Nothing But the Rain

Anonymous asked: 6. Favorite death!

As far as can remember I’ve never had a D&D PC die, I’ve been fairly fortunate for character deaths! So instead, I’m going to tell a story about my favorite LARP death.

My undergraduate had a year-long, weekly LARP each year. My sophomore year, we ran a Legend of the Five Seas/Seventh Sea crossover. My partner at the time and I rolled up two Rokugani, a reserved, diplomatic courtier (him) and a brash, impulsive bushi (me). Things Went Done in a big way, and my partner and I came up with the plan that we could make a deal with The Big Bad. Long story short, he took both of our hearts. He also happened to have the heart of the husband of another friend of ours. None of us were super happy with being undead, and Naoko at least was of the opinion that all three of us would be better off Actually Dead. She wasn’t actively contemplating self-endangerment, but if her heart were just like. sitting out somewhere…

So, during Bluebooking, one of our STs calls my partner and I into a scene with The Big Bad. There’s a box on his desk. We have some plot relevant conversation, he steps out.

Naoko opens the box.

Inside is a heart.

She looks at her husband Jin. Out the door to see where the Big Bad is. I glance up at my partner and our ST.

“I stab the heart.”

A moment of silence, then Partner and ST double over in laughter. Partner asks me if I’m serious. ST goes to get co-ST because “he wasn’t gonna wanna miss this.”

OK, ST says. This heart could be one of four peoples’. Yours, Jin’s, Friend’s, and Big Bad’s. How do you like those chances?

“Best case scenario, I kill the person we’ve actively been trying to kill. Worst case scenario I kill one of three abomination. I like those chances.”

Probably Partner pointed out that I /could/ view the worst case scenario as a) killing MYSELF or b) killing my HUSBAND, but Naoko was deep into the “undead are monsters oh god why are we still here” train of thought and also Naoko Makes Bad Choices.

“Roll a d6”

I roll.

“Congratulations, you stabbed yourself in the heart.”

“NEAT, I’ll take it!”

My dear angry Mantis was my first, and to date only, character death, but that remains one of my favorite in-game decisions ever.