TEXT:  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  Writing 
   
  Leonard A. Pimentel 
   
  Artwork 
   
  Jerry Gaylord 
   
  Editing 
   
  James M. Fraleigh 
   
  Playtesting 
   
  Sebastian Dieppa, Rashamen Green, Josh Hoade, Sam 
  Khan, Alfredo Sanchez, Joanne Trabucchi  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  www.hughesvillehigh.com 
   
  © 2013 LAKESIDE GAMES, INC. HUGHESVILLE HIGH, LAKESIDE 
  GAMES, AND ALL RELATED MARKS AND LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS 
  OF LAKESIDE GAMES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  
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  TABLE OF CONTENTS 
   
  WELCOME TO HUGHESVILLE! ............................................................................... 3 
  THE DEAL ................................................................................................................. 4 
  1. CHARACTERS .......................................................................................................... 7 
  ROLES AND RANKS ............................................................................................... 8 
  MUNDANE ROLES ............................................................................................. 8 
  UNIQUE ROLES .................................................................................................. 9 
  DRIVE ....................................................................................................................... 12 
  BAGGAGE ............................................................................................................... 13 
  FLAWS ..................................................................................................................... 16 
  STYLE ....................................................................................................................... 17 
  MUSIC ...................................................................................................................... 18 
  ORDINARY KIDS ................................................................................................... 18 
  ASSETS ..................................................................................................................... 18 
  ADVANCEMENT ................................................................................................... 19 
  2. PLAYING THE GAME ........................................................................................... 21 
  SIMPLE ACTIONS .................................................................................................. 22 
  DRAMATIC ACTIONS .......................................................................................... 22 
  PLOT ROLLS ........................................................................................................... 23 
  EXTENDED ACTIONS ..................................................................................... 25 
  PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER ................................................................................... 25 
  FREE FOR ALL................................................................................................... 26 
  FIGHT!...................................................................................................................... 27 
  ARMED AND DANGEROUS ........................................................................... 28 
  THE BAD GUYS ................................................................................................ 29 
  FINAL CONSIDERATIONS .................................................................................. 29 
  3. PLOT POINTS ......................................................................................................... 31 
  EARNING PLOT POINTS ..................................................................................... 32 
  SPENDING PLOT POINTS ................................................................................... 32 
  4. RUNNING HUGHES ............................................................................................. 34 
  ADVENTURE GENERATOR ................................................................................ 40 
  5. TOTALLY EIGHTIES ............................................................................................. 43 
  FASHION................................................................................................................. 44 
  SLANG ..................................................................................................................... 46 
  MUSIC ...................................................................................................................... 48 
  YOU MUST WATCH! ............................................................................................ 50 
   
   
  
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  WELCOME TO 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  HUGHESVILLE! 
  
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  Hughesville (not to be confused with that town where Christmas 
  was almost stolen) is a happy little suburb of Chicago sometime 
  during the 1980s. Home to Hughesville High, Hughesville is that 
  town you see in most every 80s teen movie, especially those by 
  John Hughes. It’s a content little place during a content little time 
  when Reagan was president, America was the most totally 
  excellent nation that ever was, and all was good and right with 
  the world, at least to the extent that anyone in America cared to 
  pay attention. Greed was good, communism was bad, and music 
  videos were starting to become “a thing” thanks to some no-
  name cable channel. 
   
  Hughesville High (or “Hughes” from here on out, at least when 
  we mean the game, not the high school) is a roleplaying game 
  about high school kids in the 80s. High school kids with unusual 
  powers and abilities, sure, but high school kids nonetheless. It’s 
  a lighthearted game intended to evoke the classic teen movies of 
  the 80s, with the modern-day teen-monster shtick and other 
  weirdness thrown into the mix for good measure. Unlike today’s 
  teen-monster genre, however, Hughes isn’t supposed to be taken 
  even slightly seriously. If you want a deeper take on this stuff, 
  do yourself a favor and buy the Monsterhearts roleplaying game 
  by Joe McDaldno. It rocks on toast. Hughes, on the other hand, is 
  much more Weird Science and much less Twilight. 
   
  The characters in Hughes are ordinary teens living through the 
  strange days of the 1980s, trying their best to live normal lives 
  while dealing with the abnormal situations that keep coming 
  their way. They may be aliens, monsters, robots (yes, robots), or 
  whatever else, but more than that, they’re teenagers, looking to 
  survive high school, score a date for the prom, and avoid doing 
  anything that could end up on their Permanent Record. 
   
  THE DEAL 
  This is a tabletop roleplaying game. If you don’t know what that 
  means, why are you reading this? Maybe you thought this was 
  
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  yet another installment of some cheesy teen vampire series that’s 
  made its author insanely wealthy
  and no, we are not even the 
  slightest bit jealous, thank you very much. Maybe you found the 
  cover art too compelling to resist. Or maybe you’re a nosy 
  parent, sneaking a peek at what your kid’s reading to make sure 
  they aren’t “doing the drugs.” If so, good for you: we need more 
  involved parents. Whatever the case, if you don’t know what a 
  roleplaying game is, here’s the deal. 
   
  A roleplaying game is a type of game where a bunch of players 
  get together and create a story. One of the players is called the 
  gamemaster (GM), and the others are called players. The GM 
  comes up with a rough plot outline of what will happen during 
  the game. The players each play the part of one of the main 
  characters in the story, called player characters or, when we get 
  lazy, just characters. The GM, meanwhile, plays everyone (and 
  everything) else in the game world (called “npcs,” which is short 
  for non-player characters). The GM also kind of controls the flow 
  of the story. Yes, it’s more work, but most GMs are relentless 
  egomaniacs and don’t mind it at all. 
   
  Game play is a lot like a conversation between the GM and the 
  players. In this conversation, the GM and the players describe 
  what happens in the story, usually moving from one scene to the 
  next. Normally, the GM sets the stage for each scene and the 
  players take it from there by reacting to whatever has been set 
  up, or by pursuing their own agendas. The GM responds to 
  what the players do, the players then react to that, and so on. 
  This back-and-forth exchange continues until the scene comes to 
  a natural conclusion (the GM is usually the one to make this 
  call). At that point, the current scene ends and the GM moves on 
  to the next one. The GM is typically the one who gets to describe 
  what happens during each scene. However, because the GM is 
  supposed to challenge (some might say torment) the characters, 
  the players will often try to take narrative control for themselves 
  in order to describe how they want a scene to unfold. That’s 
  
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  where these rules come into play. The rules help determine who 
  gets to describe what happens in the game. 
   
  At the end of the day, tabletop roleplaying is nothing more than 
  play acting, with a few ground rules. It’s like improvisational 
  theater (bad improvisational theater) with some problem solving 
  thrown into the mix. You take on the role of your player 
  character and try to act and think like that character while you 
  play the game. Same applies if you’re the GM, only you’re doing 
  this for everyone and everything in the game world other than 
  the player characters. As GM, however, you do so with the 
  understanding that the player characters are the heroes of the 
  story and the stars of the show. You’re always rooting for them, 
  even while you’re making their lives impossibly difficult. Even if 
  you cackle as you do it. It happens. 
    
   
   
  
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  1. CHARACTERS 
  Making a Hughes character is easy. There are only a few simple 
  steps: assign each of your mundane roles a rank; select a unique 
  role; and pick your drive, baggage, flaw, style, and music. Each 
  of these steps is described below. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
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  ROLES AND RANKS  
  Every player character has five mundane roles that represent the 
  archetypes typically seen in 80s teen movies. Characters will also 
  have one unique role that represents an unusual ability or 
  background. Whether mundane or unique, roles are rated from 1 
  to 6. The ranks are described below. 
     
  Rank 
  Description 
  1 
  Bogus 
  2 
  Whatever 
  3 
  Okay 
  4 
  Excellent 
  5 
  Gnarly 
  6 
  Totally Rad 
   
  MUNDANE ROLES 
  There are five mundane roles. To create a new character, assign 
  each of these roles a rank of 1 to 5. Each rank within that range 
  can only be assigned to one role. The mundane roles are: 
   
  Brain: This would be the school valedictorian. That could mean 
  the nerd that everyone picks on, but it could just as easily be the 
  hot brainy girl who’s untouchably perfect, or the quarterback 
  who also happens to be a straight-A student. This is the role you 
  use to determine what your character knows about things. 
   
  Delinquent: No parent wants their child to excel at this role. The 
  kids who drink beer and smoke behind the school, who shoplift, 
  and who sneak into places they shouldn’t (the ones with a future 
  in used car sales or politics) all have a high Delinquent rank. So 
  do most kids from the wrong side of the tracks, even the good 
  ones. This is the role you use to sneak around, steal stuff, and do 
  other things you don’t want anyone else to know about. 
   
  Jock: Not every character with a high Jock rank will actually be a 
  student athlete, but most will. The common exceptions are the 
  
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  kids who are too cool or too marginalized to participate. While 
  the dumb jock is a classic movie trope, the genre also includes a 
  number of smart jocks, many of whom are also rich. This is the 
  role you use when doing anything athletic. 
    
