The Killer's Bible: OOC precautions for PCs killing PCs

So you're planning to whack a PC at game? Swell! If you're planning it in advance, here are some helpful OOC precautions, to make sure the combat isn't redlined or altered by the STs afterwards. Its in your best interest to be careful, since if the combat is redlined, your intentions and combat strategy will be completely revealed--and we all know how easily that can lend itself to metagaming.

Cass:

Check your information sources. Make sure that if you are using "secret" knowledge, either as a motive or a means to kill a PC, that you have confirmed that all that knowledge has reached you through legitimate means, and is valid for IC use. Enlist your STs in confirming the legitimacy of the knowledge if you are in any doubt whatsoever. Do not use knowledge from anonymous sources, unless your STs can confirm that it is legit.

Make sure that everyone you are taking to the combat can legitimately be there at the time and place where the combat will be held. Make sure that no one is technically caught in a pre-scene, or being held captive because of mid-week events. This includes the victim! Don't start the combat if there is any doubt the victim can be there IC! Be particularly careful with this if you are holding the combat in a pre-scene.

If your attack is dependent on lore of some type, confirm with your ST that you have a sufficient lore level to know it. Likewise, if your attack rests on some interpretation of the rules, make sure you discuss that with your ST first.

If the victim's player seems to have reservations about whether the combat can legitimately take place, get those settled by an ST before you begin combat.

After the combat, if anyone seems to have problems with the reason for the kill, or the way combat was run, get it resolved immediately, or ask the STs to put the matter on timestop. If the combat must later be redlined, it will affect less play if it was timestopped ASAP.

Ben:

If you dislike people [IC] for whatever reason, let your STs know. Drop 'em a note, send 'em an email, especially before you plan on whacking them. It does save lots of headaches. I did this with a character once, I just notified my ST of all the idiotic things another character was doing that pissed me off, but that I was "playing nice" in public. Five months later, when I lured the hapless character to a boot party, he complained that I had no IC reasoning to the STs, the STs replied that I had registered months of RP, and that it was legit. Of course, this is dependant on your STs wanting that level of detail.

You should, if possible, try to find a neutral ST to arbitrate.

The legitimacy of everything is determined by accountability. If your allies tell you things at a game, send a comfirmation email, so you have something in writing. SAVE THOSE EMAILS. If you have the time, print out everything relevant that you have, and bring it with you to the game. If the target complains, go, get the packet, present it to the STs. This allows the STs to have information right there, right then, as to how, when, why and where you got your information, your planning, and any relevant IC reasoning, which will incredibly speed up getting things resolved. It will also prevent later accusations of metagaming or cheating. Should information also come to light that some of your information is metagamed (or miscorrectly interpreted), you have hardcopy to point out where you got it, which covers your own butt, and helps to track down where the information breakdown occurs

Cheri:

Something that we do in Sacramento is that if a player is going to kill a PC in our game, is that they have to have an ST present. mostly to insure that everything is fair. we have in the past redlined PC's death because they did not have an ST present. We dont like doing it, but we have found that there are fewer complaints if we do it this way.

Dunx:

Be sure that the combat you are about to initiate is integral to the plot of your chronicle's story. If you're just going out there to kill on a vendetta, but /don/t have things like Vengeful on your sheet - double check yourself, and ask if there aren't alternatives to death for your enemy. Numerous options abound for alternate punishments that will add more to story than a gak-scene. Consider bonding, boons, loss of Status, loss of position, influence locking, or any of the other myraid avenues for social crippling that place your enemy in a far worse place than Oblivion. Oh, and of course the only person who can determine the validity of the first sentence in this paragraph is? ... Your ST, that's right.