Player Character Deaths

[General Pain]

I thought a discussion on this could be in order....I'm kind determing the value of a well-played and designed character with a good story behind it and the value of ,well, a dead character...

Some GMs out there (you know who you are) snuff their players on a whim and others can't stand the thought of players dying...

your thoughts...

[Targan]

I have no problem with PCs dying but I find that in my current campaign the PCs of certain players have a much higher death rate than others. The player of Major Po is still on his first character. My brother is onto his second character. The player of Po's XO Lt Cdr Jones is on his third character. The player of Lt Cdr Black is onto his... fifth character? Maybe sixth? I can't remember for sure but his characters seem to die regularly. I think it has a lot to do with player style. The player of Major Po is a highly intelligent, crafty bugger. Hence Po's longevity I think.

[cavtroop]

Originally Posted by General Pain

I thought a discussion on this could be in order....I'm kind determing the value of a well-played and designed character with a good story behind it and the value of ,well, a dead character...

Some GMs out there (you know who you are) snuff their players on a whim and others can't stand the thought of players dying...

your thoughts...

When I GM (which is hardly ever nowadays), I play it by ear. If the PC/player does something stupid, overlooks something very obvious, or plain makes a horrid decision, I'll have no qualms killing them.

Generally if its something out of the PC's control I'll generally let it slide, though I will usually take the worst possible result not resulting in death. Sometimes though I'll let it slide completely, if the player is playing especially well/in character, or the PC is really well fleshed out with a strong background, etc and dies on the first mission.

[Mohoender]

No problem killing PCs but that is not a rule.

If a player, even facing almost certain death, comes up with a great idea and acts in a tremendous way I would not have him killed unless there are no other way.

In regular situation, death is always close.

If a player get painful (in some way; choose which one ), He'll be quickly killed and he 'll find out that someone can be killed by a stone dropping from the sky in the middle of a flat desert. Actually, he'll have a good chance to face a platoon of T-90 supported by heavy artillery while having only a single empty pistol.

To give you an idea, I end up with dead character even when I GM starwars.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

To give you an idea, I end up with dead character even when I GM starwars.

But in Star Wars even death doesn't end the roleplaying opportunities. You just turn up as a glowing blue dude from time to time (such as Ewok victory celebrations and the like).

[kato13]

Originally Posted by Targan

You just turn up as a glowing blue dude from time to time (such as Ewok victory celebrations and the like).

Ah a fate worse than death, gotcha.

[Caradhras]

With my present campaign there have been no deaths yet, finished the Polish stuff from Kalitz to B Madonna/Going Home including a fair bit of my own thrown in and they have done Lone Star Red Star and presently on Gateway to the Spanish Main. Ok, there have been a few times a char has been in hospital equivilent for extended stays including a few close shaves, one char having a severely disfigured face where half his jaw was shot off

I have followed the rules to the letter and as such eventually one of them is going to get unlucky - it will pose a problem for me though as they have buil considerable experience and a replacement char is going to be weak in comparison (I hate giving a player a boosted new char to fit). Not sure how I will deal with it tbh.

In all RPGs I have played the element of death/risk has to be ever present....or it will be boring.

I remember once running a Rolemaster campaign in Middle-Earth where the PCs were sacking a village, this imba PC was slaying all and sundry in his mithril armour and magical sword when a peasant with a lump of wood crushes his skull...dead. It took like 3 or 4 consecutive rolls of 96-00 on % dice but - hey , sh*t happens

[Targan]

My players know full well that Gunmaster is a deadly system and a single stray bullet can end things very quickly for their characters. Most of them now play their characters with extreme sneakiness and efficiency. It makes me proud to see it because only one of them other than myself has any RL military experience - and he is the one who has had five of his characters die. He tends to play with a very gung ho style though and I have to admit all but one of his character deaths were heroic and spectacular.

[General Pain]

Originally Posted by Targan

But in Star Wars even death doesn't end the roleplaying opportunities. You just turn up as a glowing blue dude from time to time (such as Ewok victory celebrations and the like).

horrible.....

[weswood]

It's been years since I GM'd a game of any type, but I try to keep PCs alive unless they take stupid risks. Or if the player themself is anoying.

My very first character in my very first RPG got killed 5 minutes into the game. I thought, I spent 30 minutes rolling dice for this crap?????

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by Targan

But in Star Wars even death doesn't end the roleplaying opportunities. You just turn up as a glowing blue dude from time to time (such as Ewok victory celebrations and the like).

For that, you must be a powerful Jedi and those are long gone memory. Anyway, in my last campaign, my PCs failed and the Empire won over the Rebels.

[Caradhras]

Dark endings are far more memorable.

I ran a looong AD+D campaign (original edition)where the chars got eventually to virtual demi-god status (lvl18 etc) and were effectively unplayable. Therefore, as the mythos of their world was Norse, they ended up fighting in the last battle of Ragnarok alongside their Gods against the evil Gods and their minions. All died heroic deaths :P