WRETCHEDWASTELAND

BY
STUART
WATKINSON
CONTENTS
CONTENT WARNING

03 WHAT?

05 WHO?

06 WHEN?

THE MAP

07 IT BEGINS

08 THE DAY

09 THE LOG

THE SURVIVAL GUIDE

10 DAILY STRUGGLE

11 RELICS OF THE PAST

13 THE RAIDERS

15 WASTELAND WONDERS

17 DEBRIEF

19
2
 CONTENTWARNING
WRETCHED
“The trouble you're expecting never
happens; it's always something that
sneaks up the other way.”
― George R. Stewart, Earth Abides While this game is for fun it does
deal with some dark themes. It
"I survived because the fire inside contains violence, death, starvation,
burned brighter than the fire around rabid dogs, and cannibalism. It is
me. I fell down into that dark chasm, about surviving in a horrible post-
but the flame burned on and on" apocalyptic future. It is unlikely
you will be successful with your
― Joshua Graham, Fallout: New Vegas journey, without lightly modifying
the rules. This game is about the
“Men can be brilliant and strong, narrative that a scout in the wastes
they whispered to one another. But experiences however, it is not all
doom and gloom. There are little gems

WASTELAND
men can be mad, as well. And the mad
ones can ruin the world.” of beauty in the wasteland. If you
pull a card that doesn't fit well
― David Brin, The Postman with you, that's fine. Just skip it.

This work is based on The Wretched (found at

http://loottheroom.itch.io/wretched), product of
Chris Bissette and Loot The Room, and licensed for
our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Unported license.
THE WRETCHED™ is a trademark of Chris Bissette.
The Wretched and Alone logo is © Chris Bissette,
and is used with permission.

Game Design
Stuart Watkinson
Cover Art
Ferran Xalabarder
Internal Art
Kiril Tchangov
Layout
M.A.Guax

3 4
WHAT?
Wretched Wasteland is a game about
survival. Survival in a world torn
apart by war. It is a game about the
WHO?
You are a scout from a post-
apocalyptic compound, and you have
just discovered a large Raider camp.
few people that still inhabit the It is your job to get back to The
Earth and the dangers they face. Compound and warn your people.
Your character is a scout from The There is a vast dangerous wasteland
Compound, a small bastion of that separates you from your goal.
civilisation. As a scout, you have Mutated animals, a burning hot sun,
seen what the wasteland has done to treacherous ruined land, wanderers of
people. How it has infected their the waste, lack of water…
minds and turned them into murderers,
thieves, and cannibals. You know what And a Raider has just spotted the
horrors exist out in the wastes. reflection of your binoculars.
A scout knows that patience and a You’re low on supplies, out of ammo,
slow pace are key to survival. and trying to keep two steps ahead of
However, you must move at a dangerous a pack of Raiders while dodging the
speed to make it back in time. worst the wasteland can conjure.
Wretched Wasteland is a re-skin of You’ll be right, kid.
The Wretched by Chris Bessitte.
It takes inspiration from video games

WHEN?
Fallout and Fallout 2 by Interplay,
the music of The Goondock Saint &
Mark Morgan, and books The Postman by
David Brin, Earth Abides by George R.
Stewart, and The Gunslinger by
Stephen King.
April 12th, 1985 the fighting
started.
They fought for the control of fossil
fuels and the domination of their
cultural philosophies. It started
with the Mega-Mechs. Huge mechanical
war machines designed to reduce the
loss of life. Titans that fought with
lasers, fire, and rockets.
But it did not take long before the
thermo-nuclear weapons were deployed
and destroyed large sections of
civilisation. The nuclear fallout
quickly killed those nearby and lead
to a nuclear winter.
Sickness spread across the globe and
the human race dwindled.
Small bastions of hope survived and
over the last 200 years they have
been scrounging and scavenging. The
world as we know it is gone. The few
remaining humans carve out a living
however they can.
The Wasteland is a cruel master.

