Post originally by Brian at 2003-06-03 20:14:02
Converted from Phorums BB System


Wombat wrote:
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When people talk about "gritty" campaigns, do they really mean PCs dying almost every session? I don't think so. Most people see "gritty" as something like Sharpe's Rifles -- there is a lot of dirt, a lot of moral ambiguity, and people die, but the heroes keep going. If Sharpe were a character in TRoS, he would have died by the second book in the series, unless blind luck aided him (e.g. an obliging gm who constantly fudged combat in his favour).
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I think it comes down to what you want out of TROS. A couple of other folk have posted on this, but I just wanted to reiterate it.

If you try to play TROS like you might play D&D, you're probably right. Characters will die, and often.

But that's only one way to play TROS (and IMO, not the best way). TROS play is best facilitated if players go into it (and, perhaps more importantly, GM's do) with the mindset that combat is harsh, and bloody, and full of pain, and nobody is immortal. You know, just like the real world. Nobody has hit points. Everyone is vulnerable.

Consequently, you'll find that rather than leaping boldly (another word for stupidly in many RPG's) into combat at every opportunity, characters will think their way through situations, and will engage in combat when they have the advantage; whether that be because they have the numbers (contrary to what seems to be popular belief TROS does multiple combatants per side fine), or because they have the advantage in "firepower", or because this combat is actually really important - it's the guy who raped your sister or killed your dog (or raped your sisters dog, perhaps).

On top of all that, starting heroes in TROS, like characters in most RPG's, are not common run-of-the-mill Joe Average types. They have that special something that makes them shine, and on the character sheet this is represented through the fact that they're simply better than most folk. Combat doesn't have to be deadly.

Hell, I've been playing TROS for a long time now (since before it was commonly available, in fact) and the only PC deaths we have had were a) when a player really really monumentally screwed up, or b) when I was *trying* to kill that PC (interesting story for another day).

Try it out and you'll perhaps be surprised.

Brian.