Orbital Blues – The Raven Caws

Earlier this year, I started reading the Orbital Blues RPG core book, a retro-future space western game modeled on media like Cowboy Bebop and Firefly, and this Swansong mechanic caught my interest. It. Is. Amazing.

The Swan Song mechanic for the Orbital Blues RPG. In short, declare it's your character's Swan Song. You get to choose the music. Your character gets to be a badass.

All your character's rolls that scene are with advantage (the Upper Hand). All attacks your character makes are Deadly. Your character can make Diving Saves to protect other PCs even if your character has already acted that round. Your character takes no damage during the scene, but narratively your character sustains mortal would during the action and dies at the end of the scene.

I don’t recall seeing something like this before. As a player, there have been times I chose for a character to die for the good of the narrative, and it was a moment. Most of the time the table got quiet, the GM asked if I was sure, and all that, but this, this mechanic elevates that decision. There’s no “are you sure.” It’s baked right into the game, and the mechanic ensures that moment will be epic and properly earns the spotlight it deserves.