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Packages ................................................................................................................................................................................. 28
Amazing Trait ...................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Super Amazing Trait ........................................................................................................................................................... 29
Super Awesome Amazing Trait ........................................................................................................................................... 29
Apprentice .......................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Comeback King ................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Misfits ................................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Fitted Misfits ....................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Legendary Skillz .................................................................................................................................................................. 30
Operation ............................................................................................................................................................................ 30
Gameplay .................................................................................................................................................................................... 33
Rolling ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 33
Catastrophic Outcome ........................................................................................................................................................ 33
Gravy Roll ............................................................................................................................................................................ 33
Multitasking ........................................................................................................................................................................ 33
Combat ................................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Roll Intuition ....................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Rolling for Extras ................................................................................................................................................................. 34
Action .................................................................................................................................................................................. 34
Melee or Ranged Combat ................................................................................................................................................... 34
Damage & Death ................................................................................................................................................................ 35
Manoeuvres ........................................................................................................................................................................ 35
Hazards ................................................................................................................................................................................... 35
Starships ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 39
Travel .................................................................................................................................................................................. 39
Engine (E) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 39
Firepower (F) ...................................................................................................................................................................... 39
Structure (S) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 39
Utility (U) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 39
Crewing Starships ................................................................................................................................................................... 41
Starships ............................................................................................................................................................................. 41
Using Starships ....................................................................................................................................................................... 41
Starship Upgrades................................................................................................................................................................... 42
Starship Actions ...................................................................................................................................................................... 43
Entering Frames .................................................................................................................................................................. 43
Starship Combat ................................................................................................................................................................. 44
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Extras ...........................................................................................................................................................................................48
Grunts, Troopers and Elites .....................................................................................................................................................48
Grunts ..................................................................................................................................................................................48
Troopers ..............................................................................................................................................................................48
Elites ....................................................................................................................................................................................48
Robert Gustav Mulhultz III (Elite) ........................................................................................................................................49
President Doge Mandrill (Elite) ...........................................................................................................................................50
The Future ...................................................................................................................................................................................54
Appendix: ....................................................................................................................................................................................55
Character History ................................................................................................................................................................56
Timeline of The Dryden Experiment ...................................................................................................................................61
Glossary ...............................................................................................................................................................................64
Character Sheet ...................................................................................................................................................................66
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Many Thanks!
Game development is basically impossible without the support of friends, family, play testers, pets, and random
commentators. Owlman Press and Dryden House would like to extend very special thanks to the following people.
Manhattan, Kansas Playtest group:
Kevin Alejo-Morgan
Tim Prickett
Kaleb Prickett
Krista Dix
Tony Ochoa
Ciaran Prickett
Chelsi Warden
Jenny Brown
Salmon, Idaho Playtest group:
Linda Johnson
John Gneiting
Laura VanAusdoll
Don VanAusdoll
Ballarat, Australia Playtest Group
Earl Leonard
Daniel Weightman
Aaron Vissers
Patrick Courtney
Patrick Stoney
Beth Mooney
Special thanks to Boom Comics, Manhattan, Kansas for making play space available after hours.
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Welcome Rebel! What you have in your hands is one of the coolest role playing games
you will ever encounter, and not just because it’s great fun to play.
Big Damn Dryden is an unusual fusion of skills and resources. The
system is built on and driven by the Big Damn Sci-fi game system by
Nicholas and Stacey Moll from Owlman press. Owlman Press is a small
press role-playing game producer, with a philosophy of art who
approaches the tabletop roleplay experience as literature. The setting
is drawn from and part of the Dryden Experiment Science Fiction
Universe. The Dryden Experiment science fiction Universe has been
made wholly available for use and development under Creative
Commons for anyone who will agree to make their contribution
available under Creative Commons as well.
An adaption on two fronts, Big Damn Dryden acclimatizes Big Damn
Sci-Fi to the hard sci-fi Primer era of the Dryden Universe and
familiarizes the Dryden Experiment’s universe with the conventions of
a tabletop role-play setting. Put together, you get an edgy, fast paced
RPG that’s a snap to set up in a remarkably vast and complex universe
with almost unlimited backstory and environments for play.
