tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2053597527673588562.post8042945911406164535..comments2023-05-19T20:19:15.837-04:00Comments on Ars Magisterii: Death and DyingMagushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04807974921087213718noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2053597527673588562.post-71237655176965863242017-06-17T06:24:25.720-04:002017-06-17T06:24:25.720-04:00Death is an interesting conundrum in RPGs. On one ...Death is an interesting conundrum in RPGs. On one hand, it is the ultimate failure state (unless there's these "Cheap Ressurection Without Consequences" spells lying around), as it's the end of a character. On the other hand, it can feel pointless if you run later edition D&D in the "combat is the point of the game" way, and you were just killing some goblins in a unimportant side mission and one just randomly crits you and you die from full HP... <br /><br />I always try to make it so character deaths are only the players fault. Not just in the tactical sense, but also making it so when the character is staggering around at 0 HP the player chooses whether s/he wants to push on and keep fighting (risky!) or lie down in a corner and hold their wounds shut. It (hopefully) makes it feel more fair and like a gamble, rather than the "the plot demanded that you fight these dumb monsters and oops you died"-thing I have encountered sometimes. Your way is also an option, if you have more divided expectations of character death from your players. Otherwise, making it clear from the start of the campaign what kind of risk they can expect can help.<br /><br />This got a bit long and rambly, sorry. I might have to make a post on this too...(am I confused or has there been a lot of death-rules posts lately?)<br />Old Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06648431931967689768noreply@blogger.com