Question #20: What was the most memorable character death you've ever experienced? What makes it stick with you?

This, I think, is where the D&D rules and I parted ways. Character death - player character death, at least - is not usually interesting. There are two ways it happens: either the player is tired of the character, and opts to have them leave the campaign by dying, or the dice come out badly, and the character runs out of hit points. In the first case, all the interest is moving toward the new character that player will have, and in the second, well... there just ISN'T any interest.

The principal difference between a tactical game (wargames, ccgs, whatever) and a role-playing game is that of story, and an abrupt end of "and then she was hit really hard by the bad guy's second subsidiary minion's sister in law, and died" is... not a good story. "She almost died, and here's what happened next..." is far, far better.

This ties back to the notion, which comes up again and again, even in such tactical games as 4th Ed D&D, of making failure interesting. And certainly, there has to be a risk, or the whole structure of the game, whatever the characters are striving for, becomes meaningless. And if a player insists on having their character do something absolutely stupid, then death is on the cards. My players, however, tend to be a lot smarter than average, so this doesn't arise.

"Failure should be interesting" is one of the things that, in my mind, distinguishes modern games from the old-school kind. The old-school games go: You don't find the secret door in the first level of the dungeon? Tough, the other nine levels remain inaccessible. You rolled six ones in a row, and now your 21st level character is dead? Tough, roll a new one. You can see how that's not interesting. Even "this door is locked" can be a show-stopper if the party's only rogue fails the "pick locks" roll, and the party are left standing outside a locked door. The failure has to do something; events have to have another fork to follow.

So, I don't have memorable character deaths because I'm not interested in them. One of the major, major advantages of the Fate system, for me, is the "taken out" result at the end of combat. Sure, that can be "dead". But it can also be kidnapped, injured, missing... all of those are far more interesting, and lead to more story.

New year, new venue.

As some of you know HRTA which has been the home of Midway since its inception back in 2010 has been shut down and is no longer operating. While this is unfortunate it hasn't and won't stop us. 

Our next event is going to be on Feb 17th and we'll be heading out to Red Barn for this one. 

We'll post more details like bus times etc in the coming days but we wanted to get the word out as soon as possible.

See you all on the 17th. 

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nick wrote:Got that? Friday the 17th of February.

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What a way to start the weekend for all you war machine fans, 3 huge announcements from Privateer Press.

First up COLOSSALS!!!

PP announce their next BIG expansion for war machine, called Colossals, which introduces Massive new warjacks to the system. These warlocks will sit on battle engine bases & are 3 times the size of normal warjacks.

Check out the video

Next up is Iron Kingdoms

“It is a land like no other, a place where steam power and gunpowder meet sword and sorcery.

The Iron Kingdoms possess a rich history—and a tumultuous future—full of unique monsters, deities, heroes, and villains. Immerse yourself in the detailed world of gritty conflict and sorcery with the Iron Kingdoms RPG. Unleash the power of mechanika, the fusion of magic and machine. Take on the persona of unique character classes, like the gun mage who combines powerful magic with a deadly acumen for firearms or the steamjack-commanding warcaster. Travel through a fantastic world that takes classic fantasy concepts and gives them a new twist with a high-octane rush of steam power and industrial engineering.

Prepare yourself for an experience like no other.

The world of the Iron Kingdoms awaits!”

The role playing game that spawned Warmachine and Hordes, is relaunching this summer with a whole new rule set, based on 2d6 mechanic similar to whats used in the tabletop game. I for one can’t wait for this, there will be plenty of powder kegs for all!!!

Check out the video

Last but not least, War Room

PP’s new war machine app for building lists, tracking damage & keeping up to date with rule changes

• Army Creation Workshop: Players can select their faction and game size and then choose their warcasters and warlocks, warjacks or warbeasts, units, solos, and battle engines to create valid lists, all within the War Room application.
• Full Card Display: Model stat cards are shown exactly as they are printed, so players can reference them easily and with the same confidence as printed cards.
• In-Game Status Tracking: In-game damage and status tracking will give players immediate and easily accessible information on every fighting model in their command.
• In-Game List Sharing: Lists will be sharable between every player using War Room in the same game so they can quickly access each other’s model status and abilities, allowing players to keep their focus on the tabletop action.
• Turn Clock: This optional player-initiated feature allows players to keep individual turns fast but fairly apportioned.

The base app is a free download and contains cards from all current WARMACHINE and HORDES starter products.

Full faction decks for both WARMACHINE and HORDES will be available as additional downloads for $6.99. Every deck will include all currently released stat cards for that faction as well as new model updates for the life of the current rules set.

Very interesting idea about instant update to rules & errata! Cant wait to check it out

Check out the Video

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