Total Party Kill
Encyclopedia
A Total Party Kill or Wipe is the colloquial term for the demise of the entire party of player character
s in a single encounter during the course of a role-playing game
adventure. While many games permit other player characters to resurrect deceased comrades in some fashion, a TPK often results in all of the players making new characters (or the end of the campaign
if the group is less cohesive). In roleplaying games outside of the traditional pencil and paper medium, such as video games, a TPK is usually only a temporary setback that at most results in loss of time or carries other penalties, depending on the game.
Total party kills are situations that may first appear to be only disadvantageous but can rapidly degenerate. Usually a series of small changes in situation combine to make the situation lethal. Total party kills can be symptomatic of overconfidence or carelessness, usually occurring during smaller mid-game encounters rather than anticipated climactic battles. Frequently players do not realize the severity of the situation until it is too late. The players may not appreciate the risk because of lack of obvious clues. Lack of communication is a common problem that can lead to a total party kill.
Some players consider a total party kill to reflect poorly on the game master,
while others feel that a game should have some encounters where a total party kill is possible, for the sake of a dramatic narrative.
A TPK or near-TPK can make a dramatic conclusion for a one-shot session, particularly in a horror game. Challenging players to encounters with a high probability of TPK is considered an exciting challenge for some game masters and players. Other game masters and players prefer encounters which, while difficult in their own way, will not frustrate players if the luck of the dice runs against them.
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
s in a single encounter during the course of a role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
adventure. While many games permit other player characters to resurrect deceased comrades in some fashion, a TPK often results in all of the players making new characters (or the end of the campaign
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
if the group is less cohesive). In roleplaying games outside of the traditional pencil and paper medium, such as video games, a TPK is usually only a temporary setback that at most results in loss of time or carries other penalties, depending on the game.
Total party kills are situations that may first appear to be only disadvantageous but can rapidly degenerate. Usually a series of small changes in situation combine to make the situation lethal. Total party kills can be symptomatic of overconfidence or carelessness, usually occurring during smaller mid-game encounters rather than anticipated climactic battles. Frequently players do not realize the severity of the situation until it is too late. The players may not appreciate the risk because of lack of obvious clues. Lack of communication is a common problem that can lead to a total party kill.
Some players consider a total party kill to reflect poorly on the game master,
while others feel that a game should have some encounters where a total party kill is possible, for the sake of a dramatic narrative.
Examples
TPKs have many causes, including:- The players refuse to consider surrender or flight as an option against a clearly superior foe, and fight to the death.
- The composition of the party makes it unable to deal with some specific foe, even though the challenge rating is correct. For instance, a low-level D&D party may have no magic weapons and simply be unable to hit an otherwise weak incorporeal monster.
- The players have a string of unlucky dice rolls or the game master has a string of lucky rolls, causing the combat results to shift against the players.
- The game master fails to properly balance an encounter against the party's abilities.
- A single player in the party makes an extremely unlucky roll, resulting in his character's death and triggering a domino effectDomino effectThe domino effect is a chain reaction that occurs when a small change causes a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and so on in linear sequence. The term is best known as a mechanical effect, and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes...
that results in the deaths of other members of the adventuring party. If this doesn't kill the whole party immediately, it may make the rest of the encounter impossible for the survivors. - One of the players in the party talks the rest of the group into attempting a reckless or dangerous course of action. This may occur when a player is bored with his character or with the campaign as a whole and turns to reckless behavior to add excitement.
- One or more of the players undermines the party's ability to fight an otherwise non-fatal foe.
- The GM intentionally slaughters the party for some perceived personal slight (for example, a meteorite falling on the party, ending the campaignCampaign settingA campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
abruptly), sometimes accompanied by the words "Rocks fall! Everyone dies!" - A TPK can be scripted and fit within the game's unusual milieu, as they are in Call of CthulhuCall of Cthulhu (role-playing game)Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...
and Paranoia. In the latter, TPKs are to be expected and the players are compensated by having extra clonesClonesClones is a small town in western County Monaghan, in the 'border area' of the Republic of Ireland. The area is part of the Border Region, earmarked for economic development by the Irish Government due to its currently below-average economic situation...
, which enter play whenever a previous player character is killed. - A TPK can also be a scripted element of the adventure in which the deaths of the party are not intended to be permanent, or is illusory (the party is resurrected by a powerful entity and is given new identities, the scene was "just a dream", or the players' characters read a diary kept by a party whose members were all killed, and the Game Master decides to make the players "play" the dead characters' adventures until the expected end whose exact nature may be unknown).
A TPK or near-TPK can make a dramatic conclusion for a one-shot session, particularly in a horror game. Challenging players to encounters with a high probability of TPK is considered an exciting challenge for some game masters and players. Other game masters and players prefer encounters which, while difficult in their own way, will not frustrate players if the luck of the dice runs against them.