Do not let us die in the dark night of this cold winter
Two quick things about Do not let us die in the dark night of this cold winter: firstly whatever bet existed on the length of a supplement title, it has been won. Secondly, the cover of the book is one of the most beautiful things I've seen.
Do not let us die is a mini-game for D&D-style games that focuses on a small community trying to survive a harsh winter in the wilderness.
The game requires the player characters to keep as many NPCs as they can alive, keeping them healthy, fed and warm. Doing so requires food, wood and medicine. Each of the PC archetypes is skilled at gathering one of these resources.
The players also have to manage how many buildings are being used in the settlement and how many people are in each building.
Each round a random event happens, which feels quite a lot like the Quiet Year. In generally the events are all bad, like people falling sick or having accidents. As this is a more crunch than narrative game, generally the events deplete your resources or actions and may result in the loss of a villager.
Eventually the winter ends and if any of the villagers have survived the PCs gain the reward they were promised for helping the community.
It's a delightfully weird game that nicely intersects OSR mechanics and randomness with storygaming emotion. The winter can be endured but it can never be beaten.
Do not let us die is a mini-game for D&D-style games that focuses on a small community trying to survive a harsh winter in the wilderness.
The game requires the player characters to keep as many NPCs as they can alive, keeping them healthy, fed and warm. Doing so requires food, wood and medicine. Each of the PC archetypes is skilled at gathering one of these resources.
The players also have to manage how many buildings are being used in the settlement and how many people are in each building.
Each round a random event happens, which feels quite a lot like the Quiet Year. In generally the events are all bad, like people falling sick or having accidents. As this is a more crunch than narrative game, generally the events deplete your resources or actions and may result in the loss of a villager.
Eventually the winter ends and if any of the villagers have survived the PCs gain the reward they were promised for helping the community.
It's a delightfully weird game that nicely intersects OSR mechanics and randomness with storygaming emotion. The winter can be endured but it can never be beaten.
Comments