Captain Anorak's
Guide to Gaming
Player Charcater Mortality
Ah, this is a very thorny issue: when can player characters die
in games?
I see basically three answers to this question: (a) characters never
get killed no matter what they do; (b) characters can get killed if
they've put themselves at risk of being killed, but not
otherwise; (c) characters can get killed regardless of whether they've 'done anything
to deserve it', if the GM wants.
I find games where PC death is impossible rather annoying. There are GMs who will go
out of their way to stop charcaters dying, even if they get into lots of fights. This
pisses me off. I think that a game needs a feeling of risk. If you know that you can't
die whatever you do, where's the challenge? Imagine that a player character volunteers to
stay behind and guard the pass with his life while his friends get away. His character
expects to die, giving his life for his friends. The drama of this is lost if the player
knows he'll not get killed. It becomes humdrum. 'Oh I'll just stay behind and guard the
pass against the ravening hordes, I know I'll survive so it's no problem,' thinks the
player. This is feeble.
So if character death is acceptable, the question remains, should charcaters get killed
only when they've done something to bring it on themselves? Should the GM scruple against
just killing PCs, even if there is a good in-scenario reason for it, if the player has not
given him cause? This is tricky, and varies with game style. In a really gritty game set in
a bad world where people get fucked over and do not pass go, do not collect £200, I would
let characters get killed without a 'good reason'. In a lighter game I wouldn't. Of course,
most of my games are set in bad places where bad things happen.
What, then, constitutes just cause for character death? If a charcater gets through his
own choice into a fight with deadly weapons, he should certainly risk death. If he annoys
powerful people who are accustomed to have their enemies killed, he should risk death. In
some cases, I would say going into a dangerous area or doing a dangerous job means that a
characters is putting himself at death risk.
A related issue is how deadly the combat system is to player
characetrs: see
Vulnerability to Injury.