Death penalties - what is too steep?

[DDK]

Re: Re: Greater risk = greater reward.

I would suggest adding a fine to the player then. I am sure that if you have to pay say 50 to 100 bucks for each PC of yours that dies the risk (and hence the reward) will be so much greater ...

OMG! That's brilliant! Think of all the gaming equipment I could buy! Hell, with that much cash, considering the death rates in a lot of my games (I pull absolutely no punches whatsoever), I could even afford Dwarven Forge stuff! AWESOME!

 

[Victim]

Re: Greater risk = greater reward.

That's why low-magic, grim'n'gritty worlds are so popular. The greater the odds, the greater the feeling of success after survival.

Are they? I see a vocal contigent here posting about them, but I've never played in one (not exactly conclusive evidence, I know). Just because a number of people in a limited, DM heavy message board population like them doesn't mean that they're popular.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Another side.

Just to offer a minority opinion:

I prefer a low-death, not-so-grim-n-gritty campaign world. For me, the fun of creating a PC lies in crafting an interesting background rather than interesting stats, and the risk of death lies in the risk of losing that background. That said, even with no level-loss or con loss, death still carries a great deal of weight for me.

I suppose it's the writer in me, but I become attached to the character to a degree that the possible death of that character (even if it is reversible,) is abhorrent.

Am I alone here....?

 

[Kichwas]

So you lose a level.

Big hairy deal.

It's not like it's 1E where it will take 7 years of nightly play to get it back...

He'll probably level twice in the next 4 hour session if you're playing by the book, so why worry?

 

[Fenes 2]

Re: Another side.

Just to offer a minority opinion:

I prefer a low-death, not-so-grim-n-gritty campaign world. For me, the fun of creating a PC lies in crafting an interesting background rather than interesting stats, and the risk of death lies in the risk of losing that background. That said, even with no level-loss or con loss, death still carries a great deal of weight for me.

I suppose it's the writer in me, but I become attached to the character to a degree that the possible death of that character (even if it is reversible,) is abhorrent.

Am I alone here....?

Naw. I feel the same.

 

[DDK]

Eh, I didn't say grim'n'gritty were THE most popular, I just said they were popular.

Dark Sun
Call of Cthulu
Cyberpunk
Kingdoms of Kalamar
Greyhawk (arguable)
Planescape (arguable)
Harn

I would call the above grim'n'gritty by my definition, being that the PC's are NOT at the top of the food chain and the road to power is a dirty, tough and bloody battle that takes a lot of time and effort to travel.

Of course, I won't argue against the popularity of Forgotten Realms, a world where Resurrection is a daily occurance even for pet hamsters, but I never said it wasn't popular.

 

[hong]

Dark Sun
Call of Cthulu
Cyberpunk
Kingdoms of Kalamar
Greyhawk (arguable)
Planescape (arguable)
Harn

I would call the above grim'n'gritty by my definition, being that the PC's are NOT at the top of the food chain and the road to power is a dirty, tough and bloody battle that takes a lot of time and effort to travel.

Given that every 3E campaign is set in Greyhawk by default, I can only say that if you're putting it in the same category as CoC, the colour of the sky in your Greyhawk must be different to that in mine.

Of course, I won't argue against the popularity of Forgotten Realms, a world where Resurrection is a daily occurance even for pet hamsters, but I never said it wasn't popular.

And the same goes for your Forgotten Realms, compared to mine.

 

[Frostmarrow]

The Game Mechanics have made a .pdf with some alternate resurrection penalty rules. (In fact they've re-written the spells raise dead, resurrection and true resurrection in OGC.)

Look it up under Experiments | Dead Heroes Aren't Much Fun

 

[Geoff Watson]

The Game Mechanics have made a .pdf with some alternate resurrection penalty rules. (In fact they've re-written the spells raise dead, resurrection and true resurrection in OGC.)

Look it up under Experiments | Dead Heroes Aren't Much Fun

They've been mentioned.
They suck, unless you want no penalty at all for resurrections.

Geoff.

 

[Agback]

G'day

There is nothing heroic about a 'sacrifice' in which the character loses nothing, not even a level.

If you want to have some truly heroic character actions, play a campaign with no coming back. Or perhaps make a house rule that whenever a character dies heroically his soul is borne directly to Paradise or whatever, bypassing the usual purgation or waiting--and is therefore not willing to be resurrected.

Regards,


Agback