Dying monologues

[kanachi]

Hiya all,

It’s a bit of a random question, but how do you as DMs/Players normally handle a story telling classic (or even cliché) tool… an NPC’s (or even PCs) dying monologue or last words.

If the NPC can talk they can generally be healed… but if they can be healed there is never (except for exceptional circumstances) a way of them giving a final farewell or passing on that dying request. As far as I can see (by the rules) the NPC must die outright, refuse resurrection for whatever reason and come back as an obi-wan style spirit just to pass on their final words... it seems very clunky and there is surely more emotion in holding someone in your arms as they slip away than in talking to a human glow bug talking after the fact "well... sucks to be you guys, i'm off to see Roy's mum! chow!"

Anyway, I was thinking of implementing a simple system of:

If you’re hit points are reduced to a point where you are killed, your wounds are so grievous that they can’t be healed by conventional “healing” spells. As you lay their slipping out of the mortal world you may depart your final words to the world before death.

Do you think something like this would be an ok house rule to work in? Would it piss you off to know you cant heal someone who is talking to you (is that maybe the point?).

Anyway, I guess I’ve kind of made my mind up but I thought it was an interesting thing to throw out there and see what you all think. How would you handle an NPCs death (both mechanically and in RP)?

[veven]

My group uses the same exact house rule. Not every NPC gets a monologue, sometimes the shock of a very sudden and unexpected death is more impacting than a few last words but if I feel it's needed I'll do it.

We also employ a house rule where if you are reduced to -10 or less you can spend all of you remaining action points to get one full round of actions before death. Obviously for fairness sake you cannot heal yourself or receive healing from anyone else. Similar to your idea, their wounds are simply beyond mortal means to heal. It has the benefit of giving the players a climactic death though.

[kanachi]

We also employ a house rule where if you are reduced to -10 or less you can spend all of you remaining action points to get one full round of actions before death. Obviously for fairness sake you cannot heal yourself or receive healing from anyone else. Similar to your idea, their wounds are simply beyond mortal means to heal. It has the benefit of giving the players a climactic death though.

lol, I was also thinking up the exact same thing!

[Keneth]

OR remove healing spells from the game. We tried it once, it was brutal. We also houseruled that the character rolls a check to remain conscious, rather than to stabilize, and the Heal check to stabilize someone was usually impossible to perform. That way, once you started dying, you had about a minute to say what you wanted before you faded away. Overall it was very dramatic. :smallbiggrin:

[Rejusu]

Talking is a free action, by RAW there is no limit on how many free actions you may take during your turn. Speaking more than a few sentences is beyond the limit of a free action, but you have as many free actions as you want. Thusly as long as I never end my dying speech I shall never die.

I call it the Shakespeare strategy.

[kanachi]

Talking is a free action, by RAW there is no limit on how many free actions you may take during your turn. Speaking more than a few sentences is beyond the limit of a free action, but you have as many free actions as you want. Thusly as long as I never end my dying speech I shall never die.

I call it the Shakespeare strategy.

I have this great image in my head now of a guy walking around, doing his grossary shopping years later still giving his dying speech.

"Alas! this strawberry shalt be the last sweet red berry of my wintered existance.. woe is me! woe is me!"

[Rejusu]

I have this great image in my head now of a guy walking around, doing his grossary shopping years later still giving his dying speech.

"Alas! this strawberry shalt be the last sweet red berry of my wintered existance.. woe is me! woe is me!"

Well technically it's more like you're living an eternity in 6 seconds.

[panaikhan]

There was a Bard archetype from 2.X that stated the character 'stuck around' long enough before dying to give their final oratory performance - even if 'disintegrated', their disembodied voice would carry on.

[CTrees]

I know my players. If any enemy was giving a dying monologue:
-someone would try to slap on some manacles before casting some minor healing spell, so they could take it prisoner.
-someone would immediately try to coup de gras
-someone would try to loot him, while he was talking

Guarantee it. It's not worth even trying a dying monologue with my group, so I just toss out journals and notes (bonus to those methods: TRAPS!)

~~~~~~~~

Also, the old "talking is a free action, so let's monologue forever" canard is fun, but (from the "Speak" entry in free actions): "In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action." So... yeah. Maybe take some inspiration from here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_English_sentence) to make sure those "few sentences" really count.

[Kol Korran]

this may be contrary to the spirit of the thread but what about:

having a gentlemen agreement with your players, that as you die (or them) they can give out a sentence or two? because it makes the experience better? and no one interrupts this?

worked nicely in my group. :smallwink: