A two-person ttrpg about

overcoming what life has to offer

 The Ocean Sunfish is a failure of evolution. Compared to the
vast majority of aquatic species, its survival is a miracle of
chance. It is too large to avoid predators, too inept to avoid the
ocean current. It is terrible at hunting, slow, and cumbersome.

The Sunfish, however, did not ask to be judged by these

metrics. The sunfish wishes only to be left alone.
Credits
Writing & Game Design Caltrop Core SRD Design

Thomas Vorderbruggen (@Bogus_Cheese) TitanomachyRPG (@titanomachyRPG)

Editing Special Thanks

Bryce Davis Hope Nelson (@Hope4TTRPGS)

Bryan Fleck (@Alec_Azzam)

Illustrations Joel Kleine (@MidlifeDices)

Cover - Simeon Cochrane (@WampyreKeli) Nathan Homan (@ntfnate)

Title - Pino Minase (@pinononoy) Walter White (@_thewhiteout)

Playtesting

Cole Benson (@MistMaster5)

Tyler Pollitt

Sunfish Sitting There is Copyright © 2022 Thomas Vorderbruggen. All Rights Reserved. Any
reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited
without the express permission of Thomas Vorderbruggen. This work is based on Caltrop Core,
published by Titanomachy RPG. The Caltrop Core SRD is licensed for use under a Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
 What is Sunfish Sitting There?
Sunfish Sitting There is a slice-of-life narrative simulation designed to emulate the
catharsis of overcoming difficulties, even where they were not desired.

In Sunfish Sitting There, players roleplay as characters caught in the difficult circumstances
of life. The Game Master provides narrative elements through which characters succeed the
trials of life to obtain peace, love, or other end goals.

Sunfish Sitting There is about being alive. It is about letting go and not apologizing for
living life. It is about trying to live quietly in a world that wants nothing more than to
frustrate you every step of the way. Can you make it in a world that won’t let you be at
peace?

Sunfish Sitting There requires one Game Master and one or more players. A single play
session of SST typically takes around 1.5 hours from start to finish.

Most examples of gameplay in this manual are described assuming a modern, contemporary
setting. However, the themes of struggle and burdensome obligation can be applied to any
genre or setting and we encourage you to modify the contents of this manual to create the
story you want to tell.

What you need to play:

20 d4’s (or 10 d4’s and 10 other tokens)

Some paper and a pencil

A little Zest of your own

Content Warning
Sunfish Sitting There can touch on sensitive themes. Before playing, all participants
should be made aware that the Sunfish system is designed to simulate real-life
struggle and the emotions that come with it. Discuss with your participants to decide
appropriate topics when playing.

1 1+ 1:30+
Basics of Gameplay
In Sunfish Sitting There, gameplay takes place Creating Player Characters
through a series of narrative declarations and
opposing checks. The narrative is driven by the In Sunfish Sitting There, characters can be any
actions of the player characters. background, age, gender, or orientation. Players
should be encouraged to have utmost creative
Sunfish Sitting There utilizes a d4 system. Dice liberty when creating their character.
are expended through character action to
overcome obstacles and move the narrative Some players may wish to portray characters in
through a series of days that constitute the main similar circumstances to their own lives, or insert
structure of the game. themselves as characters in the narrative. When
doing so, players should be made aware that
In Sunfish Sitting There, each character has two doing so can create some extremely personal
dice pools: A “Zest for Life” pool, and a “Will to experiences.
Live” pool.
When playing a game with multiple players, it is
At the start of the game, each character starts recommended that players create characters in
with ten d4’s in their Zest for Life pool and ten tandem with one another to help aid in creating a
d4’s in their Will to Live pool. These two mutual End Goal.
attributes can be described as follows:
As part of creating a character, players should
also consider backstory elements that are
prevalent in that character’s life. NPCs and
▶ Zest for Life named locations can be used to provide support
or challenges for the player character during the
Zest for Life represents a character’s energy, course of the game.
positivity, and gumption. It is the gettup-and-
gettem a character uses whenever they tackle For games with multiple players, it can be
one of life’s challenges. Zest for Life is appropriate to create shared relationships or
replenished at the start of each day. locations that connect to more than one player
character.
▶ Will to Live
With the creation of a new character, the player
A character’s Will to Live represents the deeper, must next determine the core of a character’s
more baseline throes of emotional energy that narrative conflict: their Tribulations and End
carry a character from day to day. One’s Will to Goal.
Live can be expended, but often to a detriment
down the road. One’s Will to Live cannot be
replenished easily, only being restored through
the joy of success.

