How to display Consequences? Death

The Meaning

• How will the Character die?
• Who will kill the Character?
• Will the Character be killed?
• Will the Character be murdered/assassinated?
• Will it be an accident?
• Is there a reason?
• Is it Fatality?

• Where will the Character be killed?
• Where will her body be left?
• Will it be left behind, for the menace is still there, or will it be retrieved?
• Will the research of the body be fructuous?

• Why did the Character had to die?
• Why wasn’t it another Character?
• One we didn’t care about.
• What does her death Bring?

• When to Kill a Character?
• When the Character cannot be saved.
• When the Character decides another one should be saved.
• When the Character is already dying, and needs to accelerate the process.
• When the Character needs something she cannot find in Reality.

• Why Kill a Character?
• There are no valid reasons.
• Death comes.
• When she comes one dies.
• Even if their death saved another, it is only Death.
• Decide on the Outcome, decide on the Aftermath & move along.

Death, Pain & Loss

• The Environment & Settings will color the Character’s death.

• How will death come?
• Abruptly?
• In a sigle blow?
• Or Slowly?
• The News is known, rejected, demented, and finally accepted.

• Where does the Character die?
• In her hometown?
• Alone, in an unknown place?
• Is there anyone to save her?
• Is there someone but they decide not to?
• Everyone surrounds her, everyone assists to the death, because no one can save her.

• What are her Last moments?
• If you are in an Adventure or Action story you can give your Character a last moment.
• Adventurers get Last Words.
• People don’t.
• If you are in a Drama or Horror story you may want to capitalize on the Rupture.

• Humans want Control.
• The other Characters need a mean of action over Death.
• Offer it or Refuse it.
• The lonest, the more brutal, the more meaningless the death is, the more painful & incomprehensible it will be.
• Adventure & Action look for Continuity & Meaning in the loss of a Character.
• The Public will look for more than the death itself.
• Drama & Horror accept the loss as it is.
• Maybe the Public will not accept it, but she will expect it.
• And it makes the experience less incomprehensible.

What are the aftermaths of the Loss?

• Grief conclude, in most cases, the death cycle.
• Expressing People’s grief, by layers is essential.
• The Family will act differently.
  • How differently?
  • How brutally?
  • Is there a wish to rejoin the dead one?
• The Relatives will express their grief.
  • Will they express it through acts?
  • Will they express it through discourses?
  • Will they express it through attacks & criticism?
  • Will they express it through empathy?
  • Will they express it silently, just by staying calm?
• The Acquaintances may expresse their condolences.
  • They may not
  • They may remain silent
  • They may not appear at all
  • They may act inappropriately
  • Most of the time it will be less intense than what a closer Character would do, but…
• If you want to introduce a new Character, making a simpleton interrupt the ceremony to them reveal their defeated love for the decease, is a great way to start.

• Through which Symbols will the Character be remembered?
• Statues allow you to display the vision the remaining characters had of the deceased.
• Altars & Shrines allow people to gather.
• It is the easiest way to allow mourning.
• How is the death displayed?
  • The Body
  • The Face/The Head
  • At the ceremony
  • Afterwards
  • Is it kept inside the Statue?
  • Below the Shrine?

• Replacement & Continuity.
• Who can replace this Character?
• The Remaining members need time to decide.
• Even if they had a plan, a contract or an agenda that prevented this sort of situation.
• However organized your Characters are, the Public needs time to replace the deceased.

• Should the team forfeit the Quest?
• If the team decides to pursue the Quest, they will need to gather resources.
• The Following members must be chosen to replace a function in the team, not a function in the Story.
• Nothing can be Undone.
• Do not replace a Character, create a New one.
• Use the opportunity to create a Character that’s the antithesis of the last.
• This new Character will always be compared to the latter, capitalize on it.

• More Conflicts.
• If there was murder or assassination, it may be found out.
• If it is found out one will be responsible.
• Revenge is an option for the Character’s relatives.
• Forgiveness is another one.
• Though it is quite an uncommon one.
• Revenge is more suitable in most cases because the Public will not want to forget the murderer or the orchestrator of the assassination.

• Most Characters need Retribution.
• If your characters ever want to go down the path of Forgiveness they must decide it for themselves.
• They must realize than lingering is only haunting them & that their will for more destruction is individual.
• Therefore, the decision to stop must be individual.

Resurrection & Immortality

• Can you Undo things?
• No.

• Should you resurrect a Character?
• You could.
• You should try.
• That’s just another experience.

• Do it only once.
• Resurrecting a Character more than once will remove consistency from your Story.
• If Death is not the main topic of your Story.
• If your Story revolves around the exploration of Life & Death cycles then Resurrections becomes a mean of experimentation usable as many times as necessary.

• Do it for everyone?
• Not every Character is necessary.
• Resurrection can slow down the Story.
• It is also a tool you can use to reveal characters’ goals & behaviors.
  • Does someone oppose the act of Resurrection?
  • For which reason?
  • What would they gain from the death/resurrection?

• What are the consequences?
• How is Resurrection seen?
• What are the Symbols attached to it?
• Is it a Curse or a Blessing?
• What comes to the Character?
• Time/Space dephasage

• What are the Limitations & Restrictions?
• How to make it meaningful?
• The Public wants Balance.
• She wants faults & frailty.
• If the Character returns, does she become Immortal?
• What are the limits to her immortality.
  • Immortal, but weak – body.
  • Immortal, but without memories – mind.
  • Immortal, but emotionless – psyche.
  • Immortal, but inhuman – soul.
• Immortal does not mean invincible.

• Resurrection v. Reincarnation v. Regeneration?
• What are the Differences?
• What are the Advantages?
• What are the Disadvantages?
• You could use the 3 to establish a continuity, a progression in the Character’s state.
• How much Regeneration does she need?

• If the Character is Reincarnated, how will she return?
• It should be under a different form?
• How different?
• Will the character become something else?
• Did the Character Wish to return?
• Under this shape?
• Did she Wish to remain dead?

• Alternatives to bringing back the Character.
• It is possible for the dead character to make apparitions through statues, idols, shrines & other channeling devices.
• It is also possible to leave an artifact which brings back or which kept memories of the Characters.
  • This artifact allows the story to unfold & to pursue the deceased Character’s development
• It is finally possible to let the dead come back own her own.
  • Is she lost without a sense of place?
  • Is she looking for her old friends?
  • Is she trying to bring her friends back with her?

Alternatives to Death

• Apart from Death the are other ways to create consequences.

• Disappearance is Death without the Character dying.
• She is only never to be seen.
• It leaves you the choice to use her elsewhere.
• The Return is a specific form of disappearance.
• The Character cannot stay in a specific, which does not fulfill her needs.

• Dementia is another form of Death.
• Non physical, but just as definitive.

• Betrayal is not Death for the body, but it allows no return.
• The Character who betrayed should look for no forgiveness.