Let’s begin this DecKarnage review by expressing my gratitude to the authors for providing us with a copy of the manual, the Chaos Master’s screen, and a DecKreative

You can find the DecKarnage manual on the Space Otter website for 12 euros. Additionally, the DecKreative (essential for playing) is available for 10 euros, and the Chaos Master screen is priced at 5 euros.

Review of the Aesthetics of DecKarnage

DecKarnage is a stapled A5 format with 78 pages. The cartoonish and colourful graphics of DecKarnage, combined with the classic font and light yellow page background, make for an enjoyable reading experience. The manual is printed on high-quality paper despite the product’s affordable price.

DecKarnage is a product suitable for everyone, from veterans to beginners. The manual clearly explains (at times almost repetitively) the importance of session zero and the roles of the Chaos Master (the narrator) and the players. Among the pages of DecKarnage, you will find valuable tips and advice for conducting a one-shot or a campaign. An explanation of table safety mechanics is also present in the manual.

Welcome to Skrap!

DecKarnage is set in Skrap, a place where fairy tales, dreamlands, and stories converge. Skrap is the home of the “Non So,” the repository of the hyperuranion, where all universes dump their used heroes, exhausted villains, and discarded monsters.

Furthermore, it is a world in constant instability and change. Skrap contains only six fixed points and six cities; everything else is variable. The city I appreciated the most is the metropolitan city of Lontra, perfect for lovers of trinkets and gadgets. I leave it to you to discover the other five cities and their hilarious names.

The Protagonists of This RPG

In DecKarnage, players take on the roles of members of a raiding team exploring the dangerous and ever-changing places of Skrap in search of loot.

Each character possesses a bonus from their Home City, a Skill, two Attributes, a Belief, and a Central Dogma; Health is the same for each character and is composed of a six-segment clock; each character also has randomly determined Armor. Additionally, each character can carry only four items.

Teamwork among party members is crucial in this game to overcome challenges effectively.

During character creation, other fundamental elements of the game are also created, such as the team, the headquarters, and a muse; the latter is a deity that can resurrect or assist those in need during challenges.

DecKarnage Review: The ChaOSR System

Now I want to continue this review of DecKarnage by talking about the rules

To play DecKarnage, you need a DecKreative deck, a 54-card deck that allows you to randomize any game element. Each card contains dice results, symbols, ideas, an image, and much more.

In DecKarnage, there are three types of challenges: Sudden, Reflect, or Belief. The decision on which to choose is made in agreement between the narrator and the players. Sudden is used for actions involving instinct, while Reflect is for any action that requires studying or thinking. Instead, Belief can be used as a standalone test or to attempt to repair a failure, as well as to desperately pray to the Muse; of course, every attempt to overcome a failure will have consequences.

The ChaOSR System works by using clocks that fill up based on the outcome of the tests; the more segments the clock has, the more difficult the test. A clock is also used to indicate the duration of a raid.

Raids are always dangerous, and our raiders will struggle to face many dangers and a boss, called V.I.P.

DecKarnage: Raids

Let’s continue this review of DecKarnage by talking about Raids, the core of the game. All the variable locations in the game contain Belli Points in quantity, and it’s up to your team to go and retrieve them. Bbelli Points are the currency of the game and can take any imaginable form; after all, they come from variable locations that can take any shape. During a Raid, it will be possible to spend Beauty Points to build a base or rest in a shelter.

Raids are characterized by obstacles called Setbacks and Serious Problems. Setbacks are resolved with a single test, while Serious Problems consist of a series of tests marked by a clock whose number of segments is determined by the card drawn from the DecKreative. Each Raid consists of a number of Serious Problems that vary based on the number of players, making the experience suitable for parties of various sizes

At the end of each raid, there is always a V.I.P., the boss of the area to defeat. The encounter with the V.I.P. is triggered in two ways: by resolving all Serious Problems or once all the segments of the raid’s clock are blackened. In the second case, the loot from unfinished Serious Problems will be lost.

DecKarnage Review: DecKreative

Throughout this review of DecKarnage, I have mentioned several times the DecKreative, a deck of 54 cards full of prompts, dice, and much more. The DecKarnage rules require the use of the deck to randomize everything and to provide the Chaos Master and players with many specific narrative prompts.

Each card offers a wealth of information; when one is drawn, only the necessary information for that specific occasion is considered. Each card contains:

• A title referring to the image on the back
• Two archetype tags
• Seven different dice results, one for each die size
• An alphabet letter
• An emotion
• Weather
• A clock
• A series of symbols such as card suit, element, morra, body part, chess piece, and more
• A musical note
• A day of the week
• A deadly sin
• A wind
• Two tags
• A Roman numeral
• A moral law
• A tiebreaker
• A new rule

All of this has both mechanical relevance (to generate narrative) and allows full expression of your imagination.

In my opinion, this deck of cards can be a truly interesting tool for any game master of any game to create imaginative situations in moments.

 

Conclusions of the DecKarnage Review

The last 23 pages of the manual contain descriptions of the six fixed cities, some variable presence locations, a number of small adventures ready to be played, and many narrative prompts.

DecKarnage is a truly interesting and unique game, allowing for carefree, fun, and imaginative sessions. Its crazy and fun setting makes it suitable for filling empty evenings or engaging in immersive campaigns. I particularly appreciated the use of the DecKreative in the game, even though it represents an additional and necessary expense; besides providing the randomness of this role-playing game, it can be used as a narrative prompt when the narrator wants to shake up the game events.

The very affordable cost and quality of the product make it a must-have for any role-playing game enthusiast. This is also because the authors have been very attentive to the accessibility of the manual; in fact, we find a specially formatted digital version, without columns, almost without images, and perfect for being read even by a text-to-speech service.

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