6 String Games Presents... RAYCATS!™ A micro-RPG about totally rad nuclear-mutant cats! [IMAGE: Three minimal line drawings of a muscle-bound figure flexing their biceps, a barrel with a nuclear waste warning symbol, and a seated cat.] [IMAGE: A stylized circular seal in groovy 1970’s font which reads “6 String Games Original Recipe: RPG Snacks Issue #1, Feb. ‘22”] Players: 3-7, including one GM Length: One session of 2-3 hours Genre: Action, Superhero, Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi Materials Needed: At least one 6-sided die, pens, paper Content Warnings: Violence, nuclear war, cults, bugs [IMAGE: A circular logo with the headstock of a lute. The headstock is scuffed and has a broken string which curls into the shape of a 6, spelling out “6 String Games” in a cursive graffiti font.] [IMAGE: A pennant fluttering with sparkles around it with the words “Zine Month 2022”] A 6 String Games Production Submitted to Zine Month 2022 Game text © 2022 Anna Goldberg & Colin McNamara Except where noted, every written aspect of this game was the result of a collaborative effort between the authors. Special thanks to Sean Goldberg, Cera Gariepy, Ryan Rank, Grant Howitt, James D’Amato, Lion-O, and Gable Skyjacks. 6 String Games Logo designed by Cera Gariepy. The primary font used in this game is Courier Prime. The Raycats™ font is Faster One. All fonts are from Google fonts and are free to use. Cover artwork by The Noun Project. This game’s mechanics are derived from the fantastic game Lasers & Feelings, © 2013 John Harper. You can find more of John Harper’s paradigm-shifting work at onesevendesign.com. This game was created under the Creative Commons 4.0 BY License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), and is accordingly open for further hacking under the same. Feel free to make your own hack of this game, just be sure to give us credit. If you do end up making a hack, please share it with us on Twitter @6StringGames! If you purchased this game à la carte and enjoyed it, please consider becoming one of our Patreon subscribers! You’ll get a new game every month, and higher-tier subscribers can even join us for a monthly game session GMed by one of us! Learn more at: patreon.com/6StringGames Check us out online at 6stringgames.com The Truth (seriously) In 1981, the Human Interference Task Force was formed to develop methods of warning Humans in the future of buried radioactive waste. This method had to transcend language, culture, and millennia of Human stupidity. As it happened, the methods proposed also transcended all reason and good sense. One particularly batshit proposal was to breed a species of housecat that would change color when exposed to radiation - “raycats.” The Fiction - as told by RAYCATS™ The Elders speak of the Before Times, when we were still small, cute creatures that lived with Humans, snuggling them and clawing their furniture. Our color-changing fur warned Humans when they were near high radiation, saving countless lives. But then one day, claxons blared. The skies turned sickly green. The Humans dropped their bombs and blew themselvs to near-extinction, and the World Desert was born in fire. Now, several feline generations later, most of the Humans are gone. The few that remain have bodies warped by radiation and minds tainted by nihilism. As for us? All that radiation gave us a glow-up. We are the RAYCATS™—swole, sexy, and dressed to the nines. We’ve morphed into fearsome felines and guardians of Planet Earth... or what’s left of it. The Elders say it’s our duty to guard the RAD ZONE. They say what’s buried there is dangerous to all Life, and that we are never to tread there. We’ve obeyed so far and done our duty. But who knows? desperate times may one day call for desperate measures... The Set-Up A Threat is going to want something found only at the very heart of RAD ZONE. Your team of RAYCATS™, which has guarded the RAD ZONE for centuries, must stop the Threat from getting it at all costs. The Players take on the roles of the RAYCATS™ as they explore the forbidden RAD ZONE. The Game Master (GM) will create the storyline, describe the scenes, play the part of any non-Player characters (NPCs), decide when Players roll, and create consequences for the Players’ actions. Everyone works together to drive the story toward a satisfying conclusion. Players—Create Your RAYCATS™ Personality: bold, curious, mischievous, playful, sly, timid, cocky, bookish, charming, righteous, impulsive. Role: Brawler, Mystic, Investigator, Historian, Scout, Gearhead. Your Role informs what you’re an expert at. Number: Choose your number, from 2 to 5. - A HIGH number means you’re better at RAY (reason; knowledge; science and tech; calm, precise action). - A LOW number means you’re better at CATS (intuition; diplomacy; seduction; wild, passionate action; tapping into the weird and uncanny). Name & RAD COLOR: Give your RAYCAT™ a name, then roll or choose their RAD COLOR, which they become when near high radiation. Each RAYCAT™ has a LIMIT BREAK they can use once per game while lit up in their RAD COLOR: 1. RED RAGE! Ongoing +1d for all hostile, violent actions for 2d6 minutes. 