  Nerd: Having a high rank in this role doesn’t necessarily mean 
  you’re a pocket-protected, 98-pound weakling sporting thick 
  glasses and braces. But this is a game about 80s teen movies, so it 
  probably does. There are always exceptions, but they tend to 
  keep their inner nerds locked and hidden away for fear of social 
  reprisal (and rightfully so). This is the role you use when you 
  want to do anything mechanical, scientific, or technical. 
   
  Royalty: The king and queen of the prom have high Royalty 
  ranks. So do most cheerleaders. Not to mention that rich guy 
  who looks like George Michael before he went solo, the one with 
  the latest Members Only jacket and that awesome collection of 
  Swatch watches. This is the role you use when you want to 
  charm, command, persuade, seduce, or otherwise get someone 
  else to do what you want them to do. 
   
  UNIQUE ROLES 
  Unique roles represent special abilities that most normal teens 
  don’t possess, not even in Hughesville. All new characters begin 
  the game with one unique role at rank 5. Pick one from the list 
  below or, if you’re going to be a total baby about it, go ahead 
  and make up your own. Be sure to get the GM’s approval when 
  selecting your unique role, especially one you made up. 
   
  Whatever their unique roles, all player characters are, first and 
  foremost, teens struggling with all the usual insecurities, issues, 
  and hang-ups. Equally important, they’re all at the mercy of 
  their raging teenage hormones, even those with bodies that are 
  artificial, quasi-incorporeal, or undead. Don’t overthink this, just 
  go with it. No matter what, player characters should act and 
  think like teenagers growing up in the 80s. That’s what they are 
  at their core, and what this game’s all about. 
  
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  Alien: You come from another planet. Work with the GM to 
  describe exactly what this role lets you do.  
   
  Atlantean: Look at this role. Isn’t it neat? Whether mermaid or 
  merman, you swim like a fish and can breathe water. Also, your 
  senses work just as well underwater as they do on land. Last, 
  you can talk to aquatic animals. Yes, really.  
    
  Avatar/Scion: You’re the avatar of some deity, or the offspring of 
  some naughty deity and a human being. Work with the GM to 
  describe exactly what this role lets you do, but it presumably 
  depends on the deity’s sphere of influence. 
   
  Celestial: You’re an angel or a devil trapped in human form. 
  You can sense what’s in people’s hearts and minds. You know 
  their deepest desires and their deepest fears. You can also grow 
  feathered (for angels) or leathery (for devils) wings and fly. 
   
  Cyborg: Parts of your body have been replaced with advanced 
  cybernetics. You have cybernetic senses, including the ability to 
  see in the dark, hear high- and low-frequency sounds, that kind 
  of thing. Also, you can interface with computers and electronics. 
   
  Djinni: You’re a fire elemental trapped in human form. You’re 
  immune to harm from any kind of heat. You can create and 
  control fire, but you have to really concentrate to do so, making 
  it impossible to use this ability in a fight. 
   
  Dragon: You’re a dragon trapped in human form. You have an 
  incredible sense of smell and can see perfectly well in the dark. 
  You can breathe fire, but you have to really concentrate to do so, 
  making it impossible to use this ability in a fight. 
   
  Ghost: You’re a spirit. Your body is made of ectoplasm, so you 
  don’t need to eat, breathe, drink, or sleep. You can also become 
  insubstantial, allowing you to move through solid objects. 
   
  
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  Gnome: You’re an earth elemental trapped in human form. You 
  can shape earth and natural stone like clay, and you can travel 
  by tunneling your way through the ground. You can also sense 
  whatever’s in the ground under your feet. 
   
  Golem/Robot: You’re some kind of construct, magical if you’re a 
  Golem or technological if you’re a Robot. You don’t need to eat, 
  breathe, drink, or sleep, and you never get tired. 
   
  Mutant: You possess a unique ability that developed because 
  your parents were exposed to radiation in the 60s. Work with the 
  GM to describe exactly what this role lets you do. 
   
  Psychic: You can see the future, sometimes; other times, you’re 
  just daydreaming. If only it were easier to tell the two apart. You 
  get glimpses of what will happen in the next few moments, in 
  the next few decades, and in between. You aren’t yet sure if what 
  you see can be changed by your actions. 
   
  Revenant: You’re dead, but your teenage willpower continues to 
  animate your body and prevent it from decomposing. You’re 
  almost impossible to hurt, and on the very rare occasions when 
  you do get hurt, you recover incredibly quickly. 
   
  Shape Changer: You’re a doppelgänger of Germanic myth. You 
  can make yourself look like anyone you want. 
   
  Sidhe: You’re a creature of the fairy realm. You can see magic, 
  which also lets you see in the dark. Additionally, you can create 
  minor illusions and make people see and hear what you want. 
   
  Sylph: You’re an air elemental trapped in human form. You can 
  turn your body into a whirling funnel of air, and in this form 
  you can fly. You can also create and control minor gusts of air.   
   
  Telepath: You can read minds and sense people’s thoughts and 
  emotions. You can also transmit your thoughts to others. You 
  
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  usually have to concentrate to do this, but very strong thoughts 
  and emotions sometimes pop into your head uninvited. 
   
  Undine: You’re a water elemental trapped in human form. You 
  can turn yourself into water, breathe water, and travel through 
  any kind of water very quickly. You can also create and control 
  small amounts of water. 
   
  Vampire: You’re a vampire. You need to drink blood to live, but 
  not human blood. Only freaks are into that. Same with the whole 
  sunlight thing; it’s not your fave, but you can deal. You can see 
  in pitch darkness, and you can hypnotize people by talking to 
  them as long as they’re looking into your eyes. 
   
  Weird Scientist: You’re a genius, able to create inventions that 
  modern science can’t quite explain. You often carry at least a few 
  of your inventions around with you, usually disguised as school 
  supplies, sporting equipment, or both. Work with the GM to 
  describe exactly what this role lets you do. 
   
  Werewolf: You can turn into a wolf or some other predatory 
  animal (sure, wereducks may exist, but only to get shoved into 
  lockers). In human form, you have superhuman senses. Your 
  agility and speed are greatly enhanced in your animal form. 
   
  Witch/Warlock: You’re a practitioner of witchcraft or voodoo. 
  You can cast blessings (which impart good luck) and hexes 
  (which impart bad luck) that take immediate effect. You also 
  know something about magic in general. 
   
  DRIVE 
  A player character’s drive is the one thing that motivates the 
  character more than anything else does. As discussed in Chapter 
  2, player characters will have an easier time of it when doing 
  something motivated by their drive. Being teenagers, all player 
  characters will be motivated by all of the drives listed below, but 
  
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  one particular drive will be more important than all the rest. 
  Select the drive that’s most important to your player character. 
  The drives are as follows. 
   
  Acceptance: All player characters want to feel appreciated and 
  validated by those around them, especially by their peers. 
   
  Hormones: All player characters are perpetually drowning in a 
  sea of teenage hormones telling them, well, you know. 
   
  Independence: All player characters want to feel like grown-ups 
  who don’t need their parents to direct their lives. 
   
  Romance: All player characters want an intimate relationship 
  with a significant other. No one begins the game involved. 
   
  Stuff: All player characters are living (loosely speaking) in a 
  material world, and they want to have lots of awesome toys. 
   
  BAGGAGE 
  All characters have some baggage
  some mundane issue they 
  have to deal with. Although it can be a pain at times, baggage is 
  actually a good thing because players use their baggage to earn 
  plot points (the currency of the game, discussed in Chapters 2 
  and 3). More specifically, whenever a player character is placed 
  in a situation where his baggage might cause problems, the 
  player can declare that it does and describe what happens. This 
  earns the character 1 plot point if it results in a significant hassle 
  for the character or his friends. 
   
  Sometimes, the GM will want to bring a character’s baggage into 
  play. When that happens, the GM makes the declaration and 
  narrates what happens as a result. Again, this earns the player 1 
  plot point. If the player really doesn’t want that to happen, she 
  can spend 1 plot point to prevent it from happening. 
   
  
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  Pick one kind of baggage from the list below or make up your 
  own. Keeping with the spirit of the game, baggage should never 
  be too serious. It should be fraught with comedic potential, not 
  tragic consequences. As always, you’ll need the GM’s approval 
  before making up your own baggage. 
   
  Because baggage can get played out, and because characters are 
  supposed to grow over time, player characters can swap one 
  type of baggage for another between adventures. A player who 
  wants to do this needs to get the GM’s blessing first, and she 
  needs to describe how the change happens.  
   
  Bully: You have been a really awful bully in the past, or you 
  continue to be one in the present. You’re generally disliked, and 
  downright hated by those you’ve picked on. 
   
  Burnout: Your favorite pastime has somewhat dulled your 
  senses, making you generally less aware of things. 
   
