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bad timing
A ROMANTIC COMEDY FIASCO PLAYSET

Credits

Written by Tobie Abad.

Art and layout by Bianca Canoza.

boilerplate

This playset is an accessory for the Fiasco role-playing game by

Bully Pulpit Games.

This playset is copyright 2015 by Tobie Abad.

Fiasco is copyright 2009 by Jason Morningstar. All rights re-

served. For more information about Fiasco or to download
other Playsets and materials, visit www.bullypulpitgames.com.

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THE

score

PLAyset location

You find who might just be the one true love you are meant to have. But
finding that person and living the rest of your life with that person might not
be as easy as you think, given this is all a huge case of bad timing.

The playset is intended to simulate the narrative flow of my romantic

comedy script, Bad Timing, which can be found here:
http://script-badtiming.blogspot.com/

The game is intended to be a romantic comedy romp, with unexpected

wacky genre-crossing elements. Or at least I hope it accomplishes that.

movie night

My Sassy Girl, 13 Going 30, Sydney White, Just My Luck, Scott Pilgrim ver-
sus the World.

Things needed to play

Standard requirements of a Fiasco Game.

Additional six-sided dice of a different color (red works

very nicely) to act as RomCom Twist dice.

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relationships...
1 . childhood buddies

a Best friends forever

b Once best of friends, but strayed apart
c Next door buddies
d Never had closure within a certain dare
e Unrequited childhood first love
f Great friends, greater rivals

2 . firsts

a Your first kiss, not the other’s

b Miserable loss of virginity to each other
c Teased together, but hated each other
d First love, still dating
e First heartbreak, still hurting
f Promised to be together if grow up single

3 . school is the thing

a Best friends
b Bitterest rivals
c Prom King and Queen
d Wallflower and the Head Cheerleader
e Teacher’s pet and your fan
f Detention besties

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 4 . Work, not play

a Colleagues at work
b The customer and the counter boy
c That one drunken Christmas party
d Wanted the promotion the other got
e Co-workers secretly in love
f Secretly close “with benefits”

5 . family

a Older and younger sibling

b Twins
c The perfect cousin and me
d You city, me country
e Adopted sibling they all love
f Shame of the family and me

6 . geographic reasons

a Roommates
b The one you hate who always hangs out at your hangout
c Next door horny noisy neighbour
d I live in your old home
e Familiar face on the train
f Shared an umbrella, and a coffee

...before the bad timing began

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needs...
1 . to get icky stuff

a True Love
b Lose virginity
c Get over the other by doing something stupid
d Win the other back
e Make love one last time
f Forgive, but not forget

2 . to get money money money

a Pay back the debt owed

b Buy that gift
c Return what was stolen
d Get rich and leave everyone behind, except you
e Whatever it takes
f Make the other envious

3 . To find out the truth

a About the break-up

b About that rumor
c That one big lie
d Who was sleeping with whom
e If the other is really “the best”
f If there was any chance
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 4 . Only thing that matters

a Keep the other safe

b Break the other’s heart
c Friendship never ends
d Someone has to care for the baby
e Reach for one’s dream
f Move on and forget the other… and find someone else

5 . Something to prove

a Show your love

b Show you don’t care, even if you really do
c You never stopped caring
d You aren’t what they thought you were
e It wasn’t you!
f You’re keeping your promise to the other’s dead parent

6 . to get out

a Get away from it all

b Of the long dead relationship
c Of the tangled mess of lies you are in
d Of the engagement you said yes to
e Of a promise you made
f Of your shell

...no matter how bad it gets

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locations...
1 . your closet

a Dancefloor
b At the bar
c Behind the diving wall
d Long line outside the Club
e Unisex Bathroom
f VIP section

2 . old neighbourhood

a Favourite hangout
b “That” alleyway
c In front of the former house
d The QuickMart
e The crumbling cineplex
f Fountain at the center of town

3 . Transit

a Bus station
b Subway entrance
c Taxi queue
d Airport
e The old tour bus
f Stuck on traffic on that bridge
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 4 . Our secret place

a Old bedroom
b Behind the coffee shop
c That broken see-saw
d The hidden lake
e Behind the gym bleachers
f Online chatting

