Death Throes quips, “Oh. Great. Another zombie roleplaying game. Just what the world needs”, and then adds a “But wait.” before explaining why this RPG is different.
How is it different? Cat and Lore Evan’s ENnie-nominated creators of Ex Stasis Games set this game in the opening moments of the outbreak, when there’s still hope but also lean into Trophy for the system. Hope and death in equal measure, then?
It’s a short-run crowdfunder, giving itself only two weeks to hit the funding goal on Kickstarter.
Ex Statis Games sets out three principles of play which are;
- Hope
- Fail
- Hurt
If that feels like more dark than light, I have to agree, also, the definition of hope begins “The situation’s probably hopeless. But your character doesn’t know that – at least a until a long way into the game”.
Do you know what? I like it. It’s a proper roleplaying challenge, and I think that applies to you whether you like the strategy of trying to stay alive in the early moments of the end of the world or the empathy of trying to get into a character’s head during the tension.
Death Throes is a Rooted in Trophy game. That means it uses the core Trophy mechanics to tell a story about escalating risk and characters pushing themselves to their limits. It creates deeply character-focused stories with heights of tension and emotion.
With a few six-sided dice and a simple character sheet, players can quickly create a Survivor with motives, drives, and skills, and throw them into the worst day of their lives. Some of them will fail. Some will die, or become monsters. But they’ve all got a powerful reason to live.
A pledge of just $1 helps the campaign succeed, even if the world ends and also allows you to get into the post-event add-on system.
At £10, you’ll unlock the Slow Zombie thank you tier and be gifted with a copy of the Death Throes PDF.
Alternatively, you’ll get the print-on-demand coupon with a discount of £15. DriveThruRPG and their printer partners will fulfil that.
The dates are staggered; the PDF is due in September, and the softcover is in October. Whether the book makes it to you for Halloween or not depends on countless risky factors.
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