These two dice pools represent all facets of a

character. As characters continue through their
lives, they must expend their Zest for Life to
overcome challenges and obstacles, while their
Will to Life gets weaker the longer their troubles
extend.

1
End Goal and Tribulations Moving the Narrative
Whether it’s making it to the beach or moving to Over the course of a game of Sunfish Sitting
a cabin in the woods, each game of Sunfish There, play takes place over a series of days,
Sitting There requires a core goal that shapes with characters advancing through the plot via
the narrative as a whole. challenges and overcoming Tribulations.

In multiplayer games, this goal should be a As characters tackle problems and obstacles, the
shared objective between all player characters. plot moves forward towards the final goal. Both
Although personal motives may differ, the end players and the GM will work to keep the plot
goal should be something everyone can agree on. moving towards that final objective, though side
excursions can help solve issues in unexpected
Once an End Goal has been decided, each player ways.
should identify some obstacles that stand
between their character and the selected goal. With the GM setting the scene, player characters
These tribulations can tie into a character’s should have unlimited freedom in choosing how to
backstory, environment, or personal involvement. achieve their goal through the declaration of
their actions.

Have the player identify up to 3 Tribulations that

stand in their way. These should be: Player Declarations
▶ A hard Tribulation. Once the beginning of a scene has been set out
by the GM, narrative action is described by the
▶ A medium Tribulation. player. In a game with multiple players, each may
take turns in describing the action of their
▶ An easy Tribulation. character.

Player character Tribulations do not need to be Declared actions can be broad or specific, and
isolated issues. Just as how all player characters describe the action of a character. Commonly,
share a final goal, players can select to have this action is taken for the purpose of making
tribulations that are closely entwined (though progress towards one of the Tribulations
not identical). This can promote engagement stopping a character from reaching their End
between players and provide additional rapport Goal
for characters’ backstories.
When declaring an action, if a player is
The Tribulations that characters face determine attempting to make progress towards one of
the course of the story as they begin their their Tribulations, they should declare their
journey towards their End Goal. intention as well as which Tribulation they are
targeting.

GM Obstacles
Once a player has declared an action, the GM
describes the resulting scenario. In this phase,
the GM may present challenges, unexpected
obstacles, or story beats to the player character
that coincide with their stated action.

When the stated action of a character would

earn a tally towards a Tribulation as described
on pg 5, Tallies and Lowering Tribulations, a
challenge is often necessary. These challenges
are accompanied by a Check Score that requires
the use of a character’s Zest for Life to
overcome.

2
Making Checks and Check Scores
Whenever a character is faced with a challenge Multiplayer - Aiding Check Scores
or obstacle, or attempts something that they
could not easily do otherwise, they are required Life is not a challenge we have to face alone. In
to make a check. any scene where a character is attempting to
succeed in a check, their allies may attempt to
Check Scores are composed of a specific number lend a hand.
of dice scores a player needs to roll or exceed in
order for a check to be considered a success. For Any friendly player character that is present in
example, a check could be ‘one 3’, ‘one 4’, ‘two the current scene may aid the engaged player by
4’s’, or any such combination. The necessary expending up to two of their own Zest for Life
score the player needs to roll for the check is dice. The helping player should narratively
determined by the GM. describe the method in which they are lending
aid. Then, these dice are added to a character’s
Once the Check Score has been conveyed to the selected pool before they make a roll.
player, they may select any number of available
dice that they feel is necessary to produce the
required score from their Zest for Life dice pool.
Failing Check Scores
Whether a character cannot pass a Check Score
Zest for Life Dice or simply declines the check in order to retain
Zest, there are times where characters do not
Zest for Life dice are an expendable resource succeed in their attempted action.
and the primary source of progress for a player
character. When a character fails to pass a Check Score,
they do not receive a tally towards the
When facing a check, a player selects as many Tribulation they were working towards as
dice as they wish from their pool of unspent dice. described in Tallies and Lowering Tribulations,
These dice are consumed when rolled and do not pg 5.
return until the following day.
However, life goes on, and a failure should not
Rolling the dice, check and see if the necessary prevent the narrative from continuing. The
requirements are met to succeed the check. character can get frustrated and discouraged,
but they must continue on with their day. As
such, a failure when attempting a Check Score
should never halt the narrative even if it would
Will to Live Dice prevent a character’s action.

