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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!tektronix!orca!shark!brianp
From: brianp@shark.UUCP (Brian Peterson)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: Killing characters
Message-ID: <1139@shark.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 7-Nov-84 19:53:08 EST
Article-I.D.: shark.1139
Posted: Wed Nov  7 19:53:08 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 8-Nov-84 08:25:35 EST
References: <18@uwvax.UUCP>, <226@x.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 46

X   From: john@x.UUCP (John Woods)
X   > >                                                            My characters
X   > > usually avoid powerful-looking, unknown magic items, and there have been
X   > > adventures when the glory hogs wound up as hamburger...
X   
X   > Listen to that man!  Don't ever trust an innocent looking deck of cards.
X   > It's a major blow to ones-self to see a promising M-U die when his sticks
X   > all blow up (something which occurred this past weekend).  The wimpy
X   > characters that didn't touch the thing lived (and left the area).  The
X   > rest of us blew up.  Argh!!!!!!
...
X   But in playing in campaigns where 35th level Fighting Wizards abounded (no
X   kidding!), DMs had to throw in a lot of Instant Death to get even.  Playing
X   very conservative (except when the DM's flank was obviously exposed) in such
X   circumstances netted quite a haul.  Taking risks is obviously part of the
X   game, and a fun part -- but why stick your hand into a blender *before* you
X   figure out where the off-switch is?

Death of a character is pointless (unless the character itself is pointless).
How many people have ever read a story like this:
	  Once upon a time, Herbert went deep in the woods to kill the 
	vicious nasty monster that was eating up all his town's children.
	He did something stupid, and the vicious nasty monster ate him
	up, too.  The End.
Don't they usually last a bit longer:
	  Once upon a time, Herbert went deep in the woods to kill the 
	vicious nasty monster that was eating up all his town's children.
	He did something stupid, and the vicious nasty monster captured
	him, in order to torture him nastily, and maybe also take all
	of Herbert's treasures.  Then, a whole bunch of starving orcs
	came by, and killed the vicious nasty monster and ate it for
	dinner.  In the confusion, they forgot Herbert, who was left
	hanging by his toes from a tall tree.  He escaped, but didn't
	have any of his treasures anymore.  
	(Herbert can then proceed to get himself into more troubles...)
Playing these games is more than advancing in levels and trying to
simulate what "would" or "should" happen.  It is supposed to be
>fun.<  If the character is interesting, he should live.
(That doesn't mean let him get away unscathed.  To win all the time
is as boring as dying all the time.)
The idea (in the games I like to play, anyway) is >character development<
(like in English class), rather than rolling up PCs, and then rolling
up a way for it to die.

Brian Peterson  {ucbvax, ihnp4, }  !tektronix!shark!brianp
				    ^         ^