Deadwood (game)

Deadwood is a board game for 3-8 players produced by Cheapass Games. In it, players assume the roles of bit actors working for a B-Movie Studio who try to make as much money as possible. This is done by taking on roles such as "man on fire," "woman in black dress," and "falls off roof." Players are represented by dice, which denote what "level" actor each player is. The original version of the game was available through various game outlets. The rules, boards, and cards for a revised edition (Deadwood 2.0) are now available for free download from the company's website, and are being developed into a deluxe edition via Kickstarter.

All players begin each "day" of gameplay at the Trailers located at one corner of the board. In the original game, each player's die begins on 2, denoting they are a "Rank 2 actor". In Version 2.0, players normally start at Rank 1 and play is for 4 "days". Changes are as follows depending on how many are playing:

Players can raise their rank by taking roles and earning both money and "screen credits". Each "day", 10 different "scene cards"—each dealt to one of 10 "set" spaces on the gameboard—are available in which the actors can participate. Besides the scenes depicted on the "scene card", each set has one or more "set roles" depicted on the space itself. Scenes on the space, but not on the card, are "Scale roles", paying $1 per turn until they are completed. Scenes "on the card" are paid only when the scene ends, but may yield higher paydays. (Multiple players may each take a role on any given scene, even if it is already underway.) In the original game, players can only take roles equal to their rank; if they want to take a lower-ranked role, they must surrender any ranks in between to become an extra of that rank. In Version 2, players can take roles equal to or lower than their rank with no penalty.

Each "scene card" shows between one and three "featured roles" and the "budget" for the project (between $2 million and $6 million). Players who take any role on the set roll one die to determine if the scene progresses, or needs to be reshot. A scene progresses if the number rolled on the die is equal to or higher than the "budget" number on the card (e.g. a $4 million card requires a roll of 4 or more to progress). Most scenes require 2 "shots" to complete, although some may need only one shot to finish, or as many as three shots to complete. When a "Scale" ("Off the card") player rolls to advance a scene, they earn $1 regardless if the roll is successful or not. ("On the card" or "Featured" players earn no money for scene rolls).

In Version 2.0, instead of making a scene roll, a player can opt to "rehearse" the scene. This earns the player a "practice chip" which adds 1 to each further scene roll attempt for that scene only. (Players can earn multiple "practice chips", up one less than the "budget" of the film; i.e. up to 3 chips on a $4 "Million" scene.)

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Wikipedia