TEXT: You’re a colonist four light years away from home, scrap-
  ing by thanks to the occasional supply ship from Earth.  
  Now the Sheriff has been murdered.  And when he is 
  found dead, you discover that no more help or supplies 
  are coming from Earth.
  How will you survive on this inhospitable desert planet?  
  A roleplaying game for 3-5 players
  by Nick Wedig
  L     n g s h     t
  Version 0.3
  
  2
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
   
  You are colonists on a dusty, desert-like 
  planet orbiting Proxima Centauri. It’s man-
  kind’s first colony beyond the solar system. 
  And because no one ever figured out how to 
  go faster than the speed of light it takes years 
  for news to travel from Earth to the colony. 
  Even longer for people and supplies. A ship is 
  supposed to come every six months with sup-
  plies, but it’s a month overdue already.
   
  Now the sheriff (and leader of the colo-
  ny) is found dead. When somebody finds the 
  body, he also discovers that the sheriff has 
  been lying to the colony: Earth has stopped 
  communicating with the colony, a long time 
  ago. Complete radio silence from the whole 
  planet, though why is a mystery. By a rough 
  estimate, that means that the most recent sup-
  ply ship was the last one that’ll ever come.
   
  How will the colony survive its dwin-
  dling resources without Earth’s resupply ship-
  ments? Who killed the sheriff and who’s go-
  ing to take the blame for the crime? Will the 
  Infatuated Scientist be able to confess his love 
  to the Incompetent (yet lovable) Religious Pil-
  grim? What is the function of the alien arti-
  fact found in the mountains? Who will con-
  trol its ancient unknown power? 
   
  What will you do to survive? 
   
  Players combine two pregenerated 
  halves to make a character that is uniquely 
  their own. Each half gives the player a variety 
  of goals, background elements, relationships, 
  abilities and respon sibilities. Traditional GM 
  duties are spread among the group based on 
  character roles. Dwindling resources will force 
  characters into tough decisions and inevitable 
  conflict. Individual greed can hurt the colo-
  ny as a whole. Will you emerge battered but 
  victo rious, or will you slink away like a cow-
  ardly yellow dog?
   
  Longshot is a game for 3-5 players.  It 
  should take about 3-5 hours to play.  You’ll 
  need a pile of dice, ranging from d4s to 
  d20s.
  Synopsis
  Synopsis
  How will you survive without Earth’s resupply shipments?
  
  3
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
   
  Humanity has colonized Sol’s entire so-
  lar system. At some point, humanity decided 
  to spread on to the next closest system: Prox-
  ima Centauri. It took a lot of effort; four 
  light years is a long distance to travel. But a 
  series of ships has been able to travel back and 
  forth between the two, ferrying supplies and 
  new colonists, and occasionally transporting 
  back material and data. 
   
  Orbiting Proxima is a dusty, dry, rocky 
  world dubbed Longshot. It was close enough 
  to the conditions of Mars that humans were 
  able to colonize it using existing terraforming 
  equipment. This work has given Longshot 
  a breathable atmosphere and some sparse 
  earthlike vegetation. Longshot is barely liv-
  able, but it beats trying to survive in the cold 
  black void of space.
   
  Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star. It 
  looms large and dim in the sky. The binary 
  star of Alpha Centauri is visible in the sky 
  as two distinct points of light, brighter than 
  any other star. 
   
  Journey’s End is the largest colony on 
  Longshot, but it’s still really just a small town. 
  It’s always squeaked by thanks to regular in-
  fluxes of settlers and supplies from Earth. It’s 
  not a very big place, so most folks know each 
  other. 
   
  People come out to Proxima because 
  they want to escape something on Sol or be-
  cause they’re looking for something intangible 
  here. A growing population of children were 
  born on Longshot, so they never knew what 
  Earth was like. 
   
  Humanity never got around that speed 
  of light barrier. It takes 4 years for news to 
  travel between Earth and Proxima. The fast-
  est vessels built so far can go about half the 
  speed of light, which means that it takes eight 
  years for people and goods to reach Proxima. 
  It would seem like less time to the voyagers 
  due to relativistic Einsteinian whatnot, but a 
  typical voyager spends the trip in cryogenic 
  hibernation. So they don’t notice how long it 
  takes anyway.
   
  A lot of minerals and resources can be 
  found here on Longshot. A few key items 
  can’t be synthesized without the advanced 
  tech found back home, though. A resupply 
  ship comes every six months or so, and the 
  last should have been here a month ago. Peo-
  ple  in Journey’s End are getting antsy won-
  dering where it is.
  Setting
  setting
  Orbiting Proxima is a dusty, dry, rocky world called Longshot
  
  4
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
   
  Characters in Longshot are made by com-
  bining two aspects of a character: their Per-
  sonality and their Job. The Jobs and Person-
  alities are found at the end of this document. 
  They are designed to be printed out, cut in 
  half and reassembled to make the character 
  of your choice. Jobs include the Rancher, 
  the Marshal, the Pilgrim, the Deserter, the 
  Archaeologist and the New Arrival.  Person-
  alities include the Cowardly, the Greedy, the 
  Infatuated, the Veteran, the Incompetent and 
  the Hotheaded. 
   
  Each gives you some resources, abilities, 
  relationships, goals, background information 
  and part of your name. When you combine 
  the two, you should be able to see how they 
  fit together into a nearly complete character. 
  Everything won’t quite fit together nice and 
  neatly: there will be a lot of questions for you 
  to answer and holes in their past for you to 
  fill in. But hopefully those will be simple to 
  answer once you have your Job and Respon-
  sibility chosen. 
   
  Starting with whoever is farthest from 
  home, go around the table clockwise, pick-
  ing either a Job or a Personality to play. Then 
  go around the table counterclockwise, pick-
  ing whichever of Job or Personality that you 
  didn’t pick the first time around. This means 
  that the first person to pick gets one aspect 
  that they’d really enjoy, and one that they may 
  not as much, whereas the last person gets two 
  middle of the range aspects.
   
  Each Job is tied to your character’s first 
  name, and each Personality is tied to your last 
  name. So when you pick a Job and Person-
  ality, it tells you your character’s full name. 
  Each Job is printed twice, so that you can pick 
  a gender of your choice. If you can’t tell from 
  the name, the male version of a Job is the first 
  listed, and the female version is the second 
  one. Nothing is different between two ver-
  sions except the name, but printing both on 
  one sheet looks sloppy.
   
  As you pick Jobs and Personalities, pay 
  attention to the choices other players make. 
  Look at how your character will fit into the 
  emerging web of relationships. If a player 
  chose a Job that causes them to dislike your 
  character, look at how choosing a Personality 
  will affect things. Do you want to create more 
  conflict between them? Or create a compli-
  cated love/hate relationship between your 
  two characters?
  Example: Amber, Ben and Carl are playing Long-
  shot, Amber is on vacation visiting friends, so she’s 
  the farthest from home. She starts by picking the Job 
  of  Deputy Maria, the Marshal, so that she can find 
  the murderer. Ben goes next and picks Milton, the 
  Cowardly Personality. Carl now gets to pick Job and 
  Personality at once. Carl picks Thushpa, the Veteran 
  Character Creation
  Character Creation
  Your character is made of a job and a personality
  
  5
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
  Personality and Dr. Timothy, the Archaeologist Job. 
  Ben now gets to pick his Job. He already has a rela-
  tionship to Carl via his Personality, so Ben chooses to 
  build an interaction with the Marshal by picking the 
  Rancher job. Ben’s going to play Emmanuel Milton, 
  the Cowardly Rancher. Amber gets final pick for her 
  Personality and decides to keep the relationships tight: 
  she picks Hot Headed Isuko. 
   
  You might wind up with an odd pairing 
  of Job and Personality. I’ve tried to make it 
  so that any two bits can fit together, though 
  I can’t say this is universally true until we do 
  some more playtesting. On the other hand, 
  you can easily have situations where the rela-
  tionships between your PC and another PC 
  are a mess of both positive feelings, negative 
  emotions and conflicting goals. Some might 
  see this as an inconsistent character, impossi-
  ble to play. I think (and hope) that such charac-
  ters will actually be more interesting because 
  their relationships and goals are so compli-
  cated. Discuss with the other PC’s player how 
  these bits of character all fit together. I’m con-
  fident that you can come up with some reason 
  that you both love and hate each other. 
   
