ok, since i realized not everyone's going to trust a random upload site, here it is on itch. marked as in development :P

Save One in a Dying Town: THE SURGEON

The plague isn't just coming—it’s already here. In THE SURGEON, a grim and atmospheric solo RPG, you play as a medical professional trapped in a town ravaged by disease. You know you can’t save everyone. Your goal is much more intimate: keep one person alive until help arrives or the pestilence finally breaks.

Part resource management, part dark journal-building, this game pushes you to balance your dwindling supplies against your own fading energy.

The Doctor is In:

Create Your Surgeon: Roll for unique traits like Analytical, Sleazy, or Religious that grant mechanical bonuses—or burdens.

Choose Your Heart: Are you driven by an Inspiring Heart that fuels your stamina, or the Dark Heart of a cynic who saves tools at the cost of their soul? 

Advanced Medical Mechanics: Track the health of five critical areas: Brain, Lungs, Kidneys, Limbs, and Lymph Nodes. Use surgery to save them, but beware—tools break and infection is always a roll away.

Gameplay Features 

Tactile Survival: Uses a standard deck of cards, a d6, and tokens to track organ damage on a printable human anatomy sheet.

Strategic Actions: Spend your limited actions each turn to explore the city for supplies, care for your patient, or perform life-saving surgeries.

The Search for a Cure: Gather knowledge from old colleagues or buried family secrets to develop Penicillin and win the game.

Deep Narrative Prompts: Draw cards to trigger memories of your past, encounters with town "witches," or the haunting sound of children’s nursery rhymes in the street.

Can you weather the storm, or will the exhaustion take you before the plague takes them? 

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lets say I wanna, for funsies, port my OCs to that universe bc it sound rlly neat, anything I should keep in mind? yay thanks!!!

More under the cut as this is gonna be a BIG one !!! Some details may be intentionally misleading, vague or flat out wrong but don't worry. I'm throwing my players off my trail, if you read this you'll know what they know LOL

heres some notes I took while reading teehee

My beautiful work in progress for the visuals... IN ORDER FROM THE CHARACTER SHEET:

INTELLECT (HP: Reason)

ENCYCLOPEDIA (Fun facts and trivia drawn from the world, taken from various in-universe sources. Impersonal and sometimes unrelated to the conversation at hand)

ECOLANTHROPOLOGY (The study of anthropology and ecology is fundamentally intertwined. Biological science, history and culture combined. Breaks barriers between species or builds them)

LOGIC (Figuring things out using your own deductions, evidence, and reason. Good with facts, bad with feelings and anything the individual may deem illogical)

RETORIC (Convincing others of your truth, whether you're right or not. More about sounding right using your intelligence than being right)

IMAGINATION (Your sense of creativity and whimsy towards the world. Art, storytelling, scaring yourself so bad you create a whole new problem)

PHYSIQUE (HP: Health)

THE MEAT (Your body and everything that comes with it. Fear factor, pain tolerance, and the bite force of your very own jaws. Whatever you can dish out, you can handle)

FIGHT OR FLIGHT (Fear response and the deepest "animal" instincts, it's what makes you do *something* when things get bad. Doing something isn't always the best move, but things will be over by the time the rest of you catches up)

PARTY ANIMAL (Drugs and being an all-around hard-core, easy-going guy. A deeper indulgence of the rebellious life that tastes oh so sweet, people are gonna love you)

SLIGHT OF BODY (Your ability to articulate without fumbling and breaking yourself or others. Hiding, dancing, stealing, you can twist yourself in and out of any situation)

PERCEPTION (The 5 senses and how you perceive them. Unique anatomy brings unique experiences. Sense emotion based bug pheromones, see shrimp colors, hear frequencies only dreamed of before and... Taste your coworkers' diving suit via hand-based taste buds...?)

PSYCHE (HP: Sanity)

EMPATHY (Connecting with others on a deeper emotional level by understanding and feeling the same. Their joy can be yours, but unfortunately, it hurts to hurt people if you feel it, too.)

