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Between vacation overseas, my mother-in-law visiting for four days and the school year starting next week, I just don’t have time to sit down, and play/write the next chapter of Shadow of a Waxwing Slain. It just takes quite a bit of thinking, writing, planning and editing, which I just don’t have time for right now.
So I’m going to play something dumb and fast and hope you all like it. The dumb fast thing I’m going to play is the one-page rpg I made called “you are a werewolf.”
I was just a human, once. Then I Changed into a wolf-human hybrid killing machine. Now I have a Need I can't fulfill and Hunters on my tail. What am I going to do?
First, I decide who I am and then roll 5d6 to determine a bunch of stuff to start out.
My name is Max. I am a Taxi Driver. I am a werewolf.
How did I become a werewolf?
1d6 = 2 → “It’s in my blood”
During my first change, I…
1d6 = 1 → “killed my family.”
What do I call my Need?
1d6 = 1 → “The Beast Within”
What’s my goal?
1d6 = 3 → “Escape the Hunters”
Whose Hunting me?
1d6 = 4 → “Monsters, demons or other creatures from the Dark”
Need = 1
Hunter Track = 1
The apartment looked as though an earthquake had hit, a big one. Furniture smashed, tossed, thrown across the room. Windows shattered. Shelves ripped out of the walls, whatever was on them, pictures, books, tchotchkes, broken and scattered all over the floor.
“What happened?” Max tried to ask but a horrible growl sound came from his throat.
He smelled blood. It was overwhelming. He saw it splashed against the walls and pooled on the floor.
Then he saw the bodies, ones he recognized. “No,” he growled, going to one, his mother, torn to pieces. When he got to her, he saw his own body, his bloodied fur, his claws. He staggered back. He didn’t just smell the blood, he could taste it.
Max woke suddenly, feeling hot and sweaty. He tossed the blankets and sheets off, sitting up and putting his feet on the floor carpeted floor. He shuddered, closing his eyes, wiping his short hair back with one hand. The nightmare, again. It’d been years but…it always came back.
He went to the window and looked out. The sky was cloudy and dark. He couldn’t see the moon but he knew it was full. He could feel it. He could also feel it within him, The Beast Within, churning, simmering, waiting to come out, always there, always waiting.
They’d said it was in his blood, the ones who’d found him after. Certain people had certain ancestors and it came out in your teens. Some bullshit about an ancient war, about how werewolves were created to fight off monsters from the Dark. Max hadn’t listened, had run first chance he got. Bunch of crazies, as far as he was concerned. In the years since, he hadn’t seen a single monster, proving him right.
The alarm clock showed 4:45 in green neon, an hour and fifteen minutes before the alarm would go off. He turned it off and went to take a shower, knowing he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.
Let’s set a scene!
Location: d66 = 52 → “vacant lot”
Scent: d66 = 12 → “food”
Whose here: d6 = 1 → “Hunter”
I’m trying to: d6 = 4 → “Escape”
Max pulled into the parking lot where he’d been called to pick up a ride, headlights revealing scabby concrete, bits of garbage, a half-standing chain-link fence. No other cars parked here.
It was late, 2am.
It was a weird place to pick someone up, the lot was down the street with a bunch of abandoned businesses and boarded up residences. Nobody lived or worked out here, nobody that would be needing a ride, anyway.
He got out, pulling out his phone to call his supervisor who’d sent him here, but he heard a beeping noise indicating no service here.
That’s strange, he thought, looking at his phone. Weren’t many places in the city without service.
A breeze blew and he caught the scent of old food scraps, meat grease, starchy potatoes and a sugary-sweet drink.
He spotted a fast-food bag and Styrofoam cup next to a bundle of raggedy blankets. He smelled something else too, something…off. He couldn’t quite describe it, which was rare. He had a good nose and been using it for years. He rarely found a scent he couldn’t identify. He left the car running and moved towards the bundle, sniffing deeply.
The smell wasn’t just unusual, it was…off. Wrong in a way he couldn’t explain, even to himself.
The bundle moved and Max stopped, realizing there was a person underneath the blankets.
He felt an urge to leave, get back in the cab and drive away. But there was another urge, The Beast Within.
Whoever this was, they were homeless, and nobody was around. Nobody would miss them.
It was a terrible thing he contemplated, but over the years, he’d found giving into the Need when certain opportunities arose was better than the alternative, waiting until the Beast emerged itself and taking what it wanted, whether that be friends, families or others.
“You call a ride?” Max asked, getting closer, putting his phone in his pocket, perhaps trying some way to stop himself from giving into the Beast.
The bundle shuddered. A strange noise came from underneath, something almost inhuman.
Max was close now. The Beast Within called to him.
A figure emerged from beneath the blankets, casting them off and revealing itself.
Darker than any black Max had ever seen, the creature rose to a height of at least eight feet, towering. Sickly thin, with multiple tentacles bursting out of it’s torso, writhing and slithering. A humanoid head growing out of the top, without eyes but a swirling mouth filled with fangs opened up.
Max froze at the sight of it.
It shrieked, a sound out of space and time that cut Max to the core and put him on his knees.
He screamed, clutching at his head with his hands.
It stepped forward, tentacles reaching.
Something within Max surged forward, an anger, a stirring, the Need, the Beast. He threw himself back, away from the tentacles, as they surged forward.
