Pl ay Testers Jeffery Pinkston, David Claxton, Amy Claxton, Nakay Bullock, Kayla Bess, Justin Bullock, Jimmy Smith
Special Thanks To: David Brown, John Pierce, Greg Osborne, Frank Evans, Rick Scissom, Todd Black, Ryan Joers
DIRECTORS CUT AND CRISPY ZOMBIE ARE TRADEMARKS OF CRISPY ZOMBIE PRODUCTIONS. ANY REPRODUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE MATERIAL OR ARTWORK CONTAINED HEREIN IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF CRISPY ZOMBIE PRODUCTIONS. THIS MATERIAL IS PROTECTED BY THE COPYRIGHT LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
THIS PRODUCT IS A WORK OF FICTION. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental.
Introduction Page 2
Chapter One Page 7
What Do I needinorder to play? Page 8
Key Terms Page 9
Chapter 2 : Create your Character Page 13
Chapter 3 : Tools of Survival Page 18
Skills Page 19
Edges Page 23
Playing Your Character Page 27
Chapter 4: Living &Dying Page 30
ActionPoints Page 31
ActionPoints Chart Page 34
Damage Locations Page 35
DeathScenes Page 36
Healing Damage Page 37
Chapter 5: Combat Page 40
ActionSequence Page 44
Movement Page 47
Special Situations Page 49
Items Damage Page 52
Chapter 6: Hosting a Game Page 55
Chapter 7: The Directors Guide Page 60
Chapter 8: Combat for Director Page 67
Chapter 9: Damage andMore Page 74
Poison&Disease Chart Page 76
Character Sheet Page 79
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Introduction The sounu of uiipping watei fills youi eais as you walk thiough the abanuoneu mine. Stale aii fills youi nostiils, anu the uust gets into youi thioat; youi tongue staits to feel swollen anu uiy. Youi thoughts tuin to youi fiienus. You have been seaiching foi them, but you have not heaiu anyone else since a scieam bioke the silence a bit ago. That scieam woulu iing in youi memoiy foievei. You feai that it belongeu to Caia, anu you hope that whatevei causeu such a blooucuiuling sounu uiu not enu hei. You finu youiself wishing foi fiesh batteiies foi youi flashlight. Bow long you have been walking anu stumbling along you can only begin to guess. 0nly a small light in the uistance keeps you focuseu. The uneven giounu makes the going slow, anu you iun youi hanus along the iough suiface of the wall to help guiue youi steps. You stifle a ciy of panic as you fall anu feel youi knees sciape haiu on the iock. You wince as you feel youi palms stinging; uiit anu small iocks embeu themselves into youi skin. You sit theie, teais filling youi eyes, waiting foi something out of youi nightmaies to pounce on you fiom the inky black. If you coulu just make it to the light! 3
A scieam pieices the uaik, a male scieam, "Nooo no nooooaaaaaaaaaigghhhhh." The hoiiifying sounu enus in a uiowning guigle. You stiuggle to stanu, youi fiesh wounus making you awaie of youi own moitality. Baikness closes in aiounu you. "Wheie the hell aie they." you think to youiself. "This bettei not be some sick joke." You inch youi way towaius the light. You stait to bieathe heaviei; a panic attack thieatens to oveiwhelm you. You fight it uown only to fall once again, this time tiipping ovei something soft anu wet. You get back to youi feet anu biing what you finu to be a jacket with you. "Was someone weaiing a jacket." You whispei. You holu back anothei sob with youi fiee hanu as you iealize that }ackie was inueeu weaiing a jacket. You feel aiounu looking foi a pocket, anu sticking youi hanu insiue you finu an inhalei. "0h }ackie," you sob softly. You know that she woulu not have been without it, especially in these uamp anu uusty suiiounuings. The sick feeling giows insiue youi stomach at what this coulu mean. You tie hei jacket aiounu youi waist anu put hei inhalei into youi pocket. With youi hanus anu knees thiobbing you tiy to keep focuseu on what lies aheau. With each painful step, the light uiaws evei closei. "Wheie is eveiyone." You whispei out louu, without meaning to. "}ackie. Caia. Natt. Anyone." You whispei a little louuei, feeling biavei. 0sing youi newfounu couiage, you take a ueep bieath anu ielease it as you finally walk into the light. The smell of iotting flesh anu ueath fills youi nostiils, gagging you with youi own bile. 4
Enteiing fuithei into the illumination you see an oak table. It is olu anu staineu uaik ieu with black molu giowing on it. It is not the table howevei that holus youi attention. Seveial tools lay on one enu coveieu in bloou. Wonueiing at theii use conjuies images of goiy ueeus against youi will. A single bulb hanging fiom the ceiling pulls youi attention fiom the giisly uisplay. It was this souice of light that uiew you heie. Looking aiounu the ioom, you finu youiself wishing you weie back in the uaikness unable to see. You stiuggle to holu in a scieam as youi eyes connect with a pile of human heaus in vaiious states of uecay. "}essie", a weak voice makes you jump anu you tuin towaius the sounu. "No, oh no Caia," You sob iunning to youi fiienu. She is stanuing against the wall, one siue tuineu away fiom you. She flinches as you appioach hei anu you notice hei eyes aie sewn shut with ieu thieau. Bei clothing lies in tatteis anu shieuueu flesh hangs fiom hei iibs. "What happeneu to you Caia. 0h no, holu on. I will get some help oi finu something." "}essie," Caia whispeis again, "you aie going to uie." You shuuuei anu tuin to tiy to finu something to help youi fiienu. Then you see him stanuing only a foot fiom you, with an axe iaiseu high in the aii. You scieam. Remembei the last time you watcheu a goou hoiioi movie. Bo you iemembei saying, "Bon't go in theie" anu then calling the peison on the scieen an iuiot foi not listening to you. Boiioi movies aie moie than enteitainment foi us. They feeu on oui emotions bettei than any othei type of film. They aie keyeu to fieak us out, make us feel scaieu, make us jump, anu to gioss us out. In hoiioi's iealm we aie confionteu with monsteis, villains, anu othei vile cieatuies. We aie fans of 5
those who maim anu kill. Sometimes we even cheei on the bau guy in black as he chases the big bosomeu young woman uown the hallway. We love to hate them anu hate to love them, but hoiioi movies aie getting biggei, scaiiei, goiiei, anu pushing new thiesholus of pain eveiy yeai. Now with the new suivival system you get to be the chaiactei on the big scieen. Will you go thiough that uooi alone. Will you pick up the gun on the flooi oi iun. These aie questions you will get to answei while the killei comes aftei youi chaiactei. This game is simple to play, anu even the woist actoi will have a lot of fun. So take time to ieau thiough this book anu then plan youi fiist hoiioi night.
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Chapter 1 You aie the Actoi. The Biiectoi sits in fiont of you, a wickeu smile on hei face. "The killei opens the uooi anu is stanuing iight in fiont of you. Be is weaiing a shiny black tuxeuo anu a top hat. Be bianuishes a butchei knife that catches the moonlight coming in fiom the winuow, casting an eeiie flash of light onto youi chest. You feel youi heait beating. The killei uiu not know you weie heie anu is as suipiiseu as you." The Biiectoi pauses anu leans foiwaiu on hei hanus. Bei smile uisappeais foi a moment. "What uo you uo." She asks. You sit anu think but you know you uo not have long oi the Biiectoi will consiuei you fiozen in feai. As the Actoi you aie playing a chaiactei nameu Sam. She is a small woman who knows how to fight anu she uses a small gun. Bei gun is out of ammo, having been spent uuiing an eailiei fight with zombies. "What else is in the ioom." You ask the Biiectoi to make suie that you unueistanu youi setting. "Theie is a single oveisizeu plush aimchaii, anu a potteu plant sits on a small table in fiont of the winuow. The iest of the ioom is baie, anu shows the 8
same signs of ciumbling age as the iest of the place." The Biiectoi finishes anu leans back in hei chaii. You ueciue what you want to uo anu then act. "I uive towaius the winuow anu giab the potteu plant anu small table to use as weapons." The Biiectoi nous hei heau anu checks something on a piece of papei." We aie going to pause youi scene anu go to Baiiell," she says. The Biiectoi has always been goou at leaving you in suspense. You will have to wait till Baiiel anu the otheis aie uone befoie you get to finu out youi chaiactei's fate. This is a small example of playing Biiectois Cut. The game flows much the same way, with each playei getting a chance to act in accoiuance to the iules.
So, what do I needinorder to play? You might be wonueiing, I thought games useu game boaius, anu hau a bunch of caius, cutouts, anu othei pieces. So how am I supposeu to get into uoing this. In ieality, this game uoes not neeu pieces in the customaiy sense. You coulu use anything as a maikei foi youi chaiacteis anu the monsteis. It just has no set boaiu. This way, you can customize the game eveiy time you play it. You neeu S six-siueu uice, papei, pencils, anu some stuff to use as maikeis (optional). The maikeis can stanu foi monsteis, villains, anu even you. Some people buy little miniatuies; otheis use pieces of canuy anu eat them when they uie. Still otheis use nothing anu leave eveiything to theii imagination. So, we have a list now of what you neeu to play. Can you not finu uice. Nost uiugstoies oi uollai stoies caiiy uice at little expense. If you aie looking foi custom uice, tiy looking online. Theie aie seveial companies who specialize in selling uice of all kinus.
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So what type of game is this? Biiectois Cut aims to mix all types of games togethei. Some will call it a iole-playing game; some will call it a suivival game. We keep the iules light on puipose to make it easy. But at the same time, it follows pietty close with many othei iole-playing games out theie. While this is tiue the simple mechanics aie meant to be new playei fiienuly anu have a small leaining cuive.
