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Re-thinking PC death and storytelling
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<blockquote data-quote="Loonook" data-source="post: 5810500" data-attributes="member: 1861"><p>Yeah, death is a serious thing and should be treated as such... But no death? Where's the fun in that? </p><p></p><p>Really I feel that you should allow for death, dismemberment, etc. to be part of your games no matter what. [spoiler]Long John Silver, Roland Deschain The Onion Knight, Jack Shaftoe (Half... Well... You know <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> ), Frodo Nine-Fingers, Lindsey McDonald, Charles Xavier, Ashley J Williams <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />)), Zatoichi... [/spoiler] We need to stop accepting that loss of limb or fitness makes for a horrible character. </p><p></p><p>Dead characters don't make a difference? Tell that to [spoiler] Yoda, Mufasa, Eddard Stark ... [/spoiler] The death of a character can lead to new and fantastic heights, inspiration, and even some fantastic scenes. </p><p></p><p>Personally? Don't make 'death' -10 HPs. Something Happens at -10. Riding off into the Sunset leads to a great little quest... Or you can go elsewhere. Perhaps you get the offer to go On or come back with something (good or ill). Perhaps you lose something vital and make yourself come back. While there are always though eager to die, you could find some interesting sideways maneuvers. In the campaigns where I've offered Something Happens I've had the following occur:</p><p></p><p>- A Paladin loses his faith, gaining a monkey on his back from seeing.. Nothing at the end of it. It led to the Paladin finding it to be a Job's bargain situation. His deity and the deity's nemesis had chosen to lay out their battle over this specific soul. The party came to gain an interesting character who hated the gods he had once served and all others. An unbelieving ex-paladin smiting angel and demon alike, and leading to some interesting moments in the campaign and some great interactions during the approach to the Epic end of the game.</p><p></p><p>- A mid-level fighter losing her hand. The player took the penalty but began to develop elsewhere, going from a two-handed warrior to a weary, skilled tactician and one of the coolest fighter/rogues I've seen.</p><p></p><p>- A Druid became his 'grove's' Sacred Guardian. Players who had been involved used that place (a high mesa where the battle between the party and a group of draconic brigands) as a base of operations, forming an organization that would go to start a war winding up with a severe lack of the scalykind in that setting for some time.</p><p></p><p>- Two brothers battling the Big Bad Evil Knight... And the fighter brother proceeds to fall valiantly. The mage, a completely craven but familial Illusionist, pretty much requests a Dresdenesque Death Curse . . . and takes the bullet for the fighter. The BBEK is driven insane by an endless series of hallucinations, and the legend of the Brave Coward was born.</p><p></p><p>There are hundreds of different paths to take, and the player should be awarded. Make the 'penalty' similar to what the PC would gain from that Raise Dead, but you have now gained a great little side-quest that can be acted on alone or with party, and lead to a nice little time in the spotlight for the character (or those involved). If you have the right PCs and players you can make for an amazing tale where your PCs will actually become the kind of characters who stories are made of, and you don't need to worry about open up Boot Hill every couple of sessions while making the game fun and difficult.</p><p></p><p></p><p>EDIT: Love Jacob Marley's discussion of his campaign and have been looking to build one of that type. I like the idea of an actual adventuring company, touching on multiple points in the game. Really there is so much downtime occurring in the average adventure that it would seem natural to (rather than saying "We're going to spend 4 weeks doing X") to be able to take that downtime and do a "Meanwhile at the Ranch" sort of going forward. 4-5 players with a few characters each, made into separate groups could easily allow for each group to have natural downtime, detract from the hour-long adventure day, and allow characters to have a little taste of each group. Do we want to play the dungeon crawling group who is grinding out battling the Lich King of Whogivesadam, look into the rogue's gallery fighting the political machine of Whatthehecisthatia, or train the raw recruits and followers at Camp Wher'ar'we?</p><p></p><p>Slainte,</p><p></p><p>-Loonook.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Loonook, post: 5810500, member: 1861"] Yeah, death is a serious thing and should be treated as such... But no death? Where's the fun in that? Really I feel that you should allow for death, dismemberment, etc. to be part of your games no matter what. [spoiler]Long John Silver, Roland Deschain The Onion Knight, Jack Shaftoe (Half... Well... You know ;) ), Frodo Nine-Fingers, Lindsey McDonald, Charles Xavier, Ashley J Williams (:)), Zatoichi... [/spoiler] We need to stop accepting that loss of limb or fitness makes for a horrible character. Dead characters don't make a difference? Tell that to [spoiler] Yoda, Mufasa, Eddard Stark ... [/spoiler] The death of a character can lead to new and fantastic heights, inspiration, and even some fantastic scenes. Personally? Don't make 'death' -10 HPs. Something Happens at -10. Riding off into the Sunset leads to a great little quest... Or you can go elsewhere. Perhaps you get the offer to go On or come back with something (good or ill). Perhaps you lose something vital and make yourself come back. While there are always though eager to die, you could find some interesting sideways maneuvers. In the campaigns where I've offered Something Happens I've had the following occur: - A Paladin loses his faith, gaining a monkey on his back from seeing.. Nothing at the end of it. It led to the Paladin finding it to be a Job's bargain situation. His deity and the deity's nemesis had chosen to lay out their battle over this specific soul. The party came to gain an interesting character who hated the gods he had once served and all others. An unbelieving ex-paladin smiting angel and demon alike, and leading to some interesting moments in the campaign and some great interactions during the approach to the Epic end of the game. - A mid-level fighter losing her hand. The player took the penalty but began to develop elsewhere, going from a two-handed warrior to a weary, skilled tactician and one of the coolest fighter/rogues I've seen. - A Druid became his 'grove's' Sacred Guardian. Players who had been involved used that place (a high mesa where the battle between the party and a group of draconic brigands) as a base of operations, forming an organization that would go to start a war winding up with a severe lack of the scalykind in that setting for some time. - Two brothers battling the Big Bad Evil Knight... And the fighter brother proceeds to fall valiantly. The mage, a completely craven but familial Illusionist, pretty much requests a Dresdenesque Death Curse . . . and takes the bullet for the fighter. The BBEK is driven insane by an endless series of hallucinations, and the legend of the Brave Coward was born. There are hundreds of different paths to take, and the player should be awarded. Make the 'penalty' similar to what the PC would gain from that Raise Dead, but you have now gained a great little side-quest that can be acted on alone or with party, and lead to a nice little time in the spotlight for the character (or those involved). If you have the right PCs and players you can make for an amazing tale where your PCs will actually become the kind of characters who stories are made of, and you don't need to worry about open up Boot Hill every couple of sessions while making the game fun and difficult. EDIT: Love Jacob Marley's discussion of his campaign and have been looking to build one of that type. I like the idea of an actual adventuring company, touching on multiple points in the game. Really there is so much downtime occurring in the average adventure that it would seem natural to (rather than saying "We're going to spend 4 weeks doing X") to be able to take that downtime and do a "Meanwhile at the Ranch" sort of going forward. 4-5 players with a few characters each, made into separate groups could easily allow for each group to have natural downtime, detract from the hour-long adventure day, and allow characters to have a little taste of each group. Do we want to play the dungeon crawling group who is grinding out battling the Lich King of Whogivesadam, look into the rogue's gallery fighting the political machine of Whatthehecisthatia, or train the raw recruits and followers at Camp Wher'ar'we? Slainte, -Loonook. [/QUOTE]
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