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Re-murder!

Eh, whaddya gonna do?
Death!!!! Death stalks you at every corner! There it is, right there! Deeaaath! Ok, maybe that was just a lamp…behind you! Oh right, that’s just the cat. There it is again! Lamp again. Really though, death is rampant in tabletop games. We’ve even previously talked about the particular issue of your players becoming Murder Hobos, those transient adventurers that travel from location to location, killing NPCS all over, and shaking the bodies down for anything they can use or sell. Given how D&D got its start, and the similar ways you can fund your character's activities in many of the digital games D&D's inspired, it isn’t a surprise this is a common occurrence. For this post though, we’re going to talk about a related topic close to the core of the issue: Death. Or rather, to be specific... Murder! But with the high technology and/or magic so common in most of our tabletop settings, at what point does murder actually become murder? Why are murders in game narratives not solved quicker? And, finally what can we do to improve or even fix these murderous problems when they come up? 

Mostly Dead is Still Slightly Alive

In our sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic tabletop worlds, there are a ton of ways to bring someone back. Standard clones, replicator clones, Lazarus machines, pills, injections. Granted, these are all more on the science fantasy side of things, but that means there's still a least a little science involved! And, if you’re bringing in a transporter clone, the original person should probably be dead, or there could be some pretty awkward exchanges. Similar things exist in fantasy settings. You have resurrection spells, reincarnation, revivify, a well-timed healing spell or potion (the chocolate coating makes it go down easier). And that's just to name a few. So it's extremely easy to see how one could kill a foe and still have them return to life within some kind of constraint. But if you can do that, and they are indeed truly returned to life, did a murder really take place? Are they just considered "mostly dead" until a certain number of stipulations or opportunities to bring them back have passed? These moral quandaries shouldn’t be strange, we’ve seen them in our own literature, shows, and movies for ages. If we can concede that some "murdered" individuals are slightly alive, where does that leave us in terms of law and justice in our games? 

You have selected Regicide!
The Next Great Adventure.

Certainly, if these characters aren't "returned" to the story in some way , we can consider them murdered. And, especially with the aforementioned murder hobos still abounding in our tabletop games, we can expect the bodies to keep showing up. So, how are these murders being solved? Hopefully, you aren’t letting your players investigate a murder they themselves perpetrated. If you are, you’ve opened up a whole new set of problems. (Unless it's that kind of game. And if you're running that kind of game, invite Bugsy.) So who is doing the investigating? That is going to be dependent on setting, of course, but there's likely to be some sort of local constabulary. Kingdom guards, Starfleet Security, the city watch, private police, other adventurers... It could be just about anyone, and that's probably part of your problem. The laws themselves will also vary from place to place - what one realm may consider self defense, might be unequivocal murder in another. If you can nail down who's investigating, and what the law is, you have yet another problem: punishment. It may be a fine based on local laws, which naturally allows the rich to literally get away with murder. Punishment may mean death, if guilt can be proven, but how do we get there? And once you do, how can you keep the game fun?. 

So You Have Chosen... Death

To be blunt, murder in most games isn’t exactly the same kind moral issue in a game it is in real life. If we truly must bring a character back, there's any number of deus ex machina ways to accomplish it. You still have to have some order though. Before your players make the shift from singing hobos to stabbing hobos, try thinking of some reasonable consequences in advance. This will likely include working out just who is enforcing, and investigating laws, not to mention who's the one making them. Make sure those lawbearers have the tools they need to solve crimes. Fantasy worlds have various forms of "speak with dead" and "zone of truth," or other similar devices. Sci-fi probably has something similar as well, with truth serums and brain scan technology. Death isn’t necessarily the final end in a game, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still prepare for it, not unlike how we prepare for that inevitability in real life. Until next week folks, enjoy your tables, your murder hobos, and your dice. 

- A 

Send questions, comments, and invitations to "How To Host a Murder" games to neversaydice20@gmail.com

This actually shows an accidental death, but whatever

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