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Strays: Rules, Board, and Cards Ideas

Strays A Board Game AdventureDownload

🟢 BONUS MOVES (6 cards)

1. Zoomies! — Move forward 3 extra spaces.

2. Sniff Something Familiar — Move to the nearest Red house space.

3. Fetch Champion — Roll again and take another full turn.

4. Neighborhood Shortcut — Jump across one Alley to any connected Street.

5. Lucky Bone! — Gain +2 points instantly.

6. Treat Time — Draw one extra Fetch Card this turn.

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🔴 PENALTIES (6 cards)

7. Caught by the Dogcatcher! — Skip your next turn.

8. Lost Collar — Move back 3 spaces.

9. Rainstorm! — All dogs lose 1 move next round.

10. Wrong Yard! — Lose 2 points for trespassing.

11. You Chased a Cat — Move back to your previous intersection.

12. Dropped the Bone — Discard your lowest-value house token.

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🟡 TRADES & SWAPS (6 cards)

13. Playdate — Swap one house token with any player.

14. Friendly Bark — Choose one player; both of you draw 1 Fetch Card.

15. Steal the Spotlight — Take one random card from another player.

16. House Swap — Exchange your highest-value house with another player’s.

17. Pack Instinct — Move to share a space with another dog; both draw 1 Fetch Card.

18. Good Neighbor — Give one Red house to another player; gain +2 points for kindness.

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🟣 CHALLENGES (6 cards)

19. Dig for Treasure — Roll the die; on 5 or 6, gain +3 points. Otherwise, lose 1 point.

20. Bark-Off! — Choose another player; both roll. Higher roll gains +2 points.

21. Hide the Bone — Roll the die; on even, draw another card. On odd, skip next Fetch action.

22. Obstacle Course — Move through two hydrant spaces in one turn to earn +4 points.

23. Sniff Contest — First player to reach a blue house gains +2 bonus points.

24. Runaway Mail Truck — All players move 2 spaces backward.

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🔵 EVENTS (6 cards)

25. Garbage Day! — All Red houses are worth +1 this round.

26. New Family in Town — Add a new Red house token to any empty space.

27. Full Moon Frenzy! — Every player moves again immediately.

28. Squirrel Chase! — Roll a die: 1–3 move back 2 spaces; 4–6 move ahead 2 spaces.

29. Friendly Fire Hydrant — Gain +1 point for each hydrant you’ve passed.

30. Dog Park Meetup — Every player draws a Fetch Card.

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Game 3: The Trial of the Taming: Aspirant Handbook

Created by Christine Ursiny

1. The Game: Bond or Die

Welcome to The Eyrie, the cutthroat military academy where you and your fellow Aspirants have formed a Fated Bond with an ancient magical creature. This RPG is focused on high-stakes teamwork under pressure to graduate; you must survive the brutal, lethal trials of The Reckoning and work together to expose the dark secrets of the oppressive Staff. 

2. Character Creation: Set Up

Step 1: Roll for Your Identity

Roll on the table below to determine your: Descriptor, Species/Skill, and Sector.

Roll 1D61-2: Descriptor (Your Personality)3-4: Creature (Your Power)5-6: Sector (Your Academy Niche)
1Rookie (Terrified, but fast)Great Wyrm (Fire Breath, Burn)Wing Leadership (Command & Tactics)
2Washed-Up (Skeptical, but wise)Gryphon (Piercing Shriek, Shatter)Archives Guard (Security & Surveillance)
3Unhinged (Aggressive, reckless)Sky-Lion (Air Magic, Soar)Scouting & Recon (Stealth & Intelligence)
4Ambitious (Political, slick)Drake (Heavy Armor, Shrug Off)Healer/Scribe (Lore, Medicine & Support)
5Reluctant (Relatable, empathetic)Shadow Serpent (Illusion, Vanish)Weapons Master (Gear & Melee Combat)
6Grizzled (Experienced, damaged)Tempest Owl (Lightning, Stun)Logistics/Wartime Engineer (Supply & Defense)

Step 2: Set Your Stats (The Bond)

You have two opposed stats. Both start at 3.

StatFocusWhen to use this stat…
RIDERDiscipline, Cunning, ControlLying, persuading rivals, carefully piloting your creature, remembering academic lore, or solving puzzles.
BEASTInstinct, Raw Power, SpeedMauling, flying recklessly fast, using elemental magic, shrugging off damage, or terrifying enemies.

3. Action Resolution

When you attempt an action and the outcome is uncertain and has real consequences, the Game Master (GM) will tell you which stat to use, and you roll a single.

  • Succeed: If your roll is equal to or under the stat, you succeed!
  • Fail: If your roll is over the stat, you fail!

 The “Expert Edge” Rule (Specialized Skills) 

If you use one of your character’s unique strengths, you get a significant edge:

  • Creature Skill: If you invoke your Creature’s unique Species Skill (Burn, Shatter, Vanish, etc.), you may treat your BEAST stat as 4 for this single roll (even if it is lower or higher).
  • Sector Niche: If you use an action directly related to your Sector (Weapons Master with gear, Archives Guard spotting a trap), you may treat your RIDER stat as 4 for this single roll (even if it is lower or higher).

4. The Shifting Bond (The Core Mechanic)

Your stats are never safe; they shift based on your successes and failures. Keep the two numbers balanced!

