In Rogue you play a character who survives by taking what he’s owed in a fantastical city that you create. Whether you’re dueling your life-long nemesis or plundering a dragon’s forgotten horde, Rogue is a game about acquiring wealth you don’t deserve. It’s a game about living from Heist to Heist without worrying about what tomorrow will bring. Just open the lock, vault the windowsill, squeeze through the bars, and hit the Score before the guards arrive and you Take the Rap.
You are bold, to have come this far. But are you up for the life of a rogue?
Only time will tell.
Overview of Play
In Rogue, you roleplay by pretending to be a thief or slugabed who believes the world owes him or her a living. Players create a setting and the characters that inhabit it, as well as the Skills and strengths of those characters. One player acts as Lug or “narrator” of the story, another is the Bookie and adjudicates rules, another is the Boss who leads the mob of rogues, while the others play their characters. Players swap Lug, Boss and Bookie roles frequently while their rogues pull increasingly fantastic Heists. Games of rogue typically take from 2-4 hours and ideally include from 3-6 players.
Group Agreement
Rogue operates on an assumption of group agreement. It is assumed that all participants are adults who enjoy each other’s company and want the other players to have fun. To do this, everyone has to agree that a fun story comes first, and “winning” in the traditional sense is never the priority.
Participants and Roles
All participants in Rogue share narrative control. These responsibilities and levels of control are modeled after real “mobs” of thieves, and many of them take their names from such groups. There are four major roles. They are the Rogues, the Bookie, the Boss, and the Lug. They are detailed more in their own section.
Heists
In Rogue, the players perform “Heists” where their characters steal items of value, use their skills to break into guarded fortresses, or otherwise act roguishly. A “Heist” can take any number of game sessions to play, but from 3-5 is usual. The Lug, Bookie and Boss remain the same for the entire Heist, unless someone gets tired of their role (see “Burned Out”).
You are bold, to have come this far. But are you up for the life of a rogue? Only time will tell.
Overview of Play
In Rogue, you roleplay by pretending to be a thief or slugabed who believes the world owes him or her a living. Players create a setting and the characters that inhabit it, as well as the Skills and strengths of those characters. One player acts as Lug or “narrator” of the story, another is the Bookie and adjudicates rules, another is the Boss who leads the mob of rogues, while the others play their characters. Players swap Lug, Boss and Bookie roles frequently while their rogues pull increasingly fantastic Heists. Games of rogue typically take from 2-4 hours and ideally include from 3-6 players.
Group Agreement
Rogue operates on an assumption of group agreement. It is assumed that all participants are adults who enjoy each other’s company and want the other players to have fun. To do this, everyone has to agree that a fun story comes first, and “winning” in the traditional sense is never the priority.
Materials for Play
You will need these rules, at least one other person, a pencil for sketches and recording character information, some blank paper for notes, and a record of each rogue’s abilities. There is a sample character record included in Appendix A, located at the back of this book.
You will need a set of polyhedral dice including at least one 4-sided, 6-sided, 8-sided, 10-sided, 12-sided, 14-sided, 16-sided and 20-sided dice. In Rogue, these dice are abbreviated as 1d4 for “one four-sided die” 3d8 for “three eight-sided dice” and so on. You may find specialty polyhedral dice at your local hobby and gaming shop.
Participants and Roles
All participants in Rogue share narrative control. These responsibilities and levels of control are modeled after real “mobs” of thieves, and many of them take their names from such groups. There are four major roles. They are the Rogues, the Bookie, the Boss, and the Lug. They are detailed more in their own section.
Heists
In Rogue, the players perform “Heists” where their characters steal items of value, use their skills to break into guarded fortresses, or otherwise act roguishly. A “Heist” can take any number of game sessions to play, but from 3-5 is usual. The Lug, Bookie and Boss remain the same for the entire Heist, unless someone gets tired of their role (see “Burned Out”).