Never Going Home Horror;Survival;Historical;Military;Narrative-Driven;Low Prep;Quick-Play;Rules Lite
At-a-glance: WWI survival-horror • Dice + card hand management • 2–5 + GM • Low prep • Rules-lite • 2–3h sessions
Theme and Setting
Never Going Home places your table in the mud, wire, and shellfire of the First World War, then tears a hole in reality. The Veil is open and alien Whispers seep into soldiers’ dreams, offering power at a cost. You play members of a front-line Unit trying to survive patrols, raids, and retreats while balancing duty, fear, and humanity. The tone is grim but grounded: supernatural horror is layered atop the authentic misery of trench warfare.
Core Mechanics and Rules
The system is streamlined for fast play. Characters are quick to create, with compact statlines and gear that emphasize role and readiness over build math. Resolution uses simple dice tests supported by a dwindling hand of cards—spent to push luck, absorb shocks, or seize fleeting advantages. The Unit is the focus: individual soldiers may be wounded, rotated out, or lost, but the story carries on through replacements and battlefield promotions.
Whispered abilities tempt you with potent effects—insight, resilience, or brutal force—paid for in fraying nerves and creeping transformation. Resource tracks stay lean: rations, ammunition, and morale matter, but bookkeeping never bogs down decisions at the table. Procedures for patrols, encounters, and after-action fallout keep sessions moving with minimal prep.
What Makes It Unique
Never Going Home threads survival gameplay through a war story where the party identity (the Unit) persists even as individual PCs come and go. The card-hand pressure system bakes attrition into every choice, mirroring the era’s exhaustion without heavy rules overhead. Horror escalates through visible costs rather than hidden complexity: every shortcut against the Veil leaves a mark.
Target Audience and Player Experience
Best for groups who want bleak survival with decisive, fiction-first choices—and who are comfortable with character loss as part of the narrative. It excels at short arcs and linked operations: two to three hours per mission, low prep for the GM, and clear prompts for consequences between sessions. If you enjoy resource-tight OSR play, WWI themes, or survival horror where every advantage has a price, this sits squarely in that lane.
