You Awaken in a Strange Place

A Fully Improvised RPG for 4 Players 

Designed by Jacob Andrews 

Core Tenets of the Game 

● Everyone comes to the game ​
unprepared​
. 
● Anything the GM or the players say about the world ​
is true about 
the world​
. 
● The game must be finished in o
​ne session​
. 

What You’ll Need to Play 

● Paper 
● Writing utensils 
● 2d6 for each player 

Establishing the Setting 

● Choose one person to be the ​
Game Master (GM)​using whatever 
method you deem fit. They no longer count as a “player” for the 
purposes of this rule sheet. T
​hey are unto a god now​
. 
● The other players each roll ​
2d6​
. 
● The player with the highest roll silently thinks of a G
​enre​
. 
● The player with the middle roll silently thinks of an A
​djective​
. 
● The player with the lowest roll silently thinks of a ​
Location​
. 
● Once every player has decided, they s
​tate their choice out loud​
, 
in order. 
○ Example: Samantha rolls a 12, and chooses the genre Western. 
Liz rolls an 8, and chooses the adjective Dangerous. Alan 
rolls a 2, and chooses the location High School. The setting 
for this game is a Dangerous High School in the Wild West. 
● Next, in the same turn order, each player makes one​Statement 
about the world of the game. As per the Core Tenets, whatever 
they say becomes true about the world. 
○ Example: Samantha thinks for a minute, then says that in this 
world, the main threat to humanity is Cyber-Spiders. Liz says 
that the high school is at the top of a volcano. Alan says 
that students who fail in this school are thrown into the 
volcano. All of these things are now true about the world. 
● The players and the GM then work together and use these facts to 
form a more complete picture of the world.  
○ Example: The GM and the players discuss, and decide that the 
school is a training facility for gifted young cowfolk in the 
war against the cyber-spiders. The things they are taught in 
the school are forbidden knowledge, so once enrolled, the 
students are not allowed to leave unless they graduate 
successfully. 

Creating Your Characters 

● Players roll 2
​d6​
, and then create their characters, one at a 
time, starting with the player who rolled the highest. 
● The player with the ​
highest roll​describes what kind of character 
they want to be. 
○ Example: Alan rolls a 10, and says that he wants to be a 
huge, muscular, overalls-wearing farmhand from a tiny town 
who is an expert with a lasso. He names his character 
Bradford McBuff. 
● The same player now makes up 4 S
​kill Verbs​that apply to their 
character: one skill that they’re amazing at (​
+2​
), one skill that 
they’re good at (​
+1​
), one skill that they’re bad at (​
-1​
), and one 
skill that they’re horrible at (​
-2​
). Use these skills to help 
paint a picture of your character! Try to make them align with 
 what makes your character great, and what makes your character 
flawed. 
○ Example: Alan gives Bradford McBuff a +2 in lassoing, a +1 in 
throwing, a -1 in dodging, and a -2 in lying.  
● Once the first player is done, the next player does the same 
thing, but has to invent ​
4 completely new Skill Verbs​for their 
character. 
○ Example: Liz is next, and after the initial description, they 
give their character, Pistol James, a +2 in sharpshooting, a 
+1 in smooth-talking, a -1 in following orders, and a -2 in 
defending. 
● The third player ​
repeats the process with 4 new Skill Verbs​for 
their own character. 
● After all of the players have created their characters and set 
their skills, the GM then adds 4
​ additional Skill Verbs​to fill 
out whatever might be missing in the session. Try to call back to 
the established setting and come up with Skill Verbs that help 
flesh out the world!  
○ Example: The GM thinks about what would round out the skill 
set, and then adds in Sneaking, Guarding, Horse Riding, and 
Yeehawing. 
● These 16 skills are ​
the​​
only types of rolls​you’re allowed to 
make in the game, so all challenges must revolve around these 
skills. Every player has access to all of these skills, and if 
they don’t have a bonus from character creation then it starts at 
+0​
. 

