I was at a convention many years ago and was invited to play a game called Cyber Shock. It used the Masterbook system, which comes with a special deck of cards. I’d been running games for two days straight on little-no sleep. (30 years ago, it didn’t seem like a priority.)

I was playing a character that was a grand master martial artist who was very old. In fact, the character was one of the other PC’s grandfather. So, everyone was calling me Grandpa. Not a typical cyberpunk character, but an amusing one. It was a one-shot, so I figured I’d make the most of it.

The run we were on went sideways. Big surprise there given it was a Cyberpunk style game, right? The group had holed up in a warehouse with crazed Yakuza on one side and an angry syndicate gang on the other side. There was an escape tunnel, but the group needed time to get out of the building.

I was exhausted and having trouble keeping my eyes open. My pillow was calling my name pretty loudly at this point and I remembered I had drawn one of the most dramatic cards in the whole Master Deck- Martyr. It’s great if you want your character to, uh… and then you return to character generation.

So, I played the card. My plan was to go out and broker a deal with both warring factions that we had riled up. They gave us 10 seconds to come out with our hands up. Grandpa walked out with his cane held over his head… And was instantly and hilariously cut to ribbons by submachine gun fire and shotgun blasts. It was pretty grim.

But the rest of the group got away. I finally got four or five hours of sleep. People who knew me from that game were still laughing and calling me grandpa for the rest of the weekend.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your character demises were less painful than the fate Grandpa suffered. I appreciate you. See you again soon.