Everyone Gets a Trophy - Or At Least Immortality...

[Zi'on Darkbane]

It seems to me, that given the nature of many of the submissions I have seen, that the biggest fear of most of the item designers is death. Now I do understand the sentiment, really I do, but the reason the game is worth playing, besides the hootin' hollerin' good time that it is, is that there is risk. And bad things happen when you run up to a Minotaur at first level (the first and last encounter of a player right at the beginning of a PFS game - very sad - but we got over it).

So what gives?

I suspect it has to do with the modern notion that everyone is special and ought to be affirmed. And rewarded, not matter how dumb your choices are.

I blame the Soccer Moms for this.

Any thoughts?

[Zi'on Darkbane]

Or items that allow you to do things that are utterly lethal, but have little to no lasting effect...

[Zi'on Darkbane]

Or items that practically kill you by using them...

There really is some weird schizoid thing going on here...

But back to my first question - why all the items that essentially allow someone to become immortal?

[Pamela Elizabeth]

People get way too attached to their characters.

[Tokoz]

Pamela Elizabeth wrote:

People get way too attached to their characters.

And their GMs don't.

[cwslyclgh]

quite frankly rather than fear of death.... based upon the items I have seen the most frequently, people are upset that their non-barbarians can't rage and do other barbarian things.... or else have a fixation on severed body parts.

[Zi'on Darkbane]

cwslyclgh wrote:

quite frankly rather than fear of death.... based upon the items I have seen the most frequently, people are upset that their non-barbarians can't rage and do other barbarian things.... or else have a fixation on severed body parts.

Sure, lots of those and of great variety, but I'm struck by how many different items say upon death, X occurs.

And usually X means popping out of the ground, dropping from the sky or leaping from Jupiter's brow or some such nonsense.

I know what happens upon death...

And it doesn't involve nearly as much activity as many people presume...

[Garrett Guillotte]

If it was a fear of death, I'd expect more items would prevent death rather than undo it.

Maybe players want to be Big Damn Heroes, and Big Damn Heroes do their best heroics when they come screaming back from the dead.

[Zi'on Darkbane]

Garrett Guillotte wrote:

If it was a fear of death, I'd expect more items would prevent death rather than undo it.

Maybe players want to be Big Damn Heroes, and Big Damn Heroes do their best heroics when they come screaming back from the dead.

"Prevent" or "undo," makes it just as meaningless. I could stomach the "prevent" tack more because I can understand trying to do your best not to die, but the liberty granted to a character upon death is just shocking.

Shocking I say!

[cwslyclgh]

I just saw an item that allows you to keep acting as an incorporeal version of yourself for 3 rounds after death... similar but not quite the same....