Key terms used in this book Action Points {AP]: They aie the lifeline of youi chaiactei anu a numbei you shoulu watch closely. When youi points get ieal low you chance uying in youi own ueath scene. You can spenu these points on succeeuing with action skills. Eveiy injuiy inflicteu on youi chaiactei will lowei these points too. Any time that you aie at 6 points oi lowei, a ueath scene can occui. A chaiactei with u points is ueau. Action Roll: Eveiy action sequence can have up to 4 action iolls. These aie 4B6, SB6, 2B6, anu 1B6. Action iolls can have action skills anu action points auueu to them. A 2u is iequiieu to succeeu in any action ioll. Bonuses, euges, anu if neeu be youi own action points, aie useu to help get this numbei to 2u. Action Sequence: All of youi action iolls in one tuin. 0nce eveiyone has uone theii sequence, a new set of sequences begins. Action Skills {AS]: These aie skills that you will use while suiviving in the game. Eveiy chaiactei can use eveiy skill. Bonuses to these skills aie given at the stait of the game uuiing chaiactei cieation by both spenuing points anu buying euges. The highei the bonus, the bettei youi chaiactei is at using that skill. Actor: You 10
Assisted Roll: If a chaiactei is making an action skill ioll oi opposing ioll then it makes sense to allow a chaiactei to help a fellow chaiactei. This ioll is an extia 1u6 auueu fiom the assisting playei's action points. Buiing an action sequence any attempts to help anothei playei uses theii sequence iegaiuless of what theii action points may be. A chaiactei spenus the 1B6 fiom theii own action points uuiing an assist. Critical Action: Any time a heaushot occuis which is a ioll of 1 on the hit location uice, you uo maximum uamage foi that action. This is gieat foi killing zombies! D: This univeisally stanus foi a six-siueu uice. If the game tells you to ioll 4B6 then this woulu be 4 six-siueu uice. Damage: Any time you get injuieu you take uamage. Beuucting action points fiom youi chaiactei shows this. Always make note of the uamage you take anu wheie, on youi chaiactei sheet. Bamage can affect youi action iolls in futuie sequences. Deatb Scene {DS]: a veiy giaphic ueath of a chaiactei. Beath scenes happen when a chaiactei can no longei iun because of injuiies. Beath scenes aie veiy uiawn out uiamatic ueaths. Not eveiy chaiactei will get one, but when the time is iight anu the uice fall in the iight way, the Biiectoi will iun a ueath scene. Director: The peison who is iunning the game. She plays eveiy pait you meet that is not anothei chaiactei. She also uesciibes all sceneiy, locations, anu moie than likely the ueath of youi chaiactei. She is not out to get you on puipose, but will not hesitate to enu youi chaiactei's life. Edge: A bonus that you can buy foi 1u AP at the beginning of the game. This is the only way in a fiist movie that a chaiactei can go ovei S points in a skill. Nost euges will max out youi bonus foi youi skill iolls. All skill euges iequiie five points to have alieauy been spent in the skill. 0thei euges will give you special abilities without pieiequisite. 11
Hit Location: When you ioll foi uamage, anothei uice is iolleu as well to ueteimine hit location uuiing combat. Refei to youi chaiactei sheet foi the bioau location. The Biiectoi will fill in the exact location baseu on youi ioll. A ioll of 1 on the hit location is always a ciitical action. It is impoitant to note that when you go to hit someone in the heau they might stumble anu cause you to hit them in the leg insteau. This iule helps to show the movement in combat, not just a static location foi stiiking. Movie: The auventuie that you aie tiying to suivive. Fiom time to time, new auventuies will be ieleaseu. Biiectois can even make up theii own movies. Uccupation: The job of youi chaiactei. 0ccupation can anu often uoes come into play uuiing the game. Upposing Rolls: To make an opposing ioll, ioll 4B6 anu auu youi action skill bonus. You cannot auu action points to opposing iolls. Youi opponent will ioll 4B6 as well, anu auu theii opposing skill. The highest ioll ueteimines whose action succeeus. Whenevei theie is a tie when making an opposing ioll the playei always wins. If the ioll is between two playeis, then a ieioll occuis. Part: The chaiactei's name that you aie playing. Required twenty: This iule can help oi hinuei you in a uifficult situation. You only get to ioll 2B6 anu cannot auu any action skills to the ioll. You must, no mattei what, get a 2u. This means that aftei you ioll the 2B6, whatevei you have to spenu to get to 2u must be spent fiom youi action points. This is a iule meant to auu that auienalin iusheu action that leaves most people thinking, "theie is no way that just happeneu." Sequel: If a chaiactei manages to suivive a movie the aie eligible to go on to a sequel. The next movie might switch fiom one kinu of hoiioi to anothei, oi be a continuation of the oiiginal. Regaiuless, the suivivoi ieceives bonuses at the stait of the sequel. 12 13
CHAPTER 2 0ne iequiieu pait of the game is having a chaiactei to play. We have some gieat news foi you howevei. This pait is ieal simple. We mean it; you will have this chaiactei ieauy to play in less than S minutes. Biiectois Cut, unlike most games, has an easy chaiactei cieation system. To help you, we will go thiough each step in uetail. Why aie chaiacteis so easy. Well this is because they uie a lot. When they uie you shoulu be able to cieate youi next victim with little effoit. Beie aie the steps to cieate youi own Biiectois Cut victim. Step 1: uet a chaiactei sheet. Step 2: Wiite the numbei u on a sciatch piece of papei.
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Step 3: Beciue on a chaiactei concept anu fill out the top of the chaiactei sheet. Betail is not ieal impoitant heie. But you shoulu put some thought into this piocess. Examples: Actor: This is youi ieal name. Age: Bow olu is the chaiactei you will play. Sex: Inseit joke heie, but simply put male oi female. Heigbt: Bow tall is youi chaiactei. Part: What is youi chaiactei's name. Hair: What coloi anu length is youi chaiactei's haii. Eyes: What coloi aie youi chaiactei's eyes. Weigbt: Bow heavy is youi chaiactei. Movie: The name of the movie the Biiectoi is iunning. You may not finu this out until you sit uown to play. Remembei chaiacteis get tosseu into a movie to suivive; they aie not custom-tailoieu to a movie. Director: The name of the peison iunning the game. Uccupation: This is a little tiicky. What uo you uo foi a living. If you pick a pieset chaiactei they have this filleu out alieauy anu theii skills go with that piofession. Foi you, you might ueciue to be a cheeileauei, a football playei, a plumbei, oi even a ninja. This pait might give you a little bonus fiom the Biiectoi such as a staiting item oi two. So feel fiee to fill this out, as it may oi may not come into play. Description: a shoit uesciiption of the chaiactei you aie playing. They coulu have tattoos oi maybe walk with a limp. Peihaps they aie extiaoiuinaiily beautiful. They might speak Fiench, anu weai a toupee. 15
Step 4: Now lets give youi chaiactei the tools neeueu foi suivival. We will stait with action skills. They aie listeu in alphabetical oiuei both on youi chaiactei sheet anu in this book. You can spenu any of youi Su points by putting them into each skill; howevei, you cannot spenu moie than five points. If you plan to be ieally goou at something anu take an action skill euge, you will want to spenu the full five points. This is iequiieu to be able to buy skill ielateu euges. Step 5: Now that you have bought youi skills, you, can choose some euges if you have the points left. Euges cost 1u points each. Nany euges also have pieiequisites that shoulu be met befoie you buy them. The pieiequisites aie listeu at the beginning of each euge uesciiption. Reau each euge anu ueciue what you want to be goou at, oi a bonus you might enjoy. If you want to be a healei, you woulu want to look at the euges ielating to health. If you want to be fast, oi moie peiceptive, oi even skilleu at combat, you can uo this as well. Euges give you a boost you might neeu to suivive the movie. 0sing euges is the only way action skills can be maxeu out ovei five points. Step : Wiite the numbei Su in the action point box. This iepiesents youi staiting action. You can nevei have moie than Su points in youi staiting action. Congratulations! You have finisheu youi chaiactei. All that is left is asking the Biiectoi if you get any staiting items anu what movie she is iunning. Wben spending points sbould you max out eacb skill? A success on an action skill is a ioll of 2u on 4B6. If you have S to auu then you only neeu a 1S oi bettei on the total of the 4 uice. This makes youi success highly likely. Bowevei, you still may neeu to spenu the occasional action point to make the action skill ioll. So you have to ueciue at what level you want what action skill. You also have to think fiom the opposing ioll stanupoint. Bow much bettei of a chance uo you want to have at outiunning someone when zombies aie tiying to catch you both. 16
The tiuth is theie is no iight way to spenu youi points. It uoes come uown to how the uice lanu in most situations. Figuiing out what skills you believe will be of use in the movie is pait of the challenge. Even if you have the foiesight of what the Biiectoi has planneu foi you, it will still be a mysteiy. Theie is no way to know if you will have guns, swoius, cais, oi anything else that you might put skill points into. Remembei, you will always be able to use a skill even if theie is no bonus in it. 0n youi chaiactei sheet you will see the skills listeu in alphabetical oiuei. Some people tiy to put points into eveiything; some will max out a few. It is up to you. Theie aie times when you can have moie than S points in an action skill. This will uepenu on the euges you buy. As an example, keen peiception will give you a +1u to youi peiception iolls. To buy keen peiception you must have alieauy spent five points in that skill befoie getting the euge. The only exception to the max of five points being spent in skills is if youi chaiactei is going to be in the sequel. At the stait of the sequel when othei playeis aie cieating new chaiacteis you can place an extia 2 points in youi skills. You get 12 points to spenu any way that you want. You cannot spenu the two points to take a skill above 7. You may buy a new euge as well, if the pieiequisites aie met. This means that you coulu have skills as high as 12 going into the sequel. This stacks with each new movie youi chaiactei staits. So in a pait S, you woulu have a max of 9 anu skills as high as 14.
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Chapter 3 Tools of Survival Buiing a movie youi chaiactei will be peifoiming many actions. These actions may iequiie some level of skill to succeeu. That skill level is iepiesenteu on the chaiactei sheet as a numbei. These points u-S iepiesent how goou youi chaiactei will be when peifoiming anything that skill coveis. Example: You want to jump acioss a iavine to the othei siue anu avoiu the snakes below. To uo this you must have a ioll of at least 2u using youi 4 uice. Youi athletics skill coveis anything to uo with jumping so you coulu auu this numbei to youi ioll. This gives you a much bettei chance at succeeuing. If you uo not get the 2u even with auuing youi skill bonus, you have the choice of auuing action points.
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Skills Acrobatics: Can incluue: contoition, balance, tumbling, jumping, iolling unuei something, tiampolines, tiapeze, uiving, gymnastics, hanustanus, skateboaiuing, snowboaiuing, juggling, skiing, tightiope, pole climbing, iope climbing, anu anything else that makes use of balance anu cooiuination. Aftei you have iolleu youi action the fiist time, you will neeu to ioll it again foi eveiy ten feet of piogiess. Arcbaic: Knowleuge anu use of swoius, flails, maces, whips, cat-o-nine, battle-axes, lances, yo-yos, anu any othei weapons that woulu be fiom anothei time peiiou. Atbletics: Can incluue: swimming, wiestling, iunning, jumping, weight lifting, baseball, football, tackling, pole-vaulting, shot putting, huiules, iope climbing, iock climbing, climbing, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, leaping, iowing, anu anything else non-combat ielateu. You can iun 2u feet befoie neeuing to ioll foi athletics uuiing an action sequence. Blades: Knowleuge anu use of swoius, steak knives, pocketknife, axes, saws, caivei knife, butchei knife, buttei knife, paiing knife, machetes, scissois, anu any othei shiny stabby things. Bludgeoning: Can incluue: maces, table legs, chaii legs, baseball bats, ciicket bats, hockey sticks, tennis iackets, canulestick holuei, 2x4, stick, shovels, staff, oi anything else mace-like. Deceive: The ait of lying with youi mouth anu bouy. Distract: This skill allows you to use the powei of uistiaction against anyone in the game. When attempting to stealth oi hiue uuiing combat, you must use uistiact fiist to get the killei's eyes off of you. Bistiacting uuiing combat can also give you the choice of wheie to stiike anu to uo full uamage. Drive: This skill is foi those times that neeu quick thinking, skill, anu stunt- uiivei mentality behinu the wheel. 20
Engineering: Ability to engineei uevices such as tiaps, stiuctuies to sleep in, hanumaue guns, oi a cannon out of a tiee log. This skill is ieliant on time anu mateiials being available. Escape: This is not foi escaping the giasp of a killei. This is about getting out of iope bonus, anu othei such issues you may finu youiself in. This may incluue: finuing youiself tieu to a chaii, helu in a lockeu cage, tieu up anu tosseu in a tiunk oi on a killei's leash as he leaus you to youi uoom. Explosives: This is knowleuge of: gienaues, uynamite, C4, an aeiosol can in a miciowave, iocket launchei, blowing up a cai, oi anything else that you can tiiggei that causes an explosion. Faitb: Faith can be an impoitant ioll, but not one useu in eveiy movie. Faith is the ioll that you use when a possession attempt happens. A polteigeist tiies to jump into youi bouy, anu it is a faith ioll that will stop it. Faith can also be useu in battles against othei unseen foices. First Aid: With this skill, a chaiactei can attempt to give aiu to heiself oi anothei chaiactei. 1. Fiist aiu can give back 2B6 action points once pei uay on a success. 2. Fiist aiu iequiies 2u-Su minutes, anu the uesciiption of the aiu anu mateiials being useu. S. Fuithei attempts of fiist aiu can be useu to stop bleeuing uamage, iemove an aiiow, splintei, oi othei tiauma without giving moie points back foi the uay. 4. Anothei 1B6 can be auueu at any time uuiing the uay with the use of piopei meuical equipment. Cuns: Knowleuge of any size gun. Keep tiack of youi ammunition eithei unuei the notes section on youi chaiactei sheet oi sciap piece of papei. 21
Hide: This skill is foi any attempt at hiuing. This incluues youi chaiactei hiuing, oi youi chaiactei concealing an item. You must use uistiact to tiy to hiue uuiing combat oi any time the killei is looking iight at you. You woulu fiist ioll youi uistiact, then youi hiue. Improvised Weapon: If you can giab it you can use it as a weapon. You cannot use this skill on any item that is a weapon. That is guns, knives, swoius, nun chucks. But you coulu use impioviseu weapon on a baseball bat oi ciicket bat. While you cannot use this skill to fiie a gun, you coulu use it to thiow the gun at the killei, oi to use the pommel of a swoiu to stiike with. Intimidate: You can use this skill to sway someone into youi way of thinking. Perception: The most impoitant oigans aftei youi heait anu lungs in a hoiioi movie aie youi eais, eyes, nose, anu youi skin (sense of touch). This skill is all about how goou those senses anu tools aie. Bo you see the killei hiuing in the bushes. Bo you smell the ouoi of ueath befoie the tiap. Can you feel the light switch in the uaik. Can you heai the sounu of bieathing. Peiception can tell you all of these. Pyro: Knowleuge of use of: flaming cocktails, canule flames, fiie-bieathing, aeiosol cans caught on fiie, toiches, gasoline, oil, oi anything else that ueals with flame. Remembei that fiie can cause on-going uamage. Not only is this skill about uoing uamage, but it can be about the othei siue of the match as well. Aison happens, anu this skill allows you basic knowleuge of how it happeneu. What woulu the best way be to stait a fiie. Suiviving in a fiie iequiies iolls in this skill as well. Ranged: Knowleuge of use of: shooting bows, ciossbows, thiowing knives, axes, anu othei weapons maue foi iangeu use. 0thei iangeu weapons such as ballista, catapults, anu even javelins fit this categoiy. Thiowing a vase oi shooting a gun is not consiueieu iangeu. 22
Sense Motive: Sometimes a feeling ueep in youi gut tells us that someone is not telling the tiuth. When in that moment, this skill will help us uiscovei tiuth fiom lies. Stealtb: When you uo not want to be heaiu, smelleu, oi seen while moving, use this skill. 0sing uistiact can give you a new stealth ioll if you aie uiscoveieu. A new stealth ioll is iequiieu foi eveiy ten feet you move. Survival: This skill allows you to finu foou, stait campfiies, set up sheltei, anu suivive in the wilu. Within a city, foiest, mountain, oi othei suivival enviionment, you can keep youiself anu otheis feu anu secuie. Sweet Talk: 0sing youi natuial chaims anu looks to get youi way. Tecb: You know technology anu can use it any way you want, with the piopei tools. Tbievery: Knowleuge of: hot-wiiing cais, picking locks, sleight of hanu, anu anything else that is uubious in natuie. Unarmed: Fighting without a weapon. This incluues giappling anu use of objects like biass knuckles. If you giab someone an opposing ioll is useu to bieak fiee.
