One player has problems with character deaths....

[Davek]

First of all, I do not know the Midnight setting at all, so this might not work.

Idea:

Give the character a curse. Make him immortal. Every time he 'dies' he comes back. The catch is that when he comes back he has aquired some kind of negative effect. It doesn't always have to be a game mechanical effect, it could be a role playing effect. You stated that the player is a good role player, so this might work.

Eventually, the character would begin seeking out ways to lift the curse, he realy does want to die. This then becomes an additional plot hook.

The negatives should be weighed in such a way as to actually affect the character, yet not cripple him relative to the rest of the group. Eventually he should accumulate a long list of effects that will provide much opportunity for role playing without crippling his game mechanical ability.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

First of all, I do not know the Midnight setting at all, so this might not work.

Idea:

Give the character a curse. Make him immortal. Every time he 'dies' he comes back. The catch is that when he comes back he has aquired some kind of negative effect. It doesn't always have to be a game mechanical effect, it could be a role playing effect. You stated that the player is a good role player, so this might work.

Eventually, the character would begin seeking out ways to lift the curse, he realy does want to die. This then becomes an additional plot hook.

The negatives should be weighed in such a way as to actually affect the character, yet not cripple him relative to the rest of the group. Eventually he should accumulate a long list of effects that will provide much opportunity for role playing without crippling his game mechanical ability.

It really wouldn't work in the Midnight setting, I'm afrad.

The immortals are on the other side. Picture Lord of the Rings with Sauron the victor.

The Auld Grump

 

[maddman75]

It really wouldn't work in the Midnight setting, I'm afrad.

The immortals are on the other side. Picture Lord of the Rings with Sauron the victor.

The Auld Grump

It would totally work in Midnight. He's got the soul of the Scion of the dark god sharing his body, trying to get out. Every time he dies, the Scion gets a little bit stronger. Eventually it will overtake him entirely, unless he can find some way to cast it out of his body.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Might I suggest letting him take on one of the roles already in the game when he dies?

ie - you craft a number of NPCs, involve them with the group, and if he happens to become a fatality, he can pick his favourite one and run with that (after you adjust him to match the party capabilities). This avoids the "well, suddenly someone whom you've never heard of joins up to go killing orcs" syndrome, and also allows each new character to have some already-defined backstory. Either that, or you and him could blue-book a secondary character for him.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

I love Midnight and tried running it a little over a year ago. It probably was a contributing factor to the events that broke up my group. My players were not ready fro a setting that dark (with the exception of 1). That said, with the right group of players, I would LOVE to run this setting again sometime soon.

DM

 

[JesterPoet]

Run properly, with the right group of players, it makes for an INCREDIBLE setting. The games we have played were really fantastic.

 

[xrpsuzi]

OK, I perused the replies and haven't seen this one yet. My apologies if it has been said already.

Make your player "special" in the world concept. Like Darling in the Black Company books. Don't tell the other players, but work it into his character (either with or without his knowledge depending on which he would enjoy more). Wouldn't that be wierd if he was, essentially, unkillable is a world like Midnight? Or maybe not unkillable, but there's someone watching out for him and interceeding (in subtle ways at first and as he gets more attention or more powerful, less subtle ways)

It opens opportunities for story arching, exploring the world of Midnight through the atypically experience, and if you do it properly, your other players won't get pissed about that guy being more powerful. He's just different. And then they will try to figure out (both in game and out) why that is.

And then everyone has fun and you can keep the core mood of Midnight.

 

[JoeGKushner]

OK, I perused the replies and haven't seen this one yet. My apologies if it has been said already.

Make your player "special" in the world concept. Like Darling in the Black Company books. Don't tell the other players, but work it into his character (either with or without his knowledge depending on which he would enjoy more).

This can work, but it takes a damn good GM.

First, do it too much and you're basically scripting the game. We had a GM who did this so much we stopped playing and told him to mail us how the campaign ended.

Two, it screws the other players. "Why is he special?" Are their characters any less valid because they're not bothered by having a character killed?

If the GM is good and the other players don't care or don't catch on, it's a great idea.

 

[xrpsuzi]

This can work, but it takes a damn good GM.

First, do it too much and you're basically scripting the game. We had a GM who did this so much we stopped playing and told him to mail us how the campaign ended.

Two, it screws the other players. "Why is he special?" Are their characters any less valid because they're not bothered by having a character killed?

If the GM is good and the other players don't care or don't catch on, it's a great idea.

I see your points. Ok, if he's special in one way, he's vulnerable in another. Darling radiated null magic zone, but she was also deaf, mute, and couldn't benefit from magic.

If you make a condition like that (one that implicitly has a benefit and a negative within Midnight and the d20 mechanic), then I think the benefits would seem less arbitrary. "Logic" erradicates much dispute at the game table.

It may be more effort than you really want to put into accomidating one player, in which case I'd advocate the fate points. But as a player, I was never that excited about fate points and hero points. It's nice when you want to do cinematic or heroic stunts, but I find that I don't use them very often except when I'm playing modern games (I like unloading many rounds of automatic weapons for more damage....)

I have a slightly different view of your dilema. Everyone's basically saying the player needs to get over it. Well, ultimately, it's good that your player has an emotional responce when his PC dies, even if that means a momentary decrease in enjoyment. That means he made a connection and really enjoyed/got into the game. That's the price you pay as a GM for being good at what you do. Can't have the highs without the lows. At least, not without drugs....