BRAWLER: The Pummeling
A downloadable game
Enter the City. The vibe is grungy, the pavement is cracked and endless, and violent hand-to-hand combat is a part of everyday life. In such a place, our only solace lies with our heroes. Brawlers.
As a player, quickly make your own custom Brawler and throw them headfirst into the action. Describe physics-defying stunts, roll fistfuls of dice, and clobber hordes of enemies. As a GM, whip up enemies and Brawls in seconds, then play them out in a system that’s simple, fast, and flexible. Inspired by '80s and '90s arcade beat 'em ups like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and Konami's X-Men games.
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Introducing Ready to Brawl Edition! This multi-page version of the game features:
- expanded Combo options
- Items -- flexible items to help you hit more Combos, and special items with unique effects
- Talents to further customize your Brawler
- Brawl gimmicks to spice up conflicts
- Double the number of Shops
- GM tools and guidance
- Illustrations -- pixel art by Luis Zuno and Nikoichu
Ready to Brawl Edition took a lot of time and effort, so it's a paid game, but the One-Page Edition remains PWYW, and purchases of Ready to Brawl will generate community copies.
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BRAWLER: The Pummeling © by RollForThings is licensed under CC-BY-4.0. (One-Page Edition 2025, Ready to Brawl Edition 2026.) Created using Affinity Suite. All text and art in this project is human-made. Pixel art (CC0) by Luis Zuno and Nikoichu. Mechanics based on TTRPGs by White Wolf (Vampire: the Masquerade) and Mythworks (The Wildsea). One-Page Edition created for the One Page RPG Jam 2025 by Unknown Dungeon. Ready to Brawl Edition created for the Video Game Hacks Tabletop Jam 2 by Lucky Newt Games.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copies
Have a free copy, no conditions or caveats. Purchases of this game will generate new community copies.
Download demo
Development log
- Brawler: the Pummeling - Ready to Brawl Edition95 days ago
- Printer-Friendly VersionAug 15, 2025
Comments
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Got this from the Free RPG Weekend bundle; and this was a FUN read. Like, I don't have experience with the type of games which form the primary source material / inspiration, but everything here had a consistent theme, even stuff you wouldn't necessarily expect to fit with that, like "pronouns" and "things you do or don't want to see in the game". The whole "combos" idea is REALLY COOL, especially how it's a CHOICE to activate that.
Question about the 'sibling combo' Talent: does it require BOTH parties to have that Talent?
For 'Park', I think the second-last option should be on results of 15-19 instead of 15-20, because the last option is CRIT, which is what happens with double 8s or 9s or 10s, and the only way to get a result of 20, with 2d10, is two 10s.
Typo on page 44, "countermesaures" should be "countermeasures".
Typo on page 54, "overhwelming" instead of "overwhelming".
Typo on page 56, something is missing from the first line, probably an "is".
Hi, thanks so much for the comment and feedback! (And thanks for spotting those typos, I'll fix them.) Glad to hear you enjoyed the read!
Sibling Combo: When one Brawler takes the talent, that Brawler AND their sibling have access to the sibling combo. As long as one sibling gives one of the inputs, the other sibling can use the combo when giving the remaining input, regardless of whether they're the sibling with the Talent. (If two Brawlers take this Talent, they can choose each other and they'll each have access to two different sibling combos.)
Park: You are right that double 10s (the only way to get a result of 20) is a CRIT!!, so "15-20" is wonky. The intention is to allow a Brawler, in the unlikely event of rolling double 10s, to be able choose the second result instead of the third result if they want a Flexible Item instead of a Special Item. If I were to rewrite this rule, I would have higher results stipulate that Brawlers can choose a lower result, if they'd rather gain something that's less lucrative in general but more specifically suits their current preferences.