e y A b e r A m r r r o o w s e e
ia r e e e a l C w S t. r C r o o t e e e a e ie s t s t e e a n J a n A l n g e l A a l y e e t l g u e e n e n n i g a g e m u s B. R e i f a n y T t e re n s o o n x e i n d J o o h n o y P J o o n a y t h o t t e e e l b s o e s n P e n a m a n n o R o se M i a n a a D t h e y c i c k m c k z z s s S i t e z z u e t a r t i n w a t ss r e n a l e n e S s z a n a i s z d d g a o g a w T o r i c c s z z M e r o o n a a v e 1 2 s s l a a s C o o r i n e | S s a l l F n r o y B
Byron Falls A Li Litt ttle le Ga Game me Ab Abou outt Su Supe pern rnat atur ural al Dr Dram amaa John Wick
Contents The Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Interests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Finished! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 The System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Adults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Injury & Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Narration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Allowance & Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Summer Vacation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Monsters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Soul Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Vampires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Werewolves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Warlocks & Witches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Mummies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Animated Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 “Everybody wants to be Mister Black…” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 My Byron Falls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 The Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Byron Falls High School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Lastly… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Character Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
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Page Henley Most Likely to be President of the United States
In the small town of Byron Falls, Minnesota, there’s more going on than most suspect. Witches and warlocks, vampires and werewolves, mummies and ghosts haunt every corner. And, of course, brilliant, beautiful young girls who want desperately to fall in love with them. I’m sitting here writing Byron Falls because I was dared to. On Discordia Day (May 5th, 2010), I did my traditional Discordia Day thing by accepting any and all dares. Rob Justice (of the Bear Swarm podcast) actually dared me to write this game down. They heard me talking about it at a convention and thought it was a pretty good idea. So, here I am, a few months later, actually writing the thing down. Also, I should mention that this game owes a lot to Nick Watts and his playtest group. They played the hell out of this game and gave me a ton of suggestions that made it into the final draft. So, a big thanks to Nick, Surena, Jason, Monica, Ken, Kelly, Alan and Michael.
The Town Byron Falls is like any other small town with a whole bunch of supernatural creatures running around in it. There’s a reason supernatural things are lured here, after all. In all the world, no small town has more gorgeous, brilliant, witty and lonely girls than Byron Falls. Byron Falls also has more than its share of gorgeous, sensitive, artistic and deeply alienated boys, but nobody really pays much attention to them. They’re all eclipsed by the girls. The town has a grocery store, a barber shop, a public library, a beauty salon, a soda jerk station and everything else you’d expect in a small town. No Starbucks. No Kentucky Fried Chicken. Even McDonald’s missed this little burg. No, sir. Everything here is family-owned. And we like it that way.
The Characters To play Byron Falls, you need to make a character. Make a photocopy of the character sheet, get a pencil and get ready.
Remus KnightFall Most Likely to find the Mathematical Solution to the End of the Universe
In this game, you play a normal high school student who has been swept up in the secret world of the supernatural. You don’t have any supernatural powers (yet) and you must rely on others to help you survive.
Name First, write your character’s name on the top of the sheet. Make sure it has a secret symbolic meaning that only a few people will figure out.
Interests Next, we’re going to figure out what kind of student you are. There are five Interests you can invest in. You get three points to invest in Interests. They are: Sports: Whenever you want your character to do something physical, use Sports. Drama: Whenever you are trying to convince someone, use Drama. Art: Whenever you make something or are handy, use Art. Studying: Whenever you want to know something, use Studying. Detention: Whenever you are doing something you shouldn’t, use Detention.
Morgan Starbuck Most Likely to Win a Duel to the Death 2
Friends Finally, take a look at the five circles on your character sheet. Each of the circles on your character sheet represents a Friend. You only have five circles because you can only have up to five friends.
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I’m giving you ten points to spend on your Friends. The more points you spend on a Friend, the closer you two are. A five point Friend has a more potent relationship with you than a two point Friend. You cannot put more than five Points into a single Friend. You may pick Friends from the other players or invent NPC Friends. Whatever you like.
Enemy You must also pick one Enemy. Again, this may be one of the other players or it could be someone else… Or, screw it. You must pick one of the other players as your Enemy. Doing this any other way would be wimpy.
Grade Also put your character’s grade on the sheet. All characters start as Freshmen. Ninth grade.
Finished! You’re all set now. Ready to head off to Byron Falls High School, meet a dreamy monster, and start not having sex!