5 6
THEMAP
The map represents your progress
through the wasteland. Your token
will start at the top on the X tile.
IT BEGINS
Set up the tumbling block tower as
you normally would for games of that
nature. Roll your die, and complete
At the end of each day, you must roll that many pulls from the tower. The
a six-sided die to move your token to tower represents your physical and
the next tile. mental health as you move through the
On the first two tiles, rolling a 4, wasteland.
5, or 6 will advance you to the next If it falls at any time, you have
tile. given up all hope or sustained too
On the next two tiles rolling a 5 or many injuries. It results in your
6 will advance you to the next tile. death and the game is over. You will
become another pile of dried bones
On all other tiles, you must roll a 6 for the wastes to consume. If you do
to advance to the next tile. not have access to a tumbling block
Rolling a 1 represents getting lost tower you do not need to use one and
and you move your token back one may ignore any instances where you
tile. Reasons for this may include a are asked to pull from the tower. The
bridge collapsing, sandstorms, heavy wasteland or the Raiders will take
rains, being chased by savages, or you instead.
any other interference that appropri‐ Shuffle the deck of playing cards and
ately suits your journey. place them face down within easy
reach. The Ace of Spades should be
placed in lower half of the deck as
If you make it to the it can kill your character instantly.
last tile, you win. If you wish to play a shorter game,
make sure the Ace of Hearts is the
top card of the deck.

7 8
THEDAY
The game is divided into days. Each
day has two phases: The Journey, and
The Log.
THELOG
Record your first audio log, reading
from the script as follows:
THESURVIVALGUIDE
You will consult The Survival Guide
every time you draw a card. The guide
will assign you a task that must com‐

PHASEONE:THEJOURNEY “
plete.
First day of return trip, Scout
(Your name) reporting. I’ve These tasks may require you to pull a
spotted a large Raider camp brick from the tower. Some will pose
roughly ten days out from The questions or problems that need
Compound. One of them saw me. solving. Others are different again;
They’ll be on my tail. I’ve got nothing is certain in the wastes.

1. Roll your die and draw that

number of cards from the deck,
no ammo left, a little food, and
a little water. However, if the
lay them out face up.

2. This where you build the narra‐

tive of the day. Consult the
Survival Guide to see what each
weather stays in-check, and I

time. (Your name) out.

“
don’t come across anything too
nasty, I can make it back in HEARTS♥
Hearts represent your Daily Struggle
to survive in the wasteland.
card means. All subsequent reports should begin
with the statement “X day of return When you draw a heart, you are strug‐
trip, Scout (your name) reporting”. gling to survive in the wastes; loca‐
Should you die in the wasteland, and ting water and food, and handling the
3. Resolve each card in the order
that you believe builds the best
narrative.
another scout finds your remains,
they can use the information you have
harsh environment.

Diamonds♦
discovered to help The Compound. The
information you put into the log is

4. When you have completed all

events for the day, discard the
cards you have used unless you
your choice, but at least cover the
events of the day.
Now you are ready to begin. Diamonds represent The Relics of the
are told otherwise. Past you discover in the wastes.
When you draw a diamond, you are
finding locations and items from a
5. Roll your die to check your pro‐
gress on the map, refer to The
Map page for details.
lost civilization.

PHASETWO:THELOG CLUBS♣
Clubs represent The Raiders, the
vilest bunch of murderers in the
wastes.
1. Take a moment to consider the
events of the day, think about
what you had to do, and how that
They are close behind you. They are
hunting you and toying with you.
would have impacted you physi‐
cally and mentally.

2. Record
day.
your audio log for the SPADES♠
Spades represent The Weirdness that
can be found in the wastes, the Was‐
teland Wonders.
When you draw a spade, you are inte‐
racting with the wonders of the was‐
teland; for good or for worse.

