Consequences
This post was originally published in the Role Player's Digest #10 on October 28th, 2026. There is only a minor difference between this article and the one in the digest: things on my radar for the week.
The subject of death in tabletop games brought me to this post.
I've been really getting into the dialogue about "deadliness in the OSR" and "it's impossible to die in trad games" and “grimdark mortal wounds that kill you (or don’t)” and so on.
The concept of death in roleplaying games is fascinating to me because of my own roleplaying experiences:
- I started with D&D 5e. Characters died sometimes. Characters were resurrected sometimes.
- I watched hundreds of hours of Critical Role. Characters died sometimes. Characters were resurrected and it was cool when they came back.
- I played FIST. Characters died sometimes and it was funny when they did. New characters joined the game minutes after and that was funny too.
- I played Mythic Bastionland. Characters died sometimes and they persisted in conversation and memory. New characters joined shortly after.
- I have a lot of friends who say things like: "If my character dies, I'm LEAVING the game!" (actual quote)
But wait, is all that matters to me what happens after someone dies? No. No, not entirely, because what's particularly interesting to me is looking at why someone's character died, when they died, and where the story went because of their death.
Some Useless Definitions
OSR = Old School Renaissance. These games have a reputation for being deadly and demanding out-of-game creative problem solving skills. Examples: Shadowdark RPG, Cairn, Knave.
Trad = Traditional Roleplaying Game. These games have a reputation for complex character sheets with numbers and powers that solve all your in-game problems. Examples: D&D 5e, Daggerheart, Draw Steel (why do they all start with ‘D’?).
Story Games. They have a reputation for caring about narrative-building skills and playbooks, and also sometimes eliminating player agency. Examples: Apocalypse World, Blades in the Dark, Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, Public Access.
Now, a Podcast?
I started listening to Between Two Cairns (a podcast about reviewing adventure modules, usually OSR ones) over the summer. In one of their recentish episodes: The Doom of the Dark, they open a question from their mootsack (mailbag) about what truly distinguishes OSR gameplay from Trad gameplay. Lots of waffling about rules, character sheets, dice rolls, skills ensues.
However, at the tail end of the discussion, Sam (aka Skullboy) says this (lots of 'likes' and 'ums' were removed):
"There's a more modern OSR sensibility that seems more like: OK, just give people all the information that they would need to possibly solve this problem, and allow them to figure out, and FAIL, if they do, with that toolkit... Give them the rope and they'll hang themselves. This is where the danger comes from in OSR, oftentimes..."
Yochai says: "What is there to gain from secrets most of the time?"
Sam says: "I think, mostly, not a lot. Playing an OSR game isn't Dark Souls. Like, I don't think we learn as much from dying as you do in a video game like that. I think you want the feeling of death around the corner, and I think you want the feeling of 'Oh, this is deadly, so my choices have consequences, but I want all my consequences to be sort of like telegraphed to the extent where I understand that I'm going into a situation where I'm going to die. Cause I don't mind gambling.'"
Let's Go Gambling!
Okay, back to my own thoughts. I mentioned that I care about why someone's character died, when they died, and where the story went because of their death. This is because all roleplaying games are, to me, about a greater narrative. No, I don't mean like a book. I mean like a movie where we, the table, are all acting without a script.
I like to see where choices take our characters. I like to see that my choices have consequences, and sometimes those consequences are death.
That’s not an end-all-be-all mantra of roleplaying games. But this is:
Choices take our characters in multiple directions. Choices have consequences, and sometimes those consequences affect your ability to make different choices.
Death doesn't have to be the only ultimate consequence. Becoming absolute emperor of the universe is a consequence of some kind; retiring with a missing leg and only one eye is a consequence; losing a trusted friend is yet another.
Whichever consequences matter to you (and/or your character) should be the ones which you orient your game, your character, the game world, and everything else around.
These games don’t have to be about death.
Final Thoughts
No final thoughts today because I'm feeling philosophical.
Thanks for reading!
Things on my radar:
- New projects coming soon this month, one for the DURF Jam and another that's a short dungeon module.
- Some digital rewards for Kickstarters I backed are flowing in, and I'm looking forward to those sweet, sweet, physical books.
- Ultradelve looks like a cool new project from PlusOneXP and friends!
- Numbers Aren't Real wrote a nifty GLOG mixed with Vampire the Masquerade by Magicians? system. In particular I think the "Increasing your Power" rules are cool because they let you sacrifice meaningful memories in exchange for, you guessed it, power.
- Back in April, Vadim at My Nerdy Hobby wrote a post on naming NPCs in Mythic Bastionland, or rather, a method for giving NPCs memorable titles so your players might actually remember them.
- Also back in April is a post in the Mindstorm about generating Quick Stakes for Tense Situations. While I appreciate the procedure this post describes, I thought it might have more information about how to come up with those stakes on the fly. Maybe you can generate stakes by keeping a player's preferred Consequences in mind?