  Crush: You’re completely smitten by someone who doesn’t like 
  you, doesn’t know you’re alive, or is involved with a close friend 
  or family member. (No, the person you have a crush on can’t be 
  a family member. Don’t be gross.) 
   
  Crushed: Someone you have absolutely no interest in dating has 
  a major crush on you. This poor sap can’t hide his feelings and 
  won’t take a hint. Oh, and everyone knows about it. 
   
  Dweeb: You’re a complete and total nerd to an almost crippling 
  degree. Even really nice kids have trouble interacting with you 
  or taking you seriously. 
   
  Experienced: You have a reputation, deserved or not, for being 
  too experienced in romance. Many kids think less of you, and 
  your motives are always being questioned. 
   
  
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  Frenemy: One of your friends isn’t really a friend at all, and in 
  fact wants to take you down in some way. 
   
  Inexperienced: You have no romantic experience at all, and it 
  really shows. Many kids think less of you, and your motives are 
  always being questioned. 
   
  Involved Parents: Your parents are very involved in your life, 
  and often meddle where they shouldn’t. 
   
  One of Them: You’re exchange student, a member of an under-
  represented minority, or otherwise different. Most kids don’t 
  know how to interact with you, so they don’t even try. 
   
  One of Us: You’re very popular and you have a strong social 
  network that depends on being just like everyone else. It’s very 
  important for you to maintain that appearance. 
   
  Practice: You’re very involved in some activity (often an art or a 
  sport) that requires a lot of your time and attention. 
   
  Silver Spoon: You’re very wealthy and you are (or you can 
  come off as) a spoiled rich kid. This rubs everyone who isn’t 
  equally wealthy (and even some who are) the wrong way. 
   
  Stress Case: You’re perpetually worried about, if not terrified of, 
  how your actions will affect your chances of getting into the best 
  possible college, or maybe of getting a scholarship. 
   
  Uninvolved Parents: Your parents can’t be relied on for much of 
  anything. They might be happily clueless, too busy to pay 
  attention, or dealing with their own issues. 
   
  Wrong Side of the Tracks: You never have any money and you 
  can sometimes be a little rough around the edges. You make 
  people from the right side of the tracks nervous. 
   
  
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  FLAWS  
  All player characters have one flaw, a weakness or vulnerability 
  connected to their unique role. Flaws work just like baggage, 
  and are used to earn plot points in exactly the same way. Pick 
  one flaw from the list below or make up your own. Again, you’ll 
  need the GM’s approval to make up your own flaw. 
   
  Aversion: You fear or can’t stand some mundane thing, like 
  garlic, wolfsbane, or holy symbols. Gag you with a spoon. You 
  won’t touch it, and you have trouble even approaching it. 
   
  Compulsion: You have a lot of difficulty resisting certain urges, 
  typically ones that could get you in serious trouble. 
   
  Frenzy: You have a bad temper and tend to go big-time berserk 
  when you do get into flights. Those who see you snap will label 
  you a major freakazoid. 
   
  Hunted: You’re being hunted by some person or group. They 
  don’t want to kill you (that’s way too serious for this game), but 
  they do want something from you. Maybe they want you to do 
  something for them, maybe they want to capture and study you, 
  or maybe they just want to prove that you exist. 
   
  Light Sensitive: You’re sensitive to bright light. You have 
  trouble seeing in bright indoor lightning, and full daylight 
  makes you dizzy and sick. You wear sunglasses all the time. 
   
  Need: You must satisfy some requirement every so often, or very 
  bad things will start to happen to you. Some loser vampires have 
  this with the whole drinking-human-blood thing. 
   
  Nocturnal: Your body is designed to sleep during the day and be 
  wide awake at night. You’re often drowsy during the daytime, and 
  it’s not unusual for you to fall asleep during quiet moments. 
   
  
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  Oath Bound: You’re compelled to keep any serious promise that 
  you swear to, no matter the consequences. You can break your 
  promises if you really need to, but it takes a lot out of you.  
   
  Reaction: You suffer some gnarly adverse effect when you touch 
  or come within a certain distance of some common thing. 
   
  Repair: You’re some kind of construct rather than a living (or, 
  let’s be fair, unliving) thing. You don’t recover from injuries and 
  instead have to be mechanically or magically repaired. 
   
  Uncontrolled Transformation: Assuming you have a unique 
  role that lets you transform your body, some outside factor can 
  trigger that transformation unless you really fight it off. 
   
  Vulnerability: You have a weakness to some common thing, 
  which will completely house you if used against you. 
   
  STYLE 
  Next comes the player character’s style. This is like a description, 
  but it’s more about the overall impression the character makes 
  and less about what she actually looks like. There are twelve 
  possible styles. Pick whichever best suits the character. 
   
   
  Broke: A sad collection of mismatched hand-me-downs. 
   
  Flashy: An ever-changing fashion plate of 80s pastels. 
   
  Geeky: Braces, glasses, pocket protector; oh, the humanity. 
   
  Goth: Pale skin and black clothes. 
   
  Plain: A simple look that hasn’t changed since the 50s. 
   
  Preppy: That casual air of fashionable wealth. 
   
  Punk: Spiked hair, maybe a mohawk, and a lot of leather. 
   
  Sporty: Sweats and athletic attire, maybe a team uniform. 
   
  Surfer: Casually cool and always ready for the beach. 
   
  Tough: Denim jacket, T-shirt, jeans or leather pants.      
   
  Uniform: Private school uniform. 
   
  Western: A lot like Plain, but with a cowboy hat and boots. 
  
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  MUSIC 
  Last, select the music that most suits the character. This could be 
  the character’s favorite kind of music, or it could just be the 
  music that plays in the background whenever he’s on screen. 
  This is the music that best represents the character, whether or 
  not he’s aware of it. Pick one kind of music from the list below. 
   
   
  Alternative 
   
  Blues 
   
  Classical 
   
  Country 
   
  Foreign 
   
  Heavy Metal 
   
  Jazz 
   
  Pop 
   
  Punk Rock 
   
  R&B/Soul 
   
  Rap 
   
  Rock & Roll 
   
  ORDINARY KIDS 
  Although the default assumption in Hughes is that the player 
  characters are something more than ordinary kids, you don’t 
  have to play the game that way. If you prefer, player characters 
  can be completely normal teenagers. If you want to create a 
  normal teen, don’t give her a unique role or a flaw. Instead, give 
  the character a second type of baggage and one extra plot point. 
  That’s it. If you play Hughes the way we hope you do, this 
  shouldn’t have much of an effect on the game. The player 
  characters will still have to deal with being teenagers in the 80s, 
  they’ll still end up getting involved in things that are way over 
  their heads, and hilarity should still ensue. 
   
  ASSETS 
  A character’s roles generally determine what that character can 
  do. However, the GM may want a character to have a temporary 
  ability or item that lets him do more than he normally could. 
  These temporary abilities and items are called assets. 
   
  Assets enhance a character’s mundane roles or grant her unique 
  roles; some do both. Assets that enhance mundane roles grant 
  bonuses. For example, a crowbar might grant a character a +1 
  
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  bonus to her Jock role when trying to open things. Assets that 
  grant unique roles will do so at a specific rank. For example, a 
  football helmet used for a weird science experiment might grant 
  a character the Telepath role at rank 2. If a player character 
  already has the unique role granted by an asset at an equal or 
  greater rank, the asset provides no benefit. 
   
  Assets are temporary and come in three varieties: use assets, 
  scene assets, and adventure assets. Use assets can be used once, 
  scene assets can be used for an entire scene, and adventure assets 
  can be used for an entire adventure. This has more to do with 
  how important the asset is to the story than with how long it 
  actually works. Once an asset expires, it runs out of gas, energy, 
  et cetera. Or maybe it just gets tossed. Whatever the specifics, an 
  expired asset becomes useless once it’s served its purpose. 
   
  Anthony’s character is running from a mob of zombies. He tries to 
  open the doors to the high school, but they’re locked, and Anthony’s 
  character isn’t much of a Jock. The GM tells him that there’s a rusty 
  crowbar lying in the dirt nearby. Anthony uses it, and gets a +1 bonus 
  to his Jock roll to open the door. Being a use asset, the crowbar will 
  snap in half the moment the door flies open. 
   
  A player character can’t acquire an asset permanently. Assets 
  boost a character’s ranks or grant her new roles, but they’re 
  inherently temporary. The only way for a player to permanently 
  add an asset’s effect to her character is by raising her ranks or 
  buying new unique roles (see Advancement, below). 
   
  ADVANCEMENT 
  Hughes is a game about teenagers growing up. It isn’t an 
  especially serious take on the subject, mind you, but that’s still 
  what the game’s really all about. Accordingly, every time the 
  characters finish an adventure, the players have to describe how 
  their characters have grown as a result. This doesn’t have to be a 
  major life transformation. Just as in real life, growing up is more 
  
  20 
   
  likely to sneak up on a character, happening a little bit at a time 
  rather than all at once. Growing up is like good foreshadowing; 
  it suggests what will happen in the future, but you only see it in 
  hindsight. 
   
