Die (comics and role-playing game)

DIE
Volume 1 cover.
Publication information
PublisherImage Comics
FormatOngoing series
Genre
Publication dateDecember 2018 – September 2021
No. of issues20
Creative team
Created byKieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans
Written byKieron Gillen
Artist(s)Stephanie Hans
Letterer(s)Clayton Cowles
Collected editions
Fantasy HeartbreakerISBN 1-5343-1270-6
Split the PartyISBN 1-5343-1497-0
The Great GameISBN 1-5343-1716-3
BleedISBN 1-5343-1926-3

Die (stylized as DIE) is both a horror/fantasy comic book about role-playing games, and an interconnected tabletop role-playing game system. The comic book and role-playing game were developed simultaneously, with content from one crossing into the other, and visa versa. Both the comic book and the role-playing game were written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Stephanie Hans. Die was influenced by the portal fantasy and LitRPG literary genres.

The comic book series focuses on a group of British adults who are drawn back to an icosahedron-shaped world they originally visited as teenagers; the group left behind a friend upon their original escape and never discussed the experience. It was published by Image Comics and ran for twenty issues across four five-issue arcs (Fantasy Heartbreaker, Split the Party, The Great Game, and Bleed), beginning in December 2018 and ending in September 2021. The comic won the British Fantasy Award for "Best Comic / Graphic Novel" in 2020 and 2021[1][2] and was a finalist for the Hugo Award in "Best Graphic Story or Comic" three times.[3][4][5]

Gillen and Hans created the role-playing game complement to the comic book with British publisher Rowan, Rook and Decard.[6] The game was funded via Kickstarter in May 2022.[7][8] The digital edition was released in November 2022[9] with the hardcover edition following in June 2023.[10] The game won "Best Role-playing Game Core Product" at the 2023 Origins Awards.[11]

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  6. ^ "DIE RPG Gets a New Kickstarter Date". ComicBook.com. May 17, 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  7. ^ "DIE: The RPG Launches New Kickstarter". ComicBook.com. May 12, 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  8. ^ Brooke, David (2022-05-16). "Making 'Die' come to life: Kieron Gillen and Grant Howitt talk 'Die: The RPG'". AIPT. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  9. ^ Gillen, Kieron [@kierongillen] (November 29, 2022). "The DIE RPG PDF is now available to buy directly from Rowan Rook & Decard. If you do so, you get a coupon for the print edition equal to the cost of the PDF. (i.e. you can buy this and if you buy the physical book later, you're not losing money.) #dierpg [LINK][IMAGE]" (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Dohm-Sanchez, Jeffrey (May 17, 2023). "Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans' 'DIE: The Roleplaying Game' Heads to Retail". ICv2. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).