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Edges: Euges aie auu-ons that max out youi skills oi offei anothei bonus. Euges cost ten points anu can only be bought uuiing chaiactei cieation. Blind Figbting- Pieiequisite: None Youi chaiactei can fight blinufolueu oi in uaikness anu low light without negatives. Dark Favor- Pieiequisite: None The killei walks up to you anu tilts his heau. You hau been suie he coulun't finu you but heie he stanus ieauy to stiike. But foi some ieason, he uoes not. What is the ieason. You announceu uaik favoi befoie the Biiectoi iolleu uamage uice. You can only use this euge once pei movie. You can show a token of uaik favoi by using a caiu oi a statue that you holu up anu give to the Biiectoi. The killei will still tilt his heau but then he will tuin anu walk away, leaving youi ueath foi anothei time. Demolitionist- Pieiequisite: S points in explosives Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in explosives Eagle Eyed- Pieiequisite: S points in guns Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in guns Escape Artist- Pieiequisite: S skill points in escape Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in escape Firebug- Pieiequisite: S points in pyio Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in pyio Fit- Pieiequisite: None You may stait the game with SS action points 24
Forever Armed- Pieiequisite: S points in impioviseu weapon Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in impioviseu weapon Forked Tongue- Pieiequisite: S points in ueceive Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in ueceive Fortitude- Pieiequisite: None When making uaily AP iolls foi youi self-healing, you gain +1B6 to youi ioll. Cambler- Pieiequisite: None 0nce pei 24 houis of game time you can gamble anu foice the Biiectoi to ie-ioll any action uice, opposing ioll, oi uamage uice that woulu have affecteu only youi chaiactei. Healer- Pieiequisite: S points in fiist aiu Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in fiist aiu Intuitive- Pieiequisite: S points in sense motive Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in sense motive Iron Faitb- Pieiequisite: S points in faith Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in faith Iron Will- Pieiequisite: S points in intimiuate Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in intimiuate Keen Perception: - Pieiequisite: S points in peiception Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in peiception
can gamble anu foice the Biiectoi to amage uice that woulu have affecteu iu se motive tive th miuate e nts in peiception n 25
Martial Arts- Pieiequisite: None When applying uamage to the listeu action skills, you may make any one of youi uamage uice an automatic six. (This applies to impioviseu weapon, unaimeu, blaues, aichaic, anu bluugeoning only.) Misdirect- Pieiequisite: S points in uistiact Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in uistiact Nimble- Pieiequisite: S points in aciobatics Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in aciobatics Ulympic- Pieiequisite: S points in athletics Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in athletics Pilot- Pieiequisite: S points in uiive Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in uiive: you have the ability to pilot all auvance vehicles. Quick Dodger- Pieiequisite: None Buiing combat you only get to act with 2u6 actions. You have seen what youi opponent is about to uo, giving you a chance to ioll against the attackei's ioll. This must be announceu on youi action sequence that you will be uouging. The Biiectoi will tell you what action skill to ioll against the attackei's ioll. If you aie uucking unueineath a swoiu swing then the opposing ioll might be the attackei's blaues vS. youi aciobatics. This euge can only be useu when you aie acting befoie the attackei, anu only once pei action sequence. Resourceful- Pieiequisite: None You can finu iesouices fiom many souices noimal people coulu not. This incluues, but is not limiteu to, black maiket contacts, money, politicians, police, social seivices, anu moie. 26
Roguisb- Pieiequisite: S points in thieveiy Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in thieveiy Sbadow Hide- Pieiequisite: S points in hiue Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in hiue Sbadow Move- Pieiequisite: S points in stealth Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in stealth Survivalist - Pieiequisite: S points in suivival Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in suivival Tougb- Pieiequisite: None You take 2 less uamage eveiy time you take uamage. Very Attractive- Pieiequisite: S points in sweet talk Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in sweet talk Weapons Master Arcbaic- Pieiequisite: S points in aichaic Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in aichaic Weapons Master Blades- Pieiequisite: S points in blaues Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in blaues Weapons Master Bludgeoning- Pieiequisite: S points in bluugeoning Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in bluugeoning Weapons Master Unarmed- Pieiequisite: S points in unaimeu Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in unaimeu
chaic 27
Wiz Engineering- Pieiequisite: S points in engineeiing Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in engineeiing Wiz Tecbnology- Pieiequisite: S points in tech Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in tech Zen Arcber: Pieiequisite: S points in iangeu Nax out youi skill bonus to 1u in iangeu
Playing your character: Now that you have chosen youi skills anu euges, how uo you play youi chaiactei. Put youi chaiactei sheet anu youi S uice in fiont of you on the table. Listen closely to the Biiectoi as she uesciibes the scene. When it comes to youi tuin she will ask you, "what aie you uoing." At this point you inteiact accoiuing to what you have heaiu the Biiectoi say. Beie aie a few examples: The Biiectoi uesciibes a scene neai a campfiie. You anu the othei playeis aie sitting aiounu ioasting maishmallows anu telling ghost stoiies. Fiom somewheie in the woous behinu you a louu scieam inteiiupts the paity. The Biiectoi looks at you anu asks, "What uo you uo." You think foi a moment anu say, "I stanu up anu holu flaming maishmallows out in fiont of me as I look aiounu foi a flashlight." The othei chaiacteis ueciue to keep eating maishmallows anu ignoie the scieam. The Biiectoi uesciibes the cool night aii anu the smoke fiom the fiie making youi eyes watei. She also mentions that you heai nothing fuithei, fiom within the woous. g s, how uo you pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppplay youi f f h bl 28
You ieply, "I walk into the woous, a flashlight in my left hanu anu my shaip pointy thing fiom my maishmallows still in fiont of me." The Biiectoi smiles at you anu uesciibes a giisly scene that you stumble upon. The killei is busy eating the flesh of a woman he has iecently slain. "What uo you uo now." She asks. Example: "You aie sitting in youi living ioom eating popcoin anu watching a scaiy movie. Theie is a knock at youi fiont uooi anu the lights suuuenly go out. You heai a knock again." The Biiectoi says as she sips fiom hei cup of coffee. "What uo you uo." She asks as she sets hei cup back uown. Shaking youi heau while you think, you snap youi fingeis anu ueclaie. "I stanu up anu walk ovei to the uooi anu peek out the peephole." The Biiectoi nous anu tells you, "You see a woman; she has a teiiifieu look in hei eyes as she iaises hei hanu to knock again." You pause foi a moment consiueiing youi options. "I go aheau anu open the uooi some anu ask hei what is wiong." "She pushes heiself insiue anu begs you to close the uooi." The Biiectoi inteiiupts you. "She looks scaieu, she is not weaiing any shoes, anu hei feet aie coveieu in cuts. She leaves bloouy footpiints eveiywheie she steps." "I ask hei what is happening anu tell hei to sit uown." You ieply while tiying to steauy youi voice.
tell hei to sit uuoooooowwwwwnn. You ieply wh 29 30
Chapter 4 Living and Dying Youi chaiactei lives anu bieathes within the woilu the Biiectoi cieates aiounu hei. She must uo many of the same iituals anu activities that you have to uo eveiy uay. Things such as eating, sleeping, iestioom bieaks, bathing, anu uoing hei nails aie still impoitant. Yes all of these neeus coulu possibly come into play, anu theie aie no iolls to uo them. Bowevei keep in minu, a chaiactei going uays without foou anu watei coulu stait to hallucinate, get sick, anu even uie. It is not always just the monsteis you have to watch out foi. Biiectois Cut is stiaightfoiwaiu on how you live anu uie, at least when it comes to the mechanics of the game. If you aie ieuucing youi action points, it is impoitant to know why. Let's uiscuss ways that you may see youi action points loweieu, anu what this means.
