Make Deaths Count in Your Story

[@asquirrelplays]

GUYS YOU LET ME FORGET THE LINK AGAIN! Geez. I'm bad at this youtube thing. Anyway, here's the kickstarter link. Remember it goes live on April 16 (tomorrow) www.kickstarter.com/projects/bravealice/rpg-stories-vtt-expansion-the-wrath-of-devs?ref=j6olmk

[@juauke]

Indeed, oops 😬

[@oldgrognardsays]

Always a good day when there is a Squirrel video. I think there's a lot to ponder here.

[@asquirrelplays]

Who doesn't enjoy a good ponder?

[@juauke]

Interesting topic again, I agree with your examples (especially the completely stupid Stormtrooper deaths in Star Wars) Looking forward to you talking about Days Gone (which is quite an underrated gem tbh) and Dead Island By the way, my campaign continued last week (Wednesday); I ran some Frostbitten and Mutilated by Zak S. where they got stuck into the time loop because they were trying to save Viego, one of the descendants of Diego which was the new player's companion during his session 0 and his legacy is becoming my solo characters. A lot happened, two of the 4 players present ultimately got kidnapped by two very different Amazon groups: - Markhan, our fighter whose real character was the scythe he was carrying, was kidnapped WITHOUT HIS SCYTHE to be used for a ritual of making conjoined out of a virgin (himself in his case) and a witch; long story short, to prevent him to go very far, he was cut a foot and during the operation, he asked for a last will which was to drink his white potion (which looked like alcohol), this is refined black potion (from the Lair of the Alchemist) which gives some very powerful super powers: he was granted a power of Imprisonment (1/day), one of Stone to Flesh (3/day) and the power for his scythe to return at will within a circle of radius 3 hexes like Thor's Mjölnir Thanks for that last power, he was able to cut his manacles and get out because the cleric who was overseeing the operation (not very willingly tbh) was scared shitless. When he escaped them, he came across another group of Amazons which dealed in drugs and were pretty kind if you were into drugs (which took him a little while to realize) but eventually he took some which made him see everything as treasure to the extent that he wanted to put everything in his backpack including the moon which led to his end... He started trying to reach the moon, he eventually went up flying above the atmosphere and grabbed the moon and took it with him but he didn't foresee that on the way down, it would crush him: he fell into the Pacific (between North America and Western Europe) with the moon which crushed him and his scythe... That is for the first kidnapping - the second kidnapping was a group of very anti-cleric Amazons who kidnapped our cleric of Chad (yeah yeah it is what you think), he tried to seduce the ones who captured him (in vain; making him his captor eat ashes wasn't the best way to make them like you bud xD) He was eventually brought in front of their chief which was looking to hear about his deepest secrets which was that he could count (in contrary to Chad and his worshippers), taught her as well out to do push-ups and after very sensual episodes (including ear licking), he was leaving Chad and becoming a pimp of the same Amazon girls. This was the second kidnapping In the meantime, the two other PCs realized that the others were kidnapped: Markhan leaving his scythe and the other leaving one of Chad's pamphlet he was 'not reading' every day xD They took Markhan's Scythe which was not very talkative and started following the tracks of several wolves and people (the one who looked like they could have taken Markhan) On the way, they met an Arctic Fox who misled them toward another low-level adventurer group made of 1 Fighter, 1 Sorcerer and 1 Specialist who were holding a box containing a priori a demon and was shaking in spite of its 6 locks with 6 jewels and 6 chains each This group was on the run from something and was scared that the PCs would turn them in, they started fighting One of my players had to go at that same time so a reunion between my newest player and Otto Octavius (pretty sure you can guess what he does; only difference is that it's magic) happened to give a combat companion. The fight ultimately ended in the (talking) Specialist throwing his knife so well, it finished between his two eyes and the Fighter opening the box as a last resort which yielded a small anti-matter explosion which made him explode thrice and made the Sorcerer implode Fortunately, the fight happened in a forest and the not-so-strong was stopped after killing the last adventurers and cutting some trees... Very long summary but I hope you will have fun reading this This session will have very lasting consequences on my world (year being longer by a few days, something missing in the sky, strange dusks and dawns xD...)

[@asquirrelplays]

What a wild ride. A magical Otto Octavius would be pretty cool though. And if I remember right, isn't there a school of magic in EZD6 that is specifically magical whips/tentacle like limbs? Seems like that would work perfectly. Also - obligatory "snu snu" comment for the Amazons. Days Gone was such a fun story. There were more than a few game mechanics I really didn't care for or enjoy, but I was absolutely hooked on the story and wanted to see where it went. I read somewhere that there were plans for a sequel, but Sony said no because the sales weren't good enough. Then when it hit Steam it kind of resurfaced and people were asking for a second one. I think one of the devs even got a little pissy and was like "well if you had bought it on playstation when it came out ...". Though, there's nothing solid on a Days Gone 2 yet. The director didn't exactly do himself any favors with a few tweets he made. You know how that goes.

