DIG
understand their world and what kinds
DIG is a rules-lite game meant to
replicate the feel of the popular young
adult novel and movie “Holes”. Players
will start as workers in a detention
camp, but while they go about their
daily work and try to survive this
strange new place, there’s something
behind the scenes that’s not quite
right…
The game is meant to be played as a
self-contained story in one session, but
you can adjust it however you like! The
best way to plan your game is around
an Act structure like a book or movie.
PLANNING YOUR GAME
If you’re reading this, you’re likely to be
the one running DIG for your friends or
family. This means you’re the Game
Warden, or GW. To help tailor make
your game into something unique, I’ve
included some lists of ideas for settings
and themes, detention and labor camp
types, and mysteries for your players to
solve!
SETTINGS and THEMES
1. Fantasy
2. Dark Fantasy
3. Turn of the Century
4. Steampunk
5. Modern
6. Cyberpunk
7. SciFi
8. Post Apocalyptic
The setting will help your players
of resources they may find or tropes
they can lean into. Are there
communication satellites to the
outside world? Is there a train station
across the desert? Could there be a
dragon living in a nearby mountain
range?
If you feel up to it, let your players
world-build as you’re playing by
improvising knowledge their
characters may have based on
previous experiences. In the opening
act, be sure to highlight what the
world is like as you’re describing the
transportation to this detention facility.
The defining characteristic of “Holes” is
the daily task Stanley and his friends
must undertake of digging a hole 5
feet wide and 5 feet deep. The Warden
and camp staff know the real reason
for the camp’s existence is finding a
buried treasure, but the campers do
not.
What sort of work will you have your
players undertake? Are there different
jobs or is everyone expected to
perform the same one? What is the
reason the campers are told they must
perform the tasks they are given?
What is the real reason for the camp’s
existence and the labor being
performed?
Here’s a list of ideas for basic labor that
might be done in a detention camp.
Feel free to pick from this list, mix and
match, or make up your own!

LABOR SUGGESTIONS
1. Digging (Holes, perhaps?)
2. Logging - Regular wood, or
something more exotic?
3. Mining - Everyone needs
resources, and weird stuff
happens underground!
4. Shipyard - could work for sailing
ships, modern nuclear ships,
airships, or spaceships
5. Construction Site - Tower of
Babel? Great Wall? Sky Bridge
to Space?
6. Junkyard - Could be in a town,
or a whole planet!
7. Planet Penal Colony - Australia,
but make it space!
8. Assembly/Factory - Can work for
anything from ancient to
modern to fantastical
9. Farming/Agriculture
10. Terraforming Station
Once you’ve decided on the labor, fill
in the camp, base, or station with a
mess hall, tents or barracks, a
recreation room, staff housing, or
anything else you think would make
for a fun encounter! Extra points for
off-limits areas, locked doors, and
strange rumors other campers have
heard that add to the atmosphere. The
camp should be hard to break out of
and have unique features for the
players to explore if they choose.
The next step in world-building is to
create a mystery for the players to
solve or uncover. “Holes” has an
incredibly well-crafted story about a
generational curse and buried treasure
all wrapped into one! You may try and
recreate that mystery, or build your
own version! Think about how the
mystery and the setting and labor are
all connected. This will help you to
seed the encounters with clues for the
players to discover and follow.
MYSTERY SUGGESTIONS
● Aliens
● Curse
● Treasure
● Conspiracy
● Ancient Ruins
● Advanced
Civilizations/Technology
● Political Intrigue
● The camp isn’t real/it’s a
simulation
Again, feel free to mix and match any
of these ideas or create your own! Look
for ideas in your favorite books, TV
shows, and movies for strange twists
and occurrences to keep your players
guessing!
The last thing before you’re ready to
play is to think of some NPCs to
include in your game. There should be
someone, like a Warden, in charge of
the camp. There will be staff that
oversee workers, and there may even
be guards to keep the campers where
they are. There might also be a couple
of other groups of campers, maybe
with group names and colors that
make them easy to identify. If you
think of other characters you want to
add, do it!

