Plot immunity for heroes

Plot immunity for heroes is common in role-playing games and action adventure shows. These share a common problem of heroes being invulnerable to fatal consequences. Killing the hero would end the show, and seriously disrupt or even end a game. This "immunity" drains the tension from a show, and the result is Black Bart tying the damsel to the railroad track, or the hero being locked in a deathtrap, and the audience yawns or laughs.

Role-playing games have an additional problem. Fatal consequences for the character that the player is using as a role, are a way of keeping the player's goals down to earth. If the character is immortal, then he will never surrender no matter how many guards face him. This is unrealistic, and it eventually causes boredom.

One way to deal with this is to kill off an important supporting character so as to restore the tension. Another way, used in Multiverser is to cause a form of death that has severe, but not game-ending consequences. A well known example is in Doctor Who where there are numerous points in the series where The Doctor was not able to cope with certain life threatening situations and is forced to regenerate, which is in effect, shortening his lifespan.