Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25035274-20150722205101

Posted here instead of the RP Forum because it's fully OOC:

Character death is a sticky topic with RPers, and for good reason: If done well, it can make for an epic story. However, on the other hand, if handled poorly character death can leave the owner of that character sore, angry, and no longer interested in playing the game.

It is not a path to be taken lightly. Once a character is gone, they are gone (barring some sort of crazy wizardry). In an instant weeks, months, or even years of character progression can be erased. Everything that you've done with that character is, after a fashion, undone. You have to go back to step one and start all over again.

I bring this up because I'm aware that there are those who, as an integral part of their character, take it upon themselves to attempt to kill other players' characters over the course of RP. Now, don't get me wrong here: A good life-and-death struggle can lead to an amazing story and loads of character development. However, if the scene is not approached appropriately, it will ultimately only end with someone being angry at someone else. Either someone will get stonewalled out of RP, or someone will get angry at having their character forcibly killed by another player.

So, with that said, here are a few suggestions from Party to help you set up a flawless character-death RP:

1) Planning: Whether you're the killer or the killee, this needs to be well planned out with the other player in advance. Communication is key. Regardless of which role you intend to play, before initiating the scene you need to actually approach the other player and lay out what you'd like to see happen. It doesn't have to be a play-by-play, but they need to concretely know what you want to get out of it. This is especially important if you want to make a successful kill on another player, as you're likely to get stonewalled if you just try to randomly kill someone else's character out of nowhere.

2) The RP: As always, pay close attention to what the other player is doing and saying. As you have already made a general plan for things, you should have a fair idea of where things are going. If you need to change things up unexpectedly, make sure you give fair warning to the other player. Again, communication is highly important. You don't want to lose an RP partner because at the last minute you decided you didn't want to leave the body recognizable enough for an open-casket funeral or because you suddenly decided to take the other character out with you with no warning.

3) The Aftermath: Remember that what happened IC is not what happened OOC.  You may miss your newly-deceased character, or you may feel a little cocky because your character just took someone down. Whichever or whatever, don't be an ass. Remember that this was a team project. Both/all of you worked on it together,it wouldn't have happened without everyone's cooperation, and if you planned this out as suggested you knew what you were getting in to.

So, to summate: Plan it out. Keep your partner apprised of any changes you want to make to the story. Remember that you didn't pull this off alone. And throughout the whole thing, keep the communication flowing.

These fairly simple steps can make or break a Character Death RP, and whether you follow them or not can be the deciding factor over whether your character manages to get that new notch on his belt or whether other RPers start blocking you out of their sessions.

Have fun! 