  Once the players describe how their characters have grown, they 
  can each raise one of their ranks by 1 point. Or if they prefer, 
  they can purchase a new unique role at rank 1, as long as they 
  can explain how their characters developed these new abilities. 
  Additionally, every time a character gains a new unique role, he 
  also gains a new flaw (selected by the player). The GM must 
  approve the new unique role and the new flaw. 
   
  If the player characters are advancing too quickly for everyone’s 
  tastes, you can slow things down by having them advance after 
  they complete two or three adventures. Find the pace that works 
  best for your group. 
   
   
  
  21 
   
  2. PLAYING THE GAME 
  Hughes is a game about telling stories. The rules do one thing: 
  they help you decide who gets to do the storytelling. Like most 
  roleplaying games, the GM is the primary narrator, and the 
  players run their characters. However, players will often take 
  narrative control away from the GM, usually when they want to 
  accomplish some action. Exactly how this works depends on 
  whether the action is simple or dramatic. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  22 
   
  SIMPLE ACTIONS 
  A simple action is either irrelevant to the adventure or has to be 
  resolved a certain way to move the story along. Simple actions 
  that aren’t relevant to an adventure are always narrated by the 
  player running the character. For example, if you want your 
  character to shoplift a Rubik’s Cube from a toy store, and this 
  action has absolutely no relevance to the adventure, then you get 
  to describe what happens when your character tries it. 
   
  Simple actions that have to be resolved a certain way to move 
  the story along, on the other hand, are always narrated by the 
  GM. If everyone has to be captured by a secret government 
  agency for the story to move to the next scene, then the GM 
  describes how that happens. 
   
  In either case, the person narrating gets to describe the outcome 
  however he wishes as long as it makes sense and keeps the story 
  moving forward. Narrations that are untrue to the characters or 
  that violate the spirit of the game are not allowed. 
   
  DRAMATIC ACTIONS 
  A dramatic action, on the other hand, is important to the larger 
  story of the game and has an equally interesting effect on that 
  story whether it’s accomplished or not. The default assumption 
  is that the outcomes of all dramatic actions, even combat, are 
  narrated by the GM. The players tell the GM what they want 
  their characters to do and the GM decides what happens. Players 
  make suggestions, but these suggestions carry no weight. The 
  GM can use, modify, or ignore them as he wishes. 
   
  Generally speaking, the GM is expected to narrate whatever 
  outcome moves the story forward and yields the most dramatic, 
  entertaining, or interesting result. However, it’s assumed that 
  the GM won’t go easy on the player characters. As long as the 
  GM’s in control, the characters will often spaz out and fail to 
  complete tasks or accomplish them imperfectly, in either case 
  
  23 
   
  creating new complications or obstacles. Again, narrations that 
  are untrue to the characters or that violate the spirit of the game 
  are not allowed. Also, because this is supposed to be a 
  lighthearted game, the GM isn’t allowed to kill or seriously 
  injure player characters when narrating. 
   
  PLOT ROLLS 
  A player can try to take narrative control for herself by making a 
  plot roll. The player rolls three standard 6-sided dice, two of one 
  color (the action dice) and one of a different color (the critical 
  die). Assuming she doesn’t roll triples, she ignores the critical 
  die (it’s only relevant when you roll triples) and adds the total 
  rolled on the action dice to her rank in whichever role applies to 
  the action. This total determines who gets to narrate the result, as 
  shown on the table below. As always, narrations that are untrue 
  to the characters or that violate the spirit of the game are not 
  allowed. Additionally, like GMs, players can’t use their narrative 
  control to kill or seriously injure anyone except mindless extras 
  like zombies and really evil bad guys that totally have it coming. 
    
  Total 
  Narration 
  6 or less 
  GM 
  7 to 8 
  GM with Player’s embellishment 
  9 to 12 
  Player with GM’s embellishment 
  13 or more 
  Player 
   
  When one person gets embellishment rights, it means he can 
  alter the other’s narration in some small way. An embellishment 
  should be a clarification or detail that expands on the original 
  narration without contradicting it. An embellishment can’t make 
  the original narration untrue or meaningless. 
   
  If the player rolls triples, that’s a critical result. She instantly 
  earns 1 plot point and gains complete narrative control over the 
  attempted action. The player should also be allowed a lot of 
  
  24 
   
  leeway when describing what happens. Critical results represent 
  ridiculously good luck, unbelievable coincidences, and once-in-
  a-lifetime performances. Although the player still can’t narrate 
  something that’s untrue to the characters or that violates the 
  spirit of the game, she can push the boundaries. 
   
  John is playing a nerd who finds himself in a life-or-death situation he 
  can only escape by winning a breakdancing contest. Don’t ask—it’s a 
  long story. Knowing there’s no way the GM’s going to just let this 
  happen, John makes a plot roll and gets three 4s. Righteous! Normally, 
  even with complete narrative control, John would have to come up with 
  some clever or lucky way in which his character could pull this one off. 
  But this time, John describes how his character executes some wicked 
  moves, thanks to the fact that he’s been practicing in his bedroom for 
  the last six months, getting ready for the prom. 
   
  Player characters suffer a cumulative -1 penalty every time they 
  try to make a plot roll using the same role more than once per 
  scene. For example, a player who has already made two Brain 
  plot rolls in one scene will suffer a -2 penalty if she tries to make 
  a third Brain plot roll in the same scene. Players can spend 1 plot 
  point to refresh their roles at any time, eliminating all such 
  penalties earned up to that point. 
   
  If the GM determines that a particular task is especially easy, the 
  player can add a +2 bonus to his total. If the GM determines that 
  a particular task is especially hard, the player has to apply a -2 
  penalty to his total. 
   
  Player characters attempting to do something directly related to 
  their drive get a +1 bonus to their plot roll totals. On the flip side, 
  player characters trying to do something that runs counter to 
  their drive suffer a -1 penalty to their plot roll totals. 
   
  Players can help one another take narrative control away from 
  the GM by describing what their characters are doing to help. As 
  long as it makes sense, the player making the plot roll gets a +1 
  
  25 
   
  bonus per fellow player character helping in the effort. The GM 
  is free to limit the number of characters that can work together to 
  accomplish a particular task. 
   
  Or a player can bypass all of this and take narrative control away 
  from the GM by spending a plot point. He can do this after 
  attempting a plot roll, or he can skip the roll entirely. If the 
  player spends the plot point after making a plot roll, the failed 
  roll still counts as one use of the relevant role when determining 
  the penalty applied for using a role multiple times per scene. 
   
  EXTENDED ACTIONS 
  Extended actions are complex or demanding activities that can 
  be broken down into multiple tasks, usually no more than three 
  per player character involved in the scene. The GM must decide 
  whether or not these tasks can be distributed among multiple 
  characters. For example, you could have a chase scene broken 
  down into three distinct tasks: running through darkened alleys, 
  climbing up slippery fire escapes, and racing across moonlit 
  rooftops. Every player character involved in the chase must 
  accomplish each task on his own. By contrast, you could break 
  down a debate against a rival high school’s debate team into 
  three separate tasks: establishing your argument, debunking the 
  other team’s position, and sealing the deal. Unlike in the chase, a 
  group of player characters should be able to split these tasks 
  among themselves. Because player characters suffer a penalty 
  when using the same role more than once per scene, extended 
  actions often require players to be creative in figuring out ways 
  to bring multiple roles into the action. That’s the idea. 
   
  PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER 
  Players sometimes compete against or come into conflict with 
  each other. When two players engage in any kind of player 
  versus player conflict (pvp), each makes a plot roll using the role 
  that applies to the conflict. Players ignore the usual penalty for 
  
  26 
   
  using a role multiple times in the same scene when making pvp 
  plot rolls. Whoever rolls higher is the winner. 
   
  To determine narration rights, subtract the loser’s total from the 
  winner’s total and check the table below. If the rolls are tied, the 
  conflict results in a draw and both players must agree on the 
  outcome. If they can’t, the GM narrates the result of the draw. As 
  always, narrations that are untrue to the characters or that 
  violate the spirit of the game are not allowed.  
   
  Difference 
  Narration 
  1 to 3 
  Winner with Loser’s embellishment 
  4 or more 
  Winner 
   
  FREE FOR ALL 
  When three or more player characters are all competing against 
  one another, everyone involved in the free-for-all makes a plot 
  roll using whichever role applies to the conflict. Everyone who 
  rolls a total of 9 or more gets to narrate something about the 
  outcome of the conflict. Narration happens in order of totals, 
  from lowest to highest. A player’s narration can be modified or 
  even rendered meaningless by another’s subsequent narration. 
  Between players who roll the same total, narration happens in 
  order of rank, again going from lowest to highest. When players 
  who roll the same number also have the same rank, they must 
  agree on their narrations; if they can’t, the GM gets to narrate the 
  outcome. 
   
