2011 PC Bodycount Thread

Reynard · Jan 17, 2011

**I startd one of these at RPG.net also, but the membership is sufficiently different to provide for cross posting, I think.**

This is the thread in which we eulogize those PCs that fall in 2011, whether as players (boo) or as GMs (huzzah). My own contribution(s) will likely come later tonight, as the first session of 2011 of my Pathfinder campaigns opens with a very bold and dangerous move by the PCs tonight.

EDIT UPDATE: None of them died. Dammit.

Please, share!

Lanefan · Jan 17, 2011

I'm up to 3 so far, each in a different session:

Creon*: a hall-of-fame Thief who stayed outside to scout when everyone else retreated, got caught in a web-like effect, and was found shortly after with a slit throat.

Lesilkasig: a Gnome MU who fell to a swarm of small outsider critters, then bled to death while a curing spell was being cast - I gave him a system shock roll to see if he made it anyway, he failed. By 2%.

Runin*: a Dwarf who got back-struck by someone both very adept and very strong, then chopped down for good on the next conventional blow.

* - fortunately this party has the capability of potentially reviving their dead in the field, and both of these are - for now - back to functionality.

Lan-"this is dangerous business"-efan

Olaf the Stout · Jan 17, 2011

I killed 3 PC's in the Gamma Word 1-shot that I ran last week. 1 PC was pushed into a radiation pit, that player's previous PC was zapped to death by a strange machine and a different player had his PC killed by radiation from some sort of radioactive moth.

Given that it was a 1-shot no-one was overly fussed and in Gamma World rolling up new characters is half the fun!

Olaf the Stout

Bluenose · Jan 17, 2011

Is this solely for D&D? Otherwise, this is Heroquest set in Glorantha.

Sunday January 16th 2011 aka Godsday, Harmony week, Sea season.

Alas, alas, for Vedekanth Seven-Fingered. There we shall remember him, by his sister's house. There we shall mourn him, beneath the trees. There we shall avenge him, hanging his slayer.
Seven they were, riding the wind from the East, with plunder and rapine in their hearts, and the fyrd all away. Old men and children and women unarmed, or Vedekanth here to visit his sister.
Payment he took, as his honour demanded. Half an apple his sister gave him, to face the Gagarthi with sword in hand. "It is enough, with the love of a sister."
Who shall sing of that fight? Seven they were, fierce bandits not cowards, screaming the war cries of their outlaw god. Silent was Vedekanth, his sword spoke for him.
See now the bandits falling before him, the edge of his sword gleaming with magic. Wounds they dealt him, Death he gave them. Gagarthi fall to the son of Harstaval.
Gagarth's thane screamed for vengeance, summoned a demon. Vedekanth stood there, the dead at his feet. Fell on him together, bandit and whirlvish, screaming for victory or death. Sword gleaming, sand spilling, the demon fell first. Horned helmet dipped to acknowledge it's master, one last sword stroke, bandit chief's fury fails.
Vedekanth slowly toppled, face first in the dust. Death took his servant, once Justice was done. Sword Hall opened to welcome the champion, his deed completed and life done. Sister mourned over him, saw to the rites. Bandits will hang over the place that he beat them, spirits sent screaming into their wastes.

Translated (very badly) from the (bad) Sartarite prose-poem The Death of Vedekanth Seven-Fingered, Sword of Humakt.

As for what happened in-game, this was a series of extended contests. Five or more Resolution Points against you ends your participation in the contest as a whole, but as long as you keep winning, you can keep going, and Vedekanth kept beating his opponents. Once you lose, or the whole contest is over, you add up all the RP against you to see what happened to you. Before that last fight with the leader of the bandits, Vedekanth had spent all the hero points he had, and taken 7 RP against him in total. 7 RP at the end of a climactic scene leaves you wounded, 8 is dying, and 9 is dead. He won the last contest 6-3. Very fitting for a champion of the god of Death and Justice to die so as to defeat a champion of an Outlaw god. He wouldn't die until he'd delivered justice to the outlaws, but once he had nothing was going to cheat his master.

Cyronax · Jan 17, 2011

I killed an elf druid named Dain yesterday. Its the first casuality of 2011 for my group. He was unlucky with his death saves and he was locked down for most of the combat.

In the last few sessions, Dain has been the only or one of two PC's that were knocked unconcious and dying. In previous sessions, Dain had been lucky enough to roll a natural 20 on a death save at least three times.

His luck ran out, but I doubt that'll staunch the flow of dead PC's that this player seems to generate. He has the dubious distinction of having had about 5 PC's die during my current campaign. None of the other 6+ players have been honored in such a way.

C.I.D.

Oates · Jan 18, 2011

Lost my MRQ Character to a 40m faceplant after being dropped by a Griffin which he tried to grab hold of ... 6d6 to four random locations with no armor protection is brutal in RQ. Especially when the first location rolled is head and sum of the dice was 34 (on 6d6!) ...

JohnnFour · Jan 19, 2011

No kills yet. I GM Friday though, wish me luck! I'm targeting the dwarf.

Marx420 · Feb 1, 2011

Killed me a 5th level ranger by the name of Gregoff in my expanded kingmaker campaign, torso ripped in twain by the ferocious bite of the advanced dire snapping turtle Crackjaw. Predictable though, considering I gun for pc's that include parts of their real name in their fake one (lazy bastards, you know how many names I have to pull out of my a$$?).

wolff96 · Feb 1, 2011

JohnnFour said:
No kills yet. I GM Friday though, wish me luck! I'm targeting the dwarf.

Good luck!

For my own contribution, from Hook Mountain Massacre, both killed by ogres:

Vale Temros -- An NPC, but a spectacular death -- critical hit by Ogre with levels. I think he ended up at -43 or so...

Ghoti of the House Garland -- Pushed off a keep wall by one ogre and landed in the courtyard below where he was swarmed by more, he was dropped by an ogre and had his head removed the next round. The Ogre then began to dance the Skull Jig with his newly acquired head.

Eisdag of the Order of the Black Arrow -- Jumped down into the courtyard of his own free will, *AFTER* Ghoti died. With less HP, less armor, and no real chance of survival... Sometimes players just HAND you a character on a silver platter with a little note that says "kill me, please!" The player just wasn't thinking and wanted to get one more use out of a buff that was about to expire.

theskyfullofdust · Feb 3, 2011

No kills yet this year, although the last session almost had a TPK before they pulled it back.

In the last months of 2010 I killed three off, one in only the second session, and two in a side-trek adventure that I fully expected them to walk through.