Character Death in One-off Larps

Community Larp discussion
#1

One off larps tend to lend themselves to the death of at least one persons character. Although once that character is dead, what does the player do for the rest of the larp?

I know there are a number of systems for dealing with character death, but I want to know what your opinion on the matter is. When it comes to systems, there are some basic requirements I feel are to be demanded of it;

[ul][li]The system for dealing with dead characters must be simple and easy to learn[/li]
[li]The state of the character after death must be quick and easy to establish[/li]
[li]The player of the dead character should still be able to contribute to the game and/or plot in a meaningful and enjoyable way[/li][/ul]
With these things in mind, I’m wondering what sort of system could deal with character death and achieve the above requirements. These requirements make simply excluding the player from the larp an invalid end, not to mention how unfriendly that is.

One option is to give the player another character. Although if the players character has died in the later half of the larp, the player is less likely to be able to achieve the goals of the new character. Not to mention the player potentially having trouble adjusting to the personality of the new character, having just been involved in their previous character. For a larp that lasts a day or more, this may be a viable option, but for a short game that lasts only 3 hours, it’s unlikely to be a good option.

Another option is to have the characters become ghosts, remaining in the same space as the larp is taking place in. To keep the character in the game, that would require that there is some mechanic that allows the characters to interact with the living. This mechanic may be an ability to see ghosts on the part of (at least some of) the remaining characters, a summoning, or an inanimate object that acted as a kind of portal for the ghosts to incarnate in some form. This would meet all the requirements of the system, and the last item of the requirements to varying degrees depending on the strength of interaction provided by the mechanic. The strength of the mechanic is proportional to the length of the game, methinks.

Does anyone else remember the mechanic used in games that they’ve created/GM’d/crewed/played in to deal with dead characters and the continued involvement of the player of the deceased character?

Along a similar vain; if a character has become excluded from the game (left the area, captured, permanently destroyed, etc.), what does the player do for the remainder of the larp? Do they get given another character to play, or something else to be involved in? How did the GM in a game you participated in deal with this?

#2

Anna’s Fleet St game had a really good mechanic for dead characters, and it had a lot. Not saying the details in case she wants to run it again.

If it’s a character death in the final third of the game, I don’t much care - they can stick their hands on their head and watch the rest of the game. If it’s early and expected, I’d probably either have a ghost mechanic or some backup characters to assign. If it’s early and not expected… well, I’d have to do some improvising. Would probably make up a character on the fly or give them an unassigned character.

#3

[quote=“Stephanie”]Anna’s Fleet St game had a really good mechanic for dead characters, and it had a lot. Not saying the details in case she wants to run it again.

If it’s a character death in the final third of the game, I don’t much care - they can stick their hands on their head and watch the rest of the game. If it’s early and expected, I’d probably either have a ghost mechanic or some backup characters to assign. If it’s early and not expected… well, I’d have to do some improvising. Would probably make up a character on the fly or give them an unassigned character.[/quote]

Yes, I was the first dead person at Fleet St, so I remember how it works :wink: For the Cyberpunk larp I’m making I’m going to use a similar mechanic, but I was curious as to what other options people had come up with to solve the issue of dead characters.

#4

One approach is to minimise the chances of character death while still allowing conflict. Flight of the Hindenburg didn’t have character death for the most part, defeated characters were just rendered out of play for 5 minutes, they had to go to the infirmary. Having said that, at least one character in the Auckland run got “destroyed” in a manner specific to that character.

The Freeform Games scenarios use a variation on this, where characters cannot be killed, only put out of action temporarily, until “after dessert”. So at some specific point late in the game when a player could reasonably be expected to sit the rest out, death becomes possible.

Some settings suit having a “death game”. When a character dies, the player get put into an IC scenario where they typically play their character’s soul. For example, in an ancient Greek larp you might journey to Hades, where you may encounter underworld player characters and carry on roleplaying with them. In some cases, you might be able to escape the death realm and come back to life or be reincarnated, depending on the metaphysics of the setting.

#5

One off highly-structured larps are really the only type that suffer from this issue. The advice given covers them nicely.

In other settings, a crew role is often a satisfactory method of dealing with them. Or a role where goals are less critical (or fewer) to that character if you were to reassign. This is probably difficult in a structured larp as they probably have little ability to costume a second character.

Another option, for games in which death is a distinct possibility would be to have roles for dead people. Either a role for the dead person as they are, or as mentioned a crew role? If you expect at least a few dead people, then they can become a mechanic of the game and be used in bit roles, bad guys, monsters and any other villains who have a short life span. If you do this, make sure you can recostume them enough to be recognised as a new character.

OR they come back as Zombies.

#6

Wander around the crew room reliving their character’s death and saying things like “OMG! That was awesome! Did you see the blood splatter?”

#7

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone, that’s certainly given me food for thought

Wander around the crew room reliving their character’s death and saying things like “OMG! That was awesome! Did you see the blood splatter?”[/quote]

If I’ve done my job as a designer and GM, I hope people will be so exhilerated by the game!

#8

My worst ever larp involved a very poor death scene. It was a horror larp and I had expected a graphic horrifying death. I didn’t get it.

5 minutes into the larp, playing my character (black eyed as he was) with some directness, I ended up directed into a room. The door shut.

I was then told “you are dead” with zero explanation. There was meant to be a scene, I think, but I didn’t get it.

I spent 5 minutes alone in a store room before the next person arrived.

Another 20 minutes and there were several of us. All with similar deaths.

Sometime later I got to be a zombie. I did enjoy playing a zombie.

The larp lasted maybe 45 minutes.

My warning, don’t make this mistake.

#9

[quote=“Tetrajak”]Yes, I was the first dead person at Fleet St, so I remember how it works :wink: For the Cyberpunk larp I’m making I’m going to use a similar mechanic, but I was curious as to what other options people had come up with to solve the issue of dead characters.[/quote][shrug]I haven’t placed your handle to your name and face yet. Who were you? (I was Lady Helena, the opium addict.)