  Emilio, Judd, and Molly are stuck in Saturday detention, and they’re 
  arguing about how to sneak out early. Emilio and Judd each make 
  Royalty rolls, while Molly makes a Telepath roll. When the rolls hit 
  the table, Molly gets a 12, Judd gets a 10, and poor Emilio gets a 6. 
  With totals of 10 or more, Molly and Judd earn narration rights. 
  Having rolled lower than Molly, Judd goes first, and says that he 
  convinces Emilio to pull the fire alarm. Molly goes next, and since she 
  has a major crush on Emilio, that isn’t going to happen. Instead, she 
  
  27 
   
  describes how, by telepathically reading their minds and knowing what 
  buttons to push, she convinces them both to call Emilio’s half-brother 
  Charlie, who also happens to be a weretiger, to scare Principal Hunter 
  out of the school. 
   
  FIGHT! 
  Like we said, the GM can’t kill or even seriously injure player 
  characters when narrating action resolution. So what options 
  does that leave a GM who has to narrate the outcome of a fight 
  when a character fails or chooses not to take narrative control? 
  Well, how about these options: 
   
   
  Captured: The player character loses the fight and ends up 
  ensnared, stuck, or otherwise captured by their opponent. 
   
   
  Delay: The player character wins the fight, but it either takes 
  forever or leaves him seriously winded. 
   
   
  Escape: The player character’s enemy retreats and manages 
  to give her the slip before either suffers any real harm. 
   
   
  Humiliation: The fight gets cut short for some reason, but the 
  player character is outfought and totally humiliated. 
   
   
  Injury: The player character wins the fight, but he sustains a 
  minor injury. He’ll suffer a -1 penalty to all Jock plot rolls for 
  the rest of the current game session. 
   
   
  My Clothes! The player character wins the fight, but at the 
  expense of trashing her outfit. She’ll suffer a -1 penalty to all 
  Royalty plot rolls until she gets herself cleaned up and into a 
  new set of clothes. 
   
   
  My Hair! Like My Clothes!, only it’s the player character’s 
  hair that gets messed up and needs serious attention. 
   
  
  28 
   
   
  Overkill: The player character wins the fight, but he goes way 
  overboard in the process. Everyone starts gossiping about 
  the character, and most think he’s a total psycho. 
   
   
  Retreat: Only applicable when involved in a truly dangerous 
  fight, the player character is forced to run away.  
   
   
  Unconsciousness: The player character is knocked out and 
  stays that way for the rest for the scene. 
   
  ARMED AND DANGEROUS 
  Player characters can use their Jock role to attack an enemy with 
  their bare hands or with simple blunt weapons like chairs, mugs, 
  and baseball bats. The use of deadly weapons like guns, knives, 
  and swords, however, doesn’t fall under any role described up 
  to now. Accordingly, whenever characters use deadly weapons, 
  they don’t add anything to their plot rolls. As those of you who 
  are good at math may realize, this means that player characters 
  who try to use deadly weapons will often end up at the narrative 
  mercy of the GM. For those of you who aren’t so good at math, 
  we suggest that you read that last sentence again. 
   
  Okay, but what if you want to use these rules to play an edgier 
  game where the player characters are dealing with Bad Things 
  that could use a good killin’? Well, it’s not what the game was 
  designed for, but if that’s how you want to play, you can give 
  every character an extra mundane role at rank 1: Violence. This 
  is the role that covers the use of lethal weapons like swords and 
  firearms. Why rank 1? Because even if you’re going to use 
  Violence in your game, player characters should start out as 
  hapless kids with no real skill in this arena. Like any other role, 
  however, Violence can be improved with advancement. 
   
   
   
   
  
  29 
   
  THE BAD GUYS 
  It can be helpful for the GM to classify npc bad guys as either 
  foes or villains. This is more of a guideline than a rule, but the 
  basic difference between the two is described below. 
   
  Foes: These are ordinary bad guys. Player characters can defeat 
  one foe each time they take narrative control of a scene. Not all 
  foes are created equal, however. Weak ones are easy to defeat 
  (granting the usual +2 bonus to plot rolls), while tough ones are 
  hard to defeat (granting the usual -2 penalty to plot rolls). 
   
  Villains: These are seriously bad dudes and dudettes. Defeating 
  a villain is usually a hard action, an extended action, or both. 
   
  FINAL CONSIDERATIONS 
  In this game, task resolution is all about narration. It isn’t about 
  whether or not a character can accomplish a specific task, or 
  even about who gets to make that decision and determine the 
  outcome. It’s about who gets to describe how that task moves 
  the story of the game forward in the most dramatic, entertaining, 
  interesting, or humorous way. This is a shared responsibility 
  between the GM and the players, which is why the players are 
  given a lot of narrative freedom in Hughes. 
   
  Although players with narrative control often just describe their 
  characters accomplishing some task successfully, that shouldn’t 
  always be the case. A player who narrates a string of perfect 
  victories for his character is missing the point, and also missing 
  out on some of the fun. Failure is sometimes more interesting 
  and often a lot funnier than success. Narrative control allows a 
  player to make up stuff about the game world or move the story 
  in a specific direction. This kind of creativity isn’t just allowed in 
  Hughes; it’s expected. Players who gain narrative control are 
  expected to use it first to keep the game fun and exciting and 
  second to accomplish their character’s goals. 
   
  
  30 
   
  As the person responsible for managing the overall story of the 
  game, the GM can always veto any narration that conflicts with 
  some story element she has in mind. The GM can even give 
  important npcs plot immunity, preventing the player characters 
  from mucking with them too early in the story. In general, 
  however, the GM is encouraged to go along with whatever the 
  players describe, even if it means altering her plans. Hughes isn’t 
  about having one person tell a good story; it’s about having 
  everyone collaborate to tell a great one. 
   
   
   
  
  31 
   
  3. PLOT POINTS 
  Plot points are the narrative currency of Hughes. Players earn 
  plot points for making the story of the game more dramatic, 
  entertaining, interesting, or humorous. They spend them to take 
  narrative control away from the GM when it really counts. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  32 
   
  EARNING PLOT POINTS 
  All player characters begin the game with 1 plot point. They earn 
  additional plot points over the course of play. Player characters 
  earn 1 plot point in each of the following circumstances. 
   
   
  Whenever they reach the end of an adventure. Characters 
  who are regular kids with no unique roles and no flaws gain 
  1 extra plot point at the end of every adventure.  
   
   
  Whenever their baggage or flaw makes life miserable. 
   
   
  Whenever they rolls triples on a plot roll. 
   
   
  Whenever they do or say anything that really brings home 
  the absurd glory that was the 1980s. 
   
   
  Whenever they do or say anything really cool, dramatic, 
  entertaining, interesting, or humorous. In cases like this, the 
  other players are also free to award the player one of their 
  own plot points if they agree with the GM. 
   
  Player characters can also earn 1 plot point per game session by 
  initiating or taking part in a tangential scene played purely for 
  roleplaying purposes. The scene might be a brief interlude in the 
  action of the story, a flashback to an earlier time, a flash-forward 
  to what the future holds, or even something like a daydream. 
  The scene must involve at least two player characters. Once the 
  players finish roleplaying the scene, all characters involved in 
  the scene immediately earn 1 plot point. Player characters can 
  only earn 1 plot point per game session in this way, but they can 
  initiate or take part in as many such scenes as they like. 
   
  SPENDING PLOT POINTS 
  Players spend plot points in several ways, but the most common 
  use of plot points is to take narrative control away from the GM. 
  As mentioned in Chapter 2, a player can do this without making 
  a plot roll, or he can spend the plot point after failing the roll. In 
  either case, spending the plot point gives the player complete 
  
  33 
   
  control over the narration, just as if he’d rolled a 13 or higher on 
  his plot roll. 
   
  As noted in Chapter 2, plot points can also be spent to refresh all 
  roles used during a scene, ridding the player character of all 
  penalties applied for using roles multiple times in that scene. 
  This is most useful for especially long or involved scenes. 
   
  Another way in which players spend plot points is to resist 
  having the GM trigger their baggage or flaw. This is especially 
  costly, however, because having your baggage or flaw triggered 
  normally earns you a plot point. The player has to spend a plot 
  point in a situation where she could have gained a plot point, 
  leaving her two points behind where she would have been if 
  she’d let the GM have her way. 
   
  A player can also spend a plot point to make a factual statement 
  about the game world. This statement can be about pretty much 
  anything, and it can be as narrow or as broad as the player 
  desires. As with every other type of narration, this declaration 
  can’t be untrue to the characters or violate the spirit of the game. 
  Also, remember that the GM can veto anything that strongly 
  conflicts with an especially important story element, even if the 
  players don’t yet know about it. If that happens, the player gets 
  to keep his plot point. 
   
