Back in the day, our character sheets for AD&D were from TSR. Most of them had a little section on the back for a "Last Will."
We used them then, even though we had a pretty low-lethality game compared to how I do things now. In campaigns, it was rare for a PC to die. In our early games, it was more common, but I never saw a will successfully used to transfer anything to a new guy. Playing much of my very early days (and more here) in elementary school was not conducive to such play.
I'm curious how people have had this work out in their games. I don't use it in DF, mostly because I game with actual lawyers and managers who do long-term risk mitigation strategies in play already. My head hurts considering how they'd angle this. And it would be one more thing to keep track of. But color me curious . . . who wills the wills?
I've been involved in OD&D campaigns using Wills with moderate lethality. They worked pretty well. First the player had to have written down or informed the referee what items and treasures were left behind in town. Anything on the character and left in the dungeon stays there (and like you doesn't count for experience the next time it is recovered). The referee would whack 10% of the deceased's liquid assets in town as an inheritance tax and then anything left plus equipment was transfered to the new character. A lot of times the players still forgot to write a Will and the rule in that case was the player's wealth was all sent to their parents (or other non-PC family members). We also typically tell the referee that we carry only a percentage of our money when going on an adventure so a character may lose 10% of their coins because they are on their person when they are lost, plus the tax on what is left. For example a PC with 1,000 gp saved up will carry 100 gp with him when he leaves town to cover last minute supplies, bribes, distractions, etc. When he dies, the inheritance is 1,000 total - 100 carried = 900 in town - 90 tax = 810 inherited. It's pretty generous. If I were referee I'd increase the tax rate and tax equipment value too.
ReplyDeleteThat comment contains more useful gaming information than my actual post, Alex. Thanks - it's a good example of how to do it.
DeleteThe closest we've had was one PC who left everything to the church, which still took things out of play. I assume Desmond would leave everything to his wife, but as the players have decided she's a retired 500+ point adventurer, that's the same as "out of play." No one will be allowed to make such a character so . . . no difference there!