It’s Mega Dungeon Month on Backerkit, where TTRPG publishers are launching campaigns for some of the biggest, deepest, darkest dungeons they can design. However, one game is taking the concept and getting a little bit meta with it, as the DIE RPG has launched a crowdfunding campaign for the Metadungeon.
What is DIE RPG?
DIE: The Roleplaying Game is a tabletop roleplaying game based on the comic “DIE,” written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Stephanie Hans (as well as a G33k-HQ Comic of the Week pick). In the comic, players are trapped in the twenty-sided world of the tabletop game, where they confront manifestations of their traumas, struggles, and the very concepts of fantasy and gaming.
The RPG, published by Rowan, Rook and Decard, is a unique take on the genre, as players take the roles of regular people (Personas) and the RPG roles they get isekai’d into (Paragons). Like with the comic, the characters don’t just face monsters, but also metaphors for their personal issues, divergences from common fantasy tropes, and the horrors of being trapped in another world where everything is a game of survival.
The game won the 2024 Origins Awards’ Best Role-playing Game Core Product, as well as the 2024 PLAY Modena RPG Magnifico Award.
DIE: The Roleplaying Game primarily uses a d6 system, but each class also has its own special die for their special abilities. The classes include unique options and twists on classic archetypes, like the Godbinder (who bargains and haggles with the gods, rather than drawing on their powers through worship) or the Fool (a classic “idiot hero” archetype whose strength relies on reckless abandon and overconfidence, but for whom seriousness is a death sentence). You can check out the DIE RPG Quickstart here.
Into the Metadungeon
The Metadungeon is a massive dungeon, but instead of featuring multiple levels filled with traps and monsters, it takes players “through fifty years of TTRPG history, from its birth to its glorious present.” It will explore the tropes and trends of past editions of classic tabletop games, with the levels evolving with the changes over time.
The Backerkit describes the DIE Metadungeon as “part history field trip, part punishing gauntlet, part nightmare hellscape made of your own desires and part lovingly-created Saw trap intended to teach you once and for all what THAC0 means.” It promises literal edition wars and tributes to every era of gaming, packing 50 years of history into six dungeon levels and special rules for each era.
The Metadungeon is written by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, whose background includes writing for games like Adventures in Middle-Earth, Trail of Cthulhu, and Delta Green. “DIE” author Kieron Gillen will also play a key role in the book, ensuring it stays true to his world and contributing his own sub-level to the Metadungeon.
“DIE” artist Stephanie Hans has illustrated the cover, with artists Rick Hershey, Sar Cousins, and Saga Mackenzie handling the interior artwork and maps. The campaign promises that the artwork for each chapter will match the era of the game, channeling the style and aesthetic from each edition.
Pledge Levels begin at £20 (or around $26) for the digital edition, with higher pledge levels for physical books, special edition hardcovers, and boxed sets. At the highest price pledge level, backers can get the DIE RPG boxed set, Core Rulebook, GM Screen, three scenario books, and more. Add-ons include scenario books, player aids, and two different dice sets (one standard red and black resin, one glass and obsidian).
The campaign has already reached its initial goal and unlocked its first Stretch Goal to have Kieron write a dungeon level. Stretch goals beyond that have not yet been revealed, but will likely be reached soon.
The campaign runs until May 1, and the Metadungeon is estimated to be completed and ship by 2028. You can check it out for yourself on Backerkit here.
