Eugene Ritter of the Cave of Chaos has a couple of rules for what can constitute an old-school game. One of them: can you start from scratch and create a character in 30 minutes without much knowledge of the game? He puts Gods & Monsters through the sieve and it comes up 2 minutes ahead of schedule.

His second test is whether or not a player can create a character in 15 minutes if guided by someone who has already played the game. I’d add that it also should work if that “expert” is also currently playing a game: does the game have to stop while a new character is rolled up. Results are currently mixed, but I’m working on it.

I’ve got another test, but this isn’t about whether it’s old school but whether it’s playable. Can someone who hasn’t played under the writer understand the rules?

Close. Eugene’s character is fine. But his article about verve, survival, and injuries seems to read as if a character’s last heroic effort is about staying alive. I went back to the rulebook, and damn if it doesn’t sound exactly like that:

When a character’s time runs out, they will die by the end of the scene they’re currently in. At any point between when the character starts dying and the end of their final scene, the character can make one heroic last effort. The player will gain a bonus of their level on that roll; their injuries will not apply. They may bid any remaining mojo on that roll. Other players may also contribute mojo to that player’s roll, regardless of whether it is archetypal for those characters.

What in that description indicates that their last heroic effort is about dying heroically? Nothing. Let’s try again:

When a character’s time runs out, they will die by the end of the current scene. At any time before the end of the scene, the character can make one heroic last effort to do anything other than stay alive. The player can have the character try to attack the enemy one last time, try to assist their comrades in some way, make a stirring speech to influence the senate—or stir the mob to riot¹.

The player will gain a bonus of their level on that roll; the character’s injuries will not apply. They may bid any remaining mojo on that roll. Other players may also contribute mojo to the dying character’s heroic last effort if they wish to do so. For all purposes, a heroic last effort is archetypal for all player characters who contribute, and each character gains experience and possible skill/field bonuses as if they had spent the full mojo, not just what they personally contributed.

With all of those bonuses, a heroic last effort is almost always successful. Death isn’t supposed to be that rare in Gods & Monsters. The point of the heroic last effort is that, if the player chooses wisely their character can do one final great thing. Then they’ll die.