The System Now to the juicy part. How to get things done in the game. Whenever your character takes a risk in the game, you get to roll dice. Well, you don’t always get to roll dice. Sometimes you don’t. It depends on your Interests and your Friends. If you have an Interest that’s appropriate to the risk, you can roll a number of dice equal to the points you invested in your Interest. If the risk you are about to take has something to do with a Friend, you also get to roll a number of dice equal to the points you invested in that Friend. Any evens you roll count as successes. You use successes to narrate the outcome of the risk. If you don’t get any successes, your Enemy narrates the outcome of your risk.
Grade Finally, for any risk against another character, you get one bonus die per difference in grade. The higher your grade, the better. For example, if a 10th grader were picking on an 9th grader, the sophomore gets one bonus die for the difference in grades. If a senior (12th grade) were picking on a 9th grader, the senior gets three bonus dice. Grade provides bonus dice for any risk against another student.
Adults By the way, adults have their own grade. They get four dice against any student regardless of grade.
Injury & Death You can use successes in a risk to apply injuries to another character. However, those injuries have no game effects whatsoever. They are narrative effects only. And the only way a character can die is if that character’s player says their character dies. ‘nuff said.
Narration When you take a risk in the game, you may get successes. Every success you gain allows you to say one thing that’s true about the outcome of your risk. For example, if your character wants to hack the school’s computer system and you roll two successes, you can say two things about the outcome of your risk. Another example. Your character wants to make friends with the captain of the soccer team and you roll three successes, you can say three things about the outcome of the risk. The Narrator gets to fill in the gaps between your details but the things you want to say are true about the outcome are true. In other words, every player in the game gets to spend time being the Narrator. Using successes means the players really get to be the storytellers. The Narrator only moderates the action. He also plays the NPCs. That means he plays the monsters. When you get to narrate the outcome of a risk, remember that you must be responsible. Other people’s characters are in your hands. Don’t be a jerk.
Allowance & Jobs Byron Falls doesn’t have experience points or anything like that. No way to really make your character “better.” Although, we do have a reward system: something that rewards the players for good roleplaying. It’s allowance. Your character gets allowance at the end of each game session. I found giving the characters about ten to twenty bucks a week is good. Ten bucks for an average roleplaying session and up to twenty if I feel they really busted their backsides to make a good game. Of course, if a character wants more money, they can always get a job. But getting a job means you have responsibilities and can’t always get away for having a good time with your monster (un)lover. That just creates more drama. Excellent. Having a job raises your character’s “per game” reward to $100. But, you’ll have to go to your job on a regular basis. And if you lose your job, you stop getting the money. In short, getting a job means the Narrator gets more opportunities to make your life difficult.
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(I suggest everyone having a job at the same place. That makes things easier and means game sessions can take place all in the same area. Give them jobs at the local X Mart or whatever.)
Stuff Here’s a bump for your character. If your character is using some kind of tool, technology or equipment or weapon that’s appropriate to the risk, you get a bonus die. There. Something to spend your allowance on.
Summer Vacation When you hit summer vacation, it’s time for everyone to change who they are. This means every character can re-arrange points on the character sheet. Reinvent yourself.
Todd BrentSmythe Most Likely to Star in Interview with a Vampire
Monsters Can vampires walk around in sunlight? Do silver bullets really kill werewolves? And what do you do about sexy mummies? All of these are answers that must be found in the course of playing the game. The rules for all the monsters in Byron Falls must be discovered. Listing them here would spoil the fun. However, during playtest, the idea of players becoming monsters came up. Nick’s playtest group bent the rules about everyone playing girls (really more a suggestion than a rule) and the group was filled with male and female characters. And then, one-by-one, Nick started turning them into monsters. One of them was a vampire, one of them was a werewolf and one of them was destined to become a mummy… but The Flux switched them out before that could happen. Nick’s reports got me thinking about how to do this and create a system for it that would be fun and reflect the literature we were trying to recreate. So here’s my suggestion.
Soul Points First, all the characters have a new stat called Soul. Every character has ten Soul Points. Players can use a Soul Point for an automatic success. Once it’s spent, it’s spent. Gone forever. No way to get it back. However, if two characters invest all ten Friend Points into each other (at the expense of everyone else), those two characters can share Soul Points with each other. We call these people “soul mates.” (Yes, this breaks the rule about not being able to put more than five points into a single friend. But you have to get someone else to do the same thing.)
