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To Kill or Not to Kill (PCs): That is the Question...
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<blockquote data-quote="Doug McCrae" data-source="post: 5943516" data-attributes="member: 21169"><p>1) Death plus resurrection isn't really death.</p><p></p><p>2) The are many more ways for the players to lose than PC death – deaths of henchmen, allies, friends and family; deaths of those the PCs have pledged to protect; failing the mission; imprisonment; loss of items; destruction of property; humiliation, or loss of status.</p><p></p><p>3) I don't like fudging. If it's impossible or difficult for the PCs to die then imo that should be a rule, stated up front. However, I would note that some rpgers have a great dislike of dissociated mechanics, that is mechanics that do not represent anything in the game-world. For such players, these mechanics break immersion. A 'no death' rule would be a dissociated mechanic, whereas fudging isn't (I think), because it's hidden from the player.</p><p></p><p>4) The OP's game would probably benefit from having fewer fights. Only play out the fights where something is really at stake, where the party can lose, such as a PC's confrontation with his evil half-sibling. Encounters with orc patrols and the like can be removed from the game entirely or abstracted, merely mentioned in passing - “after fighting your way past many bands of savage humanoids, you finally reach the fortress of your evil half-brother” - in the same way that a month-long journey would usually be abstracted.</p><p></p><p>That goes as a general principle – only use complex resolution systems when something is genuinely at stake.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Doug McCrae, post: 5943516, member: 21169"] 1) Death plus resurrection isn't really death. 2) The are many more ways for the players to lose than PC death – deaths of henchmen, allies, friends and family; deaths of those the PCs have pledged to protect; failing the mission; imprisonment; loss of items; destruction of property; humiliation, or loss of status. 3) I don't like fudging. If it's impossible or difficult for the PCs to die then imo that should be a rule, stated up front. However, I would note that some rpgers have a great dislike of dissociated mechanics, that is mechanics that do not represent anything in the game-world. For such players, these mechanics break immersion. A 'no death' rule would be a dissociated mechanic, whereas fudging isn't (I think), because it's hidden from the player. 4) The OP's game would probably benefit from having fewer fights. Only play out the fights where something is really at stake, where the party can lose, such as a PC's confrontation with his evil half-sibling. Encounters with orc patrols and the like can be removed from the game entirely or abstracted, merely mentioned in passing - “after fighting your way past many bands of savage humanoids, you finally reach the fortress of your evil half-brother” - in the same way that a month-long journey would usually be abstracted. That goes as a general principle – only use complex resolution systems when something is genuinely at stake. [/QUOTE]
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