Death and Roleplaying

[Abronia Mubble]

I've been thinking about the way death is handled in TS. The fact that death isn't permanent is not very conducive to detailed role-playing. For example, Abby watched a good man die because there were no doctors around to save him. That touched her so deeply, she decided then and there to get medical training. Good role playing! And yet, when the dead man shows up again after the "dead-waiting-period" is over, well that kinda throws a wrench in the works.

The system is also rather awkward, what with having to keep track of how long you've been injured, and when you were treated.

I'm wondering if there might be a better, simpler way? Suppose, if you lose your three hearts, you fall down. You are very injured. You can move around, but only by crawling (or, perhaps you can also be carried). And, you simply stay this way permanently (but never dying), until you are treated by a doc. That's it! Perhaps there would also be a time limit, like several hours, after which you could assume you've been treated, if you haven't actually found a doc in that time, or if you had to log out.

The role-playing potential would be greatly increased. There'd be no need to keep track of detailed times. there would also be no story-line disruptions by the dead always coming back to life.

If folks were hung for crimes or such, that could be "real" death, and the character would be gone forever. This might also make criminals a bit more careful and wary, since major crimes would have major consequences. And, role-playing potential (e.g. fun!)would be increased. The list of "dead" crimes should be pretty small, though. Otherwise, TS might end up with too few criminals!

Anyway, these are just some thoughts from someone who has too much time to procrastinate from work...

[Timmie Hax]

Yes I agree with you. I also wish there was a better, more realistic way to handle death in Tombstone. As you said, for people who take RP serious and aim for a certain degree of realism, it is very hard to RP someones death and just say "welcome back" after two hours. When I role played Wendies and Bonnies adopted son in Tombstone, I had to go through the "waaaahaaaaa don't die! Please Ma, don't die!" drama RP several times because one of them always got in trouble and both of them "died" several times. So....how should I react? Cry about losing my moms several times and then two hours later act as if nothing has happened? Well... crying and mourning is interesting if you do it once....twice.... but of you got to RP this two or three times a week, it's getting boring. And most of all to go on with the "Standard" roleplay after two hours....well it might be good for the arcade factor, but it sure isn't good for intelligent, serious roleplay. I believe an alternative would be to roleplay that people are being brought to a hospital in Phoenix where more professional doctors will fix them to have a proper excuse for them being away for two hours. I'd suggest to not let people die at all unless players agree to have their characters die permanently. I agree, it's hard to RP a hanging this way, since of course hanging someone is quite a final solution. Maybe this could be an exception, but i think people should not "die" if they do not find a doctor 30 mins after losing their 3 hearts.

[Salome (Sonsee) Jinn]

I agree! And my character has become a lot of different things due to her life and role play. I was allowed to do this, but many are not. That also limits the ability to get into a good story line leading to more creativity.

[Fearchar Enoch]

Now seems t me, that ifn death were permanent, that'd be even *less* conducive t role playin, lol :)... I do like Abronia's idea, bout th time limit. After 2 hrs, you kin assume you bin treated. Er somethin like that.

I agree w/ ol Timmie's idea exceptin, that Phoenix is too far away & it'd take more n 2 hrs t git there, be treated, & git back. ;) & PLEEEZE dont make folks die after 30min ifn they dont git treatment!

Sorry, bout all th errers but I aint never bin mutch good at spelen.

[AbsolutWoman Sunbelter]

This is a very interesting concept... shall mention to the powers that be.

[Raymond Foxchase]

I agree! The system would work perfectly, we DO have too many crimes in Tombstone than what's realistic. I really like your suggestion. The crawling thing would not be a problem either. An animation overrider addon to the HUD that reacts when the HUD hearts are gone...
Nowadays, the bodies are just piling up, anf there's very rare that we got a funeral...It's just like "Ah, another dead man, throw him on the fire."

[Tweetus Felwitch]

I like the idea of making death a bigger event. For whatever you decide the cause, death can be handled by a ban for a set period. I think you can go a step further and enforce jail time. Maybe we build a prison in the desert, and those sentenced for crimes are banned from the rest of the sim, but allowed to tp into the prison, for the term of their "sentence."

So in theory, if I decided Sheriff Roe had to die, I would kill him, if I could, he would disappear from town a while, and I would stand trial and be placed in prison for a period.

You could then get additional rp opportunities for prison breaks and prisoner transfers.

Just a thought....I have been bored with the same ol TS rp for a while in terms of crime. Seems like the same guys dying everyday. I enjoyed the rp of dying and getting taken to the cemetery and dropped in the creek by the undertaker. It was good fun.