10-11-2018, 02:14 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Killing PCs
So, I was wondering, when do you kill PCs? Is it just random luck, consequences for in game actions, or planned fatalities?
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10-11-2018, 02:21 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Killing PCs
Usually it's because "Oops, overtuned that encounter" or just "wow, your dice suck tonight", though player stubbornness is often a factor (they could have retreated when it became obvious that they were losing, and didn't).
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10-11-2018, 03:13 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Killing PCs
It happens very seldom in my game, and is generally from unlucky rolls catching up with a PC. Every so often it's the result of the players insisting that they can take an opponent that they really shouldn't be attacking, rather than leaving it or leaving and returning with more firepower and/or a better plan.
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
10-11-2018, 03:21 PM | #4 | |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
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Re: Killing PCs
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Though honestly, Character death is relative infrequent in my games. I don't run old school, I prefer to see the story get to shine, so I like to give them plenty of opportunities to pull back before plunging off the cliff into Character Death. |
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10-11-2018, 03:27 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Killing PCs
Yeah, I think the odds of one or more PCs dying in a session I run is maybe 2% (so for a game that runs less than 50 sessions, good chance no deaths at all). That makes me a 'killer GM' by the standards of groups I've gamed with recently.
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10-11-2018, 03:32 PM | #6 |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: Killing PCs
As long as you aren't putting a Plotco lock on doors to prevent the "RUN AWAY!" tactic from working, it's not your fault if the PCs fight to the death.
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10-11-2018, 04:08 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: Killing PCs
It's rare but not unheard of. Kind of depends on the type of game I'm running. I like long running campaigns which become somewhat flavourless IMO if you have high PC turnover. Sometimes I run more meatgrinder-style dungeon bashes, in which case character death is more common.
Reasons for PC death in my games are usually a) bad luck coupled with a tough encounter or b) poor tactical player decisions and c) player is bored of that character and wants them killed off instead of retiring (generally resolved via option b). |
10-11-2018, 04:44 PM | #8 |
Forum Pervert
(If you have to ask . . .) Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Somewhere high up.
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Re: Killing PCs
I'm an acolyte of John Wick, so I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't kill a PC unless it moves the story forward. And then, only with the player's permission. But, players also shouldn't try to protect their characters, they should be willingly exposing them and their weaknesses to tell a more interesting story.
Drama doesn't come from spontaneous death. You can't do anything to a dead character. But a living character . . . you can do so much to them. So many things. All that said, I do, sometimes, invoke Dire Peril and the players know that I'm no longer pulling my punches and that character death is a possibility because of how dangerous the situation is. |
10-11-2018, 05:26 PM | #9 | |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Killing PCs
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10-11-2018, 05:35 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
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Re: Killing PCs
I never plan a fatality. They've been known to happen, though, due to bad dice or bad player decisions. (When the GM says 'I suggest you duck' and instead the PC raises his head for the better look, well... okay, that player was an idiot.)
The general idea is that agreeing to play in my game means accepting the possibility of taking enough damage to kill you. I don't go for "save or die", and I won't target a character specifically for death, though most adversarial NPCs will go for the kill (but not always stick around to get killed; running away to live and fight another day is always on the table).
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"Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991 "But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!" The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation. Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting |
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