Hyper Light / Drifter

A hack of John Harper’s Lasers & Feelings

This game is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA license

You are a drifter. Your calling is to explore the ruined landscape on your world,
survive the beasts, monsters, and wayward technology you find along the way,
and defend your Sanctuary against hostile forces.

Players: Create Characters

1. Choose or roll a style for your character: smooth, klutzy, witty, sneaky, gruff, or
cheerful.
2. Choose or roll a specialty for your character: warrior, trader, explorer, storyteller,
sniper, or technologist.
3. Choose your number, from 2 to 5. A high number means you are better at
Hyper Light (using ancient technology, fighting with phase shifted hard light
weaponry, and solving problems with your intellect). A low number means
you’re better at Drifter (exploration, survival, negotiation, brawling, and
solving problems with intuition and swagger).
4. Give your character a cool science fantasy adventure name, like Kar, Mux, Bits,
Gear, Carver, or Wave.

Clothing and Equipment

You have:
● A duster jacket, a cloak, a scarf, or scavenged metal plating
● A phase shifted hard light sword
● A hyper light pistol or a hyper light rifle
● A stimpack
● Another piece of gear of your choice
You may also have a tiny companion, such as a sprite bot or a creature that follows
you around.

Player goal
Get your character involved in crazy hyper light adventures and try to make the best
of them.

Character goal
Choose one or create your own: Discover how the world went to ruin, find supplies for
your Sanctuary, defeat a hated monster, prove your worth to your family, find your
missing friend, or find your fortune.
Players: Create the Sanctuary
The Sanctuary is a settlement where you go to rest, train, and purchase new gear. It is
a place where peaceful folk try to carve out what lives they can in a broken world. It
may be your place of origin or just a place you’ve come to recently, but you should
have a reason to stick around and be invested in its well-being.

As a group, pick Two Strengths for the Sanctuary: well-guarded, hidden, trade
center, friendly, place of healing, library, or high tech.
Also, pick One Problem: crime-ridden (The Sanctuary has criminals acting openly on
its streets.) under watch (The Sanctuary’s leader and those loyal to them are always
watching) frequently attacked (Nearby monsters or raiders often attack the
Sanctuary.) or dry (The Sanctuary has little fresh water.)

Rolling the Dice

When you do something risky, roll 1d6 to find out how it goes. Roll +1d if you’re
prepared and +1d if you’re an expert. (The GM tells you how many dice to roll, based
on your character and the situation.) Roll your dice and compare each die result to
your number.
▽ If you’re using Hyper Light (using ancient technology, fighting with phase
shifted hard light weaponry, and solving problems with your intellect) you
want to roll under your number
△ If you’re using Drifter (exploration, survival, negotiation, brawling, and
solving problems with intuition and swagger) you want to roll over your
number.

0 | If none of your dice succeed, it goes wrong. The GM says how things get worse.
In combat, you likely take damage and find yourself in even more of a jam.
1 | If one die succeeds, it you barely manage it. The GM inflicts a complication, harm,
or cost. In combat, you damage your opponent, but you may take damage yourself. If
you’re using a hyper light gun, it might run out of charges instead and be unusable
until you rest.
2 | If two dice succeed, you do it well. Good job! In combat, you damage your
opponent while avoiding damage yourself.
3 | If three dice succeed, you get a critical success! The GM tells you some extra
effect you get. In combat, a defeated enemy might drop a bit, or you might deal
extra damage to a boss.
! | If you roll your number exactly, you’re a Hyper Light Drifter! You can:
◈ Gain a Dash (in combat)
◈ Ask the GM a question and they’ll answer you honestly.
◈ Add a fact to the scene, such as the presence of a useful item.
◈ Recharge a gun.
Helping: If you want to help someone else who’s rolling, say how you try to help and
make a roll. If you succeed, give them +1d.

Damage: If you take damage, you are injured. You can heal by using a stimpack,
which is exhausted once used. If you take damage while you are injured, then you
are bleeding out. An ally can fully heal you with a stimpack or stabilize you with a
successful Drifter roll. A stabilized character isn't good for much and needs to rest
somewhere safe before they can return to the action. Resting in town or at a camp
made with a Drifter roll fully heals you.
Most enemies die once they take damage. Powerful enemies, such as bosses, may
need to be damaged multiple times before they fall.

Dashes: You start each combat encounter with one Dash. You can spend a Dash to
negate damage against yourself, and you can gain a Dash when you roll your
Number. Extra Dashes are lost at the end of each encounter.

Bits and Bytes: While exploring, you might come across little pieces of old
technology called bits. If you bring 4 bits together, they will merge into a larger byte!
Bytes are coveted by traders and the like, so if you bring some back to your
Sanctuary, you will undoubtedly be able to trade them for weapons, gear, and
upgrades.

Sample Items
Item Name Description Cost

Extended Magazine This upgrade permanently applies to 2 bytes

one gun. The first time this gun
would run out of charges during an
encounter, it remains charged
instead. Afterward, the gun
functions normally for the
remainder of the encounter.

Dash Shield When you use a Dash to negate 3 bytes

damage from a ranged energy
attack, you reflect it back at your
attacker, dealing damage to them.

Power Slash This upgrade permanently applies to 3 bytes

one hard light melee weapon. You
can reform your weapon into a
massive blade and swing it for extra
damage. To do so, roll 1 fewer die
when you attack. If this would
reduce you to 0 dice, then you
cannot use this upgrade. If you hit,
deal 3x damage.
GM: Create a Hyper Light Drifter
Adventure
Roll or choose on the tables below.

A Threat

1. evil frog folk 4. scavengers of past technology

2. bird cultists 5. misguided settlers

3. revived war machines 6. unknown invaders

wants to

1. resurrect 4. take control of

2. destroy 5. corrupt

3. cleanse 6. discover the secrets of

the

1. old Titan by the Sanctuary 4. mountain

2. ancient factory 5. abandoned bunker

3. creatures of the forest 6. local sprite bots

which will

1. destroy the Sanctuary 4. burn the forests down

2. ruin the Sanctuary’s supplies 5. disable hyper light technology

3. unleash sickness on the population 6. crack the earth open

GM: Run the Game

Play to find out how they defeat the threat. Introduce the threat by showing
evidence of its recent badness. Before a threat does something to the characters,
show signs that it’s about to happen, then ask what they do.
Call for a roll when the situation is uncertain. Don’t pre-plan outcomes. Let the
chips fall where they may. Use failures to push the action forward. The situation
always changes after a roll, for good or ill.
Ask questions and build on the answers.