Home •
Search
Judges •
Readers •
Prizes
Winners & Finalists
2015 •
16 •
17 •
18 •
2019
Downloads & Prints
Relentless • 2017 rpg
Sidney Icarus • action-economy.com
Gather 10d6, a sheet of paper, and 4 friends.
Characters are Slaves with Hope: a shared goal that they WILL achieve to end the game. Write the Hope large so that it is always visible to all players.
Slaves begin trapped in cages. When Players describe an action, the Facilitator may call for that Slave to roll.
Slaves cannot own anything, even dice. They use a communal Pile of d6s equal to the Scene (beginning at 1). If the Slave fails to roll a 6, the roll fails, and 1d6 is added to the Pile, up to a maximum of 10d6. If the Slave succeeds, the Facilitator sets the next scene, and (regardless of any previous failures) the Pile resets to the number of the new scene (2d6 for 2nd scene, etc).
In 10th Scene (10d6), conflicts represent the Slave attaining their final step toward Hope. Once only one Slave remains to take part in conflicts, the stakes are Hope itself. Failure will introduce a twist and a new opportunity to reach for Hope.
Once Hope is attained, allow each player an epilogue, describing their Slave’s future. This serves to both decompress and reward them for their endurance.
Author Comments
“Well, I’m going to tell you the best and the worst thing you’ve ever heard. Heroes aren’t born. You just go out there and grind it out. You fail and you look foolish and you just keep grinding. There is nothing else. There is no ‘chosen one,’ there is no destiny, nobody wakes up one day and finds out they’re amazing at something. There’s just slamming your head into the wall, refusing to take no for an answer. Being relentless, until either the wall or your head breaks. You want to be a hero? You don’t have to make some grand decision. There’s no inspirational music, there’s no montage. You just don’t quit.” ― David Wong, Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits
This is inspired by the Ten Candles system, but where Ten Candles represents the inevitable drop into darkness, Relentless represents the inevitable success from those who simply won’t accept failure.
