TEXT: a retail horror roleplaying game 
  for a gamemaster and 2-5 players.
  Game Designed by Adam Vass
  Illustrations by Elizabeth Britten
  Colored by Adam Vass
   
  Published by 
  World Champ Game Co. 
  july 2018
  www.worldchampgame.co
  
  2
  
  3
  This town sucks, 
  but it’s all we’ve got, 
  so we gotta protect it.
      Capitalism sucks, 
  but it’s all we’ve got, 
  so we gotta work to live. 
  Our friends are cool,
   and they’re all we’ve got, 
  so we gotta rely on each other 
  to survive.
  
  Table of Contents
  Intro - 5
   
  What is an RPG? - 6
   
  Overview - 7
  Character Creation - 10
   
  Attributes - 10
   
  Talents - 11
   
  Mystics  Magic Spells - 12
  Classes - 13
   
  Team Leader, Superhero - 14
   
  Graphic Novelist, Regular - 15
   
  Tabletopper, Zinester - 16
  Personality - 17
  Stress - 18
  Conditions - 19
  Advancement Points - 20
  Setting Hacks - 22
  Rolling Dice - 24
   
  Extraordinary Action - 26
   
  Situation Gets Worse - 27
   
  Items - 29
  Combat - 30
  Earning Advancement Points - 32
  Work - 34
  GM Section - 36
   
  Campaign VS One Shots - 38
   
  Plot Hook Tables - 40
   
  Work Problems - 42
   
  Secret Class: Transformed - 43
   
  Fiend Zine - 44
  Character Sheet - 48
  
  5
  Introduction
   
  This game was built from day one as “Clerks meets Buffy.” 
  You’re regular people in irregular circumstances and the rest of the 
  town seem oblivious to everything that’s keeping you busting your 
  butt every day, whether its blowing up zombies or just keeping the 
  shelves stocked.
      This is a horror game insofar as Army of Darkness is a horror movie. 
  There are monsters, there’s probably a whole lot of blood, but there 
  are just as many goofs as there are threats. Imagine if a demonic 
  portal opened up in the middle of Biodome and you’re the idiots 
  who have to close it. You’re probably more worried those freaks are 
  gonna weeze your snackage than what they’re gonna do to the rest 
  of the world.
      For more inspiration, watch these shows or movies: 
   
  • Clerks, Mallrats, or really any other Kevin Smith crap. 
  Especially Dogma.
   
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer the tv series, particularly the high 
  school years. Maybe the movie too, I’ve never seen it though.
   
  • Any Pauly Shore movie, Encino Man or A Goofy Movie are 
  my favorites
   
  • 80’s and 90’s media about work like High Fidelity, Office 
  Space, Good Burger.
   
  • 80’s and 90’s media about idiots like Bill & Ted, Beavis & 
  Butthead, Dazed & Confused, or Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
   
  • Campy horror comedy stuff like Evil Dead, Return of the 
  Living Dead, or Shaun of the Dead.
  
  6
  What is an RPG?
  	
  If	this	is	your	first	roleplaying	game,	hot	dang,	welcome.	If	
  you’re at all experienced, you’re probably skipping this section, see 
  you later.
      An RPG is a collaborative and randomized method of telling a 
  story. All but one players in your group will create unique characters 
  using the rules described in this book and act out their thoughts, 
  dialogue, and actions in the story that you create. You’ll use special 
  skills and dice to do special things. This is a collaborative game so 
  while your characters may not always get along, the players should 
  work together to make sure everyone has a good time.
      One person in the group will act as the Gamemaster. If you’re 
  reading this book, it may well be you. They will facilitate the 
  game, check rules, describe settings, and control all the events 
  and characters not portrayed by the players. You’ll adapt the story 
  according to the actions of the player characters and help your 
  group create fun memorable moments in a story. This role requires 
  some improvisation and a little bit of preparation but it isn’t as scary 
  as you might think.
  
  7
   
  Simply put, you have to save the world. Or, at the very least, 
  your small dumb town. Oh, and if you lose your job, the world might 
  as well have ended anyways, so you’re gonna have to keep track of 
  that crap too. Your gamemaster will introduce threats to both your 
  job security and your physical security and it is up to your group to 
  mitigate or vanquish these threats by playing the game.
   
  Every player will need a character sheet (included in the 
  back of this book and downloadable at worldchampgame.co) and 
  a bunch of six-sided dice (d6), probably 4-6 per player.  Whenever 
  your character would act under duress, you’ll roll a bunch of d6. The 
  number of dice will be determined by your character’s attributes, 
  talents, and special abilities. If any dice result in a 6, your character 
  successfully does what they were trying to do. If any result in a 1, 
  things get worse. You’ll learn more about using dice later on. 
      As you play, you’ll earn points that you can spend to make your 
  character better. Your group can decide if you want to just play one 
  session or a longer story. Short stories are fun and your characters 
  become disposable so you can go crazy and kill them off without a 
  care, but longer stories let you develop your character, learn cool 
  talents, and kick bigger asses. 
   
  I chose a comic book shop as my default cause my friends 
  work at the comic shop in my town and they kick ass. However, 
  as this game is also full of 90’s pastiche, the comic shop isn’t the 
  friendly beacon it is today now that geek culture is effectively 
  mainstream. For those too young or those who’ve purged it from 
  your memory, going to a comic shop in the 90’s usually sucked; 
  it was often the inaccessible homebase of negative elitist nerd 
  culture and inattentive Magic players that became a stereotype. “If 
  Overview
  
  8
  you don’t know the number of the issue where Silver Surfer fought 
  the Hulk, you are unworthy and can get the hell out of here” style of 
  shop. 
   
  There are a few hacks later in this book for playing in 
  different places of work and even a school setting. The settings and 
  skills are versatile enough that you can mold it to any millennial 
  teen job with which you want to play. The more soul-sucking the 
  job, the better (and probably harder) the game will get. 
   
  This game is fun and dumb as you want it to be, but a lot of 
  it is built on the idea of implied responsibility (or lack thereof) at an 
  entry level retail job. Why should you care what a dragon does to 
  the slurpee machine when you make minimum wage? What more 
  do you owe your boss, your coworkers, or your customers when your 
  physical well-being is constantly being put at risk? How much is too 
  much before you can’t take anymore and you leave that blood spill 
  in Aisle 3 for someone else to clean up? Your physical and mental 
  health should be more immediately important than your job, but 
  a lot of the time, you need that job to pay for and maintain that 
  health; it’s a double-edged sword. 
  	
