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Average Life Expectancy of your Players Characters?
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Fallon Kell
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

By the power vested in me as GM, by my two brothers, I declare those two characters dead, eaten slowly over the course of a week by carnivorous ducks.

Feel better now? Very Happy
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Kaloth Varsk
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 12:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
Sounds like those 2 were a bunch of a%%hats.


Yes. That was an accurate description. And 20 years later, I still remember it, so theey were good at filling that roll.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 12:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bringing this thread up to update you all on some of my more recent PC's that have died.. Two night game session for some buddies.. 3 total dead in that long session.
One died from going into a known area of airborn toxins saying :Well i am a gand i don't need to breath", forgetting i mentioned "THe toxins are absorbed through the skin, not the lungs". And after 3 rounds in it, eventually collapsed. No one got to him in time to save his butt.

the other 2, were from jet packing over to the neck of a pair of AT'AT's pounding the base they were defending, trying to set exposives on the neck to kill them.. (destroy them)..
First one went off without a hitch, but the demo'/damage roll didn't beat the AT-AT's hull roll..
Then they tried jet packing over to the 2nd at-at, and it shot at them.. The guy being carried forgot that the jet pack skill is what you use to DODGE enemy fire, not the dodge skill, when using jet packs.. Got hit by the AT-AT's chin laser cannon.. Both fell down mortally wounded, causing one to die from the fall, the other just bled out..

Then in my 2 ADND 2nd edition groups, one that started up last year around Sept time frame, but lasted only 16 weeks (till 3 of the group moved away/got into too much work and other stuff, leaving only 2 who didn't want to continue the group with just two players), and another i started up three months back..

For the first group; Had a Bard pc fleeing one battle (his bard character was wrote as a bit of a coward), while on an island KNOWN for having creatures on it akin to those flying beasts from the Riddick film, Pitch black. Got rumbled into by a 4 pack of them.. and since was on own, had no help.. Died very ignobiously.
Several other's died from fighting Giant scorpions, getting stung and failed their poison saves.. One died from fighting an ogre and getting critted (after already getting taken down into the low HP's from the rest of the battle).. And a LARGE # of henchmen died from fighting ghouls and 2 other types of undead (one a large skeleton like creature of my own making, that explodes, showering those who killed it in melee, with flaming shards of bone)..

For the 2nd group; i have had one player leave for a 2 mo period as his work seriously ramped up his weekend work due to a massive order coming in (he hopes to rejoin in mid august once things die down), so he allowed me to have his PC and his back up PC be 'killed to help further things along. Another pc died from ghouls (along with a DMNPC) in the same battle. 2 more henchmen and 1 man at arms died from fighting a large group of hob-goblins that the party just HAD to fight (they were seen but could easily have avoided the combat as THEY were on horses, while the Hobs were not, but they chose to fight 14 of them with a group of 5 of them)..
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Sutehp
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
Bringing this thread up to update you all on some of my more recent PC's that have died.. Two night game session for some buddies.. 3 total dead in that long session.
One died from going into a known area of airborn toxins saying :Well i am a gand i don't need to breath", forgetting i mentioned "THe toxins are absorbed through the skin, not the lungs". And after 3 rounds in it, eventually collapsed. No one got to him in time to save his butt.


That reminds me of that one scene in Prometheus where the guys enter the alien complex and find there's a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere inside and the asshats decide to take off their helmets. As soon as I saw that, I knew those morons were dead. Not that the atmosphere killed them, but anyone dumb enough to not realize that even in a breathable atmosphere there could still be lethal pathogens in the air was just Too Dumb To Live.

garhkal wrote:
the other 2, were from jet packing over to the neck of a pair of AT'AT's pounding the base they were defending, trying to set exposives on the neck to kill them.. (destroy them)..
First one went off without a hitch, but the demo'/damage roll didn't beat the AT-AT's hull roll..
Then they tried jet packing over to the 2nd at-at, and it shot at them.. The guy being carried forgot that the jet pack skill is what you use to DODGE enemy fire, not the dodge skill, when using jet packs.. Got hit by the AT-AT's chin laser cannon.. Both fell down mortally wounded, causing one to die from the fall, the other just bled out..


Ok, I can think of two similar situations, although there are any number of instances in media where someone stupid takes a long and lethal fall that I can't recall of the top of my head. The two I do remember: 1) anything involving Wile E. Coyote and 2) the Eighth Brother from the end of Rebels Season 2 still trying to fly away after his double-bladed lightsaber's ring mechanism got damaged. That guy deserved his Disney Villain Death.
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Volar the Healer
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 11:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Average length of a D6 character's life...Hmmmmmm.

I've run a campaign where all of the characters were dead in three games, and another where at least some of the original characters were still going after five years.

We lose one character maybe every four game nights, or so. Skilled players often survive where less experienced die by charging in recklessly.
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Bren
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Volar the Healer wrote:
We lose one character maybe every four game nights, or so. Skilled players often survive where less experienced die by charging in recklessly.
That's a pretty high rate of fatalities compared to what I've played or run. Sounds like your group could use a healer. Laughing
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My longest SW campaign ran seven years with five players and five PC who played all seven years.

