BETA

This is an early beta version, and may change greatly before it is complete. Use at your own risk, etc.

Also, I'm begging for art.

Malevolence

the DUDE game of scientific horror

Copyright © 2002 by Mark Damon Hughes <kamikaze@kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu>

• Introduction
• Source Material
• Character Creation
• DUDEness
• Powers
  • Magic
  • Miracles
  • Psychic Powers
  • Freaky Mutant Powers
  • Big Fucking Guns and Other Equipment
  • Ammunition
  • Equipment Stats
• Monsters
  • Monster Stats
  • Monster Powers
• Combat
• Traps
• Vehicles

Introduction

There's no such things as monsters. No monsters of magical origin, anyway. Ghosts, demons, zombies, these are all fantasies created by primitive minds, and only fools believe in that kind of nonsense anymore. But magic isn't the only source of monsters. Humans can be monsters to each other, from Jeffrey Dahmer to Adolf Hitler. We can create entirely new monsters with the normally benevolent sciences of robotics and genetic engineering. There are animals, plants, and diseases known and unknown inimical to humanity. And space is vast; somewhere out there are people and animals who have not yet discovered us, and their survival will be more important than our survival to them. The universe stands against us, often not out of intentional malevolence, but simply because it does not care if we live or die.

Malevolence is a roleplaying game set in a world where some of these monsters are real. You might be innocent civilians threatened by these hazards, or professional or independent agents attempting to investigate and contain them, or you may be responsible for them in the first place. You'll investigate strange occurrences and attempt to survive them. You're probably going to die...

Malevolence uses the DUDE roleplaying game system, so read that first.

Source Material

There's a lot more source material than this - literally tens of thousands of non-supernatural horror movies and books - these are just what I had in mind when designing the game.

Akira (anime/manga)

Psychic powers are wildly inappropriate for PCs in most Malevolence games, but they make great monster abilities, and the "science will save us!" ethic is at the heart of this game as well as the movie.

Alien, Aliens (movies)

Upgrade the equipment a bit, and these represent the two tones Malevolence really supports - "victims" or "soldiers". Kluging up motion sensors and flamethrowers and then going into the ventilation system to find it and drive it into the airlock and flush it into space... That's what it's all about.

Parasite Eve (movie, videogame)

The movie is excellent except for the last 10 minutes or so - the ending was just so terrible and hokey I couldn't believe they perpetrated it. The videogame just uses it as backstory for a butt-kicking gun-fetish story, but it'd be a fine Malevolence campaign.

Phantoms (movie)

Right on the money for a Malevolence game - a doctor, a punk, a few cops, and a scholar versus the Ancient Enemy, and science is the answer to all of your problems.

Puppet Masters, by Robert A. Heinlein

The classic work on alien parasites possessing people and conquering the world until mankind learns to fight back with total nudity.

Relic, by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (book)

A nice scary action-horror story, with fairly plausible science. The sequel, Reliquary, is also good, with armies of mutant homeless people. Ignore the film, it's a wretched adaptation.

Resident Evil (videogame)

I hated the control system, so I was never able to finish the game, but what I did play was very atmospheric, and had just the right mix of weird science-horror and butt-kicking.

Se7en (movie)

All of the stuff above has monsters, sometimes even scary monsters. But they're fun, because the monsters are just too weird to take seriously. Se7en isn't fun. We all know this guy. He's the loony on the corner threatening doctors at the family planning clinic. He's the guy who slows down and asks little girls to get in his car. He's the stressed-out coworker who comes in the day after he's been fired after 15 years. He's your neighbor, who always seemed so nice. He's you.

Character Creation

Again and again in science-horror, you see that the characters are specialists, and have to work as a team, trying one thing and then another, until finally they find the one approach that will let them beat the monster. In other words, a class system.

Malevolence characters must choose a class, which usually makes them "superior" at some tasks. Superiority gives a character +2 to a task per white chip spent, rather than just +1. The Dealer must decide whether or not any given task falls under the "superior" skills. Additional classes can be suggested by the players or created by the Dealer, but these should cover most reasonable characters. Children should almost always be Victims, but sometimes manage to be other classes except Killers.

Players may still define additional Powers and Drawbacks to fit their character concept, which may cross over slightly with another class's abilities, but additional powers should not provide superiority; that's designed to protect the central ability of each character and make sure everyone can contribute to the game.