  Similarly,	these	types	of	jobs	are	typically	filled	by	people	
  in their late teens and early 20’s, and its pretty screwed to expect 
  them to vanquish evil and be in at 9am, but that’s late capitalism 
  for you. People at this age tend to have bigger aspirations but 
  get locked into part-time work for more than part of the time. It’s 
  hard enough to balance your day job with your true passion, for 
  instance shredding the 7-string guitar, directing obscure arthouse 
  indie	films,	or	designing	tabletop	games.	Now	you	have	to	factor	in	
  enough time to destroy the ancient relic that is turning your town 
  into a bloodthirsty corpse voltron. 
   
   
  Unfortunately “rich parents” or “paid time off” aren’t 
  available talents in this game, so it’s time to get to work.
  
  9
  
  10
  Character Creation
   
  Every action a player takes in this game can be broken down 
  to three simple categories: Hearty, Brainy, and Savvy. You’ll assign a 
  value to each of these attributes when you build your character with 
  higher values being a higher level of skill your character has.
   
  Hearty (H) encompasses your physical strength. This 
  includes actions like picking up something heavy, throwing a 
  punch, climbing a ladder, etc. You’ll also use the Hearty score to 
  determine your Stress threshold (which we will cover in depth later) 
  and	resistance	to	gross	stuff,	like	fighting	the	effects	of	poison	or	
  resisting the urge to vomit after eating an expired burrito.   
   
  Brainy (B) measures your mental aptitude. This includes 
  anything reliant on your intelligence, such as reading a book, 
  remembering important history, or plotting out a plan of attack. You 
  also rely on your Brainy score to act quickly under pressure, such as 
  dodging a rival’s attack or making decisions quickly in the face of 
  danger. 
   
  Savvy (S) involves all of your social tools. You’ll use this 
  attribute whenever you need to convincingly lie to someone, ask a 
  favor, or exploit someone emotionally. This also includes your street 
  smarts like reading body language, knowing who to seek for help 
  when things get tough, or creating an effective distraction.  
      
      When you build your character, you have 8 points to spend 
  in these 3 attributes. You must spend at least 1 point but no 
  more than 4 in each attribute when you start the game (though 
  this limit is lifted as you play the game). Decide what sort of person 
  you want your character to be and build your attributes accordingly. 
  A physically strong but daft player would start the game with H(4), 
  B(1), S(3). A streetwise character with less muscles would be H(1), 
  B(3), S(4).
  Attributes
  
  11
  	
  Talents	are	more	specific	things	you	can	be	good	at.	While	
  many of these skills would be included in Attributes, this allows 
  for players to have specializations (such as a Savvy character being 
  extra adept with Empathy) or to make up for shortcomings (like 
  a character with low Brainy score could give themself some extra 
  Speed).
   
  You’ll begin the game with 3 talents. At least one will be 
  dictated by your chosen class and you can choose the rest. You’ll get 
  4 points to spend amongst your chosen talents. You must spend 
  at least 1 but no more than 4 in each talent. Unlike attributes, 
  this limit is not raised, though you will be able to learn new talents 
  later on. If a talent you’d like is not listed here, work with your 
  Gamemaster to include it in your game.
  Talents
  • Battle
  • Navigation
  • Sneak
  • Speed
  • Resourceful
  • Lore
  • Leadership
  • Empathy
  • Logic
  • First Aid
  • Escape
  • Friend
  • Tricks
  • Tech
  • Deduction
  
  12
   
  Casting magic spells is done by using the Mystic talent, 
  to which only some classes have access. You will use it just like 
  any other talent, adding dice to the pool when attempting to roll, 
  increasing your chances of success. However, Mystic is simply a 
  placeholder which you will replace with the name of a chosen spell. 
  You can level up this spell just like any other talent and you can 
  learn new spells in the same way. You begin the game with one 
  spell but can learn and invent new ones as the game progresses. 
  Casting spells always uses your Brainy attribute regardless of the 
  spell’s intended effects.  
      You can choose to be intentionally vague with the name of 
  your spells. A Mystic talent called “Sight” could allow you to see 
  through a wall, to see body heat like the Predator, or see the future 
  depending on the context in which you choose to cast it. You may 
  also	be	specific	with	a	Mystic	talent	called	“Flame	Bolt”	which	allows	
  you	to	simply	cast	bolts	of	flame.	Mystic	arts	are	intentionally	open-
  ended and encourage you to get creative with them. 
  Mystics and Magic Spells
  
  13
  Classes
   
  A well equipped staff has experts in every section, so it’s 
  time to hire some folks to work in your shop. 
  Each player must choose from one of the following class options. 
   
  Each has their inherent strengths and weaknesses, 
  so working as a team will be important for your survival. It is 
  recommended that every player in your group chooses a different 
  class so your cast has a diverse spread of skills. 
   
  Every class starts the game with the following: a special 
  item,	at	least	one	class-specific	talent,	a	passive	ability,	and	a	special	
  action which can be used twice per game.
  • Team Leader
  • Superhero
  • Graphic Novelist
  • Regular
  • Tabletopper
  • Zinester
  
  14
  Team Leader
  Superhero
  • Item: The keys to the back.
  • Talents: Awareness, Mystic**
  • Passive: Authority. You may 
  cast spells, see Talents.
  • Special Action: 
  Encouragement. You may opt to 
  give your turn to another player. 
  When you do so, they gain +2 
  dice to their dice pool for whatever 
  action they take that turn.
  • Item: A skateboard, baseball 
  bat, or some other creative blunt 
  object.
  • Talents: Melee, Guts
  • Passive: Glory. If something 
  would cause you to take your 
  fi	nal	stress,	you	may	immediately	
  perform one action before 
  succumbing.
  • Special Action: Push. If 
  performing a physical action 
  on your turn (anything that 
  uses Hearty score), you may 
  immediately perform a second 
  physical action.
  
