The Driftwood RPG Game System

Summary of the Driftwood game system.

Foundation

The Driftwood RPG is a Cortex Plus-based "Action Roleplaying" variant designed for campaigns in American Frontier or Wild West settings, with the players taking on the role of semi-reformed grifters, drifters, swindlers, and bunko artists using their unique skills in the service of protecting and avenging the weak and downtrodden citizenry against the depredations of crooks, bankers, railroad companies, hired thugs, and various and sundry other unsavory types.

Primary inspiration was derived from:

The Cortex Plus Hacker's Guide
A crowdsourced and crowdfunded compendium of articles on mechanics, settings, and game systems from a variety of authors, all designed to document and extend the basic Cortex Plus system and its related spinoffs. On this website, any reference to "the Hacker's Guide" refers to this source book.

Leverage: The Roleplaying Game
A Cortex Plus-based "Action Roleplaying" variant designed for playing teams of con artists running swindles on rich and powerful marks in aid of their helpless victims, based on the television show of the same name. On this website, any reference to "the Leverage RPG" refers to this rulebook.

Anything not covered specifically below can be assumed to fall back to the rules specified in the "Action Roleplaying" section of the Hacker's Guide (pp. 116-154); anything not specified there can be assumed to fall back to the source material in the Leverage RPG.

People

The Driftwood RPG works well with 4-6 participants, with one person assuming the role of the dealer, and the rest acting as players.

Players

Each player creates and plays an artist: a major character (see below) representing a member of a gang of similar artists dedicated to protecting the weak against the depredations of the wealthy, powerful, or criminal elements of the Old West. Each artist is an expert in their particular specialty, be it grifter, card sharp, or gunslinger, and may come with a checkered (or worse) past.

Dealer

The dealer provides the various locations, supporting characters, and other elements of the cons, swindles, and grifts that make up the campaign narrative.

Characters

Characters fall into one of three types based on how much effort has gone into their creation:

• Majors: Fully fleshed-out characters with a complete set of traits (see below), a detailed background, and relationships to the other characters and settings in the campaign; majors are likely to recur across multiple sessions or scenarios.

• Minors: Named characters, equipped with a handful of relevant traits and a modest backstory, representing recurring friends, allies, adversaries, or acquaintenances of the majors.

• Extras: The multitude of often-unnamed characters that provide the remaining cast of the campaign, largely faceless and usually limited to a single distinguishing trait.

Note that it's completely possible for characters that start out as extras or minors to develop and migrate upwards into the other types if they become interesting components of the stories being told.

Characters also fall into one of seven categories based on the part they play in the story:

• Artists: The player characters, the protagonists of the story.

• Clients: Those needing or seeking help from the artists, ordinary people being victimized by agents or forces beyond their control.

• Marks: The targets of the swindles, con jobs, and other missions underaken by the artists on behalf of their clients.

• Allies: Characters who assist the artists in their endeavors, as they attempt to take down the marks.

• Adversaries: Characters who hinder the artists in their mission, either directly as villains or as lieutenants of the marks.

• Rivals: Other artists, sometimes friends, sometimes foes, but often just as good as the player artists and operating with their own agendas.

• Ancillaries: Everybody else.

Note that it's also possible for the parts that particular characters play to change as the story progresses: friends may become enemies, and rivals may wind up as allies.

Each character is represented by their jacket, which includes information on their current traits and record, and is used as a reference during play.

Traits

Mechanically, characters in the Driftwood RPG are composed of traits: abilities, expertises, or other factors that define the characters' strengths and weaknesses. Each trait is associated with a rating from d4 through d12 that specifies the type of die to be rolled when that trait comes into play. Most rolls to determine outcomes of character actions involve building a pool of dice from associated traits (see below for full details on actions).

At certain points within the game, the rating for a specific trait may step up (increasing to the next higher type of die), or conversely step down (decreasing to the next lower die type).

Attributes

Attributes describe the raw physical and mental abilities of the characters in the game. Each attribute's rating determines how significant that ability is to the character's performance in that area. There are six attributes in the game (descriptions are drawn from the Hacker's Guide, p. 121):

• Agility: Measures how quickly your body reacts to what you want to do, how fast you can move around, your hand-eye coordination, and generally how flexible and athletic you are.

• Alertness: Measures your mental acuity, your ability to notice details that others miss and react to sudden changes in mood or environment, and generally how well you think on your feet.

• Intelligence: Measures your ability to command information to get the job done, what you've learned from books or life experiences, and how well you put the pieces of information you've acquired together to form a coherent whole.

• Strength: Measures your raw muscular power, your ability to force things open or hold them closed, how much you can lift and move, and how good of a physical fighter you are.

• Vitality: Measures your physical endurance, your tolerance to physical stress, and your ability to survive and thrive in extreme environments and stressful situations.

• Willpower: Measures your mental resolve and ability to withstand social pressure, your ability to concentrate amidst distractions, how well you resist pursuasion, and your ability to pressure others by staring them down.

During character generation and early play, each artist will wind up with a complete set of attributes with ratings ranging from d6 to d10.

Roles

Roles represent the broad job specialties found in a gang of artists. Each role's rating determines how central that role is to the character in question. There are five roles in the game (labels have changed slightly, but descriptions are largely drawn from the Hacker's Guide, pp. 122-123):

• Architect: Architects are about strategy, planning, thinking six steps ahead, and organizing a disparate group despite egos and personal circumstances; they're good at tactics, analysis, clues, forensics, and giving orders.

• Duster: Dusters are about dangerous and direct action, whether brawling, gunfighting, or breaking things; they're good at fighting, soldiering, general thuggery, and blowing things up.

• Engineer: Engineers are about science, mathematics, and industry; they're good at building bridges, mixing chemicals, inventing gadgets, and sabotaging complex machinery.

• Grifter: Grifters are about being manipulative and deceptive, figuring out how people tick and getting them to do what you want; they're good at fast-talking, charming, intimidation, and disguise.

• Thief: Thieves are about action that's elusive and hidden, and getting into places you're not supposed to be; they're good at avoiding notice, blending in, picking locks, and cracking safes.

During character generation and early play, each artist will wind up with a complete set of roles with ratings ranging from d4 to d10.

Specialties

Specialties represent specifc areas of training or expertise within a particular role that give the character an edge in certain situations, e.g. safecracker (under the thief role), chemist (under the engineer role), or politician (under the architect role). Specialties are always tied to a particular role for a given character, and only come into play in appropriate situations. There are three levels of specialties:

• Apprentice: Basic training in the specialty, granting an extra d6 to the pool when rolling.

• Journeyman: Overall competency in the specialty, granting an extra d8 to the pool when rolling.

• Master: Expert mastery in the specialty, granting an extra d10 to the pool when rolling.

During character generation and early play, each artist will wind up with either two apprentice (d6) specialties, or one journeyman (d8) specialty.

Distinctions

Distinctions are short descriptive phrases that indicate things that set the character apart from other people, due to background, personality, physical features, etc. Whereas specialties are tied to specific roles, distinctions are more general to the character, e.g.: former soldier, poor impulse control, missing an ear.

Each time a character undertakes an action, a distinction can be used to either contribute to success (adding a d8 to the pool), or to get in the way (adding a d4 to the pool, but earning the player a point of edge, see below). Per the Hacker's Guide, distinctions "are a way that you, as a player, get to turn your hero's story potential into a game mechanic reality."

During character generation and early play, each artist will wind up with three distinctions.

Signatures

Signatures are special permanent assets (see below for more on assets) accumulated through play; they otherwise are treated exactly as regular assets.

Talents

(Only mentioned here to note that talents are not currently used in the Driftwood RPG.)

Conditions

Unlike the previously-described types of traits, which are fairly static across sessions, conditions are temporary traits that come and go during play. Due to their ephemeral nature, conditions are not usually noted on an artist's jacket, but are maintained separately by the dealer during play.

Assets

Assets represent temporary advantages for the artists that aid them in achieving their mission. Assets can be specific items, environmental conditions, or anything else that supplies an advantage; each asset is identified with a short descriptive phrase (e.g. loaded dice, sun in their eyes, stable hand knows me) and adds a d6 to the player's pool for related actions.

