Not the End: Face Death

Death is a complicated subject in tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs).

On the one hand, it seems like an obvious outcome for characters that spend most of their waking time going into dangerous places (in search of gold and/or glory). Because of this, it has been a part of TTRPGs since their inception/first attempts. In fact, the possibility of dying is an ever-present feature in most games, even those who have a more “narrative” bent to them.

On the other hand, in most fantasy TTRPGs death starts as a looming presence and probable occurrence due to low hp and the general swinginess of combat. Later on though, death quickly becomes a mere nuisance because of easy access of resurrection spells and the like.

This later development is partly because players have a high investment in the characters they create and play over multiple sessions. Most players these days seem to find permanent character death an unsatisfactory and even undesirable outcome. And it’s not like players are against character death! They just don’t want it to be something unexpected or unfair, but to happen in a good moment. When it makes sense in the fiction, so to speak (and that is something we totally agree with, by the way).

The original Dungeon World game had a very flavorful move to address the moment when Death becomes a real possibility.

Last Breath
When you’re dying you catch a glimpse of what lies beyond the Black Gates of Death’s Kingdom (the GM will describe it). Then roll (just roll, +nothing—yeah, Death doesn’t care how tough or cool you are). On a 10+, you’ve cheated Death—you’re in a bad spot but you’re still alive. On a 7-9, Death himself will offer you a bargain. Take it and stabilize or refuse and pass beyond the Black Gates into whatever fate awaits you. On 6-, your fate is sealed. You’re marked as Death’s own and you’ll cross the threshold soon. The GM will tell you when.

We really like this move, especially so because it gives some agency to the player behind the character. If you roll well enough (a 7-9), you get to say whether your character lives or dies, after accepting a bargain offered by Death himself! That’s powerfully dramatic stuff. Sadly, though, it only happens if you roll those 3 numbers—7, 8, or 9. A better or worse result provides no choice or say in the matter. You either survive or die.

So the idea came to us. What if we rewrote this move with that dramatic choice at its core and center? What if death was a literal choice for the player behind the character? We would need to consider all the different ways players approach a possible character death. 

At times, a player feels like their character should just die, dying in a very dramatic fashion. “Fly you fools!” or, even more so, “‘Farewell, elfmaid,’ he said softly. ‘Your light will shine in this world. It is time for mine to darken.’” Other times, players want to leave things up to chance to let the dice fall where they may, so to speak. Still others want for that close call to mean something, to change their character substantially as a result of their near-death experience. So, how to accommodate them all?

Well, we just put them all together. A “death menu”, if you will. So, here’s Face Death.

Face Death
When you take harm after all your conditions are marked, choose one below. If you survive, you're unconscious or helpless until the end of the scene.

- Get captured! — You avoid death, but are taken captive by an enemy. The GM will say how and by whom. What tool, token, or message do you leave behind?

- Go out in a blaze of glory — Briefly take control of the scene and describe one last accomplishment you achieve. Then you die.

- Gamble with Death — Roll with no stats or other modifiers. Other PCs can Assist you, but it takes their full effort for the rest of the scene. On a 10+ you’ll live—for now. On a 7-9, the GM will say what part of you doesn't survive; accept the loss and live, or hold on to that part and die. On a 6-, you die. You can say some final words. What do you see as you pass?

- Peek through The Veil — Death has marked you, but not yet claimed you. You no longer gain any XP. You can choose to go out in a blaze of glory from this point onward, as detailed above. What do you think awaits you at death?

- Transform into someone new — Change your Class now or after the end of the session. What has obviously changed about you? What has changed more subtly?

As you can see, we basically included every option we could think of, so as to accommodate as many players' attitudes and preferences as possible regarding the death of their characters, as well as reflecting some of the different types of death present in fantasy fiction. We hope that this allows for a myriad of results during gameplay, so that death is a) always dramatic and interesting—it consistently adds something to the conversation and the fiction—and b) it never feels like something repetitive or unfair.

We know that this is not how death works “in real life”—that’s the point! This is a game, and we don’t think people choose Dungeon World to get a dungeon crawl, survival horror experience out of it. Instead, we chose to lean into the more narrative side of it.

That’s all for now! Come back on Tuesday to discover when Spencer reveals a new move we added to the Core list, to allow everyone in the group to sneak around—or at least try to!

Until then, happy gaming!

Helena