# Bunkers & Badasses The official Borderlands TTRPG from Nerdvana Games and Gearbox, based on Tiny Tina's game in Assault on Dragon Keep. Vault Hunters roll d20 attacks that nearly always hit, chase random loot and try once-a-day Badass Moves. Best for Borderlands fans who want fast, combat-heavy play and enjoy its crude humor. ## At a Glance Official Borderlands TTRPG • d20 combat on a grid • Archetypes plus Vault Hunter Classes with skill trees • random gun loot • Badass Die and Mayhem Points • 200+ page sourcebook with three adventures • sold by Nerdvana, not on DriveThruRPG ## Why It Fits Choose Bunkers & Badasses when your group loves Borderlands and wants quick fights, piles of loot and a game that does not take itself seriously. Start with the free Welcome 2 NeoGunz City one-shot. Skip it if you want much exploration, social play or downtime, or if jokes inside the rules will annoy your table. ## Fit Facts - Prep: Medium - Price: Paid ## Facets - Genres: Comedy, Science Fantasy - Mechanics: Campaign, Character Customization, Class-Based, Tactical Combat - Decision tags: Licensed, One-Shot Friendly, Rules Medium ## Scores - Complexity: 3/5 - New GM Fit: 3/5 - Roleplay Focus: 2/5 - Combat Focus: 5/5 - Tactical Depth: 4/5 - Campaign Depth: 3/5 ## Best For - Borderlands fans who want the video games' guns, loot and humor at the table - Groups that want quick, combat-heavy sessions or a break from a longer campaign - Players who like to generate random weapons and try ridiculous stunts ## Avoid If - You want rich exploration, social play or downtime rules - Crude jokes printed inside the rules will annoy your group - You want to buy through DriveThruRPG or start from a free quickstart ## Explorer Notes Bunkers & Badasses is the official Borderlands TTRPG: a loot-and-shooting game where Vault Hunters blast through bandits, skags and dragons, roll up absurd guns, and respawn when they die. It suits groups who love the video games, want fast d20 combat on a grid, and enjoy Tiny Tina's chaotic humor. It is a poor fit for tables that want much to do outside of fights. Gear, travel and social rules are thin, and the book's jokes run through the rules themselves. Some groups find that funny. Reviewers who did not found it got in the way. ## What the game is In Borderlands 2's 2013 add-on Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, the characters play a tabletop game called Bunkers & Badasses run by Tiny Tina. Nerdvana Games, working with Gearbox, turned that fictional game into a real one. The sourcebook is written as Tina's own annotated copy, with scribbled notes, crossed-out rules and pages she has stuck in. The setting mixes the Borderlands universe with fantasy: wizards, skeletons and dragons share the map with elemental shotguns and robots. Players are Vault Hunters, and the Game Master is called the Bunker Master, or BM. The game is sold by [Nerdvana](https://tinytinagames.com/) and through [Leder Games](https://ledergames.com/products/bunkers-badasses). ## Publication history Nerdvana announced the game and opened preorders in 2020. Sourcebooks started shipping in early 2022, and Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford unboxed the Deluxe Edition on stage at PAX East in April 2022. Since then Nerdvana has released two free PDF adventures, Shotguns & Sensibility and the one-shot Welcome 2 NeoGunz City, and a paid adventure, The Tannis Job, in December 2025. There is one edition of the rules. ## What you need to play - [Bunkers & Badasses Sourcebook](https://tinytinagames.com/products/bunkers-badasses-science-fantasy-role-playing-game-system-sourcebook): the hardcover, $59.99 from Nerdvana. It has over 200 pages, and about half of them are three ready-to-run adventures. - [Sourcebook PDF](https://tinytinagames.com/products/copy-of-bunkers-badasses-science-fantasy-digital-rpg-sourcebook-pdf-version): $30 from Nerdvana. The game is not sold on DriveThruRPG. - [Deluxe Edition](https://tinytinagames.com/products/bunkers-badasses-science-fantasy-rpg-deluxe-edition): $119.99, with the book, a Bunker Master screen, 100 gun cards, dice including the oversized Badass Die, a battle grid, ten Vault Hunter miniatures and enemy standees. Handy, but optional. - A set of polyhedral dice, a grid or map, and tokens for Badass Tokens and Mayhem Points. There is no free quickstart. The free adventures need the sourcebook. ## Digital tools There is no official VTT module. A community-made [Foundry VTT system](https://foundryvtt.com/packages/bunkers-and-badasses) supports Vault Hunters, enemies and the loot types from the core book. ## Core rules and play structure Characters have four stats: Accuracy, Damage, Speed and Mastery. Out of combat they make six checks (Interact, Talk, Insight, Sneak, Search and Traverse) by rolling a d20 and adding a stat modifier against a difficulty the BM sets. Combat is where most of the rules live. Movement is counted in grid squares, and a turn can include moving, attacking, throwing a grenade or using your Action Skill. Taking extra actions, like a second attack or swapping guns, gives the BM a Mayhem Point. Attacks almost always hit: you roll a d20, and the result is checked against your gun's own chart to see how many hits and crits you score. Only a natural 1 misses. Shields soak damage and recharge, and Armor soaks damage until it is repaired. ## Vault Hunters and advancement You pick an Archetype, which shapes stats and what you gain at each level, then a Class based on the playable Vault Hunters of the first two Borderlands games, such as the Soldier, Siren, Psycho or Mechromancer. Each Class has favored guns, an Action Skill and a skill tree, and you pick a Background from the Class's list. At level 5 you can add a second Archetype. A separate Badass Rank climbs more