The Bounty Head Bebop Rpg is 130 page corebook and adventure by Heroic Journey Publishing that retails for $14.00 in PDF. This near future RPG is published under the OGL and uses a modified d20 system called the Inverted 20 system. The product is broken into nine chapters plus an appendix, with character creation taking roughly the first half of the book and gm’s information taking up approximately the last half.
The most dramatic thing about the Bounty Head Bebop Rpg is the Inverted 20 system itself. The Inverted 20 system varies quite a bit from the traditional d20 system. In this new system, all checks are accomplished with the roll of a d20, however unlike the predecessor, all math is done up front.
For example:
In a standard d20 system, you might want to jump a obstacle, you roll a d20 add any bonuses you have and your GM will compare it to the DC of the action and adjudicate the result.
In Inverted 20, Jump is based on strength. If you have a Str of 3 and 4 levels of Jump then your Jump value is recorded on your character sheet as 7 (3+4). To jump the obstacle, you roll a d20 and if it is equal to or less than 7 you succeed. A character’s sheet lists your success numbers, not your modifiers.
So there is much less need for doing mental gymnastics or checking tables after tables. If a particular task is more difficult than normal it may have a minimal number you must role higher than as well. To continue on With a Str of 3 it is assumed that I can long jump 15 ft. If I wanted to long jump 20 ft. (5 ft. more) then I would need to roll less than 7 but more than 10, which for my bounty hunter is not possible under normal circumstances.
But let’s face it, player characters are not normal people. Characters in Bounty Head Bebop has Luck points and Surge points which can be spent to cut you some slack or you boost your character momentarily. So let’s say my bounty hunter, Pete [not one of the worst character names I’ve used], is begin chased by some mechanical guard dogs and really needs to make that jump he could bring Luck and Surge into play. He could hope he’s lucky enough to make the jump (reduce the minimum threshold by 4) and strain to make the jump (+2 STR for one action) thus I would need to roll under 9 but over 6. Obviously not an ideal option but at least possible one. Those player characters area able to manipulate their own fate a bit.
Other features of the Inverted 20 system is levels of success. For example if you roll a 1 that’s barely successful, if you roll under your value it is a success, if you roll under your number but more than 10 it is success with a bonus, rolling exactly your number is a critical success and roll a 20 is a botch (or what some would call a critical fumble). All of the standard rules we expect to be in a d20 system have been adapted to the new mechanic with an emphasis on speed of play and ease of play.
For instance, to avoid booking for equipment, money values are included for comparison but all equipment has an availability value for the ease at which your character can acquire the material in game. This way the game becomes more about the story and mission than the accumulation of wealth. There are also additional rules like those for called shots. Health is tracked with Vitality and Wound points, since there are no levels they values will not grow as quickly (increase as your ability scores do) so combat can be more deadly, so it might be good to save a luck point to “escape death”.
On the character creation front, everything is built from a point buy system. You have six attributes, a number of skills and a number of edges (sort of like feats). The number of edges you can start with can be increased from three by taking flaws in a one to one ration. If you want FX type abilities there are harmonic Feng-Shui powers or the risky Psychic powers. As you hunt down criminals and collect bounties you gain experience that is spent directly to alter your character (again instead of collecting X amount to level up). There is a full sample write-up of a character as it is developed in the appendix, this is incredibly helpful for trying to learn a new system.
Chapter 9 of the book contains the setting notes for Bounty Head Bebop. It runs about 14 pages and covers a bit of the setting’s history, information on hyperjump gates and overviews (economy, environment, society and hazards) of all the major planets and moons in the solar system. What it didn’t tell me was… what’s it is like to be a bounty hunter, what rules do they follow, how do they track down targets, were do they get their information from. Thankfully, the last 13 or so pages of the product is an introductory adventure called Small Fry that provided some of the detail I felt was missing in the setting section. I’m always confused by new Rpgs that don’t include either extensive samples of play or a sample adventure and I’m glad that Heroic Journey Publishing decided to include this adventure.
The Bounty Head Bebop Rpg is an intriguing new interpretation of the d20 system that should speed play while encouraging players to take risks and perform stunts of heroism. Hopefully, the setting will be further expanded on in further modules or supplements.
Additional you can now purchase BHB in Print at $24.99
