Vajra Game Graveyard is a series of write-ups of games and game settings that we wanted to make, but that (most likely) will never be made. If you’re reading this and have a strong desire to help one of these dead game ideas become reality, email creative [aht] vajraenterprises [dot] com.
Setting Concept
An urban legend in a run-down urban high school tells students that if they go into a certain bathroom and say “Bloody Mary how will I die?” three times, Bloody Mary will appear in the mirror and start writing the cause of one’s death. Breaking the mirror before she can finish means the teen will thereafter be immune from dying from that cause. Those who enact this ritual find that dying from that particular thing means that they awake the previous morning, given a do-over to relive the day that they died.
Heroes
The teens who have gained this power call themselves “daybreakers.” While some daybreakers use their powers for personal gain (e.g. to gamble on sporting events, or commit sadistic acts and wipe people’s memory of them), the heroes are those who have chosen to use it to prevent tragedies. When something bad happens, a daybreaker volunteers to “kill” themselves so that the daybreakers will relive the day and try to prevent that tragedy. When a day is re-lived, all daybreakers are aware that the day is being re-lived, which creates a sense of community.
Antagonists
The mundane humans that cause all the day-to-day tragedies that daybreakers rewind time to try to prevent. Evil daybreakers. Bloody Mary, who wants revenge on daybreakers for using her. A secret cult of people (including many high school teachers and administrators) who have been given power by Bloody Mary and do her bidding.
Themes
What might happen in the mind of a teen to make them take the terrible risk of personal harm associated with becoming a daybreaker. Overcoming fear. Figurative and literal self-sacrifice to help others. The challenges common to being a teen, such as figuring out who you are, and seeking independence from parents.
Aesthetics
The architecture and decor of a huge, old, run-down high school. Urban legends and the aesthetics of urban-legend-themed horror.
Mechanics
Choosing the cause of death that restarts one’s day would need to be a step in character generation. Since a lot of gameplay will revolve around whether or not players are able to “kill” themselves in particular ways, additional guidance as to various causes of death will be needed. For instance, how does a GM determine if a character could stab themselves to death with a nail? Another mechanic will reflect the weird things that start to happen around daybreakers when they’ve relived the same day more than once (phenomena which are always related to the cause of death that they are immune from).
Research Needed
Architecture of large, old school buildings. The biomechanical aspects of various forms of death.
Challenges
It will be important to not promote or romanticize actual suicide, or give anyone the impression that we are doing so. The title of the game would likely have to be changed.
P.S. We don’t use AI generated art in our games, but we have just for the Vajra Game Graveyard series. You can read more about our position on AI generated art here.