Writing Hiatus, What am I working on? DEADRUN!

Writing Hiatus, What am I working on? DEADRUN!

A writing hiatus? what could you POSSIBLY be working on that's more important than the literary treasures that you have been bestowing upon the world, F.C. Marrow!?

Well... Not more important, but something I've wanted to work on a long time: Deadrun.

A card game of my own make and design, and something I finished but spent far too long abandoning that is finally ready to see the light of day.

Now, I've worked on other card games in the past, games that I hope will also see the light of day eventually, and I've been playing card games for decades. I love me a good table top card game with complex mechanics, stats, events, etc.

And Deadrun is a fully fleshed out original idea, that I truly believe should be shared with the world.

So... Having published 6 novels and a children's book this year (4 of which were my own), and another coming in March, I have decided to take a short hiatus from writing to focus on Deadrun, and finally finish it.

What is Deadrun though?

Deadrun is a tabletop survival horror game that just happens to use cards.
At the table, it feels a lot closer to Resident Evil or Silent Hill than to a traditional card game.

You choose a character. You track your stats. You move through a dying city full of enemies, locations, equipment, and random events. And the whole time, you’re racing the other survivors to be the first one to reach the extraction zone and get out of zombie-infested Bangkok.

If you get out at all.

The twist is the d20 system. Your fate isn’t just about what you draw—it’s about the risks you’re willing to take. Every roll is a question: did you pack the right gear, did you read the location right, are you actually ready for what’s waiting in that next street, alley, or stairwell?

Inventory matters.
Resources are scarce on purpose.

You’ll juggle weapons, ammo, healing items, tools, and one simple truth: you can’t carry everything, and you definitely can’t save everyone.

Deadrun gives you options, but not comfort.
Powerful action cards. Essential equipment. Chances to avoid fights, flee from encounters, or shove someone else into the dark in your place. You can trick opponents, bait monsters, or leave traps behind you like breadcrumbs made of bad decisions.

From your first step into the city to your last mad dash toward extraction, you’re not just “playing your hand”—you’re testing your limits. What can your character actually take? How much can you?

Because Deadrun lets you fight.
It lets you flee.

But survival?
That’s on you.

In a city of the dead…
there is no room for the living.

What's left to do?

Here’s the funny part: the game is already done.
Technically.

The systems work. The math is solid. The cards are built. Deadrun has been a complete, playable game for almost two years.

And then I realized I’d made one small, tragic mistake.

I made all the text way too tiny to actually print or comfortably read.

So now the “big job” is going through every single one of the 250+ cards and fixing that. Updating the font sizes, tightening the layout, making sure you don’t need a magnifying glass and a prayer just to understand what your shotgun does.

On top of that, I’ll be doing a light pass on grammar, spelling, and the way the mechanics are explained—just enough polish to make sure the game doesn’t just play well, but reads cleanly and feels easy to learn.

That’s the goal:
Easy to pick up.
Very hard to master.

And since there are already more than 250 cards, plus an expansion lurking in the wings, there’s still a decent amount of work ahead. But the heavy lifting? The design, the numbers, the balance, the core mechanics?

That’s done.
The hard part is already behind us.

So the plan is simple: finish tightening Deadrun, make it fully playable and print-ready, and then it’s back to the writing desk.

But for now?

We’re making a game.