[WW] Random, unavoidable death (Was RE: [WW] Class Balance)

[mock@springmail.com]

Wes' quick illustration of how officers work was tongue in cheek, I think.  There's an old joke, something about an officer tasked with putting up a flagpole.  He gets a sergeant, a private, a 20-foot pole, and a ball of twine.  How does he solve the problem?  He says, "Sergeant, get that flagpole up."  

On the subject of this message - unavoidable death is part of war. It doesn't matter who you are, or how well trained - when your path intersects the bullet's, that's it.  In Weird Wars, there is the element of character as hero, and heroes _do_ have some freedom from the general rule that war, while not random, is indifferent to who lives and dies.  But, when used judiciously, the sudden and surprising death of a character can be quite dramatic.  

Consider "Saving Private Ryan":  by the end of the movie, most of the main characters were dead.  It was a powerful thing to see, because it was jarring - heroes and protagonists aren't supposed to die.

I'm not saying every character should be killed off, or every campaign needs to kill characters, but if the character is in a situation where he or she is going to die, then he or she is going to die.  

-Chris


On Tue, 14 Aug 2001 07:38:18  Casey McGirt <cmcgirt@hotmail.com> wrote:

  ...Remind me never to play in the campaign you're in, Wes.  The scout makes 
an incredible hide check, then the GM just decides to hose him anyway...

  ...If random, unavoidable death is your play 
style, fine.  But don't expect everyone to play that way...