The Worst Thing that can happen to your characters

[Atcote]

I was playing a campaign recently, DnD 4th Edition, and something happened to one of the PCs. It was not my own character, but it still set me on edge. To be blunt (in the way that a soggy loaf of bread is blunt), it is a serious crime that starts with the 18th letter of the alphabet (that I'm pretty sure is not correct to bring up directly here), and nobody in the group, except for the DM (who I'll admit was acting rather innocently in trying to bring more drama into the character campaigns), felt comfortable with it. He refused to remove it from the story as it had 'already happened', and he got his shock response he wanted, but now the player no longer feels comfortable playing his (female) character, due to a lack of knowing how to react, and pulled out of the game.

This isn't really a topic about that crime; I know that it is popular in backstories, but I realised how very different it felt happening in the game itself.

So tell me, what's the worst thing that can happen to your characters in a game with you still being comfortable with it?

I'll just say, we're fine with murder, torture and having your family lost in a fire, but that felt like the act in the scenario was certainly one step too far.

EDIT: Sorry Mods, put this in the completely wrong topic. Can this be moved to roleplaying or deleted?

[Dr.Epic]

So tell me, what's the worst thing that can happen to your characters in a game with you still being comfortable with it?

I had a low level barbarian who lost his chainmail armor (something which I nearly spent all my character's wealth on) to a rust monster.

I also had a barb. that had a magic item that would switch their gender whenever said item got wet.

I think I also had a wizard once who lost their spellbook.

[Leecros]

the first character i ever made was a fighter with a 10 con... he only had a handful of HP and died in the first fight.

In my defense the DM didn't tell me anything about what any of the stats did.

[Dr.Epic]

the first character i ever made was a fighter with a 10 con... he only had a handful of HP and died in the first fight.

What were your other stats? Did you roll horribly or make a beginner's mistake and not think con was important?

[Leecros]

What were your other stats? Did you roll horribly or make a beginner's mistake and not think con was important?

I don't even remember my other stats, this was...6 or 7 years ago. The only reason i recall my con was because of my freakishly low hp. I didn't really understand the stats at the time and the DM was impatient to start(he's not very new-person friendly) and he just said to roll 6 stats and put them in going straight down.

Also he just had us roll 3d6 for stats. There was no 4d6, drop the lowest or other variants to reduce the likelihood of getting below average stats to him. Of course that's not a sure thing either way, my current character has a 6 int which is very entertaining to play.

I think the biggest issue was that i didn't understand how to play and the DM didn't help at all and i was kind of left hanging by the other players. That put me off D&D for a couple of years...

[oxybe]

high level game. i forget to make myself immune to death effects that one morning.

then the GM goes

"make a spot check." fail

enemy get initiative

"make a fort save". fail

you die



i then had to sit out the rest of that session and most of the next due to the party being on a schedule where "teleport to city and rest so cleric can prep a revival spell+get diamonds (which of course, had to not have them on hand)" .

it wasn't even some of those sessions where i could grab an NPC and start fighting, since that fight was the one fight of the session...

[Chilingsworth]

The worst thing I'd be comfortable with my character enduring? I can't really imagine anything I'd be absolutely unwilling to allow.

The worst thing that's happened to one of my characters? Probably when my brand new fourth-level fighter Kay was killed by a single greataxe crit from a grimlock barbarian on the first night of his existance as a PC. It was my first session with the group, too.

[Pika...]

Being turned into turtle soup by your party members after just dying.

I did this to my good friend TurtleKing recently.

[grimbold]

death by cooking utensils
soo embarassing

[FMArthur]

Having your character 'Meenlock'ed is a horrible thing. Any "fate worse than death" outcome really makes me feel like I failed to protect my character as if it was a child I was supposed to take care of.

Death's so transient and the afterlife so well-defined that it actually doesn't bother me, though.

[molten_dragon]

The worst thing that can happen to my character is anything that results in me not being able to play for awhile.

[hangedman1984]

... and nobody in the group...felt comfortable with it. He refused to remove it from the story as it had 'already happened', and he got his shock response he wanted, but now the player no longer feels comfortable playing his (female) char

This sounds like a major issue. If the entire group is uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that at least one player left the game, than the dm should not be using it. And yes, go back and retcon it.