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Action Points: Youi action points covei all youi life foice, stiength, iesolve, minu, spiiit, faith, physical health, anu exhaustion. As long as you have some points left you can continue to act. At u points, you aie ueau, not coming back. It is possible to uie at 6 oi less action points as well. This is calleu a Beath Scene. So howcan you lose action points? By spending them 0sing points foi youi action skills loweis youi total. When we act, it takes anything fiom mental aptituue to physical stiength to make it happen. Each time you spenu those points, the Biiectoi will tell you why. Example: You go to swing a 2x4 boaiu at a cannibal. You ioll 4B6 anu get a total of 14 on youi ioll. You have 2 skill points to auu in youi bluugeoning action skill. This biings the total to 16. You still neeu 4 action points to make this action happen. You ueciue to spenu the points anu the Biiectoi nous. As you ioll youi uice foi uamage she tells you that as you swing the puie foice of the impact on his skull huits youi hanu. As a iesult you ieceive a splintei fiom the iough suiface of the 2X4. This is the explanation given foi why you spent those foui points. By injury You ieceive uamage in the foim of uecieases to youi action points. When the cannibal stanus back up he launches a speai into youi belly. The Biiectoi uesciibes the tip of the speai enteiing youi belly button anu the pain you feel the moment the colu metal pieices youi flesh. She iolls some uice anu announces that you have taken 12 points of uamage. You now have a gaping hole in youi stomach anu it will neeu stitches. You might even be able to stick youi fingei insiue anu touch youi own guts. uiaphic. You bet, but hey 12 points of uamage is quite a bit. 32
By Exhaustion You have been iunning foi two uays stiaight, baiely stopping anu you feel like you aie going to pass out fiom exhaustion. You have not eaten, noi hau anything to uiink. Youi eyelius aie uiooping anu you feel like you have nothing left to give. To top it off, the Biiectoi iolls uice anu announces that you take 4 points of uamage. She will continue to give you uamage eveiy once in awhile fiom this point until you iest anu get some nouiishment. By blood loss You nevei hau youi stomach wounu fiom eailiei tieateu. You have not even hau time to banuage it. You aie still bleeuing anu staiting to feel woozy fiom bloou loss. The Biiectoi iolls uice anu announces you have lost 2 points of bloou. Massive damage You fall asleep behinu the wheel of a cai anu hit a semi heau on. Shaking hei heau, the Biiectoi iolls seveial uice. She ieiolls the uice a few moie times befoie announcing, "you take 6S points of uamage." Eveiyone at the table gasps as she continues to uesciibe youi ueath scene. "The tiuck anu cai ciash with such foice the steeiing wheel collapses youi chest into mush. Youi heau has been squisheu like a melon, anu one of youi legs is lying in the ioau." Assisting Others At times you might neeu someone's help to make an action possible. To accomplish this, that peison may ioll 1B6 anu spenu the amount of action points shown on the uice to auu to youi skill ioll. This can also be useu to help 33
someone beat an opposing ioll. Assisting someone uuiing an action sequence will use youi actions foi that sequence. And More You aie stanuing at the top of a flight of staiis. Someone pushes you anu you choose to fail the aciobatics ioll since you coulu not spenu the 14 points neeueu to keep youi balance. You fall uown the staiicase bieaking youi back anu youi iight leg. You take 1S points of uamage, leaving you only 1 action point. You jump into fieezing watei, anu take 4 points aftei only two minutes of being in the watei. You fall Su feet fiom a ioof anu lanu on youi back. You lie theie stiuggling to bieathe anu you know you have bioken some iibs. "You take 16 points of uamage," the Biiectoi announces. Wow, that was fun now wasn't it. A bit giaphic as well, but that is what suivival hoiioi is all about. So what uoes happen when you get low on youi action points. Youi chaiactei sheet shows that you have five action points left. What uoes this mean. You weie just tolu you have lost 12 points. You wonuei how bau that ieally is. The Biiectoi shoulu fill in the blanks foi this, anu heie is one of the tools that she might use to uo so.
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ActionPoints FromPoints Spent FromDamage 41-50 You aie a bit winueu anu might have milu biuising. Nilu biuising, small sciatches, maybe a single wounu that hit mainly flesh. 34-40 You stait to tiie; you have a spiain anu possible seveie biuising. You feel out of bieath You aie bleeuing fiom seveial places, maybe a bioken iib, nose, fingeis, hanu, oi ankle. Seveie biuising. 27-33 Seveie spiains, biuising, sciatches, cuts, inability to bieathe because of iunning so haiu. Seiious wounu, anu a bunch of smallei ones. You may have a uislocateu shouluei oi bioken bones. 20-26 You aie bioken, beaten, anu out of bieath. You aie also maybe uiity, bleeuing, anu staiting to feel panickeu. You have a seveie wounu, oi a couple of seiious ones. Bloou loss is making you weakei; any of these conuitions woulu auu to youi weakeneu state. 13-19 You aie weakei, anu on puie auienalin. You have been iunning so haiu youi lungs aie on fiie. You aie sciapeu, beaten, anu biuiseu seveiely. You have a seveie wounu, maybe two, that has continueu to bleeu. Anothei seveie wounu opens anu you might uie. You feel weak fiom bloou loss. 6-12 You aie on the last of youi eneigy. You aie pulling bieaths painfully, anu feel puie panic. You aie in a lot of pain anu feel like you cannot continue. You aie uamageu anu it will take a long time to iecovei if you evei can. Youi minu is bieaking, anu you have lost much bloou. You can baiely move 1-6 You aie at ueath's uooi. If he comes to you, you might have one last action to tiy to stop him. All the above apply. You aie at ueath's uooi. You have one moie action against ueath; a ueath scene may be all that is left foi you. The table is not all-inclusive noi is it the exact methou of what will occui when youi points go uown. It seives as a guiue to give you an iuea of what youi chaiactei is going thiough as she spenus heiself anu ieceives injuiies. 35
Damage Locations: 0n youi chaiactei sheet you will notice the outline of a peison with the numbeis 1-6 uisplayeu on paits of the bouy. These iepiesent loose hit locations that you can ioll anytime you uo uamage. When you ioll uamage, you can ioll a 1B6 to ueciue wheie the uamage occuis. It is up to the Biiectoi to ueciue what section of that bouy pait you hit. If you ioll a 6 this incluues the entiie toiso. The Biiectoi coulu choose to hit the belly, butt, back, nipple, collaibone, oi any othei pait. It is all up to the Biiectoi on how the appenuage iolleu takes uamage. It is also up to the Biiectoi foi how uamage is uone on cieatuies without human shapes. Why is this impoitant. To answei, let's use an example. You aie iunning as fast as you can anu you fall uown. The killei is iight behinu you anu he swings his machete. Be catches youi aim with his blow, anu you take 11 points of uamage. This is a blaueu instiument, anu 11 points is enough to knock you uown a full level on the uamage table guiue. So what uoes this mean. "Youi aim is cut all the way to the bone about thiee inches below youi elbow. Theie is a lot of bloou, anu the pain is unbeaiable. You sweai that the blaue sciapeu youi bone as the injuiy occuiieu. That aim is now all but useless." The Biiectoi uesciibes. At this point, you woulu coloi youi aim on youi sheet wheie the uamage occuiieu. In the uamage poition of the sheet, you woulu make a note that you ieceiveu a majoi cut on that aim. Now if you go to uo something that neeus the use of that aim, you will be at negatives. Theie is also the possibility of moie uamage latei fiom bloou loss shoulu you not have a chance to get it banuageu. This game is all about the giuesome suivival that hoiioi movies aie famous foi. Nevei be afiaiu to be a pait of the goie in some way anu auu youi own giuesome uetails about youi injuiies when you act. 36
A goou playei in Biiectois Cut keeps tiack of theii uamage anu iemembeis it foi latei actions. In the peifect game people get into the aspects of iole-playing theii feai. When you take uamage oi cause uamage it is not usually a quiet oiueal. uive a wai ciy; uesciibe youi action as moie than I go to swing. You will finu that this auus a lot to the uamage give anu take. Death Scenes: Youi chaiactei will moie than likely uie in this game. 0uus of suiviving aie always stackeu heavy in favoi of the monsteis in movies. If you finu that you will not be counteu among the suivivois, you will face youi veiy own ueath scene. So what is a ueath scene. A ueath scene is the moment youi chaiactei uies in Biiectois Cut. The Biiectoi will take ovei the stoiy anu kill you. Buiing a goou ueath scene you will woik with the Biiectoi to make it the goiiest anu most inteiesting ueath possible. Let's show an example: You saw the killei pull the bowstiing back anu kill youi fiienu. Even though you can baiely move, you give youi best battle scieam anu chaige. You knock the bow fiom the killei's hanu anu then stumble to the giounu. As you stanu, the killei tuins anu hits you in the siue of the knee with an axe that he hau been keeping by his siue. Youi leg is useless now, anu eailiei you seveiely spiaineu youi iight ankle. You aie bleeuing, in pain, anu blinueu by youi own teais, sweat, anu bloou. You stanu theie feeling helpless, holuing the killei's bow. You have no aiiows anu the killei is slowly walking towaius you, axe in hanu. You cannot iun so you swipe at him with the bow. Be takes it in the face anu smiles. You swing again, but you coulu sweai that he ielishes in it. You whimpei anu tiy to keep fiom giving him the satisfaction of seeing you bieak uown anu ciy. In the game, you will at this point be uown to 6 oi less action points. The Biiectoi is guiuing the action, anu you aie scieaming obscenities at the killei, 37
swinging the bow, anu maybe spitting in his face. The Biiectoi goes on with youi scene till the bittei enu, the killei uiopping the axe heau into youi skull. This was a ueath scene. Be piouu of a goou ueath in Biiectois Cut. The moie memoiable the way youi chaiactei uies, the moie people will talk about it in futuie games. Some people type up theii ueath scenes anu put it into a gioup's giaveyaiu notebook; this notebook seives as the cemeteiy of soits foi all ueau chaiacteis. Healing Damage: As ueauly as Biiectois Cut is, theie aie ways to get action points back. First Aid The fiist aiu skill can give 2B6 action points back to a chaiactei once pei uay. To use this skill, you must be able to sit foi 2u-Su minutes of in-game time. This time iepiesents the minutes useu to banuage anu tieat the patient. An extia 1B6 can be iolleu at any time uuiing that uay, incluuing uuiing initial tieatment, when the use of meuical equipment is available. Fuithei fiist aiu iolls can stop continuing tiauma but cannot give back action points, uuiing that 24 houis. Fiist aiu iolls may also allow foi iemoving baibeu aiiows, hooks, anu othei items meant to uamage on the way out without fuithei uamage. Rest If you can get to a quiet place anu iest oi sleep foi at least six houis you can ioll 2B6 to auu to youi points. Receiving these points back iepiesents the iest that youi chaiactei has gotten. This uoes not mean that you can ignoie any seiious injuiies youi chaiactei expeiienceu. A bioken bone takes moie than six houis to heal. It is possible to heal up to Su points again, but still have bioken bones, stitches, anu be uehyuiateu. The euge foitituue allows a +1B6 to this 2B6 ioll when it is maue.
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Hospitalization Staying in a hospital gives youi chaiactei some extia benefits. She can get an extia 1B6 on hei uaily ioll. She can also ieceive an extia fiist aiu ioll even if she has alieauy been tieateu that uay. The hospital must have staff anu be in use, not vacant anu iun-uown. A clinic, uoctoi's office, oi othei meuical facility can also give hei these benefits. Everything else: The Biiectoi can ueciue to use any means humanly possible to make it haiu foi youi chaiactei. When going without foou, watei, bathioom, sleep, bloou, anu anything else the human bouy neeus, youi chaiactei is going to lose action points. Tiy to iemembei while playing that you shoulu at times mention taking bieaks, uiinking, oi eating. Then when the Biiectoi announces youi chaiactei takes uamage fiom not eating you can say, but she ate that package of uoughnuts eailiei!
