Lasers & Feelings Hack: Meet the Weatles

Posted by palabomeno on Feb 19, 2025

I’m a big fan of the Lasers and Feelings system and have been wanting to write a hack for it for a while now. Finally, I found myself some inspiration in the least likely of places: 60s rock. Inspired by The Monkees, The Beach Boys, and some other band I can’t easily remember the name of, this is a light-hearted comedy game about getting into mischief as a group of four identically dressed rock stars.

This game has not been playtested at all and I assure no guarantees of its quality. If you do play it at all, I hope you have fun! Let us know if you’ve given it a try by dropping a line in the comments below.

Without further ado, let’s…

MEET THE WEATLES

a Lasers and Feelings hack for 4 players (and 1 GM)

You are the WEATLES, the hot new 60s rock and roll band that’s gotten more popular than Jesus. The four of you are always getting into wild and wacky situations, where you use your British wit and musical skills to always escape in the nick of time.

PLAYERS: CREATE YOUR CHARACTER

1. Choose an archetype for your character. You can be The Hippie One, The Cute One, The Druggie One, The One That Gets Shot, The Unintelligent One, The Pretentious Artist One, or The Weird Occult One.
2. Choose the instrument you play: Guitar, Bass, Drums or Piano.
3. Choose if you are more JOHN or RINGO. You can pick between 2 to 5. A lower number means you’re more JOHN, better at being aggressive, making things go your way, and arguing people down. A higher number means you’re more RINGO, laid-back, easygoing, and charming to others.
4. Name your Weatle. One of you should have a significantly stranger name than the others.

YOU HAVE: Your instrument, a cool old bus that you drive to gigs in, your clothes (you’re all dressed identically according to the phase you guys are in) and a horde of teenage girls chasing you at all times.

Player Goal: Get your characters out of yet another wacky antic while avoiding your fans and paparazzi.

Character goal: Choose one or create your own: Get rich, Go solo, Preach about your Yogi, Spread peace & love, Seduce a groupie, Get high, or You’re just in it for the music (you have nothing to prove)

PLAYERS: CREATE THE PHASE

As a group, pick two strengths for the phase you guys are in now: Very Mystical, Great Drugs, We’re All Best Friends, Rich As Hell, Literally Everybody Knows You, Really Surreal & Experimental, Weirdly Military

Also, pick two from this list of problems your band can have:

• Drug Addicted (drugs have overtaken your band’s life)
• About To Break Up (and if you do, you’ll never get back together)
• Crazy Stalker (one or more of the band has a stalker who may turn violent)
• Insane Girlfriend (one of the band has a new girlfriend whose artistic sensibilities clashes with the rest)
• Huge Backlash (anybody older than 25 just hates you)
• In A Cult (the four of you have accidentally joined a cult and the Master Yogi always wants money)
• Police Troubles (in addition to the fans, the a group of whistle-blowing bobbies are chasing you)

ROLLING THE DICE

When you do something risky, roll 1d6 to find out how it goes. Roll +1d if you are using skills related to your archetype or your instrument, and +1d if you are doing something related a strength of the phase you guys are in. (The GM tells you how many dice to roll, based on your character and situation.) Roll your dice and compare each die result to your number.

If you’re being more JOHN (artistic, aggressive), you you want to roll under your number. If you’re being more RINGO (silly, charming) you want to roll over your number.

If none of your dice succeed, things go wrong. The GM says how your situation gets worse somehow. If one die succeeds, you barely manage it. The GM inflicts a harm, complication, or cost. If two dice succeed, you do well. Great job! If three dice succeed, you get a critical success! The GM tells you some extra effect you get.

If you roll your number exactly, things COME TOGETHER. You get a special insight into the situation. Ask the GM a question, and they’ll answer you honestly.

HELPING: If you want to help someone else who’s rolling, say how you want to help and make a roll. If you succeed, you give them +1d.

GM: CREATE THE SITUATION

Roll or choose on the tables below, or come up with your own wacky situations.

A THREAT:

1. An especially crazed fan
2. Your crooked manager
3. The leader of a doomsday cult
4. A nosy journalist
5. The Weatles’ original drummer
6. Your rival band, The Surfin’ Dudes

WANTS TO…

1. Kidnap the Weatles!
2. Sabotage your next gig!
3. Steal your instruments!
4. Trap you in a foreign country!
5. Run you out of the town!
6. Prove that one of you is dead!

WHICH WILL…

1. Reveal a horrible secret about the band
2. Kill one of the Weatles
3. Force the Weatles to break up
4. Humiliate you all on live TV
5. Force you to cancel your latest album
6. Trap you in a bizarre cartoon dimension

UNLESS…

1. You can make it to your next gig on time.
2. You can return the mysterious artifact you discovered to its shrine.
3. You can appeal to the Queen of England herself
4. You can defeat them in a Battle of the Bands
5. You can restore the color to the world
6. You can perform one last perfect concert

Categories: gaming

Tagged: ttrpg