2. ORANGE Create a massive, fiery explosion. 3. YELLOW Temporarily blind everyone with a flash. 4. BLUE Gain ability to fly for 2d6 minutes. 5. GREEN Heal someone completely, or restore a dead person to life. 6. PURPLE Gain telekinetic powers for 2d6 minutes. Answers these questions about each RAYCAT™ 1. What super cool clothing of your RAD COLOR do you wear? 2. Which of your fellow RAYCATS™ are you most tight with? 3. What are your job duties on the Mobile Command Vehicle? 4. What do you exclaim when you use your LIMIT BREAK? Create the RAYCATS’™ Mobile Command Vehicle Strengths (Choose two or roll d6 twice): 1. Excellent Intelligence-Gathering Apparatus 2. Combination Hidden Panic Chamber-Escape Pod 3. Luxurious and Well-Appointed Interior 4. Can Temporarily Become Invisible to the Naked Eye 5. Well-Stocked Arsenal of Small Arms 6. Heavy Armor Plating Problems (choose one or roll d6): 1. Extremely High Energy Consumption 2. Held Together with Duct Tape and Elbow Grease 3. Requires a Rare Material to Keep Running 4. Can Be Heard From a Mile Away 5. Wonky Comms System You Can Never Seem to Fix 6. Life Support Systems Seem to Fail at the Worst Time Rolling the Dice When you do something risky, roll 1d6 to find out how it goes. Roll +1d if you’re prepared and +1d if you’re an expert. (The GM tells you how many dice to roll, based on your character and the situation.) Roll your dice and compare each die result to your number. If you’re using RAY (science, reason) you want to roll under your number. If you’re using CATS (intuition, passion) you want to roll over your number. 0: If no die succeeds, it goes wrong. Tell the GM what goes wrong; they’ll tell you how it gets worse. 1: If one die succeeds, you barely manage it. The GM inflicts a complication, harm, or cost. 2: If two dice succeed, you do it well. Good job! 3: If three dice succeed, you get a critical success! Tell the GM how you show off your mad skills; they’ll tell you how it gives you an edge. If you roll your number exactly, you have rolled RAYCATS™[1]. Well done! You get a special insight into what’s going on. Ask the GM a question and they’ll answer you honestly. Some good questions: How do they really feel? What happened here? What’s the best way to get what I want? What vital detail did I miss? Who is responsible? What’s the best way in, out, or around? (A roll of RAYCATS™ counts as a success.) Helping: If you want to help someone else who’s rolling, say how you try to help and make a roll. If you succeed, give them +1d. GM: Only ask for a roll if failure would be interesting. GM—Create a RAYCATS™ Adventure Roll or choose on the following tables to create a plotline for the session. Be a fan of the RAYCATS™ and make them look cool. Don’t plan much: let players improvise and role-play their ideas. Ask questions and build on the answers. Set a tone that encourages fun and over the top action, but make the RAD ZONE feel unsettling. A Threat… 1. The Atomic Priesthood 2. Rival gang of RAYCATS™ 3. Swarms of mutated, bird-sized mosquitoes 4. Thousands of robots with identical Human-like features 5. Motorized reavers who worship their cars 6. A glowing green cloud that speaks with a Human voice Want(s) to… 1. Cover-Up / Suppress 2. Destroy / Capture 3. Conquer / Subdue 4. Commandeer / Control 5. Infest / Infiltrate 6. Become one with / Annex The… (all of these are at the center of the RAD ZONE) 1. Last Human settlement, previously unknown 2. Secure containment site 3. Abandoned military outpost 4. Cult of the Nucleus 5. Home base of a group of formerly unknown RAYCATS™ 6. Floating onyx orb Which Will.... 1. Tear a hole in the cosmos 2. Destroy the RAYCATS™ for good 3. Plunge the world into nuclear winter 4. Open a chasm to the center of the planet 5. Ignite a war with another planet 6. Fix everything! GM roll in secret (optional) But wait… 1. This is actually all just RAYCATS™: The Musical. 2. The Humans are really to blame for everything. 3. Earth will be destroyed no matter what the RAYCATS™ do. 4. There’s a ticking time bomb in the RAYCATS™ Mobile Command Vehicle. 5. One of the villain’s minions wants to join the RAYCATS™. 6. The final transport off of Earth launches today from THE RAD ZONE. ________________ [1] It would absolutely be appropriate to make up your own RAYCATS™ stinger sound to play or sing every time someone rolls their number. Just a suggestion.