Road Kill

ROAD KILL

A cryptid-hunting rock band tabletop RPG

It’s 1986.
You’re in a rock band that never made it.
The van smells like cigarettes and regret.
Your demo tape got rejected coast to coast.

Then you killed a monster.

Now you hunt cryptids between gigs because it pays better than playing dive bars for beer money.

Road Kill is a tabletop roleplaying game about the worst band in America surviving on the road by killing things that shouldn’t exist.

Turn it up to 11.
Try not to die before soundcheck.

What This Game Is

• A complete tabletop RPG
• Designed for 2–4 players plus a GM
• Built for 2–3 hour sessions
• Focused on monster hunting, band drama, and bad decisions
• Playable as one-shots or an episodic road campaign

Each session is a new city, a new gig, and a new thing trying to kill you.

The Vibe

Evil Dead 2 if Ash had a mullet and a Stratocaster.
Spinal Tap but the monsters are real.
Big Trouble in Little China with worse planning and louder music.

Road Kill is bloody, ridiculous, and sincere.

Your characters are not in on the joke.
They genuinely believe they can make it as a band and survive cryptid hunting.

The comedy comes from the situation, not from mocking them.

How Play Works

Every session follows the same rhythm:

1. Roll Into Town
   New city. Broken van. Rumors about something killing livestock or people.
2. Investigation
   Research folklore. Talk to locals. Argue about the setlist.
3. The Hunt
   Track the creature. Fight for your lives. Watch your nerve spike and crash.
4. Resolution
   Collect the bounty if you got proof. Play the gig. Drive to the next city.

Most of the game lives in the hunt.
The gigs are flavor, stakes, and pressure.

Nerve Is Everything

Road Kill runs on Nerve, your confidence and cool.

• High Nerve means you’re unstoppable
• Low Nerve means you’re shaking and barely holding it together
• Push too hard and you crash
• Hit the peak and you can go out in a literal blaze of glory

At max Nerve, you can trigger Nerve Death:
an automatic success where you do something absolutely unhinged…
then immediately crash to zero.

Every roll asks the same question:

Do you play it safe, or do you bet on yourself?

Play a Band, Not Just Characters

You don’t play adventurers.
You play band members.

Choose archetypes like:

• The Frontman
• The Brains
• The Wildcard
• The Face
• The Handler

Name the band together.
Describe the van.
Argue about money, gigs, and whether you can afford gas.

You survive or fail as a group.

What’s Included

• Full game rules
• Character creation and band archetypes
• Monster hunting, investigation, and combat
• Tour structure for episodic play
• Money and survival pressure
• A complete first-session scenario (The Pine Barrens Job)
• Quick reference sheets
• Character sheet
• Third-party license info

You can start playing immediately.

What You Need

• This game
• Dice (d20s and d6s)
• Something to track Nerve
• 2–3 hours
• Optional: an 80s rock playlist

Road Kill is powered by the Ego Death System, which is available separately and free.

Who This Is For

• Tables that like momentum and big swings
• Players who enjoy risk and recovery
• GMs who want structure without rigidity
• Anyone who ever played a gig for gas money

If you want careful optimization, look elsewhere.
If you want scars, stories, and screaming guitar solos, get in the van.

License

Road Kill is an independent production by Squonk Press.
It uses the Ego Death System, licensed under CC-BY-4.0.

Community

Share sessions, hacks, and war stories with #EgoDeathSystem
More from Squonk Press: https://squonkpress.itch.io/

Now load the gear.
There’s something in the woods and rent’s due.

Credits & License

Design: Squonk Press
System: Ego Death System (CC-BY-4.0)
Artist / Cover & Art: Ben Juste
Version: 1.0 (January 2026)