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Packages ................................................................................................................................................................................. 28

Amazing Trait ...................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Super Amazing Trait ........................................................................................................................................................... 29

Super Awesome Amazing Trait ........................................................................................................................................... 29

Apprentice .......................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Comeback King ................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Misfits ................................................................................................................................................................................. 29

Fitted Misfits ....................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Legendary Skillz .................................................................................................................................................................. 30

Operation ............................................................................................................................................................................ 30

Gameplay .................................................................................................................................................................................... 33

Rolling ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 33

Catastrophic Outcome ........................................................................................................................................................ 33

Gravy Roll ............................................................................................................................................................................ 33

Multitasking ........................................................................................................................................................................ 33

Combat ................................................................................................................................................................................... 34

Roll Intuition ....................................................................................................................................................................... 34

Rolling for Extras ................................................................................................................................................................. 34

Action .................................................................................................................................................................................. 34

Melee or Ranged Combat ................................................................................................................................................... 34

Damage & Death ................................................................................................................................................................ 35

Manoeuvres ........................................................................................................................................................................ 35

Hazards ................................................................................................................................................................................... 35

Starships ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 39

Travel .................................................................................................................................................................................. 39

Engine (E) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 39

Firepower (F) ...................................................................................................................................................................... 39

Structure (S) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 39

Utility (U) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 39

Crewing Starships ................................................................................................................................................................... 41

Starships ............................................................................................................................................................................. 41

Using Starships ....................................................................................................................................................................... 41

Starship Upgrades................................................................................................................................................................... 42

Starship Actions ...................................................................................................................................................................... 43

Entering Frames .................................................................................................................................................................. 43

Starship Combat ................................................................................................................................................................. 44

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Extras ...........................................................................................................................................................................................48

Grunts, Troopers and Elites .....................................................................................................................................................48

Grunts ..................................................................................................................................................................................48

Troopers ..............................................................................................................................................................................48

Elites ....................................................................................................................................................................................48

Robert Gustav Mulhultz III (Elite) ........................................................................................................................................49

President Doge Mandrill (Elite) ...........................................................................................................................................50

The Future ...................................................................................................................................................................................54

Appendix: ....................................................................................................................................................................................55

Character History ................................................................................................................................................................56

Timeline of The Dryden Experiment ...................................................................................................................................61

Glossary ...............................................................................................................................................................................64

Character Sheet ...................................................................................................................................................................66

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Many Thanks!

Game development is basically impossible without the support of friends, family, play testers, pets, and random

commentators. Owlman Press and Dryden House would like to extend very special thanks to the following people.

Manhattan, Kansas Playtest group:

Kevin Alejo-Morgan

Tim Prickett

Kaleb Prickett

Krista Dix

Tony Ochoa

Ciaran Prickett

Chelsi Warden

Jenny Brown

Salmon, Idaho Playtest group:

Linda Johnson

John Gneiting

Laura VanAusdoll

Don VanAusdoll

Ballarat, Australia Playtest Group

Earl Leonard

Daniel Weightman

Aaron Vissers

Patrick Courtney

Patrick Stoney

Beth Mooney

Special thanks to Boom Comics, Manhattan, Kansas for making play space available after hours.

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Welcome Rebel! What you have in your hands is one of the coolest role playing games

you will ever encounter, and not just because it’s great fun to play.

Big Damn Dryden is an unusual fusion of skills and resources. The

system is built on and driven by the Big Damn Sci-fi game system by

Nicholas and Stacey Moll from Owlman press. Owlman Press is a small

press role-playing game producer, with a philosophy of art who

approaches the tabletop roleplay experience as literature. The setting

is drawn from and part of the Dryden Experiment Science Fiction

Universe. The Dryden Experiment science fiction Universe has been

made wholly available for use and development under Creative

Commons for anyone who will agree to make their contribution

available under Creative Commons as well.

An adaption on two fronts, Big Damn Dryden acclimatizes Big Damn

Sci-Fi to the hard sci-fi Primer era of the Dryden Universe and

familiarizes the Dryden Experiment’s universe with the conventions of

a tabletop role-play setting. Put together, you get an edgy, fast paced

RPG that’s a snap to set up in a remarkably vast and complex universe

with almost unlimited backstory and environments for play.