  15
  Graphic Novelist
  Regular
  • Item: Backpack with something 
  nerdy in it.
  • Talents: Clever
  • Passive: Mind Over Matter. 
  When determining your Stress 
  Limit, use your Brainy score 
  instead of Hearty.
  • Special Action: Derivative. If 
  another player has cast any spells 
  this game, you can cast the same 
  spell once using your Brainy score 
  without the Mystic talent.
  • Item: (choose any one simple 
  item relevant to your character).
  • Talents: Escape
  • Passive: Deus Ex Machina. 
  Your character has unique access 
  to friendly non-player characters 
  (NPCs) outside of work.
  • Special Action: Copycat. Once 
  per game session you may use 
  the talent score of another player 
  when attempting an action if 
  they’ve already used that talent 
  this session.
  
  16
  Tabletopper
  Zinester
  • Item: A bag of polyhedral dice 
  or a binder full of trading cards.
  • Talents: Strategy, Mystic**
  • Passive: Critical. You may cast 
  spells, see Talents.
  • Special Action: Advantage. 
  On a failed test, you may reroll 
  a number of dice equal to your 
  Savvy score.
  • Item: a tote bag containing 
  scissors and a stapler.
  • Talents: Create
  • Passive: Fanﬁ c. Once per game 
  session, when another player 
  character would receive stress, you 
  can take it instead.
  • Special Action: Community. 
  You may take -1 to a test on your 
  turn to give another player +1 on 
  their next turn.
  
  17
  Personality
  				Your	personality	type	is	a	simplification	of	who	you	really	are	and	
  disregards what your role is at work. Personalities offer a bonus to 
  specific	attribute	scores	as	well	as	a	weakness.	Choose	one	of	the	
  following or work with your Gamemaster to create a custom type. 
  Athlete
   
  +1 Hearty. -1 when dealing with books or maps.
  Dreamboat 
   
  +1 Hearty. -1 when dealing with gross things.
  Punk
  	
  +1	Hearty.	-1	when	dealing	with	authority	figures.	
  Artiste 
   
  +1 Savvy. -1 when dealing with wet things.
  Stoner 
   
  +1 Savvy. -1 when dealing with cops or security.
  Witch 
   
  +1 Savvy. -1 when dealing with technology.
  Nerd 
   
  +1 Brainy. -1 when dealing with bullies.
  Prankster 
   
  +1 Brainy. -1 when dealing with real adults.
  Misfit 
   
  +1 Brainy. -1 when dealing with the popular people.
  
  18
  Stress
   
  Stress is a measure of how many times you can get knocked 
  down before you stop getting back up. Usually (but not exclusively), 
  monsters will cause physical stress and your job causes mental and 
  emotional stress. In this game, they both hurt the same.
   
  Your character has a Stress Threshold at the start of the game 
  that is equal to your Hearty attribute +1 (except the Graphic 
  Novelist class, whose threshold is Brainy+1). When you are hurt in 
  any way by an enemy, it causes one Stress that you’ll mark on your 
  character sheet. 
   
  You can erase marked Stress by taking Conditions (next 
  section)	or	doing	some	sort	of	healing	like	first	aid	during	gameplay.	
  If you are playing an ongoing campaign, Stress and Conditions 
  restart at 0 the next time your gang gets back together.
   
  When you have a number of Stress marks equal to or higher 
  than your threshold, you succumb, though you get to decide 
  what exactly that means. If you are playing a gorey style of game, 
  this usually means your character dies, probably in a fantastical 
  bloody way. Maybe you can choose to go insane instead in a sort 
  of lovecraftian madness style. Or maybe you’ve just had enough 
  of this shit, you quit your job and ride your bike home. Tomorrow 
  you’re	really	gonna	have	to	figure	out	what	the	hell	you’re	doing.	
  
  19
  Conditions
   
  Near the Stress section of your character sheet is a space for 
  Conditions. These are ongoing pains that your character is suffering 
  from and they’ll make it harder to do things in the game. Taking a 
  condition earns you an Advancement Point, more on that later. 
   
  You can have 3 conditions at most. You may choose to take 
  a condition in place of taking a Stress mark or the Gamemaster can 
  assign you a condition when it makes sense for the story. Conditions, 
  like talents, are pretty free form and your Gamemaster and you can 
  make	them	up	on	the	fly,	but	regardless	of	what	the	name	of	the	
  condition is, they all give you negative one to a particular attributes. 
  These stack as well, so if you have three physical conditions, you 
  will have -3 to your Hearty attribute until you get them checked out. 
  Here is a list of some samples:
  -1 Hearty
  Tired
  Fractured
  Burnt
  -1 Brainy 
  Confused
  Pissed
  Dizzy
  -1 Savvy
  Unpopular
  Ugly
  Smelly
   
  Conditions only go away when it makes sense in the story. If 
  you are Pissed but another character calms you down, you can erase 
  the condition. If you are Burnt and you apply some medication and 
  bandages, you can erase it.
  
  20
  Advancement Points
   
  On the bottom left of your character sheet is a space for you 
  to keep track of points. Your gamemaster will award points to you, 
  for good gaming, defeating enemies, or taking conditions. You may 
  not collect more than 10 points, you will have to spend some before 
  earning any more. You may spend your points during gameplay or 
  between sessions. Learning new talents can be done in the heat of 
  battle if you have the points for it. You can collect and spend them 
  as you wish for the following effects:
  2 points
  Reroll 1 die.
  4 points
  Permanent +1 Talent point (max 3) to 
  an existing Talent.
  6 points
  Learn 1 new Talent, which may replace 
  an existing Talent if necessary.
  8 points
  Change the outcome of another 
  character’s action for better or worse.
  10 points
  Permanent +1 in any attribute.
  
  21
  
  22
  Setting Hacks
   
  If comic shops aren’t your thing, uhhh why not? They are 
  sick. But you can easily mold the classes and talents to suit other 
  settings	or	emulate	some	90s	genre	films.	Here	are	a	couple	easy	
  hacks to host your game in other spaces. You’re gonna want to 
  improvise on the items that come with each class though.
  COMMUNITY COLLEGE
  Community, Accepted. 
   
