Random DM nagging.

[Anastasia]

Okay look, how many more posts does it need?

[Anastasia]

There we go.

[Anastasia]

Are any of you familiar with d10/d100 games?

[Anastasia]

7 years.

So much effort and time.

Lifasa is saved.

Congratulations!

[Nephrite]

At least it didn't take 9.

[Anastasia]

That karma would've suuuucked.

[Corwin]

Hurray!

[Anastasia]

I'm just glad we made it to see this day. Congratulations everyone!

[Anastasia]

Also remember to add the new ability you go to your sheets, y'all.

[Yuthirin]

Are any of you familiar with d10/d100 games?

Like the White Wolf games? Exalted, Vampire, etc?

[Anastasia]

Yeah, I guess. I just mean mechanically, not lore or anything.

[Anastasia]

Yuth, did you ever look at that PM I sent you last week?

[Iron Dragoon]

Anyone interested in a missed opportunity post?

[Anastasia]

So I'm going to try and write daily about various aspects of B3 and analyze them. This is mostly off the cuff, so I'm writing freestyle rather than deeply refining this. Using lists since why not?

PC Death in B3: Good or Bad?

Quick review, we had the following fatalities:

Willim (did not return, dead as a doornail).
Jaela (resurrected, died against a Nessian Pit Fiend).
Afina (kinda sorta died or would've died if not gone Fire, I'll include her here).
Muirfinn (while he technically didn't die, I'll include him here).
Lief (zombied by Lixer).

In short, I believe there's a few reasons to have PC death in this sort of game.

1. Consequences matter, and without consequences both positive and negative, combat becomes meaningless, as does much of the sort of battle conflict D&D is based around.
2. Drama. Death is a drama point everyone can relate to and understand, both IC and OOC. Death gives a chance for those angles to be explored.
3. As this is a planar game that deals with the afterlife, death can take on all sorts of additional angles that it can't in a nrmal game.

Do I think death was useful in B3? Here's some reasons why.

1. Combat was often taken more seriously, especially after a fatality. It makes you invest in because you know things are dangerous and you could die, which makes players try harder and throw more into making sure a combat isn't a PC's last. Likewise, dangerous non-combat situations are also taken more seriously for the same reason. After her little mess in Fire, I imagine Afina (and Eb) never took that sort of mystical location lightly again.
2. Deaths provided gravitas and reasons to react. Willim's demise meant something and hurt Aurora, as did Muirfinn and Lief's capture by Taelfagn. These were milestone events in the game that stand out even now, as would have Jaela and Afina passing had they not managed to resurrect or embrace Fire, respectively. Dying sucks, but I feel each PC death meant something and had an undeniable impact on the game and world.
3. It made the themes of overcoming mortality more meaningful later in the game. If you've read my analysis of B3's Tiers (seen here), you'll see that a theme of epic tiers is overcoming mortality. Death before hand is meant to contrast with this, as outsiders are largely beyond a permanent demise. A sense of apotheosis and ascension is meant to contrast with the mortal struggles of lower levels. In normal situations, if Taelfagn and say Jaela did battle, the loser would simply reform on their home plane.

Do I think death was perfect? Nah. It had some drawbacks.

1. Dying and losing PCs sucks. I know it, Yuth and Iddy know it, everyone knows it. I know it sucks, I don't disagree. Elrisa dying sucked, I had plans for her. Annalise dying sucked, even if I hit something of a wall with her. So on and so forth.
2. B3 was originally planned to only have generals as PCs. Needing replacement PCs put a pinch on this, as there was really no reasonable way to promote them short of blatantly OOC actions.
3. I don't really have a third here, but I want to keep the theme going.

I do think PC death in B3 was worthwhile in the end, even if a bitter thing best used sparingly and with the greatest consideration. Willim died in a tremendously dangerous raid to free Ilsenine and ultimately slay the Child of Lifasa. This was meaningful. Jaela died in the Burning Aeropolis to free over a thousand mortal captives of Hell. This was meaningful. Afina died in a quest that didn't matter much, but made a choice to avoid it that was the ultimate sacrifice she could make for the Crusade. That was meaningful. Muirfinn and Lief died because yes, Taelfagn and Hell itself is that terrifying if you walk into a trap, while Asmodeus is an unspeakable nightmare. Meaningful, but feels the least since I felt this one should have been avoided. Just unfortunate.

My main concern is if a PC dies and it was completely meaningless. A PC death that means something furthers the game and helps fuel the entire world. A meaningless PC death is...well, meaningless. It simply destroys rather than builds.

[Ebiris]

Afina respected the mystical nature of Magmasoul just fine. It was a great little adventure of stealth and action and intrigue as she used all her wiles to get down to the bottom of that place. There was bartering, bluffing, fighting, all done on different levels against different guardians and obstacles. Having her get shitcanned by a dispel right as she was gearing up to actually engage in an epic battle with the fallen solar put a real dampener on the whole thing.

Of course given how her excellent elemental journey panned out over the course of the game, it was probably for the best.

In terms of death, she did have a short term death of personality since fire-Afina had amnesia until Simmer managed a heal spell on her. It's actually a bit of a shame that got fixed so quickly, since it was fun to play a more innocent Afina for a little while there.