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Lady Grace
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(Date Posted:07/31/2007 00:36:30)
Yes.
In character actions have to have in character consequences.
HOWEVER! If your players are willing to throw in a Drama Die (or 5), perhaps the killing attempt isn't successful. Perhaps the mob tosses her overboard, where she drifts onto an unseen sandbar as opposed to sinking. Perhaps she's stabbed, but not in a vital area. After all, how many brutes have medical training? Perhaps another ship appears on the horizon outnumbering the villains.
Will this splinter the game though? Will the unconscious player be more upset at you or at her fellow players for allowing this to happen? Will the unconscious player accept this (and if she is willing to do so for drama's sake, then reward her new character with some extra building points)?
The problem is, your players don't sound like they have the right mentality for 7th Sea.
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"Ulf, just because you drank six tankards of Vesten mead and shout "I'm the Oncoming Storm!" does not --I repeat-- does NOT automatically make you a Berserker!" -- Fortunato Valari
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vonbildhofen
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(Date Posted:07/31/2007 01:15:36)
Reply to : Lady Grace
The problem is, your players don't sound like they have the right mentality for 7th Sea.
I have to agree here. One of the things I love about this game is the fact that the story is the important thing. Yes, the players play heroes. But, the heroes still must live within the confines of the story. D'Artagnan had to live within the confines of the story that he involved himself in - as a hero he did the heroic thing, etc. As a villain, he must do the villainous thing. That's just how it works.
That being said, I hate killing characters unless it is vital to the story. That's just me. As a player I hated when a GM killed off my characters when I would put a lot of effort into them. It sucks.
But, if the players screw up, forget to stay within the story lines, or ignore the repeated warnings, then as the GM's guide says, kick 'em when they're down - and kick 'em hard!
In this case, I'd have the soldiers open fire on the entire party, in theory killing the downed character. But, eventually, after the entire party is captured and disabled, let hem see the surgeon rushing in to tend wounds. The player whose character 'died', shouldn't be punished severely for everyone else's screwups, after all.
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Maestro Erich von Bildhofen, composer extraordinaire
"That is a lewd wig, von Bildhofen" hairdresser"s comment to Erich
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Aardappel
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(Date Posted:07/31/2007 02:24:20)
good advice! Thanks for the reassurance. I think most of the players (this is PbP, by the way) are fairly new to the game. Unfortunately, the PbP system is largely anonymous, which means 1.) there's very little screening a GM can do for high caliber players, 2.)players see very little in the way of "consequences" for allowing their characters to do things to provoke the villains to be, well, villains.
I think I will probably go with the suggestion that they appear to kill the character, but she survives...(unless the player wants to make a new character). this is a last resort to get them to knock off what they're doing and show them their choices have consequences.
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Lady Grace
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(Date Posted:07/31/2007 03:47:45)
You may want to post a not so subtle warning in your OOC forum (if you have one) about ICA=ICC in case they STILL blow the villain off.
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"Ulf, just because you drank six tankards of Vesten mead and shout "I'm the Oncoming Storm!" does not --I repeat-- does NOT automatically make you a Berserker!" -- Fortunato Valari
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Michel de Lalande
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(Date Posted:07/31/2007 07:55:00)
Reply to : Aardappel
I think most of the players are fairly new to the game.
The players are new to each other. The GM is new to the players. The players are unused to playing heroes, and probably have been doing some D&D-style metagaming from the beginning.
I wouldn't have started the players with a major challenge where they have to back down. Most players would expect to start with a success, and think you're just testing them.
As GM at the beginning of a new campaign with our old game group, I made the mistake of showing the PCs the impregnable fortress that they were going to need to capture at the climax in the finale- hopefully a year or so off. So of course they decided to attack immediately. I dropped hints, NPCs gave advice, they were failing miserably, but were convinced that they had to do it now!
To save the campaign, I turned this fortress into a minor one and let them capture it. My tough stuff became part of another fortress for the new finale.
In your situation: The easiest thing would be for the Montaigne captain to fall into the water, requiring the brutes to stop what they are doing and try to save him. The ships would separate and the "heroes" could get away.
I always tell my players never to kill the bad guys. If the PCs get a reputation for killing helpless bad guys (even brutes), the bad guys will do the same when the PCs are helpless. It is a mistake for you to threaten to kill the Countess. Never threaten to do something that you are not prepared to follow through with!
Good luck!
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Aardappel
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(Date Posted:07/31/2007 09:16:44)
All comments are appreciated.
Cristina - you're probably right about the players (in all respects). I know for a fact there has been some meta-gaming. With those predisposed to violence ridiculing the one player who tired to stop the fight. That's disappointing, but ultimately unavoidable in PbP (and; to a lesser degree, RL, for that matter).
As soon as I wrote the bit about killing the wounded character I felt I may have made a mistake. However, I think it's what this guy would do under the circumstances. I am willing to go through with it, or at least give every appearance of doing so.
When I GM, I try to let the players have freedom to influence the story (for good or ill). In this tale, I presented them with an obstacle and let them decide how to handle it. I rolled with it and let them deal with the further consequences of their further actions. Their actions have spiraled and gotten them into a lot of trouble. By no means were they forced into any of this, at least as far as I can see. They chose this path and I decided to let them walk it.
Perhaps, if nothing else, it will weed out the players who should be dungeon crawling rather than swashbuckling.
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Michel de Lalande
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(Date Posted:07/31/2007 12:31:16)
Reply to : Aardappel
When I GM, I try to let the players have freedom to influence the story (for good or ill).
If you believe it is necessary, both for your GM style and for the storyline, to teach the PCs (and the players) a lesson, then I second vonbildhofen's suggestion.
You keep your overall storyline intact, if with a detour, and you require the group to learn to work together (even D&D players must!).
Perhaps one of the Montaigne brutes knows and owes a favor to one of the PCs (or to your noble NPC looking for his father) and aids their escape. Let them recapture their ship and sail away....
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