How vivid is the violence in your game?

[Viktyr Gehrig]

If you want a little more hesitance about violence, IME emphasizing the gore won't do it. What you have to do is emphasize the human cost, the social connections and consequences. E.g., in a cyberpunk game once, the PCs had just hacked to death a drug dealer, a few seconds after he shot a street kid for trying to pickpocket him. They do the usual "loot the body" - and in his wallet alongside losts of cash, they find pictures of his girlfriend, a list of phone numbers including ones for "Mom" and "Dad", and two tickets to the rock concert tomorrow night, by the same band one of the PCs is a big fan of. That brought the players up short a little. For just a moment, he wasn't a faceless mook, but a guy with parents, a lover, and at least some interests that matched their own... They still took the loot and skedaddled, but there wasn't nearly as much crowing about the kill.

This is brilliant. It's something I'll have to start to do in my Modern and D&D games.

Luckily, my players aren't so crazy into the violence that they forget what they're doing. We have some good moments where they stop themselves short and ask what they're doing-- usually the other players trying to stop or balking at the level of violence exhibited by one of them, who knows exactly what he's doing.

 

[shilsen]

I don't do much description other than for finishing blows or criticals, but I recently started tracking PC hps myself, so I'm doing more descriptions and trying to expand on them. They're the only way the PCs know what state they're in. For example:

"The archer's arrow just misses you, nicking your ear in passing" (i.e. a few hp lost, but nothing serious)

"The ogre's club smashes down on your shield, rattling your teeth. There'll certainly be a bruise there, but it doesn't incapacitate you" (i.e. lost a decent chunk of hp, but still okay)

"The minotaur's greataxe rips through his armor, sending a spray of gore across the room and depositing him on his back, blood streaming from the wound" (i.e. down to negatives and about to die soon)

 

[nimisgod]

I like to get vivid about violence in my descriptions. I almost wish I took up biology to do it. I guess the best way to describe the way I want to GM it is: Kill Bill. If not Kill Bill, then just the usual samurai movie gore fest.

NPCs usually suffer horrendous maiming or dismemberment from the PCs crits, affecting game mechanics just to be "fun". This is especially so for those guys who don't crit so often (non-sword wielders, I'm talking about you) so their criticals are more spectacular and deadly. I mean, you know that monster/NPC is gonna die, right? Might as well handicap him a little. And if he/she/it survives? The crippling wound can be a physical sign of his hatred for the PCs.

Imagine the look on your PCs faces when they meet that peg-legged orc a few sessions later.

My favorite line for extreme overkill is "Not even a wet spot!" This especially used when mook gets hit with enough damage to kill it five or more times over.

 

[fusangite]

When I run Runequest or any other system with a damage mechanic that reflects reality, I am descriptive. In D&D, the absence of hit locations and the fact that characters with positive numbers of hit points all have identical physical capacities makes graphic descriptions of violence pointless. D&D's hit point mechanic is basically so crazy I don't know what damage I should be describing.

 

[Desdichado]

When I run Runequest or any other system with a damage mechanic that reflects reality, I am descriptive. In D&D, the absence of hit locations and the fact that characters with positive numbers of hit points all have identical physical capacities makes graphic descriptions of violence pointless. D&D's hit point mechanic is basically so crazy I don't know what damage I should be describing.

LOL, that's a good point. I struggle with the same thing, though. Yet another reason why I prefer lower level play; you can be more imaginative with the occasional descriptions of violence without it sliding over into the absurd.

 

[Altalazar]

Speaking of vivid violence, if you want sparing, but very vivid violence, read the Sword of Truth novels. There isn't much actual combat in it, but DAMN, when there is, you feel like you're getting an anatomy lesson with a chainsaw.

 

[diaglo]

i eviscerated a Young Deep Dragon this weekend. look for it in my story hour. Beware the Wrath of the Small Hin Dragonslayer.

 

[Arnwyn]

I mean, how much does the sheer messy unpleasantness of violence come up?

A bit, but not often. As a few posters noted, I mostly just describe critical hits. I will also sometimes describe the aftermath - especially if they are in civilized areas. This has made them think twice about their actions, as they realize the consequences.

As for futuristic games, I describe much more, as the players can better visualize what's happening, and can understand the consequences better (they can relate to the situations better in the futuristic game than they can in the medieval fantasy game).

Anyway, my point is this - Do you think that vividly describing the unsanitary and shocking nature of violence could stem unnecessary violence on the part of players?

Sadly, no. Since my players describe the scenes in Kill Bill as "wicked cool", they will be unfazed by anything I could ever put forth.

 

[Buttercup]

Know what I'd love to see? A table the DM can roll on for the different weapons (or weapon types) to describe a killing wound. A D100 kind of thing. Might lend some panache to otherwise dull combats.

I'd love this too. I try to come up with vivid descriptions, but I think I overuse certain concepts, like gobbets of flesh flying across the room and sticking to the wall, or blood and feces spattering the guy who just critted with his greatsword.

The other table I'd like is a list of tragic and horrible things that happen when someone rolls a one. Our last session got dubbed "The Day of the One" because everyone, monsters and players, kept rolling critical failures. All the breaking bowstrings, accidentally chopped off toes and snapped blades get boring after a while.

 

[diaglo]

I'd love this too. I try to come up with vivid descriptions, but I think I overuse certain concepts, like gobbets of flesh flying across the room and sticking to the wall, or blood and feces spattering the guy who just critted with his greatsword.

The other table I'd like is a list of tragic and horrible things that happen when someone rolls a one. Our last session got dubbed "The Day of the One" because everyone, monsters and players, kept rolling critical failures. All the breaking bowstrings, accidentally chopped off toes and snapped blades get boring after a while.

i have tables for the d30 Armoury supplement back in 1983 or so.