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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8476872" data-attributes="member: 42582">This thread seems to have jumped the shark.The assertion (eg from [USER=86653]@overgeeked[/USER]) that a RPG in which PC death is not on the line is just one in which participants &quot;Just sit around and tell each other how cool your characters are&quot; and/or involves PCs taking baths in lava is just bizarre.In most fiction, the stakes confronting the protagonist are not will I die?Even in most adventure fiction, the stakes confronting the protagonist are not will I die? REH's Conan survives crucifixion! So does Wolverine - and when we read the Wolverine limited edition we know that it's not his life that is on the line.What are high stakes for Wolverine? His relationship with Mariko. His very different relationship with Kitty. Can he make it into the Hellfire club without having to go berserk and kill?What are high stakes for Conan? Will he have to choose between doing the right thing and getting the treasure? (Most of the time, yes. But not always.) Can he maintain his relationship with Belit? What loss will the usurper inflict on the land of Aquilonia?The rules of Prince Valiant state outright that PC death is not normally a part of the game - it's always the GM's discretion, informed by the fiction and any salient mechanical results, whether or not a PC dies. That has not stopped my group's play of Prince Valiant being reasonably intense from time-to-time.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8476872, member: 42582"] This thread seems to have jumped the shark. The assertion (eg from [USER=86653]@overgeeked[/USER]) that a RPG in which PC death is not on the line is just one in which participants "Just sit around and tell each other how cool your characters are" and/or involves PCs taking baths in lava is just bizarre. In most fiction, the stakes confronting the protagonist are not [I]will I die?[/I] Even in most adventure fiction, the stakes confronting the protagonist are not [I]will I die? [/I]REH's Conan survives crucifixion! So does Wolverine - and when we read the Wolverine limited edition we know that it's not his life that is on the line. What are high stakes for Wolverine? His relationship with Mariko. His very different relationship with Kitty. Can he make it into the Hellfire club without having to go berserk and kill? What are high stakes for Conan? Will he have to choose between doing the right thing and getting the treasure? (Most of the time, yes. But not always.) Can he maintain his relationship with Belit? What loss will the usurper inflict on the land of Aquilonia? The rules of Prince Valiant state outright that PC death is not normally a part of the game - it's always the GM's discretion, informed by the fiction and any salient mechanical results, whether or not a PC dies. That has not stopped my group's play of Prince Valiant being reasonably intense from time-to-time. [/QUOTE]

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