Shot Dead In the Fens

or, how this weird new game relates to a session of West Marches from over twenty years ago After three wars and 15 sessions, we had our first character death in This Means War. I mean a death caused by the rules, where the Waracle requires you to roll for Fate and then looks you square in the eye and says, yep, your characters dies. And you have to say how the war kills them. No options, no saving throw: they are dead. This unwelcome achievement goes to Caroline’s young farm boy character, in the war between Rujje and Orestellia. This was only the third season of the game and his story was just starting, but the war cut him short. Rujje soldiers shot him dead to take his sheep to feed their troops. He didn’t even have a name yet. Honestly it gave me some West Marches flashbacks, namely to the death of Azucar in game 65, twenty plus years ago. Poor Azucar, level 3 ranger/cleric, went to the stream to refill a canteen, lost initiative to a spear-wielding brood and got critical hit for…