Playing the Game 

As the GM 
● Once the setting and characters are created, you’ll be given ​
5 
minutes​to jot down notes and ideas before the game begins. 
● The game should begin in the middle of the action, so think up an 
exciting scenario within the world you’ve all created to drop 
your players into. 
○ Example: Against all odds, the Cyber-Spiders have infiltrated 
the high school and are wreaking havoc among the student 
body. The player characters were knocked out in an explosion 
when the Cyber-Spiders breached the outer walls. 
● Once you’ve established the opening shot, think of several a
​ction 
scenes​that you can slot into the story that challenge your 
players’ specific Skill Verbs. These don’t have to be used in 
game, and it’s likely that you’ll think up different ones as the 
game progresses. This will just get you thinking in the right 
direction. 
○ Example: The GM thinks about Alan’s character, and writes 
down “distant lever” to test the Lasso Skill, “pile of 
rubble” to test to throwing skill, “spider turrets” to test 
the dodging skill, and “skeptical teacher” to test the lying 
skill. 
● When you’re ready to begin to game, start with the opening line 
“​
You awaken in a strange place...​
”  
● Describe in great detail the Strange Place that the player 
characters have Awakened in, then ask them what they want to do. 
● Once the players have a firm grasp of the situation as they know 
it, you should encourage them to discuss their scenario and come 
up with a G
​oal​
. Remind your players to consider the previous 
Statements​about the world and setting so they can draw their 
goal from there. 
○ Example: The players all discuss, and decide that their Goal 
is to escape the school before the Cyber-Spiders tear the 
whole place to the ground. 
● Once the Goal has been decided, you should continue the narrative 
in service to this Goal. 
● As players are exploring the world, you should always look for 
ways to test their ​
Skill Verbs​in fun and interesting ways. 
Whenever a player wants to accomplish something difficult, or you 
throw a challenge their way, have the players ​
roll 2d6 + their 
bonus points​for a given skill to determine their success. 
○ <6 = Failure: The player fails to get what they want. 
○ 7-9 = Mixed Success: The player gets what they want 
partially, or at a cost. 
○ 10-12 = Success: The player gets exactly what they want. 
● When players roll M
​ixed Successes or Failures​
, try to place new 
obstacles in their way, or twist the existing obstacle, in a way 
that makes the story more exciting. You’re not trying to punish 
the player for bad rolls; you’re trying to use them to create 
more thrilling storytelling for you and the players both! 
● Players can also make ​
new Statements​about the world during the 
play session, but now they’ll have to roll to determine their 
success. Use the same rolling rules as you would any other skill 
check, and on a Mixed Success or a Failure try to find fun ways 
to complicate or twist the new Statement that creates 
complications for your players. 
● Sometimes players might want to search for useful items in the 
game world. All items that players find are called ​
Resources​
, and 
a Resource is whatever the player needs it to be at the time of 
its usage. If a player wants to find Resources, they can roll for 
it! On a success, they find 2 Resources. On a mixed success they 
find 1 Resource, but cause a problem. On a failure, they fail to 
find anything and cause a problem. 
○ Example: Samantha rolls a success and scrounges around a 
ruined classroom, finding 2 Resources. Later in the game, she 
needs to cross a large chasm, and determines that one of the 
Resources she found was, in fact, a long rope that she then 
uses to cross the gap. Samantha now has 1 Resource remaining. 
● If the players achieve their Goal, and the game doesn’t feel 
finished yet, ask them to set a n
​ew Goal​
. If you need any ideas, 
you can pivot to a different initial world Statement for 
inspiration! 
○ Example: In the process of escaping, the players learn that 
the school was betrayed by one of the faculty, Professor 
Gonald Biggensby, and they shift their goal toward finding 
him and taking their revenge. 
● Play continues in this way until players have achieved their 
Final Goal​and the story has reached a satisfying conclusion. 
● Always remember that your ultimate job as the GM is to create a 
playground for your players to have fun in, and to assist them in 
telling the story that they want to tell. 

Playing the Game 

As a Player 
● Think about your character’s p
​ersonality and desires​
, and try to 
act in accordance with how they would act in a given situation. 
● All characters begin the game with ​
10 HP​and any ​
items​it would 
make sense for them to have. 
● Try to find creative ways to use the S
​kill Verbs​you’re good at 
as often as possible. 
● Whenever you need to perform a task related to one of the Skill 
Verbs, the GM will ask you to ​
roll 2d6 + your skill bonus​to 
determine its success. 
○ <6 = Failure: You fail to get what you want. 
○ 7-9 = Mixed Success: You get what you want partially, or at 
a cost. 
○ 10-12 = Success: You get exactly what you want. 
 ● Any time you roll a ​
Failure​
, mark down a tally on your paper. 
Each tally represents a B
​onus +1​that you can apply to any future 
roll (to a maximum of +2 for a single roll). 
● If you want to A
​ssist​one of your teammates on their roll, you 
can use one of your ​
Skill Verbs​to try and help them out. A 
Success grants your teammate an additional +2 to their roll, a 
Mixed Success grants an additional +1, and a Failure means that 
you’ll share in whatever harm is about to befall your teammate. 
● During gameplay, you can still make n
​ew Statements​about the 
world that become true, but now you have to roll for it. This 
roll follows the same rules as any other skill check, so if you 
fail it could turn your new world adjustment against you! 

Don’t be afraid to be silly and stupid; this is a silly and stupid 

game. The session is considered a success if everyone had fun and 
wants to play again. Feel free to change or adjust any of the rules to 
better suit your own playstyle or group dynamic! Now get out there and 
make a dumb story with your friends.