Re: PC Morale

	Whalejudge wrote:
	>Easiest way to make Players fear for their characters' lives:  Kill
a few.
	>Characters, that is.  In my current campaign, the PC body count
>currently
	>stands at 5.  They know I might take a character's life at any
time.  >This keeps them acting like their characters might die.

		Ouch!  Yes, that would definitely keep them on their toes.
IMC I don't usually slaughter PCs, except if they do something incredibly
stupid such as making tea for an army of wraiths and inviting them to sit
down and stay awhile.  Hell hath no fury like a PO'd DM.  Generally, I treat
PC deaths as moments of great sacrifice rather than attempt to keep them in
line.  Of course, I have slipped a few times, such as in the instance above.
		I think the whole point of roleplaying is to allow players
to experience a greater range of possibilities than they could normally have
in RL.  Death is certainly no exception.  However, keeping it heroic would
be at the top of my list of concerns.  NPCs are another story though;  Their
deaths I'm a little more liberal with, seeing them as plot devices in order
to keep whatever adventure I'm running on track.  This is why I rarely, if
ever, kill off PCs during normal combat situations.  I'm not putting anyone
else's method down.  In fact, Whalejudge's approach seems to work just fine.
(One group I played with years ago had a DM that was so miffed I looked at
some NPC stats of his that he dissolved my character in a pool of acid.  No
other reason except for that.  I'm still sore about the whole incident.)
		Another approach would be mutiliation of some kind.  I have
a character who underwent torture at the hands of an Inquisitor.  Finally he
snapped and cut off his own hand to escape.  The effects still linger to
this day in the form of multiple personality disorder.  Probably one of my
favorite characters to date.  At the very least putting a character through
some sort of trauma can serve to widen the range of experiences a PC can
have.  And while PC death is something all players will have to face sooner
or later, I prefer keeping it as a last resort.
		Of course, the whole point is moot if players look at death
as another excuse to roll up a new character.  Beyond what the DM provides,
it's up to the players themselves to decide whether or not they want to
contribute to the campaign and how much.  And if you've got a group of
players who want to go that extra step past dice-rolling and
paper-shuffling, you're a lucky DM indeed.