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11 |
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12 The Impossible Dream |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 #8: True Death |
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16 |
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17 *by Hunter Logan* |
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18 Jul 17,2003 |
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19 |
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20 |
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21 In most rpgs, characters can die. Whether they ever actually do or not |
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22 is largely a matter of design philosophy, player skill and GM/player |
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23 desire. In any case, this installment is all about character death. |
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24 |
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25 Defining Death |
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26 It's a good idea to begin with a definition of character death. On one |
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27 hand, a character is dead when he meets the conditions for death |
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28 according to the game's rules. That's when the character runs out of hit |
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29 points or fails the critical saving throw, or something similar. On the |
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30 other hand, death is not always the end. So, I thought about my own |
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31 definition for character death. |
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32 |
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33 I think a character is only truly dead when he is permanently removed |
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34 from the player's control. Death is not really about the character's |
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35 mind or body; it's about playability. A character can be bent, twisted |
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36 or mutilated as much as anyone wants. As long as the player can still |
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37 play the character, that character is still alive. When the player can't |
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38 play that character any more, then the character is truly dead. |
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39 |
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40 This definition may cause problems. If a character dies but only stays |
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41 dead long enough to get resurrected, then I say the character isn't |
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42 really dead. Yet, the player is inconvenienced and may need to play |
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43 another character to stay active in the game. Meanwhile, a character may |
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44 lose all of his humanity and become an NPC for the rest of the game. |
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45 Even though that character is still alive, I say that character is truly |
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46 dead because the player can't play that character any more. This |
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47 definition affects my approach to character death. |
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48 |
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49 Approaching Death |
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50 Most designers (and GMs) have a philosophy on death for their games. |
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51 Sometimes, the PC's life is fragile and characters are easy to kill. |
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52 Other times, the PC's life is rugged and characters are extremely hard |
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53 to kill. Sometimes, death is serious business. Other times, it's a |
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54 source of humor. Sometimes death is permanent. Other times, it's a |
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55 doorway to character evolution. Here are some factors that a designer |
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56 may consider when forming an approach to character death. |
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57 |
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58 *The Value of Life:* How important is the character? If the character is |
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59 important, then characters won't die very often - At least they |
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60 shouldn't die very often. If characters aren't that important, then they |
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61 might drop like flies. This works as a scale that runs from cheap to costly. |
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62 |
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63 * *Cheap:* It's not that the character is patently unimportant... |
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64 Well, maybe it is. But really, the character's life is just not |
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65 that important. It would be nice if the character could live |
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66 through the adventure; but if he doesn't, that's okay because the |
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67 character is easily replaced. This approximates the value of all |
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68 the cannon fodder in any game world. A game like Paranoia is a |
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69 good example. In that game, it seems the characters aren't that |
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70 important. Each player has several clones of his character and |
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71 half the fun is seeing how many different and creative ways a |
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72 character can die. |
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73 |
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74 * *Average:* The character is of some importance, if for no other |
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75 reason than the player spent an hour or more creating the |
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76 character. Thus, the character is expected to survive for a while. |
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77 From the designer's perspective, this is the default value. The |
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78 character is important, but a character can be killed at any time. |
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79 A game like /D&D/ exemplifies this attitude pretty well. It seems |
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80 that characters are important. The whole point of the game is for |
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81 players to keep the characters alive long enough to achieve |
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82 impressive high level and do amazing things. And yet, a character |
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83 is never important enough to truly cheat death. Under the right |
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84 circumstances, wandering monsters in random encounters can always |
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85 kill a character. |
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86 |
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87 * *Costly:* The character is extremely important - So important that |
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88 his death simply can't be left to random chance. At this point, |
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89 killing a character takes something extra. Maybe only an important |
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90 NPC or powerful monster can do it; or maybe it requires the |
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91 consent of the player. And on the flip side, maybe it's expensive |
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92 for characters to kill. Maybe when a character kills, he loses |
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93 something - humanity, sanity, whatever. Or maybe for a character |
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94 to kill, the player has to do spend a resource or roleplay the |
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95 kill in exquisite detail. Or maybe killing is illegal and the |
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96 criminal justice system in the game world is frighteningly |
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97 efficient at finding and punishing killers. |
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98 |
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99 *The Causes of Death:* How can a character die or otherwise fall out of |
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100 play? |
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101 |
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102 * *Death of the Body:* Of course, characters can almost always die |
