Download the PDF of this game here

By Matt Bear Jones 

Players take on the roles of Nuns who have just committed a terrible crime. The Nuns know what they did, but none of the players do, yet…

Alarms are going off. The building is on fire. You’re in an alley, covered in blood...

What have you done? RUN, NUN, RUN!

Escape the law with help from Above, or Below, and slowly piece together what it was you did as you make your way to safety.

 

HOW TO PLAY

You are all Nuns on the run. You can stick together or split up, but you have to get away. The success of your attempt to flee is determined by rolling a number of 6-sided dice. 
Each Nun has 2 stats to keep track of, which will be updated throughout the game: 

DAMNATION: The state of your Immortal Soul

HEAT: How far up the Most Wanted list you are currently 

 

DAMNATION

DAMNATION represents your commitment to your vows. As your DAMNATION stat raises, your Immortal Soul is left in tatters. Your DAMNATION stat starts at 1 and has a starting maximum of 12. When your DAMNATION stat reaches its maximum then the ground opens up, demons pour forth, and you are dragged, kicking and screaming, down to Hell.

 

HEAT

HEAT represents how well your escape is going and how difficult it is to continue your escape. Your starting HEAT is 6. The higher your HEAT, the higher up the Most Wanted list you are. 

Whenever you attempt something where the outcome is in doubt, roll a minimum of 2d6 and compare the result to your current HEAT. If you roll ABOVE your current HEAT, then the action is a SUCCESS. If you roll EQUAL TO or BELOW, then THE SHIT HITS THE FAN - something goes wrong or there’s a spanner in the works. Your HEAT increases by 1 to a maximum of 12.

Once your HEAT reaches 12, the cops catch up with you and it’s time to stage your last stand. You can go down fighting, or be taken away quietly, but you’re not going home.
If you roll 10 or higher when rolling HEAT, remove a point of HEAT to a minimum of 1, unless your current HEAT would mean that the result would be unsuccessful.

If your HEAT reaches 1, then you got away with it. The cops can’t find you and you’ve got off scot-free. Kick back and keep your head down until this all blows over.
Whenever you roll vs HEAT, you can choose to make the roll a PRAYER or a PACT, although you do not have to choose either.

 

PRAYER

When you choose to make a roll a PRAYER, you must declare this BEFORE rolling. 

A PRAYER connects you to The Folks Upstairs. They may not hear you, but if they do, things will go your way.When you choose to make the roll a PRAYER, roll 2d6 and compare the result to your current HEAT. As normal, if you roll ABOVE your current HEAT then the action is a SUCCESS. In addition, if your total on 2d6 is EQUAL TO 7, no matter what your current HEAT is, then the action is a SUCCESS and you may choose to REMOVE a point of HEAT or a point of DAMNATION.

 

PACT

When you make a roll which is not a PRAYER, you can choose to make it a PACT. 

When you make a PACT, you get in touch with The Other Guys, The Folks Downstairs, The Legion of the Damned. They’re far more likely to listen, but it comes at a price.

When you choose to make a roll a PACT, roll 1d6 extra for each point of DAMNATION you take. You can choose to make a roll a PACT either BEFORE or AFTER rolling. 

When you make a roll a PACT, if you roll 3 or more 6s, then your maximum DAMNATION is permanently reduced by 1, bringing you one step closer to Hell’s warm embrace.

 

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Whilst making your escape, you can give yourself bonuses to rolls by conjuring up images of your crime and filling in the gaps in your memory. As you do this, slowly build up the narrative of what your crime was, until you have the full picture. Remember to build on information provided by the other Nuns.

When you wish to give yourself a bonus, take a point of DAMNATION and describe the location, object, or information from your crime that is having an influence on your roll.

When you do this, take a +3 bonus to your roll. Each fact about the crime can only be used once. For example:

“I’ve still got one bullet left in my gun, so I’m going to shoot the car’s tyres out.”

“I know there’s a sewage outlet here, from the blueprints for the bank.”

“This suitcase full of fake currency will form a crowd if I open it and empty it out.”

 

THE GET OUT

A Nun can escape to safety if they reduce their HEAT to 1. If a Nun reduces their HEAT to 1 and reaches safety, and has 1 or more Nuns with them, then the accompanying Nuns can attempt to escape as well by combining their current HEAT totals and then rolling 2d6 x the number of escaping Nuns. If they beat the combined total they are successful and escape as well, otherwise they must continue to flee. 

Nuns may not make a PACT or a PRAYER when attempting to escape in this manner.

The game ends when all of the Nuns have reached safety, been captured, or taken to Hell. Once you have all reached safety, been captured, or taken to Hell, piece together all of the parts of your Crime and decide WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?