  Each Job and Responsibility has a lot 
  of questions built into it. For most of these, 
  you should think up some answers for the 
  questions. Maybe mention possible answers 
  to your fellow players to see if they respond 
  enthusiastically. Don’t set anything in stone 
  entirely, especially questions about “How are 
  you gonna…”. You’ll get a lot of fun by tak-
  ing a vague idea and making it concrete once 
  play begins. Once you’ve started playing, 
  you’ll be able to pull in stuff that happened 
  in play and other player’s ideas and incorpo-
  rate them into your background, making the 
  whole story tighter and more cohesive. 
   
  If a background or question of your 
  character sheet references another PC, you 
  should discuss your answer to the question 
  with them. You don’t want someone to spring 
  a big surprise on you if your character would 
  have known about it, right? Nor do you want 
  to pull the same stunt on your friends. So talk 
  it out a bit. 
  Example: Amber’s character is Maria Isuko, the 
  Hotheaded Marshal. Amber sees her as a dangerous 
  and wild sheriff’s deputy, who had been kept in check 
  by the now dead sheriff.  Now that he’s dead, Maria 
  is violent and lacking proper supervision. The Hot-
  headed Personality asks how Milton (the Coward) 
  failed Isuko somehow. Amber suggests to Milton’s 
  player Ben that the Cowardly Rancher ruined a stake-
  out at the Ranch by chickening out. When he ran for 
  it, he spooked the outlaws that Deputy Isuko had been 
  waiting to catch, ruining the bust. Ben likes the idea, 
  so they use that.
   
  If your character sheet references a PC 
  not in use, you can ignore that section, or you 
  can use that PC as an NPC, whichever works 
  best for your game. Smaller groups might 
  benefit from more NPCs. In a big group, you 
  should have enough going on already.
   
  Finally, think about why your character 
  might have killed the sheriff. Someone had 
  to do it; what if it was you? Why and how 
  did you do it? Don’t tell anyone why or how 
  you may have done it. This isn’t true, yet. It 
  will only come true if you later reveal your-
  self as the murderer. But it’s a good idea to 
  have some reason prepared and some hints 
  dropped so that later on you can reveal that 
  you were the murderer. 
  Example: Amber’s character Deputy Isuko is prone 
  to sudden fits of  rage. She assumes that she might have 
  been reprimanded for letting the bandits get away, and 
  could have accidentally lashed out at Sheriff  Torkel-
  son. So now is she really investigating the crime, or 
  just looking for someone to pin it on? We won’t know 
  until later on in the game.
  Special Ability:
   
  Each Job and Personality grants some 
  special ability. Each one modifies how some 
  bit of the game works. Hopefully, these are 
  clear enough in description that they don’t 
  need any further explanation.
  Character Creation
  how you combine the two aspects is how you make the character your own
  
  6
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
  Starting Dice:
   
  Your pool at the beginning of the game 
  starts with dice based on your Job and Per-
  sonality. Take the dice listed and put them in 
  a pile in front of you.  This is your starting 
  pool of dice.  You’ll spend them throughout 
  the game (and occasionally put new dice into 
  the pool).
  Example: Amber is playing Deputy Maria Isuko. 
  The Marshal Job gives 2d6 and 3d10. Hotheaded 
  gives her 1 d6and 3d10. She takes 3d6 and 6d10 for 
  her starting pool.
  Authority: 
   
  There are a variety of tasks that need 
  to be taken care of for a roleplaying game to 
  run smoothly. Somebody needs to manage 
  the NPCs, somebody needs to judge conflicts, 
  someone needs to watch the time to make 
  sure you don’t run long, etc. In a traditional 
  RPG, many of these would be mostly han-
  dled by a gamemaster. Since this is a GM-
  less game, we don’t have that luxury. All of 
  these things become everyone’s responsibil-
  ity. To make things easier, you receive some 
  specific responsibilities based on your Job 
  and Personality. This way we can make sure 
  most standard GM tasks get done. Everyone 
  should help out with each of these tasks. But 
  if it is under your authority and it fails to get 
  done then it is your failure more than anyone 
  else’s. 
   
  If you have authority over an NPC or 
  fictional element, your job is to describe that 
  element and come up with details, quirks, 
  and mannerisms for it. If you have authority 
  over an NPC, you should portray the NPC in 
  scenes when your PC isn’t present and find 
  a willing player to portray the NPC if your 
  character is present. For locations and other 
  fictional elements, make sure the information 
  made up about them is consistent and com-
  pelling. 
   
  For rules and social matters, if some-
  thing is under your authority, it means that 
  your say-so carries more weight than some-
  one else’s. The group can override someone 
  if they make a lousy decision about some-
  thing in their authority. But that should only 
  be used for really extreme situations.
  Respect:
   
  Having Respect for a PC means that you 
  have a positive opinion of them. You may 
  also hate them or want to do them harm, but 
  on some level you think highly of them. 
   
  Having Respect for a character means 
  that you can help them more easily. Normally, 
  you can only transfer diceto other people at a 
  loss. (The dice that you give them go down 
  one die size. D4s are lost in transfer.) If you 
  have Respect for someone, you can freely give 
  them dice without degrading any resources. 
  Example: Carl’s Veteran Archaeologist Dr. Timo-
  thy Thushpa has Respect for Amber’s PC Maria 
  Isuko. If  Carl decides to give dice to Deputy Isuko, 
  she receives the full die. If  Carl wants to give her a 
  d6, then Amber accepts the d6. If  Carl gave the d6 to 
  Ben’s character instead, Ben would only receive a d4, 
  because Timothy Thushpa has no Respect for Ben’s 
  PC.
  Character Creation
  authorities divide responsibility around the table
  
  7
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
  Setup
   
   
  First, gather together a pile of dice. 
  You’ll need mostly d6s and d10s. But you’ll 
  also need at least one of each of the follow-
  ing per player: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. 
  Distribute out the starting dice pools for each 
  character, which are the total values of the 
  dice listed for both Job and Personality. 
   
  Start a pile for the Common Pool. The 
  Common Pool starts with dice equal to the 
  number of players, starting with a d20 and 
  working down one per die.
  Example: Amber, Ben and Carl are playing to-
  gether. Since they have three players, they will put three 
  dice in the Common Pool. The first is a d20, then 
  a d12 and finally a d10. If  they had more players, 
  they’d put in a d8, then a d6, etc.
   
  You also need a space for the Mystery 
  Pool.  It starts with a d4 in it, and will in-
  crease after everyone has had a turn to frame 
  a scene.
   
  Place all the unused dice in a place 
  where everyone can reach them easily. You’ll 
  be handing dice around throughout the game. 
  You may want some name badges or other 
  identifiers so that players can identify who is 
  who. You’ll also want some pencils and your 
  favorite snacks on hand. 
   
  Finally, arrange yourself in order based 
  on your job.  The Marshal is first, then go-
  ing clockwise in order of: the Rancher, the 
  Archaeologist, Zealot, Deserter and New Ar-
  rival.
  Scene Framing
   
   
  You’ll take turns framing scenes. Start 
  with the Deputy and then go around the ta-
  ble clockwise. When it is your turn to frame 
  a scene, describe the setting of the scene and 
  who’s involved and the initial situation. 
   
  Roleplay out scenes, doing your best to 
  introduce elements of your character’s Job, 
  Personality and background. Push characters 
  towards interesting conflicts and interactions. 
  There’s plenty of conflicting goals to pursue. 
  There’s a town full of colonists with dwin-
  dling resources. A murderer is on the loose. 
  You shouldn’t have trouble finding something 
  interesting for your character to do. 
  Example: Amber traveled several states to be at the 
  game, so she frames the first scene. She decides to start 
  right at the discovery of  the sheriff’s body. She de-
  scribes finding the body in the sheriff’s office and that 
  no resupply ships are coming. After a bit of  narration, 
  Ben asks if  he can have his PC enter the scene and see 
  the dead sheriff. Amber likes that additional complica-
  tion, so she allows it.
  gameplay
  Snacks
  Thematically appropriate snacks are either 
  old frontier foods like jerky and dried fruit or 
  space age thoroughly processed snacks, most 
  likely from Japan.  Maybe some astronaut 
  ice cream as well.  Nothing that spoils easily, 
  though.
  Gameplay
  go around the table, Taking turns framing scenes
  
  8
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
   
  Don’t get carried away pushing just for 
  your character. Your primary goal should be 
  to tell a compelling story first and to advocate 
  for your character second. Your character will 
  suffer, be horribly scarred and do irreversible 
  harm. Enjoy the ride, not the goal.
   