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103 from physical trauma. Weapon hits and other injuries can usually |
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104 take out even the most powerful characters. |
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105 |
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106 * *Death of the Mind:* If physical death isn't bad enough, the |
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107 character can lose his mind. The classic example is /Call of |
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108 Cthulhu/. All characters will lose Sanity and eventually end up |
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109 insane, drooling and gibbering in the protective confines of |
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110 Arkham Asylum or some such place. |
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111 |
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112 * *Death of the Spirit:* This is one step beyond death of the mind |
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113 or body. Here, the character actually loses his inner spirit, his |
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114 very soul. This can happen to /Shadowrun/ characters when they |
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115 send their spirits into astral space. There, the character's |
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116 spirit can get into fights and die. If that happens, the meat body |
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117 is well suited for organ donation or medical experiments. On the |
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118 other hand, a character in a game like /Sorcerer/ can lose too |
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119 much humanity. When that happens, the character usually becomes an |
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120 NPC in the hands of the GM. He's not necessarily dead, but he |
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121 might as well be. |
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122 |
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123 *The Nature of Death:* As in TV shows, movies, and comic books, death is |
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124 not necessarily the end of an rpg character. In some games, characters |
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125 can be resurrected or brought back. In other games, the character may |
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126 live beyond death as a disembodied spirit, an undead, or as some sort of |
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127 supernatural creature. In a few games, characters even have serial |
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128 lives. Here are some ideas about the nature of death. |
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129 |
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130 * *Death is the End:* This is the most brutal way of handling |
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131 character death, and it's likely the most realistic. When the |
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132 character dies, the character is irrevocably lost. The player has |
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133 no way to raise, resurrect, recover, or return the character to play. |
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134 |
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135 * *Death is Temporary:* When the character dies, he is out of play |
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136 until someone cares enough to recover the character's life. In |
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137 this way, death becomes more like unconsciousness than death. This |
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138 is especially true when the means to bring the dead back to life |
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139 are cheap and plentiful. |
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140 |
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141 * *Death is only the beginning:* I think this was a tagline on the |
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142 cover of the /Kult/ rpg, but it refers to the notion that |
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143 characters do not really die when they are killed. Instead, the |
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144 dead characters live on in another form and possibly in another |
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145 place. So, when the character dies, he becomes something else. |
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146 |
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147 *The Decision to Die:* Who decides when and how a character dies? On the |
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148 surface, this seems easy. The vast bulk and majority of games put the |
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149 conditions for death in the rules. A character takes too much damage, |
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150 and he dies. A character loses too much Sanity and goes insane. In these |
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151 events, the character dies; but who or what actually decided the |
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152 character would die at that particular point in time? Was it a die roll, |
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153 the GM, or the player? |
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154 |
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155 * *The Dice:* Designers usually let the rules decide the conditions |
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156 for character death, and the decision-makers are often nothing |
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157 more than dice. Sometimes, one crappy die roll at the wrong time |
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158 is all it takes. Then the player must make a new character. This |
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159 is considered somewhat realistic. After all, in life we never |
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160 really know when or how we are going to die. It's even satisfying. |
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161 Players play to the best of their ability and make the best |
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162 decisions they can. Frequently, they don't mind the risk as long |
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163 as they have the chance to make decisions leading up to the event. |
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164 If the characters live, then it's a shiny victory. If the |
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165 characters die, it's a learning experience and maybe it adds |
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166 weight to the campaign. |
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167 |
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168 * *The GM:* Designers rarely give the GM sanction to blatantly kill |
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169 characters. /Cyberpunk 2020/ does have a note about killing |
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170 overpowered characters because the future is disposable, but that |
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171 sort of advice is unusual. In practice, the GM almost always has |
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172 the power to kill characters; and designers don't often address |
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173 the point. When is it okay for the GM to simply kill characters? |
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174 The answer for any situation will depend on the designer and the game. |
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175 |
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176 * *The Player:* Designers sometimes give players the right to choose |
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177 when, where, and how their characters will die. Of course, this is |
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178 grim business. Usually, players spend all their efforts keeping |
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179 their characters alive. Yet, the opportunity to give a character a |
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180 spectacular and worthy death appeals to some players. It's worth a |
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181 designer's time to at least consider the possibility when crafting |
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182 the rules for a new game. |
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183 |
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184 Avoiding Death |
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185 Just as designers consider all other factors of character death, |
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186 designers also consider methods players can use for avoiding character |
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187 death. Here are some possibilities: |
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188 |
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189 * *Expendable resources:* Give the players finite resources they can |
