You're in 3e territory now, son!
Hey all, this is my little blog. I'll mostly be using it to collect little thought snippets I don't want to escape or be forgotten. Discussion is welcomed, bickering is not. If I sense responses heading off into the argument land of tired old threads, I can and will cut it off.
Hey all, this is my little blog. I'll mostly be using it to collect little thought snippets I don't want to escape or be forgotten. Discussion is welcomed, bickering is not. If I sense responses heading off into the argument land of tired old threads, I can and will cut it off.
Death too bitter? Make it bittersweet!
Posted 23rd July 2008 at 07:40 PM by Psion
To me, character death is an important part of an RPG. I find the all too common stance that a GM should never kill a PC unless the players approves to be rather unsatisfying. To me, a game without the token risk of loss lacks a certain feeling of tension and excitement that exists in games for which these risks are present.
But, there are some pretty fair reasons to be annoyed by character death if you are a player. Beyond attachment to your character and what you might feel as an unsatisfying end, many games (D&D 3.x perhaps chief among them) gives the player a lasting penalty for a PC death.
To this end, some of you may be familiar with my "No Death Penalty" ideas that became part of my XP-less advancement and action point rules. Another variant that I like that helps get buy-in from the players is the "death flag" rule from Ryan Stoughton's Raising the Stakes D20 Hack.
Levi Kornelsen gave me some more arrows for my quiver in this battle to keep death a meaningful part of the game in his Amagi Games column:
It might be a little premature for me to speculate on how I might hammer this into d20, as some ideas I have hinge on an idea I have for putting Spirit of the Century/FATE's Aspects into D20. But a few thoughts:
But, there are some pretty fair reasons to be annoyed by character death if you are a player. Beyond attachment to your character and what you might feel as an unsatisfying end, many games (D&D 3.x perhaps chief among them) gives the player a lasting penalty for a PC death.
To this end, some of you may be familiar with my "No Death Penalty" ideas that became part of my XP-less advancement and action point rules. Another variant that I like that helps get buy-in from the players is the "death flag" rule from Ryan Stoughton's Raising the Stakes D20 Hack.
Levi Kornelsen gave me some more arrows for my quiver in this battle to keep death a meaningful part of the game in his Amagi Games column:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Levi
The Death Gift
WHAT IS IT?
Your character is overwhelmed by a swarm of unimportant thugs. By the rules, they’re about to die, and it’s a total anticlimax. It is, as it sits, a lame way to go out. But instead of finding a way to help you live - which might be cheap and unsatisfying unto itself - the GM looks at you and tells you that this is where you make a death gift, to choose a legacy that will live on beyond their death. Your character is still going to die - and their death itself is going to remain ugly. But something of the character will go on; the end of their life will not be the end of their effect.
WHY WOULD I WANT THAT?
Sometimes, in some settings and genres, life is supposed to be cheap. Yet, at the same time, it’s not a lot of fun to create a character and see them go out like this, totally pointlessly, even if it does fit. The often - created compromise is to shift rules so that the player characters aren’t really part of the genre; they’re much tougher. Sometimes, that isn’t the ideal compromise. Here are a few compromises that may be more ideal.
WHAT IF THEY CAN COME BACK?
In games where resurrection is a viable option, choosing to give a death gift might mean that the character has “made peace” with death, and cannot return. Alternatively, the ‘gift’ might simply fade if the character is returned to life.
OPTION 1: FROM FAILING HANDS
The falling feral-minded warrior throws their sword to the fair and perfect knight as they fall; they are dead before they hit the ground. Upon catching the weapon, the knight vibrates with rage, and explodes into a frenzy of feral wrath. This kind of ‘passing the torch’ might be a one-time transfer, a “have my abilities on top of your own for the encounter”, or it might be lasting in some way, such as causing that weapon to become permanently magical - or a little of each, creating a weak item but a strong ‘for the fight’ effect. One caveat here: If this creates a lasting item, care should be taken that the item won’t become defunct shortly; discarding the ‘last gift’ of a dying ally because the next sword on is better? That cheapens the effect - it’s better to make the ongoing power weaker, and attach it in some other way; maybe the power passes into the ‘lucky charm’ the feral warrior hung from the hilt of the blade, rather than the blade itself.
OPTION 2: I SPIT AT THEE
A dying character, instead of giving a gift, might be allowed to level a terrible curse. If the rules system already includes curses, the GM will likely want to pick a fairly potent effect, and let the player choose the target and specific details, if any. If not, details will need to be invented or handled on the fly.
OPTION 3: THE LEGACY POOL
If this option is used, nothing special happens at the time of death. Instead, their character sheet (or whatever) is set to the side, and a “legacy pool” of points is created in their honor; the starting value of this pool is (2 points, plus 1 per session of play the character appeared in). Legacy points are not recovered naturally; once the pool is empty, that’s typically it. Legacy can be spent by any player whose character was familiar with the dead one, with group permission, in the following ways:
• A trick they knew: By spending a legacy point, a character may make use of a single (generally only non-combat) skill that was possessed by the character that died; if this would generally require a dice roll, the roll should automatically be maximized. When using a legacy point in this way, the character should explain (inventing details as required) how the dead character ‘showed them this trick’.
• A helping hand: If there are ‘helping rules’, a character might spend a legacy point when performing a task or a deed that the dead character would have approved of. If so, they receive ‘help’, as if the dead character was present and assisting, that takes the form of minor happenstance, sudden inspiration, or the like. The character will feel as if their dead ally was ‘lending them a hand’ in this task.