[@juauke]

​@@asquirrelplaysyeah wild is definitely the word for it! That was exactly my thought and that's his power (it's called Arcane Bands)! Snu snu xD It is! I agree it is bothersome in some places but the story (and the driving for me; gave me Daryl vibes 😊) were compelling enough to keep me going too! I remember hearing that Sony killed any chance of a sequel on that one too The director definitely doesn't sound the smartest when tweeting things; hopefully we'll see a sequel one day even if it is in spirit

[@xteband]

the idea of mixing ttrpgs with fitness answers the questions why players have to solve the puzzle/mistery by themselves, but the warrior doesn't have to do push ups to try to force a door open

[@asquirrelplays]

he actually had an interesting way for how real world physical checks and what not worked. The idea wasn't just to play a game, but to actually get you in better physical shape. And now that I think about it, I sure hope they're short sessions because that could get tiring real fast.

[@Drudenfusz]

Disney is funny, in Star Wars the fascist gets eradicated by the hundreds, but in reality Disney has become the very neoliberal fascist-adjacent nightmare that the heroes in those franchises are fighting against. Still, there are occasionally stories in which it works, I would point at Clone Wars for example, since even though the clones are just as expendable as the stormtroopers, they often despite being clones a lot of personality and thus their losses do impact the show. And well, the Andor show does not make the stormtroopers themselves better, but it manages to present the empire as far more terrifying than most other films and shows did.

[@asquirrelplays]

Yes! Clone Wars did a lot of things right when it wanted to. They way it handled the Clone Troopers and made you care for them was really good. The finale was rough (as in a good heartbreaking way). And Fives, man. Geez. There were a lot of good moments. Which is so weird when you think about it. The Clones were built to be disposable, and Clone Wars was a show geared towards kids, but yet, that one handled death so much better, had better characters, and honestly was a lot darker at times than other Star Wars media. Still scratching my head on that one. Also yes to Andor. That show is amazing. It makes the empire look terrifying. Those episodes in the prison were crazy good. ONE WAY OUT! ONE WAY OUT!

[@TheIoPC]

In stories that are meant to be taken seriously then death defiantly has to mean something. For all its plot holes the Harry Potter books did handle the permanence of death better than most modern series. The problem comes when people making the movies think less of their IP and content than their fans. 😛 ~ Adam

[@asquirrelplays]

I swear it seems like the people making movies these days don't even like the IPs they're working on and want them to fail.

[@lukec.5656]

Sooo revivify bad in most cases?

[@asquirrelplays]

If it cheapy brings back an important character in a story, probably. If it's a way for a player to not permanently lose the character they've sunk countless hours and roleplay sessions into in a TTRPG, then absolutely not. In other words, it's the good old "it depends".

[@BuilderB-dt1f8]

And then there was that time Lucas killed _ in order to stOp _ BeCaUsE it WAS tHe RIGHT tHiNg to DO! (Throws your amazingly written book across room in anger but then picks back up and continues on.) Can we have more good 📚s, please & thank you?

[@asquirrelplays]

I'm writing them as fast as I can! KZbin takes up too much time. Wolf Bloods is the next one to drop, and it's gonna be so much better than what it was.

[@saraphys5555]

I think Stormtroopers have become a bit of a joke at this point... From the original first movie, Obi-wan tells Luke that only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise... they sabotage vehicles, murder innocents, and clearly have the ability to lockdown a hive of scum and villainy like Mos Isley...yet...we never SEE them actually be any of this. I can name a few times things are alittle different, but its so rare...its the exception, not the rule. Personally, it irritates me... As for the latest Phase of the MCU...yeah... Riri is a good example, but she's not the only one, and it too is getting alittle too dumb for my liking. I will say, best death of all time...and best Death of all time... Death, that's with a Capital "D"; and he talks like Christopher Lee. (...Discworld, for anyone who didnt get it :P )

[@asquirrelplays]

Yeah, I think Lucas only has himself to blame for how Stormtroopers are seen. Like you said, we were told they were something scary but we never got to see it. Then when the prequals came out he used droids instead and made them even dumber. I think by that point it was just expected in Star Wars for the opposing side to have "dumb soldiers" and lots of them. Then Disney came along and SUPER leaned into it.

[@justinblocker730]

Booooo 5e, my obligation has been fulfilled, my character can die now, why aren't the rocks falling? Does this mean I have to help someone else with their backstory? Goblin (storm trooper) deaths don't mean much, Guard (officer scene) deaths mean a little more because the remaining guards would likely converge on the killer.

[@asquirrelplays]

But goblin deaths COULD mean something in a story. Even if it's just to show you the power level of a character, that's better than killing them for nothing but entertainment.

[@Nevyn515]

I disagree… But I read and watch a lot of isekai, which generally starts with the premise of “Reincarnated as… (Insert gradually weirder thing, a slime, a tree, a zombie, a kick-boxer, a bullied teenager etc)”

[@asquirrelplays]

man, imagine being reincarnated as a slime in a tutorial dungeon 💀

[@crallsfickle2994]

My comment wasn’t included in the shout out. Unsubscribed.

[@asquirrelplays]

It was too! it was at the end right as it faded away 💀