We're in Danger is a tabletop roleplaying game that pits would-be survivors against life-threatening Dangers. The game takes inspiration from an array of sources, and aims to create the tense and immediate experiences of horror and disaster stories. The term Danger describes the deadly villains, hazards, and situations players must overcome.
Want a slasher game in the vein of Halloween, Dead by Daylight, or even Jaws? Use Danger to represent Michael Myers, the Trapper and his bear traps, or even a giant shark.
Want an apocalyptic game like The Walking Dead, Fallout, or A Quiet Place? Use Danger to represent zombie hordes, radioactive mutants, alien invaders, and violent human factions.
Want a slow-burn supernatural horror game like Midnight Mass, The Witch, or Amnesia? Use Danger to represent malicious ghosts, scheming cultists, and demonic possession.
Want sci-fi in your game, like Event Horizon, The Thing, or Predator? Use Danger to represent the denizens of hell, amorphous shapeshifters, and technologically advanced aliens.
Want a disaster game like Twister, Dante's Peak, or Armageddon? Use Danger to represent environmental threats such as tornadoes, volcanoes, or planet-killing asteroids.
A nightmarish hag, one of many villains looking to put you in Danger.
We’re In Danger is scenario-based and focuses on high intensity one-shots using a unique d6 dice pool system. Think of a scenario as a movie, a short story, an arc of your favorite comic, or a video game. A scenario is self-contained and centers on the plight of characters whose odds of survival are bleak.
However, like any successful movie or video game, sequels are always an option. If you want a longer campaign, you might play a franchise. In a franchise, you run multiple, linked scenarios that include surviving characters and deadlier variations of similar Dangers.
Patty and Grace, two would-be survivors having a very bad day.
We’re in Danger casts you in the role of an average person, but someone capable of using their ingenuity and skill to rise to the occasion. You excel in some areas, falter in others, and possess a natural instinct to survive even the most horrific situations.
Character creation takes only a minute or two, and allows for all sorts of concepts. No bloated skill lists and no tome of overly situational talents and spells. The game distills your character to a handful of features that will all come into play, and could be the different between a glorious death and well-earned survival.
What remains of ill-prepared survivors.
We're in Danger has been in active development for years, and an early access version of the game is available on itch.io and RPG Trader. This BackerKit campaign is to fund a print-run of the game, custom art, and improved graphic design and layout. With your help, we'll also look to add more premade scenarios and extra tools to support GMs.
Jeff here, back with another game preview update as the days tick down to launch. Another big thank you to everyone who has followed the teaser page!
"I hardly think a few birds are going to bring about the end of the world."
Last time, I wrote about the core resolution mechanism (4d6 dice pool), and a little about attributes (athleticism, composure, reasoning). For this post, I wanted to go over some ways PCs can help shift the odds of a test more in their favor. I briefly mentioned these last time, but let's talk more about expertise, items, and assisting.
When you make a character (PC) for We're in Danger, you not only rank your attributes, but you also pick an expertise. An expertise is a specific skill or field of knowledge that your PC can always count on, even in the most dire of circumstances. It's the ability that your PC is known for, the type of thing other people might come to you about. Some examples:
Automotive Repair. Maybe you work as a mechanic at a local body shop.
Skateboarding. Maybe you've played every edition of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and have a dozen scars from your skatepark days.
Poetry. Maybe you pissed off your parents by studying literature instead of engineering in college, and now you're a local celebrity at open mics.
There is no exhaustive list to choose from, and PCs are encouraged to devise their own expertise to help flesh out their character. Mechanically, an expertise can contribute one automatic hit on a test where the attribute applies. Since the core resolution mechanism is about balancing hits and fumbles, having that extra hit even before rolling can be hugely important. Plus, it's always a fun time to hear players "make a case" for why their expertise should apply!
Items are another tool a PC can use to bend the odds in their favor. During character creation, a PC identifies two items they always have at their disposal. One is appropriate and the other is inappropriate. An appropriate item could be something they need for their job or school. Mechanics might have a toolbox. A skateboarder has their board. An inappropriate item doesn't have to be illegal, but it should be something that a friend might judge you about, could cause a little trouble if the cops found you carrying it, or it's simply something you keep secret for fear of ridicule. It could be a bag of weed or a switchblade; it could be spray paint cans for tagging; it could be the writings of Kierkegaard that you're hiding from your meathead friends. Items, just like expertise, should say something about who your PC is, and how they function in life.
Mechanically, items let you manipulate the result of a single die after you roll. For each item that applies to the nature of your test, you can increase a single die result by +1. That means you could turn a 4 into a 5, and score a hit. Or, it could mean turning a 3 into a 4, and avoiding a fumble.
The final tool a PC can use to bend outcome is assisting. On a test, a fellow PC can elect to help you, assuming they can explain how and justify it in the scene. If a friend assists you, that means you get to roll 5d6 instead of 4d6, AND it means you count any rolls of 4, 5, or 6 as hits. It's quite powerful, but can be a little risky at times since rolls equal or under your attribute rank still count as fumbles. Also, assisting isn't free. Your assistant has to voluntarily take 1 strain to do so. Well-timed cooperation can be the key to turning around confrontations and overcoming obstacles.
Items and expertise don't just help with the roll, they also define your PC. They ask you to think about who your character is, and how others see them. And, assisting is a tool to bring the party together to overcome difficult obstacles. Who do you help? When do you help them? And are you willing to strain yourself to do so?
Hope that was interesting! In another 10 days or so, I'll drop a new update and go over another aspect of the game. Remember, you're welcome to drop into the Adventures in Lollygagging Discord to ask questions, or just post them here. And, let me know if there are particular topics you'd like me to cover!
First, a big thank you to everyone who has hopped on board the We're in Danger train, followed the AiL BackerKit account, and subbed to the WiD teaser page. I appreciate all of you, and I cannot wait to show off more of WiD and get a book into your hands. Consider this, then, the first of what will be many substantive posts about WiD's mechanisms, features, art, and inspiration.
For this post, I want to talk a bit about the core resolution mechanism of WiD. It feels like a good place to start.
What's that giant shadow in the water?
All PCs in WiD have three attributes: athleticism, composure, and reasoning. Athleticism speaks to physical actions, composure to social actions and emotional equilibrium, and reasoning to knowledge and comprehension.
During character creation, a player assigns a rank to each of these attributes. Their best attribute is 1, their second best is 2, and their worst is 3. The rank doesn't directly affect the chances of passing or failing a test. More accurately, the rank affects how cleanly they pass or fail. Meaning, do they get tired, frustrated, or hurt in the process? Someone with good athleticism is more likely to climb a rockwall without harming themselves or growing too winded. Someone with average or below-average athleticism can still accomplish the same feat, but might be out of breath or covered in scrapes by the time they reach the top.
WiD uses a d6 dice pool to resolve tests. By default, a PC rolls 4d6 and then assesses individual die results. Each die result will score a hit, a miss, or a fumble.
Results of 5, 6, and (when assisted) 4 count as hits. These are good.
Results that are equal or under the tested attribute count as fumbles. These are bad.
Results that are above the tested attribute but below a hit result are misses. These neither help nor hurt.
On most tests, fumbles cause the PC strain—the term used to describe non-lethal, non-permanent damage. It could be anything from bruising to fatigue, embarrassment to confusion. Of course, taking too much strain can lead to lethal and permanent damage in the form of wounds. More on strain, wounds, and death in a future update.
After rolling, the PC counts their hits and their fumbles. Most tests require only one hit to succeed, but there are situations (such as confrontations with strong Dangers) that might require more. If a PC rolls more hits than they need to succeed on the test, then they can use those extra hits to cancel out their fumbles.
Ashley makes a reasoning test. Her reasoning is rank 2, and she rolls 1, 3, 5, and 6. The 1 is a fumble, the 3 is a miss, and the 5 and 6 are hits. Since she needs only one hit to succeed on the test, she can use the extra hit to cancel the fumble and avoid taking strain.
Steven makes an athleticism test. His athleticism is rank 3, and he rolls 2, 2, 3, and 5. The 2s and the 3 are fumbles, and the 5 is a hit. While he succeeds on the test, he doesn't have any extra hits, and therefore takes 3 strain in the process.
The PC doesn't have to rely only on good dice luck. They have other features that can help manipulate the roll in their favor.
Each PC has an expertise. This is a learned skill or knowledge set that is always reliable. If it's applicable to the test, it automatically grants an extra hit to the roll results.
Each PC has two items. If an item is useful to the situation, it allows the PC to increase the result of one die by +1. Meaning, they can turn a 4 into a 5, granting a hit. Or, they could turn a 3 into a 4, avoiding strain when testing their rank 3 attribute.
Another PC can assist the active PC in their test. When assisted, the active PC rolls an extra die in their pool, and they can count all die results of 4 as hits. Assisting isn't free, however. The assistant must take 1 strain for their efforts.
And that's the core resolution mechanism. During play, PCs roll most often during confrontations with Danger, and more sparingly in scenes when a Danger isn't present. In future updates, I'll talk more about confrontations, and also about scenes, obstacles, and pacing tools for the GM.
I'm open to suggestions on post topics, and am happy to answer questions. Consider hopping into the Adventures in Lollygagging Discord to chat more about the game, offer suggestions for update topics, and maybe get into a pickup game of WiD. And, if you're interested in trying out WiD right now, it's available in an early access PDF form on itch.io and RPG Trader.
