Ever had an RPG bring a tear to your player's eyes (or your own)?
- Thread starter Arravis
- Start date
I'm Arravis's wife and a member of his gaming group and I'll have everyone know that the man is evil. EVIL.
As he said our games tend to be rather drawn out and very character-centered. I would be lying if I said that we don't sometimes use our characters to experiment with different themes in life that we have yet to experience ourselves. I think perhaps that that is where we tend to get ourselves into trouble (with the weeping and all that).
I was playing a fairly tragic character who basically had to go to hell and back (okay, the Far Realms--close enough) and pretty much sacrifice much of her humanity to fix something horrible she had done. I played this character for about 3 years I think, getting to know how she thinks, how she feels etc. Nearing the end of the campaign Arravis introduced an NPC. His name was Druas. Druas pretty much had to do the same thing that my character was doing albeit for entirely different reasons. Different means, same end.
Arravis killed off Druas. That's when I got all sobby.
It wasn't that I was attached in any way to Druas. He wasn't even in the game that long.
But Arravis is evil.
Druas died of old age. Very peaceful. The problem was was that Druas's life had become, at least in my mind, a kind of road map for my own character's life. All the hell and mess that character had been through, defying the very laws of time and magic itself, and Arravis had to go and show me how it would all end when he killed off Druas. It was the emotional equivalent of being splashed in the face with a bucket of ice cold water. It was like he was saying, "Your character has done so much, sacrificed nearly all she had, and here is the grand prize: You get to die alone. Congratulations." It was horrible.
Anyway, that went on longer than I thought it would, but Arravis asked me for my insight, so there you have it.
As he said our games tend to be rather drawn out and very character-centered. I would be lying if I said that we don't sometimes use our characters to experiment with different themes in life that we have yet to experience ourselves. I think perhaps that that is where we tend to get ourselves into trouble (with the weeping and all that).
I was playing a fairly tragic character who basically had to go to hell and back (okay, the Far Realms--close enough) and pretty much sacrifice much of her humanity to fix something horrible she had done. I played this character for about 3 years I think, getting to know how she thinks, how she feels etc. Nearing the end of the campaign Arravis introduced an NPC. His name was Druas. Druas pretty much had to do the same thing that my character was doing albeit for entirely different reasons. Different means, same end.
Arravis killed off Druas. That's when I got all sobby.
It wasn't that I was attached in any way to Druas. He wasn't even in the game that long.
But Arravis is evil.
Druas died of old age. Very peaceful. The problem was was that Druas's life had become, at least in my mind, a kind of road map for my own character's life. All the hell and mess that character had been through, defying the very laws of time and magic itself, and Arravis had to go and show me how it would all end when he killed off Druas. It was the emotional equivalent of being splashed in the face with a bucket of ice cold water. It was like he was saying, "Your character has done so much, sacrificed nearly all she had, and here is the grand prize: You get to die alone. Congratulations." It was horrible.
Anyway, that went on longer than I thought it would, but Arravis asked me for my insight, so there you have it.
sckeener
First Post
Arravis said:
lol. I'm 34 and I'm in the middle. The youngest player was 31. The oldest is 55.
Arravis said:
That is good advice and what I followed, but one person would never admit that she was jealous. I tried to change tact so it wouldn't come up in the game, but it just kept coming up. She had been jealous (of another woman at the game) for a long time before I started DMing. It hadn't boiled over before because she never actually RPed before. Until I took over DMing this group had been a hack-n-slash group. What happened outside of the game never entered into the game until we started RPing. This person couldn't accept that was what was happening in the beginning and then changed tactics 2 months later saying it was obvious that was true....I can remember looking up on the web about that time about bullies....she fit the description to a T.
I think I am going to be bitter about that for a long time because the game was going so well except for her. I think there was a Monte Cook article in Dungeon describing why to put up with troubled players. She was a leader and it was a power play. If I gave in, she treatened to take away the group...eventually everyone split into 3 different groups because of her. I should have just quit rather than have it get that bad.
