Partly inspired by Krakajak's and Elliot's thread for various reasons.

In my current OtE game it dawned on me that "pc death" was not really what the pcs feared or bothered with the most. In fact only if the pcs screw up really badly, only then could "death" be a possibility.

What is important for the players for various reasons of their own, are the goals of the campaign. Conflicts do not necessarily mean death...check that...most times conflicts do not necesarily mean death and this to me at least, is a refreshing change from most of the games I have run.

It's strange I always assumed that pc death was the sole motivating factor for keeping a game tension filled and exciting, but this current campaign has really taught me a lot....exactly what, I'm not too sure.

Anyone else run non pc death games or is it not really an rpg campaign if you have

Regards,
David R

Death is always a possibility in my games, though I am not sure if the players believe me, since every time they've entered some dreadfully dangerous combat the dice favoured them.

Still - as you say - the real tension has been in other areas, for example trying to manipulate the situation so that they could reconcile two or three different duties and aims which seemed impossible to fit together. Or bumping into someone they'd framed for a crime he didn't commit - that got some tension.

I'd even go so far as to say that PC death is one of least tension-creating things, if the PCs have got any other aims or goals at all.

I mean you can always roll up another character, but if you were (say) trying to make Robert the Bruce King of Scotland and he fell in battle, then there's no coming back from it. You've failed.

Quote from: JimBobOzStill - as you say - the real tension has been in other areas, for example trying to manipulate the situation so that they could reconcile two or three different duties and aims which seemed impossible to fit together. Or bumping into someone they'd framed for a crime he didn't commit - that got some tension.

(Bolding mine) I think (and I may be wrong) that most GMs (games ?) fail to appreciate this fact.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David RAnyone else run non pc death games or is it not really an rpg campaign if you have

Well, it may still be an RPG campaign, but I may feel like I am running it with one hand tied behind my back when it comes to creating tension and excitement in the players.

It is sort of odd the prevalence of the "to the death" mentality in RPGs.

Quote from: J ArcaneIt is sort of odd the prevalence of the "to the death" mentality in RPGs.

As a player, I have to confess to several of what could be considered suicide bombings.

The most notable example being that one train fight. Grappling a villain might not have been the best course of action, considering the imminent explosion. Then again, he didn't come away from that fight either.

Quote from: beejazzAs a player, I have to confess to several of what could be considered suicide bombings.

The most notable example being that one train fight. Grappling a villain might not have been the best course of action, considering the imminent explosion. Then again, he didn't come away from that fight either.

I actually once commited an actual suicide bombing with one of my Vampire LARP characters.  

Mainly because I was tired of playing him.

Quote from: J ArcaneIt is sort of odd the prevalence of the "to the death" mentality in RPGs.

Which is what I was trying to get at...and it took you one line.

Regards,
David R

I like death being a possibility - but not a probability - for reasons other than tension. There are many ways to build tension. Since I run games entirely in the realistic-to-cinematic spectrum, I like the possibility of death to keep the PC actions in genre. They want to avoid death because it's the ultimate failure, not because it's death, if you know what I mean; but it serves to keep the PCs thinking about it and avoiding stupidly rash actions which would break the genre and/or the feel I am looking for. When they risk death, they choose to do so, knowing full well the consequenses of failure.

-clash

Maybe an example is in order. Let's say the pcs are a squad of detectives investigating a murder. Now the campaign is fairly  realistic ...the level of your average Law & Order tv show...so they are investigating, interviewing, gathering evidence etc. So in a sense you're taking death out of the equation and the goal of completing the investigation becomes the highest stake. *shrug* Maybe this is only relevent in more roleplaying intensive campaigns...

Regards,
David R

Hey, death is very popular in my campaigns. Really, not joking. It always created some interesting role-playing options and dramatic turn-overs.

Once we were playing in Antiquity-like World, where the Gods very pretty much like the Greek ones, even actively interfering into the world. Well, and one of the players has set the temple of the god of storms on fire. Now, this was something, which was really kind of a provocation and his character was fairly struck by lightining at that given moment. He than became kind of a hero for opposing gods, the rest of the group went to the netherworld (like Hades) to save his soul. So... really, it actually was something antcipating.

I've also killed two characters who accepted invitation from the dragon to join him for a dinner. Well, he like his toast crispy. But that was really deep in the past and players were as foolish as I was.

Death is always a possibility in my games, although it happens more in some than in others. It almost happened in this Friday's Exalted session but it turned out the player wasn't calculating his defense properly, so I had the bracers that should have saved him go ahead and save him but shatter in the process.

It depends on the players, but death is sometimes the weakest of punishments for failure. For some players it's a welcome chance to try out new rules and new combos on a new PC. For those players failure that leaves the character alive but hindered in some way is more threatening.

I think, perhaps, that the problem may being seeing them as mutually exclusive things. That is, one of the most interesting encounters I've recently had brought about a character issue through the threat of death.

The character jumped out of a burning building to save himself - only to realize he was being completely selfish and there were other people in there.  He actually ran back in the building to save others and almost died because of it. He later saved someone while he himself was dying solely out of the guilt he still felt at jumping from that building as his first reaction...

So the two can often be intertwined to great effect, IMHO, YMMV, etc.