   
   
  
  34 
   
  4. RUNNING HUGHES 
  Hughes isn’t a traditional roleplaying game. Roleplaying games 
  usually concern themselves with how things work in the game 
  world, which then helps you determine what happens in the 
  game. Hughes, on the other hand, ignores these mechanics and 
  focuses on one thing: determining who gets to describe what 
  happens in the game world. This difference means you need to 
  be aware of a few things when playing Hughes. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  35 
   
  First off, the GM should be generous when applying the rules 
  and determining what the player characters’ roles let them do. 
  Remember that roles describe the part a character is supposed to 
  play in the story. They’re supposed to be unrealistically broad 
  and abstract. Accordingly, if a player thinks that one of her 
  character’s roles applies to a situation, the GM should generally 
  go along with it. Can a character use Nerd instead of Royalty to 
  impress a college recruiter? He certainly can. Can a character use 
  Robot instead of Nerd to hack into a computer? Sure. If it’s 
  really a stretch, the GM can declare the action to be especially 
  hard and give the player a -2 penalty to her plot roll. 
   
  GMs new to Hughes may at first find it difficult to challenge 
  player characters. After all, they’re the only ones with stats. 
  Everyone and everything else in the game is just a description. 
  How, then, can a GM present the player characters with a 
  daunting obstacle? Well, the simple answer is that the GM can 
  declare an action to be hard or make overcoming the obstacle an 
  extended action. As discussed in Chapters 2 and 3, these options 
  make it more difficult for the player characters to take narrative 
  control away from the GM. However, they only do so in a 
  mechanical way: they make a successful plot roll statistically less 
  likely, or they force players to spend plot points. 
   
  But Hughes isn’t really about task resolution. These mechanical 
  options can be helpful, but the better answer is to remember that 
  the GM can do whatever is necessary to challenge the player 
  characters. The game mechanics are secondary, if not totally 
  irrelevant, to this. The best way for the GM to challenge players 
  in Hughes is by presenting them with enemies, obstacles, and 
  situations that they can’t just narrate away, even if they have 
  narrative control. Bad guys that can only be defeated by 
  exploiting some hidden weakness, obstacles that can only be 
  overcome with ingenuity, and situations that present no easy 
  solution—these are the kinds of things that GMs should use to 
  challenge their players in Hughes. 
   
  
  36 
   
  One situation that can stump even experienced GMs is when 
  something is hidden from the player characters. In a traditional 
  roleplaying game, the GM usually asks the players to roll dice to 
  see what their characters know about a particular topic or 
  whether they detect something concealed from them. But here, 
  the GM can’t rely on a “knowledge roll” or “perception roll.” 
  Instead, he has to take narrative responsibility and decide what 
  the player characters know or detect. This can be tricky because 
  the GM has to balance keeping the players in the dark about 
  things their characters don’t know with giving them the ability 
  to exercise narrative control. In that regard, the GM should keep 
  two things in mind. 
   
  First, always consider a player character’s rank in the applicable 
  role. Rank 1 means that the character is clueless. Rank 2 makes 
  her average. At ranks 3 and 4, the character has better than 
  average knowledge or awareness—some at rank 3 and lots of it 
  at rank 4. And at ranks 5 and 6, there shouldn’t be much the 
  character doesn’t know or won’t perceive. 
   
  Second, when a scene involves some element a character didn’t 
  know or perceive, a player who takes narrative control of that 
  scene can describe its resolution in a way that indicates that her 
  character was in fact aware of the hidden thing. For example: 
   
  Matthew’s character is a serious Nerd. While rifling through the high 
  school computer to alter his permanent record, the GM decides that he’s 
  triggered some kind of alarm and the school has called the cops on him. 
  Matthew, however, makes a very successful Nerd plot roll and takes 
  complete control of the scene. He tells the GM that his character did in 
  fact notice that he’d tripped the alarm. But thanks to some ingenious 
  computer hacking, he made it look like the intrusion was coming from 
  Principal Hunter’s home computer. He also made it appear that the 
  principal had been downloading information about the new lunch lady, 
  a former Soviet weightlifting champion with a rather tragic hormone 
  imbalance. And of course, when the police finally do get around to 
  
  37 
   
  questioning her about this incident, it will only add fuel to the massive 
  crush she has on Principal Hunter. 
   
  Resistance is another pitfall in a game like Hughes. Most roles 
  are active; they come into play when a player character wants to 
  do something. But how do you handle when a character needs to 
  resist something? What happens when some government agent 
  tasers the character, or when a spirit tries to possess his body? 
  As with perception, there are two things the GM should keep in 
  mind when handling player character resistance. 
   
  First, remember that it’s all about narrative control. The person 
  with narrative control is always the one to decide what happens, 
  and whether a player character succumbs to whatever it is she 
  wants to resist. And because narrative control is based on roles, 
  characters will be more likely to resist things (because players 
  are more likely to gain narrative control) when doing something 
  related to the roles that are most important to them. In short, 
  characters are most likely to overcome obstacles and resist 
  adverse effects when doing whatever it is they do best. 
   
  Second, when a player character is about to fall victim to some 
  external effect or influence, the GM should always let the player 
  try to take control of the narration with one of his roles. The 
  player may have to come up with a creative reason why the 
  particular role applies to the situation, but as long as he does, he 
  should be allowed to make a roll. 
   
  With all the rules-related stuff out of the way, the rest of this 
  chapter is about something way more important: mindset. 
  Everyone playing the game needs to understand that Hughes is 
  about 
  improvisation, 
  problem 
  solving, 
  roleplaying, 
  and 
  storytelling
  not about rolling dice or game mechanics. The 
  rules help direct play, but play involves telling a story, ideally 
  one that’s funny, exciting, and maybe even touching. That’s the 
  fun part. What that means for the game is that adventures have 
  to focus on the player characters themselves, not the enemies 
  
  38 
   
  they face or obstacles they overcome. The GM can’t just throw 
  mechanical challenges at the players and call it a day.  The task 
  resolution system in Hughes is very simple and abstract. If that’s 
  all your game is about, the players will quickly grow tired of it. 
  Hughes games need to be about the player characters: about 
  what matters to them, what they want, and what they’re afraid 
  of. And most of all, Hughes adventures probably need to be 
  about growing up. 
   
  The one thing that all the best 80s teen movies have in common 
  is that the characters have done a little bit of growing up by the 
  time the movie is over. Maybe they become more confident in 
  themselves, maybe they feel less alone, or maybe they repair a 
  relationship with a loved one. Or maybe they grow in some 
  other way. Whatever the specifics might be, these movies are all 
  about growing up in one way or another. For a Hughes game to 
  really feel like the movies it’s trying to evoke, the characters 
  have to change over the course of the adventure. That’s why 
  players have to describe how their characters have grown at the 
  end of each adventure in order to qualify for advancement. 
   
  However, don’t confuse what the game is about with what the 
  adventures should be about. Hughes characters aren’t normal 
  teens, and they shouldn’t lead normal lives. Their adventures 
  should be about more than mundane teenage problems. They 
  should be about alien invasions, comets that give off weird 
  radiation that turns birds back into dinosaurs, A.I.s that attempt 
  to enslave the world, evil sorcerers who want to summon things 
  that would make H.P. Lovecraft giggle like a schoolgirl, heavy 
  metal concerts that nearly devolve into zombie apocalypses
  that kind of thing. However, the player characters’ mundane 
  teenage problems should inevitably complicate these situations. 
  For example, in the alien invasion scenario, the leader of the 
  invasion could be one character’s jerky older brother who’s just 
  trying to impress a girl, and the girl could have a major crush on 
  a different player character. Weird situations, yes, but weird 
  situations in which the usual trials and tribulations of being a 
  
  39 
   
  teenager are definitely going to come into play. That’s what 
  adventures in Hughes should be like. 
   
  Despite what it says in Chapter 2, the most important thing for a 
  GM to keep in mind when running Hughes is that she should 
  actually listen to the players and take their suggestions into 
  account. Although the GM is the primary narrator, players are 
  encouraged and expected to take an active role in creating the 
  larger story of the game. The GM should always try to include 
  player input in the game. Yes, she does have the right to ignore 
  player suggestions. And yes, she can veto any narration that 
  throws a major monkey wrench into an adventure. But the GM 
  should do these things sparingly. She should never be so in love 
  with her story that she fails to realize when the players come up 
  with something better, or refuses to change gears when that 
  happens. Remember, it’s all about collaborative storytelling. 
   
  It bears repeating that the players have to take an active role in 
  the game. The GM has narrative control by default. The players 
  have to make suggestions, and if those suggestions are ignored, 
  they have to try taking narrative control away from the GM. 
  That’s how the game works. If the players just sit back waiting 
  for the GM to feed them everything and tell them what to do, 
  they’ve stopped playing a game and started watching a one-man 
  show. The players have to understand that Hughes demands 
  two things of them: truly roleplaying their characters, and taking 
  an active role in creating the story of the game.  
   
