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A game produced and directed by KOBAYASHI Starring one GM and up to five players Music :
AT THE DRIVE-IN, EL-P, LIFESAVAS, John Carpenter, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Voice over : Don LaFontaine Quotes from : SHAFT, SUPER FLY, ESCAPE FROM NEW-YORK,
ESCAPE FROM L.A, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, DARK STAR, GHOST OF MARS,
GRINDHOUSE, JACKY BROWN, FASTER PUSSYCAT ! KILL ! KILL !, ARMED AND
DANGEROUS, DARK ANGEL, REPO MAN, THEY LIVE !, DEMOLITION MAN, DEATH
WISH, SCANNERS
What do you need to play : character sheets, beer and greasy snacks, 5D12 per players would
be nice. Pussies can bring tea and tofu.
Thanks. This game uses parts of Rafael Chandler's Disciple 12 rules. So if the rules seem to
work, it's thanks to him, all the flaws come from me. Thanks to Phil Reed for his excellent
initiative rules from Vs Monsters.
1
The dramatic intro Outside of MICOM, Soviet or Chinese
influence civilisation has regressed to
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. medieval levels (if CNN is to be believed).
The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our There are rumours of refuges and sanctuaries
leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes out of the big boys reach but proof of their
of it all. It really boils down to our ability to existence is rather circumstancial.
accept. We don't need pessimism.
They Live ! Space program
Let's start with a the big picture : China, the Don't give me any of that intelligent life crap,
Soviet Union and the US of A are fighting just give me something I can blow up.
dozens of little wars around the globe, trying
Dark Star
to claim Earth's last ressources.
Soviets have Mars, US have the Moon, China
90% of the population is poor. 10% are not
has sabotage. Mars is a growing collectivist
and guess what ? They're the ones in charge.
nightmare, Moon is a research facility run by
The Yuppies and the MICOM are controlling
MICOM with several colonies around it still
the place.
being created. You can only go there by using
MI what ? That's for military-industrial a flight taking off from America (Bates
complex. The White House looks like a board spaceport in the Mojave desert), French
of directors and it put the population to work. Guyana (De Gaulle spaceport), Australia
America needs weapons, children and (Sydney spaceport), Sweden (Kiruna
soldiers. In the face of war and possible spaceport), Russia (Baikonour and Plesetsk
apocalypse, Law and Order are the only spaceport) and Dubai (Al-Afasi spaceport). Cap
things that matter. Manhattan is a state Canaveral was destroyed in a terrorist attack
penitentiary. The Freedom Act considers by Soviet sleeper agents. Commercial flights
political dissent as treason. HOMSEC goons for the wealthy regularly go to the Moon.
are blackbagging people at night and send Mars is off-limits except for soviet supply
them to FEMA camps. ships.
The war against China lead our beloved
leaders to put all american of chinese descent Who are you ?
into internment camps. There are no heroes anymore, Bishop. Just men
Outside the big cities things have gone a little who follow orders.
out of hands. Survivalists, death cults and Assault on Precinct 13
supremacist orders thrive.
You believed in the american dream. You went
But there are slave wages, potato chips and to war thousands miles away to save your
TV sets for everyone. In brief, picture your nation. You came home with nightmares,
typical corporate-fascist america nightmare. trying to fit in. But you can't. And very soon
you'll bring war back to the US.
Prison planet
The future ? You murdered the future.
The year is...
Scanners I don't know, just pick one. I picture a twisted
version of the nineties for my own games.
Fortress Europe shoots you if you try to come
in, USSR shoots you if you want to come out
and China shoots everybody. The rest of the
world takes side or is vitrified with tacnukes.
2
Characters -Interesting group of people. -Yeah, to Freud, maybe. Armed and Dangerous
Redneck : you grew up between an Aryan You are the ultimate fighting machine, full of
Supremacy compound and death cult piss and vinegar. You are able to use all
cannibals. weapons features (see p.6)
3
2.2 Secondary backgrounds 2.3 Sexism
If the character is a woman, she gains the
Martial Artist
« Foxy Lady » background for free. Get one
When fighting hand to hand you ignore the
bonus die to your Attitude pool whenever the
enemy armor and you can use the features of
character's appearance might be of use.
melee weapons.