  At any time, someone can suggest that 
  a scene is finished and should be cut. The 
  Marshal, the Hotheaded and the Infatuated 
  should pay particular attention to this, but ev-
  eryone should be watching for times to end a 
  scene. 
  Example: After Maria Isuko tells Emmanuel Mil-
  ton about the murdered sheriff  and lack of  contact 
  to earth, Amber suggests ending the scene. The other 
  players agree, so the scene get wrapped up quickly. Ben 
  then takes a turn framing a scene wherein his PC re-
  turns to the Ranch to tell the farmhands the big news 
  and runs into Carl’s PC on the way.
   
  After everyone takes a turn framing a 
  scene, put a die into the Mystery Pool. At the 
  start of the first round, the Mystery Pool has a 
  d4 in it. At the start of each round thereafter, 
  you put in a larger size die: a d6, then d8, then 
  d10, etc. If the murderer is still unrevealed 
  after a d20 is in the Mystery Pool, then each 
  round thereafter will add d20s.
  Cooperation
   
   
  If you want to help another player char-
  acter, you can give them dice from your pool. 
  This is costly, however: when you give a die 
  to another player, it goes down one die size. 
  So if you give away a d8, it becomes a d6. If 
  you give away a d12, it becomes a d10. If you 
  have Respect for the target of your generosity, 
  then the dice stays the same size.
   
  If you don’t want to lose resources, you 
  could put the dice into the Common Pool 
  (see page 13), but that carries a risk that some 
  greedy ne’er-do-well will snatch the stuff out 
  of the Pool before it can be used.
  Example: Deputy Maria Isuko and Dr. Timothy 
  Thushpa are working together to stop Emmanuel Mil-
  ton from destroying the Ranch and with it the only 
  source of  food on the planet. Deputy Isuko has no Re-
  spect for Dr. Thushpa, so if  she tries to give him a d6 
  it becomes a d4. If  the exchange happened the other 
  way around, the d6 would remain a d6, because Dr. 
  Thushpa does have Respect for Isuko.
   
  Gameplay
  after everyone has had a turn framing scenes, put a die in the Mystery Pool
  
  9
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
   
  It often happens that two characters 
  want different things. You just can’t make ev-
  erybody happy all the time. In general, your 
  actions should follow the classic indie role-
  playing cliche “Say Yes or roll the dice.”  If 
  another player tries something, you can ei-
  ther go along with what they describe, add-
  ing in detail and agreeing to their suggested 
  outcomes.  Maybe it’s bad for your character, 
  but if it makes a cool and interesting story, it 
  may be better to watch your PC suffer and 
  go along with the proposed actions.  You can 
  add additional details (“Yes and...”) or you 
  can throw in a complication (“Yes, but...”) 
  butyou should be saying “Yes” most of the 
  time.
   
  If you’re unwilling to go with what was 
  outlined or think that a big struggle is more 
  exciting, you can initiate a conflict and roll 
  some dice. In order to oppose what was sug-
  gested, you’re gonna have to use up some re-
  sources to get your way.  You either say “Yes”, 
  or you roll the dice.
   
  The Cowardly, the Hotheaded and The 
  Deserter should pay special attention when 
  conflicts are happening, because they have 
  special responsibility here.
   
  Someone has to note that a conflict is 
  happening in the story and declare that you 
  need to have a mechanical conflict to resolve 
  what happens. The Cowardly is in charge of 
  watching for this, but everyone should keep 
  an eye out. 
  Example: Maria Isuko, Amber’s PC wants to 
  falsely blame the murder of  Sheriff  Torkelson on 
  Ben’s PC, Emmanuel Milton.  Milton doesn’t want 
  to take the blame for a crime that he knows Deputy 
  Isuko committed.  Ben suggests that the best way to 
  resolve what happens in via a conflict.  Amber agrees, 
  so they begin the conflict process.
   
  Conflicts start with players bidding how 
  many dice they’re willing to spend in the con-
  flict. One player must start the bidding. It 
  doesn’t matter much which character starts, 
  though you probably should start with the 
  player whose character was taking an active, 
  situation changing action. That player will 
  bid some amount of dice out of their pool. 
  For each bid that a player makes, they need 
  to describe their character working to achieve 
  the goal.
  Example: Amber’s PC was trying to pin the blame 
  for the sheriff’s murder on Ben’s PC Emmanuel Mil-
  ton. So she starts the bidding. Amber looks at her pool 
  of  1d4, 3d6, 2d10 and a d12. She decides to start 
  bidding with 2d6, and describes how she tells the 
  townfolk that Milton did the dirty deed. 
   
  After the first bid, go around the table 
  giving each player a chance to bid or to pass. 
  Conflicts
  Conflicts
  Each side will take turns bidding dice until each passes 
  
  10
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
  When you bid, you increase the number of 
  dice that you are going to roll in the conflict. 
  I don’t have any idea how you judge pool of 
  differing dice sizes against one another, so the 
  only bid you have to beat is your own prior 
  bid: if you put forward more dice, it counts 
  as raising your bid.  If you don’t want to put 
  forward any more dice, you can pass by push-
  ing forward no additional dice.  You can’t de-
  crease your bid: once you push forward a die, 
  it’s gonna be rolled and is gonna go away at 
  the end of the conflict.
  Example: Ben then has the chance to respond, and 
  describes Milton exposing some evidence that point to 
  Amber’s PC as the culprit. Ben therefore bids 4d6. 
  Amber decides to increase the pressure and adds 2d10 
  to her bid, as Deputy Isuko fights to take her accused 
  into custody. Ben bids another d8 and d12, which 
  represents him fighting back to escape. Amber decides 
  not to push it any further, so she passes.
   
  Keep going until all but one player pass. 
  Then everyone rolls the dice that they last 
  bid, and sums up the total. The person with 
  the highest total gets to narrate how the con-
  flict is resolved.
   
  When the rolling is done, you take the 
  number of dice that you bid out of your pool. 
  Rolled dice are go away whether they win or 
  lose the conflict.
  Conflicts
  Example: All the participants except Ben have 
  passed, so it is time to roll the dice. Amber rolls 1, 1, 
  7, 7 for a total of  16. Ben rolls 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 11 for 
  a total of  24. Ben gets to describe how the townsfolk 
  see the evidence before their eyes and turn against the 
  dirty cop. No one believes that cowardly Milton ha the 
  guts to commit the murder.
   
  Sometimes, it seems as if a character 
  should have a conflict against the harsh en-
  vironment of the planet Longshot, or against 
  an NPC or other hazard.  For any situation 
  where a player character is trying something 
  difficult, you can start a conflict, even if your 
  PC is not present or involved.  You bid only-
  one die from your pool, and each other player 
  can add a single die each to this hazard pool. 
  Players can take dice from the Common Pool 
  or Conditions to add to the hazard’s strength, 
  just as they would add to their own pool. The 
  active player can bid multiple dice against 
  this hazard pool as normal.
  Example: Amber’s PC, Deputy Maria Isuko, is 
  lost in the harsh alien wilderness.  She is trying to 
  find her way back to town, and Ben wants this to be 
  a dangerous scene for her.  He starts a conflict, using 
  a d10 from his pool to provide adversity.  His descrip-
  tion of  bids consists of  descriptions of  the life threat-
  ening alien environment of  Longshot, while Amber’s 
  narration consists of  description of  her overcoming 
  these obstacles.  Ben tries to convince Carl to chip in 
  a die as well
  Roll your dice, and the highest total wins the conflict.
   
