Bounty Head Bebop
Fast ships, big guns, and anime style – that’s Bounty Head Bebop, the role-playing game from Heroic Journey Publishing. This is the game of over the top anime bounty hunting using the Inverted 20 system, a rules quick system based on the OGL. Drawing inspiration from several anime and movie sources such as Blade Runner, Serenity, Trigun, and Cowboy Bebop, BHB casts you as a bounty hunter living on the frontier, tracking down bad guys.
Written as a tribute to the Space Opera Anime genre, Bounty Head Bebop dives right in with a cool task resolution and combat system. The I20 system is a rules quick system, but it’s still crunchy enough for lots of customization. The setting is fun, and has enough detail to get started, and enough room for the most creative game master to make it their own. The economy of the game is handled in such a way as to make money more of a story point rather then a commodity to count every penny of, yet characters will still be able to purchase anything they need. The game makes me want to start up a campaign of bounty hunters on the edge of the galaxy, making money the old fashioned way – bringing the scum in dead or alive and collecting the bounty.
Written by JP deHénaut, this 130-page volume contains everything you need to dive into your adventures hunting bounty heads. The art, while slim, fits the genre perfectly and is well placed throughout the book. The layout is clear and easy to read, even in PDF format. The rules are well written and easy to follow with my only concern being more examples of play are needed. I found myself re-reading some parts, especially the TN or target number rules to understand them completely.
The setting describes how a comet hits the moon 50 years ago, raining destruction down upon the Earth and opening a wormhole to the sun. The pieces of comet that fell to Earth were discovered to have untapped energy and mankind found ways to harness it. Using the ‘Gatestones’, mankind built a gate around the wormhole that would direct it anywhere else in the solar system. The wormhole took the explorers to Mars, where they built another gate, and continued until gates were set up everywhere, and mankind moved into space.
Now, space has become as lawless as the old west. The original governments of Earth were dissolved, and colonies are ruled by Mega-Corps and the Underworld. The only people keeping the peace are the Solar Systems Policing Bureau, but they can’t be everywhere, and the best protection you have is the firepower you carry. Criminals are on the run, and it’s up to you to bring them in. You’re a Bounty Hunter, and as such, you have many tools at your disposal, from big guns and psychic powers to mystical feng-shui. Bring in the bounty heads, collect your money – that’s your life.
The task resolution mechanic is based on rolling lower than your target number but as close to it as you can get. The only dice you will need to play is a D20, and in combat, rolling determines whether you succeeded and how much damage you inflict by taking the ones digit from the dice as your x-roll. It’s nice not rolling a ton of dice to figure out what’s happening.
To make things cinematic, the concepts of Luck and Surge points are introduced. Luck allows you to lower some target numbers, get lucky breaks, and survive to fight another day if you’re taken down by a lucky shot. Surge points allow you to Shake off conditions, get more attacks, and interrupt another characters actions, amongst other things. These points refresh after an adventure, allowing characters to use them during the game and not hoard them for some opportunity that may not come up. Adding additional Surge points to each character changes the scope of the game to a more over-the-top style of play.
The character generation system is a point-build system, which allows you to customize your character so you’re not just playing a cookie cutter class like in other D20 System games. Edges, flaws and skills round out your character, making her unique and giving you some role-playing points to work with. The experience system is presented right at the beginning of the book, letting you see where you can go with all the XP you’ll be getting.
One of the things I liked and thought was unique about the game was the money system. Now you’d think that a game about making money would involve a lot of number crunching with the money system. Not so with BHB, which allows you to go that route, but also allows for money to be mainly a plot device. As an option, characters can roll for availability of items and assume that if they’re available, they can have them. The gamemaster is advised to keep an eye on this for abuse, but make it less imperative when figuring out if you can afford the big hand cannon, or ship.
The equipment section is huge, with pages of weapons, gear and ships statted out for your use or abuse, as the case may be. The equipment table makes finding relative statistics easy, and you won’t find yourself wanting for much.
Rounding this book out is a complete starter adventure called “Small Fry”. This scenario gets you right into the action with a hunt for a small time crook hiding out in Little Jersey on Mars.
The art in the book is sparse but is reminiscent of the anime style. Many pieces are reused, but it doesn’t detract from the overall appearance and presentation. Also, while the setting is evocative of the genre, it could use a little more depth. Hopefully we’ll be seeing more of it in future supplements.
Bounty Head Bebop is a great game from an up and coming company. Heroic Journey Publishing plans on continuing support for the game with supplements and adventures available now from RPGNow.com, like the cyberware supplement Jacked-Up and adventure Ghost in the Machine and upcoming Blast Off, a starships supplement. Check out Bounty Head Bebop – I know you’ll like it.
[Disclaimer: I am currently a writer for Heroic Journey Publishing working on a new under development game, and have contributed a short article for the upcoming Blast Off supplement for Bounty Head Bebop.]
December 12th, 2009 at 02:04
Awesome write up Wayne, very well said. Makes me want to be a player in one of your games! Also, thanks for your Blast Off contributions – I can’t wait to see it in print soon
BerkaZerka (JPd)
January 11th, 2010 at 14:54
Thanks JP! I love the system and can’t wait to see more.