Role of the Players

Players in Big Damn Dryden take on the role of Cubies, corporate

bounty hunters, pirates, and assassins in a high tech quest for profits

and glory. The role of a Cubie is to seek solutions to the problems of

their patron Corporation. In the process, many Cubies become rich

and retire. But just as many die after just a few frantic, short years of

corporate espionage, high wages, and lush lifestyle. The mixture of

danger, adventure, luxury, and excess makes a Cubie’s life a

seemingly romantic one when viewed from the outside, and many

corporate wage-slaves dream of the day they can run and gun across

the Galaxy. The universe itself that Cubie’s inhabit is vast, with

Humanity expanded out hundreds of light years from Sol. The growth

happens under the watchful eye of the ruling corporations: Lin, Syrch

and Terra Corp. In this universe, the bread and butter of a Cubie’s

work comes from the simmering conflict between these corporations

with each competing to rule the future of Humanity.

This is it, let’s turn the page and get started playing Big Damn Dryden!

Alfrunt Goodwin stomped down the

passageways of the Terra Corp model CRO

light cargo ship “The Vort.” She was his ship,

at least she would be if he could ever get his

contract paid off. He cursed to himself as he

adjusted the holster of the MGE fletchette

submachine gun slung across his chest. How

had he ever gotten himself stuck in a contract

with a bunch of corporate goons? Oh, yeah,

the voice in his head reminded him, so he

could have a ship.

He stopped at a hatchway and mashed the

button to open it. Inside, his giant first mate

lay sprawled across his bunk. His tiny, toy

poodle tucked in his arms like a fluffy white

rat. God, Goodwin hated that dog.

“Wake up.” Goodwin barked. “We’ve got

trouble.”

Lawler, the mate, woke instantly to combat

readiness. The poodle shivered, the little bell

around its neck tinkling. “What kind of

trouble?”

“Not sure. Bring some Boom.” Goodwin

nodded to the rack of pistols and rifles over

Lawler’s desk. “And leave the damn dog.”

Goodwin stomped to the main hatch, not

waiting for Lawler to gear up. On instinct, he

checked the external cameras before going

out. You wouldn’t expect trouble at a major

spaceport like Moodo Hona but, you could

never tell. He exited the ship and marched

across the wide, clean expanse of the hanger.

There weren’t many people around the ships

at that hour of the morning but, as he passed

under the giant, round Terra Corp. logo into

the main ring of the station, he found himself

in the midst of a busy shopping district.

Vendors and coffee shops lined the walls,

electric taxis whisked back and forth and

people were everywhere.

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Management

In Big Damn Dryden the Game Master is in charge of countless worlds

teeming with inhabitants, three mega-corporations and numerous

smaller ones, political and government entities, gravity, physics, and

countless details big and small. The roll of the Game Master for Big

Damn Dryden lies somewhere between a storyteller and referee,

crafting the narrative – its setting and Extras – and mediating the

player’s interactions with it and each other.

A Campaign is the culmination of a series of individual game sessions

and adventures in the Dryden Universe. Generally speaking a campaign

will have a single narrative, divided into chunks of play through

individual game sessions. A Campaign can be as big or as small as the

Game Master and players like, running for one or two game sessions or

else with years of play. By far the cardinal rules of a Campaign in the

Dryden Universe, however, are focus and repetition.

Focus for a Campaign typically occurs in terms of narrative. Every

Campaign should have a story, a place or point where the narratives of

each individual game session culminate and meet. The focus of a

Campaign doesn’t necessarily need to be complicated. Indeed, simple

focuses tend to work the best, allowing complications and back steps

to develop in individual game sessions through Game Master design or

the actions of the Cubies themselves. Some examples include:

Castaway: Perhaps a stock-standard science fiction trope, the Cell

crash lands on an isolated planet. From there they must survive while

attempting to repair their ship. Individual game sessions could focus on

the latest hurdle nature throws against the Cell, such as dangerous

wildlife or weather. This Campaign could be complicated by the

revelation that the Cell didn’t crash by accident but sabotaged on

purpose.

Pursuit: A deceptively simple Campaign, the Cell is given the job of

hunting down a fugitive on the run from their Patron. The reasons for

this can be varied, and are probably best left as a secret until well into

the Campaign. In this campaign, the fugitive is always one step ahead

of the Cell – seemingly leaving a mess on every planet they visit for the

Cubie’s to stumble into.

Revolution: Outside the Main Line, a planet’s current government is

working against corporate interests. The Cell has been dispatched to

foster a revolution. While seemingly a simple assassination mission to

Above, giant bay windows gave a stellar view

of Make and Dark Companion, the planetary

pair that Moodo Hona orbited. They were

close in among the core systems, only six light

years from Sol and the space around the two

planets bustled with ships of all sizes and

shapes.

Goodwin kept his eye on the crowd. He had

reason to be worried. The “simple”

assignment they’d been given, to retrieve a

scientist who was trying to defect to another

corporation, had been anything but simple.