  Conflicts against NPCs are the same as 
  environmental conflicts: each other player 
  may bid a single die for that NPC’s effective 
  strength, and the active player bids from their 
  pool against the NPCs.
   
  If no player is willing to spend their dice 
  for the NPC or hazard, then the PC is able to 
  easily overcome it.
  Example: Amber’s PC returns to town, whereupon 
  she is beset upon by angry bandits who had previously 
  been established as waiting in ambush.  Neither Ben 
  nor Carl are willing to spend resources on the bandits, 
  though, so Amber’s PC Maria Isuko is able to capture 
  or drive off  the bandits with little trouble.
  
  11
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
   
  Over the course of the game, you will ac-
  quire and dispose of Conditions. Conditions 
  are impairing circumstances or situations that 
  will hinder you in attempting to achieve your 
  goal. You acquire Conditions in an attempt 
  to achieve your own goals, but they cost you 
  later on. So they are at best a double edged 
  sword. 
   
  The only way to acquire a Condition 
  is voluntarily. During a conflict, you can de-
  scribe how your character becomes Wound-
  ed or Insane or whatever. Why would you 
  want to do that? Well, when you get to roll a 
  bonus die in a conflict. The size of the bonus 
  die is even up to you, though you can only 
  use each die size once. So if you roll a big d20 
  now when you become Wounded, you won’t 
  be rolling a d20 again for other conditions. 
  There are six die sizes (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 20), 
  and you can use each die size once. When 
  you take a condition, choose which die size 
  you’ll be using for that condition.
   
  Taking on a Condition is like taking on 
  debt: good right now but bad in the long term. 
  The drawback is that in future conflicts the 
  conditions impair your functioning. After you 
  roll a die from a Condition in a conflict, set 
  the die to its maximum value on your sheet in 
  the spot for the relevant condition. When you 
  have a Condition, your opponent can choose 
  to roll a die of equal size against you, by nar-
  rating how that condition impairs you.  When 
  they do, you decrease your condition counter 
  die by the value rolled.  Which means that 
  bigger die sizes help more in the short run 
  but impair you longer in the long run.  Any 
  time your counter die would go to zero or be-
  low, you discard the die and are cured of your 
  condition.
   
  You can only have one instance of a spe-
  cific Condition at a time.  You can’t be double 
  Insane or anything (though the Hothead can be 
  double Enraged). When a scene ends, you 
  have to option to change what Condition that 
  represents.  If your character was Tired, but 
  the game has moved forward to the next day 
  so you had the chance to rest up, you may de-
  cide to be Enraged or Scared or something 
  instead.  Just move the die to the appropriate 
  Condition when you decrement it.  As long as 
  you maintain the same die sizes and values, 
  it’s all good.
  Example: Amber is beset by Emmanuel Milton’s 
  ranch hand goons. She is having trouble outbidding 
  him in the conflict, so Amber decides to take on a Con-
  dition and gain some help. She decides that beating 
  people up is Tiring, so she takes that one. Looking 
  at her odds in the conflict, she stick to the low values 
  and takes a d6 for the condition. Amber is careful to 
  mark the d6 die size as used. When it comes time to 
  roll off, Amber adds the d6’s value to her total (it gets 
  a 5, but it’s not enough to help her in the conflict). 
  Conditions
  Conditions
  Conditions help you now, but they cost you later
  
  12
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
  After the conflict, Amber puts the d6 on the “Tired” 
  box on her character sheet, set to 6. In her next con-
  flict, Amber’s opponent Ben suggests that being Tired 
  slows down her reactions in their gunfight, and roll a 
  d6 against her.  It rolls a 3, and Amber decreases her 
  d6 from 6 to 3.
   
  The “Dead” condition is special. The 
  Dead condition will always give you a d20 
  to your conflict, but it kills off your PC. It ig-
  nores the normallimit on only using one d20 
  from a Condition, but death is also perma-
  nent. Once your PC is dead, there’s no com-
  ing back.
  Example: Carl’s PC Dr. Timothy Thushpa is in 
  bad shape. Carl has given him quite a lot of  Condi-
  tions over the course of  the game, so he’s running out 
  of  options. When he’s trying to get the alien artifact 
  back from the thieving murderous town marshal, Carl 
  decides that this is really important. Carl decides to 
  sacrifice Dr. Thushpa’s life and acquired the Dead 
  condition. In the conflict to get control of  the alien 
  artifact, Carl rolls a big d20, but will die at the end 
  of  the conflict whether he wins or not.
   
  A player character can also die by hav-
  ing the Common Pool run out of dice (see page 
  13).
  Conditions
  If the names themselves aren’t clear enough, 
  here are some ideas what a condition might 
  mean: 
  Wounded: Injured or physically impaired. 
  Did you break a leg? Lose an arm? Get your 
  eyeball plucked out? Be gruesomely descrip-
  tive; your friends will like detailed depictions 
  of your character’s suffering.
  Insane: Temporarily, you lose all touch with 
  reality. What delusions do you suffer? How 
  does your breakdown manifest itself?
  Wanted: As in “Wanted for crimes he did not 
  commit” or “Wanted Dead or Alive”. It may also 
  mean “being pursued by people wanting to capture or 
  injure you”.
  Enraged: You’re unspeakably angry at 
  someone. But being so very pissed off means 
  that you lash out at everyone else around you, 
  impairing social interactions. Who are you so 
  angry at, and who suffers your misdirected 
  wrath?
  Tired: beyond just needing amoment to 
  recover, you are completely exhausted. You 
  have no more energy to go on. Perhaps you’re 
  just physically worn out, or perhaps you’re in 
  a deep existential depression that hurts your 
  willpower.
  Scared: You are terrified for your life, beyond 
  the normal capability for rational thought.  
  What has you so spooked, and how does be-
  ing jumpy and jittery cause you to make re-
  grettable mistakes?
  Dead: “...and the cowboys now as they roam the 
  plain / (for they marked the spot where his bones were 
  lain) / fling a handful o’ roses o’er his grave / with a 
  prayer to God his soul to save.”
  the dead condition always gives a d20, but it kills  your PC
  
  13
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
  the Common Pool
   
  The Common Pool is a set of dice avail-
  able to any player during a conflict.  It starts 
  with dice equal to the number of players, 
  starting a d20 and working down. 
  Example: Amber, Ben and Carl are playing, so 
  there are three players.  They put a d20, a d12, and a 
  d10 in the Common Pool.  If  they had another player, 
  they would add a d8, then a d6, etc.
   
  The Common Pool is available for any-
  one to use in any conflict. You can put your 
  dice into the Common Pool, provided that no 
  one is in the middle of a conflict at the mo-
  ment. You never take dice from the Common 
  Pool into your own dice pool. You just spend 
  them directly in a conflict. 
  Example: Early on in the game, Amber decides to 
  put one of  her d10s into the pool to earn some trust 
  of  her fellow players.  Later in the game, Carl tries to 
  take dice from the Common Pool and put them into 
  his pool, even though Carl is not in a conflict.  Ben 
  notices and corrects him, saying “No, you only add the 
  Common Pool dice to your bid in a conflict, never into 
  your general pool.”
   
  Gonzalez has primary responsibility to 
  watch over the Common Pool. If there’s a 
  question where two people both declare at 
  the same time that they’re taking resources 
  out, Gonzalez leads the effort to sort out an 
  amicable agreement. 
   
  You can add dice from the Common 
  Pool to your bid during a conflict.  
  Example: Late in the game, Ben’s PC is in a vio-
  lent fistfight with Carl’s guy. Ben decides to take the 
  d10 and d12 out of  the Common Pool to roll with his 
  dice. Carl retaliates by taking the d20. Amber decides 
  to stop helping either one of  these selfish jackasses.
   
