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  BBest Friends
  by Gregor Hutton
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends
  And All Their Petty Hatreds
  
  Published by BoxNinja, Edinburgh, UK
  boxninja.com
  Best Friends gets my award for most awesome and elegant currency mechanic.
  —Paul Czege, author of My Life with Master
  My fave element of this is character generation.
  —Robin D. Laws, author of Feng Shui and Esoterrorists
  “
  ”
  “
  ”
  Price
  $7.50
  A role-playing game for four or more friends.
  Discuss this and other UK independent games: collective-endeavour.com
  A member of the Indie Press Revolution: indiepressrevolution.com
  Pages
  64
  System
  Diceless
  Genre
  Any
  Players
  4+
  Age
  12+
  BOX0001  Online Edition, Third Version, 2007
  OK, it’s a game about being Best Friends and all the 
  little hatreds that Best Friends have for each other.
  Oh, I know. You’re gonna say that y’all get along just 
  peachy. Well, that’s ﬁne too. No one said any of this 
  was true…
  But, between you and me: it really is.
  
  sd
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  BBest Friends
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends
  And All Their Petty Hatreds
  by Gregor Hutton
  “Best Friends is one of the most genuinely innovative role-
  playing concepts I have come across in a considerable time.”
  —Hendrik Little
  
  Legal Stuff and Nonsense
  Concept/Writing/Art: Gregor Hutton
  Publisher: BoxNinja, Edinburgh, UK
  Website: http://boxninja.com
  E-mail: maleboxboxninja.com
  Discuss this and other UK independent games: 
  http://www.collective-endeavour.com
  A member of the Indie Press Revolution: 
  http://www.indiepressrevolution.com
  Electronic Copy History
  Released: July 2006
  Updated: August 2006
  Updated: July 2007
  Typeset in Adobe® InDesign® CS
  on a .5-GHz Apple PowerBook G4 5-inch
  Published from the UK
  © 2007 Gregor Hutton. All Rights Reserved.
  This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form 
  (beyond that copying permitted by Copyright Law and by reviewers for the public press), 
  without prior written permission from the publisher.
  Permission is granted to copy the Play and Character Sheets for personal use only.
  
  o
  1
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Best Friends
  Contents ...........................................page
  Being ‘Best Friends’ and Glossary ..........2–4
  Making Friends .......................................5–7
  Hatreds .....................................................8–9
  An Example Friend ........................... 10–11
  Play ...................................................... 12–17
  An Example Of Play .......................... 18–21
  Game Mastering ................................ 22–24
  Scenario Ideas ...........................................25
  A Scenario: Cabin Fever ................... 26–29
  Pushing Boundaries .......................... 30–31
  Detailed Hatreds ................................ 32–41
  A List Of Character Names .....................42
  Commentary: The Ronnies .....................43
  Commentary: Thanks, etc. ............... 44–45
  Appendix: Some Friendly Words .... 46–53
  More Thanks and Index .................... 54–55
  Advertisements .................................. 56–59
  Play Sheets and Character Sheet ...... 60–62
  
  o
  2
  Best Friends
  Being ‘Best Friends’
  So, what’s this book all about?
  Well, it’s a role-playing game about being a girl.
  Yeah, everyone plays a girl. If you’re not down with that 
  then, y’know, just put Best Friends back wherever you 
  found it and walk away. No hard feelings, eh?
  So, still here? Great!
  OK, it’s a game about being Best Friends and all the little 
  hatreds that Best Friends have for each other.
  Oh, I know. You’re gonna say that y’all get along just 
  peachy. Well, that’s ﬁne too. No one said any of this was 
  true…
  But, between you and me: it really is.
  Anyway, you and some friends all play girlfriends and try 
  to do stuﬀ together, while secretly hating each other. And 
  getting little frissons of excitement out of getting one up 
  on your Best Friends. And it’s going to be fun.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  3
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Role-Playing 101
  Well, this is a ‘role-playing game’, but it’s not about going 
  into any dungeons and slaying dragons. Nope, not at all.
  Role-playing is a social activity where you meet up with 
  other folks and talk. Yeah, you make stuﬀ up. You are all 
  players, and you each role-play a character. One of you 
  might be the Game Master (GM), but it’s not vital.
  In this game your character is a girl. All the other 
  characters are your girlfriends. You’re all Best Friends.
  There are rules that help you decide what you can and 
  can’t do. The players take turns to describe the world 
  and their characters’ actions, making a story with their 
  contributions. The GM is like an interested panel-show 
  host, and that’s it. Oh, yeah, it’s all about having fun.
  Size Of The Group
  You’ll need four to six players and maybe a GM. I’ve 
  always found ﬁve players a good number for Best Friends.
  Tokens Or ‘Friend-Chips’
  You’ll need some tokens for play—you can use poker 
  chips, nicely coloured beads, or even wine glasses.
  So, Who’s The GM?
  Someone might want to do it—if so, let them. They’ll take 
  on a lot of tasks that you’ll see later. Without a GM you 
  just share those reponsibilities around the group.
  Convivial Atmosphere
  You probably want to be playing this in a friendly 
  environment. So think about pleasant lighting, soft 
  atmospheric music in the background, comfortable chairs 
  and a healthy supply of spirits and other refreshments. 
  On the other hand, it would probably work just as well 
  around a camp ﬁre. Whatever works best for you, really.
  I prefer sharing 
  GM tasks around 
  and I write about it in 
  the all-new Appendix.
  
  o
  4
  Best Friends
  Glossary
  Here are some handy terms used in Best Friends.
  Character. An imaginary persona that you play. In this 
  game they are all female, and they’re all Best Friends.
  Friend-chips. Tokens, beads, poker chips, glasses of wine, 
  etc. that are used as playing pieces. You have to push these 
  to other players to do things in the game world. You start 
  the game with 2 each. Oh, it’s a play on words, obviously.
  Game Master. A person running the game, called GM for 
  short. They play incidental characters and frame scenes.
  Gargantuan. Enormous. A high rating (3 or over); clearly 
  above and beyond average. You know, I’ve always liked 
  that word, but so rarely have an opportunity to use it.
  Hatreds. The things that you feel for your Best Friends.
  Player. Someone in the real world playing a character.
  Push. Giving a friend-chip to another player 
  (speciﬁcally: the one playing the character you hate 
  for being better than you at whatever you are 
  doing). This allows you to do something far, far 
  beyond your normal level of ability. Really.
  Scene. A part of the game. A situation and 
  place where action and conﬂict happen. 
  A game is made up of a series of scenes. 
  ‘Framing’ a scene is simply describing the 
  opening, or closure, of a scene. Best to 
  think cinematically about this.
  Zero. The opposite of gargantuan. 
  As a rating it represents ugly, 
  uncool, stupid, frail or impoverished. Real bad.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  5
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Making Friends
  OK, here’s how a group creates characters for Best Friends. 
  Look at the character sheet that can be found at the back 
  of the book, or the example Best Friend on pages 10–11.
  Question: Who Are You?
  First oﬀ, everyone writes down a name for their character 
  on a character sheet. Put it in the bit that says ‘I am…’
  When you’ve all done that you need to let everyone know 
  what your characters are called. Write it on a bit of paper 
  and put it out in front of you, or better yet, on a sticker.
  Go on, everyone needs to know. After all, they’re your Best 
  Friends. And in turn you’ll ﬁnd out what everyone else has 
  called their characters too. Think of it as ‘bonding.’
  Now The Important Bit: Hatreds
  Now that you have a list of all the other character names, 
  it’s time to list why you hate them so. And you do, oh yes.
  You have ﬁve things that you hate your Best Friends for. If 
  there are just ﬁve other characters then write each name 
  once, i.e. each one will be against a diﬀerent hate.
  If there are not ﬁve other characters then someone might 
  get more than one hatred from you. Ouch! See page 7.
  
  o
  6
  Best Friends
  The hatreds in Best Friends are as follows.
   I hate … because she is prettier than me.
   I hate … because she is cooler than me.
   I hate … because she is smarter than me.
   I hate … because she is tougher than me.
   I hate … because she is richer than me.
  Don’t show anyone what you’ve put though. So far it’s a 
  secret—the kind that you don’t share yet.
  Finding Out Who Hates Who And Why
  OK, when everyone has ﬁnished putting in their hatreds 
  it’s time to ‘fess up’ to each other about your hatreds.
  For each character ﬁnd out how many other characters 
  hate them for each of the following:
   Pretty 
   Cool
   Smart
   Tough
   Rich
  If no one has you down as pretty, say, then write a ‘0’ in 
  the pretty loveheart. And ain’t that a shame, it really is.
  If one person hates you then write a ‘1’ in the loveheart. 1 
  is a normal score, and is OK. I guess it’s average.
  If two have you down then write ‘2’ in the loveheart. That 
  is pretty good and is a distinct advantage at one thing.
  Any more than 2 is a cherry on top. Just write down how 
  many characters hate you for each thing. It should total 
  up to 5 across all the lovehearts.
  That’s how it works. You’ve just built a network of hatreds.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  7
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Friend-chips
  Each player starts the game with 2 of them. You can end 
  up with more (up to 5) or less (as few as 0) in game.
  Make A Drawing
  Now draw your character in the circle–triangle style.
  And I…
  Write down what your character is like, now that you 
  know how you are viewed by your Best Friends. So 
  something such as ‘I’m always the bridesmaid’ or 
  ‘I’m the sexiest prom queen Miller High’s ever seen.’
  Stuff
  This is where you write in the physical Stuﬀ you have: 
  clothes, cars, pets, boyfriends, pom-poms, cigarettes, etc.
  Nonsense
  Note your relationships, problems, friends, etc. here. 
  Husband called Brad? Always fainting? Write it down. 
  Single guys always fall ‘in wuv’ with you? That’s Nonsense.
  Groups With Something Other Than Six Players
  If your group isn’t six in number then you can’t allocate 
  only one hatred to each character. The way it works is to 
  allocate hatreds to the character(s) sitting to your right. So 
  every character ends up with 5 hatreds from the group.
   For seven players, the player to your left gets 0 
  hatreds and the players to your right get 1 each.
   For ﬁve players, the player to your right gets an 
  extra hatred allocated to their character. 
   For four players you have two extra hatreds to hand 
  out. Give one to the player to your immediate right 
  and another to the player to their right (i.e. the two 
  players that are to the right of you). Easy.
   For three players, the player to your left gets 2 
  hatreds and the player to your right gets 3 hatreds.
  For starting with a 
  diﬀerent number of 
  friend-chips see p. 31.
  The issues that 
  drive play will be 
  rooted in your Stuﬀ 
  and Nonsense. So, 
  you should share this 
  information and link 
  your Best Friends.
  