  Team Leader & Regular don’t really apply anymore so 
  replace all the classes with these:
  Leader (Team Leader). Somebody’s gotta rally the troops, at least 
  you’ll get out of math class.
  Athlete (superhero). All brawn. Not much brain.
  Nerd (Graphic Novelist). You know exactly what to do and you can 
  cite your sources in the approved style.
  Savant (Regular). All they think about is this dumb little college, 
  but you know there is a bigger world, if only you could put it into 
  words they’d understand. 
  Rebel (Gamer). You live by your own rules, but even those are 
  pretty loose most of the time.
  Artist (Zinester). You’re just here to tear apart the system from the 
  inside, hopefully someone will teach you how to do that.
  
  23
  RECORD STORE 
  High Fidelity, Empire Records. 
   
  Your Team Leader & Regular can stay the same. Then, 
  integrate these other classes: 
  Shelf Stocker (Superhero). Carrying those crates has really toned 
  you out. 
  Vinyl Purist (Graphic Novelist). “it just sounds BETTER.”
  Used Section (Gamer). You’d have a college degree if they 
  considered punk history a course and if you hadn’t dropped out. 
  DIY Label (Zinester). You’re crafty enough to make the best of a 
  bad situation.
  CONVENIENCE STORE
  Clerks, Encino Man. 
   
  Again, your Team Leader & Regular can stay the same. Then, 
  integrate these other classes: 
  Night Security (Superhero). Prepared for when strange things are 
  afoot at the Circle K.
  Part Time (Graphic Novelist). Just working for some extra cash til 
  you get that very useful and job-friendly philosophy degree.
  Register (Gamer). Low key number cruncher, you have exact 
  change ready before they can say “let me get ten bucks on pump 
  four.”
  Snacks (Zinester). They’ve got problems, you’ve got solutions, 
  abstract as they may seem. Just no weezing the juice. 
  
  24
  Rolling Dice
   
  Whenever your character is trying to act under duress, you 
  have to roll dice to determine the outcome. For the most part, this is 
  a pass/fail system and passing isn’t super easy. After all, you’re not 
  the chosen ones, you’re just ones in the wrong place at the wrong 
  time. 
      Your Gamemaster will tell you when something you want to do 
  requires a dice test. To close a door wouldn’t require a test, but to 
  slam a door on a goblin who is trying to chase you will.
      First, the gamemaster will choose one of your 
  three attributes that encompasses your action. Like 
  mentioned before, Hearty for physical stuff, Brainy 
  for intelligent stuff, and Savvy for social stuff. You 
  will take a number of dice equal to your score in 
  that attribute.
      Second, you will check your talents. If there is 
  anything you can apply to this task, you get to take 
  an additional number of dice equal to your score 
  in that talent.
      Third, you can get one additional die in your pool 
  if you are using an item to help yourself out.
      Lastly, if any of the other players are assisting 
  you in the task, you can get one more die (except 
  in combat!). If you’re trying to reach up to a ledge 
  and another player volunteers to give you a boost, 
  take that extra die, but if you’re trying to punch 
  somebody and another player volunteers to whip 
  you into the victim, that doesn’t count. 
  # D6 of 
  Relevant
  Attribute
  # D6 of 
  Relevant
  Talent
  1 D6 if 
  using an 
  item
  1 D6 if 
  being 
  helped
  +
  +
  +
  
  25
      Now that you hopefully have a whole bunch of dice in front of 
  you, you’re gonna roll them all at once. 
  If any of the dice result in a 6,
  you do what you were trying to do.
  If any additional dice result in a 6,
  you get to do an Extraordinary Action.
  If any of the dice result in a 1,
  the situation get worse.
  It is possible to get more than one or even none of these results, 
  that is ok, it will make the story better and it will probably feel really 
  good next time you actually do something right.
  
  26
  Extraordinary Action
      When you roll more than one 6, you did a really good job. You get 
  to choose from a few things that can potentially change the game:
  Extra Good: 
   
  You did so good, you did GREAT. You tried to dodge a 
  minotaur’s axe and not only did you get out of the way in time but 
  that axe is stuck in the sidewalk. Or you tried to sprint to get back to 
  your shift before you were late, you got some extra successes, and 
  you walk in early and the owner notices. If you were attempting to 
  cause	physical	harm	to	something,	you	can	use	this	action	to	inflict	
  extra Stress. Basically, the thing you wanted to do gets a boost. 
  Authority Warp:
   
  The Gamemaster usually tells you what happens when 
  you succeed or fail, but now it’s your turn. You get to explain what 
  happens next, which gives you the opportunity to tip the scales in 
  favor of your character a little bit if you want. You can even make 
  things worse for everybody, you sick little freak, if you think it’ll 
  make the story more fun. This action lets you manipulate the story a 
  little bit, but you shouldn’t be trying to break the game.
  Healing
   
  You’re feeling extra empowered by your success and can 
  erase 1 Stress. This doesn’t work for healing Conditions though. 
  Advancement Points
  You get to mark two points on your character sheet (not one per 
  extra success, just two total). Hey, they add up in the long run, don’t 
  be petty about this.
  
  27
  The Situation Gets 
  Worse
   
  If there are any 1’s in your pool after rolling dice, your 
  situation gets worse, even if you succeeded at the task at hand. It’s 
  usually up to the gamemaster to explain how exactly things are 
  worse unless you are able to use the Authority Warp extraordinary 
  action. 
   
  If you used an item, that item might’ve broken. If you struck 
  a creature of the night, now they’re pissed off and starting right at 
  you. If you killed a werewolf but a swarm of wererats burst out of 
  its chest. If you tried to wash the windows before the store opened, 
  you stepped in a bucket of soapy water and splashed it all over. 
  Sometimes these moments can be funny or sometimes they can 
  really wreck you. None of them should cause player characters to 
  gain stress or conditions, though it can present a situation in which 
  stress is likely. The situation worsening is merely a complication 
  in the story as opposed to mechanical happenings warping the 
  numbers on your character sheet. 
  
  28
  
  29
  Items
  	
  You’re	gonna	need	to	get	clever	to	find	and	use	items	during	
  your adventure. Think of what’s around the shop, what you might 
  find	on	the	sidewalk,	what	you	can	steal	from	a	parked	car	nearby.	
  You’re not stopping by the armory and you’re not gonna run into 
  Rambo on the way to the hole to hell forming in the break room, so 
  no guns or serious weapons.
   