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190 use to cheat death. These might include plot points or victory |
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191 cards. When all else fails, the player can use one of these to |
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192 make the current problems go away. |
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193 |
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194 * *Manageable resources:* Give the players resources such as hit |
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195 points, humanity, or sanity. The players then have a measure of |
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196 responsibility or control over a character's life. |
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197 |
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198 * *Character abilities:* Give the characters abilities that players |
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199 can use to avoid death. These include magic spells, special |
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200 skills, and the like. |
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201 |
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202 * *Items:* Give the players items that can protect characters from |
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203 certain causes of death. This might be the cheap way to get the |
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204 job done, but it beats being dead. |
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205 |
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206 * *Saves:* Give the players an opportunity to save their characters. |
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207 The ubiquitous /saving throw/ is one way to do this. When faced |
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208 with something unpleasant, the player may roll dice to reduce or |
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209 eliminate the effect on the character. |
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210 |
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211 Integrating Death |
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212 Like any other part of a game, death can be integrated into the game |
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213 design. I don't think there's a play flow for death. When a character |
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214 dies, it's an outcome, not a process. Damage is part of the process; |
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215 death is a result of the process. Yet, processes surrounding death might |
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216 be part of a death flow. For example, a character is poisoned. The |
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217 player attempts to save against the poison. The save fails, so the |
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218 character is dying. Another character uses an item to stop the poison. |
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219 If the item works, the character is saved. If not, the character may die |
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220 after all. |
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221 |
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222 Planning for Death |
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223 As a final thought, designers might consider their plans for character |
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224 death. often, the plan is pretty simple: When the character dies, the |
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225 player writes up a new character. While this is a perfectly valid plan, |
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226 it's not always well suited to a particular game. Here are a few other |
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227 possibilities: |
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228 |
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229 * *Character Tree:* The player generates a group of characters. The |
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230 player then rotates these characters in and out of play. When a |
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231 characters dies, the player usually has the option to create a |
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232 replacement and add him to the tree. |
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233 |
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234 * *Improved Replacement:* The player creates a new character, but |
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235 the new character gets advantages based on how well the player |
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236 handled the old character. Of course, the player is encouraged to |
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237 play well because frequent character death will lead to weaker |
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238 replacement characters. |
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239 |
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240 * *NPC Replacement:* The player gets to continue play using an NPC |
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241 as his new character. This may work out pretty well, especially if |
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242 the NPC had a connection to the old character. In some games, |
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243 players may create or improve NPCs with money and equipment, so |
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244 the player has a vested interest in the NPC. Also, some GMs assign |
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245 NPCs to players, so the players inherit a sort of character tree. |
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246 The designer can always choose to formalize this sort of |
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247 relationship in the game's rules. |
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248 |
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249 * *Serial Replacement:* The player gets a new character that is |
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250 basically the same as the old character. |
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251 |
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252 The End? |
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253 This wraps up character death. If you have questions or comments, about |
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254 the article, please post them. I'm interested in what you have to say. |
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255 Thanks for reading, and especially thanks for all your comments and |
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256 discussion. |
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257 |
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258 Now, I have bad news. I don't like it, but this article wraps up my |
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259 column (at least for now). I haven't run out of words or topics, but I |
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260 have run out of time. I hope that after a few months, I'll be able to |
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261 pick up again; but I can't make any promises. Therefore, thanks to Aeon |
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262 and Allan Sugarbaker. Thank you for giving me the space to run my |
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263 articles. More important, thanks to everyone who has read my column. |
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264 Thank you for reading, and I really do hope you've enjoyed my articles. |
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265 Most important, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to write any |
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266 comments or discuss my column here in my little forum. Thank you for |
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267 caring. It's easy to ignore the columns, or to read without commenting. |
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268 It's something else to read a column and care enough to comment. I |
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269 appreciate the effort and your input! You have made this column all the |
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270 more worthwhile. |
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271 |
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272 |
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273 What do you think? <http://trio.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110> |
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274 |
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275 Go to forum! <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110> |
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276 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110> | New Topic |
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277 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=110> | View Threads |
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278 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110&collapse=0> | Search |
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279 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=110> |