Assets are purchased with edge (see below) during play, and usually last for a single scene or story.

Complications

Complications represent temporary disadvantages for the artists that hinder them from achieving their goals. Complications can be specific items, environmental conditions, or anything else that forces a disadvantage; each complication is identified with a short descriptive phrase (e.g. proprietor hates me, broken arm, drapes are on fire), has a rating between d4 and d12, and is added to the dealer's pool for appropriate rolls.

Complications arise from action rolls (see below) during play, and usually last for a single scene or story.

Actions

Throughout a story, players will have their artists undertaking actions: defeating villains, saving innocents, and generally responding to the challenges and situations created by the dealer. Note that basic actions like having a conversation, buying a drink, or riding a horse to the next town don't necessarily require the player to roll for success; but anything important to the plot, particularly anything that could go wrong in an interesting way, should be resolved with an action test.

Testing

Most tests to resolve actions will use the basic mechanism described immediately below; several variants for use in specific situations are described afterwards.

Basic

The basic mechanism for resolving an action is as follows:

• The dealer builds their pool, starting with one difficulty die (d6 for average, d8 for hard, or d10 for very difficult) and one situation die (representing the opposing character or general situation); then dice are added to the pool based on traits appropriate to the situation (complications et al.). The dealer rolls and sums the two highest numbers from the result, setting the stakes, i.e. setting the target number that the opposing player needs to beat.

• The player builds their pool, starting with two dice based on the most relevant attribute and role, and then adding dice based on appropriate traits (specialties, distinctions, assets, etc.). The player rolls and sums the two highest numbers from the result. The player's roll is compared to the dealer's, with several possible outcomes:

  • If the player equals or beats the target number set by the dealer, they have beaten the house, and can then narrate the succesful outcome of their action.

  • If the player's roll is less than the dealer's, they can then either:

    • Fold, accepting defeat, at which point the dealer narrates the results of the failed action.

    • Call, achieving success, but at the cost of allowing the dealer to either create a new complication (at d6) or step up an existing complication one rating.

• While testing, their are special consequences for any dice that come up 1:

  • When the dealer shows one or more 1's, the opposing player may choose to spend one point of edge to create an opportunity:

    • For each 1 showing in the dealer's pool, the player may immediately step down an existing complication one rating, e.g. if the dealer rolls two 1's, the player could choose to step down a d10 complication to d8, and step down a different d6 complication to d4.

    • Stepping down a d4 complication clears it from play, eliminating it entirely.

  • When the player shows one or more 1's, the dealer may choose to award one point of edge to the opposing player and cause a setback:

    • For each 1 showing in the player's pool, the dealer may immediately introduce a new complication (at d6) or step up an existing complication, e.g. if a player roll shows three 1's, the dealer could choose to introduce a d6 complication, step it up to d8, and then step up an existing d8 complication to d10.

    • Stepping up a d12 complication creates a block: the artist affected by it may not take any further actions in the scene until it is stepped down to d12 or lower (see below for how to use edge to alleviate this situation).

Opposed

Many actions can be resolved with the simple mechanism described above, but there will also be particularly complex or dramatic situations where an opposed action will be more exciting or appropriate, e.g. a climactic fight scene between the artists and a major villain or rival; an extended game of cat-and-mouse with the artists evading or ambushing their adversaries; etc.

Opposed actions are resolved as follows:

• The dealer builds their pool and sets the initial stakes as described above for basic actions.

• The opposing player then makes a decision:

  • Attempt to raise the stakes, building their pool and rolling as above. If the player fails to raise the stakes, they are immediately taken down: unconscious, incapacitated, captured, etc., but in all cases effectively out of the action for the remainder of the scene.

  • Alternatively, the player may decide they are tapped out: losing the contest immediately, but with the opportunity to withdraw, escape, or otherwise get out of the contest or predicament. In this case, the dealer also creates a d6 complication that lasts until the end of the next scene.

• If the player successfully raises the stakes, that result becomes the new target number, and the test goes back to the dealer, who then must make a similar decision: build a pool and attempt to raise the stakes again, or else accept defeat and declare they are tapped out. If the dealer is tapped out, the player receives a point of edge.

