The Twentieth Century Quickstart Version
Okay, so this is going to be the QUICKSTART version of the tabletop role-playing game called THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
So: QUICK! No time to explain to you what a role-playing game is! Look it up if you need to, or wait for the full game!
But for now: Here's WHAT THIS GAME IS ABOUT: Your character is someone from the twentieth century. But not just the regular twentieth century-- it's the one you see in movies and TV and stuff. The FICTIONAL twentieth century.
You know how when you're a kid you expect that quicksand will be, like a major thing out in the world, and then you grow up and there's almost no one even talking about literal quicksand, ever? Okay, so you see how there's a difference between real life in movies and TV and the real world.
This is the former version of the twentieth century, not the latter. So there's hoboes and ghosts and suffragettes and bootleggers and bluesmen and gumshoes and stuff in the the first part of the twentieth century. And there WERE all of those things in real life, too (well, I mean, there were people who believed in ghosts, anyway), but in the fictional twentieth century, there were sure a lot MORE hoboes and gumshoes and ghosts and bootleggers and stuff than there were for real.
So-- QUICK-- let's start with character creation, okay?
You've got four stats:
--FORCEFUL
--AGILE
--INSIGHTFUL
--CHARMING
And each stat has a modifier, like -1, 0, +1, +2.
BUT-- you don't start with your stats! You start with your Character Type.
This game has 4 parts: The Early Years (1900-1939), The Forties, The Fifties, and The Sixties.
Because this is the QUICKSTART rules, we're mostly going to focus on The Early Years.
OKAY, so here's the list of Character Types to choose from for The Early Years:
--Barnstormer: you're a brave pilot!
--Bluesman//Blues Singer: move people (even ghosts!) with your music!
--Doughboy: you're a military type!
--Flapper: you're a cool social ace!
--Gambler: you're a risk-taking gambler!
--Gentleman Detective//Lady Detective: You figure stuff out and solve mysteries!
--Hobo: you can survive without money ("off the grid," as they'll say in the future)!
--Nurse: you can help heal people!
--Orphan: you're a plucky and cunning kid of the streets!
--Pugilist: you're a tough and scrappy boxer!
--Racketeer: you're a cool criminal customer!
--Reporter: you're a curious reporter!
--Scholar: you know a lot of stuff!
--Spiritualist: you can attempt to talk to ghosts!
--Suffragette: you're fighting for women's rights!
--Tycoon: you're rich!
Okay, now that you've got the basics, here's what each type is extra-good at:
WHAT YOU'RE GOOD AT:
--Barnstormer: you're great in dangerous situations, and also good with mechanical stuff (like fixing engines)!
--Bluesman//Blues Singer: you can affect other people's emotions!
--Doughboy: you're a good fighter, and tough!
--Flapper: you're a genius of social situations and charming people!
--Gambler: you're lucky (and sometimes unlucky, but at least you get to choose when you're lucky, unlike other people)!
--Gentleman Detective//Lady Detective: Seriously, you're good at figuring stuff out and solving mysteries!
--Hobo: you're extra sneaky and resourceful, and you can read signs that other hoboes leave to warn about dangerous places!
--Nurse: seriously, you can help heal people!
--Orphan: you're sneaky, hard to catch, and can summon other orphans to help!
--Pugilist: you're good at punching people!
--Racketeer: you're intimidating, fast-talking, and an expert driver!
--Reporter: you're great at finding out facts (or rumors) that no one else could!
--Scholar: you're an expert in multiple fields-- including hypnosis!
--Spiritualist: seriously, you can attempt to talk to ghosts! Sometimes it works!
--Suffragette: you're both persuasive and stubborn (hard to intimidate)!
--Tycoon: seriously, you're rich! You can (attempt) to solve problems just by throwing money at it!
CHARACTER CREATION, FOR REAL: Okay, now that we've said all that:
--Choose a Character Type
--Distribute these numbers amongst your four aforementioned stats: -1, 0, +1, +2
--When you want to do something, roll 2d6, and then add or subtract points based on:
1. your modifer in that stat, and
2. Whether or not I said up above your Character Type is extra-good at doing that.
EXAMPLE: Jimmy, an Orphan, rolls 2d6 to get away from a truant officer (a kind of cop that tries to make you go to school). Jimmy's Agile modifier is +1, but Orphans are listed as "hard to catch," so he'll roll with Advantage-- rolling twice the same way, but taking the better of the two rolls.