  When you acquire an item, write it down in your list on 
  your character sheet. While there are four item slots on the sheet, 
  including one that will be determined by your class, you might not 
  be able to carry everything. Use common sense; if you don’t have 
  a backpack you’re not gonna be carrying around a stack of books. 
  Similarly nobody is gonna be able to carry four sledgehammers, 
  you’re probably not that strong, and if you are then you’re in the 
  wrong line of work. 
   
  When you can use one of the items in your possession, it is 
  worth +1 to your dice pool. You can be creative as you wish, it is up 
  to the Gamemaster to decide if using your item is appropriate. You 
  can use a pipe to smash someone over the head, sure, but you can 
  also use it to pry open a window or vault over a small crevasse. 
  Occasionally, using your item in a particular way will cause you to 
  break or lose it. This also is up to the gamemaster, but typically if 
  you roll to use an item and you get any 1 results, then you’re gonna 
  end up erasing it from your sheet. Don’t get too attached. 
  
  30
  	
  You	will	end	up	fighting	some	stuff,	not	a	matter	of	“if”	but	
  “when.” Whether its a hoard of braindead geeks, a couple would-be 
  shop thiefs, or an enormous venomous bug creature, you’re gonna 
  come to blows.
  Turn Order
      When the situation arises, the player with the highest Brainy 
  score	will	roll	their	Brainy	stat	to	see	who	goes	first.	If	they	have	
  any successes, the players all go before the enemies. If there are 
  no successes, the enemies act before the players. The order of turns 
  within	the	player	group	can	be	fluid	but	everyone	can	take	one	
  combat action per round (casting a spell, striking something, trying 
  to hide, etc). 
   
  Once all the players go, the enemies attack. The gamemaster 
  dictates what they do and to whom, it is up to the players to take a 
  defensive	move	(evade,	block,	deflect,	whatever).	The	GM	doesn’t	
  roll dice for the enemy attacks, the players instead roll to defend. 
           
  Inflicting Stress/Conditions
   
  Physical and psychological stress are equally dire to players 
  in this game, so in combat, it seems only fair to make them dire 
  to your enemies. Outsmarting a vampire can be as rewarding as 
  a good left hook to the fangs, so the vamp is going to take stress 
  either way. Like the players, enemies have stress thresholds and are 
  defeated when they have taken enough stress. Enemies do not take 
  conditions.
  Combat
  
  31
   
  Generally speaking, hitting someone causes 1 stress. 
  Players	can	inflict	more	stress	using	extraordinary	actions	and	some	
  enemies	can	inflict	more	stress	on	players	with	special	talents.	Some	
  creatures will have armor or resistance to stress, there are a handful 
  of them in the back of this book in the Fiend Zine section. For the 
  most part, you are idiot teens and you don’t know if a Death Knight 
  has special abilities or if a Paper Golem is immune to getting hit 
  with	a	baseball	bat,	there	is	only	really	one	way	to	find	out,	so	swing	
  for the fences, bud. 
      
  Death
   
  You’ll want to decide before starting play if death is part of 
  your game or not, but this section will assume that it is. When any 
  character reaches their stress threshold, they’re giving up the ghost. 
  This moment will always be dictated by the players! A player gets to 
  describe in brutal detail their character’s death scene. Bonus points 
  when your blood mixes with a spilled bottle of blue Powerade and 
  another player is gonna have to clean it up before a customer slips. 
   
  Similarly, whenever a player would kill an opponent, it is 
  up to that player to describe the scene. If the death is happening at 
  the same time as the situation getting worse, the GM might have 
  to chime in, but let the players bathe joyfully in the blood of their 
  enemies for a second before they realize they’re only half an hour 
  into an eight hour shift.
  
  32
   
  Earning Advancement Points is ultimately up to the 
  Gamemaster’s discretion, but you should be earning a few points 
  whenever you play, 2-5 is a normal amount for one session. There 
  are a few ways to earn points in the game:
  Vanquished Foes
   
  If you took part in a battle and won, you get 1 point. Not 
  one per villain or one per hit you landed, just one for being on the 
  winning team. 
  Great Job
   
  When you go above and beyond at work, whether it is 
  cleaning up some puke or chasing down a petty thief, doing 
  anything	your	boss	didn’t	specifically	ask	you	to	do	that	makes	the	
  business better gets 1 point.
  Character Voices
   
  When you do something really cool in roleplay, something 
  that really embodies your character or makes the story awesome or 
  makes everybody laugh or whatever, you get 1 point. 
  Ouchy
   
  When you take on an ongoing Condition in lieu of 
  accumulating Stress, you earn 1 point. 
  Extraordinary Actions
   
  As an Extraordinary Action when you roll multiple 6’s on a 
  single test, you can choose to gain 2 points.
  Earning Advancement 
  Points
  
  33
  33
  
  34
  Work
   
  As scary as any bloodthirsty beast that might disrupt your 
  day is the foreboding sense of responsibility you have while you’re 
  at work. Your boss isn’t around but somehow they always seem to 
  know that something is up. A monster has the power to take your 
  life but your dumb boss has the power to take your livelihood.
  	
  The	Gamemaster	will	typically	fill	the	role	of	your	boss	and	
  chime in with tasks for you to do. This can be delivered as a sticky 
  note on the door of the employee bathroom, a dreadfully slow fax, 
  or a call to the shop’s landline, but the boss is never actually present. 
  Think of Charlie’s Angels if Charlie was a real pain in the ass. Two or 
  three tasks per player is a good number for a single work day. All 
  the tasks must be accomplished each work day… or else. 
   
  You’re bored and creative so you can choose any way to 
  accomplish these tasks. The windows need cleaning, but maybe 
  you	can	do	it	with	some	modified	super	soakers	while	you	roll	each	
  other around the shop in wheelbarrows. Just like combat, you’ll use 
  dice rolls to accomplish these tasks. 
  
  35
   
  New tasks may arise over the course of the day, especially 
  if you’re slacking off. The gamemaster will remind you often that 
  you have work to do even if you’re in the middle of an important 
  counter-ritual to prevent demonic summoning. Players are also 
  encouraged to remind one another of their work duties even if it 
  isn’t something on the list that the GM presented. For example, a 
  player could say “Hey dude, did you remember to get change for 
  the drawer this morning?” and all of a sudden, you’re minutes away 
  from	getting	your	final	written	warning	before	firing.	
   