  Assuming the players do want to take an active role in the game, 
  there’s one thing they have to balance carefully: metagaming. 
  Metagaming means relying on information a character wouldn’t 
  know while playing him. Although players are often the ones 
  who get accused of metagaming, GMs do it too. As a general 
  rule in almost all roleplaying games, players are only supposed 
  to act on information their characters would know or suspect. 
  The game becomes pointless if the player characters know that 
  they’ve got a pool of plot points sitting in their back pockets or 
  
  40 
   
  that the GM can’t kill them. The players know this, but their 
  characters don’t, and the players can’t act on that information. 
   
  However, as a game about narrative control and storytelling, 
  Hughes does require some metagaming. The rules are very clear 
  about the fact that when players exercise narrative control, 
  they’re supposed to think first about what will make the game 
  interesting, exciting, and funny, and second about what their 
  characters want to accomplish. That’s big-time metagaming, but 
  it’s what the players are expected to do. In Hughes, it’s all about 
  finding the right balance of not metagaming while roleplaying, 
  but metagaming while exercising narrative control. 
   
  Because of the level of narrative control afforded to the players, 
  and the fact that only player characters have stats of any kind, 
  Hughes doesn’t require nearly as much GM prep work as most 
  traditional roleplaying games. In fact, the GM should prepare 
  only a rough outline of an adventure ahead of time. She should 
  know the general plot of the adventure: how the story begins, 
  how the player characters get involved, where she thinks it will 
  go from there, and how she expects it to end. She should also 
  know what npcs the player characters are likely to encounter 
  and the locations they’re likely to visit. And she should be ready 
  with a few specific scenes she wants to include. But that’s it. Too 
  much prep work can sometimes make a GM reluctant to let an 
  adventure move in unexpected directions. The GM should keep 
  her outline loose so that she isn’t tied to a particular outcome 
  and the players can help direct the story with their narrations. 
   
  ADVENTURE GENERATOR 
  So you want to run a game of Hughes. You somehow managed 
  to convince your friends to play a game about 80s teens, but the 
  game is tonight and you have no idea what to do. Everything 
  looks bleak, and you’re contemplating faking your own death 
  and running off to Costa Rica. Before you go too far with that, 
  take a gander at our handy-dandy adventure generator. 
  
  41 
   
  Roll 1d 
  What’s the Situation? 
  1 
  Derail an Invasion or Defeat Invaders 
  2 
  Destroy, Recover, or Transport a McGuffin 
  3 
  Handle the Monster of the Week 
  4 
  Prevent an Apocalypse, Again 
  5 
  Repair an Altered Reality 
  6 
  Uncover or Overcome a Conspiracy 
   
  Roll 2d 
  Who’s Behind It? 
  1-3 & 1  
  Aliens 
  1-3 & 2 
  An Ancient Order or Cult 
  1-3 & 3 
  Evil Duplicates from a Parallel Dimension 
  1-3 & 4 
  The Government 
  1-3 & 5 
  The Great Old Ones 
  1-3 & 6 
  The Illuminati or Another Conspiracy Group 
  4-6 & 1  
  The Machines 
  4-6 & 2 
  An Ordinary and Completely Clueless Guy or Gal 
  4-6 & 3 
  Organized Crime, like the Mob or the Yakuza 
  4-6 & 4 
  Practitioners of Magic  
  4-6 & 5 
  Some Group in the Supernatural Community  
  4-6 & 6 
  Time Travelers 
   
  Roll 1d 
  Who’s Affected or Involved? 
  1 
  Classmates 
  2 
  Family Members 
  3 
  Friends or Enemies 
  4 
  Neighbors 
  5 
  Romantic Interest 
  6 
  Teachers 
   
   
  
  42 
   
  Roll 1d 
  Where Does the Adventure Start? 
  1 
  Home 
  2 
  Outdoors 
  3 
  Popular Hangout (Arcade, Mall, Pizzeria) 
  4 
  School, After Hours 
  5 
  School, in Class 
  6 
  Someplace Weird 
   
  Roll 1d 
  How Do the Characters Get Involved? 
  1 
  Asked or Forced to Fight the Situation 
  2 
  Blindly Stumble into It 
  3 
  Notice Something Strange 
  4 
  Receive Information from Beyond 
  5 
  The Situation’s Impossible to Miss 
  6 
  Whoops! They Kind of Caused It 
   
  Roll 1d 
  Complications 
  1 
  Academics (Finals, Midterms, Practice, Etc.) 
  2 
  Big Events (Concert, Holidays, Play, Talent Show) 
  3 
  Extracurricular Obligations (Part-Time Job) 
  4 
  Family Responsibilities (Babysitting, Chores) 
  5 
  Romantic Issues (Big Date, Just Got Dumped) 
  6 
  School (Big Game, Dance, Pep Rally, Science Fair) 
   
   
   
  
  43 
   
  5. TOTALLY EIGHTIES 
  Whether you lived through the 80s or you just look back and 
  wonder, “What were they thinking?” it was an interesting time. 
  To help you capture some of what the 80s were all about, we’ve 
  included this chapter of useful information. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  44 
   
  FASHION 
  The 80s had a definite look. While not everyone was a walking 
  fashion plate, this was a decade with a distinct fashion ethos that 
  wormed is way into almost everything. Consider the following 
  tragic realities of the 80s. 
   
  Big Earrings: Earrings were big and flashy, big enough to hang 
  down to your shoulder pads (oh yes, see Shoulder Pads). 
  Big Hair: Your average heavy metal rock band was a walking 
  fire hazard with that much product in their hair. 
  Bracelets: Like Madonna herself, girls wore as many bracelets 
  and bangles as they could possibly wrap around their arms. 
  Bras Over Your Clothes: Yep, that’s right, over your clothes. Or 
  under a mesh top and accordingly visible. 
  Colors: Seriously, lots of colors. Bright, pastel, glossy, matte, you 
  name it, they made clothes in it. 
  Denim Jackets: They were the tougher crowd’s version of the 
  Members Only jacket. 
  Distressed/Ripped Jeans: This is when wearing semi-trashed 
  jeans became something other than an indication of poverty. 
  Fedoras: White or light colored hats made a brief comeback in 
  the 80s, but not everyone who tried could pull off the look. 
  Fingerless Gloves: You know: gloves with no fingers. 
  Flat Tops: A short hairstyle in which the hair on top of the head 
  was cut so as to look completely flat. 
  Goth: Black everything. Fashion was only part of the whole Goth 
  thing, but it was no small part. God bless you, Robert Smith. 
  Headbands: They kept sweat out of your eyes and hair out of 
  your face, and made you look like a karate master.  
  Heavy-Duty Makeup: The natural look was for hippies. Women 
  layered on gobs of serious makeup for all occasions. 
  High-Top Fades: The African American community’s version of 
  a flat top, but sometimes much taller. 
  
  45 
   
  Izod Shirts with Upturned Collars: You needed a shirt with a 
  collar because you needed a collar to turn up. Ideally, this would 
  be worn over a collared shirt with an upturned collar. Really. 
  Jheri Curls: A hairstyle popular among the African American 
  community, it involved using a ton of often greasy products to 
  loosen up the naturally tightened curls. 
  Jordache Jeans: The first, or one of the first, designer jean labels, 
  every fashion victim needed these like plants need sunlight. 
  Lace Accessories: Again thanks to Madonna, girls wore a lot of 
  lace in the 80s. Unmentionables were the least of it. 
  Leg Warmers: Thanks to Flashdance, or maybe because global 
  warming hadn’t kicked in yet, leg warmers were also in style. 
  Madonna & Michael Jackson: Simply put, if they wore it, then 
  everyone else did too. 
  Members Only Jackets: The 50s had leather biker jackets. The 
  80s had these. The 50s could totally have beaten up the 80s.  
  Miniskirts: The practical limits of the miniskirt and minidress 
  were tested back in the 80s, often with leggings. 
  Mohawks: The quintessential punk haircut. 
  Mullets: Long before they were coopted by scary country folk, 
  mullets were a totally acceptable conservative look. 
  Oversized Tops: If a woman pulled it over her head in the 80s, 
  there’s a good chance it was big and baggy. 
  Parachute Pants: They were baggy, plastic, and had zippers up 
  the side of each leg for no fathomable reason. 
  Pastel Suits over T-Shirts: We already mentioned the colors, but 
  thanks to Miami Vice, this one demands separate attention. 
  Rat Tails: A mullet variant, or maybe a ponytail variant, where 
  only a single lock of hair is grown long, usually in the back. 
  Shoulder Pads: The kind that could let you tackle a running 
  back and not get hurt. Mostly in jackets, mostly for women. 
  Skinny Neckties: Men’s neckties contracted an eating disorder 
  in the 80s, getting way too skinny for their own good. 
  