RECOLLECTION (Taking from your own memories and experiences, flawed but deeply personal manner of garnering info. Don't want to be stuck living in the past)

DRAMA (Deception !!! Showmanship !!! Drama !!! Communicate, act and lie with the flair you need to get the job done. It isn't just a job to you, though. It's a lifestyle, and you're living it, baby!)

E-VOLITION (This is the height of the rising. We're all civilized beings now, and that requires a bit of willpower. Evolution has brought us volition, and no temptation will lead you astray. No temptation will lead you, period.)

TROPE DETECTOR (You feel it too, don't you? You've seen this all before. You've met people like this, gone through times like these. Assign roles to the people around you and read them like... Well, the captions on a high-school flick)

TO FILL OUR YOUR CHARACTER SHEET:

Start with 9 points + 1 for every level up !!! Divide however you'd like with a minimum of 1 in each of the 3 S.O.S (sense of self) categories. These will be the base of your character and determine the amount of HP and skill points you'll get per slot!

Then, for each category, multiply the S.O.S points by 5 !! The number you get decides just how many skill points you get to put in!! Once you have this number, put them into the skills of your choice!

This is an example build - one of the player characters in the campaign, Mr. Jason Hoang. He is a half human, half horsefly split-faced chimera, which means his "bug" and "human" halves look discrete or patchy (not unusual among extreme difference hybrids). His archetype, according to anyone with a high enough Trope Detector, is that of the "cool", hip, and young teacher... who is actually kind of lame. And maybe a murderer on the side, according to a conspiracy theorist student.

He's level 2 from a natural level up in-game, not inherently. However, his age and by extension his class, Teacher, gives him 15 extra points to spend; 5 in each category. That sounds pretty generous, but most student-type classes give 10 points extra.

He started off as a full all rounder build, 3/3/3, but added 1 Sense of Self point to Physique after leveling up, gaining 1 point in meat, 2 in slight of body, and 2 in Fight or Flight.

Occasionally, you can gain points permanently from events that occur. Jason, who has never been good at Ecolanthropology, has gained 1 point from discussing The Rising with his coworker.

Right now, Jason is at 80% Reason after having chosen to believe misinformation about a student's inherent biology to save the student's sanity (and, to a large extent, his own). His Health is excellent; not a sensilla, seta, or hair on his body harmed by anyone. His Sanity... is being worn down pretty heavily and is now at 70%. Things could be worse for him - he could have been shoved in a locker - but responsibility weighs heavy on him after he witnessed the kidnapping of a student on his watch. If any of the stats of his Sense Of Self (SOS) hit 0%, Jason would no longer *be* Jason, and would no longer be a playable character.

Unarmed strikes are not bound by any restrictions other than the character's inherent biology, and Mr. Hoang doesn't have too much natural weaponry as a human hybrid. His jaws are largely toothless, instead replaced with soft pedipalps wrapping around his gums, which gives him only a 50% chance to inflict any damage at all. His fists aren't that much better than your standard-issue Homo sapiens, but he has a slight edge (+1) in having heavily sclerotized fingers/tarsi. Keep in mind that Malamute High is a relatively modern setting with modern...ish cultural ethics; if you kill someone, there will usually be legal consequences. Having something like deadly venom is a liability, not a blessing.

...of course, these are just describing what your body naturally has. Nothing's stopping Mr. Hoang from picking up a gun and shooting someone other than his own moral compass and the fear of being confined in a cell for the rest of his life.

Jason's inventory is his business alone, so the vegan leather briefcase is latched shut with only a ring of keys and a goofy little handled iBook in view. As a new teacher with a low salary, he is stretched fairly thin on cash and has given himself a $20/week budget to buy whatever he pleases. Richer student players would get allowances, and poorer ones (...the majority) have whatever money they can scrounge up.

Surely u must know what purple means?? I've been pondering since I've seen diverhead's sheet sorry i forgor the name.

