Killing a Character: GM Tips

This subject is probably one of the hardest for aspects of a game for a GM to pull off properly as most people aren't fond of the idea of losing a character. Whether it's part of the story or the dice just fell wrong character death happens. If handled with tact this can be an opportunity for a rich storytelling experience. If handled poorly you will alienate your players and they might never play with you again. I offer a few tips to GMs to prevent this from happening.

Provide a warning- If you've planned a game where a character might die give your players a heads up before the game. You don't have to tell them how, just that it might happen. This way they will be more accepting of the death if it does happen. This goes for in-game as well. If you have a player is walking into a dire situation then give them a warning. A simple "Are you sure about that?" is all you need to provide.

Give a chance for success- This seems pretty basic but it bears mentioning. This usually applies more towards story events rather than combat as combat all ready provides them a chance at success. Nothing will piss off your player faster than just killing off their character. If they are in a dangerous situation then you must provide them the means to succeed or at least escape. It doesn't have to be easy but it does have to exist.

Make the death meaningful- It is a waste of a perfectly good story opportunity to mindlessly murder a character. The death of a character provides a profound moment of tragedy and reality for the other characters. Whether the character sacrificed themselves to allow the others to survive or was brutally cut down by an opponent this provides motivation for the other characters to act. Most groups will want to try to bring the offender to justice or will be effected by it in some other way. This provides some great story points for the upcoming games.

Don't make it personal- The worst thing you can do is take a personal issue out on someone's character. This is petty and vindictive but it does happen. Killing a character for personal reasons will halt your game and may devolve into an actual fight. I do not blame the player who punches their GM in the face because of this.

Pregame: The First Step to Adventure

      You picked which game you want to play, gathered together a group of like-minded individuals, and now it’s time to write a storyline or create some characters. Not so fast; like any form of creative writing there are a few things that need to be done before then. Even though most of what you think up will change in some way by the end, it’s good to start planning.

      

      The first step is to read the book. A GM should be familiar with every aspect of the book in order to field any questions that may get brought up during play. It’s also helpful to know about the world so you don’t sound like a jack ass. Speaking of knowing about the world, it is also important for the players to read through the book, at least to the section for GMs. Unless your character was born yesterday or suffered from amnesia they would have a basic understanding of how the world works and, by extension, so should you.

      

      Then it helps to get together and discuss what you all want from the game. I’ve always thought of rpgs more as collective storytelling rather than a game with the “collective” part as the most important. Since there is no real winners or losers it’s all about having a good time. While which game you select will come with some things already decided such as setting and mechanics, there is plenty that will need to be discussed. This includes subjects like aspects of the game that particularly interested players, the general tone of the game (tragedy or comedy), and any variations to the canon material that you may want to add. 

     

      Players should figure out what kind of characters they want to play. I would advise against running off and drawing up a character before chatting with the other players. This way no one has to go through the entire character creation process (depending on the game that could be anywhere from five to thirty minutes) just to find out that someone else is doing almost exactly what you wanted to do. It also helps make sure that your idea fits into the type of game you’re playing. If the game is about investigating crimes it doesn’t make a lot of sense if one of the characters is a rampaging murder machine (unless that’s the twist, then by all means slaughter with great vigor). If they have any twist they would like to include with their characters then they should mention it to the GM so he can plan for it during the game. All of this should be done before filling in the character sheet.

     For the GM starting out, I would recommend jotting down several story ideas. Brainstorm as many events, places, situations, and action sequences as you can; don’t worry about not using them because you never know where the game might lead. If you need a dash of inspiration trying watching movies or tv show or reading a book that is in the same genre as the game you selected. However I would strongly advise against taking an idea directly as it tends to either be easily predictable, especially if they’ve seen the movie/show/book you ripped off, or really confusing as it doesn’t really seem to fit well into the game. The trick is to not worry so much about the specifics as whatever you put down is most certainly going to change a little as you progress your story.

      I know this post is vague but it feels wrong to tell someone how they should brainstorm. I’ll cover more of the specifics of character creation, gaming, and story writing in later post.

Let the good times roll