Veronica Valentine Most Likely to Own a Copy of Every Creepy Old Book in America
If a human character runs out of Soul Points, they die (This breaks rule above, use at your discression).
Vampires Now, vampires don’t have souls. Or, perhaps they do and those souls are dying. Or perhaps the souls are hungry. I’ll leave that up to you. Drinking blood is a symbol for drinking the soul or, in our case, drinking Soul Points. Every three days, a vampire loses a Soul Point. If he ever reaches zero Soul Points, he vanishes into dust. He must drink blood—Soul Points—to survive. He can’t just drink blood out of blood bags. Oh, no. He has to perform the ritual of drinking blood from a human being. Remember: blood is just a symbol. It’s the actual Soul Points he needs. To use any vampire-like power, the monster has to spend a Soul Point. So, what happens if a vampire eats more than ten Soul Points? Then, he has more than ten Soul Points. Yes, the more you eat, the more powerful you become.
Werewolves Werewolves have two souls: a human soul and a wolf soul. That means they have two sets of Soul Points. Werewolves use their Human Soul Points while in human form and Wolf Soul Points while in wolf form. Werewolves have five Human Soul Points and five Wolf Soul Points.
Dave Waszwiszawatsziszick Most Likely to become the next
Iron Chef
Any kind of werewolf powers—supernatural strength, supernatural agility, supernatural senses, seeing in the dark—costs one Wolf Soul Point. Unfortunately, when werewolves run out of Wolf Soul Points, they also lose complete control. In other words, the Narrator takes control of your character. The only way for werewolves to regain Wolf Soul Points is by eating them out of human victims.
Warlocks & Witches Of course, casting magic costs Soul Points. Magic always works if it’s done properly. You have to speak the spell, make any kind of physical gestures and have the right components. The Narrator can come up with that stuff on the fly. The more powerful a spell, the more demanding the spell will be. Again, that’s a call for the Narrator. Are there spells for stealing Soul Points? Oh, you betchya.
Mannin Python Most likely to discover the Lost Continent of Atlantis 6
I should throw in a note here. Hey, Narrator? I trust you to make responsible decisions. I’m not going to throw arbitrary rules at you for spells. You make them up. I trust you. Have fun.
Mummies Whenever I think of mummies I think of Theda Bara. Go look her up. You won’t be disappointed.
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Mummies also have Soul Points and can spend them to do… mummy things. Like old Egyptian magic. Except when mummies run out of Soul Points, they go to sleep and spend the next one hundred years regenerating their Soul Points. That’s one Soul Point per decade.
Animated Monsters Golems, Frankenstein Monsters, animated dolls and sentient robots can be made from magic or science. Either way, the Soul Points they have are infused into them by another. The powers they have are determined by the creator. Using any powers costs a Soul Point. Of course, once the Soul Points run out, the life leaves the animated creature. Perhaps the creator can add more Soul Points…
“Everybody wants to be Mister Black…” One of the reasons I made the rule that everyone has to play human girls is that once you open the possibility of playing monsters, you may quickly run out of human characters. Once one player becomes a monster, everybody wants to be a monster and then you’ve got a game full of monsters and no pretty human girls. And thinking about it that way… that could be an interesting way to play the game. Everybody is a monster competing for one pretty girl’s attention. Hm… maybe not such a bad idea after all. In fact, let’s add a rule that says if a monster gets a pretty girl to make him her Soul Mate, that generates one Soul Point for the monster every three days. Throw some incentive in there for ya.
My Byron Falls Everyone’s Byron Falls is going to be different. This one is mine. I hope it inspires ideas of your own.
The Town My Byron Falls is located north of the Twin Cities, just above White Bear Lake. It has more old buildings than new ones, more churches than bars and more traffic lights than cops. The population grew quickly at the turn of the century with an influx of intel companies looking for cheap land. The City Council kept the buildings at the edge of town, making town feel like a small patch of wood and iron surrounded by steel and glass. “The Falls”—as the locals call it—can be broken down into sections. There’s Town Square, the oldest part of The Falls. This is where all the olde shoppes and government buildings can be found. There’s the fire department, the sheriff ’s office, the county surveyor, the town council building and the mayor’s office. All in one small circle of buildings. Outside that circle is the richest part of the town. These are the tall, three story mansions built during the early part of the 19th century. The houses are huge, the lawns go on forever and every building has a wall around it. Old, stone walls. Except for where the owners bricked in the parts that fell down.
