Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com

Voros

Doomed Investigator
Joined
Sep 23, 2017
Messages
14,998
Reaction score
32,533
So the comicbook writer Kieron Gillen, who I see talking rpgs all the time on Twitter and didn't realize he was a comic writer, has put out a Beta rpg based on his fantasy comic DIE.

DIE-RPG-Beta-cover-662x1024.jpg

It is an interesting idea for an rpg, because you play highschool friends in our world who get together to play a game from back-in-the-day who are thrown into a dark fantasy world called DIE. The world is heavily influenced by D&D and meta but the system in contrast is quite light.

A game where you play two different layers of character is an intriguing idea and considering how common a trope the 'modern characters thrown into a fantasy world' is, from Burroughs to Guy Gavriel Kay, I'm surprised to find that I can't recall another game that does it. Gillen also has some interesting, dark ideas on the fantasy rpg world as metaphor (with its dungeons and dungeon masters).

Gillen is refreshingly humble, noting he is a completely amateur game designer. As one would expect the layout and art is quite good.
 
Last edited:
Also reminds me that I really need to get around to reading DIE...

I just read the first volume of the comic. Gillen is clearly one of us, the entire world of DIE is based very much on D&D tropes and history but in a meta way that makes it very strange at the same time.

For instance the first volume arc is called ‘Fantasy Hearbreaker’ and there’s a reference to ‘don’t split the party,’ ‘orks/The Fallen’ and murderhobo PCs. There’s quotes from David Arneson and H.G. Wells Little Wars at the start of chapters. In the back there are a series of short essays from Gillen where he discusses rpgs at length and is obviously a fan of Peterson’s Playing at the World, Moorcock and Robin Laws.

There’s one inspired passage based around Tolkien that does some very interesting things with his mythology. It is about nostalgia and fantasy but is also healthily skeptical of both those things. I dug it.
 
Last edited:
Read the latest arc in TBP (in ebook format) and liked it. This series is the most rpg literate piece of fiction I've ever read, he even prominently features Pendragon and how so many rpgers want to play it but never have (I've played a few sessions myself).
 
I just read the first volume of the comic. Gillen is clearly one of us,

He must be "one of us". Publishing a tie-in RPG and giving it away for free is not something a normal comic book writer would do. Especially if it's done so low-key that it doesn't even count as marketing.
 
Kieron Gillen is a superb comic book writer in general. The best run of anything Marvel has ever done imo is his run on Journey into Mystery.
Phonogram is one of my favourite comic series of all time.

(It will be interesting to see if this leads to an influx of comics fans into RPGs over the next year).

A game where you play two different layers of character is an intriguing idea and considering how common a trope the 'modern characters thrown into a fantasy world' is, from Burroughs to Guy Gavriel Kay, I'm surprised to find that I can't recall another game that does it. Gillen also has some interesting, dark ideas on the fantasy rpg world as metaphor (with its dungeons and dungeon masters).

Dream Park does. There's also John Tyne's Powerkill but that's more satirical than an actual playable game.

Gillen is refreshingly humble, noting he is a completely amateur game designer. As one would expect the layout and art is quite good.

Exactly what he's like in real life as well. Lovely chap and definitely an ascended fanboy.
 
Last edited:
Honestly, when all is said and done, I expect Kieron Gillen to be considered this generation's Neil Gaiman. The fantasy worlds he creates resonate really well. He is incredibly smart and not afraid to include pretty deeply pretentious things in his books, but it's all bonus content, the core of the story works just fine without it. They are also very complete; I don't think you could even write another WicDiv story, for example, because everything about the characters has already been said.

DIE is excellent and I'm eagerly awaiting the next issue.
 
Honestly, when all is said and done, I expect Kieron Gillen to be considered this generation's Neil Gaiman. The fantasy worlds he creates resonate really well. He is incredibly smart and not afraid to include pretty deeply pretentious things in his books, but it's all bonus content, the core of the story works just fine without it. They are also very complete; I don't think you could even write another WicDiv story, for example, because everything about the characters has already been said.

DIE is excellent and I'm eagerly awaiting the next issue.
I'd see him more as this generation's Alan Moore. Very literary, obsessed with magic and symbology but knows how to tell a story alongside the esoteric stuff. Gaiman is much more of a craftsman than an artist (and I don't mean that insultingly. It's one of the reasons for his success).
 