Sniper 3. Nightmare
You can use the Powerful feature of firearms.
This is what keeps your character awake at
Driver night, he...
You can add your Stuff score to the vehicles
handling rating. You always go unscathed 1. ...participated in a civilian
from car crashes. massacre : you didn't want to, but you
Medic did anyway.
You can give back three blood points (Stuff 2. ...saw his best friend die : you can
score) times per game session. More than that still smell his blood on your skin.
and the movie gets boring.
3. ...accidentaly shoot a fellow soldier :
Hard as nails you panicked, he died.
You get 3 more Blood points.
4. ...was on prison duty : the cries of the
Get out of my head tortured still wakes you up at night.
You cannot be affected by psi powers.
5. ...was trapped underground : you've
Magic trick become a little claustrophobic.
You can always hide something not bigger
than a small pistol on yourself that will 6. ...got crippled : Blind or one-arm are
escape all search. popular choices. Doesn't change a
thing rules-wise.
Ghost
You are pretty good at disguising yourself. 7. ...has a deformed child : thanks to
You cannot pass for a specific person, but as a exposition to chemical weapons or
common bum or soldier nobody will notice experimental medecine.
you. 8. ...accidentaly shot an innocent : he
Hacker really looked like a soldier. A nine year
You can access any database given you have a old soldier.
computer handy. It can go from the local 9. ...killed an officer : he just kept giving
police department (difficulty : 7), to HOMSEC bad orders. You had to save your
(difficulty : 9) even to MICOM (difficulty : 14). squad.
Second amendment 10. ...left a squadmate behind : his cries
You can find a weapon anywhere. If your for help still wake you at night.
character is disarmed, throw 1D12 and you
find the corresponding weapon in the Gun 11. ...was a prisoner : they forced you to
porn table (p.6). Don't forget to tell everyone play russian roulette or jeopardy.
how you find it (hint : « It was on the floor » is 12. ...deserted : you just gone AWOL.
lame). You can't throw away a gun just to find
a new one, how old are you ? Six ? 3.1 Redemption
Contacts Each time the Nightmare is used, the
You know (Attitude score/2) people whom character gets back all of his Blood points and
you can turn to for help and information. the player checks one Redemption box. Once
4
all boxes have been checked, the nightmare 12. You're a clone : you discovered the
fades away and the character cannot use it « original » by accident and he saw
anymore. you.
8. Ex-convict : you've done time for a Just take a chill pill (1)
crime (throw 1D12) : 1 – 6 you never Roll 1 extra die
commited, 7-12 you commited I have many hidden talents. (2)
(murder, pimping, weapon trafficking, All you need is some time. You get an
drug trafficking, bank robbery) and automatic 12, doesn't apply to Combat rolls.
someone sold you out. You spent
1D12/2 years in jail. Can't argue with a confident man (2)
Roll one dice, choose opponent's lowest die
9. Illegal immigrant : Land of the free,
home of the whites. I got that Payback time ! (2)
sunshine, now kiss my alien ass. Roll only two dice but add the values
10. Homeless : you live on the streets of Come on you mindless motherfuckers (3)
America, covering your ass with pieces Your attack touches every nearby opponent.
of the american dream. I never miss (3)
11. Blackmailed : they took your family You get the GM's highest die
hostage or have injected some crap in I'm serious as a heart attack (3)
your body. This action needs an extremely violent and
5
gory description. You get two extra dice, if the
GM wins, the damage is still taken by the
target.
5.2 Experience
There are no experience system in the HARD
WAY !
6. You meet in a
squad...
All characters in the group know each other
from the war. They were all part of the same
squad.
The Squad Motto
Your squad motto can be use once per game
session to give every character one bonus die
for one action. The situation must somewhat
fit the motto. Some examples :
Who Dare Wins, Death from Above, No mission
too Difficult, No one touches us, We lead, you
die, Serve and cover, No greater sacrifice...
Players must decide between themselves if
the motto is used or not. This game won't
give you rules adressing basic human
relationships.
6
7. Gun porn
I don't know what futuristic utopia you live in, but in the world I live in, a bitch need a gun.
Grindhouse
Damage
What you add to your success margin when determining damage.
