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Death and Dying

After reading this article, I took some time to think about character death again.  Here are some observations:

  • I've said it before and I'll say it again.  There are two reasons a character should die:  because they did something stupid or because they sacrificed themselves for the greater good.
  • Zirul and Ally died on Friday nights because they made a frontal assault on a keep and were hit by a fireball.  This was an ill-advised course of action, and they should have had defenses against that level of magic.  Verdict:  death by poor planning.
  • Kyte and Durgen died on Monday night in an assault by Frost Giants that were way above their level. They had the option of running below deck to safety, but stood fast and got pounded.  Verdict: death by forgetting they may need to sometimes run away.
  • I had to have my character kill another character in a previous game I played in.  The character in question didn't fit into the campaign and the GM hung the player out to dry, basically bringing his character in as a villain with no redeeming value to the party.  Bringing in this character was stupid, but it wasn't the other player's fault.  Verdict:  death by GM.
  • Death has to be a constant threat.  This is motivation to play your character well.
  • Death is a balancing force.  Take Don the Magnificent on Friday Nights.  Without a constant threat of death, there wouldn't be a balance to Don's unbelievable social skills.
  • Death makes healing and resurrection important.
  • Death is a restoring force.  It sweeps old things and brings in new, which is important to keep any game interesting.
  • Death is still sad.  Good characters and bad characters die.  Losing a constant character, especially one that's been around for a while, affects the GM and players alike.
  • There will be death coming soon in one of my campaigns.  Things are going to get dangerous and someone needs to die to punctuate how serious the situation is.
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Comments

  1. poetasiemFebruary 22, 2013 at 4:52 AM

    I'll work on another character for Friday then. Still working with just Core, Advanced, and the Gear vault, I assume?

    Not really sure what to do, but part of me really just wants to go down the bard rout again, since it is after all good to have the bonuses. On the flip side, I've played quite a few bards, so I'm thinking maybe about changing things up, perhaps making a character who "not words too good". No idea what class I'd make him, but really in the end it's all for fun, and even if you loose a whole party, at least you had fun along the way.

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    1. TherisnospoonFebruary 22, 2013 at 5:26 PM

      If we do lose a character, I hope the new characters are heavy on personality. We could use something to mix the party up a bit. Maybe a paladin...

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