[valadil]

So tell me, what's the worst thing that can happen to your characters in a game with you still being comfortable with it?

The worst thing that can happen to a character depends on the character. For one of my PCs, telling him he's just as bad as the family of assassins he left behind did the trick. For another the threat of being recaptured and sold back into slavery will do it. Worst is subjective.

The most offensive thing I'd do to a player is crucify them. I think that would have the same shock effect as rape, but I don't think it would make anyone* so uncomfortable as to leave the game.

* Where anyone is defined as players in my current group. I know other gamers who would take real offense at that, but I'm not GMing for them at the moment.

[Kelb_Panthera]

@the OP: I understand the DM wasn't trying to be a **** but he -REALLY- should have spoken with the player before hand. It may have been a spoiler for what was to come in-game, but that's something that's a risk he should've taken. It would've been far better to let that plan slip than to go through with it and have a player withdraw from the game because he wasn't comfortable with his own character anymore.

[Ruinix]

[d&d 3.5]i had a female sorcer lev 8 wich was traped, raped phisically and after that mind raped, completely mind wipe leaving her as a commoner npc.

[WoD - vampire dark ages] exploring a cave on a side of a mountain in wich where a demonic ritual was being conducted; after the fight and disrupt the sigils of the ritual the all side of the mountain fall in an avalanche killing our mounts and burying our armors and items ¬¬. the campaing was extremelly low income alredy

[Telonius]

First of all, I'd have left that group even if it hadn't happened to my character. The DM should always work out at the beginning what the players' comfort zone is. Something like that is so obviously likely to cause a problem that it's absolutely stupid not to find out beforehand if the players are willing to have it in their campaign. (And that's not even getting into the possibility that any of the players might have had a similar event happen to them personally or somebody they care very much about).

Before any campaign, I always ask the players: "On a scale of G to NC-17, how much violence are you willing to have in the campaign? How much sex?" It usually ends up around PG-13 for sex and R for violence, and that's usually a good guide for what most people are going to want.

[Ormur]

Yeah, I think I'd consider what the OP described as the worst thing that could happen to a character. Maybe some horrific and humiliating torture would come close but I just can't imagine role playing or wanting to role play the effects of rape on a character. I know torture in reality is a horrific soul crushing thing too but it's somehow not as uncomfortable to think of or imagining playing out. Some players might be fine role playing characters dealing with something like that but people have different comfort zones.

[Chilingsworth]

[d&d 3.5]i had a female sorcer lev 8 wich was traped, raped phisically and after that mind raped, completely mind wipe leaving her as a commoner npc.

Well, I think this qualifies as worst fate I've ever heard of!

But... what the @#$! was an 8th level character doing to be targeted by a character able to cast the 9th level spell mindrape (or programed amnesia, as its been renamed, I think.)???

[Strawberries]

I've got a pretty strong stomach, so what the OP described wouldn't bother me if it was happened to my character (providing it was tastefully done, in a "fade to black" kind of way.)
HOWEVER, that it's definitely something I'd want the DM to ask me and the other players in advance - as in "I wanted to bring those themes into the campaign, for so and so reasons. I realize it could make people unconfortable. Would you be all right with that?".

What would put me out of my comfort zone... let's see, a helm of opposite alignment, for instance. Just because I wouldn't feel the character as mine anymore and would have no idea of how to roleplay her/him. Still, I would be giving it a try all the same.

Yes, I'm a pretty open player.

[Quietus]

Having your character 'Meenlock'ed is a horrible thing. Any "fate worse than death" outcome really makes me feel like I failed to protect my character as if it was a child I was supposed to take care of.

Death's so transient and the afterlife so well-defined that it actually doesn't bother me, though.

I had this happen to one of my characters... I kept playing it after, with the class levels but with only ghosts of memories. He felt a pull toward things he was close to in his existence as an elf, but didn't understand why.. so instead he tried to "Meenlock" them in turn. The campaign ended when both I and the DM got major headaches from trying to think along the lines of this aberrant creature's thought process.

