You are great heroes, or even gods. Tonight you die.
Describe yourself and your greatest feat. Players on your left and right each name a power you have based on it. Name the third one.
Every player writes a prophecy of death. Be poetic. Draw one randomly. Accept it, reject it, rage against it, it is your doom.
Every player takes a token, called an omen.
Whatever you attempt, you succeed. To resolve a scene:
- For each of your powers used, take a d6.
- Each player starting with you can describe a different way in which the situation is like your doom and hand you one of their omens. If you agree, discard it and take a d20. Otherwise, keep it.
- Roll your dice. If any show ‘1’, or you take another omen, there are no nasty complications. Add 2 to the roll for each omen you have. If the total is 20 or greater, describe your death.
- Discard the dice.
Once dead, you have unlimited omens to give.
When you clash with other players, the greater total wins. Reroll ties.
This is your last tale. How do you end? Play until every character is dead.
Attached comment: d20s work great as omens, as long as you don’t get confused between them and dice to be rolled. Vaguely inspired by Don’t Rest Your Head and Mythender
This was my entry into the 200 Word RPG Challenge. While it didn’t get picked by the judges, I’m quite fond of it.
Originally, I wasn’t intending to participate. 200 word RPGs are a neat exercise, but hardly anyone actually plays them. Then I saw Grant Howitt’s MECHANICAL ORYX, which ended up being one of the three winners this year. It was brimming with flavor and had actual mechanics at the same time. It inspired me, and you can undoubtedly see traces of it in my game.
Götterdämmerung isn’t all it could have been. The character generation is bog-standard. The main/only game mechanic took up most of the wordcount, forcing me to discard the majority of the thematic fluff and all of the suggestions on what the game could be about or any kind of structure. 200 words is not a lot of words! Still, within those limits are doomed heroes, a reason for players to hasten the doom of others, massive risk taking, a choice to hasten your own doom to not ruin everything you hold dear, and an implied soundtrack by Amon Amarth. It’ll do.