I have talked before about the "fishblade," which is a handy term for any RPG that the listener considers weird or outré based on their broader understanding. This, my friends, is definitely a game that a lot of folks would consider a fishblade.
The Game: The Bleakness
The Publisher: Twisted Image Publishing (although that site hasn't been updated in a while, since it says this game is still Kickstartering)
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one
What's with RPG publishers not putting the book's cover in the PDF? So weird.
Anyway, The Bleakness is a grimdark RPG that has you playing people traveling on the Road. The Road is something that God created and said "go north and find the answers" or something (it's phrased better than that in the book, I just don't feel like looking it up), but when you start heading north, your fate is pretty much sealed. A game of The Bleakness goes until every PC is dead before reaching the next village, you encounter all of the Entropies (basically the incremental erosion of the world and march towards the end), everyone decides to quit and just live in a village, or everyone decides to turn around and go back (at which point the priests of the Road will probably kill you, because they are the only ones allowed to travel south on the Road).
Along the way, you encounter various things (it's all rolled on tables), and you track Despair and Hunger. Get too much Hunger, you starve. Get too much Despair, you go mad or kill yourself or someone else. The combat system is the most unforgiving thing I've seen since Dread (or, dare I say it, curse the darkness). The word "tragic" occurred to me, but it's not properly tragic, because in tragedy characters die or meet their ends because of their own actions and flaws. Here, it's just inevitable. You'll die horribly not because of anything you did (other than start walking north) but because that's what happens.
Now, would this game be, for want of a better word, "fun?" I think with the right group it could be satisfying to play, but then, I like going to darker places in my RPGs sometimes. This is a bitter brew, and it is really not for everyone. But I'm glad it exists, because as I've mentioned, I think games with a tight focus, a firm point of view, and a solid intended play experience are worlds better than the 1000th "you can make any character you want for our game where you have 'adventures' and kill monsters!" sort of thing. So let's make a character!
Everyone has a challenge and a role. Both are determined randomly, which suits me fine. Rolling for challenge gets me...10. Unlucky, I only find safe food when rolling a 6 (which I assume is on a d6, which means I'ma gonna starve). For role I get...1, which is hunter. I get a bow and 12 arrows, I get a +1 to foraging rolls when I'm alone, and when traveling alone no event can give me more than 1 Despair. That's pretty cool.
I get 3 rations, a sleeping bag, a waterskin, a backpack, some clothes, and a random mundane item (hold on...10, an obsidian long knife. Cool!).
My traveler's name is Sahmyis. Sahmyis got lost while hunting, far from his village, and emerged from the woods near the Road. He saw a group of priests, who explained to him the virtues of going north, and the dangers of going south (to wit, they'd kill him). Sahmyis is in his early 20s (so, middle aged in this fuckin' setting), He's thin but has a bit of a belly, and he just has the worst luck when it comes to hunting. Something always alerts what he's hunting and it runs off, that kind of thing. Sahmyis suspects he'll die on the road, but maybe if he's with other pilgrims they can watch out for each other? (Ha.)
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