Waltz of the Gallows

Content Warning: themes of death, the death penalty, nooses, death by hanging, deep introspection; potential mentions of religious trauma, terminal illness, war, debt, animal death, murder, violence, and more in play.

Waltz of the Gallows is a hack of A Life Behind Glass by Michelle Jones for the Hueshift Jam 2022. It is a GM-less, no-prep, improv-heavy RPG inspired by medieval crime and punishment and reflecting on one's final thoughts before death.

You have been sentenced to the gallows, regardless of how long you've spent in prison and if you've ever received a fair trial. 

Play starts two hours before your death. 

Roll an array of dice to generate a generic medieval occupation and crime. Then roll to see if you're innocent or guilty, and keep the result to yourself. That information only matters to you (and those self-righteous few).

Depending on how you're feeling, there are a set of prompts that can determine how your last conversations before death goes with this group of strangers(?). Recount your crimes and whether or not you viewed your actions as such. Are you horrified or justified?

The goal of Waltz of the Gallows is not to determine if either of you is genuinely innocent; you’re all going to die, after all. The goal is to decide on your last thoughts, with integrity or despair.