  If the Common Pool is ever empty of 
  dice, that is bad for everyone.  It means that 
  the colony’s supplies are running low. At the 
  end of a conflict where the Common Pool 
  goes empty, every player must mark off the 
  highest unused die size on their character 
  sheet.  Then they put a die of that size in the 
  Common Pool.  Each player narrates a very 
  short vignette about scarcity causing hardship 
  for a PC or NPC as they put their die into the 
  Common Pool.
  Example: Ben gets greedy, and takes the last of  
  the dice in the Common Pool. After the conflict is over, 
  everyone has to check off  their highest remaining die 
  size.  Amber checks off  her d20 (ouch), because she 
  has only taken small value Conditions so far.  She 
  describes Big Fat Mike shutting down the saloon since 
  there is no more alcohol to be sold.  Ben has taken a 
  few conditions, and his highest remaining die size is 
  a d10, which he marks off.  Ben describes starving 
  Ranch workers begging his Rancher PC for additional 
  food rations.  
  Common pool
  You can take dice from the common pool, but if it empties everyone hurts
  
  14
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
  Common pool
   
  If you have used all the die sizes for  Con-
  ditions when the Common Pool goes empty, 
  then your character dies because of the lack 
  of resources available to the town.  Do you 
  starve? Die of thirst? Not enough bandages? 
  No medical supplies to stave off infectious 
  disease?  Explain how your character is fin-
  ished off by something easily preventable if 
  only you had enough supplies.
  Example: Carl’s PC has taken every condition 
  available to gain temporary advantage.  Now when 
  Ben gets greedy and takes the last of  the Common 
  Pool dice, Carl suffers for it.  Carl has no remaining 
  die sizes to mark off, so he has to narrate the death of  
  his PC, Dr. Thushpa the Veteran Archaeologist.  Carl 
  decides to describe the alien artifact as leeching his life-
  force away, so slowly that Dr. Thushpa doesn’t notice 
  until it is too late.  By the time Thushpa’s illness is 
  noted, the meager medical supplies available are insuf-
  ficient to stabilize his failing metabolism.
   
  There is one way to delay the drain of 
  the Common Pool: Kill off NPCs.  The re-
  maining supplies will go further if you have 
  to spread it around fewer ways. Each time 
  an NPC dies, you add a die to the Common 
  Pool.    The first NPC to die puts a d4 in the 
  Common Pool.  The second gives a d6, the 
  third a d8, etc.  If you reach a d20, further 
  NPC deaths don’t help.  After the d20 grant-
  ing death, future murdered NPCs don’t add 
  to the Common Pool.
  Example: Perhaps instead of  Dr. Thushpa dying, 
  Carl saw what was coming and tried to prevent it.  To 
  prevent the Common Pool going empty, Carl narrates 
  how he shows the alien artifact to Winky Ledoux, the 
  shady Ranch worker.  The artifact goes haywire, and 
  drains the lifeforce out of  Winky, killing him.  Carl 
  puts a d4 in the Common Pool, since Winky was the 
  first NPC to die (but probably not the last).
  Supplies on Longshot go further if you kill off some NPCs 
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  15
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Dice
  d4:
  d6:
  d8:
  d10:
  d12:
  d20:
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
  Sgt. Col. Joong-Jun   
   
  The Deserter
   
   
   
  2d6 and 4d10
  Shrug it Off: Once per session, you can roll a Condition 
  die instead of setting it to maximum to track how long 
  you have that Condition.
  Background:  
  You were a warrior in The Brethren Wars among the moons 
  of Saturn.  You were trained and genetically modified to be a 
  perfect soldier.  But for some reason you decided to abandon 
  your post and stop the fighting.  Why?
  You fled to Proxima to escape the violence and depravity of 
  war.  You hoped to find a peaceful life here, where you’d never 
  have to kill again.  You’ve been lying about your identity to 
  keep from being arrested for deserting your post.
  The Brethren Wars were led by the religious teachings and in-
  tolerance of the Stellar Brethren, who believe that aliens are 
  out there watching humanity’s moves.  You saw much slaughter 
  in the name of these invisible interstellar deities.  And yet The 
  Pilgrim is here, claiming moral superiority over everyone else.  
  How can you show everyone else the hypocrisy of the religion?
  You want to see justice done, though you have abandoned the 
  path of violence.  How can you punish the wicked and protect 
  the innocent without the use of force?
  Authority: 
   
  You have authority over details about Sheriff Torkelson’s 
  life and the clues found on the body.
  You also have authority over Big Fat Mike’s Saloon, in the 
  center of town.
  Isuko  
   
   
   
  The Hotheaded
   
   
   
  1d6 and 3d10
  Hot Temper: When you take the Enraged condition, 
  you roll two of the appropriate die type, but only place 
  one on your condition tracker. 
  Background: You’re notorious in town for your ter-
  rible temper.  You can get upset and angry at anybody for 
  anything.
  That cowardly Milton chickened out when you needed 
  him/her.  What were you doing when Milton failed you? 
  How will you get Milton to fix things for you?
  Respect: Webb is the only person in town that doesn’t 
  anger you on a regular basis.  Sure, he’s wildly incompe-
  tent and dangerously clumsy.  But that’s hilarious instead 
  of enraging.
  Authority: You have the responsibility over angling the 
  game towards action, interesting interactions and con-
  flict.  You watch scenes to make sure that they are going 
  to result in a change in circumstances or something excit-
  ing.  Similarly, watch when people introduce new facts to 
  make sure those facts can lead to interesting action later 
  on in the game.
  You also have authority over Jolene, the town prostitute. 
  Why does she work this degrading job?  Does the town 
  treat her fairly, or does she work this job because she is 
  unable to get other, legitimate work?
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  16
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Dice
  d4:
  d6:
  d8:
  d10:
  d12:
  d20:
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
  Webb  
   
   
   
  The Incompetent
   
   
   
  5d6 and 2d10
  Underdog: You don’t get a d4 in your condition dice.  In 
  its place, you get a d20.
  Background: You’re the town loser.  The incompetent 
  fool.  Everyone thinks that you are a klutz and a dead-
  beat.  And most of the time, they’re right.  What was your 
  last big, spectacular failure?
  Sometimes, the other townsfolk take advantage of you.  
  You owe Gonzalez a lot of money because of your con-
  tinual failure at gambling.  How can you get out of your 
  debt?
  Similarly, Oh made you look like a fool to pursue his/her 
  object of affection.  How did Oh embarrass you?  How 
  can you force Oh give you respect?
  Respect: Milton has never pushed you around like the 
  others.  Probably because he’s afraid of everyone.  But 
  nonetheless, you are happy at least one person isn’t mock-
  ing your every mistake.
  Authority: You have authority over watching people’s 
  condition trackers.  Make sure that they never reuse 
  die sizes and that they set them to the maximum value 
  when they acquire a condition and decrease the die coun-
  ter when the condition is invoked.
   
  You also have authority over Big Fat Mike, the 
  saloon owner and barkeep.
  SGT. Yong-Shin  
   
   
  The Deserter
   
   
   
  2d6 and 4d10
  Shrug it Off: Once per session, you can roll a Condition 
  die instead of setting it to maximum to track how long 
  you have that Condition.
  Background:  
  You were a warrior in The Brethren Wars among the moons 
  of Saturn.  You were trained and genetically modified to be a 
  perfect soldier.  But for some reason you decided to abandon 
  your post and stop the fighting.  Why?
  You fled to Proxima to escape the violence and depravity of 
  war.  You hoped to find a peaceful life here, where you’d never 
  have to kill again.  You’ve been lying about your identity to 
  keep from being arrested for deserting your post.
  The Brethren Wars were led by the religious teachings and in-
  tolerance of the Stellar Brethren, who believe that aliens are 
  out there watching humanity’s moves.  You saw much slaughter 
  in the name of these invisible interstellar deities.  And yet The 
  Pilgrim is here, claiming moral superiority over everyone else.  
  How can you show everyone else the hypocrisy of the religion?
  You want to see justice done, though you have abandoned the 
  path of violence.  How can you punish the wicked and protect 
  the innocent without the use of force?
  Authority: 
   
  You have authority over details about Sheriff Torkelson’s 
  life and the clues found on the body.
  You also have authority over Big Fat Mike’s Saloon, in the 
  center of town.
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  17
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Dice
  d4:
  d6:
  d8:
  d10:
  d12:
  d20:
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
  Brother Uziel 
   
   
  The Zealot
   
   
   
  5d6 and 1d10
  True Believer: Once per game, you can set one die to 
  its highest value instead of rolling it.
  Background:  You worship the aliens that watch over 
  humanity.  As humankind has spread beyond the planet 
  earth, old religions and superstitions have fallen away.  
  But when settlers on Longshot uncovered an artifact of 
  alien origin, a resurgence of belief in and worship of 
  alien life began.  Though you are one of the enlightened 
  who received the message of the Star Brethren, most 
  of the colony still doesn’t recognize the holy truth.  How 
  can you spread the gospel of the extraterrestrial savior?  
  Can you show the heathens the truth? Who among the 
  colonists seems a likely convert?
   