TriggerEffect on Your StatsThe Story Behind the Shift
Pride (Success)Move 1 point from BEAST to RIDERYou succeed flawlessly through intellect and showboating. Your ego grows; you rely more on cunning.
Guts (Failure)Move 1 point from RIDER to BEASTYour plan fails, and panic or instinct takes over. You ditch tactics and rely on raw, animal survival.
Voluntary: Yell at your CreatureMove 1 point from RIDER to BEASTYou willingly give in to anger or fear, forcing your creature to obey. You gain wildness, but lose control.
Voluntary: Flashback to StudyMove 1 point from BEAST to RIDERYou interrupt the action to recall an academic insight, bringing logic to the chaos. You rein in your wildness.

The End of the Line: When a Stat Hits 6

If either stat reaches 6, you have gone too far and are out of the game!

  • RIDER reaches 6: You become corrupted by self-serving ambition. You betray your squad to join the oppressive Staff.
  • BEAST reaches 6: You have completely Lost the Bond. Your creature flips out and rejects you. You are expelled (or killed).

5. Quick Q&A: 

QuestionAnswer
When do I roll?Only when the outcome is uncertain and a failure would create a consequence (danger, lost time, etc.).
What happens if I fail?The GM will give you a Narrative Setback (losing time, attracting Staff attention, your creature suffers a temporary trouble). A Stat Shift only happens if that failure triggers Guts (forces a panic response).
How does the Expert Edge work?If you use your special skill, you treat your stat as 4 for that one roll. This is the simplest way to gain a powerful, reliable advantage without rolling extra dice.
Why is a high stat bad?A high stat makes you better at those actions, but puts you closer to the End of the Line. A BEAST of 5 is an unstoppable force, but one failure could mean they lose their creature forever.
Who controls the creature?You do! It’s an extension of you. If you want to fly carefully, that’s RIDER. If you want to use elemental fire, that’s BEAST.

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Honey Heist Review

1. Was it fun?
Yes, I enjoyed the storytelling aspect of it all while also the restrictions made by the GM and the character guide. It was ridiculous in the best way.

2. What were the player interactions?
The interactions between people were my character Lewis (a retired Black Bear thief) kept trying to hold the group together. Luigi, the koala muscle, was overly confident im biting peoples heads off but not very strategic. Labubu, the “Face,” flirted their way to get information that didn’t get anywhere. Bob, the blind honey badger getaway driver had no way to help and was only a hinderance. We were constantly bouncing off each other’s stories.

3. How long did it take to learn?
It was quick, the mechanics were easy, it took about 10 minutes to understand. The hardest part was wrapping our heads around how flexible we could be about improvising rather than understanding the system.

4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
The most frustrating part was how difficult the GM (BRYCE) made it to actually pull off the heist. Every time we got close to to something he would throw out everything to make it ridiculous. My character being on Ozempic and Flat Stanley got the most frustrating parts basically carrying the team.

5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
When the blind honey badger tried to drive the getaway van and just kept blasting highway to hell. Also just coming up with random stuff to do. It completely derailed the game but in the best way.

6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
I wanted Lewis to actually get closer to the vault and overall get more context within the game to get to the honey but between the GM’s and the team we never got close.

7. If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
I’d balance the challenge a bit more so that players actually can succeed, which I guess all boils down the the GM. I wish the GM had more rules in general instead of it being impossible from the start.

Is this a game you would play again?

Yes
I would because even though we failed it was never not entertaining. I like the ability to have a completely different stort every time. I want to make a different verson of this type of game. The randomness keeps it fresh.

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Rule Set for Matching Language Cards

I’m writing this rule set because I want to prototype this idea first instead of my other rule set I posted two weeks ago. I’m just very curious how a traditional matching game would work with different languages and how peoples memories are affected when it’s unfamiliar words rather than pictures.

Players 2-5

SET UP: Pick the stack that you want to play with and shuffle them with the language NOT in English face up. Lay out all 50 cards in a grid face up

Gameplay:

This is a pretty traditional matching game but obviously instead of remembering where pictures are, you are trying to remember the translation of the words that you are gradually learning throughout the game.

Each turn players attempt to make matches. Every turn, the player flips over two cards.

On their turn, a player flips over a card and reads the translation. They then pick up their second card by trying to find the match to the English word on the back. If the second card does not match the first card THEY PUT BOTH CARDS BACK WHERE THEY ORGINALLY WERE with the NON-English word face up.

FOR EXAMPLE – player 1 flips a card that says “perro” on it. The back reads “dog”. The player then scans the grid trying to see EITHER if they know another word for dog or if a previous player had flipped over the word “dog” before and they remember where it is.

Players take turn attempting to make matches until the grid has been completely matched.

HOW TO WIN:

Players with the most matches wins.

Congrats! You either already know another language or are good at memorizing places on a game board!

possible ALTERNATIVE PLAY:

1. If a matching game seems too boring, here’s another idea to spice it up a little bit.

Instead of taking a turn by trying to find a match by flipping over two cards, there will be an extra “hard” section of words above the matching grid that IF YOU KNOW OR CAN GUESS THE WORD counts as an additional match in your hand. However, guessing wrong does not remove the card from the game but you must reveal your guess and put it back above the grid if you guess incorrectly. The potential then is that other players have the opportunity to steal these bonus cards, narrowing down the meaning. 

2. If there is a tie OR just if you want to keep the matches with the NON English words face up and shuffle the card and whoever remembers the most meanings gets an extra point or the number of points for that number of cards guessed right (by the players discretion)