9 10
♥DAILYSTRUGGLE ♥A You discover a battered but
serviceable compass! With this,
you will be able to ensure
♥8 The wind howls and picks up
speed, blasting sand across the
wastes. The sky turns that fa‐
you’re on the right path. miliar orange. A sandstorm ap‐
Pull from the tower. proaches. Where do you wait out
the storm?
Do not discard this card–
instead, place it next to your Do not roll to move to the next
map as a reminder. tile.
You can no longer get lost
while traveling in the wastes
and rolling a 1 no longer ♥9 Waste sickness is upon you…
your skin is red and puffy.
Your stomach churns and you are
pushes you back a tile.
short of breath. You know this
can kill. What do you have in

♥2 Water… Water running freely in

the wastes. You have discovered
a small natural spring. The
your pack to help you?

water looks clean, but do you

drink it? ♥10 The bridge you used coming
through this way has collapsed
since you last crossed it. Do
you try to swim across and pull
You drop the small canteen of from the tower or walk along
♥3 water you carry, and it cracks,
the precious liquid inside
the river to the next bridge
and do not roll to move to the
leaking away. You must spend next tile?
the remainder of the day repai‐
ring it. How do you repair it?
Pull from the tower. Do not
roll to move to the next tile.
♥J You find the tracks of a large
beast in the sand. Much larger
than you and it has been
through recently, very re‐
cently. You can’t hear it… and
In the backroom of an old
♥4 grocery store, long since ran‐
sacked, you discover three tins
you don’t want to see it. How
do you ensure you will avoid
it? What do you think it is?
of dog food. This is a rare
find. Did you enjoy eating it? Pull from the tower.

♥5 NoHow food today. What happened?

did it run out? Or what
♥Q You sit and eat in the shade.
Your stomach fills and you feel
a strange sense of peace.
events stopped you from eating?
What goes through your mind as
Pull from the tower. contemplate the days ahead?

♥6 The hunger has gotten too much,

and you decided to hunt for
food. What do you use? What do ♥K Abeside
bullet ricochets of the wall
you, fragments of brick
you find? scatter across your face. The
Raiders are upon you! What do
you do to evade them?

♥7 While traversing a steep incline

on a gravelly hill, you lose
your footing and tumble to the
Do not discard this card. Place
it where you can see it.
bottom, grazing and bruising If this is the fourth King you
your leg. What do you do when have drawn, the Raiders have
you reach the bottom? caught you. The game is over.
Pull from the tower.

11 12
♦RELICSOFTHEPAST ♦A Aanight
bunker sealed and empty. With
bed. You could spend the
sleeping in a bed.
♦8 You see one of the Mega-Mechs
the Old Worlders used in battle
as you crest a hill. Once an
♦J The charred remains of the
forest stretch out for miles.
There is something fundamen‐
Do you stay? Roll the die twice intricate machine of war and tally wrong with the land.
to move to the next tile and destruction it is now just a You’ve only seen it in pic‐
take the highest result at the huge pile of scrap metal. What tures. But you know these
end of The Journey phase. images does the sight conjure places were once green and
in your mind? filled with life.
How does this make you feel?
♦2 The remains of a children’s
playground in the valley. The
♦9 Someone's crumbling family
home. You can tell which rooms
wind blows the swings, and the
merry-go-round whines as the
rusted metal slowly turns. This
were for sleeping and which
were shared. A family lived
♦Q ASmoke
city, off in the distance.
billows from it, you can
hear the occasional gunshots.
was a place of happiness in the here perhaps. They enjoyed a Those ancient ruined cities are
Old World. What does it look peaceful life. Does that matter dangerous, too many people con‐
like to you now? anymore? Will you stay there? verge on them in search of sup‐
plies. Have you ever been? Do
you want to?
♦3 Athe
huge building sticks out from
rubble. Above two large
double doors is a sign that
♦10 Arusted
bike! The rubber tyres have
out, but you can still
ride it. If you know how to
reads ‘Now Showing: Die Hard’.
The door hangs open, do you go
ride, then roll the dice twice
to move to the next tile and
♦K They are on you. Their feet
pound the ground behind you.
You can smell their sour body
in? What do you see? take the highest result at the odour. You run, and run, and
end of The Journey phase. push yourself. Do they get you?

♦4 The remains of a two-story

school loom in the distance,
one half of it collapsed. Paper
Do not discard this card. Place
it where you can see it. If
this is the fourth King you
skitters and floats along the have drawn, the Raiders have
ground, propelled by the wind. caught you. The game is over.
Its classrooms and halls empty.
Do you enter? What do you see?