Sure, we had some NPC fatalities. Several of them, in fact. But, not one PC died.

This was using SW R&E. CPs help keep a PC safe.
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Solo4114
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just have to say that I find this thread endlessly fascinating. There seems to be some genuine differences in GM styles, and from reading the 1E book (I've yet to get a chance to play or GM), the book itself treats PC death as something that should happen pretty infrequently, and only at plot-appropriate moments.

This stands in contrast to some of the attitudes here (and, to some extent, my own), which I think is great. It's nice to see such a variety of attitudes about the game.

Personally, just on my own gut instinct, I think I'd vary my approach based on who the party is. If you're GMing for kids...I think it really depends on the kids. How old they are, how capable they are of appreciating risks, and basically whether having their character die is gonna ruin their fun. I'd like to be able to get them to understand that character death isn't necessarily a horrible, game-ending, fun-ending thing. It's just something that happens in RPGs. Towards that end, I might just have them roll up a new PC if the old one died, and figure out how to work them into the campaign later. Or we could pre-generate a few PCs to rotate in, in the event that another dies.

With older players who are cool accepting the risks, I'd probably let things be more lethal. I expect they'd be better able to grasp the risks and not be as bothered if the dice came up against them.
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Solo, the D6 SW game is very versatile. You can easily make it as deadly or as heroic and non-deadly as you want it to be. With 2nd edition, it's easy to control how many Character Points a character gets.

First Edition is a deadlier game, in my opinion (some disagree), but it can still be quite a heroic game that emulates the heroes you see in the movies.
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Whill
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
Bringing this thread up to update you all on some of my more recent PC's that have died.. Two night game session for some buddies.. 3 total dead in that long session.
One died from going into a known area of airborn toxins saying :Well i am a gand i don't need to breath", forgetting i mentioned "THe toxins are absorbed through the skin, not the lungs".

Characters know things that their players don't know. Don't just trust me. Look it up. It's a part of RAW. Any Gand should know that their breathing apparatus would not protect them from toxins absorbed through the skin. But if you don't want to make it automatic, roll his knowledge for him to remember the in-game information about the airborne toxins, or survival for his instincts to kick in and stop himself from doing something suicidal. Come on, dude!

garhkal wrote:
...Then they tried jet packing over to the 2nd at-at, and it shot at them.. The guy being carried forgot that the jet pack skill is what you use to DODGE enemy fire, not the dodge skill, when using jet packs.. Got hit by the AT-AT's chin laser cannon.. Both fell down mortally wounded, causing one to die from the fall, the other just bled out.

So let me get this straight. The player said, "OK, can I roll my dodge?" And you say, "You may roll your dodge, sure (GM surpasses evil grin). Don't forget the MAP." The player says, "OK, my dodge roll is 11." You say, "Your dodge roll has no effect because you are in the air flying a jet pack and the jet pack skill is what you roll, not dodge. You are hit! Roll to soak..." Really?! You're going to kill a PC for saying the wrong skill name? There are evil GMs, and then there's garhkal.

If a player says, "Can I dodge the AT-AT's canon fire?" I would say, "Yes, roll your jet pack skill with the appropriate MAP." As GM, I am the final arbiter as to which skill applies in which situation. If a player describes what they want to try to do without game terms, or if he says the incorrect skill for the situation, I provide the correct skill name for them to roll. That's my job as GM. (And that's RAW too.) In my game, players do not have the power to roll the incorrect skill. Sure they can choose the incorrect action and it can go badly, but they roll the skill I tell them to roll for the action they declare.

You're evil, g. I didn't even read your D&D examples. If you are having a problem with PCs dying off in any game, I think it's safe to say the problem is you. But then again, the game probably wouldn't be that fun for you without PCs being maimed and killed.
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Whill
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:25 pm    Post subject: Re: Average Life Expectancy of your Players Characters? Reply with quote

tetsuoh wrote:
But I got to wondering, what is the average life expectancy normally for the characters in your campaigns?

I know combat is often deadly in star wars and I was wondering how most characters and gms work with that issue.

I've had PCs die in every campaign world, but not every campaign. Two PCs died over the course of my first WEG Star Wars campaign which had eight PCs total. A few campaigns later one ended in a near-TPK, but that tragic adventure was already planned to be the last of the campaign. I'm pretty sure that all of the rest of my campaigns have had 1 or 0 PCs die. (I've also had a handful of PCs cross over to the Dark Side which can be worse than death if the player makes a new PC and his old character comes back as an NPC antagonist to his new PC.)

