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How Cheap is Death in your world?

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SakuraTenshi Since: Nov, 2010
#26: Mar 8th 2011 at 4:20:15 PM

I've got two odd cases in two different settings on mine, in one, it was originally meant to be a Steampunk Fantasy video game RPG and this was originally meant to justify the lack of the Chunky Salsa Rule and Friendly Fireproof. basically, one of the party healers you get early on had developed and researched a spell that basically shields all party members from attacks and spells cast by one another, it also keeps all your bodyparts in place. As I developed it, it also came to justify other mechanics such as HP and Why Didnt They Justuse Phoenixdown On Aerith, and it ultimately keeps you alive in all but the absolute most extreme circumstances. (which leaves many to wish they did just die)

another settings involves death being cheap only under specific circumstances. In this case, a powerful mage cannot be permanently killed by mundane means because they've drifted from normal reality, on the flip side, it means they can end up deader than dead by spells that normal, non-magi, could shrug off without even noticing. On the otherhand, normal people also can't be permanently killed by high end magics that affect reality, their body, mind and soul simply cannot comprehend it. Unfortunately for normal people, they can still be killed by a magi who melts them with a fireball, strikes them with lightning, or telekinetically crushes them with a rock or flings knives into their chest.

papercut Since: May, 2010
#27: Mar 8th 2011 at 11:34:14 PM

There's a reincarnation shtick going on in my world, 'suspension' is possible, but outright resurrection (as in dead character goes back as he/she was in life) is a no-no. Undead is about the body, but no soul. Reincarnation doesn't count since it's the soul that's reincarnated with no memories intact - Character A in Life 2 can be radically different from what he/she was in Life 1. Souls can possess objects, but they have to be transferred while the original is still alive. So no grabbing of souls from the place where they hang out when they really, really die(TM) to 'resurrect' them in that manner. Divinities and Beings from the Outside Plane may be able to bend the rules a bit though. 'Artificial' or 'man-made' Souls (one of the concepts I'm still working on) are still fuzzy about this topic, but I meant for them to be the opposite of 'naturals' - they never get reincarnated. I guess this is where Death is Cheap comes in, because they continue to live as they were in their first reiteration, just transferring bodies (ie their bodies die, but the soul lives on in the physical plane). Then they go eventually insane. :3

I think I just made sense of that mechanic while I typed that. Good topic here. XD

Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#28: Mar 9th 2011 at 1:43:21 PM

In my world (y'know, I really do need to name it), death isn't all that cheap. You can be brought back as undead with significant effort, and this does continue consciousness and soul. It has to be begun fairly soon after death, since the soul needs to be "fished back up", so to speak. Souls keep a connection with the body for a while, but it lengthens and weakens with time and if more than a few weeks have passed, it's completely impossible. It is, though, possible to place another soul and consciousness in that body, but there's no good way to determine that you got a good one. It's not recommended.

Reincarnation happens, but it does not involve easy recollection of previous life or memories.

A brighter future for a darker age.
AdeptusAlpharius Alpha Legionnaire from Bosnia and Herzegovina Since: Dec, 2010
Alpha Legionnaire
#29: Mar 10th 2011 at 1:44:29 AM

Since I'm writing a modern day scenario for Warhammer with my own fluff and special rules, death is relatively cheap for demons, as they are banished back to the Warp only to return someday. Followers of Chaos may or may not be resurrected which depends on how special they were and especially how the Dark Gods feel like. They may bring you back as a Chaos Spawn just for shits and giggles, but normally Chaos doesn't give second chances. Besides of that, when a character dies he or she is Killed Off for Real, period.

edited 10th Mar '11 1:47:02 AM by AdeptusAlpharius

I ♥ the VRS
Yachar Cogito ergo cogito from Estonia Since: Mar, 2010
Cogito ergo cogito
#30: Mar 11th 2011 at 1:43:51 AM

Death is very permanent.

Avoiding death for large amounts of time is technically possible. There are some pretty ancient characters in my world, but that doesn't really come without a LOT of issues.

But once somebody dies, they stop existing and that's that. No afterlife either - at least not the type where one can retain ones identity.

'It's gonna rain!'
AdeptusAlpharius Alpha Legionnaire from Bosnia and Herzegovina Since: Dec, 2010
Alpha Legionnaire
#31: Mar 11th 2011 at 8:56:42 AM

[up] To put it simply: People die when they are killed.

