Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="med stud" data-source="post: 37549" data-attributes="member: 1211">The biggest problem of this situation is not whatever it is good or bad to use deus ex machina, but whatever the other players expect the same right next time they die; the reason that you used for saving the paladin is not a good one, really. Yes, he is interesting, but do you save him because he is interresting? What if one of your players cant make interresting characters? I think you have to be fair and consequent all the time. If this is how you use to solve things, good. But if it isnt, then you will probably have problems with this.That said, I think death should always be a possibility, especially if the character behaves bravely or stupid. In my campaigns, there is no inherent reward in being good, the reward lies in doing good and brave deeds. The paladins will die young while the coward and egoistic rogues will live long and prosperous lives. I cant see my role as the players moral upbringer, and they still play good characters, but with a more "realistic" touch.If you want a death to be more acceptable, though, add a good description of the beginning afterlife of the now dead character. You could tell the paladin in this example something like this (excuse the the English, its just my 2nd language):"When finally dead, the Frost worm exploded into millions of tiny shards of ice, piercing your battle tired body. When you fall backward, you see a beautyful angel descending from the sky, reaching you her hand. You raise your hand, but not the hand of your massacred body, but a new hand,  a hand of pure spirit, with none of the pain and weakness of your old, physical form. As you rise to the sky, you look down on the world you left, a world overcome with evil and greed, where the good die young and the evil rules the nations. Then you look up at a gate in the sky, leading to a golden city where all your pains will be relieved, and where you will get your final reward for living a pure life and never compromising with evil. You take a last farewell to your friends, even though they cant hear you know, and hope that you will meet them again in your new home. Then you release all bonds to the mortal world, entering the sacred paradise that will be your home until the end of time."Then you can tell the other players something like this:"When you find the body of [paladin's name], you can see a smile on his shredded face. He lived his like a hero, and died young like heros do."I use the last method sometimes, od course the opposite way around when the greedy and selfish ones die.</blockquote>

Verification