48. WoD - Take dept 5, and wait untill the last day to tell them that you owe some one 5 million dollars and if you don't pay them three hundred thousand dollars by tomorrow or they will take it out on the whole party because you told them that they had the money.

49. WoD - Use all your background, freebies, and flaw points on: Merit - Corporate C.E.O , Resources 5, Influence: police (local) 5, Influence: government (state) 5, Influence: Financial (Goldman Sachs) 5, Influence: Underworld (organized crime) 2, Influence: Religion 1, Influence: Occult 1, Influence: Infrastructure 1. Influence: Bureaucracy 1.  Use your vast influence (made more potent by bribes from your vast Resources) to take care of anything the ST puts froth from the comfort of your $10,000 leather recliner.
This message was last edited by the user at 07:27, Mon 07 July 2014.

That's not even close to true though, a GURPS Game without magic at a low TL, no resurrection there, Only War, Dark Heresy, Black Crusade, The Mutant Epoch, Call of Cthulhu. All of them players stay dead, yet death is not a surprising result, especially with the mutant epoch where it's suggested each player have two characters in case one dies, and sometimes both die.


49. DnD - Create a peasant railgun

If someone's character dies and they take their toys and leave, then you probably dodged a bullet, since such people tend to have more problems than they're worth.

In reply to Azraile (msg # 22):

I'm going to have to disagree with you here. That kind of attitude is like bowling with the bumpers in, so you can't roll a gutterball (unless you REALLY mess up!). There are settings where you might work a little harder to not kill people off (most superhero settings, for instance), but those settings just prove the point for the rest of them that death (and permanent death, if they can't find a way to ressurrect the character) is something to be feared. The threat of death is what makes a D&D group decide to fall back when they are overmatched, instead of fighting it out until the end. The threat of death is what makes a Shadowrun group ultraparanoid. The threat of death is what makes the X-men... ok, who are we kidding here, even when Jean Grey dies, she doesn't stay dead.

If you didn't check for traps at the mouth of the spooky cave, and trigger a 'rocks fall, people in the area are dead' trap, then you deserve what happens. Same when you find a lich's phylactery, only to discover he put Symbol of Death on it. Paranoia is a survival skill. And while it is true that the epic deaths (Thrognar leaping into the portal to the abyss with the artifact to seal it on the other side) are more worthy of song, it is the little deaths, the almost pointless deaths, that teach us what we need to get to the epic ones, and appreciate them. It is why I feel that everyone, as a player and a GM, should experience a TPK at least once. From those defeats, you learn what to do and what not to do. Same as when you learn to ride a bike. You're going to fall. It will hurt. But the pain teaches you what to do.

Take away the prospect of death anywhere but at plot points, and you might as well just turn on God mode.


50. Any Superhero - Have a power which necessitates lots of extra paperwork (Bring people into a digital dimension, where their powers are determined by their Computer skill checks).

You don't have to take away the potential for death compleatly, or it's threat. I am just saying you shouldn't kill some one over a dumb dice roll when nothing is even going on that important.

Again I said DnD and other mass resurrecting games are the acception....

I am guessing your spoiled by DnD here, but most death is permadeath in tabletop games outside of DnD.

D&D doesn't spoil players. DMs spoil players. Not every adventurer knows someone capable of casting a Resurrection spell or true Resurrection spell. Even if they do there is the matter of cost and acquiring ingredients. Outside of the DM allowing you to be put in a situation where you have all three of those requirements, death is permanent in D&D.

In reply to Wayofthewicked (msg # 27):

Have to agree with this.  Been playing D&D since the white box days, and have never yet been in a game where the PCs had access to resurrection spells.  Dead was always dead-dead for us.

So, no, not spoiled by D&D at all, in that respect.

In my last fantasy GURPS game, there were a grand total of 9 people that could resurrect. It was using the GURPS Powers version of resurrect.

I am saying there is a difference between giving players a challenge with life and death consequences and out right trying to kill the players at every chance you get.

The later shows a level of 'I got to win' immaturity when the GMs job is to make sure everyone has fun. Regardless of what some people think, and I know some people who do think the GMs job is to kill everyone.... these people quickly find no one wanting to play there games though, big shocker there.

If you want to argue about it though you should make a discussion thread though so your not dragging a thread off topic and arguing.

+ this.

----

any game - constantly take "left turns" against the gm's plot, do the opposite of what they expect and see how it makes them think on their feet.

pathfinder - use 30 dust of dryness, give the bag of marble sized objects to some kids to play with.

players/gm - sovereigns glue everything / use a trap that sprays glue on the players.

gm - introduce a chaos beast, or five.

gm - flail snail!

gm - run psionics and regular magic in the same group, have your head explode keeping up with the players.

psionics - mind trap a player, inflict a second personality on them.

gm - spring board traps, toss players into walls, off cliffs, and into spikes.

60. Any system - Have your villains adhere to the Evil Overlord List. http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html
61. Shadowrun - Have the group decide between dealing with a dragon and letting Humanis unleash chemical weapons on metahuman neighborhoods.
62. D&D - Apply undead templates to everything. The look on players' faces when they are attacked by a swarm of undead pixies is HILLARIOUS!

