Submission for the Rules As Written Game Jam 3000

Sweatin' Bullets is a Western-themed TTRPG that uses decks of cards and push-your-luck mechanics to facilitate high-stakes roleplay. Combined with PbtA-inspired moves, Sweatin' Bullets makes for a narrative game that rewards heroic and risky player choices.

Playin’ Yer Cards

Table Setup

Place your personal deck of 52 cards face-down in front of you. This is your draw pile, from which you will draw to make moves. Cards which you have drawn go in a face-up discard pile next to your draw pile. The coins/tokens, which represent your Shines, can go in a pile that’s accessible to all players. You will collect and spend these tokens throughout the game. Later, you’ll acquire sleeve cards, which you may keep face up in front of you.

Deck Management

Card counting is frowned upon in the wild West. Buckaroos keep their discard piles tidy, so that only the top card is visible. If your discard pile is ever too messy, the GM may ask you to take all of the face cards out of the discard pile and shuffle them into the remaining deck.

Once the discard pile becomes taller than the draw pile, you may choose to shuffle your deck, however you are not required to until the draw pile contains fewer cards than are required for a move.

Makin’ Moves

As a buckaroo, you have access to a variety of moves. These moves cover a wide range of actions you may want to take during your adventure. If an action is not covered by one of the existing moves, you may ask the GM to make a custom move, which generally uses the move template as a basis.

When you intend to make a move, the GM will determine the Danger Count (DC), ranging from 1 to 3, with 1 being a very low risk move, and a 3 being a very high risk move.

You then draw a number of cards equal to the DC. If none of the drawn cards are face cards (J, Q, K), it’s a clean draw and leads to the intended outcome, though usually with a narrative consequence (“yes, but…”). If you have drawn one or more face cards, it’s a bust. The move fails and backfires with negative consequences (“no, and…”).

Ridin’ Tall

If you are particularly skilled (i.e. have an ability score above 0), you can push your luck by drawing additional cards up to your relevant attribute score. You must declare to ride tall before making the draw. If you want to ride tall after making the draw, you have to spend Shines to test the waters (see rules for spending Shines). On a clean draw, you gain one perk per additional card drawn (“yes, and…”).