Message posted on Stardate 98112.0 at 2158 hours
Posted by Mike Bourdaa (STF President). On a somewhat happer note than previous edicts, I am pleased to present the final form of the “Dangers of Life in the RPG universe”
Edict.. ah, whatever the hell number it is:
The following are the conditions under which a primary player-controlled character can be ruled to have died by a GM:
1) AWOL. If the character is AWOL, the GM can do whatever he or she likes with it, without restriction
[This part is a rehash of current policy, and is being retained.]
2) Player gives consent to the GM, for whatever reason
[Again, a rehash of existing policy]
[Now, for the new.]
3) If the character has taken actions which would result in an 90% of higher probability of death, in the opinion of the GM, a “death notice” may be served.
a) For the first death notice issued against a character, that character will be warned by the GM publically (on the WeBB or on the P* BB in the appropriate topic) against taking such chances, and remind the character that the move would ordinarilly have resulted in death, had it been real. In this case, the GM shall modify, as normal, to reverse the extremely risky move, or shall otherwise modify the situation as to allow the character to continue to survive.
b) For the second death notice, the results shall be the same as for the first notice, however, there shall also be an email sent by the GM to the ship’s CO, XO, and to the character, warning that the character has recieved two death notices, and that a third will result in actual character death.
c) For the third death notice, the GM shall rule the character has died as a result of his/her actions, and that character will be eliminated from the roster and their position. The CO of the ship shall have discression as to whether to allow the person to create a new character on the same ship, and what position/rank that new character should hold on the ship.
d) In the event that it is the CO who is recieving death notices, the FComm shall be notified. In the event that the FComm recieves such notices, the President shall be informed.
e) If a character has recieved no death notices in the past six months, but had recieved them prior to that six month period, all prior notices will be erased from their record, and they shall have a clean slate to start from again.
f) If a member habitually recieves death notices (more than 5 in a 6 month span), they may be ruled to be a suicidal character player by the GMDir or by their FComm. If a member’s characters are ruled as such, the limit for character death shall be one. Members may appeal a declaration of suicidal-tendancy to the President. Such a declaration shall expire six months after the last death notice placed against a character controlled by that player.
g) The GM may not intentionally place a player into a situation where any action (including lack of action) would result in a death situation. Unlike the real world, there must be at least one morally acceptable way to get out. Violation of subsection g) is the only acceptable grounds for overturning the GM’s ruling of a “death notice” in this case.
The debate on this issue had died down significantly, since the suggestion of a “three strikes” system, including email notification, was proposed. As such, I consider this now to be in effect, until such time as you convince me that I’ve completely lost my mind on this matter <g>