D&D General Doing Tragedy in D&D

[Theory of Games]

I’m not sure you need game mechanics to work in tragedy. It’s an RPG. The story is the story. I think there’s been several D&D examples already in this thread

You could use D&D to play "Friends". Doesn't mean that it's the best system for it. D&D lacks the deep characterization more sophisticated systems like GURPS or Lords of Olympus possess.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

You could use D&D to play "Friends". Doesn't mean that it's the best system for it. D&D lacks the deep characterization more sophisticated systems like GURPS or Lords of Olympus possess.

I disagree. I don’t think you need specific games mechanics to have deep characterization. You can of course but I don’t think it’s necessary - at least from personal experience.

I’ve played games with those systems and they work too.

 

[Sorinth]

One idea for having a mechanic for tragedy is to modify Inspiration. Boost the inspiration so that rather then a re-roll it's auto success, but there's a drawback, the DM will drop a bad/tragic event that can't really be prevented on your PC/loved ones at some point in the future.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

One idea for having a mechanic for tragedy is to modify Inspiration. Boost the inspiration so that rather then a re-roll it's auto success, but there's a drawback, the DM will drop a bad/tragic event that can't really be prevented on your PC/loved ones at some point in the future.

It’s kind of like fate points. Compel complications based on your flaws and background

 

[Clint_L]

I feel like we are discussing tragedy in two very different contexts: as a dramatic genre, and as an element of narrative.

As an element of narrative, it is not hard to work it into your game, and it can be extremely fun - I recommend!

As a dramatic genre, it's pretty tough to execute unless your players (or at east one player) are willing to lose in the end. D&D isn't really the game for that. But there are such games - it's the underlying premise of Ten Candles, for example.

 

[Tonguez]

As a FATE fan I also wanted 5e Inspiration to work more like FATE points rewording the Personality Traits to be more like Aspects. Such Aspects can be use to help in Tragedy play

eg some Aspects for Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights) - Brooding, Vengeful Romantic
Ideal - "What is mine is mine forever!"
Bond - "The moors are my refuge - and my cage!"
Quirk - "Haunted by Love, Consumed by Hate"

eg Romeo - Stupid boy in love
I - "Love is the only thing worth living for"
B - "nothing will separate me from my true love"
Q - "I follow my heart, consequence be damned!"

eg Stradh von Zarovich - Vampire Lord of Barovia
I - "I was wronged, and fate will regret it."
B - "My name will be remembered, and my rule will endure for eternity"
Q - "I wait in the darkness, I brood - what else is there for me?"

If these example characters were PCs it would be up to the player to play up the traits (with Inspiration points as the incentive) - it will need a really skilled DM and PC buy in, the OP establishes that PCs are up for it. Having a stress mechanic would be good too

I suggest you play Dungeons of FATE

 

[MerricB]

Becoming king was never MacBeth's goal. Exposing Polonius and getting revenge was his goal. And that pursuit of that goal results in the death of everyone and everything he loves, including himself.

Becoming the king?

Something is a tragedy when it's sad. But, we're talking about Tragedy the literary genre, so, whipping out an Oxford dictionary isn't going to actually help you here.

Macbeth, not Hamlet.

 

[Hussar]

Macbeth, not Hamlet.

Heh. Stupid brain. Totally my bad.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've never had a problem with my main campaign, where everyone is deeply invested in their characters and the setting. We've had NPCs die that really bummed us out and the characters have failed to succeed at goals that likewise made folks sad. (But in a fail forward manner, where there were still things to do after.)

I've even run an intentionally tragic side campaign, starting with Do Not Let Us Die In The Dark Night Of This Cold Winter for the first act and then going into a haunted meatgrinder of a dungeon (a negadungeon, in old school OSR terms) once the blizzard cleared for the second act.

Super-grim and sad, but everyone was on board for the experience and it went well.

 

[Theory of Games]

For the sake of this discussion, assume that there was a good session zero and everyone's on board with a bit of a gut-punch, but also that fundamentally PC's are assumed to survive (assume basically a 1-15-or-so game where the party remains consistent)

That's A LOT of buy-in, though. The GM is asking the players to essentially run their PCs into the ground. I'd like to see how this would work