Memorable stories of all kinds introduce aspects of comedy and tragedy. From Shakespeare to modern television shows, audiences appreciate the highs and lows of these two interwoven aspects of life. While many stories will clearly lean in one direction or another, the deepest and most realistic stories will have doses of both. In this article we will examine how GMs and players can use tragedy to enhance the stories within their RPG worlds.
There’s something to be said about a story where anything can happen at any time and no character is safe. Several successful television shows, like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, have built huge followings based on the idea that precious characters could die at any time. Audiences appreciate the sense of tension and danger these shows present because absolutely nobody is safe just because they are a popular character. A GM can potentially inject the same sort of tension and excitement into their story, although they have to be careful not to alienate their players by taking things too far.
Anonymous NPCs
This is a commonly used technique, but it can still be effective as a story hook to draw PCs into an adventure. One or more NPCs that the PCs do not necessarily know or have a relationship with have been robbed, kidnapped, pillaged, or murdered by some bad guys. It’s up to the PCs to save the day and exact justice on those bad guys, because, well, nobody else around is tough enough and strong enough to do it! And of course there’s the fame and fortune that come with the job too. It’s a typical plot line, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used effectively. The key here is to try and get the PC (and even the players themselves) emotionally invested in the job. Let’s look at two scenarios and decide which one might do a better job of stirring up emotions in the players:
Scenario One: A group of savage orcs has been raiding a nearby village and stealing its livestock. The villagers have taken up arms to defend their village, but that has led to more vicious attacks, and several of the villagers were killed in the most recent attack. Fearing that future raids could wipe out the entire population, the townspeople are looking to hire a group of brave and mighty adventurers to not only protect their town, but also eliminate the orc threat at its source.
Scenario Two: In their travels, the PCs come across a mid-sized settlement populated by a somewhat primitive tribe of humanoids. While the villagers are friendly enough, they seem skittish and nervous. Before long, the PCs realize that there are no children whatsoever in the town. They speak to a town elder who reluctantly admits that all the children vanished in the middle of the night recently. The only clue left behind was a creature skull with carving indicating that to come looking for the children would mean certain death for the entire tribe.
The PCs don’t know either of these groups, but the second scenario is more likely to get them interested in helping out. Vulnerable targets like children are more likely to stir up a response that the characters (assuming they’re mostly good guys) feel they must act and do something about the situation.
While using anonymous NPCs is a common tactic and may not elicit a strong emotional response from the players, it’s also the safest approach. Players won’t get too upset that some random people they don’t know have been killed.
Known NPCs
One of the things that make RPG worlds come alive and feel real is recurring NPCs. While the vast majority of the population the PCs interact with fall into the anonymous category, there will be a subset of characters whom they grow to know and have feelings about. Giving these NPCs names and memorable characteristics is an important part of making them familiar. (I wrote about this in a previous article.) These types of NPCs could be their trusted weapons vendor, the bartender at their favorite tavern, an underworld contact who provides them with critical information, an employer, or even a relative.
How these NPCs relate to the PCs could vary greatly as well. They could be just another customer, or their favorite (and wealthiest) customer. They could be one of dozens of employees who do jobs for them, or their most successful (and profitable) employees. They could be a distant second cousin who has only now even realized they are related, or they could be a concerned parent who is worried all the crazy adventuring is going to get their only child killed!
So this is where the GM starts to pull on the heart strings a bit. Having something bad happen to a beloved NPC will certainly have an impact on the PCs. How they react can shift the entire focus of a campaign, which could be a good or bad thing, depending on how the GM channels them. It’s also a good way to inject some emotion and determination into a campaign that may have been growing a bit stale.
The final thing to consider when using this tactic is an important one – how will the players themselves react? Before a GM kills off a beloved friend or family member, they should ask themselves how well they know their players. How will they react? Could one of the players take it in a way that could lead to unnecessary drama or even quitting the game? Or is the group mature enough to understand that an epic story is being written, and events like this just add to the legacy?
It’s important that the GM has a good idea of how the players will react before doing something dramatic that could cause problems at the table. When in doubt, take a player aside and ask them privately their thoughts on the plan. Don’t give away the details, just feel them out for the idea. They might surprise you and be totally fine with it, or they also might confirm your suspicion and be totally against the idea, in which case you might want to save that trick for a different campaign with other players.
Player Characters
This is where things can get really dark and GMs need to be particularly careful about using this type of event, but it can also lead to some of the most dramatic and memorable events your players ever experience in an RPG. This one has to be used very carefully by GMs, and is probably most effective (and safest) when the GM and the player whose PC will meet its untimely end conspire to create an unforgettable scene.
Let me start by saying I don’t advise using this to purposely kill off a PC to create drama without having that PC’s player in on the plan. Yes, PCs will die through the normal course of games. (How often that happens is largely dependent on the system you’re using. In some games, it’s a fairly common occurrence, while in others, it’s nearly impossible for a character to truly die.)
So the perfect scenario to pull this off is when a player isn’t particularly happy with their character and is considering rerolling a new character. Whether this is common knowledge or just between the GM and player isn’t all that important. What is important is keeping the plotting under wraps from the rest of the players.
I’ve experienced this two times now, both in the FFG Star Wars RPG where PC death is pretty uncommon. One time I was a player who was totally blindsided and blown away by the events. The other time I was a GM who co-conspired with one of the players and watched with complete joy and satisfaction as the other players expressed their complete shock and disbelief. Both times it was an incredibly intense and memorable experience for all involved and something that enhanced the campaigns. The dramatic events happened at the end of each session, so the rest of the players didn’t have to wait long before we gave them the out of character explanation that the player was not leaving the campaign, they were just re-rolling, and they were, in fact, in on the whole plan. That reveal didn’t take away from the impact of the event at all, in fact it relieved some of their initial fears that someone was quitting the game or that the GM overstepped their bounds to murder a character.
When planned well and executed with the element of surprise, I can guarantee this is something that your players will remember for a long time. Of course, it’s not always that you have a player who wants to reroll, so that opportunity isn’t always available. Another scenario could be that a player will be dropping out of the game, and this could be a way to give their character a memorable send off, though I wouldn’t advise using it if the player is leaving the game on bad terms.
Conclusion
Turning your campaign into an RPG version of Game of Thrones might not be the healthiest thing for the mental state of yourself and your players. (Then again, it might be perfect for your particular group.) That said, there is some value to adding a dose of harsh reality to a campaign and reminding the players that not everyone they know and care about is totally immune to pain and misfortune. Not only does tragedy used effectively provide for an engaging story hook, it can also help build emotional investment with the characters and players. And, in the end, they might just feel more satisfied with the final outcome when they finally claim justice… or revenge.
Steve "Jaspor" Orr