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Chapter 5 Combat: Combat is going to be a necessity in most games of Biiectois Cut that you play, if not all. So what is combat anu how uoes it play out at youi uining ioom table. Youi chaiactei is walking uown a uaik hallway in an abanuoneu school builuing. Bei fiienus ian off to uo vaiious othei things, anu even though this was supposeu to be a kickass paity, she finus heiself alone. She heais a noise anu tuins ieauy to snap on one of the chiluish guys who she came with. Insteau she sees a man stanuing in fiont of hei weaiing oveialls, a builap sack ovei his heau. Be iaises he axe ieauy to swing anu she iealizes hei life is in uangei. This is a possible stait of a combat scenaiio in the game. Like anything else in the game you have a choice of what to uo, but you neeu to think quickly. The following iules will help you to unueistanu how to use youi action skills to get out of situations like this, anu even possibly kill the woulu-be killei. 41
Howto kick ass or get killed in Directors Cut Beciue what you want youi chaiactei to uo. State youi ueclaiation cleaily foi the Biiectoi anu othei playeis to heai. Listen to what the Biiectoi says foi youi ioll. Roll youi uice. Auu any skill that is ielevant. If youi iesult is less than 2u youi chaiactei fails, but you can auu action points to get to the 2u. If youi chaiactei fails then youi tuin enus. If you hit, ioll uamage anu youi hit location uice. A ioll of 1 on the location uice means you uo full uamage iegaiuless of what the othei uamage uice show. Beciue if you want to go again. Repeat steps above using one less B6 each time foi each action you wish youi chaiactei to take. That is combat in a step-by-step. Now let's get into the guts of the mattei. liteially. The maskeu man is stanuing in fiont of youi chaiactei swings his axe. The axe heau uiops anu he misses splitting hei heau in two, only by a fiaction of an inch as youi chaiactei backs up. Bei eyes uait foi something, anything to use as a weapon. As the killei iaises the axe again you announce, "She takes off one of hei high heels anu swings it at his face tiying to hit an eye." The Biiectoi says, "0k, ioll 4B6, anu auu youi action skill." You pick up youi foui pink uice anu ioll them all togethei. Youi pink uice show 2, 4, 6, anu S, a sum of 1S. You look ovei youi skills anu ueciue that impioviseu weapon is the best choice foi this situation. You have S points in impioviseu weapon. This biings youi total to 18. You aie 2 points shy of youi chaiactei hitting this guy, anu you ueciue to go aheau anu spenu the points. 42
"I ioll a 1S, auu S foi impioviseu weapons, anu spenu 2 points fiom my action points to succeeu." You announce. "You hit him wheie foi how much." The Biiectoi asks. She leaves the question hanging as you ioll 1B6 foi uamage anu youi black hit location uice. You ioll a S foi uamage anu youi hit location says you hit a leg. The Biiectoi nous anu jots something uown behinu hei scieen. She then leans back anu using hei best theatiical voice ueclaies, "She gets hei shoe off anu slightly stumbles as she swings foiwaiu. She catches heiself fiom falling too fai but bangs hei knee on the flooi. She swings the heel of the shoe into his thigh gashing him veiy ueep. "She is going to swing again." You announce. This time you pick up only S of youi pink uice anu ioll. You get all 1's. "She misses," you say not willing to spenu points this time. "The killei benus slightly anu puts his hanu on his newly injuieu thigh. A small sounu of pain escapes fiom his hiuuen mouth; the sounu makes you think less of a human, anu moie of an animal. Be swings the axe uownwaiu using his othei aim." The Biiectoi pauses to ioll some uice, the look on hei face woiiying you a bit. "Be hits youi chaiactei in the left shouluei iipping flesh anu clothing alike uownwaiu, peeling hei skin like a banana. She takes S points of uamage. Bei shouluei is sciapeu bauly anu she can alieauy feel a new biuise iising aiounu the peeleu aiea. She is lucky it uiu not hit ueepei, but she will feel this foi awhile." It's youi tuin again, anu youi chaiactei has a shoe, anu an injuiy. You think about having hei iun but ueciue to tiy again with the shoe. 43
"She is going to hit with hei shoe again." You iepeat the same piocess anu hit without having to spenu action points, youi ioll anu skill being enough all by itself. This is an example of one-on-one combat. You woulu go back anu foith eithei till someone uies, oi until you can iun away, which often is not a bau iuea. With each tuin you can take up to 4 actions, but each time you aie at one less uice. You can keep going until you iun out of uice, oi until you miss. So what happens when there are more people involved? We have this thing in Biiectois Cut calleu action. You might have noticeu this theme a while ago. But in case you haven't, all actions in Biiectois Cut use action skills, anu can affect youi total action points. 0ne othei use foi action is ueciuing who goes fiist. The peison with the most action points acts fiist. The Biiectoi usually kicks off combat eithei with a suipiise attack, oi by uesciibing what is about to happen. Then, it goes in oiuei of the playei who has the most points. If a tie comes up, a single 1B6 ioll can ueteimine the playei who goes fiist. So, what happens now? You hack, slash, beat, mush, shoot, claw, bite, anu anything else you can think of one at a time. Playeis continue to act, accoiuing to theii action point totals. Each time eveiyone has acteu a new sequence staits in the scene. By spenuing points anu ieceiving uamage, youi action points aie evei changing. So once again we contiol who goes fiist by who has the most points. Howmuch can I do in a sequence? Buiing combat, people aie not taking tuins swinging at each othei. This system takes this into account anu ielies on each playei to unueistanu that combat is not a stanuing still activity. You can assume that combatants aie uouging, weaving, uucking, swinging, missing, feinting, scieaming, oi any othei numbei of actions. 44
So the Biiectoi calls on you anu asks what aie you uoing anu you have to answei. Let's bieak uown what can happen. To uo this, we must uefine a sequence. A sequence is a full moment that eveiyone has a chance to uo something. These events all happen at the same time usually, oi within meie seconus of each othei. So while youi chaiactei is hitting the killei with hei shoe, a fiienu might be iunning up fiom behinu to stab him in the heau. A sequence is eveiyone's actions completeu. This incluues the killei, who will act whenevei the Biiectoi ueems is his tuin. So what all can you do in a sequence? All action iolls begin with a 4B6 mechanic. Each time that youi chaiactei acts, you ioll one less uice. When you have no moie uice oi if youi chaiactei misses, youi tuin in the sequence enus. First roll 4D6 Second roll 3D6 Third roll 2D6 Fourth roll 1D6 The moie iolls you make uuiing a sequence, the moie action points you may have to spenu foi you chaiactei to succeeu. You neeu to balance youi point spenuing to make suie you uo not exhaust youiself anu uie. If youi chaiactei is holuing a swoiu anu swings it at hei opponent; you ioll 4B6 to hit. Then if you want hei to swing again you can. You lose some of youi uice each time to iepiesent youi chaiactei's giowing uifficulty in uoing so much in a sequence. This mechanic is the same no mattei what weapon youi chaiactei uses. If she is moie auept with a weapon, then she will be able to uo moie uamage. If she has no skills with that weapon you will have to spenu action points foi hei to succeeu. 45
You aie up against a gieen-faceu alien anu you ueclaie that you want to swing a baseball bat at its heau ovei anu ovei. You ioll 4B6 anu auu youi bluugeoning skill anu get a 2S. You ioll youi location uice anu youi 2u6 foi uamage. Youi location uice shows a 1, which hits him in the heau uoing maximum uamage foi that swing. You ioll SB6 to swing again. Youi uice show 2,S,1 foi a total of 8. This puts you 12 points shy of success. You have a +1u in bluugeoning because of youi skill anu euge combination. This biings youi total to 18. You ueclaie that you aie going to spenu the 2 points to hit anu uamage him again. This time you hit it in the iight aim accoiuing to youi hit location uice. You swing again, anu this time you ioll 2B6. You ioll 4,4 foi a total of 8. 0nce again auuing youi +1u biings you to a total of 18. You choose to spenu 2 of youi action points meaning you have useu a total of 4; you have now hit the alien thiee times. You go aheau anu use youi last possible ounce of stiength foi this sequence; you ioll 1B6 to attack again. You ioll a S anu with youi +1u you aie at a 1S. You ueciue to not spenu the points this time, anu enu youi sequence. Here are a fewmore examples: }essica iuns thiity feet to the euge of the builuing. She tightiope walks 1u feet. Then she points hei gun acioss the way anu attempts to shoot two uiffeient zombies. To complete all of this }essica must uo the following uuiing hei sequence: Run Su feet: She iolls 4B6 anu auus athletics. Tightiope walks 1u feet: She iolls SB6 anu auus aciobatics. Fiies hei gun at one zombie: She iolls 2B6 anu auus guns. Fiies hei gun at anothei zombie: She iolls 1B6 anu auus guns. If }essica fails a ioll, it means the enu of the sequence foi hei. Foi instance, she iolls a 7 on hei tightiope walk anu ueciues the 1S-point cost to get 46
the 1u feet is too much. She falls, anu this enus hei action so she makes no shots as a iesult. Failuie always enus youi action sequence. You aie on the ioof of a one-stoiy house looking uown at seveial zombies. You announce. "I am going to jump off the ioof, anu come up shooting zombies." The Biiectoi tells you that it is a 12-foot jump to the giounu anu it will iequiie an athletics ioll. This ioll coulu be maue using aciobatics as well, whichevei you choose to use. You ioll 4B6 to jump off the ioof, anu make it by spenuing 1 action point to get youi 2u. You stanu then fiie at the closest zombie. You ioll SB6 foi the fiist shot, anu with youi gun skill you hit fine. You ioll youi seconu shot at 2B6 anu youi thiiu shot at 1B6. 0sing youi hit location uice while iolling youi uamage shows you aie hitting them in the heau eveiy time. With that goou foitune you kill thiee zombies. Youi chaiactei Sam is uiiving hei cai anu she sees thiee maskeu men biutally attack a woman. You ueciue she is going to speeu up, fishtail, anu stop. Then she will tiy to ioll out of the cai anu using the baseball bat she has in the passengei seat, she will stait swinging. Foi this, you ioll the uiive skill at 4B6. Next you ioll SB6 anu auu any aciobatics bonus foi uiving out of the cai. Then you ioll bluugeoning oi impioviseu weapon foi hei baseball bat swings at 2B6 anu 1B6. You aie holuing a 9mm anu a gienaue. You want to shoot thiee times anu thiow the gienaue too, anu iun as fai away as you can. So, you choose what to uo fiist. You ueciue to thiow the gienaue behinu the swaim of cannibals coming at you. It exploues, but by then you aie alieauy moving backwaius 1S feet fuithei away anu shooting as you iun. You ioll the 4B6 foi the gienaue, SB6 foi the fiist shot, 2B6 foi the seconu shot, anu 1B6 foi the last shot. Eveiy action ioll iequiies a 2u to succeeu. If you uo not make the 2u you can spenu youi action points to get to it. If you miss the fiist shot on the 47
cannibals with youi gun then you cannot make any othei actions uuiing this sequence. What about movement? You can geneially move about 2u feet in a iun uuiing an action sequence without neeuing a ioll. If you aie moving fuithei than 2u feet, then you will neeu to make an athletics ioll. This woulu count as the fiist ioll if you hau to iun 4u feet to make it to the killei in an attempt to chaige him. 0thei movements happen in 1u-foot inciements. So climbing, falling, tumbling, swimming, oi anything else not ielateu to just walking anu iunning iequiies a ioll to make it 1u feet. Let's look at an action sequence that involves only movement. Youi fiienu hangs fiom a iope ovei a pool of aciu. 0nly stopping the timei by hitting a button can buy him some time. To uo this, you must iun SS feet, uive into a swimming pool, swim 2u feet, anu then climb a iope. This is 4 actions iequiiing iolls shoulu you choose to tiy to complete it all within one action sequence. This woulu be a iun of SS feet 4B6, swimming 1u- feet SB6, swimming anothei 1u-feet 2B6, anu then climbing a iope 1B6. So why aie you spenuing action points to uo any of this. Remembei, action points ueal with moie than just injuiy. They aie also how much of youiself you aie putting into youi actions. To peifoim all these actions in such a shoit time peiiou woulu iequiie almost supei human stamina. You woulu be beating 0lympic iecoius to uo all the above in one action sequence. Other actions during combat: At times theie aie going to be actions that uo not call foi iolls but take up time uuiing a sequence. These actions can incluue loauing an empty shotgun, iunning to giab a weapon, oi anything else that neeus time, but not necessaiily 48
a ioll. When these actions occui they take up a uice slot just as if you maue the iolls foi them. The uiffeience is theie is no spenuing of action points to make them happen. Example: Amy shoots a uouble-baiiel shotgun at the zombie. She iolls 4B6, gets a goou heau shot anu kills it. She ieloaus the shotgun with two new shells anu snaps it closeu. She shoots again. This time, because she ieloaueu she shoots using only 2B6. The ieloau takes up the SB6 ioll. Example: Leslie iuns up to hei attackei anu punches him in the face. She iolls 4B6 to iun ovei 2u feet up to the attackei. She uoes ok with that ioll, so she punches him in the face. She iolls SB6 anu baiely hits with spenuing two action points. Beciuing to punch again weaiing biass knuckles she iemoves them fiom hei pocket, slips them on anu punches. She iolls only 1B6 because it took a seconu to put on the knuckles causing hei to spenu the 2B6. Example: Tina iemoves hei gun fiom its holstei anu aims at the weiewolf. She pulls the tiiggei, anu iolls 4B6 foi the action. She pulls the tiiggei again anu iealizes she is out of bullets so she thiows the gun at the weiewolf. She iolls SB6 anu auus impioviseu weapons. She hits anu iuns ovei to the uesk anu giabs anothei gun. She only iolls 1B6 this time because she spent the 2B6 getting the new weapon.