The East Side of the town hedges on White Bear Lake and that’s where the fishing industry is. Large warehouses, boats and docks. On the West Side, the modern buildings have crept in, bringing jobs and new money.
Dan Willard, The Sheriff Think of Santa Claus in a police uniform. You’ve got the Byron Falls Sheriff. He has an easy and infectious laugh, a wide smile and a generous heart. But he also has a strong sense of right and wrong and takes his position in the town to heart. The people of Byron Falls trust him with their safety. He does not take that trust for granted. Willard used to be a forensic detective in the Twin Cities. When he retired, he came up here. He likes the slow, easy days and the fact that he recognizes every face, knows every name. Willard has only two deputies—both part-time—and spends most of his time dealing with small issues. The town has little crime and most of it goes unpunished. Willard can’t remember the last time he actually arrested someone. Sure, he sometimes locks up a drunk driver or two on Friday or Saturday night, but he never fills out paperwork: they’re in the cell to make sure they don’t hurt anyone else. Sheriff Willard keeps a close eye on the kids in the town. He’s stumbled across some strange things over the years and suspects something may be going on beyond his sight… but so far, he hasn’t found any evidence. And a cop like Willard, he needs evidence before he goes jumping to any wild conclusions.
Mrs. Anne Ryback, Manager of The Sweet Tooth In the center of town square is The Sweet Tooth: an old fashioned soda fountain. The lady who runs it is a large, smiling woman with silver hair. She’s owned The Sweet Tooth for over twenty years and shows no sign of stopping. Folks show up for her malts and shakes and egg crèmes. A long time ago, Anne Ryback was a beautiful girl living in Byron Falls. She fell in love with a monster. But she lost her love when a pack of werewolves came to the town looking for a fight. She knows Byron Falls’ secrets and she will help those who need it.
Byron Falls High School Byron Falls High School is one of the newest buildings in the town. It is square and concrete; it looks like a fortress. The old high school burned down in a mysterious accident a few years ago and needed to be reconstructed from scratch. Here’s a list of teachers and administrators for your perusal.
Mr. Terence Earl, The Vice Principle Nobody’s ever seen the Principle. Some suggest he do esn’t even exist. Whenever kids get in trouble, they meet the Vice Principle instead. Mr. Earl stands over six feet tall with a shock of corn yellow hair. He played football in high school and college, served in the Marines and studied to be a mechanical engineer before he became an administrator. He’s not a violent man, but he is all business. No nonsense. He cares about the kids’ futures and thinks the key to success is discipline. 8
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Earl knows nothing about the secrets of Byron Falls. Vampires, werewolves and mummies? Nonsense. He sees the world as an engineer does. And when things get broken, what do you do? You fix them.
Mrs. Shelly Elliot, The Librarian The High School has a prankster and, oddly enough, it’s the librarian. She’s the one who dresses up every Halloween. She and her husband go bowling in clown costumes. She pranks the kids every chance she gets. Mrs. Elliot likes a good laugh and the best laughs come when someone else is on the other end of the joke. While she has a sense of humor, Mrs. Elliot is also very serious about learning. She loves books and movies and heads up the school’s AV Club. She organizes book clubs with children and their parents and has a movie night in the library every Friday. Watch out for her in the cafeteria, though…
Angel Dante Most Likely to be a Best Selling Romance Writer
Mr. Richard Fort, the Chemistry Teacher His name is Mr. Fort because he’s built like one. Square and rugged. He has a thick beard and big hands. He’s also a little crazy. He blew up the swimming pool by dropping raw chlorine into the water. He has a preoccupation with fire. And he’s especially interested in homemade explosives. Some suspect he may be the reason the old building burned down. But nobody saw it so they can’t prove a thing. Despite being crazy, Mr. Fort is also a brilliant chemist. He’s also a science fiction fan with a huge library that he shares with curious students.
Ms. Joy Hickey, the Art Teacher She always wears her long, brown hair up. Her grey eyes are hidden behind glasses. And her curves hidden under sweaters and wool skirts. There are two possibilities here. Either Joy Hickey has absolutely no idea how hot she is or she’s hiding it. In my Byron Falls, the former is the case. Joy Hickey is an amazingly gorgeous woman but her beauty is eclipsed by her modesty and her lack of self-confidence. Of course, all the boys (and a few of the girls) are completely enamored with her. She loves to paint, loves to draw, loves to sculpt, loves to do anything that results in something you can hold when you’re finished. She doesn’t exactly understand video games (“Why devote so much time to an activity that doesn’t produce something?”) and tries to encourage the students to make things with their hands. The students also can’t help but notice that she’s “Ms Hickey” and not “Mrs. Hickey.”