Einan
First Post
I had a player tear up when his Holy Avenger got shattered by a trap he ought to have been more wary of. He was playing a paladin (the non-jerk kind) and losing his sword was a big slap in his character's face. Plus he was a combat monster with that thing.
But, to his credit, he made it part of his character and we spent the next few adventures trying to reforge the blade. It was a nice character moment.
Einan
But, to his credit, he made it part of his character and we spent the next few adventures trying to reforge the blade. It was a nice character moment.
Einan
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
I got some sad tears/moistened eyes from my players when I had them give speeches at another PC's funeral.
I get the laughter tears every so often as well.
I get the laughter tears every so often as well.
Garnfellow
Explorer
A year ago, I probably would have scoffed at the notion. But this January we wrapped up a 12-year campaign -- I DM'd a large group of friends, all of them really great guys, and we played roughly once a month for the whole period. In between our face-to-face sessions I sent out play-by-mail installments that recapped the previous adventure, advanced the storyline, and set us up for the next live session.
So we ended the campaign with an epic, 12-hour session that culminated with the PCs staving off the apocalypse. I had written five different play-by-mail endings in anticipation of this session -- just a short little coda to the campaign that would wrap up loose ends. Each ending was written to reflect different probable outcomes. So I had a "worst case installment," a "best case installment," and several different ones in between.
The players ended up with the best case scenario. At the end of the session I stood up, took the other four endings, and threw them in the fireplace. Then I handed copies of the remaining ending to my players.
The players were all sort of stunned by this unexpected gesture, and one player read the final chapter aloud while everyone else listened on. It all seems pretty silly, but I have to admit I might have misted up a little before he was done. For me, it was a moment of great ambivalence: I was simultaneously glad, relieved, and more than a little sad to see it all end.
During that campaign there was something like 8 graduations, 9 marriages, 2 divorces, 11 births, about 30 address changes, 40 different jobs, and a couple of wrenching deaths.
So we ended the campaign with an epic, 12-hour session that culminated with the PCs staving off the apocalypse. I had written five different play-by-mail endings in anticipation of this session -- just a short little coda to the campaign that would wrap up loose ends. Each ending was written to reflect different probable outcomes. So I had a "worst case installment," a "best case installment," and several different ones in between.
The players ended up with the best case scenario. At the end of the session I stood up, took the other four endings, and threw them in the fireplace. Then I handed copies of the remaining ending to my players.
The players were all sort of stunned by this unexpected gesture, and one player read the final chapter aloud while everyone else listened on. It all seems pretty silly, but I have to admit I might have misted up a little before he was done. For me, it was a moment of great ambivalence: I was simultaneously glad, relieved, and more than a little sad to see it all end.
During that campaign there was something like 8 graduations, 9 marriages, 2 divorces, 11 births, about 30 address changes, 40 different jobs, and a couple of wrenching deaths.
TGryph
Explorer
Twice...
Once, when we first got started. Natala (Elf Warrior played by my friend's wife) was a constant focus of Krovas, the parties huge barbarian warrior - loud, crass, and a total pig (played as an NPC by myself of course) He was constantly hitting on her, making inappropriate remarks, grabbing at her, etc, only to be met by her cold distain (the Elf - not the player,. Julie was cool, and we totally role-played it up).
Until Natala was killed in battle.
At her funeral, all the other players had their characters say nice things. The mood was set..I could see Julie blinking back tears. Then, finally Krovas approached her cold body, laid one gentle kiss on her cheek, and said softly "Do not begrudge me in death what you did in life, Beloved".
Oh man..that did it...she beat feet out of the room in total teary breakdown for like 10 minutes...probably the wine though
The second time was in our final session, before I moved to North Carolina. I do not mind saying, that after 25 years together, there were more than a few tears on both sides of the screen.
