The Script

 

If any character from your story dies, you now find yourself in a tragedy. This isn’t necessarily entirely bad news - there’s great power to be found in death and destruction, but a great deal more danger too. Sometimes, a good death could also be worthwhile, such as a noble or heroic sacrifice, and some may long for a story of glory (no matter how gorey).

 

Of course, there are also some antagonists that greatly benefit from the existing tragedies as written staying on track towards their scripted ending (for example, Malcolm and Fleance have a lot to gain from Macduff slaying Macbeth as intended), and some others may have a vested interest in shifting a comedy towards the tropes of tragedy (as embodied by much-abused Malvolio’s haunting parting promise that he will “be revenged on the whole pack of you”).

 

Further to this, if and when you find a way “home”, you may need to consider: is the latest edition of the story one you are prepared to return to? Is there some other land or other companion you would prefer to begin a new story with? And is it better to have loved and lost or to have never loved at all?

 

You may encounter lammies with black or white ribbons attached - you can only use the powers of black-ribbon lammies if your play is destined for tragedy, and you can only use the powers of white-ribboned lammies if your play is destined for comedy. If a character from your story dies, the play is fated as a tragedy - the only way the play can revert to comedy-status is if there’s a Plot Twist that the character who “died” merely appeared to be dead, such as through some alchemical potion that gives the appearance of death without actually killing the drinker (which happens more commonly than you might think, in Shakespeare’s plays…).

 

If a character from your play is executed, the only way for you to interact with white-ribboned lammies is to either find some way to change which story your character appears in, or to die yourself and be re-cast into a comic play.

 

If a play is in tragedy status (with a black banner on display in the main hall) but no one has been killed “onstage”, there is still the possibility that it can move towards comedy status, such as via pranks and tomfoolery or a wedding - but any “onstage”, confirmed permanent deaths from your cast (whether player character or NPC) will cement the fate of the play as a tragedy permanently.

 

If any character is dropped to -1HP, their bleed count will start. If the character is not executed, there is always the possibility that the death won't stick - a character dropped to -1HP may always be picked up by the invisible spirits of the island if left unattended. Player characters should not rely on this (the spirits of the island are significantly less likely to intervene for player characters on their bleed count than the NPCs, for Plot Reasons) - but your playscript might not be cemented in Tragedy unless it is absolutely certain that a deceased character could not possibly return again as a living character (ghosts still make it Tragedy!)

 

To execute another character is a very Final decision, not to be taken lightly. Any execution is a definitive Death for that character that cannot be undone, and puts that full playscript into “tragedy-fated” status - merely dropping someone to -1HP makes it possible that that death may be final, but there's always room for a Plot Twist…

Death should be something considered to be a serious consequence in this game; you're far less likely to be fighting completely unknown and unnamed NPCs than you are specific and personal threats - thus a character’s decision to execute another will have in-game mechanical consequences. However, this does not mean that you cannot or should not execute when it feels appropriate; it’s a roleplay-led game, and a peacekeeper like Benvolio pleading to “talk things out as friends” is possibly unlikely to stop Brutus from going ahead and executing his “best friend” Julius Caesar regardless…