Dead Inside (game)

Dead Inside is a horror/fantasy role-playing game by Chad Underkoffler, published by Atomic Sock Monkey Press.

Player characters are "Dead Inside", who have lost or were born without their souls and strive to regain or rebuild them.

The game provides a variety of means by which souls may be lost, stolen, traded, regained or rebuilt.

Its main denizens are "Average People" – those who own their original soul, who are incapable of visiting the Spirit World or perceiving the supernatural.

Its geography is hard to pin down, but consists of five chief areas: the Wood in the East, the Waste in the South, the Mists in the North, the Sea to the West, and in the center, The City.

Across the Sea (although direction has little real meaning in the Spirit World) lies the Source; the centre of the cosmos from which all souls are born and to which they return after death.

The game features a wide variety of types of characters, most of which are suitable for use by players (depending on the power level desired).

Beings with a double soul (that is, twice as much as an average person), Magi possess significant spiritual power, of which they will make frequent use.

They are not stupid or slow, however - their cold rationality and force of will mean they are often smart, skilled and strong, and many have had centuries of existence to practice.

Dead souls lacking bodies are ordinarily called back to the Source; however, some remain in the Worlds (both Real and Spirit), usually due to some ties they still have to their previous existence.

The game was created by Chad Underkoffler and is produced by Atomic Sock Monkey Press, a small-press RPG company.

Bruce Baugh commented on how the game was a natural development for Underkoffler: "I've seen this desire--to get away from the killing-and-stealing stereotype and closer to characters who do good for the world and improve themselves--in Chad's other work.