Guns Blazing!

“The old world is dying, and the new struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters.” - Antonio
Gramsci

Guns Blazing! is a roleplaying game about use those successes to purchase outcomes
revolutionaries and freedom fighters at the dusk related to the Check.
of the colonial age. Players enter the myriad Outcomes describe what happens as a result
flashpoints of the age, thrown against the of the Check. Outcomes will let you succeed at
machinations of colonial powers and the task, provide situational advantages, or
supernatural monsters from without while Negate negative consequences.
navigating the contradictory, seemingly
irreconcilable politics of change within.
Opposed Checks
When a Check targets a hostile character, it
Guns Blazing! runs on an original engine, called
may become Opposed. In an Opposed Check,
Ahadi, styled loosely on Genesys and
both characters roll their dice pools, with each
Storyteller. Characters engage in brutal, tactical
rolled success canceling a success rolled by
gunfights against monstrous foes, where goals
the other character. If a character has
are clear, the enemy is obvious, and you can
successes remaining after cancellation, they
measure success in spent bullets and dead
succeed at the action, and purchase Outcomes
bodies. Then they return to the home front,
with their remaining successes.
where their allies hate each other, you don’t
know who to trust, and success is a formless
dream of a better future.

Core System
Guns Blazing! uses the Ahadi system,
described below.

Dice Pools
When you try to do something with a
possibility of failure, consequence, or variability
you make a Check. To make a check, you roll a
pool of dice (d6 or d8s) determined by your
stats, skills, and the check you are making. You
can never roll more than 10 dice on a single
check.
Every die whose result is a 4 or higher
generates a success. Every die who shows its
maximum possible result (6 on a d6, 8 on a d8)
is a crit. Crits generate two successes. You then
Stats Time
Characters in Ahadi have three stats. Character In the narrative phase, player characters take
stats range from 1 to 5. actions that consume time. In Guns Blazing!, the
Authority: Authority represents your ability to clock is always ticking. World events, hostile
leverage and manipulate power dynamics, skill intrigue, and factional politics will progress
at delegation, and discipline. inexorably, forcing characters to split up, act on
In combat, it is used to support allies, resist incomplete information, and take risks.
most status conditions, and maintain discipline
under fire.
Setting
Initiative: Initiative represents valor, instinct,
● The game takes place in an alternate
and the ability to manage fluid, ever-changing
version of the 1920s.
situations.
● Jinn, and other creatures from folklore,
In combat, it represents your maneuverability
have had an increasing presence in history
and close-quarters combat capability. Attacks at
since the early 18th century, and are
Short and Melee range use Initiative.
responsible for many divergences from our
timeline.
Patience: Patience represents long-term
● Jinn are normal citizens in many countries
planning, situational awareness, and
throughout the world.
accumulated knowledge.
● New monsters tied to the rising issues of
In combat, it represents your observational
the 20th century have begun to emerge.
skills and long-ranged combat capability. Attacks
● More nations have managed to resist
at Medium range or farther use Patience.
colonization than in our history, and the
colonial system is beginning to collapse.
● As the colonial system crumbles,
Stamina international volunteers and freedom
fighters have begun to organize at various
In the combat phase, player characters spend flashpoints, fighting both the colonial
Stamina to take actions. Player characters start powers and new monsters born from the
with Stamina equal to 8 + their Combat Tier. ills of the early 20th century.
During a character’s turn, they spend stamina ● Characters are volunteers in the islamic
to perform actions. They may choose to perform and colonized world, set against monsters
additional actions so long as they have Stamina literal and political.
to fuel them. Alternatively, they may choose to
end their turn after resolving any action.
During other character’s turns, you may react
to actions you see or are aware of by spending
stamina. This is more efficient than acting on
your turn, but these actions are strained and
limited.
Stamina resets to full at the end of each round
of combat. As such, combat requires you to
judge how much stamina to spend on your turn
and how much to save for defense.
Characters
● Characters are international volunteers,
freedom fighters, mercenaries, and similar
people of action.
● Characters have playbooks, each inspired
by an archetype of play in first person
shooters. Playbooks provide both combat
and narrative options.
● Six Playbooks include the Doom-inspired
Butcher, Titanfall-inspired Vanguard, and
Crysis-inspired Hunter.
● Characters are then customized through
perks, which provide options both in and out
of combat.
● Perks can be tied to playbook, narrative or
mechanical role, or the character’s status as
a mortal or Jinn.
● Jinn characters can turn into animals, fling
fire, summon sandstorms, and even fly.
● Mortal characters can shrug off fatal
wounds, perform impossible feats of
physicality, and flaunt unrivaled skills.
● Aspects define a character’s personality and
worldview and the skills that come with
them. Characters invoke the worst parts of
their personalities, making a situation worse
●
to get bonuses on Checks.
Characters have Tiers, defining their
progression in Combat and Narrative.
Progression within a Tier provides new
options, Progression between Tiers
upgrades skills and provides more powerful
options.
● Tiers are de-synchronized, it is possible to
play terrifying legends of combat who are
deeply socially inept, or brilliant specialists
out of their depth with a gun.
Combat
● Combat is crunchy and tactical, with a
focus on positioning and mobility.
● Miniatures and theater of the mind are both
supported.
● Gunfights are lethal, most enemies take
one Injury before going down. Player
characters take 3.
● Stamina management means players have
meaningful choices to make even when it
isn’t their turn.
● Hostile reactions force characters to weigh
the risks of counterattacks during
gunfights.
● Minor foes clump into Squads, which act
and react as a single unit for easier play.
Narrative
● Narrative play is relatively rules-light, with a
focus on consequences and hard
decisions.
● Characters are less broadly skilled than in
combat, relying on their Aspects and skills
to succeed in narrow specializations.
● Consequences increase a character’s
stress, pushing them towards a spree of
self-sabotage.
● Heavy use of clocks tracking hostile plots
or political machinations. Puts trading
difficulty for time into the player’s hands,
with consequences for both failure and
wasting time.
 Foes
● Foes range from squads of ill-trained
soldiers to walking trains and building-sized
monsters.
● Foes belong to many factions: Colonizing
powers, djinn armies, shadowy syndicates,
or monstrous swarms.
● Iram of the Pillars: A parasitic fungus that
serves colonial powers. It converts blood
and sweat from oppressed populations into
Every six hours, you gain Reactor tokens
treasure and loyal monsters for its masters.
equal to your maximum Injury. You may hold a
● The Ma’jooj: An enigmatic monster,
number of Reactor tokens equal to your current
embodying the new age of industrialized
Injury at any given time. You may spend
warfare. It stitches people and machines
Reactor tokens as if they were Friction or any
together into murderous, disposable killing
token required by a perk.
machines it unleashes on the populace at
large. Into the Breach
● Crawling Trains: Hexapedal dieselpunk
There’s nothing quite like having a blade in your
mechs, used as war machines and for
hand and the scent of blood in your nostrils.
industry.
Tags: Combat, Knight
● Colonial Soldiers: Professional soldiers and
Prerequisites: Knight
impressed conscripts from various colonial
You revel in close combat, the adrenaline
nations.
focusing your mind and letting you shrug off
blows. When you injure an enemy within Short
Perks Range, you may Heal 3 and clear a Condition
Hypermobile of your choice.

