{"id":138,"date":"2018-03-19T07:13:52","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T12:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/?p=138"},"modified":"2018-03-19T07:13:52","modified_gmt":"2018-03-19T12:13:52","slug":"setting-the-kill-switch-lethality-in-your-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/2018\/03\/19\/setting-the-kill-switch-lethality-in-your-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting the Kill Switch: Lethality in Your Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.autarch.co\/\">Alexander Macris<\/a> wrote \u201cEvery campaign is a law unto itself\u201d.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t a gamer version of \u201cWhat happens in Vegas stays in Vegas\u201d.\u00a0 It means that every RPG campaign should establish its own setting, house rules and style.\u00a0 Lethality is one of the knobs you fiddle with when setting up your campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Lethality in this case means the likelihood that a player character will die.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t much experience with fantasy RPGs other than Dungeons &amp; Dragons but D&amp;D and its clones dominate the market to such an extent that it\u2019s the game most people are going to play.\u00a0 The lethality of D&amp;D has changed over the years.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to compare a first level fighter with a Constitution of 15.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Original D&amp;D<\/strong> (0e) &#8211; 1974<br \/>\n<em>Note: Because the 1974 booklets are difficult to use I\u2019m also looking at Matt Finch\u2019s excellent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.froggodgames.com\/swords-wizardry-0\">Swords &amp; Wizardry<\/a>, a 0e clone.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hit points range from 2 to 9<\/li>\n<li>Dead at -1 hit point<\/li>\n<li>Heals 1 hit point per day of rest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>B\/X D&amp;D<\/strong> (Basic\/Expert) &#8211; 1981<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hit points range from 2 to 9<\/li>\n<li>Dead at 0 hit points (same for 1978\u2019s First Edition D&amp;D)<\/li>\n<li>Heals 1 to 3 hit points per day of rest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>5th Edition D&amp;D<\/strong> &#8211; 2014<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>12 hit points (13 with the +1 bonus for humans)<\/li>\n<li>Dead at -12 (-13 with bonus for humans)<\/li>\n<li>Heals 3 to 12 hit points with 1 hour rest.\u00a0 Heals all hit points with 8 hour rest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The information above covers regular damage though combat.\u00a0 The other way characters can die is failing a saving throw.\u00a0 Poison, magic and other things can kill a character without regard for hit points.\u00a0 The comparison below is for the same level 1 fighter being instantly turned to stone after encountering a medusa.\u00a0 Powerful magics exist that can restore a character from this but many player groups won\u2019t know those spells.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>0e<\/strong> &#8211; 65% chance of dying<\/li>\n<li><strong>1e<\/strong> &#8211; 70% chance of dying<\/li>\n<li><strong>B\/X<\/strong> &#8211; 65% chance of dying<\/li>\n<li><strong>5e<\/strong> &#8211; 35% chance of dying but 55% of failing the roll, if the roll is failed twice in a row the character is stone<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Clearly, older editions had higher lethality.\u00a0 I believe there were two reasons for this.\u00a0 First, it created a heightened sense of danger.\u00a0 Die rolls during a game had more dramatic punch.\u00a0 Second, it simulated reality by making things dangerous.\u00a0 Anyone who rushed into danger was taking a big risk.\u00a0 People who planned ahead, put their heads together and avoided risks survived longer.\u00a0 Higher lethality encouraged strategic and tactical play styles (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/2018\/03\/07\/understanding-play-styles\/\">more on that here<\/a>).\u00a0 It trained players, not their characters, to play the game a certain way.\u00a0 A benefit of this is it introduced these play styles to many players who found they enjoyed them.\u00a0 A shortcoming was people who didn\u2019t enjoy those play styles drifted away from D&amp;D without realizing the game could be played differently.<\/p>\n<p>The 1978 cover for the first edition Players Handbook is a great example of tactical and strategic play.\u00a0 There are two guys towards the top prying the gemstone out of the idol.\u00a0 One guy is getting maximum leverage while the other makes sure the gem doesn\u2019t fall and shatter.\u00a0 The two in the lower left are looking at a map and planning their next step.\u00a0 One of the guys in the lower right is maintaining his weapon so it won\u2019t fail him in the hours ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Newer editions reflected changes in the RPG audience\u2019s tastes.\u00a0 The lethality went down as people became attached to their characters and the epic quests that depended on those characters surviving.\u00a0 They wanted more heroic and story-oriented play styles (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/2018\/03\/07\/understanding-play-styles\/\">more on that here<\/a>).\u00a0 Newer editions of the game assumed the importance of the player characters in a story and encouraged players to devise more personality and background.\u00a0 The positive effects of this were the players had an easier time seeing higher levels.\u00a0 Some players are too timid to try anything adventurous but after a few sessions with low lethality they feel free to try new things.<\/p>\n<p>Lower lethality also brought unintended consequences.\u00a0 Lessening the sense of danger encouraged foolish risks, thoughtless play and, for many groups, lowered the dramatic tension to the point that adventures felt artificial.\u00a0 Some players don\u2019t suffer from a lower lethality but many players become less careful, less creative and then complain of dull game sessions.\u00a0 Preventing people from learning old school player skills from the School of Hard Knocks is a shame.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dealing With Loss<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some gamemasters deal with character death by avoiding it.\u00a0 They fudge rolls, change enemy stats during a fight, etc.