Kill Your Pretties (NPCs)

[Darkness]

barsoomcore... I'm curious - have you ever wrecked a campaign that you were GMing by not killing an NPC you cared a lot about? If so, what happened?

 

[Ruined]

Yeah. After reading some of the posts (thanks everyone!), this will probably be Doran's last gasp. He redeemed himself, the crucial part of his story is done. The cohorts, they are gravely wounded. I know the healers are running up and may be able to save one or two of them. I can milk it for some tense situations and dire choices.

Are there any rules for dealing with cohort deaths? The PC is becoming a better known force and could attract men with little problem. I'm just wondering if there are guidelines I have missed.

 

[Gez]

Well, if the death of the cohort can be imputed to the player character's actions (he gave a suicidal order or did something stupid), then he get a penalty on his leadership score. Otherwise, nothing. He'll be able to attract a better cohort if he has levelled up, since he'll have a higher Leadership score.

 

[Tortoise]

I once created an NPC in with the idea of giving the PC's an information source and useful contact. They players took to this NPC immediately. In the course of the session I had intended for them to encounter and battle a very tough opponent, hopefully in his lair. When they shied away from the lair I immediately decided how I might encourage the encounter without it coming off as railroading, and fortunately it worked out very well. I had the villain impersonate the NPC and added subtle differences to the way I portrayed him so that they might notice something was different. They took the bait and rushed to try and find their new acquaintence only to discover the friend mauled to death and the Rakshasa still masquerading as the NPC. The battle that followed lead to a temple burning down and a PC and his familiar going MIA (the player was moving away and we were looking for a dramatic, but open ended departure for his character).

You can always create a dramitcally appropriate moment to kill off an NPC, and I have when it moved the story along, even to the detriment of other possible story lines.

However ... I try to play by the following thought:

Death doesn't wait for drama, death IS drama.

If the dice dictate an untimely death there isn't a much more tragic and dramatic element you could have asked for.

 

[KidCthulhu]

Sounds like you've got the right idea, Ruined. There's that fine line between killing every damn person your group has ever talked to, and dramatic and meaningful death.

If you really want some repercussions to cohort death, you can always involve their families. Perhaps a son comes, looking avenge his father, or take up his place. If the player didn't take good care of the NPC, the family can show up looking for weregelt. Or perhaps the NPC was affianced, and now someone thinks the PC is in line to marry the bride (as the best man was supposed to in old traditions).

Where plot is concerned death is just the beginning.

 

[barsoomcore]

Heck without death, what kinda plot do you have, anyway? I mean, who wants to venture through the Maternity Ward of Horrors?

Darkness -- most of my campaigns end in miserable failure and recriminations, for so many reasons. Excessive NPC love is just one of them.

No, seriously, Barsoom nearly derailed when Yuek Man Chong, the Demon Goddess, roared onto the scene and utterly infatuated me. Carefully constructed plots, organizations and other NPCs got dragged into her wild, melodramatic epic -- none of which I had any inkling of before it happened. Literally, it was as though this real person (this real, selfish, petulant and demanding person) stormed into my campaign and turned everything upside down.

I had to kill her. It broke my heart but there was nothing else for it. She got a big, BIG melodramatic death full of pathos and gore and torture and horror and nobility of spirit...

Sigh. I miss my Demon Goddess.

But yeah, it happens to me all the time. It's usually the girls, too. I'm a sucker for an imaginary pretty face...

 

[Nightfall]

I say Kill your Gods, Kill your NPCs, and your PCs. Then you are a true Marilyn Manson wannabe.

 

[Malk]

I say Kill your Gods, Kill your NPCs, and your PCs. Then you are a true Marilyn Manson wannabe.

funny, i did kill my gods for my current homebrew world...only before the game started

 

[jgsugden]

IMHO, your NPCs should not be 'important' enough to 'love'. The heroes of the story are the PCs. The NPCs should not be important enough for you to feel attached to them.

If a PC ends up being too 'cool' and stealing the spotlight from other PCs, I make sure that the NPC will be removed from the spotlight. The gnome illusionist might find the wrong end of an arrow of gnome slaying. The paladin of Tyr might sacrifice his life to save a small villiage. The old wizard might retire to a small village in the mountains. In one way or another, I'll find a way to work him away from the party and let them get back to the core of the 'story'.

Players may enjoy the presence of an NPC, but no matter how much they enjoy seeing an NPC do something fun, they'll enjoy it more if they get to do those things themself.

 

[barsoomcore]

I say Kill your Gods, Kill your NPCs, and your PCs. Then you are a true Marilyn Manson wannabe.

Not to mention a DM without much of a campaign. But of course, if you're running a Scarred Lands campaign, you can keep yourself entertained and edified just by reading those well-written and beautifully illustrated source books.

Right?

"Scarred Lands: Who needs players?"