It’s not about going fast, it’s about spotting an
obstacle and seeing a possibility.
Tags: Combat, Vanguard
Prerequisites: Vanguard
Walls, rooftops, and sheer drops aren’t
impediments to your movements, they are aids.
While you have Momentum, you have mastery
on Maneuver checks and may climb and jump
as part of your normal movement without
penalty.
Internal Reactor
Would your descendants learn what you’ve
done to yourself, they would scream in horror.
Tags: Combat or Narrative, Toxicity 2
You have consumed a shard of nar-doped
Uranium and fashioned your digestive system
into an internal fission reactor. This is incredibly
ill-advised.
Linear Accelerator
The most fundamental energies of the universe,
put to the same purpose as a sharp rock.
Tags: Combat, Toxicity 3, Nar
Prerequisites: Internal Reactor, Natural
Projectile, Toxicity 4, Djinn
You have channeled the incredible energies of
a nuclear furnace into your natural weapons.
Your weapon from Natural Projectile gains the
AP-3 property.
Additionally, when you make an attack with
your Natural Projectile you may spend a
Reactor token to set its burst to 1. Your
Projectile doubles its damage and gains the
Heavy and Blast 2 properties for this attack.
Before making your attack check, all characters
within the Blast gain Irradiated-2.
Momentum to you, though may be restrained if you are
bound.
“Get Fast or Get Dead.”
Pick a Shotgun or Rifle: Your natural weapon
Tags: Combat, Narrative, Vanguard
uses the profile of that weapon. When you
Prerequisites: Combat 2, Vanguard
attack with this weapon, you may spend 1
You are a comprehensive skirmisher, trusting
additional Stamina to use your Authority instead
mobility as much as armor to keep you safe. In
of the weapon stat for that attack.
combat, when you move 6” during a single
round you gain the special condition Speed Kills
Momentum. While you have Momentum,
Fools say you get to be fast or good. You’ve
improve your Armor. You lose momentum if you
never had to pick just one.
end an activation without moving, or if enemies
Tags: Combat, Vanguard, Matter
purchase a 2-cost Outcome on an attack
Prerequisites: Momentum
against you to end the condition.
Speed is not merely your armor, it is your most
Outside of Combat, when you pursue a new
trusted weapon. By the time foes realize you’ve
Objective gain Momentum equal to your highest
rounded a corner into their midst, you’ve
Tier. When you make a check you don’t have
already opened fire. While you have Momentum,
an Aspect related to, you may spend one your weapons gain the Heavy
Momentum to generate a temporary Aspect property and attacks against you suffer a -2
related to it. Whenever Time advances, you Penalty.
lose one Momentum.

