What is Beefy Shotgun Wizards: BSW Design Blog 1

With GaryCon less than two weeks away, we are very close to the release of Beefy Shotgun Wizards’ (BSW) QuickShot rules launch! They will be free and on my Itch.io page, watch this space! In the meantime, learn more below:

The Nine-Eyed Freak, by Daniel Hariela Carlsen (@danielharila.bsky.social)

Beefy Shotgun Wizards (BSW) is an RPG about greased up, muscle-bound wizards who have run out of spell slots mowing down hordes of pigmen, ogre incels, and nine-eyed freaks with shotguns, mundane missiles, and sharpened ten foot poles. Players (called wizards) take on the role of high-level wizards who have run out of spells in the middle of a dungeon, and this is where the game picks up. Sessions start as the spell-less Wizards draw their shotguns and continue delving into the dungeon, surviving on wits, brawn, and a fist-full of shells.  

The idea of the humble d4 hp wizard taking on the role of an action hero straight out of an 80s movie or old school sidescroller was both ridiculous and compelling. But why? In a conversation with Brian Shutter, creator of Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland, he gave voice to something that I hadn’t been able to put into words. I can’t remember his exact words, but it was along the lines of, “most sessions end with crass humor and shenanigans, but very few RPGs are written that way.” 

Beefy Shotgun Wizards leans into the over-the-top antics and crude humor that characterizes how so many of us play the game. It does not aspire to tell a sprawling narrative, its goal is to provide a fun, action-filled dungeon crawl in a single session while encouraging inventiveness and crude humor. You blast your way through a dungeon then end the session selling loot and telling stories at the tavern. It is silly, hyper-violent, and focused always on maintaining the momentum.

What does this look like in practice?

From a rules standpoint, I grew up on 3rd edition 40K and 2E D&D. These two sources inspired me to write a game that captured the spirit of old school D&D combined with the thrill of chucking a fistfull of dice to mow down hordes of enemies. Getting this balance just right was important to me, the rules needed to allow wizards to blast through large groups of opponents quickly without slowing the action. 

The two main mechanics in the game are stat rolls (using d6 dice pools based on stats) and the Tower (more on that in another post). Two additional mechanics, “d6 it” and feats of strength round out the system. 

Wizards have 4 stats (Fight, Shoot, Think, Save) and 8 inventory slots that can hold loot or absorb injuries. Each wizard can have up to 6 dungeon wretches who help them carry gear. Hits do damage, and this can be mitigated through save slots, having gear absorb the damage, or using a dungeon wretch as a human shield. Stats can take damage, and injuries take up inventory slots while potentially adding other effects.

There’s more to the game which I’ll explore in future posts, but this is the gist of it. While I do love a game with crunch, we have plenty of those out there. The simplicity of BSW makes it easy for the DM to manipulate the system’s levers while also being broad enough to let the wizards run wild with ideas and not be intimidated by a huge list of player options.

Next post, What is the Tower!?!?