DM Advice - Killing a Player

theincarnadine42 · January 2013

So I have sworn revenge against one of the players in the 4e campaign I am running for something he did in another game, and he told me to do my worst, and so I've decided I am going to kill, or otherwise make his character unplayable in the most embarassing way possible, and I'm not going to do it for at least a couple weeks, so that he wont be fully expecting it.

My friend is a number cruncher first, the most important thing to him in D&D is his characters stats, what he is able to pull off. He is playing a Revenant Cleric, who is extremely proud of his healing abilities.

So normally I would plan on a cursed item, something like that, but he is the DM of his own campaign with other people where he does stuff like that all the time. I need something different, memorable, and embarrassing.

So far I know that I want to build him up a lot before it happens. I am going to give him several custom, powerful items, maybe some stat boosts, that will thrill him to no end, enough to where the rest of the party gets jealous, and then, when he is at his peak, I will squish him like a bug.

Any ideas would be welcome!

deathssickle · January 2013

A simple spike pitfall trap easy effective, and if done right he will never see it coming, or you could set up a mummy that will fear him into a trap or a giant mob to kill him

gillrmn · January 2013

I am sorry but death is no way "the worst". The worst involves many things, death is not one of them. Using orcs, girdle of masculinity/feminity, curse of undeath combined with a glimmer of fake hope can make for one such revenge plot - however I would rather advise to let it go. Eventually karma will catch up...

theincarnadine42 · January 2013

This IS karma catching up, and he challenged me to "do my worst"

deathssickle · January 2013

Um maybe a poison on a plant that leaves him horribly disfigured, so much so he isnt allowed in town and monsters are afraid of him but it lowers his stats

bitterwinter · January 2013

How about having him permanently cursed into either female or male form. If he's playing a male character turn him into a female character who is so attractive she is constantly being hit on by both PC's and NPC's ALL the time.

galvayra · January 2013

bitterwinter wrote: »

How about having him permanently cursed into either female or male form. If he's playing a male character turn him into a female character who is so attractive she is constantly being hit on by both PC's and NPC's ALL the time.

That is a punishment? i'l take two please.

bitterwinter · January 2013

Its only punishment if he has issues with males coming on to him...sadly I know people like that:)

theincarnadine42 · January 2013

Ironically, he did that to me in a campaign a couple years ago XD

ruinedmirage · January 2013

I would have him get into a forced card game with an NPC and a Deck of Many Things. Let the cards decide his fate (of course, the deck would have to be ..... "altered" ..... a little bit.)

ruikesan85 · January 2013

Look up an old series of books called Grimtooth's guides. They were old 3.5 references for DMs who really really hated their players, or at least wanted to be vindictive SoBs.

aavarius · January 2013

I can't advocate any of this. Griefing (note: not the same as being relentless and/or stern) your players is never anything but problematic. It's bad form and in bad taste. Get him back in some way that doesn't drag it into the game. It sours the whole atmosphere of cooperative play and associates the game with negative feelings. Moreover, it's inconsiderate of your other players.

Don't get me wrong, paybacks is paybacks, but take it outside. It's more awesome if you can get him back and retain your air of professionalism while you do it. That's my 2 cents.

iamtruthseeker · January 2013

The secret to "destroying" a player's character is to make something so deadly, so heinous, so horrible, then you make it optional, and WARN the PC about the potential danger, and they arrogantly go in there to "test it out" to show nothing is beyond their ability.

Now, I'm not talking instant kill or auto fail for some horrible event, that's just stupid and "I'm god of everything and you're not haha." I'm talking about taking away from the PC (and maybe the player of the PC) what matters to them most.

Is it their power? Is it an item? Is it an accomplishment etc.? You have to plan this thing, have it build up for weeks and months without them knowing it, and then, BAM! They never thought it would happen to them.

The secret is giving them that sense of security that "oh, guess they wussed out after all" and they forget about it for quite a while.

And when you do it right, they either respect your total ownership of the moment it executed, or sometimes (rarely but sometimes,) THANK you for such an experience.

But for many, they are the "dish but not take" it and this just gets escalated into petty "I hurt YOU worse!" "NUH UH, *I* did!" retaliations.

If you're truly going to make it memorable, get intel, plot it out like any scenario, and take your time letting it brew....

and welcome to the dark side my apprentice......

*Evil Laughter*

gillrmn · January 2013

iamtruthseeker wrote: »

...
Now, I'm not talking instant kill or auto fail for some horrible event, that's just stupid and "I'm god of everything and you're not haha." I'm talking about taking away from the PC (and maybe the player of the PC) what matters to them most.
...

Exactly as I said - false glimmer of hope is essential here.

Also, it is better to let karma catch up - but if not, you have to make it look like you had nothing to do with it "it was just you!" and open you hands with shrug as an honest expression.

