diff -r 3164c82ac16e -r bdef1afd1170 draft/dream17jul03.txt --- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/draft/dream17jul03.txt Wed Aug 30 21:32:44 2006 -0400 @@ -0,0 +1,380 @@ +RPGnet + + + + Reviews Forums +News & Press Columns & +Info RPG Wiki + RPG Shop + + + + 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? + +Go to forum! + Go to Top | New Topic + | View Threads + | Search + + + Topics Author Date Latest Reply + cooldog cotangent + (1) new +cranial_index 01-31-2006 20:46 01-31-2006 20:46 new + CORONA (1) new +corn_chamomile 01-31-2006 20:25 01-31-2006 20:25 new + Fendi Spy Bags WHOLESALE@WizardReplica.com + (1) new 514 +12-02-2005 10:55 12-02-2005 10:55 new + Designer Handbags Wholesale@WWW.WIZARDREPLICA.COM + (1) new 868 +11-14-2005 19:41 11-14-2005 19:41 new + REPLICA HANDBAGS LOUIS VUITTON REPLICA WHOLESALE@ + (1) new 794 +10-20-2005 21:37 10-20-2005 21:37 new + Death/playing style + (1) new Searcher +09-22-2003 11:35 09-22-2003 11:35 new + Death and actual immortality + (3) new Cpl Ferro +07-19-2003 08:53 01-13-2006 15:22 new + Non-death death + (5) new Sérgio +Mascarenhas 07-18-2003 03:07 07-23-2003 02:38 new + Thanks, Hunter + (4) new Allan +Sugarbaker 07-16-2003 00:18 07-17-2003 19:34 new + Realism (3) new +Robin 06-20-2003 01:23 06-25-2003 02:34 new + Something you might have mentioned. + (3) new Yamo +06-19-2003 16:13 06-19-2003 18:11 new + BTW, excellent column, Hunter! + (2) new flyingmice +06-19-2003 13:11 06-19-2003 18:13 new + Armor and Damage Thereto + (2) new The Student +06-19-2003 08:45 06-19-2003 11:44 new + Armor (9) new +flyingmice 06-19-2003 08:29 06-20-2003 06:12 new + Death spiral and unconsciousness + (7) new Torben +Mogensen 06-19-2003 07:31 06-20-2003 06:52 new + lucky or skilled + (2) new rhyme +05-12-2003 18:49 05-13-2003 09:25 new + Absolute, unopposed and opposed + (2) new Torben +Mogensen 04-16-2003 02:19 04-16-2003 09:26 new + 0-9 open ended = brilliant! + (8) new Vibropod +03-12-2003 10:41 07-18-2003 01:28 new + Smooth rerolls + (10) new Torben +Mogensen 03-12-2003 00:47 03-16-2003 23:57 new + Resolution Mechanics + (8) new Kyle +Schuant 03-11-2003 22:14 03-29-2003 21:28 new + + Go to Top | New Topic + | View Threads + | Search + + + Newer Messages + | Older Messages + + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + Previous columns + + * #8: True Death by Hunter + Logan, 17jul03 + * #7: Assessing Damage by + Hunter Logan, 19jun03 + * #6: Putting Theory to the Test + by Hunter Logan, 12may03 + * #5: Resolution Mechanics II + by Hunter Logan, 14apr03 + * Resolution Mechanics I + by Hunter Logan, 11mar03 + * Player Goals by Hunter + Logan, 10feb03 + * Balance of Power by + Hunter Logan, 20jan03 + * Play Flow First by + Hunter Logan, 01jan03 + + + Other columns at RPGnet + +[ Read FAQ | Subscribe to RSS + | Contact Us | +Advertise with Us ] + +Copyright © 1996-2006 RPGnet & individual authors, All Rights Reserved +RPGnet® is a registered trademark of Skotos Tech Inc., all rights reserved. +