7 thoughts on “Why would I kill you? That would only end your suffering.”

  1. 1) If characters never die the game loses suspense to its detriment.

    2) If characters die too often the game loses fun, also to its detriment.

    3) The mark of a good GM is to almost but not quite kill everybody once a session. Those are the “epic” sessions players talk about for years afterwards.

    So it is all about suspense.

    You may not believe me, but killing a character may be just what your campaign needs right now.

  2. When we start a new campaign, I always tell my players up front: “All dice will be rolled in the open and character death is a very real possibility.” And then I remind them of that each time they enter a life-threatening situation.

  3. This is one of the reasons I like Last Breath; it’s a way to come back from zero HP with a cost. Even on a 6-, you might get to make one parting shot to give your death a bit more meaning. I don’t have a problem with PCs dying, but dying undramatically isn’t terribly fun. 

  4. In the game I’m running, a few weeks back our Paladin died in single combat with the avatar of a vengeful god, having his shield arm bitten off. He failed his Last Breath, but I gave him one final action. He thrust forward his mighty sword Maestercard at his killer, and rolled a 4. Oh well.

    I gotta say, we’ve had characters die before, but this was a very poignant moment and it had a real effect on the players, never mind the other characters! The first thing the party decided to do after the battle, was find a way to resurrect him.I’m not going to make it easy for them, but it has driven the story along in a very natural way, with a goal that the players and party members want to achieve 😀

  5. “*Sweet Lovely Death*

    In Torchbearer, death is usually a mercy. So be merciless. When you have the opportunity to hurt the characters, don’t flinch. Strip them of their gear, stick them with conditions, introduce hair-raising twists and terrible compromises. It’s part of the fun of the game!”

  6. “The mark of a good GM is to almost but not quite kill everybody once a session. Those are the “epic” sessions players talk about for years afterwards.” 

    I SOOO much disagree with this in general and in DW specifically. 

  7. Tim Franzke

    ☺Happily people differ.

    The epic games that are talked about are the ones with epic fights, the daring escapes, that last crucial die roll that saved the day, 9 out of 10. Especially in DW which emulates old school dungeon crawling. Other games that are not as combat focused as DW and the old school games it emulates have different things that make them epic.

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