If the Final Result of a roll is:
--6 or under: failure!
--7 to 9: partial success//partial failure. Not totally good nor bad.
--10 or higher: success, no complications!
GENDER:
--Barnstormer: can be any gender.
--Bluesman//Blues Singer: can be any gender.
--Doughboy: traditionally male.
--Flapper: can technically be any gender-- Male flappers are called "sheiks," after a movie role by actor Rudolph Valentino, and they all have slicked-back hair parted down the middle, listened to jazz, and danced the fox-trot.
--Gambler: can be any gender.
--Gentleman Detective//Lady Detective: can be any gender.
--Hobo: traditionally male, but can be any gender.
--Nurse: traditionally female, but can be any gender.
--Orphan: can be any gender.
--Pugilist: traditionally male.
--Racketeer: traditionally male, but can be any gender.
--Reporter: can be any gender.
--Scholar: can be any gender.
--Spiritualist: can be any gender.
--Suffragette: traditionally female.
--Tycoon: can be any gender. (Sometimes a female Tycoon is just called an Heiress-- but sometimes just a Tycoon.)
If a Character Type says "traditionally X" and doesn't say "but" after that, talk to your GM if you want to play it differently anyway. This is a fictional world! Maybe in this fictional world, soldiers and boxers can be gals! Heck, maybe men don't have the vote yet, only women, so Suffragettes are all guys! As long as the GM and the players are in agreement, do it however you want! Being Non-Binary are also options-- after all, people sometimes felt that they didn't fit in one of the two most-common genders, even 100 years ago (give or take a few decades)!
MONEY:
Each class starts with the sort of stuff you'd expect them to start with (clothes, a safe place to live), and also a little money (except hoboes, who start with one set of clothes but no home and no money).
--Barnstormer: A two-seater propeller plane, and 10 dollars OR a plane and 2 dollars and a pistol with ammo
--Bluesman//Blues Singer: one dollar
--Doughboy: 50 cents
--Flapper: 75 cents
--Gambler: 2 dollars (and 1 deck of cards and 1 pair of dice)
--Gentleman Detective//Lady Detective: Gentleman Detectives (and Lady Detectives) are well-off, or else they wouldn’t have time to solve crimes, would they? They start off with 10 dollars in their wallet or purse.
--Hobo: No money
--Nurse: 1 dollar
--Orphan: 5 cents (probably in pennies)
--Pugilist: 25 cents
--Racketeer: 15 dollars OR 4 dollars and a pistol with ammo.
--Reporter: 3 dollars.
--Scholar: 8 dollars OR 3 dollars and a hypnotic focus, like a pocket watch on a chain, or maybe a special crystal pendant.
--Spiritualist: 2 dollars
--Suffragette: 1 dollar and 50 cents.
--Tycoon: special, see below
HOW MONEY WORKS (if you're not a Tycoon):
Instead of worrying about how much things cost in The Twentieth Century, or how much a character makes, each character has a Money attribute, as follows: If the character needs money in a hurry, they can always roll to see if they can come up with what they need in a hurry.
When a character needs to spend money, they roll Insightful.
Lunch in a diner (or anything of that amount): as long as you have at least 50 cents on you, roll Insightful:
●10+ means you just pay for it, no problem, it doesn’t really make a dent in your funds at all. Prices are cheap for such things.
●7-9 means you lose 25 cents.
●6 or below means you lose 50 cents.
A new suit (or anything of that amount): as long as you have at least 6 dollars on you, roll Insightful:
●10+ means you just pay for it, no problem, it doesn’t really make a dent in your funds at all. Prices are cheap for such things.
●7-9 means you lose 3 dollars.
●6 or below means you lose 5 dollars.
If you don't have the minimum, you can’t afford a meal in a diner (nor, therefore, can you roll to pay for it).
