Two roller derby skaters about to ???

Derby Drama

A tabletop role-playing game about the drama and excitement of playing roller derby.

Gameplay Resources

Character Sheets

See the Online Play section for web-based playsheets.

Main Playbooks (PDF) - Includes four Jammer playbooks (Star Jammer, Power Jammer, Drama Queen, Sweetheart) and four Blocker playbooks (Pivot, Heavy Hitter, Drama Llama, Baby).

World Wide Roller League Playbooks (PDF) - Includes the Golden Boy/Girl, Villain, Pure Skater, and Sex Appeal playbooks for both jammers and blockers

Editable Playbook (PDF) - An editable playbook that includes data for all the playbooks, plus allows you to create your own custom playbook from scratch. Doesn’t work on all PDF readers.

Facilitation Cheat Sheets

Printable cheat sheet (PDF)

Game structure

  1. Setting and character creation
    • Create a setting
    • Break up into teams
    • Create characters (names, looks, stress, stats, playbooks)
    • Introduce characters and make bonds
    • Explain stress tokens and the energy pool
  2. Pre-bout scenes
    • Stir-up Drama (give stress or penalty)
    • Boost Morale (relieve stress or give advantage)
    • Or just act out a scene!
  3. The first jam!
    • Roll team dice
    • Choose strategies openly (so people can get the feel for it and ask questions!)
    • Play out strategies
    • Total the team dice
  4. More jams! this time with secret strategies (uncheck the “Show Secret Strategies” box)
  5. Halftime
    • Take a break here if you haven’t yet!
    • More scenes of Drama and Morale and role-playing
  6. More jams
  7. The End! What does each character do after the bout?

General Rolling Procedure

Roll as many dice as you have points in the relevant stat. Count your successes. When you’re working against someone a success is a roll of 3 or under. When you’re helping someone, a success is a roll of 4 or higher.

Any time you have no successes, your move backfires or fails, your team takes a disadvantage, and you take a stress token.

Each move has a different effect when you succeed.

Off-track Moves

Move Stat 1+ success 2+ successes
Boost Morale HEART Relieve stress Gain an advantage
Stir Up Drama DRAMA Give stress Give a disadvantage

On-track Moves

Move Stat 1+ success 2+ successes
Offense POWER or AGILITY Increase your own team’s score  
Defense POWER or AGILITY Decrease your opponent’s score  
Set ‘Em Up HEART Give an advantage Relieve stress
Shut ‘Em Down DRAMA Give a disadvantage Give stress