Guide:So I heard you got Astused (A Guide to Death)

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by Aphetoros


“ Astus (As-tuss)

verb. Astused, Astus, Astusing 1. The act of dying, or in most cases the act of dying more than once in quick succession.

noun. 1. A character whom dies multiple times in quick succession.

”

– BountyHunter


So it finally happened eh? Whether it was drowning. Or you just keeled over... Eyed that orc the wrong way and had a heart attack as you left the bar to fight him... Were ganked killed by Tavren a random warlock and his doomguard and legion of doom minions... Or your character committed suicide...

This post shall be your guide!

How to Die. Properly!

So you're roleplaying, minding your own business really. Or at least, you were until you ran into that filthy gnome on your Orcish warrior. Maybe you bantered with the gnome for a bit, insulting him until he took it too far. You wait until he's outside of town, and then you... Freeze.

Consider what you're about to do. If someone insults you in real life, are you going to wait till they're alone and kill them? No, probably not. You might beat them up, but killing can get you into serious trouble, not only with the law but with other characters as well. (Note that insane characters can be exceptions to the previous statement, but still try out the next step.) Before you decide killing them is the only way out, try to see if you can work out some RP that doesn't lead to death, unless you're absolutely sure that person wants their character to die. Know that you cannot force someone to kill off their character, no matter how many warnings you give unless the character is doing something blatantly stupid like walking into Orgrimmar as a human, in which case the player of that character should accept the consequences. That aside, when you're in a situation where both parties have accepted death or maiming as a consequence, and no other possible solution exists but a fight to the death, if your character loses, try not to complain about it! There's always resurrection, as well. And death leads to great development for most characters. For example, my character Astus, who was astused several times in the past, now resents the living because he sees it unfair that they can live and not die, or have side-effects from death, unlike him [this was pre-restart]. So before you are suddenly horribly opposed to dying, consider the effects of dying to your character. Would it help or hinder their development?

Next, ensure everyone agrees with the terms of a death. Be it a trust fight, roll fight, planned assassination, or incident of random violence, everyone needs to know the terms, rules, and understand what will happen. I can't stress enough that before you do something, even to a corpse, be sure the player is okay with it. Such as beheading, limb removal, or perhaps most of all, incineration.

Murderous Etiquette

Much of the last section does apply to this section as well, but in this section I'll mostly be talking about character warnings. What are they, and what is refusing a character warning? Can you refuse one? The true answer is no, you cannot simply state, "I refuse your character warning." The way one refuses a character warning is by retconning from the situation, or leaving ICly. If someone states they don't want their character to die or get horribly maimed or what-have-you, don't try to stop them from leaving the situation. Perhaps you can try to change their mind, but no means no!

A great way to deal with this subject brings some recent quotes from our Loxxy the Boxxy, "A Character Warning is a, well, warning that is issued when any kind of harm (lethal or not) that may negatively affect a character (physical or mental) has a risk of befalling them if they continue further into a flagged situation." And, "there is not really a rule stating that you have to issue a warning. It's a courtesy, however, and an 'unwritten law'."

This is true, no rule states you must give a warning, but it is something that really must be done. Think about it, how would you feel if without warning someone shot you in the head? Don't just say, "Character warning, <name>", open a discussion with the player to see if you can work around the death, and if not, make sure they know what you're going to do. Just because you give a character warning, doesn't mean the person has to automatically submit to your whims. You still need to ask about certain things. Such as rape.

This is a touchy subject, and I bet you didn't expect to find it here. However, it fits in surprisingly well with the topic. Some characters might beat someone into a blood pulp, and despite some misgivings, it has happened in the past where people have thought giving a character warning was enough to rape someone's character. It really isn't, for something so sensitive, you need to ask more directly, almost as blunt as, "If my character beats you up, can he/she rape you?"

If you're going to kill someone, be accommodating. If they want to be resurrectable, then let them be. It's not fun if someone deliberately makes it so you can't play your character ever again. Trust me, it almost happened to me once and I was extremely nervous and angry about it, but we managed to work it out in the end which is always best.

Old Age and Suicide

While it doesn't happen often, one might be surprised that occasionally a character will die of Old Age or commit suicide. For these deaths, there is NO chance of resurrection, so think carefully before you let this happen. (Note that if someone mentally manipulates your character into suicide, it isn't true suicide and you can be resurrected.) When a soul passes of old age, or by their own free will, not even the darkest of magic can bring them back to how they once were. An exception is necromancy, except they aren't really how they 'once were', they're changed permanently and based on the power player necromancers are allowed to have, they wouldn't be sentient or have free will. There are two main reasons for this, being that the soul is too fragile to return to the body as in a death from old age, and from suicide the soul doesn't want to return. To be resurrected, the person has to want to be alive again. The resurrectee always has a choice on whether or not they live again, but this chance is lost if the life is willingly given.

Constructing a Resurrection Post

People construct resurrection posts in different ways. I myself, am a fan of the way Danalthar makes his. To make a sufficient resurrection post, one requires at the least five lines of IC text, though I would assume more is always welcome. To make a resurrection post correctly, one needs to list who killed them, who is resurrecting them, and a set of both temporary, long-term, and depending on the death, permanent drawbacks. While one can use 'Generic Priests' to resurrect someone, I highly suggest you don't. Only do such if no one else can possibly do it. Try looking for a willing player first, it's great for RP! Be sure when you include before the death, what happened leading up to it, and the resurrection scene itself in your post.

