designed by Nathan Paoletta

carry, is a game about focused on the experience of being a soldier in the Vietnam war. Heavily inspired by the films Platoon (IMDB, Wikipedia) and Full Metal Jacket (IMDB, Wikipedia) and the novel The Things They Carried (Wikipedia), carry is designed to provide a roleplaying experience in the tradition of these sources. How soldiers behave in war is a difficult topic, and the game focuses more on dealing with that difficulty than on celebrating violence or exploring tactical and strategic choices. The way that players have described a session is “fun, but in the way watching a really serious drama is fun, not fun like popcorn and beer fun.”

carry is structured in a short-form style. It plays out from start to finish in one three-to-four hour session. The game begins with everyone at the table creating the set of Burdens that their individual characters will be dealing with throughout the game. These Burdens are made with the input of the other people at the table, investing everyone into each others struggles. Once everyone chooses one of the 16 pre-generated characters to carry their Burden, the game begins. Over the course of the game, characters deal (or fail to deal) with their Burdens and the pressures and difficulties coming from the other characters, and from the GM. The dice mechanics are designed to reinforce where the players want to see adversity coming from, and to push the characters into dealing with their Burdens. Finally, the Endgame comes, and everyone has a chance to talk about both what happens to their characters in the end, and how these characters are remembered in the aftermath of the events of the game.

carry is extremely suitable as a one-off game to play with people who are interested in exploring the American experience in Vietnam. For people who play role-playing games a lot, it's a great game to use as a change of pace in between longer-form, multisession games. For people who don't role-play as much, it's a great way to get some play in without committing to weeks of ongoing play. It's also a great convention game, as it can run from start-to-finish in a standard convention slot, and the structure enables people from diverse backgrounds to play together with little trouble.