Handling PC Death in Simulationist Combat
colin roald:
Quote from: Adam Riemenschneider on June 15, 2008, 09:45:49 PM
Yeah, that's rough. I guess you're going to have to go on a big quest to meet an Element of Destruction when this is all done, to try to get him brought back from the dead, eh?
So this sounds cool, but it doesn't solve the question of "what does the player of the dead character do while that is going on?"
What would, is to switch the order around. "Yeah, the Powers sometimes answer a call to return someone from the dead. They demand a Price, though. You wanna ask?" "Well, what's the Price?" "What, you think you get to negotiate?"
It could work for player of the dead character, too. You get a scene in the Waiting Room, and if you want to go back badly enough, maybe you can. You sure about that?
Frank Tarcikowski:
How do you keep playing when making up a new character on the fly is not an option?
In some games I’ve been in, “just stick around” would have been a perfectly valid answer. If you are allowed to make comments and suggestions, if you care about the other characters and remain involved, just sticking around might be okay. Also depends on how long your sessions usually last.
Some GMs have been known to hand NPCs to players who are out of character (pun intended). But I wouldn’t rush this, I’d give the player some time to reflect on his character’s death. After all, this can be a pretty strong and carthatic experience.
I’ll also say that if you play hard and you really try to succeed and then fail, well, of course there will be a bitter taste of disappointment. That’s the price to pay for the sweetness of victory you would have otherwise experienced. Refusing to accept the death and seeking mechanical means to overcome it may well be a just a sign that the players really cared. It’s like when you’re in a sports tournament of some sorts and you’re losing, and you’re blaming it all on the ref, and only after the heat of battle wears off can you accept he was only doing his job. (Please note that this phenomenon is in no way limited to Gamist play.)
- Frank
First Oni:
In the rare instances when my character has died in game, the GM said, "Ok... so you're playing this bad guy" and handed me a sheet. And then, i was still part of the action, trying to take out my friends as well. That's an interesting way to handle unexpected deaths i think.
NN:
Reading dindever's account, im thinking:
- why did the mortally wounded sniper decide to keep shooting?
- and if the snipers fanaticism is reasonable, did the party have a chance to know they were fighting a fanatic?
fjj:
Even in simulationist games, we tend to obey some fiction-based rules, not pure real world simulation.
Adam, in your game, would your players have accepted if the sniper made a one shot kill on the first exposed character?
Would your players have accepted some totally random but reasonable death cause? E.g. car crash, death from disease or infection? I.e. pointless death, where there is no sort of acknowlegdement by the players that they are putting their character at risk?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page