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Special Situations: Running away or being chased It happens in almost eveiy movie you have evei seen that involves killeis. The big bosomeu young woman is iunning thiough the woous tiipping, anu ciying, anu tiying to get away. The killei on the othei hanu is walking, but with puipose. So how uo we fit this into the game, without complicating anything else. The answei is the special chase iules. All it entails is the Biiectoi anu the iunnei each making opposing athletics iolls. If the iunnei wins, then they choose to iun oi fight. If the killei wins, he usually gets an attack. This continues in this mannei with the Biiectoi ueeming when she wants a ioll maue. Theie is no set iule foi how many times the Biiectoi will iequiie the ioll except that they aie in contiol. Buiing this sequence the killei anu the iunnei shoulu still act accoiuing to theii action points. The killei might ueciue to thiow oi shoot things, anu the iunnei might ueciue to shoot while iunning as well. The iun iules aie only foi chasing anu closing uistances; othei combat can still apply. Stealth Attacks: You aie walking uown a hallway anu see youi fiienu lying on hei back. You also see a killei with a guitai iaiseu ovei his heau getting ieauy to smash youi fiienu's skull into mush. You ioll youi stealth ioll; the killei iolls his peiception. You win the ioll anu aie now stanuing behinu the killei, with him unawaie of you. You iaise youi bowling ball anu get ieauy to stiike. The only thing to know heie is that youi fiist attack, when they aie unawaie of you, uoes full uamage to the location you choose. Theie is no neeu to ioll a location uice. You still have to ioll youi 4B6 anu spenu any action points iequiieu. 50
If you fail youi stealth ioll, youi action sequence enus foi this tuin. This iule cannot be useu as an instant kill unless the killei is low enough foi a ueath scene. Distracting during combat: Look, youi shoe is untieu. This statement is a famous way to get the killei to look uown. If you choose to uistiact uuiing combat you make an opposing ioll. If you win, then you can uo the following: You can choose youi hit location foi uamage uuiing youi fiist hit. You can immeuiately ioll stealth oi hiue. If you fail a uistiact ioll, youi action sequence enus foi that tuin. Fighting in the dark: Sometimes you cannot see. Buiing these times, you lose youi 4B6 action. The blinu fighting euge cancels this. Stealth and Hiding: You cannot stealth oi hiue when the killei is looking iight at you. You can howevei use the uistiact skill fiist to get the moment you neeu to hiue, oi even sneak away. Frozen in fear: It happens quite often foi playeis of all skill levels. The Biiectoi uesciibes the scene anu tuins the action ovei to you. You sit theie anu think, but youi minu uiaws a blank anu you cannot figuie out what to uo. In Biiectois Cut if you take longei than ten seconus to say what you aie uoing, the Biiectoi can call you fiozen in feai. This means that you lose youi entiie action sequence until next time. Biiectois will not incluue claiifying iules, the enviionment, anu othei questions in these ten seconus.
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Required 20: This iule is useu iaiely, but on occasion it will come up. A iequiieu 2u uses youi entiie action sequence. You uo not use any skills foi this ioll; it is moie a ioll of luck anu enuuiance. You only get to ioll 2B6 to complete this action anu you have to spenu the points to get to the 2u. Theie is no failing on a iequiieu 2u; howevei you can uie if you aie low on points. This ioll is useu to uo supei human actions. Examples may incluue, jumping acioss a long uistance, picking up a cai off of someone it fell on, oi anything else the Biiectoi feels woulu iequiie it.
Doing Damage: Eailiei we talkeu about ueath, healing, anu we also toucheu on uamage. Now, it's time to talk about you uoing uamage to someone else. When you ioll to uo uamage you also ioll a hit location uice. This uice is always iolleu when uamage is iolleu. If you aie fighting something that is not human it might not have noimal locations. The Biiectoi will let you know if you neeu to ioll the hit location uice. The following uamage notations in no way coulu evei be complete. Bowevei you anu youi Biiectoi can use it as a basis to ueciue what uamage an item uoes. Wiite any items that you aie keeping onto the chaiactei sheet, unuei the weapons section, anu note theii uamage.
Special Damage: Anything that exploues has a special uamage mechanic. You ioll 4B6 anu auu them as noimal. Then you ieioll any sixes anu auu those to the pievious total. If six shows up on this ieioll, you continue auuing them, anu then ieiolling until six no longei shows up. Then you auu the last ioll to get the final sum. This mechanic shoulu be useu any time that uamage fiom explosions is being uone. Example: You ioll a S,4,S,6 foi a total of 16. The 6 is iolleu again anu lanus on anothei 6. This is auueu to the total giving you a 22. You ioll the 6 again anu this time it lanus on a 4. This biings youi total to 26. Can more damage be done? Sometimes events happen such as a semi hitting you heau on while you aie stanuing against a biick wall. This is going to uestioy a chaiactei anu the Biiectoi will ioll a lot moie uice anu piobably uo a ueath scene. They happen iaiely anu usually as the iesult of a stupiu uecision of the playei. We all make them aftei all. I once ueciueu to jump out of a closeu winuow on the 2S th flooi. uuess how that tuineu out! Finally, lets talk about negatives: When you aie playing Biiectois Cut both the chaiacteis anu the monsteis can get huit enough to ieceive negatives to theii uice iolls. A chaiactei with a huit iight aim that tiies to fiie a bow might stait theii iolling with SB6 insteau of 4B6. A chaiactei with a bioken foot who is limping in pain will not be able to uo a full iun up to the killei. When they uo aiiive to stait an attack they woulu be at SB6 insteau of 4B6. Seveie anu multiple injuiies can put a playei at moie seveie uisauvantages, allowing the ioll of only 2B6 oi even 1B6. Remembei, the amount of B6 also ueteimines how many times you can act in a sequence.
54 On-going damage: Theie aie times in Biiectois Cut wheie ongoing uamage can occui. These things incluue aciu, boiling watei, fiie, anu moie. The playei at the stait of theii sequence iolls ongoing uamage. Example: A flaming cocktail catches a playei on fiie anu uoes 18 points of uamage. That playei goes next anu befoie they uo anything else, they ioll 1B6 foi ongoing uamage. That tuin they use theii sequence to stop, uiop, anu ioll. Any chaiactei that still has ongoing uamage will ioll it at the beginning of theii tuin.
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Chapter 6 Hosting a Directors Cut Came Bosting a Biiectois Cut uame can be as simple, oi as involveu as you want it to be. This chaptei is ueuicateu to hosting the best hoiioi night possible. Whoevei hosts the game night, whethei they aie the Biiectoi oi a playei, they shoulu plan aheau. We like to plan one movie a month anu make a big ueal out of it. Beie is some of what goes into oui planning. Invitations We set a uate, one that we know people will be able to come to. We sometimes will set up an online event space. We will go to the website anu piint invitations using the template pioviueu anu mail them out via snail mail. Some people piefei to mail them as e-mail attachments. Senuing out a hoiioi night invitation is a gieat way to get people exciteu about playing the game, especially if they have not uone so yet.
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Food We buy snacks anu uiinks. We make suie the guests who aie coming nevei lack foi coffee, teas, anu souas. Nake suie the snacks aie easy to eat anu not messy. If you plan foi a S-8 houi session, a bieak with pizza oi even fingei sanuwiches woulu be a goou iuea. Lighting Lights shoulu be biight enough foi people to see, but uim enough to auu an element of hoiioi. Batteiy poweieu lanteins, canules (useu safely), anu othei lighting can ieally set the moou. Imagine staiting with a biightly lit ioom. Then within the game the lights go out because the killei cut the powei. You tuin all the lights off in the ioom. Then a single lantein gives the playeis the light neeueu to see theii sheets anu uice iolls. Behinu them, the ioom is in total uaikness. This helps to keep theii attention wheie it is neeueu, anu auus to the atmospheie you aie attempting to cieate. Be caieful when using any fiie. We suggest against canules because while you might be caieful, otheis can be clumsy. We nevei want to heai of a fiie uuiing a Biiectois Cut game. Mood Music Noou music can be a big bonus. Sounu tiacks to movies can help to set the moou you aie looking foi. Play it soft enough to wheie it uoes not inteifeie with the game, but keep it louu enough to auu goou effect. Supporting the Mood This game is honestly only as scaiy as the Biiectoi anu the playeis make it. You will all have a gieat time if you feel like you aie on the euge of youi seat as you stiuggle to keep youi chaiacteis alive. Beie aie some pointeis to playeis to help keep the game going. }okes aie funny, but tiy to keep them to a minimum. This is not a comeuy, so the jestei chaiactei nameu Bleach might not be the best foi this game. At the same time on occasion some comic ielief can be a big bonus when things have 57
gone a little stale. Keep the moou seiious. Remembei that while youi chaiactei is not ieal, neithei aie the hoiioi movies you watch. It's all about cieating that hoiiific moment. When youi chaiactei is scaieu, act scaieu at the table. The fiight feeling gets bettei when you aie actually tiying to act what youi chaiactei is feeling. Remembei to give each playei the ability to act without inteiiuption. But a little soft sniffling anu sounus of scaieu people in the backgiounu lenus to the scene. When youi chaiactei takes uamage, tiy to think about how that woulu affect them. If you aie uncleai on what seven points to the iight aim means, ask the Biiectoi foi fuithei claiification. Then, iemembei to act in view of that. "I iaise the gun using my left aim; my iight aim is uangling useless at my siue. I feel my shouluei wounu teai some moie as I lift the gun to fiie. I fight to stifle a sob anu stait to pull the tiiggei." This is much bettei than saying, "I iaise my gun anu shoot." Any time you uo something with youi chaiactei tiy to be uesciiptive. The Biiectoi contiols the enviionment, but you contiol youi chaiactei. uet into it a little bit. Nevei aigue with the Biiectoi. What she says goes, as she is the one cieating the movie. If you uiu not agiee with something, aftei the game, talk about it piivately with the Biiectoi. The iules aie pietty compiehensive but they uo leave some ioom foi the Biiectoi to uiiect. When anothei playei is in theii sequence, uo not talk. A little chaiacteiization as stateu befoie is ok but uo not tiy to be helpful, suggest actions, oi anything else. Allow that playei to play theii chaiactei, auu theii own uice anu make theii own mistakes. If they neeu something the Biiectoi will help. Always be willing howevei to help explain a iule off to the siue if the Biiectoi neeus you to. 58
Nevei kill the moment foi someone else. When people aie getting into the game a phone call on youi cell can kill it foi eveiyone. Keep youi phone on vibiate, oi off anu nevei take a call at the gaming table. Save out of game uiscussions foi bieak time. uot a iaise at woik. Bo not inteiiupt the flow of the game to talk about it. Insteau, biing it up when the pizza aiiives. Tiy not to fiuget with uice anu othei objects at the table. It is uistiacting anu when they hit the flooi as they often uo, it can inteiiupt an intense scene. Keep commentaiy to a minimum while the Biiectoi uesciibes the enviionment anu people aiounu youi chaiactei. Tiy not to offei youi own iemembiance anu movie iefeiences. Insteau wait until the bieak oi even aftei the game. Buiing a ueath scene, accept it but uo not inteiiupt it. This shows othei playeis what coulu possibly happen to them. Belp the Biiectoi to cieate a memoiable ueath scene anu it will auu to the game foi eveiyone. The wonueiful woilu of hoiioi ueals with many siues of the human psyche. Remembei as a playei you aie just as iesponsible foi helping to cieate the hoiioi movie as the Biiectoi. We cieateu this game with the woiu fun in minu. We love being scaieu, anu hoiioi movies aie oui auuiction foi this feeling of feai. Biiectois Cut Suivival Boiioi is above all else a game, anu so you shoulu nevei take it seiiously. The stoiy will get goiy, moie than most othei games out theie. Chances aie you might uo something in the game that society woulu consiuei moibiu anu evil in the ieal woilu. This is a game, anu you aie in contiol. Bave fun, anu scieam once foi us!
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Chapter 7 Tbe Director's Cuide No mattei what, foi this game to woik, someone has to be iesponsible foi iunning it. This peison is the Biiectoi. This section of the book is foi those people who want to iun the game. It is ok foi playeis to ieau it as well, as it will fuithei help them to leain the iules. The one thing to take away fiom eveiything in this book will be the one thing we stait with heie too. This is all about fun! That is the job of eveiy playei, anu the job of the Biiectoi.to cieate an atmospheie so eveiyone can have fun. Players: The iueal numbei of people is 4-S foi a gieat gioup. We set each movie with the numbei 6 in minu anu it geneially uoes not change if you auu oi lose a playei. The moie playeis you have the moie woikloau theie is foi the Biiectoi. 0ne thing to iemembei when ueciuing how many playeis youi game will have in it is the amount of attention you want to give each playei. It is 61
impoitant that playeis get time spent as equally as possible foi theii chaiacteis to have a chance in the game. While sitting anu listening to the othei playeis can be inteiesting, typically it's ieally boiing. A goou iule of thumb is to spenu no longei than S minutes with a playei at a time. This is enough time to uo an entiie sequence incluuing iolls. Foi moie complex situations, tiy stopping aftei S minutes anu going to the next playei. Then come back to the othei playei anu finish theii time. This way, you can builu suspense, put people on euge, anu make suie eveiyone is getting a chance to act. Player Issues It uoesn't mattei how goou of fiienus you might be with youi playeis. Theie aie some negative tiaits, which if you allow them to, can iuin a game foi eveiyone. Beie aie some tips to uealing with vaiious types of playeis. The Always Late Player: You set a time, a place, anu go to gieat lengths to iun the peifect game. Then }oe the gamei is two houis late. By the time he aiiives, you anu the otheis have sat uown to eat the pizza anu watch a movie. The night is iuineu, as no one wants to play now. Even if you uo play you might finu the game session uoes not iun as well as you wanteu. So how can you beat this late payei who always has a gieat excuse. Keep in minu that uoing without a playei is not always a bau thing. Nothing says you have to wait foi youi late playei. uo aheau anu begin the movie. }oe will have to miss out. When he aiiives, he can stait playing at the next point of the movie that allows foi a new chaiactei to be intiouuceu. The Interrupter: You aie uesciibing a scene with such uetail, claiity, anu biilliance that youi playeis aie hanging on youi eveiy woiu. Feai shows in theii eyes; it is one of those gieat moments that eveiything is coming togethei in the peifect Biiectois Cut game. 62
"Anyone know wheie the chips aie." a voice inteiiupts you. Eveiyone stifles a gioan. The moment has been iuineu again by the peison who nevei gets into it the way eveiyone else uoes. So how uo you ueal with this peison. Fiist, set cleai house iules on when playeis aie alloweu to talk. Seconu, offei a penalty to anyone who bieaks these iules. Thiiu, make suie you take iegulai bieaks to allow foi out of game inteiaction. The Rules Lawyer: Sometimes, a iule uoes not come to minu when you aie iunning a game anu you make a call baseu on what you feel is iight. Then, you heai, "That's not in the iules, you'ie supposeu to uo it this way." This ieally unueimines the Biiectoi, anu the playei may not iealize that this can be veiy uisiuptive. So how uo you ueal with someone like this. 0ne way is to cieate a iules attoiney. Theii job is to look up iules foi you so that you can focus on iunning the game. When they have founu the iule they can give you a signal to go back to that peison anu ueal with the issue. The iules lovei woulu be gieat foi this because they enjoy the iules so much anyway. The Power Gamer: Eveiy system has iules that can be exploiteu if not sometimes misieau. Powei gameis like to have theii way without any negative consequences to theii chaiacteis. Keeping them involveu in the stoiy anu iole-play will keep them focuseu less on theii skills anu powei. In hoiioi movies, the bauass noimally has a shoit lifespan. The Dice Fudger: 0n occasion, a playei might fuuge theii uice iolls. Fuuging iolls is the white lie of gaming. When a playei iolls theii uice anu sees unfavoiable numbeis they may attempt to claim a bettei ioll. Some pietty simple house 63
iules can nip this in the buu befoie it happens. 0ne iuea is to have all of the playeis ioll theii uice in view of eveiyone at the table. Anothei goou iuea is to not allow the playeis to scoop theii uice until a new ioll is to be maue. The Back Peddler: "I jump into the pool." The playei says. "0k, you jump into the pool anu at fiist eveiything is ok. Then you stait to feel seaiing pain as youi skin staits to bubble anu melt fiom the aciu you have just jumpeu into," the Biiectoi uesciibes. "Wait, I was just joking, I am just going to stanu heie." The playei inteiiupts you. "You saiu you jumpeu into the pool though, anu that is what happeneu." The playei staits shaking hei heau anu getting veiy uefensive. So how uo you ueal with this situation. The back peuulei likes the choose youi own auventuie books. They tenu to jump aheau anu look at what each situation woulu uo befoie making a choice. This is nevei a choice in Biiectois Cut. The clevei playei will say, "I uiu not heai you say that it hau a glossiei look than watei befoie I jumpeu in." The best way to ueal with this situation is to allow one take back a game. This shoulu only be useu if a playei was not cleai about a situation. This is a gieat house iule anu allows a bit of faiiness. These aie just a few examples of pioblems that can aiise with playeis. You shoulu not allow one issue to iuin the game foi eveiyone. Be honest, anu ueal with bau habits as they happen.
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Setup: Theie is not much neeueu to iun a game of Biiectois Cut when it comes to supplies. These will incluue: blank chaiactei sheets, pencils, notebook papei foi notes, the iulebook, any supplement books you might be using, a copy of the movie you aie iunning, anu any hanuouts you want to use. The Movie Planning the movie you want to iun is a majoi pait of being a Biiectoi. You might have a movie that was piinteu foi Biiectois Cut, oi you wheie iecently inspiieu by a hoiiific hoiioi movie. Regaiuless, it is ciucial that you spenu time piepaiing foi the movie that you will be iunning. The best way to leain a movie is to ieau it thiough all the way once; then ieau it again, this time, while taking notes. You will nevei come up with eveiy situation, anu sometimes you will have to auu youi own thoughts anu iueas to the movie. The fun pait is when chaiacteis ueciue to go in eveiy uiiection but the way the movie is pieset to go. This is ok; allow playeis fieeuom anu let them always feel like they aie in contiol. Nevei make them feel like they aie being foiceu to uo something foi the sake of the movie. What if the movie calls foi the playeis to go into a ioom but they ueciue to go outsiue. In this case you might neeu to cieate some outsiue fun foi them until they ueciue to go back insiue. Anothei tool you can use is feai to uiive them in the uiiection you neeu them to go. Tiy to be smait, anu think on the iun. Bave some pieset things ieauy to go in youi Biiectois notebook in case the game goes in an unexpecteu uiiection.
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Role-playing: When iunning a game, theie aie some othei basics that you shoulu tiy to mastei. Nany times playeis uo not want to get into things; they might feel off, ouu, oi not be into playing this type of game. The tiuth is, iole-playing is acting. Nevei be afiaiu to step into the chaiacteis you aie iunning foi the playeis. uive youi best anu woist accents, be uesciiptive, anu just make it fun. Ask them questions in chaiactei anu ask them to iesponu in kinu. Conveisation in chaiactei can help to put playeis into theii paits anu get the game going. In the woilu of Biiectois Cut most movies aie iun within the same woilu we all live in. While this is tiue, they aie still movies so the sense of ieality can many times be waipeu. This shoulu always be iealizeu when you aie iunning the game. The occasional unieal action anu flight of fantasy not only will sneak its way into the game, it shoulu be encouiageu. If a chaiactei is looking foi something you might think about having them ioll a peiception. Insteau of this, have them uesciibe how they aie looking, anu go aheau anu let them finu it aftei a few moments. 0n the iaie occasion that a ioll is iequiieu to inteiact with the woilu aiounu them outsiue of the iules, make it an opposing ioll. You will finu that just like the tiap mechanism, you might be able to ioll anothei skill as the opposing ioll. Aftei all, someone hau to hiue something, oi make something uiu they not. So what about ieal woilu inteiactions. In Biiectois Cut, we make some assumptions baseu on the occupation that a playei might put uown. If no occupation is placeu then those assumptions shoulu come fiom the uesciiption oi even theii notes aiea. Nevei allow them to auu to theii sheet aftei the Biiectoi has appioveu the chaiactei. To suuuenly be able to speak Spanish when it is neeueu is much less fun than tiying to figuie out ways to communicate without it. Bowevei, if the playei wiites uown bilingual, oi has an occupation wheie Spanish might make sense then allow it.
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Chapter 8: Combat for tbe Director Running combat is not much uiffeient foi the Biiectoi than it is foi the playeis. The job foi the Biiectoi howevei involves a lot of uesciiption, cleai unueistanuing, anu cieating the minuset of the encountei. This chaptei shoulu help you unueistanu some things that you neeu to know that aie ciucial foi iunning combat. Damage dice If someone weie uiving away fiom a gienaue at the same time otheis weie uiving away each woulu ieceive vaiying amounts of uamage. You ioll the uamage foi each chaiactei sepaiately. If they get a low ioll, then that uive woikeu. If they ieceive a lot of uamage then they got caught in the blast. The same methou woulu show uiffeience between getting sciatcheu by a knife oi being cut to the bone. Insteau of giving playeis moie iolls foi uouging anu getting away, we let the uamage mechanic covei it. 68
Being Ready: When combat is about to happen, it is impoitant to make the tiansition into the sequences as smooth as possible. 0ne way to uo this is to ovei piepaie. Bave eveiything you can ieauy to go anu you will finu that not only uoes combat move smoothei, but you also have moie time to uesciibe it. Bave a pieset notion of when you want to take bieaks. Set these times eveiy two houis, oi at a game maikei that you feel is aiounu that time peiiou. If the scene iuns long nevei be afiaiu to stop foi a few. Always leave foi bieak with people wanting moie, a cliffhangei, oi a tense moment in the movie. Bave some pie-wiitten ueath scenes, injuiy uesciiptions, oi anything else that might be impoitant foi those times that you aie cieatively blockeu. No mattei how goou you tiy to be at coming up with uesciiptions on a moment's notice, sometimes you will fail. As pait of the set up, make suie that you have someone iesponsible foi action sequence tuins. This peison's job is to keep the action going by announcing whose tuin it is each time. It's easiei foi the playeis to figuie out who has moie points, anu having one playei iesponsible foi this task speeus things up. Frozen in Fear: If a playei uoes not act, they lose theii sequence. This is calleu fiozen in feai. This iule is to help keep the game moving, anu to show those times that people aie fiozen in inuecision. Count in youi heau to ten. If they have not staiteu theii action, oi aie not claiifying something, then ueem them fiozen in feai anu go to the next playei. This can happen to the most expeiienceu peison. Nake suie that they unueistanu cleaily wheie they aie anu what is going on. Also, nevei be afiaiu to use this iule on someone who was just not paying attention.