Tgryph
Once, when we first got started. Natala (Elf Warrior played by my friend's wife) was a constant focus of Krovas, the parties huge barbarian warrior - loud, crass, and a total pig (played as an NPC by myself of course)
He was constantly hitting on her, making inappropriate remarks, grabbing at her, etc, only to be met by her cold distain (the Elf - not the player,. Julie was cool, and we totally role-played it up). Until Natala was killed in battle.
At her funeral, all the other players had their characters say nice things. The mood was set..I could see Julie blinking back tears. Then, finally Krovas approached her cold body, laid one gentle kiss on her cheek, and said softly "Do not begrudge me in death what you did in life, Beloved".
Oh man..that did it...she beat feet out of the room in total teary breakdown for like 10 minutes...probably the wine though
The second time was in our final session, before I moved to North Carolina. I do not mind saying, that after 25 years together, there were more than a few tears on both sides of the screen.
Tgryph
Tears have been close once, but I that wasn't entirely related to immersive roleplaying. The campaigns that I play in are often not long enough to have that immersive level of roleplay in them, few of them run longer than a year.
I have, as a player, physically jumped out of my chair though. Playing CoC , in the dead on night at a convention, shortly after the candle had been blown out and all the light in the room as from the adjacent chalet. The DM was describing a hallucination I was having, a vivid description of a creature just under my skin, crawling up my neck.. as she said this the girl sat behind me gently brushed her fingertips on my neck - I jumped out of my seat. That's about as emotional as I've come at any table.
I have, as a player, physically jumped out of my chair though. Playing CoC , in the dead on night at a convention, shortly after the candle had been blown out and all the light in the room as from the adjacent chalet. The DM was describing a hallucination I was having, a vivid description of a creature just under my skin, crawling up my neck.. as she said this the girl sat behind me gently brushed her fingertips on my neck - I jumped out of my seat. That's about as emotional as I've come at any table.
Dingleberry
First Post
Yes. During Star Wars (WEG d6) session (after 40+ sessions played over two years), one of the PCs (named Jur) died a sudden, random and somewhat meaningless death. The death itself caused shock and anger, both in and out of character - and much moreso than I ever would've expected, including from myself. As GM, I decided to push this a little, and told the group that the next session would be the character's funeral. During the next week, each of the players wrote their own eulogies in their PCs' words, and read them at the next session. They each came up with remarkable stuff, very much in character.
Then came surprise #1: I had also asked Jur's player to write a pre-recorded will (a la Tasha Yar), which was projected holographically by Jur's R2 droid. He included some painfully ironic things (since he wrote it after knowing how Jur actually died), some great humor, and last but not least, a very poignant distribution of Jur's most beloved personel effects to the rest of the party (as well as a few key NPCs).
Five twenty-something guys, and between the eulogies and the will, I'm pretty sure each of us choked up pretty hard at least once.
Then came surprise #2: Jur's primary nemesis showed up to ruin things, and the remaining PCs were able to cathartically blow him out of the sky with a proton torpedo filled with Jur's ashes. (Killing off that nemesis also wrapped up a lingering plot thread, which was handy for me as GM.)
It was the most profound role-playing experience in my 20+ years of rolling dice.
Then came surprise #1: I had also asked Jur's player to write a pre-recorded will (a la Tasha Yar), which was projected holographically by Jur's R2 droid. He included some painfully ironic things (since he wrote it after knowing how Jur actually died), some great humor, and last but not least, a very poignant distribution of Jur's most beloved personel effects to the rest of the party (as well as a few key NPCs).
Five twenty-something guys, and between the eulogies and the will, I'm pretty sure each of us choked up pretty hard at least once.
Then came surprise #2: Jur's primary nemesis showed up to ruin things, and the remaining PCs were able to cathartically blow him out of the sky with a proton torpedo filled with Jur's ashes. (Killing off that nemesis also wrapped up a lingering plot thread, which was handy for me as GM.)
It was the most profound role-playing experience in my 20+ years of rolling dice.
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