• Testing and setting higher and higher stakes goes back and forth in this manner until one side is taken down or tapped out.

Extended

Some actions represent sequences of events or attempts that must occur within a specific amount of time to be successful, e.g. picking a locked door, searching the office behind it for clues, and then sneaking away without being seen, in the time it takes the deputy to visit the outhouse and come back. To resolve these extended actions:

• The dealer determines the clock (the number of beats that are available for actions to take place).

• The dealer also determines the sequence (the set of basic actions that must occur for the overall extended action to be successful).

• The dealer and player build pools and set the stakes as per basic actions above, with the following differences:

  • For each action in the sequence, if the player successfully beats the house, one beat expires from the clock, and the player may move on to the next action.

  • If the players beats the target number by five or more, they move on to the next action, and no beats expire from the clock -- well done.

  • If the player folds, two beats expire from the clock, and the player may re-attempt the current action.

  • If the player calls, one beat expires from the clock, the player may move on to the next action, but the dealer adds a d6 complication (or steps up an existing complication) that persists to the end of the sequence.

• If all actions in the sequence are accomplished while there are still one or more beats remaining on the clock, the artist is successful, achieves the objective, gets away cleanly, etc.

• If the final action is accomplished just as the clock hits zero, the player decides whether to accept failure in the overall objective but get away cleanly, or else successfully complete the objective but accept failure as described below.

• If the clock hits zero with actions still remaining in the sequence, the artist fails to achieve their objective, and is likely caught in the act or has their situation otherwise made more complicated thereby.

Edge

Edge accumulates throughout play, and can be spent by the players to change the odds and affect the outcomes of various game mechanics. In general, it provides a way for the player to nudge the action in a desired (presumably advantageous) direction.

Edge is gained whenever any of the following occur:

• Any time the player tests, where the pool includes an attribute or role with a d4 rating, the player receives a point of edge. If both the attribute and the role are at d4, two points are awarded.

• Any time the player chooses to use a distinction as a disadvantage (adding a d4 to the pool) on a test, one point of edge is gained.

• Any time the dealer decides to cause a setback (after a player test that includes 1's) the player who rolled gains one point of edge.

• Players may invoke a callback (see below) to earlier stories; each callback provides one point of edge that must be used immediately on the current action.

• Major characters being played by the dealer may spend edge similarly to the players and their artists; each point of edge spent by the dealer is handed over to the opposing player for future use.

Edge can be spent in the following ways:

• Players may spend one point of edge to add an additional die to the result when testing (e.g. adding the top three dice rolls rather than the default two). Multiple points of edge can be spent to add multiple dice to the result. Using edge in this way must be declared before the test is made by the player.

• After any dealer test that includes 1's, a player may spend a point of edge to create an opportunity.

• At any point during a scene, a player may pay a point of edge to create a d6 asset, that lasts for the remainder of the scene. A player may pay two points of edge to create an asset that lasts until the end of the story.

• When blocked by a complication (see above), a player may use a point of edge to take an action, building the pool normally, but then keeping only the single highest die as the result.

Record

In addition to their traits, each artist or other major character maintains a record of all of their past swindles, cons, or other jobs. The record provides a historical journal of what the artist has done, and can also be used in two specific ways to affect game mechanics.

Callbacks

During the course of a story, when attempting to take an action, an artist may make a callback, referencing a relevant prior story from their record (e.g., "this reminds me of that time in Omaha when I faced down that gang of cattle rustlers"), to immediately receive one point of edge to be used in the accomplishment of that action.

Each artist may make one callback against each of the prior stories in their record once per current story.

Hustle

Hustle accumulates through the successful accomplishment of stories (see the growth section under story structure. At the completion of a story, hustle may be spent to purchase new traits or advance existing ones.

• (1 point) Add a new signature.
• (2 points) Add a new distinction.
• (4 points) Add a new apprentice specialty, or step up an existing specialty.
• (8 points) Step up an attribute or role.

Note that for all of the above, the new or stepped-up traits should be associated with or otherwise somehow relevant to the just-completed story.