5 . elsewhere, elsewhen

a Paris, for Valentine’s Day

b New York, for Christmas
c Singapore, for New Year
d Some island in Greece, for a change of scene
e On the airplane, just before take off
f Some distant future

6 . not so decent

a The stripper’s club called Church

b Back seat of the car
c Closed swimming pool
d Someone’s bedroom… can’t recall whose
e Actually in church
f Where you first…

...where bad things get worse

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objects...
1 . ssh!

a A condom
b A matchbox from a motel
c Someone’s underwear
d A sex video
e Fuzzy handcuffs
f A bag of drugs

2 . romantic

a A love letter from the past

b A ring
c A mix tape
d Your very secret diary
e A carving on the wall
f A tub of ice cream and marshmallows

3 . now that's interesting

a Someone else’s smart phone

b The old car
c A recorded conversation
d An intercepted letter
e Matching tattoos
f A baby
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 4 . memories of school

a A yearbook
b A class ring
c A favourite sweater
d A prom picture
e A notebook with passed conversations
f A broken trophy

5 . dangerous

a A loaded gun
b A switchblade
c A password
d Something someone is allergic to
e A legal document
f An STD

6 . supernatural ? or just odd ?

a A curse
b A sexual fetish
c A repeating song
d A shooting star
e A recurring dream
f Time travel

...that cannot be ignored

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KEEPING THE

aww moments...
To keep that Rom-Com touch, the game will have the following system
changes:

First, Tilts use the RomCom Twist chart, instead of the usual Tilt chart.

Secondly, there is a new system: the RomCom Twist Dice

Finally, this game has its own Aftermath table.

romcom twist dice

At any time when any character is supposed to have an intense positive story
moment with another character, but only if that character already has at least
one die of either color, any player can opt to replace the current scene’s die
for that scene with a RomCom Twist dice. If this happens during Act I, the
die is NOT given to another player after being rewarded.

There are RomCom Twist dice equal to the number of players in the game.
These dice must be of a die of a different color. Red is highly
recommended.

When a RomCom Twist die is used, the player rolls that die twice to see what
RomCom Twist is instantly applied to the scene. The scene then unfolds
positively or negatively depending on the current dominant color of dice you
currently have. If the colors are tied, the player receiving the RomCom die
decides how it will unfold.

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After Act II, when determining the final situations of each player, RomCom
Twist might count as White or Black dice. At the start of the Aftermath, roll
all your RomCom Twist Dice to determine their color:

a White
b Black
c Black
d Player chooses
e White
f Other players choose

Gather all dice based on their color as per the normal rules. Roll for the
Aftermath.

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romcom twists...
1 . whoops!

a An admission
b A heard confession
c Someone gets drunk
d Two people makeout
e A fight for the wrong reasons
f An accident

2 . painful moments

a Someone’s heart get’s broken

b Someone dies
c Two people separate
d Never again
e Miscommunication
f Wrong timing at the worst possible time

3 . Big moments

a A birthday
b A proposal
c A wedding
d A storm
e City-wide blackout
f An emergency call
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 4 . what the heck?

a A zombie outbreak
b An alien invasion
c A kaiju attack
d A sleeping curse on the city
e Time goes wonkers
f The Rapture

5 . drama

a Someone doesn’t know when to stop

b Indecision makes things worse
c A death
d Blackmail
e Arrived too early
f “It is all your fault. And everyone knows it.”

6 . what a twist!

a An unknown twin
b Shape-shifting alien
c Last people in the world
d Just a dream
e Sliding doors
f History repeats itself… in the future

...for that romcom touch

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aftermath
high black

Zero: Utter failure. Whatever goals you had in mind or hoped to accomplish
fall completely apart. Your story does not just end in tears. It probably ends in
tears, broken promises, and even the best laid plans ripped into shreds.

Black One: Pain So Foul. You get no mercy, no kindness and perhaps no justice.
You might still succeed in a goal, but realize it all means nothing now. It does not
satisfy you as you had hoped.

