# Weird Heroes of Public Access tags: #game/rpg/weird-heroes-of-public-access ![[Weird Heroes of Public Access (cover).jpg]] You know that creeping sense of dread you get when you stumble upon a late-night public access show, with its wobbly sets, questionable hosts, and that pervasive aura of *something* being deeply, irrevocably wrong? *Weird Heroes of Public Access* turns that feeling into a tabletop roleplaying game. Written by Joey Royale and published by Get Haunted Industries, this game tasks players with the role of a ragtag public access TV crew in the cursed town of Fairhaven. Tasked by a shadowy Station Manager, the hosts must investigate supernatural horrors, battle monsters, and keep their shows on the air—all while fending off angry moms, rival weirdos, and the deeply unhelpful Fairhaven Police Department. Mechanically, *WHPA* is a **rules-light** system that uses a d6 dice pool for task resolution. The game manages to be the only TTRPG I’m aware of that contains no fewer than three *Back to the Future* Part II references. When your Host needs to do something important—like interrogate a suspect or escape a sewer ninja—the Ref (Station Manager) calls for a **Skill Check**. You roll 1d6, plus an extra d6 for each point you have in the relevant Core Skill (Mind, Mouth, Body, or Soul). That’s it. No modifiers, no math, just counting successes. A **success** occurs when any die in your pool shows a **5 or a 6**. A standard task needs one success, while a more difficult task will require two or more. Here’s where the snark comes in: because the dice pool is tiny, your "competent" character with two skill points will fail roughly 44% of the time. Hope you rolled well, champ! The game includes a few critical edge cases. If every die in your pool comes up as a **1**, you lose a **Hope Point** (the game’s measure of mental and physical vitality). Conversely, if every die comes up as a **6**, you gain a **Supernatural Point** and unlock your character’s unique power for a fleeting, single-use effect, like levitation or a burst of speed. Hope Points, which start at 6, function as your hit points. Lose all of them, and you must make a Soul check: success leaves you clinging to life with 1 Hope; failure means **CANCELLATION**—either death or the far more terrifying fate: a descent into "normalcy". Now, about those multiple editions. *Weird Heroes of Public Access* began its life not as a book, but as a **20-page zine** in early 2023. This zine, which is still available, distills the game down to its raw, weird essence. Then, in 2025, Get Haunted Industries released the **core rulebook**, officially titled *Weird Heroes of Public Access: The Book*. This 110-page hardcover expands the game significantly, bundling the complete rules, a Station Manager's Guide, and over 20 pages of new content, including adventure seeds and setting details. The core book also incorporates selections from the *Tales from Fairhaven* supplements, making it the definitive, if not slightly less punk-rock, edition. In short, the zine is the raw, manic pilot episode, and the core book is the slightly-better-budgeted series order. ## References - [Buy the core rulebook in print or PDF - DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/524327/weird-heroes-of-public-access-the-book) - [Buy the original 20-page zine - DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/431887/weird-heroes-of-public-access) - [Official website - Get Haunted Industries](https://gethauntedindustries.com/) - [Review: "laughs and screams with local charm" - Gaming Trend](https://gamingtrend.com/reviews/weird-heroes-of-public-access-review-laughs-and-screams-with-local-charm/) - [Coverage: "The Role Playing Game is Out in Print and PDF" - The Gaming Gang](https://thegaminggang.com/game-news/weird-heroes-of-public-access-the-role-playing-game-is-out-in-print-and-pdf/) - [Interview with creator Joey Royale - Dragon Peak Publishing](https://dragonpeakpublishing.substack.com/p/interview-joey-royales-weird-heroes)