Mr. Jan Thorgrimsson, the PE Teacher He looks like a storm giant. Red hair, full beard, shoulders in two time zones. His skin looks like it’s never seen the sun. He was a professional wrestler for about ten years before his injury. And now, he’s doing this.
Diana Rosensteel Most Likely to be the Next Miss America
Because of the internet, most of his matches and promos from his wrestling days are online. The students like calling him by his wrestling name, “Mister Grim.” At first, he objected, but since then, he’s come to accept it. Mister Grim initially resented having to take a job as a PE Teacher, but he’s since fallen in love with helping kids. He hates bullies and punishes them with laps or sit-ups. He’s also the coach for Byron Falls High’s three teams: the football team, the girls’ soccer team and the baseball team. He’s tried starting a girls’ softball team but no luck so far.
Mr. Jason Michaels, the Shop Teacher Mr. Michaels originally came to Byron Falls from Portland, Oregon. He has a bushy beard, unkempt hair and the students suspect he gets baked after hours. He wears plaid shirts, work boots and listens to the same music they do. Mr. Michaels doesn’t like rules all that much. He’s younger than most of the teachers at Byron Falls High and he’s a source of confidence for the kids who get in trouble. He’s the guy in charge of detention hall, so he has a lot of opportunity to talk. He used to own a repair shop but he couldn’t keep it open. Whenever anyone brought their car in and complain about it making a strange noise or that they couldn’t get any pickup, he’d open the hood, take a look and turn something with a wrench and fix it. And then, when you offered him money, he’d say, “Nah, that’s okay.” That’s why he couldn’t keep his shop open. He’s still that guy. Students bring by their cars to the school rather than go to the local shop. He fixes them with five minutes and a wrench and sends them on their way. Needless to say, the local auto shops and dealerships hate him. When they come to complain, he smiles, turns the radio up to ten (tuned to the classic rock station) and smiles at them.
Aleister Crowe Mr. Roland Storme, the English Teacher Most Likely to Turn Our Life Events Into a Game
He looks like he stepped off the cover of a romance novel. Brown hair, falling down over his shoulders. A thin beard over his square jaw. Brilliant blue eyes that almost shine in the dark. A well-toned frame. Low, baritone voice. Large hands. And a crooked grin that lets you know he can’t say what he’s thinking in polite company. He jokes about the town’s name in class. While he sticks to the assigned curriculum, he likes paying special attention to the Romantics. He reads aloud from Byron and Shelly and all the girls (and a few of the boys) melt in their seats. Either Mr. Storme has no idea what he’s doing or he knows exactly what he’s doing. In my Byron Falls, it’s the latter. He is a roguish gentleman, but he has no romantic designs on any of the students. Instead, he’s got all his energy focused on the shy art teacher, Ms. Hickey. So far, she hasn’t noticed his innuendoes and veiled suggestions.
Jane St. Claire Most Likely to Design Said Game 10
Or maybe she has…
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Mr. Pacey Trick, the Math Teacher He is as slender as a spider’s leg. He speaks with an accent nobody can place. And his smile will haunt your dreams. Mr. Trick not only teaches math for Byron Falls High School but also serves as a kind of boogeyman for the town itself. When he arrived, he bought the local haunted house—the one on 66 Winchester Street—and keeps to himself. He has no family. No friends. Strange sounds come from the house after the sun goes down. A strange blue light can be seen from a top floor window when the moon slips behind the clouds. In class, he is strict and demanding. His pleasant almost feminine voice can sting like a whip. And he always wears an immaculate black suit.
Lastly… A few people have asked me if Byron Falls is a response to a particular work. A specific piece of popular fiction. I have to admit, it is. The story of a beautiful high school girl falling in love with a monster and all the melodramatic soap opera nonsense that follows is indeed the inspiration for this work. So, thank you, Joss Whedon. I owe this game to you.
Friends:
Name:
Name:
Character Sheet
Details:
Name: Details:
Soul: Interests: Art
Detention
Drama Name:
Sports
Studying
Details:
Job: Money: Stuff: Name: Details:
Enemy:
Name: Details:
Byron Falls | ____________________________________Class
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