Killer dreams

**Mr. R** · May 23rd, '04, 01:34 PM

I got this idea in my head last night as I was drifting off to snooze land. It was a way to sort of shove lethality into a campaign for those bloodthirsty players to give them an I dea of what it is like.

Ok, you have your group of vict.....er pc's. However they are getting a little blood thirsty. Want the RKA/HKA/Body Drain/Hit opponents when their down. You know the types that some have even complained about on this board. Well here to me is a possible way to show the bad side.

Sometime during a session, tell the players that they wake up and begin their morning routine. Evil Villian group activity repotred, hostages possible. Let them go and start using their nasty attacks/tactics/methods. At this point they get attacked by evil versions of themselves. Change the costumes/names and even voices, but make it their exact duplicates. And pull out all the stops. Be brutal. Overkill is the opperative word. Total Party Wipeout.

Then they wake up with the feeling that this is what they could end up as if they continue. (how this happens can be left in the air, but benevolent sorcerer who predicts great things for the heroes could be one possible explanation)

So, has anyone used something similar? What do you think in general?
Any constuctive criticism is welcome and appreciated.

**zornwil** · May 24th, '04, 07:10 PM

We did something rather different but related that might be of interest. When the PCs from my former campaign went forward in time, one of them "fixed" a psychologically addled leader to give the survivors of this alien holocaust better chances of flourishing. They did indeed flourish, but this changed the future-history so much that even the PCs' past was changed as a super-team from the future didn't exist and didn't go back in time to do important positive things. So America was this semi-fascist state. The PCs "awoke" as their alternate-timeline PCs when they went back in time to their own time. I told them they were all great buddies and very closely-knit and trusting (which in their regular timeline were not) and that they were all wanted by the law as a vigilante group. I gave them a brief outline of the world, without much explanation, except that "well, here you are, and you all accept it - except you, Dr. Time..." as Dr. Time has a "knows the 'correct' timeline" Detect sort of power. But Dr. Time only knew something was "different". They had to figure out what happened and go forward in time to fxi the past.

It seemed to work out well. The players enjoyed the change of pace and got to act differently. The two characters didn't resolve anything in their ongoing battle over whether the time-stream could be changed, but the one who did change the timestream learned a lesson that it wasn't simple.

**GamePhil** · May 24th, '04, 07:30 PM

The one time I did something remotely like this the player in question complained so bitterly about my moralizing that I didn't bother to do it again. Still, it's a good idea with the right group.

**Enforcer84** · May 24th, '04, 09:23 PM

Did you continue to play with that particular player?
I know the point is to have fun, but everyone wants to have fun, if the player is not willing to let you have any fun, why play with them?

**LadyChaos** · May 25th, '04, 06:32 AM

Our group's facing our evil twins from an alternate dimension who after several games have succeeded in taking our places. Our evils are exactly like us except twisted personalities (and minus any CvKs). We sat around the table, looked at each other and unanimously bemoaned "We're screwed!"

Pretty fun stuff! Don't know why your player didn't like it. Seems some people can't have fun unless they're always "winning."

**Chiba Bob** · May 25th, '04, 07:48 AM

Never under estimate the thick-headedness of the average PC. They might miss the whole overkill message and go gunning for the supervillain who is making clones of them.

I always have assumed that superheros and supervillains had a set unwritten rules of engagement that they followed. Kill one of ours and we will kill one yours. As long as the players or villains play by the rules, then the other side will not try and kill anyone. All the Old-School heros and villains play by them.

If a hero is a little too bloodthirsty, have one of the Old-School heros will stop by and explain how the rules of engagement work. Should the hero continue to persist, a few conflicts with the villains going out of their way to kill them might reinforce the message.

**GamePhil** · May 25th, '04, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by Enforcer84

Did you continue to play with that particular player?
I know the point is to have fun, but everyone wants to have fun, if the player is not willing to let you have any fun, why play with them?

It was a long time friend, and the benefits of continuing to have him in the game outweighed having to avoid certain types of games.

Some people like them, some don't. I haven't had a lot of luck until recently expanding my gaming group.