♦5 Arattles
small lunch box. The contents
as you pick it up. A
small padlock and a lot of tape
have sealed it shut but eventu‐
ally, you pry it open. It is
filled with a collection of
bottle caps. What do you do
with this discovery?

♦6 The charred remains of a

robotic assistant lay in the
dirt. Its circuitry exposed,
its dead eyes staring straight
at you. What do its lifeless
eyes remind you of?

♦7 Abooks
collection of large hardcover
falls out of a over-
turned bookshelf. They seem to
be reference manuals filled
with paintings of horrid crea‐
tures. Did these things once
roam the Old World? What do you
do with the books?

13 14
♣THERAIDERS ♣A InRaider
the early morning, a lone
approaches your small
camp. They come with their
♣7 Bullets pepper the ground
behind you. The Raiders are
taking potshots at you from a
♣K They came as the sun rose.
Three of them dressed in lea‐
thers with helmets fashioned
hands up. A deserter, they want distance. They could get you from scrap metal. Makeshift
to join you on your way back to whenever they wanted, but they guns and batons of steel.
The Compound. What do you do? want to have fun. How do you Do not discard this card. Place
Pull from the tower. Roll the respond? it where you can see it. If
dice twice to move to the next Pull from the tower. this is the fourth King you
tile at the end of The Journey have drawn, the Raiders have
phase. caught you. The game is over.
♣8 You hear the howl of their
dogs. The rabid, starving mon‐
♣2 Aengulf
thick black smoke begins to
you. The Raiders have
set fire to a pile of tyres to
grels they have trained to hunt
and kill. Their guttural growls
and barks pierce through the
smoke you how. Your eyes sting silence of the wastes. Upon
and your lungs burn. How do hearing them, what goes through
you react? your mind and what do you do?
Pull from the tower. Pull from the tower.

♣3 Avoice
crackle and then a hiss. A
comes booming through the
ruined streets. They’re using ♣9 The dogs are on you! They bite
at your heels and their barks
some sort of voice modulator to assault your ears. If you
taunt you. They make strange manage to evade them, how did
sounds and describe what they you do it?
will do to you. Pull from the tower.
Pull from the tower.

The knife glimmers in the sun‐

♣10 You hear the mad, violent
outcry of the Raiders as you
♣4 light. Somehow this Raider got
right to you. They slash at you
rest. It’s almost as if they
are celebrating but in the most
brutal way. Excessive rotgut
with the jagged blade. Through whiskey and chems fuelling
cunning, brawn, or dumb luck their madness. What does it
you manage to escape. How did sound like?
you get away?
Pull from the tower.
Pull from the tower.

♣5 You don’t hear or see any sign

of the Raiders for hours that
♣J Violence. It is their way of
life. You can hear them figh‐
ting and their shouting esca‐
day. How does it make you feel? lates until, finally, you hear
Is it a false comfort or a lin‐ a gunshot. They kill their own
gering sense of unease? with no thought on consequence
You decide whether you pull or camaraderie.
from the tower. Pull from the tower.

♣6 Asthem.
you lay and rest you hear
They have set up their
camp just on the other side of ♣Q Rain. Toxic and poisonous, but
at least you know that even the
the hill. They are so close you Raiders won’t be out in it.
can hear them talking. What do Today you can be at ease, so
they say? long as you have shelter.
Pull from the tower.

