Notes for a THEY LIVE rpg...

When you want to do something, say what you want to do, and roll a die:
6: It goes even slightly better than you might've hoped!
4-5: You are successful, although maybe just barely...
1-3: It doesn't go the way you wanted it to go...!

--If you are trying to do something that you have a +1 in, roll 2 dice and take the best result.
--If you are trying to do something that you have a -1 in, roll 2 dice and take the WORST result.
--if you are trying to do something that you have a -2 in, roll 3 dice and take the worst result.

Start of game: You have just found, (or someone handed you?) and tried on, a set of Hoffman Shades, sunglasses that show you the Big Secret...


Character Types:

Homeless: You have been homeless for a while now... months, at least...
--suspicion: +1  --You are good at (correctly) suspecting the motives of others.
--keep watch: +1 --You are good at keeping watch without being suspected of doing so.
--respect: -2 --It is very hard for you to get respect from anyone who isn't in on the big secret...

Unemployed: You have only just recently run out of money. You might actually have a little money left, but not nearly enough to pay monthly rent anywhere...
--fight: +1 --You are a little better than others at fighting, with or without weapons.
--sleep: -1 --You have trouble finding a safe place to sleep at night. Every time you sleep, you risk the authorities finding you and trying to give you trouble.

Activist: You were already fighting the power nonviolently when you stumbled onto the big secret...
--suspicion: +1 --You are good at (correctly) suspecting the motives of others.
--fight: +1 --You are a little better than others at fighting, with or without weapons.
--unnoticed: -2 --You are very bad at walking around unnoticed. Something about you just screams to the authorities "that person looks like they might be up to something..."

Kid: You are just a kid (under 18) who has stumbled onto the big secret...
--suspicion: +1 --You are good at (correctly) suspecting the motives of others.
--escape: +1 --You are good at escaping when things get ugly.
--fight: -1 --You are bad at fighting as well as an adult can fight.
--respect: -1 --It is very hard for you to get respect from anyone who isn't in on the big secret...



Every time you roll a result of 1-3: give yourself 1 xp point.

You can trade xp in for useful things:

Trade in 7 xp: give yourself a +1.

Example: An Activist gets 7 xp and turns his -2 for being unnoticed into a -1 instead.

Every time you get 4 xp: you can trade in 4 xp to "find" something quite useful, like a walletful of cash, or a gun, or a spare pair of Hoffman Sunglasses (in case yours get broken, or to give to a friend), or an alien Radio Watch, or something else.