TiGGR: The Pulse Beneath the Stars
“They said it was just interference. But we heard it—clear and strange and alive.”
This story is inspired by the brilliance of Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who discovered pulsars in 1967.
It’s for anyone who ever listened closely when no one else would.
Best played on a quiet night with stars overhead.
WHY WE PLAY THESE STORIES
This game isn’t about the future we were denied.
It’s about the past we didn’t know how to hold.
We play not to escape, but to remember.
We play to say:
I was there. I saw the stars shimmer.
I heard the pulse. I didn’t forget.
RULES OF TiGGR (Tiny Game for Generalized Roleplaying)
Roll 1d6 per action. 4+ succeeds. 1 fails hard.
Traits give +1 to relevant rolls (GM decides).
Start with 3 Resolve. Lose 1 per failure or hit.
At 0 Resolve, you’re out until the next scene—narrate how.
GM sets the scene, players act, dice decide.
Success? Describe it. Failure? GM twists it.
Share 1 secret with the group at the start.
Gain 1 Resolve when you help another player.
Roll 2d6 for big risks: 8+ wins, 6–7 costs, 5– loses.
Scenes end when the group agrees or the pulse shifts.
Aliens arrive in Scene III—narrate the awe together.
Play to feel the wonder, not to win.
Dice are your friends, not your fate.
Choose Your Character
Elsie the Listener
Built the receiver. Heard it first.
- Traits: Clever (+1 when solving or inventing), Determined (+1 to push on)
- Secret: It hums in her dreams.
Magnet the Archivist’s Kid
Found a star chart in a locked box.
- Traits: Curious (+1 when investigating), Quiet (+1 to sneak)
- Secret: They’ve seen it move.
Orion the Weather Kid
Sees pulses in storm clouds.
- Traits: Dreamy (+1 to intuit), Steady (+1 in chaos)
- Secret: The rain whispered back once.
Nia the Skeptic
Wants to disprove it—failing.
- Traits: Sharp (+1 when arguing or spotting flaws), Loyal (+1 when helping)
- Secret: Her mom lied about the data.
Danny the Haunted
His lost brother recorded this.
- Traits: Attuned (+1 to hear or feel), Wary (+1 to sense danger)
- Secret: He hears two voices.
Tilly the Sneak
Knows every shortcut.
- Traits: Bold (+1 to act fast), Tricky (+1 to bluff)
- Secret: She hid the key that fits nowhere.
Ask: What’s the one thing you haven’t told the others?
SCENE I: THE FIRST SIGNAL
Someone hears the pulse—regular, eerie, impossible. You investigate.
Setting: 1960s coastal observatory town
Clues: Tapes hum for 15 seconds. Star charts don’t match the sky. Radio towers hiss.
Obstacles: Adults scoff. Equipment fails. Time runs short.
Prompt: Who listens with you? Who turns away?
SCENE II: THE PACT
You swear to find the truth—together. The signal shifts, alive.
Locations: Tunnels under the dish. Ferris wheel’s rusted core. Observatory catwalk.
Tools: A cracked code. Old receiver. Your memory.
Prompt: What part of yourself do you leave behind?
SCENE III: THE NIGHT SKY ANSWERS
The signal peaks. You gather beneath the stars. Something arrives—not ships, but light and tone.
Mood: Awe. Stillness. Understanding without words.
Prompt: What truth passes between you without sound?
EPILOGUE: YEARS LATER
1972. "Starman" crackles on the radio. You feel it again—the pulse, the night, the stars.
Each player narrates what they became: Astronomer? Dreamer? Silent keeper?
- Did you tell the world?
- Did you chase the signal?
- Does it still hum in you?
Where Are They Now? (Roll 1d6)
- DJ of a pirate radio station
- Wrote a book no one believed
- Vanished during a storm
- Space agency janitor with classified clearance
- Teaches astronomy to kids, never speaks of that summer
- Rebuilt the receiver every year on the same night
PULSE GLITCHES (Roll 1d6)
- Mirrors vibrate with the pulse
- Dreams loop the same night
- A bird clicks in rhythm
- Lights dim when someone lies
- A key unlocks the wrong door
- The Ferris wheel spins—but there’s no power