If a character fails to meet the required Check

Score when rolling their Zest for Life dice, they
may decide to draw upon their Will to Live dice Attempting a Specific Action Multiple
pool.
Times
Will to Live dice are fully consumed on use.
When deciding to utilize one’s Will to Live, set When describing the actions a character takes, a
aside the scores rolled from the Zest for Life player may be enticed to declare the same action
dice and roll as many Will to Live dice as you wish more than once (i.e., a character might attempt
to expend. The results of this roll are treated as the declared action “Eat Healthier” for the
if they were included in the original roll for Tribulation “Lose Weight” multiple times).
purposes of meeting the Check Score. However, as the character has already received
Additionally, each Will to Live die that lands on a the benefit of whatever lifestyle change or
4 is returned to the character’s pool at the end action they previously attempted, duplicate
of the check. benefits become harder to obtain.

Alternatively, if a player does not have sufficient When a character attempts an identical action
Zest for Life dice remaining to attempt a check, for purposes of receiving a tally towards a
they may elect to include Will to Live dice in their Tribulation, the difficulty of that action’s Check
preliminary roll. Score is doubled (i.e., one 4 becomes two 4’s).

3
Determining Check Scores as GM GM Tools:
As GM, you may call for a Check Score whenever Through the course of a character’s day, it may
necessary to further the story and provide an be appropriate for the GM to preemptively
obstacle for the player characters to overcome. describe circumstances or NPC interactions that
provide options for player characters. The
A good rule of thumb on whether or not an action following narrative tools can be used to
requires a check is if that action would reward substantial effect in aiding the narrative and
the character with a tally towards one of their keeping players engaged with their characters.
Tribulations. It is recommended that the Check
Score of such an action is no lower than Average Multiple Tally Checks
difficulty.
Sometimes the declared action of a player
Check scores can range from Difficult to Simple. character can affect more than one of their
Use the following baselines when determining the Tribulations. When a player makes a move that
Check Score for a character’s action: could feasibly be applied to multiple Tribulations,
it can sometimes be more apt to increase the
difficulty of a check rather than narrow the
scope of the declared action.

Difficulty Check Score In such cases, the Check Score should be

doubled to match the increased rewards of a
success.
Simple one 2
Forks
Average one 3, or two 2’s Forks are decisions that lead down different
paths. A player character approached with an
opportunity to go hang out with friends may not
Difficult one 4, or two 3’s make progress towards the studying they had
planned, but agreeing to go with the flow might
find them being recommended by a friend
towards something that helps them in a different
area.

Trade-offs
Check Scores can be extremely fluid, and can be
changed given the circumstances of the
narrative. Trade-offs are, in a different sense, a decision
provided by the GM to the player. Often
presented by a unique circumstance or an NPC, a
Players should be tasked with judging how much trade-off simply allows a player the opportunity
Zest for Life they need to expend to get a to receive a tally towards one Tribulation in
passing score without overtaxing their Zest. exchange for losing a tally somewhere else.
However, in the event that a player ends up with Trade-offs do not typically require a Check
an exceeding successful score, a GM can lower Score.
the difficulty of the proceeding check in
response to their exceptional efforts.
Auto Tally

Sometimes circumstances find a player character

in a position where fortune favors them. Either
as the unintended result of a prior action or
through the interference of outside forces, it can
be apt to grant a character a tally towards a
Tribulation without a check taking place. Such
circumstances should be sparse, however, and
best used as an unexpected result from prior
narrative decisions by the player.

4
Tribulations and Narrative
In order to obtain their End Goal, a character Overcoming Tribulations
must first overcome any Tribulations they face.
When a character feels confident they are
For example, a character may wish to quit their prepared to overcome one of their Tribulations,
job and go sit on the beach. Their trials may look they may attempt a check to resolve that
like the following: obstacle once and for all.
▶ Get car fixed - Easy A Tribulation can be attempted at any point a
player could normally declare the action of their
▶ Close bank account - Medium character. Attempting to overcome a Tribulation
should be accompanied by the appropriate action
▶ Negotiate quitting with boss - Hard declaration and treated as a normal check.
However, a character attempting to overcome a
Tribulations have a Check Score dependent on Tribulation cannot receive aid from other
their difficulty. characters.