First, the scientist wasn’t where he was

supposed to be. Second - when Goodwin had

caught up with the scientist’s ship in orbit

around Luyten, the ship had been under

attack by independent raiders. As if that

wasn’t enough, when they’d gotten aboard,

they’d found him under the protection of a

terrifying female assassin who’d come after

them with a sword. A sword!

Although they’d managed to bring the

professor back, they were late, over budget,

had a damaged ship and three crew members

in need of skin grafts or other repairs. Worse,

Goodwin half expected the assassin to come

leaping out of the crowd at him. She didn’t

seem the forgiving type.

The “Contractor Relations” office was just

across from the hanger. It was a boring office

building with short carpet on the floor and

soft coloured paintings on the walls. Goodwin

was immediately referred to a room down a

hallway. He nodded at Lawler who was a

few steps behind him, rat dog and rifle under

arm, and made for the room.

“Oh shit.” He grunted opening the door.

“Firefight?” Asked Lawler, the rat dog

growling at Goodwin.

“Worse.” Glowered Goodwin as he stepped

into the room filled with suit clad men and

women. “Staff meeting.”

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start with, the Cell must ensure that whatever leader comes to power next is friendly to the Corporation. The Cell must also

make sure that the planet’s

infrastructure remains stable enough

to be profitable.

As for repetition, the Cell should keep

encountering some of the same Extras

and Settings from one session to the

next. This can be as simple as their

handler, who provides a face for and

embodiment of the Cell’s Patron

corporation. It can also include an

antagonist who continually presents

themselves as the source or at least an

aggravator of the Cell’s problems.

Remember, however, that all Extras in

a Campaign should have a role,

function or purpose to play. Maybe the

only reason the Cubie’s partner keeps

popping up as a major character is so

they can be kidnapped later by the

antagonist. But that in itself is enough

to give the kidnapping and possible

death of an Extra resonance,

transforming a typical rescue mission

into a personal quest. Settings,

likewise, are like Extras in that they are

characters in and of themselves.

Repeated visitations to a setting, even

if it simply the bar where the Cell

unwinds after a mission, can be used

to add layers and depth to the Dryden

Universe as the Game Master presents

it for their players. It can also be used

as the source of adventures and

narratives within game session. Maybe

that small time hoodlum the Cubie had

a whirlwind love affair with on the

Main Line big city wound up dead –

calling the Cell back to the planet?

The Primer: 2503

The hard science era of the Primer begins the day after tomorrow and runs

until the early 26th century by the Gregorian calendar. By 2503, the

assumed date of Big Damn Dryden, humans have been capable of

interstellar travel for almost 200 years thanks to framing technology,

sometimes called the Insanity Crystal.

Using framing drives, humans have colonized a strip of star systems 300 light

years long and 100 light years wide roughly centered on Sol and following

the curve of our spiral arm of the Galaxy. Exploration craft have ventured

much further into the surrounding galaxy but limitations in communication

make it difficult to track or follow this exploration in any detail.

There several large corporations, and countless clusters of smaller single-to-

multi-star system entities. The largest and most powerful corporations are

Syrch, Terra Corp, and Lin. Among "Main Line" systems, governance is

mostly by the controlling corporation and the very idea of the Main Line is

defined by Lin, Syrch, and Terra’s presence. The outer star systems vary

from small colonies, to independent single planet nations. In theory, all

planets with human inhabitants are protected under the League of Planets

(LOP). This organization has little real power. Most of the governance is

done either by the local corporation, subsidiary or by the local governing

body.

Already, humans have begun adapting to their host planets. People from

planets with high gravity tend to be short and stocky with dense muscle and

bone structures, while humans living in relatively gravity free environments

tend to develop long, lean bodies with low muscle density.

Humans are not alone in the galaxy. In any given star system, there is about

a 65% chance that there will be at least one life bearing planet. In about 8%

of star systems there are two or more life bearing worlds. These range from

highly complex biospheres like Earth to planets entirely covered in Methane,

and Hexane eating sludges. Humans are also not the first interstellar species

in the Galaxy. Archaeological evidence suggests that one interstellar species

or another has colonized this part of the Galaxy every 100,000 to 500,000

years. The home worlds of these species and the reason for their downfall

have never been uncovered. The evidence of previous civilizations is so

scant that some humans believe they are a hoax. There have been several

fringe encounters with alien species, but their home worlds and desires

remain largely unknown to humans.

This is the age for political schemers, bold star ship captains, and ruthless

noir.

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