  You travelled from Mars to here because you are 
  a true believer.  The alien artifact is a holy relic of the ut-
  most importance.  It belongs in the hands of the faithful 
  such as yourself.  How will you get it out of the hands of 
  The Archaeologist?
   
  What is the obvious sign of your religious beliefs?  
  Do you have a ritual dress (like a veil or turban) or some sort 
  of tattoo?  A ritual phrase used in every speech?
  Authority: You have the responsibility of making sure 
  everyone is contributing.  If anyone isn’t speaking up 
  but looks like they don’t like an idea, ask for their opin-
  ion.  If someone doesn’t seem enthused, try to look for 
  ways to get them involved and excited. 
   
  You also have authority over The Temple of 
  the Star Brethren, a worship center built by your own 
  hand.
  Thushpa 
   
   
   
  The Veteran
   
   
   
  2d6 and 4d10
  True Grit: You cannot be opposed in a conflict by NPCs 
  or environmental hazards.  Only Player Characters can 
  stop you.
  Background: You’re old and experienced.  Maybe 
  you’ve been on Longshot longer than anyone else.  Maybe 
  you travelled the moons of Jupiter for decades before 
  coming here.  Where did you spend most of your rough 
  and tumble life?  Do you sit back with a calm “been there, 
  done that” demeanor? Or do you tell rambling tall tales of 
  your amazing adventures on Phobos?
  Gonzalez swindled you, like the greedy bastard he/she 
  is.  How were you tricked, and what exactly did you lose 
  in the deal?  What is your plan to get it back?
  Respect: Isuko is a temperamental bastard.  Maybe 
  Isuko reminds you of yourself when you were younger.  
  Maybe you’re entertained by his/her impotent rage.  Why 
  do you respect the loose cannon Isuko?
  Authority: You have authority over the nature of the planet 
  Longshot.  When someone says things about living conditions 
  on the planet, weather conditions or what the gravity levels are, 
  pay attention.  Try to make sure everything is consistent and 
  reasonably plausible (the magic word “terraforming” can explain a lot). 
  Try to think of interesting features of the planet as a whole and 
  of the terrain immediately outside Journey’s End.
   
  You also have authority over Winky Ledoux, a 
  low level worker at The Ranch, the bio-material pro-
  cessing plant outside of town.  What shady dealings has 
  Winky gotten into this time?
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  18
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Dice
  d4:
  d6:
  d8:
  d10:
  d12:
  d20:
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
  Oh  
   
   
   
  The Infatuated
   
   
   
  4d6 and 2d10
  Fires of Passion: You get a free 1d10 in any conflict 
  where you try to defend your Beloved. 
  Background: You’re in love. One of the other player 
  characters is your Beloved, an angel descended to bless 
  you with his or her beauty and personality.  Which char-
  acter is your Beloved?  Why do you love him or her so?
   
  There is a slight note of trouble in paradise, though.  
  Your Beloved does not yet love you back.  How can you 
  earn his or her love?
   
  That temperamental Isuko did something terrible to 
  your Beloved.  What was it?  How can you fix it, or how 
  can you make Isuko fix it?
  Respect: Gonzalez tries to act like a greedy miser.  But 
  you know he/she has some good down inside.  What no-
  ble act did you witness Gonzalez do when he/she thought 
  you weren’t watching?  
   
  Of course you also have Respect for your Beloved.
  Authority: 
  You have the responsibility to call for 
  more detail or colorful narration of events.  If someone 
  is glossing over something exciting, interesting or impor-
  tant, ask them to give additional information.  How do 
  they manage that?  
   
  You also have authority over Chun, a close friend or 
  coworker of your Beloved.  How does Chun interact with 
  your Beloved? 
  sister Bethia 
   
   
  The Zealot
   
   
   
  5d6 and 1d10
  True Believer: Once per session, you can set one die to 
  its highest value instead of rolling it.
  Background:  You worship the aliens that watch over 
  humanity.  As humankind has spread beyond the planet 
  earth, old religions and superstitions have fallen away.  
  But when settlers on Longshot uncover an artifact of 
  alien origin, a resurgence of belief in and worship of 
  alien life began.  Though you are one of the enlightened 
  who received the message of the Star Brethren, most 
  of the colony still doesn’t recognize the holy truth.  How 
  can you spread the gospel of the extraterrestrial savior?  
  Can you show the heathens the truth? Who among the 
  colonists seems a likely convert?
   
  You travelled from Mars to here because you are 
  a true believer.  The alien artifact is a holy relic of the ut-
  most importance.  It belongs in the hands of the faithful 
  such as yourself.  How will you get it out of the hands of 
  The Archaeologist?
   
  What is the obvious sign of your religious beliefs?  
  Do you have a ritual dress (like a veil or turban) or some sort 
  of tattoo?  A ritual phrase used in every speech?
  Authority:  
   You have the responsibility of making 
  sure everyone is contributing.  If anyone isn’t speak-
  ing up but looks like they don’t like an idea, ask for their 
  opinion.  If someone doesn’t seem enthused, try to look 
  for ways to get them involved and excited. 
   
  You also have authority over The Temple of 
  the Star Brethren, a worship center built by your own 
  hand.
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  19
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Dice
  d4:
  d6:
  d8:
  d10:
  d12:
  d20:
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
  Deputy Thomas 
   
   
  The Marshal
   
   
   
  3d6 and 3d10
  The Law is on My Side: Once per session you can 
  reroll all the dice in your pool during a conflict.
  Background:  
   
  Sheriff Torkelson acted as the default mayor 
  and bureaucrat as well as being the town sheriff. He’d 
  handle the radio communication back to Earth and the 
  paperwork for supply shipments. When you found him 
  dead, you also found records that there hadn’t been any 
  real communication with Earth in the last four years. 
  Which means, by your count that this most recent sup-
  ply ship is going to be the last one coming. How will the 
  colony survive without assistance?
   
  And the Sheriff ’s duties all fall to you. How will 
  you fill Torkelson’s shoes? How do you plan on finding 
  the sheriff ’s murderer? What clues do you have? 
   
  You’ve long suspected that Joong-Jun/Yong-
  Shin was a deserter from the space war. How will you 
  identify if he/she really is guilty of going AWOL? Are 
  you going to keep enforcing the laws from back home? 
   
  Authority: 
   
  You have authority over laws, regulations and 
  official procedures.  If someone says something is 
  legal or not, you have some obligation to chip in ideas.  
  If someone is stuck for an illegal good for them to be 
  smuggling out of town, you should help them come up 
  with something cool.
   
  You also have authority over the sheriff’s of-
  fice and town jail.
  Gonzales 
   
   
   
  The Greedy
   
   
   
  2d6 and 3d10
  Secret Stockpiles: Once per session, if the Common 
  Pool goes empty, you do not have to check off a die size or 
  contribute a die to the Common Pool.
  Background: You’re here on Longshot, trying to become 
  the biggest fish in this small pond.  You want money, of 
  course, but also power and resources.  Everything belongs 
  to someone, and it might as well all belong to you.  What’s 
  your next big money-making scheme?  How will you col-
  lect all the resources for yourself?
  Your favorable dealings with the rest of town sometimes 
  leave a sour taste in the mouths of others.  How do you 
  keep yourself safe from angry debtors?
  Speaking of which, Webb owes you a lot of money, 
  because of his poor poker playing skills. What favor could 
  you get Webb to do for you to balance the books?
   