  o
  8
  Best Friends
  Hatreds
  In Best Friends you describe what you are doing as part of 
  a narrative. As long as everyone agrees then it happens.
  So ‘I’m going to the door and opening it.’ might be a typical 
  thing that you say in game as a player. No problem.
  If everyone agrees, then it happens. A GM can help you 
  interact with the game ‘world’ but all the other players are 
  important in deciding what is allowed. Do they object?
  What if the door was locked? Or wedged tightly shut?
  Are you smart enough to open it? Are you cool enough 
  to know how to pick the lock? Are you tough enough to 
  break it? What if you need a bank card to get it open—are 
  you rich enough? What if only pretty girls get through?
  Things that are contested should be looked at in terms of 
  the ﬁve hatreds. Which of them is this contest about?
   Pretty
   Cool 
   Smart 
   Tough 
   Rich
  What About The Ratings?
  Now, that’s an interesting question. They are relative and 
  maleable, and are a guide for the group to decide on. But 
  listed on the page opposite is what I think of them.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  9
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  0 – ‘Zero’
  A rating so bad that you have diﬃculty doing things 
  that the average person can do. Buy a decent meal? Lift a 
  decent-sized box of books? They’re all beyond you.
  You can get by, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that you are 
  pretty weak and can only do really easy stuﬀ without 
  pushing yourself. You look up to everyone else. That sucks.
  1 – ‘Average’
  A typical rating. Look, you can do most things that an 
  average person can do. As long as we can all agree what 
  that is, then you can do it. Paying for decent meals and 
  cars is something routine for you. Just an average girl.
  However, there are still many things that you have to push 
  to get. That nice holiday? How about a better, newer car? 
  Or a degree? Want to run a 10K race? You gotta push.
  2 – ‘Significant’
  You are signiﬁcantly better than the average person. All 
  the things that the normal girl on the street has to push 
  for come easily to you. That’s not to say that you never 
  have to push. Sometimes you will face challenges that 
  require more eﬀort and ability than even you naturally 
  possess, but these are few and far between.
  Run a marathon in under 3 hours? Buying a yacht? Get a 
  PhD? Win the state beauty pageant? You’ll have to push.
  3 and over – ‘Gargantuan’
  This level is only possible if you have four players or more. 
  And it really is a case of putting many eggs in one basket.
  Needless to say, this rating is so high that there is almost 
  nothing that you would have to push for. You’ll only ﬁnd 
  yourself doing that when locked in a contest and the 
  friend-chips are ﬂying. You are gargantuan at one hatred.
  
  o
  10
  Best Friends
  An Example Friend
  So here is an example of creating characters in Best 
  Friends. It’s a group activity and I’ll lead you through it.
  I Am… Kate
  Ruth decides that her character is called Kate, so she 
  writes this on a sticker and puts it on her shirt. She also 
  writes it on a bit of card and sets it out in front of herself.
  Ruth looks around and sees her Best Friends are called 
  (starting at her right) ‘Alison’, ‘Marie’, ‘Amy’ and ‘Kristine.’
  She now writes down her hatreds for the others. There are 
  four other characters so the character to her immediate 
  right (Alison) gets one more hatred than the others.
   Alison is ‘Cooler’ and ‘Tougher’ 
   Marie is ‘Smarter’
   Amy is ‘Prettier’
   Kristine is ‘Richer’
  Everyone ﬁnishes and the four other players have given 
  Kate the following ratings for their Hatreds.
   Pretty 
  1 
   Cool 
  0
   Smart 
  2
   Tough 
  1
   Rich 
  1
  Ruth now has a good idea of her character Kate. She is 
  smarter than average and no one thinks she’s cool. She 
  draws Kate and writes down some Stuﬀ and Nonsense.
  The ﬁnished character sheet is opposite and Ruth’s 
  character Kate and her Best Friends Alison, Marie, Amy 
  and Kristine are now ready for play.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  11
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Best Friends
   Pretty 
  Cool 
  Smart 
  Tough 
  Rich
  1
  0
  2
  1
  1
  I am…
  And I…
  Stuff
  Nonsense
   I hate  ................ because she is prettier than me.
   I hate  ................ because she is cooler than me.
   I hate  ................ because she is smarter than me.
   I hate  ................ because she is tougher than me.
   I hate  ................ because she is richer than me.
  Kate
  am a bit of a geek
  Amy
  Alison
  Alison
  Marie
  Kristine
  Reading Glasses, Denim Jacket, Sports
  Bag, School Books, Kristine’s French Homework 
  Likes Pop Music, Nerdy Brother,
  Hates Maths, Does Kristine’s French work
  
  o
  12
  Best Friends
  Play
  Games are all about play, so here’s how to play the game.
  Starting Play
  OK, I’m assuming that you’ve got a group of people 
  together who actually want to have a game of Best Friends. 
  So, if we have that, then how do you get started?
  First oﬀ, get everyone to sit down and speak about what 
  they actually want to play. Seriously. Talk about it. Make 
  a setting that you all have input on, and that you’re all 
  happy with. You’ll ﬁnd that the best ideas are the ones 
  where everyone has built on all the group’s contributions.
  So, what is your game of Best Friends like? Is it serious, 
  humourous, modern, historical, slapstick, ironic, dewey-
  eyed, futuristic, magical, thrilling, romantic, horriﬁc or 
  something else? And what about the characters in it?
  What is the end condition of the game? Does it end with 
  the last dance at the prom? Or when the Titanic sinks?
  Creating Characters
  Once everyone has a good understanding of the setting 
  then all the players can get to work collaboratively 
  creating the group’s characters (see pages 5–7).
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  13
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  My best games of Best Friends have started by getting 
  everyone to ﬁrst create an agreed setting, then the 
  characters, and then ﬁnally reﬁning the game world with 
  speciﬁcs of our characters, interconnections, shared 
  friends, loves, hatreds, etc. We create a ‘shared imaginary 
  space’ to play in, by answering the following big questions.
  Big Questions
  Who are we? Where are we? What Stuﬀ do we have? 
  What’s our Nonsense? What are we doing? What do we 
  care about? And what’s the rub? You know, where’s the 
  conﬂicts? Why are we friends? Why these hatreds for 
  these friends? And then we’ve set the scenario from that.
  Stories And Initial Conflict
  Stories start with an initial conﬂict. This is followed by a 
  rising tension to a climax, and then a resolution to end. 
  Best Friends can be like this, or you can establish your 
  characters ﬁrst and then ﬁnd the conﬂicts in play.
  So, ﬁnd a good opening conﬂict and that is where to start. 
  Base your opening scene around this conﬂict. Subsequent 
  scenes should add more conﬂicts, support for each other, 
  twists, revelations, developments and so on. Then reach a 
  climactic point where all the conﬂicts and hatreds come 
  to the fore. Finish with some clear, deﬁned resolution.
  Framing Scenes
  Normally the GM sets, or ‘frames’, scenes. What can 
  be seen, heard and felt? Who and what is there? 
  What has just happened? Where is the conﬂict?
  Once the scene has been set the players 
  start describing what their characters are 
  saying and doing in the scene.
  At a suitable point the scene is closed, and a 
  new one is framed by the GM or a player.
  
  o
  14
  Best Friends
  Narrating Character Actions
  When describing what characters are doing, players 
  should think about the ratings of those characters. If a 
  character has a Rich rating of Zero then paint a picture of 
  someone with little or no money, not someone swanning 
  around with the ﬁnest trappings of life. You can, of course, 
  go beyond the ratings, but to do so needs a push.
  Rules For Pushing
  For your character to do something above a rating you 
  have to push. To do this you give a friend-chip to another 
  player. The person you give it to is the person you hate for 
  being better than you at whatever you are doing.
  So, if this is an action described by Smart then give a 
  friend-chip to the person playing the character you hate 
  for being smarter than your character. Simple.
  If Kate on pages 10–11 pushes to be Cool, then her player 
  Ruth has to give a friend-chip to the player of Alison. 
  Because Kate hates Alison for being cooler than her.
  In conﬂicts in Best Friends the following rules apply.
   The higher hatred in a conﬂict wins. 
   The lower hatred can push to win, but the character 
  with the higher hatred can then push back over to win. 
   Conﬂicts between equal hatreds are initially tied.
  Either side can push over to win. The loser at that point 
  can then choose to push back to tie again if they wish.
  And there are a few rules about friend-chips and pushing.
   Players can only hold a maximum of 5 friend-chips 
  at any one time. Any more chips than 5 have to be 
  narrated immediately and pushed on to someone else. 
  This keeps the friend-chips moving.
   You can’t push more than once in a conﬂict.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  In a conﬂict 
  where two 
  players have 
  already pushed, 
  another player 
  can choose to 
  push and make 
  one side win. 
  Note: they must 
  aid one side or 
  the other. Other 
  players can then 
  choose to push 
  back to help the 
  losing side, if 
  they so wish.
  