I feel the goal of a GM is to try to balance the game such that PC deaths are minimal. If PCs are dying left and right then the GM should scale the challenges and enemies down a bit. Not being an evil GM helps their chances too.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 11:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whill wrote:

Characters know things that their players don't know. Don't just trust me. Look it up. It's a part of RAW. Any Gand should know that their breathing apparatus would not protect them from toxins absorbed through the skin. But if you don't want to make it automatic, roll his knowledge for him to remember the in-game information about the airborne toxins, or survival for his instincts to kick in and stop himself from doing something suicidal. Come on, dude! .


I actually DID. Told him "You do know your gand resistance vs toxins is only for those who don't breath, not for toxins absorbed through the skin".. His reply "That's why you have a high bloody stamina!..
Then proceeded to roll nuthin but 2s....

Whill wrote:
So let me get this straight. The player said, "OK, can I roll my dodge?" And you say, "You may roll your dodge, sure (GM surpasses evil grin). Don't forget the MAP." The player says, "OK, my dodge roll is 11." You say, "Your dodge roll has no effect because you are in the air flying a jet pack and the jet pack skill is what you roll, not dodge. You are hit! Roll to soak..." Really?! You're going to kill a PC for saying the wrong skill name? There are evil GMs, and then there's garhkal.


No he rolled Jet pack. All 4d+2 of it (8d+2 with scale. Vs 5d+2 gunnery +2d+2 fire control). I just got better. Then he rolled soak (3d+2 doubled as he popped a FP, while i rolled the 5d+2 gun +4d scale).. Took a MW but fell.. Same with the person he carried...

What made you think i forced him to roll dodge, then gleefully cackled away as i said "you doufus you should roll jet pack ops.. but too late you die"??
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Solo4114
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 8:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wajeb Deb Kaadeb wrote:
Solo, the D6 SW game is very versatile. You can easily make it as deadly or as heroic and non-deadly as you want it to be. With 2nd edition, it's easy to control how many Character Points a character gets.

First Edition is a deadlier game, in my opinion (some disagree), but it can still be quite a heroic game that emulates the heroes you see in the movies.


I haven't spent much time going through the 2E book, since I only have the basic 2E one, not the RE. It looked a bit more complex, to the point where I just said "meh, I'll focus on 1E." I might change my mind eventually, but I've been trying to listen to actual play podcasts of both 1e and 2e to figure out which sounds better (finding actual play podcasts of each is tricky -- 2e seems easier to find than 1e). Otherwise, I'm just gonna have to get into a game eventually and figure out which I like better, but that's difficult given the time I have available.

Basically, my WEG Star Wars experiences are likely to come a good bit in the future, but I'm curious to learn about it now as much as I can.
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 8:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Solo4114 wrote:
I haven't spent much time going through the 2E book, since I only have the basic 2E one, not the RE. It looked a bit more complex, to the point where I just said "meh, I'll focus on 1E."


All the D6 Star Wars editions are great games. It just depends on the level of detail that you require.

Think of First Edition as bare bones, slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am swashbuckling action. First Edition is my preferred edition, having played a lot of D6 SW using all the editions at different points.

Even First Edition has its "versions". There's the Rules Upgrade, and there's the Rules Companion for First Edition.

With each addition of rules, the rules as a whole do become more complicated, more crunchy. They're still good games, but with Second Edition and beyond, you'll be throwing more dice for a task, using more total skills, and having more rolls for things. You add the Wild Die to the mix, Skill Specialization, and Character Points. You roll for sensor scans. You roll for initiative in a more traditional way. Etc.

It's still a fun game, but more complicated.



If it were me, I'd learn First Edition first, and then grow into Second Edition later.

My personal path took me from First Edition, to Second Edition R&E, and then back to First Edition.
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Solo4114
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 11:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wajeb Deb Kaadeb wrote:
Solo4114 wrote:
I haven't spent much time going through the 2E book, since I only have the basic 2E one, not the RE. It looked a bit more complex, to the point where I just said "meh, I'll focus on 1E."


All the D6 Star Wars editions are great games. It just depends on the level of detail that you require.

Think of First Edition as bare bones, slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am swashbuckling action. First Edition is my preferred edition, having played a lot of D6 SW using all the editions at different points.

Even First Edition has its "versions". There's the Rules Upgrade, and there's the Rules Companion for First Edition.

With each addition of rules, the rules as a whole do become more complicated, more crunchy. They're still good games, but with Second Edition and beyond, you'll be throwing more dice for a task, using more total skills, and having more rolls for things. You add the Wild Die to the mix, Skill Specialization, and Character Points. You roll for sensor scans. You roll for initiative in a more traditional way. Etc.

It's still a fun game, but more complicated.



If it were me, I'd learn First Edition first, and then grow into Second Edition later.

My personal path took me from First Edition, to Second Edition R&E, and then back to First Edition.


I lean towards 1E or one of its variants. The concept of the "wild die" sounds...not great. Although admittedly, I haven't seen/heard it in practice. I don't mind a bunch of detail in a game, either, but I'm more inclined towards the "rulings, not rules" approach of gaming. I'll likely investigate 2E more closely when I have more familiarity with 1E. Right now, my main issue is needing to see it/experience it in action.
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