When a Tribulation’s Check Score is met, the

obstacle has been fully eliminated from standing
in the way of that character’s End Goal. They
Tribulation Required Score restore 2 Will to Life dice as a result.

Easy Five 4’s If the Check Score of the Tribulation is not met,
that Tribulation remains outstanding and may be
attempted again at any time. However, as a
Medium Seven 4’s result of attempting the check, they receive one
Tally towards that Tribulation for their efforts.
Hard Nine 4’s For purposes of the narrative, a Tribulation does
not need to be resolved amiably or positively.
Once the goal has been met by one means or
another, it is considered resolved for the
purposes of the story.
Tallies and Lowering Tribulations
Whenever a player successfully completes a
check with the intention of progressing through
one of their Tribulations, that character receives
a Tally for that Tribulation.

For each Tally, the difficulty of the Check Score

for that Tribulation is reduced by one, i.e., the
tribulation begins with a score of nine 4’s,
reducing to eight 4’s, seven 4’s, and so on.

The minimum Check Score a Tribulation may be

reduced to is one 4.

5
Days and Timekeeping Ending the Game
Each morning a character survive to another day, When the days have gone by and the trials and
they wake up with a renewed sense of courage tribulations of life have left their mark, the time
and resolve. At the start of each new day, for the story to close draws near.
characters regain a number of Zest for Life dice
equal to their Will to Live, up to the total number Given the best efforts of the players and their
of dice in their Will to Live pool. characters, the game may end in a multitude of
different fashions. Regardless of what end
Then, once a character’s Zest for Life is befalls the characters, it is one resulting from
restored, their total Will to Live pool is reduced tremendous effort.
by one as they prepare to face the day ahead.
This occurs each day after the first day of play. ▶ If Zero Tribulations are overcome, the
characters have utterly failed, and their
For example, a character that starts the day with efforts find them no closer to their goal.
9 Will to Live will adjust their Zest for Life pool
to 9, and then reduce their Will to Live pool to 8. ▶ If One Tribulation is overcome, they do not
achieve their goal, but a small glimmer of
Over the course of a day, as a character faces success rewards their efforts.
challenges and obstacles, it can be narratively
appropriate for time to pass as characters go ▶ If Two Tribulations are overcome, the
about their day. For most of the game, it is characters fall just short of their goal. A
expected a character will make around 3 to 4 bittersweet and unfulfilling victory.
checks throughout a day.
▶ If all Three of their Tribulations are
Zest for Life dice that are not utilized during a overcome, the characters have succeeded in
day are eliminated and do not carry over to the their struggle and fully realize their goal.
subsequent day. However, GMs should be
conscious in allowing players ample opportunity The end of a game of Sunfish Sitting There is an
to make the most of each day’s Zest for Life. end to a story of immense struggle. Whatever
peace is achieved has come at a personal cost of
time, effort, and emotion. Any and all success is
worthy of praise.

Running out of Will to Live

Sometimes the tides of effort are too much for a
character, and they find themselves falling short
Altering Difficulty
of the challenges in front of them. However, the For separate sessions of Sunfish Sitting There, it
desire for peace wells up in a person one last may be desirable to change the pace and
time before they are wholly defeated by the difficulty of the game. The challenge can be
circumstances of life. easily adjusted by increasing or decreasing the
Check Score of each Tribulation.
When a character ends a day with 0 Will to Live,
they are beaten and discouraged, but not fully For more relaxing sessions, it is suggested to
defeated. At the start of the following day, that lower the Check Score of each Tribulation by 1.
character restores 10 Zest for Life. Similarly, the Check Score may be increased for a
more challenging experience.
This final last push provides characters with a
chance to see their goals through. A character
may use this opportunity to make as much
progress towards their Tribulations as possible
before they are fully exhausted and the game
ends.

6
 o f P l a y START
Chart At the start of the day,
restore Zest for Life equal
to Will to Live.

Then, reduce Will to Live

by 1 (except for start)

Player narratively
declares their actions
and the Tribulation
they plan to progress
on.

GM describes an
obstacle to the action
involved and presents a
Check Score

Player select and rolls a

number of dice from
their Zest for Life pool.

Check Score is declined

Check Score is passed or failed
The players action Players may attempt to
succeeds and they mark pass using Will to Live
a Tally towards their dice to bolster their
Tribulation. prior roll.

Life Continues.