how do you handle character deaths?

So I've got a couple characters in a SG. Had them there for a while. Had my fun with them but honestly I've come to the end of their respective story arcs and I'm very seriously looking at killing them off. So here's my question should I just delete them and tell everyone in the group they're dead, or should I tell everyone in the group that the character is dead but keep the toon for gaming (They're all 33+)? What would/have you done in this sort of situation?

It's entirely up to you, really, though if they're common characters in your SG's RP, then perhaps arranging for them to be killed off in the course of a current plot or writing up a small story on how they meet their untimely demise might be less jarring than "He just got shot by a Hellion offscreen, game over, man, GAME OVER!!"

As to keeping the characters, again, up to you but at their level consider whether you enjoy playing them enough to keep for OOC play. If you do keep them, you'll also have the options of either returning them to RP (classic comic book rule: death is little more than a minor inconvenience) without having to grind a new alt or turning them into a new character by way of the tailor and rewriting their bio. Character rename optional.

Delete them. That way you won't be temped to bring them back to life.

I once went on a sewer run with a guy who was mildly rp'ing his tank, and said out of context that he was unhappy with it and wanted to re-roll it. So he shut off all of his defenses, said, "GO! Everyone run!" And charged into the nearest mob of Lost and Self-destructed. Then he logged off. On the one hand, the rest of us on the team were left thinking, "Holy ****, he really just did that." But after that initial response, I have to say it was the best character write-off I'd seen in-game so far :P

I've never gotten rid of an RP toon (then again, I've only been into RPing for a short while). I suppose if I were to do it, I would make it count. Find some task force, preferably a fairly epic one (my favorite is Lady Grey), run it with your RP group, and let them know that your character is going to die on the final mission. If I were in your group, I think it would be damn awesome to watch (for example) a blaster run in to the fray in order to save his kinsman, blow his Nova attack, and then go down fighting.

Then again, that takes a decent amount of planning and timing. "Going into retirement" as Cende suggested, is also perfectly legitimate and probably easier.

Have you used the Mission Architect much?

You could always make an arc of missions that would result in your characters death. Maybe the last mission has your character already down, lasting just long enough to gasp out "held... them back.... as long.... as I... could" before dying.

As for deleting them; I'd keep them around, so they can always come back to life (as all good comic book characters eventually do).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cende Or they could move. Seriously, they don't have to die. Moving to California is a perfectly valid option that doesn't bring along any drama.

This is another good alternative.

Then you could have them "visit" for a mission or two.

If I legitimately kill off a character in a story or plot of some kind, I delete them. But typically a character dies off because I am/want to delete them.

I'd vote for the move (either to a "retired" SG or to another server") over deletion, if you enjoy the character. I've got a few "retired" characters - some whose stories pick up in new characters, some who just step into "administrative" duties with the occasional bit of action, others... well, that just get shelved.

If you can't see yourself playign the character (as in, the only reason you bring them out *now* is for RP, and if it weren't for that, they'd be gone,) then yeah - blaze o' glory time.

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Well... one of my characters is going to die sometime soon. Galaxy City is about to get flattened and it seems like a wonderful opportunity to terminate someone.

I do hope the GG crowd read this. Muahahaha! *cough* Sorry.

Very presonal views here, everyone sees things differently.I f you want to end a character do it, clearly you have your reasons to want to. As they are in a a RP situation it would seem fun to RP the ending, either something you want to plot out or offer them up to your SG RP mates as a plot hook for something they are developing, its always nice to move a plot along. However the End does not need to be final, i have a number of characters who have been reinvented by rerolling them as a different AT / power sets IF there is a nice bit of plotage involved

Once Ended what to do with the toon, personally i see nothing wrong with a name change a respec, and the birth of a new character, IF you still enjoy playing the toon and its power sets, to be honest some characters need to be 30+ for them to feel right, again totally personal views here. Otherwise, if you need the free slots delete.

I go by the DC comics rule. "No body, no actual death."

In-game: knockouts.

Roleplaying/Writing: Rarely.

Death is a very final way to end a situation. For me, when the character dies, it dies. There's no bringing it back.

However... I have to say the person's actually dead, on-page.

I'm not going to pull the cheesy "Word of God" crap other authors pull for stuff like TV shows or movies, and when a character disappears offscreen and other characters say the person is dead, they're dead. I go for the Fletcher reaction (The Outlaw Josey Wales): "I don't want to hear Wales dead. I want to see Wales dead." So, yes, if you didn't see it, chances are it didn't happen.

X-Men 3 was horrible, the fact they killed off half the cast in it did not make it any better.

I don't particular like killing off characters. Not because I'm soft or anything, just that it leads to a lot of wangst and depressing role-play in which everyone sits around being quietly angry at what has occurred and not really talking except to console each other. It's actually why I have Wrench, as she's enough of a ***** to not care about whatever black pall of drama is overhead and will keep roleplaying anyway. I can bring her out whenever someone's trying to drag out the drama by dancing about an issue or keeping quiet and have a giant argument instead. Which usually seems to fix it nicely.

I just don't think it works in the style of RP we have at GG. It works on Tabletop and LARP because hey, death is actually something that can happen to you regardless of your own plans. It's a threat and a worry that can make you scared of dying or elated when you don't. It works in stories because the writer knows what'll come next as well as putting it in some sort of context that'll be good for the story itself.

Generally in CoH death is greeted with a bit of a "Oh that sucks. Mope mope mope" and then two or three weeks later we never really speak of it again.

I've decided that one of my favorite toons, Praetorian Ako, is going to die in the defense of Galaxy City. I don't want to do this but I feel that for the sake of the story and my participation in it, some sacrifice is necessary. There's no way that Galaxy City could fall and it not impact someone in my pantheon. And I don't want it to be some lame, 3rd stringer who gets taken out.

So when the time comes, and Galaxy City meets its fate, Praetorian Ako will be there fighting until the end. Then I'll delete the character so I'm not tempted to revive her.

How about something akin to another comic book tradition- the passing of a superhero mantle on to a younger hero? as in Captain Mar-Vell and Captain Marvel, for example.

Could take advantage of the alternate sex build feature at the Pocket D tailor, may or may not require a name change...

could create an AE where your protege is a hostage or a sidekick..