All characters should start with the same DUDEness, generally 3. The starting score, or per-character adjustements, may be changed by the Dealer to fit the adventure.

Each class indicates a starting income level of Low, Medium, or High. This is used later in Powers to determine starting gear.

Jockey

Jockeys are people who use machinery for a living, especially vehicles - pilots, sailors, and truckers, mostly. Jockeys are superior at all vehicle tasks, and can handle complex vehicles, which other classes cannot. Jockeys could have a Low, Medium, or High income; it varies tremendously. Jockeys may or may not own their own vehicle - airline pilots probably don't own even a private plane, but a trucker or a tour boat captain probably does.

Killer

Killers are cops, soldiers, martial artists, bouncers, and the like - anyone who is expected to be able to fight for a living. Killers have superior combat skills both with weapons and unarmed, and are superior at intimidation and most movement tasks, especially running and jumping. Killers usually have a Low or Medium income, start play with a Small Pistol, a Knife, or equivalent small weapon, and may be issued larger weapons.

Sleaze

A Sleaze is someone who lives by negotiation, con games, and politics - businessmen, grifters, and politicians are all the same. Sleazes are superior at most social tasks, but are generally incompetent at anything else. Sleazes usually have a High income, but probably don't have any useful gear initially.

Sneak

Sneaks are mostly thieves and private investigators - agile characters with little respect for the law. Sneaks are superior at unarmed combat, superior at movement, especially stealthy or intrusive (moving along ledges, climbing walls, etc.) and can pick locks, hotwire cars, disable security systems, and otherwise fit into the criminal underworld; other classes have essentially no chance of doing these tasks. Sneaks have Low or Medium income, and may start with some intrusion gear, but more often have nothing special with them unless they are carrying out a job.

Techie

Techies are the people who make modern civilization run - engineers, mechanics, doctors, scientists, academics, and so on. Techies are superior at their specific field of expertise, and non-Techies or Techies from other fields usually cannot even attempt tasks in those fields. Techies usually have Medium or High incomes, and may have some useful gear.

Victim

Victims are people who have no useful skills, and generally little motivation to acquire them until hideous reanimated corpses devour their children. By then it's just too late. Victims are superior only at screaming and running away. Most Victims work in wage-slave jobs with Low incomes, and start with no useful gear.

DUDEness

In Malevolence, DUDEness represents courage and determination in the face of things that scare you. Most characters will start with a very low DUDEness and then face increasing challenges, hopefully saving white chips to increase their DUDEness for the final encounter or encounters. Every character's DUDEness should be reset to its starting value (or at least reduced some) at the end of every adventure, if you plan to use the same character again.

Powers

Magic

Most of the source materials have absolutely no magic, and even actively mock the existence of such things - anyone who believes in it is shown to be a fool and usually dies soon after. Those that do have magic have complex ceremonial magic or invocations of spirits, demons, and the like, rather than personally-powered flashy spells. No fireballs or magic missiles, EVER. A future supplement may include ceremonial magic rules, probably adapted from the author's GPA system.

Miracles

None. A common and crowd-pleasing schtick in many science-horror movies is to have a priest hold up a holy symbol to the monster, and the monster bats the priest's hand aside and eats the priest's face off, or just eats the hand holding the crucifix. At most it's a choking hazard. Native Americans and some other religions may be able to practice ceremonial magic, or they may be just as delusional as the rest of the theists. Religious horror like The Exorcist is a very different genre emphasizing humility and faith rather than reason and big guns, and I'm not the author to deal with it.

Psychic Powers

Rare. In the real world, psychic powers are just as preposterous and fictional as magic is, but they work fine in science-horror for two reasons: 1) Psychic powers are more easily limited in scope, as people have fairly low expectations of them, unlike magic; and 2) Psychic powers sound more scientific than magic. Pseudoscientific gobbledigook is a fine tradition for slipping weird stuff into a science-horror scenario.

Players should rarely, if ever, have useful psychic powers in the science-horror genre. Giving them debilitating precognitive or psychometric flashes is acceptable, but such powers should be kept firmly under Dealer control. Do not let the players spend blue chips to activate them at will. Telepathy or even empathy is an extremely dangerous tool to give to players, but fortunately the first brush of telepathic contact with monsters usually drives the psychic insane.

Extras should not normally have psychic powers, as that reduces their impact when they do appear.

