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+ The Impossible Dream
+
+
+ #8: True Death
+
+*by Hunter Logan*
+Jul 17,2003
+
+
+In most rpgs, characters can die. Whether they ever actually do or not
+is largely a matter of design philosophy, player skill and GM/player
+desire. In any case, this installment is all about character death.
+
+Defining Death
+It's a good idea to begin with a definition of character death. On one
+hand, a character is dead when he meets the conditions for death
+according to the game's rules. That's when the character runs out of hit
+points or fails the critical saving throw, or something similar. On the
+other hand, death is not always the end. So, I thought about my own
+definition for character death.
+
+I think a character is only truly dead when he is permanently removed
+from the player's control. Death is not really about the character's
+mind or body; it's about playability. A character can be bent, twisted
+or mutilated as much as anyone wants. As long as the player can still
+play the character, that character is still alive. When the player can't
+play that character any more, then the character is truly dead.
+
+This definition may cause problems. If a character dies but only stays
+dead long enough to get resurrected, then I say the character isn't
+really dead. Yet, the player is inconvenienced and may need to play
+another character to stay active in the game. Meanwhile, a character may
+lose all of his humanity and become an NPC for the rest of the game.
+Even though that character is still alive, I say that character is truly
+dead because the player can't play that character any more. This
+definition affects my approach to character death.
+
+Approaching Death
+Most designers (and GMs) have a philosophy on death for their games.
+Sometimes, the PC's life is fragile and characters are easy to kill.
+Other times, the PC's life is rugged and characters are extremely hard
+to kill. Sometimes, death is serious business. Other times, it's a
+source of humor. Sometimes death is permanent. Other times, it's a
+doorway to character evolution. Here are some factors that a designer
+may consider when forming an approach to character death.
+
+*The Value of Life:* How important is the character? If the character is
+important, then characters won't die very often - At least they
+shouldn't die very often. If characters aren't that important, then they
+might drop like flies. This works as a scale that runs from cheap to costly.
+
+ * *Cheap:* It's not that the character is patently unimportant...
+ Well, maybe it is. But really, the character's life is just not
+ that important. It would be nice if the character could live
+ through the adventure; but if he doesn't, that's okay because the
+ character is easily replaced. This approximates the value of all
+ the cannon fodder in any game world. A game like Paranoia is a
+ good example. In that game, it seems the characters aren't that
+ important. Each player has several clones of his character and
+ half the fun is seeing how many different and creative ways a
+ character can die.
+
+ * *Average:* The character is of some importance, if for no other
+ reason than the player spent an hour or more creating the
+ character. Thus, the character is expected to survive for a while.
+ From the designer's perspective, this is the default value. The
+ character is important, but a character can be killed at any time.
+ A game like /D&D/ exemplifies this attitude pretty well. It seems
+ that characters are important. The whole point of the game is for
+ players to keep the characters alive long enough to achieve
+ impressive high level and do amazing things. And yet, a character
+ is never important enough to truly cheat death. Under the right
+ circumstances, wandering monsters in random encounters can always
+ kill a character.
+
+ * *Costly:* The character is extremely important - So important that
+ his death simply can't be left to random chance. At this point,
+ killing a character takes something extra. Maybe only an important
+ NPC or powerful monster can do it; or maybe it requires the
+ consent of the player. And on the flip side, maybe it's expensive
+ for characters to kill. Maybe when a character kills, he loses
+ something - humanity, sanity, whatever. Or maybe for a character
+ to kill, the player has to do spend a resource or roleplay the
+ kill in exquisite detail. Or maybe killing is illegal and the
+ criminal justice system in the game world is frighteningly
+ efficient at finding and punishing killers.
+
+*The Causes of Death:* How can a character die or otherwise fall out of
+play?
+
+ * *Death of the Body:* Of course, characters can almost always die
+ from physical trauma. Weapon hits and other injuries can usually
+ take out even the most powerful characters.
+
+ * *Death of the Mind:* If physical death isn't bad enough, the
+ character can lose his mind. The classic example is /Call of
+ Cthulhu/. All characters will lose Sanity and eventually end up
+ insane, drooling and gibbering in the protective confines of
+ Arkham Asylum or some such place.
+
+ * *Death of the Spirit:* This is one step beyond death of the mind
+ or body. Here, the character actually loses his inner spirit, his
+ very soul. This can happen to /Shadowrun/ characters when they
+ send their spirits into astral space. There, the character's
+ spirit can get into fights and die. If that happens, the meat body
+ is well suited for organ donation or medical experiments. On the
+ other hand, a character in a game like /Sorcerer/ can lose too
+ much humanity. When that happens, the character usually becomes an
+ NPC in the hands of the GM. He's not necessarily dead, but he
+ might as well be.
+
+*The Nature of Death:* As in TV shows, movies, and comic books, death is
+not necessarily the end of an rpg character. In some games, characters
+can be resurrected or brought back. In other games, the character may
+live beyond death as a disembodied spirit, an undead, or as some sort of
+supernatural creature. In a few games, characters even have serial
+lives. Here are some ideas about the nature of death.
