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04/08/01: Please, may I kill you? “No! No, please don't kill me!” Jared begs, clasping his empty hands
together, begging, feeling the edge of Derek's axe biting into his neck…
You might take a look at that post and ask yourself, will Derek kill
Jared? Will those final words of begging and pleading be the last he
ever says? Well, I would, at least. In some rooms, however, that question
is answered by another question: Has Jared given Derek permission to
kill him beforehand?
Take a moment and look at this question for a second, and consider
the number of lives that would be saved if all of the people in the
world who've ever been murdered had been asked for permission by his/her
murderer first. Any sane man would tell his assailant not to kill him,
and to let him go on his merry way.
Think of all the famous people in history who would've lived longer.
Martin Luther King, Jr., who led the African Americans to nation-wide
integration of everything from schools to city buses in the United States.
Then we have Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination
was one of the catalysts of World War I. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, whose
assassination has shaken America ever since. If these men had been asked
for permission to be killed, they might've been around a little longer,
to influence our lives in an even better way. (Editors note: I understand
Archduke Ferdinand was THIS close to inventing the urinal cake.)
This, however, did not happen in history. Why should we do that in
our Role-playing?
One of the biggest reasons I've seen people come up with is the time
they put into creating a character. The picture, the tagline, the history.
It seems so complex, that to just see him or her killed before their
MUN’s are ready to get rid of them is too terrible to imagine…
And why shouldn't you feel that way? The characters some people create
are almost like children. They grow with time, they mature, the attachment
between you and him/her becomes greater and greater as time goes by.
How wonderful it would be to see them become strong members of a society!
Unfortunately, and I know from experience, this does not happen, no
matter how much you want it to. Children tragically die before their
prime, just as characters tragically die, because like the people you
run into on the street in real life, in their universe, they are real,
susceptible to getting their heads chopped off, being trampled by horses,
being shot, etc.
Is it fair, then, to assume that every time a character dies in a room
that requires the dying character's permission, he/she is committing
suicide? Would it not be better to say that he fought for his life to
the end, and died bravely? As many have heard me say, if you're going
to be a character that fights, learn how to fight. Don't be afraid of
losing, for with each character you lose, another lesson is learned.
When you look at it though, what are you losing? Sure, your character
is dead in one room, but how many rooms are in IMC? For example, with
a few modifications, a Highlander Immortal can easily become a character
in WoD Brentford, and a character in the Black Pearl Inn can always
find another Inn as a romping ground.
In closing, I say simply, keep it real, folks.
All I gots t'say is "Dyin' ain't much of a livin', son."
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