  o
  15
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Conflicts, Goals and Outcomes
  Conﬂicts are at the heart of any story in Best Friends. A lot 
  of the narrative in the game won’t be conﬂict, but conﬂict 
  is vital for a good story and, indeed, drives play. Conﬂict is 
  simply when players disagree about ‘what happens next’.
  Each player in a conﬂict has a diﬀerent goal. If a player 
  wins a conﬂict then their goal is successful and they get 
  to narrate the outcome. The loser in the conﬂict also gets 
  to contribute to the narration, but they have to narrate in 
  line with the outcome rather than their desired goal.
  In a tied conﬂict, if the players all agree, then it’s possible 
  both goals can succeed. Otherwise they both fail and the 
  GM will help narrate a losing outcome with the players.
  A good conﬂict is sharply opposed, and the players are 
  disgreeing over something important. In conﬂicts don’t 
  set ‘impossible goals’ (e.g. I destroy the planet).
  Being Hurt
  In Best Friends your character can be hurt as the outcome 
  of a conﬂict. It’s possible. If you are hurt you have to 
  include the injury in future narration of your character.
  A character dying, however, is usually viewed as an 
  ‘impossible goal’. Though a player may choose to narrate 
  this for their own character if they think it appropriate.
  
  o
  16
  Best Friends
  General Advice On Playing The Game
  Best Friends is about creating stories as a group. You 
  should create stories that you enjoy, stories that are 
  meaningful, amusing, thought provoking and dramatic.
  Everyone is encouraged to make suggestions to each other 
  about what the characters are like, or at least how they are 
  viewed by the others. And all players should take part in 
  framing scenes and narrating dramatic events in game.
  If you have a GM don’t leave it all to them. Yes, the GM 
  does have responsibility for keeping the story on track 
  and making sure everyone is involved. However, it is also 
  the responsibility of each player to be fair, helpful and 
  collaborative. It’s a group activity—your input is vital.
  To help with the drama and creating stories that are 
  interesting to all of you, all of the players should talk 
  about where their characters might conﬂict with, 
  and support, one another. Listening to your 
  fellow players is a great way to get ideas 
  for your own character and to come 
  up with twists and stresses that are of 
  interest to the whole group. Drawing a map of the 
  relationships between everyone can help too.
  Everyone should have interest in all the 
  characters in game–after all they’re Best Friends.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  17
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Play Summary
  Starting Play and Defining Characters
   Agree the tone, setting and content of the game. 
   Set an end condition for the game, if needed.
   Create characters, see Making Friends (pp. 5–7).
   Choose Stuﬀ and create overlapping Nonsense.
   Answer the Big Questions (p. 13).
  Framing A Scene
   Who is there? Where is it? What is it like?
   What does this scene do for the game?
  Conflicts, Goals and Outcomes
   Where is the conﬂict? What is it?
   Who is in conﬂict? Why?
   Deﬁne the conﬂict, goals and outcomes sharply.
   The higher hatred in a conﬂict wins. 
   The lower hatred can push to win, but the character 
  with the higher hatred can then push back over to win. 
   Conﬂicts between equal hatreds are initially tied.
  Either side can push over to win. The loser at that point 
  can then choose to push back to tie again if they wish.
   Players can only hold a maximum of 5 friend-chips 
  at any one time. Any more chips than 5 have to be 
  narrated immediately and pushed on to someone else. 
  This keeps the friend-chips moving.
   You can’t push more than once in a conﬂict.
  Closing A Scene
   End the conﬂict and tie up any loose ends.
  Ending The Game
   Has the end condition been reached?
   Wrap up the story, allow each character an ending.
  
  o
  18
  Best Friends
  An Example Of Play
  Here are some examples of the rules of play.
  Starting Play
  Gregor (GM): What do we want our game to be about?
  Rod: I’d like something with a bit of bite, but not really 
  heavy or serious. Something action packed!
  Jane: Yeah, I don’t mind a bit of action or horror but not 
  anything full of angst or really heavy.
  Freddy: I was going to ask for something really kooky and 
  light, but black humour and horror is OK for me too.
  Rod: Something like that ﬂick The Descent?
  Jane: Yeah, something like that. But, please, no gore.
  Gregor (GM): Well, we can tone down the gruesome 
  descriptions but keep in the horror. So these are women 
  in their twenties? On a caving weekend?
  Freddy: Yeah, that would work for me. I think they’ve 
  maybe been apart for a while and have met up again for 
  an adventure holiday weekend.
  Jane: …and all the old hatreds resurface!
  Rod: Yeah, for sure. Let’s go with that.
  Everyone allocates hatreds and creates characters.
  Defining Characters
  Gregor (GM): OK, what Nonsense do you share?
  Jane: Well, my husband died but he had an aﬀair with one 
  of the others. I’m not sure I know about that… yet.
  Rod: Maybe that was my character? I’m the Pretty one. I 
  wouldn’t be so Pretty if your Tough girl ﬁnds out though!
  Jane: I’m thinking it might have been Freddy’s character. 
  She’s the Smart one. She’d know to keep it quiet from me. 
  What do you think Freddy? Is that OK for you?
  Freddy: I’d rather just be the loyal Smart one, really.
  Jane: That’s OK. Rod, looks like your Pretty girl did it.
  Rod: Excellent. I’ve got Zero in Smart too, so I might have 
  even forgotten I had an aﬀair with him. It’ll be this huge 
  thing to you and nothing to me when you ﬁnd out.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  19
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Framing A Scene
  Rod: It’s my turn to frame a scene. What do you want me 
  to do? Do I just say what I’m doing?
  Gregor (GM): Well, OK, can you describe the scene? Your 
  card said ‘cave’. So where are we? What is this cave like?
  Rod: Umm, we’re all in a cave, and there’s a pool of water 
  at the bottom of it. We’re all just standing around.
  Jane: OK, I’m going to…
  Gregor (GM): Hi Jane, I’d like a bit more from Rod 
  before we start doing things here. How big’s the cave? Is it 
  narrow or cavernous? Dark? Wet?
  Jane: Sorry, no problem.
  Rod: I think it’s really big. A big hole in the ground and 
  we came down into it on ropes. It’s probably wet if there’s 
  a pool. It’s this big old cavern with bats and so on.
  Gregor (GM): What’s the temperature like in here?
  Rod: Outside the hole it’s a real sunny and warm day. In 
  here it’s cold and wet. It’s mighty chilly and a bit creepy.
  Freddy: Yeah, it’d be cool if there was a big waterfall 
  pouring into the cave. It sounds like it’s a big drop.
  Rod: Sure, there’s a waterfall and it’s so loud we can hardly 
  hear each other unless we’re shouting. And there’s a 
  rainbow forming in the misty spray over our heads.
  Jane: Cool. What time did we get here. My scene ﬁnished 
  at breakfast, so I guess that was by 9 
  am? Is it far from the cabin?
  Rod: I think we’ve taken a few hours 
  to get here and we’re probably a bit 
  behind schedule. It must be getting 
  nearer noon by the time we’ve gotten 
  down into the cave. Oh, and there’s 
  a log in the pool. We knocked it in 
  when we were trying to climb down.
  Freddy: I think that might have 
  been your character Rod. She’s 
  always doing that kind of thing. 
  I’m clumsy but too smart to do that I 
  think. Or was it Jane being gung-ho?
  
  o
  20
  Best Friends
  A Conflict
  Gregor (GM): I think we have a conﬂict here in this cave. 
  Jane, what was your goal?
  Jane: Well, I think I’m quite Tough with a rating of 2, and 
  I’ve swum through this tunnel you described. It’s totally 
  ﬁlled with water and we have to hold our breath to get 
  through. When she’s (looks at Rod) following me, I maybe 
  go just a bit further so she’s really gasping for air by the 
  time she gets out. I mean I’m gasping, but I’m OK. Rod’s 
  character, though, she’s going to pass out.
  Rod: I’ve got Tough 1.
  Freddy: Ouch! Not enough. Your going to pass out!
  Gregor (GM): Rod, what’s your goal?
  Rod: Well, my goal is that I don’t pass out. I’d like to get 
  through, but get Jane stuck in front of me. It’s actually me 
  who pushes her out from under the water and saves her.
  Gregor (GM): OK. They’re the goals. At the moment Jane 
  wins as she has a higher Tough rating. So she’s winning. 
  Pushing
  Gregor (GM): Rod, do you want to push?
  Rod: OK, I’ll push.
  Gregor (GM): Who is tougher than you?
  Rod: (Sighs) Jane’s character. (Pushes chip to Jane.) 
  Jane: Hmm. What’s the outcome at the moment?
  Gregor (GM): Rod’s winning, what’ll happen?
  Rod: …um, Jane you’re going real far and you get stuck. 
  Then you’re ﬂailing in this watery tunnel. I’m beat, my 
  lungs are burning, but I’ll push as hard as I can, I really try 
  because you’ve always been the tougher one, right? And 
  I’m going to get you free, but while I’ll manage to get us 
  both out – it’s you that’ll be passed out, not me. 
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  There are some useful Actual Play threads for Best Friends online:  
  http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=21070.0 
  http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=21406.0 
  http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=21531.0 
  http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=21835.0 
  There is also an MP3 ﬁle of a short demo on boxninja.com.
  
  o
  21
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Pushing Back
  Gregor (GM): That’s the outcome at the moment as Rod 
  pushed to win. Do you want to push back?
  Jane: Yes, I’ll push over.
  Gregor (GM): Who is tougher than you?
  Jane: Freddy’s character. (Pushes friend-chip to Freddy.)
  Freddy: I’d forgotten where I got that hatred from.
  Gregor (GM): Jane, you win the conﬂict and you get to 
  narrate the outcome. Rod and Freddy you can add in 
  ideas too, but it’s Jane that gets to describe what happens 
  here. So, on you go Jane... I take it that you break free?
  Ending A Scene
  Gregor (GM): You all collapse in a heap as the rocks 
  cascade down through the vent. You see the last of the 
  things get battered on the head by a particularly large 
  boulder. It falls limp and more rocks pile down on top of 
  it, sealing the cave behind you.
  Rod: I’d like to go…
  Gregor (GM): Well, I think I’m just going to wrap 
  this scene up here if that’s OK, Rod. I think we’ve got 
  everything we wanted out of the trip to the caves.
  Jane: Yup, that’s OK with me.
  Freddy: Yeah, me too.
  Rod: That’s OK with me too then.
  Gregor (GM): Wearily you all get to your feet and start to 
  walk back to the cabin. It’s dawn and it looks like it’ll be a 
  four or ﬁve hour walk.
  Ending The Game
  Gregor (GM): And with the ambulance and police 
  arriving at the cabin we’ll draw the game to a close. So, 
  Jane, do you want to go ﬁrst telling us what happens to 
  your character after the game?
  Jane: Well, I think my character is going to have a lot of 
  explaining to do. But in court is anyone going to testify? 
  And that ﬁnishes the example of play.
  