+
+ * *Death is the End:* This is the most brutal way of handling
+ character death, and it's likely the most realistic. When the
+ character dies, the character is irrevocably lost. The player has
+ no way to raise, resurrect, recover, or return the character to play.
+
+ * *Death is Temporary:* When the character dies, he is out of play
+ until someone cares enough to recover the character's life. In
+ this way, death becomes more like unconsciousness than death. This
+ is especially true when the means to bring the dead back to life
+ are cheap and plentiful.
+
+ * *Death is only the beginning:* I think this was a tagline on the
+ cover of the /Kult/ rpg, but it refers to the notion that
+ characters do not really die when they are killed. Instead, the
+ dead characters live on in another form and possibly in another
+ place. So, when the character dies, he becomes something else.
+
+*The Decision to Die:* Who decides when and how a character dies? On the
+surface, this seems easy. The vast bulk and majority of games put the
+conditions for death in the rules. A character takes too much damage,
+and he dies. A character loses too much Sanity and goes insane. In these
+events, the character dies; but who or what actually decided the
+character would die at that particular point in time? Was it a die roll,
+the GM, or the player?
+
+ * *The Dice:* Designers usually let the rules decide the conditions
+ for character death, and the decision-makers are often nothing
+ more than dice. Sometimes, one crappy die roll at the wrong time
+ is all it takes. Then the player must make a new character. This
+ is considered somewhat realistic. After all, in life we never
+ really know when or how we are going to die. It's even satisfying.
+ Players play to the best of their ability and make the best
+ decisions they can. Frequently, they don't mind the risk as long
+ as they have the chance to make decisions leading up to the event.
+ If the characters live, then it's a shiny victory. If the
+ characters die, it's a learning experience and maybe it adds
+ weight to the campaign.
+
+ * *The GM:* Designers rarely give the GM sanction to blatantly kill
+ characters. /Cyberpunk 2020/ does have a note about killing
+ overpowered characters because the future is disposable, but that
+ sort of advice is unusual. In practice, the GM almost always has
+ the power to kill characters; and designers don't often address
+ the point. When is it okay for the GM to simply kill characters?
+ The answer for any situation will depend on the designer and the game.
+
+ * *The Player:* Designers sometimes give players the right to choose
+ when, where, and how their characters will die. Of course, this is
+ grim business. Usually, players spend all their efforts keeping
+ their characters alive. Yet, the opportunity to give a character a
+ spectacular and worthy death appeals to some players. It's worth a
+ designer's time to at least consider the possibility when crafting
+ the rules for a new game.
+
+Avoiding Death
+Just as designers consider all other factors of character death,
+designers also consider methods players can use for avoiding character
+death. Here are some possibilities:
+
+ * *Expendable resources:* Give the players finite resources they can
+ use to cheat death. These might include plot points or victory
+ cards. When all else fails, the player can use one of these to
+ make the current problems go away.
+
+ * *Manageable resources:* Give the players resources such as hit
+ points, humanity, or sanity. The players then have a measure of
+ responsibility or control over a character's life.
+
+ * *Character abilities:* Give the characters abilities that players
+ can use to avoid death. These include magic spells, special
+ skills, and the like.
+
+ * *Items:* Give the players items that can protect characters from
+ certain causes of death. This might be the cheap way to get the
+ job done, but it beats being dead.
+
+ * *Saves:* Give the players an opportunity to save their characters.
+ The ubiquitous /saving throw/ is one way to do this. When faced
+ with something unpleasant, the player may roll dice to reduce or
+ eliminate the effect on the character.
+
+Integrating Death
+Like any other part of a game, death can be integrated into the game
+design. I don't think there's a play flow for death. When a character
+dies, it's an outcome, not a process. Damage is part of the process;
+death is a result of the process. Yet, processes surrounding death might
+be part of a death flow. For example, a character is poisoned. The
+player attempts to save against the poison. The save fails, so the
+character is dying. Another character uses an item to stop the poison.
+If the item works, the character is saved. If not, the character may die
+after all.
+
+Planning for Death
+As a final thought, designers might consider their plans for character
+death. often, the plan is pretty simple: When the character dies, the
+player writes up a new character. While this is a perfectly valid plan,
+it's not always well suited to a particular game. Here are a few other
+possibilities:
+
+ * *Character Tree:* The player generates a group of characters. The
+ player then rotates these characters in and out of play. When a
+ characters dies, the player usually has the option to create a
+ replacement and add him to the tree.
+
+ * *Improved Replacement:* The player creates a new character, but
+ the new character gets advantages based on how well the player
+ handled the old character. Of course, the player is encouraged to
+ play well because frequent character death will lead to weaker
+ replacement characters.
+
+ * *NPC Replacement:* The player gets to continue play using an NPC
+ as his new character. This may work out pretty well, especially if
+ the NPC had a connection to the old character. In some games,
+ players may create or improve NPCs with money and equipment, so
+ the player has a vested interest in the NPC. Also, some GMs assign
+ NPCs to players, so the players inherit a sort of character tree.
+ The designer can always choose to formalize this sort of
+ relationship in the game's rules.
+
+ * *Serial Replacement:* The player gets a new character that is
+ basically the same as the old character.