If you don’t have at least 5 dollars, you can’t afford a new suit or anything like that (nor, therefore, can you roll to pay for it).
On the other hand, a character (a Racketeer, for example) might try to use a Charming roll to swindle an NPC out of some money, also referred to as Conning Others. Swindling others out of money like this gives you a temporary +1 bonus on your Money roll for the next time you make one. This also applies to any unexpected income, such as gambling (unless you’re a Gambler, in which case that IS the income you’re used to living on). These windfalls can be saved up and accumulated... although being mugged by an NPC can cause you to lose all such bonuses, unless you hide your ill-gotten gains somewhere for later (not everyone trusts banks)...
TYCOONS AND MONEY: Money works rather differently for Tycoons.
Tycoons start with 3 Wallet Points. Every time they have to spend a lot of money (more than 20 dollars at a time), they must roll 1d12 (no modifiers).
●10 to 12 means they spend it. It’s only money!
●7-9 means they spend it, but lose 1 Wallet Point.
●6 or below means it is more than even the Tycoon is carrying right now, and whoever it is won't sell it to you.
Wallet Points can be renewed once a day by a trip to a large bank (not just any bank-- a large bank).
Tycoons also have access to a car, and their own mansion OR penthouse apartment... they can also choose 2 of the following:
--Their own chauffeur NPC (who gets a +1 on driving-related rolls, but no other bonuses)
--Their own private plane with pilot NPC (who gets a +1 on flying-related rolls, but no other bonuses (feel free to skip the pilot NPC if your character also has an ally who's a Barnstormer))
--Their own speedboat and yacht (with captain NPC for the yacht)
--Their own personalized private train car (that can be hooked onto the end of normal trains)
COMBAT:
Okay, so fighting is often a big part of many RPGs. In this game, you might not have to fight anyone. You might solve problems and avoid physical conflicts by being sneaky, stealthy, smart, and/or charming. But maybe you don't want that! Or maybe you could go either way, but you find yourself in a situation where it's just simpler to say "oh to heck with this" and punch someone, or, you know, to fire back when the bad guys start firing at you. Well, in that case, here's the rules about Combat!
There are three modes of combat:
--ALL-OUT ATTACK
--CAREFUL ATTACK
--DEFEND
These are a bit like Rock-Paper-Scissors. All-Out is stronger than Careful. Careful is stronger than Defend. Defend is stronger than All-Out.
When you and an opponent engage in combat, you will choose one of these three modes, and roll 2d6. The GM will roll randomly for what the opponent will do OR the GM will write down on a slip of paper first what the enemy will do, and will show you after you choose.
Up-close melee combat: Pugilists and Doughboys roll with Advantage.
Ranged combat: Doughboys and Racketeers roll with Advantage.
Okay, so now that you've picked a Mode and rolled, and the GM has randomly rolled, there's 6 possible results (just like in rock-paper-scissors):
ALL-OUT vs. ALL-OUT: Both opponents are just giving it their all.
--The GM will roll for your opponent. Add your modifier if applicable. Whoever has the higher roll result does 2 hits, unless you're trying to hit multiple opponents, in which case you may choose to hit two targets for 1 hit each.
--If the roll result is a tie, BOTH fighters take 2 hits each.
ALL-OUT vs. DEFEND:
--The GM will roll for your opponent. Add your modifier if applicable. If ALL-OUT has the higher roll result, they do 1 hit. If DEFEND has the higher roll result OR if it's a TIE, no damage is done nor taken.
ALL-OUT vs. CAREFUL:
--The GM will roll for your opponent. Add your modifier if applicable.
--If ALL-OUT has the higher roll, they deal 2 hits. If CAREFUL's roll is higher, they do 1 hit.
----If the roll result is a tie, no damage is done nor taken this round.
CAREFUL vs. CAREFUL:
--The GM will roll for your opponent. Add your modifier if applicable.
--Whoever gets the higher roll result does 1 hit.
----If the roll result is a tie, no damage is done nor taken this round.
CAREFUL vs. DEFEND:
--The GM will roll for your opponent. Add your modifier if applicable.