Of my current characters, the worst thing that could happen to Ivan (silverbrow human sorcerer, with backstory that ended with him taking the Draconic Heritage (black) feat due to abduction and general badstuff in his backstory) is getting what he wants : The black dragon portion of his heritage stripped from him entirely. All of his feats, as well as his spellcasting, are based around that.. so he's specifically adventuring to remove this taint, which will take him from being a Sorcerer to a Commoner and effectively end his adventuring career. Worth it, though, in his eyes.

[Coidzor]

OP:...Your DM... Wow. That's so many lines crossed it's ceased being even a tic-tac-toe board. That's one of the Top Ten rules of what not to do if you want to have players. And no, he wasn't acting innocently in the slightest, as a dramatic device, that stuff is hard to pull off well and impossible to do without alienating people. Which means basically losing a member of the group is almost guaranteed.

So tell me, what's the worst thing that can happen to your characters in a game with you still being comfortable with it?

Worst thing. Um. Being eaten alive is fairly bad but I wouldn't really bat an eye lash unless it was a particularly asinine Gygaxian trap or monster. And of course, death is cheap. Being forced to sit out of the game for an extended length of time ceases to be something I'm comfortable with after the first five minutes when it starts to sink in how long I'm going to have to wait, and then after ten minutes I've completely disengaged.

Non-habitual item loss. Getting to be too regular causes my ability to get into the game to be diminished by being repeatedly jostled out of it to have to review everything to make sure I've eliminated everything from my inventory that got the axe.

Standard death and dismemberment. Feeding of family members to dragons.

I'm trying to think of something actually bad that actually toes the line or is close to it on either side. All I can think of is a series of bad DMing behaviors rather than single events and... well, your example of crossing the line and not looking back.

[Duke of URL]

The answer to this depends on the details of the question. What's the worst thing from the character's perspective, or the player's?

As a player, I'm pretty much ready to roll with anything. The situation in the OP would simply provide a roleplaying opportunity to me, although I can certainly empathize with those who would be uncomfortable with such things. Frankly, following the Greek drama model of the explicit stuff happening "off-stage" (there's no need to explicitly detail rape, torture, etc.), I find myself not really drawing a line of "won't go there" for a fictional character in a roleplaying game.

Really, as a player, the worst thing that can happen to any of my characters is that they start leading dull, ordinary lives.

Now, each character, of course, depending on the character's history and motivations, has a different idea of what the worst thing that could happen to him/her.

[Antonok]

Lets see, have a couple instances that a member of my group has had done to his chars.

First, in the first 5 minutes of a adventure, we got a tip that ppl have been dying in strange manners then rising from the dead. We walked in to a funeral, coffin opens, bodak sits up looks at us, and he failed his save.

Second, in our longest running campaign, we had to go to a cold tundra type land and he didn't have any cold weather gear or equivilent (spell or otherwise) and the cancer mage in our party was being nice and gave him his cold weather outfit. We didn't catch this one until about 2 sessions later. He had to reroll a new char.

Finally, in another adventure, which was just him and me playing chars while another friend DM'd, my chaotic evil halfing sorcerer found a rod of wonder. He now refuses to play in any campaign that involves that particular item.

And something that happened to my very first char I played. It was a mid lvl game, and the first session I was in we ended up killing a dragon we shouldn't have been able to kill. In the second session the next day, I get insta-killed by a goblin with a morningstar. Thats humiliation at its worst.

[Grelna the Blue]

As a GM, I once crossed the line with a player and did something that in retrospect I really wish I hadn't, or at least had checked with the player in advance.

A major campaign villain race was "elder trolls," who were essentially greater doppelgangers with spellcasting ability. The Monster Manual trolls were just their dumbed down super-soldier expendables. These elder trolls had magically bioengineered themselves to the point where they were immortal, but in so doing had lost the ability to procreate outside the lab. The trolls knew that the PCs were planning a major strike force against them and had managed to bypass the diplomatic protection that the Troll Pits had traditionally enjoyed (they were in dwarven territory, but the dwarves had protected them because of a feud with the elves and because the trolls had never acted against them). So they captured various strong and capable humans to extract genetic material to incorporate into their latest line of offspring (who would become something like normal doppelgangers) so they would have a backup plan in place if the Troll Pits were taken.

