How vivid is the violence in your game?

[Gellion]

Fight.

Rip.

Kill.

Punch.

Crush.

DIE!!!

DIIEEEEEEE!

-Shinji Ikari in Higher Learning, an Evangelion Fanfiction, by Strike Fiss

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

I get pretty graphic. We're all big boys (and girls). I did a large scale army battle with my players once, and I really tried to work in the high level of carnage going on around them, as well as what they were personally inflicting.

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 try to come up with some of these during play, but a table with some clever (and needlessly graphic ) results would be nice.

 

[Numion]

I don't get too detailed in my descriptions. A finish with critical or massive damage usually gets a few sentences about messy expiring. Otherwise it's just minimal descriptions.

It also depends on the situation. Hitting an orc might not get too much detail, but I did get a bit graphical when the half-orc punched a commoner - wearing his armor gauntlets. That's not subdual damage, so I told him that he breaks the commoners nose who drops to the ground, bleeding. Just to make a point that they shouldn't be bullying ordinary citizens (and of course, the commoners should stay away from adventurers way).

 

[pogre]

Re: Question

I'd love like a chart or table of some kind to reference when describing the outcome of attacks, spells, skills etc., especially in combat.

May I suggest the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Critical wound chart?

 

[Numion]

Re: Re: Question

May I suggest the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Critical wound chart?

Those are more of finishing moves than results of normal hits. Thats because the idea in WFRP is that once you get criticalled, you're pretty much supposed to die. If you look at the tables you'll see that it's easy to get the most severe criticals.

Not that the system was bad (rolling 2d6 ft to see how far the head lands is always fun ), but it might be too out there for describing every hit.

 

[Skade]

My description varies on the nature of the combat. Your typical fight with standard enemies rates pretty standard description, unless someone rolls a critical, in which case I step up the gore a bit. In more cimematic fights I describe things a bit hyper realistically, reaching almost Wuxia levels. In some combats, those that I want to really matter to the players later I become very visceral, really describing the damage done to themselves and their opponents. In those instances where someone has commited murder, I describe the event with as much detail and gruesomness as possible, so that it really sticks with them. Now I should say this changes with the PC, the one assassin player I have had in my games had reached the point where I described his actions very simply and matter of factly, since death was no more notable than eating to him.

 

[Paka]

How realistically do you handle violence in your game?

Realistic int he sense that it is terrible and risky.

I mean, how much does the sheer messy unpleasantness of violence come up? Do characters ever have to deal with the fact that they leave a trail of decomposing bodies where they go? On that note, is my party the only party that leaves a trail of decomposing bodies wherever they go?

Consequences are definitely a huge part of my campaign. I don't run dungeon crawls very often...none yet in this campaign. I have nothing against a good crawl now and then but it isn't the status quo of the game.

When players push the world, they know the world will push back.

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?

I think there are storytelling ways of letting your players know that violence is a rough prospect and not just the whittling down of a Bad Guy's numbers but to get them to see it as the painful destruction of another creature.

 

[Dinkeldog]

It depends on the group. One of my groups has the mantra that combat is abstract. Anything beyond PG-13 violence is not desired. My theoretical main group is more anything goes.

 

[Paka]

Re: Re: How vivid is the violence in your game?

I think there are storytelling ways of letting your players know that violence is a rough prospect and not just the whittling down of a Bad Guy's numbers but to get them to see it as the painful destruction of another creature.

I've been thinking about this. In some games this is true. In my current Midnight D&D game it is.

In others I just want the players to eff stuff up and make explosions go BOOM.

 

[Mark]

The general violence of regular combat isn't something that I over-emphasize. But when it is required to set a mood, even a slowly dripping paper cut can seem like a blood-letting. I avoid sexual violence, though some acts might be mentioned in passing. I also shy away any violence in relation to children, unless it needs to be part of a plot but I do not think graphically detailing such acts is necessary. In any of these cases I weigh "shock value" against the sensibilities of the players before proceeding, then I try to tread appropriately.