--If CAREFUL gets a higher roll, they do 1 hit to the DEFEND. If DEFEND's roll is higher, or a tie, they block successfully, and no damage is done.
DEFEND vs. DEFEND: No one does damage-- you just talk smack to each other. Roll Charming (Flappers, Bluesmen, Orphans, Racketeers, Reporters, and Suffragettes roll with Advantage!): Whoever has the higher roll gets +1 to their roll next round! If it's a tie, both sides get a +1 to their roll next round!
"Is two hits the most damage that can be done in a round of combat?"
Well, sometimes there can be exceptions. The biggest two are:
--As explained already, a CAREFUL attack just does 1 hit if successful, and an ALL-OUT attack does 2 hits. This is true if you and your opponent are just punching, or if each side has weapons. But if one of you has a weapon and the other one DOESN’T, the person with the weapon who does damage does double damage.
--The other exception is that with a roll result of 12 or higher, you do 1 extra hit (well, unless you're Defending, obviously).
3 hits will knock out all but the toughest opponents in The Early Years...
All PCs get knocked out after 4 hits.
Actions a character can do during Combat besides just punching or shooting:
--Choose to help other character, such as applying first aid. A PC can’t do anything else while they’re helping another character, so if done during combat, this is usually best to do while one or more other characters are dealing with all the bad guys.
--Disarm: A special sort of attack. Attempting to disarm comes with a -2 penalty, but if successful, it can make the bad guy drop any weapon they were holding (in one hand). Although bad guys do this less often, GMs can always have them attempt to disarm, too, if it helps the story.
--Move/flee: Instead of attacking, a PC can choose to run for cover, or just to attempt to run away. Whether the bad guys choose to give chase is up to how the GM chooses to play the situation, and if there’s anywhere to run away to.
--Use special ability: Like a Bluesman’s song, for example.
So, that’s about it:
--ATTACK: Melee is FORCEFUL. Shooting is AGILE.
--DODGE: Dodge, duck, etc. are all AGILE.
--MOVE: Running for cover doesn’t require a roll at all, unless the PC is trying to dodge something (like, say, gunfire) at the same time—the dodging attempt requires an AGILE roll. Running away from combat entirely, as in, down the street and running away from anything that might decide to give chase, also requires an AGILE roll, not to see if the PC can run or not, but to see if they can outrun what’s pursuing them. Each runner rolls an AGILE roll. If the PC makes their roll and their pursuer fails it, the PC gets away (for now).
--OTHER: Other stuff includes helping an ally, using a special ability, or maybe activating a machine, etc.
HEALTH AND HEALING:
If a character loses all of their health points, they're simply knocked out. Unconsciousness of this sort usually lasts for roughly five minutes, although of course the GM may decide otherwise, depending on the circumstances. If all the PCs lose all their health points, it may last rather longer. It's up to the GM.
And, of course, if something should happen to the PCs while they are unconscious (like, say, the bad guys tying them up and moving them to a secret location), then they’re just out of luck, although the GM should try to arrange things so that this doesn’t happen too often.
Remember: this isn’t a fantasy game, it’s the Twentieth Century, and a murder rap is certainly nothing to be sneezed at. Characters who just got in the way of some sort of evil plan can always be tied up somewhere secret until after the plan is executed...
--Characters who have lost HP regain one point for every 4 hours of sleep they manage to get, until they are back at their maximum.
--Characters who get the benefit of the attention of someone with the First Aid skill get 1 HP back for every 3 hours of sleep they get (instead of 4).
--Characters who get the benefit of actual medical attention from a Nurse or a doctor at a hospital or clinic get 2 HP back for every 4 hours of sleep that they get afterwards. The only drawback is that if a character comes under a doctor’s care having lost two or more HP, the doctor won’t want to discharge them until they're entirely well, or at least within 1 point of being so. Depending on the situation, some doctors can be quite insistent about this!
Sample Pre-generated characters:
--Doughboy: Rex Carraway, male. Has 50 cents in his pocket...
Forceful: +2 Agile: +1 Insightful: -1 Charming: 0
+2 to combat, and +2 to enduring anything (physically) tough
--Flapper: Betsy Alden, female. Has 75 cents in her purse...