  o
  22
  Best Friends
  Game Mastering
  Now if you’re a player that’s all ﬁne and dandy. You 
  describe what your character is doing, you sometimes 
  push chips at other players and you get to giggle at all your 
  petty hatreds. All good. But what about the GM? Read on.
  Other Folks
  As the GM you describe the world in conjunction with 
  the players and you keep things moving along. You get 
  to role-play all the incidental people that the characters 
  bump into, or ask the players to role-play them with you. 
  Some non-player characters (NPCs) might be as follows.
  Average Boy
  Non-descript boy that gets in the way. How very average. 
  All Hatreds: 1
  Tough Boy
  Tough boys can sometimes be handy, but are often a pain.  
  Pretty: 0 
  Tough: 2 
  Others: 1
  Pretty Boy
  When pretty boys are about… jealousy is bound to follow.  
  Pretty: 2 
  Tough: 0 
  Others: 1
  Other inhabitants of the imaginary game world can easily 
  be extrapolated from these examples.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  Note that 
  NPCs cannot 
  push, they are 
  just deﬁned by 
  their hatreds, 
  but players 
  can push on 
  their behalf.
  When playing 
  without a GM 
  share the roles of 
  NPCs amongst 
  the players as 
  appropriate.
  
  o
  23
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Taking Turns At Framing Scenes
  One idea that you might want to try is getting everyone to 
  take a turn at framing a scene. This can lessen the burden 
  on the GM to frame all the scenes in the game.
  You can do this by progressing around the table one-by-
  one, or by getting everyone to write an idea for a scene 
  on a card and then picking them out as necessary. Or you 
  could say that the last player to receive a pushed chip in 
  one scene has the responsibility to frame the next one.
  Probing Questions
  As GM you should be asking open questions of 
  the players: How? Why? Where? What? When?
  You should help them describe what they are doing 
  in detail and with vigour. Help deﬁne their goals 
  in conﬂicts clearly and create a vivid and fun 
  story. Encourage with constructive feedback too.
  It is also your responsibility to give them a hand 
  when they are lost for words, or stuck about what 
  they want to do. Of course, every player can help, but 
  as GM you should especially take an interest in this and 
  ensuring that everyone gets a fair share of the spotlight.
  Calling The Game Off
  If it looks like someone isn’t enjoying the game, or is 
  uncomfortable with the direction it’s taking then you 
  should step in and help resolve the problem. Sometimes 
  you might have to steer a player away from a topic that 
  you’d all agreed not to bring into the game.
  And, if players aren’t really enjoying the experience, you 
  should step up and call a time out. If you can’t get the 
  game back on track to everyone’s satisfaction then really 
  the best thing to do is call it oﬀ. It really is better to have 
  no game than one that people aren’t enjoying.
   I’ve written some 
  notes on this in the 
  Appendix too. 
  
  o
  24
  Best Friends
  Keeping An Eye On The Bigger Picture
  As GM you should aim to start strongly and end 
  decisively. Try to keep the game moving along at all times. 
  During scenes you should be watching closely to see if the 
  story, characters and drama are developing.
  If a scene becomes stuck you should either help to get it 
  moving again or close the scene and frame a new one.
  In evaluating conﬂicts within scenes you should be critical 
  of ones that are loosely deﬁned. Try to get well-deﬁned 
  goals from all the players involved in the conﬂict.
  If a game starts to get out of control you will need to 
  bring everyone together. Help develop the story in a more 
  focused way, alert everyone to the main conﬂicts and ﬁnd 
  a sharp end. Conversely, if a game slows down and begins 
  to drag you need to close scenes and stimulate conﬂicts. 
  What are the issues that matter? Where is the end?
  You should also keep in mind the sort of game that 
  everyone wants to play. If one player tries to take the 
  game in a wildly diﬀerent direction you should be the one 
  to point this out and pull them back to the group. Ask the 
  player to reﬂect on the goals of the group as a whole and 
  see if they can adjust their ideas to better ﬁt the game.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  25
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Scenario Ideas
  Here are some situations for games of Best Friends. 
  Ideally you should be able to come up with something 
  collaborative between the members of your group that 
  strikes a chord for you—the most creative people in 
  gaming are those playing the games, not the folks writing 
  books. But, for inspiration perhaps, I present these ideas.
  At The Mall
  You could spend all day at the mall, from open till close, 
  just shopping and getting coﬀee, and all the other crazy 
  stuﬀ that happens there. Like getting mistakenly arrested 
  for shoplifting, harassed by builders on their lunch break, 
  stuck in the elevator, or getting locked in. Things like that.
  The Prom
  It’s only the biggest night of your life. And your Best 
  Friends couldn’t possibly ruin it for you, could they? Try 
  and get the best date and not have it turn into a disaster. 
  Really, is that so hard? With Best Friends like these… 
  Crashed Car
  You’re all on your way back from out of town and the 
  car just plain sails oﬀ the road. Stranded in the middle of 
  nowhere, what will you do (to each other) to get home?
  Secret Stuff Stolen
  There’s nothing worse than getting your Stuﬀ stolen. But 
  what if you really, really need get it back? Your friends will 
  help you for sure. Won’t they? Well, they’ll have to when 
  they hear that the slumber party video is one of the things 
  that has been stolen. No one must see that tape…
  House Party
  There’s a house party on, it’s the buzz of your social circle. 
  Everyone who’s anyone will be there. Who’s coolest, who’s 
  prettiest, who’s toughest? Well, you’ll ﬁnd out at the party. 
  And just hope that it doesn’t all end in tears…
  
  o
  26
  Best Friends
  Scenario: Cabin Fever
  This scenario is about a group of friends meeting up and 
  going on an adventure break together. It’s up to the players 
  whether they are at school together, whether this is a 
  reunion some years later, or if they are work colleagues.
  Whatever the case, they are all Best Friends and have 
  bubbling hatreds for each other. They should also have 
  overlapping Nonsense and points of conﬂict that will 
  drive the story. The end condition is the end of the trip.
  The scenario takes place in a remote area, which could 
  be the wilds of Scotland, Siberia, Antarctica, or a jungle 
  on the equator. The key element is that the characters are 
  together and their conﬂicts will surface until a climactic 
  ending is reached. Do they survive the whole weekend?
  Character Creation
  Get everyone together and discuss the setting.
   What ages are the characters? 
   What are their backgrounds? 
   Where is the game set? Scotland? Somewhere else? 
   Are there any 
  elements you’d like to 
  bring in? Comic book? 
  Supernatural? Fantasy? 
   What elements 
  should not be 
  touched upon? 
  What are you 
  uncomfortable with?
  Now that everyone is 
  on the same page about 
  the setting they can create 
  characters together and start 
  to write in their Nonsense.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  27
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  The key points here are the following.
   The basis is that you’re all Best Friends and you’re 
  together on holiday here. 
   But why here? 
   Who organized the trip? 
   Who was reluctant to go? 
   Who isn’t here? Why not? 
   Where does your Nonsense overlap? 
   Are any of you related? 
   Are, or were, any of you in a relationship? With 
  each other? Or with a common love interest? 
   What role do you have in the group? 
   Who is the leader? And who’s a follower? 
   What are your character’s problems?
  Starting Conflict/Opening Scene
  Find a conﬂict to start the game, this should come from 
  the characters’ hatreds and Nonsense that they’ve just 
  ﬂeshed out. It should be something that the characters 
  have an interest or investment in. Examples are as follows.
   An argument has broken out over breakfast. Who? 
  Why? How? What is the argument really about? 
   Everyone has just descended into a cave only for a 
  rockfall to block everyone in. How are you going to get 
  out? Whose idea was this? Who knows you are here? 
   The cabin that you’re staying in has just burnt down 
  along with all your clothes, maps and car keys. Who is 
  to blame? What, or who, was inside the cabin? 
   One character has just broken her leg. Which 
  character? And who was at fault? Who does she 
  blame? How did it happen? Why? 
   Betty, a non-player character, has just fallen oﬀ a 
  mountain while climbing. What are you going to do? 
  And are you all roped together? 
   Kayaking down a tricky river the toughest of the 
  group is going too far ahead and some can’t keep up.
  
  o
  28
  Best Friends
  Frame The Scene
  So now, someone ‘frames’, i.e. describes, the scene. It is 
  usually the GM, but players can do this, or contribute if 
  everyone is happy with that.
   So where are you? 
   What does it look like? 
   Smell? 
   Sounds? 
   Taste? 
   What is everyone doing? 
   What has just happened? 
   Be vivid in your description and encourage the 
  players to be colourful too.
  And then play begins.
  Sharply deﬁne conﬂicts and think of them in terms of the 
  ﬁve hatreds. Is this something that involves…
   Pretty
   Cool 
   Smart 
   Tough 
   Rich
  Who is involved in the conﬂict? What 
  are they conﬂicting with or about?
  String the events together and then 
  the scene will come to an end. The GM 
  can bring it to an end if it starts to 
  ﬂag or get out of hand.
  So, when the scene comes to a 
  conclusion, end it by tying up 
  all the points succinctly. Then 
  move on to the next scene.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  29
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Further Scenes
  Further scenes lead on from the ﬁrst, feeding on the 
  points that came out of it. Increase the tension and throw 
  in twists and developments. If some characters were less 
  involved the GM should try and involve them more in the 
  next scene, which could be like these.
   Late at night in the woods, a dense fog rolls in and 
  a howling can be heard in the distance. It seems to be 
  getting closer. 
   A walking expedition has been arranged and the 
  tour guide turns up. He is very handsome and tough. 
  What eﬀect does this new addition have on the group? 
   The characters wander into a remote village which 
  seems to be largely abandoned. Strange sounds can be 
  heard and weird things start to happen. 
   Bad weather sets in and the characters are trapped 
  outdoors. Will everyone help each other or will cracks 
  begin to form between these Best Friends? 
   The characters ﬁnd Betty at the bottom of the cliﬀ. 
  Is she dead? Or is she strangely unaﬀected by her fall? 
  What does she say? How can you help her? 
   The characters pass through a spooky cemetery 
  where they are attacked by vampires or 
  zombies. And what eﬀect does the full 
  moon have on any of the characters?
  Ending The Game
  At some point a climactic conﬂict will 
  result between many of the characters. 
  Go for it! Work those hatreds. When it 
  is resolved it is time to end the story.
  When the story ends everyone in the 
  group gets to say what happens to their 
  character in the aftermath and how it 
  ends for them. How has the weekend 
  changed them? Are they still Best Friends?
  