  Failing tasks over the course of the day will cause you to take 
  stress & conditions the same way a battle with a creature would, 
  though you will still have some time to make sure they get done. If 
  one player fails a task, another player can cover their responsibility 
  while they take a nap and heal themselves. However, at the end of 
  the	work	day,	any	unfinished	work	tasks	inflict	one	stress	each	to	all	
  player characters. 
  
  36
  Gamemaster Section
  Goals
   
  As gamemaster, you will be building the world around 
  the players, populating it with trouble, and acting on behalf of 
  that trouble. You will make decisions on behalf of any of the side 
  characters not portrayed by the other players. You’ll also play the 
  important role of their boss, assigning stupid tasks to accomplish 
  each day as well as punishing those who fail to follow orders. 
   
  You should aspire to challenge your players in a variety of 
  ways. When you notice a particular player is dominating at combat, 
  confront	them	with	a	challenge	that	they	can’t	solve	with	their	fists.	
  If another player is solving everything with their mystical talents, 
  accost them with a threat that renders those powers temporarily 
  useless. Juggling physical threats with the ever-present mundanity 
  of work will give the players the desired feeling of this game, that 
  of doing the best they can and having what fun they can when the 
  little world they inhabit can still be kinda shitty. 
  
  37
   
  You’ll also want to give your players plenty of reasons 
  to	slack	off.	When	you	describe	a	leaky	pipe	that	needs	fixed,	go	
  into excruciating detail. Describe the sound the drops make, the 
  temperature	 of	 the	 fluid	 that	 is	 leaking,	 tow	 a	 very	 fine	 line	 of	
  boring the players with how dumb this leaky pipe is. If you do your 
  job	correctly,	they	will	know	that	they	have	to	fix	it	but	really	not	
  want to. If this pipe should start leaking at an inopportune time, 
  like when a wolf just crashed through the front window, it is almost 
  a	sure	thing	that	the	players	will	decide	the	pipe	isn’t	worth	fixing.	
  At the wages these kids are getting paid, almost none of these tasks 
  are worth doing, and having the option of saying “fuck it” is a nice 
  temptation for the players that may come back to bite them later.
   
  Lastly, as you play, you will learn a bit more about how each 
  player character behaves and you can challenge them in more 
  meaningful ways. If one of them is super into playing guitar on 
  the front counter, force them to make decisions that will either save 
  their guitar or save their friend. When one of them is working on 
  their	student	project	short	film,	put	their	camcorder	in	danger	and	
  force that player to make a dangerous decision. Nothing in this 
  game is easy for the people working in the shop, but in an effective 
  game where the GM and players all work together, you can still 
  have these human moments of dreamers and their happiness over 
  bosses and their bullshit.
  
  38
  Campaigns VS One-Shots
   
  This game is designed to be straight forward enough to run 
  as a single 2-4 hour session but also has the mechanical skeleton to 
  support a longer campaign.
   
  If you aspire to run a campaign, you’ll want to have some 
  sort of thread to connect all the strange events at the shop. Check 
  out the plot hook tables in the next section for ideas. Of course, you 
  don’t need this, it could just be another day grinding at your dumb 
  job and of course all these bad things are happening around you 
  because they always do. 
   
  In a campaign game, you’ll have to manage giving away 
  advancement points. You don’t want to give them a ton up front 
  and make them too powerful for their enemies, but you also don’t 
  want to be stingey or not reward them for good gameplay. You’ll 
  find	a	pace	that	works	for	you.	Remember	it	takes	10	points	to	level-
  up an attribute, so aim to give each player 4-8 each session.
  If one of your players can’t make a session, just say their character 
  had to call in sick for work and it’s up to everyone else to cover their 
  shift. If you gain a new player, they’re just a new hiree and it’s up to 
  the other characters to get them trained and up to snuff. 
   
  For one-shot games, there is a lot less work and responsibility 
  on the gamemaster. Treat the story like a stolen car: drive fast, take 
  risks, and abandon it quick when things get shitty. Your players will 
  give some push & pull in regards to pace, work with them instead 
  of against them so everyone has a good time.
   
  You may also want to be a bit more liberal giving out 
  advancement points. When everyone is a brand new character, 
  they’re typically not very skilled, even at their strongest talents. 
  Giving out points like Oprah will make up for the difference and 
  allow them to do crazy stuff sooner in the game. You get a point, 
  you get a point, everybody gets a point! You might even want to 
  start the game by handing a few out just for fun to let them advance 
  their stats at the start of the game. 
  
  39
  39
  
  40
  Plot Hook Generator
   
  If you’re not quite ready to dive into messing up your 
  friends’ day, here are a few jumpstarts for you to get the story 
  going. Many of these work as starters for one-shot games or as 
  underlying plots for campaign-based games. Each of these starters 
  also includes a couple questions you can choose to pursue if you 
  wish, but ultimately it is up to the player characters how they decide 
  to approach the problem.
   
  Roll 1d6 and assign it arbitrarily to one of these three tables 
  to instantly get a narrative hook for your game. If you don’t like the 
  one you got, try using the same number on a different table. 
  1. The shop is built on top of 
  a dimensional portal which is 
  leaking. How do you close it? Did 
  management put the shop here 
  on purpose? 
  2. Customer sells a haunted relic 
  to the shop. An old statue, a rare 
  comic	issue,	a	superhero	figurine	
  with a spirit inside of it. How do you 
  destroy it? What would happen if 
  you just try to resell it?
  3. A hot new tabletop game has 
  strange 
  summoning 
  powers. 
  Suddenly, rolling a critical failure 
  seems much more dire. Who made 
  the game? How do you beat it? 
  6. Shop is just frickin haunted. 
  What happened here in the past 
  that caused the haunting? What 
  did you do to aggravate the spirits? 
  How do you reconcile?
  5.	You	find	and	open	up	a	battered	
  copy of the Necronomicon in a 
  new comics shipment. What does 
  it do when you read it? How do you 
  stop it?
  4. The stockroom in back contains 
  portal to mirror dimension. Can 
  you go through it? What comes 
  out of it? Should you try to close it?
  