Forceful: -1 Agile: +1 Insightful: 0 Charming: +4 (because of Flapper bonus)
--Nurse: Rosie Morton, female. Has a dollar in her purse...
Forceful: 0 Agile: -1 Insightful: +2 Charming: +1
+2 to anything medical
--Orphan: Jimmy Miller, male. Has 5 cents in his pocket... Homeless, currently sleeps in the back of a store that went out of business that left a window unlocked in the back
Forceful: -1 Agile: +2 Insightful: 0 Charming: +1
+2 to being sneaky, hard to catch, or to attempting to summon other orphans to help!
--Spiritualist: Agnes Turner, female. Has two dollars in her purse.
Forceful: -1 Agile: 0 Insightful: +2 Charming: +1
+2 to anything involving ghosts, including attempts at communicating with ghosts
IS IT LEGAL TO PURCHASE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES?
--Not really. There are a lot of legal rules and regulations about it that were enacted to discourage it. To drink a LOT, or anything STRONG, you have to buy alcoholic beverages illegally, or go to a speakeasy that's already bought them illegally for you.
ARE WE AT WAR RIGHT NOW?
--No, but The Great War only just ended about six months ago-- and there's no guarantee that it won't break out again, really. A lot of the armed forces are still overseas in Europe, helping to rebuild things as part of the carefully-negotiated peace treaties.
WHAT YEAR IS IT?
--It doesn't really matter. It is perpetually any time from 1900 to 1939. When you are playing, The Great War ended about six months ago but global tensions are still a little high, and it's always very legally-chancy to buy adult beverages without doing a lot of paperwork and paying at least double what one used to pay for such things.
ARE PEOPLE RACIST?
--Like the issue of sexism, this is up to the players and the GM. The PLAYERS should not be at all sexist nor racist. The PLAYER-CHARACTERS should not be particularly sexist nor racist. Some NPCS, on the other hand, may well be another story-- just because then, if they are, the PCs might get to punch them (or heck, rob them. Or both).
CAN WOMEN VOTE?
--Not entirely. It's a county-by-county thing. Suffragettes won't be satisfied until the answer, nationally, is "yes."
THE OTHER ERAS:
Okay, that's almost it for The Early Years, but there are three more eras: The Forties, The Fifties, and The Sixties.
Each new era means a different new type of threat-- and new character types-- many of which are "evolved" versions of the types that came before, some completely new.
Super-super brief highlights:
* The Forties:
--Threats: Monsters of the supernatural and mad science. Vampires, werewolves, and monsters made in labs.
--Character Types: Nurses can graduate to being Doctors, Racketeers to Gangsters, Doughboys can become G.I.s, Detectives can becomes Gumshoes, Orphans can become Bowery Boys or Bobbysoxers. Also, completely new types like Carnies.
* The Fifties:
--Threats: U.F.O.s and aliens.
--Character types: Communists, Rebels, Beatniks, Roustabouts, and more.
* The Sixties:
--Threats: Psychic powers, pod people, and magical beings.
--Character types: Bikers, Hippies, Martial Artists, Protesters, Superspies, and more.
LEVELING UP:
Because remember-- these are just the Quickstart rules-- the bare minimum rules and explanations you could possibly have to start playing. The full game, when enough people show interest, has rules for:
* "Advanced" Character Types more powerful or more flexible versions of your starting character type:
Just for The Early Years:
----Scholar to Expert
----Orphan to Newsboy (or Newsie)
----Suffragette to Prohibitionist
----Gentleman Detective to Shamus
----Gentleman Detective OR Barnstormer OR Doughboy OR Pugilist OR Reporter OR Tycoon to Crimefighter (become a pulp hero with a grappling line or a gun that fires knock-out gas!)
* Then there's the aforementioned "Evolved" Character Types: move from one era to a later era, and you can level up your PCs to different Character Types that've changed with the times. PCs moving from The Early Years to The Forties can just get older (but more skilled), or they can pass their Grapple Line and Gas Gun on to a younger sibling-- or, if moving ahead more than one Era, they can pass their gear and wisdom on to one of their kids...
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:04, Sun 13 Aug 2023.