Thread by @SandyofCthulhu

How I kill players' characters in my roleplaying games (yes, even Call of Cthulhu).

The rule is that I always give them three chances. First, I warn that there IS a threat. I adjust the warning by threat level.

For instance, in the case of a danger the party can readily handle, a local might say, "You know, not everyone who enters the woods during the Teddy Bear's Picnic comes out again."

But if it's something really serious that I want to alert them to, the locals might say, "No one has EVER returned from the Devil's Playground. Not EVER."

Both these examples are from my Runequest campaign. The Teddy Bear Picnic warning discouraged them enough to make better preparations. But they headed right into the Devil's Playground anyway. But that's okay because the goal isn't to warn them away, but to make them aware that there IS peril.
1/4

The players get their second chance once they are at or in the area of the danger. At this point, instead of just a warning, they see actual physical evidence.

Example: "The gnawed corpse of a Pit Fiend is in the clearing. It can't be more than a few hours old."

Or: "Yes, the last person to spend the night in the Falvey house is in this cell." (They see a twisted, scarred ruin of a woman rocking back and forth, obviously insane.)

The idea here is the players know a little more about what they're getting into. They can prep more, find out more information, or bull ahead. It's up to them.
(art Philippe D'Amours)
2/4

The team's third "chance" to survive is after they come into actual contact with the threat, which often means combat. If the enemy is likely to kill them I still provide an escape route.

For instance, the monster might take a breather. I'd say, "The creature seems to be gathering its strength for a final strike." They can run away or heal.

Or a hint, "The dying elf points to a crack in the wall. Is it a secret door? A way out?" One of them can quick check it out.

But if the players stick it through, more power to them. If characters die, my conscience is clear - they had three warnings. Of course, they may win, and if so they deserve to be rightly proud.

The purpose behind all this is so when a character dies, they don't blame ME, the gamemaster. They blame their own choices or bad dice rolls. I rise above recriminations.
3/4

I learned the concept of "never be at fault" in my decades designing video games. One of my central pillars of game design is that the players should never ever blame ME for a failure. I want them to think it's THEIR fault they missed the jump or couldn't take down the boss. Maybe their team tactics are to blame. If they'd just hit the button a nanosecond faster, or used that health potion. Then they would have won. That's what I want them to think about.

My is to make empower them. Make them feel they are waging battle against themselves. Not me.

Because of this, I think usually players of my games DO try it again and again until they succeed. Anyway that's one of Sandy's fundamental rules of gaming greatness, and it applies to video games as well as roleplaying game mastering. What say you?
4/4

It applies just as much to D&D as Call of Cthulhu or any other game. When a player picks up the BFG on a spotlit pedestal with scary music playing in a Doom level, they should know all Hell is about to jump out at them.