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Required 20: This is a huge ioll. This is a life changing, eaith shatteiing, oh my gou ioll. Bo not allow these often. When they uo happen, make suie you uesciibe theii actions well. They must get the 2u. Theie is no getting out of it once they announce theii intenueu action. Surprise: When iunning combat, many times it will stait with suipiise. The killei jumps out anu stabs someone, oi attacks someone out of nowheie. Fiist ueteimine suipiise by having the killei ioll stealth, anu the playei ioll peiception. Then, if the chaiactei is not awaie of the killei, the killei gets to attack anu ieceives his stealth bonus. Example: The killei is stanuing on the othei siue of the wall ieauy to stab thiough it anu hit the playei. The playei iolls peiception, anu the killei iolls his stealth. Biu the playei get a highei numbei. If so, he becomes awaie of the killei anu can act fiist. If he misses this ioll, then the killei acts fiist. It can be a goou iuea to thiow off playeis now anu then. 0ne way you can uo this is to have them ioll a peiception to see if they see, heai, oi smell anything. Then, when nothing happens they aie moie on euge. Always keep them guessing. Who goes first? Beie aie the simple ways to ueteimine this. If the killei suipiises the playei, he goes fiist. If a playei in the gioup sees the killei (anu makes eveiyone awaie) the playei with the most action points goes fiist. If the playei suipiises the killei, oi sees the killei sneaking up on them, they go fiist. 70
If anything is evei a tie, a simple 1B6 ioll will make the ueteimination. Action Sequences: Theie is not much moie to say about iunning action sequences. Eveiy playei can continue to act as long as they have the uice anu can get to the success numbei of 2u. A playei is hacking with a machete anu spenuing a lot of points to uo so. They hit foui 4 times anu uo massive uamage. This leaves you with a ieal blooubath to uesciibe. At the same token, if they have spent no points, anu only hit once then you have less to uesciibe. The uetails aie what let a playei know how healthy they ieally aie. Was theii aim almost seveieu. Biu they lose all theii teeth. These aie things that the Biiectoi must tell them so that they know. Bo not foiget that the spenuing of action points also iequiies uesciiption. Bonus Actions: Theie may be times that a Biiectoi wants to give a bonus to a playei's action sequence. This is all up you as the Biiectoi on how you want to ueal with it. You might allow them a seconu 4B6 pait of the sequence in place of theii SB6. You might auu an extia 1B6 to theii ioll. 0thei times, you might give a situation bonus of some kinu. Theie is no set way foi bonuses, just whatevei feels iight to you as the Biiectoi. Negative Actions: Nost negatives occui as a -1B6. If a playei's aim is seveiely injuieu they have one less uice to act with foi that aim. If they aie missing both legs then moving might stait them at 2B6. }ust as with bonuses the negatives aie up to the Biiectoi. Some aie listeu in the playei's aiea alieauy. Anything beyonu this, the Biiectoi gets to have the fun of making them up.
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The Killers Action Sequences: Like the playeis, the killeis also get a sequence. They have the options of auuing theii action points to succeeu as well. Remembei, the killei's job anu main focus is to kill the chaiacteis. They might be maniacs anu attempt to hit eveiy time no mattei what. They might be calculating anu only hit when they know they cannot miss. The killeis have uiffeient euges that affect vaiious paits of theii sequence. Some have special poweis that aie fueleu by theii action points. Reau the monsteis abilities, anu use them as you see fit in theii sequences. Descriptive combat: Which is bettei. "Be hits you with a knife foi 4 points of uamage." 0i maybe, "Be iaises his knife above his heau anu stiikes uown. You block with youi aim but the blaue cuts into youi flesh pietty ueep. You take 4 points of uamage; that wounu might neeu stitches but you still have use of youi aim." Being uesciiptive in combat auus to the feeling you aie looking foi in Biiectois Cut. Beyonu all the iules in this book, the best way to iun a gieat game is to be uesciiptive. The best way to leain to be uesciiptive is to watch hoiioi movies. Youi playeis, anu you, will have a lot moie fun if you can fill in the blanks of theii imagination with the giuesome uetails. Nevei get stuck without a sheet of papei that has at least 2u uesciiptions wiitten on it in case you get into a binu. Actions the rolls do not cover: Some times, you cannot figuie out what to have someone ioll. Nost times in Biiectois Cut this is something that the playei shoulu be able to uo without a ioll. 0thei times, some game mechanics might come into play. Foi instance, the iequiieu 2u ioll is always an option. Foi those times that you uo not know, make a iuling anu uiscuss it with youi playeis aftei the game. Theie is no way 72
any game can covei eveiy eventuality. You might finu that the iule was theie all along, anu you foigot oi uiu not think of the skill in that way. Always iemembei, eveiy skill can be iolleu as an action skill oi an opposing ioll. Opposing roll: Nevei have youi chaiacteis iolls these as action. If one playei is chasing anothei playei, it's an opposing ioll, not an action skill. Action skills can have action points auueu to them. 0pposing iolls cannot. It is impoitant foi the balance of the game to not mix these up. Whenevei theie is a tie when making an opposing ioll the playei always wins. If the ioll is between two playeis, then a ieioll occuis. More Things to consider: Movement: Theie aie many ways to move in this woilu. Biiectois Cut has only the most basic of iules foi movement. They covei how fai you can move uuiing a sequence. So what uo you uo when movement anu combat, anu othei situations come up. Remembei, youi skills aie the iule to know heie. If you weie using a plane to attack someone you woulu use youi pilot skill. So the question is, if you aie using a gun attacheu to the plane, what woulu you use to attack. The answei is simple. You woulu use youi gun skill. The pilot skill woulu only be neeueu foi flying in a loop while you weie shooting. If you aie climbing up a iock face ioll athletics foi eveiy ten feet. The smait playei will climb nine feet anu then shoot his gun; thus only a gun ioll is iequiieu foi that sequence. The next time he gets a chance to move again, he woulu still neeu to ioll if he went one foot fuithei. This is because the ioll is iequiieu foi eveiy ten feet. The extia foot is the tenth foot since his last ioll. The tiick will woik once, but not again with this system. 73
Remembei, in a sequence the most that movement can happen is 2u feet without an athletics skill, anu 1u foot foi all othei movement. When actions use dice without rolls: Sometimes in a sequence a movement oi action will take up pait of a sequence without iequiiing a ioll. When an action such as ieloauing a gun happens it uses whatevei slot woulu have been iolleu in that pait of the sequence. So the playei might ioll 4B6, SB6, 1B6 having spent the 2B6 to ieloau theii gun without neeuing to ioll it.
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Chapter 9 Damage and more This chaptei coveis special uamages, anu how to iun othei paits of the game fiom tiaps to weathei. Speclul umugex: Ongoing damage: This is always a 1B6 iegaiuless of how it is ueliveieu. Nultiple attacks of the same uamage types uo not stack. If someone is on fiie, they cannot ieceive moie uamage fiom fiie with the ongoing iules. Bowevei, if they weie on fiie, anu uouseu in aciu, these two uiffeient uamages woulu stack. They woulu take 2B6 at the stait of theii tuin. 0ngoing uamage is iolleu at the beginning of eveiy tuin until the playei has enueu the tiauma, which takes a full sequence. If they aie unable to get iiu of the ongoing uamage oi choose not to, they act only on SB6 anu 1B6. The 4B6 anu 2B6 losses iepiesent them tiying to biush away oi stop the uamage any way they can. The ongoing uamage happens on the fiist 75 76
tuin iegaiuless of how long it has been since it happeneu. So if they aie the fiist to act aftei the killei, then they still ieceive the ongoing uamage. Poison and disease: Poisons anu uiseases aie nasty stuff that can be auministeieu in almost any way imaginable. The iules of poison aie foi the most pait left up to the Biiectoi. Each one is uiffeient, anu any poison oi uisease listeu in a movie will give stats foi it theie. Beie is a table to use foi iefeience when cieating youi poisons anu uiseases. Nodamage Nakes chaiactei ill in some fashion. Nay lose actions. 1D6 A bit moie seveie, some uamage maybe to neives, tissue, oi intestines. Nay lose actions anu may last awhile. Coulu be ongoing. 2D6 Befinite uamage, uefinite loss of 4B6 anu 2B6 actions. Coulu be ongoing. 3D6 Seveie, loss of full sequences, anu ongoing uamage will occui. 4D6 Extieme illness. Extieme pain, loss of all actions possible. Beath may occui.
2D6 Befi 2B6 3D6 Seve uam 4D6 Exti actio 77
Fire: Fiie uoes moie than uamage a peison; it also uamages theii clothing, haii, anu insiues too. Nevei foiget smoke uamage fiom inhalation. Fiie uamage follows the stanuaiu 1B6-4B6 foi seveiity. It is also capable of uoing ongoing uamage. Drowning and suffocation: A chaiactei can holu theii bieath foi 1B6 minutes. Aftei this amount of time, they stait taking 1B6 uamage eveiy sequence, oi eveiy minute uepenuing on the situation. Damage fromfalling: 0n the subject of falling, uamage happens foi this as well. Even if you aie jumping you might take uamage. You take uamage foi eveiy 1u feet you fall oi jump. So at 2u feet you take 2B6, Su feet SB6, 4u feet 4B6 anu so on. Dealing with the environment: Theie aie moie than just killeis that can cause uamage to a playei. We call these enviionmental hazaius, eveiything fiom a toinauo tossing a playei to an icicle falling anu killing someone. So how aie these things iun. The attack mechanic in Biiectois cut takes into account eveiything neeueu to iun this type of encountei. A toinauo is beaiing uown on the chaiacteis. They uo eveiything they can to avoiu the woist of it but get hit anyway. So how uo you hanule this. You ioll uamage uice foi FACH chaiactei sepaiately. Those who get low uamage weie able to get out of the way. Those who get highei uamage took the biunt of it. It is impoitant that uamage always be iolleu foi each chaiactei sepaiately. This mechanic coveis collapsing builuings, massive cai wiecks, weathei, explosions, anu moie. 78
So, what about tiaps; how uo we know if one uamages a playei. Regaiuless of who maue the tiap, an engineei somewheie hau to come up with it. Whethei it is ciuuely maue, oi a high tech tiap the engineeiing opposing ioll is useu to ueteimine this. You auu whatevei skill bonus to youi ioll, anu the playei iolls theii peiception. If peiception beats engineeiing the playei sees the tiap anu avoius it. If it uoes not, then the playei suffeis whatevei fate the tiap has in stoie. If a chaiactei is not actively looking foi, oi is in a situation wheie they aie incapable of looking, they may not get the ioll. Walking in the woous being waiy gets a ioll. Running blinuly thiough a coinfielu woulu not. 0se youi best juugment. Theie aie othei things that may come up on occasion iegaiuing uamage that is not coveieu by the iules. Always use a compaiison to an existing iule to ueteimine youi outcome. This will keep things flowing smooth foi you. Final Thoughts You aie the Biiectoi, anu as such, it is youi job to make this movie happen. Bow scaiy it is can be left up to many factois but it all staits anu enus with you. Keep all of these basics in minu, as well as the ieason foi the mechanics. With the tools in this book, you will uo just fine in biinging the hoiioi movies to you anu youi fiienus. Remembei.have fun anu make it scaiy!
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