Tombstones/Graves - Stress Relief/Grieving

[CaptKaspar]

We had the idea to honor our dead the other play session and started to build a cemetery outside our safehouse (not finished). Something to remember all the dead members of our community.

 

http://imgur.com/PIn40gG

 

We placed wooden signs, made skull and xbones on them, placed tilled dirt in front of the signs, and placed their key chains on the graves to mark the player's grave.

 

While we realize that there is currently no benefit to doing this, we got to thinking it would be a nice social touch to the game once NPCs are in. If you have ever played 'Sheltered', characters in that game receive a strong emotional penalty when a family member/fellow bunker mate dies. Burying their body is not only a health must, but it also helps the grieving survivors.

 

Right now if a player that you have been surviving with for weeks, months, years, and that could conceivably be the only other human on Earth dies, your character has no reaction! You don't even get 'A tad weepy'. I just watched the last human that I know about get eaten by zombies and now I am left completely alone and my character doesn't have the slightest reaction... psychopath.

 

SO...I suggest adding three things:

1. An emotional reaction to seeing players/characters die. Maybe only if you have spent X amount of time in the proximity of that character?
2. Build graves/tombstones to allow players to grieve.
3. (maybe) If a player who has been around another player for a long time and one of the players goes away for a while (few days maybe), that the remaining character would begin to get worried?

(PS We had discussed going to the graveyard in game and taking the tombstones, but we collectively agreed that this was inappropriate.)

 

I could see this being a slippery slope due to religious reasons, but there are already non-denominational tombstones on the map and churches with Christian icons. Most major religions bury their dead.

[Trojan_Turps]

I know nothing about psychology but I'm sure you could build an interesting system around things like grieving.

If you choose to grieve the death of a fellow survivor you suffer a period of negative effects. After the grieving process is over you return to normal.

If you choose to push those emotions deep down inside yourself so they don't affect you, life goes on with no negative effects. Although you run the risk of becoming a psycho or having a mental breakdown.

Psycho= fearless, limited emotions, poor social skills + other stuff I don't know about or have got wrong?

Mental breakdown= becomes a complete emotional mess with appropriate negative effects.

This sort of thing is not really needed and might not even be possible but would be awesome if done well.

[Zomboid]

This can be a great alternative to burning bodies. Dig personal graves for your fallen friends, or dig a giant hole for a mass grave to put many bodies.