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DFRPG / Re: Non-Standard Settings?
« on: April 29, 2011, 07:55:56 AM »
Also difficult to pull off a Norse god who doesn't die in Ragnarok.
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Well, they let you give stunts effects that are more like those of powers. A bit stronger, and not as limited to simple skill bonuses.Can't you just have stunts that do that without being locked into a tree structure?
What's more, they let mortals specialize better.
Mortals should get cool stuff too.
But he was crippled - forced to take an extreme consequence involving his hand and a fear of fire magic.Think of those reoccuring characters as PCs, and it's dramatic, yes. I agree that risk of character death is a method you can use to create drama; I don't think anyone'd argue that it doesn't work. What I'm saying is that there are alternatives. If you instead imagine that Harry and Murph are the PCs and everyone else is an NPC, you can see the sort of thing I mean
And if you replace "PC" with "Reoccurring Character" then there have been deaths and cripplings. Murphy's partner - I thought he'd be wisecracking to the end of the series, but he went down in book two. Knights of the Cross have constantly put themselves in the line of fire and (as of Small Favors) two of the swords lack welders. Susan - who would have thought that the girlfriend who pushed her luck time after time would ever run out of luck and become RCI? Or Thomas, who's "All right, I'm captured" concession led to torture?
Think of those reoccurring characters as PCs and you'll see where the drama comes from.
Richard
If you're playing a game where you know that your character will not be crippled or killed - then where's the stakes? I'm not saying it needs Call of Cthulhu levels of PC death, but if you know that your PC will never die then where's the drama?
When Harry Dresden goes into a fight you know that people can get hurt and maybe die. Over the series some reoccurring characters have been hurt, crippled, or killed. Sometimes the innocent victim can't be saved. Sometimes bystanders get hurt.And yet Harry hasn't died. There are more ways to lose than being killed; sometimes losing a character who's mportant to the PC can be just as bad, or worse. I'm not saying that works for all games, it depends on the predilections of the group; but for some groups, it's the best way to do things. If I've spent a lot of time working on a character, I'd have a lot more fun if he fails tragically than if he dies, in general.