Bosses, however, may very well be psychic. Even if none of the other opponents are psychic, most players won't bat an eye if the Hive Queen can zap you with mindbolts from her gigantic distended brain.

However, before you start adding psychic powers to a scenario, back up and ask yourself what purpose they serve in the story. If you can serve the same purpose without psychic powers, even if the science is a little on the hokey side, it's better science-horror. For instance, telepathy can be replaced with natural or implanted radio signalling (which could be picked up and even jammed by creative players), or with pheremonal communication. Psychic attacks can be replaced with biolectric shocks like eels. Presence sense can be replaced with infrared sensing like pit vipers or sonar like bats and dolphins. The real world is a strange place - don't go reaching for psionics until you're sure reality isn't better.

Freaky Mutant Powers

Many monsters can do things that are not quite possible in reality. Science-horror tends to turn a blind eye to such things as long as it's not too blatantly impossible (and sometimes even then - where the hell did the queen get all that extra mass at the end of The Faculty?). Shapeshifting and parasitic possession are the classic examples of Freaky Mutant Powers, but all sorts of improbable biology are acceptable, even encouraged.

PCs and NPCs may become "infected" or "mutated" and start transforming into monsters - until the transformation is complete, players continue to control their characters, but once it's done, the monster falls under the Dealer's control. Infected PCs should have little or no control over their Freaky Mutant Powers.

Big Fucking Guns and Other Equipment

Equipment is the primary kind of Power for science-horror. Players love shopping and buying gadgets and then using those gadgets on friends and foes alike, so there's an extensive equipment list below. Exact prices are not listed, instead each item has a "Price" rating of Low, Medium, or High, roughly equating to $100 or less, $1000 or less, or $1001 or more. The Dealer can use the Price rating to decide if a character should be able to buy an item. A good guideline is 1 item of the character's income, up to 5 items of one level lower, and up to 25 items of two levels lower. Many scenarios will permit characters to requisition additional appropriate gear.

Ammunition

The specific model of a firearm will determine its ammo capacity - for most, you can look them up in the Gun Trader's Guide [pub. Stoeger] or any other real-world reference if you need realism. Players should track their ammo rounds (bullets) and clips shot by shot. It takes 1 turn to eject and replace a clip; it takes 1 turn to break and empty a revolver, and 1 turn to reload with a speed-loader or 1 turn per 2 rounds without one.

Characters should not start with more than 1 loaded and 2 spare clips for each gun. Adventure authors should place guns and ammo very sparingly - the total bullet damage should be no more than 25-100% of the total monster DUDEness in the adventure - for example, if you have an adventure with 100 rats, there should be at most 50 small pistol rounds (yes, this means you're running far short of one bullet per rat... the players should have to scrounge and think creatively for even the most hack-and-slash Malevolence adventure).

[FIXME: equipment limits, pseudo-encumbrance]

Equipment Stats

Monsters

There are three levels of monsters in most science-horror games, movies, and books. They're not just placed randomly, they have very specific purposes in the adventure arc. And since they're normally specific to the scenario, there are only a few "standard monsters". Everything else should be made up by the adventure author.

The first level are rats and equivalent low-powered animals, which are usually encountered a few at a time initially, and then in larger swarms or packs as the adventure progresses. These are always Extras, and usually serve more as a cue of increasing evil and danger than as an actual threat themselves, though sometimes the swarm is the only monster (The Birds, etc.)

Next are the rank-and-file warrior types - adult xenomorphs in Aliens, etc. These are usually higher-powered Extras, but some or all may be Bosses. They present the players with a serious challenge, but most of the players should be expected to survive for a while. Eventually the party is whittled down, until only one or two survive.

Finally, the surviving player(s) get to face the boss monster, queen, or whatever. They'll probably have a decently high DUDEness by now and a big ol' stack of white chips. That's fine, the boss monster should have plenty of white chips, too, and it should be as close a battle as possible. In most cases, the players should not be able to win by brute force with standard weapons - scientific research to find a weak spot or design a new weapon, disease, or other counteragent is essential.

Type:

Animal:

A normal or giant-sized animal. In their natural state, most animals will only attack humans when desperately hungry, cornered, diseased, or when their young are threatened. The few exceptions are mentioned explicity. Animals may have been driven mad by the events of the adventure, whether that's experimentation, mutation, or whatever. Even if they are not normally pack creatures, they will work in packs, and if they have sufficient numbers, will attack anything they think they can take down (if their DUDEness × number present is greater than or equal to the DUDEness of the target). Even if they are outclassed, they will still attack if in the usual extremes.