A female PC was one of those who was captured. Although no actual sex act was involved, knowing that some part of her had been stolen to create monstrous "children" deeply upset her and her player, who wasn't happy with me for some time after. This was especially unfortunate because the player was my wife.

[Tengu_temp]

To be blunt (in the way that a soggy loaf of bread is blunt), it is a serious crime that starts with the 18th letter of the alphabet (that I'm pretty sure is not correct to bring up directly here)

People talk about rape in RPGs (and how unsuitable it is for most campaigns) all the time on those boards, you know. And yeah, unless you're absolutely sure nobody will feel uncomfortable with that, this is something you just don't do to the PCs.

Now, what am I comfortable with depends heavily on the campaign I'm playing, so I don't have any hard and fast rules. If it makes me feel like the character is derailed and don't make me want to play it anymore, or if it takes fun away from me, then it's not okay.

[big teej]

to be honest, having had several people I know experience that first hand.

I would have told him flat out "retcon that, now."

not as a request, but as a given ultimatium to my continued presence within the group.

and even then, I would be EXTREMELY unlikely to play with that person (dming or playing) ever again.

its on my list of 'do not tolerate' things.
and to be honest after reading the OP I was kinda like.....

anyways,
in regards to 'worst thing that could happen to a character*'
I really dunno.
losing an eye? sure why not?
beard burnt/cut off? not gonna like it but HEY I homebrewed a prestiege class in case of that.

I have a much easier time coming up with things that would make me 'cease' playing the character.

for example: My Barbarian (Cog) if he ever lost his axe, I would be pissed, he's had that axe his whole life (both IC and OOC) and I would be pretty pissed at a DM for taking something like that (I'm a sentimental guy)

my dwarf Knight - can't really think of anything.

basically any time my character either A) becomes non-fun to play. or B) a key part of the concept has been taken from me.

*and keep playing it

[rubycona]

The DM was flat out in the wrong here. For all he knew, one of his players could have been raped IRL. I, personally, have been raped IRL, and if that were sprung on me randomly...

Let's just fade to black on that thought, shall we?

Mind, I'm an RP'er, and I actually do have the experience to know how to RP that scenario, so if I'd had heads up, I could handle it just fine... and honestly, I might even empathize with my own character more.

But the heads up is critical! Dumping that on a PC is so not acceptable, on so many levels. You have to be extremely careful about things like that. Again, the presence of rape in a campaign isn't inherently bad, or other serious crimes, it just has to be okay with the players. Rape, incest, sexual molestation, especially by family members, anything particularly humiliating, like crucifixion, and so forth... anything remotely along these lines MUST be addressed OOC at some point, ideally at the introduction to the game (so no spoilers are given).

Not only should you have a little sit down talk with your DM about this incident, you should make it blatantly clear how these issues should be addressed in the future.

As for what I can handle in game... well, personally, I'm game with anything. With the serious note that it HAS to be okayed first. There's no line I'm not willing to have crossed, as long as I'm mentally ready for it.

[Thurbane]

Disjunction?

...actually, in a 2E game I was involved in, the party got captured by the BBEG. The Dwarf has his beard forcibly shaved off; the elf had his pointy ears clipped; and the human Samurai had "liar" tattooed on his forehead (the Samurai was crazy into honour and truth).

[BG]

The worst thing that can happen to my character is anything that results in me not being able to play for awhile.

That's actually the same for me. Even though dominate is a potent thing to use against a party, I literally never use it, because I know its real-time consequences. It means that one of my players won't have access to their character for upwards of an hour's worth of actual time, and during that time they won't be having fun.

That for me is the big thing: No matter what happens, players should be allowed to make their characters decisions. The DM and other players can try to convince them, but ultimately, the player decides.

Besides that, rape and child abuse are things that I do not have in my games. There are too many people out there who have actually suffered these things, and a tabletop RPG with orcs and dragons is NOT the place to bring them up.

[Shade Kerrin]

I guess I would be quite uncomfortable with the OP, but....

What really gets me is when a permanent change is made to the very core of my character's nature.
Double it if this also ruins their mechanics
Double it again if the act is done by another player.
Quadruple it if the one in question then tries to claim that what they did is an improvement.

Yeah, this has happened once, with all of the points being true