63.  Start a TOON: the Cartoon Role-playing Game campaign, but play it ultra serious as if you were in a long term Amber Diceless Role-playing game.

64. Start an Amber: the Diceless Role-play Game campaign, but play it wacky as if you were in a one off TOON: the Cartoon Role-playing Game.

ok I LOVE this one!!  lol

other good uses for a bag full of dust of dryness marbles.... throw them in a gaint monsters mouth when it roars at you

64. D&D Ravenloft - Make an eternal decanter of holy water that is stuck on max setting.

65A. DnD: (Mess with DM version) Make a paladin. Use wisdom as a dump stat and never put any points in perception, sense motive, or spellcraft. Also, never use detect evil on the rest of the party because you trust them. Ideally, this character would be a catfolk, or some other race that gets a penalty to wisdom and a bonus to charisma. Sure, he can't knowingly stand by while they do evil things, but he has no clue that anything is going on.

65B. DnD: (Mess with party version) Make a paladin.

66. (DM mess with the party) No alignment restrictions for party composition.

How is that messing with the party? I've been in plenty of games where there weren't any alignment restrictions, and there weren't problems. And I've been in games where everyone was good and the party fell apart to infighting or someone either being stupid or a donkey.

Presumably this also includes restrictions on who paladins can hang with.

67. WoD any - Take the background Equipment: balefire flamethrower, insist that you always stand near and sleep near everyone else, NEVER take it of and don't let them take it of you if they try.

Bonus points if balefire damage is unsoakable by you party, or your party is heavily anti-wyrm

( fore those that don't know WoD you usaly have around 7 health before you KOed and dying you can prevent damage by soaking it most things cant soak balefire and those that do usaly have a harder time than any other kind of damage if the tank on the flame thrower takes almost any damage it blows up and every one in like 10 yards takes 3 unsoakable damage and then 3 balefire damage a round till they put themselves out and in 30 yards I think it's 2 auto 1a turn, it's like evil supernatural napalm, it is not easy to put out )


Edit- they also had the reputation of just blowing up randomly to, it is like having a mini unstable nuclear reactor fueled by the flaming blood  of satan, and wearing it on you back o.o
This message was last edited by the user at 04:44, Sat 12 July 2014.

In reply to Azraile (msg # 40):

On the other hand, a balefire flamethrower in a changeling game would be amazing.

Play an obviously vicious Chaotic Evil murder hobo who kills and destroys indiscriminately.  When confronted by the DM insist that you are Lawful Good.  When the DM laughs continue to insist.  When he asks how that is possible try the following rationalization:

According to the rules of his homeland your character is obligated to tear down any civilization that has advanced farther than his own.  That all advances throughout the world must remain constant.  Only through strict application of "law" can the world reach Nirvana.

In addition, explain that in his homeland there is a terrible strain of plague that infects anyone who does not have Yellow Irises.  In order to protect the world from the spread of the plague all non-Yellow Iris peoples must be killed before they suffer the most horrible fate known to exist.  Putting victims down is a mercy and considered a "good" act among your Character's people.

Thus Lawful Good, not Chaotic Evil.

In reply to Shiv (msg # 42):

My response: Aww, that's cute, he thinks he gets to decide major plot points and that alignments don't work like they're supposed to...

In other news, I'm a firm believer that Paladins should be Lawful Neutral or Lawful Evil because the concept of killing a sentient being on the basis that 'it's a monster' isn't good. You wait until after you've given it a chance to disprove its evil. I don't know, maybe all that is its own way of messing with the GM.

Play an emo Drow Ranger that duel-wields scimitars and insist that you aren't playing a clone of Drizzt.  Even if no one accuses you vehemently insist that you aren't anyway.

I am in a game where I am a paladin and there is an assassin as well. The roleplay is great because the PCs really don't like each other.

Also, it depends on how you define Lawful Good. It doesn't mean you have to be nice! The Spanish Inquisition were on the side of Good and Law, doesn't mean they were nice people. My paladin is a member of a sect trying to destroy evil and kill all heretics, which makes him kind of an ass! He is arrogant and rude to those he perceives to be of a lower class, tries to order everyone about and has no concept of sneaking about. In battle he simply charges in, believing that his god will aid him through the fight.

Makes him fun to play as I get to be a jerk (as long as my fellow players don't mind :) ).

I would argue that there was nothing good about the Law that was allowing the inquisitors to perform evil actions and that the inquisitors were actually on the side of Law and either Evil or Neutrality.


I've always been annoyed with the concept that might makes right too. It doesn't. It makes people die. Or monsters or animals, but perhaps the argument could be made that those are a lesser order. Then you get into the sentient monsters and are they really monsters? Who said they're evil? and so on and so forth. I guess it's ok wading into battle if that's all there is, but if there doesn't have to be...


The difference between 'jerk' and 'evil' is how far you're willing to take it. Tell me, has your paladin killed any PCs that believe in a different god? Does he plan to? If so, I'd call him evil. If not, I'd call him a hypocrite. If there are no such PCs, I praise your GM.

Alignment might not mess with parties nearly as much as it has derailed this thread lol