  Respect: You’ve tricked and swindled Thushpa in the 
  past, but you respect his/her years of experience and 
  worldly knowledge.
  Authority: You have the responsibility to watch the 
  resource economy and the Common Pool.  Make sure 
  every resource movement goes from the proper source 
  to the right place.  You decide who gets the resources if 
  two players both try to pull from the Common Pool at the 
  same time.
  You also have authority over Widow Olafsdottir, who 
  owes you several months of back rent.
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  20
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Dice
  d4:
  d6:
  d8:
  d10:
  d12:
  d20:
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
  Milton 
   
   
   
  The Cowardly
   
   
   
  4d6 and 2d10
  Conflict Avoidance: Once per session, you can force 
  your opponent in a conflict to reroll all their dice.
  Background: You’re know around town for being a 
  scaredy-cat.  A pushover.  You’re a natural born worrier, 
  and are afraid of basically anything that could kill you.  
  Why are you so cowardly?  What is your number one big-
  gest fear?  What do you most fear losing?
  Why did you really abandon Isuko when you were help-
  ing him? Why did you agree to help in the first place?
  Thushpa took something of value from you.  What was 
  it?  How can you get it back without confronting Thushpa 
  about it?
  Respect: Oh is able to come out and admit his/her in-
  nermost feelings about his/her Beloved.  You’d be terri-
  fied of exposing yourself like that, so you give Oh a lot of 
  Respect.
  Authority: You have the responsibility to watch the story 
  and call for conflicts as needed.  If no one is willing to 
  say Yes, then they’re gonna have to roll the dice.
  You also have authority over Cyrus, your nephew sent to 
  your care after his parents died on the frontier.  How old 
  is he?  Does he idolize you or hate you?
  Deputy Maria 
   
   
  The Marshal
   
   
   
  3d6 and 3d10
  The Law is on My Side: Once per session you can 
  reroll all the dice in your pool during a conflict.
  Background:  
   
  Sheriff Torkelson acted as the default mayor 
  and bureaucrat as well as being the town sheriff. He’d 
  handle the radio communication back to Earth and the 
  paperwork for supply shipments. When you found him 
  dead, you also found records that there hadn’t been any 
  real communication with Earth in the last four years. 
  Which means, by your count that this most recent sup-
  ply ship is going to be the last one coming. How will the 
  colony survive without assistance?
   
  And the Sheriff ’s duties all fall to you. How will 
  you fill Torkelson’s shoes? How do you plan on finding 
  the sheriff ’s murderer? What clues do you have? 
   
  You’ve long suspected that Joong-Jun/Yong-
  Shin was a deserter from the space war. How will you 
  identify if he/she really is guilty of going AWOL? Are 
  you going to keep enforcing the laws from back home? 
   
  Authority: 
   
  You have authority over laws, regulations and 
  official procedures.  If someone says something is 
  legal or not, you have some obligation to chip in ideas.  
  If someone is stuck for an illegal good for them to be 
  smuggling out of town, you should help them come up 
  with something cool.
   
  You also have authority over the town jail.
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  21
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Fold here
  Cut here
  Cut here
  Emmanuel  
   
   
  The Rancher
   
   
   
  4d6 and 2d10
  This is My Land: If you are involved in a conflict on the 
  Ranch, you gain a bonus 1d6 to your roll.
  Background:  
  People came to Proxima to build better lives for themselves, 
  right?  So you run The Ranch, the bio-material processing 
  farm outside of town.  The Ranch can provide most of what 
  the colony needs to survive, but not everything.
  That’s part of why you need to expand the Ranch.  As it is, the 
  facility can’t support the town.  It’ll never replace the supply 
  ships from earth, but if expanded it might let a few more people 
  survive here.  The problem here is that the Archaeologist 
  wants to stop you expanding, as he/she thinks there are alien 
  artifacts to be uncovered where you’d be building.  Who cares 
  about ancient space junk when it’s a struggle just to survive?
  Expanding would also make it easier to cover up your illegal 
  activities.  What nefarious acts have you been hiding in among 
  the Ranch machinery?  How are you gonna make sure that the 
  Deputy doesn’t go sticking his/her nose into it?
  Authority: 
   
  You have authority over minor NPCs.  You 
  should give input when someone is trying to introduce a 
  new NPC, and any unnamed NPC or group of NPCs are 
  under your control if no one else claims them.
   
  You also have authority over the Ranch.
  SGT. JOONG-JUN
  The Deserter
   
  ~ Job ~
  SGT. YONG-SHIN
  The Deserter
   
  ~ Job ~
  BROTHER UZIEL
  The zealot
   
  ~ Job ~
  SGT. JOONG-JUN
  The Deserter
   
  ~ Job ~
  SGT. YONG-SHIN
  The Deserter
   
  ~ Job ~
  BROTHER UZIEL
  The ZEALOT
   
  ~ Job ~
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  22
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Fold here
  Cut here
  Cut here
  Hesta  
   
   
   
  The Rancher
   
   
   
  4d6 and 2d10
  This is My Land: If you are involved in a conflict on the 
  Ranch, you gain a bonus 1d6 to your roll.
  Background:  
  People came to Proxima to build better lives for themselves, 
  right?  So you run The Ranch, the bio-material processing 
  farm outside of town.  The Ranch can provide most of what 
  the colony needs to survive, but not everything.
  That’s part of why you need to expand the Ranch.  As it is, the 
  facility can’t support the town.  It’ll never replace the supply 
  ships from earth, but if expanded it might let a few more people 
  survive here.  The problem here is that the Archaeologist 
  wants to stop you expanding, as he/she thinks there are alien 
  artifacts to be uncovered where you’d be building.  Who cares 
  about ancient space junk trying to survive?
  Expanding would also make it easier to cover up your illegal 
  activities.  What nefarious acts have you been hiding in among 
  the Ranch machinery?  How are you gonna make sure that the 
  Deputy doesn’t go sticking his/her nose into it?
  Authority: 
   
  You have authority over minor NPCs.  You 
  should give input when someone is trying to introduce a 
  new NPC, and any unnamed NPC or group of NPCs are 
  under your control if no one else claims them.
   
  You also have authority over the Ranch.
  SISTER BETHIA
  The zealot
   
  ~ Job ~
  SISTER BETHIA
  The ZEALOT
   
  ~ Job ~
  DEPUTY THOMAS
  The MARSHAL
   
  ~ Job ~
  DEPUTY MARIA
  The MARSHAL
   
  ~ Job ~
  DEPUTY THOMAS
  The MARSHAL
   
  ~ Job ~
  DEPUTY MARIA
  The MARSHAL
   
  ~ Job ~
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  23
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Fold here
  Cut here
  Cut here
  Seung-Ha  
   
   
  The New Arrival
   
   
   
  Determined by your Personalities
  Who Are You Really? Pick two personalities and gain 
  everything from both (see below).
  Background: You only arrived here in town a short time.  
  Were you running from something back on Earth, or were 
  you seeking something here?  What is the lie you tell every-
  one else about why you came?
  Already you’re pulled into this tangled web of secrets and 
  lies, and the town is in a panic.   It’s too late to leave.  How 
  will you find a new life here on Longshot?
  No one is sure what your real personality is just yet. You 
  pick two Personalities, and gain everything from both (the 
  goals, background, special abilities and authority).  Your starting 
  dice is the total of your two Personalities. Ignore places 
  where one Personality relates to your other Personality.  
  Try to figure out how the various relationships fit to make 
  a coherent character.  How does your demeanor change 
  when dealing with different people?  
  Pick one of the two last names to be your name.  Or hy-
  phenate them.  Or tell some people one is your name and 
  other people that the other one is your last name.
  Authority: In addition to any Authority given by your 
  two Personalities, you gain authority over what it was like 
  back on Earth just before you left.  (It’s been eight years since 
  you left, and the last news Proxima got was four years after you left.)
  EMMANUEL
  The RANCHER
   
  ~ Job ~
  HESTA
  The RANCHER
   
  ~ Job ~
  SEUNG-HA
  NEW ARRIVAL
   
  ~ Job ~
  HESTA
  The RANCHER
   
  ~ Job ~
  SEUNG-HA
  NEW ARRIVAL
   
  ~ Job ~
  EMMANUEL
  The RANCHER
   
  ~ Job ~
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  24
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Fold here
  Cut here
  Cut here
  clementine  
   