Natural Projectile
Five thousand years of weapons development,
merely to match what you do reflexively.
Tags: Combat, Nar
You have a powerful natural weapon, projected
flames, poisonous spit, detachable spines, or
similar horror. This weapon is always available
 Vanguard
It’s moments like this that make the job worth doing:
The wind on your face, the sound of cobbles underfoot,
Quick Build
and the terrified, confused grimace of a foe who never
saw you coming. You are a scalpel aimed at the heart • Authority 1 | Initiative 3 | Patience 3
of your foe, ready to slice in, kill your target, and re-
position before anyone could hope to stop you. • Into the Breach, Momentum, Hypermobile, and
Speed Kills Perks
You’re a Vanguard, the first and most destructive entry
into any fight. • Light Armor, Shotgun, Blade, and Pistol

Vanguard Is For: Players who love going fast, • Empathy 1, a Biology Aspect, and a Theology
Improvising often, or think Titanfall 2 is the best Aspect
shooter of the 21st Century.

Vanguard is Good at: Melee and short-ranged

combat. Maneuverability. Discovering information.
Vanguard is Bad at: Durability, long-range combat,
managing crowds. Long term planning.
Recommended Stats
• Authority 2 | Initiative 4 | Patience 1
• Authority 1 | Initiative 3 | Patience 3

Vanguards are scouts, skirmishers, and mobility • Authority 3 | Initiative 3 | Patience 1

specialists. In combat, they excel at finding an
undefended angle of approach, peeling it open in
a spree of violence, and escaping to safety.
Outside of combat, they find new and interesting Loadout
problems, uncovering secrets and tracking down Cohesion 8 Injury 3 Movement 6
leads, but often finding themselves in over their
heads as a result. Perks
Vanguards are a Knight-type playbook that • Into the Breach Knight Perk
revolves around a unique condition, Momentum.
• Momentum Vanguard Perk
In combat, Momentum is gained by moving and
powers all of your native perks while it’s active. • One Vanguard or Knight Perk
However, Momentum is lost if you stop moving or
through some enemy attacks. • One Perk of your choice

In narrative play, Momentum is gained by Equipment

pursuing new objectives and provides temporary
skills that fade over time. Momentum can be • Light Armor or 2 • Pistol
refreshed by changing the task you’re working on. Grenades
• 2 Main Weapons
Momentum makes Vanguards versatile
characters. However, it’s an unreliable defense Skills
and prone to disappearing. New Vanguard
players should keep moving and try to avoid • Empathy 1 • Two other Aspects
protracted fights, both in and out of combat.
• Two Empathy Aspects
Nur ??? Iranian Shiqq Vanguard
Cohesion 8 Stamina 12 Injury 3 Authority Initiative Patience
Armor 1 Movement 4 Tier 2/1 1d6 3d6 3d6

Perks Aspects
You’ve an uncanny ability to detect
Into the When you injure an enemy within Short Unnerving (1) - deception. You tend to stare at
Range regain 3 Cohesion and clear a
Breach [Knight] Condition of your choice. Empathy (1) people in a way folks find
disturbing.

When you move more than 6”, you gain

Momentum Momentum. While you have Momentum, You like helping people and are
Presumptive (1) good
improve your cover. You may lose at figuring out what they want.
[Vanguard] Momentum by standing still during an - Empathy (1) You act first and ask questions later.
Action or as a hostile 2 cost Outcome.

While you have Momentum, you have You’re a dab hand at autopsies You
Hypermobile mastery on Maneuver checks and may Macabre (1) - think the world is fundamentally
[Knight, Matter] climb and jump as part of your normal Biology (0)
movement without penalty. gross, and that this is hilarioous.

Speed Kills Quiet (1) - You’re a self-proclaimed expert in

While you have Momentum, attacks
you make have Heavy and attacks djinn politics. You refuse to admit
[Knight, Matter] against you have a -2 penalty.
Theology (0) when you’re clueless about a topic.

Equipment Description
Light Armor Shotgun Nur is a tall, lanky jinn with a tendency to long
Blade Pistol
silences, and a love of expensive masks. They
have large glassy eyes and short brown hair.

Skills
Skill Rank
Biology
Combat 2d8
Empathy 1d8
Engineering
Interaction
Politics
Public Speaking
Theology
 Combat HUD
Stamina Combat Move Armor Friction Authority Initiative Patience
Injury
15
2 4 1 1 3 3
14
13 Perks -1 Stamina
12
11 Into the Breach, Momentum, Hypermobile, Speed Kills -3 Stamina
10
9 Out
8
7 Pool Range Total
Cohesion
6 Initiative Melee, Short 3d6 + 2d8
Patience Medium+ 3d6 + 2d8
5 /8
Initiative Varies 1d6 + 2d8
4
Weapon Damage Range Ammo Burst Traits
3
Shotgun 6 Medium - 2 Mastery: Short Range
2
1 Blade 6 Melee - 4 AP-1, Melee
0 Pistol 4 Short - 2 Melee

Social HUD
Bonds Belongings Stress
Name Nature
-1 Stat

+1 Stat

+1 Friction

Outburst

Aspect Skill Specialty Outlook

Unnerving (1) Empathy (1) Detect lies Be unnerving
Presumptive (1) Empathy (1) Discern motivations Act, then ask questions
Macabre (1) Biology (0) Autopsy Everything is gross
Quiet (1) Theology (0) Jinn politics Never admit ignorance