+
+The End?
+This wraps up character death. If you have questions or comments, about
+the article, please post them. I'm interested in what you have to say.
+Thanks for reading, and especially thanks for all your comments and
+discussion.
+
+Now, I have bad news. I don't like it, but this article wraps up my
+column (at least for now). I haven't run out of words or topics, but I
+have run out of time. I hope that after a few months, I'll be able to
+pick up again; but I can't make any promises. Therefore, thanks to Aeon
+and Allan Sugarbaker. Thank you for giving me the space to run my
+articles. More important, thanks to everyone who has read my column.
+Thank you for reading, and I really do hope you've enjoyed my articles.
+Most important, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to write any
+comments or discuss my column here in my little forum. Thank you for
+caring. It's easy to ignore the columns, or to read without commenting.
+It's something else to read a column and care enough to comment. I
+appreciate the effort and your input! You have made this column all the
+more worthwhile.
+
+
+ What do you think? <http://trio.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110>
+
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+ Topics Author Date Latest Reply
+ cooldog cotangent
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=98&t=98> (1) new
+cranial_index 01-31-2006 20:46 01-31-2006 20:46 new
+ CORONA <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=97&t=97> (1) new
+corn_chamomile 01-31-2006 20:25 01-31-2006 20:25 new
+ Fendi Spy Bags WHOLESALE@WizardReplica.com
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=95&t=95> (1) new 514
+12-02-2005 10:55 12-02-2005 10:55 new
+ Designer Handbags Wholesale@WWW.WIZARDREPLICA.COM
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=94&t=94> (1) new 868
+11-14-2005 19:41 11-14-2005 19:41 new
+ REPLICA HANDBAGS LOUIS VUITTON REPLICA WHOLESALE@
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=93&t=93> (1) new 794
+10-20-2005 21:37 10-20-2005 21:37 new
+ Death/playing style
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=92&t=92> (1) new Searcher
+09-22-2003 11:35 09-22-2003 11:35 new
+ Death and actual immortality
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=89&t=89> (3) new Cpl Ferro
+07-19-2003 08:53 01-13-2006 15:22 new
+ Non-death death
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=85&t=85> (5) new Sérgio
+Mascarenhas 07-18-2003 03:07 07-23-2003 02:38 new
+ Thanks, Hunter
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=80&t=80> (4) new Allan
+Sugarbaker 07-16-2003 00:18 07-17-2003 19:34 new
+ Realism <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=74&t=74> (3) new
+Robin 06-20-2003 01:23 06-25-2003 02:34 new
+ Something you might have mentioned.
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=65&t=65> (3) new Yamo
+06-19-2003 16:13 06-19-2003 18:11 new
+ BTW, excellent column, Hunter!
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=63&t=63> (2) new flyingmice
+06-19-2003 13:11 06-19-2003 18:13 new
+ Armor and Damage Thereto
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=56&t=56> (2) new The Student
+06-19-2003 08:45 06-19-2003 11:44 new
+ Armor <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=54&t=54> (9) new
+flyingmice 06-19-2003 08:29 06-20-2003 06:12 new
+ Death spiral and unconsciousness
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=53&t=53> (7) new Torben
+Mogensen 06-19-2003 07:31 06-20-2003 06:52 new
+ lucky or skilled
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=51&t=51> (2) new rhyme
+05-12-2003 18:49 05-13-2003 09:25 new
+ Absolute, unopposed and opposed
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=48&t=48> (2) new Torben
+Mogensen 04-16-2003 02:19 04-16-2003 09:26 new
+ 0-9 open ended = brilliant!
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=31&t=31> (8) new Vibropod
+03-12-2003 10:41 07-18-2003 01:28 new
+ Smooth rerolls
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=27&t=27> (10) new Torben
+Mogensen 03-12-2003 00:47 03-16-2003 23:57 new
+ Resolution Mechanics
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=110&i=25&t=25> (8) new Kyle
+Schuant 03-11-2003 22:14 03-29-2003 21:28 new
+
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+
+ Newer Messages
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110&t=98&a=1&> | Older Messages
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=110&t=25&a=2&>
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+ Previous columns
+
+ * #8: True Death </news+reviews/columns/dream17jul03.html> by Hunter
+ Logan, 17jul03
+ * #7: Assessing Damage </news+reviews/columns/dream19jun03.html> by
+ Hunter Logan, 19jun03
+ * #6: Putting Theory to the Test
+ </news+reviews/columns/dream12may03.html> by Hunter Logan, 12may03
+ * #5: Resolution Mechanics II
+ </news+reviews/columns/dream14apr03.html> by Hunter Logan, 14apr03
+ * Resolution Mechanics I </news+reviews/columns/dream11mar03.html>
+ by Hunter Logan, 11mar03
+ * Player Goals </news+reviews/columns/dream10feb03.html> by Hunter
+ Logan, 10feb03
+ * Balance of Power </news+reviews/columns/dream20jan03.html> by
+ Hunter Logan, 20jan03
+ * Play Flow First </news+reviews/columns/dream01jan03.html> by
+ Hunter Logan, 01jan03
+
+
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