Death…Hollywood Style!

By: Andrew Mahon, David Miller, Kenneth Reed, Michelle Stutzman, Patrick Stutzman, Karen Thronebury, and Trampas Whiteman.

You’re facing the Big Bad End Guy, and have him down to just a few hit points. One more thrust of the sword, and he dies. You have been waiting all night for this moment! You thust your sword and…he falls down.

What? That’s it? Epic fail! That’s not the way it should have ended. There should be an epic ending, something straight out of Hollywood.

That’s what “Death…Hollywood Style!” is all about. Now you can add a little Hollywood style action to your game the next time a character dies. But beware, as that character may be yours! Be warned, as well, that the authors who created this chart may not be all right in the head.

So grab those percentile dice and roll. Someone is going down!

Disclaimer: Some adult language and tons of bad puns below. You have been warned.

d%

Effect

01PC cuts off victim’s head and says, “There can be only one!”
02Everything occurs in slow motion.
03Out of nowhere, 1d100 bullets fly into the body’s chest.
04Victim looks at death wound in a stupid manner, and then keels over.
05Body completely spins around, then crumbles to the ground.
06Explosion under body propels it upwards to a maximum of 2d10 feet.
07Lifeless body staggers around for 1d100 rounds, or until knocked down.
08The near-lifeless body screams out in pain very loudly, then dies.
09The dead body crumbles to the ground like a rag doll.
10Victim clutches its face in agony, then dies.
11A random limb falls off :

1d4
Limb
1
Left Arm
2
Right Arm
3
Left Leg
4
Right Leg

Special: A DM who was slighted on cheezy puffs for the night may opt to have the head fall off instead.

12The body flies backwards until it hits a wall.
13Victim gets impaled on nearest sharp object.
14The body is reduced to a puddle of ooze, which seeps into the nearest hole.
15Body sways on feet for 1d4 rounds, then falls backwards.
16Victim laughs for 1d4 rounds, then dies.
17The body blows up into 1d100 pieces.
18The body spews out 1d8 pints of blood, then dies.
19The sound of the death blow is amplified 10 times.
20The body flips over backwards and lands on stomach.
21The body flies backwards through a window.
22The dead body falls off the nearest cliff. If a cliff is not nearby, one mystically appears behind it.
23Everything dead and/or inanimate explodes.
24Victim hunches over in slow motion, spits blood everywhere, and falls over while clutching its stomach.
25Everyone falls over.
26Body flies up into the sky, falls back down , bounces twice, and then dies.
27Mystic letters spelling out the sound of the death blow appear above the dead body as soon as it occurs.
28Victim bites a bullet…literally.
29Victim kicks a bucket…literally.
30Victims buys a farm…literally.
31Victim picks up a pile of dog crap, eats it and dies.
32The dead body disintegrates into thin air.
33The body falls backwards into an already-dug grave.
34Victim grows old, then dies.
35An atomic blast fills the immediate area, only destroying the body.
36Laser blasts fill the area, destroying every non-living object.
37The victim eats its own heart, then dies.
38The near-lifeless body flies into a black hole while screaming.
39The dead body falls out of a mystical exploding building.
40An invisible car runs over the dead body, leaving tire tracks.
41A huge foot appears in the sky and stomps dead body.
42Body gets run over by a large, screaming crowd.
43The almost-dead victim has a heart attack.
44An alien bursts out of the body and sings “Ragtime Gal”.
45A super-neato blast engulfs the dead body.
46The body spontaneously combusts.
47Everyone stares dumbly at dead body for 1d4 rounds.
48The body falls upwards, hits a cloud, and falls back down.
49Victim bursts into flame and runs out of a burning car.
50A doctor appears beside the body and exclaims “He’s dead, Jim!’
51The victim spouts off Shakespearean dialogue for 1d4 turns, then dies.
52Victim turns into a liquid metal and seeps into the ground.
53Victim is splashed by water and starts melting while screeching, “I’m melting!”
54Victim’s skull and spine are ripped from its body while a mystic voice says, “Fatality!”
55A witch doctor appears in front of the victim, reaches into his chest, and pulls out the still-beating heart.
56Victim dramatically yells out, “Freedom!” and gets head chopped off with an axe.
57Arnold Schwarzenegger appears in front of victim and says and does the following:

1d8
Result
1
“Relax. You’ve been erased!” A giant eraser descends from sky and erases victim.
2
“Prepare to be terminated!” and shoots victim.
3
“Stick around!” Pins victim to tree with knife.
4
“Big mistake!” and shoots missile at victim.
5“You’re fired!” and roasts victim with flame-thrower.
6“Hasta la vista, baby!” and fires grenade launcher at victim.
7“Consider this a divorce!” and hits victim in privates.
8“It’s not a tumor!” and rips victim’s head off.
58Sylvester Stallone appears in front of victim and says and does the following:

1d6
Result
1
“Court is adjourned!” and shoots victim.
2
“Adrian!” and punches victim.
3
“Mission…accomplished.” and stabs victim with neato Rambo knife.
4
“I’m your worst nightmare!” and shoots victim with super-groovy exploding arrow.
5“I am the law!” and shoots victim with ultra-toxic Judge Dredd gun.
6“Yo!” and jumps back into boxing ring with victim.
59Victim turns into mime then gets smashed by 1d10 ACME anvils.
60A little red-haired girl runs out of nowhere and hugs victim to death.
61A man appears, pushes thumb and forefinger together while saying, “I crush your head!” The victim’s head is then crushed.
62A white vorpal bunny appears and rips victim’s throat out.
63A big purple dinosaur arrives and starts singing, “I love you, you love me…” and victim commits suicide.

1d6
Result
1
Shoots self.
2
Stabs self.
3
Hangs self.
4
Burns self.
5Slits wrists.
6Poisons self.
64Victim discovers he’s the only one in the party wearing a red shirt, screams in horror, and falls over dead.
65Victim is stabbed to death in a shower while Psycho music is playing.
66Everyone hears tribal drums, and victim gets trampled by stampede.
67A gangster jumps out, states “It’s coitins for ya! Coitins!” and hands a set of curtains to the near- lifeless body, which then dies.

1d8
Curtain Type
1
Pink Polka-Dot
2
Plaid
3
Paisley
4
Blue Butterfly
5Holstein Cow Pattern
6Pastel Green
7Corduroy
8Lace
68A random Simpsons character appears and does the following:

1d6
Result
1
Homer appears and says, “Doh!”
2
Nelson appears and says, “Ha ha!”
3
Burns appears and says, “Excellent!”
4
Marge appears and growls.
5Bart appears and says, “I didn’t do it, nobody saw me do it, you can’t prove anything!”
6Homer appears and yells, “While you little…” and strangles victim.
69The body turns into a human-sized, Godzilla-like creature, which falls over and crushes a bunch of miniature buildings while tiny Japanese people run in large crowds away from destruction.
70A polished-silver ball flies from out of nowhere, extends a small blade and impales itself into the victim’s forehead.
71A psychopath wearing a hockey mask runs out of the woods and stabs the dead body.
72A crazed chainsaw-wielding maniac wearing a human-skin mask hacks victim to pieces.
73Victim appears in a damaged X-Wing Fighter, rapidly flying towards the ground. A voice can be overheard saying, “Eject! Eject!” The victim replies, “No, I can handle it!” The voice returns, “Eject!”. Suddenly, the fighter hits the ground and explodes.
74An emergency room team of doctors appears and futilely attempt to revive body while yelling “Clear!”
75The victim walks up to a chain-link fence and grabs hold when a nuclear blast goes off miles away. The body starts to burn, when it starts shaking violently while maintaining its hold on the fence.
76The words “To be continued…All gamers take 15 minute intermission.” mystically appear in the air over the body.
77Victim is shot, his body flying back against a wall and forming pop art.
78Victim dies “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” movie style, making death groans for 1d20 turns.
79Bovine Intervention: A giant cow falls from the sky, crushing the victim.
80Victim says, “You slay me!” and dies.
81PC kills victim and says, “Yippie-kai-yay, mother-fucker!”
82PC kills victim and says, “Yippie-kai-yay, Mister Falcon!” (safe for nework TV version)
83A wooden stake is driven through the victim’s heart. The victim explodes.
84A thunderstorm magically appears over the victim, who is struck by lightning.
85Victim’s heart is dug out with a spoon.
86The victim instantly freezes into a block of ice, and then crumbles.
87A giant whale jumps over the victim, and then falls on him, crushing him.
88Victim is seen with his mother. Dies of embarrassment.
89Victim is thrown into the Great Pit of Carkoon, where he will be slowly digested by the sarlacc for a thousand years.
90Victim is trampled by a stampede of cattle.
91Giant boulder rolls over victim.
92An abominable snowman grabs victim, hugs him, and says, “I’ll hold him and hug him and squeeze him and I’ll name him George!” Victim is crushed.
93Victim is put into an electric chair and fried to a crisp.
94Cops arrive on the scene to make chalk outline of the victim.
95Victim says, “I’m like a leaf on the wind,” and is impaled.
96Roll twice, ignoring results between 96-100.
97Roll three times, ignoring results between 96-100.
98Roll four times, ignoring results between 96-100.
99Roll five times, ignoring results between 96-100.
100The victim rises, fully restored to full hit points, and says, “To Hell with this. I’m gonna live!”

Acknowledgements:

“Death…Hollywood Style!” was a collaborative chart designed by my college gaming group, with the intention of making character death fun. The document was in its early stages when I joined the group, and saw further evolution as time went on. Later on, I worked on creating what I considered the definitive “special edition” of this chart. It is to my friends, the crew of the Starspeed, that this article is dedicated.

-Trampas Whiteman

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