I experiment with chip-firing models with a non-uniform graph degree, using fixed boundaries to block or redirect the flow of chips within the system. I explore some ways in which these boundaries can be used to affect the stabilized pattern. I then introduce vertex death, which changes the graph degree of the surrounding vertices as their neighbors die, before the chip-firing model has stabilized. I observe that consistent final configurations can be achieved despite these changing dynamics, provided vertex firings and death are handled uniformly.