Baxil

This is a game about harsh mistreatment of a man chasing his dream.

What “Beholden” is:

– A diceless solo RPG.

– An entry in the April 2011 Ronnies, using the terms “chains” and “queen”.

– A (_____) of Ben Lehman’s game “Beloved”. Choose your preferred term from the list: recontextualization; inversion; retelling; pastiche; critique.  The draft of Beloved that Beholden is based on can be found here: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forge/index.php?topic1271.0

– A direct response to Beloved, and a dialogue starter.

What it is not:

– Original.  I wrote it, but it would not exist without Ben’s game.

– An “expansion” or “mod”.  Beholden is fully self-contained.

– A challenge to the value of the source game.

An entry for the February 2011 Ronnies.

You’re a hard-boiled man (or woman) in a gritty, corrupt world.  Lust, greed, vengeance, jealousy — one of these is the bitter taste in the back of your throat.  Some might call it a sin.  You call it a mission.  And you’re not going to let anything stand in your way (except maybe your own flaws).

Meanwhile, the city is seething around you.  The night is steamy, and ready to boil over at the slightest provocation.  And in the shadows, steely eyes glint from above a demonic black beak, silently driving people into ever greater acts of desperation …

Waiting to unleash chaos and hell … with one mighty CAW.

Deathbird Black: Comedy noir.  Tongue-in-cheek, dice-flinging fun.