Imaculata
Hero
Last Sunday I had to describe a funeral scene to my players, after several npc's had died in a massive naval battle. We run a pirate campaign, and a ship needs a crew. So most of the crew is going to be npc's, and they all have names and a personality.
At the conclusion of the battle, I felt that it would be unrealistic if no one on 'their' side died. So I randomly rolled for a number of casualties, and then randomly determined which specific npc died. I made sure to exclude npc's that couldn't have died (because the players saw them alive during the last session) or npc's that I felt deserved the DM's shield (because they are too much fun).
It turns out about 5 npc's had died, most of them not that important. But one was a young lad named Enzo, who the players knew very well. He was a boy who was never really that good at anything, but he tried his best. So as the bodies were laid out on the deck of the player's ship, covered with sheets, I described how the rest of the crew formed a large circle. They all took off their hats, and held it against their chest as a sign of respect. Everyone was quiet, as I asked their captain (one of the players) if he wanted to make a speech. He improvised a fantastic and heart-felt speech that was really touching, and I made a note to give bonus experience to them just for that.
After the speech, there was a minute of silence, and then most of the crew returned to their duties. But some of the pirates remained. I described how several of the crew members were moved to tears, and how they drew back the sheet to have one last look at Enzo's face. Some of them left a gift on Enzo's body... a coin, a lucky charm, a bottle. And what was the most surprising, was that some of the mourning pirates were people of whom no one knew they cared for Enzo. But the crew was like a family, and many cared deeply for Enzo, despite perhaps never showing it when he was alive. Some of them even talked to Enzo, just to say a few last words.
And as I described this scene to my players, I genuinely choked up a little. As I was describing it, I could see the scene in my head so vividly, and it was so emotional. For a moment I had trouble getting the words out... and I wonder if any of my players noticed.
Has this ever happened to you? Or have you ever been a player in a campaign that made you choke up a little?
At the conclusion of the battle, I felt that it would be unrealistic if no one on 'their' side died. So I randomly rolled for a number of casualties, and then randomly determined which specific npc died. I made sure to exclude npc's that couldn't have died (because the players saw them alive during the last session) or npc's that I felt deserved the DM's shield (because they are too much fun).
It turns out about 5 npc's had died, most of them not that important. But one was a young lad named Enzo, who the players knew very well. He was a boy who was never really that good at anything, but he tried his best. So as the bodies were laid out on the deck of the player's ship, covered with sheets, I described how the rest of the crew formed a large circle. They all took off their hats, and held it against their chest as a sign of respect. Everyone was quiet, as I asked their captain (one of the players) if he wanted to make a speech. He improvised a fantastic and heart-felt speech that was really touching, and I made a note to give bonus experience to them just for that.
After the speech, there was a minute of silence, and then most of the crew returned to their duties. But some of the pirates remained. I described how several of the crew members were moved to tears, and how they drew back the sheet to have one last look at Enzo's face. Some of them left a gift on Enzo's body... a coin, a lucky charm, a bottle. And what was the most surprising, was that some of the mourning pirates were people of whom no one knew they cared for Enzo. But the crew was like a family, and many cared deeply for Enzo, despite perhaps never showing it when he was alive. Some of them even talked to Enzo, just to say a few last words.
And as I described this scene to my players, I genuinely choked up a little. As I was describing it, I could see the scene in my head so vividly, and it was so emotional. For a moment I had trouble getting the words out... and I wonder if any of my players noticed.
Has this ever happened to you? Or have you ever been a player in a campaign that made you choke up a little?
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