friend ...) will make you gain / lose d10 points in Rage, Angst or Batman. An important event (love success / failure, death of someone ...) make you gain / lose d10/2 points.
Some events / situations may make you gain / lose 1 point (good / bad weather, small success / failure ...).
Aging
Every Christmas, the Persona must roll above his Oldness ; a failure means he shall be Dying d10 x d10 days later.
A Fumble means a heart attack (death).
Every September 12th, the Persona has 10% chance of gaining a new Problem.
Once Angst reaches 90 or above, a character will try to Murder themself. To commit suicide, a character must roll above Batman. If one fails,they lose 1d10 Rage.
Mania
If Angst reaches 10 or below, the character is happy and spends the days doing useless but funny things; afterwards gaining back 1d10 Angst.
Madness
If Rage ever reaches 90 or above, the character must try a very risky task, after which losing d10 Rage.
Zen
If Rage ever drops to 10 or below, the character loses all energy and must spend the day reading, meditating, dreaming...afterwards gaining back 1d10 Rage.
Delusion
If Batman ever reaches 90 or above, the character is overwhelmed with love for their fellow man, and must commit one completely ludicrous and selfless act...afterwards losing 1d10 Batman.
Tantrum
If Batman ever drops to 10 or below, the character becomes mired in selfish desires, and will throw a fit if they don't get their way, afterwords gaining 1d10 Batman.
Emotional Shocks
During a Tragedy (an 'adventure'), characters will go up and down Rage, Angst and Batman scales.
A strong shock (death of a friend ...) will make you gain / lose d10 points in Rage, Angst or Batman. An important event (love success / failure, death of someone ...) make you gain / lose d10/2 points.
Some events / situations may make you gain / lose 1 point (good / bad weather, small success / failure ...).
Aging
Every Christmas, the Persona must roll above his Oldness ; a failure means he shall be Dying d10 x d10 days later.
A Fumble means a heart attack (death).
Every September 12th, the Persona has 10% chance of gaining a new Problem.
GHOSTS
If a character dies before the end of a Tragedy, he might become a Ghost, 2d10 minutes of gameplay later.A Ghost may act on the physical world by rolling below their Rage and losing d10 points of Rage after that.A Ghost may appear and speak to one other character by rolling below their Angst and losing d10 points of Angst after that.Ghosts can fly slowly, but can't go through solid objects. They disappear when their Rage or Angst reaches 10 or below, or at the end of the Adventure. They never gain Rage or Angst.
If a character dies before the end of a Tragedy, he might become a Ghost, 2d10 minutes of gameplay later.A Ghost may act on the physical world by rolling below their Rage and losing d10 points of Rage after that.A Ghost may appear and speak to one other character by rolling below their Angst and losing d10 points of Angst after that.Ghosts can fly slowly, but can't go through solid objects. They disappear when their Rage or Angst reaches 10 or below, or at the end of the Adventure. They never gain Rage or Angst.
Rewards / Evolution
Should some persona survive an Episode (a gaming session), give one of them the possibility to lose a Problem.
If a persona's Rage, Angst, or Batman is greater than 55, they lose d10 points.
If a persona's Rage, Angst, or Batman is less than 45, they gain d10 points.
Add 1d10/2 to your Oldness (1d10/2 years pass).
Should some persona survive an Episode (a gaming session), give one of them the possibility to lose a Problem.
If a persona's Rage, Angst, or Batman is greater than 55, they lose d10 points.
If a persona's Rage, Angst, or Batman is less than 45, they gain d10 points.
Add 1d10/2 to your Oldness (1d10/2 years pass).