I ♥ the VRS
SavageHeathen Pro-Freedom Fanatic from Somewhere Since: Feb, 2011
Pro-Freedom Fanatic
#32: Mar 11th 2011 at 6:28:16 PM

I forgot: No afterlife, either. When you croak you just stay dead. If others remember you vividly, their collective dreams shape a spirit that is sort of like you, but it's not you at all. It's an *echo* of you. If you were to "resurrect" somebody, that spirit is what would become alive.

edited 11th Mar '11 6:29:34 PM by SavageHeathen

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.
elemcee Since: Dec, 2009
#33: Mar 11th 2011 at 9:32:42 PM

My new world doesn't have much in the way of spirituality (yet...?), so there's not an established after life or anything like that. My main character is a biological construct crafted from synthetically created DNA. It's a little harder for him to die, but when he's dead, he stays dead, just as the humans do. I suppose it would be possible to make a construct out of a corpse, but it wouldn't really be resurrection of the 'soul', as such.

edited 12th Mar '11 6:17:11 AM by elemcee

rmctagg09 The Wanderer from Brooklyn, NY (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
The Wanderer
#34: Mar 11th 2011 at 11:37:58 PM

Afterlife: There is one, but it's not important to the story so it's ignored for the most part.

Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.
Yej (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Jaabi (Before Time Began)
#36: Mar 14th 2011 at 1:12:30 AM

Any story within Unity of the Worlds, Anyone Can Die and they will stay dead. Time paradoxes are basically forced not to happen by the universe itself so don't go thinking you can save your loved one like one heroine tries to do, because it doesn't end well.

In 12000, it's entirely different. No one can die. No one stays dead. Everyone regenerates injuries, for starters - slowly, and painfully. If something is fatal (including starvation, unfortunately) you go through the same process of regeneration, however with some memory corruption and only become conscious at the end of it all. To balance this out, no-one can be born either. The population is locked into a count of 12000.

I'm still working out potential issues with the law in 12000. (Like say, if someone gets cut in two. Do both halves regenerate?)

Enthryn (they/them) Since: Nov, 2010
(they/them)
#37: Mar 14th 2011 at 1:53:45 PM

In the world I'm working on, death is final, with only extremely limited exceptions. It's a fantasy setting, so there is magic, but bringing back the dead is only possible within a few minutes of their death; even doing that much is extremely difficult and usually fails, requiring a combination of immense skill, knowledge, and power to even have a small chance of success.

The reason is that there aren't any souls or afterlife in the setting. Living beings are purely a function of their physical components, so death is Cessation of Existence, and there's no "essence" or "spirit" to bring back to life. This means that bringing someone back to life requires physically reconstructing and restarting their body and mind.

petcarcharodon Since: Sep, 2010
#38: Mar 28th 2011 at 6:53:49 PM

In my world, one can come back if they are with someone knowledgeable in soul manipulation, though the results are rarely pretty. What happens after you die is entirely dependent on the circumstances. Some creatures consume souls, so you will be horrifically tortured until you are finally used up as energy. Same if you are a dwarf, except you are used to power machinery, or you might be made into a mech or golem. If that doesn't happen, the closest god will probably dump you in a new body and make you a mindless thrall. If you're out of their reach, you'll most likely just sit there, unable to move, and unable to affect anything around you.

PDown It's easy, mmkay? Since: Jan, 2012
It's easy, mmkay?
#39: Mar 28th 2011 at 7:14:40 PM

All Deaths Final. Further, in my current setting, All Possessions Final.

At first I didn't realize I needed all this stuff...
annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#40: Mar 28th 2011 at 9:04:00 PM

Death in AB!Beowulf is surprisingly cheap if you can manage any of the following:

  • Get to Valhǫllr (or any other afterlife for that matter, but only Valhǫllr is seen here) alive and you will get the opportunity to meet the dead in the form of Einjerjar and Valkyrjar without becoming an Einherja yourself.
  • If you are a woman, die in battle (or some other heroic death) and become a Valkyrja. You will get the opportunity to go to the human realm in any time period on Valkyrja business, though it's against policy to reunite with people you knew in life. You might be able to leave illegitimately, too.
    • If you die as a Valkyrja, you merely respawn at Valhǫllr.