DIG GAME MECHANICS
DIG follows a familiar TTRPG game
flow mechanic where the Game
Warden narrates a scene or encounter,
then allows players to interact with the
scene in whatever ways they may
choose. Often, players will elect to
perform tasks that may be difficult or
risky. DIG allows for the players to
describe the task they wish to attempt,
as well as to justify which of their skills
they will use to perform said task. If the
Game Warden accepts the
justification, they will ask the player to
roll the number of dice equal to that
SKILL. If the Game Warden disagrees
with the justification, they may ask the
player for further clarification or
narration on why the SKILL applies.
The Game Warden may also disagree
and ask the player to use a different
SKILL which is more appropriate or
applicable.
Success of actions is determined by
the outcome of the highest number
rolled as part of the dice pool:
HIGHEST D4 RESULT
1 Absolute Failure. You don’t get what
you want and things get a lot worse.
2 Partial Failure. You don’t get what
you want.
3 Partial Success. You get what you
want, but things get complicated.
4 Absolute Success. You get what you
want — and more.
After a dice pool has been rolled, the
Game Warden may narrate the result
of the roll, but may also ask the players
to do so, since the player may have
attempted to complete a task in a
creative way.
The SKILLS in DIG are purposefully
vague and left to the interpretation of
the Game Warden and players in order
to allow for maximum creativity and
fun! Players may try unconventional
and outlandish methods and means to
perform tasks. If their explanations are
inventive enough, Game Wardens
should err on the side of fun, but may
also lean on PENALTIES to raise the
stakes of a roll.
Players may also attempt tasks using
their lowest SKILL number based on
realism, role-play, or other
circumstances. Game Wardens may
choose to reward the decision making
with additional SHOWER TOKENS or
an EDGE on a future roll.
EDGES, PENALTIES, AND SHOWER
TOKENS
At the Game Warden’s discretion, a roll
may be made with an EDGE or
PENALTY applied, depending on the
situation. Rolling with an EDGE means
a player may re-roll one of their
resulting dice to increase chances of a
partial or absolute success. Conversely,
a GW may ask that the highest
resulting dice in a pool be re-rolled as
part of a PENALTY.
EDGES are likely results of favorable
circumstances which may be created
by previous actions, the environment,
or other factors. PENALTIES may be
utilized in the same manner based on
risky or dangerous circumstances or
actions previously.
Each Player Character also starts the
game with two SHOWER TOKENS,
which, when utilized, grant the player
a re-roll on any roll of the dice pool.
SHOWER TOKENS may be used to
re-roll after the initial roll of a dice pool,
but before the result of roll has been
narrated. Additionally, SHOWER
TOKENS may be used to re-roll dice
pools after a player has rolled an EDGE
or PENALTY.
CHALLENGES AND COMBAT
As with most TTRPGs, there are times
where players will want to challenge
another PC or NPC in some way. Allow
the player(s) to justify what skill they
will use, and to determine the winner,
count the number of dice in each pool
that are either 3’s or 4’s. The player
with the most success will win the
challenge. If there is a tie in successes,
neither player succeeds in a head to
head contest. If there is a tie and one
player is the aggressor in the situation,
the tie goes to the player defending.
This may occur if a player attempts to
hit another player, tackle them to the
ground, take something they’re
holding, etc.
You do not need to include COMBAT in
your game, but if you decide to, use
these rules to help facilitate it. Make
sure to decide if your game will include
COMBAT before your players build
characters to make sure they can avoid
building characters with combat perks
or abilities.
COMBAT turn order can be tracked by
everyone rolling 2d4. The player or
NPC with the highest total roll will go
first, and so on up to the lowest
number. If there is a tie, players can
decide amongst themselves which of
them will go first, or can roll again and
break the tie with each this way,
keeping their original spot but using
the second roll to determine which will
go first.
DIG is designed to have non-lethal
damage, where PCs or NPCs are only
knocked unconscious or something
similar when brought to zero hit
points. COMBAT functions exactly like
CHALLENGES, but with added
elements of moving around and turn
order.
Each round, each PC or NPC is allowed
to move and use a SKILL as an action.
Examples include running around an
attacker, hiding behind a table, trying
to shove an enemy to the ground, etc.
There is no set movement amount as
DIG is intended to be played using the
theater of the mind, but if you want to
get more tactical, the Game Warden
can determine appropriate movement
amounts.
When attempting to damage an
opponent, roll a d4 and use the
following results to track what
happens.
D4 RESULT
1 You take 1 damage as your opponent
counters your attack.
2 You do not hit, and you are in the
same position as before.
3 You hit and deal 1 damage.
4 You hit and deal 2 damage.
HEALTH
Every character starts with 4 health
points. Use a d4 to track it, adjusting it
when you take damage.
To regain health points, a player
character must rest for an hour in
game time, and roll a d4 to determine
how many health points they get back
from their rest.
BUILDING A CHARACTER
DIG characters are all new convicted
teen criminals, and are being sent to a
camp to work instead of being
sentenced to a juvenile prison or other
form of incarceration.
Each player should take some time to
decide a few main things about their
character before creating stats.
APPEARANCE
Character appearance is not important
to DIG’s mechanics, and can be
whatever a player wants. There are no
specific races, classes, or genders in
DIG. You may choose to limit players to
just humans if the game is being set in
a historical, modern, or futuristic
version of our world, or may allow for
them to create their own appearances
based on common fantasy races, alien
tropes, etc. Mechanically speaking, all
characters start on even footing.
BACKGROUND AND PERSONALITY
Each character has been sent to the
camp for a crime they have been
convicted of. Each player can decide
what that crime was, and why they
were given the choice to avoid prison.
They can also decide if their character
is actually guilty or not.
Characters also might have some past
experiences or circumstances that
help inform their personality and
abilities. Are they shy or outgoing? Do
they make friends easily or are they
more cautious with who they trust?
For short games, it’s easy to think of a
character from one of your favorite
books, TV shows, or movies to emulate.
SKILLS
Next, each character will need stats to
help determine the number of d4s
rolled for each action they wish to take.
SKILLS ARCHETYPES and further
modified with PERKS.
Characters in DIG have four different
SKILLS:
BRAWN - Does your character even lift,
bro?
AGILITY - You’re quick on your feet!
WIT - You’ve got some aces up your
sleeve!
CHARM - You’ve got that silver tongue!
When building a character, choose a
number of d4s to assign to each SKILL,
determining your character’s
likelihood to succeed at tasks using
that SKILL. The numbers each
character starts with are 1d4, 2d4, 2d4,
3d4, which can be allocated in any
order to make a character better at
one thing, average at two, and below
average on a fourth.
Once you’ve allocated the scores to
each SKILL, choose an ARCHETYPE for
your character!
BEEFCAKE: Your BRAWN score
increases by 1d4.
ACROBAT: Your AGILITY score
increases by 1d4.
WHIZ: Your WIT score increases by 1d4.
CONNIVER: Your CHARM score
increases by 1d4.
NIMBLE: When trying to move around
quickly, quietly, or nimbly, roll AGILITY
+ WIT
DEXTROUS: When trying something
that takes steady or fast hands, roll
AGILITY + CHARM
PERSUASIVE: When trying to cajole,
coerce, motivate, or persuade, roll WIT
+ CHARM
DANGEROUS: Roll damage dice twice
and take higher roll
MASTERMIND: When rolling WIT, roll
dice pool twice and take higher roll
STRONG: When rolling BRAWN, roll
dice pool twice and take the higher roll
FLEET: When rolling AGILITY, roll dice
pool twice and take the higher roll
CHARISMATIC: When rolling CHARM,
roll dice pool twice and take the higher
roll