Should also say (because artists sometimes get unfairly overlooked as co creators) that Stephanie Hans is also excellent and her work is equally important for bringing the world of DIE to life.
 
Should also say (because artists sometimes get unfairly overlooked as co creators) that Stephanie Hans is also excellent and her work is equally important for bringing the world of DIE to life.

Agreed, her sequences in the Tolkien and Bronte issues are particularly lovely.

I'd see him more as this generation's Alan Moore. Very literary, obsessed with magic and symbology but knows how to tell a story alongside the esoteric stuff. Gaiman is much more of a craftsman than an artist (and I don't mean that insultingly. It's one of the reasons for his success).

I need to check out more of his stuff, I've added a number to my Wishlist but yeah I was impressed by the inclusion of the Brontes, very much not a standard nerd interest, into the series.
 
I just got the 2nd volume. I think I need to reread the 1st volume before taking it on since it's been a while since I read it.
 
Well, they may be a good comicbook writer, but I'm 30 pages into the playtest document and the only things related to rules so far is a very bad description of Xcards with the reminder that RPGs "aren't safe" (the irony for a game based on a premise taken from a cartoon cancelled because of the Satanic Panic is not lost), and a cribbed version of Smallville's relationship map, leaving a creeping sense of dread for when I do finally see whatever system this is.
 
Allright, well finally found the system on page 71. Eh, not as bad as I was expecting. D6 die pool with some fiddly bits, sort of a less elegant D6 system but instead of the Wild Die there's a "Bad Die" that you add if the disadvantages to the roll are uneven (even sets of Disadvantages increase the Difficulty) The Bad Die (they really could have come up with a batter name) can remove a successes. You start with dice equal to the relevant attribute rating (the standard 6 D&D attributes), and add a dice for every advantage you have. You have a special Class Die as well, though have not seen yet what makes this special.

Any roll of 4+ is a success, any die that rolls a 6 also triggers a special ability.

Standard Difficulty is 1. I'm too tired to look at the math on this, but it seems the system is very inclined to characters mostly always succeeding. No successes and at least one roll a one is a critical failure (which is completely unconnected to The Bad Die).

Seems perfectly workable, surprisingly not the narrative miasma I was expecting up to this point.
 
Combat isn't bad - fast and brutal, but injuries and death are basically left up to GM Fiat.

Interesting Bit - combatants have "Guard" and "Health" - Gaurd is based on your Dex score, Health on Con (2 is average in the system). Damage (successes) from an attack reduce Guard first then Health. You can recover Guard anytime you take a rest (you roll a Dex pool, and every success adds a point back to your Guard up to the maximum). While you have 2 Health remaining you suffer a Disadvantage on all rolls (so...the average person ALWAYS has a disadvantage?), at 1 Health you suffer 2 Disadvantages.

I like it, swift, simple, very deadly.
 
Well, they may be a good comicbook writer, but I'm 30 pages into the playtest document and the only things related to rules so far is a very bad description of Xcards with the reminder that RPGs "aren't safe" (the irony for a game based on a premise taken from a cartoon cancelled because of the Satanic Panic is not lost), and a cribbed version of Smallville's relationship map, leaving a creeping sense of dread for when I do finally see whatever system this is.
The D&D cartoon may be the original impetus for the idea, but the comic gets described as horror for good reason - it's a brutal and psychological, and the world not being safe is part of the concept. Without spoiling much, everyone came out of their first run in the game as somewhat broken people, by design (This sentence makes more sense if you have read the first issue of the comic, and you should, but obviously the story develops further from there as you learn more about all the characters).
 
Well, they may be a good comicbook writer, but I'm 30 pages into the playtest document and the only things related to rules so far is a very bad description of Xcards with the reminder that RPGs "aren't safe" (the irony for a game based on a premise taken from a cartoon cancelled because of the Satanic Panic is not lost), and a cribbed version of Smallville's relationship map, leaving a creeping sense of dread for when I do finally see whatever system this is.
Yeah, Ladybird is right on this. The comic absolutely isn't light.
 
I've read the first trade of DIE, it's pretty tame. Certainly not "light", but also not as dark as, say, a typical '90's Vertigo title.
 
One of the best comics going today, for sure.

I've only thumbed through the beta material for the game. My group just doesn't have time to give this a go at the moment. Maybe at some point, though. It seemed pretty good. The dual character nature seemed to be the most standout factor from a design perspective.
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top