Experiment:

A monster created through experimentation. Experiments can look like almost anything - some are hybrids of different animals or humans, some are completely unnatural. Experiments are often unique or at least exist only in limited numbers, but a few have been able to breed true and spread.

Mutant:

A monster created through accidental effects - either natural mutation or from toxic chemicals or radiation. Mutants are normal animals or humans with one or more mutant powers and physical changes. In reality, almost all mutants are defective and sterile, but in horror movies, they usually look hideous but have advantageous powers and can breed or transform their own kind into more mutants.

Undead:

The reanimated corpse of dead people or creatures. The undead could be reanimated by a parasite or by restoration of some electrical activity to a rotting corpse. John Varley's Demon even had animated skeletons controlled by silvery worms running through them. Undead are immune to pain and most forms of mind control. When they should be incapacitated, they are instead crippled; they look all messed up, move at half speed, and lose one point of DUDEness, but they keep coming until destroyed.

DUDEness:

The average DUDEness of the monster. Draw a card: if it is an Ace, increase the DUDEness by 1 and the monster is a Boss; if it is a number card, the average stands; if it is a red face card, increase the DUDEness by 1; if it is a black face card, decrease the DUDEness by 1 (minimum 1). All monsters are Extras unless the word "Boss" is listed after the DUDEness or an Ace was drawn.

Powers, Drawbacks:

The standard powers and drawbacks these monsters have.

Attacks:

The number of attacks is listed, then all possible attacks (select up to the number of attacks from among them each turn). Unless otherwise specified, all attacks are melee attacks similar to the Fist power, except with different damages.

Description:

Description of the physical appearance, mental capabilities, and behaviors and tactics of the monster.

Monster Stats

Monster Powers

Combat

[FIXME]

autofire, covering fire

Short, medium, long range

area effect attacks

escape tasks

Traps

Traps, intentional or natural, are a common feature in adventures - whether it's crawling through a tight tunnel, leaping across a chasm, or defusing a bomb. Most of these require an extended task, with death or at least significant damage on a failure. The Dealer may want to give the player a "saving task" to escape some of the blast or other effects with minimal damage.

A simple trap should require 2-3 tasks at difficulty 3-5, a dangerous trap 3-4 tasks at difficulty 4-7, and a deadly trap 3-5 tasks at difficulty 6-8. Players will very likely have to spend white chips to succeed at some or all of the tasks in a deadly trap - it counts as Player vs. Universe, so a single white chip gives an automatic success. More repeated tasks at a low difficulty are less likely to succeed than fewer tasks at a higher difficulty - especially as the player's hand gets drained of good cards, so if at all in doubt and you don't want to kill the character, err on the side of fewer tasks.

To make it even more difficult, the adventure author can make a "Trap flowchart", with different paths for success and failure at each task:

Vehicles

Vehicles in DUDE have several stats:

Speed

The vehicle's maximum speed in kilometers/hour. If it matters, you can divide by four (actually, 3.6) to get the speed in meters/second, or multiply by 0.6 to get the speed in miles/hour.

Maneuverability

Used as a bonus or penalty to the driver's driving tasks, so a positive Maneuverability makes the vehicle easier to control.

Toughness

The number of red chips the vehicle can take before becoming crippled. Repairing non-crippling damage will have a cost in parts equal to 1% of the vehicle's original price, per red chip. Vehicles can take damage from attacks, as well as by performing dangerous maneuvers. When a vehicle has a number of red chips equal to its Toughness, it is crippled, moves at half speed, and its Maneuverability drops by 5 points. A crippled vehicle can be repaired by a mechanic, at a cost in parts equal to 25% of its original price. When a vehicle has a number of red chips equal to double its Toughness, it is destroyed and can no longer move. The driver may still be able to use it for cover or sell it for scrap.

Occupants

The number of normal-size people who can fit into the vehicle, including the driver. You can usually fit 1 more if they're all thin and they squish, but larger people will reduce the capacity. This does not count bodies stored in the trunk. One adult corpse will fit in the trunk of most cars, two in cars with larger trunks. You can carry the corpses of a whole family in the back of a pickup, but you risk them being seen. You can only barely fit a severed head in a motorcycle's storage area.

Chases

[FIXME]

Combat

[FIXME]