Next, you’ll want to choose a PERK (or

two at the Game Warden’s discretion!)
to make your character unique and
skilled at specific things!

TOUGH: Any damage you take is

reduced by 1.
ATHLETIC: When attempting
something ATHLETIC in nature, roll
BRAWN + AGILITY
MAGNETIC: When trying to impress or
enamor someone, roll BRAWN +
CHARM
FINAL NOTES
This is my very first attempt at a
TTRPG! It was a ton of fun to work on,
and I’m excited to see what you think.
BIG thank you to Lex from
TitanomacyRPG for creating Caltrop
Core and for hosting the Caltrop Core
Game Jam on itch.io, which inspired
me to write this game!
For other awesome Caltrop Core
games, search itch.io or go check out
the Game Jam submissions:
https://itch.io/jam/caltrop-jam
If you found a typo or error in the
game text, have a suggestion for
clarifying wording in any of the rules or
mechanics, or want to share how your
experience was playing the game, feel
free to reach out to me on Twitter -
@HN2DM - or you can email me at
hownottodm@gmail.com.
This game was designed by Derrick
of HN2DM Studios
To check out the How Not to DM
podcast or any other of Derrick’s
projects, visit his linktree:
https://linktr.ee/HN2DM
Built on Caltrop Core!
Titanomachy RPG’s Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/titanomachyRPG
Titanomachy RPG’s itch.io page:
https://titanomachyRPG.itch.io
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.

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