Beginning of the End?

[hwango]

Thursday's session of Exalted featured our first character deaths in all of the 19 sessions so far. Unfortunate circumstances and bad luck snowballed into a fight that began while nearly everyone was wounded, low on resources, and/or not prepared for combat. The truly bad part is that we didn't finish the fight that session, either. With 2 characters dead, one unconscious, and two seriously wounded, it's entirely possible that everyone will be killed next session, which throws a serious wrench in the plot. The players are taking it well, though. While no one was happy to see their characters die, they seem interested in new concepts for replacement characters, and at least they went out in style.

Comments

Killer GM!

[octophobic.livejournal.com]

People did seem to take it really well I agree. Even though my own character hasn't officially died yet I thought it was a good time to bring in someone to cover the healing gap.

It was definitely a case of the players over extending themselves rather than GM error. I'm glad it turned out the way it did to some extent because you obvious stayed true to your rules for how the demon is handled.

I'd be happy to sacrifice Fang Feng if it means the party will be able to get away or survive the battle. With your help having the demon distracted by my hatchet lobber could make all the difference. Plus I like the story line and would be sad to see it populated with an entirely new cast.

Re: Killer GM!

[hwango.livejournal.com]

I can think of no greater compliment than the fact that you're willing to sacrifice your character for the sake of the story. We'll have to come up with something spectacular. = )

Re: Killer GM!

[octophobic.livejournal.com]

I know I'm in the minority in liking Fang Feng. I think things would go more smoothly if I changed him out. I choose plot!

His real motivation is simple. He doesn't want the demon's rise to benefit any Death Lord. He figures that the group will go on to succeed without him but only if Tan Khan Gen and Marcus survive. If you remember he always prefers the easiest method available - whatever the cost.

"Watch Sparks for me. See you soon." - Fang Feng

Re: Killer GM!

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about Sparks. He can be eaten by the demon, sending Fang Feng into a fit of homicidal rage. = )

I know I'm in the minority in liking Fang Feng.

I think the biggest problem was that you played up your low virtues, rather than concentrating on the high ones. Really, it's the high ones that are supposed to drive your personality.

Having a 1 Compassion doesn't mean that when offered a chance to trade your grandmother for an apple that you must roll your Compassion, and if you fail you must do so.

Rather, it means that if you decided that you actively wanted your character to trade his grandmother for an apple that you would need to roll your Compassion and, if you got any successes, you would need to either spend a Willpower to go through with it, or change your mind.

In the same way, you don't have to shrink away from combat if you have a Valor of 1, or drink constantly if you have a Temperance of 1, or have a 10 second attention span with a Conviction of 1. There may be effects that require you to make Valor rolls not to run away, but that's when it will govern the actions of your character. You can still try to act valiantly, or whatever.

Re: Killer GM!

[octophobic.livejournal.com]

I did attempt to play up my high virtues but it ended up being so much more subtle than his low virtues. I do believe it's important to play them all but I'm not sure I'll be focusing on that as much with the next character.

Taking the good with the bad I had Fang Feng resist the urge to kill those children even though he felt it was the best course of action. It would have been a better example of temperance if it weren’t such a charged subject.

His conviction was also too subtle. I tried to hint a bit but no one ever seemed to pick up on it. Basically the way I saw his high conviction was more of an oath thing. If he says he will do X then he WILL do it. Nothing short of killing him would prevent him from achieving his goal. When he promised not to fight in the now shadowland city he meant it. The city’s current predicament doesn’t affect his earlier decision but fortunately it never came up.

I still think it’s important to represent both the low and high virtues because in a way the low scores are flaws. Basically choosing to have only a one in a virtue is equivalent to having a one charisma or strength. Your character is weak in some way that is often obvious.