  o
  30
  Best Friends
  Pushing Boundaries
  OK. So you’ve been playing Best Friends and it’s light and 
  ﬂuﬀy. Great. But what if you want to take it up a notch?
  Ron Edwards said the following.
  Basically, these women are in 
  crisis. They are not running 
  their lives well. Situations 
  during play must reveal and 
  highlight every detail about 
  that, and develop them further 
  into consequences – whether 
  funny and satirical, or dramatic 
  and gripping, that’s up to you. 
  Does this switch a light on for 
  you? If you want to play that sort 
  of game then you should go 
  right ahead. And really go for it! 
  If you’re interested in pushing boundaries, and yourself, 
  in that way then I also heartily recommend that you check 
  out Ron’s book It Was A Mutual Decision too (see p. 45).
  More Control Over Your Hatreds
  Now, here is something that was in the 24-hour version 
  and I chopped it out from the main part of the game.
  I think it’s perhaps weak to do this. We should be bold 
  and embrace the character creation presented earlier in 
  the book. I feel that it’s liberating to have our characters 
  collaboratively deﬁned by our peers. On the other hand…
  Maybe you want to have a little more control over what 
  people give you to play with? So, try saying something 
  like ‘Can I have a tough, smart character tonight?’ and see 
  how your fellow players respond.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  31
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Changing The Number Of Friend-Chips
  One of the variables in the game is the number of friend-
  chips that players have. I’ve now said ‘start with 2’ but 
  you can vary this. A diﬀerent number of friend-chips, or 
  a diﬀerent limit on the maximum will aﬀect play for sure. 
  Try using 3 friend-chips each if 2 is too sharp for you.
  Do you want to have more or less opportunity to push?
  Boundary Pushed Scenarios
  Here are some scenario ideas that might ﬁt in better with 
  a sharper, harsher spotlight for the game.
  Sex In The City
  Who said this game was just about young girls? Older 
  women have hatreds and desires too. Just hope that your 
  friends don’t go sleeping with your ex, again. And what 
  will you do to each other as years of festering hatreds 
  come to the boil. Best Friends? Better enemies…
  The Office
  Working 9 to 5 gives you plenty of hated girlfriends. 
  Whether it’s a drunken Christmas party or a team-
  building course in a cave, there’s plenty of role-playing. 
  Yeah, sure, you all smile at each other and say the nicest 
  things day-to-day at work, but deep down you remember 
  all the slights and put-downs over the years.
  All This Talk Of Wine Glasses?
  Push by drinking, then pass the empty glass. The new 
  owner reﬁlls it and gains the friend-chip. Simple.
  Is Death The End?
  No. Just because a character dies doesn’t put 
  the player out of the game. Whether playing 
  a ghost (like Banquo in Macbeth), or a 
  haunting guilt, you can still take part in 
  the game from beyond the grave.
  
  o
  32
  Best Friends
  Detailing ‘Pretty’
  All the things that are covered by Pretty rely on your 
  looks, charm and perceived social order.
  Things like the following.
   Catching a boy’s eye
   Getting a date
   Looking innocent
   Getting discounts
   Being helped out by boys
   First impressions
   Being charming
   Knowing other beautiful people
   Being given the beneﬁt of the doubt
   Inﬂuencing crowds
   Oﬀers of dinner and holidays
   Winning beauty contests
   Popularity with people who don’t know you
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  “You would 
  do anything 
  for me now, 
  wouldn’t you 
  sweetie? You 
  know what it 
  means to me.”
  
  o
  33
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Level 0
  You are at best plain, and at worst downright ugly.
  You have a hard time getting decent dates and are viewed 
  with suspicion when people ﬁrst meet you.
  Not one of the beautiful people. Nope, not at all.
  Level 1
  You are pleasant and attractive in a homely kind of way. A 
  cut above plain.
  You get dates most of the time, but they are rarely with the 
  most popular boys.
  You make a decent ﬁrst impression, although you are 
  sometimes forgettable or confused with someone else 
  equally average.
  Level 2
  Wow. You are stunning.
  You are likely one of the cutest and most sought after girls 
  in your area. You are always getting oﬀers of dates and can 
  aﬀord to be picky.
  You make good ﬁrst impressions and everyone always 
  remembers you.
  Be warned, though. If you’re a nasty piece of work (and, in 
  this game, who isn’t?) then they may remember you for all 
  the wrong reasons. But, by God, you’ll be remembered.
  Level 3 and over
  Unbelievable.
  You should be in Hollywood or a palace. There’s very little 
  men won’t do for you, even if they hate you for it. Divine.
  
  o
  34
  Best Friends
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  Detailing ‘Cool’
  All the things that are covered by cool are things that rely 
  on your calmness, savvy and force of personality.
  Things like the following.
   Being popular
   Stealing Stuﬀ
   Not getting fazed
   Borrowing things
   Knowing other cool people
   Saying cool stuﬀ
   Persuading people
   Staying calm and focused
   Mental toughness
   Being streetwise
   Having followers
   Wearing the coolest clothes
   Knowing all the latest gadgets
  “Do I look 
  like the sort 
  of girl who 
  worries about 
  Nonsense like 
  that? No, I 
  really don’t.”
  
  o
  35
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Level 0
  You are what might be called a ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’. You are the 
  High Queen of Uncool.
  You get a hard time because of all the uncool stuﬀ you say 
  and do. You are always the last to get invited to something 
  really exciting.
  Level 1
  You are the average, everyday, sorta, sometimes, kinda-
  cool person. You have your moments but let’s not pretend 
  they are frequent or all that cool.
  C’mon, there are millions like you out there. One of the 
  masses, you know when to blend in though.
  Level 2
  Hey! You are ice cold.
  Who’s that with the gaggle of wannabe cool people 
  around them? Hey, that would be you!
  You probably have a little band of followers that laugh at 
  your jokes and everything that you do. They even give 
  others a hard time on your behalf. One of them’s even 
  going to name their ﬁrst daughter after you.
  But you’re not the only one this cool in your 
  neighbourhood. You’ve got a rival somewhere that’s 
  almost as cool as you are. And they’ve got followers too.
  Level 3 and over
  Chilly, chill, chill. You are without a doubt the coolest 
  person just about anyone knows. Ice cold and popular. 
  Almost nothing makes you bat an eyelid.
  Whenever cool stuﬀ is going down you’re right in the 
  middle. You’re a James Dean or Steve McQueen for sure.
  
  o
  36
  Best Friends
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  Detailing ‘Smart’
  All the things that are covered by Smart are things that 
  rely on your quick wits, reason and education.
  Things like the following.
   Looking up books
   Thinking about Nonsense
   Looking clever
   Saying clever things
   Understanding instructions
   Speaking languages
   Not getting lost
   Arguing and debating
   Thinking on your feet
   Spotting clues
   Understanding technology
   Planning ahead
   Working gadgets and computers
  “Anyone 
  know what 
  this is? Class? 
  Anyone? 
  Anyone? 
  Anyone seen 
  this before?”
  
  o
  37
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Level 0
  There’s no nice way of saying this. I’ll type it real slow so 
  you can understand what I’m saying, OK?
  YOU … ARE … AS … STUPID … AS … A … BOX … 
  OF … ROCKS … — … A … REALLY … BIG … BOX.
  You missed the day at school where they handed out the 
  brains. Either that, or they put a softball in there instead.
  Level 1
  You get decent grades and you’re even good at some 
  subjects, but let’s be honest, you’re not a rocket scientist.
  You can ﬁgure stuﬀ out with some time and a bit of help, 
  so maybe you’re not a complete embarrassment to your 
  parents and friends. Not one of life’s great thinkers.
  Level 2
  A real smartie pants. You’re computer literate and up on 
  all the latest science news and theories.
  Always quick with an answer you can do sums in your 
  head and speak a few languages, including Latin.
  People always ask you things and you mostly know the 
  answers. You could be a mathlete for sure.
  And who doesn’t know why the sky is blue? Bwa-ha-ha.
  Level 3 and over
  Genius. No messing about. You’re too clever for your own 
  good sometimes, but with your vast intellect and PhD it’s 
  all probably part of a gargantuan master plan.
  There isn’t much you don’t know or can’t ﬁgure out for 
  yourself. The downside might be ﬁnding stimulating 
  conversation, or anyone that understands your arguments.
  
  o
  38
  Best Friends
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  Detailing ‘Tough’
  All the things that are covered by tough are things that 
  rely on your ﬁtness, strength, agility and speed.
  Things like the following.
   Fights
   Avoiding injury and illness
   Going without food
   Breaking things
   Athletic activities
   Feats of agility
   Climbing trees
   Running
   Swimming against a strong current
   Staying awake when tired
   Dancing energetically
   Looking healthy
   Throwing things a fair distance
  “You’re going 
  to have to 
  hit me with 
  something 
  a lot harder 
  than that to 
  get me down.”
  
