A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement While We Wait for Death

While We Wait for Death by Matt Sanders is a role playing game supplement published by The Sealed Library.

The supplement is available as a 10-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $6 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear cover and one page is blank.

The first page has the content warnings and explains it is a game played when warriors gather on the eve of battle.

How to Play explains this supplement is played by pairs of players and can be used as an independent game or as a subsystem for another game. The stories build bonds and histories between characters.

Setting Up explains the game uses a standard deck of cards and there are four storyguides to choose from. Each player draws two cards, one being the Spark of their story, the other the Setting. They can then refer to the tables to determine what this means. After this, the first Beat card is drawn, which are the events. Once a card of each suit has been drawn, the next drawer of a Beat card may end the story. This is followed by an example of play.

The four different storyguides are then covered. Each suit has prompts for Spark, Setting and Beat according to the guide.

The Benefits of Bonds has mechanical benefits for D&D and related games and Powered by the Apocalypse games.

While We Wait for Death in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and, though short, has enough different sections that these would have been appreciated. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a single column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are some stock illustrations and colour. Presentation is adequate.

This is a storytelling game and won’t be suitable for players who aren’t good at that kind of thing. Those who struggle to come up with this sort of story on the fly will likely find the game itself a struggle. It could be used as a standalone game to use up some time, or it could be used as a subsystem in another game. Though only two system types are listed, it shouldn’t be too hard to adapt it to other systems. This is an interesting way of further developing character connections if used as a subsystem; the downside is that, at full price, this is rather an expensive supplement. While We Wait for Death can be found by clicking here.