Lethality Paradox Part 2: Death Moves

For part 2, I'm living up to my first post and shamelessly riding on the backs of more established authors. In this case, I'm riding on the back of Grim World from Boldly Games and their frankly excellent 'Death Moves.'

For those not in the know on Powered by the Apocalypse (and the original game Apocalypse World), a 'Move' is an action a player or GM makes when something occurs in the narrative. A basic 'Hack and Slash' attack Move in Dungeon World starts as "When you attack an enemy in melee," and then throws out how you roll dice and confirm successes.

By extension, a 'Death Move' is something that happens on a death, and the Grim World crew absolutely nailed it. A Skirmisher's last action is a spear throw that legends will speak of. A Necromancer's last breath unseals a relentless army of the undead. The death of a Battlemaster is merely the next step in a lifetime-long gambit.

While I'm singing Grim World's praises, they've also got Death Moves for other PbtA games like the base Dungeon World classes and Inverse World. Examples include Adrien Thoen's Fae pronouncing a bitter curse or perfect wish upon 'a land, a people, or an individual,' or the Golem of Inverse World having a 60 second countdown followed by a catastrophic core meltdown & explosion.

Maybe other systems call it something else, or it's considered a 'ruling' and not a 'rule' for most OSR players. Whatever. Let's use Death Moves a ton more in anything even vaguely resembling a heroic narrative. Your gritty funnels and Torchbearer cavern crawls can have PCs choking to death on their own blood, but if you're the chosen of an elder god, you get to go out in style.

Coming soon: 1d20 Things to do in Your Moment of Death When All Hope is Lost.
EDIT:  Find 1d12 Things to do in Your Moment of Death When All Hope is Lost HERE.

Build in the suggestions from the previous post to try and make a Death Move an active choice by the player. What if their last action undoes all the good they did up to that point? Is it worth rejecting a death saving throw (or equivalent) in order to use a Death Move? Mix carefully, and running out of HP might be viewed as a role-playing opportunity rather than an abrupt end to a promising character.