=0=1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8=9=8=7=6=5=4=3=2=1=0=1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8=9=8=7=6=5=4=3=2=1=0 RUNNER! =0=1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8=9=8=7=6=5=4=3=2=1=0=1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8=9=8=7=6=5=4=3=2=1=0 A story-telling game © 2015 _____, _____, and _____ INTRODUCTION ============ Population explosions and dwindling resources in the late 20th century gave rise to the dome cities. There your every whim is gratified and the Master Computer cares for you until your 21st birthday, when you either renew … or run! NEEDED TO PLAY ============== One play sheet per player, a ten-sided die numbered 0 to 9, a pencil, a token (any coin will do), and at least one friend. MAKE A RUNNER ============= Look at/fill in the Play Sheet as you read these instructions. 1) Choose a first name and number from 1-9, e.g. "Brin 9." 2) You have four resources: Social, Physical, Mental, Material. Rank them 0 (worst), 1, 2, and 3 (best). 3) Add an asset under any one resource by writing down a word or short phrase. The asset must relate to the chosen resource. Example: Physical - “omnite champion.” The blanks under each resource will later contain other assets as well as their negative counterparts, which are called liabilities and are written in parentheses. For example, "(well-known)” is a liability because you are trying to escape notice. 4) Place the Margin of Error token (MOE) on the last asterisk in the MOE track. PLAY ==== Players sit in a circle in order of who is closest to their next birthday and take turns playing out scenes focusing on their own runner character. The player to the runner's left in each turn is the Master Computer (MC). A runner’s crystal color is indicated by the Escape Track; start by filling in the Orange "O" (as if it were a test bubble). At the beginning of your turn, the MC (to your left, remember) rolls on the Targeted Resource table. Move the MOE left a number of spaces equal to your runner's rank in the targeted resource. The MOE token always moves from asterisk to asterisk (between the circled numbers). Example: targeting a resource ranked at 2, would leave the MOE between 3 and 4. The MC then narrates a scene from a future dystopia that fits the runner's crystal color, and which works in a challenge to the targeted resource. As part of the narration, the MC may expend (cross out) one of the runner's liabilities, if any are available. In doing so, the MC explains how the liability hampers the runner in the scene and moves the MOE token an additional space left. The MOE is now set. The runner rolls the die attempting to get a number under (left of) the MOE token. A zero is an auto-success. If the roll results in a number larger than the MOE, the runner player may expend (cross out) an available asset to either subtract one from the die result or re-roll the die. How the asset applies must be explained to the satisfaction of the group, or it can't be used. If the runner succeeds, he narrates the result of the scene, fills in the next bubble of his Escape Track (possibly changing his crystal color), and may, but doesn't have to, add a new asset anywhere on the grid. The new asset has to be explained as part of the narration. If the runner blacks out the last bubble in his Escape Track, he has reached Sanctuary! In his next scene, which is a sort of freeform “victory lap,” he may relate one piece of significant information about what Sanctuary is like. If the runner fails, the MC first adds a liability anywhere on the runner's grid. The last open cell of the grid is reserved for the ultimate liability, “(Dead!).” If/when the MC fills in this last cell, the runner gets to narrate his own glorious death scene. Players whose characters die can either leave the circle or continue playing the MC (only). If they do the latter, they become Deep Sleep Operatives (“sandmen”) and can make their MC narration more personal (e.g. from the viewpoint of a character that hunts runners). If more than one cell is open when a runner fails, the MC adds a liability other than “(Dead!)” and narrates the result of the scene, explaining how the liability was gained in the process. No bubbles in the Escape Track are blacked out when a runner fails. When you narrate the results of a scene, resolve it completely. There are no two-part, blow-by-blow, or otherwise extended scenes in Runner! As long as there is at least one open cell in a runner’s grid, that runner can narrate a way forward, no matter how dire the situation is painted. In addition to any other outcome of the roll, if a player rolls his name-number, e.g. if Brin 9 rolls a 9, he may refresh an asset that has been crossed out (erase the line through it). However, this happens after narration (the refreshed asset can't be used immediately). At the end of a scene, reset the MOE token to the last asterisk in the track and pass the dice to the left. The Creche (Orange) - These scenes are told in flashback and revolve around the runner's life from age 1-7. The Maze (Blue) - These scenes are told in flashback and revolve around the runner's life from age 8-14. Arcade (Red) - These scenes are told in flashback and picture the runner age 14-20 (that is, as a "decadent adult"). Lastday (Red, Blinking) - These scenes are told in present and show the runner's activities on his 21st birthday, at the end of which he must renew or run. Renewal is some form of celebrated, ritual suicide. Most citizens believe in perpetual reincarnation as a human. Run Cycle (Black) - These scenes are told in present tense and show the runner attempting to escape the dome city and the DSOs. Acknowledgements Thank you to William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson for writing Logan’s Run. =0=1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8=9=8=7=6=5=4=3=2=1=0=1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8=9=8=7=6=5=4=3=2=1=0 PLAY SHEET =0=1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8=9=8=7=6=5=4=3=2=1=0=1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8=9=8=7=6=5=4=3=2=1=0 Runner: Escape: Orange O - Blue O - Red O - Blinking O - Black O O O Social: Mental: __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ Physical: Material: __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ MOE: * (1) * (2) * (3) * (4) * (5) * Targeted Resource Table ----------------------- 0 Runner’s Choice 1-2 Social 3-4 Physical 5-6 Mental 7-8 Material 9 MC’s Choice