Also! Didnt realize players could be teachers!! OH IS THAT WHAT THE PURPLE MEANS, THE CLASS POINTS

Love the SOS mechanic thats like having 3 health bars to balance, but more interesting than just, yknow. Injuries

Also wanna command u on how much attention u gave to ur characters physiology, I saw that character sheet u made, its v chefs kiss

lets say I wanna, for funsies, port my OCs to that universe bc it sound rlly neat, anything I should keep in mind? yay thanks!!!

More under the cut as this is gonna be a BIG one !!! Some details may be intentionally misleading, vague or flat out wrong but don't worry. I'm throwing my players off my trail, if you read this you'll know what they know LOL

heres some notes I took while reading teehee

My beautiful work in progress for the visuals... IN ORDER FROM THE CHARACTER SHEET:

INTELLECT (HP: Reason)

ENCYCLOPEDIA (Fun facts and trivia drawn from the world, taken from various in-universe sources. Impersonal and sometimes unrelated to the conversation at hand)

ECOLANTHROPOLOGY (The study of anthropology and ecology is fundamentally intertwined. Biological science, history and culture combined. Breaks barriers between species or builds them)

LOGIC (Figuring things out using your own deductions, evidence, and reason. Good with facts, bad with feelings and anything the individual may deem illogical)

RETORIC (Convincing others of your truth, whether you're right or not. More about sounding right using your intelligence than being right)

IMAGINATION (Your sense of creativity and whimsy towards the world. Art, storytelling, scaring yourself so bad you create a whole new problem)

PHYSIQUE (HP: Health)

THE MEAT (Your body and everything that comes with it. Fear factor, pain tolerance, and the bite force of your very own jaws. Whatever you can dish out, you can handle)

FIGHT OR FLIGHT (Fear response and the deepest "animal" instincts, it's what makes you do *something* when things get bad. Doing something isn't always the best move, but things will be over by the time the rest of you catches up)

PARTY ANIMAL (Drugs and being an all-around hard-core, easy-going guy. A deeper indulgence of the rebellious life that tastes oh so sweet, people are gonna love you)

SLIGHT OF BODY (Your ability to articulate without fumbling and breaking yourself or others. Hiding, dancing, stealing, you can twist yourself in and out of any situation)

PERCEPTION (The 5 senses and how you perceive them. Unique anatomy brings unique experiences. Sense emotion based bug pheromones, see shrimp colors, hear frequencies only dreamed of before and... Taste your coworkers' diving suit via hand-based taste buds...?)

PSYCHE (HP: Sanity)

EMPATHY (Connecting with others on a deeper emotional level by understanding and feeling the same. Their joy can be yours, but unfortunately, it hurts to hurt people if you feel it, too.)

RECOLLECTION (Taking from your own memories and experiences, flawed but deeply personal manner of garnering info. Don't want to be stuck living in the past)

DRAMA (Deception !!! Showmanship !!! Drama !!! Communicate, act and lie with the flair you need to get the job done. It isn't just a job to you, though. It's a lifestyle, and you're living it, baby!)

E-VOLITION (This is the height of the rising. We're all civilized beings now, and that requires a bit of willpower. Evolution has brought us volition, and no temptation will lead you astray. No temptation will lead you, period.)

TROPE DETECTOR (You feel it too, don't you? You've seen this all before. You've met people like this, gone through times like these. Assign roles to the people around you and read them like... Well, the captions on a high-school flick)

TO FILL OUR YOUR CHARACTER SHEET:

Start with 9 points + 1 for every level up !!! Divide however you'd like with a minimum of 1 in each of the 3 S.O.S (sense of self) categories. These will be the base of your character and determine the amount of HP and skill points you'll get per slot!

Then, for each category, multiply the S.O.S points by 5 !! The number you get decides just how many skill points you get to put in!! Once you have this number, put them into the skills of your choice!

I also! filled a few character sheet below the cut!

lets say I wanna, for funsies, port my OCs to that universe bc it sound rlly neat, anything I should keep in mind? yay thanks!!!

More under the cut as this is gonna be a BIG one !!! Some details may be intentionally misleading, vague or flat out wrong but don't worry. I'm throwing my players off my trail, if you read this you'll know what they know LOL

heres some notes I took while reading teehee