Role of the Players
Players in Big Damn Dryden take on the role of Cubies, corporate
bounty hunters, pirates, and assassins in a high tech quest for profits
and glory. The role of a Cubie is to seek solutions to the problems of
their patron Corporation. In the process, many Cubies become rich
and retire. But just as many die after just a few frantic, short years of
corporate espionage, high wages, and lush lifestyle. The mixture of
danger, adventure, luxury, and excess makes a Cubie’s life a
seemingly romantic one when viewed from the outside, and many
corporate wage-slaves dream of the day they can run and gun across
the Galaxy. The universe itself that Cubie’s inhabit is vast, with
Humanity expanded out hundreds of light years from Sol. The growth
happens under the watchful eye of the ruling corporations: Lin, Syrch
and Terra Corp. In this universe, the bread and butter of a Cubie’s
work comes from the simmering conflict between these corporations
with each competing to rule the future of Humanity.
This is it, let’s turn the page and get started playing Big Damn Dryden!
Alfrunt Goodwin stomped down the
passageways of the Terra Corp model CRO
light cargo ship “The Vort.” She was his ship,
at least she would be if he could ever get his
contract paid off. He cursed to himself as he
adjusted the holster of the MGE fletchette
submachine gun slung across his chest. How
had he ever gotten himself stuck in a contract
with a bunch of corporate goons? Oh, yeah,
the voice in his head reminded him, so he
could have a ship.
He stopped at a hatchway and mashed the
button to open it. Inside, his giant first mate
lay sprawled across his bunk. His tiny, toy
poodle tucked in his arms like a fluffy white
rat. God, Goodwin hated that dog.
“Wake up.” Goodwin barked. “We’ve got
trouble.”
Lawler, the mate, woke instantly to combat
readiness. The poodle shivered, the little bell
around its neck tinkling. “What kind of
trouble?”
“Not sure. Bring some Boom.” Goodwin
nodded to the rack of pistols and rifles over
Lawler’s desk. “And leave the damn dog.”
Goodwin stomped to the main hatch, not
waiting for Lawler to gear up. On instinct, he
checked the external cameras before going
out. You wouldn’t expect trouble at a major
spaceport like Moodo Hona but, you could
never tell. He exited the ship and marched
across the wide, clean expanse of the hanger.
There weren’t many people around the ships
at that hour of the morning but, as he passed
under the giant, round Terra Corp. logo into
the main ring of the station, he found himself
in the midst of a busy shopping district.
Vendors and coffee shops lined the walls,
electric taxis whisked back and forth and
people were everywhere.
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Management
In Big Damn Dryden the Game Master is in charge of countless worlds
teeming with inhabitants, three mega-corporations and numerous
smaller ones, political and government entities, gravity, physics, and
countless details big and small. The roll of the Game Master for Big
Damn Dryden lies somewhere between a storyteller and referee,
crafting the narrative – its setting and Extras – and mediating the
player’s interactions with it and each other.
A Campaign is the culmination of a series of individual game sessions
and adventures in the Dryden Universe. Generally speaking a campaign
will have a single narrative, divided into chunks of play through
individual game sessions. A Campaign can be as big or as small as the
Game Master and players like, running for one or two game sessions or
else with years of play. By far the cardinal rules of a Campaign in the
Dryden Universe, however, are focus and repetition.
Focus for a Campaign typically occurs in terms of narrative. Every
Campaign should have a story, a place or point where the narratives of
each individual game session culminate and meet. The focus of a
Campaign doesn’t necessarily need to be complicated. Indeed, simple
focuses tend to work the best, allowing complications and back steps
to develop in individual game sessions through Game Master design or
the actions of the Cubies themselves. Some examples include:
Castaway: Perhaps a stock-standard science fiction trope, the Cell
crash lands on an isolated planet. From there they must survive while
attempting to repair their ship. Individual game sessions could focus on
the latest hurdle nature throws against the Cell, such as dangerous
wildlife or weather. This Campaign could be complicated by the
revelation that the Cell didn’t crash by accident but sabotaged on
purpose.
Pursuit: A deceptively simple Campaign, the Cell is given the job of
hunting down a fugitive on the run from their Patron. The reasons for
this can be varied, and are probably best left as a secret until well into
the Campaign. In this campaign, the fugitive is always one step ahead
of the Cell – seemingly leaving a mess on every planet they visit for the
Cubie’s to stumble into.
Revolution: Outside the Main Line, a planet’s current government is
working against corporate interests. The Cell has been dispatched to
foster a revolution. While seemingly a simple assassination mission to
Above, giant bay windows gave a stellar view
of Make and Dark Companion, the planetary
pair that Moodo Hona orbited. They were
close in among the core systems, only six light
years from Sol and the space around the two
planets bustled with ships of all sizes and
shapes.
Goodwin kept his eye on the crowd. He had
reason to be worried. The “simple”
assignment they’d been given, to retrieve a
scientist who was trying to defect to another
corporation, had been anything but simple.
