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Moral Dilemma: Killing and Deaths in RPGs
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<blockquote data-quote="Grendel_Khan" data-source="post: 8442874" data-attributes="member: 7028554"><p>Don't hang up your dice just yet!</p><p></p><p>However, I would fully recommend taking some time off from D&D. I'd echo [USER=90374]@payn[/USER] 's thoughts overall, including about Traveler, but also take a look at some of the Powered by the Apocalypse games that are out there, many of which really reduce the emphasis on combat, and make combat riskier, in a sense--not necessarily that you'll get killed, but that something will go wrong--which can make it a last rather than a first resort.</p><p></p><p>Also take a look at Scum and Villainy, which is my current obsession, but I think an excellent way of de-emphasizing combat and carnage without totally eliminating it. It's a Forged in the Dark game, so its mechanics are heavily inspired by the Powered by the Apocalypse design approach, but it has some stuff that specifically address lethality (in my opinion). You play sci-fi scoundrels, but the tone is close to Firefly or Star Wars than Alien, and it's one of the only games I've seen where you can actually do stuff like "Shoot to keep their heads down" or even just try to tackle a bunch of enemies in order to give your team a chance to get away. You're often outgunned and outnumbered in the game, so the notion of just murdering your way through most challenges often doesn't make sense.</p><p></p><p>But here's the really cool thing, re: your current dilemma--depending on how you carry out a job, you might gain Heat points. Enough of those and you become wanted, and have to deal with bounty hunters, law enforcement, etc. So killing during a job is often an easy way to gain Heat. This doesn't mean your characters aren't dangerous, or that they never kill anyone. But if they murder hobo through situations--in defiance of the game's tone--they'll quickly deal with the consequences.</p><p></p><p>Plus, system-wise, the game doesn't really allow for the kind of atomized John Wick-like combat maneuvers that a lot of games do. If five guys jump you, in Scum and Villainy you don't usually make five separate sets of defense and attack rolls to deal with them. You roll once based on what you're doing (fighting them head-on, probably with little to no effect and high risk of getting hurt, or jumping onto a passing speeder to get away, still risky but more likely to actually get you out of the situation if you roll well, etc.).</p><p></p><p>So the result of all that is often more about action than violence. Or even if there is violence, it's on the same level, mechanically and narratively, as something like hacking a door to block incoming security, or using deception or a Jedi-like power to defuse the conflict.</p><p></p><p>Getting killed is also much less of a risk in Scum and Villainy than in some games, I think, but I'm already yammering too much.</p><p></p><p>That's just one, probably overly specific example of a game that de-emphasizes killing. But they're out there, and, imo, the more indie you go, and the further from D&D, the more likely you might be to find exactly what you're looking for.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Grendel_Khan, post: 8442874, member: 7028554"] Don't hang up your dice just yet! However, I would fully recommend taking some time off from D&D. I'd echo [USER=90374]@payn[/USER] 's thoughts overall, including about Traveler, but also take a look at some of the Powered by the Apocalypse games that are out there, many of which really reduce the emphasis on combat, and make combat riskier, in a sense--not necessarily that you'll get killed, but that something will go wrong--which can make it a last rather than a first resort. Also take a look at Scum and Villainy, which is my current obsession, but I think an excellent way of de-emphasizing combat and carnage without totally eliminating it. It's a Forged in the Dark game, so its mechanics are heavily inspired by the Powered by the Apocalypse design approach, but it has some stuff that specifically address lethality (in my opinion). You play sci-fi scoundrels, but the tone is close to Firefly or Star Wars than Alien, and it's one of the only games I've seen where you can actually do stuff like "Shoot to keep their heads down" or even just try to tackle a bunch of enemies in order to give your team a chance to get away. You're often outgunned and outnumbered in the game, so the notion of just murdering your way through most challenges often doesn't make sense. But here's the really cool thing, re: your current dilemma--depending on how you carry out a job, you might gain Heat points. Enough of those and you become wanted, and have to deal with bounty hunters, law enforcement, etc. So killing during a job is often an easy way to gain Heat. This doesn't mean your characters aren't dangerous, or that they never kill anyone. But if they murder hobo through situations--in defiance of the game's tone--they'll quickly deal with the consequences. Plus, system-wise, the game doesn't really allow for the kind of atomized John Wick-like combat maneuvers that a lot of games do. If five guys jump you, in Scum and Villainy you don't usually make five separate sets of defense and attack rolls to deal with them. You roll once based on what you're doing (fighting them head-on, probably with little to no effect and high risk of getting hurt, or jumping onto a passing speeder to get away, still risky but more likely to actually get you out of the situation if you roll well, etc.). So the result of all that is often more about action than violence. Or even if there is violence, it's on the same level, mechanically and narratively, as something like hacking a door to block incoming security, or using deception or a Jedi-like power to defuse the conflict. Getting killed is also much less of a risk in Scum and Villainy than in some games, I think, but I'm already yammering too much. That's just one, probably overly specific example of a game that de-emphasizes killing. But they're out there, and, imo, the more indie you go, and the further from D&D, the more likely you might be to find exactly what you're looking for. [/QUOTE]
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