   
  The New Arrival
   
   
   
  Determined by your Personalities
  Who Are You Really? Pick two personalities and gain 
  everything from both (see below).
  Background: You only arrived here in town a short time.  
  Were you running from something back on Earth, or were 
  you seeking something here?  What is the lie you tell every-
  one else about why you came?
  Already you’re pulled into this tangled web of secrets and 
  lies, and the town is in a panic.   It’s too late to leave.  How 
  will you find a new life here on Longshot?
  No one is sure what your real personality is just yet. You 
  pick two Personalities, and gain everything from both (the 
  goals, background, special abilities and authority).  Your starting 
  dice is the total of your two Personalities. Ignore places 
  where one Personality relates to your other Personality.  
  Try to figure out how the various relationships fit to make 
  a coherent character.  How does your demeanor change 
  when dealing with different people?  
  Pick one of the two last names to be your name.  Or hy-
  phenate them.  Or tell some people one is your name and 
  other people that the other one is your last name.
  Authority: In addition to any Authority given by your 
  two Personalities, you gain authority over what it was like 
  back on Earth just before you left.  (It’s been eight years since 
  you left, and the last news Proxima got was four years after you left.)
  CLEMENTINE
  NEW ARRIVAL
   
  ~ Job ~
  CLEMENTINE
  NEW ARRIVAL
   
  ~ Job ~
  DR. TIMOTHY
  The ARCHAEOLOGIST
   
  ~ Job ~
  DR. ROSABEL
  The ARCHAEOLOGIST
   
  ~ Job ~
  DR. TIMOTHY
  THE ARCHAEOLOGIST
   
  ~ Job ~
  DR. ROSABEL
  THE ARCHAEOLOGIST
   
  ~ Job ~
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  25
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Fold here
  Cut here
  Cut here
  Dr. Timothy  
   
   
  The Archaeologist
   
   
   
  5d6 and 1d10
  Eureka Moment: Once per session, the artifact lets you 
  keep all the dice that you rolled in a conflict that you lost. 
  Background: Humanity has never yet encountered an 
  alien lifeform.  All we had for a long, long time was specu-
  lation and superstition.  Until some Proximan settlers found 
  the Artifact, that is.  The Artifact is the only item that is 
  universally agreed upon to be of alien origin.  Its function, 
  purpose and creation are all mysteries.  What does the ar-
  tifact look like?  How big is it?  Have you learned anything 
  about how it operates?
  You came to Proxima to study the artifact. You’re an ev-
  erlasting seeker after truth.  You want to know about the 
  artifact, but you also want to know what’s really going on 
  all around you.
  You’re worried that the Ranch’s expansion is going to 
  destroy additional priceless alien artifacts.  You have to find 
  a way to stop the Rancher from building more until you 
  can do an absolutely thorough survey of the area.
  Authority: You have authority over the alien artifact, 
  and over and science fiction technology that appears in 
  the game.  If someone starts trying to introduce in Star Trek 
  style teleporters, it’s your job to say something.  We want 
  the tech to keep the setting a difficult, grungy wilderness. 
  You also have authority over the scientific research 
  center established to study the artifact.  Is it well funded, 
  or just your kitchen and secondhand lab equipment? 
  ISUKO
  HOT HEADED
   
  ~ Personality ~
  ISUKO
  HOT HEADED
   
  ~ Personality ~
  WEBB
  INCOMPETENT
   
  ~ Personality ~
  WEBB
  INCOMPETENT
   
  ~ Personality ~
  THUSHPA
  VETERAN
   
  ~ Personality ~
  THUSHPA
  VETERAN
   
  ~ Personality ~
  
   
   
   
   
   
  Starting Dice: 
   
  26
  Conditions
  Wounded:
  Insane:
  Wanted:
  Enraged:
  Tired:
  Scared:
  DEAD:
  Fold here
  Cut here
  Cut here
  Dr. Rosabel  
   
   
  The Archaeologist
   
   
   
  5d6 and 1d10
  Eureka Moment: Once per session, the artifact lets you 
  keep all the dice that you rolled in a conflict that you lost. 
  Background: Humanity has never yet encountered an 
  alien lifeform.  All we had for a long, long time was specu-
  lation and superstition.  Until some Proximan settlers found 
  the Artifact, that is.  The artifact is the only item that is 
  universally agreed upon to be of alien origin.  Its function, 
  purpose and creation are all mysteries.  What does the ar-
  tifact look like?  How big is it?  Have you learned anything 
  about how it operates?
  You came to Proxima to study the artifact. You’re an ev-
  erlasting seeker after truth.  You want to know about the 
  artifact, but you also want to know what’s really going on 
  all around you.
  You’re worried that the Ranch’s expansion is going to 
  destroy additional priceless alien artifacts.  You have to find 
  a way to stop the Rancher from building more until you 
  can do an absolutely thorough survey of the area.
  Authority: You have authority over the alien artifact, 
  and over and science fiction technology that appears in 
  the game.  If someone starts trying to introduce in Star Trek 
  style teleporters, it’s your job to say something.  We want 
  the tech to keep the setting a difficult, grungy wilderness. 
  You also have authority over the scientific research 
  center established to study the artifact.  Is it well funded, 
  or just your kitchen and secondhand lab equipment? 
  OH
  INFATUATED
   
  ~ Personality ~
  OH
  INFATUATED
   
  ~ Personality ~
  GONZALES
  GREEDY
   
  ~ Personality ~
  GONZALES
  GREEDY
   
  ~ Personality ~
  MILTON
  COWARDLY
   
  ~ Personality ~
  MILTON
  COWARDLY
   
  ~ Personality ~
  
  27
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
   
  This game was made by Nick Wedig 
  for the annual Game Chef roleplaying game 
  design event. Each year, participants in Game 
  Chef try to complete a roleplaying game in a 
  limited span of time. For 2010, we had a little 
  over a week and a list of ingredientsto use. 
  Longshot was made using the ingredients 
  Desert, Skin, Edge, and the theme of Journey. If 
  you can’t figure out how they figure into the 
  game, don’t worry too much about it.
   
  I owe some thanks to all the people that 
  gave me useful feedback during the design 
  (online people and real life people both). The game’s 
  design draws from all sorts of influences. In 
  many ways, it condenses down a lot of my 
  roleplaying for the last year or two. In partic-
  ular, I want to say that the division of author-
  ity is inspired by Archipelago by Matthjis Holter 
  and by Medical Hospital by Jason Morningstar.
   
  This work is licensed under the Cre-
  ative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported 
  License. To view a copy of this license, 
  visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
  by/3.0/ or, send a letter to Creative Com-
  mons, 171 2nd Street, Suite 300, San Fran-
  cisco, California, 94105, USA. 
   
  If do anything cool with the game, 
  please tell me about it at nickwedig@yahoo.com
  Notes
  Notes
  This work is Creative Commons Licensed.  So do with it what you will.
  
  28
  Longshot, by Nick Wedig
  NPC Death Track
  Mystery Pool
  Common Pool
  Add a die to the Mystery Pool at the end of  
  each time around the table.  Start at d4 and 
  work upwards each time around the table.
  Anyone can take the dice from the Mystery 
  Pool by revealing themselves to be the mur-
  derer of  the sheriff.
  The Common Pool starts with one die for 
  each player, starting at d20 and working 
  down.
  Any player can roll dice from the Common 
  Pool in a conflict.
  You can add your dice to the Common Pool, 
  for the good of  the colony.
  If  the Common Pool ever is empty after a 
  coonflict, every player must mark off  their 
  highest unused die size.  If  you have no 
  more unused die sizes, your character dies a 
  death by preventable causes.
  It’s easier to survive when the resources 
  don’t need split between so many people. 
  Each time an NPC dies for any reason, you 
  add a die to the Common Pool.  The first 
  NPC to die provides a d4,and each subse-
  quent NPC to die provides the next higher 
  die size.  Use this handy NPC Death Track 
  to keep tabs on your heartless murders.
  d4:
  d6:
  d8:
  d10:
  d12:
  d20:
  Game Aids
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Long Shot.pdf