  41
  1. A neighboring business is 
  practicing the dark arts. How do 
  you defend yourselves? Is your 
  shop worth saving?
  1. One of your fellow employees 
  doesn’t show up for work without 
  calling. Where did they end up? 
  Do you care enough to help them?
  4. Government is covertly testing 
  employees	 for	 an	 evil-fighting	
  black ops team. Would you join if 
  you knew? How do you react?
  2. The Government conspires to 
  contain	 a	 confidential	 issue	 of	 a	
  new comic book. What’s so special 
  about this issue? What do you do 
  with it?
  2.	 Graffiti	 behind	 the	 store	 is	
  actually a series of runes and sigils 
  attracting the forces of evil. Who 
  put it there? How could you use 
  this to your own gain?
  3. An especially rude customer 
  is actually possessed. What does 
  the possessor want? What do you 
  do with the rude customer if you 
  manage to de-possess them?
  3. A  nice new comic shop opens 
  across the street and people seem 
  to	be	flocking	to	it,	more	than	ever	
  have visited your store. Is there 
  more here than meets the eye? Do 
  you want to get a job there? 
  6. A neighborhood cult performs 
  a ritual to recruit brainy townsfolk 
  aka your main clientele. What 
  does the cult want nerds for? How 
  does	 the	 ritual	 influence	 their	
  subjects?
  6. A pair of rival dorks have 
  quietly been playing a card 
  game in the back for who knows 
  how long. The game is magically 
  influencing	people	and	events	in	
  the real world. How do you beat 
  them at their own game?
  4.	The	toilet	is	overflowing	and	it	
  isn’t for the usual reasons. How 
  far down the pipes does this go? 
  Who is gonna clean it up? 
  5. A menacing creature seeks 
  asylum in the stockroom. From 
  whom are they hiding? Whose 
  side do you want to be on when 
  the shit hits the fan?
  5. A fellow employee downloads 
  a computer virus that summons 
  dark forces. How do you deal with 
  it when you barely have dial up 
  internet?
  
  42
  Work Problems
   
   As if it wasn’t enough to stave off the forces of evil, the 
  team also has to keep the shop running. As mentioned in the work 
  section, it’s up to you how you deliver these problems to your staff 
  via the invisible hand of management. Many work problems may 
  arise	as	complications	from	battling	creatures,	like	a	fight	resulting	
  in some shelves getting knocked over, but this is a good list to refer 
  to when you’re in a pinch. You can roll 2d6 and assign one of the 
  dice to each column to get a couple new things that need taken care 
  of ASAP.
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  Restock Shelves
  Mop A Spill
  Receive Delivery
  Place an Order
  Clean Windows
  Unclog Toilet
  Deposit Money
  Train New Hire
  Interview 
  Prospects
  Arrange Sales 
  Display
  Entertain Sales 
  Rep
  Promote The Shop
  
  43
  T he Secret Class
  Transformed
   
  Welp, you killed a player character. And it happened much 
  earlier in the story than you had planned and your friend is pissed 
  at you that they’re eliminated from the game. Guess what, I’ve got a 
  solution for you: the Transformed.
   
  Transformed is a pseudo-secret character class, in that it is 
  only a secret if your players didn’t read this far into the book and 
  you haven’t used it already. A player character can’t choose the 
  Transformed when starting the game but this is a good consolation 
  prize if a character dies early and wants to continue playing.
   
  The Transformed is the ethereal non-physical body of the 
  deceased	character.	Call	it	a	ghost,	spirit,	soul,	whatever	fits	your	
  game or belief system. They can choose to stay in this noncorporeal 
  form, inhabit the body of a deceased character nearby, or just sorta 
  make a form out of old receipt papers and empty Mountain Dew cans 
  from the garbage bin. Give your player a new character sheet and let 
  them build their new character with the following information:
  • No Items.
  • Talents: One Talent their character had before death, Mystic.
  • Passive: Too Late For Me. You can no longer receive Stress 
  from the thing that killed you. If this was a creature, it only 
  refers to the one unique creature. If this was environmental, 
  you are now immune to the type of stress it causes.
  • Special Action: The Other Side. When another player rolls 
  a 1 and the situation would get worse, you may cancel it. 
  •	Lose	your	old	Personality	modifier.	Your	new	personality	
  is Spectral: +1 to any one Attribute of your choice. -1 when 
  dealing with mortals.
  
  44
   
  Every little comic shop of horrors needs, well, the horrors. 
  Anything you come up with is in play here: zombies, vampires, 
  mutants, ghosts, anything in your scary lexicon is fair game. Here 
  is	a	small	collection	of	fiends	you	can	toss	into	your	game	to	wreak	
  havoc on your players.
  	
  Each	creature	listed	has	a	difficulty	level	between	0	and	10.	
  Generally, this is equal to the number of stress they need to take to 
  be defeated, though some of them are a bit more complicated than 
  that.	The	difficulty	also	is	the	number	of	dice	you	may	need	to	roll	
  on the creature’s behalf if ever that circumstance happens, though 
  typically players will be the only ones rolling dice. Remember, a 
  monster doesn’t roll to attack, a player instead rolls to defend 
  themself. 
   
  Also, some of these critters have armor. This is in the GM 
  section and not the player section because it’s very unlikely that any 
  players	are	going	to	find	themselves	in	armor	assembled	from	crap	
  in the comic shop. One point of armor soaks up one success on an 
  attack roll, so a player would need to roll at least two successes on 
  their attack to deal any stress to their foe. I don’t have any bad boys 
  here with more than one armor, but you can come up with one if 
  you are an especially cruel gamemaster, since it is highly unlikely 
  but still possible for a player to get three successes in a single roll to 
  inflict	that	damage.
   