Unless the player thinks they have a fair chance - i.e. a mirage, they will quit midway and the addition in campaign would be annoying for other gamers as disrupting the game.

Also don't neglect other gamers - give them a fair chance to rescue the companion - but tempt them with greed and job "if you go by yourself, you can distribute the treasure between three" or "orcs are near but if you decide to rescue him, the damsel will be eaten by dragon".

EDIT: But if I were you, I would just lower the Health potion rate ridiculously to annoy the cleric to no end.

rickman · January 2013

..... Am i the only one who goes by the Advocation of "The Greatest revenge ever done is the one never fulfilled"?

Basically Let him stew, let him know something bad is coming (Fortune teller on the street Faint/Flee at the first sight of him, His god is becoming harder to contact/Get prayer from Etc) But... don't do anything yourself. Eventually it'll get too the point that he want's something too happen, but still don't do anything. Make him fail at some tests/Scenarios so badly that (Make them hopeless scenarios so that regardless he can't succeed) he thinks he's cursed by a God/Demon-lord/Greater Devil.... Then forget it, let it fade into the background for awhile. Then start again, maybe this time having it happen too the whole party for their association with the Cleric so they might alienate him themselves (for an extra twist make it so that if he's with the party they suddenly get much harder Challenges or that people who wouldn't normally be hostile are).

Hopefully if you can do it right the sense of hopelessness will get to him, and he'll really want to get it over with, then let his character die however he would, but only though normal matters.. Don''t deliberatly kill him, let the dice do that.

Edit: If its done right it can lead into Many interesting story hooks... Why is this happening to the Cleric? Why isn't his God stepping in and helping? Who in his right mind is going to help someone that even fate is adandoning? and my personal favorite... Why are the Gods forcing this single mortal into their game?
P.S. Also i will mimic/Agree with the prospect of giving him a glimmer of Hope... Hopefully make it so that HE is the glimmer of hope for a group of People/Nation/The World. And then Crush him. (I'm all for Hopeless boss fights... aslong as they are all in plot/story for the game.

surf13 · January 2013

Wait... You want to kill the player?

You must really hate the guy... Or really like jail. In any case doing that in front of your other players is going to be memorable!

I can PM you on ideas for killing 4e characters if you like...

theincarnadine42 · January 2013

Some good ideas here, I'm starting to get some ideas for some really long drawn out things, choices I can give to him and even the other party members that will come up in the long run. I need to plan some stuff out, and luckily we are about to wrap up our current adventure so I have plenty of opportunity to do things without interfering with the existing storyline.

Not going to say any of my thoughts so far...just in case...but I am leaning more towards a long term storyline he may even survive, but have a decent chance of...well, bad things and maybe death. Before I was looking for something funny and embarrassing, but you guys are right, I can really make something out of this.

And if it works out and does turn out pretty cool, you can all play the Foundry version of it later ^_^

One thing I do want to mention, to try to avoid any of the concerns expressed, this guy is one of my best friends, practically a brother. We pick on each other, we mooch off of each other, we have epic feuds and heated debates, and it only strengthens our friendship. Nothing I do here will ruin our friendship, make him quit the gaming group, and knowing the rest of the group, ruin the experience for anyone else either. If it is for revenge they would understand if I opened a black hole under him, he would roll a new character, and we move on. If it is funny it is encouraged and will be laughed about for years. If I had ANY fears that it would cause any damage in any way I would not even consider that, I am not against my players as a DM, I am for them. The DM's job is to control the chaos and help everyone have fun, not to "win the game".

iamtruthseeker · January 2013

theincarnadine42 wrote: »

Some good ideas here, I'm starting to get some ideas for some really long drawn out things, choices I can give to him and even the other party members that will come up in the long run. I need to plan some stuff out, and luckily we are about to wrap up our current adventure so I have plenty of opportunity to do things without interfering with the existing storyline.

Not going to say any of my thoughts so far...just in case...but I am leaning more towards a long term storyline he may even survive, but have a decent chance of...well, bad things and maybe death. Before I was looking for something funny and embarrassing, but you guys are right, I can really make something out of this.

And if it works out and does turn out pretty cool, you can all play the Foundry version of it later ^_^

One thing I do want to mention, to try to avoid any of the concerns expressed, this guy is one of my best friends, practically a brother. We pick on each other, we mooch off of each other, we have epic feuds and heated debates, and it only strengthens our friendship. Nothing I do here will ruin our friendship, make him quit the gaming group, and knowing the rest of the group, ruin the experience for anyone else either. If it is for revenge they would understand if I opened a black hole under him, he would roll a new character, and we move on. If it is funny it is encouraged and will be laughed about for years. If I had ANY fears that it would cause any damage in any way I would not even consider that, I am not against my players as a DM, I am for them. The DM's job is to control the chaos and help everyone have fun, not to "win the game".

That's great, never was worried about it for a moment!

* Cancels 911 call*

DM Advice - Killing a Player

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