From the Bully Pulpit Games website: The Shab-al-Hiri Roach is a dark comedy of manners, lampooning academia and asking players to answer a difficult question – are you willing to swallow a soul-eating telepathic insect bent on destroying human civilization?
No?
Even if it will get you tenure?
A fast paced and hilarious game, The Shab-al-Hiri Roach requires no Game Master and can be played in a single evening. If you enjoy crazed one-upmanship, furious stake-setting, and chanting guttural commands in Sumerian, The Roach would like to have a word with you.
It is October of 1923 and each player is a professor (assistant or full) at Pemberton university. Once everyone makes their characters, which does not take long, six scenes are played out which take place over the course of a semester. During the game each player has to have a strong positive reaction with the player on their left and a negative one with the player on their right.
There are three NPCs in each scene, that can be played by the players, and new NPCs can be introduced by the players as the scene progresses. Before each scene each player draws a card that has an opportunity (must use if not ridden by the roach) and a command (cannot use if not roach ridden) or it may be a roach-ridden card. Being roach-ridden enables the player to roll more dice and players can voluntarily declare they are becoming roach-ridden. Players also talk about the NPCs and how the scene is to be framed.
Whomever the player in the spotlight is decides on which players and NPC characters are involved, and bets reputation points on the scene. Other players can bet one reputation and enter the scene with other NPCs. The scene is played out and, once concluded, sides are determined. Each participating player rolls dice according to the relevant skill for the scene, with roach ridden characters rolling more dice. The winning faction gets the stakes they put up and narrates the result of the role as a conclusion to the scene. The other scenes are played out similarly until the end of the final scene when each player gets to narrate their final outcome after the Gamma Gamma Gamma Christmas ball at Pemberton. The player with the most reputation, and without being roach-ridden, gets tenure and wins.
One might think the players should embrace being roach-ridden to have better rolls and win the game, but those who are roach-ridden cannot win. There are two ways to rid yourself of the roach, resisting and shedding, both of which have consequences. If everyone is roach-ridden at the end of the game the players secretly vote on who was the most craven of them and they win.
This game is a great refresh in between RPG campaigns since it can be played through in one evening. It is also a great game for conventions and short meetups since few supplies are needed.
This game is by Jason Morningstar whom is quite renown in independent roleplaying circles, in particular for his Fiasco RPG. As with many independent RPGs this game, and his others, focus on social interaction to enhance the player's experience.
It is currently out of print, but available on Drive Thru RPG and itch.io. There are downloads available from Bully Pulpit's public downloads section for character sheets, handouts, and such. It also has two expansions, Overlord (WW2 D-Day landings), and Darker (set in Oxford).