Black Two: Comedy is Over. Things might seem to have worked out, but guess
what, only you really think so. Reputation is probably shattered. Or maybe it re-
mains intact but you now realize how loathsome and pathetic you actually are.

Black Three: Never the Protagonist. You realize that this was never meant to
be your story. This was always about someone else. Look at that person and snarl
in the most contempt-filled voice you can, “It was always about you.” And enjoy
the hate you will never ever be able to get rid off.

Black Four to Seven: Now that was Unexpected. Somehow, after everything
is considered, you come out of the whole mess a bit better than before. Maybe
you got away with something. Or maybe you realize in the end what you went
through makes you a better person, for real.

Black Eight to Ten: Now let’s talk about Irony. Whatever success you got?
Narrate how it actually benefits someone else more than you. Heck, maybe it al-
ways did and you just weren’t sane enough to see that. But at least you don’t know
it was that bad. You’re still boasting how you got what you wanted, after all.

Black Eleven +: Someone Up There Cares. You realize in the end you deserve
something else. Something far better. And guess what, the answer to that shows
up just before the story ends.

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aftermath
high white

Zero: the drama. You shed tears and get to give a monologue on how the world
just works that way. It could have been worse, but that’s life.

white One: changed. Somehow you realize that you’ve changed deep inside in a
way you did not expect. You aren’t exactly the same person anymore. Which may
be good or bad, depending on what you wanted in the first place.

White Two: Let’s Try that Again. You are now considering taking a second
stab at things. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t, but you know you have to at
least try, right? You found something, that’s for sure. You just have to define
what.

White Three: Haunted. You doubt you will ever fully recover from what has
happened. So many twists and tangles have struck you that things seem to have
unravelled at the last minute. Why is love so cruel?

White Four to Seven: Lessons Learned. You’ve learned a lot from what has
transpired. And you’ve learned far more than you wanted about the people you
have around you. These are hard lessons you will never be able to forget. And
perhaps even lessons you will never admit to having learned.

White Eight to Ten: Smile. Scars and scrapes have lead you to emerge from all
the events with a renewed sense of appreciation for where you stand now. You are
the butterfly emerging from adversity. Spread your wings and soar high above all
those who failed to do what you have done.

White Eleven +: Roll Credits. It was your story all the while. And now as the
credits roll, share with us how your life continues for the next twenty to fifty won-
derful years. Don’t forget to remind us how love triumphed in the end.

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INSTA

setup
relationships on moments
of bad timing

For three players...

• Met at a convenience store (Work, Not Play): The customer and the
counter boy.
• But I like him too (Childhood Buddies): Great friends, greater rivals.
• We have met before (Geographic Reasons): Familiar faces on a train.

For four players, add...

• What’s happening in your life? (Family): Twins.

For five players, add...

• Lemme get in on the action? (Geographic Reasons): Next door horny
noisy neighbour.

needs at the worst possible moment

For three players...

• To Find Out the Truth: If there was any chance

For four or five players, add...

• Something to Prove: You aren’t what they thought you were

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locations where the insanity
happens

For three or four players...

• Old neighbourhood: The QuickMart.

For five players, add...

• Not so decent: Back seat of a car.

objects proving this madness

happened

For any number of players...

• Romantic: A tub of ice cream and marshmallows.

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about the Author about the ARTIST

tobie abad is a Senior Game Designer Bianca Canoza is a layout artist

for Indigo Entertainment who spends the and illustrator. Her wide array of skills
rest of his time living and breathing table and interests include fields as diverse as
top games for others. traditional Okinawan dance and mainframe
programming.
He lives with his partner, Rocky, and their
dog who loves bananas, Yoshi. He hopes She is employed as a technical writer and
marriage will soon be allowed for people graphic designer at a multinational regional
like them in the Philippines. development bank, and is currently a member
of Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK).
Read more of his stuff at
http://tagsessions.blogspot.com View her portfolio at
http://momatoes.com
Support Tobie at
https://www.patreon.com/tagsessions

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.
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