Ever had an RPG bring a tear to your player's eyes (or your own)?

[Arravis]

I don't know how I'd react to someone shedding tears at the game table...

I don't see why it would be any different than seeing someone cry at a movie. Trust me, it's not something that happens out of the blue. When it does occur, it is clear to everyone at the table that it is an emotionally impactful event, and everyone feels it. Not all may shed a tear (it's still a rare event mind you), but the emotions are definately there.

Sckeener:
We've not had problems with any of these emotions bleeding over to relationships etc. It may be the ages of the players (close to 30 for most), or that I always make sure there is a clear demarcation between in-game and out-of-game. I do all that I can to keep things clear. If I see even the hint of anything like that, I always talk to the player in question, etc. And since all the players know what they are getting into, it's not something that's surprising to them. They all do a great job of respecting each other and keeping the game within the game.

 

[Nebulous]

I don't see why it would be any different than seeing someone cry at a movie.

Ah. I actually don't like seeing people cry in movies. Nor do i like going to movies that MAKE people cry. I got tearry when Forrest Gump's mom died and i tried my damnest to hide it. I for one feel awkward, whether it's me or others doing the crying. Although i am in full support of emotions in gaming, i usually prefer exhileration, fear and tension to anything that would promote tears. But that's just me.

I have never seen tears of rage before, but that's what my player had. She promptly rolled three straight critical successes, knocked Lord Hades across the room, and led a frantic retreat just as the rest of the party showed up.

Tears of real sadness could get a little weird and awkward, but I like it when people are in character and outraged. I also like when they know it's not -me- that's doing it, but the characters. Don't kill the messenger!

See, that's exactly how i feel. Tears of Rage...good. Tears of Heartfelt Anguish...not so good.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Has anyone else had experiences like this at their gaming table? I don't know how common this is or not, maybe it's just me, or the onions I insist on cutting at the gaming table...

Yes, but she was very, very high on her PMS/cramp medication at the time.

(though she insists that had nothing to do with it)

 

[Kanegrundar]

I don't see why it would be any different than seeing someone cry at a movie. Trust me, it's not something that happens out of the blue. When it does occur, it is clear to everyone at the table that it is an emotionally impactful event, and everyone feels it. Not all may shed a tear (it's still a rare event mind you), but the emotions are definately there.

Eh. I don't like it when people cry at movies either. How do you console someone that does that? "There there now, it was only a movie." :\

I'm not trying to rail on anyone that does, but for me, I just can't understand how someone can get that emotionally involved in a game or a movie. Plus, my groups have all been made up of people that take the view of D&D just being another game, so while there were tense plots and sessions, no-one got truly attached to their character.

I had a player that swore after his character died once, that's about as much strong emotion beyond just the pleasure that comes from hanging out with friends playing a game that I've ever seen. (Even then it was just because we were late in the campaign and he didn't want to have to roll up a new character and figure out some character hooks to fit him into the party.)

 

[KB9JMQ]

Just from laughing so hard.
I have had players saddened to learn a character died but never really tearful.

 

[Nebulous]

You know Arravis, you should start a poll and list some of these options discussed here. i'd be curious to see what gamers generally think about such emotional outpours in their sessions.

 

[The_Gneech]

You know Arravis, you should start a poll and list some of these options discussed here. i'd be curious to see what gamers generally think about such emotional outpours in their sessions.

Just so long as it has more than two options!

-The Gneech

 

[Arravis]

I'm not trying to rail on anyone that does, but for me, I just can't understand how someone can get that emotionally involved in a game or a movie. Plus, my groups have all been made up of people that take the view of D&D just being another game, so while there were tense plots and sessions, no-one got truly attached to their character.

I've been playing D&D for 25 years. If our game stayed simply hack and slash, an endless dungeon runs, gathering treasure for some sort of relatively meaningless set of numbers that compromises a datasheet, and it had none of the emotional complexity and intellectual stimulation that compromises the game I play, I would have left the hobby a long, long time ago. D&D as written, and as I played it as a kid, is boring to me as an adult. I can get the "tactical" thrill out of an CRPG, with alot less hassle.

I'm looking for something more in-depth then that. I'm looking to get into the head of a character and to see how he interacts with the world. The same thing I get out of a great book.

 

[WayneLigon]

Tears, once.

I was GMing an Ars Magica game. They were a covenant somewhere in Hungary, I think, or near it; most of them were the more 'outre' types of wizards and had settled somewhere far away for the peace and quiet.

A woman comes to them; she is a member of the lesser nobility and she has recently lost her husband. Now, one of the things magic cannot do in Ars Magica is raise the dead. She of course does not know this and has come to bargain for her husband's life, as she has heard wizards could do this.

The member of the covenant are mostly sympathetic to her plight but of course cannot help her. She offers anything within her power to grant; she'll steal, she'll kill, she'll do anything to get him back. The Merita (I think that's the House name) member of the covenant (played by our lone female member at the time) takes the woman aside and tries to understand her fixation.

She describes her love for her husband, and the wizardess presses her on what she loved most about her husband. She cannot say, insisting that she loved all parts of him equally. The wizardess presses again, and the woman says 'Does a miser love one coin above the others?'

That set the player weeping and she had to go to the bathroom to compose herself

 

[Arravis]

You know Arravis, you should start a poll and list some of these options discussed here. i'd be curious to see what gamers generally think about such emotional outpours in their sessions.

I suspect most people would think it's silly. But, it's simply an issue of what you want out of a role-playing game.

Most of the friends I have at work that do play would hate the kind of game I run. They get together for 3-4 hours once every two weeks, they have no time for character development, comples plots, and all the RP. They want to kill stuff, have some excitement, and get some cool treasure. (Our group calls it the "roll initiative" style of gameplay, more combat than anything else.) It's awesome, if that's what you're looking for.

For me, if you want that I can just play a CRPG or Warhammer if I just want that end of things. Anyway, I suspect the stuff I look for in an RPG is pretty rare and since it's not what most people look for out of their hobbies, it will just sound goofy and silly.