DIE RPG

We finished our DIE campaign last night. 13 sessions of some of the best gaming I can remember. Out of the whole thing 2 weak sessions, both of which would rank as decent in another game. Today I want to talk about what worked, what didnt, and why.

1/x

Given the nature of the game and what it seeks to do, I cant really talk about it without talking about myself. Review as confession. So with that in mind

CW: depression, suicide

2/x

In DIE you play somewhat estranged childhood friends, now adults, sucked into a fantasy world. IT part 2 meets Narnia. Character creation and how it sets up the tension that makes the game is brilliant.

3/x

You create childhood friends first. Your nostalgia filled rpg group from your school days. Your ties, some shared memories. Small betrayals and maybe some larger ones too. Your hopes and dreams and all that potential. Then you skip ahead and make them as adults.

4/x

Did they end up where they wanted? Dis things go poorly? Are they happy or fulfilled or just going through the motions? In a lot of ways its a judgement of that child. A reaction. Were their hopes valid and were their dreams realistic?

5/x

A lot of games I have to play to really know who my character is. Here? I already know because Ive seen where the road led. And if its working right it pulls in you the players hopes and dreams. It bleeds you for inspiration.

6/x

It gives you space and its very easy to fill in parts of yourself. That certainly panned out for our group. And then with all your own problems and uncertainties and moral structures it gives you enough power to enact your will and sets you loose on an imaginary world.

7/x

YOUR imaginary world. The rpg you played as kids, years later. The GM assigns you classes to match your personalities. The Dictator, who manipulates peoples emotions. The Fool, always seeking attention and spotlight and taking risks. The Godbinder, negotiating and mediating.

8/x

The Emotion Knight, whose singular focus warps everything it touches. The Neo, an addict in need of Fae gold. Ive said before that I think its the most adult necessary game Ive played, and that held true because its messy and personal and hits lines of consent real hard.

9/x

The game always has the same ending. When the time is right every living character has to decide to stay in this world or go home. Disagreement ends in disaster. Living is a pretty crucial word by the way. The game doesnt quite pit player against player but its likely.

10/x

It didnt come up in our game, but I think the rules arent really there if it comes down to pvp confrontation. They do a lot of very evocative, very cool things but in a likely outcome of the ending they need some support.

11/x

I heard someone once say “power doesnt corrupt, it reveals.” So you take your worse selves, you put them in a pressure cooker, and then you watch them explode. In some sense I had an idea how my character’s journey would end from the beginning, but we’ll come back to that.

12/x

Its worth noting here that, given how much I think it pulls from the players, sometimes I think maybe even unexpectedly to them, Im going to try to avoid talking specifics about the other characters. Itll leave some gaps by necessity, but also they arent my stories to tell.

13/x

I played Sarah Levi. She was the gm when they were younger and she dreamed of being a writer. Her parents would only pay for college if she did something respectable, so many bitter years later shes an accountant, mostly friendless, very depressed, and without a way out.

14/x

Her parents threw out all her writing notebooks and game notes when she was out and she never went back to it. So years later along comes her friend Dani, about to be married and wanting to play one last game before she ties the knot. For old times sake.

15/x

But the wedding was a sham and in were sucked to a world Dani says will collapse if our group of friends doesnt save it. Sarah feels shes been kidnapped under false pretenses, yet another choice taken away from her by another person saying they know whats best.

16/x

I also got the dictator to boot. The dictator is an emotional manipulator at best, and a mind controller at worst. And to Sarah, a monster. So I spent over half the game not using powers, as our GM kept escalating situations.

17/x

It would make it easier to just give a little push. Its the most fun Ive had NOT using mechanics. I didnt kill anyone. I didnt mess with anyones emotions. But… I did stand by and watch a lot of people die. My hands were clean but my eyes werent.

18/x

Its something special, to have a game that makes you question your morals. Were so used to fantasy without consequences. Or not without consequence but without consequence that keeps us awake at night. Kill for XP and sleep like a baby.

19/x

But normally you play characters from that world living by that worlds rules. Here I wasnt. And the friction from what my character believed and the other characters wanted and believed made for some amazing scenes. Its like a house of mirrors.

20/x

You see new things, you make choices and then you talk it out with your friends. What does this make us? What choices do we have? Are these people real or did we just make them up? And even if theyre made ip what do our actions say about us? Heady stuff.

21/x

And as we closed on the end and we became our worst selves, we could barely be civil with each other, with one exception. Talking turned to arguing turned to screaming. It was like experiencing a breakup in slow motion.

22/x

This is probably not for everyone. And I would not play this game with most people. But Ive also never played anything quite like it. I

This has turned quite long. Suppose its that type of game, or was for us. A messy, damaging, insightful and sometimes beautiful game.

23/x

“Friendship is a mirror to presence and a testament to forgiveness. Friendship not only helps us see ourselves through another’s eyes, but can be sustained over the years only with someone who has repeatedly forgiven

24/x

us for our trespasses as we must find it in ourselves to forgive them in turn. A friend knows our difficulties and shadows and remains in sight, a companion to our vulnerabilities more than our triumphs, when we are under the strange illusion we do not need them.

25/x

An undercurrent of real friendship is a blessing exactly because its elemental form is rediscovered again and again through understanding and mercy. All friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness.

26/x

Without tolerance and mercy all friendships die.”

Our game was about friendships dying. And it was a game worth remembering.

27/x https://thevalueofsparrows.wordpress.com/2018/10/22/words-friendship-by-david-whyte/

If this sounds remotely interesting I highly recommend checking out the game at the link. Its in beta, so changes will still happen, but it felt solid enough for us. Thanks for reading.

28/28

https://diecomic.com/rpg/