We thank Mana Project Studio and Don’t Panic Games for providing us with a physical copy of the Cowboy Bebop quickstart so that we could tell you about it in this preview.

The quickstart will allow you to play bounty hunters in a solar system of the future, just as if you were part of the crew of the Bebop, the famous spaceship from the anime from which this game is inspired. Building a role-playing game based on such a beloved and iconic original work is always a big risk, but from what can be seen in this preview Mana Project Studio has hit the mark. The narrative style of the timeless Japanese anime is beautifully reflected in the pages of this product.

The project is the result of a very successful Kickstarter campaign, and the full manual will soon be available. Both this quickstart and the full manual are available for pre-order in printed versions on the Backerkit page, priced at €9 and €49, respectively, in both English and Italian. Neither product contains a PDF version, which in the case of the full manual can be purchased separately, whereas this Quickstart in PDF can be found freely on DriveThruRPG.

Preview of the Style and Contents of Cowboy Bebop

Flip through the 58 pages of this quickstart and you find yourself thrown headlong into the work from which it is inspired. The manual is accompanied by official illustrations from the anime, and the visual rendering as a whole conveys the dynamism typical of the story. Overall, the information is neat and well-distributed, making it a quick, clear and smooth read.

The product is divided into two sections: a first part in which the main mechanics are explained, and a second part in which a trial Session is offered, with pre-generated characters, Bounty to capture, and some advice for the Big Shot, i.e., the person who will assume the role of narrator.

The Characters

Each player plays a Bounty Hunter (henceforth BH). The character sheet of a BH consists mainly of Traits. These must be visible elements of the character: a haircut, a posture, or a characteristic object…. The purpose of this limitation is to push the narrative towards a ‘show don’t tell’ model, i.e. the practice of putting what happens in the scene at the centre of the story, avoiding slower moments in which further motivations and inner aspects of BHs are explained. This does not mean that it cannot be an introspective game, but the aim is to show the effect of the character’s interiority directly in the scene, through concrete elements and actions with possible symbolic meaning.

Each Trait is linked to an Approach. Each Approach represents a different way of confronting a challenge. There are 5 possible approaches: Rock, Dance, Blues, Tango and Jazz; each one is linked to a stage tone to be emphasised.

In addition, all characters have a unique mechanic called Groove, a special ability that allows mechanics to be altered creatively and showcase the uniqueness of that specific BH.

Session’s Structure

In accordance with the rest of the game, the Sessions also have a precise structure designed to best render the dynamicity and style of the product. A game session is called a Session and is divided into three parts, called Tabs. The names of the three Tabs are a line from the anime’s theme song and are called G.E.S.T (Get Everybody and the Stuff Together), 3.2.1… and Let’s Jam!. Furthermore, the Sessions have a genre, which corresponds to one of the Approaches. All tests that match the genre of the Session get an additional die.

Each Tab must be resolved by a Clock, which defines the victory condition. At the same time, the Big Shot opens the Clock of the losing condition. Clocks are circles divided into a variable number of sections, which are filled by spending Hits or Shocks. In this game the Clocks can never be emptied; but with the agreement of the table, it is possible to open other Clocks in addition to the two main ones, even to counter those already active. Each Tab also has its own unique peculiarities, which offer game options to both CT and Big Shot. All Tabs have a specific difficulty, which will affect how easy it will be to pass a test within the Tab itself.

A Glance at the Core Mechanics

From what can be seen in this Cowboy Bebop preview, the game design is deeply narrative-oriented. This is not surprising, considering some of the names of the contributors to the development of the mechanics. All the rules of this game are designed to favour the kind of story characteristic of the anime.

The first thing to do when facing a Test is to choose the Approach. Then you assemble the dice pool, placing an equal number of dice as the current Tab, adding a die for each trait related to the chosen approach. You then roll the dice and generate a Hit if the sum of the dice is greater than the difficulty of the Tab; an additional Hit is achieved if there is at least a pair of 6s. Every 1 that appears on the dice generates a Shock, the currency that the Big Shot uses to fill the defeat condition clock. Generated Hits can fill a clock or alter the difficulty of subsequent trials.

There are other interesting mechanics to talk about within this Cowboy Bebop preview. For example Rhythm, a reserve that can be spent in different ways based on the current Tab; or Memories and Bullets, a combined mechanic for managing Shock and bringing the character’s past into play.

Conclusions of the Cowboy Bebop Preview

I conclude this Cowboy Bebop preview by saying that the product is certainly intriguing for all fans. Those who perhaps do not know or are not particularly fond of the anime will nevertheless find interesting insights within this product (and perhaps get closer to the original work thanks to it).

It will be interesting to see how the full manual will handle the long-form narrative, starting with the development and evolution of the BHs.

This manual decides to move within very strict stakes. This pushes it in a very precise narrative direction, which allows it to tell stories as close as possible to those of the work from which it is inspired; you play bounty hunters in space who clash with bizarre adversaries and ghosts from their past.

If this idea inspires you, Cowboy Bebop may be the game for you!

If you liked this Cowboy Bebop quickstart’s preview, follow us to discover more tabletop RPGs!