First, the scientist wasn’t where he was
supposed to be. Second - when Goodwin had
caught up with the scientist’s ship in orbit
around Luyten, the ship had been under
attack by independent raiders. As if that
wasn’t enough, when they’d gotten aboard,
they’d found him under the protection of a
terrifying female assassin who’d come after
them with a sword. A sword!
Although they’d managed to bring the
professor back, they were late, over budget,
had a damaged ship and three crew members
in need of skin grafts or other repairs. Worse,
Goodwin half expected the assassin to come
leaping out of the crowd at him. She didn’t
seem the forgiving type.
The “Contractor Relations” office was just
across from the hanger. It was a boring office
building with short carpet on the floor and
soft coloured paintings on the walls. Goodwin
was immediately referred to a room down a
hallway. He nodded at Lawler who was a
few steps behind him, rat dog and rifle under
arm, and made for the room.
“Oh shit.” He grunted opening the door.
“Firefight?” Asked Lawler, the rat dog
growling at Goodwin.
“Worse.” Glowered Goodwin as he stepped
into the room filled with suit clad men and
women. “Staff meeting.”
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start with, the Cell must ensure that whatever leader comes to power next is friendly to the Corporation. The Cell must also
make sure that the planet’s
infrastructure remains stable enough
to be profitable.
As for repetition, the Cell should keep
encountering some of the same Extras
and Settings from one session to the
next. This can be as simple as their
handler, who provides a face for and
embodiment of the Cell’s Patron
corporation. It can also include an
antagonist who continually presents
themselves as the source or at least an
aggravator of the Cell’s problems.
Remember, however, that all Extras in
a Campaign should have a role,
function or purpose to play. Maybe the
only reason the Cubie’s partner keeps
popping up as a major character is so
they can be kidnapped later by the
antagonist. But that in itself is enough
to give the kidnapping and possible
death of an Extra resonance,
transforming a typical rescue mission
into a personal quest. Settings,
likewise, are like Extras in that they are
characters in and of themselves.
Repeated visitations to a setting, even
if it simply the bar where the Cell
unwinds after a mission, can be used
to add layers and depth to the Dryden
Universe as the Game Master presents
it for their players. It can also be used
as the source of adventures and
narratives within game session. Maybe
that small time hoodlum the Cubie had
a whirlwind love affair with on the
Main Line big city wound up dead –
calling the Cell back to the planet?
The Primer: 2503
The hard science era of the Primer begins the day after tomorrow and runs
until the early 26th century by the Gregorian calendar. By 2503, the
assumed date of Big Damn Dryden, humans have been capable of
interstellar travel for almost 200 years thanks to framing technology,
sometimes called the Insanity Crystal.
Using framing drives, humans have colonized a strip of star systems 300 light
years long and 100 light years wide roughly centered on Sol and following
the curve of our spiral arm of the Galaxy. Exploration craft have ventured
much further into the surrounding galaxy but limitations in communication
make it difficult to track or follow this exploration in any detail.
There several large corporations, and countless clusters of smaller single-to-
multi-star system entities. The largest and most powerful corporations are
Syrch, Terra Corp, and Lin. Among "Main Line" systems, governance is
mostly by the controlling corporation and the very idea of the Main Line is
defined by Lin, Syrch, and Terra’s presence. The outer star systems vary
from small colonies, to independent single planet nations. In theory, all
planets with human inhabitants are protected under the League of Planets
(LOP). This organization has little real power. Most of the governance is
done either by the local corporation, subsidiary or by the local governing
body.
Already, humans have begun adapting to their host planets. People from
planets with high gravity tend to be short and stocky with dense muscle and
bone structures, while humans living in relatively gravity free environments
tend to develop long, lean bodies with low muscle density.
Humans are not alone in the galaxy. In any given star system, there is about
a 65% chance that there will be at least one life bearing planet. In about 8%
of star systems there are two or more life bearing worlds. These range from
highly complex biospheres like Earth to planets entirely covered in Methane,
and Hexane eating sludges. Humans are also not the first interstellar species
in the Galaxy. Archaeological evidence suggests that one interstellar species
or another has colonized this part of the Galaxy every 100,000 to 500,000
years. The home worlds of these species and the reason for their downfall
have never been uncovered. The evidence of previous civilizations is so
scant that some humans believe they are a hoax. There have been several
fringe encounters with alien species, but their home worlds and desires
remain largely unknown to humans.
This is the age for political schemers, bold star ship captains, and ruthless
noir.
Sam
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