Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - What types of games are impacted the most by permadeath?

silvarilon · 03-07-2010, 10:29 PM

I note that we tend to be thinking of permadeath in terms of "competitive PVP" with direct combat.

i.e. Character 1 goes out with a sword and kills Character 2.

But the topic can be so much wider than that. Perhaps there is no *direct* permadeath, you can't just kill off another character at your whim. But there could be permadeath results of possible actions.

In my game, a character can kill off another character, but it is only temporary. Magic is used to resurrect the murdered character.
But if you get caught for a crime and executed, there is no resurrection.
Other actions might also lead to permadeath. We've had permadeath from: Declaring war on the church and being burnt at the stake, as well as "claiming to be a king" - we've also had characters who annoyed the church enough that they refused to ressurect them anymore (which means if any of them does get killed by another PC it would be permadeath)

In all those cases, the player takes some action before their character risks permadeath. It means that another player can't bully them by just killing them off. And it means there has to be some opportunity for story before they risk permadeath (so no meaningless permadeath)

I could imagine more achievement based games also using this idea. Maybe certain tough monsters have ways to permanently kill off characters if you fight them. Maybe there are defensive skills that can permanently kill the attacker. Maybe there are risks the players can take that could lead to their death (for example, a magician may be able to summon a powerful demon, but if they do it badly the demon eats them)

All those options would allow the positive impact of permadeath, without the possibility for high level players killing off all the noobs and dominating the game. And would allow the players who don't wish to risk permadeath to avoid those risks.

Of course, it also means you can't just walk up to another PC and kill them - while your character might have a good reason to do that. But, y'know, that's the tradeoff of not being able to bully other players. What you might use for good roleplay, someone else would abuse.

03-07-2010, 10:29 PM	#49
silvarilon Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 144	Re: What types of games are impacted the most by permadeath? I note that we tend to be thinking of permadeath in terms of "competitive PVP" with direct combat. i.e. Character 1 goes out with a sword and kills Character 2. But the topic can be so much wider than that. Perhaps there is no direct permadeath, you can't just kill off another character at your whim. But there could be permadeath results of possible actions. In my game, a character can kill off another character, but it is only temporary. Magic is used to resurrect the murdered character. But if you get caught for a crime and executed, there is no resurrection. Other actions might also lead to permadeath. We've had permadeath from: Declaring war on the church and being burnt at the stake, as well as "claiming to be a king" - we've also had characters who annoyed the church enough that they refused to ressurect them anymore (which means if any of them does get killed by another PC it would be permadeath) In all those cases, the player takes some action before their character risks permadeath. It means that another player can't bully them by just killing them off. And it means there has to be some opportunity for story before they risk permadeath (so no meaningless permadeath) I could imagine more achievement based games also using this idea. Maybe certain tough monsters have ways to permanently kill off characters if you fight them. Maybe there are defensive skills that can permanently kill the attacker. Maybe there are risks the players can take that could lead to their death (for example, a magician may be able to summon a powerful demon, but if they do it badly the demon eats them) All those options would allow the positive impact of permadeath, without the possibility for high level players killing off all the noobs and dominating the game. And would allow the players who don't wish to risk permadeath to avoid those risks. Of course, it also means you can't just walk up to another PC and kill them - while your character might have a good reason to do that. But, y'know, that's the tradeoff of not being able to bully other players. What you might use for good roleplay, someone else would abuse.