  o
  39
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Level 0
  You are weak and sickly.
  People ask you if you are OK even on a good day. You 
  look brittle and frail even when at your best.
  You won’t be winning any races anytime soon, unless it’s 
  the one to fall over ﬁrst.
  Level 1
  You are as healthy as the next girl. You sometimes run and 
  you can dance a bit too.
  Doing anything more energetic than your normal daily 
  routine is a push though. Just sayin’.
  You won’t be last out of that burning house, but you won’t 
  be ﬁrst either.
  Level 2
  Look at you Miss Healthy!
  You could be on the school track team if you wanted. And 
  you probably go running and swimming for fun. You eat 
  responsibly and have a bright, healthy glow about you.
  You’re probably going to be ﬁrst out of any burning 
  houses around here.
  Level 3 and over
  A championship-calibre athlete. You hold a few records 
  here and there, and in diﬀerent sports too.
  Ever heard of Korfball? Thought not. Never mind, you 
  were the best player on a championship team, and you 
  better believe it. Drop and gimme 100? No sweat.
  You’re the toughest of the tough. Harder than hard.
  
  o
  40
  Best Friends
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  Detailing ‘Rich’
  All the things that are covered by Rich rely on money and 
  status. This is the land of the ‘have’s and ‘have not’s.
  Things like the following.
   Buying Stuﬀ
   Getting into expensive eateries, bars and clubs
   Owning a car
   Paying ﬁnes and posting bail
   Going to the movies
   Being treated with respect
   Going on holiday
   Knowing other rich people
   Etiquette and savoir faire
   Political inﬂuence
   Social status
   Bribing and corrupting
   Hiring the very best lawyers
  “If you have 
  to ask the 
  price then 
  I’m sorry to 
  say that you 
  simply can’t 
  aﬀord.”
  
  o
  41
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Level 0
  Even being kind you are ‘down on your luck.’ Being 
  truthful: you’re nearly always ﬂat broke. Spark out of cash.
  If buying meals were up to you everyone would be eating 
  from tins of beans.
  Always looking to borrow. That’s you.
  Level 1
  You have an average amount of money, whatever the hell 
  that means. I guess you have the usual Stuﬀ that people 
  like you have.
  Your Stuﬀ is not always the best and most expensive 
  brand, but you do OK.
  At a push you might even have some designer clothes.
  Level 2
  Look who’s paying?!
  You have a nice car, great clothes, classy diamonds and 
  just about anything you could want.
  Sometimes you even max out the credit card and go 
  overseas on vacation.
  You are never short of respect, friends or wealth. Pretty 
  much 24/7 you are fawned over by sycophants.
  Level 3 and over
  You are rich, rich, rich. Rich beyond your wildest dreams.
  In fact you probably have a hard time contemplating 
  anyone being really, really poor. How can that be?
  Don’t they just trade in some of their gold for food?
  
  o
  42
  Best Friends
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  A List Of Character Names
  In my extensive research (so, it was Google, OK?) I pulled 
  up the 30 most popular female names in the last 100 years 
  (or so the website said, I guess it means in the US). So if 
  you’re short of ideas then here they are:
  Amanda, Anna, Barbara, Betty, Carol, Deborah, Donna, 
  Dorothy, Elizabeth, Helen, Jennifer, Jessica, Karen, 
  Kathleen, Kimberly, Laura, Linda, Lisa, Margaret, Maria, 
  Mary, Melissa, Michelle, Nancy, Patricia, Ruth, Sandra, 
  Sarah, Sharon, Susan.
  If you want more names than this then either (a) buy a 
  book on names, there are a load of them out there, (b) use 
  the name of someone you know, or (c) hit your favourite 
  search engine, type in ‘girls names’ and away you go.
  Other Names
  Well, while I was hitting the web to save you the trouble I 
  ﬁgured I would throw out some other names that might 
  be more interesting. Y’know? So here’s my own list.
  Alisynn, Apple, Becca, Cathriona, Claire, Desiree, Elaine, Emily, 
  Fiona, Gwen, Irene, Joan, Kirsten, Lynn, Madison, Pauline, 
  Shannon, Sheryl, Sinéad, Susanne, Tanya, Tori, Wanda, Zelda.
  Yet More Names
  I’ve also put together a list of somewhat ‘exotic’, at least for 
  me, names. These are perhaps useful for games that have a 
  fantasy or SF feel—something oﬀ-beat or other worldly.
  Afet, Aiko, Akasma, Akela, Aysel, Belere, Behira, Beret, 
  Capeka, Cari, Chandra, Dea, Dina, Erna, Eurydice, Freya, 
  Gerda, Greta, Hecuba, Hertha, Iolanthe, Irma, Juanita, 
  Karli, Korë, Lana, Melek, Mortigern, Myra, Naomi, Nerine, 
  Octavia, Olwen, Parthenia, Piper, Rose, Ruta, Selima, Siân, 
  Tansy, Theodesia, Ulva, Usha, Valdís, Vena, Waltraud, 
  Wynne, Xara, Xixili, Xylia, Yağmur, Zenobia, Zillah.
  
  o
  43
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Commentary: The Ronnies
  This game came about because of the ‘Ronnies’ game 
  design competition run by Ron Edwards. The competition 
  was organized via the Forge, a website for indie 
  roleplaying games at http://www.indie-rpgs.com/.
  Ron said he was going to give out awards to deserving 
  games that were completed in a 24-hour window. I took 
  up the challenge and looked at the words to base a game 
  on: any two of suburb, hatred, girlfriend and rats.
  The original game was planned, written and illustrated in 
  one 24-hour stint, and, no, it didn’t win a ‘Ronny’ (they’re 
  hard to get). However, it was put in the ‘Unbaked but 
  Tasty So Far’ category along with some other solid entries 
  and I was encouraged enough to do this version.
  The 24-hour version of Best Friends is available online for free. 
  pdf: http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/Best_Friends.php 
  review: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=17121.0
  The ‘High Ronny’ winners for September 2005 were, and 
  I salute them graciously, the following games: Rats in the 
  Walls, The Suburban Crucible, Alien Angels, Space Rat.
  Ron also then awarded the following games a ‘Lower 
  Ronny’ award as second-tier winners: One Can Have Her, 
  Cutthroat, Untitled.
  The other ‘Unbaked But Tasty So Far’ games were: Attack 
  of the Giant Rats, Black Widows, The Rat-God’s Girlfriend, 
  All Growed Up, Sloat & Larkin, Vendetta, Want.
  Take a look at all the Ronnies entries. There are many ﬁne 
  games and ideas in these free PDFs.
  The Ronnies are a competition for 24-hour games at the Forge. 
  thread: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=19156.0
  
  o
  44
  Best Friends
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  Commentary: Thanks, etc.
  I 
  feel that I should say all my 
  ‘thank you’s here, so I will.
  First, Ron Edwards for the 
  whole Ronnies competition and 
  for his feedback on the original 
  version. Chapeau, Ron!
  My sister, Ruth, for actually 
  reading the game, and laughing. 
  Oh, and all her Best Friends for 
  the inspiration, naturally.
  Cat Tobin, for being straight ahead, and giving the very 
  ﬁrst feedback and encouragement on the game.
  Steve Bassett, for kicking me when it needed to be done.
  Locally, thanks to Malcolm Craig, David Dolman, Shevaun 
  Frazier, Hendrik Little, Sara-Sinéad Mulholland, Liam 
  O’Connor, Janet Pashley, Fergus and Padmini Ray-Murray, 
  Kathleen Reedy, Myles Stenhouse and John Wilson.
  And from much further aﬁeld, considerable thanks to: 
  Emily Care Boss, Morgan Davie, Rob Donoghue, Andy 
  Kitkowski, Warren Merriﬁeld and James Wallis. Thanks 
  also to Ken Whitman and Beth Ditto, and Brennan Taylor 
  for printing and overseas sales.
  Playtesters: Matthew Barrowcliﬀe, Steve Bassett, David 
  Dolman, David Neil and Anna Pearce (GEAS); Douglas Calder, 
  Malcolm Craig, Ross MacKenzie and Alasdair MacLeod (ORC).
  Of course, my parents for all their time, patience and love. 
  Finally, my thanks go out to you for buying this game.
  Gregor Hutton, August 2006, Edinburgh, UK.
  
  o
  45
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  About The Author
  Gregor Hutton is from Scotland. He was born in 1972 
  and started gaming in the early 1980s. His ﬁrst published 
  work was Frenzy, a ‘roleplaying game of fast action’ 
  released by Venture Press in 1995. Look out for his next 
  roleplaying game ‘3:16 Carnage Amongst The Stars.’
  Other Games You Should Take A Look At
  Breaking The Ice, by Emily Care Boss (Black & Green Games) 
  A Game about Love, for Two. An easy, fun game of dating and disasters. 
  http://www.blackgreengames.com/
  It Was A Mutual Decision, by Ron Edwards (Adept Press) 
  A game about a relationship breaking up in three parts. Very, very dark. 
  http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/
  Black Widows, by Clinton R. Nixon 
  ‘Spurned lovers’ facing up to a Bond-style nemesis in this 24-hour game. 
  pdf: http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/Black_Widows.php 
  review: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=17124.0
  A ‘Mean Girls’ game called ‘I Know, Right?’, by Jenni Dowsett 
  Unpublished game about teenage girls, their cliques and traumas. 
  review: http://www.additiverich.com/morgue/archives/001250.html
  Fonts Used In This Book
  Minion (Body Text) 
  http://store.adobe.com/type/browser/P/P_1719.html
  Minion Pro is an Adobe Original typeface designed by Robert Slimbach.
  The ﬁrst version of Minion was released in 1990. Minion Pro is inspired 
  by classical, old style typefaces of the late Renaissance, a period of 
  elegant, beautiful, and highly readable type designs.
  Curlz (Header Font) 
  http://www.ascendercorp.com/msfonts/curlz_regular.html
  Curlz was originally designed for the Microsoft Publisher software font 
  set by Steve Matteson and Carl Crossgrove in 1995.
  Curlz is designed to look like bent, twisted metal. The Curlz font is best 
  used for impudent, carefree titles.
  Online Edition. BOX0001
  Third version, July 2007.
  
