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<blockquote data-quote="Troll Slayer" data-source="post: 5373781" data-attributes="member: 97636"><p>I hope this better clarifies my stance. This isn't a rules crunch type of game mechanic. It's purely narrative:</p><p> </p><p>Sometimes the suffering of death, and what you do with the little time you have left, despite the agony; is what makes the ending worth telling.</p><p> </p><p>I run very low magic games or medium magic very rarely. Ressurection is rarely an option and often leads to bad things in some cases. Healing magic can only do so much, it can't regrow lost limbs or ruined internal organs. There are some rituals that can do so, but the cost and time is great, hardly something that can be pulled off during most adventures. Plus in WFRP these can very possibly lead to the sort of things (mutation, corruption) that land you in the Witch Hunter's pyres soon after.</p><p> </p><p>Most often I run WFRP, so there are Fortune/Fate points there to negate some of the bad death experiences, and "weak deaths" are a major part of the setting. However, burning a fate point takes you out of the fight and prevents the death in most cases. I'm not talking about preventing death, I'm talking about those times when death is unnavoidable (no fate points left) and giving the player a chance to be the narrator for his/her character's death scene.</p><p> </p><p>On occassion, a player character deserves a proper send off. With a simple reinterpretation of the death dealing critical hit, I can give the player a chance to go out in style. (<em>You're bleeding internally, and one of your lungs is collapsed. The pain makes your head swim. Death will come before any significant magic can be of service. You have one round before the pain overwhelms you. What do you do?</em>)</p><p> </p><p>This isn't a time for the character to think about maximizing healing or damage dealing opportunities. This is a window of opportunity to narrate how your character meets his demise. Sometimes in the thick of battle you get one round to make your death a memorable one. If it's a wasting disease that can't be cured, and you have two weeks to live, you might come up with something more interesting.</p><p> </p><p>Being heroic when you know you have a chance at survival is one thing. Being heroic when you know you're a dead man is something that RPGs rarely tap into. It's a really dark, really cool type of scene to explore once in a while.</p><p> </p><p>In the end the death will happen, but not every death is instantaneous. You bleed out, you suffer horribly, hell many chaos enemies would enjoy leaving you to die a miserable death. Most characters would give in to the pain and die. Some are determined enough to do one last thing before everything turns black. It's a purely cinematic moment, as pretty much a thank you to that character for his bravery, and that player for making his PC so enjoyable.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Troll Slayer, post: 5373781, member: 97636"] I hope this better clarifies my stance. This isn't a rules crunch type of game mechanic. It's purely narrative: Sometimes the suffering of death, and what you do with the little time you have left, despite the agony; is what makes the ending worth telling. I run very low magic games or medium magic very rarely. Ressurection is rarely an option and often leads to bad things in some cases. Healing magic can only do so much, it can't regrow lost limbs or ruined internal organs. There are some rituals that can do so, but the cost and time is great, hardly something that can be pulled off during most adventures. Plus in WFRP these can very possibly lead to the sort of things (mutation, corruption) that land you in the Witch Hunter's pyres soon after. Most often I run WFRP, so there are Fortune/Fate points there to negate some of the bad death experiences, and "weak deaths" are a major part of the setting. However, burning a fate point takes you out of the fight and prevents the death in most cases. I'm not talking about preventing death, I'm talking about those times when death is unnavoidable (no fate points left) and giving the player a chance to be the narrator for his/her character's death scene. On occassion, a player character deserves a proper send off. With a simple reinterpretation of the death dealing critical hit, I can give the player a chance to go out in style. ([I]You're bleeding internally, and one of your lungs is collapsed. The pain makes your head swim. Death will come before any significant magic can be of service. You have one round before the pain overwhelms you. What do you do?[/I]) This isn't a time for the character to think about maximizing healing or damage dealing opportunities. This is a window of opportunity to narrate how your character meets his demise. Sometimes in the thick of battle you get one round to make your death a memorable one. If it's a wasting disease that can't be cured, and you have two weeks to live, you might come up with something more interesting. Being heroic when you know you have a chance at survival is one thing. Being heroic when you know you're a dead man is something that RPGs rarely tap into. It's a really dark, really cool type of scene to explore once in a while. In the end the death will happen, but not every death is instantaneous. You bleed out, you suffer horribly, hell many chaos enemies would enjoy leaving you to die a miserable death. Most characters would give in to the pain and die. Some are determined enough to do one last thing before everything turns black. It's a purely cinematic moment, as pretty much a thank you to that character for his bravery, and that player for making his PC so enjoyable. [/QUOTE]
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