In most TTRPGs, the character sheet is treated like a sacred object. An item the player must bring to every session and protect at all costs, as without it their character can’t function. However, usually the character sheet is an abstract thing, merely being a reference tool for the player so they don’t need to commit six stats to memory. However, Torn Again And Again turns the character sheet into a tactical gameplay tool, having players tear their character sheet as they play.
Torn Again And Again is a setting-neutral TTRPG whose main selling point is its unique approach to damage and harm. Rather than simply ticking boxes or counting down a number when your character takes damage, you instead physically alter your character sheet, reducing your capabilities in the process.
A Game You Can Tear
Torn Again And Again’s basic underlying system is very intuitive. The game is mostly a narrative-based experience, with players building out scenes by talking with each other and the DM. However, when players attempt something that could fail or go unexpectedly, they have to physically tear off a chunk of their sheet.
The amount you rip, naturally, depends on how big the risk is. If the character is attempting an action that has a small risk, they tear off only a small chunk from their sheet. However, if they’re taking a large risk, they need to rip a massive chunk from the sheet.
Similarly, if something horrible or damaging happens to the character in the fiction, the GM can ask the player to rip their sheet to represent it. However, unlike player actions (which let players rip anywhere they can), when the GM requests a rip, they pick a thematically relevant part of the sheet to tear. For example, if the character takes physical damage, they have to rip a stat or an item, whereas damage to their reputation makes them rip off part of their background or a relationship.
Thankfully, the rips don’t just work against players. A player can opt to rip their sheet to guarantee an action succeeds or transform a failure into a success.
Naturally, once something is ripped from a character sheet, the character is unable to use that part of the sheet for actions, meaning characters gradually become more limited as the game continues. A character is removed from the game when the player’s character sheet has either lost all six of its stat boxes, or the remains of the sheet are too small to tear any further.
A Game Of Tactile Tension
Torn Again And Again is a fascinating TTRPG. While on paper (no pun intended) the ripping may sound like a gimmick, in practice it dramatically elevates the gameplay by making damage feel way less abstract and infinitely more tangible, as you can literally feel your wounds adding up as the game progresses, making you consider all of your actions carefully. Plus, I love the visual element. Seeing the paper scraps piling up in front of you really hammers home how dire the situation is getting, leading to some genuinely anxious moments.
During my playtest, I also found it naturally encouraged teamwork and task delegation in a way many TTRPGs don’t. Likely due to injury permanently removing abilities and players having a visual indication of how damaged other characters are, players were way more likely to volunteer to take risky actions to protect other players or work together to delegate tasks, which made the party feel more like a uniformed company than a thrown-together group of adventurers.
One thing I would like to see in a future version is pre-drawn guidelines for the three rip sizes on the character sheets. While the description is very helpful, my table spent lots of time wondering whether our idea of a “half-a-box rip” is the same as the developer’s. While the element of the unknown is a big part of the game’s appeal, having a general visual guide would make life a lot easier for shyer players and make the start of the game flow a little smoother, because everyone would have a general idea of how much they had to rip for each resolution.
Honestly, my biggest criticism of Torn Again And Again is that there isn’t enough of it! It’s clear the main point of the project was designing a more tactile way to represent damage, and it pulls that off perfectly. But in the future, I would love to see this idea built on and expanded, as I think this mechanic could become the basis for a whole slew of amazing and deeply impactful TTRPGs (I’m begging you, please give me a Silent Hill TTRPG based on this system), one that sticks in players’ minds long after the session ends.
Torn Again And Again is a really interesting game. While the central idea may not sound like much, in practice it transforms the game’s feel and atmosphere, filling the room with a palpable sense of tension as players slowly whittle their character sheets down to nothing.
