Casting Shadows

One thing that I find interesting about the original placement of this question from Year One of #RPGaDAY is how it is within easy striking distance of the midpoint of the event, and around the point where the challenge of daily posting begins to present itself. A day here or there get missed, momentum flags, doubt about continuing floats up from the subconscious and… the initiative to see the marathon through to Day 31 dies. Inspired placement, really. Today’s question is all about a thing we risk when we take a character’s perspective and set ourselves loose on an imagined world. In some games, as a result of fate and some decision or other, death may take that character from us. Sometimes, that can be momentous.

Day 13: What is a truly memorable character demise?

I have written in the past about character deaths that were important to me, and until I sat down to write this, I didn’t think I would revisit that approach for this post. This year, I felt drawn to writing about NPC deaths which I found memorable as a GM. The keyboard has other ideas, however.

A few years ago, while we were sharing our learning process of the Adept Press game, Circle of Hands, a venture in which I was the GM dealt with death in physical terms for the characters, in social terms for the community in which they were wintering, and in numerous other ways intimated and implied, but not all explored. Perhaps felt?

You can watch that session below. It is barely 2 hours long and is complete. It doesn’t require special knowledge of the game or characters. It simply poses some questions and presents some situations which gamers might enjoy considering their own reactions to.

Of the many deaths seen and unseen in this session, one sticks with me very strongly, and sort of brings the others along with it in procession.

The character in question freezes to death. They are afraid, hungry, confused, and for the most part, alone. The scene isn’t beautiful. The scene doesn’t have a happy ending or empower the Circle Knights to go on to strike a blow somewhere for justice or goodness. It has a power, though, perhaps only in memory, that reminds me why I play and what the combination of imagination, friendship, a collaborative spirit, and a compelling game can help create from experience, emotion, and our use of language.