  o
  46
  Best Friends
  Appendix: 
  Some Friendly Words
  Well, it’s been almost a year since Best Friends was ﬁrst 
  released in August 2006 and after three printings I ﬁgured 
  it was time for a new look for the cover, and for me to 
  write something else for the inside. I wondered: should I 
  revise the whole book, or leave it untouched? What to do?
  In the end it was events that led me to the decision I’ve 
  made. And events that, for me anyway, bring into strong 
  relief the underlying point to Best Friends.
  How strong, deep, long-lasting and forgiving the 
  friendships between women are.
  A Personal Story
  A few months ago my 96-year-old Grandmother became 
  quite seriously ill. She was recovering when she took a 
  very bad turn during visiting time. I was the only one 
  there and I felt helpless. Hours later it looked bleaker, and 
  I dejectedly left the hospital to visit my father in another 
  hospital. My mother, her cousins, and my sister were all 
  now at my Gran’s side and they sang, and they laughed, 
  and told stories, and recalled fond memories, and found 
  strength. Against this adversity she rallied and pulled back 
  from the brink. She wasn’t ready to go. Not yet.
  My grandmother died peacefully over a week later, on her 
  own terms, with my mother at her side. Soon after I was 
  talking with my mother, a welcome break from the frantic 
  trips back and forth to varying hospitals many miles 
  apart. We talked, amongst many things, about this book. 
  She pointed out that life had been too busy recently and 
  what more did I really have to say in it? Sweet clarity.
  All I had to say was what I tell anyone at a games 
  convention when talking about the game. So here it is.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
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  47
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Changes?
  So, what have I changed? Here’s a bulleted list.
   I have made the default number of friend-chips to 
  be 2 rather than 3. I’ve found that it gives the currency 
  more value and stops players from using them when 
  they don’t strongly disagree with the current outcome.
  Related to this I’ve changed the text on page 31 to say 
  you can try playing with 3 for a diﬀerent feel. The early 
  games I played had worked well with 3 but people 
  rarely were put in the position of being short-stacked, 
  something that is interesting to have in play.
   I note here that when I play the game with friends 
  I like to play a character too. So when I play the game 
  we do away with the GM (call it ‘GM-ful’ or ‘GMless’ 
  play as suits your outlook). We take turns to frame 
  scenes and we co-operate as a group about where the 
  story is going and what it means to us.
  To help with this you really need some formalised 
  agreement about framing the scenes, so I added some 
  points in this Appendix about framing scenes.
   The important wording change on p. 14. ‘The lower 
  hatred can push to win.’ It’s just clearer that way.
   An Index, on pp. 54 and 55, which should be useful.
   I also put in this Appendix a (hopefully) clear 
  conﬂict with pushing, and not-pushing, to show how 
  friend-chips are used. Pretty much this is what I show 
  in short demos at conventions.
   Some minor changes here and there: I’ve merged 
  side bars into the main text, changed the odd word 
  too, and added boxes around things to highlight them.
  
  o
  48
  Best Friends
  Advice: Scene Framing
  Choose one of the following options for framing scenes. 
  Don’t stay in a scene if it has served its purpose, y’know? 
  Close scenes when you’re done with them and move on.  
  And when framing a scene remember the points on p. 28. 
  (1) If you have a GM, and you’re all comfortable with 
  them usually presenting the scenes for you, then having 
  the GM open and close your scenes is the way to go. You 
  all can make suggestions to the GM, but ultimately they 
  have the authority to frame the scenes for play.
  (2) Either with or without a GM it can be dynamic to 
  give the scene framing authority to the last person who 
  received a Friend-chip. If you get pushed to and the scene 
  then closes you’re responsible for framing the next scene.
  (3) You can ensure that you all have a chance to frame a 
  scene by going around the group in order or randomly.
  Stuff, Nonsense and Adversity
  Stuﬀ and Nonsense are the possessions and problems that 
  you have right now. They are the issues at hand.
  Nonsense is important, because without it, the only 
  source of adversity is between the characters (and while 
  funny and true this only carries you so far). Make sure 
  that external adversity is real in play. To discover the 
  strength of female friendship, that potential strength 
  must be invoked by something outside worth ﬁghting, or 
  surviving, or recovering from. It can be good to push on 
  behalf of the external adversity so it has meaning, but you 
  have to know when to let it be beaten.
  Love
  There are no rules for ‘Friendship’ or ‘Love.’ You must 
  choose when to support, or oppose, your Best Friends. It is 
  the moment-to-moment choice you make when playing.
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
  o
  49
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Example: Ancient Egypt
  It’s worth me showing how you might set up a game. It’s 
  already there on pages 12 and 13, but here it is again in an 
  example. The Play Summary is also on pages 17 and 61.
  We’ve decided to play a game set in Ancient Egypt. We’re 
  all excited about playing in an imagined world heavily 
  inﬂuenced by our innacurate impressions of Cleopatra 
  and Anthony, Julius Caesar and so on. This isn’t history.
  You can decide settings at the start of play or beforehand 
  like we did, whatever works best for you. I’ve arrived with 
  a list of Ancient Egyptian names from the internet.
  So, the ﬁrst thing to do is to name our characters and 
  Make Friends (pp. 5–7). Soon we have the hatreds of Emu, 
  Odjit, Nubit and the others all sorted out. Next, we’re 
  deciding the ‘hooks’ for our characters. My character Emu 
  has a high Cool and Smart, so I ﬁgure she’s a Priestess.
  I am Emu. And I… make poisons and know magic.
  We all do this and then write down Stuﬀ and Nonsense. 
  We’ve put a piece of paper on the table and mapped out 
  our inter-related Nonsense on it as an aide-mémoire. 
  Some Nonsense is that I’ve cast a spell on Caesar so he 
  loves me, but Nubit is in league with General Maximus to 
  overthrow my enthralled Roman Emperor. And so on. 
  When this is done and we’ve talked about how and why 
  our characters are Best Friends it’s time to start Play. If 
  someone has a good idea for an opening scene let them 
  frame it, or if you have a GM they might want to do that.
  I have a good idea to open: Caesar has sent me a love 
  letter that contains plans for a secret trip to Egypt. And 
  so I frame the ﬁrst scene.  It’s not all about big conﬂicts all 
  the time—we’re going to build these relationships ﬁrst.
  
  o
  50
  Best Friends
  An Example Conflict
  Who Picks Up The Letter On The Table?
  I want to pick up the letter, you want to pick up the letter, 
  John thinks it’s not the love letter from Caesar at all.
  What happens next?
  First we would establish whether it is, or isn’t, that love 
  letter from Caesar. After all, would we want to pick it 
  up if it wasn’t? So, is it? Who introduced the love letter 
  from Caesar in the ﬁrst place, or framed the scene? They 
  brought this into the story and so it’s good to ask them.
  If we have a GM then they’re a good person to decide 
  these kind of things too. In general, don’t bring 
  something in that everyone in the group objects to. But be 
  cooperative, and don’t block the story, y’know?
  So I framed the scene and I’m sure that it really is the 
  letter, and now’s a great time for it to turn up. We also 
  have to decide exactly what we’re conﬂicting over: who 
  picks the letter up? And note that when we’re declaring 
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  Nubit
  Emu
  Odjit
  
  o
  51
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  our intended actions we can amend them based on 
  what the other players say. So, ‘Oh, I don’t object to you 
  grabbing the letter ﬁrst, but I then snatch it out of your 
  hand.’ or ‘Oh, I’m only interested in reading it ﬁrst.’ are 
  perfectly valid amendments or clariﬁcations. We work out 
  what we’re actually conﬂicting about before going on. So, 
  if everyone is happy we get into resolving the conﬂict.
  Formally, the ﬁrst person to do something in the ﬁction 
  that we disagree with gets to say what it is exactly that 
  they are doing, and what Hatred they are doing it with. 
  We can then say, either ‘OK, I actually agree with that but 
  disagree about this…’ or ‘Yes! I disagree about that.’
  So, let’s go back to the letter. You were talking and you 
  said ‘I pick up the letter!’ and I said ‘No you don’t’. In this 
  case I’m disagreeing with you, so you get to say what the 
  conﬂict is based on.
  You say it’s a Tough conﬂict. Even if someone else says 
  ‘Oh, it’s got to be Cool, you won’t dare take the letter!’, you 
  are allowed to say ‘No, it’s a Tough conﬂict’. If you have a 
  GM they can declare for NPCs and help you decide what 
  hatreds conﬂicts are about too.
  My character, Emu, has Tough 0, your character, Odjit, 
  has Tough 2. Look, we’re in the diagram over there.
  So as we stand you win: the rules say the higher hatred 
  wins. You get to narrate swiftly reaching for the letter, 
  perhaps elbowing past me and snatching at the letter on 
  the table? Or maybe just eﬀortlessly getting there before 
  me? Up to you. You get to say it.
  But… you don’t have the letter just yet, because the 
  conﬂict isn’t over. Do I still disagree? If I do, then I can 
  push and win. Or I can give in and say ‘yeah, OK, you get 
  the letter’ and that ends the conﬂict, with you winning.
  
