Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:38 pm by Onimaster
I think the difficulty here is in that while it is true that the player has the right to play or not play his character as he sees fit there is a gray area when it involves ‘death.’ And in my opinion both Travis and Chris make valid points.
At WH we have try to stick to the letter of the rules for clarity and fairness to all parties. So, it is important to us to get things straight. In the game death is a mechanical function usually. You take X points/effects for X long you are ‘dead.’ It is a process which people outside yourself have sway over, and can influence. Healers can stabilize, empaths can transfer, warriors can beat you further to death… So it stands to reason that ‘self damage’ would need to follow the same conventions. That way people around you can react and interact. If someone slits their wrists in front of a group of healers they probably can stop the bleeding in time. Or, if they put a razor to their own thrat that a rogue could quickly grab the blade away in that moment of hesitation (counting). I suspect that characters doing this, much like people in real life, are looking for a dramatic moment and in fact want to be saved.
Chris is all about the dramatic moment, so the mechanics aren’t as big a concern. A guy stabs himself in the throat and dies… Why complicate it?
My issue is with the idea that a player can choose to die at the drop of a hat. Like Chris’ torture heart attack example. Yeah, there will never be a rule for something like that. But, if someone is captured and being tortured to be implanted with a suggestion and they choose to die… isn’t that unfair to the guy who did all the work to catch the victim secretly? What if the victim gets rezed, caught, and does it again? Would you then call cheese, and make them stay alive? Wouldn’t that by your own accounts be a GM trying to force a player to play their character (And get the finger)? Is the only deterrent that you’ll eventually find someone so miffed that they hack you up into mulch or you get kicked out?
So, I say the answer is somewhere in between. Can you damage yourself with booms and swords… definatly.
Can you killing blow yourself… Yes. Because technically you are not trying to defend yourself ie… helpless. But do more than just “I am killing myself. 1, 2, 3, I am dead.” Play it up.
Can you just choose to fall over limp… Yup. But please, don’t use it as an escape, pull cheese dick maneuvers, or make the game less fun for anyone else. Play by the spirit of the game.
Vaal Draconus,
Dwarven King
Survivor of the Dreaming
& Champion of Life.
or
Nikolai Petrov,
Traveling Cossack Sage