15 16
♠WASTELANDWONDERS ♠A You are taken as you sleep. You
feel their hands wrap around
your ankles first. Then your
♠6 You smell them first. A fallen
scout in the rubble, no sign of
conflict, just another casualty
♠10 Heand kneels beside an open grave
weeps, the body that lays
in it is covered. The mismat‐
face is covered. of the wasteland. You search ched armour and ramshackle
You have drawn the death card. their pack, as per scout pro‐ weapons brand them as a Raider.
The game is over. tocol, recover some water and They haven’t noticed you yet.
their recordings. They know the What do you do?
area well, roll the dice twice
to move to the next tile at the
♠2 You find a small cache of home‐
made hallucinogens. They look
potent, and like someone will
end of The Journey phase.
♠J They are gathered in a circle,
chanting in a language you do
be coming back for them. What not understand. Eight of them
do you do?
♠7 ‘Drop your stuff, all of it.’
You are confronted by a man in
road leathers, brandishing a
dressed in dark robes covering
their bodies. The chanting gets
sawn-off shotgun. He is brea‐ louder until they are screa‐
♠3 Aoccurrence,
friendly face is a strange
sometimes the
wastes bless you. It’s another
thing heavily, sweat beads and
drips off his brow. How do you
ming. Then one of them falls to
the ground and the others jump
get out of this situation? on them tearing them apart and
scout out on patrol. They eating their flesh.
supply information on the sur‐ Pull from the tower.
rounding area. Pull from the tower.
Pull from the tower. Roll the
dice twice to move to the next
tile at the end of The Journey ♠8 White fur covers their sleek
bodies. Radiation and the
struggle for survival have ♠Q Adown
tiny flash of green. Looking
you see the sapling
phase. growing through the rough soil.
mutated the rats in their area.
They scamper as you walk Fresh plant life growing in the
through the area. They look de‐ wastes. What do you do with it?
There’s something vile growing
♠4 in the wastes. Its pungent
stench drifts over the land. A
licious. What do you do?

mutation of vegetation, a
living mass of carnivorous
plant. Many have spoken of it,
♠9 You stand in what looks like
the crater from a bomb blast.
But when you step back… it’s a
♠K The bullet hits you and you
fall to the ground. The hot
sun-scorched sand burns your
but never seen it, until now. gigantic clawed footprint. So‐ skin.
What does it look like? mething huge has grown in the Do not discard this card.
deep wastes and made its way Place it where you can see it.
through here. You are small and If this is the fourth King you
♠5 Their gibbering and ranting
echoes through the wasted
streets. They come shuffling
insignificant.
Pull from the tower.
have drawn, the Raiders have
caught you. The game is over.
towards you, another loner who
has lost their mind while wan‐
dering the decimated landscape.
They ask, ‘Have you seen the
broken light of the forgotten
Mothers?’ How do you respond?
Pull from the tower.

17 18
 STOP. What happened? Did you get back? Did
you warn your people?
Or did the raiders get you? Were you
swallowed by the wasteland? Another

TAKEAMOMENT.
piece of insignificant debris in a
ruined world.
You tried your best. You knew the
way. You knew the risks. You were
sure you could get back in time.
It was all bullshit.
You have been telling a story during
this game, but the story began before
you drew your first card. The rules

BREATH.
in this book are a story, and they
were told to you by an unreliable
narrator - the human capacity for
hope, and the desire to survive
against all odds.
There was never any hope. No matter
how close you got to the compound it
was too far away. The wasteland is
too brittle and the raiders are too
ruthless.

Debrief.
You were doomed from the start. And
somewhere inside you, you knew this,
even as you were desperately clinging
to hope.
You may not have survived, but the
log of your final days lives on. What
becomes of it now? Perhaps another
scout will find it? Maybe your
people, fleeing their plundered com‐
pound will find it? Then they’ll know
how hard you tried.
Or the raiders will find it. And
laugh at your demise.
Take solace in the fact that there
was nothing you could do but indulge
in the story.

19 20
21
WHO?
You are a scout from a post-apocalyptic
compound, and you have just discovered
a large Raider camp. It is your job to
get back to The Compound and warn your
people.
There is a vast dangerous wasteland
that separates you from your goal.
Mutated animals, a burning hot sun,
treacherous ruined land, wanderers of
the waste, lack of water…
And a Raider has just spotted the
reflection of your binoculars.
You’re low on supplies, out of ammo,
and trying to keep two steps ahead of a
pack of Raiders while dodging the worst
the wasteland can conjure.
You’ll be right, kid.

BY
STUART
WATKINSON

ISBN 978-0-6455969-0-8

9 780645 596908 >