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280 |
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281 Topics Author Date Latest Reply |
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282 cooldog cotangent |
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283 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=98&t=98> (1) new |
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284 cranial_index 01-31-2006 20:46 01-31-2006 20:46 new |
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285 CORONA <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=97&t=97> (1) new |
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286 corn_chamomile 01-31-2006 20:25 01-31-2006 20:25 new |
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287 Fendi Spy Bags WHOLESALE@WizardReplica.com |
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288 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=95&t=95> (1) new 514 |
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289 12-02-2005 10:55 12-02-2005 10:55 new |
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290 Designer Handbags Wholesale@WWW.WIZARDREPLICA.COM |
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291 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=94&t=94> (1) new 868 |
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292 11-14-2005 19:41 11-14-2005 19:41 new |
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293 REPLICA HANDBAGS LOUIS VUITTON REPLICA WHOLESALE@ |
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294 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=93&t=93> (1) new 794 |
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295 10-20-2005 21:37 10-20-2005 21:37 new |
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296 Death/playing style |
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297 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=92&t=92> (1) new Searcher |
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298 09-22-2003 11:35 09-22-2003 11:35 new |
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299 Death and actual immortality |
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300 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=89&t=89> (3) new Cpl Ferro |
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301 07-19-2003 08:53 01-13-2006 15:22 new |
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302 Non-death death |
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303 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=85&t=85> (5) new Sérgio |
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304 Mascarenhas 07-18-2003 03:07 07-23-2003 02:38 new |
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305 Thanks, Hunter |
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306 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=80&t=80> (4) new Allan |
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307 Sugarbaker 07-16-2003 00:18 07-17-2003 19:34 new |
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308 Realism <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=74&t=74> (3) new |
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309 Robin 06-20-2003 01:23 06-25-2003 02:34 new |
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310 Something you might have mentioned. |
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311 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=65&t=65> (3) new Yamo |
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312 06-19-2003 16:13 06-19-2003 18:11 new |
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313 BTW, excellent column, Hunter! |
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314 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=63&t=63> (2) new flyingmice |
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315 06-19-2003 13:11 06-19-2003 18:13 new |
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316 Armor and Damage Thereto |
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317 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=56&t=56> (2) new The Student |
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318 06-19-2003 08:45 06-19-2003 11:44 new |
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319 Armor <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=54&t=54> (9) new |
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320 flyingmice 06-19-2003 08:29 06-20-2003 06:12 new |
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321 Death spiral and unconsciousness |
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322 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=53&t=53> (7) new Torben |
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323 Mogensen 06-19-2003 07:31 06-20-2003 06:52 new |
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324 lucky or skilled |
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325 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=51&t=51> (2) new rhyme |
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326 05-12-2003 18:49 05-13-2003 09:25 new |
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327 Absolute, unopposed and opposed |
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328 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=48&t=48> (2) new Torben |
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329 Mogensen 04-16-2003 02:19 04-16-2003 09:26 new |
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330 0-9 open ended = brilliant! |
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331 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=31&t=31> (8) new Vibropod |
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332 03-12-2003 10:41 07-18-2003 01:28 new |
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333 Smooth rerolls |
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334 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=27&t=27> (10) new Torben |
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335 Mogensen 03-12-2003 00:47 03-16-2003 23:57 new |
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336 Resolution Mechanics |
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337 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=25&t=25> (8) new Kyle |
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338 Schuant 03-11-2003 22:14 03-29-2003 21:28 new |
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339 |
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340 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110> | New Topic |
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341 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=110> | View Threads |
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342 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110&collapse=0> | Search |
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343 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=110> |
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344 |
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345 Newer Messages |
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346 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110&t=98&a=1&> | Older Messages |
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347 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110&t=25&a=2&> |
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348 |
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349 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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350 |
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351 |
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352 Previous columns |
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353 |
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354 * #8: True Death </news+reviews/columns/dream17jul03.html> by Hunter |
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355 Logan, 17jul03 |
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356 * #7: Assessing Damage </news+reviews/columns/dream19jun03.html> by |
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357 Hunter Logan, 19jun03 |
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358 * #6: Putting Theory to the Test |
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359 </news+reviews/columns/dream12may03.html> by Hunter Logan, 12may03 |
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360 * #5: Resolution Mechanics II |
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361 </news+reviews/columns/dream14apr03.html> by Hunter Logan, 14apr03 |
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362 * Resolution Mechanics I </news+reviews/columns/dream11mar03.html> |
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363 by Hunter Logan, 11mar03 |
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364 * Player Goals </news+reviews/columns/dream10feb03.html> by Hunter |
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365 Logan, 10feb03 |
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366 * Balance of Power </news+reviews/columns/dream20jan03.html> by |
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367 Hunter Logan, 20jan03 |
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368 * Play Flow First </news+reviews/columns/dream01jan03.html> by |
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369 Hunter Logan, 01jan03 |
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370 |
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371 |
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372 Other columns </news+reviews/columns.html> at RPGnet |
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