Dead character

[DeadParrot]

Originally Posted by corwyn

Cheating is always an option. Or, to put another way, GMs can't cheat.

......

The second, the PC in question went out of his way to place himself away from the others to snipe from a tree so they're not even together anymore.

A tree with flame retardant bark and wood heavily infused with lead? If the nuke is a small one and the tree is far enough away....

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by corwyn

Cheating is always an option. Or, to put another way, GMs can't cheat.

So the former suggestion, the gifts were delivered mostly in tangible items. They received an amulet from some children, a tattoo from a wizened old Vietmamese elder, and a kiss from a witch woman. Still could be done, I suppose.

The second, the PC in question went out of his way to place himself away from the others to snipe from a tree so they're not even together anymore.

Sounds like he's made his bed, fluffed the pillows, and brewed some evening tea. Now it's time to lie in it.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Sounds like he's made his bed, fluffed the pillows, and brewed some evening tea. Now it's time to lie in it.

I wouldn't be that harsh. The people offering him the protection from the nuke weren't trying to do him harm but they were involved in something stupid (remember: If you nuke Cthuhlu he just comes back 15 minutes later angry and radioactive) and I as GM would have been trying to set him up for a fight with a GAO. Being suspicious of that was perfectly reasonable.

In particular I would have been suspicious that something as extreme as Protection v. Point Blank Nuclear Explosions and Fallout was some sort of con job to get gullible and expendable agents to set off a nuke before they (or anyone else) could run away. My motive for participating in the expedition anyway would have been to prevent my friends from trusting in the dubious protective magic.

[pawsplay]

By being suspicious and refusing the gift... is there a lesson there? Is this a punishment for the "wrong" choice or just something unforeseen?

[J. Edward Tremlett]

nấm chết sống

The natives of this region spread many tales: some to harmlessly scare one another, some to scare outsiders away, and some to warn of things too horrible to deal with. This is one of those.

They say it's a small mushroom, often growing in patchy conglomerations in damp, shady areas. It looks bone white and fluted, with odd, dark green veins. It's said it has an eerie, pulsing phosphorescence -- not quite green, not quite black. It smells of sodden decay, and when it spores the clouds look like low-lying mist, floating above the ground in small pools.

To walk through the mist, to touch the mushroom, to smell it, or to eat it, is to be infected. Thankfully the infection rarely comes to anything, as the spores leave the body within a day. It's not a thing you want to risk but, if you're so terribly hungry, or there is no path but through the mists, it can be chanced.

Just don't die before the next day. That's the trick of it.

If one dies with the spores in their system, and the body is intact enough to keep going (dead from shock, dehydration, hunger, poison, blood loss, radiation) the spores activate. They surge into the central energy meridians of the body and re-animate it. The resurrected corpse acts just like the person did in life, with most of their memories and skills intact. It just feels like something's... missing. (their soul)

Unaware of what's happened, the resurrected most likely goes about their life. However, this state of being cannot last. Within a certain amount of time (a number of days equal to a physical statistic of the GM's choosing) the body starts to lose motion and cohesion. Weird white fungal patches erupt in folds of skin. Visible veins and arteries turn dark green.

By this time, the memories have begun to fade. The resurrected is unsure of who they are. All they want to do is find a nice, cool shady spot and lie down. Just lie down, and sleep. Sleep and dream of the earth.

So they do, and within a day there's nothing left of that body but bones and wet, gruesome ruin. And a number of mushrooms, fluting up from the decay...

[Michael Cule]

He's not just a ghost: he's a Saint.

Greater love hath no man than this... etc.

So he turns up at the Pearly Gates (if he was an atheist he will be very surprised) and is field promoted to Saint and asked if he wants to volunteer to return to Earth to look after his friends,

If he's a worshipper of the old gods a Valkrie takes him to Odin and he gets a similar offer. "You're a Hero son. Act like it."

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I wouldn't be that harsh. The people offering him the protection from the nuke weren't trying to do him harm but they were involved in something stupid (remember: If you nuke Cthuhlu he just comes back 15 minutes later angry and radioactive) and I as GM would have been trying to set him up for a fight with a GAO. Being suspicious of that was perfectly reasonable.

In particular I would have been suspicious that something as extreme as Protection v. Point Blank Nuclear Explosions and Fallout was some sort of con job to get gullible and expendable agents to set off a nuke before they (or anyone else) could run away. My motive for participating in the expedition anyway would have been to prevent my friends from trusting in the dubious protective magic.

Well, to be fair, at no time was "protection from a nuke" offered to the PCs. The setting was a secret magic game. They played soldiers in the 'Nam who saw weirder and weirder stuff as the war went on, including sorcerors and monsters. The gifts were gathered over the course of the campaign, not by the guys that ordered them to deliver a nuke to the enemy.

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

By being suspicious and refusing the gift... is there a lesson there? Is this a punishment for the "wrong" choice or just something unforeseen?

From the players perspective, more the latter. The ending was planned from the beginning. My mistake was not realizing that the one pc refused all 3 gifts.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by corwyn

The ending was planned from the beginning. My mistake was not realizing that the one pc refused all 3 gifts.

No adventure plan survives contact with the players. I'm sorry your game turned awkward, but sometimes the GM just has to improvise and adapt. (As you demonstrate in this thread.) So, no reason to feel like it's a failure on your part. I don't think it's really possible to prep for everything; no matter how much work I do, something unexpected always happens.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by corwyn

The second, the PC in question went out of his way to place himself away from the others to snipe from a tree so they're not even together anymore.

Another thought on this bit. How long since the gifts were received by the other did the character spend in close proximity to the blessed characters? If it was a decent amount of time, it's possible the enchantment could have rubbed off a bit on him, enough to protect him from the nuke. Heck, you could make it something of a plot point - maybe he also winds up unexpectedly effective against the GAO, and after the dust clears and they're trying to figure out how he survived, an NPC with knowledge of magic might show up and be like "Oh, he's a magic-eater" (Google translate suggests người ăn ma thuật for "magic eater" in Vietnamese).