Game Design by Michael M. Hughes
Art by Miguel Romero
Rockers & Rollers Rpg
Rockers & Rollers (R&R) is a tabletop roleplaying/party game for adults where you and your friends form the band of your dreams and live out your superstar fantasy. It’s best with 3-5 players and a game master (called the Manager).
Over the course of your career arc (aka campaign) you start at tiny gigs (maybe a middle school gymnasium), rocket to stardom, become superstars, burn out, break up, and fade away (maybe to reappear later on a PBS fundraiser). The Manager helps guide your career, plays all the people around you, and introduces and resolves conflicts. But most of the storytelling derives from the players. Your band, your story
Rocker & Rollers a mix of roleplaying, storytelling, improv, and ridiculous music-making. It’s easy for anyone to jump in and play, even if they’ve never played a traditional roleplaying game.
Players roll two six-sided dice for all their actions, and the resolution is quick and easy — there are not complex rules to remember.
are you ready to ROCK?
You create your band’s songs by playing the instrument everyone owns — your mouth. No actual instruments are used or harmed in R&R, and the emphasis is on fun and silliness, not musical ability.
Together, you write catchy riffs that become your hit songs, then perform those songs at gigs for your adoring fans.
Think “Behind the Music” with a huge dose of “This Is Spinal Tap” and the usual excess of sex and drugs and interpersonal conflicts as your band rises, peaks, and ultimately self-destructs in blaze of egomaniacal rage.
🎸Air guitar & silly mouth noises
Gameplay is largely collaborative storytelling and improv, much of it driven by the players (band members). R&R has tools and random tables to help the Manager add NPCs, locations, and wacky situations into each game session. Humor is essential and laughter is guaranteed — this is a game about the absurdity of fame and the decadent excesses in the world of rock music.
There are optional rules for sex (offscreen and PG, not graphic or yucky, and always portrayed consensually) and drugs (with dire consequence for abuse), because both have always been part of rock and roll culture. But the game can be played without these rules without losing any of the fun, and has abundant safety tools built-in. Because of the optional sex and drug rules, however, the game is recommended for mature players.
The game also has abundant downtime activities. Players are encouraged to roleplay between each game session, brainstorm lyrics and new songs, create cassette tape and album cover art, text and email other band members in character (perhaps introducing new conflicts or plot elements), writing reviews, fan letters, etc. So even when you're not at the table, you can still rock!
💵 Fame + fortune + sex + drugs
Your band can be of any genre or style, from any era — metal, pop, electronic, alternative, punk, prog, yacht rock — your imagination is the limit. You can follow classic career arcs (playbooks) modeled after your favorite bands, or create something completely new.