He rolled and got to his feet. The Beast Within boiled but he pushed it down and ran for the car.
In “you are a werewolf”, when you attempt something hard, start with 0 dice. Ask yourself,
Is it within a human’s capability? Yes. +1d6
Does my identity help me? No.
Do I risk giving in to my Need? Yes. +1d6
2d6 = 4,2 → 4: “Complete Success”
My Need die wasn’t the highest and I didn’t roll a 6 so I don’t trigger my Need.
If it would be interesting if I fail or I’m going up against Hunters, roll 1d6. If it’s higher than my highest roll, I fail and trigger my Need.
Fail roll: 1d6 = 6 → “You fail. Trigger your Need and consider what happens.”
Need: “Anytime you roll a 6, or fail a roll, or your Need die is the highest number, roll 1d6. If you roll over your Need, add +1 to your Need. You feel the urge to Change within you. You may choose to give in and Change. If so, reduce your Need back to 1.”
Need: 1d6 = 4 > 1, so my Need goes up to 2
I choose not to give in and Change.
He was almost to the driver’s side of the cab when something slammed into him, throwing him over the hood of the car and onto the ground on the other side. He groaned in pain, The Beast Within surging as he pushed himself up.
Another creature stood on the other side of the car, this one resembling a canine shape, standing on six inverted legs, about four feet tall, a canine head with a dozen eyes staring at him.
Fuck they’re real, it’s all real
The tentacle-tall-guy was slowly moving forward, it’s tentacles growing longer.
The dog-monster-thing looked ready to leap over the car.
Max waited for it to jump and then dashed around the back of the car.
I try to run around the back of the taxi and back to the driver’s side.
Human’s capability? +1d6
Being a cab driver help? +1d6
Risk Need? +1d6
3d6 = 1,2,3 → 1-3: “Barely Succeed”
Need die was highest, so I trigger my Need.
Need: 1d6 = 6 > 2, Need goes up to 3.
Fail: 1d6 = 6 → I fail and trigger my Need again.
Need: 1d6 = 3 → Not above my current Need so my Need does not increase.
The dog-monster jumped and Max took off, around the back of the car but it was too fast.
It caught him lunging onto his back and taking him to the ground.
He felt it bite into his shoulder and yelled in pain. He put his hand into his pocket and grabbed his pocket knife, struggling to turn over. It was his last, desperate chance.
Try to stab this thing and get it off me.
Human’s capability? Probably not!
Being a cab driver help? No
Risk Need? Yes. +1d6
1d6 = 4 → Complete Success
Fail: 1d6 = 1
Finally, an actual success! I do trigger a Need roll, though.
Need: 1d6 = 2 < 3 → No change
Feeling The Beast Within boiling, Max gave out a growl, flicking the knife out and plunging it deep into the neck of the dog-monster above him. With inhuman strength, he shoved it off of him.
He stood, slapping away the tentacles that were now trying to wrap around him, yanking open the drivers side door and getting in. He locked the door, put it into reverse and pulled out of the vacant lot, bouncing over the curb onto the street. In the headlights, he saw the dog-monster stand and face the car. As he accelerated away, it gave chase.
“God-fucking-damnit,” he said out loud, pressing the pedal to the floor.
Attempt to outrun and escape the dog-monster.
Human’s capability? Yes. +1d6
Cab driver help? Yes. +1d6
Risking Need? Yes. +1d6
3d6 = 1,6,2 → 6: “Success with Bonus but Triggers Need”
Need: 1d6 = 2 < 3 → No change
Fail: 1d6 = 6 → Luckily, fail roll has to be over your success roll.
Note: This means ties favor the PC and a PC can’t fail on a roll of 6. Maybe that’s fine. Coming from Ironsworn/Starforged, ties go against the PC which means you always have a chance of failure. Considering 6’s always trigger Needs though, maybe it’s okay if a 6 is always a success. Something to think about.
Knowing the streets and his car’s capabilities, Max pulled away from the loping dog-monster, losing it in the darkness behind him, as he drove into more populated areas.
He felt better, seeing more lights, people and civilization, even as he could feel The Beast Within, still boiling, pushing Max to go back and fight. and kill. and feast.
Not today. Not now.
Thanks for reading!
I do apologize for the lack of updates and not giving you a “Shadow of the Waxwing Slain” chapter, as was expected. Do not worry, I absolutely plan on returning to it. I can’t let leave Dee and Fletcher in limbo for too long, they’re just too fun to play and write about.
In the downtime, maybe check out my Table of Contents where you can find a couple completed solo campaigns, other one-shot solo games, and various musings.
Let me know how you find “you are a werewolf”, it’s Pay-What-You-Want on itch.io and hopefully this little teaser shows you what you might be able to do with it. Leave a comment with your thoughts, suggestions, feedback, actual-plays, or anything else you want to talk about.
Also, don’t worry about Max, I’m not going to forget about him! I found this quite fun and will definitely return to his story.
Quite enjoyable. I really like the way you play with the words, and it almost felt like Max could be a serial killer or has developed a taste for that. At least the story gives that perspective some room to stretch it's legs. Nevertheless. I'm looking forward to future adventures.
Enjoy your break.
I enjoyed the side story. Enjoy your break. I looked forward to the next release.