The ‘Cowboy Bebop’ RPG’s Playtest Rules are Free on DriveThruRPG
Get everybody and their stuff together, the Cowboy Bebop RPG playtest rules are out in the wild. Okay 3, 2, 1 let’s jam.
Put on your favorite Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts songs, the Cowboy Bebop RPG is here. Well. The playtest rules are. Which is exciting for folks who’ve been waiting to take a look at the game. Brought to you by Don’t Panic Games in partnership with Mana Project Studio and the collaboration of Fumble GDR, the Cowboy Bebop RPG promises the life of a space bounty hunter at your tabletop.
And with the Cowboy Bebop RPG playtest docs, we have an idea of how it could play. Of course, things are bound to change. But you can get an idea of what the vibe is, as the RPG wends its way to us all.
Cowboy Bebop RPG Playtest Rules
Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビバップ Kaubōi Bibappu) is a Japanese animated television series, movie, and other media created by Shinichiro Watanabe. Set in 2071 and centered on the adventures of a gang of bounty hunters in space, the story delves into the unresolved issues of the protagonists’ past, exploring concepts such as existentialism, boredom, loneliness, and the influence of the past.
Don’t Panic Games, the team that brought the amazing universes of Cowboy Bebop, Naruto, Attack on Titan, and Tokyo Ghoul to tabletop gaming…
In partnership with Mana Project Studio, the creative studio, and publisher that designed Journey To Ragnarok, Historia, Nightfell, Norse Grimoire, Seven Sinners, and more…
With the collaboration of award-winning Italian authors Fumble, known for Not The End Roleplaying Game…
Are all coming together to offer you a pioneering experience, bringing the world of Japanese Anime to a Tabletop Roleplaying Game!
LET’S JAM!
From the outset, you can tell this game feels a little different. It’s focused less on turn-based tactical mechanics — you won’t find a Bebop-themed dungeon crawler here. Instead the RPG revolves around the source material. Stories that feel a little more like songs. And bounty hunters running into problems in space.
To do that it relies on a pretty straightforward framework with some of the more inventive twists I’ve seen in a while. At the heart of the game are the tensions and themes of the show. Even the Quickstart rules give some good guidelines for setting stakes and getting into scenarios that feel like Bebop.
Playtest Rules in a Nutshell
Players will build a Bounty Hunter out of different character traits. If you’ve played any narrative-driven RPG before you’re probably familiar with the concept. Every trait says something about your character, their skills, their past, their drives. And all of them go into a dice pool you’ll roll to try and get successes (4+ on the die).
The game makes it interesting by dividing each session up into four different “Tabs.” These loosely follow an episode of Cowboy Bebop‘s structure. You’ll find 3, 2, 1 and …let’s jam! as different tabs. In each of them, some of the Bounty Hunter’s dice are positive, meaning you just need a 4+ and don’t have to worry.
Some are negative, which mean that even if you succeed, there are consequences on the roll. But worry not, your successes help build Rhythm. These are special story points you can use to influence the course of events. It’s all very fun. Check it out today!
Check out the Cowboy Bebop RPG Playtest
See you, Space Cowboy