  o
  52
  Best Friends
  Say in this case that I still disagree. I really want to pick 
  up that letter – it means something to me, so much so 
  that I’ll push. So, I say ‘No! You don’t get the letter. I push!’ 
  I send 1 friend-chip to the Best Friend I hate for being 
  Tougher than me, it’s John’s character Nubit.
  I then narrate the push: ‘For once I’m not as slow as you 
  think and I get there ﬁrst. My hand swings down and I 
  grab the letter!’ Not so fast, not so fast. I don’t have the 
  letter yet either – I got a bit carried away there – because 
  the conﬂict isn’t over yet. It’s only over when we’ve all 
  pushed once or we agree.
  So, do you disagree? You can either push and re-assert that 
  you are Tougher than me, but you’ll need to send a friend-
  chip to someone (the person you hate for being tougher 
  than you), or you can live with it and let me get the letter.
  Say you push back, and funnily the chip also goes to 
  Nubit, it just happens that way. Turns out we both hate 
  her for being Tougher than us. You say ‘As ever, you think 
  you’re quicker than you actually are, Emu. But whose 
  hand is on the letter already? Mine!’ And you’re back 
  winning, I’ve lost a chip, you’ve lost a chip and Nubit has 
  gained two friend-chips through our pushing.
  Over? Not quite, what about our Best Friends? Does 
  anyone disagree? Or is everyone happy with Odjit getting 
  the letter? Look around the group, anyone object?
  John disagrees, and so he pushes one of the friend-chips 
  he gained to whoever Nubit hates for being Tougher than 
  her. It turns out that’s you, Odjit. You both have Tough 2 
  too. Petty hatreds often work that way. And John gets to 
  narrate on my behalf with Nubit’s push: ‘Nubit clears her 
  throat. Odjit, whose hand is under yours? I think Emu got 
  the letter ﬁrst. And she’s normally so slow, are you feeling 
  OK? Maybe the heat has slowed you down…’
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  
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  53
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Anyone else object and want to push on your behalf? 
  Turns out that the other players decide they’re happy with 
  their friend-chips and decide not to push for Odjit.
  So Emu, Tough 0, wins and gets the letter. Perhaps the 
  GM narrates this, or I do since I now have it in my hand. 
  But the conﬂict is now over and we move on. I pushed for 
  me to win and so did John. Only you pushed against that.
  In terms of friend-chips I’ve lost one, John has gained one 
  and you are back where you started having pushed one 
  away but then had one pushed back to you.
  Two Key Points
  (1) The conﬂict has been won and so the conﬂict has 
  to be respected. You can’t just start a new conﬂict to 
  invalidate this conﬂict. Emu got the letter and that’s 
  been decided. So no follow-up conﬂicts with Odjit or 
  Nubit snatching it oﬀ Emu.
  (2) When Nubit pushed to help Emu, she couldn’t get 
  the letter for herself. The conﬂict was between Emu 
  and Odjit for the letter. The outcome had to be one or 
  the other. If Nubit had wanted the letter she should 
  have conﬂicted with Odjit at the start.
  Actual Play
  On the BoxNinja website I have links to forum threads 
  and examples of actual play. If you have an example of 
  actual play that you’d like me to link to then please send 
  me an e-mail. I’d be delighted to share it with other 
  players of the game.
  Many thanks to the Sons of Kryos podcast who made an 
  MP3 of a 15-minute demo at GenCon 2006. It is available 
  on my site (http://boxninja.com) and theirs (http://www.
  sonsofkryos.com under the ‘Other Recordings’ area). I 
  hope at some point to have movies of play online too.
  
  o
  54
  Best Friends
  Basics  Play  Games  Extras  Commentary
  More Thanks
  And to end I include some new ‘thank you’s.
  To both my grandmothers, my mother and my sister.
  Many thanks to Graham Walmsley and Joe Prince for 
  reading the updated text and this Appendix. Their 
  feedback and comments were invaluable to me. Cheers!
  Locally, thanks to: John Wilson, Rose Lindgren, Shannon 
  East, Paula and Steve Dempsey, Will Howliston, Warren 
  Philips, Angus Abranson, Matt Machell, Andy Kenrick.
  Further aﬁeld: Dro, Jenni Dowsett, Fred Hicks, Paul Tevis, 
  John Kim, Robin Laws, Jason Morningstar, Tim Kleinert, 
  Nathan D. Paoletta, Meguey Baker and Emily Care Boss.
  For the wilder games… ‘Frat Boys’: Alexander, Iain, Jeﬀ, 
  Julie (GenCon 2006). ‘Atlanta’: Brian, Dave, John, Julia, 
  Lucy, Malcolm, Paul, Shannon (GEAS, Edinburgh).
  Brian Nisbet. For spending €500 (i.e. $675) on a copy of 
  the ﬁrst printing for charity in the auction at GaelCon 
  2006 in Clontarf Castle, Dublin. That’s class.
  Websites: GamerChicksRule.com, SonsofKryos.com, 
  HaveGamesWillTravel, TheDurham3 and RPGMP3.com.
  —Gregor Hutton, Edinburgh, July 2007.
  Index
  Actual Play .........18–21, 50–53
  ................also see links on 20, 53
  Advice .........................16, 24, 48
  And I… .................................... 7
  Atmosphere ............................. 3
  Average .................................... 9
  Average Boy ........................... 22
  Being Hurt ....................... 15, 30
  Big Questions ........................ 13
  Bigger Picture ........................ 24
  Cabin Fever .................... 26–29
  Calling It Oﬀ .......................... 23
  Changes? ................................ 47
  Character(s) .........................3, 4
  
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  55
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Character Creation .......5–7, 12 
  .............also see Making Friends
  Character Sheet ..........ﬁnal page
  Chips ............... see Friend-chips
  Closing Scenes ......13, 21, 24, 48
  Combat ..................see Conﬂicts
  Conﬂicts ........ 14, 15, 20, 50–53
  Contest ...................see Conﬂicts
  Cool .................................. 34, 35
  Curlz (header font) ............... 45
  D&D .....................see Dungeons
  Death ............................... 15, 31
  Dragons (slaying) .................... 3
  Drawing Your Character ......... 7
  Dungeons ...............see Dragons
  Ending The Game ......21, 23, 29
  Example Character ......see I Am
  —of Conﬂict ................... 50–53
  —of Play ............see Actual Play
  —of Setting ........................... 49
  Experience Points ....... see D&D
  Framing Scenes ......4, 13, 19, 23
  ........................also see 28, 48, 50 
  Friend-chips ......... 3, 4, 7, 14, 31 
  Fun ........................................2, 3 
  Game Master ..................see GM
  Gargantuan ...........................4, 9
  Geek ....................................... 35
  Girls .................see Character(s)
  GM ........................... 3, 4, 22–24
  GM-ful, GMless ............3, 22, 47 
  Goals ......................see Conﬂicts
  Gregor Hutton ....................... 45
  Hatreds ...... 4–6, 8, 9, 30, 32–41
  Health ........................ see Tough
  I Am… (Kate) ...............5, 10, 11 
  Korfball .................................. 39 
  Love ................................. 13, 48 
  Lovehearts ............................... 6
  Making Friends .......5–7, 26–27
  Men (or Boys) ............ see NPCs
  Minion (text font) ................. 45
  Names (list of…) ................... 42
  No Fun ............see Calling It Oﬀ
  Nonsense ..........7, 11, 13, 26, 48
  NPCs ...................................... 22
  Number of Players ...............3, 7
  Other Folks ................. see NPCs
  PCs ...................see Character(s)
  Play ................................. 12–17
  Play Summary ................. 17, 61
  Player ....................................3, 4
  Pretty ............................... 32, 33
  Pretty Boy .............................. 22
  Probing Questions ................ 23
  Push ............4, 14, 20–21,50–53
  Pushing Boundaries .............. 30
  Questions .......see Big Questions
  ........ also see Probing Questions
  Quick Sheets .......................... 60
  Ratings .....8, 9, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41
  Rayleigh Scattering ............... 37 
  Relationships (maps) ...... 13, 16
  Rich .................................. 40, 41
  Ron Edwards ............. 30, 43, 44
  Ronnies .................................. 43
  Rules For Pushing ................. 14
  Scenarios ......................... 25, 31
  ................... also see Cabin Fever
  Scene(s) ........................4, 13, 23
  .............also see Framing Scenes
  Signiﬁcant ................................ 9 
  Smart ............................... 36, 37
  Starting Play .......................... 18
  Stuﬀ ...............................7, 11, 48
  Thanks ............................. 44, 54
  The Descent (ﬁlm) ................. 18
  Tone ............................12, 18, 30
  Tough ............................... 38, 39 
  Tough Boy ............................. 22
  Wine .................................. 3, 31
  Winning .................see Conﬂicts
  Women .................................. 30
  Zero .......................................4, 9
  
  o
  60
  Best Friends
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  o
  61
  A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends And All Their Petty Hatreds
  Play Summary
  Starting Play and Defining Characters
   Agree the tone, setting and content of the game. 
   Set an end condition for the game, if needed.
   Create characters, see Making Friends (pp. 5–7).
   Choose Stuﬀ and create overlapping Nonsense.
   Answer the Big Questions (p. 13).
  Framing A Scene
   Who is there? Where is it? What is it like?
   What does this scene do for the game?
  Conflicts, Goals and Outcomes
   Where is the conﬂict? What is it?
   Who is in conﬂict? Why?
   Deﬁne the conﬂict, goals and outcomes sharply.
   The higher hatred in a conﬂict wins. 
   The lower hatred can push to win, but the character 
  with the higher hatred can then push back over to win. 
   Conﬂicts between equal hatreds are initially tied.
  Either side can push over to win. The loser at that point 
  can then choose to push back to tie again if they wish.
   Players can only hold a maximum of 5 friend-chips 
  at any one time. Any more chips than 5 have to be 
  narrated immediately and pushed on to someone else. 
  This keeps the friend-chips moving.
   You can’t push more than once in a conﬂict.
  Closing A Scene
   End the conﬂict and tie up any loose ends.
  Ending The Game
   Has the end condition been reached?
   Wrap up the story, allow each character an ending.
  
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  62
  Best Friends
  Best Friends
   Pretty 
  Cool 
  Smart 
  Tough 
  Rich
  I am…
  And I…
  Stuff
  Nonsense
   I hate  ................ because she is prettier than me.
   I hate  ................ because she is cooler than me.
   I hate  ................ because she is smarter than me.
   I hate  ................ because she is tougher than me.
   I hate  ................ because she is richer than me.
  © 2007 Gregor Hutton
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Collaborative & Peer & Gm-less & Shifting GM/Best Friends - Full Edition.pdf