As someone said earlier, expecting the sort of roleplaying you get face to face in an online game may be expecting entirely too much. That said, you could argue that in a game universe where cloning and/or ressurection are commonplace Zander's character is the odd one: 'normal' people might regard him as suffering from Thanatophobia: an unreasonable and irrational fear of death.
As to how death should happen in RPGs: I was appalled when I read in the rules for HEROQUEST a statement that's been repeated here: 'Death should never be the result of a die roll'.
In my opinion having a model of how the universe works and a set of game mechanics that allow you to determine randomly how death comes and to whom is the only thing that makes RPGs capable of handling death at all. Because if I have to say to my players 'Artistically speaking, I think your characters should die now' then it will shortly kill any sign of friendship I have with my players. Let us agree the rules and then let us play. And let the dice decide....
Michael Cule GM for Hire Gaming Dinosaur Second Class
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branchandroot
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Date: 2005-07-28 12:10 pm (UTC)As to how death should happen in RPGs: I was appalled when I read in the rules for HEROQUEST a statement that's been repeated here: 'Death should never be the result of a die roll'.
In my opinion having a model of how the universe works and a set of game mechanics that allow you to determine randomly how death comes and to whom is the only thing that makes RPGs capable of handling death at all. Because if I have to say to my players 'Artistically speaking, I think your characters should die now' then it will shortly kill any sign of friendship I have with my players. Let us agree the rules and then let us play. And let the dice decide....
Michael Cule
GM for Hire
Gaming Dinosaur Second Class