Range
Effective range of the weapon. Loose two dice when firing beyond range. You cannot shoot
more than one step beyond your weapons range (a pistol can be fired at a Far range but not a
Very far one).
Range Meaning...
Close face to face
Near same room
Far at the end of the street
Very far sniping and all that jazz
Fights
The number of fights the weapon's ammo will last.
Features
These can only be used by characters with the Badass background.
Feature Meaning...
Rock & Roll you can attack all opponents with one roll
Powerful You ignore your target's armor
7
7.1 Hot wheels
The more you drive, the less intelligent you are.
Repo man
Armored vehicles
For armored vehicles just find a rocket launcher, one hit and it's done.
Ramming
Make a conflict check using the vehicles handling. Determine damage as usual. Big vehicles get
a +5 to damage when ramming smaller ones.
Car chases
The fastest vehicle gets one additional die per speed step above the slowest one.
Exemple : the speed ladder is : slow – fast – very fast. So if i'm driving a Very Fast vehicle against
a Slow one I get two more dice.
Accidents
Should player characters be involved in an accident, everyone rolls Violence against a difficulty
of 9. Failure means you take damage equal to your failure margin.
Vehicles weapons
Let's do this nice and easy : guns do 20 damage, rockets and missiles do 40.
8
Rules The Golden Rule: He who has the gold, makes the rules. They Live !
1.Taking action starting with the player to the left of the GM.
If that doesn't suit you use cards or dice.
This shit is simple : roll a number of 12-sided
Resolution
dice equal to your attribute. Then, compare
All actions are simultaneous. Each fighter
the highest one to the number you're trying
throws his Violence dice.
to beat. If you do, hoorah ! You win.
Consequences
Target Difficulty The winner inflicts damage equals to the
Target difficulty goes from 2 (easy) to 7 difference between the scores plus any
(average) to 12 (extremely difficult). For weapon bonus. If the loser has any armor, the
example, if you're trying to break a locked damage is substracted from it first.
door, and your Violence is 3, you roll 3 dice.
Multiple ennemies
The GM indicates that the door is old, so the
Even if you beat them, you only hit one of
difficulty is 5 (below average). One of your
them.
dice shows a 9. That means you bashed
down the door, congratulations. Exemple : Grogan, the Badass redneck faces
Conflict two gang members in a dark alley. He wants to
interrogate them so he doesn't want to use any
If you're taking action against another person,
weapon. Grogan has a Violence score of 5. The
then you're going to roll against your
punks have to. Grogan gets 4,5, 5, 9 and 8, for a
opponent. For example, if you're trying to
punch a guy, and your Violence score is 4, you final result of 9. The first punk gets 3 and 6,
the second one 2 and 8. Grogan decides to bash
roll 4 dice. The guy's use his Violence trait as
the first punk and inflicts (9 – 6) three points
well to punch you too, he has a score is 3, so
of damage.
the GM rolls 3 dice. Your highest number is a
10, and the other guy's highest number is a 7. 3. Health
That means that you hit. In case of a tie, look
There is only one way to recover Blood points
at the next highest numbers.
during a HARD WAY ! session : invoke
Multiples Trauma or the use of the Medic background.
Here's the tricky part: if you roll multiples of
the same number, you add the number of 4. Armor
multiples to the number itself. For example, if Armor takes damage first. Subtract damage
you roll three 6s, that means that you rolled a received from your armor first. Once it
9 (3+6). Now, if you also rolled an 11, you reaches zero it's gone in shreds.
would want to ignore that 9. But, in theory,
Armor Protection
you could roll some extremely high numbers
this way. For example, if you roll four 12s, that Concealed 5
means that you've rolled a 16. Tactical 7
SWAT 9
2. Combat
Don't shoot yourself. Don't shoot each other.
And especially... don't shoot me.
Planet Terror
Initiative
All players (GM included) go clockwise
9
GM Stuff That thing's got more holes than my daddy's rubber. Blind fury
G.I 3. GM secrets
Dogs of war with a long leash. Not as much secrets as random ideas to get
Violence : 3, Stuff : 3, Attitude : 1 your HARD WAY ! campaign going.
Weapons : assaut rifle (3)
Armor : tactical (7) ● A soviet expedition is said to have
Blood : 7 found ruins in the martian
underground.