Types of drawbacks: Temporary, long-term, permanent. Temporary drawbacks are short. They can last a few days to about two weeks. Long-term drawbacks can last anywhere from two-weeks to months, or even longer if one chooses. Permanent drawbacks are just that, permanent. They can be healed, but they're difficult to get rid of. Like being blind, or missing a limb.

An example of an unacceptable drawback is "Uncomfortable around weapons." While this is a negative, unless the character has a horrible phobia of weapons, such as being unable to be near a weapon or even see one, it doesn't really work because it isn't that impeding, it's almost silly, though one could still be wary around them as a side-effect, as well. A good drawback would be, "panics at the sight of weapons, unable to be around or even in the same room as one or else he/she passes out." Other good drawbacks are physical, like limps, being temporarily or permanently blind or deaf.

Consider the following points by MadFerret:

  • 1. Don't act as if a change in personality is a drawback (unless it's some kind of condition like a phobia or emotional condition)
  • 2. Don't be afraid to take your characters to the limits. Don't be timid.


And after your character resurrects, make sure you don't go running around sparring or fighting as normal. A resurrection post acts as if it happened on that day, not a week ago. Resurrection returns your character to the way they were when they were a teen of their race, supposedly, but it's still going to be physically--mental and emotionally as well-- draining. After all, you just died! This is a privilege that no one has in real life, so we don't have comparisons, but one can logically assume that coming back from death is going to be exhausting. Death in our world is finality, and just because you can resurrect doesn't mean your going to be, if ever, as powerful as you once were. (That also means you shouldn't use resurrection as a cop-out. Something I've learned through experience is that sometimes, it's time for a story to end.)

Example of a Resurrection Post

This is from Danalthar, all credit to him for writing it!

Bragdana Resurrection Post

Bragdana was surprised he'd survived so long in the Shadow Realm. His physical appearance, however, was not so lucky. His kilt was burnt and tattered, his face tired and burnt. Then, of course, he had the giant gaping hole in his chest from where the dagger had embedded itself in him.

Lucky shot...

One of the points had driven to it's heart, and it disgusted even himself when the bulbous black blood poured from the wound. In an attempt to hold off the inevitable, his fellow survivors piled artifacts on the wound; the axe he'd been wielding, and a skull. But, of course, it wasn't his axe. It was one that he ripped off a dead skeleton. His axe... Well, he didn't know where the fel his axe was. Probably thrown into some forge.

The Orc clenched his jaw at the prospect, watching an old friend, Aroes, funnel his own life into the dying Orc in an attempt to save his life. It didn't work -- Bragdana knew it wouldn't -- And, eventually, the Human gave up. Slowly, the Orc's life drifted away, and the Orc knew that he was helpless.

Fucking Warlocks... If they didn't have to go and kill half the team, then we might have had a larger chance at getting out without any dieing.

The Orc shook his ethereal head, turning around from his death.

Will they know? Will they even care?

They began to move, taking the Orc's body with them. They, the Orc's spirit and body included, were thrown through a portal. Of course, it ended in Booty Bay. But of course. Aroes took his body and went to the inn where, thank Lo'gosh, they had Bragdana's stuff. Aroes took the stuff, and floated the Orc's body outside. Of course, the floating Orc with an axe comprised of half shadow, half bone, garnered attention from the crowds of Booty Bay, yet the Bruisers did nothing to stop them.

Aroes took his body to Arathi, the ethereal Orc floating afterwards, an invisible leash keeping him with his body.

He was put in a tank, Aroes making preparations for his revival.

Honestly, Bragdana didn't even know if he wanted to come back.

~

Aroes had pulled him out of the tank. Fel knows why, yet he had done it, and Bragdana's hand had fallen on -his- axe's blade. The same worn hilt that he had carried for the past 22 years.

The spirits had seen this, and they debated over whether to bring back the Orc. Finally, they agreed, that, despite his recent sins, he was worthy for a second chance.

A shock of life went through the earth, a groan the first thing his recently resurrected body did. Groan, and slowly push himself a shitty sitting position. His eyes darted around, pulling his axe closer to him then before. It was a simple house, nothing much and no one else in it.

His ears heard the crackle of a fire behind him, and then, an ethereal whisper...

Do not betray usssss again.

~

Killer: NPC in Darkest Deadwind

Resurrector: Reincarnation, Ankh was skull on axe.


Permanent Drawbacks

  • Can not sprint for more then a few feet, descends into coughing fit if he does.
  • Clingier to prized possessions. (Axe, Journal).
  • Easily mood swings to rage.
  • Severe distrust of anything to do with shadow/fel.
  • Can never Reincarnate again.
  • Ages him 5 years.

Short-term Drawbacks (1-2 weeks)

  • All around weakened. Can only walk, can not fight.
  • Extremely worried about all members of The Hunt, until he knows further about their whereabouts.
  • Always pissed, all the time.

Curable Drawbacks (Will stay until cured via RP)

  • Weakened tether to the Spirits, will eventually completely lose tether due to Shadow Axe
  • Will not leave Aroes' house.
  • Cannot write in his journal, as his pencil was stolen and he had no backups.

Well everyone, thank you for reading and I hope this has helped you greatly. Let me know if there's anything you think I should add or any comments or questions!

Source(s)

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