slowly than level and powers your Badass Moves. ## Signature mechanics - Badass Moves. Once per day, a player describes an over-the-top stunt, and the BM sets a difficulty. You roll the Badass Die, a d20 that reads 1 on its three lowest faces and 20 on its three highest. Success boosts your stats for the rest of the turn, and both success and failure earn Badass Tokens to spend later. - Random loot. Guns are built from tables for rarity, type and the manufacturer, which adds elemental effects and quirks. The core book has pages of gun cards, and generating loot is a big part of the fun. - Mayhem. Extra actions, failed rolls and enemy natural 20s feed the BM's Mayhem pool, which can buy reinforcements and other trouble. - Respawning and Traumas. Dead Vault Hunters come back at a respawn station for a share of their gold, but pick up a temporary or permanent Trauma. Some Traumas are stat penalties; others are Tina's joke results, such as talking in a silly voice for the rest of the session. ## What play feels like Sessions feel like the video games: a short briefing, a few big fights against bandits or monsters, a boss, and a loot roll that someone will argue about. Rolls are quick, every attack does something, and Badass Moves give players a reason to try something ridiculous. Between fights there are fewer rules to lean on, so roleplay depends on the group. ## Running the game Reviewers say the rules are easy to learn for both players and the BM, and the three built-in adventures save prep. Enemy stat blocks are short. The BM's main jobs are building fights with terrain and elemental hazards, handing out loot, and spending Mayhem. Expect to house-rule or skip parts of the Trauma table, and to fill in non-combat details yourself. ## Campaign fit Characters level up, gain Badass Rank and collect loot, so a campaign works. Many players, though, see it as best for short campaigns and one-shots, or a break from a longer game. The free Welcome 2 NeoGunz City one-shot is a good test run. ## Reception Reviewers praise the production quality, the clear layout and the gun tables. [GamingTrend's Deluxe Edition review](https://gamingtrend.com/reviews/bunkers-badasses-deluxe-edition-review-borderlands-for-better-and-worse/) called the combat simple but strategic and the components excellent, then spent much of the review on the humor: jokes printed inside rules and tables, and joke Traumas that it said would make games worse. [TechRaptor](https://techraptor.net/tabletop/reviews/bunkers-badasses-deluxe-edition-review) was more positive: it said Borderlands fans should get it and that other groups will find a simple, fast-paced system. On r/rpg, players describe it as close to the video games in book form, with good combat and very little support for anything else. ## Where it is strongest - Combat that is quick to learn, where almost every attack lands - Loot generation that captures the video games' gun variety - Three adventures in the core book, plus free ones online - Badass Moves that reward bold, silly plans ## Where it can frustrate groups - Little support for exploration, social play or downtime - Jokes mixed into the rules text, which some readers find tiring - Some Trauma results that can annoy players at the table - Not on DriveThruRPG, and print copies come from Nerdvana or Leder ## Content notes Expect cartoon violence, crude humor and Borderlands-style gore played for laughs. Some joke Traumas target the player as much as the character. Go through the Trauma table before play and cut anything your group will not enjoy. ## Best starting path Buy the [sourcebook PDF](https://tinytinagames.com/products/copy-of-bunkers-badasses-science-fantasy-digital-rpg-sourcebook-pdf-version) and run [Welcome 2 NeoGunz City](https://tinytinagames.com/products/welcome-2-neogunz-city-a-bunkers-badasses-one-shot-pdf-version), the free one-shot, or the first adventure in the book. If the group wants more, move on to the other built-in adventures and the free [Shotguns & Sensibility](https://tinytinagames.com/products/shotguns-and-sensibility-a-bunkers-and-badasses-adventure). Get the Deluxe Edition only if you want the minis, gun cards and screen. ## Research notes Last checked November 12, 2026. - [Nerdvana (Tiny Tina Games) store](https://tinytinagames.com/): sourcebook, PDF, Deluxe Edition and adventure listings and prices - [Leder Games: Bunkers & Badasses](https://ledergames.com/products/bunkers-badasses) - [GameSpot: Bunkers & Badasses is now available (April 2022)](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/bunkers-badasses-is-now-available-as-a-physical-tabletop-game/1100-6502795/) - [GamingTrend Deluxe Edition review](https://gamingtrend.com/reviews/bunkers-badasses-deluxe-edition-review-borderlands-for-better-and-worse/) and [TechRaptor Deluxe Edition review](https://techraptor.net/tabletop/reviews/bunkers-badasses-deluxe-edition-review) - [TV Tropes: Bunkers & Badasses](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/BunkersAndBadasses) (background and class overview) - [Foundry VTT community system](https://foundryvtt.com/packages/bunkers-and-badasses) - r/rpg threads such as ["Quick overview of Bunkers and Badasses"](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/tssjwa/quick_overview_of_bunkers_and_badasses/) and ["Is Bunkers and Badasses worth picking up?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/11ap26n/is_bunkers_and_badasses_worth_picking_up/) ## Links - Explorer page: https://www.ttrpg-games.com/item/bunkers-and-badasses - Agent JSON: https://www.ttrpg-games.com/api/games/bunkers-and-badasses.json - Publisher or official site: https://tinytinagames.com/ - Reviews or retailer page: https://gamingtrend.com/reviews/bunkers-badasses-deluxe-edition-review-borderlands-for-better-and-worse/