Death in Roleplays - A Discussion

[Gaz]

Hi there, everyone. Just thought I'd open up a little friendly discussion about deaths in Roleplays, and whether or not people consider them acceptable.

If you start a Roleplay, onexone or otherwise, do you ever have character death as a possibility? As an extension, would you ever be willing to play in a potentially deadly Roleplay, knowing that there is a chance your character may die?

Obviously, whether or not deaths are acceptable depends heavily on the story, setting and tone. A group RP about some friends relaxing after work wouldn't be very fun if someone jumped in with a bomb and murdered everyone for no reason, as an extreme example.

One of the most common rule I've seen for roleplays both here and elsewhere on the net is "don't kill other player's characters without permission", which is a very fair rule in most cases. After all, Roleplaying is usually a collaberative effort and it's rather dickish just to murder another player's character without even letting them have a chance to defend themselves.

On the other hand, some RPs can be competative, where you may not exactly be working alongside your fellow players all the time. Imagine a murder mystery Roleplay with a serial killer on the loose, or a scenario where people had to kill others in order to survive. Would you be willing to play in that situation? How would you manage deaths? Would one player take a "Gamemaster" role, or would players have to decide for themselves who lives and who survives?

In more action packed RPs, do prefer having your characters in genuine risk, with real possibility of injury or death? Or do you rather the implication of danger, without any real chance for serious harm?

If a player's character did die in a roleplay, particularly a group Roleplay, would you allow them to continue playing as another character (or a ghost or spirit if the setting allowed, perhaps), or would that be it for them? If your character died and you had a chance to continue writing as another, would you take it or would you rather stop there?

Sorry it's a little wordy without giving my own opinions yet. I'd very much like to hear your thoughts :)

 

[Art in Music]

Character death should always be a possibility. A character's death is their most important and powerful moment in their whole story. Death happens, and it's silly to think that just because it's your character, they'll never die. The only reason not to have death as a possibility is if you already have an extensive story planned out for your character that you want to tell first.

As far as PVP battles in role plays, I won't do them unless, A: We're both abiding by a set rule system we've agreed upon and thus fight on fair grounds; or, B: We've already decided, OOC, who will win, whether or not the loser will die, and any other necessary details to know about a battle. But then, I highly emphasize OOC discussions and planning with fellow role players in most cases, because doing so can highly improve the quality and story. As far as competitive role plays, you can use rule systems, which can be considerably simple, to even the playing field and make PVP fair. Things like stating in spoilers what ability/abilities your character's employing against the other, which you describe, or already have described. It's also good to establish Rules of Engagement and such in potentially PVP role plays.

Edit:

Spoiler

(Example) Merrick, through a series of hand gestures and foreign mumbling, began to conjure arcane flames about his hands, which he worked into the shape of a large orb and threw at his opponent.

Spoiler

Fireball (A projectile orb of arcane fire that bursts into molten shrapnel upon contact. Capable of easily killing most unprepared or unprotected characters through initial burning, damage from the molten shrapnel, and the resulting fire.)

When your character dies, where you go from there is purely according to the circumstances. Obviously, in a one vs. one that exists purely for two characters to fight it out, your death ends the thread. One time, I got into an argument with someone and killed off the character I was playing in the role play due to a major disagreement we had. Later, he apologized and I rejoined the role play as a different character. In another situation, I had done extensive planning with everyone in an approximate ten-or-more-man role play wherein I was playing two characters. We planned for one of my character's deaths from the very beginning and the point at which she died was awesome, and it did a lot for the story. So yeah, what you do in the event of a character death depends on the situation.

Personally, I like to plan out as much as I can about a character from the moment I create them, which includes preparation for death. I'll decide if I have a specific way I want them to die, or time, etc. With some characters, they don't have their own story to tell, and I'd be fine with them dying at any time, so I spend time planning what they might do when they die.

Anyway, to sum up my rambling, character death is a wonderful thing, but communication with the other role players involved should be stressed, especially in cases of possible character death.

 

[RazzaJazz]

I'm inclined to agree, death is a totally viable option that every player should at least consider. How boring and static would the world be if there was never even the slightest chance of injury or death? o.o I mean, even Disney has character deaths as far as the eye can see!
Of course, that's not to say that it's socially acceptable to run amok killing other players at your leisure... unless, you know, that's the whole point of the roleplay itself. In which case, it's not even a problem, is it?--Unless someone's being stubborn.

Both posts have already pretty much nailed it on the head: It boils down to collaborative preparation. If you're the kind of player who is ok with the possibility of your character dying, say so. If you're not, then say so. If it becomes an issue, or the participants aren't able to work it out, then maybe that just isn't the roleplay for you, anyway.

~* Edit *~
Also, as a purely personal example, I'm currently in an apocalyptic-based roleplay. If the plot develops in such a way that my character's death is pertinent or has an impact on the story as whole, I say kill me off, sucka's!--and I'm the one who created the thread. But it isn't my roleplay, it's everyone's!

 

[Minibit]

I'm pretty much one x one exclusive, and my character has never died but I've played with partners who have had their characters die. It was always a surprise plot twist, and I liked that their characters weren't invincible; if the situation was such that they were probably going to die, they wouldn't scrape through every time, eventually there was a possibility that someone would kick the bucket. To me, this made the story more believable and thus more enjoyable and exciting. They usually continued as another character, or simply continued the other characters already in play as opposed to ending the story there.