Variant: Best Supporting Actor

The Main Actor/s can opt to select a Best Supporting Actor from members of the cast.
The Best Supporting Actor also wins the game of Be The Bida. This encourages players
eliminated from being in the running to be the Main Actor to stick around and shine.

Variant: The Highlander

There can only be one Main Actor. Play only ends when an actor succeeds in a scene
with a full climax track and no other actor has any plot armor points remaining. If all
players have 0 plot armor, the villain of the movie was the true star and you’ve all
been lied to by the director.
Sample Movie Prompts

Plot
1 The President’s daughter has been kidnapped by terrorists.
2 A bloody gang war erupts.
3 The team has been back-stabbed by their former employer
4 There’s an ongoing bank heist
5 Military operation gone bad
6 You killed our dog.
BE THE BIDA: A Game for 3-5 Narcissists and a GM
Villain by Joscar Malacaman, Denice De Guzman, and Ramon Francisco
1 A Moustache Twirling Son of a Gun
2 A Mad Scientiest “You are an actor and you’ve just been cast in what could be the blockbuster action
3 Your twin siblings film of the year. The director has promised that you are the lead actor and the star
4 Head of a Rival Organization of the show. Unfortunately, during the shoot you found out that the director has
5 Mother Nature and all her wrath promised this to your fellow cast as well. This cannot stand. You’ve worked too hard
6 Out of this world creatures for this moment and you won’t let anybody take this away. Guess you just have to
outshine them all.”
Twist
1 You are in a computer simulation What you need to play
2 This is a movie about making the movie.  3 to 5 Players who want to outshine one another
3 I see dead people.  A willing GM who plays as everybody else involved in the movie.
4 I am YOUR FATHER.  At least 2 six-sided dice
5 Job isn’t done yet  Tokens, coins, thingamabobs to track Plot Armor and the Climax Track
6 You are the bad guys.

Character Creation (What kind of Actor are you? Roll for it!)
1 Matinee Idol. Popular and Good Looking.
Roll 2d6 when the your part in the scene has a ROMANTIC aspect to it.
2 Grizzled Veteran. Proud and Dignified.
Roll 2d6 when the your part in the scene has a MENTORING aspect to it.
3 Martial Artist. Strong and Flexible.
Roll 2d6 when the your part in the scene has an ATHLETIC aspect to it.
4 Indie Darling. Artsy and Intense.
Roll 2d6 when the your part in the scene has a DRAMATIC aspect to it.
5 CG “I”. Big Budget Drain.
Will always roll 2d6 for actions but can’t gain plot armor.
6 The Nobody. New and untested.
Will always roll 1d6 for actions but will gain plot armor on a success.
of their rolls. The GM can opt to give a +1 bonus to the result of a players roll for
excellent role-playing. This can alter a previous failed result.
Going Off Script
An actor can spend 1 point of plot armor to change the script of the scene in order for it
to fit their specialization. If they succeed in the resulting roll they get a point of plot
armor back. If they fail they still lose a point of plot armor as normal.
Letting Someone Else Shine
A player can opt to let someone else shine during a scene in order to try to regain plot
armor. They chose another actor and give that actor a +1 bonus to the result of their
roll. Their action for this scene should be in support of that actor and rolls as normal. If
either actor succeeds in their roll, the actor who let someone else shine gains 1 plot
armor. If both of them fail, they still lose a point of plot armor as normal.

Plot Armor Climax Track

Each actor starts with 3 plot armor and cannot exceed 3 for the duration of the movie. The Climax Track represents the increasing intensity of the scenes building up to an
This reflects how significant they are to the story and how much “failure” the audience explosive climactic ending. Every time an actor loses (not spends) a point of plot armor,
will tolerate before relegating them to a supporting role in their heads. Whenever, an increase the climax track by 1. The difficulty of the rolls increases for every tier on the
actor fails a roll, they lose 1 point of plot armor. In the event that they have to lose plot track that gets filled up. When all players with plot armor points succeed during a scene
armor but are no longer able to, they are permanently relegated to a supporting role with a full Climax Track, the game ends and the players with the highest number of
for this movie. That actor can choose to either stay in the game in a supporting role or remaining plot armor are declared to be the actual lead characters.
have their character go out in a blaze of glory.
Number of players 3 4 5 Difficulty
Scenes Tier 0 3+
Tier 1 [] [] [] [] [] 4+
The game is played out over a course of several scenes that ties together the plot of a Tier 2 [] [] [] [] [] 5+
blockbuster action movie. The GM will layout the general plot of the movie and can Tier 3 [] [] [] [] [] 6+
choose to unveil new plot elements as the story progresses. The GM will set up each
scene and then negotiate with the actors on what their actions will be for that scene.
The action of the actors should fit comfortably into the scene without it being too
forced. Offer the option to GO OFF SCRIPT if an actor really wants to use their
specialization. Resolve these actions by rolling the correct number of dice (1d6 by
default, 2d6 if the scene taps into an actor’s specialization) and comparing the highest
roll to the target result on the climax table. Role play the scene based on the results