  46 
   
  Stirrup Pants: Stirrup pants that made even supermodels look 
  frumpy were all the rage, although good old fashioned leggings 
  were sometimes worn as an alternate. 
  Swatch Watches: They were plastic and colorful (see Colors) 
  and you wore lots of them at the same time. 
  Sweaters Tied Around Your Neck: If you were a rich jerk with a 
  yacht, or just going for that look, this is what you were wearing. 
  Tracksuits: Whether it was the exercise craze or the magic of 
  velour, tracksuits became “a thing” in the 80s. 
  Trench Coats: Maybe because the hero in The Terminator wore 
  one, nerds and other social outcasts started wearing these. 
   
  SLANG 
  The 80s wouldn’t be what they were without the war-crime-level 
  abuse of the English language that was popular slang. Here are 
  some of the more common words and phrases that either made 
  their debut or really found a home in this decade. 
   
  Airhead: A stupid or clueless person. 
  Amped: Excited. 
  Awesome: Bitchin’. 
  Bad: Not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good. 
  Bag On: To make fun of. 
  Bag Your Face: A harsh way to tell someone they’re ugly. 
  Barf Me Out: Conveys dismay or disgust, maybe both. 
  Big Time: A very strong affirmation. 
  Bitchin’: Excellent. 
  Bite Me: An insulting blow off.   
  Bogus: Completely and totally awful. Wrong. 
  Book: To move quickly, especially when leaving somewhere.  
  Buggin’: Completely freaking out or panicking. 
  Burn: Used to convey having verbally bested someone. 
  
  47 
   
  Dillweed: A total jerk. 
  Dude: Bro, cuz, homey, man. 
  Eat My Shorts: A snappy comeback. 
  Excellent: Rad. 
  Freakazoid: A weirdo, psycho, or otherwise strange person.  
  Fresh: Hot, cool, stylish; used for concepts, things, and people. 
  Gag Me with a Spoon: A softer version of Barf Me Out. 
  Get Bent: An insulting way to tell someone to go away. 
  Gnarly: Can mean something bad, challenging, rough, or awful, 
  or it can mean something really cool. 
  Grody/Grody to the Max: Describes something that you find 
  really disgusting or distasteful. 
  House: To beat, demolish, or destroy. 
  Illin’: Freaking out or being out of touch in a very uncool way.  
  I’m Sure/I’m So Sure: Sarcastic way to say you don’t believe or 
  totally disagree with something, or you think it’s lame. 
  Like: It’s, like, a placeholder. Sprinkle liberally, like, anywhere. 
  Mallrat: A kid who often hangs out at the mall. 
  Mondo: Giant, huge, massive, bigger than big. 
  Most Definitely: Yes. 
  No Duh: That statement is completely obvious. 
  Not Even/Even: The first phrase conveys strong disagreement. 
  The second is the usual response to the first, and conveys that 
  the original speaker hasn’t changed her mind. 
  Psyche! What I just said wasn’t true. Gotcha! 
  Psyched: Excited.  
  Rad/Radical: Righteous. 
  Righteous: Tubular. 
  Space Cadet: A stupid and clueless person. 
  Stoked: Excited. 
  Take a Chill Pill: You must calm down, chill out, or relax. 
  
  48 
   
  Totally: Very, but with that extra syllable for more oomph. 
  Tubular: Wicked. 
  Veg/Veg Out: To relax or to zone out. 
  Wannabe: Someone who wants and pretends to be someone or 
  something they aren’t. 
  Wastoid: A complete loser and waste of space. 
  Whatchu Talkin’ ‘Bout? I either don’t understand or don’t 
  believe what you’re telling me. 
  What’s Your Damage? What’s your problem? 
  Where’s the Beef? Conveys that something is missing. 
  Wicked: Awesome (see what we did there?). 
  Wiggin’: Completely freaking out or panicking. 
  Yuppie: Young urban professional. 
   
  MUSIC 
  The following is a rather poorly researched list of some of the 
  more influential or emblematic names in music during the 80s. 
   
  38 Special, 10,000 Maniacs, A-Ha, ABC, Accept, AC/DC, Adam 
  Ant, Aerosmith, Afrika Bambaataa, Air Supply, Alan Parsons 
  Project, Aretha Franklin, Asia, B-52's, Bananarama, The Bangles, 
  Bauhaus, Beastie Boys, Berlin, Billy Idol, Billy Joel, Billy Ocean, 
  Billy Squier, Black Flag, Black Sabbath, Blondie, Bob Seger, 
  Bobby Brown, Bon Jovi, Bonnie Raitt, Boogie Down Productions, 
  Boston, Bruce Hornsby & the Range, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan 
  Adams, Camper van Beethoven, The Cars, Chicago, Chris De 
  Burgh, Cinderella, The Clash, Corey Hart, The Cult, Culture 
  Club, Cyndi Lauper, The Cure, David Bowie, David Lee Roth, 
  De La Soul, Dead Kennedys, Debbie Gibson, Def Leppard, 
  Depeche Mode, Dio, Dire Straits, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh 
  Prince, Dokken, Don Henley, Doug E. Fresh, Duran Duran, 
  Earth Wind & Fire, Eddy Grant, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Eric 
  B. & Rakim, Eric Clapton, Europe, Eurythmics, Falco, Fine 
  Young Cannibals, The Fixx, Fleetwood Mac, A Flock of Seagulls, 
  
  49 
   
  Foreigner, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Genesis, George 
  Michael/Wham!, George Thorogood, Gloria Estefan/Miami 
  Sound Machine, The Go-Go's, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 
  Five, Guns N' Roses, Hall & Oates, Heart, Howard Jones, Huey 
  Lewis and the News, The Human League, Hüsker Dü, INXS, 
  Irene Cara, Iron Maiden, The Jam, Janet Jackson, The Jesus and 
  Mary Chain, Joan Jett, John Cougar (Mellencamp), Journey, Joy 
  Division, Judas Priest, Kenny Loggins, Kid ‘n Play, Kool and the 
  Gang, Kool Moe Dee, L.L. Cool J, Laura Branigan, Level 42, 
  Lionel Richie, Loverboy, Luther Vandross, Madness, Madonna, 
  Marvin Gaye, Men at Work, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Milli 
  Vanilli, Ministry, Motley Crue, Mr. Mister, N.W.A., New 
  Edition, New Kids on the Block, New Order, Orchestral 
  Manoeuvres in the Dark, Ozzy Osbourne, Pat Benatar, Patti 
  LaBelle, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Paul Young, Paula Abdul, 
  Pet Shop Boys, Pete Townshend, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Pink 
  Floyd, Pixies, The Pointer Sisters, Poison, The Police, The 
  Pretenders, Prince, Psychedelic Furs, Public Enemy, Queen, 
  Quiet Riot, RATT, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, REO 
  Speedwagon, The Replacements, Richard Marx, Rick James, Rick 
  Springfield, Robert Palmer, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, 
  Run-D.M.C., Rush, Sade, Salt-N-Pepa, Scorpions, Sheena Easton, 
  Simple Minds, Simply Red, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of 
  Mercy, Skid Row, Slayer, The Smiths, Sonic Youth, Spandau 
  Ballet, Squeeze, Starship, Steve Winwood, Stevie Nicks, Stevie 
  Ray Vaughan, Stevie Wonder, Sting, The Stone Roses, Stray Cats, 
  Styx, Talking Heads, Suicidal Tendencies, Tears for Fears, 
  Terence Trent D'Arby, Thomas Dolby, Thompson Twins, 
  Tiffany, Tina Turner, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Tom 
  Waits, Tone-Loc, Toto, Twisted Sister, U2, UB40, Van Halen, 
  Violent Femmes, Whitesnake, Whitney Houston, Yes, ZZ Top. 
   
   
   
   
   
  
  50 
   
  YOU MUST WATCH! 
  If you plan on running a game of Hughes, we urge you to watch 
  as many of the following movies as you possibly can in order to 
  get the feel of what we were going for with this game. 
   
  Adventures in Babysitting 
  Back to the Future 
  Better Off Dead 
  Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure 
  The Breakfast Club 
  Can’t Buy Me Love 
  Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 
  Fright Night 
  Heathers 
  Just One of the Guys 
  The Karate Kid 
  The Last Dragon 
  The Last Starfighter 
  The Lost Boys 
  My Science Project 
  Night of the Comet 
  Pretty in Pink 
  Real Genius 
  Say Anything 
  Sixteen Candles 
  Some Kind of Wonderful 
  Valley Girl 
  War Games 
  Weird Science 
  
   
   
   
   
   
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  HUGHESVILLE 
   
  HIGH 
   
  Welcome to Hughesville High! Like, totally! 
   
  Powered by the rules-light, narrative-heavy TNT 
  game engine, Hughesville High is, like, a totally 
  rad roleplaying game about high school kids in the 
  80s. High school kids with unusual powers and 
  abilities, sure, but high school kids nonetheless. It’s 
  a lighthearted game intended to evoke the classic 
  teen movies of the 1980s, with the modern teen-
  monster shtick and other weirdness thrown into 
  the mix for good measure. 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Deduped  Shit/Hughesville High/Hughesville High.pdf