> Even in a contest with just two opponents, the GM can always allow
> the player character a final action. Say the character is defending
> his family from a big bad nasty, loses the contest, maybe even dying.
> As a GM I'd allow a final attempt. It would be very dramatic for the
> character to kill or drive off the nasty thereby saving the family at
> the cost of their own life. It may not be in the rules, but that's what
> a GM is for.
Well, if you want to *cheat* (look of shocked dismay).
The only times I've played with "everything absolutely by the book"
GMs/players (in other systems, like xD&D) the games turned out to be real
duds. The Narrator should *always* feel able to allow a last heroic gesture
even if the characetr is "dead".