Death in 2040's America is not cheap, it's just that my protagonists tend to be Made of Iron.

edited 28th Mar '11 9:06:12 PM by annebeeche

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#41: Mar 28th 2011 at 9:32:34 PM

Am I the only one here who does have Death Is Cheap? In my world, you can come back before the blood even hits the ground.

This is kind of a necessity in a Platform Hell game

edited 28th Mar '11 9:33:28 PM by storyyeller

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#42: Mar 28th 2011 at 9:40:47 PM

Well, to be fair, most people aren't writing a videogame world.

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
Wheezy @TheCSJones on everything else. from West Philadelphia, but not born or raised. (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: How does it feel to treat me like you do?
@TheCSJones on everything else.
#43: Mar 29th 2011 at 4:38:50 AM

My stories take place in the real world, with only enough Acceptable Breaks from Reality to make them readable.

Fortunately for my characters, in the story I'm working on and the one I have planned after that, Everybody Lives.

In the two after that, though, Anyone Can Die. All the plotbunnies I have after that are too vague to worry about the amount of dying involved, but I'm still sure anyone who's killed will stay dead forever.

I hate Back from the Dead. I hate that trope so much you can't even begin to comprehend 1/1000th of my hate for it.

However, in my current story, there are a few major exceptions to the rule, but they take place in Indulgent Fantasy Segues or Dream Sequences, so they don't count.

edited 29th Mar '11 4:56:32 AM by Wheezy

Novel progress: The Adroan, 110k; Yume no Hime, 98k; The Pigeon Witch, on pause at 40k.
Archereon Ave Imperator from Everywhere. Since: Oct, 2010
Ave Imperator
#44: Mar 29th 2011 at 5:25:34 AM

[up][up] Back from the Dead is, in my opinion, one of Sturgeons Tropes. Pulling it off well is something only very talented writers.

This is a signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
PDown It's easy, mmkay? Since: Jan, 2012
It's easy, mmkay?
#45: Mar 29th 2011 at 7:19:15 AM

It also seriously annoys me when "fans" assume that a work allows Back from the Dead and write JBMS asking why characters stayed dead.

At first I didn't realize I needed all this stuff...
Wheezy @TheCSJones on everything else. from West Philadelphia, but not born or raised. (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: How does it feel to treat me like you do?
@TheCSJones on everything else.
#46: Mar 29th 2011 at 7:28:42 AM

[up][up] Actually, that's true. I remember the mook revival machine in Everafter (webcomic, not film) being pretty non-infuriating.

edited 29th Mar '11 7:30:45 AM by Wheezy

Novel progress: The Adroan, 110k; Yume no Hime, 98k; The Pigeon Witch, on pause at 40k.
MHD Since: Jun, 2009
#47: Mar 29th 2011 at 3:16:19 PM

In my sci-fi, you CAN get mental state backups and clone bodies, but it is REDONKULOUSLY expensive (the mind state has to be almost custom made). Like, a thousand people in the GALAXY (about 50 billion individuals) has the wealth to do so, so for my role players it's a no-go.

In my psychic-powers universe death is final. Of course immortality is possible... As is reincarnation.

Diamonnes In Riastrad from Ulster Since: Nov, 2009
In Riastrad
#48: Mar 29th 2011 at 6:22:09 PM

In Aether, only one man has ever come back from the dead.

It took all the magical resources of a continent, and it still only worked because he was a Starlight Guardian.

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.
Madd47 Since: Oct, 2009
#49: Mar 30th 2011 at 5:50:37 AM

In my stories, all of which are set in the same constructed world, necromancy is there as an illegal activity that occurs. The rich and the powerful can afford to hire necromancers, but for it to work the deceased must be recently dead, within roughly 24 hours of time of death. The main characters, being mages, detest necromancy and as such when they're dead, they are DEAD.

Kaxen Since: Jan, 2010
#50: Mar 31st 2011 at 9:33:42 AM

There are vampires and one immortal character, but they're permanently killable under the right conditions. All of the normal people stay totally dead when killed. Even the one who just disappears into a cloud during a dogfight and no body is ever found.

I'm not much into resurrecting characters because it feels cliche and I haven't thought of a wicked interesting way to bring someone back for the dead and my plots don't really call for bringing people back from the dead since no one dies except for mooks and characters who die so other characters can have character development. I should probably kill someone with a name for no apparent reason sometime just to mix it up.


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