\u00a0 Some make it clear to their players that as long as they aren\u2019t a problem at the game table they will make sure the player characters don\u2019t die.\u00a0 I\u2019ve read posts online decrying these \u201cwimpy\u201d gamemasters but we should keep in mind that some people are reacting against the terrible experiences they\u2019ve had in games run by \u201ckiller\u201d gamemasters.\u00a0 Others want to encourage roleplaying and an easy-going atmosphere.\u00a0 I\u2019ve played at these tables and if done well it\u2019s great.\u00a0 If done poorly it\u2019s awful.\u00a0 The difference between doing it well and doing it poorly is hard to define.\u00a0 It\u2019s mostly about finding mature, cooperative players who really like the idea of working through a story you\u2019ve set for them.<\/p>\n<p>Most gamemasters choose from a variety of methods to handle character death.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard of many gamemasters who hand the rule book to the player whose character just died and ask them to create a new character while the rest of the group proceeds.\u00a0 I don\u2019t recommend this.\u00a0 Players feel punished for missing a die roll and stress out about finishing quickly.\u00a0 It\u2019s better to have pre-generated characters to hand out or ask the players to create 3 characters before play begins.\u00a0 Later editions of D&amp;D require more time to create characters (is it any wonder they made character death more rare?).\u00a0 One old school solution is to have NPC characters with full stats and equipment who are hirelings of the party.\u00a0 When a player character dies the NPC\u2019s sheet is handed to the unlucky player and they don\u2019t have to miss any action.<\/p>\n<p>When players lose a character and pick up with another one level mismatch may be an issue.\u00a0 The surviving characters are above level one but the new addition is right there.\u00a0 An adventure planned for higher level characters can get a first level character killed quickly.\u00a0 Possible solutions include handing the new addition magic items or superior gear.\u00a0 Letting the new addition start at a level that matches the party is another idea.\u00a0 These can feel artificial to the unlucky player but there\u2019s a compromise:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Down But Not Out<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When a player\u2019s character is hurt enough to be unconscious but not dead they are taken out of play.\u00a0 The player continues for a while with an NPC or secondary character.\u00a0 The player is assured that the character they sank so much time into will be back.\u00a0 Most players still learn the consequences of their foolish actions but the consequences don\u2019t have to sting so much.\u00a0 Having to switch to another character can be liberating for players.\u00a0 The change of pace can liven things up.\u00a0 Having to care for the wounded character is a burden for the party and can motivate them to avoid in future the errors that caused it.<\/p>\n<p>How is this unconscious state handled in game rules?\u00a0 You can follow 5th edition\u2019s lead and put death at or lower than negative hit points.\u00a0 -10 hit points, negative Constitution hit points, or negative character levels in hit points are other options.\u00a0 Savings throws can be in two or even three stages.\u00a0 Perhaps failing only the first save leaves the character paralyzed or dazed.\u00a0 Instead of death when failing a save you could push the character to -1 hit points and unconscious.<\/p>\n<p>Another compromise that was built into the game from the earliest days is resurrection.\u00a0 Higher level spell casters can resurrect party members or the gamemaster may allow a nearby temple to hold a cleric that can perform the ritual.\u00a0 Early editions of D&amp;D put limits on the number of resurrections a character could have and removed a point of Constitution or a character level.\u00a0 A roll had to be made to survive the ritual but they usually weren\u2019t difficult.\u00a0 These early editions also put a high price on items used (and lost) during the ritual.\u00a0 Fifth edition made resurrection cheaper and easier.<\/p>\n<p>Something to consider is changing gears and running a game where lethality isn\u2019t a show stopper.\u00a0 A light-hearted game with a funhouse dungeon to explore or similar gonzo theme can show players a different side of the hobby.\u00a0 In these games character death is frequent but nothing to get broken up about.\u00a0 Hand them a fresh character sheet after each disaster and keep the snappy one-liners flowing.\u00a0 If you\u2019d like an example look to Goodman Games\u2019 <a href=\"http:\/\/goodman-games.com\/dungeon-crawl-classics-rpg\/\">Dungeon Crawl Classics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s best for your next campaign?\u00a0 One thing to consider is if your plan leans more towards sandbox exploration, where story isn\u2019t a big influence on the game, or more of a story focus.\u00a0 Also, what kind of players do you have?\u00a0 Do they blunder foolishly into trouble or do they run from every sound they hear?\u00a0 Rather than pick the edition with the lethality that sounds best, adjust the lethality in the edition you want to play.\u00a0 5th edition has suggestions on page 266 of the Dungeon Master\u2019s Guide for altering healing rules.\u00a0 Altering where death occurs and saving throws completes your picture.<\/p>\n<p>For most of my campaigns I set the dial about halfway between old school and new school.\u00a0 I use resurrection only on rare occasions so I let characters survive more punishment.\u00a0 With newer or younger players I would consider higher lethality to give them the old school training ground.\u00a0 Players are usually tougher than we think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alexander Macris wrote \u201cEvery campaign is a law unto itself\u201d.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t a gamer version of \u201cWhat happens in Vegas stays in Vegas\u201d.\u00a0 It means that every RPG campaign should establish its own setting, house rules and style.\u00a0 Lethality is one of the knobs you fiddle with when setting up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6,7],"tags":[24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139,"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions\/139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}