Drop Pods – A Single Player RPG Sci-fi Game
A print and play, roll and write, solo player, RPG game set in a sci-fi near future where you have to set traps and kill aliens!
You will need two six-sided dice, a pencil, the rule book, contract and map.
The world has changed….
These are dark times. The world is being battered by an alien threat. We did not know what to call it at first, but now it is known as Pod Fall. A wave of unidentified objects struck the planet’s atmosphere. Hundreds of thousands of pods, carried by a solar current, then rained down upon the lands. Where they came from, nobody knows. But it was soon clear that the pods carried aggressive alien creatures bent upon terraforming the world into the image of their home planet.
To our horror, the pods were too numerous to repel. Their outer shells being hard to crack and the aliens within monstrously difficult to fight. However we discovered that they had one vulnerability: they take time to hatch, thus allowing traps to be set up around the pods. These trigger as the aliens emerge, giving them an unexpected and often lethal welcome to our world.
The fight back began, but there were too many pods for the military to destroy by themselves. The situation began to seem hopeless. However, members of the general public came forward and formed Pod Task Forces. These small groups that went in, and set up improvised traps around any pods that the army were unable to deal with. Even lone fighters embraced what was being called the Human Responsibility. Now the future has a chance because the tide has been slowed. Fewer aliens can break free to imprint their own image upon our world. But it is on a knife edge as circumstances could easily turn in the enemy’s favour. So, until enough of the newly emerged aliens have been exterminated, the Pod Task Forces must continue their work for the sake of humanity.
Your Role
You have gathered together some willing volunteers, formed a small Pod Task Force and will be taking available Pod Contracts. These are issued at the town hall by Sarge, the resident Warrant Officer. By setting up the Pod Contracts, the government acknowledges that ordinary civilians who are doing their duty should be rewarded for carrying out the trapping of pods and the subsequent killing or injuring of aliens. If completed, these contracts reward the player with Experience PointsandResource Coupons. The world has come out of a ravaging few months with resources now in short supply, so the government intends to distribute these to people that they can trust to do the job properly.
Sarge reminds you of your responsibility: “We must be seen to be helping the cause, and when the time comes and the world has been set free from the grip of these vile aliens, then those who have fought the invasion will be rewarded.”
Aim
The aim of the game is to eradicate as many aliens as possible. Set your traps in your allocated Pod Contract location. Pods will attempt to hatch when they sense movement nearby, so there is a small window in which to construct the trap. And then see it triggered as the alien attempts to confront the intruder. In each session, you have one Pod Contract and encounter one location. There are plenty more once you’ve cleared that, though, allowing your Pod Task Force to continue on their campaign of alien eradication. If you wish, you can keep the same characters and try harder maps as they become more experienced.
Drop Pods digital versions is available to purchase from our online store