• A story they told me: A character might spend a legacy point to ‘recall’ information that was known by the dead character (or reasonably could have been), in the form of something the dead character once said to them while alive. They should relate or describe the information in this fashion - as ‘something that so-and-so told them once’. If a knowledge roll of some kind would be needed by the dead character for that character to have known the information (but they did have the skill), maximize the roll.
THE GIFT IS ELSEWHERE / REFRESHING THE LEGACY
A dying character might well have ‘things not done’ that the characters might choose to take up as their own cause. In such a case, the ‘death gift’ of the character might be something stored, held, or left behind, which they will be given or can claim as part of ‘wrapping up’ that business. Alternatively, taking care of the business of a dead comrade might add points to the legacy pool.
GOING FURTHER WITH LEGACY
As a plug-in concept, the idea of a legacy pool can be employed in a number of other ways. It would be entirely possible to start a campaign about a group of young students of a single mentor, with the mentor dead before the campaign even begins, and a significant legacy pool to unify the group. In such a case, the character sheet for the mentor might be already filled in, or the players might create it as they use legacy points, giving that mentor the abilities the character wishes to draw upon.
WHAT IS IT?
Your character is overwhelmed by a swarm of unimportant thugs. By the rules, they’re about to die, and it’s a total anticlimax. It is, as it sits, a lame way to go out. But instead of finding a way to help you live - which might be cheap and unsatisfying unto itself - the GM looks at you and tells you that this is where you make a death gift, to choose a legacy that will live on beyond their death. Your character is still going to die - and their death itself is going to remain ugly. But something of the character will go on; the end of their life will not be the end of their effect.
WHY WOULD I WANT THAT?
Sometimes, in some settings and genres, life is supposed to be cheap. Yet, at the same time, it’s not a lot of fun to create a character and see them go out like this, totally pointlessly, even if it does fit. The often - created compromise is to shift rules so that the player characters aren’t really part of the genre; they’re much tougher. Sometimes, that isn’t the ideal compromise. Here are a few compromises that may be more ideal.
WHAT IF THEY CAN COME BACK?
In games where resurrection is a viable option, choosing to give a death gift might mean that the character has “made peace” with death, and cannot return. Alternatively, the ‘gift’ might simply fade if the character is returned to life.
OPTION 1: FROM FAILING HANDS
The falling feral-minded warrior throws their sword to the fair and perfect knight as they fall; they are dead before they hit the ground. Upon catching the weapon, the knight vibrates with rage, and explodes into a frenzy of feral wrath. This kind of ‘passing the torch’ might be a one-time transfer, a “have my abilities on top of your own for the encounter”, or it might be lasting in some way, such as causing that weapon to become permanently magical - or a little of each, creating a weak item but a strong ‘for the fight’ effect. One caveat here: If this creates a lasting item, care should be taken that the item won’t become defunct shortly; discarding the ‘last gift’ of a dying ally because the next sword on is better? That cheapens the effect - it’s better to make the ongoing power weaker, and attach it in some other way; maybe the power passes into the ‘lucky charm’ the feral warrior hung from the hilt of the blade, rather than the blade itself.
OPTION 2: I SPIT AT THEE
A dying character, instead of giving a gift, might be allowed to level a terrible curse. If the rules system already includes curses, the GM will likely want to pick a fairly potent effect, and let the player choose the target and specific details, if any. If not, details will need to be invented or handled on the fly.
OPTION 3: THE LEGACY POOL
If this option is used, nothing special happens at the time of death. Instead, their character sheet (or whatever) is set to the side, and a “legacy pool” of points is created in their honor; the starting value of this pool is (2 points, plus 1 per session of play the character appeared in). Legacy points are not recovered naturally; once the pool is empty, that’s typically it. Legacy can be spent by any player whose character was familiar with the dead one, with group permission, in the following ways:
• A trick they knew: By spending a legacy point, a character may make use of a single (generally only non-combat) skill that was possessed by the character that died; if this would generally require a dice roll, the roll should automatically be maximized. When using a legacy point in this way, the character should explain (inventing details as required) how the dead character ‘showed them this trick’.
• A helping hand: If there are ‘helping rules’, a character might spend a legacy point when performing a task or a deed that the dead character would have approved of. If so, they receive ‘help’, as if the dead character was present and assisting, that takes the form of minor happenstance, sudden inspiration, or the like. The character will feel as if their dead ally was ‘lending them a hand’ in this task.
• A story they told me: A character might spend a legacy point to ‘recall’ information that was known by the dead character (or reasonably could have been), in the form of something the dead character once said to them while alive. They should relate or describe the information in this fashion - as ‘something that so-and-so told them once’. If a knowledge roll of some kind would be needed by the dead character for that character to have known the information (but they did have the skill), maximize the roll.
THE GIFT IS ELSEWHERE / REFRESHING THE LEGACY
A dying character might well have ‘things not done’ that the characters might choose to take up as their own cause. In such a case, the ‘death gift’ of the character might be something stored, held, or left behind, which they will be given or can claim as part of ‘wrapping up’ that business. Alternatively, taking care of the business of a dead comrade might add points to the legacy pool.
GOING FURTHER WITH LEGACY
As a plug-in concept, the idea of a legacy pool can be employed in a number of other ways. It would be entirely possible to start a campaign about a group of young students of a single mentor, with the mentor dead before the campaign even begins, and a significant legacy pool to unify the group. In such a case, the character sheet for the mentor might be already filled in, or the players might create it as they use legacy points, giving that mentor the abilities the character wishes to draw upon.
- A dying character can distribute action points to remaining characters
- There might be special action point uses for legacies.
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