Violent conflict, that often leads to character death, is a part of Vampire LARP. While we don’t envisage that Crucible is the kind of game where people will get through dozens of characters over the course of the LARP, we do expected a few of the characters who start the game to have met their ends along the way.
We also know that different players have different ways they prefer that sort of thing to be handled. Some players want to be consulted on how their character meets their end, some players find that stressful, or just that it reduces their fun. So we’ve set up options to allow players to see how others prefer to play. (You will be able to find out how other players have set their options through the game system, under “Useful Information”.)
The options we ask players to pick from are
- Other players should feel free to murder this character (for reasons) without consulting me.
This is for players who do not want to know if another PC has it in for their character (either because they find it spoils their fun, or just don’t care). Either way they want attempts on their character’s life to come as a surprise, and other players should please respect that. - Other players should warn me before attempting to murder this character, but I do not need to be consulted on the details.
This is an option for players who don’t like to be blindsided by an attempt on their character’s life, but other than that, are happy for that to happen however/whenever another player might wish. - Other players should not attempt to murder this character without getting my input on the details.
This is for people who are a bit more protective of their character, and who would an opportunity to be consulted about the how and when, so that can say things like “look, could you hold off for a session or so/until X happens, because this phase of character’s story will have come to an end at that point, and/or it’d be cooler if they died after confessing their love for X”. - Other players should not attempt to murder this character without first talking to the ref team.
This is sort of like option 3, but the player in question would still like to be surprised, and trusts the ref team to work with other players on their behalf to work out when the most dramatic death/appropriate end might be.
Caveats
These are not game rules in the sense of system mechanics.
These are tools to help players be considerate of others fun. Setting an option does not provide any mechanical system that means it will 100% be respected – if a player has another character at their mercy under the system rules, and opts to kill them, then that character is going to die.
Having talked about an outcome with another player does not mean that what you have agreed is what will happen.
There are other players in this game. They might decide to interfere. Even if they don’t, the system might declare the fight goes against that person everyone thought would win easily. Violence is not safe or predictable.
Actions have consequences.
None of this is intended to render characters immune from the consequences of their actions. You can’t expect murder (or even just attempt to murder) someone else without warning, get caught, and say “but my preferences are different to theirs, and I’d like it if everyone waited three months for my to finish my story arc before taking revenge”. If your character does a thing that carries and direct and obvious risk of death, and that risk breaks the wrong way, that’s tough luck.
Wheaton’s Law Applies
As in all things, the rule of “Don’t Be A Dick” applies. If a player repeatedly refuses to respect what others find fun, or attempts to try and use the letter of the law to defeat the spirit, they’re likely to get less interaction from other players as a result and/or asked to leave the game.