  Lastly, a couple of these monsters mention immunity or 
  vulnerability. Immunity, as you probably have guessed, means 
  they can’t gain stress at all from certain types of attack. You’ll treat 
  vulnerability the opposite of armor, they’ll gain one stress whenever 
  the player uses a particular type of attack, allowing your players 
  to vanquish certain foes more easily if they’d just stop and think 
  logically about it for like two seconds. 
  The Fiend Zine
  
  45
  Paper golem 
  (4, vulnerable to fire)
  An amalgamation of old receipts, crumpled packing lists, 
  and issues from the 25 cent bin unite to form a massive 
  beastial form, capable of crushing their opponents with 
  shape shifting arms or just dealing one hell of a bad 
  papercut.
  Rival mage 
  (4, immune to magic)
  Your shop doesn’t get a monopoly on nerd retail in this 
  town, and the other shops are preparing for war. After 
  hours, they’ve been training themselves in the mystical 
  arts while you’ve been getting high in a bean bag chair, so 
  they’re taking the opportunity to strike. 
  Tentacle horror (8). 
  You wouldn’t be able to pronounce it’s name out loud, 
  nonetheless spell it, so let’s roll with this. There are eyes 
  where there shouldn’t be, there are mouths where there 
  couldn’t be, and oh boy are there ever tentacles. Frickin 
  everywhere there are tentacles.
  
  46
  Inner-earth minion (2)
  Up from the crust comes these bad boys. Maybe you open 
  an	earthly	fissure	above	their	homebase	or	maybe	they’re	
  just tired of you playing your rock and roll albums too loud, 
  but either way, they’re here to shut you up. Luckily, they 
  don’t see so good in sunlight. 
  Inner-earth master (4, 1 armor)
  Those minions you met were just cannon fodder for the real 
  threat, their subterrestrial bosses. While their bodies seem 
  frail, stony suits of armor protect them from most attacks. 
  Plus, they know some weird earthly magic spells obviously.
  Long box bot 
  (5, vulnerable to water or fire)
  A	jaeger	of	cardboard,	all	the	shop	longboxes	float	and	click	
  together to form this rigid behemoth. Not as nimble as the 
  Paper Golem but easily more menacing and pain-inducing 
  until the kids realize it’s still just cardboard.
  Cultist (3, higher ranking members 
  have 1 armor)
  What sort of horror game would it be if there weren’t 
  regular old folks trying to manipulate the evil forces to 
  their own ends? Cultists are probably the people you see 
  about town on any given day, but you’ve never been able 
  to catch a glimpse under their cowel to know for sure. They 
  can do magic but they’re not strong at it. 
  
  47
  Mutant Shop cat 
  (3-7, changes forms and increases in 
  difficulty over the course of battle)
  Old Fluffy just isn’t acting herself today. It started with 
  coughing up a few hairballs that looked like there was a 
  finger	or	an	eyeball	in	there,	then	she	was	scratching	away	
  at the asbestos in the ceiling while she walked upside 
  down. Now, she’s got 8 legs and is speaking a demonic 
  language between soft purrs that rumble the ground.
  Brainwashed 
  (2, vulnerable to magic attacks)
  Being brainwashed is still no excuse to be a rude customer, 
  man. These people aren’t totally under their own control, so 
  maybe take it easy on them. Or maybe it’s that one person 
  who always calls the cops when you’re smoking in the back 
  alley and you really wanna seize the moment and hit them 
  in the face. 
  Embodied relic 
  (4, immune to physical attacks)
  With	all	the	action	figures	and	decorations	in	the	shop,	
  the likelihood of one of them inhabiting someone’s soul 
  just seems like a given. Of course if you destroy the object, 
  the soul is just going to inhabit another, so you gotta get 
  creative. 
  
  48
  CHARACTER SHEET
  HEARTY
  BRAINY
  SAVVY
  Attributes
  Name
  Class
  Personality
  Appearance
  Special
  Points
  Conditions
  Talents
  Stress
  Items (+1)
  worldchampgame.co
  
  49
  49
  A Retail Horror RPG
  by Adam Vass
  
  50
  50
  
  5151
  Overview
  • Most of the game will take place at 
  your comic shop.
  • Players will typically all be working 
  at the same time, don’t leave people 
  out.
  • You have to make sure the shop 
  is functioning and that the evils are 
  vanquished.
  • It’s the 90’s. No cell phones, maybe 
  dial-up internet if you’re lucky.
  Actions
  • When you try to perform any 
  diffi	cult	action,	roll	a	number	of	six-
  sided dice:
     — Add # from your relevant attribute 
  (Hearty, Brainy, Savvy).
     — Add # from an applicable talent if 
  possible.
     — Add one from an applicable item 
  if possible.
     — Add one if another character is 
  helping you unless you’re in combat.
  • If any dice result in a 6, you succeed.
  • If more than one die results in a 
  6, you can perform an extraordinary 
  action.
  • If any dice result in a 1, your 
  situation gets worse.
  Rules Summary
  Fighting
  • The player with the highest Brainy 
  attribute	rolls	to	decide	who	goes	fi	rst.
  • All players and all evils are grouped 
  together for turn order.
  • Typically, a physical attack will cause 
  1 Stress.
     — A player can instead take an 
  ongoing Condition to alleviate that 
  stress.
  • When a character’s stress threshold 
  is met, they succumb (die or pass out 
  or depends on your story, you decide).
  Points
  • Players earn Advancement points 
  for
     — Defeating enemies.
     — Doing a good job at work.
     — Playing the game in character.
     — Taking conditions instead of stress.
     — Using certain Extraordinary 
  Actions.
  • These points can be spent at any 
  time in the following ways
      — 2 points - Reroll one die.
    — 4 points - Permanent +1 Talent 
  point (max 3) to an existing Talent.
     — 6 points -  Learn one new Talent, 
  which may replace an existing Talent 
  if necessary.
     — 8 points - Change the outcome of 
  another character’s action for better 
  or worse.
     — 10 points - Permanent +1 in any 
  attribute.
  
  52
  52
  This is a roleplaying game for 
  slackers, punks, stoners, losers, 
  nerds, freaks, and 90s kids.
  You’ll work together to save your 
  crappy little comic shop from 
  weirdo monsters and nefarious 
  townsfolk.
  Oh, and you also gotta make sure 
  you still stock the shelves, keep 
  the windows clean, and clock in 
  on time.
  For fans of Buffy, Pauly Shore 
  Movies, The Evil Dead, Slacker 
  movies and horror comedy.
  48 page zine includes:
  • player character creation
  • easy dice pool system
  • rules for combat, magic, leveling up, 
  and getting your work done
  • plot hook generators for fast setup
  download character sheets 
  and get more games at
  www.worldchampgame.co
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Other (Unique) Systems/Minimum Rage [WCGC].pdf