Dakkru has created a world in which dying is a preferable option to walking back to Hydlaa from the BD.
No. As far as I can see it, this is not the case. Dakkru is a setting/story element. The lack of mounts/means of transportation is a problem caused by the fact that the issue of mounts and transporation isn't completely developed yet. Players taking a shortcut through the DR make use of the current holes in the game's development. Death is not an IC way of fast travel. I see the setting as one side, the mechanics of the game as the other. Problems on one side might distort the other side, but not imply a problem there.
The problem with the deathrealm at the moment is that people are actually Roleplaying it as nothing serious. I can't even count the number of suicides by different people just to avoid a mugging or becuase it was a shortcut and then have them return within the hour to continue roleplay like they went for a short walk and are simply a little winded right now.
That isn't a new problem and to be honest this idea will not really change this much exept that people have to wait untill they can survive the fall. It's not like most people will feel the need to fight anything down there anyhow.
You should be devastated upon awakening in DR, death is traumatic.
Sarras has a point there.
One might suspect that, in a world where permanet death is quite rare as long as you are strong enought, the fear of death declines among sentinent beings (and others, too - depending on settings). Not only does it taken the factor "death" out of the evolution of beings, it also has a psychological dimension: death is not something you fear because it ends your existance, but hurts you like multiple broken bones or a very long forced march instead. These effects could be easily cured by magic without any problem at all, while the psychological strain on someone that dies regularily (because she/he/kra lives a violent life) diminishes over time.
Therefore, I do not see a problem with characters that shake the DR experience off quite easily - if you get hurt a lot, for example in material arts, you just get used to it sooner or later. Instead of increasing the curse, some "sanity" based system might work out better. This stat could be regenerated over time or with some high-level spells (or other factors, like praying, meditation, arts or anything else - this mechanic may or may not be influenced with choices during character creation), but is reduced quite a bit when leaving (or entering) the death realm. If your "sanity" isn't high enough, you cannot leave the DR or, maybe better, your skills and stats receive a pentalty. Instead of sanity, you could also call it "soul stability" or something like that.
This mechanic might improve following factors:
- Account for the strain the trip to the DR takes on a character's psychology and physiology, making insanity a possibility within the game's mechanics
- Sets a (controllable) boundary for RP in regards of how much or how less death influences a character
- Implements the possibility for e.g. followers of Dakkru to be affected less by the curse (or other factors, like mentally hardened characters, special charms,...)
Downsides are:
- Implementation a lot of work in the engine (keeping tack of the "sanity" stat and calculating negative modifiers for skills and stats, effects of "sanity==0" and so on)
- Additional barrier for new players which die quite often due to carelessness or a lack of knowlege
In my opinion, it is a question of a character's belief, stats and personal history how to deal with death and Dakkru's curse. There is a thin line between IC and OOC here, and something that needs the be learned by the players.