TRIAD MEMBER ● The U.S Moon base is manned by
Vicious and violent. Doesn't like americans.
10
clones treated as slaves by their 4. Scenarios
military masters.
Each scenario should resolve around the guy
● Aliens seeked asylum on earth. that screwed up one of the characters. If you
They've been imprisoned, probed and want to do this the hippie way ask your
dissected. Their descendants live in a players which one of them wants to take
high security prison located deep revenge and allow him to create the bastard.
underground in the appalachian Use it as the main baddie for the scenario.
mountains.
People to save...
● Several secret hospitals keep clones in 1. Relatives
suspended animation, ready to be 2. Refuge
harvested for organs. 3. Escaped clone
● A new drug is decimating the junkie 4. MICOM official
population which cause MICOM's 5. Soviet defector
income to drop. 6. American-chinese
7. Nuns
● Clones are used as sex toys by Yuppies 8. Illegal aliens
and MICOM officials. Some of them 9. Aliens
escaped... 10. Orphanage
● Gangs are using orphanage as cover 11. War veterans
for their crackhouses 12. HOMSEC defector
● MICOM just created the first cyborgs From...
using dead soldiers. 1. HOMSEC
2. Gang
● MICOM tests a drug that induces 3. Soviet agents
sexual frenzy, culminating with a 4. a virus or chemical weapon
berserk rage. Plans to use it on muslim 5. Chinese agents
countries it cannot nuke. 6. MICOM
● Chinese and Soviets use mind altering 7. Political extremists
drugs to create sleeper agents. 8. Clones
9. Relatives
● Rocks brought back from Mars were 10. Triads
stolen. Including the little germs they 11. War veterans
were carrying. 12. Aliens
● A yuppie loves to kill youg women. By...
And he is the son of an important 1. Planning an escape
politician. 2. Blowing up a place
● Triads are using american-chinese 3. Robbing something
who escaped the camps as slaves. 4. Killing someone
5. Capturing someone
● MICOM has sponsored several drug 6. Finding info
fields in the US where it employs 7. Delivering something
former drug addicts. 8. Finding a cure
● HOMSEC turns homeless people into 9. Protecting someone
killers. 10. Finding someone
11. Sabotage !
● A game set in Leningrad with Spetsnaz 12. Disinformation
veterans should be fun, try it !
11
5. Language
« If crimefighters fight crime and firefighters
fight fire what the freedom fighters fight ? »
Georges Carlin
12
THE HARD WAY ! Character sheet Player:
NAME:
Origin : Squad : Squad motto :
Nightmare:
Trauma:
VIOLENCE [ ] Redemption [][][][][] Get all your MOFO points back by using it.
STUFF [ ] Revenge [][][][][] Get all your Blood points back by using it.
Trash
MOFO Points 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
It's all in the reflexes (1) You divide the damage you receive by 2
Sad story. You got a smoke? (1) You take the damage that was destined to one of your friends
Just take a chill pill (1) Roll 1 extra die
I have many hidden talents. (2) Automatic 12, doesn't apply to Combat rolls
Can't argue with a confident man (2) Roll one dice, choose opponent's lowest die
Payback time ! (2) Roll only two dice but add the values
Come on you mindless motherfuckers (3) Your attack touches every nearby opponent.
I never miss (3) You get the GM's highest die
I'm serious as a heart attack (3) You get two extra dice, if the GM wins, the damage is still taken by the target.
THE HARD WAY ! GM's cast
The squad
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The scenario
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hostiles
Name: Name: Name:
Violence Stuff Attitude Violence Stuff Attitude Violence Stuff Attitude
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Armor: Armor: Armor:
Weapons: Weapons: Weapons:
Blood : Blood : Blood :
GM Tricks
● You can use a character's Nightmare to prevent him from using his backgrounds during a scene.
The catch is that the player get to uncheck one Redemption box. The GM cannot use the Nightmare
of a player who has no Redemption boxes checked.
● You can use a character's trauma to replenish the Blood points of one bad guy. Once again, it ain't a
free lunch. The targeted player gets to uncheck one Revenge box.
-Let's just kick some ass
-That's what we do best
Ghost of Mars