Re: Killing off players... er... characters

From: David Versace <davidv@gbrmpa.gov.au>

Date: Mon, 07 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Karen J. Cravens wrote:
>
> It's a common fact of beer'n'pretzels Roleplaying Lite and some
> other genres, but by *no* means a universal standard, even if you
> limit your scope to "fantasy" games.  It's well-nigh impossible
> in Yrth, the GURPS fantasy world, for one, and I don't think it's
> even considered in Talislanta (although it might be in one of the
> later sourcebooks).
>
> And when you get out of the fantasy genre, it's almost non-
> existent (well, except for superhero, where is *is* almost a
> cliche)... you just don't see James Bond getting resurrected all
> that often, frex, much less a game on the order of a Robert
> Ludlum novel.

I think the degree of script immunity has to be tied fairly
closely to genre, as you've suggested here. If the genre is, for
example, "hard-bitten, grim-jawed space heroes versus the evil
Galactic Federation", then genre dictates that ill-considered,
risky actions will likely result in PC death (<tangent> or other major
setbacks, but we're talking about death here so I'll try to stay
focused </tangent>). If, however, you're playing a straight
Star Wars knockoff, where the Heroes are Good and the Empire is
Bad and the only shade of grey is the paint job on your starship,
then  the players can reasonably expect that their PC's are
going to win through even the worst situation (although, again,
they may end up marooned on a desert planet or have their hand
lightsabered off...)

I think the most important thing is not whether the GM is prepared
to kill the PC's for dumb actions, but whether the player is of
the expectation that the one will follow the other. Once you as a GM
have decided - along genre lines according to the gameworld you're
running - the degree of lethality, the most important thing to do
is make sure that the players are made aware of the point at which
you will draw the line.

Sorry, did that make any sense? I'm slightly distracted here...

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that it's not so much a matter
or whether you kill PC's as whether your players believe that
you will. You establish that expectation either by stating
the genre rules ('Scum City is a dangerous place, full of
desperate criminals, drug-crazed cops and diseased taxi cabs.
Players should consider their actions carefully, or their
characters will find themselves looking at the bright lights
from the bottom of the harbour.') or by direct statement of
policy ('Characters that do the sort of stupid thing that
would get them killed...will be killed'). As long as the
players know the degree of script immunity, they can hardly
cry foul when they get tossed in the cement mixer for
seducing Big Louie's mistress.

Dave, glad to see this newsgroup occasionally strays into the
realms of the on-topic AND interesting.

===========================================================
 | David Versace        \\ this .sig is currently undergoing |
 | davidv@gbrmpa.gov.au // humour-enhancement surgery...     |
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References

Killing off players... er... characters
silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens)
Thu, 03 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Killing off players... er... characters
s337186@student.uq.edu.au (Bradley Jayakody)
Fri, 04 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Killing off players... er... characters
silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens)
Thu, 03 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Killing off players... er... characters
s337186@student.uq.edu.au (Bradley Jayakody)
Fri, 04 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000